Update: Los Angeles Tuesday Evening

I had dinner at Jerry's Deli on Ventura with Peri, Brian, Dante, Elric and my ex (Jan). Dinner was pleasant and so was the conversation. This was the first time seeing Peri (or Brian) in more than two years.

Peri looked great. She hugged me and I felt like Saul when the scales fell from his eyes after the days of blindness. It was a good feeling.

Brian was genial. I honestly like him and am glad to add him to the family. I good-naturedly ribbed him about his freshly shave head, letting him know he'd make a good body double for Michael Chiklis, which led into a good discussion of the show THe Shield, which we both like and admire.

Cobalt Cafe? I was bone-dead tired and ready to go to bed, but I had told Rick Lupert, who has been running this weekly event for over twelve years, that I would be there, and so I was. There were about twenty poets and audience members present, the usual mix of poets and their significant others, which is one of the reasons I dropped out of the poetry reading circuit years ago here, too incestuous. When I go to a rock concert, I expect to see more than musicians and their families as the audience. Poetry Needs to reach out as well. Some good performances, though. I packed it in early, feeling isolated and tired.