There's a local poetry slam, which I want to start going to - unfortunately, right now I have a scheduling conflict, and I haven't been to one yet.

For those of you who don't know or remember about Poetry Slams, I discovered them a few years ago when I saw a special on HBO called Youth Speaks. You can look up the National Poetry Slam or Youth ( Read more... )

Who am I to do this
          I am a survivor
          I am a healer
          who is not healed
I am a risk taker
          I am a bleeder
          I am constantly wounded
And who I am will
            continue to take on
            those wounds
            for the scars that
            tattoo my speeches
            my pitches
          ( Read more... )

I wonder why, as a society, we are unable to look at celebrities and ONLY look at their talent (which they have actually CHOSEN to share with the public, in most cases, and the basis for their fame). I wonder why we feel compelled to look at every aspect of their lives AND pass judgement - which we would not do with, say, a local theatre actor, or ( Read more... )

So in the course of deciding to clear house a bit, I decided to purge my shelves of a bunch of books I got from freecycle but truthfully, am never going to read. Probably about 25 or so. Was a bit wobbly about suddenly having gaps in my bookshelves, but then again, I had been double stacking so thought, OK, I can organise them properly again. I ( Read more... )

There is an edge to my home ( Read more... )

I just learned that Geraldine Ferraro has died. So this week, two women who had a great impact on America have passed. Elizabeth Taylor will get more press, I'm sure as she was known around the world. And she, like all people, deserves both praise and criticism - we none of us are perfect.

Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman candidate for Vice ( Read more... )

It all matters. Get on board! Like it on Facebook. Share ideas. Go do something nice for someone today, and every day!

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

What I did today (actually, started yesterday) as a random act of kindness: I started emailing back and forth with a woman on www.freecycle.org (which has always felt, to me, like a giant RAK ( Read more... )

So, I've written about Brave New Voices and Poetry Slam before, and I seem to rediscover it every year and am moved to tears no matter how many times I watch it. It came up again in conversation with Mary today, but it felt a little hollow. Though she is a writer (she told me she was participating in a poetry reading next week and I gather she does ( Read more... )

Today's Writer's Block entry:

Cause or symptom?

Do you believe that violence in media promotes violence in real life? Does media reflect cultural values or can it actively reshape them? Submitted By yori
I intend to comment on this later, because I dig sociology. And one of these days I might actually find the energy and/or inspiration to write something ( Read more... )

Last year I wrote about how Brave New Voices, a documentary about Spoken Word/Poetry Slams brought me to my feet cheering and left me crumpled on the floor weeping - and all the time inspired me like no other Art Movement has in a very long time. Last season's episodes are being re-broadcast as a buildup to this season. And I especially wanted to ( Read more... )