Words Aloud
- Events -
The 804 household has hosted many an event, but none more sophisticated, gratifying and all-around fulfilling as Words Aloud.
The idea, originally inspired by two gentlemen from North Carolina, Jason Mott and Justin Edge, who put together their own event hosted in Wilmington, was to give aspiring writers an open forum to share their work with a literary appreciative crowd.
Fellow 804 Horseman and former UNC-Wilmington classmate of Mott and Edge, John-Mark Davidson, shared details of the Wilmington event while hanging out among friends in Old Town Alexandria. The first domino was tilted forward by a single question posed by a lovely young missus by the name of Emily Saulsgiver: “Why don’t we do that here?”
And with that, Words Aloud was born.
John-Mark and I hosted the event, as eight total readers took to the podium on March 7, 2009, for the 1st Annual Words Aloud (listed in order of appearance):
- Stuart Smith
- Nicholas Thomas
- Jason Mott
- Thadeous Goodwyn
- Emily Saulsgiver
- Justin Edge
- Timothy Hopkins
- John-Mark Davidson
Each person shared a poem, story, or topics ranging from love, old wisdom, drinking mishaps, vanity via mirrors and trysts. The crowd of 30-35 remained awake from what I could tell, and seemed to receive the original pieces quite well, making the evening even more successful than we could have hoped for.
The event would not have been possible if not for the help from a few people/places:
- Roommate John-Mark for co-hosting.
- Roommate Thad for all his help and his sonnet.
- Roommate Mike for his help and the food.
- Justin Edge and Jason Mott for coming up from Wilmington, and for the idea originally coming from them.
- Emily Saulsgiver for asking the simple question, “Why don’t we do that here?”
- T.J. for providing the microphone and mic stand.
- Jessica “Vila” LaFever and her father for building a wooden podium specifically for the event.
- The lovely crowd of friends, family and just plain folks for coming out and being receptive and appreciative.
Considering the event’s turnout, attendee feedback and the foundation of our place still remaining intact, count on there being a 2nd Words Aloud in the coming months.
Stay tuned to this website, as well as my Facebook and Twitter pages for the exact event date.
So to all participants, both readers and attendees alike, I’d like to personally say thank you kindly for helping to make Words Aloud go above and beyond our expectations!
** Here’s the piece I read [PDF] **
President-elect Obama writes of finding his own identity, chasing the trail left behind by the Kenyan father he met only two times. Starting the book with the news of his father’s passing away, he takes us through a journey of his upbringing, which spanned across the globe — Honolulu, Jakarta, New York, Massachusetts and eventually, on to settle into Chicago, Illinois.
As a journalist with The New York Times, Filkins is given vast resources for digging into the inner cities and towns within Afghanistan and Iraq, during their some of their most contentious times. His stories paint a raw picture of American occupation in a foreign land — Iraq mostly — and the struggle in keeping peace when embedded in areas where insurgents are scattered about, and not always easy to weed out.
Once again, Gladwell makes the reader put on a thinking cap and take a look into what makes a person successful. Is their success a credit to being geniuses at what they do, or is it also thanks to fortunate placement in a time or place? Outliers takes us through an in-depth look into situations where some “geniuses” are born into situations with great opportunities. The 10,000 hour rule — where to be a true and complete expert at a particular field, one would generally need to spend over 10,000 hour practicing — can only be achieved if someone like Bill Gates lives in the right area (Michigan) who gave him a unique opportunity to practice programming at a very young age. The child in the inner city single-parent home who gets chosen to attend a charter school where classes are more engaging than public schools, and because of their more intense workload, those who graduate gain a higher quality of education later in life.

Keep happiness at the forefront of all things in life. Be it work, play or family, happiness is the key to prosperity. Finding what it is that makes you happy — including working at a place you enjoy — and focusing on how positive internal happiness and positive thinking translates into success is key. I have not read The Secret, though I hear its topic is essentially what those first lines just mentioned. I’ve lived by this mantra for a while, had those moments where focus was lost, but found my way back and continue to maintain smiles throughout. I recommend this for all, but this is a key goal in sustaining all of the others.
We hear a lot of talk about how a “
Yesterday, I took the day off work to join a friend and his company in volunteering at the 

I laughed at what seemed more like a joke to me. Unfortunately, the moderator did not seem to feel the same way, judging by Brokaw’s demeanor throughout the rest of the debate. At various points throughout the debate, Brokaw took time away by restating rules and time limits in an agitated tone. Of course, Brokaw was determined to keep within the rules each campaign agreed on, as was his job as moderator, but this was assuming that any two chatty politicians (redundant: politicians all seem to be chatty) would ever fully comply.


