Drinking Too Much w/ Members of "The Haven"

I process alcohol slowly so I've woken up somewhat drunk... Writing this while sipping an 'herbal detox' tea over at the Staghorn Home & Garden Cafe... They have wifi and my friend Cameron works there, it turns out... also, they host occasional poetry events.

Talking with members of The Haven at Lou's Little Corner Bar last night. First we had some "Apples to Apples" writing prompts, wherein we'd write about the adjective/noun matches we'd get from playing the game. (Here's my personal favorite, of mine). Then we got way more drunk and talked about why and how Daniel Parme was going to become Dictator of America. Later we got even more drunk and talked about the Pittsburgh literary scene.

I talked about my anxieties re: the scene. I'm worried about there not being enough poetry in PGH, about getting in touch with "the right crowds", and with just talking/meeting people in general. The Haven people talked me down: "because it's Pittsburgh, no one's going to have a problem with you asking to get involved." They also critiqued my attitude to the scene: "You're trying to see what you can find in Pittsburgh, instead of asking what you can contribute."

I do think they've got a point; I've been holding this imagined community of artists above the heads of everyone I meet here, trying to see if anyone matches up to it. It's a strange thing to do to people, comparing everyone to some made-up ideal; and if I care so much about the ideal, isn't it my responsibility to achieve it?

Communities are strange! Do you look for the right community, or do you create it? Perhaps similar to the difference and similarities between writing and reading... you may write the work you've always wanted to read, but you can also maybe find an approximation of this ideal somewhere... "There's nothing new under the sun."

One of my greatest social desires is to have people to share these kinds of discussions re: art, literature, with... the Haven people were interested, educated and invested in art, they give me a lot of hope/joy about these prospects.

[The Haven is a group established in 2012 that meets regularly every other Tuesday at Lou's and workshops "words" together, primarily fiction. They're looking sometime in the near/distant future to establish a coffee house/ writer's space in Pittsburgh which will offer workshops, classes,  and provide an alternative to a creative-arts education from a university. To wit, all four of these people I saw last night had creative-arts educations and worked food service; "you shouldn't have to get a college degree to write" (paraphrased!). ]--poetryburgh@gmail.com