3:15 Experiment Poetry 2011: because
August 14, 2011 3:15am
Napa, California
3:15 experiment
Because I lost my iPhone
I write by glow stick & full moon
Because Brett didn’t answer the phone
and Toni left town
I write in a vineyard
Because I have a sense of adventure
I write from the back of my Honda CRV
Because I don’t get the buttons
on the locking key on the car
a blue light has flashed all night
Because I am also a Girl Scout
I am prepared with a sleeping bag
the black down one I got when I
graduated from high school
Because I’m a dedicated poet
I am writing in the middle of the night
instead of sleeping
Because I am a dedicated blogger
in a few hours I will drive to SF
and go to WordCamp
Because this is an agricultural area
it is quiet and because it is
surely no one will be by
earlier than me
to go to work
Because it is the Perseids meteor shower
as I write if I get lucky
& I look out the windows
I just might see a shooting star
Because I am lucky already
I am surrounded by beauty
Because I am tired
I am going back to sleep now.
Matt’s WordCamp SF 2011 Closing Remarks
People came from all over the world, literally, to WordCamp SF 2011 including Nepal, Germany, Israel, Romania, and more. Couldn’t make it to WordCamp SF? Over the next few weeks, all the videos from this event will be on WordPress TV.
Tickets are $30, but it costs far far more to put on this conference–more like $300 a person! I’m grateful to all the sponsors who helped subsidize our amazing day here. The BBQ at lunch was fabulous! (I missed the bagels from previous years though–my bad for going without having breakfast!)
Now time for the party at Pedro’s Cantina!
WordCamp SF 2011: 26 Hot Tips for SEO in the Panda Age
Now up at WordCamp SF 2011:SEO (search engine optimization). According to speaker Sujan Patel, “in 2011, SEO is more than just optimizing page titles and a few plugins; it’s about having the right site architecture, social signals, domain authority, site speed and much more.” His presentation will provide tips on how to drive traffic and get readers to your blog including the best plugins for SEO and Social Media. He also will talk about how to implement SEO, such as keyword research and “social signals that affect rankings & social media optimization for WordPress.” By following his tips, he says you’ll turn your WordPress site into a traffic driving machine.
“Panda” is the latest way that Google is trying to keep the quality sites at the top of the page and the scraper, scammer sites on the bottom–or off the page! So how do you get to the top of the page? And how to you avoid getting eaten by a panda? Read more…
“Write once, write everywhere. The future is in responsive design,” says Matt Mullenweg (pictured) during the Q & A in his “Town Hall Meeting” following his State of the Word 2011.
Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word is always a highlight of WordCamp. The room is packed, more folks are watching downstairs and it’s being live streamed to 1000 people around the world. Here are my notes from his presentation at WordCampSF 2011. (And here are my notes from his State of the Word 2009!)
This year, Matt’s sporting a “caveman” look–complete with beard and Barry Gibbs hair which fortunately he’s comfortable joking about.
He ran through various iterations of the basic page where you write your posts–from plain to color to more and more features to the “zen” mode of writing a post.
We shape WordPress as we use WordPress, says Matt Mullenweg. Read more…
Hooray it’s WordCampSF 2011!
I’m driving up to Napa today to attend the Meteor Vineyard release party (starts at sunset–meteors, full moon, excellent wine guaranteed!). You may have noticed I have a thing for meteors…
Then Sunday I’ll attend my third WordCampSF all day. (You may have also noticed I have a thing for WordPress!) Below you’ll find posts to previous WordCamps in 2008 and 2009. Then I’ll drive home tomorrow night while enjoying the meteors light show!
via The Write Alley
Perseid Meteor Shower 2011 Peaks Tonight!
Friday August 12, 2011
Ventura, CA 3:15am
When I climbed into bed tonight
at 1am with the waxing moon
the stars sparkled in the clear sky
and I wondered if I gazed out the window
with my glasses on whether I’d see
any of the Perseid meteors fly by.
But now a few hours later it’s just fog
fog and more fog covering the sky.
My Native American heritage
tells me the stars are our ancestors
shining on us reassuring us
guiding us reminding us
of our past our present our future.
My mom was born in 1937
on this day August 12. She died last year
July 30 days before her birthday.
Hey fog would you give me a break?
2010 was a tough year and I’m still
getting over it. I could really use
some clear skies and to feel the stars
shining on me.
Tonight the bright moon will dim so
me of the meteors in tonight’s Perseid shower which peaks early Saturday morning but it is still worthwhile going out to see, especially if you are an early morning person and you can look before dawn and after the full moon has set. The shower lasts for several weeks so you might see some before the moon rises in the coming days as the moon wanes.
We might even see some meteors during the new moon out at Burning Man! So folks while you’re waiting for the gates to open Sunday night, peek out your window and make a wish on shooting stars!
Photo of a shooting star by Alan Sailer; this image graces the cover of my book Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son, now available from en theos press in print or ebook.
Each year around late August or early September, the birthday of Lord Ganesha is celebrated for many days in an event called Ganesh Chaturthi.
According to Wikipedia, the festival for Ganesh “is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shuklachaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 or 12 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi. This festival is observed in the lunar month of bhadrapada shukla paksha chathurthi madhyahana vyapini purvaviddha.[8]”
This year, according to a site with dates for Hindu Festivals, that day is Thursday September 1 in India and Weds. August 31 here in the United States. On those days, I’ll be at Burning Man in northern Nevada wearing a tied dyed dress with Ganesh silkscreened on it. Our camp in Kidsville will have two large banners with Ganesh on them and periodically I’ll get one of them onto my bicycle and we’ll ride around and, with a little help from my friend Steve McCarthy of NewRepublic Printing Company, give out Ganesh on a bicycle stickers with Burning Man 2011. In 2009, Steve made us stickers and silkscreened bandanas and other items also but I doubt if we’ll be doing any more Ganesh bandanas in 2011! That was a huge job and expense!)
I’m not sure yet exactly where we’ll be when that day, but I will post more details here.
And if you can’t get to Burning Man? And you’d like a sticker? Send us a snail mail request along with SASE and we’ll send you a sticker of Ganesh on a bike–complete with some playa dust! Here’s our address at Burning Man: Read more…
REO Speedwagon “Keeps on Rolling” Tonight at Ventura County Fair
Last night we had a picnic at the beach while we listened to the Beach Boys and enjoyed Silver Birch NZ Sauvignon Blanc (read on for the full story!)
Tonight after dinner we’re riding our bikes down to hear REO Speedwagon. While never one of my favorite “hair” bands, it’s fun, it’s free, it’s by the beach and I can sing along with all the lyrics of the songs that were on the radio when I was in high school. Looking at all these old videos is making me laugh so hard!
Come dance by the beach! It’s sunny! It’s fun! Join us!
via Wine Predator
The Ventura County Fair every year offers “free” Grandstand Entertainment with your $12 paid admission to the Fair!
But even better, if you’ve had your fill of the fair and you don’t want to pay $12 just for the “free” entertainment, you can ride your bike along the beach bike trail and find a spot where you can hear the concert and even watch it on the jumbotron which is what we’ll be doing tonight for The Beach Boys concert!
You are cordially invited to join us on the sand with our picnics and our kids and our shoes off and dancing and singing loud! The concert starts at 7:30 and goes until 9 or so; we’ll ride there on our bikes between 7 and 7:30pm. The fair fireworks go off at 10pm weeknights this year so you can hang out a little longer and see the ocean light up as the fireworks reflect on it.
Today also at 1pm you can catch The Four Tops. It’s wrist band day too which means for $25 you can go on all the rides you can stomach!
Here’s the line-up of entertainment for the rest of the Ventura County Fair:
REO Speedwagon: Wednesday, August 10th, 7:30pm
Lifehouse with Toy: Thursday, August 11th, 7:30pm
Trace Adkins: Friday, August 12th, 7:30pm
Saturday is either the rodeo or speedway…
Most Mondays I post poetry. Since it’s August, and it’s 3:15 Experiment time, I thought I’d post something from last year’s 3:15 Experiment (illustrated with photos by Shane Butler from last year’s Festival in Black Rock City) which ties in with this year’s Burning Man theme of “Rites of Passage:”
Our theme this year invites participants to join with others in creating rites of passage. The content of these rites may be as various as life itself. Whether such performances are ludicrous or solemn, their aim is to remove us from the context and the cares of daily life, confront us with our vital need to be, and then return us to the fellowship of a society.
Read more about this year’s Burning Man art projects which received honorarium.
Writing at 3:15am is a ritual certainly, one that seeks to take you out of the context of normal writing and normal experience.
The poem that follows can be found in my 3:15 experiment poetry collection Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son, now available from en theos press in print or ebook; it’s also at Amazon.com, and in stores including The Best of VC Marketplace in Santa Paula. Middle of the Night traces my journey from being a daughter to becoming a mother to losing my mother from the perspective of poems written at 3:15am in August from 2002-2010 as part of the international 3:15am poetry writing experiment. Read more sample poems. Read a review of Middle of the Night Poems by Robert Peake. Read a review of Middle of the Night Poems by Danika Dinsmore.
Another ritual at Burning Man is gifting and I’ll be gifting copies of my poems and chapbooks out there.
Catch a ride on the Monday Poetry Train and see what other poets posted today.
And subscribe in the upper left hand corner for more Burning Man news and info from a veteran Burner! Yes, I will be posting from Burning Man this year! (More to come on how and why!)
via art predator
art predator 