Up the 401

I write this at The Sleepless Goat in Kingston, after a well-attended, fun, and concise show in which Sherwin and I were joined by local poet (and Sherwin's former writing teacher) Carolyn Smart. Sherwin is a beguilingly funny performer, as I have known since I saw him read from his giant book of pseudo-haiku in New York on the Perpetual Motion Roadshow, a couple of years ago. Now his giant book of pseudo-haiku (1600 pages, bound with steel bolts through corrugated cardboard) has been re-published -- in smaller, pocket-friendly form -- by Coach House Press, as The World is a Heartbreaker (which phrase is the book's first poem, in its entirety). He read from the original book tonight, and asked the crowd to share their most burning personal questions, which were then answered by the oracle of the book. One guy asked, "Does my father really respect me?" and the poem that the book offered was: "We don't / go through the motions / anymore."

Thanks to the Sleepless Goat and in particular to Vincent, Annie, and Jackie who helped us out a lot in making the show smooth and successful. I'm being put up tonight at the home of Mary, Pat, Hector and Iris, so thanks very much to them and here's hoping that Hector won't choose too early an hour to jump on me and take all the money out of my pockets, which is what he did when we arrived. (Okay, he's 2.) Tomorrow we drive to Ottawa for our show with rob mclennan, Stephen Cain, and Max Middle at The Mercury Lounge, 57 Byward Street, 7:30 pm. And then -- finally, for me, after a month on the road -- we arrive in Montreal on Thursday and do a show at Pharmacie Esperanza (5490 Saint-Laurent) at 7:30 pm. Performers include Sherwin and I, Shannon Bramer, Stephen Cain, and musicians Amber Goodwyn and Martin Horn.

I want to backtrack a bit and flesh out my activities of the last couple of weeks, in sketchbook form. I want to mix my metaphors until they are completely homogenized...