r o b o t m i n i o n

Sad News

This morning when I came into work, my friend Matt told me that David Citino passed away yesterday. David was an English professor and the Poet Laureate of the University. I first met him about three years ago when I taped him reading a poem that he wrote for one of our biology classes. I told him that although I was working for the sciences, I had a mostly creative writing background. He invited me to take his summer poetry class that he referred to as his "poetry cult."

The cult turned out to be three weeks of intense three hour workshop classes everyday. The cult also turned out to be one of the best classes I've taken at OSU* and the reason for that was entirely related to the fact that David was an awesome teacher — warm, encouraging, but also very truthful.

I feel very fortunate to have known him.

*the other "best class I've taken" is Design Research 786 — in case you were wondering.

27

Today, I turn 27.

So far, kind of anti-climactic.
A nice birthday at Northstar this morning and Indian for lunch.
Dinner out at a new restaurant tonight

Party to follow: Burgundy Room, Saturday night, 8:30 pm

Marty Party

Happy 25th Marty.

Sorry I couldn't join you guys for birthday lunch today. Seeing as it's after 3 in the afternoon now, and your iChat status says you're still there. May there be many more 3-hour lunches in your future.

This is a picture of Marty at a party where I didn't throw a shot on him. The picture looks like this because I took it with my Lomo Pop 9 camera.

Gallery Hop Saturday

Went on a neighborhood date tonight to The Northstar Cafe, our favorite restaurant, which is convenient because it's only two blocks from our house. It was the first Saturday of the month, which meant that there was a Gallery Hop tonight, so the streets were busy. We meant to call it an early night, but I let myself be convinced that we needed desert afterward, and so we ended up at Pistachio. I cannot adequately describe Pistachio, other than to say it is one of my favorite places in Columbus. They have a new Apricot pastry/cake that looks so good, I may have to take it to my Grandmother in Cincinnati for her 82nd birthday later this month. The last time my familt was in town, we took them to Pistachio for desert, and they were just as impressed as we've been. And my Grandmother, she likes her apricots.

I love our neighborhood. We ran into about 10 people that are either our friends or aquaintances while we were out. If we would have stayed at the Hop longer, I am certain we would have run into more. I was talking today with an old friend who was telling me that someone we knew had moved out of their condo on Hubbard and bought a house in Grandview and I was a little shocked. I would have never guessed that this guy would be living in Grandview. Apparently it had taken his wife quite awhile to convince him to move. I'm not sure I would have been convincible.

Sometimes Ohio seems like a small world in general, but I don't think that there are many neighborhoods here that feel as pedestrian and urban and friendly at the same time. That particular neighborhoodiness seems more a quality of living in the Short North and I don't think I would trade for the world.