Hurried, Harried

I've felt a little bit like Fred this weekend.

 But what the web harms, the web can also cure.

The poem is "No One's in a Hurry" and it's by Michael Judge. Go. Enjoy the line breaks. Feel the serenity.

Thanks, World Wide Web. I needed that.

The Summer of 2011, with Battlestar Galactica and My Wife

Seriously. This is exactly how it happened:

Portlandia's strange access to my life.

Poetry Wins!

For this year, at least.

With fiction's rejection by Pulitzer this year, I will hold poetry as the superior genre. Fiction, you have to lump it--but only for a year. What separates those who write fiction from those who write poetry? Please enjoy the opening of this wonderful piece (click on the image):.

I love this essay--it gets ever funnier. The full piece can be read by subscribing to Harper's Magazine, a move I highly recommend. Or you can order the fall 1996 issue of Michigan Quarterly Review.

The Beauty of Student Literary Magazines

Rob Sieczkiewicz, University Archivist at Drexel University Libraries, coordinated a fascinating show on the history of Student Literary Magazines at Drexel University. With Prof. Rachel Wenrick, he gathered together a number of faculty and students to read and respond to poems, stories, and other pieces from student lit mags of decades past. It was a fascinating project, and I was all too happy to help. I published some thoughts about it at drexelpublishing.org. I hope to write more about it in the coming days.

Tracy K. Smith Wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (and defeats all fiction everywhere)

Huzzah! I know this development is a few days old, but I just found out this morning (been busy with a few things--here's one). Here's an article I penned last year about seeing Smith on the PBS Newshour.

Here's the NY Daily News's take on the situation. And this is information provided by the lovely folks who award the prizes (the book, the jury, etc.). Again, wonderful, wonderful news.

And, without a Pulitzer for fiction this year, I think it's clear that poetry has finally defeated fiction as the superior genre.

The Fine Art of Composing

I've been thinking about the art of composing things.

Does anyone remember Santo Gold, the late-night infomercial from the eighties? It aired in the Philadelphia region on WPHL 17 after midnight; I think I remember catching it while flipping through channels after Saturday Night Live. It may have aired other nights. Anyway.

I'm starting to understand that my brain is less of a library and more of a depository, and the workers are equal parts thrilled and dismayed to catalog its contents.

The infomercial that walks my nightmares is still here on YouTube. And you can learn more about Santo Gold and the man behind it on Wikipedia.

I must return to more literary endeavors, such as my work for Painted Bride Quarterly.

Crappy Internet Advertising Reaches Budding Poets Everywhere.

What? You didn't know? It's true. If you can count to the third letter of the alphabet, your committee will grant you your degree.

That's how I got mine.

Borders Bookstores to Re-open in My Dreams

I was doing some spring cleaning and I found my old Borders employee handbook and the tattered Borders rewards card that was much assaulted by the other items on my key ring. The Borders I worked at closed in September of last year.

The last memory I have of the place is driving by and seeing it decked out as Halloween Mega-whatever-the-hell. Is this nostalgia?

Partly. But I was also a customer, so this is also about me trying to figure out where I'm going to get my summer reading from.

Everyone and their cat had something to say about the closings last fall, but six months later the story of the Borders chain--and what it meant for book selling in the U.S.--is not closed.

Great Poetry Reading this Tuesday: Perch Pub, 8pm

From the Painted Bride Quarterly Calendar:

Charles O'Hay is the recipient of a 1995 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. His work has appeared in over 100 literary publications, including The New York Quarterly, Cortland Review, West Branch, Gargoyle, The Painted Bride Quarterly, and Mudfish. His first collection of poems and photographs, "Far from Luck," was published in 2011 by Lucky Bat Books (Reno, NV) and is available both in print and Kindle formats from Amazon.com.

The author will donate 20% of the proceeds from sales of the book to Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia, an advocacy group whose aim is to end homelessness.

Bill Ricks (poet): a Cyberpoet who uses social media networks to express his art. He is the Author of two chap books True Lust Never Dries and Bacon Fat. Currently more collections of his poetry are in the works.

The beautiful Perch Pub is located at:
1345 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

I hope to see you there!

What the Academy Awards Failed to Recognize, I Will.

I am also happy to report that Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles had a special airing on WHYY, Channel 12 in Philadelphia. I love this film and you should too. Here's why.

And yes, smart-guy; it's at DPG Online.

Bailey's Irish Scream

I am happy to report that my friend is using one of the roller derby names I suggested! She is Bailey's Irish Scream, and I can't wait to attend her matches.

Can we stop slogging?

Haven't we stopped slogging already? Read my post at the Drexel Publishing Group's website.

Yes, that's DPG Online.