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.

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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.

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