Today I'm fighting off either a cold or allergies. Hope it's a cold because allergies suck. Either way, I'm sleepy, my nose is stuffed and I'm hungry. June 1, please come quick!

Had a nice weekend, all things considered. Got a call from my cousin Jr. (of Prodigal Son) on Saturday morning that he was having a little dinner party. Hadn't seen him since X-Mas 2001, right before we left for Virginia. He didn't even know we'd come back til he and Bubbles (his sister) went down to my mother's a couple of weeks ago! Anyway, it was nice to get over there and get back in touch. They're the two cousins from my mother's side that I grew up with, both older than me. Jr. was still living at 1326 College when it burned down. Ended up in a nice rehabbed 2BR off E. Tremont and seems to really be doing well for himself. Nicholas is about to turn 4 and Jade is 14 now. Bubbles' kids are getting older, too: 11 and 9! I remember babysitting them when they were 2 and 6 months (almost exactly like Isaac and India) back when we were all in Ft. Campbell, KY. Seems so damn long ago. Another lifetime. Makes me feel old!

I'd always discounted the importance of keeping family close but more and more, especially having kids, I'm realizing how important it really is.

Tonight is the second semi-final, probably the most wide-open of the three with Mara Jebsen, Lynne Procope, T'ai Freedom Ford, Raymond Daniel Medina and Shawn Randall. Throughout the latter part of the season, Mara always had the bad luck of pulling an early slot so the good news is going first is nothing new for her. The bad news is, like Sabrina last week, her work is more thoughtful and doesn't really lend itself to that big opening bang. If she can survive the first round, though, she should be solidly in the running as she's arguably the best of the bunch. Some would say that's sacrilege with Lynne in the mix but Lynne's work can be extremely dense at times, losing the audience, and her aversion to strategy could put her in a bind. Going second will test that. No question she's got the range of work to come out on top in a four-round slam, though. T'ai is the likely energy boost that will dictate where the first round goes. She could potentially set it off like Roger did last week, putting Mara and Lynne behind the curve. Her main challenge will be stretching herself over four rounds, bringing something a little different each time. Ray is this week's wild card. Relatively new to the slam, I'm not certain he's got the depth or experience to stay in the mix over four rounds. He's certainly got the determination and in a slam with Mara and Lynne, the scales will be tipped in their favor in regards to overall tone. Depending on what the judges like, the three of them may be fighting for the third spot, though. Shawn is the most flexible of the group, both for his accessible style and ability to improvise. He knows how to work an audience and listens to the other poets in the slam more than most. Hard to say what conventional wisdom would predict with these five.

In other news, I'm going to catch a Mets game on Wednesday night. Roger and me, for sure. Maybe a few other people. The nosebleed seats thanks to Wendy's 2-for-1 deal. Haven't been since that first game back after 9/11. THAT was an amazing game. I'm not big on all the forced patriotism that's going around these days but that night was enough to bring a communist to tears, not to mention socialist little me! Wednesday won't have anywhere near that significance but it would nice to catch a ball or something. Haven't ever managed to do that.

Today's web site: loudpoet.com I've updated some stuff. :-)