Ohio State fair

August 11, 2013

Weaving past bored children and excited grandparents we go around the corner to be confronted by a giant smokey the bear. This bear is clearly hand made. Something in his face is off which gives you an uneasy feeling. Like who is this deformed imposter pretending to be smokey the bear?! The worst thing of all was the draw string mouth of obvious puppeteering. The voice of the bear was coming from the very obvious speaker near by. This was the most average voice of the most average guy I have ever heard. He must be an OSU student perhaps volunteering because it looks good on the resume. Anyway I was going to pose for a picture in front of the plastic monstrosity when the voice begins to directly address one of the children passing by.

How does Satan know his name? I wonder. I watch in horrified amusement with less shame than looking at a car accident. I have no idea where the voice is coming from, which I will give them credit for. However the receiving mic seemed to be faulty. The giant fake bear of evil and doom asked the child “What’s your favorite part of the fair so far Brian?” The little boy nervously began to answer and midway through speaking the bear yells “That’s great I liked that too!” Obviously the bear truly did not hear him. Smokey the bear is a liar and a fraud! I no longer desired any sort of photo with the creature. We moved on. The blind and deaf the beast was being fed information. The false profit knew nothing of our coming and going. It appeared that he only ate children’s souls so we easily escaped unharmed.

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Wednesday Circus EDM night

August 10, 2013

Oh I know Badtz and I went to Circus. They do a free ladies entrance EDM night. They even give you one free drink as a girl.

I like Circus it’s cool. They have people making paintings while the DJ performs. The art is always expressive and has such movement it always seems to go great with the music to me.

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Thursday Skullys Ladies 80s

August 8, 2013

Inside the music was steady rhythm and the lights danced in pulsing colorful synchronization. The people moved right along with with the motion of lighting effects and sound vibration frequency. I was under the sea in a sea of human beings. We danced on stage. We danced in circles around a guy and made plans with strangers to have a party at my apartment.

I ran upstairs for no reason. We went outside. I felt like I was going to throw up, I felt like I had a fever, I felt very happy I had a wonderful time.

Skullys is a fun bar and a fantastic venue. There is a good dance space, upstairs is cool, it’s easy to request a song, and the outdoor space is nice too. The bar is so so priced and usually there is a cover charge. Despite everything I still find the crowd on ladies 80s night to be delightful.

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Friday with Rei Greencoat and Needly

August 6, 2013

Back out we walked into the rain like entering another world. This world was wet cold and harsh. People were clumsy and drunk out here. They are the stragglers and stumblers left over from other locations who finally yelled out last call like a night bell ringing out over the town. Greencoat decided he wanted some Late Night Slice pizza. This is the cool pizza place that projects movies onto the wall. I’ve been wanting to hang out there and watch a movie for some time but I realized on Friday at least the play music so you couldn’t hear the movie if you wanted. None the less I’d still been wanting to try their pizza. I ended up buying a piece of cheese and garlic and yes it was delicious. I really want to try their spicy so I may have to make a meat exception in the near future. Here Rei got pissed about something and reached the point of yelling. I just sat inside out of the rain and ate my pizza peacefully. That food was too yummy to worry about her passing grump moment.

We walked back to the car as the rain became a genuine downpour. It took a moment to find because I’d had to park somewhere out of the normal. There in the steady shower of rain. With my feet and shoes getting soaked completely through, It was like walking across a bathtub this steady even layer of ground water, there was my car baconator with a ticket on the window. A soaked through piece of paper. A slushy bit of parchment and ink. $40 when I’d just spent the evening using a credit card. My bank account held but a mere $12.

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My First Columbus Gallery Hop

August 4, 2013

I saw a lot of fancy nice designer clothes. I saw a million well put together outfits. I saw yuppies and yacht owners.

I saw homeless and stinky.

I saw tourists walking around with wide eyes and cameras at the ready.

I saw families. I saw couples of every possible sort. I saw a million dogs many of them small and so damn cute. Apparently one of the custard shops on High Street was giving out free plain custard with a dog bone to any dog for free this day.

I saw furies. I saw a bunch of full on dog costume people with masks, tails and collars. There were actually a lot of them.

I saw people and children wearing fairy wings.

I saw Drag Queens in beautiful gowns.

I saw organizations which had all their people wearing the same color shirt. Some slogan was printed across I’m sure it said who they were and what they did but I never saw close enough to know what that was. There were at least three different shirts out there a dozen or so being within each pack.

I saw a large group of girls dressed as airline stewardesses. I believe they were handing out flyers for something maybe?

I saw a group of five skate boarders all ride down the street. In unison they kicked off down the road at full speed basically keeping up with the cars who were trapped in the busy High Street stop and go.

And all along the sidewalk you could find tables selling local art, handcrafted jewelry, printed T-shirts, organic goods and more. Many corners featured fantastic musicians playing for money and dressed in their own cool ass style.

When I was off I was off. YHA was set to play at 10:30 at Kafe Kerouac which is on High Street. I walked as fast as I could. I dodged and bobbed in-between the sea of human beings. I squeezed through and I excused. I hurried and scurried. I ran across green light roads. All the while I ignored the pain in my legs and feet.

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My very last Tuesday in Dayton Ohio

July 5, 2013

Hanging in a room each of us doing our own thing. Smoke like mist hovering in the air as music from a cell phone combines with the natural lighting to create an atmosphere of lazy late summer day complete freedom breath of fresh air.

As I sit here I think to myself It’s amazing how many places one can be all at once. In this room, in a chair, lost in thought. Running through my mind, Dancing in their memories. A name on the tip of your tongue, a catch in the throat. I’m thinking I’ll use that in a short story at some point. Copyright 7/6/2013 once this post is posted.

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Kate E Lore on July 4th and some other American Holidays

July 4, 2013

I don’t want to come off as an asshole when I say I’ve never given a shit about the fourth of July but that’s basically what I’m saying here.

I like BBQ’s and sparklers and seeing my friends. I like smores, bonfires and beer. I cannot say however that I have ever truly associated any of these activities as a celebration of America. I realize that is supposed to be the purpose however it has never been heavily present in my mind. If anything my favorite part of Fourth of July is getting fireworks illegally from out of state. My favorite part of this holiday celebrating my country is breaking the law?

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Gay Pride in Dayton Ohio

July 1, 2013

This article originally appeared in Dayton City Paper

Rainbow, sparkles, and all things fabulous this is what you might typically think of when you hear “Pride Weekend” and “Gay Pride Parade”. How about love, support, equality and acceptance? This Pride weekend is about more than showing off, and it’s more than just a celebration limited to the gay people of Dayton. In fact the more heterosexuals who support these events the more their purpose is achieved. This is about embracing the people who have been ignored, looked over and sometimes hated in our society that caters to opposite sex couples 365 days out of the year. They’re not asking you to convert or change your fashion choices (Even if you really should). They gay people of Dayton are simply throwing a weekend to celebrate their culture which often gets hidden and overlooked in the far corners of our city. These individuals are brave enough to throw a massive public party and forgiving enough to invite everyone despite all the years of being excluded themselves.

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Second to last Waffle Tuesday

June 29, 2013

And today was my second to last waffle Tuesday. Two weeks left is creeping in, seeping in, sinking in with heavy gravitational weight. So sudden I desperately want to see all my people and do everything I can before I go. Weekends are already booked and pushed and crammed into every free second I have. Weekdays I’m still charting, mapping, leaving open to the wind and getting an idea of best course to sail. I am resisting the expensive urge to go out each and every night I have left.

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My first time celebrating St. Patricks Day aka last Saturday

March 26, 2013

We parked further back than the usual lot. Out near the train track it’s an unfamiliar corner of graffiti and trash. (I’d been given two shots back in the kitchen before we even left the house so I had a start before the start.) I took several swigs from my water bottle of death, then we stepped out of the car.

It was around 3 or 4 I believe. It was cold and basically everybody was at Dublin Pub. That was where I wanted to go but this had been Rei’s idea and she said no to the D-pub.

The sky was overcast into a gloomy dark gray. The wind was a bitter breath down the back of your neck. I should have sensed this foreboding but instead I imagined this was what the weather must be like in Europe this week. The parking lot was full of pot holes and broken bottles. Oh Dayton Ohio my home sweet home.

Out on the street it’s cleaner and more familiar. Rei senses a letdown for the night. “Nobody’s out,” she complains. Determined to have some sort of St. Patrick’s Day outing we decided to hang out at Trolley Stop for a few hours until more people appear.

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