Last night was lovely: Jeff and I took in dinner at the Brewer's Art, and then toted ourselves over to Loads of Fun, managing for once to be appropriately late enough to take advantage of Poet Time, arriving 5-10 minutes before the reading began, rather than 30-40 minutes.
And many of us read, in a poetical chain reaction. There was a sign-up sheet; I did not sign up -- Jaime G-P had already signed me in before I even got there. That gave me a sort of feeling of validation, as in "Maureen is not here, but we trust that she will be and thusly shall she read, and her part in the reading shall occur." And so it did.
Everyone read one or two things, but for Tom Orange, who regaled us with saxophone stylings. Each successive reader signed his/her name in a copy of the i.e. reader, and then consulted the sign-up sheet in order to nominate another reader. It was very organic.
I will let Ryan fill you in on details, but the whole atmosphere for me was one of easy camaraderie. Lot of poets who have been poeting together for many years, and who are big supporters and appreciators of each others' work. A happiness.
I have not written much of anything not-work related in a long while: not much poetry, or reviews, or even blogposts, and it is starting to drive me a bit crazy. Which is of course the signal that the hiatus is about to be replaced by frenzy. Already I am reading poems again, and starting to take copious notes. Good signs that the dry spell is drying up.
Also, I am going to buy a laptop. My desktop is old and starting to cough, and is necessarily stuck in place in the second-bedroom/office known hereabouts as the Big Game Room, which is not that great of a place to be stuck. It is small and has bad lighting and bad seating. One of our New Year's resolutions is to improve the room through new furniture and lamps, but I think it will also be improved (along with my writing) by a computer that allows me to work outside of the room. As it is, I find myself deciding not to write simply because doing so would mean I'd have to stay in a dark, uncomfortable room for some period of time. Right now, I am actually writing from Jeff's laptop, which is in the living room, a warm and inviting room with a great fire heaped up in the fireplace, nice comfy couches, and easy access to reference books. With my own laptop, I will be able to work while perched in this Elysian splendor, and not feel so much like Bob Cratchit doing sums in a cramped and underheated basement.
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