Category Archives: Shadowcasting

Dec28

It’s been awhile….

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So what have I been up to? Lots. Many life changes have occurred since last I’ve posted. I got a new job that I love, I won my very first slam (’bout damn time), continued to shadowcast movies (and even got my Mister to perform in a couple, himself), and worked on publishing work. 

Speaking of which:

I have had a banner year for pieces being published. I will put out a post with links to all of my published pieces and a site where you can pre-order my.new.chapbook.  My FIRST chapbook, “Letter to 20.” I’m so proud of this. It’s the culmination of many years’ worth of dreams to see a book with my work and my name on the front cover. It’s an amazing feeling. 

I promise I won’t leave the site hanging like I did before. You’ll be hearing more from me– for better or worse. 

Love to all. 

Oct2

Life and Publishing Updates

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Been rather busy these past few weeks. Mainly, it’s been job hunting; like it or not, 20 hours a week does not a decent paycheck make. But… BUT… I did find a full time job. I’ll be doing pretty much what I am doing now, but full time. 

I, well, am  happy to have this opportunity. There is a part of me, though… a part that looks at friends who have jobs that seem to be what they want. They can survive on their job, and they seem to do interesting things. At least, that’s what I read about and hear. And I look at my situation. It’s a job… it will do what I need it to do (i.e., pay the bills), but there is still something missing.

I can’t feel this way… I shouldn’t feel this way. I have bills, I have to live and survive day to day. I need a job for that.  I should be thankful. There is something in me that longs to have a job I want, though. One that can use my writing in ways that can help people. I know that job is out there. Right now, though, I have to focus on what I need to do to survive. And I have the job that will help with that. 

Anyway, on the publishing front, I have two pieces that will be published in Loch Raven Review  in a couple of weeks. This is the first time I’ve had multiple pieces published at once. Feels good to see it happen, finally. 

Sep6

End of Another Slam Season and an Art Project

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Last week marked the end of the Individual World Poetry Slam season for Writers’ Block. I and four other wonderful poets competed in the Grand Slam to determine who would represent WB in Fayetteville later this year. I went into this pretty certain I was not going to win this season (No, this is not the way you should go in… but I’ve become something of a realist… a realist who still loves poetry, but still a realist.)

Anyhoo, I had a different goal for this slam: I was going to perform all three of my pieces from memory. Three minutes, two minutes, and one minute. I rehearsed for the better part of a month, and wanted to say I had performed to the very best of my ability.  And, in the end, I did.

I won’t go over every single detail from the three performances… except to say, they felt good. I felt strong on stage, and thought my work could stand up with everyone else’s that night. Well, according to the scores  (which is not the point of poetry, and so on and so forth), my pieces did NOT. I ended up fourth out of five. But, damnit, I still achieved my goal. I performed. I presented my work how I wanted to present it…. that part no one can take away from me. No one ever will.

I just still want to know what the people want to hear. I write what moves me, and I write it as eloquently as I can. And I did have some of my friends and fellow poets say that my work was some of the best I had ever written/performed. That was a solace. That means I have been learning and applying what I have learned in a way that can be noticed. So, I don’t leave this season without anything. I leave a little more experienced and a little stronger on the stage. I know that *someday*my chance will come. I just have to keep on keeping on.

In case you were wondering, a wonderful poet named Ed Plunkett will be representing Writers’ Block at IWPS. He’s a great friend, and wonderful poet, and he will represent us well. We wish him the best of luck.

In other artistic news,  the Midnight Shift is performing “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” this month. I’m Jessica… and directing. It keeps a girl on her toes. Even my Mister is going to be in this… as Lena Hyena. Yeah, baby.  No way better to break them in than in DRAG.

I’ve also been painting. Yes, an actual painting. On canvas even.

I call it “Cat at the well.” It’s acrylic on an 11×14 canvas. I’m really happy with how this piece turned out. It was quite enjoyable trying to figure out sunset and how to paint the well. Believe it or not, the cat was pretty simple to paint. Can’t beat simple, sometimes.  Anyway, I want to hang it somewhere, just have to figure out where.  It’ll come.

So, that’s me. I work, I write, I shadowcast, and now I paint. Why not?

Jul18

Publishing Updates

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Yes, it’s been a little while. I haven’t forgotten you, dear readers; I’ve just been pushing through some new poetry, getting ready for the Midnight Shift’s performance of “Army of Darkness”  and submitting some work. Speaking of which…

I found out on Monday that my poem “Summer Afternoon” will be published in an anthology next month. The book is called “Hot Summer Nights,” by Inner Child Press. It was a happy surprise to find out it was included. Some feisty work is in this… I hope you enjoy.

I’m still working on getting something accepted by a university press. I had hope for the Cleveland Review, but alas, another rejection letter. Still holding out hope for Appalachia Heritage out of Berea college, though. Submitted one of my favorite Southern themed pieces. My fingers are crossed.

Also submitted to New Verse News, again. I’ve been reading about the tragedy/travesty that is the Penn State scandal and have become interested in the fate of the JoPa statue. It’s even become a topic of debate with my friends– some of whom want it taken down, and others who say leave it up, but maybe put a plaque there talking about the Sandusky case. I agree with the latter, and my poem explains why. If it’s published, I’ll post a link. If it’s rejected, I’ll post the damn thing here. Either way, it WILL see the light of day.

Jun20

First iWPS slam of the season, crocheting and back to shadowcast love…

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Well, the first slam of iWPS season was put in the books last week. There were seven of us performing. I drew fourth slot, which I was fine with. My three minute piece was called “Where I Come From,” talking about my moves when I was little. A good piece… one I had been wanting to write for quite a few years. It ended up with a 28.3. Scored me for fourth for the round. My friend, Ed, gave a rousing poem about the insane sex scene from the worst poet movie ever, “Street Poet,” He ended up in the lead after round one.

The second, two minute round, had me changing my pieces around. I opted for one of my more popular pieces, “The Mammary Way.” (yes… it’s about THOSE)  Ended up with a 28.7 for that one. I was quite satisfied with two 28+ scores. There were a lot of 29s given to the other poets, and Ed ended up winning the night (his first win since ’09) and Rose came in second (that woman can spin straw into gold). I ended up third. We all received points toward the Grand Slam to see who is representing Writer’s Block at iWPS.

I was surprised with the result. I’ve never scored points so early in a season. Rose said she’s seeing more confidence in me. To be honest, I feel more confident. I trust my stories and  performances more. Feels pretty good.

After that, though, I took a break. Wrote one poem about my name and worked on my crochet. I’m creating a new doily for my side table. I want to eventually make a runner for the coffee table, but I’ll be happy with the smaller doily, right now. It’s been fun getting back into the swing of crochet. It’s good to have a couple of different creative outlets– keeps the mind sharp.

Here’s a picture of the piece in progress…

Image

I still have a border to figure out, but I think I know where I want to go with this. And, no, I don’t use a pattern. I rarely use patterns for doilies, anymore. I enjoy the problem solving aspects of creating a new pattern.

And, as if my life isn’t crazy enough, I’m back to shadowcasting, now. Sunday is the first rehearsal for The Midnight Shift’s performance of “Army of Darkness.” I’ll be playing Evil Sheila. I even convinced the mister to play a deadite. Fun times.

So, yeah… that’s me this past week. Going to see Jon Sands perform at WB tomorrow… and hopefully get inspired for some new pieces for next week’s slam. We’ll see what happens.

Jun7

Columbus Arts Fest and the after effects (pt. 2)

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Okay, I promised a part two to this… so here I am.

Not only was this past weekend the Columbus Arts Festival, it was also the Rustbelt Poetry Slam. Teams from all over the midwest came to Columbus to compete for a team and individual title. I didn’t get to go, as I was preparing for Arts Fest– and, let’s be honest– trying to balance my life in the process.

From what I have read on Facebook and seen on YouTube, there were some fire hot performances. To cap it off, the Writer’s Block team won the team competition.  That was amazing to hear and I was quite proud of them. And, a little envious.

Oh, envy…. green-eyed beast. Sitting over my shoulder, watching the performances on YouTube, reading post after post celebrating each others’ work, that beast almost took the wind out of my sails for the weekend. Almost made me feel that Arts Fest was second class or something. Made me feel like there was a part of me that STILL doesn’t belong in the poetry community. Made me wonder what is still wrong with my poetry that it doesn’t belong in this upper echelon of regional and national performance. Kept whispering in my ear, “why aren’t you like them?”

I really hate that part of myself.

I listen to performances, read the responses about it giving people chills, being genius, having “arrived” and I wonder if I will ever have that skill. Be able to move people that much. And those were the questions that lingered for a couple of days after the Festival.

Until today.

I remembered going to see a friend perform last Friday night. He didn’t see me in the audience until a little over half-way through his show. He finally saw me and said hi. He then asked me if I still perform “Pockets”– a poem I wrote two summers ago. He said he “hearted the Pockets poem a lot.”

And then at Arts Fest, a woman telling her friend that I was the one who “wrote a poem about doing it in the garage.”  She was a fan of that one.

And, of course, remembering that I worked DAMN HARD to make it to Arts Fest! They don’t take everyone, and it’s an absolute HONOR to be there and be a top three finisher, to boot! Just making it to Arts Fest was one of my goals when I first moved to Columbus a year ago. To make it AND place in the top 3… it leaves me jubilant and humble.

What did I learn from these memories?  My poems DO live. They take on little lives of their own and make their little mark on that woven tapestry of memory. And that’s pretty cool.  And I’ll take it, and keep on writing and performing. Hopefully, I can keep writing and performing pieces that will entertain people, periodically.

So now, dear readers,  I deal with burn out. I’m tired, peeps! Work and poetry and still getting settled in with the mister. I took a couple of months off f from shadowcasting, but I think I am going to have to cut down even more. I love shadowcasting, but I can’t do two casts… that’s two shows a month plus rehearsals. I can’t do that if I want my primary focus to be on improving my poetry.  This means that there are some hard choices coming; but it’s best to cut back than burn out on everything.  Damn responsibility.

I am taking a couple days off from writing. Might crochet this week. Might just read. Might just sleep. But next week,oh, I’ll be getting back into the swing of things, and the world better watch out. I still have stuff to say! My story isn’t over, yet.