More Phone Pole TV

Of the Phone Pole clips I've uploaded to YouTube, so far I like the Garage Sale one the best. It's got these guys with knitted caps who just make me smile every time I see them.

But for cultural significance and impact on my life, it's the Vanilla Reading Series clip. It was at a Vanilla reading that I first read something I wrote out loud and it is where I started making friends with local poets.

If you are thinking you'd like to find a way to make new friends, my advice is go to a poetry reading that has an open set and bring something short to read. It doesn't have to be something you wrote nor does it have to be a poem. But it does have to be short. Then you stay for the whole reading and hang around for the conversation afterwards. Because you've read something, the poets will have a sense of who you are and they'll have something to ask you about. Because your piece was short and you listened to all of them, they won't feel like you were trying to take attention away from them and they'll be pre-disposed to like you.

Poets don't have a lot of money for buying you beer, but they are great to have as friends because of the interesting conversations. Not only do poets tend to be smart and good with words, they tend to notice things that other people don't notice. Also, they're often ready to throw themselves into weird situations so they will have something to write about.