I thought it would be a bit more in-depth but it was all I could really put together-

and that’s about that.

There is a lot on the plate right now and I knew that sooner or later something was going to have to get cut. I don’t feel that bad about it because it’s really hard to effect change on a format without being able to control the booking and I have never aspired to control the book at 13.

I have done what I wanted to do when the season began- get newer voices to go out for the slam. The crop for this year’s semi is mad strong AND we haven’t even hit the “Oh Shit! There are only three slams left!!” point that has mofos scrambling for a spot. It will be interesting, to say the least, when that happens and I am sure that some folks that I would like to see in semis will get cut but that’s the nature of the beast.

I can also look back at a Survivor Slam that was kinda what I wanted but a few snags brought the high down for me, a really cool 1-2-3 Slam and, of course, the louderCHAMP tourney which went off without a hitch.

Nationals was a mixed bag as my head space was all fucked up but I was able to pull the performance of my life and managed to bag 3rd at the SM Slam. Truth to tell, I was the happy recipient of the Slam god’s smile cuz if I had drawn first- I woulda been toast AND

since every thing in Chi-Town closes at like 2am, they cut the Slam to only 20 or so SMs- so it was between me and 12 or so other SMs waiting to get called in the last slot. A HUGE shout out to all the supporters that showed up and stuck around to root me on… I was performing for all of y’all and was happy to represent all of you on that stage.

The Scene is this- I have yelled my ass off at 13’s last bout and haven’t really spoken for the last half-hour before they called me which means that when I hit the mic it sounds like the love child of Froggy of ‘Our Gang’ and Kathleen Turrner. Third place in a big Slam like that aint bad and I’ve been able to work it into the artistic resume in a really nice way.

The high placing gave me some good confidence going into the SM meeting the next morning (Hey! Nice Job!! Good poem!!! blah… blah… blah…) and I was able to speak up on some hit that was on my mind and continued the tradition the next day at the SlamFamily meeting. This leads to one of my regrets as SM and that is thinking I could make some kinda difference in the PSi structure. All those before me told me it was an uphill battle and they were right- I can’t help but think that if my head was better I coulda done some more but that’s that now…

When I took this job it was with the understanding that I would be apprenticed under Marty and I learned a thing or two with her but when Guy came back was when I got the REAL education on how this bad boy works. I picked up more than my share of tricks from the LeCharles bag and they all paid off this last year. I am not sure what extra I can pass on to the next SM and I have no idea who that person is right now but these things have a way of fixing themselves.

End the SM chapter.