A Reason to Like Summer

To find out more about this event on Saturday, check out today's Underground Garden column by Liza Zayas, up now at Oddball Magazine.

Ghost Stories That Are Real

Read James Van Looy's latest poem column. It's All One Thing is up now at Oddball Magazine.

June 26: The Open Mic Goes On

It's the last open mic of June. It's the first open mic of the summer. Izzy's feature was moved to July 10. I hope you'll still find your way to Stone Soup Poetry this coming Monday.

City Haiku

Discarded gambles
no way to call anyone
if you ever won.

From The Bathroom at Out of The Blue

Continuing a series of random scenes of one of the overlooked but more active creative outlets at Out of The Blue.
 

It's always good to know your options...

Poem for Keytar Bear

Poem

Keytar Bear was assaulted!
I was off to the bus and finally
it was sunny and cooling down

And Now from Austrlia...

Today by sheer coincidence we paired two talents from Australia.

Returning to our site, together for the first time, please welcome poet John Grey and photographer Nicholas Smith back to Oddball Magazine.

Next Week: Tuesday 4 Poetry

Hosted by Ken and Nadine Delano.

Wednesday Poetry is Underway

The visuals for today's poems came out with a more urban feel to them. You'll see when we're done. For now, welcome poet Bruce McRae with artist DJ Barry for today's first post at Oddball Magazine.

Not Quite the Saddest Story

For grabs,
queen size,
barely used.

Nice six-word novel, but it lacks the original's emotional weight.

Practice

Tried to capture nature with my iPhone yesterday while walking down South Huntington.

Jesus, it's Summer Again...

Let's celebrate this annoying time of the year with a song and video from the 80's that is sure to annoy a good number of people.

The Final E3 Report

The last of the gaming news from last week is covered by Flemmings Beaubrun today. Check out the Epic Autism Report over at Oddball Magazine.

Nice One Today

Go and read "Voices," the latest Jagged Thought from Jason Wright. It's up now at Oddball Magazine.

Tuesday Poetry is Back

 Jimmie Pennington with photography by Glenn Bowie can wow you today if you just visit Oddball Magazine.

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-19-17, Pay Attention

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions butchered picked up from poems overheard from Stone Soup's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here. I'm two years in and won't be stopping just yet.

Tonight

Come to the open mic. I'll be there with copies of Stone's Throw.

Another Strip That Reminds Me of Work

Bill Harvey's "The Odds" returns for another Monday at Oddball Magazine.

Happy Birthday, David Miller

Here's a clip from the old days of Stone Soup at the Out of The Blue's old location.

This Week's Friendly Reminder

Found this on a pole one day. Appropriate to show it now given the cover to the new Stone's Throw.

Additional reminder: Click the link above and download the newest Stone's Throw. Read all the issues of Stone's Throw.

Stone's Throw #4 is Out Now

"The Democracy Benefit Issue." Sporting a great cover by Adric Giles. Featuring poets Mark Lipman, Gladys Teresa Hidalgo, Dexter Roberts and Donna Woods. Back cover illustration by DL Polonsky.

Stone's Throw #4 is available for download here.

See this page for all other issues of Stone's Throw.

A Foreword to The New Issue

I have a few words I want to say about Stone's Throw #4 before it comes out tomorrow. I didn't want to litter the journal with my rambling, so I'll just write about it here. Maybe I'll take this down later, but for now, I just wanted to say my piece.

Tomorrow

Issue #4 of Stone's Throw, "The Democracy Benefit Issue," will be available tomorrow, both as a downloadable PDF and print copies that can be gotten at Stone Soup Poetry this Monday. And the cover art by Adric Giles will finally be unveiled.

Happy Belated Birthday, Erin Reardon

#gettingbadatbirthdays

My Little Attempt at A Meme

Took this picture about a year ago at Southie's Loco Taqueria and Oyster Bar. Memed it up now.

Forgot to Post This Yesterday

"At the Birthplace of the Founder-Leader" is Tom Daley's latest Saturday entry over at What Rough Beast.

Happy Father's Day

As someone who's into his first decade of being a fatherless child, that might be all I have to say on the subject.

Special Retrospective Column Today

A couple of years ago, I started getting emails from an alternative news service. I never asked, and for years I just let them sit with their crazy conspiracy-filled headlines. I wanted to purge these out of my inbox, but not before sharing the best headlines from the stories that Alex Jones (and a percentage of Trump supporters) probably believe.

"Kill Hill." Read it now on Medium.

In the News

There are two headlines that stick out in my head over the last two days. 

One is "Donald Trump: 'I am being investigated.'" 

The other is "Alex Jones 'I Do Not Want Megyn Kelly's Kid To Die Of Cancer.'" 

I only believe one of them.

On the Subject of Columnists

James Van Looy remains Oddball Magazine's prolific columnist since I started helping edit the magazine back in 2013. Most times, he has his work ready, finalized and waiting for me to publish weeks in advance. Other times, we quietly go back and post revised versions of his already published pieces.

One recent example is his poem column from two weeks ago, "Tai Chi on Tweedmouth." Check out the newly revised version now (and his other columns) over at Oddball Magazine.

Why No Twists of JP Lime Lately?

The JP Lime crew have been going through more than a few life changes over the past year. Some members have taken a break, so their output has been reduced as of late.

With any luck, the JP Lime crew will return to Oddball Magazine next week. Until then, you can check out their archive of columns until they return. When they do, it will be at their new slot at 3:00 PM instead of 1:00 PM.

Emily Dickinson, Paris, Kurdistan and More

Wise Words with Bruce Wise is back at Oddball Magazine.

Last Night in Copley

A night shot that I like.

She Wrote This Today

Check out Janet Cormier's latest Bamboozled No More! over at Oddball Magazine.

Copley Library, End of Day

Last pic from Wednesday. I just like this view.

John Hancock, One More Time

Wednesday was also the first time I tried photographing the John Hancock Tower since the warm weather came back.

Old South Again

A picture from Wednesday. Trying to get a new angle like I did a while back.

Work Ahead

Took time the last few nights to plan for a more rambunctious blog next week. And hopefully, Oddball Magazine will be equally rambunctious.

I'll be off the grid for the most part on Monday, but I'm really looking forward to that morning when Stone's Throw debuts. The print version will be made available at Stone Soup.

Keep coming back, friends.