“first, you look at it, then you smell it, then you touch it, then you taste it, then you eat it” is a scientific method that dan wars observed from a kitten. when i told ben hersey at the actual poetry school party, he was holding a small plate of barbeque sauce and looking bummed. a smile wetted his face and he said so quietly “that’s it!”. then louder, and both of us: “first you look at it” (look at the barbeque sauce), “then you smell it” (smell it), “then you touch it” (touch the barbeque sauce), “then you taste it” (dot our tonguetips), “then you eat it!” (duh). “what are you guys doing?” “FIRST YOU LOOK AT IT! THEN YOU SMELL IT, THEN YOU TOUCH IT, THEN YOU TASTE IT, THEN YOU EAT IT!”. and then over and over and over and over and over. when we got to the party it was an acoustic open mic and we were getting shushed for giggling if you can believe it. pretty soon it was everyone screaming in unison and eating tiny tiny bits of barbeque sauce. ben hersey for emotional president! SHUT DOWN 2008

this was the last weekend of our play, and it went great. except for the time i ate the cigarette and all the oreos and the tiny whiskey bottle and the multiple party pizzas and getting the same hand slammed in the car door twice, i did exceptionally well for my health– lots of stretching, lots of fresh fruit and nuts, and i chugged a quart of water every two hours like clockwork. plus lots of people enjoyed the play, and of course we continued to enjoy ourselves immensely. back in crowtown now and a particular sense of… normalcy? which is to say, working and not working on a million different things already/again/still.

oh yeah, dan, one of the stars of the play (a poet, naturally) is a secret hair punk that used to date one of the pinkerton thugs! small world, huh?