Saturday night I went to the first open mic at Durham's Joe and Joe's. I'd heard about it from a local poetry mailing list, but it turned out I was nearly the only poet, and I felt naked without my mandolin. But hey, it was Valentine's Day and I had all these baby-fresh sonnets, about half of them love poems, so after two martinis (it started an hour and a half late) and some mixed-as-usual acoustic guitar and drums I got up with my pentameters and it went pretty darned well. Eight minutes per, and I read nine sonnets, all from the last month and a half. Sex always goes well, even and maybe especially rhymed, and so do funny poems. Slipped in a couple of other themes while they were off their guard. The applause was more than polite, and after the whole show several people asked for cards, which I rather miraculously happened to have with me.
If it hadn't been for those two martinis I might have had the sense to take notes on the laptop (I read from the laptop) so I could say who was there and did what.
The sound system, while adequate for reading, buried most of the singers behind too-loud guitars or keyboards. Still, it was obvious there were talented people there, and the music was quirky and interesting. One fellow, Will Something-Or-Other, knew how to get the buzz out of the speakers and balance his guitar; consequently, his act was probably the best received. If I'm in the Triangle I'll try to make it back to the next one, when I expect the technical problems will be solved.
All in all a good evening, and a good first outing for the New Sonnetarium. Today I drive back to Maryland, and tomorrow start on the sonnets folks requested las week. The request lines are still open!
9:13:57 AM 
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