Ah, we've all met up in Hicksville. Now i finally understand the reference. I didn't make it into the city last night because sitting on a train for an hour each way didn't sound like a relaxing evening to me before making an 11 hour drive today. That's what we're doing today. Driving 11 hours. Fortunately i have a partner now who can help with the driving. I should be home to my cat by tonight and that's good. I'm hoping for an uneventful journey.~w

I've received three Nigerian Scam letters this week! I'm sorry, but i'm not silly enough to fall for that one. Especially since i got 3 variations of the letter. I think i've seen that before and just deleted it, but apparently it's still working for them, because they're still sending them. I found out today that the United States Secret Service is trying to make the public aware of the problem while tracking down the criminals, but that apparently there are plenty of Americans who want to "get rich quick" so bad that they've emptied their bank accounts for this fraud.

In other news...We did three middle school shows here on Long Island this morning. The students at Saxton Middle were wild and wonderful despite the sad news that we learned between shows. Apparently a high school senior and older brother to a sixth grader at the school was killed last night. Some kids were egging his car and when he stuck his head out of the window to yell at them he was hit by a truck in the next lane. He died soon afterwards. It was painful to hear the story told. We have the rest of the day free now. We're waiting on hearing from another team who will be meeting up with us tonight, and then i'll make the long drive back to Asheville, NC in the morning.~w

I think we found every pocket of road construction in Brooklyn last night. In an attempt to take the Belt Parkway we ended up on I278 and tried to make a loop back to the Belt only to find the exit closed and ourselves back on I278 so we weathered the construction there and decided maybe Atlantic Ave would be better...only to discover that it was also under construction. Determined to get us back to the Belt my copilot led us straight into more construction and detoured around that only to find another entrance to the Belt blocked by construction. Fortunately a city bus lead us in a detour around that mess to finally get on the Belt and discover...that it was under construction and down to one lane. Finally, we've made it through that only to see that on 135 they are diverting all four lanes of traffic off the exit only to let them make a U-turn and come back on again. Strange we thought, until once again we were single file again, this time on the shoulder, to go around a nasty accident. In the end, we made it safely even if we both needed to stop to pee as we were entering Brooklyn thought our destination was 50 minutes closer than it turned out to be.

In other news...
We had a lovely day, if long, down in Princeton, West Virginia on Tuesday doing shows for elementary students from Straley, Mercer and Bluefield schools and then spent the evening training their teachers how to bring poetry to life in their classroom every day. We finished our West Virginia stint yesterday at Doddridge County High School. I must say it was an adventure. It seemed that i met a lot of kids that were tired of being in school and being told what to do...hmm, kinda like me at that age. We made an attempt at having some fun anyway and at least one teacher came up to tell me that she thought that was the most fun most of the students had ever had in school. As far as my days go, i'd say it was one of the toughest. I think one of the highlights was when i was discussing how to perform the first stanza of "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake. First we had to look up the word auguries (which i then heard used on NPR...i wish i could have shared that moment with them). But then i was working with one of the group on the line "Hold infinity in the palm of your hand" which he was saying monotone. I asked him how he felt about holding infinity in the palm of his hand and he replied that he didn't want to do it, it would be too powerful. I asked him to say the line again and he did it again in monotone. I asked him to say it again with the fear he just expressed to me, and with his arms open wide and a beautiful big voice declared "I don't express my emotions!" I said, "But you just did, I'm only asking you to be yourself and say the words as if their yours." The look on his face was amazing when he realized it was truly as simple as that.~w

i'm late already. yesterday was a long, but fun, day. i'm just a wee bit tired now. tonight we drive to New York.~w

It was a long drive to Princeton, WV yesterday since we had to go through Charleston to get a new car. Today we have an afternoon workshop that ends at 6:30pm and won’t get back north until 9:30pm at the earliest for our 8am shows the next day. This schedule is rather crazy. I’m already tired and have a long drawn out day ahead of me.~w

So, this morning finds me in Weston, VA. Our adventure last night finding the school was more exciting than I was hoping it would be. You see, some towns in West Virginia are a little off the beaten path. I found a hotel that was 28 miles away and seemed to be the closest thing. However, that’s 28 miles if you’re familiar with the twisty little back roads of West Virginia. I’m still undaunted. I’ve dealt with little roads before. However, this little road is too narrow for a big truck and a big Ford Taurus to fit easily on the pavement around a turn, and there’s no shoulder. I discovered there was no shoulder when one of my tires dropped off the edge, but no problem, I kept the car under control and moving. Until it started vibrating funny that is. So now we’re about 14 miles from the town we left on a twisty little road with no shoulder in the dark with a flat tire. I see a trailer home with lights and decide to keep moving. Finally, about the time we smell very warm rubber, I see a large stone house with lights and a driveway and we pull in and cross our fingers. Mom and daughter are watching TV in the front room and come out to help us! Yeah! Daughter graduated last year from the high school we’re trying to find and not only knows how to get there, but what time it starts. Mom has a cool jack in the garage and jacks up the car for us. We got the tire changed. We still didn’t find the school and will have to drive there on the spare this morning, but at least we know when we’re supposed to be there.~w

I'm off to West Virginia and Long Island this week. I'm moving too slow for my own good. I should be rehearsing right now, but i'm still packing. It's been kind of a week. Two employees have mothers in the hospital, two employees lost cats, one employee just found out he lost an aunt, and we had to fire someone who loved their job. I'm heathly and safe, just sad. I've got new poems to memorize and 8 hours to drive, so i'm on my way.~w