Birthing an Event - Like Birthing A Kid?

I am so excited about Blogsboro.com's first event, "Joetry - An Open Mic Event of Poetry, Prose, Song and Coffee" that's going to be held at The Coffee Break, 1820 Spring Garden Street on Jan. 27 at 4:00 p.m.  The Coffee Break is just a terrific space perfect for this kind of event, and the good folks who own and run the place have graciously allowed us to hold the event in their great venue. 

I know my good friend and partner, Billy "The Blogging Poet" Jones will be reading from one of his books...I hope he does "Carrot on a Stick" again.  I just love that poem.  And my darling Budd will also be reading an excerpt from one of his stories.  We're hoping to attract many more performers and make it a wonderful and fun event.  Jerry from The Coffee Break tells me that Patrick Murphy will also be doing a musical performance.

This promises to be the start of something really wonderful; a place for artists to gather, perform, and enjoy each other, as well as a place for the public to come and hear, and enjoy yummy beverages and desserts from The Coffee Break.  I'm so impressed with this new business, and want to do all I can to help keep it around.  Once you've been there, you'll see how cozy and inviting it is, and how great the offerings are.  I saw my friend Elizabeth Castelda from Coldwell Banker Triad Realtors there last night, and she remarked how much she liked The Coffee Break.  It's a great place to network and close a business deal.  Elizabeth's got something exciting and "green" in the works in Greensboro which we will be profiling here on Blogsboro soon.

Since this is the first event I've put together for Blogsboro, I'm just flush with pride.  I do hope you will join Team Blogsboro as we work together to keep art, poetry and music (and a great new business) alive and well in Greensboro.

We've Said It Before, We'll Say It Again

If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting The Coffee Break, 1820 Spring Garden Street in Greensboro, then put it high on your list of places to go.

Besides making the best sugar free vanilla latte in the Piedmont Triad, the staff is friendly, fun and engaging.  Jerry was our barista, entertainer and comic for the evening, and we delighted in his company.  I can't think of a friendlier, more inviting atmosphere for business or pleasure than The Coffee Break.  The Blogsboro Network is also planning to host some poetry readings-open mic nights (not that you need a microphone - the acoustics are wonderful) in the near future, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please help keep a new jewel in the Greensboro crown in business, and visit The Coffee Break.  Tell them Blogsboro sent you. 

Poetry Alive and Well in Greensboro

My husband, Budd Wilkins, took these photos last night at the poetry reading hosted by Jordan Green of Yes! Weekly.  We had a wonderful time, and Budd also read an excerpt from his latest short story, Plush Life.  Clement Mallory and Ron Whitehead were mesmerizing and performed for an appreciative crowd.  The Blogsboro Team hopes to host some events like this in the near future, so stay tuned!  We would like to personally thank Jordan for his hospitality, and his wonderful poem.

Listeners 

Clement Mallory

 

Billy Jones reciting Carrot on a Stick

Our very own Billy Jones
Clement Mallory's amazing performance

 

 

 

 

 

Having a good time!
The "In-to Poetry" Crowd
Danny on guitar
Jordan reading his poem
Ron Whitehead
Ron Whitehead 

Save The Environment By Buying Your Motorized Bicycle Locally!

At the top of Thursday's N&R "The Pulse" section, I was shocked to see them hawking a $3,000 (well, ok, $2,999) IZip Express electric bicycle.  Wouldn't it be great if you could get such a vehicle without the nearly $3K pricetag, and one that was made here locally?  N&R, are you listening?  There's a real story here.

My friend and blogging partner, Billy Jones, has a dream.  A dream of making motorized bicycles, much like the one he has made for himself.  A few facts about his motorized bicycle (which you can have for about half the cost....if you have your own bicycle that you want motorized, it would be even LESS than half)...

• Motorized bicycles from StreetPlanes.com has 25-50cc 4 Cycle engines that get up to 200 miles per gallon of regular gasoline with no mixing of gas and oil.  For an electric bicycle such as the IZip Express, you run it 30 miles, it dies and you have to recharge it for several hours.  For a motorized bicycle from StreetPlanes, you run it until you need gasoline again.
• Engine meets Federal EPA and California emissions and low noise requirements.
• Has compression release easy-pull starting.
• StreetPlane engines last as long as 30-50 thousand miles and have cast iron cylinder liners so they are rebuildable.
• StreetPlane motorized bicycles are the only moped that fits in standard bicycles racks.
• Also, the lightest moped on the market today. Easy for urban dwellers to carry up stairs and into apartments.
• Steel frames made in Greensboro and will last a lifetime with care.
• Plastic parts are made in Greensboro primarily from vegetable based plastics.
• Billy's dream is to manufacture these motorized bicycles IN GREENSBORO providing employment for LOCAL PEOPLE.

So before you take the N&R's advice and run right out to get an IZip Express, think global, act local, and contact my friend Billy Jones at www.streetplanes.com or idleblogs (at) yahoo.com. 

Found this great article at Gotriad.com, with a link to Joe Scott's blog, The Movie Show, and learned that Joe has a radio program on WUAG (103.1), also called The Movie Show, on Thursdays from 7 - 9 p.m. I really like his reviews and want to see many of the movies on this list. Good blog, too. I was very pleased that his top 10 didn't include the mega-hits. Budd and I are always on the lookout for the unusual and obscure films - they are definitely the best kind. By the way, we're going to the final performance of Southland Tales tonight. After tonight, Southland Tales will only be playing in one theatre in the country. What a shame.

© Herbert L. Vaughn (click to see larger version)

What's The Best Present You've Ever Given?

One of the best presents I ever gave to someone was a digital camera, given to my former husband and dear friend, Herbert Vaughn.  Herb is a true, true nature lover, and a fantastic gardener, and he has used his digital camera to take innumerable pictures around his yard, and around my beloved grandmother's yard.  My grandmother was also an avid gardener, former president of her garden club, and she and Herb shared a great love of flowers.  When my grandmother was a resident at Moses Cone Extended Care, Herb would go to her house and pick flowers out of her garden to bring to her, which brought my grandmother so much joy in her final years.  He would arrange the flowers in vases or in wreaths, and he would photograph other flowers.  He found a way to transfer his digital photographs into a video slide show, and set it to some of my grandmother's favorite music, which was a sheer delight to her.  I remember so many of the nurses and aides at Moses Cone Extended Care who wanted Herb to become a florist for his flower-arranging abilities, and he would even make little floral wreaths for the staff, as he visited my grandmother nearly every day at a time when I lived out of town and couldn't always get to see her.  His love and care of my grandmother even after our divorce is one of the main reasons we have remained the dearest of friends. 

On this cold, cold day, I thought I would post two lovely pictures that he took in my grandmother's yard.  Above is a pink peony, and here is a wild rose that has grown from a bush that is at least 30 years old.

© Herbert L. Vaughn (click to enlarge picture)

When I count my many blessings, I always count Herb for his love of my family, his eye for beauty, his artistic abilities, and his kind heart.  And I'm so glad I gave him that digital camera.  You'll be seeing more of his beautiful photography here from time to time.

Click to Enlarge

Peeplz Presents:

Sceneies- Peeplz We've Scene

A Humorous Collection of Visual Art about America's Subcultures

Saturday, December 15

at The Space on Tate Street

Nice editorial, News & Record.  I'm not one to write much about local issues, and I hate to think of turning my little site into a soapbox.  But I think you left some things out. 

I'm in agreement with all you said in the editorial, Healing Greensboro.  But in order to heal Greensboro, some other, just as important, things need to be done.

End homelessness.  Your own writer, Lorraine Ahern, wrote this about efforts to help the homeless.  Good article, Lorraine.  Now what can we do about it?   Where to even begin?  How many agencies in this town alone work to try to eliminate this problem, but yet it still exists.  Sure, some people choose to be homeless, but there's a whole bunch that it seems like we could help if only we really wanted to.  One solution - round up all the folks who live in Irving Park or on Sunset Drive and make them deliver the food/toiletries bags to the West Lee Street area.  It seems like the folks who are one paycheck away from homelessness themselves are always the ones helping.  Hey, rich people! You don't need another blood-stained diamond from DeBeers for Christmas or Hanukkah, or another Hummer to park in your circular driveway.  I hope Santa brings you a conscience for whatever holiday you celebrate.

Fix the mental health system.  People are going in and out through a revolving door of shame and increased pain.  The hospital monopoly in this town needs to wake up and realize that not fixing the mental health system is adding to the problems of crime, poverty, drug use, and domestic violence.  

Make the town safe again.  The MS-13 gang just killed people last night on High Point Road.  Is this not some sort of wake-up call?  My good friend (he knows who he is) lives in a neighborhood controlled by a gang.  I never thought I would hear of this, in Greensboro - MY Greensboro, my hometown, the place where I always felt safe.  It's enough to make you agoraphobic, I tell you, and then you have to deal with MCBH again. 

So, yeah, News & Record, appreciate all your editorializing about reconciliation and let's all make nice-nice.  But fix some real problems too: homelessness, poverty, gangs, mental health.  Then we will have a city we can love and be proud to call home again.

This was a rant, I admit, but hey, everybody has to have one, right?

I'm going to throw some acorns for Scamper now.