A Poet in the Family

DH (my darling husband) participated in a poetry reading in East Nashville last Friday. He read five of his poems, which were called “slice of life” poems by the head poetry guru. This means that the topic of life in the Parker household makes an occasional appearance, overtly or thinly-veiled. Some of this is flattering and some just plain truth, but since everyone gets a turn to make an appearance on occasion, it’s all good.

I had never attended a poetry reading before, so my first thought was I hope they like DH’s poetry and secondly, I wonder if poets are different from romance writers and children’s book writers. I consider most romance writers to be hard-core networkers, so when we gather at an RWA function, we usually start to work the room to greet our friends and meet new writers. At a gathering of children’s book writers, we talk about what we’re writing and the latest children’s books we have read. The poets were much more laid back, but maybe that’s because they were getting ready to perform.

The poetry reading was accompanied by instrumental guitarist, Charlie Rauh. Check out Charlie’s music here. I’m not sure if musical accompaniment is common at poetry readings, but we are in Music City, where great musicians are everywhere and it was a very nice addition to the evening.

History of the Valentine Card

The first written Valentines were shared in the 1400s.

In 19th century Britain, sending Valentines was popular.

In the 1840s, Esther Howland of Massachusetts (the Mother of the Valentine) sold the first hand-made Valentine cards in the United States. She based hers on British Valentines.

Today approximately 1 billion Valentines are sent each year. This includes cards exchanged in classroom parties.

To read more about the history of greeting cards, click here to view the site of the Greeting Card Association.