Sing Dammit, Sociologist

I am about to do one of the things that Rachel McKibbens absolutely abhores: heap praise upon her.

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Hincapie barely misses yellow jersey in the town of my Mom's (Huguenot?) ancestors.Besancon.Near the Alps. I should go there.Maybe not leave.

Lightning, thunder, tired last night.Had a lovely Friday night date, but I was bleary.Luckily it was cool to just kind of sit and watch the storm.
Can't say I;ll be much beter company tonight either.

I have a rock camp prep day, theoretically starting in 7 minutes.Nope.Sleep was more important.
Next, more coffee and a shower.

Walter Cronkite is dead. Another voice of my childhood.And they don't make reporters and anchormen like that anymore, for sure.

I am really hoping for bfast a Ria's tomorrow.If not there, someplace with real maple syrup.Craving pancakes & French toast.

This is the last weekend break from slam poems before boot camp gets steel toes.I have movies and popcorn for a few hours to squirrel away to myself,hopefully later this afternoon/early evening.

Okay. Rock Camp prep.

Here's a sample of our friends Leah & Chloe of RISE (Rising Appalachia).
I  know I've mentioned them before.They show up in my poems as
fire dancers in parking lots, 'cause they do that, too.
They're fun, if you get the chance to see them.All their shows have
the vibe of jam session.
Here they were last night:
:-)( Read more... )

And Laura:( Read more... )

So, a little ahead of NPS, I've been getting a little sleep deprivation for the last few nights.I've been drowsy through my work days, kept up by broadcasts about the Tour de Amazing  French Agri Mountain Countryside.Kept going by rehearsals earlier in the week and rock camp meetings (damn, that's MONDAY, sheeesh).
So I've been doing the dance of July: busy days and even busier evenings. 
I love this life and the shorter sleep hours of the past two nights,
thanks to the gals, sistaseuss  and upendedurn Oh the giggles, the laughter, the cackling, the great conversation and storytelling,(and the strange ankle object in a bag the three of us can't figure out).
Last night's Cliterati was great.Good turn out, respectful readers, good material,snappy show.Chloe and Leah were there from RISE (formerly Rising Appalachia), sharing a poem and a song.Lovely.New readers and regulars joined in.Well written flirty, sensual themes and hints of pirate, which suited Laura's feature.She was marvelous, energetic, luxurious in the ears.Really into her own, hearing her work is quite another thing from reading.I hope we can lure her back sometime.More to come at Java on Sunday, where I'm sure she'll knock them out.
T has the proof of last night's awesome, coming to a youtube near you.

Anyway, so it is, running on fumes and conversation.Nice preparation of a different sort for the weeks ahead.

I had a photo shoot for an upcoming art exhibit featuring artists "of note", one of those ones where they get all artsy with you, like your senior pictures without the barn in the background and the hairdo you'll regret ten years later.  Anyhow, the photographer was like, "Okay, now use your arms like you're performing a poem.  Better yet, just perform a poem and let's see that movement."  I told him I don't memorize my poems.  So they journalist who set it all up interviewed me while I stood there and since my natural inclination is to speak with my hands a LOT, I still got my catwalk on.  The result was way more real than me trying to pretend to care about the poem I'm delivering to a blank wall.

Just wanted to let everyone know, that a new version of MemcacheD has been released. We will be rolling this out to the memcache nodes during the week of July 20th to 24th. This should have very little impact on the stability of the website; however users may see a slight increase in load times as the cache is re-populated with entries.

The software has been tested and verified to be working just fine with the application; so we perceive this to be a very minimal risk in regards to updating, and the stability of the website.

Thanks...

Dear Van Slam,
It's ON!
We accept your invitation-- the higher ranking team
will buy the first round of drinks for the other
after our bout.
We'll be putting those greenbacks to good use ;-)

Slam Ma'am,
Karen G.

PS
Bring the rifle.

PSS
I hear there is no longer a rifle.
I will keep my eye out for one like it or something
similar.

It's really like a holiday morning, opening up the draw.
What I know as a 4yr near graduate sm is that there is no such thing
as an "easy" draw.THEY ARE ALL HARD! In large part because
there's the mystery and excitement of what and who are on the other teams.
Not like football and watching last week's game.But like football in where and when to put
the players & passes in.
Oh, it's like relishrelishrelish.

Okay, so Art Amok ATL gets a bye the first day, so we get to check folks out before throwing our shoulders to the wheel.

Wednesday:

AtlArtAmok, Killeen (w=hootyhootyhooo), Ocotillo (Tuscon) Poetry Slam, VANCOUVER Poetry Slam

This bout is going to be so much fun, I barely contain myself.We meet our family of Vanslam & the dear members of team Tuscon, & I know the owls of Killeen will bring the noise.

Thursday:

AtlArtAmok, Denver Mercury, Philly-Fuze,Dallas Poetry Slam

I am already kind of thinking about this as a rematch of our second bout last year.It was also us, Philly & Denver.We meet Denver every year.It's a tradition at this point.Again, close family in the room.Philly had everyone on hooks last year.Denver pulled up in the last round by .1. With Dallas in the house, this bout is going to be SICK! :-D  I know a little bit how klute  feels---it looks like we'll be meeting Philly every year, too and that's my old stomping ground.I love it when local references come out in the poems, but I also want to beat them that much more.
:-)

I could barely sleep last night.

ATL Java Monkey's sched is
Tuesday:
ABQ, Slamarillo, St. Louis

So we'll likely be there to support

Wednesday:
Durham-Bull City,IAO Wayward Slam, Charlotte Respect da Mic (Maze's outfit, but I think he and Carlos, Swan & Q are all in Scotland, so the team's a bit mysterious)
We are also early bout, so we will miss them.

ALL THE PARTICIPATING TEAMS (not the whole draw)

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Okay, I get it, I'm a little down right now, but why did you have to take my headphones from me?! I've had these things for the better part of 10 years!

WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Notes Feature
Automatic Detect Location
Pingbacks for All
Birthday Wishes

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I was coaching the team last night and had a couple of them performing in the middle of High Street outside Kerouac. In the dark. With passersby and the Mexican place across the street in full force. It was awesome.

If nothing else, they'll be ready for street ciphers.

Three weeks is too long for me to be on the road AND trying to work at a brand-new job. 

My mother was bitten by a bat on the 4th and is undergoing the anti-rabies shot series.

Just because the pad see ew is good does not mean the pad thai will be. No metaphor.

Apartment-hunting in Chicago is differently tiring from apartment-hunting in NYC. Sigh.

I do not always look forward to the truth. This week is no exception. And yet, listening.

Corners of whatever new home waits need to be dedicated to what I love and forget.

Everything new is a trial. Every day a test. This also should be joyful. Remember.

I need more caffeine. Should drink water. Need more caffeine. Water. Water. Water. 

Rollergirls & Herman Put Down The Gun cover PJ--a good way to open lunch on Monday

Soggy evening at Java Monkey.Unbelievable rains and downpours.But we carried on.Loyal audience stuck it out.Jon Goode featured & I really liked some of his newer poems.Nice banter in between, too.
Apparently there's an MTV filming crew doing some sort of docu on poetry ---don't know what they're working on, but they were there for the early part of tonight & will be back again next week.
Oh, and are the next two weeks ever full.Rock  Camp planning, rehearsals, Cliterati, two poets out of pocket,then next week is actual camp & then the Blood Bath Slam, ATL teams versus Charlotte.Woooooskippy. Better rest up!Easier with the sounds of rain & cats puring at the sides.

I'm selling these paintings in the upcoming Writers' Block auction on Wednesday, the 22nd.  If you wanted them, now's your chance.


The God of Pool Halls
Acrylic on canvas, 15x30
 



Clothesline
Acrylic on canvas, 16x20
 


Unforgiven
Acrylic and 3D wood on canvas, 56x36 (almost 4 1/2 ft x 3ft)

Two hearts beat as one
--one for each ear
in off rhythm

1.
It's the absurdity
fisting you in the gut
like her legs on the plastic
red
of the eat-in booth seat
maniacal yellow happy M
rising outside the window
and french fry stuffed kid faces
hanging upside down on monkey bars
while she is very definitely
having a heart attack
you hold her stranger hand
for an hour
wait and wait and wait for relatives to show up
because she's less worried about dying
than an ambulance ride and the trip to the hospital
she can't afford, doesn't have insurance
and she's embarassed about it
like it's her fault
a flaw
sticky
like the countertops
minimum wages don't encourage
to clean.

2.
we have no fucking right
we have no fucking rights
even when we pay for our walls
they can come and handcuff you
they can come and handcuff you before
you reach for your ID
shackled wrists make it harder to grab your identity
shackled wrists make it harder to grab for your identity
or the grip on your heart
pounded guilty before proven innocent
lumps to swallow
lumps to swallow like shame
as though they weren't adding to the fear
with behavior more like perpetrators
traitors
traitors to our senses of safety

3.
we come in to this world
with an oceanic squall in our throats
gummy
all small and imprinted
mucked with hopes and dreams
and we go out with muffled throats,
paper flesh, thinness like the beginning
but drained
along the way
suffering indignities of body fluids leaving,
sores and tempers deserving of respect
and dignity most under undignified conditions
weaknesses make us human
more than bags of bones
with jellyfish guts of fear
in the darkness
---be a lighthouse
see yourself there
in the rheumy eyes of the war veteran
begging for change at the gas station
the story of the man plugging away after a life of service
then let go
and the grandmother whose schizophrenic child
has stage four lung cancer
and babies.

4.
if you can't
ask yourself
who the fuck are you
how much do you really fucking need
at the expense of someone else's
safe sleeping spot
plate of food
medical attention

5.
one heart clangs in my chest
and the other is hers
traveling with witness eyes
relaying stories from the road
because we are open
blood sisters to vulnerabilities
we swap our testimonies
and wonder
where the hell is this place
we call our country
and what can we salvage?

Likin' the article and the forward ideas in it.
MM on GM

i remember amy fuckinweaverman and lindsay and i driving from dallas to austin a year ago.yesterday.
on a ticket the knoxville slam team paid for, familial style.mad. deep. love.
amy held me up that day.lindsay,too.we can't do this life alone and some graces you'll never forget.
we sang journey at the top of our lungs with windows rolled down.
it was a beautiful day.

today is the birthday of three marvelous humans in  our slamily
kat sanford, chris august & copperhead red.happy birthdays!!with sparklers and danceypants!

my heart has many arms today
full of love and flowerfaces

there is a nice looking lady here at the coffeeshop. that's all.
ladys is nice. and it's nice that they're out there.

Miracle of miracles: A pointless pain in the butt will soon stop bugging you. Meanwhile, an annoying itch in your heart is subsiding, and may even disappear. As a result of these happy developments, you will be able to concentrate on a much more interesting and provocative torment that has been waiting impatiently for your loving attention. Actually, it's an ancient torment dressed up in a new package. But as before, it's a torment you've never had the right name for. That's about to change, however. You're finally ready to find the right name for it, and when you do, you'll be halfway toward a permanent cure.