LOGO A NO-GO? At this writing the new MTV station LOGO will not be airing in Atlanta tonight when it launches around the country on cable television. LOGO is a gay network, which will feature LGTB programming 24 hours a day. Southern Voice reported this week that our local cable provider, Comcast, is still in negotiations to broadcast LOGO. A quick check of the network's website shows a clock counting down to tonight's launch, including programming like the GLAAD Awards and a show called Surfer Girls. Hmmm...wonder what that's about?

Of course, before the station even went live anywhere in the country, you had the Christian right crazies spouting this kind of nonsense:

"I don't think most parents want their children flipping channels on their way to the Cartoon Network and running across a scene of two men kissing in bed on the Logo network," Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, told Cybercast News Service Network this month. "Most of us have enough to explain to our children nowadays."

Wildmon also warned that late-night programming on here! or Logo could turn pornographic. "The very nature of homosexuality is based on eroticism and the infatuation with sex," he told CNS News.

Hey, Wildmon, why don't you try and explain why you're a hate-filled, ignorant motherfucker? How about teaching and explaining the concept of tolerance? Poor Wildmon sounds like he's in desperate need of a blow job. Sounds like he's got some latent homosexual desires. How does he know homosexuality is "based on eroticism and the infatuation with sex" unless he's been smokin' a little rope? Loosen up, Timmy. It's cable.

Come on, Comcast! We want our GTV!

BLAME CANADA: Our progressive neighbors to the north, Canada, officially made same sex unions legal in all provinces yesterday. Down here in the Divided States of America, we had our worthless, warmongering president on national television once again lying to the people about the war in Iraq. The defining and delusional moment came when Dubya tied the insurgency in Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. What a slap in the face to all those who died that day, and to the soldiers sent to fight an illegal war. Is anyone still buying his bullshit? Apparently not as many, since his approval numbers are in the toilet (can we get that courtesy flush now?) I say we impeach the motherfucker and try to right this sinking ship of a country. How can we survive three more years of this hateful, stupid man and his lies? At least Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld has gotten in touch with reality. He said we'd still be in Iraq ten years from now and it might take more than a decade to end the insurgency. Not to mention, we've got a Supreme Court tottering on the brink of becoming the tool of the Christian right zealots, and can't seem to make up their minds if Ten Commandment displays should be allowed in courthouses (they shouldn't!), but are willing to pervert the eminent domain law allowing more fat cat developers and greedy governments to seize private property. Although Hillary Clinton wouldn't be my first choice for president, I say bring her on. In the meantime, Canada looks better and better every day.

SPECIMEN DAYS: There's a reason for the title of this post, which will become clear as you read on. I'm just back from my reading in NYC, which was brilliant. Not just the reading, but the trip itself...short as it was.

The trip up to NYC was unremarkable. I decided to drive myself to the Atlanta airport and park in the lot (which costs less than a taxi). The kiosks at the airport where you run your credit card through and it spits out a boarding pass are a great invention. Travelers always seem to be a bit tentative about using them, and there's never a line. Getting through security was fairly easy. I had a bit of time to wait at the gate and then we were off. Had a wing seat (extra leg room!) and we actually got in a bit early to LaGuardia.

The reading at Cornelia Street Cafe was that same evening, but I had a few hours to kill, so host Jackie Sheeler let me drop off my bag at her office, which gave me time to do what I call a Woody Allen walkabout. The cafe was about 12 blocks aways from Jackie's office, so I sauntered down 6th Ave. (Avenue of the Americas), grabbed a slice of pizza at Union Square, window shopped and popped in to the big Barnes & Noble. There's something about walking in NYC, as Woody always says, that helps clear your head and energize you at the same time. I do love the energy of NYC and the diversity of people you meet on the street. It was a beautiful, sunny day and pretty hot, so stopping into the B&N was a bit of relief.

At B&N, I picked up Michael Cunningham's new novel, Specimen Days. Since I had about an hour to kill before I needed to be at Cornelia Street Cafe to meet with the editor who had me doing the rewrites of my own novel, Conquering Venus, I plopped down at this big window in the B&N that had a commanding view of 6th and tucked into reading Specimen Days. I was mesmerized from the first sentence. I don't think I looked up from the book once, and then I heard someone say it was nearly 5 p.m. I purchased the book and hustled down to Cornelia Street Cafe, where I took a seat at the bar, ordered a glass of wine and dove right back into the book as I waited for the editor to arrive.

Jackie showed up just before 6 p.m. with my bag in tow (bless her) and went downstairs to set up for the reading and I stayed at the bar waiting for the editor. He came in and we chatted for a few minutes and I turned over the rewritten first half of Conquering Venus, which I'm quite proud of. It's lean and mean and I have fingers and toes crossed that this rewrite and my eagerness to work with this particular editor and publishing house will finally see the novel make it to print. Jackie was kind enough to sing my praises to the editor, and I hope he took it to heart. I've sold over 600 copies of Better To Travel and traveled all over the country to promote it. If I can sell that many copies of a self-published book of poetry on my own, I know I could sell the hell out of Conquering Venus. I just need someone to give me the chance, a little support and turn me loose to sell the hell out of this story.

The Pink Pony West reading series Jackie has curated for the last six years always attracts an impressive audience, who write great poetry. When I came last year, I was blown away by these folks, and it happened again Friday night at Cornelia Street. I did mostly new work and cuts from the HalfLife Crisis cd, and wound up selling a number of copies. The audience is always appreciative and they are vocal about what they like and don't like. A great night, and a fantastic way to cap off my readings before I take my mini-sabbatical for the rest of the summer.

After the reading, Jackie and I went to this big restaurant/bar in Chelsea to meet some of her friends for drinks. I hit it off with her friend Diana (a Kate Bush fan...hooray!) and we all hung out for awhile talking about a myriad of topics. Then we headed back up to Jackie's apartment in Harlem, which is undergoing a regentrification you wouldn't believe. Jackie's apartment is so incredible and HUGE! We sat around and talked for awhile, but I finally had to sack out. I was exhausted. I read a little more of Specimen Days and went to bed.

The next morning, Jackie drove Diana back to her home in New Jersey and that gave me time to wake up and have the place to myself to grab a shower and start the day. I realized that I was almost finished with Specimen Days and didn't want it to end. Jackie returned and we walked a few blocks to a diner for breakfast. The service was lousy, but the food was good. I had a chance to talk to Jackie about her new CD with her band, Talk Engine, and find out more about her in general. She's had a very interesting and sometimes hard life, but she's a rock star now. Her talent and energy and that New York moxie just blows me away. We're working on bringing her down to Atlanta for some readings. Get ready, Atlanta! Jaxx is going to blow you away!

We had some time before I had to go to the airport, so Jackie took a nap and I finished Specimen Days. There was something beautiful and perfect about reading this novel, which is set in NYC, while actually being there in the city. Cunningham is a lyrical writer; every sentence is poetry. The novel also made me want to reconnect with Walt Whitman, whose poetry is the connective tissue between the three stories in the book, and his Leaves of Grass. The novel is essentially about reincarnation and how the three main characters manifest themselves in different eras. It's also about the decay of society, the wish to reconnect to nature, a call for tolerance and a warning of where we might be headed as a society. Other than having three stories and a literary lion as inspiration, this book is about as far from The Hours as you can get. Of course, some of the reviews can't help but compare it to the Pulitzer Prize-winner, but this is just as good. It's not better and it's not lesser. It's on the same equal footing, which is quite a feat after penning something as masterful as The Hours.

Jackie dropped me off at the airport early and the plane ride home was nightmarish. There was mechanical problems, which meant we were nearly an hour late departing. The plane was full of screaming children and then we were in a holding pattern over Atlanta. However, this did not diminish the trip. It was fabulous. Many thanks to Jackie for her hospitality and her input on the new poetry collection I'm putting together. I'll be working on that the rest of the summer during my hibernation period. I'm going to be scarce, so the best place to find me will be on this blog. I'll keep it updated regularly and maybe even post some work in progress. The only thing planned for the rest of the summer is the Rep & Rev Writing Conference in August and ocassionally popping in to Java Monkey.

I leave you with a bit of Whitman:

I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

READING POETRY IN KENNESAW: Yesterday afternoon, I joined fellow poet Steven Owen Shields to give a reading for the Kennesaw Mountain Writers Project at Kennesaw State University. KMWP is a summer continuing education program for teachers, and we had a very attentive and appreciative audience. I read new work and selections from Better To Travel. After the reading, Steven and I answered questions about poetry and accepted invitations to come and read and do workshops with students. The university bookstore had purchased at least a dozen copies of my book and sold every one, which, of course, pleased me. It's always exciting to read to a new audience and feel like you're making a connection. I think that was definitely accomplished yesterday. Many thanks to Katie Fesuk, who invited us and made us feel welcome (and for buying us lunch) and to all the teachers we met.

Have I mentioned that my car is slowly falling apart? It's been in the shop about five times in the last year and yesterday on the way back from Kennesaw, the AC started making a strange noise. I spent about $500 just a few months ago having a brake job and replacing some hose that made the "Service Engine Soon" light come on. Well, the light was on all last week and my brakes are still screeching like a rake on a chalkboard. I've taken the car back once to the same mechanic about the brakes, but they just can't seem to get it right. The car has 99,000 miles on is about seven years old, so a new one might be in my near future -- although I can't really afford it. Sigh.

Tomorrow I leave for NYC for my reading at the Pink Pony West reading at Cornelia Street Cafe. If you're in Greenwich Village tomorrow night at 6 p.m., drop in and say hello. There's an open mic, too.

A WEEKEND OF HIGHS AND LOWS: The weekend began with the death of Dottie Miller, my best friend Tina's mom. I got the call about 1 a.m. on Friday morning. She had been in the hospital for six weeks for cancer treatment. There was a great sense of sadness and also of relief that she was no longer in pain. I went over to Tina's Friday evening and hung out for awhile with her and her dad. There's a memorial service on Thursday night.

Saturday was pretty much eaten up by the long Georgia Writers Association board meeting. We are planning to refocus the organization, offer more to members, redesign the website, etc. I came home and FINALLY finished unpacking all the boxes from the move. My office is now habitable, now all I need is to get the wireless connection set up for my notebook and I'm ready to go. The apartment is "done" except for still trying to figure out the bedroom (which is also now box-free). I've got artwork to hang and still trying to decide if the bed should be at an angle to give the room a twist or traditionally flush against the wall. This will come in time. I'm just excited to not have boxes stacked up in every corner. I swear the next time I move, it will be to the place I'm going to die in...unless I win the lottery, publish a bestseller or move to England. Any of which could happen.

On Sunday, I slept in and watched that great film Before Sunrise with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. One of the most intelligent scripts ever written and Ethan and Julie are perfect. The sequel Before Sunset was one of last year's best films. Of course seeing this movie again made me long for Europe. Ethan's character, Jesse, has been traveling around Europe by train on a Eurail pass, when he meets Celine on the train to Vienna. They start talking, get off the train and wander around Vienna (gorgeous!) and fall in love. Both the films are mainly just extended shots of the characters in conversation, but thanks to Richard Linklater's direction and the stars, it's never boring. By cosmic coincidence (?), I was at a news site later in the day and saw a big banner ad for Eurail. A month-long jaunt across the continent sounds like heaven, but where would the money come from and how would I get the time off the day job? The constraints of everyday life are a bitch. I've got to figure out a solution to get myself out of debt so I can become a gentleman of leisure.

After dinner with my parents for Father's Day, I headed over to Java Monkey Speaks for the release party/reading from the Java Monkey Speaks Anthology Vol. 1 and Kodac put me in charge of signing people in and selling books. We went through almost an entire case and the books are beautiful (scroll down to see the cover image). Amazingly, 21 of the 41 poets in the anthology showed up to read. It was a long, but wonderful night of poetry. Despite the nutty review in Creative Loafing (or maybe because of it) the place was packed. Another standing room only evening. We heard lots of comments on the CL review. I was going to write another letter, but I think I've been in CL enough lately. The only thing that came to mind in response to the review was the line from Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani: This shit is bananas...

But I ain't no hollaback poet (not this week anyway).

JAVA MONKEY SPEAKS ANTHOLOGY: After two years of false-starts, hurry-up-and-wait and other drama, the release of the Java Monkey Speaks Anthology Vol. 1 is set for this Sunday, June 19, at 8 p.m. at the Java Monkey Coffee House in Decatur, GA. Cleo Creech came up with the idea to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the city's best reading series and open mic. Because of cost and disagreements, the project was shelved until being rescued by Poetry Atlanta and some grant money. This Sunday marks Java's fourth anniversary, so better late than never is my motto. Kodac Harrison and I picked up the reigns and co-edited the edition that will be released this weekend. It's only $10 and will be available at the coffee house and very soon from the Poetry Atlanta website. With a print run of only 500, we expect the anthology to sell out quickly and become a collector's item. Despite the bizarre "review " in today's Creative Loafing (which erroneously states that the contributors featured in the anthology are all "performance poets"), there is some beautiful work in this book. The work of Nathan Deen (who also did the cover art), Cherryl Floyd-Miller (who provided editorial assistance), Lady Hardin, Stephen Bluestone (a multiple-award winning poet), David Schuster, Megan Sexton (an editor at Five Points) and many other wonderful poems grace these pages. Do come and join us on Sunday. Many of the poets will be reading their work from the book. It's going to be another hot night at Java Monkey Speaks.

THE PRIDE READING & OTHER NOTES: Last night I peformed at the Pride reading organized by Franklin Abbott at the Ponce de Leon Library. The place was packed and the poets were top notch. Duncan Teague from poetry/performance group Adodi Muse was a delight, as was Rebecca Ranson and her series of "really bad girl" poems. Theresa Davis was on fire, getting lots of hoots and hollers for her personal and political work. It was also nice to see good friends like Cleo Creech, Rupert Fike, Karen Wurl, Stacie B. and Karen G. in the audience to support the evening and all the performers. I actually felt a bit nervous last night, because I was trying out new work, including some very personal and emotional new poems (more on that in a moment). Franklin has a knack for bringing the right mix of poets together and he certainly outdid himself last night. The Ponce de Leon Library is the home to an extensive GLBTQ collection of literature and they are looking for donations to continue building this collection. If you're in Atlanta, stop by and see this amazing selection of books.

With the stress of moving and all the performances going on over the last couple of months, my writing output has slowed to a trickle. However, I had a little inspiration over the last week. This week marks the 10-year anniversary of my first trip to London and Paris, much of which is chronicled in Better To Travel and in a fictionalized way in my novel, Conquering Venus. I've been feeling nostalgic about this for some time as the anniversary approached. That trip was a life-altering experience in many ways. Finally getting out of America and seeing the world is something I highly recommend. I've been to Europe a dozen times now and I treasure every visit (even when the trip sucked). I feel at home in London and Paris, and look forward to going back this fall. I haven't been out of the country since before Sept. 11, mainly because I've been criss-crossing the country promoting Better To Travel, but now it's time to get back to my beloved England and take that journey from London to Paris by Eurostar again. It will be a fitting homage for a time that changed my life.

On a distressing note, my best friend Tina's mother is dying of cancer. I went down to the hospital to see her on Tuesday night and it was very emotional. I had to leave the room. She's so weak that they can't give her chemotherapy, but there is hope that a steroid treatment may boost her so they can do chemo. Tina's mom was a fiesty, opinionated lady and like a second mom when Tina and I were growing up. We're all hoping for a miracle.

In political news, Dubya called the Democrats "obstructionists" on Tuesday for blocking his plans to reform Social Security. He's such a dumbass. He can't even get his own party behind reform, yet it's the Democrats fault. Also, Senate hearings are schedule today to start digging into the Downing Street memo that shows Dubya and his warmongers were cooking up evidence to invade Iraq. Click on the Big Brass Alliance link at the left for more info. The right-wingers are also blaming the Dems and the media for demoralizing the war effort in Iraq. Of coure, no criticism from the Repubs of their idiot president and his minions for complete failure on all fronts in Iraq -- namely starting a war there in the first place. Osama bin Laden is alive and well, but he's become an afterthought as taxpayer money and more young soldiers are sent to die in Dubya's personal war. Enjoying your second term, Dubya?

CANCELLING THE DEBT: Over the weekend, the world's wealthiest countries agreed to write off more than $40 billion of African debt. The deal, struck by finance ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, would wipe out the debts owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries immediately and up to 38 in total, most of which are in Africa. The debt cancellation deal covers debts to international lending agencies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Obviously, Dubya and the US are under incredible international pressure, because they had said just last week that Africa wasn't really on the agenda what with that pesky, unlawful war we started still raging in Iraq. What Dubya hasn't promised is what the ONE campaign is encouraging: giving one percent to developing nations like Africa to assist in education and AIDS prevention.

As the national media continues to look deeper into the Downing Street memo and the human rights abuses at Gitmo (I bet Time won't be retracting its latest story), Dubya is facing a political shitstorm. His numbers are already in the toilet. All we need is a good courtesy flush.

BACK TO BUSINESS: Saturday has been very productive and full of small surprises. This morning I met Cherryl Floyd-Miller early to discuss our BIG project that has been brewing for some months now. I can finally say what it is, but really can't go into details because those are still being ironed out. Later this year, Cherryl and I are going to relaunch Poetry Atlanta Press. The press will be under the auspices of the Poetry Atlanta organization and offer a first book prize to Atlanta and Georgia poets, educational opportunities for students, quarterly poetry discussions and other activities. The press has been around for a number of years, publishing the occasional chapbook and the organization's Poet's Phonebook. The Java Monkey Speaks Anthology Vol. 1 (we're still on target for our Sunday, June 19, release party at Java Monkey in Decatur, GA) will technically be the press's first new publication. Keep an eye on this blog, the Poetry Atlanta site, local and national media about the first book prize. Giving a voice to emerging poets in Atlanta and Georgia has long been a dream of ours, and this move should put us on the map nationally. Atlanta's poetry scene continues to grow and diversify, but as Cherryl puts it, "we're about to blow up!" More very soon.

After the Poetry Atlanta meeting, Cherryl realized she had lost her car keys, so she wound up driving up with me to tape The Business of Words. I had two interviews lined up, but one had to cancel so I improvised. First I interviewed the whirling dervish of the SoCal poetry scene that is Teka Lark-Lo. I met Teka earlier this year in LA and loved her stream of consciousness, satirical and political work. The work is rough and realistic and biting. LOVE it. The great poet Brendan Constantine called Teka "a force of nature" and he is exactly right. You can hear the interview and her work starting this Tuesday (June 14). The show airs for two weeks every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2, 10 and 6 a.m. and p.m. You'll need Real Player, Windows Media Player or WinAmp to listen.

After Teka, I decided to improvise a show with Cherryl. Since we're planning to have a series of discussions as part of Poetry Atlanta Press, we decided to announce the relaunch of the press and hold our own discussion on poetry and community. We thought it would be just filler, but we touched on a number of issues, including how poetry "factions" can be found in every community, how to bridge the gap between formal and spoken word, the usefulness of workshops and more. That episode should start airing around June 28.

My producer/engineer Harold said the podcasting of The Business of Words has also been successful. In just the last two weeks, 20 people downloaded M. Ayodele Heath's interview and another 20 downloaded Louise Runyon. That may not sound like a lot, but we just started this service a few weeks ago, and it's still new to many people. I'm thrilled. The number of listeners who tune in during regular broadcasts has also spiked. I hope everyone who listens is enjoying the show as much as I am bringing it to you. The interview with the great poet Maureen Seaton is now available for download via podcast. Check it out.

THE BIG BRASS ALLIANCE: My blog is officially joining The Big Brass Alliance, which was formed in May 2005 as a collective of progressive bloggers who support After Downing Street, a coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups formed to urge the U.S. Congress to launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The campaign focuses on evidence that recently emerged in a British memo containing minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials.

On 1 May, The Times of London printed the minutes written by former Downing Street foreign policy aide Matthew Rycroft. This internal memo was never meant to be seen by the public. One of the highlights of the memo:

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

The full text of the Downing Street memo can be read at this link. Obviously, Bush has lied from the very beginning. I've talked about this before on the blog, but the leak of this memo is now starting to gather international media coverage. Not to mention, more than 300 bloggers have joined the Big Brass Alliance to spread the message of the Downing Street memo. It will be hard for Dubya to duck and cover from this damning evidence of our rush to an unnecessary war. There is movement in Congress to begin a Resolution of Inquiry to identify a possible "High Crime" and ask the House Judiciary Committee to investigate to determine whether impeachment is justified by the facts.

Anne Bancroft

SO LONG, ANNE: The great actress Anne Bancroft died today of uterine cancer at age 73. She was a constant source of inspiration to me throughout my life, most notably her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker. She was brilliant in The Graduate, Agnes of God, 84 Charing Cross Road, Garbo Talks, 'Night Mother, Torch Song Trilogy, The Turning Point and countless others. Sbe was happily married to Mel Brooks and suggested he turn The Producers into a musical. We also happened to share the same birthday, September 17. I'll miss you, Anne.

THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 2005 REPORT: Amnesty International has come out swinging against the USA in its 2005 report for allowing human rights to devolve even further since 2001. The report on abuses in the Americas begins with this quote: The US-led “war on terror” continued to undermine human rights in the name of security, despite growing international outrage at evidence of US war crimes, including torture, against detainees.

And here's a bit more:

The blatant disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law in the “war on terror” continued to make a mockery of President George Bush’s claims that the USA was the global champion of human rights. Images of detainees in US custody tortured in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shocked the world. War crimes in Iraq, and mounting evidence of the torture and ill-treatment of detainees in US custody in other countries, sent an unequivocal message to the world that human rights may be sacrificed ostensibly in the name of security.

President Bush’s refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions to those captured during the international armed conflict in Afghanistan and transferred to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was challenged by a judicial decision in November. The ruling resulted in the suspension of trials by military commission in Guantánamo, and the government immediately lodged an appeal. The US administration’s treatment of detainees in the “war on terror” continued to display a marked ambivalence to the opinion of expert bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and even of its own highest judicial body. Six months after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guantánamo detainees, none had appeared in court. Detainees reportedly considered of high intelligence value remained in secret detention in undisclosed locations. In some cases their situation amounted to “disappearance”.

America is in serious trouble. We have allowed Bush and his cronies to lead this country so far astray, that I believe there should be a move to have him impeached. Newsweek was forced to fall on its sword a month back after releasing the story on desecration of the Koran at US prison camps, but now it is slowly coming to light that desecration of holy texts and torture of prisoners who are being held without charge is common at Guantanamo Bay and other sites. Amnesty has started a petition to denounce the USA's torture of prisoners. I encourage you to sign the petition here.

Also in the report is an update on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Africa, which America and most of the world continues to ignore as the focus remains on Iraq. I want to close this post with a poem I still read often:

War For Oil (Darfur, Africa)

The skies over Darfur are quiet,
save for the wind in wings of vultures
waiting for that almost meatless child,
clinging to its mother’s shriveled breast.
The gunfire is sporadic, off to the east
where soldiers of misfortune round up
those who ran from the camp.
There is no fear of bombs, this place
barely exists, offers no kickbacks
to presidents, their kin or commanders.
There’s only scrabbled ground
wet with blood as women are raped
or a skull is cracked.
No liberation force is coming,
no toppling of statues or searches
for weapons of mass destruction.
Here is famine, genocide,
dark skin pouring black oil
that holds no currency.

A NIGHT OF RED LIGHTS & OTHER WEEKEND NOTES: There was a good turnout for Lady Hardin's feature set at the Georgia Poetry Open Mic & Reading Series I host at Barnes & Noble at Georgia Tech on the first Friday of each month. Lady read work from a new chapbook and we had some great poets at the open mic, too.

Saturday was another craptacular day of unpacking, and the tv armoire from Pier One was delivered. It's gorgeous, but a little too big for the room. I've nicknamed it the monolith, as in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I keep expecting the star child or angry monkeys to drift out of it at any moment. While trying to get my heavy tv and other equipment inside the monolith, I pulled something in my back. I'm going to need another rescue from Tina and Mandie this week to help me with some other stuff, like shelves and moving some other heavy boxes. I swear, the next time I move it will be to the place I will die in. This moving shit is for the birds.

On Saturday night, I made it over to the Ferst Center for the Georgia Author of the Year Awards. I was running late (natch) and slipped in and sat in the back. Cherryl Floyd-Miller lost to Eric Nelson in the poetry category. Now, I haven't read Eric's book, but Cherryl should have won, and yes, I am biased. I love Cherryl and her work and Chops is a damn fine book of poetry. Alice Lovelace recieved the much-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, and she spoke about her activism and poetry and got a standing ovation. After the blissfully short ceremony, I met up with Lisa Allender and her friend Danny (and later by Cherryl and her friends) at El Azteca for some Mexican food. Nothing like good, spicy comfort food and margaritas to cap off a shitty day.

On Sunday night, it was back to Java Monkey Speaks in Decatur, GA. I felt like I hadn't been there in ages. The place was packed...people were standing out on the street. I had the honor and delight of sharing a big table with poets Amy Pence, Beth Gylys, Dustin Brookshire and Lady. Bryan Patillo was the featured poet and he was in fine form, despite the announcement that he had lost his bag full of poems and a novel in progress. Everyone in the audience winced. I've got my work backed up on disks all over southern America because I'm paranoid. Kodac Harrison was talking up the Java Monkey Speaks Anthology, which went to the printer over the weekend. Hooray!

Tonight, I was the featured poet for the House of Poets at Red Light Cafe in Midtown Atlanta. There was big crowd, with lots of friends in the audience, including the Lovelace/Davis front, who all did blindingly good sets of poetry. Alice Lovelace always inspires me, and there was some great poets I'd never heard rocking the mic tonight. I did mostly new work that had never been read anywhere (some of it very graphic and sexual). It took me a minute to warm up and the audience to figure out what was going on with my work, but I heard Alice laughing and Rupert Fike giving his audible "yeah" when he's particularly enjoyed a piece, and I knew I was on the right track. Thanks to hosts Amanda Kail and Phoenixyz for having me, and extra special thanks for Wendy and Ward for coming out and supporting me.

On another Red Light note, I got an email today from Anna Camilleri the editor of the Red Light: Superheroes, Saints & Sluts anthology being published this fall by Canada's Arsenal Pulp Press. This is the book that is publishing Why I Want To Be Pam Grier and I'm very excited about the cover art and the line-up of poets included. Check out this link for more information about the book, which will be out in October. There will be readings in New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto in late 05 and early 06, and I plan to hit at least two of them. More on that soon.

Also in the post today came a package from England from my pal Colette. It's a bootleg DVD of all of Kate Bush's tv appearances from around 1978 to 1993. Absolute heaven. I needed a little Kate to boost my spirits.

THE ONE CAMPAIGN: You may or may not have noticed the new link at left for The ONE Campaign. If not, I'm calling attention to it now. The campaign is an effort to convince the American government to cancel the debt of nations in trouble and pledge more money to end poverty and stop the AIDS pandemic in countries like Africa. ONE is asking the US government to allocate an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food to the poorest countries.

ONE is made up of a coalition of faith-based and anti-poverty organizers, so there's no need to start crying liberal bedwetting. On board are Bread for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children US, World Concern, and World Vision, National Basketball Association, Rock the Vote and the Millennium Campaign.

Right now, the US government is making decisions about how much money to spend on humanitarian assistance next year and the UK is poised to lead the world's wealthiest nations at the G8 summit in Scotland next month. There was a distressing article on the BBC site today that said Dubya has pushed Africa off the agenda to pump more money into the war in Iraq. Although Dubya pledged more money to Africa to combat AIDS, little has been spent. Dubya said this week, the plan to give more money to Africa "doesn't fit our budgetary process." Sending more soldiers off to die and funneling more money to the quagmire of Iraq obviously does.

Every year Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world, spends $14.5 billion dollars repaying debts to the world's richest countries and international institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Many poor countries still spend more each year on debt than on health care or education. While Dubya and his band of merry warmakers continue to sling rhetoric about spreading democracy across the globe, they are letting people die and starve in the process. I suppose that's democracy without compassion.

The ONE Campaign doesn't want your money. They just want you to sign a petition of support at the website. Do it. NOW!

MOVING AFTERMATH: This was the most horrible move in my life. Admittedly, I've only moved four times since leaving my parents' house at age 21. The worst move prior to this one was when I moved from Jonesboro south of the city to downtown Atlanta and the lofts. That was almost six years ago. I decided for this change of location that I would hire movers and let them do all the heavy lifting. So much for that...

As I said in the last post, the movers were more than four hours late and we moved late into the night in the pouring rain. The guys were nice and moved pretty quickly once they showed up, but I was exhausted. I found out that there were some things the movers wouldn't take because they weren't packaged properly, so this left a huge stack of stuff at the old loft. When I went back on Monday to get the stuff and clean up the loft for the walk-thru, I had a small nervous breakdown. I was so tired, my muscles ached, and the new apartment was not all I had hoped it would be. I kinda snapped into a fetal position, but managed to call my best friend Tina and she and her girlfriend Mandie came and finished moving my stuff for me. Without them, I would have never been able to cope.

The big problem at this new apartment is that its poorly designed inside. The bathroom is big, but the layout makes no sense. There are no towel bars and too many doors (two entries and a closet). The alcove that could either be a study or a dining room has no phone jack, which means no where to hook up my laptop for DSL. I went to Best Buy yesterday to find a wi-fi router so I could go wireless only to find that my modem is ancient and not compatible. For the time-being, my office is back in the bedroom, which pisses me off no end. The bedroom is too small for my big bed, desks, bookcases, etc. Why do builders never think about power sockets and phone jacks when designing a building? I'd like to find them and make them come back and do more work.

On the plus side, the apartment is nice and it's VERY quiet. I can barely hear my neighbor on the living room side, but in the bedroom it's so quiet I find almost unnerving. Thank god for my sound machine to lull me to sleep. The furniture looks good in the place and the kitchen is sweet. I'll put my stamp on it and settle in eventually. After five years of living in the same place, this move was tougher than I thought it was going to be. When I did the walk-thru yesterday and turned in the keys, I was nostalgic. I finished Better To Travel there, finished my novel, wrote so many new poems, had a lot of sex, fell in and out of love, had alot of laughs and cries. But it was definitely time to go.

In other newes, I have a proof of the Java Monkey Speaks Anthology Vol. 1 here on my desk. It looks AMAZING. Kodac Harrison and I co-edited the anthology, which features poets from the first two years of the reading series and open mic. I'm proud to have my name on it and work inside. The book will be released on Sunday, June 19 at a special Java Monkey Speaks reading. It starts at 8 p.m., but come early! I imagine the place will be packed.

More soon.