Checking Things Off the To-Do List, or Winging a Blog Piece When All the Good Ideas You Have Take Too Long.

After planning out a few blog posts in advance, I'm back to winging it.  Today's plans included finishing up consigning chapbooks for our poetry event on September 21 with Suzanne Rosenblatt, Lucille Rosenberg, and Bill Murtaugh.  The paperwork was written up, and then it was on to display.

Our next problem.  We have so many events in the next few months that we've decided to limit our space for each event to two faceouts.  We decided to do a small display above our poetry section, which bumped out a display of  ex-Milwaukeean Matthea Harvey's Of Lamb.  Fortunately, being published by McSweeneys, Harvey's book could move to our McSweeneys display.  But that meant I had to finally return some of the McSweeneys heads, which didn't sell the way the newspaper issue did.

Lucy called up to tell me there was a typo in her chapbook, Perspectives.  She wanted to know if she could come in and fix them. I told her to leave it, and that if anyone asked, she could say it was a commentary on our obsession with perfection.

You can see why I have trouble crossing items off my to-do list.  Their reading, which is called "Glimpses of Past--Present--Future" is on Wednesday, September 21, 7 pm.

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On to the next item, which is preparing books for the OnMilwaukee.com Book Swap, which is going on at Humboldt Park on Sunday, September 11, going on from 11 am to 5 pm.  We are providing 60 starter books, for selected attendees.  Actually I'm not sure who gets those books.  But book swaps are always fun, and there is also live music, games, prizes, paper making, book binding, and The Living Photobooth Project.

At first I was going back and forth with Dan, one of their interns, and then I thought to myself, this will never get done while I am working on this.  So thanks, Sharon, for putting the books together.

Sponsors include:
Milwaukee County Parks
Awe, Inc.
Urban Ecology Center
Bay View Neighborhood Association
Bay View Arts Guildt
Broad Vocabulary Collective
Karl's Event Rental

And it's all being coordinated by OnMilwaukee.com.  More info on their website. Good job, Dan!

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My next project is writing a last minute email to area Korean churches to remind them about Samuel Park's This Burns My Heart, which is on Wednesday, September 7. As you know from a previous entry, Park has written a novel of the Korean immigrant experience that slyly turns some conventions on their head.  That said, it's a very traditional story, not too racy or experimental, and should really be able to connect with 2nd and 3rd generation folks, if I can just get through to them.  Alas, my idea with the Korean restaurant did not work out.

Here's a little secret--for every inspired pairing or co-promotion that helps create a more successful event, another three or four ideas flop.

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Up next? About 100 different projects call for my attention, and there is an Amex bill looming at me. Not only do you have to match things up, to make sure all the charges are valid, but we have to categorize everything for our Quickbooks entries. Oh, and we also have to note what items that still have sales tax due, like the reams of gift wrap that we buy. 

Someday I will do a blog piece on sales tax.  That's a pretty hot topic, isn't it?