if someone were to want a DVD done to use to help promote themselves as a poet, what is recommended — a live performance, a “video resume,” or some mix of both? How much does one of these things cost to do it right?
I’m thinking of using an agency to help with college bookings and have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I want to know what I should be expected to provide.
the dead give us our lives.
think of your memory of
a beloved aunt’s house full of junk.
think of how it was the source
of your lusts:
for oily wood, like the handle of your dad’s hammer;
for your mother’s china, linen, knitting needles;
for a hero’s baseball, pistol, top hat, signature;
for the sharpened rocks of unremarkable, forgotten nomads.
think of who you obey
in your moments of strain: lovemaking.
the first kill. a confrontation
with contradiction.
think: whether you are rebel or meek servant,
when did you ever do anything
that was not given to you to do
by some ghost?
Happy birthday, my dear aurorabell! May your day be Spikey and bright!
And oh, a belated birthday to theklute. I kept meaning to post something witty, but I ended up not posting as I was not witty. Sadness.
I have been through every scrap of paper and blank book I own and can’t find the SPEAK themes anywhere.
Can one of y’all post em for me?
Grrr…
I just realized that the last three slam events I’ve been to (2005 iWPS, 2005 NPS, 2006 iWPS) were all excellent.
It is just possible I may have misjudged the moribund nature of the Beast.
I mean, I heard crap in all three events, but the good stuff I heard was pretty damn good.
This year’s revelation, in the bouts I heard, was Ryler Dustin from (I’m almost sure) Seattle. Intense writer, good delivery. Nice guy too. It will be interesting to see he if he stays involved with slam, as his work is not representative of a lot what you hear these days. I think that’s a good thing.
There are a lot of others to mention, but I’ll do it in the natural course of things as I go along.
I performed four times: twice in the sacrifice slam (“MWSB” and “Punk”), once in the men’s reading (“Nuggets,” a new one — OFF PAGE!), and once as a sacrifice on the second night (“Punk” again — I would have preferred to have done something else but it was a two minute round and the only thing I had that I knew would fit and had the necessary energy was “Punk”). That might be the most I’ve read at any slam event since 1999.
I’ll be in Austin for sure, since I’m determined to award the Ken Hunt Prize this year. Which means I might have to go to Slammasters, I suppose…
Amazing how wiping my hands of a thing never lasts.
because I am evidently an idiot…
how the FUCK does one use the PSI website?
I come back all energized from Charlotte. I decide I’ve got to post something about the Ken Hunt Prize to the membership lists.
I try to sign on. I get told I don’t have my password right.
I decide I must have forgotten it. I send for a new one.
I get the new one. It works, I go into my account, I set my own password.
It works, lets me see my private messages. I sign out, try it again. Still works.
Get back in, change my e-mail on the account.
Try to access the forums. Tells me only users “with special access” can do that.
OK…Sign out, try it again. Nope, password doesn’t work. Find out my account has been deactivated because I changed “vital Information.” OK.
Reactivate account. Try to sign in. Password doesn’t work.
Send for a new one? I don’t think so. Think I’ll cool down a little first.
I am interested in – do tell me aboutherhimitthem
There is one incorrect fact here, of course…it’s “Inuit,” not “Eskimo.”
it couldn’t be darker.
the light at the end of my cigarette
looks like hope instead of death.
i am again staring at the keyboard
with no idea what to write,
knowing only
that writing seems like a good idea
in a night so black that
a promise of cancer
seems like a beacon.
it must look different from the outside:
there’s water and wine here,
a lover sleeping nearby
with a stillness
which reminds me of a moment
before a door opens.
daylight is not far off,
and there’s a poem forming on the screen.
the breathing in the bed
calls me, but i will light
one more cigarette before i go,
giving me a quick dose of
my other chosen poison
before i turn back toward my life.
See previous entry.
I guess I’ll do a full entry when I get back…
but hey Worcester-ites: Bobby Gibbs placed 19th over all. Wheeeee!
i saw some people I knew.
I drank alcohol.
I hear there’s a poetry thing around here somewhere. I’m a go look.
i’m shutting down. see you in Charlotte.
for the folks not there, I have technology with me and will check in here and there.
bye!
EDIT AT 2:15 AM: Dammit. I can’t sleep. Grrrr…
I just turned down an offer from a headhunter to come in and interview for two potential positions, each making 60-80K.
In Bentonville, Arkansas.
For Wal-Mart. (Bentonville should have tipped you off.)
I’m pretty sure there were benefits, too…imagine that.
I leave for Charlotte tomorrow in the late AM, get there mid-afternoon. Staying at poet central.
Looking forward to seeing all y’all.
