Compliment of the Year

Walt Curtis and I @ Mark Wooley art opening, Pioneer Place, Portland OR, 2013

I dropped by 3 Friends Coffee today to check out the poetry open MIC. Dan Raphael was featured and I didn’t want to miss that. We’ve read out a few times together, he immediately inspired me when I heard his kaledioscopic sensory metaphors hanging in the air like strange and beautiful crystals on a big astral chandeleir. I was not disappointed. What I heard was a mirror of what has been resonating (or perhaps simmering) beneath my mind for a long time: the sound of the fragments of world tearing apart- and possibly being recombined into whole new modes of being.

Then later on that night! Walt Curtis– AKA Oregon’s Poet Laureate- got up, some time after all the rest of us read, and read a poem while in a full on nosebleed. He had on a straw hat over his polar fleece cap. It was, as Ed might have oft mentioned, in the shape of a “perchy hat.” You’ll have to ask him what that means. He had a hard time getting through the whole poem, he remarked, because of feeling like he is almost going blind. It did take him quite a while, but it was also an epic, whimsical and allegorical poem about his black umbrella. Walt later came up to me and remembered me and wanted to introduce me around. He was saying I had been “an important part of the poetry scene.” He encouraged me to come back another Monday.

People came up and told me how much they liked my piece (I always love that… with visual art people can say, “um that’s nice” and move on… perhaps just to get away from you… With poetry, one has to make the effort to come up and compliment the author. That takes balls.)

I think that makes for a really whizbang evening, don’t you? 😉

Oh BTW: The open MIC people, Show and Tell Gallery, announced they publish podcasts of the weekly readings and archive them on their site. So you can hear me reading live in perhaps a couple of weeks. Look for the show on 12/17/12.

The Brock Hollyday Experience

I spent a delightful evening at the Brock Manse this weekend for a holiday get together. This included meeting a number of non-human party goers, including these two adorable turtles. Don’t let the “slow as a turtle” stereotype fool you- when they smell potential food, those critters can be sneaky as it gets…

Our host and hostess were as gracious as anyone could want, and genuinely enthusiastic! ! I got to meet a handful of local writers and creative folks, and to hang out with frequent panelist and SF legend, William  F. Nolan.

The Brocks have been doing a ton of work over the last few years to bring out a number of new projects, including their documentary work, a fully illustrated anthology called “The Devil’s Coattails”, ongoing presentations/panels, editorial work, art work/art directon, and so on. Plus their new biannual, [Nameless Magazine]. I came home with a present of a signed copy of the latest edition, the hallmark of which is a series of personal stories about Ray Bradbury (who passed away in June of 2012…RIP) from those who knew him and wished to honor his memory in print. I hope to submit something soon, although Jason tells me it’ll take him a while to slog through and place many of those he’s already gotten– not because it’s a drag, but because they were “all so good”.

I didn’t think we had that many local Rennaissance creative folk in the area, but boy was I surprised. I am pleased that we have the Brocks to help keep the finger on the pulse of SF, horror and dark fantasy for the Wilamette Valley area.