FLASHBACK: April 2000 - Issue Zero Debut in Pittsburgh

It's FLASHBACK time!  A photo on the MySpace page of an upcoming Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven featured poet made me think of one of these pictures, so I decided to repost them.  (I'll be announcing the featured poets soon.)

The time: April 28, 29, and 30, 2000.  The Poet's Haven Digest Issue Zero made its debut at the Pittsburgh Comicon and small press expo.  I was excited upon arriving there, as my table was only 30 feet away from fantasy artists Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell!  Unfortunately, their line turned the wrong direction and did not pass my table.  My table was across from the Hooters Girls (there is a Hooters restaurant just down the road from the Monroeville Expomart convention center), which did not draw the people whose attention I was trying to grab.  LOL

Ryo-Oh-Ki helped hand out Poet's Haven business cards.


Stormtrooper TK725 perused Issue Zero to make sure none of the content would offend the Emperor.


Hmmm...  Is the approval of a HellSpawn a good thing?


Mercenary Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool


Avenger Hawkeye, now deceased, errr, resurrected as Ronin... Oye, comics...


Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury


Tuxedo Mask


Tomb Raider Laura Croft

Bad weather, but still a great show!

Tonight, I find myself wishing I'd used the "idiots who don't know how to drive" intro to the new podcast.  It would've been appropriate.  But despite icy roads, we still had an excellent Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven event at the Phoenix in South Euclid!

I had a rough start to the night.  Dominica Sanchez had to cancel her appearance due to the flu.  A number of things had me leaving the house two hours later than I'd wanted to.  The weather wasn't very helpful, either.  I arrived at the café a little bit after 7:00 and went to work setting up. The good news is, the more shows I've done, the faster I've gotten at setting up and tearing down. LOL. While a number of people that we'd hoped would be there were not able to make it, we did have a decent turn-out, including one poet from Michigan, three poets who had not yet read for the podcast, and three more friends and dare I say "regular contributors."  I also threw in my short comedy routine (though I haven't decided whether or not to include it in a podcast).  We'll be back at the Phoenix on Valentine's Day.  For now I get a few weeks to catch up on my rest, maybe get some more T-shirts screen printed, and get down to business scheduling shows and featured poets for 2009. :-D

Best day I ever had in retail...

Best day I ever had in all the years I worked retail.  It was mid-December of the year I worked at Wal-Mart.  This lady was pacing around the toy department, looking distraught.  I realized the other person working the department that day was avoiding her, so I went up and asked if I could help her.  "I don't know...  I don't know what to get for my daughter.  She's in first grade.  She wrote Santa asking for a 'for real friend.'  I don't know what to do..."

"Umm...  She wants a toy cat."

"What?"

"Its called a 'FUR-Real Friend.'  It's a robot cat.  They're this year's 'Tickle-Me-Elmo,' the hot item."

The look on this lady's face went from distress to pure joy and relief.  She seriously thought her daughter was having social problems at school based on her Santa letter, and was elated to learn that all her daughter was asking for was a toy.

While we didn't have any of the cats in stock, some of us in the department had been sharing info with friends at other stores about when we got the hot items in.  I knew Toys-R-Us had gotten a shipment in and would put them out that night, so I quietly relayed this to the customer.  (My co-worker's friend at T-R-U would do the same when we got our shipments in.)  I don't know if she managed to get one before the holiday, I hope she did.

I do know I will never forget the way she lit up.  Two minutes of my time focusing on customer service changed her whole day for the better.  That I will never forget.

Remember, as you hit the "Black Friday" sales today and do any of your offline holiday shopping this year, if you encounter a sales person who helps you, even in a little way, to thank them.  Retail sales are hell this time of year, especially with the economy like it is and bosses breathing down employees' necks.  Sometimes, a simple "thank you" is all it takes to brighten that sales-floor worker's day.

Moving Past Prejudice

One of my favorite bumper stickers... "I support gay marriage, if both chicks are hot."

I live in what I often refer to as the "northern tip of the bible-belt."  I grew up in a catholic family, was sent to a catholic school for eight years, and live in a town where high-school football is god and homophobia is considered the norm.  Needless to say, as a youngster, I too thought "gay" was "wrong" and "not the way things are supposed to be."  I wasn't ever as hateful as these so-called "love thy neighbor" religious types, but I was homophobic enough that I would never have been able to have a conversation with someone I knew to be gay.

Back in the days when Usenet was used for more than pirating DVDs and porn, I was involved in a conversation about graphic novels and comic books that could be used in a college course.  The lists people posted included the usual "Watchmen" and "The Sandman" and the occasional "Lone Wolf and Cub."  One other book kept popping up on people's lists: Howard Cruse's "Stuck Rubber Baby."  Then one week I was picking up my usual stack of comics and I saw a hardcover copy of "Stuck Rubber Baby" on the shelf.  "Yeah, Diamond (Distributions) shipped that here by mistake.  You can have it for five bucks."  Sold.  I hadn't noticed the words "Gay Literature" on the spine of the book.

It sat at the bottom of my book pile for a while, until late one night I wasn't tired and decided to start reading it.  That was when I noticed the words on the spine.  "What the hell is this?"

I decided to read it anyway.

It is one of the best damned books I have ever read.

I quickly found myself relating to and empathizing with Toland's experiences.  The book begins with a young man growing up as the civil rights movement of the 1960's is underway.  As he becomes more involved with the movement, he is also confronted with his own homosexuality.  As he travels his life's journey, he discovers and accepts who he is.

I am not going to write a full review here, but I will repeat: It is one of the best damn books I have ever read.  (And if you know what I do, you KNOW I've read a lot of books.)

As I closed the book after reading the last page, I noticed that the sun was already up.  I'd read it cover to cover in one night.  I wasn't able to read anything else for over two weeks.  Every time I tried to open a book, my mind just went back to "Stuck Rubber Baby."  I'd found myself relating to and understanding the emotional journey of a man discovering that he's gay.  If I could relate to it, it couldn't be "wrong," it couldn't be "not the way things are supposed to be."  It just simply was.  It wasn't something someone chose, it was simply the way nature had created them.

That's not to say I was cured of all the homophobic tendencies I grew up with.  I was confronted with my own knee-jerk discomfort the first time someone submitted an erotic poem to The Poet's Haven that was clearly written by a man to a man.  After clearing my brain and thinking past it, I did publish the poem.  As the years have gone by, it has become easier to think past it, to the point where it is no longer a conscious effort and my thoughts just adapt when they need to.  It doesn't bother me to see two guys holding hands or kissing in public.  (As a straight man, it has NEVER bothered me seeing two women kissing in public: Hence the bumper sticker quote at the start of this essay.)  I still get very uncomfortable in a situation where a guy is hitting on me or flirting.  (Strangely, or sadly, though, while I can count the number of times a woman has hit on me or flirted with me one one hand after an accident with a power saw, I've lost count of how many times a man has hit on me.  I'm a large, scary looking dude who grew up in the world of auto racing.  This has never made sense to me.  Then again, writing that out, I'm a large, scary looking dude who works in the world of art and poetry and listens to bands like The Cure.  So maybe it does make sense.)  But the discomfort isn't that different from what I felt when an underage girl was stalking me.

What this nation needs to get us on the path to proper, equal civil rights for gay folk is a generation of people who can move past their own unease like I have.  The generation that follows will be the one that progresses past all the hatred.  The civil rights movement of the 1960's succeeded in getting equal rights under the law for African-Americans.  The laws that made this so were passed by white dudes who were able to look past their own knee-jerk reactions and see what was RIGHT.  That generation's children (and, yes, grandchildren) have elected a black man as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.  There is still racism out there, but with each new generation of citizens, it grows smaller and smaller.  Now it is time for a new civil rights movement.  It is time for marches in front of government buildings demanding that legislation be passed ensuring that people of all races, genders, and ORIENTATIONS have the same rights under the law, including the right to a state-issued marriage license.  It will be a long battle, but it will eventually be won.  The question is whether my generation has the courage to put us on the right path.

Last Night's Poet's Haven Open-Mic in Akron :-)

We had a great turnout tonight!  I'd like to thank Dianne Borsenik, Christopher Franke, T.M. Göttl, Sarah Lambert, and Jen Pezzo  for coming out and reading tonight, and a huge THANK YOU to Geoffrey Landis and Mary Turzillo for being tonight's featured authors.

The wonder of modern technology also allowed Katherine Zaleski to read at the open-mic, while she was in Philadelphia, PA.  This wasn't something I planned, but during the night's readings the idea of a "long-distance open-mic," a poet reading over the phone to the live audience, clicked in my mind. I might try this again in the future.  Thanks, Kathy!!!

The next Poet's Haven open-mic event is coming right up on November 1, at Muggswigz in Canton.  This one's a Halloween event.  A camera will be rolling to capture any poets who come in costume for a special video edition of the podcast.

I'm looking forward to getting started on the podcasts from tonight's show... just as soon as I get a few hours sleep. :-)  The first episode including tonight's readings should be online by Monday, November 3.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Vertigo Xi'an Xavier
publisher, The Poet's Haven
http://www.PoetsHaven.com

My Letter to the GOP

FYI:  The spam e-mail this was in response to was sent to my old "CDIdesign.com" e-mail address, the one I used when I designed websites for companies in the world of auto racing.

********************************************************************

I'm kind of curious as to how I, a registered DEMOCRAT whose political views include Socialist reform, ended up on the GOP's spam list?  The only thing I can think of is that because I use this e-mail address to do business in the world of auto racing, you assume I must be a redneck (which I may well be), and therefore assume I must vote Republican (which I certainly do not).  It has been entertaining seeing what new out-of-context misdirections and even outright lies your campaign wishes to spread.  This whole "Joe the Plumber" thing has been hilarious.  How am I like "Joe the Plumber?"  Well, I am NOT.  See, I am NOT like "Joe the Plumber" because I am not working a day-job that requires a license without having said license.  See, I am NOT like "Joe the Plumber" because while I may write and publish under a pseudonym, when it comes to my day-job, I use my real name.  Hell, even in my publishing work, when it comes to money, I use my real name.  And see, I am NOT like "Joe the Plumber" because I actually pay my taxes.

"Spread the wealth" does not mean taking your rich buddies' money away and giving it all to poor people, no strings attached.  It means fixing it so that this country can once again have a strong middle-class.  Right now, 5% of this nation's people control 95% of the nation's wealth.  1% of this nation's people control 90% of the wealth.  The last eight years have seen to it that this country no longer has a middle-class.  There's the obscenely rich, and then there's the rest of us, struggling poor.  This has to end.

How do we "spread the wealth?"  We stop giving tax breaks to companies that send jobs overseas.  They want a tax break, they have to hire American workers.  Plain and simple.  The more new, full-time jobs a fortune-500 company creates, the bigger tax break they become eligible for.

How do we "spread the wealth?"  We close the loopholes that allow the richest people to pay a smaller percentage in taxes than the rest of us.  These loopholes are commonly called the "Bush tax cuts."

How do we "spread the wealth?"  By getting this country's head out of its ass regarding socializing health care.  Even Barack Obama is wrong on this issue.  This is the ONLY western country that does not socialize health care.  I am a type-1 diabetic.  I have private health insurance through my day-job.  The insurance is the only reason I have to work my day-job and the need for the insurance is the thing that keeps me from living my American dream of being able to run my own business full-time.  Even with my private insurance, my out-of-pocket expenses for my insulin, syringes, lancets, and test strips comes to over $240 a month.  Three years ago, my out-of-pocket expense was less than $120 a month, and that was taking a newer, more effective yet more expensive type of insulin.  Last year, the copay for that insulin went up so high (over a $200 copay for a one month supply) that I had to change to a less effective alternative.  The cost of this insulin has not changed over the last three years, as a matter of fact it is cheaper now than it was three years ago.  What my "wonderful" private insurance provider is willing to cover has changed.  The private insurance industry needs to be shut down.  The government already has the best and most cost-effective insurance program in place.  It is called Medicare.  It needs to be expanded to cover everyone.  The increase in taxes this would require would be FAR LESS than what both I and my employer pay to the private insurance companies.  C'mon, America, time for that rectal-cranial separation.

Sincerely,

Chris Draime
also known as Vertigo Xi'an Xavier
owner, The Poet's Haven
registered Democrat, state of Ohio


> Team,
>
> We're now 11 days out from Election Day and I wanted to give you an
> important campaign update.
>
> An Associated Press headline said the other day that this race is "All
> even in the homestretch." All indicators point to this race coming down to
> the wire, so it's extremely important to reach out to undecided voters -
> the key to winning this election. The election is in your hands and I'm
> asking you to make the case to undecided voters for John McCain and Sarah
> Palin. Here's what you should tell them...
>
> Instead of spreading wealth around, John McCain and Sarah Palin will
> spread opportunity.
>
> Recently in Ohio, Senator Obama finally broke down and famously told "Joe
> the Plumber" that his economic plan is to, "spread the wealth around." Joe
> is working hard to realize the American dream, as are millions of other
> people who work hard, pay taxes and dream of owning a small business one
> day. Barack Obama will raise taxes on hardworking Americans to give a
> government handout to the 40% of Americans who pay no income taxes.
>
> Thanks to "Joe the Plumber," voters are starting to see the clear
> difference between John McCain and Barack Obama on taxes. Joe's story is
> your story ... the story of hard work and the American dream. "Joe the
> Plumber" isn't just one man in Ohio ... it's every person in America with
> hopes, dreams and the desire to work hard with the opportunity to succeed.
>
> John McCain and Sarah Palin have an economic plan that celebrates the
> American dream of opportunity, not government giveaways. In this country,
> we believe in spreading opportunity, for those who need jobs and those who
> create them. That's why their economic plan - Jobs for America - is so
> important for the American people in this time of economic crisis.
>
> While Barack Obama is ready to "spread the wealth around," John McCain has
> a plan to get our economy moving so everyone has access to good jobs, a
> quality education and the opportunity to succeed.
>
> John McCain and Sarah Palin don't just talk about change ... they deliver.
>
> This election is certainly about change - there's no doubt about it. But
> that's why we're talking to voters about the difference between lower
> taxes and the opportunity to work hard for the American dream ... or
> higher taxes and government giveaways with Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
>
> You can trust John McCain and Sarah Palin because they are the real deal;
> reformers with a record who stand by their words and will always put their
> country first.
>
> Time and time again this team of mavericks has stood up, taken on tough
> issues and delivered. They're the real deal. They have a clear record that
> can deliver results, not just rhetoric that delivers votes.
>
> In the last 11 days of this campaign, we want voters to hear the story of
> "Joe the Plumber" to understand the important differences between John
> McCain and Barack Obama. Please take a minute today to watch videos
> submitted to our "I'm Joe the Plumber" video contest to see how people all
> across America recognize that they too are Joe the Plumber. Then forward
> this message to your friends with a personal message about why you're like
> Joe the Plumber and why you are supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin on
> Election Day.
>
> Thanks,
> Rick Davis
> Campaign Manager, McCain-Palin 2008
>
>
>
>
> Please visit this page if you want to remove yourself from the email list.
>
> Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008
>
>
>

FEEDBACK NEEDED: new bookmarks

I'm on the final batch of Poet's Haven bookmarks, and will be getting new ones printed soon.  I've decided to redesign them, so that rather than using clip art images (even clip art images that I customized), we have one design that uses my graffiti cat logo.  These are going to get used for some more... guerrilla style promotional campaigns than what The Poet's Haven has used thusfar.  (This is something I'll be asking for some street team help to implement.  More on this later.)  I'd like to know what y'all think of this design.  Is the rotating text distracting, or does it work?  Is there a better way to word things?  Should I include anything else on here?  Things like that.  Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

--VX

WHOTTA DAY! Show cancellations, new booking, more...

These are the kinds of days that you wish you could just hit the RESET button on...

Okay, the two open-mics I just announced a few days ago at After Dark have both been canceled.  Blame the state of Ohio for not renewing the club's liquor license.  They are closing down after this weekend.  I can't be pissed at anyone at the club, I do know enough of what had been going on there before I booked July's open-mic.  The owners are great people, and Paula, the manager as long as I've been going to the club, is wonderful.  I'm hopeful that the issues that caused all this to happen will be cleared up soon and they can reopen next year.  I don't know that that'll happen, but I can hope.

But anyway, that leaves me with two holes in the open-mic schedule...

I'm still working on finding another venue for the November 15 show.  I would like to have a show on that same date, however it may not be in the Summit County area.  I've got several possibilities in mind.

October 18 is off the table.  It is too close to effectively promote a show.  October 25, however, is still four weeks away.

There will be a Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven open-mic at the Angel Falls Coffee Company, 792 West Market Street in Akron, OH on October 25 at 8:00 PM.  This will be an event.

Yes, I realize that this means there will be Poet's Haven open-mic event two weeks in a row!  Yes, I realize that this will start me on a path to crash and burn.  Ya know what?  After the December 6 show, we're done for the year.  The next date I'm working on booking isn't until late January.  I can get my head back on straight over the holidays.  Then again, maybe not.  LOL

Also, today's events put me behind on completing the next podcast.  It'll go online as soon as I have it completed, but it most likely will not be up on Saturday.  I'll try to get it as close to finished tomorrow as possible, but after my day job (which I have to be up for in less than five hours), I don't know how strong my brain will be working.  I already had things scheduled to do all day Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon, so I may not be able to complete the podcast until Sunday night.

More will come as I can get things finalized.  Stay tuned...

I just secured two Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven bookings at Lake Anna After Dark in Barberton, OH!!!  The Poet's Haven will be taking over the "time slot" of this club's monthly poetry nights on October 18 and November 15.  (The regular event coordinator and emcee is taking time off to have a baby.)  Both these shows will have 7:00 PM start-times and be .  I'll post fliers and announce featured poets/performers as soon as I get them scheduled.

These fill the calendar of dates I wanted to book for the remainder of 2008!  (There is a slim possibility of one more show, but booking the October 18 date fills the "late October" spot I was trying to finalize.  If the café I was trying to book a show at does call me back, I may still offer them 10/25, but I'll more likely push them into 2009.)

FYI:  October 18 is "Sweetest Day."  This means we have open-mics on both Sweetest Day (at After Dark) and Valentine's Day (at the Phoenix Café in South Euclid)!


Stay tuned, space cowboys!

--VX

PoetsHaven.com 2001 vs. 2008... Be Frightened...

After receiving an e-mail from someone who did not remember submitting poems to the site (in early 2001, I still have his original e-mail archived), I found myself looking at an archive.org copy of the site from more than seven years ago.  This was from before 9/11 happened, before the site found itself collapsing under hundreds of submissions every week from inexperienced poets who were jumping on the poetry bandwagon as this nation struggled to deal with its newfound rage and grief.  This was before the site had to be closed to submissions and rewritten from the ground up thanks to the sudden closing of our original host server, basic page formatting that was written exclusively for the original host server and was not compatible with any new host, and an update system that could not be maintained under the surge of traffic and submissions that the site had begun receiving.

It was a very different time, back then.  I've always been very hands-on in building the site.  Even today, while I may not have written the programs that operate the site, I have read through every script and studied every line of code to make sure it all operates the way I want it to.  But back then, the pages were created in Notepad (with occasional help from Netscape Composer).  Each page was its own creation, hand-crafted to take the reader on a journey through various emotions.

Comparing the site then to today, the best analogy I can come up with is this:  PoetsHaven.com 2008 is like the perfect cake bought at the best bakery in town.  It is nearly perfect.  The edges are straight, the frosting is even, and the decorations are photo-realistic.  PoetsHaven.com 2001 (and earlier) is like the homemade cake.  Some parts are thinner than others, but where the cake dips you get a thick gob of rich icing.  It's sometimes imperfect, but heart went in to every bite.

The site is drastically more professional today.  While I would certainly never go back to running the site the way it was run back then, there are aspects of it I miss.  Back then, I could name every poem and author I had ever published.  I could even recite a good 40 to 50 percent of the poems on the site.  Today, I find myself unable to remember how to spell the name of a writer I only published a few weeks ago, and unable to remember the titles of the poems I published by that author.  I no longer have the personal connection with every item I publish.  I review the work, decide if I want to publish it or not, and then click "Accept" or "Delete."  In the drive for professionalism and efficiency, have I lost the key aspect that made the site my labor of love for the art?  Is my professional detachment from the work being published part of what is driving me to build a new, more personal experience with the Poet's Haven open-mic events and the podcasts?

Check it out for yourself:
PoetsHaven.com 2001
PoetsHaven.com 2008


My mind is still racing, and now I want to go bake a cake...


--VX