Austin...Tuesday was...

[dj_muse]

..sleeping in to catch up.  Shopping.  I looked online and found out about a T-Mobile Hotspot prepaid card that is good for 7 days and costs 19.99.  You have to go to an actual T-Mobile store (not a T-mobile dealer, as I found out) and you buy the "card," which in my case was the number and pin that allow you to credit your online account with the

Comments

[dj_muse]

There's something about being immersed in an environment with teams from different parts of the country - you see commonalities and differences. People catch on amazingly quick about what works and doesn't, in a limited sense.

Sometimes I think there are people who really work at poetry and those who just do what they can with no great effort. If you're not in an environment that prods you to work harder, you're not going to (I think that's human nature, for the most part). Too many people want to write poetry, and few people are really good at it.

Trouble is, too many people want to write poetry and get encouraged with mediocre efforts because there's no bar to measure against. I think this is one of Cantab's strengths - the caliber of writing is really good overall, and you get encouraged to bring your "A" game. Nobody gets turned away or discouraged, but you can hear the quality in the poems and you want to do the same yourself. The slam teams are so good because the competition is really stiff.

When you come to a competition like this, if you write really good poetry, it's a real balancing act to fit in enough to work well against the others. Also, the same metaphors, similes and other devices work because they don't take a lot of effort (or none, really) to follow. It's a lazy shorthand and gets the quick reaction. Add in some overheated gesticulating and raised voices to indicate "seriousness" and you've got a high-scoring slam poem.

I am proposing a cliche penalty of .5 - but I think some people would end up with negative scores.

On that note, I am seriously tempted to slap someone where their "third eye" supposedly is if I hear that tired-ass term being utilized again. C'mon, people, it's soooo played.

*grumble*

;)

It's hard to write good poetry. That's why there's so little of it, relatively speaking.

[louiserobertson]

LOL!

Watch for small pox blankets too. In the 2003 slam it was like everyone found a way to work that into their poems.

[dj_muse]

Bah! *lol*

I think after last night, the "twin towers/ashes" spiel should get added in there, with the "war on terror" and associated metaphors added in.