The montly event at The Gallery Above was fun last night. A low-key affair. When we arrived, host Matty Jankowski was talking with two other brave souls. Others arrived as the night went on, and we eventually had a house of nine altogether. We looked at the “Watercolors” show currently on display and greeted each other.

Matty started the night with some interactive stuff: Text as art that we read aloud and en masse; a list of things we “hate,” again read over each other; some more text pieces that we shared interpretations of.

I followed up with a reading of a short story I wrote the other night as part of my 366 Days project. I picked the piece, about people who are mutating into other forms, in part because of gallery owner Heather Clements’ latest series of pieces depicting a woman with octopus tentacles swirling out of her hair. It seemed a good match. Plus, my son Nathan liked the story.

Next Sierra Latham played guitar and sang a couple of original songs. You can check out her duo Deep Water Point at this link.

Nathan’s friend, Bob, read an original haiku and shared an ancient one as well.

A gentleman whose name I did not get read us some of his song lyrics, which he said should not be confused with poetry. Then he read us a favorite poem from a book he’d brought along.

Nancy Norton shared a poem on friendship. I’d only ever met Nancy online before this evening; she’s very active at PCityLive.com, and comments on all of my fiction work there.

Nathan read a story that’s been in progress in one form or another for half a year, and he and his girlfriend, Ashley sang a cover of “Falling Slowly” from the movie “Once” using Sierra’s guitar. Bob then sang “Brightest” by Copeland, also using Sierra’s guitar.

Her guitar got quite the workout. Another young woman, whose name I didn’t get, borrowed it to try and start an improvisational sing-along, but it didn’t quite take off. Sierra took it up at the end to sing us another original. She said she only knew her own songs, so she doesn’t take requests.

Matty thanked us all for participating and told us about upcoming events at the gallery. Go hit the link above and check out the calendar for more info. There are events there all the time - movie nights, live bands, swing lessons, and more.

Peace.

—–

And speaking of “peace,” you should check out the new blog by our high school student intern, Simona, whose handle on the site is “LovingPeace.” You can find her blog here. She’ll be with us until December, so be sure to suggest stories or blog topics you’d like to see a student tackle.

So Matty Jankowski has invited me to participate in “Open Mic Night” at the Gallery Above, 563 Harrison Ave. downtown, a monthly event cohosted by Heather Clements, artiste and owner of the space. It starts at 7 p.m. tonight. Suggested donation is $5 (to cover costs of opening, cooling and lighting the gallery, I’m guessing). Call for info: 215.9954.

Everyone’s invited to bring poetry, music, creativity, and voices. As Matty said, “Dig into the archive, or a fresh rant would be great.” And Heather said, “Sing, dance, play, read, shout, move, speak, create, share, rock.”

Let’s see what happens. 

I expect I’ll read one of the short fictions from my 366 Days project.

Peace.

You think writing or drawing is easy? Try doing both and creating a 24-page comicbook in a 24-hour period. Here’s a heads-up from our friend at the Visual Arts Center, Jayson Kretzer:

The Visual Arts Center Opens Registration for 24 Hour Comics Day 2008
When: October 18, 2008 @ 12pm.
Where: Visual Arts Center, 19 E.
4th Street, Panama City, Florida
What : 24 Hour Comics Day is an annual challenge for cartoonists to produce a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 consecutive hours.
Over the years, the 24 Hour comic book challenge has thwarted and rewarded such comics luminaries as Scott McCloud, Dave Sim, Neil Gaiman, Kevin Eastman and many others. On 24 Hour Comics Day, creators of all ages and levels of skill and experience gather at one of the participating sites to encourage each other in completing this creative comics marathon.
This year the Visual Arts Center will be hosting a 24 Hour Comics Day Event . The event will start at noon on Saturday, October 18 and go 24 hours straight thru the night and end at noon on October 19.
Registration for the 24 Hour Comics challenge is $5 per artist. Pre-registration is necessary as space is limited.
Suggested Audiences: Adults (all ages), College, High School, Middle School & Elementary (with a parent).
ComicsPRO will continue to add resources to the 24 Hour Comics Day website. For more information, please continue to check this website.

For further inquiries, contact Visual Arts Center’s Exhibition Manager, Jayson Kretzer at vacexhibitions@knology.net

MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN …

Another friend and writer, Chris Arrant, has joined forces with artist Star St. Germain to produce an illustrated tale inspired by Tori Amos’ song “Glory of the ’80s.” It’s part of the 480-page anthology, “Comic Book Tattoo,” in stores now. Here is a story on the project that appeared in last Thursday’s “Entertainer.”

  The cycle begins anew: Another school year starts, another round of troubles appear. People will scramble to meet the challenges created by decisions made in prior school years, and the more things change the more they stay the same. Before school began, everyone was talking about how the student population has fallen in Bay District Schools. They said some schools should be closed and students rezoned. They said new schools should not be constructed.
    But that’s not what it looked like (or sounded like) on the ground this week, and some of that was a direct result of actions taken in the previous school year.
    I spent Monday morning following around Principal Denise Kelley at Breakfast Point Academy, a new K-8 school off Beckrich Road in Panama City Beach. While the school was built to serve 1,300 students and was expecting to open with only 550 or so, more than 750 were enrolled by opening day.
    The student drop-off loop was filled with cars passing through and parking along the curbs, squeaking past each other with only inches to spare. Those exiting had to drive onto curbs to pass those entering, because cars lined the driveway, and were abandoned in the far right lane of the street for a couple of blocks. Cars filled the parking lot and the sidewalks in some places, and blocked access to staff parking areas.
    A kindergarten orientation scheduled for that morning contributed to the near gridlock conditions, but it also could indicate what to expect when the school reaches its capacity. Another case in point: Backed up traffic on Mosley Drive because of parents trying to reach nearby Bay Haven Elementary School to drop off their children.
    Meanwhile, the new closedcampus lunch policy, which requires special paperwork and permissions before upperclassmen can leave campus for lunch, also has created overcrowding issues at area high schools.
    From Lynn Haven came a mother’s complaint that her daughter couldn’t find a place to park herself during her brief lunch period at Mosley High School. The freshman girl searched the lunchroom, then an outdoor seating area, and finally gave up.
    And a Bay High School junior tells the story of students nearly scuffling over long lines and lack of seating in the lunchroom. Sure, there are lots of places to sit outside in the courtyard by the library — if it isn’t raining, she said. And just wait until it turns cold.
    It’s a paradox that our world grows larger and smaller at the same time, and for the same reasons. And no matter how we think we’re prepared, there’s never good parking.
    Peace.

… on the occasion of her 19th birthday:

The days are growing shorter again. For a while the humidity was down, and that gave the atmosphere a false feeling of autumn just around the corner. It’s back-to-school season, and you can smell it in the air. It makes me think of all those mornings you picked up Nathan for school, and I keep expecting you at the door any moment, calling out “Ola!”

You’d probably be at Good Will this week, picking out something stylish that no one else would have recognized until you put it together. There’s a new store on 23rd Street we’ve been meaning to visit. I’ll let you know what we find.

We went to the beach last Sunday and got a little red. I saw a woman gathering debris from the high tide line to decorate her sand castle. She picked up shells and twigs and a dead crab. Her project reminded me of the one we all built together out at Grayton, using June grass and algae to color the surrounding “grounds” and the mermaid’s hair.

We dropped in to spend time with Chuck and Carmen on the night before they left for D.C., sat on the carpet in their empty house while Chuck finished painting his Joy boots. You’d have been there with us, I know, and Chuck would have had no reason to paint, and we’d never even have known how lucky we were. I could have lived all my life having never painted a pair of galoshes.

Even so, Project Joy Boots is going well. We’ve raised about $1,200 towards a scholarship. Your mom and Katie and Jazma have been relentless promoters. I finally finished my pair of time travel boots, though Jazma thinks they’re more like Cyberman shoes. You decide. They’re on display now in the cases at the Amelia Center.

This time last year, we were at your house. Nathan sang “Business Time” and you guys sported matching Spider-Man T-shirts. I rewatched that video again recently, and it made me happy. The future seemed wide open then.

What a difference a year makes.

Well, I know none of this is news to you anyway, and we talk every day. You always were a good listener. We’ll be visiting today and releasing some birthday balloons, so keep an eye out. Try to catch them if they pass close enough.

Love.

—–

View Marisa’s high school graduation video slideshow.

See the musical tribute to Marisa that was part of Gulf Coast Community College’s spring musical.

Watch Marisa and my daughter sing a song to me.

View the video for Project Joy Boots.

Marisa sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to Nathan last summer, with the help of a helium balloon.

Okay, so a couple of fellows in Georgia claim to have recovered the body of a sasquatch. A press conference is scheduled for today.

And a cop says this is video of the fabled Chupacabra.

All in the same week?

Where are the UFO videos? Oh. Here’s one.

And here’s our own News Herald expedition to uncover the elusive Florida Skunk Ape.

It’s a bizarre world.

Sorting out some thoughts on a few random experiences from the week past:

A couple of items have cropped up today that you might have some interest in: 

1) The Bay High Million Dollar Band will have a “Classless Reunion” for all former or current members of the band (1927-2008) and band fans on Oct. 3-4. More than 900 former band members have been located so far, says Randy Segler. For more details visit their new website or call Randy or Ann at 770-8910. Randy contacted me after I put together a video about band camp last week.

Says Randy: “For most of this year we’ve been building a database of former members of the Bay High Band starting with the first graduating Class in 1927. So far, we’ve identified about 2,300 and located more than 900. It has been really interesting to learn how many prominent local citizens played in and were leaders in the Million Dollar Band. The main purpose of the effort is to build a stronger support base for the band to protect them from further funding cuts. Along the way, though, we plan to have a lot of fun.”

2) David Agosta, a frequent name on the Viewpoints page, called to say he’s volunteering every Tuesday at the Republican HQ in town, and he brings along his collection of presidential figures in case you’re interested. If you push their lapel buttons, they speak 25 quotes by that president. So far, his collection includes only Washington, Reagan and the two Bushes. Contact the GOP HQ at 763-8656.

Need to get the word out? Drop me a line.

Went to the Pier Park Borders to see the hysteria building as hundreds of kids arrived to celebrate the midnight release of the new Stephanie Meyer book, Breaking Dawn. My son was the vampire MC. Got a sticker. Paid for my daughter’s copy of the book. Bought some great time-wasters:

The Umbrella Academy. Madcap and surreal tale of superheroics from Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance. Recommended.

NewUniversal. Reboot of an “alternate universe” idea from Marvel comics. Written by Warren Ellis. Artist used lots of movie star photos as visual references. How many can you identify? I see Sawyer from Lost, Bruce Willis, and the farmer from that talking pig movie (Something Cromwell). Inside you’ll find others, like The Ninth Gate version of Johnny Depp.

Watched Secret Life of an American Teenager. Doctor Who season finale. Mad Men. Saving Grace. (Holly Hunter is awesome.) Bits and pieces of various Shark Week shows my daughter recorded.

Movie night consisted of a repeat showing of Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, and the followup, Harry Knuckles and the Treaser of the Aztec Mummy and Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace (which included an appearance by Bionic Bigfoot). If you get these zero-budget movies off Netflix or whereever, the titles should tell you what’s in store. Don’t blame me.

Worked on my robot boots for Project Joy Boots, but they turned into Time Traveler Boots instead.

It was hot.The kids told me it wasn’t so bad, really, and the band director said the heat was worse last summer, but let me tell you: It was hot.