The Poet Of The Oregon

     You are always bound to meet some interesting characters when you spend time in Oregon District. The area draws all kind of interesting people into the many shops, restaurants, bars and art galleries you can find  there.
     However, one of the most interesting people I've met is a man who for the purposes of this entry, would like to be referred to merely as " The Poet".
    The Poet has been homeless and on the street for several years and can most often be found hanging out in the Oregon District. He is definitely not your typical homeless man just begging for change though. He also claims to not to drugs anymore and most of the money he receives from people jsut goes to food and clothing. I've even heard people refer to him as the hardest working bum in the city.
     This is because instead of simply asking for money when you walk by, he will often approach you, with a smile on his face, introduce himself, and hold out a stack of handwritten poems that have been xeroxed.
     The Poet writes about many diffferent subjects, mostly having to do with the Dayton area and it's inhabitants. As you would expect, some of them are sad, but others are actually uplifting and can really brighten your day.  The poet will either recite the poems he has written for you, or give you one of his xeroxed copies in exchange for a donation of any size. Last time I ran into him I gave him $5 dollars and he could not have been more grateful.
So if you are ever downtown and happen to run into him, stop and listen to what he has to say. The poems really are beautifully written. I can only hope that his talent may one day get him off of the streets.

North Dixie Drive

I recently went and saw a documentary at the Neon movie theater. The neon is a small independently owned cinema that plays a lot of films that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. The theater is located at the corner of fifth and St. Claire and I'm sure that even if you've never seen a movie there you will recognize the place when you see it.

       The Neon is nice because the theaters are kind of small and you never really have a bad seat no matter where you are or how many other people are in attendance. Also, they serve alcohol, much to the delight of my older friends.

      This post isn't really about the theater so much as it will be about the documentary I saw there a few nights ago. The film is called North Dixie Drive. It is a documentary about the infamous street in Northridge. Strangely enough the film's director is not from the area and hails from New York. How he came to find out about the area or decided that it was worthy if making a film about I do not know.

      On to the movie itself though. The film has little narration and consists mostly of interviews with local workers. It is is a portrait of a once booming business area that  fallen on hard times and you can sense the desperation as you watch.  As someone who lives not far from the area, and who has known several people from Northridge, it is an interesting experience to see some of the places that are familiar to me shown on the big screen.

      You will also meet some very interesting characters in the movie from barbers and repo men, to strippers and mechanics, all of whom seem to be struggling to make ends meet these days. This is needless to say, not a happy film. It has kind of dark tone, and evoked a lot of sympathy from me for the inhabitants of the town. I would definitely recommend it though, not only if you are familiar with the area, but just to see a different side of life that some of you may not be familiar with.

Reason Why I'm Writing

      Hello my name is Cody Lewis. I was born in Dayton Ohio and I have never really lived anywhere else. I often find that many people I encounter are unsatisfied with living here. I do not quite understand this sentiment because I have lived in this city my entire life and I am constantly discovering new people, places, and ways to entertain myself. When people complain about living in Dayton, I like to think that they are simply not looking hard enough.
       We live in an extremely diverse city with a lot of different things to do for entertainment.  The other day, me and a friend were sitting at the park and he said (as I've heard a thousand times before) "There's nothing to do in this town, we need to move to California or something." So I asked him if he had ever been to any of the art galleries in the Oregon District, and he told me he hadn't. We ended up spending the day going to several galleries and had a great time.
     There have been many days like this. And many times when I have had to come up with things for me and my friends to do , outside of something normal like going to the movies or going out to eat. It almost seems to me as if people want to be bored, or that they would rather complain than go out and experience all the great things that this city and the sourrounding area has to offer.
      Which brings me to this blog and my reasons for writing it. I want to give anyone who reads this the opportunity to read about some of the great things in Dayton that I feel often go overlooked. So while this entry is only an introduction, in my next entry I'll be writing about something or someone I found in our community that I feel you should know about. I'll also be taking pictures to further illustrate some of these things.