It’s Stil Friday On The Pacific Coast

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 Mike McGee, 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.

It’s Stil Friday On The Pacific Coast

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 Mike McGee, 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.

UUUUUGGGHHHH!!!

3/365

Went for a walk with my rolling suitcase and backpack to meet my ride (to my next gig) at a Starbucks.

Just minding my own business, listening to a bit of Mike Doughty and a bit of The Roots (the greatest hip hop group ever to make music), walking through a residential neighborhood in my search for coffee.

It’s a mile or so away. I am ready to walk. Been looking forward to it since I went to bed last night (which was an awesome night.)

My ride, a fellow poet and USU alum named Darren, was to pick me up where I stayed last night. I knew I’d want to walk to coffee, so I got directions and planned to meet Darren there instead. What’s easier to find than Starbucks.

I had to bring all my stuff with me since I wouldn’t return to the house. I set the alarm on the house as instructed and ventured out an hour before Darren was to arrive.

I initially made a wrong turn out of the house: the road I hit was the LONG way, so I turned around and went to the next road. I heard a rider mower as I walked on. As it got louder, I saw a massive house with a ginormous backyard. A man in a white polo shirt was mowing this mega-yard beyond a huge gate. Parked in front of it was a yard crew truck. Professional.

I kept on down the street, marveling at the unused sidewalks, worn only by weather and the occasional walked dog. Turns out that it leads directly to a private street. That’s it. Signs posted at the entrance warning people and cars not to tresspass. Big fat faux stop sign decreeing it a private driveway. I have no idea what’s down the street or if Utah residents own shotguns, so I turned around, furious, as this is the only other way out to the main road. It seems one MUST take the LONG way to get anywhere.

Google Maps’s walking directions didn’t mention this… Fuck!

So as I head back to the house to sit out front and wait for Darren, I walk past the big house again, across the street from me. The house directly next to me on this sidewalk is just as big, with an equally gargantuan backyard. Only as I pass its long white fence, I can see the back porch and I hear a small, furry, yappy dog, staying a good distance from me but warning me that if I tresspass, it will annoy me to death.

NOTE: Another fucking yappy dog is barking at me just sitting out in front of the house.

As I nearly clear the Yappy House to my right, I see a woman step out and stand behind her stupid dog of which I could easily punt halfway across her yard.

Now, I know very well that I am not the most stylish dude. I wear hoodies and old tees and Vans and a wily beard. Sometime I feel as though I look like a fat-sensitive-trucker-lumberjack-Buddy-Holly-hobbit. The woman on her porch is out to see what the her dog’s fussing about, because she’ll be damned if someone would dare use an actual sidewalk to get somewhere. She must know everyone in town, and no one she knows walks on anything but maybe a treadmill or a vacation spot.

She watches me the whole way down the sidewalk, probably wondering what the hell I’m doing in her neighborhood. I can feel the souls of young skateboarders who used to call these people mom and dad, but had the unfortunate desire to move fast on wheels, making a racket on the street. That woman gave me a look that said she would leave me bleeding and dying on that sidewalk were it to ensure her mutt would live. She has no idea what it means to be free anymore. Maybe she did. Maybe she enjoyed sex and socializing and love, but her overly manicured lifestyle tells me that so many natural things have been sacrificed for her comfort. She is fenced in with her possessions. She won’t use that sidewalk. She has a yard for that, but just doesn’t have the time. Now her yappy canine squirrel has a place to run around so she doen’t have to.

I know I am readin into a lot of this, but it’s what my gut told me, so I am fine with it. I have gone from complete and utter frustration to sadness. Maybe she feels sad for me, or fear that I am going to rob them. Either way, she’s wrong about me. I wanted to smile at and for her, but her stance told me I was wrong to be on that sidewalk. I was wrong to dress so inappropriately. Her dog tells me I am a foreigner. She is wrong about me. That look on her face tells me so. The Roots tell me so. Mike Doughty tells me so.
———
Word to the nerd.

Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 10 March, 2010 at 10:15 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged Travel & Touring, utah sucks. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Hitting The Road: SLC-Denver-Little Rock-CHI-NYC

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 Mike McGee, posted on 8 March, 2010 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.

McGee’s March-April 2010 Performance Schedule [9/365]

Some of the dates and details below will change, but this is a pretty solid list of what’s coming up this month. If you’re in these areas — or know someone who is — please spread the word and tell them they won’t regret coming through. If you come to a show and bring friends, introduce them to me, and I’ll give you and your friends all a $1 off of the purchase of my book, In Search Of Midnight. Woot!

March 10, 2010
Utah State University
0105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322
Venue: Taggart Student Center Ballroom
Show Starts: 8:00
Event listing

March 11, 2010
Johnson & Wales U
7150 Montview Blvd.
Denver CO, 80220
Venue: SAGE Lounge (Hospitality College)
Show Starts: 8:00pm

March 14, 2010
Denver Poetry Slam
Venue: Mercury Café
2199 California Street
Denver, Colorado
Show starts: 8:00pm

March 15, 2010
Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, CO 81301
Venue: The Vallecito Theatre (103 Student Union, 1000 Rim Drive)
Show Starts: 7:00 P

March 19, 2010
Lyon College
2300 Highland Rd.
Batesville, AR 72501
Venue: Edwards Commons/Lower Union
Show Starts: 7:30p

March 24 & 25, 2010
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Brooklyn, New York
(Private)

March 26 or 27
Kitchen Session #11
(No Feature, 3 poem limit)

April 1, 2010
Hawaii Slam Finals
Every first Thursday of the Month
Fresh Cafe Warehouse
831 Queen Street (@ intersection with Cooke Street)
Honolulu, HI 96813
Doors & Poet Sign-Ups at 7:30pm
Show starts at 8:30pm
Admission is $3 before 8:30pm, $5 after
All Ages

April 7, 2010
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
Another Type of Groove
(More info to come)
CalPoly Event Calendar

April 15, 2010
College of Saint Rose
Albany, New York
Frequency North Reading Series
Also with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and Derrick Brown
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 6 March, 2010 at 8:07 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged live performance, march 2010, march 2010 dates, mike mcgee live, performance dates, shows, shows, spoken word shows, touring, Travel & Touring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.