Special thanks to A. C. Middle School

Today is a day when I realize how much I love my work as an artist.
I had the privilege of speaking with a group of middle school girls for their “Girl’s Night” event which was amazing! Whenever I threw a question out to them, so many hands flew up in the air that there was no way I could call on them all! (Although I did try.) What was most exciting to me were all the hands that went up when I asked how many people were artists, and the variety of art they mentioned as their interests.

Question- why is it that there are so many kids who are inspiring and amazing, yet so many adults that miss the mark? This society could learn a lot from young people if it listened more and advertised less. The room was full of beautiful women, youth, staff and parent volunteers and i love that they have events like this. I don’t remember us ever having girl’s night functions when I was growing up, which is too bad. It sounds like the girls are going to have a full evening of activities. They were a GREAT audience.

I have never heard that loud of a shout back when doing my piece called “Unstoppable”. I do call and response. I say, “together we are unstoppable” and they respond with “nothing is impossible!” I decided to have them do it a few extra times since i was so impressed. I thought the roof might start to crack a little cause they were so loud!
I love it! Where are crowds like that all the other times when you need them? These young ladies may not realize how much of an impact that has, so I wanted to post it in hopes they might read my blog and know how much I appreciate them.

People always ask me when I am doing a show next, and I tell them that now I mostly do performances for young people, and this is a perfect example of why. The energy they have is contagious. The questions they ask are brilliant and interesting so I never dread question and answer sessions with youth. The kids want to know when you started writing, possibly hoping they are not too late to get started- which they aren’t! They want to know about inspiration, and from where you draw it.

However, I generally avoid Q & A whenever possible with ADULT audiences because inevitably someone is going to get all ego and use it as an opportunity to get at least 30 seconds of their 15 minutes of fame by being annoying. To put it in perspective,
here are a couple of examples of my least favorite frequent grown-up questions:
- The “look how smart I am” questions-
Q: Have you read, ________ (insert super obscure book here), and what do you think about the concept of _______ (insert obscure point of said book here).
A: No, I didn’t read that, but perhaps I will check it out.

Q: I have been reading a lot lately about __________ (insert geographical region, random cause, timely or untimely crisis, historical incident here). Are you familiar with that? You should write something about that.
A: That is very important, and since it seems really important to you perhaps you should consider writing that poem!

The “not a question” questions.
Q: (insert speech about something weakly guised as a question but is actually a statement) that ends with a “do you agree or disagree?”
A: (insert vague answer that neither agrees or disagrees)

My point is, you gotta love kids and their exuberance, and on the flip side you gotta wonder why sometimes grown-ups can make simple things so complicated.

Rain Returns

i heard your
smattering of sound
touching everything
with heaven’s moist kiss

i pretended you
were heater noises
refrigerator sighs
the house resting itself

i couldn’t believe you
would return promptly
after consistent rejection
the tough skin of raindrops

i anticipated you
finding me too soon
harbinger of seasons
cold gathers strength

The Sick, The Twisted and Other Film Lessons

There are certain things I generally avoid when choosing movies.
Sometimes I say “Oh that will be too violent, too disturbing etc.”, so I end up watching something else, perhaps a crappy romantic-comedy-happy-buddy-predictable and relatively “safe” flick. Certainly it ties back to my drive-thru double feature trauma from sitting through “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Phantasm” when I was merely 7. I remember screaming that I wanted to go home and no matter how tight I closed my eyes I couldn’t block out the noises coming from the speaker placed precariously in the rolled down window.

Today i saw a movie i knew relatively nothing about other than the theater description:
And I’ll be honest; I didn’t really read it all the way through or think too hard about it.

There weren’t really a lot of other choices out there it seemed and it sounded like action and intrigue. I like intrigue.

“The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver for one of London's most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon, the family's fortunes are tested by Semyon's volatile son and enforcer, Kirill, who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai's carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. The girl's personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. By delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided.”

What I failed to notice was the reason for the rating:
“BRUTAL and BLOODY violence, some GRAPHIC sexuality, language and nudity”

Yeh, I missed that.
But hey, I am no longer 7, (I am several times that in fact) and one thing that I have acquired over the years is desensitization to violent film imagery as well as the ability to leave a film if I don’t want to watch it. I know they are actors, the contents are fictitious, the blood is fake, I will never be inspired to replicate these acts in any way (unless i had my own camera, fake blood and dramatic cast frightening others certainly with much more comedic flair and no actual brutalness!

But as a life-long learner, every moment is one to draw insight and wisdom from, and this is yet another example.

What I know now- or at least better understand after watching this movie:
1. The sound of fingers being removed from a dead body to avoid positive IDs
2. What that hand looks like once the 5 tips are removed and it has been floating in h2o
3. What it would look like if someone hand fought opponents to the death while naked
4. What a knife through the eye would look like
5. The distinction between throat slicing cuts done clumsy and awkward, versus the swift clean slice
And that is only a partial list!
The shock and awe perverse joke of extremes.
Seriously, in the end everyone was stupid.

The "truth" was the buried subplot of a young girl’s tragic existence revealed occasionally through brief journal excerpts. Her story left mostly unexplored or on the cutting room floor. One of my students this summer had a line that captured it well, “who cares what a fourteen year old girl has to say.” But i transgress into the heavy... and this is just another movie that was sick, twisted, and disturbing in all the ways that the genre generally is, with extra attention to detail.

But did you see the way he got that guy in the eye?! OMG!

Come on! It was “Aragorn” naked kicking butt and getting his butt kicked. (Don’t worry, I covered my eyes slightly!)
Granted, I would not have chosen to see Viggo in the buff in my top 100, if there was some sort of poll on that kind of thing ahead of time), but how often is the male physique in it’s entirety shown in R rated movies? I think “laws” about that kind of thing exist, or at least it seems that way.

However, all things considered, next time I might choose a comedy.

Limbo and Other Awkward Positions

I say that I like change, want to do new things, need different input/stimuli.
So now i stand at a major crossroads in regards to work, home life, and my art. The stage has been set for major transitions and the curtain is about to rise on the new phase of my life.

But, to continue with the metaphor, I feel like I haven't memorized my lines yet, or even got a copy of the script. The sound guy came with a boombox that only gets one radio station (that I don't like). The lighting has a mind of its own and seems stuck on flashing strobelight. Folks don't want to come unless they are on the guest list + 1. And the show premieres soon at a venue no one has ever heard of before. And the concessions people insist on serving everything pork, even though i don't eat it.

Or- like the game limbo, which involves people contorting themselves to walk underneath a stick, I am watching the bar drop lower knowing that somehow I have to squeeze through the gap in order to move to the next level. But my flexibility is shot and the person I am competing with has a double jointed back.

Or maybe I should go with the lighter interpretation of the term as used by Chubby Checker. Shouldn't life be a lot more like a fun party where everbody dances?

Let's look at the catholic meaning of "limbo" which describes innocent and righteous souls that haven't made their way to heaven since they weren't baptized. Well, my mom's side of the family is catholic, to varying degrees of follow through, and I have been to many a mass (well easily over a dozen) so this definition intrigues me. It presumes notions of guilt and innocence and involves a very judgemental god who insists you recognize his son in order to move spiritually forward. Fascinating and a bit male-centric.

Mind you I have very intriguing ideas on religion and spirituality, which I do share at times, but I am not in the business of converting other people. It is a spiritual philosophy of one, or the trinity of "me, myself and I". Pieces strung together from my own experiences and insights combined with my multifaceted family background and upbringing which includes Islam, Catholicism, Christianity and my name which is Hindu.

So, imagine if you will, an omnipotent, omnipresent being existing as creator and maintainer of the universe in which we live. That is a downright powerful position to be in, not to mention a post that would have required a serious qualifying resume! Would that Being really devote so much time to pursuits around OUR daily choices and afterlife location? Is that really the limited nature of the job description and duties? Thank god I am not God. Cause I thought my job was a pain! I'm just saying, if I was powerful like that, I wouldn't waste me time with people.

Family Fun: They Make Centers for It

Miniature golf blues and greens
contain ridiculous angles and too many putters.
Go-karts belch gaseous fumes
refusing to pick up speed.
Lazer tag battles duck and fire in a room with strangers.
My favorite lady sits ready for a mere token.
Ms Pac Man's set for high speed, but her joystick doesn't respond.

This evening's food brought to you by unwashed hands.
Refill my soda for free!
Poorly designed larger-than-life-sized puppets of outdated
cartoon characters sing to the room unrequested.
Rebellious machines swallow shiny coins with no intent to play.
Paint all the walls in bright colors!
Blur sound across cramped space and let it heighten
every frequency of shrieking and loud chatter.

Climbing walls of artificial design dangle children
strapped in for safe keeping.
Bumper boats provide showers,
to those aboard and those within range.
I embrace the madness, squealing with excitement.
The lines finally shorter now that it is 10pm,
I insist we ride around the track
one last time before we go.
Don't bother using brakes,
let's make the best of an unlimited pass.