Ketchup, No Mustard

While I no longer eat encased meats, any bona fide hot dog aficionado knows you don't put ketchup on your wiener. However, the title of this post is presented more as a pun on "catching up" than as condiment endorsement.

When I last wrote, both my semester at Indiana University Northwest and my Poetry Center residency at Skinner West were recently over, and I was still in the process of regaining my composure. The advent of 'summer' -- and a fuller swathe of free time than normal -- always requires a mental readjustment period. (A brief period: in less than two weeks I'll once again be co-teaching Northeastern Illinois University's Creative Writing Institute with Christine Simokaitis.) Since then, I hosted and read for the spring edition of my reading series, Excited Utterance (along with co-poets Hannah Gamble and Kristin LaTour); hosted and performed for monthly songwriter round-robin Folk You! (along with Dalice Malice, Simeon Peebler, and Sugar Still); and read for Blotterature magazine's "50 Shades of Lies" print-raiser (joined by Michele McDannold, Rick Kubic, and Bill Yarrow, with music from James Neary).

I also recorded some overdubs for The Injured Parties' sophomore album, as well as mastered my forthcoming 13th (!) solo album, Good Grief with Mike Hagler at Kingsize Sound Labs. Good Grief has been long-gestating, and I'll have more news on the Chris Stamey-produced effort later, as well as a standalone single launching about a month ahead of the album.

I also anticipate having some big news very soon on my next full-length book of poems, Activities of Daily Living. Stay tuned!

Consider yourselves down with the update. Yo.

Yearendery

The fall semester is all but done, and the usual tumult accompanying it has resulted in some quiet here. Come January, I will be continuing with my Hands on Stanzas residency at Skinner West, and also returning to Indiana University Northwest to teach some higher ed classes. In all, academically the spring semester looks to be quite busy!

In other news, my label, Zenith Beast, is currently in the process of delving into its back catalogue, with the result being a series of archival releases. The first, including albums from 1986-1993, resumes December 9th. These albums are digital-only releases, available from iTunes, Amazon, and other e-tailers. ZB's next wave of releases may comprise a deeper dig into the archives, going back to the early '80s, or it may entail brand new music -- check out the redesigned ZB homepage for details, and/or follow the label on Twitter.

Finally, the end of the year signals the arrival of the annual Alex Chilton Birthday Bash! The Injured Parties are pleased to play for the tenth year straight, and this lineup looks to be especially good.

Happy holidays, all!

The Return of (and to) Hands on Stanzas

Working as an adjunct has its pros, the most obvious being that one is free from much of the departmental hoop-jumping that tries the patience of full-timers. But the tip of the con iceberg would be the never-ending running around to secure work from semester to semester, especially since said work can evaporate in an instant if full-time faculty members lose classes due to low enrollment; at that time, courses assigned to adjuncts are up for grabs, and no matter how well-liked a part-time instructor may be, if one of their contracted classes fills a full-timer's vacancy, there's not much that can be done -- aside from getting assigned a possible last-minute replacement, which has its own set of difficulties, such as scrambling to set-up a class bequeathed in the eleventh hour.

I've been fortunate to avoid this particular pitfall so far -- that is, until this semester. I've been teaching on two campuses the last few years. One is in Chicago, and the other a short commute away in Indiana. The longer drive only makes sense economically if I have at least two classes, so when I lost one of my composition sections to a tenured instructor, I had no choice but to surrender the second. I was disappointed, but also oddly relieved, since it meant a break from the 80+ mile roundtrip drive twice weekly for the semester. I'd save on gas, and have more time to devote to my three sections at Northeastern, as well as my other extracurricular activities.

But good karma intervened as I was soon after contacted by the Poetry Center of Chicago to see if I was interested in teaching as a poet-in-residence once again for their resuscitated Hands on Stanzas program. If the call had come any sooner, I would have felt obligated to stick with my prior commitment, and put off the residency option until the fall. Of course, I said yes.

I've written extensively about my Hands on Stanzas experiences in the past. The program is what steered me away from years of working what Philip Levine used to refer to as "stupid jobs" and toward something more attuned to my tastes (not to mention performer proclivities), so I was disappointed when it went on hiatus in 2011 due to financial difficulties. Also, much as I enjoy working in higher education, being able to balance my college classes with teaching poetry in the public schools creates the perfect academic equilibrium.

With 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at Solomon Elementary

I'll be starting at Skinner West School shortly, and will be blogging about my ongoing 20 weeks of classroom experience (as well as sharing student writing) through the link at the PC site. Wish me luck!