"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
I am stoked. Just sitting here at the Green Mill with John and Audra-Jane Scholtes (the couple I wedded in August ’09), K. Zwick and a small crowd. It’s lovely. Always pretty lovely.
Even better, though, is the fact that Josh Boyd is the feature tonight. New, fellow Write Bloody author, his work is dynamite.
Check out his new book, Catacomb Confetti on Write Bloody Publishing. It’s very, very good.
Mr. and Mrs. Scholtes informed me a few weeks ago that I would be an uncle in September. They have a bun in the oven.
The Tuggles are here as well. It’s a good night.
Woot!
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 21 March, 2010 at 4:31 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged chicago, green mill, uptown poetry slam. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I am stoked. Just sitting here at the Green Mill with John and Audra-Jane Scholtes (the couple I wedded in August ’09), K. Zwick and a small crowd. It’s lovely. Always pretty lovely.
Even better, though, is the fact that Josh Boyd is the feature tonight. New, fellow Write Bloody author, his work is dynamite.
Check out his new book, Catacomb Confetti on Write Bloody Publishing. It’s very, very good.
Mr. and Mrs. Scholtes informed me a few weeks ago that I would be an uncle in September. They have a bun in the oven.
The Tuggles are here as well. It’s a good night.
Woot!
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 4:31 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged chicago, gigs & shows, green mill, uptown poetry slam. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Just raced my train with Ronnie K. Stephens to find my station in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. Adventure! Now!
Ronnie’s the shit.
I arrive in Chicago around 2pm. Amtrak time!
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 19 March, 2010 at 10:59 PM, filed under Travel and tagged chicago, Travel & Touring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Just raced my train with Ronnie K. Stephens to find my station in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. Adventure! Now!
Ronnie’s the shit.
I arrive in Chicago around 2pm. Amtrak time!
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 10:59 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged chicago, Travel & Touring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
1/365 (Count reset for missing yesterday… I always realize I forgot to post an hour after midnight! fuck… What to do, what to do?)
I fly to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get to hang with Jesse Parent. He’s cool and has Worcester cred. He’s gonna show me the Mormon Temple like a tourist. (MUST take photos.) Then I am off to Denver for a show at Johnson & Wales University on Thursday. I’ve been there before and I had a blast last time. Denverites: Spread the word!
I have many gigs to tend to. Click here for updated dates. Looking forward to rocking some schools and Denver Poetry Slam. Will have a few days of free time next week. I was hoping to go to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a day or two, but the cost of travel makes it very difficult to get out there. I miss Fayetteville and my peeps there. Will have to get there this year.
Shit. I really need to hit up the whole mid-west. Big time. Texas to Minnesota. Like mad.
GAMING
I am bringing a Magic deck with me. If you play, lemme know, bring your deck. We’ll make it happen. I am also down for Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and Bananagrams, but you’ll have to supply them.
YOUTH WORKSHOP
Ken Arkind is working out a youth poetry performance workshop for me to facilitate in Denver this weekend. Should be good times. Will update with information soon.
CHICAGO IS MINT AND BOSS
After my last mid-west school on March 19th, I think I am just going to catch a train and ride to Chicago. One: Because I love Chicago. Two: Because I love trains. If anyone wants to ride the train with me, come! Let us ride the train and play games. I need to see Chicago peeps like mad.
ON A RADTASTIC NOTE
Got a call tonight from my friend John. I wedded him and his wife Audra last August in Milwaukee, my very first wedding. They wanted me to know that I will be an uncle this year as they have gone made themselves pregnant. I am so very happy for them and their child as they will be incredible parents.
Babies having babies, man. Babies having babies.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunnies having bunnies, man.
This entry was written by , posted on 8 March, 2010 at 8:37 PM, filed under Travel and tagged arkansas, batesville, chicago, colorado, comedy shows, denver, illinois, live performance, performances, salt lake city, slc, spoken word shows, uncle mike, utah. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
1/365 (Count reset for missing yesterday… I always realize I forgot to post an hour after midnight! fuck… What to do, what to do?)
I fly to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get to hang with Jesse Parent. He’s cool and has Worcester cred. He’s gonna show me the Mormon Temple like a tourist. (MUST take photos.) Then I am off to Denver for a show at Johnson & Wales University on Thursday. I’ve been there before and I had a blast last time. Denverites: Spread the word!
I have many gigs to tend to. Click here for updated dates. Looking forward to rocking some schools and Denver Poetry Slam. Will have a few days of free time next week. I was hoping to go to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a day or two, but the cost of travel makes it very difficult to get out there. I miss Fayetteville and my peeps there. Will have to get there this year.
Shit. I really need to hit up the whole mid-west. Big time. Texas to Minnesota. Like mad.
GAMING
I am bringing a Magic deck with me. If you play, lemme know, bring your deck. We’ll make it happen. I am also down for Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and Bananagrams, but you’ll have to supply them.
YOUTH WORKSHOP
Ken Arkind is working out a youth poetry performance workshop for me to facilitate in Denver this weekend. Should be good times. Will update with information soon.
CHICAGO IS MINT AND BOSS
After my last mid-west school on March 19th, I think I am just going to catch a train and ride to Chicago. One: Because I love Chicago. Two: Because I love trains. If anyone wants to ride the train with me, come! Let us ride the train and play games. I need to see Chicago peeps like mad.
ON A RADTASTIC NOTE
Got a call tonight from my friend John. I wedded him and his wife Audra last August in Milwaukee, my very first wedding. They wanted me to know that I will be an uncle this year as they have gone made themselves pregnant. I am so very happy for them and their child as they will be incredible parents.
Babies having babies, man. Babies having babies.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunnies having bunnies, man.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:37 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged arkansas, batesville, chicago, colorado, comedy shows, denver, illinois, performances, salt lake city, slc, spoken word shows, Travel & Touring, uncle mike, utah. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
PORTLAND, OREGON
Since I’ve notified everyone in Worcester, Massachusetts, for the most part, and told my family in California, I figured I might as well make it known that I intend to move from Worcester, Mass. to Portland, Oregon. Probably this summer.
Barring anything that might make me move sooner, I am thinking that since the fall is a major touring season for me, I’d like to try to get settled on the west coast by September. I miss my family too often to live this far away now. I gave myself a year to live here and my family understood, but it’s getting harder to be this distant.
My father’s side of my family lives in Washington. My mother’s side lives in California. Oregon is a good central location. I have very close friends in and around Everett, WA who I love to visit, as well as in Eugene and Corvallis, OR.
LOTS OF THOUGHT
I want my family, given and chosen, to travel more. Shit — I want everyone I know to travel — but they are a sedentary lot down there in Silicon Valley and up in the Seattle area. If I move to a place they can get to in one flight or train, or even a 12 hour drive, they just might do it.
I’ve been considering this for sometime now, ever since the Elephant Engine Revival Tour last autumn. We spent a pretty solid week in Portland and I fell in love with the city itself, caught up with a surprising amount of friends in the area, and realized it’s proximity and low cost were key to being closer to San José and Vancouver, B.C., the Cities of My Heart.
Portland is a 1h:45m flight to San José and generally very cheap. Portland is also about 6-8 hours by train to Vancouver, or a 1h:10m flight straight through. Seattle’s an easy stop. Boise’s awesome and easy to get to as well.
MY TIME IN WORCESTER
I feel I’ve experienced as much growth in Worcester in the last 13 months as I did in the previous five years on the road. So much of it is thanks to Bill MacMillan and Tony Brown — my brothers from other mothers. I feel like I can be me and I like the me that I’m becoming thanks to the people who have become my New England family. My roommate Melinda Lee is the shit, plain and simple. I have felt very much at home here thanks specifically to Missy Mitchell, Dave Keali‘i MacKenzie, Sou MacMillan, Alex Charlambides, Liz Heath, Cyndi Keeley, Rushelle Frazier (before she moved), Heather MacPherson, Danielle Carriveau, Mark Palos, Sam Teitel, Roger Mindfucker (our cat), Anne O’Neill, Simone Beaubien, Danny Balel, Emily Mele, and a host of other people in New England. I haven’t forgotten any names, I just didn’t want to turn this into an acceptance speech. I will surely write that entry when I do actually move.
WHAT BOTHERS ME MOST
I am sad that so many others promised to visit me in my home while I was here and will have absolutely failed to do so before I move. I am just glad Finneyfrock and Weslowski are coming to do there own respective Kitchen Sessions this spring. And they’re coming from the WEST COAST… At this point, I will be too busy to really host anyone else before I move… Very, very saddening.
PORTLAND IS RAD AND GETTING RADDER
With the growing number of Write Bloody authors living and moving to Portland, it’s a perfect spot for a northern WB hub. We can put on shows/readings, get the ball rolling on events and brainstorm future projects. The city pushes the arts, has a fantastic transit system (which is a HUGE sell for us rare non-drivers), and loves their bicyclists, an activity I’ve missed since my Schwinn cruiser days in downtown San José.
Portland is alive and electric. It excites me. I feel I could be there even if I didn’t know anyone, although, it does also feel very, very transient. I think people come and go like mad, which is my plan as well. The gray skies will get to me in due time, but at least it doesn’t snow very often.
I think people should travel and really try living in other places. It’s easier than it seems and there are a number of people who do it enough to advise newbies. I said I would give Worcester a year and it turned out to be more. I will probably give Portland a year. I think it’s a good idea. You really get a feel for a city when you’ve spent a year there.
WHERE I TRULY BELONG
Of the entirety of the Bay Area, I would really only live in San José/Silicon Valley, but it’s three times the cost of living in Worcester. I am one of San José’s biggest fans, but I have spent 27+ years there (prior to touring) and I really just want to see more places and try out new environments for a while. I will return to San José, but I need just a little more stability and a girl-partner who is also a huge fan of Silicon Valley. And they would have to be a fan of it because anyone who didn’t grow up there has a hard time seeing it’s greatness. I couldn’t love a human baby as much as I love Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley Example of Greatness #2,482: 300 days a year of sunshine. 300. Yep.
SILICON VALLEY vs. PACIFIC NORTHWEST
There are really only a few places I feel I belong in a living situation and they are Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest (Eugene, OR to Bellingham, WA… Vancouver is the Pacific Southwest to Canadians.) I belong in Vancouver. I am so very much at home in Vancouver, but the cost of living there is fuckstupid, especially for an American. With my constant travel, I’d have to fly from Vancouver to U.S. destinations pretty often. I tend to have to book flights on short notice. I just did a sample search and a ONE-WAY flight two weeks from now from Vancouver to Denver is $309-USD. However, one-way from Seattle to Denver is $101-USD. Prices for Canadian flights to the U.S. are almost always three-times U.S. prices, across the board. I could bus it down to Seattle whenever I had a flight, but making the right bus-to-flight connection is a bitch-and-a-half and pretty costly over time. It’s a 2h:30m ride and you have to cross a border every time. I’ve done it and I despise it.
Vancouver Suckiness Example #2: Three short days a year of sunshine.*
I’d be better off living in Seattle, but Seattle has always felt like Vancouver Light. Aside from the awesome poetry people who live there, Seattle feels very, very sad. It is almost like 60 to 70% of the city is depressed. I feel it whenever I am there. The Seattle spoken word scene is pretty stellar thanks to Daemond Arrindell and Youth Speaks Seattle, but a thriving poetry scene is one of the last reasons I would move to a city. If it were my first reason, I’d be living in Vancouver already.
I did seriously consider moving to Bellingham, but it was only because I like the Poetry Night crew and their proximity to Vancouver, B.C.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles is a congested maze and nearly impossible to navigate without a car, but I do like it more than I did five years ago. I have some very close friends down there, but the traffic alone kills me. I don’t know how anyone does it. It seems to me to be the place so many people go to realize their dreams, only to get stuck in a job they despise and eventually abandon their reason for moving there. Success in the arts in L.A. must be limited to a very lucky/determined 2% of the population — if that.
There is so much sadness in L.A. and such a shattered spoken word and poetry scene. In all of my touring I have only ever lost money in Los Angeles. I’ve been paid a few times, but I feel like it was always out of Rob Sturma’s pocket and not really from the community around him. And merch sales? Doubtful. I think so many people are always broke in L.A. because they have to save their money to buy gas and keep their car running. I only ever go there to visit friends. Any gig I get is merely an attempt to deflect some of the cost of travel. But seriously, If I am wrong about L.A., please tell me so. If there is a growing spoken word scene I don’t know about, let me know. Da Poetry Lounge is always a fun gig for me, but it pays irregularly. A lot of poets would like to tour through L.A. but everybody outside of it has no idea where to start.
Orange County seems to have a decent reputation for gigs, but it’s one giant suburb.
Long Beach is the home of Write Bloody and Snoop Dogg, and it’s about an hour away from L.A. I can dig Long Beach, but it’s still too similar to the rest of Southern California. It’s a nice place to visit. All of it really is, but if you have no family there, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.
THE MIDWEST
Chicago has always been a possibility, but one of the reasons I intend to leave New England is based on my ever-growing spite of the cold. I can handle rain and chill, but to-the-bone-kind-of cold really wears on me and keeps me inside too often. The cold here in New England starts in October and last through April. I have had two seasons of it. I would just be moving into a similar weather system in Chicago, which also has a summer humidity index that makes me want to punt fat babies. I could really only live there in the spring and autumn, if they show up. I love Chicago, but I would only live there for the people I knew and the fact that Chicago has THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD, but I would eventually despise the city for its weather.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Chicago is, without a doubt, THE HOME for funny poets. For me, the spoken word scene there has always been a draw for this reason. If you want to be a funny poet and like cold-ass winters and humid-ass summers, Chicago is the place for you. Male, female, emale, wemale — whatever — they are hilarious. Maybe it’s the food and weather. Being well fed and in constant sweaty/freezy conditions must help mold the humor… I am serious. Think about it. If you know the poetry slam/spoken word universe, Chicago has to be the funniest American scene. Germany is very, very big on humor in their poetry, as is Vancouver, but I think Chicago sets the standard as a scene. Hmmm.
I love you, ChiTown. I do, I do.
TIMELINE: JUST TALKING IT OUT
Since I have a bunch of travel this spring, I am going to try to spend as much time in Worcester this summer as I can. Depending on my finances, I will probably move toward the end of August, but I won’t know for sure.
I really don’t want to move while it is hot, so I may have to push it closer to June, which would kill my summer plans here, but would probably be a wiser move. I don’t make as much touring in the summer as I do in the spring and autumn. I would spend money to survive all summer, then spend money to move. I have gigs lined up this spring that would make a June/July move very easy. I am at a loss. I just don’t know.
What would be awesome is a road trip/poetry tour move. Any takers?
———
Word to the nerd.
*I am kidding… Sort of.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on 15 February, 2010 at 1:23 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged British Columbia, california, chicago, illinois, left coast, los angeles, massachusetts, moving, oregon, personal updates, portland, relocating, San-Jose-California, spoken word, Vancouver, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I will be in Chicago from August 26 through September 2.
During that week, I will be performing on 8/27 with Robbie Q at Vincennes University in Indiana. Then Bradley University on 8/28. I will chill in Chicago for a few days. Robbie just booked me to do a workshop and performance at Young Chicago Authors on September 2. Then we’ll head to Macomb, Illinois for a show at W. Illinois University.
I think this visit may include a trip to the Shannon Maney/Roy Magnuson Household.
So yeah! Chicago!
–––––––––
Word to the nerd.
2008: Doing it!
This entry was written by , posted on 12 August, 2008 at 6:23 PM, filed under Travel and tagged authors, bradley university, chicago, illinois, macomb, robbie q, vincennes university, western illinois university, young. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I will be in Chicago from August 26 through September 2.
During that week, I will be performing on 8/27 with Robbie Q at Vincennes University in Indiana. Then Bradley University on 8/28. I will chill in Chicago for a few days. Robbie just booked me to do a workshop and performance at Young Chicago Authors on September 2. Then we’ll head to Macomb, Illinois for a show at W. Illinois University.
I think this visit may include a trip to the Shannon Maney/Roy Magnuson Household.
So yeah! Chicago!
–––––––––
Word to the nerd.
2008: Doing it!
Originally published at MIKE McGEE TOWN DAILY. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 6:23 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged authors, bradley university, chicago, illinois, macomb, robbie q, Travel, vincennes university, western illinois university, young. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
EDIT: Post was screwed up thanks to a lame computer. It is fixed.
I’m at Robbie Q’s/<lj user=lilsamkudu> house in Chicago. New Year’s Eve ’06 was by far the quietest, most unnoticeable year change I’ve ever experienced. It was my first outside of California, and probably not my last. The only thing I really noticed was that my cell phone now says 07 in the area of the year.
However, I realized last night that I’ve never had anyone to kiss-ring-in the new year. Had you been here, Maiya, I would have destroyed your face with mine.
———
Robbie Q and I are on tour!
Here’s our schedule below. If you don’t know about these dates, and want to, email me at mightymikemcgee at gmail.
1/02/07 Black Pearl – Columbus, Ohio
1/03/07 Boston Cantab
1/04/07 Bowery Poetry Club – NYC
1/05/07 Nickel City Slam – Buffalo, NY
1/06/07 Ithaca
1/07/07 Ithaca/NYC
1/08/07 The Downtown Writers Center – Syracuse, NY
1/09/07 Bowery Poetry Club – NYC
1/10/07 Hang/Drive to Ann Arbor
1/11/07 Ann Arbor High Schools/Detroit Symphony
1/12/07 Toronto Poetry Slam/McGee’s B-DAY!
1/13/07 Toronto
1/14/07 Detroit
1/15/07 Return to Chicago
I will then stay in Chicago for a few more days. More than likely with Alvin Lau, my homie from another mommy. It will be R&R before major college touring. That schedule will be up soon as well.
———
So, last week I was feeling a soreness in my lower abdomen and thought, ‘damn, I’m hitting the road soon. I guess I should get it checked out.’
On Thursday night, I hung with Tristissima at a cafe in Santa Clara called Barefoot Coffee Roasters. It’s a sweet spot.
Well, with them having free wifi and such, I brought my Apple iBook and used it on battery power. I did much work on it. It got down to 12% power, and before I could plug it in, it froze. I shut it down, and it has never come back on. Never.
The next day, I went to the doctor to find out what was ailing me. I worried all the various worries. Cancers, hernias and more.
Doctor takes my urine, with asking, and they run tests. They immediately notice many much sugar in my urine and promptly diagnose me with Type II Diabetes. The pain was being caused by a Urinary Tract Infection. Yes, dudes get them, especially dudes with no bladder control. I used to get them often as a child.
I always knew I was a candidate for diabetes. It makes sense. 16 million Americans are Diabetic, half of them don’t know it. Doc says most of them are triggered by junk food and improper diet. Guess who’s taking better care of himself now? Now onto the issue of smoking…send patches!
While we’re at it, why don’t you go get checked out for diabetes? If unchecked, it can lead to kidney failure and heart disease. Yum.
So now I know I’m diabetic and can hit the next phase of management. I’d been cutting sugars out of my diet for the last few years. I have to be very careful, especially with so much “road food” out there, my snack choices at truck stops are now limited indefinitely. Bye bye pasta, booze and most breads. That’s the saddest realization. Those are my party foods.
I feel fine. Don’t worry. I’ve probably been diabetic for sometime. The only difference is that it’s diagnosed and I’m able to control it. I’ve got meds now. And Splenda. Sweet, sweet Splenda.
———
Christmas with my family and friends ruled. Seeing them infuses me with joy. I miss them already. They called me at 2:00am to ring in the Pacific Coast New Year. I love them dearly.
———
In conclusion, I’m a diabetic with a UTI, a dead laptop, away from my family on tour with Robbie Q – could things get any worse? J/K, bitches!
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 1 January, 2007 at 11:53 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged chicago, diabetes, New-England, robbie q, uti. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.