CCLaP

I'm happy to announce that CCLaP has its newest Fellow -- Scott Ridgway, a writer and visual artist in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Scott and I have known each other for a few years now, in fact; I'm a fan of his work, and am glad he's decided to get involved with the center. And as mentioned below, Scott is also the organizer and host of a fun new poetry open mic in Rogers Park, every Friday evening at a place called Ennui Cafe; I'm going to be trying to make this week's event myself, in fact, and will post photos and an audio report from it here on Monday if I do.

To qualify for our free Fellowship program, Scott has ended up giving CCLaP the right to publish several great pieces of his, both stories and visual work; we'll be posting that material here to the website, then, slowly over the coming months. (Scott's first poem will be appearing tomorrow, in fact.) Don't forget, Scott now has his own HTML page here at our site, for those who are fans of his and would like to track his work and news, as well as his own RSS feed for those who would like future entries delivered in real time. This is but two of the many free benefits we offer all CCLaP Fellows, along with free admission to all our events, a free t-shirt, the opportunity to organize and run events through the center, and much more.

Below is Scott's official bio; and then in a couple of days Scott will also be writing a guest entry here at the website, concerning what kinds of creative work he's into and what things at CCLaP he is most interested in. Welcome, Scott; the center is glad to have you aboard.

John Scott Ridgway was born in 1962 in Garrett, Indiana. At seventeen, after reading On The Road, he started traveling, living in Dallas, San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bowling Green and Toledo, Ohio, and, finally, Chicago -- where he continued his studies after four years at The University of Toledo, attending Depaul, Columbia College, and Northeastern Illinois University, following a twelve-year education program that was laid out for him by the Beat poet Joel Lipman, an early mentor. He has published various short stories, edited the underground magazine Hypen, written for two television shows, and runs readings in the Rogers Park Community at Ennui Cafe, as well as writing his popular blogs, The Elves Attic and The Psycho Killer's Shit list. He has two published books: One War -- a novel that utilizes his classes in Military Intelligence to explore some of the dark underbelly of the real CIA, and his philosophy major to explain Wittgenstein's relevance to brainwashing and media manipulation by the Intelligence Community; and The Religious Psycho Killer's Shit List, a compilation of comedy and short stories.

An upper-class woman gets her first taste of a war-torn country, while a child dreams of a world he can never experience. "Angels," a new short story from CCLaP Fellow Scott Ridgway (bio). if viewing this from the front page or an RSS feed, click the link you see below to read.

Last night I got a chance to attend the weekly reading series at Cafe Ennui, in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, organized and hosted by CCLaP Fellow Scott Ridgway. I had a lot of fun, as a matter of fact, so thought I'd post a few photos from the event here at the site as well, plus a five-minute audio recording I did with Scott after the show. If the computer/device you're on has Flash Player, you should be seeing a little box above where you can listen to the audio right now; or you can right-click here to download the MP3 file. Remember, we post MP3s here in an open format; you can convert them to whatever format works best for you, own multiple copies, and transfer from one device to another.

I love going out to artistic events here in the city, and love doing little reports about them here at the site; if you'd like to let me and the CCLaP community know about yours, please feel free to add our email address (cclapcenter at gmail dot com) to your organization's mailing list.

He loves cartoons, hates dogs, and needs his mom's permission to go outside. Oh, and he's the leader of the free world. "W the Drunken President and the Flooded State," a new absurdist fairytale by CCLaP Fellow Scott Ridgway (bio, interview). And don't forget, Scott has a personal journal as well, for those who would like to read more of this type of work.

Click the link below to read the story, if you're viewing this from the front page or an RSS feed; or just keep reading, if you're at the archived entry. Caution: This story contains profane language and themes.