A tale of two Joes

Last night, for my birthday, Dana took me to see Joe Pernice at Lee's Palace. An amazing concert. Joe's guitar was all sweaty from working so hard. I hadn't noticed before how many of his songs are just so damn pretty, too. A good respite from the swamp. And bumped into some neat friends there, too.

I read a really moving anti-war article linked to informationclearinghouse.info today -- it was by the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq. It was smart and brave, and said things that so badly need to be said. I wish she could have read it out on CNN -- and Fox, for that matter.

Anyway, I wrote her a very quick note, commending her for the article, and wishing her well in her attempts to save American and Iraqi lives. I got a brief note of thanks back, and somehow that microscopic connection with someone who actually lost a child in Bush's war of greed made it all that much more real to me. Just her few words of thanks were somehow more vital than 500 hours of CNN coverage.

Speaking of Americans, this Friday I meet with another Joe -- a friend I made in Guatemala in 1989 -- in Windsor, not too far from Ann Arbor, where he lives. This will be our second annual Windsor Convention. Joe's one of the smartest, finest, most decent people I know. There seem to be many such Americans. Gonna be a nice day.

In the meantime, trying to get the tax monkey off my back, and trying to finish a freelance editing job, and playing too much online chess. Fighting off the panic caused by looming travel to Yellowknife, the Kootenays, Ottawa, Chile, and the Kootenays again. Plus a couple weeks at Centauri Summer Arts Camp, near Grimsby, where I'm teaching poetry and fiction to teens.

On the upside, had a great workshop on Saturday at This Ain't. My "students" were all very pleased, and it felt good to know I'm good at something.

Over and out.