Mark your calendar: Thursday, February 9

1. “Missed Connections” at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Gallery

Event Description: I was admiring you from afar as you read CityBeat when you suddenly looked up and caught my eye. You tore off a page, folded it into a paper plane and threw it towards me. I swear I glimpsed our entire future together in that brief moment. It was beautiful. Hope to see you at Weston Art Gallery.

Each day, untold people have chance encounters with strangers and subsequently kick themselves for not being bold, brave or spontaneous enough to formally introduce themselves. Like a message in a bottle, a “missed connection” classified ad is an attempt, however far-fetched, by one person to reach another on the strength of a remembered glance, smile or fleeting conversation.

Do you have a missed connection you’d like to share with the world? Send your story to MissedConnections@CityBeat.com. Acclaimed artist and author Sophie Blackall will select one missed connection to illustrate, give to the winner, appear on our Feb. 8 cover and be featured at our Missed Connection event Feb. 9 at Weston Gallery. That night, all are welcome to come meet Blackall, enjoy drinks and snacks, and maybe even form a special connection of their own. Participants will be able to send their own instant “missed connection” to any other attendee in the room, which will be hand-delivered and projected about the space.

2. Slow Dance with Important People: A Poetry Reading and Sock Hop at The Rake’s End

Event Description: In honor of an approaching Valentine Holiday as well as Important People’s overwhelming desire to show Cincinnati their love and admiration for all writers and supporters of the writing community, Important People are throwing a dance party! As Important People remember the ‘50’s and their teens, it is undeniable that the sock hop is the favorite among the school dances. Not at all like prom or homecoming, sock hops are casual, fun, awkward, and impulsive.

The event kicks off with a poetry exchange. The call to readers is open. Important People encourage you to bring poems, to read poems to your crush or by your crush, to have your partner read your poems, to read the poems of a long dead poet you admire, to read the poems of a local poet you admire who may or may not be present…

The possibilities for this conversation are endless as Important People encourage all writers, musicians, mathematicians, scientists, lovers, haters, gold medal gymnasts, and dancers to participate. Bring as much or as little material as you like. Everyone will take turns. Feel free to email Important.People.Present@gmail.com with your rsvp or show up unannounced. Important People also encourage listeners to come and enjoy and take part with their silence. Just so long as everyone ends up on the dance floor!