This from Sandra Doller at 1913
http://www.journal1913.org/home.html

"& psst. i'm starting a reviews bloggy thing via 1913 if your students have any desire to write some wacky po or non-po reviews...wld love to have someone write on R Wolff's newest & how bout a review of yr 4 recent chappies eh? anyone in mind for such tasks, do send em my way..."

I wd rather yall not review anything of mine but do send something to her

she's at
1913press (..at..) gmail (dot) com

Ode to Eczema

it puts the lotion on its skin
& then it gets the hose again!

"2ND ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF WIERD [sic] MUSIC"
Indian Meadows Campground
Pentress, WV
August 14, 15, 16 2009
featuring many ohio musicians and sound artists including emeralds, aaron dilloway, jason zeh, ryan jewel, tusco terror, skin graft, bee mask, and fluxmonkey aka bbob drake.

Linking Ohio by rail

Communities of all sizes across the state are touting their best assets in hopes of being chosen as one of the stops for the proposed passenger rail line from Cleveland to Cincinnati. [...]

As the dream of passenger rail between Cleveland and Cincinnati moves closer to reality -- with officials seeking up to $400 million in federal stimulus money and Amtrak undertaking a study -- communities along the line are lobbying for a stop. It even has spawned competition in parts of the state. [...]

Community leaders say the service would bring economic development, tourism and a chance to recapture the time when passenger rail was a primary form of transportation in the state. Cross-state service ended in 1971. [...]

Middletown City Manager Judy Gilleland said her community is perfect for a train station.

"We are centrally located in the middle of Dayton and Cincinnati," she said. She added that a station would attract business and pleasure travelers and Miami University students. The city has a bus system and a regional airport and is close to Interstate 75, she said.

full story here.

A Dream in Day

Jessica and Tony call it quits.
I’d see they’d go from fight to fight.
The mountains had butterflies on their first date,
wanting to puke into a cup holder.
It took forever to put together an outfit,
and all those keys. When he tried leaning
Over the table free from thought,
white lions never dated a person so simple.

Eleanor Antin's 100 Boots

"100 Boots Go East"

Taken on my birthday.

Can also be seen on the cover of Rae Armantrout's Up to Speed.

See more of the series: http://www.barbarakrakowgallery.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/6198

Local food and an historic avant garde

This past Sunday's Plain Dealer contained two pieces of particular, and for me not unrelated, interest.

First, a nice little feature on City Fresh, the farm share coop i've been working with the past few months. City Fresh is a CSA (community-supported argiculture) co-op: several times a week a truck that runs on vegetable oil makes the rounds of organic farms in nearby Summit and Portage counties buying available produce and bringing it back to various distribution points throughout the city, where shareholders have placed advance orders for whatever the farms have available that week. This is rare among CSAs, which usually require shareholders to purchase an entire season's worth of produce in advance, usually from a single farm provider. Our weekly shares are also priced on a two-tier system so that those who can afford it subsidize those who otherwise couldn't.

Second, a backgrounder on the Kokoon Arts Klub of Cleveland, which promoted experimental arts dance and lifestyle even before the famous 1913 Armory show in New York City. Founded mostly by disgruntled German lithographers who were bored with commercial art (particularly movie posters coming out of Cleveland's then-major lithography industry), the KAK held an annual "Bal Masque" or fundraising soiree that featured some rather outlandish for-the-time attractions. But they were also committed to the kinds of innovate arts emerging elsewhere to the local Clevleand audience. The Klub's history and their work are featured in an exhibit running though March 2010 at the Kent State University Museum.

A critique of growth

...by default? Sometimes it's important to make a virtue of necessity; from Plain Dealer Reporter Robert L. Smith:

The U.S. Census Bureau will announce today that Cleveland lost nearly 10 percent of its population this decade, the fastest rate of decline of any major American city except New Orleans, which weathered a hurricane and is bouncing back.[...]

Across Ohio, two out of three villages and cities have lost population since 2000. The exodus is most pronounced in the major cities. Among Ohio's 10 largest cities, seven lost population this decade, none more than Cleveland.[...]

Three major Ohio cities likely will celebrate the 2010 census. Both Cincinnati and Columbus grew this decade, Columbus by a state-leading 41,879 people. But the biggest surprise may be Lorain. Hard hit by factory closings, Ohio's 10th-largest city saw its population climb by about 1,500 people this decade. The North Coast Building Industry Association credits home building on the city's west side that borders Amherst.

Factory closings and job losses are emptying cities, experts say, but sprawl is also a powerful force. Three of Ohio's 10 fastest growing cities are the far western suburbs of Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville. [Where I just moved from!]

Meanwhile, eight of Ohio's 10 fastest shrinking cities are Cleveland inner-ring suburbs. Brooklyn, Lakewood, Fairview Park, University Heights, Shaker Heights, Euclid, South Euclid and East Cleveland and all lost 10 percent or more of their populations this decade.

Full story here.