The Bar Wench Biography
I am a young and energetic writer looking for an opportunity to employ my craft across a variety of platforms. A desire to strengthen the quality of my writing led me to acquire an M.A. in English, which has afforded me to have more than a passing relationship with grammar. My educational background has not only prepared me to be a more effective writer using logos, pathos, and ethos, but I have also developed skills in graphic design, videography, and non-linear editing in the process. The time I have spent working, as a Producer for the television show Arts Weekly, has provided me the means to operate with a multitude of people and genres, while honing skills highlighting an insightful attention to detail. Additionally, these experiences have taught me the value of keeping an open mind, being flexible, and maintaining a sense of humor when Murphy shows up with his monkey wrench.
It was pure luck that Kim Hartman and I happened to meet. I was out of work after the Continuum Art Gallery had closed and had another year to go before completing an M.A. in English. I needed a job that would be flexible in scheduling, which caused me apply for work in the restaurant business I had been working so hard to escape. Fortunately, I got a call for an interview, since my application had found its way into the b pile due to it lacking evidence of my time making drinks and taking orders for the masses of hungry and thirsty people of Fort Wayne. The only reason Kim decided to take a chance on calling me was that she liked how I formatted my résumé. Thankfully, I got the job despite its appearance of being a step in the wrong direction. Even though the job was not ideal it opened the door to our friendship and paved the way to our working together creatively.
Graduation had come and gone, but I found myself still stuck in the restaurant rut. A soul-sucking feeling began to creep into my everyday existence, as opportunities to improve my lot in life had not materialized on the bright horizon of post-matriculation. It was in this state of depressed desperation that the idea for The Bar Wench Blues was born. I realized that it was up to me to create the opportunity I’d been looking for and what better way than giving a voice to the frustration brewing underneath the trappings of service with a smile! This is not a foreign concept for those who have depended on tips to make ends meet. It is a desire to reveal those unspoken truths that beats at the heart of this poetry and photography project.
The reality is there are many instances when the strangers demanding to be served are not so kind and are more than willing to share their unpleasantness or take out their misery on those employees forced to bite their tongues if they want to keep their jobs. However, it is not just the staff of these establishments that are wearing facades attempting to mask or distort public perceptions. It’s a scene that attracts a diverse crowd whether times are good or bad and it does not recognize boundaries of race, gender, or class. These are places where the careful observer can see through the carefree chaos and attain an education in human nature through patterns of behavior and body language with enough wiggle room for the unexpected to keep the real rolling on it’s toes by the seat of it’s pants, because Murphy’s Law is always on hand to play. As luck would have it, I had met the perfect person with the right background and understanding of these dynamics to be the photographer for this collection of poetry.
