Who is art for?

Question? Should art be only for the elite or financially comfortable in society? Before you answer that question, read this article.

A pitiful bird

Thanksgiving day is over, but there are leftovers and plenty of things to remain thankful for. My oldest daughter living in Phoenix informed of of her 8 lb turkey. Eight pounds? I thought, ok, they bought a bird indigenous to Arizona. I mean what could it find in to eat there? Besides in the heat it would sweat off any fat it was otherwise unlikely to accumulate. So youngest daughter (like her father) especially enjoys turkey wings. Youngest daughter is also having Thanksgiving Day meal with oldest daughter. No one else is interested in fighting over wings. Which is a good thing. Poor bird probably had inch and a half wings. :: add inappropriate chuckle here:: I think I've seen larger Cornish hens.

It's crazy.... As I sit here at 7:15 AM there are actually people all over this crazy city that got up and went to malls and stores that were opening (some as early as 4 AM) early with special deals. Those poor souls in some cases had to get there and stand in lines that formed like 2 hours before opening. So like about 5 hours ago. Crazy Crazy People. Amazon lets you be crazy shopping like a fool from your home for Black Friday deals on all kinds of things.

On the actual subject of poetry, I did manage some rewriting yesterday. With success, I might add. Still, at one point I felt a bit of writers burn out coming on. I don't know what triggered it. It happens from time to time. I think mostly it seems to be associated with some overwhelming anxiety - not necessarily even related to writing. At any rate, it appears past for the moment.

Read a fun piece from Poetry Foundation dot org titled 1,1,2,3,5,8, Fun - What's a Fib? Math plus poetry. Their basis is the Faonacci sequence. The number of syllables in each line of the poem is the sum of the previous two lines: 1,1,2,3,5,8. It becomes a six line twenty syllable poem. I though I'd play around with it a bit and seewhat I can create. It's not at all new, some of you may have already been writing them.

Wow... here is a surprise! The Amazon Kindle is out of stock already! They only went on sale Monday.

Have a good laugh

I appropriated this from Cindy's blog and I think the result is hilarious.

Galatea Resurrects - Eighth Issue

Eileen Tabios - GR Editor & Animal Lover - Wine expert, poet, etc. asked that we spread the word:

GALATEA RESURRECTS (A POETRY ENGAGEMENT) is pleased to release its Eighth Issue with 64 new reviews/engagements!We are always looking for reviewers; next review deadline is March 5, 2008. For GR's submission and review copy information, please go to http://grarchives.blogspot.com

Missouri Opus

A thousand leaves give their last all-

Their lives spent together

they reach a pinnacle in their journey.

They take to the air

to imitate birds of spring-

their colors singing out;

they land and cover the ground

that nourished their entire lives.

This final opus their one chance

to shine in all God's glory

before put to rest

buried under a white blanket that

will inter them to the ground

from which they came.

Glenn North & Pellom McDaniels Tonight

Former Chiefs player Pellom McDaniels pictured left



Glenn North career as a spoken word artist began in 1997 when he founded Verbal Attack, a monthly open mic poetry event. Glenn is the Director of the Urban Transcendence Poetry Project where his duties included facilitating poetry writing and performance workshops for youth in Wyandotte County as well as the adjudicated youth in Jackson County detention centers.

Currently Glenn is the Poet-in-Residence of the American Jazz Museum where he organizes and hosts the popular open mic poetry competition, Jazz Poetry Jams. He is also working toward the completion of his first volume of poetry entitled, Fortunate Ad-Verse-ity.

Known by many as a former defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pellom McDaniels has moved beyond his athletic career to that of an accomplished academic and community activist. He has authored his own book, My Own Harlem, established the "Arts for Smarts" foundation, and currently serves as professor of American Studies at University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Both North and McDaniels are featured tonight

Tuesday November 20th, 2007

7:00pm to 11:00pm

1616 E 18th ST K.C., MO

in the Blue Room - Admission $5

e-publishing?

Worked on some drafts & finished up one poem this weekend. Sent out three more into the world. Also did some brainstorming. So I would say it was a productive weekend. Also read a few poems.

I was interested to see several news items crop up on e-book readers. I had thought these items were like dead on arrival. Apparently some think not. Amazon is unveiling the new Kindle e-book reader Today in New York and Sony launched an upgraded version of its Sony Reader lat month. And The Wall Street Journal quoted an executive's estimated that e-book sales range between $15 million and $25 million annually. Still, in an industry that generated $25 billion in revenues last year that seems to me pretty small. I personally have downloaded e-books rarely, and I'm not sure that having a portable reader would change that much. I realize they do have some positive points including the environmental friendly nature but is there really that much potential for e-publishing?