Daddy's Home
So many developments over the past week I'm having a hard time codifying them all.
Well, I wrote them here before I left for Chicago then the entry didn't take, so I didn't update for a while out of frustration. Anyhow.
Last week's open mic:
Had a really fun night. I stayed up the night before doing theme songs and door prize songs for the night, and they were HILARIOUS. I posted the "winning" song to the Columbus listserve.
Chicago SlamMasters' Meeting:
Got back from that last night. I thought it was a solid weekend of work. Considering we had an hour shaved off of our original time (two if you count the first hour of people showing up late and registering with extreme prejudice), and two hours shaved off of our time on Sunday, we made great progress. A couple of things I would have liked to see discussed were cut, but the biggies were addressed.
I won't go into much of it here since I posted the highlights on the Cols. list (making that a more active community list these days), and all of the resident Slam lurkers who read this were likely there or couldn't have their minds changed on the problem of a green sky filled with decapitated ding-a-lings no matter how hard you tried and already have enough places to piss and moan, so a couple of highlighted highlights:
- I was re-elected to the EC. I was also made Vice-Prez. I'm very happy with this, and excited about the new EC. We picked up Cynthia French (Minneapolis), Kimberly Simms (Greenville), Taylor Mali (NYC) and myself, as well as Danny Solis (Albuquerque) as future NPS host rep. We lost Deb Marsh - an almost-crushing loss of decency and history, and the last of the original guard - Katherine Zwick and Marc Smith. Words cannot express my feelings about Smith stepping into a founder role. I know it was and remains the right decision - the EC is working even harder, but in a good way, in all honesty.
Just had a hard time sitting there during his farewell speech, and I knew about it back in January. What can I say? The guy was one of the people who made me the person that I am. A handful of people in this community have done that - have done more than exposed me to Slam, but to a better Scott - and those absences will affect me and my work (in good, productive ways, I mean).
Fortunately, we have a crew of serious hardcore workers on board. Two recent AND successful event organizers in Simms and French. We rock right now, and it will be cool to have some cats on board who appear to work as hard and fast as I want to. Great, passionate women voices as well: we have 4 women on EC. The most ever at one time, if I'm not mistaken, and if I counted my toes right, they're all voting members. I don't usually care about that sort of thing - if you want the job and can do it, the job is yours is how I operate - but it is noteworthy.
- Austin won the bid for 2006 NPS. People wanted Miami too, but not more than they wanted Austin, and for a host of wholly legit reasons. People wanted to give it to Miami on the spot for 2007 but we couldn't legally do that. So here's hoping the process wasn't too frustrating for Proctor and he bothers to put the bid in again, because he'll nail it if he does, but I'll understand if he doesn't. The guy's a pro; this is peanuts to him, event-wise, but that's the problem: poets...
Ahh, never mind. I got to learn to start keeping my own counsel. It's the one New Year's resolution I've actively been working on and have seen some benefit from: knowing when to shut the fuck up. [1]
- Teams at NPS will, at least this year, have the option of 3-5 members, with rounds consisting of 3 poem presentations per team. Haven't decided what this means to Columbus yet in terms of how many we'll bring (pros and cons both ways for a scene like ours), and have put out a call for local opinion. Will decide soon. 'Nuff said. I liked 5x3. I DIDN'T like the amendment(s).
[/rant removed. See above resolution.]
Today was cool: already in the trenches, making changes and lining up PSI ducks to knock down in coming weeks.
In other news:
Have MAD comic book reviews to write. May at CWN sent me a whole package of indie books to go through so I'm jumping in those posthaste. Will be fun.
"Hellboy" totally ROCKS. Anybody who says differently is being obtuse or doesn't get it.
Working on new music, the Diva Baby stuff, so I'm revisiting my drum-n-bass roots. Am enjoying that a bit, but am using it as a release from all the other stuff.
Back to work, so I can watch the rest of The Shield, Season 2 tonight. (whistling)
I'm sure I'll think of more later anyway.
NOTES:
=============
[1] I am also instituting a 5-minute Stop And Think policy for all business. I act instinctively a lot of times and sometimes it creates more work than it resolves. So: 5 minutes in a corner, then I act. That's my new thing.
Wish me luck. I'll need it. I tend to be, how you say, rarin' to go.
Well, I wrote them here before I left for Chicago then the entry didn't take, so I didn't update for a while out of frustration. Anyhow.
Last week's open mic:
Had a really fun night. I stayed up the night before doing theme songs and door prize songs for the night, and they were HILARIOUS. I posted the "winning" song to the Columbus listserve.
Chicago SlamMasters' Meeting:
Got back from that last night. I thought it was a solid weekend of work. Considering we had an hour shaved off of our original time (two if you count the first hour of people showing up late and registering with extreme prejudice), and two hours shaved off of our time on Sunday, we made great progress. A couple of things I would have liked to see discussed were cut, but the biggies were addressed.
I won't go into much of it here since I posted the highlights on the Cols. list (making that a more active community list these days), and all of the resident Slam lurkers who read this were likely there or couldn't have their minds changed on the problem of a green sky filled with decapitated ding-a-lings no matter how hard you tried and already have enough places to piss and moan, so a couple of highlighted highlights:
- I was re-elected to the EC. I was also made Vice-Prez. I'm very happy with this, and excited about the new EC. We picked up Cynthia French (Minneapolis), Kimberly Simms (Greenville), Taylor Mali (NYC) and myself, as well as Danny Solis (Albuquerque) as future NPS host rep. We lost Deb Marsh - an almost-crushing loss of decency and history, and the last of the original guard - Katherine Zwick and Marc Smith. Words cannot express my feelings about Smith stepping into a founder role. I know it was and remains the right decision - the EC is working even harder, but in a good way, in all honesty.
Just had a hard time sitting there during his farewell speech, and I knew about it back in January. What can I say? The guy was one of the people who made me the person that I am. A handful of people in this community have done that - have done more than exposed me to Slam, but to a better Scott - and those absences will affect me and my work (in good, productive ways, I mean).
Fortunately, we have a crew of serious hardcore workers on board. Two recent AND successful event organizers in Simms and French. We rock right now, and it will be cool to have some cats on board who appear to work as hard and fast as I want to. Great, passionate women voices as well: we have 4 women on EC. The most ever at one time, if I'm not mistaken, and if I counted my toes right, they're all voting members. I don't usually care about that sort of thing - if you want the job and can do it, the job is yours is how I operate - but it is noteworthy.
- Austin won the bid for 2006 NPS. People wanted Miami too, but not more than they wanted Austin, and for a host of wholly legit reasons. People wanted to give it to Miami on the spot for 2007 but we couldn't legally do that. So here's hoping the process wasn't too frustrating for Proctor and he bothers to put the bid in again, because he'll nail it if he does, but I'll understand if he doesn't. The guy's a pro; this is peanuts to him, event-wise, but that's the problem: poets...
Ahh, never mind. I got to learn to start keeping my own counsel. It's the one New Year's resolution I've actively been working on and have seen some benefit from: knowing when to shut the fuck up. [1]
- Teams at NPS will, at least this year, have the option of 3-5 members, with rounds consisting of 3 poem presentations per team. Haven't decided what this means to Columbus yet in terms of how many we'll bring (pros and cons both ways for a scene like ours), and have put out a call for local opinion. Will decide soon. 'Nuff said. I liked 5x3. I DIDN'T like the amendment(s).
[/rant removed. See above resolution.]
Today was cool: already in the trenches, making changes and lining up PSI ducks to knock down in coming weeks.
In other news:
Have MAD comic book reviews to write. May at CWN sent me a whole package of indie books to go through so I'm jumping in those posthaste. Will be fun.
"Hellboy" totally ROCKS. Anybody who says differently is being obtuse or doesn't get it.
Working on new music, the Diva Baby stuff, so I'm revisiting my drum-n-bass roots. Am enjoying that a bit, but am using it as a release from all the other stuff.
Back to work, so I can watch the rest of The Shield, Season 2 tonight. (whistling)
I'm sure I'll think of more later anyway.
NOTES:
=============
[1] I am also instituting a 5-minute Stop And Think policy for all business. I act instinctively a lot of times and sometimes it creates more work than it resolves. So: 5 minutes in a corner, then I act. That's my new thing.
Wish me luck. I'll need it. I tend to be, how you say, rarin' to go.