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IDES O' MARCH BLOG

Just back from a month on the road - thought I was done with that kind of life, but on Ground Hog Day I flew back to Ohio, visited family, and then drove Mom's car back 2900 miles to Arcata, and as if that weren't enough, sped back to SF in my own car and spent two weeks in the City. Now I have returned to Arcata, and am trying to pick up the pieces, resume what's left of my life, get back up to speed at the bottleneck biz...

It was the worst possible time to be driving cross-country, dodging blizzards and sleet and hail, but the '97 Toyota Camry passed serenely through it all, and is now washed, de-cluttered, and for sale: '97 Camry LE 4-dr., 4-cyl. sedan, "Ruby Pearl" burgundy, automatic, 39K miles, in nearly perfect shape, no ABS system, 33 mpg road mileage, Kelley Blue Book price $4.7 K.

The bottleneck biz was supposed to be lying dormant in the usual post-holiday fashion, but I arrived home to another kind of blizzard, one of orders, and have strapped my nose back to the grindstone, literally, so as to quiet the clamor and fulfill the dreams of a small army of would-be slide guitarists.

While in SF, I made a little progress at painting, and have fleshed out the foreground of my landscape of Fallen Leaf (near Tahoe). And I rescued from certain destruction some artwork that had been preserved at the Haight Ashbury branch of the library, which is now closed for "renovation." A beautiful tapestry by Amie Hill was lost, but I saved Justin Green's original artwork for the Tower Pulse! "Musical Legends" 9-panel full-page cartoon, about me in a Christmas music program at the Oregon State pen, '73...and a box of ceramics, books and artwork by the late Helen Ludwig of SF. The 'toon is now in the hands of my niece in Cincinnati, where Justin now resides, as well, and the Ludwig materials are on the way to her estate.

On the road, I immersed myself in a life collection of Gary Snyder's poetry, and after several hundred pages, found myself echoing that voice. My brother kindly loaned me a guitar to accompany me back to the coast, and it was a comfort to have the blessings of poetry and music during the otherwise grinding and relentless assault of bad weather and Neanderthal-mannered traffic. Too many stories to tell; but clearly the worst stretch was Highway 99 from Bakersfield to Sacremento. Drive it at your peril!

Onward to Spring!

Kindest Regards, Rick

Music News:
As of July 2008, only a few dozen copies remained of the second edition of Eric's latest major musical work, Shakespeare and the Sonettes: The Bard's Blues. On this CD, there are five songs telling the stories of the great plays in blues form and five actual Elizabethan guitar pieces. Eric has since written two new Shakespearean blues songs: "MacBeth's Blues" and "Julius Caesar's Blues", the latter actually telling some of the story of Antony and Cleopatra as well, the tales being continuous. "MacBeth's Blues" was debuted at Peacemas '07. There is certain to be a third edition of the album, and it may include these 2 new pieces. Read 3 reviews of this CD. Please see Recordings Page to listen to songs and for more information on all of Eric's recordings.

Eric Park is accepting guitar students in the Arcata area! Eric is beginner-friendly, can teach note-reading and tab, but can also teach advanced melodic fingerstyle a la Hurt, Kottke, Kaukonen, and in slide guitar. Musical styles include blues, folk, standards, some jazz and classical. Call Eric at 707-826-0357 or contact Eric by email for more info or to set up a lesson. Listen to Eric playing guitar.

Art & Poetry News:
Rick completed his first-ever oil painting in January 2010, a simple front view of the Wagner House, in which there are the offices of KHSU radio. They were having a contest. Rick entered the painting and won some sort of as-yet-unnamed prize, but the main thing was to learn how to use oils. It was exhibited during Eureka Arts Alive! and a similar event in Crescent City. KHSU has scanned the painting and will sell prints of it to their listeners. See Rick's oil painting debut: Old KHSU building, the Wagner House.

Jan 30, 2010: Rick received word that Toyon, the literary magazine at Humboldt State University, will publish his poem, "I Never Told Her I Saw Her Naked," in its Spring 2010 issue. Toyon is an annual magazine and Rick is honored. This is Rick's 6th poem to be published in just over a year. A "toyon," by the way, is a Northwest shrub also known as "Christmasberry," for its red berries. Read the poem.

Read Rick's 64th birthday poem, which contains some of his thoughts on aging.

August 2009: The summer issue of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal published Rick Park's poem, "Some Lines for Margot." This is Eric's fifth poem publication of 2009.

July 2009: Rick has mounted another "found" sculpture, part of the "Proof of Evolution" series. This one is a "disproof of human evolution," a "Petrified War Ribbon," age 25,000 years...the idea being that while the rest of the life-forms evolve, humans keep entering into the same stupid anti-evolutionary war displays. It's a small metal ribbon, bent and folded exactly like those bumper-decals, the yellow-ribbon type.

April 2009 issue of The Idiom magazine published Eric's three-poem suite, "Cowboy Haiku Trilogy." The third one had never been published before. The Idiom, out of New Jersey, is a feisty and spiritedly independent little publication. You can check out their website and access his poems online. Eric has hard-copies of the magazine, which you can get from him for $5 (1000-7th St. #8, Arcata CA 95521). If you wish, he'll autograph it for you.

"The Sad Songs Contest, Collected Poems 1964-2006, a 60th Birthday Anthology". Eric Park has created a lifetime poetry collection of 59 poems with 14 original illustrations in a 32 page book. l8 of the poems have been published over the years in a number of literary magazines. The first sold-out edition was named "Coming of Age", for his 60th birthday. For the second edition, which sold out, it was renamed with its current name, "The Sad Songs Contest, Collected Poems 1964-2006, a 60th Birthday Anthology". The third edition sold out. Eric is now working on the fourth edition of his poetry book, which will probably be re-issued in October 2007. It will sell for $5.95 ($6.65 with postage & handling). It is now being carried at 2 bookstores: Bookpeople in Moscow, Idaho and Bird & Beckett Books in San Francisco, CA. Listen to a clip of Eric reading "Plastered in Stratford" at his CD Release Party at Bird & Beckett Books on February 20, 2006. To order, contact Eric by email, call him at 707-826-0357, or mail him at: 1000 7th Street #8, Arcata, CA 95521.

Joel Dunsany emailed and wrote "I've been meaning to find a moment to e-mail you & tell you that your COLLECTED POEMS are simply A MARVEL. I couldn't have enjoyed them more! They are sparkling & shimmering. They are music. They are insightful & full of the stuff of life. Like they say about the astronauts, you've got the RIGHT STUFF!!!"

If you would like to order anything on this site, please go to Order Page. When you are ready to order, there is a link to a shorter printer-friendly order form on that page. For folks who do not have a printer, you can write down and mail the essential information. Allow 7 - 10 days for delivery.
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