Tinfoil + Raccoon: Codrescu Visit, Day 2

Because this is all about me, me, me, let me start off by saying that I delivered two exceptional introductions to our visiting poet, Andrei Codrescu, today. I was very anxious about the first one, but once it was over, I knew everything would be fine. In fact, I've asked Andrei if he needs an intro writer, as he liked the first one so much that he asked for a copy of it for his archives.

We started the day off at the local Wisconsin Public Radio Affiliate, where Andrei did a statewide call in show with host Kathleen Dunn. He was pleased when he heard from a farmer/poet he'd filmed earlier in the summer. You can hear the whole thing here.

After the radio gig, we headed over to Viterbo University for a fundraising luncheon for a local community global awareness fund. We got there a little early and ran into poet/teacher Bill Stobb, whose acquaintance we made yesterday. That's been the best thing about this program--all the new connections I've made in the community. Andrei and I both really enjoyed talking to Bill, and I'm glad to have a new friend in town. And, hey....he just had a volume of his work released by Penguin this spring as a 2006 National Poetry Series selection. And, he has a podcast called Hard to Say. It's sort of nice to have an academic friend who won't roll eyes at hearing the words "blog" and "writer" together.

Poet and programmer took an afternoon break before the big lecture at Viterbo. Andrei was the opening speaker for this year's Ethics in Leadership Institute series, where he spoke on "What's a Courage Teacher? I'll Tell You Who Mine Were." I was running a bit behind, but the poet insisted on "whiskey and meat" before the engagement. I didn't think we really time for a decent meal, but A said not to worry, he was from New Orleans where nothing ever started on time." I reminded him that if he was late, he still got paid, and got to leave, but that I had to work in this town, and that as I was in charge of delivering him in a timely fashion, I'd prefer to not give our host institution a heart attack. We made it 10 minutes before curtain time (20 minutes later than our expected arrival time), which was fine, as all we did around was stand around in the wings anyway. Still, those unwieldy poets....

It was in a pretty big venue, with maybe 150 folks, so the crowd seemed a little sparse. I think he was well received and had time to visit with folks as he signed books afterward. It was my first time on a big stage with supershiny lights, which was pretty daunting. I couldn't really see reactions and felt like my intro was a bit flat, but was assured by my kind friends and colleagues that I was all kinds of amusing. Our Viterbo host apologized for the small crowd, to which Andrei quipped that it was black day for Louisiana, as he failed to fill the house, on top of Britney's shamefully tepid VMA performance last night. Can I tell you how much less ashamed I felt about my web surfing habits after I learned that Andrei had actually watched the VMA trainwreck on YouTube?

So, there were plans for an after-gig drink, but I handed off the poet to Mr. Raccoon, Poet Bill and Librarian Galadriel. Tomorrow, I will be daisy-fresh and have most of the day to take Andrei around to my favorite La Crosse locations, including Kroner's Hardware, before a 4 pm poetry reading. I promise to do some more Flickring. So far, photo ops have been limited...poet standing at lecturn, poet talking to people. Poet-in-old skool-hardware store should be much more interesting.