Ichiro 5 hits last night. That's the good news.  The bad news is that my son's team got their butts kicked. They lost to DeMatha by about 20pts. 

Yesterday I spent time talking with Adam Frange.  I met him at American University about 2 years ago.  A nice guy who is heading to India.  That's a place I would like to visit. While Adam was in my office, Julia Galbus dropped in to work on her Stephen Henderson research. Michon Boston dropped off a copy of the next Humanities Profiled television show.
It will be my interview with Suheir Hammad. The Hammad show will air in September around the 11th.

Reading Poet Lore submissions.  I found in one packet a nice note from the poet James Ragan.
I love listening to this guy read from his work.

I received a letter from Fran Jordan who is running the Paul Peck Institute for American Culture and Civic Engagement at Montgomery College. I hope to give a reading/ talk for them in the fall.

 

I've been trying to sleep more.  I fell asleep on John Edwards but did wake in time to see my son on the news (sports report). His team plays tonight against DeMatha for the summer league championship. I think one of these teams will be the city champs next year. I love the DeMatha/Gonzaga games since many of the players on the DeMatha squad are DC Warriors. That was my son's AAU team for a couple of years.

I just received Michael Glaser's new collection of poems. The title is BEING A FATHER.  Glaser's title poem is based on something I once said:

And on the second day,
on the way home form work,
it suddenly strikes you that
across town you have a family
and you're no longer just
a single man waiting for a bus.

 
Glaser's book can be obtained from Seasonings Press, Box 1, St. Mary's City , MD. 20686.

 

Yes, we should grade our days.  What do I give today?   It's starting off like a C-.  Last night the rain fell harder than Dylan could imagine. Me too.  A small flood in the basement. Another reminder for me to get books and important papers out of there.  Glad I decided to wash clothes or it could have been worse.  Power went out in the neighborhood for several hours.  Walking around in the dark always makes me think of folks overseas who have no electricity. So many things we often take for granted. Clean water, etc.

It seems now my August Project will be to get things out of the basement and into the Miller archives at Emory & Henry College. You can access what's already there by clicking on the Kelly Library site at E&H College. Just go to special collections and click on E. Ethelbert Miller Papers.

A "B" day. I think we should grade our days.
I had a nice conversation with novelist Wayne Karlin. Wayne is the author of CROSSOVER and editor of THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN: Post War Fiction by Vietnamese and American Writers. We are both Curbstone Press authors. Wayne invited me to give a reading at the College of Southern Maryland in March 2005.

I gave a short interview to a Washingto Post reporter working on an article about "Street" literature. It's those books we see folks in the inner city reading.  I think the NEA was wrong in that recent  survey. We are just not reading high on the hog. What can I say?  Where's Bill Cosby?

Julia Galbus returned to me a copy of my 1988 "Maiden Voyage" interview with artist E. H. Sorrells-Adewale.  At her university she was able to transfer one of my old reel to reel tapes to CD.  I have tons of stuff on the old reels that need to be placed in the hands of scholars. Too much valuable information not acessible to folks.

OK...back to Kerry. Remember my Tokyo interview about the Langston poem "Let American Be America Again?  Well, a friend just sent me an article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun on July 24th. The person behind Kerry using Langston's poem is Terry Edmonds. He is the chief speechwriter for the Democratic candidate. Terry is African American and loves poetry. Langston Hughes is one of his favorite poets. Terry studied at Morgan State University under my friend and Hurston expert Ruthe Sheffey.  Might it be possible Kerry will be quoting Baraka before the November election? 

I went to my son's playoff game this evening. Gonzaga played a close game but won. Another game tomorrow.  Just win baby.

I picked up new business cards from the Kinko's in Silver Spring.  A box of 500.  I don't know how many business cards I pass out a year. I try to change them as often as possible. The new card has a nice blue tint.

I watched some of the Democratic Convention this evening.  President Carter is a real statesman. I wish the guy was head of the UN.  I missed his speech but caught the interview he did with Lehrer.  Carter understands what's going on around the world.  Meeting him when he was President is something I will always remember. I keep by my desk a picture of him and me shaking hands at the White House back in the 1970s.  Carter was always right on the issue of Human Rights.

Clinton was Clinton.  I thought his speech was very good. The guy is a pro.  I think the Republicans dislike Clinton because he's as good as Reagan when it comes to being slick and smooth.  The guy is very smart and has a good grasp of the issues.

Oh - Here is the date and time of my poetry reading in the Twin Cities:

Friday, August 13th
The Givens Suites at the Elmer L. Andersen Library
University of Minnesota
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis

7 P.M.

 

 

Today I obtained my ticket for my upcoming visit to the Twin Cities.  Departure date is August 11th.  I will be attending the wedding of Alexs Pate and Soo Jin on August 12th.  I have a poetry reading being organized by Andrea Jenkins and folks in the National Writers Union on the 13th.
It will be nice to see old friends. I guess this will be my summer vacation. TC is one of my favorite American cities along with SF and Seattle.

I ran into a number of friends while walking across Howard's campus.  It was good to see Yao the owner of Karibu Books, as well as the dancer Melvin Deal. I teased Melvin about never letting me perform with his African dancers.  Some of my first poetry readings were held at Melvin's dance studio located on Georgia Avenue. That was back in the day...1973?

The scholar Dr. Julia Galbus is in town. She is doing research on Dr. Stephen Henderson. Today I also received paper work for Dr. Yuri Stulov. Yuri is an old friend and the chair of the Department of World Literature at Minsk State Linguistics University in Minsk Belarus. He will be coming to the US in October and I will serve as his host. While in the States,  Yuri will be doing research on gender issues in contemporary African American fiction.

 

 

I watched THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE last night. Not bad. Why are reporters so smart?   Kevin Spacey is not one of my favorite actors.   I didn't care for him in AMERICAN BEAUTY.  Why is he always so helpless on the screen?  Can you imagine having Spacey as a neighbor?  Would you speak to him everyday?  I doubt it. Spacey deserves just a wave.  Well, let me try and get my hands on a copy of THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND. Spacey is in it but so is my main man Don Cheadle.  Don't you just love Don more than Mr. Washington?

Michael Dirda had an excellent article in today's Washington Post (Outlook Section). Try and read "As I Live And Read: One Book Lover's Plea For A Literati Nation."  It's a response to the recent NEA survey on America's reading habits.
Here's a bit of Dirda:

"More and more, we have been straitjacketed and brainwashed by the books of the moment, the passing moment. Publishers know that they can promote almost any title to bestsellerdom."

 

 

Nothing but basketball today.  My son's All-Star team was 2-1 in the All Star Tournament at St. Albans. Earlier in the day Gonzaga defeated Woodlawn a team from around Baltimore. It was a clinic. Look for Gonzaga to be a team on a mission to win the city championship in a few months.

Tomorrow I plan to relax, read, maybe watch a baseball game on television.  Not too much in the weekend mail except Tony Tost's INVISIBLE BRIDE which won the 2003 Walt Whitman Award.

How did Friday get away?  Yesterday I had a good telephone chat with A. Van Jordan who was in New York for the Harlem Book Festival.  I love the guy.  He should be nominated for a few awards before this year ends.

I spent the late afternoon talking with Caitlin who was my assistance last summer. She did an excellent job putting my files in order. She was one of Reetika's students. We talked about writing programs and the writing life. I also gave her some homework...so she's looking into learning more about Paul Robeson.

 
Flying Home: Illinois Jacquet died. Tenor saxophone player. He was 81.  I still remember being introduced to his music by a poem written by Everett Goodwin.

 
Yesterday in DuPont Circle there were many protestors who were followers of Falun Gong.  To understand Falun Gong one must study the book ZHUAN FALUN and learn the exercises.
Information: www.falundafa.org
Followers practice the principles of truthfulness, compassion & tolerance.  You can "feel" it when you interact with these folks. All the protestors had good vibes.  Why is China against this movement?  Don't we all need to relax?  As I walked through DuPont Circle a number of people were doing their exercises.  Right there in the front was an African American woman...ah the universality of blackness. Falun Dafa or Falun Gong is free of charge and open to everyone. It was introduced publicly in China in 1992.

 
Good news...my son was selected to his summer league All Star Basketball Game.  Game tonight. He still hasn't decided which college to attend. Coaches and scouts have been contacting him from a number of schools in the Mid-Atlantic region.

 
The current issue of THE BLOOMSBURY REVIEW has an interview with poet John Haines.
I was introduced to his work when I went to Alaska in the early 1990s. His books include WINTER NEWS and THE OWL IN THE MASK OF THE DREAMER. 

OK...it's Saturday...chores to do.

 

Maybe it was just a coincidence but the mail I received from the photographer Chester Higgins Jr came with an Edner Ferber stamp.  Well, it seems the U.S. Postal Service remembers her.  I should have mentioned this fact on NPR.   Is this why we have E-Notes?

P.H. Polk's advice to a young Chester Higgins Jr:

"There is no camera that can make a picture. No lens, no lights can make a picture. Forget about different cameras and accessories - just use what you've got. Only your eyes can make a picture."

Not too much done today.  I have a number of magazines to read.  I want to read the profile of John Kerry in the New Yorker ((July 26, 2004). Kobe and Shaq on the cover of SI.

I received some nice information in the mail from the photographer Chester Higgins Jr. You might want to checkout his website: www.chesterhiggins.com

I did stop by the music store and purchase two CDs:
Lionel Richie - Just For You (Did I waste my money?)
Boyz II Men - Full Circle

I'm still waiting for the new Stevie Wonder music...

 

Ichiro had 4 hits again.
I love following one player for a season.  The box score is a nice way to begin each morning. It's like meditation. The sad thing is when one moves from the sports pages back to the headlines.

 
How many more deaths in Iraq?  Numbers. Death instead of hits. The game of life shouldn't be a game. In Saudi Arabia someone discovers Paul Johnson's head inside a freezer. Who put it there? Can you imagine yourself walking around with someone's head and then not thinking about it the next day? I keep thinking there are people out there in the world walking around with their hearts in freezers.  Love is nothing but a puddle on a floor.

Sad news this morning. Charles Johnson's father died.  I'm sending Charles prayers and love.

 

Last night I went to Grace Church in Georgetown and attended their Poetry Coffeehouse. Reading was Sarah Browning, Dean Blehert, Crystal Bacon.  A good variety of work.  I went to support Sarah.  She is the editor of the D.C. POETS AGAINST THE WAR: AN ANTHOLOGY.
Dean is a funny guy with some good work and seven books of poems. Bacon is the author of ELEGY WITH A GLASS OF WHISKEY.

I did the Diane Rehm Show this morning with Kermit Moyer and Lisa Page.  A good response from folks (especially in St. Louis) who love the work of Edna Ferber. Her book SO BIG is a good read and should be taught in the classroom. The Rehm Show can be accessed by going to the NPR Archives.

I got a call from Black Classic Press this afternoon and they informed me that Mos Def just selected another one of my poems (Salat) for the Def Poetry Jam show on HBO.

I have an afternoon meeting with Zach Williams, a scholar from Ithaca College. He is doing research on Howard's Intellectual community.

 
I just received the latest issue of American Poet magazine. It's a good reason for all poets to join the Academy of American Poets (www.poets.org)

I did the taping for the Tokyo Broadcasting System this morning. We did the interview in my office and then recorded me reading Langston's "Let America Be America Again" outside sitting on a bench. The interview will air in Japan next week.
 
 
New stamps at the Post Office.  Be sure to purchase the new R. Buckminster Fuller stamp. It's cool. Bucky's head is shaped like one of his domes. Next week the PO will release the new James Baldwin stamp. You know I'm buying a couple of booklets.

Yesterday I ran into Jennifer Lawson when I left the Howard campus. I really admire her. She is the new station manager of WHUT.  I think she will make a real difference at the station.  A good leader.
 
I have a morning meeting with a Tokoyo film crew.  They want to interview me about Kerry's use of Langston's poem "Let America Be America Again" as a campaign slogan.  Later in the afternoon I'll make a presentation at the Hurston/Wright Retreat taking place on Howard's campus.  I will be participating in a RT discussion about creative writing programs.  My talk with be about the Bennington Writing Seminars. I have a short statement Liam Rector wrote, an outline of FAQ, and notes about my personal experience at Bennington the last three years.
 
I hope to go hear my friend Sarah Browning read her poems over in Georgetown this evening.
 
I will need to get back home around 10P.M. and prepare my notes for the NPR (Diane Rehm Show) broadcast tomorrow at 11 A.M.   Listen in to a discussion of Edna Ferber's SO BIG.
This is the book which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924.
 
I received a fax from Charles Johnson.  He sent excerpts of his forthcoming title. Scribner is publishing DR. KING'S REFRIGERATOR AND OTHER BEDTIME STORIES. They will also re-issue his second novel OXHERDING TALE. This book was first published in 1982.  A book of interviews with Charles is coming out in October.  Gary Storhoff's UNDERSTANDING CHARLES JOHNSON will be coming out soon from University of Arkansas Press. Next spring Rudolph Byrd's THE NOVELS OF CHARLES JOHNSON: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN PALIMPSEST will be published by Indiana University Press.  Whew...we better make room for this book. (smile)
 
 

My day is off to a good start. I paid a number of bills. I've been trying to improve money management and contribute more to literary organizations.
 
I just read an Alice Walker interview that's in THE COMMONWEALTH magazine (July 15, 2004). My friend Barbara Berman in SF sent it to me. I haven't read much of Walker's recent work. Alice reminds me of Jean Toomer after the writing of CANE.  What happens to a writer's work and audience as they pursue their spiritual path? I respect Alice very much but the woman IS talking to trees. I also know that almost every morning when I go running I see dead birds.  Something is going on. Maybe I'm not listening?  Maybe I should do some talking too.
 
I'm waiting for Michon to arrive so that we can discuss the editing of the Suheir Hammad interview.  We hope to air it on television in September.
 
 

Home this morning from the Sleep Center.  Good to get some feedback on what's going on when my eyes are closed. Well, folks my brain is not getting proper rest, etc. Yes, we knew this. Soon I guess they will fit me with a "mask" so that I can sleep better. I'll feel just like Dunbar. Hmmm.
 
Well, I'm heading to my son's morning basketball game over at St. Albans...
 
I might try and see the movie I, Robot around 5 or 6 PM.
 
 

Yesterday - one year ago Reetika died. Yesterday, I stood at her grave with her Mom. Denise said a few prayers. The three of us left flowers...
Reetika's Mom just lost her mother...so there was a nearby grave that we also visited.
Today Reetika's family will have a small private ceremony at the Silver Spring cemetery.

I'm checking into the hospital tonight to have some sleep tests done. I'm packing two good books to read.

I was just contacted by the Tokyo Broadcasting system to discuss the Kerry campaign use of Langston Hughes's poem "Let America Be America Again." Langston wrote the poem in 1935. It's one of his longer poems and one of my favorites.

Well I made it to Vienna, Virginia about 8AM this morning. I had two presentations to make to students participating in the Northern Virginia Writing Project. 9-12th graders. During the two sessions I talked about being a literary activist, Bennington, and the Anacostia exhibit. I also read many of my new poems as well as work from HOW WE SLEEP ON THE NIGHTS WE DON'T MAKE LOVE. The young kids loved the Omar poems. Catherine Hailey, Joe Cohen and Bill McCabe are doing good work on the George Mason campus.
This was my third or fourth time working with them. I first started working with the project in the early 1990s.

I met my friend Alan at Cosi in the late afternoons. We talked about fatherhood and spent the time catching up on things. Afterwards I walked over to the Provisions Library, checked email and spoke with Del. I made today a music day by stopping in the music store and purchasing a couple of old CDs on sale: SET BY Youssou N'Dour. I think he recorded this work in 1990. I also put SONNY ROLLINS' BALLADS in my bag too.

Several treats in the mail when I arrived home. One was the new issue of OBSIDIAN III. The latest issue highlights an interview Julia Galbus did with me. The magazine also published 4 poems. Here is opening note from the editor Joyce Pettis:

"This issue, originally envisioned as "Black Poetry and Politic" has evolved into "Black Poetry and the Politics of Black Writing." The change is dictated by the number and variety of submissions received which communicated a broad scholarly interest in the topic. Thus this issue features not only an interview with E. Ethelbert Miller, who came of poetic age during the era of the Black Arts Movement, but also several essays that engage poetry as well as fiction. The interview with Miller seems particularly appropriate for this issue because of his connection to the 1960s when the relationship between black writing and politics was especially visceral. Moreover, Miller is an arts advocate, a poet and scholar who has worked behind the scenes to foster the publications and careers of others and to elevate the visibility of black writing. His work and activism exemplify the best traditions and inheritance of the Black Arts Movement with its emphases on community, politics and poetry."

Contributors to this issue include: David S. Mills, Marilyn Nelson, Kendra Hamilton and Loretta Woodward.

I also received COUNTRY OF ORIGIN in the mail. It's the new novel by Don Lee. I hope I can get to it sometime in August. So much to read. I have a few more pages of Ferber's SO BIG to read. I then want to get back to the Audre Lorde biography.

The Bill Clinton interview in the August Oprah magazine is very good. Recommended reading.

This week my friend Roy loaned me a copy of James Longley's film GAZA STRIP. I'll try and review it this evening.

OK. 6:45 AM departure to George Mason University.

I reviewed submissions for the African American Review. I serve as poetry editor. I didn't find anything I wanted to recommend for publication.

Around 1 PM I went over to Locke Hall (on Howard's campus) and gave a presentation to the DC Area Writing Project folks. They have been very supportive of my work and career the last few years. I talked about the Anacostia exhibit and read new poems as well as work from HOW WE SLEEP..
and FATHERING WORDS.

Sam Yette made a surprise visit to the classroom around the time I was completing my talk. I love the guy. His book THE CHOICE is a Black Classic.

The big surprise of the afternoon was the selling of my books by the HU Bookstore. Whew...I thought I was on their "blacklist." For a long time my work was not on their shelves. This is the same place where my face is painted on the wall as part of their mural tribute to black authors. Go figure...

Well I have an upcoming VOA interview in August. I invited poet laureate Dolores Kendrick to join me.

I spent the evening out in Maryland watching my son play basketball. I sat a few spots down from Butch Beard who was looking at players...he is coaching at Morgan now.
My son's Gonzaga team had to work heard for a victory. A good game...more B-Ball on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This weekend I'll be checking into a sleep clinic...wish me well.

The following statement by Benjamin Netanyahu in the New York Times today made me stop and think:

"But saving lives is more important than preserving the quality of life. Quality of life is always amenable to improvement. Death is permanent."

I met Jody at the Smithsonian,this morning, and we found some good photos in their archives. We will use them (as covers) for the next two issues of Poet Lore.

It's always good to be reading a multiple number of newspapers. In the latest issue of the MUSLIM JOURNAL there is a story about Simmie Knox. Knox is the artist who did the official portraits of Bill and Hillary for the White House. He is the first African American to paint an official presidential portrait.

Carolyne Wright did a nice job editing a special issue (Number 44/45) of Artful Dodge magazine. It's also a tribute to Reetika Vazirani.

One year...time gone and only our memories left. Private ceremony to be held for Reetika and Jehan in a few days. Folks are still trying to heal. There will always be scars and we will never forget.

All this talk about terrorism and the upcoming elections seems like Code Red. The worst thing to happen to our nation is to stop the "breathing" of democracy. This isn't Spain but one wonders about what might happen if people were afraid to go to the polls in a key state like California. In many "developing" nations attempts are often made to keep folks from voting. DC was closed down just from Anthrax on the Hill. No one was ever caught. What if this was to happen again in November?

More Poet Lore packets to read. I also received manuscripts to read for the African American Review.
The desk in my downstairs office is filling up. :-(

Tomorrow I'll meet Jody (Poet Lore co-editor) at the Smithsonian and we will look at archival photos for future magazine covers.

Tonight I'll sit down and pay a few bills.

Much of the day was spent reading SO BIG. I'll start making my notes in a few days in preparation for the NPR broadcast.

I'm finally home. From Friday to Sunday my son had basketball games. Nine games played. Eight games won. He did very well as Gonzaga took 3rd Place in the tournament played at American University.

The latest issue (August) of Sojourner magazine has a good interview with Bernice Reagon and an article by Bill Moyers.

Here is a wonderful statement made by Reagon:

"I'm basically a 19th century singer, which means that I'm not a soloist, I'm a song leader. Song leaders start songs, but you can't finish them without some help. So singing does not make sense to me without the congregation. The song is not a produce. The song exists as a way to get to the singing. And the singing is not a product. The singing exists to form the community. And there isn't anything higher than that that I've ever experienced."

Moyer's essay is about democracy:
" This is a time of testing - for people of faith and for people who believe in democracy. How do we nurture the healing side of religion over the killing side?"

With the All Star Baseball game coming up...here are a few of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes:

You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.

You can observe a lot by watching.

It gets late early out here.

You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.

Reading Ferber's SO BIG and enjoying it very much. It's a funny book.

I had a nice meeting with Anita (a Bennington graduate). She's a good writer who has work coming out soon. I gave her a few writing ideas and suggestions. We laughed and acted colored the rest of the time. (smile)

I completed my work for Goucher College and emailed my decisions on the awards they will be giving to their students.

I've been getting good feedback on the Anacostia exhibit.

This looks like a basketball weekend. My son has a couple of games at American University.

I packed Youssou N'Dour's EGYPT CD today...nice to listen to in the African American Resource Center. I might buy some more music this weekend. Send suggestions if you read this.

This morning I was writing to my friend Judy. We haven't seen each other in about two years...this after seeing each other almost everyday for about a year. I asked her in an email if I would ever see her again. She responded by saying "of course, you'll look up and there I will be just like before." I thought about her comment and realized that
I don't like the present with its beheadings, warlords, suicide bombers and general lack of tolerance between people who are different from one another. I think perhaps much of our world is being bombed and pushed back into the past. I don't know if I want to go there (again). The general lawlessness, and what a conservative would call the absence of civilization, questions even my own values. I find myself placing all of my hope in the technology of the future. What if we had the power to control human behavior? I want to see the new Will Smith movie, I, Robot. What if God was a robot and man was his creation? Might this be why we lack perfection? Is someone working on a new model of human beings? Eden as another factory?

Well it was nice to see a review of the Anacostia exhibit in today's Washington Post. I'm certain this will encourage folks to make a trip to see it. Sad that we're dependent on limited ways of getting the word out. I received calls and emails from a number of people in the DC area. I thought the Post reporter did a good job. I spent the morning sending out material and information about the exhibit. Since the show will be up until December I'll try and get more publicity. A friend called from the VOA and said they would like to set-up an interview...

I walked over to Las Casona restaurant on 1940 11th & U Street. It's a Mexican & Salvadorean place. One year old. Great waiter...OK food. I had lunch with Gina and her daughter.

I've written two new poems...so the dry spell is over.

I spent all of yesterday evening at Georgetown Hospital. My son had an injury during his basketball game in Maryland. Tough guy walking around
with a bad cut over his eye. I hadn't seen him play in several weeks...
He is starting to take his game to another level...a couple of scouts were looking at him...phone call yesterday from a school in Pennsylvania.
Yesterday he had about 18 points. I think he had over 20 the game before.
Thursday begins his summer tournament at American University. First game is at 4:30 P.M.

In the hospital I met a very nice woman who worked in Sen. McCain's office. We had a good chat about politics...

I'm still reading DeVeaux's WARRIOR POET and enjoying it.

I started preparing my talk/presentation for the upcoming Hurston/Wright Foundation Retreat. I will be talking about the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Well I've been getting some additional sleep time in. Oil change. Yesterday I worked at the desk in my downstairs office. I completed reading several packets of Poet Lore submissions. I spoke with Venus T. on the phone about her poetry manuscript.

I also read some of WARRIOR POET by Alexis DeVeaux. It's a good biography of Audre Lorde. I was reading about Lorde's time down in Mississippi when she taught at Tougaloo.

Sarah Browning came by in the evening. We laughed and talked about poetry. Sarah has made a wonderful contribution to the DC area...she is editing a new anthology of poems against the war. She shared with me her introduction.

Oh...I'm getting ready to move my daughter into her new apartment. If anyone wants to contribute/donate or sell any of the following items let me know. My daughter is trying to keep to a budget. Here is what she is looking for:

bed, small sofa or futon
coffee table
small dresser
pots & pans
microwave
television
2 chairs


Send me an email. Thanks.

My daughter and I just got back from seeing the new Spiderman movie. It's a real hit. I found the development of the characters to be well done. It's a funny movie. This is one time that a sequel is better than the original. Go see it.

We went to one of the theaters in downtown Silver Spring. Silver Spring is now on the map. Hey...and a Borders Bookstore is coming soon. While sitting in the local Starbucks I saw the historian Michael Winston and his wife. We chatted for a brief moment. I believe they had just come from seeing Moore's F/9-11.

Well...fireworks are going off in the neighborhood. Folks are glad the rain clouds are gone. Happy 4th to everyone.

My daughter and I just got back from seeing the new Spiderman movie. It's a real hit. I found the development of the characters to be well done. It's a funny movie. This is one time that a sequel is better than the original. Go see it.

We went to one of the theaters in downtown Silver Spring. Silver Spring is now on the map. Hey...and a Borders Bookstore is coming soon. While sitting in the local Starbucks I saw the historian Michael Winston and his wife. We chatted for a brief moment. I believe they had just come from seeing Moore's F/9-11.

Well...fireworks are going off in the neighborhood. Folks are glad the rain clouds are gone. Happy 4th to everyone.

Yesterday I went to Jyotika's (Reetika's sister) and Nizam's wedding. It was held in Silver Spring. I wish both of them happiness and love.

I spent time at the Starbucks in Adams Morgan reading Poet Lore submissions. I also continued reading THE SUNFLOWER by Simon Wiesenthal.

I've been sleeping more trying to renew my batteries.

This morning I met with a reporter and photographer from the Washington Post. There will be a story about the exhibit "All The Stories Are True" in next Thursday's newspaper.

Afterwards I had lunch with my friend Deirdre in Chinatown. We went to the Burma Restaurant. I had some good fried eggplant. I still prefer Thai food. :-)

Medical examination went well. Another appointment later in the month.

I picked up a copy of the new Youssou N'Dour CD (EGYPT). I'm listening to it now...
Here is a quote from the back of the CD notes:
LOVE, IN ISLAM, IS NOT INTELLECTUAL, BUT VISCERAL.

A couple of good things in the mail. A manuscript from poet Venus Thrash.
She recently graduated from the American University Creative Writing Program.

My friend and librarian Linda Holtslander sent me a copy of THE SUNFLOWER by Simon Wiesenthal.

I just want about 2 weeks to read about six books I have on my desk right now. I was walking around today with a copy of WARRIOR POET by Alexis De Veaux and didn't get a chance to read it. :-(

Breakfast with Naomi and Amy at the Diner in Adams Morgan.

I gave a talk/reading at Montgomery College (Rockville) to a group of area teachers. Renee Shea invited me. I talked about the Anacostia exhibit and also about writing the memoir. I met one woman who was a student of mine when I taught at American University.

I'm getting quite a number of things done...trying to avoid a slump.

Tomorrow I have to travel back to the Anacostia Museum to talk with a reporter from the Washington Post. In the afternoon I have an important
medical appointment. I hope the results are good. Could this be the last E-Note??