Sonnet for September 11, 2001
Sonnet for September 11
thursday i listen to radiohead
in a new purple polka dot sundress
& i am trying to feel so modern
i search for more warmth for this sunny day
in my air conditioned office & heart
i want to wear my purple rain jacket
i want to ward off rain & fear & dark
i want to keep off terror & attack
i want to make tears & fog slip away
i want to live in a world where i can
wear my old purple rain jacket over
my new purple polka dot summer dress
& with this keep all the bad news away
& with this to find this big world okay
Dated Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001. Originally published in ArtLife Limited Editions October 2001. I posted this broadside last year on this date as well with details and a spoken word audio poem by Juliana Spahr. For more poetry online, check out the category here on my blog or take a ride on the Monday Poetry Train. This was one of the rare weeks I didn’t post on Monday as we were en route home from Burning Man.
You could also come hear me read next Tuesday, September 15 at the Artists Union Gallery in Ventura where California Street meets the sea. An open mic follows my featured reading.
finding wine tweeps & two twitter wordles
After spending the afternoon at a Social Media and the Arts workshop, tonight I’ve been following Open Wine Consortium founder Joel Vincent’s advice on how to find wine tweeps to follow.
Joel posted a list with 1000 twitter accounts here; in the course of about 10 clicks, 100 wine tweeps at a time, voila! I’m now following over 1000 people on twitter; I hope at least some of them will follow me back. In the meantime, seeing as how it’s harvest here in the northern hemisphere, it will be fun and informative to hear how it goes for the various wine tweeps I’m following. If it gets too overwhelming, I’ll just unfollow those who never followed me back and who didn’t add enough value to the conversation.
Because isn’t that what it’s about–being a part of a conversation??
Taking a break from that, I made these two wordles based on my tweets so far. Sometimes, I just have to shake my head and recognize that this world of ours is one wild place. Cheers!
PS If you, my dear reader, follow me @artpredator on twitter, I will follow you back! At least for awhile!
how to use social media in the arts: some case studies
ArtsLIVE conducted a workshop in Ventura County to assist artists in using social media including twitter, facebook, blogs, youtube channel, and newsletters. I arrived after the first hour, well after most of the food and drinks were consumed and the conviviality ceased (I was busy teaching at Ventucky College). I then struggled for the first 30 minutes trying to get on-line. Not fun and no support in sight. Eventually, I achieved cyber lift-off.
The quick and dirty presentation closed with a series of case studies:
Michael Lynn Adams, artist, has been using social media since January. Since then, he’s developed a large facebook audience of 1700 fans. He’s developed subscribers to his newsletter by giving away a poster with a subscription. His goal is to help Read more…
Burning Man 2009 video makes you feel like dancing on the playa!
The videos and photographs are starting to show up online as peeps get back from the playa and starting sorting through their materials. I’ll add the ones I find that are worth watching here. This one begins and ends with a plane ride and offers a nice overview of the city from different perspectives, high and low.
I’d Rather Be Dancing at Burning Man…
Yes, I would, I would rather be dancing out at Burning Man right now, even if it meant being in another dust storm…
Here’s Burning Mom Victoria and her daughter Daria dancing out on the Deep End where we had a good time dancing too…
Unfortunately for this cool Big Sound art space, they were located adjacent to the super big super loud sound art space of the Do Lab/El Circo’s Simpler Times… Not cool to bleed like that.
Other great music moments we experienced: Wednesday night’s Opulent Temple Show with Cheb i Sabah followed by Persian Dance and Jeremy Sole at Do Lab Friday morning where they misted us… ahhhh…
I heard about many shows, and we traveled to see and hear them, but with a small child in tow, too many of them had the sound too loud. Next year, we’ll remember to bring headphone for our son like Daria is wearing to protect his hearing.
What were some of YOUR favorite musical performances this year?
Wine Blogging Wednesday #61 September 16, 2009: At the Source
Wine Blogging Wednesday founder Lenn Thompson of the blog Lenndevours: The New York Cork Report and who started Wine Blogging Wednesday five years ago says he likes “to hop in and host at least once a year. It’s fun to force people to drink what you tell them to. It’s a power rush.” Here’s the complete story. Continues Lenn:
Rather than walking into your local wine shop to pick up a wine for WBW, I want you to actually visit a winery and taste a wine there. Bonus points if you can taste it with the winemaker or the vineyard manager.
Post Wednesday September 16, and let Lenn know you want to play with a comment on his blog or an email.
I’m definitely playing along. I contacted Michael Meagher, winemaker for both Vino V and Old Creek Road Winery, and he invited me over on Friday for when the viognier arrives! So I get to check out harvest and do some tasting with a winemaker! So come back for that post next Wednesday, Sept. 16. Later, over on his blog, Lenn will do a round-up of all the participants.
Wine Weds: Burning Man Wine Tastings
It’s not often that I am caught without words. But in this case, I am not quite sure where to begin.
Except to say that hosting, participating and attending several wine tastings at Burning Man was one of the greatest, most unusual experiences of my life. And challenging. Ever do a wine tasting in a white-out like we did Saturday night before the Burn?
For another example, NONE of the planned wines arrived before we left EXCEPT Vino V’s Indigeno Syrah which Read more…
This was SO not me at Burning Man 2009
As you may have noticed, I was a bit negligent in posting and tweeting from Burning Man. Best laid plans and all that.
Between the dust storms and the distractions, getting to Center Camp with my laptop and finding a hot spot just didn’t happen. In fact, I only made it to Center Camp on Sunday afternoon (due to aforementioned dust storms) before we left to drop off some clothes for Andie Grace’s daughter Juniper, a few items for the Black Rock Boutique, and mail to send to Marcy Gordon who sent mail to me on the playa!
Obviously, others were hard at work as you can see from these photographs by fellow Kidsvillian Phil Spitler. I’ll be posting more from him as well as our friend Gary and more as the photos start flowing onto the interweb.
Watch for a post later today about Wine Wednesday which we held on the playa last week. I may add photos later as they turn up.
I’ll also post info on next week’s Wine Wednesday. By the way, this month’s Green Drinks Ventura County/Thousand Oaks is tonight, Wednesday, September 9th from 5:30 pm until 7:30 pm at Cholada Thai Cuisine, 1282 Newbury Rd, Newbury Park, CA 91320-3606.
Back in the Default World: How to Clean Up After Burning Man
Yes, friends, I am back in the default world after nearly a week at the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. More on that plus lots of photos in the coming days.
I prefer to give myself time before immersing myself slowly slowly into the default world but this year it was not to be. Be kind to yourself, especially you newbies: it can be a rough landing back in the default world.
Some don’ts: Don’t hug everyone you meet. Don’t try to clean everything all up right away. When you do, don’t use water–it just makes slippery mud. Some do’s: Wash with vinegar or club soda. Drink lots of water, get some sleep. Assimilate. Take off your cowboy hat. Lose the playa do. Remember to wear clothes.
This was, by far, the dustiest Burning Man in my 13 years of Burning. Major dust storms on Friday, followed by whiteouts most of the day Saturday and much of Sunday were intense.
White-outs remind me of childbirth. If you remembered how bad they were, you’d never do it again.
Coming up soon: more tips on how to clean up post-Burning Man.
midtown late summer vision
these late summer nights
window open after a long hot day
fog bursts in damp air
sycamore leaves crackle
light outside flicks on
two possums wander the yard
art predator 