Walk the Word 2
Current mood: energetic
Category: Writing and Poetry

Aaaargh!!  The Add image button still isn't working!!!

Walk the Word

Poetry

Main Entry:

po·et·ry

Pronunciation:

..ˈpō-ə-trē, -i-trē also ˈpȯ(-)i-trē..

Function:

noun

Date:

14th century

1 a: metrical writing : verse b: the productions of a poet : poems2: writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm3 a: something likened to poetry especially in beauty of expression b: poetic quality or aspect poetry of dance

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As you can see, poetry can be whatever you make it.  There is no true or better form of poetry, no one or only way to write it.  It doesn't have to rhyme or to make sense to the reader, as long as it expresses a feeling or paints a mental image.  Poetry doesn't have to be a daunting task or something you simply "just can't do". 

Everyone can write poetry.  Even you!

Everyone has feelings and can paint mental images with words.  Poetry can be funny or serious, honest or fake, squishy lovey dovey or hard-edged hate, spring-like colorful or drab and dreary or anywhere in between.  Poetry can be anything you make it and it's different for everyone. 

While I host and participate in Charlapalooza, I don't consider myself a poet.  I write poetry to challenge myself, to challenge my brain to think outside its natural strict and linear box.   I ask you all to provide the topics because very seldom can I think of my own place to start.  People write poetry for so many reasons and avoid it for so many more.

Stop avoiding.  Walk with us. 

Walk the Word is a poetry challenge; a personal challenge for each and every one of you.  I will provide five words and your job is to create a poem that includes those words.  Your poem can be anything you want it to be.  As long or as short as you want, as simple or as involved, as structured or as free. 

My former wonderful Charlapalooza volunteers; Medussa, Danielle Rose, PG, DJ Myke, Lainey and I will be judging your poetry.  While everyone is a winner because you've managed to break outside your box and have tried something new, the person chosen to have written the best poem this round will receive a prize from me. 

The prize options offered the winner are a personally addressed postcard from the beautiful city of Denver, CO, a hand colored and personal Mandala greeting card, or a pimp blog written about you or the blogger or charity of your choice.  If you have any suggestions, toss them in the mix.  I would like to make this a regular event here, like (but not to replace) Charlapalooza.

There are only a few rules to Walk the Word.

1.      You must have written the poem.  No plagiarism.

2.      All five words need to be used in the poem, no variations, pluralizing or changing the tense of the word in any way. 

3.      The words can be used in any order.

4.      Either post the poem here in the comments or send your poem to my inbox if you wish to remain anonymous.  I will take anonymous submissions.  Know, however, that if you submit to my inbox anonymously, I will post your poem in my blog comments.  So your poem will be seen, but only I will know who wrote it.

5.      You will have 40 hours to submit your poem on my blog or to my inbox.  That means you must submit your best poem by 10 PM (Mountain Time) on Wednesday 8/20. After the time allotted to write, the judges will gather 'round your poetry and chose a winner.

6.      The winner, announced in my blog one week from the original posting date (today Tuesday 8/19), will be notified via email and get to pick their prize.

***Suggestion Only***

Take down the five words and leave my page without reading other submissions.  Approach your poem without other's expectations or interpretations.

Once you've posted your poem, please feel free to comment on the other poems!  Give each other encouragement!

That's it.  Simple.  Here are your five words for the second Walk the Word.

Pander      Feral      Bleak       Just      Six

www.m-w.com (online dictionary for your reference if you need it)

Currently playing : My Word Coach Release date: 2007-11-06

9:00 PM - 158 Comments - 50 Kudos - Add Comment

Walk the Word warning, some updates and a funny story
Current mood: blustery
Category: MySpace

This is your one week warning for the second Walk the Word Challenge to be held here in my blog next Tuesday 8/19.

Walk the Word

(I would post the pics here, but the stupid add image button is broke and I don't know how to do it without it, darn it!)

If you weren't here for David's spectacular win a few months ago during the inaugural Walk the Word, this challenge is for all of you, my readers.  I supply 5 words and you write a poem using those five words and post it in my comments within 48 hours.  There is even a prize available of the winner's choosing!  David chose a pimping tribute blog for his inspirational MySpace associates.  Like last time, my fellow judges will be my wonderful former Charlapalooza competitors.  So take note!  One week, people!  Get your poet hats on.

Our younger kids started school today; Toby in sixth grade and Jake in first.  They were both really excited, which I think is awesome.  Toby isn't usually excited over school and this is Jake's first year at full day (with a lunch time) school.  I'll bet that he'll be exhausted when he gets home. 

It's odd to me that they are starting so early in the year.  The rumor in our school district is that they are starting two weeks earlier than normal so that they can have more teaching time before the CSAP tests are given.  I seriously doubt those two weeks are going to make much difference in scores.

I have fallen behind on blogs for a stupid reason.  It's the Mobsters App.  I can't seem to keep away from it.  It's a game, unlike Own Your Friends, and I am enjoying amassing properties and cash, doing missions and fighting rival gangs.  I'm sure the interest will fade with time, as all petty interests do, but if I have been neglecting your blogs, I'm sorry.  I'll be back eventually (hopefully sooner than later.)

It feels hypocritical, too, asking all of you to frequent my blog when I haven't been by yours.  (It helps, though, that I haven't been blogging much lately, either.)  I realize this, and I realize that it's crappy.  Just know that I value each and every one of you, everything you have to say and each of you as people, I'm just a bit distracted.

We bought a hamster for the boys on Saturday.  They named him Hammy.  I got a really cute haircut on Sunday.  I feel all stylish and shit.  J  Speaking of Sunday…

Jon and I had an adventure this weekend.  My mom took the kids for the day on Sunday so Jon and I got out on the bike.  We went to Home Depot to pick up some stuff to finish up the crown molding in our living room, went and got haircuts and decided to go for a longer ride then, instead of waiting till later in the afternoon. 

Jon said "Let's ride out by Dr. O's house." (Dr. O is a doctor I used to work for at the oncology office.  He owns a $3.7 million dollar home in the very southwest foothills in the Denver area.)  I said OK, so we cruised south and took the twists, turns and hills like pros who've owned a bike forever.  We had only visited Dr. O's house once for a summer BBQ, so we drove among the huge homes but never did find it and ended up cruising back to the main road and rode west for a bit.  It started to sprinkle, but we were almost out to the main road (main-er road?) on the other side of the canyon, so we didn't worry about it.  We were in jeans and T-shirts.

Once we reached the main (-er) road, Jon said "Want to cruise up to my parents'?"  Sure, I guess, as long as we don't stay long since we have stuff to do at home.  So we start up the mountain and stop for a minute on the side of the highway to call them and make sure they're home and that it's not raining there as the skies above us were dark and menacing with thunder.  His mom was and it wasn't, so we started up the hill.

About a mile or two later, the bike stalled.  It's been doing that a bit since we got it out of the shop.  Vapor lock has been suggested because if you let it sit for ten minutes or so, it starts right back up.  As we waited the requisite ten minutes, it started to sprinkle harder.  I chuckled ruefully at our predicament (not quite as hard as Tom Hanks in the Money Pit but…) and told him that we had to look at this as an adventure!  Then, as the bike started again, it started to sprinkle harder.  (Jon thinks I jinxed us by saying something about "At least it's not really raining."  I amended the statement with "yet", but I guess I was too late.)  I was ready to go home, but Jon was hemming and hawing, so we continued on the road to his parent's house.  As we rode, it started raining in earnest. 

Now, I don't know if you've ever been on a bike in the rain without a coat, but I'm sure you've at least seen rain hitting a windshield at 60 miles per.  Those are hard hitting little suckers!  Imagine them hitting your skin, like stinging, wet, cold needles.  We only rode about a mile before we were forced off the road because we couldn't see.

We pulled off at a gas station (that didn't sell hair brushes or combs, WTF?) and pulled the bike under the front porch of the station.  There were several other bikes and bikers there, hiding from the evil stinging rain drops.  Jon's front looked like he was participating in a wet T-shirt contest (white shirt and all) as did my back, our jeans were soaked from the lower thigh down and our shoes were squishy (from the splash back.)

We sat at the gas station, with a cup of coffee and our new biker headwear, for about 45 minutes waiting for the rain to let up.  Eventually it lightened up enough that we were able to ride again, and we continued our ride up to Jon's parents' house, where we were given dry sweatshirts, an oven to warm ourselves in front of, the use of a brush for my new haircut, and pizza for lunch. 

We played a few hands of cards while we waited for the sun to warm the sky and dry the roads and then rode home more than three hours later than we had planned to be back.  It was an adventure.

What adventures have you had recently?

Currently watching : The Money Pit Release date: 2003-02-04

10:59 PM - 47 Comments - 34 Kudos - Add Comment

8/8/88
Current mood: drained
Category: Life

That was the date of our one month anniversary of dating.  That means that Jon and I have been dating (on and off) or married (since October '95) for twenty years and one month exactly as of today.  We had known each other for almost a year by the time we started dating, so that means that we've known each other about 21 years.

I met Jon through a friend of ours, Mike.  Jon had started going to school with Mike in the fall of '87.  Mike and I had worked summer day camp as junior counselors together during the summer at the YMCA.  I called Mike to see how school was going and he had a friend over.  Mike had to do something at his house and he threw the phone and said, "Here, talk to Jon."  So I did. 

Jon became part of our circle split between two rival neighborhood high schools.  He and his friends were skaters and my friends and I were skater lovers.  J  Among them were Mike, Matt, Tim, Ebony and Jon.  For us girls, there was Michelle, Andie, Christina, Adria, Vicki and me. 

It was my freshman year, Jon's sophomore year, and we hung out in groups all the time.  I started dating a guy named Pete that I had met in ROTC.  We dated for 5 months or so (ending in February or March, if I remember correctly.)  Jon dated my friends Adria and Andie.  When Pete and I broke up, Jon asked me out.  I said no.  I didn't want to get right back into a relationship.

Jon asked me out all the time after that.  It's not that I didn't like Jon.  I liked him just fine; I just kept saying no, I didn't want to date anyone.  We were friends and talked all the time.  We went to the same parties (including my own) and hung out with the same people.

That summer I babysat for a friend of my mom during the day and for neighbors in the evenings.  One night, while I was watching the kids down the street, Jon and I were talking on the phone and I told him "Ask me again."  He didn't know what I was talking about at first; I had slid it in the middle of a completely different conversation, since he had almost given up on me.  "Ask me again," I told him again with a smile.  So he did and I said sure.  That was 7/8/88.

For our first date we went and saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit at the Southwest Plaza Mall and we laughed and laughed.  Then went across the parking lot and Jon bought us Fajitas for two at Chili's.  His dad came back to pick us up and take me home.  It was a good date.

And here we are, twenty years later: happily married with three boys, our own home, good jobs and a bucket-full of memories that revolve around this date twenty years ago.

Love you babe.

Currently reading : Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (Scholastic Classics) By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

10:59 PM - 46 Comments - 42 Kudos - Add Comment

Confession Wednesday ~ Sort of
Current mood: cynical
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Today, during our usual Confession Wednesday slot, I am going to change it up a bit.  I am going to throw some philosophy your way.  I realize that this isn't much of a confession, but my motto is "A day without learning is a wasted day." 

Let's not waste today.

*Awww!  I don't want to think!  I just got off work and my brain's already tired!*   I can just hear it now.

Do it for me, your friendly neighborhood Charla.  You know I'd do it for you if you asked me a question on your blog!

I am reading a book called Philosophy Made Simple and it's stretching my brain.  I can feel it.  I've read ethical theories, political theories and am slowly making my way through metaphysical theories.  I'm excited to talk about the things I've read and want to get your opinions.  I would say that I'll try not to make it too hard, but all philosophical questions are difficult.

I'm only going to pose one question, but I want you to seriously think about your answer and the reasons you hold this view.  Tell me about those reasons.  Think of the consequences of your view as they relate to your religious, political and moral views.

********

Do you feel that human beings have free will, do you think that our actions are determined by an outside force (be it God, science, nature, environment, experiences, or other outside forces) or do you think there is some convoluted mixture of the two?

********

I am struggling with my view on this subject in light of all I'm learning, but found a strong quote in the political philosophy section (below) that has encouraged me to bring this issue to you.

"By reflecting upon all the arguments against our own opinion, and by thus being forced to think of ways of rebutting them, we actually come to understand our own opinion more fully.  To deny others the right to express their opinions is to assume one's own infallibility." ~ John Stuart Mill

Currently reading : Philosophy Made Simple By Richard H. Popkin Release date: 1993-07-01

5:34 PM - 78 Comments - 34 Kudos - Add Comment

Who am I? ~Poet’s Round Table 74
Current mood: mellow
Category: Writing and Poetry

Poet's Round Table Number 74
Who Am I..

Each drop of me is collected in this essence, bare in its core.
A pool of fathomless water, standing still, within a muddy shore.
My reflection floats with change, a living tide from sun and tears,
Beneath the surface both shallow and deep, quantifies my years.

Every note of my soul soars upon the wind, across time,
An operatic performance, varying tempo, so sublime.
Breathtaking arias, celebrating life's joys and pleasures.
Melancholic dirges, regrets, a past we cannot sever.

Soft as dove, strong as eagle, footprints of memory ebb and flow.
Passion and joy, sadness and woe befall, while seasons come and go.
Love and d reams, a game of chance, lessons learned in life's goodbyes.
Yet, solace lives on my ladder of hope, through faith's endless eyes.

Standing tall, visions burn firmly reaching for that uncharted star.
Every day one tiny foot forward, just to find where we are.
Rushing, tumbling, tripping on, yet is today, tomorrow's last?
I'm a song singing free, rest assured I fly high as days trickle past.

Maturity should teach me reason, yet my voice remains unchecked,
I strive to stride, uncharted waters, to live endless life select.
Of trees and flowers and seasons, that blend with time and pain.
To soar and be that eagle, a flash of colour, a shimmering stain.

The good, the bad the ugly, all meld to my completion

Every piece of me intrinsic, suspended animation sans depletion

This pensive, bowl of me, stirred, combined, a huge amalgam

Animalistic, emotion driven, human pieces of who I am

The Players:
Lainey: http://www. myspace. com/laineyshome
The Falcon: http://www. myspace. com/Craig_Fallon
Elly: http://www. myspace. com/Skykssed1
Michelle: http://www. myspace. com/kitten52976
Janet: http://www. myspace. com/jjkmc
Charla: http://www. myspace. com/charla5
**********
DJ Myke: http://www. myspace. com/jmichaeltodd

The Poet's Round Table is a weekly event, if you would like to participate, please let DJ Myke know.

***********

Meredith Brooks - Bitch

4:18 PM - 37 Comments - 30 Kudos - Add Comment

Confession Wednesday
Current mood: curious
Category: Religion and Philosophy

I confess, I was bored today at work and did a bit of internet browsing in an effort to avoid and prolong the work I do have.  I looked up (on yahoo) the word "meter".  I chose this word because I wanted to see if my company would come up since we have the word meter in our name.  My company didn't come up (at least not on the first three pages) but the manufacturer that we distribute for did.  It was the fourth entry on my yahoo search.  Pretty cool. 

Anyway, I tell you this to bring up another thing I found in my meter search.  It's called an E-meter (short for electro-psychometer).  Some sort of reference to it popped up at least once on each page of meter references.  The E-meter is used in the practice of Scientology and Dianetics (discovered and maintained by L. Ron Hubbard). 

According to the website(http://www.e-meter.org.uk/index.htm), "The E-Meter measures the mental state or change of state of a person and thus is of enormous benefit to the auditor* in helping the preclear** locate areas to be handled. The reactive mind's hidden nature requires utilization of a device capable of registering its effects – a function the E-Meter does accurately."

* Auditor meaning the spiritual (pastoral) counselor.  The term Auditor is taken from the Latin audire meaning to hear or listen.

** Preclear meaning the person in the session before they are "clear."

I got to reading and its interesting stuff, all about psychic energies and how they affect your reactive mind, dampening your abilities, IQ and personality factors.  The website states that when you get your reactive mind out of the way, you will become more aware of your life, how you live it and the reasons for the choices you make, living with more purpose.

Scarily enough, this actually makes sense to me!  This is not the Scientology I was expecting.  This must be the softer side of Scientology.  The don't scare off the straights Scientology.  In fact, it sounds like, to me, the mental version of cranial-sacral therapies for the body, only instead of using massage they use electrodes and an e-meter.  Somewhat similar in goal, only you don't have to join a religion to get the benefits of cranial-sacral therapies.

The website says that there are specific questions, the same for every person, that lead you down a spiritually and personally enlightening path.  How can the questions be the same for every person, I wonder?  Everyone's life experiences are different!  I would be interested in seeing the questions, seeing the methods they use to "enhance the self."  "Auditing" is *proven* (the website says) to make you a better you.  Proven, by pre-testing and post testing, to increase your IQ and enhance your knowledge of yourself and the world around you.

After watching Tom Cruise's antics and hearing his crazy talk, supposedly forcing Katie to go through a "silent birth" for the mental health of the child, I thought this was some sort of cult-y wacked out religion that only appeals to people who feel the need to be controlled.  It still may be.  All I know is that the concept of "realizing my true potential" intrigues me, as it probably does everyone.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting that there was anything even remotely redeeming in something that's portrayed (by the media) as a cult.

*******

Confession time.  What have you researched recently?  What do your yahoo or Google searches consist of?  What do you do when you're bored at work?

10:59 PM - 72 Comments - 34 Kudos - Add Comment

My time in NYC (as written by Danielle Rose!)
Current mood: talkative
Category: Travel and Places

Hey everybody!  Danielle has posted the first three days of our adventure in NJ/NY!  They include pictures galore!
Click on over to www.daniellerosewriter.com and check them out!  We had an awesome time!

Currently reading : Haunted: A Novel By Chuck Palahniuk Release date: 2006-04-11

5:22 AM - 20 Comments - 13 Kudos - Add Comment

Confession Wednesday!
Current mood: okay
Category: Life

I've a confession to make.  My family is odd.  I know everyone can say this and mean it, so technically my family is no different than every other family on the planet.  Let me tell you, however, a bit about mine.

I don't know what would be an appropriate gift for my mom's wedding this Saturday.

As embarrassing (sad to be embarrassed) and odd as this sounds, this will technically be my mom's fifth wedding.  
1.  She married my dad straight out of high school (semi-arranged as one of the richest and one of the poorest families in their small town).  They were married for nine years (until I was 3.)
2.  She married my step dad (Pat) when I was 4 and they were married for nine years (until I was 13.)
3.  She re-married my step dad when I was 17.  They were re-married for seven years.
4.  Last year she married a man named Ken.  Some of you might remember this because I blogged about my feelings.  They flew to Canada to get married in a small ceremony.  It was not even suggested that my family or my brother (the most important people in my mom's life – I don't mean to be self-important here) should attend.  Even though it would have been impossible (financially) to do so, an invitation would have been nice.  They were married for about three weeks.  
5.  On Saturday she is marrying a man named Tom.  Tom is a good man whom I've known most of my life.  I know I mentioned this in my dream decoding blog.  He and my mom worked together at the water department (my mom started there when I was 5 and just retired the end of last year) and then Tom retired and worked for United Airlines.  He has since retired from there and has taken to writing novels.  He's had 4 (I think) published so far, the last one my mom edited for him.  When I knew him growing up, he had a nice wife and three boisterous boys.  His wife (also named Pat ~eerie~) passed away from cancer quite a few years ago and his boys are all now grown with kids of their own.  He is a world traveler and has innumerable life stories to tell, but values over all else his family and relationships.  The new house that my mom and Tom bought contains hundreds of pictures of both of their families (including both Pats) paying homage to everyone who has had a hand in making them who they are today.

I am excited for my mom and Tom and pray every day that this is the relationship that will stick for her and make her happy.  I really want to see my mom happy.  She is planning this wedding like a real wedding (in a church with a reception with both of their families and all of their friends) so I'm getting excited.  The boys and I will be going out tonight to buy them some new clothes for the occasion (since they've outgrown their nice clothes from my brother's wedding a few years ago (obviously.)

The one thing I'm not sure of, though, is what is an appropriate gift for my mom's wedding?  Any help would be appreciated.

Confession time.  What makes your family odd and/or what is the one (or more!) thing(s) about your family that most embarrasses you?

Currently reading : The Book of Lost Things: A Novel By John Connolly

8:33 PM - 42 Comments - 28 Kudos - Add Comment

Black National Anthem Controversy - your opinion wanted!!
Current mood: curious
Category: News and Politics

I was watching the news last night and saw this story:

"Black national anthem" causes stir at Hick speech
By Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 07/02/2008 11:27:15 AM MDT


   
Rene Marie sang alternate lyrics to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner." (Denver's Channel 8)
As Denver dignitaries gathered Tuesday for Mayor John Hickenlooper's State of the City address, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced singer Rene Marie to perform the national anthem.
But that's not what she did.
Instead, Marie performed the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," which also is known as the "black national anthem."
When she finished, the proceedings moved forward, and the "Star-Spangled Banner" was never performed.
Councilman Charlie Brown took to local talk radio Tuesday afternoon to blast the lack of the nation's anthem at the proceedings.
"There's no replacement for the national anthem," Brown said. "They should have sung it."
"I was surprised," said Hancock, who said he thought Marie should have cleared her plans with the mayor's office in advance. By Tuesday afternoon he had received several telephone calls from citizens and the media. "But you go on with the show."
Hickenlooper said in a statement: "We were as surprised as anyone that jazz singer René Marie did not sing our national anthem at Tuesday's State of the City ceremony, as our staff had requested. As I listened to her sing, I assumed she would eventually move into the traditional Star Spangled Banner. I called her personally this (Tuesday) afternoon to understand what happened. She explained her song was an artistic expression of her love for her country. She said she meant no disrespect of any kind and that her song was in no way intended to be a political statement. She apologized for any problems she may have created.
"I'm disappointed that this matter has been a distraction from the great work and significant accomplishments of our City employees over the past year and the many important initiatives on tap for the coming year.

 

First of all, I didn't know there was even such thing as a black national anthem.  I know there are songs sung in the black community that would be unfamiliar to me, sure, but a song, sung to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner, that is congressionally recognized as the black national anthem?  I had no clue.  I will say that they lyrics are inspiring and she sang it wonderfully.  The tonality of her voice is superb.
Secondly, I was mad at the singer as I termed this a breech of contract.  Fox 31 News in Denver said that a simple Google search could have prevented this incident.  They said that (and even provided screen pics of) on Rene Marie's website it describes her as an activist, showing a picture of three nooses hanging, and that the Mayor's staff had not done proper investigation on the singer before asking her to perform.  I was mad that our State of the City address was not properly opened with the singing of the National Anthem and the city councilmen and women, and Mayor Hickenlooper's staff, had been duped by this obvious activist.  I decided to investigate further this morning because it looked like an interesting blog topic (right?)

This morning I looked around a bit on the Denver Post, Fox 31 News (the story and subsequent blogs written about the story) and Rene Marie's website.  Some opinions are that the singer is unpatriotic; some defend her right to sing her own version of the Anthem.  There were blogs written about the "obvious leftist" slant of the Denver government officials who, some say, are not reacting strongly enough to this "horrible incident".  In one blog it was even pointed out that another blogger from the Denver Area knew at least a month in advance that Rene Marie would be singing this rendition of the national anthem.  For that, I have no defense.
In researching Rene Marie's website, it does mention that she is an activist, but only in conjunction with the Jena Six incident in Louisiana.  The word activist and a mention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. do not a militant black activist and white hater make. Yes, she wrote and performed a song about the Jena Six called 3 Nooses Hanging (all proceeds go to the Jena Six defense committee) and talks about the "White tree" but that was part of the Jena Six incident as well.  I feel that Fox 31 News used bits and pieces of Rene's website to sensationalize the incident.  She seems like a fine, upstanding Denver local who takes pride in her community and fights against injustice.  In my opinion, there was nothing on her website that indicated she would do something like this.

Here was my comment to a blogger on a Fox 31 News blog.

Rene Marie knew she was not hired to sing Lift Every Voice and Sing.  If she had been, the Hickenlooper staffers would have said "I know you do a beautiful rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing.  Would you please come and do that for us at the State of the City Address?"  They didn't say that and therefore, she was wrong in doing what she did.  They asked her to sing The Star Spangled Banner and she didn't.  In a comment to the Denver Post about the incident, Rene Marie was quoted as saying that "she has chosen not to sing the national anthem any longer because she now wants only to express how she feels as an African-American woman living in the United States."  She was more than willing to give this information after her performance, but (if Mayor Hickenlooper's staff can be believed) did not feel the need to share it with them before her performance.  She deceived those who chose her as a proud, beautiful, talented Denver local jazz artist and entrusted her with THE National Anthem (not her own or her community's rendition of it) for our City's Mayor's most important speech of the year, listing Denver's accomplishments and goals.

Rene Marie's website does mention the word activist, but as far as I could see, only in conjunction with the Jena Six controversy in Louisiana.  I feel you (the blogger I was replying to), and Fox 31 News, have inaccurately portrayed Rene Marie in an unflattering light by sensationalizing and taking out of context bits and pieces of her website.  After doing some research, I do not see her as a "person of interest" for the government to investigate as a political "subversive".  I cannot explain, however, her choice of timing or the knowledge of the fellow blogger before hand because I don't know her personally.

I hope (but will be woefully disappointed, I'm sure) that people will want to be informed about this and will investigate the issue, and Rene Marie as an artist, before passing judgment.

Currently listening : Serene Renegade By Rene Marie Release date: 2004-09-28

3:56 PM - 68 Comments - 30 Kudos - Add Comment

Confession Wednesday!!
Current mood: artistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

    I am a geek.  Not like an ultra geek, but a geek nonetheless.  Before I posted Walk the Word for all of you a few months ago, I did it myself (maybe this does make me an ultra geek).  I took your five words (ocular, stagger, stages, criminal and peace) and wrote as many different poems as I could with them.  I was able to write nine very different poems with those five words.  The cool thing about it is that none of them were anything like the ones you all submitted.  There are no two poems alike, just like there are no two people alike.
    Following my geeky theme, a co-worker and I will trade five words every now and again.  Her name is Sarina, so I have called this game with her Sarinapalooza.  So far, she and I have written twenty five poems between the two of us.  We love the challenge and the diversion from the monotony of work.  She works out of our California office (I have met her once in person but we talk daily) so we trade words and poetry (compressed between life stories and rants of frustration) via email.
    I figure that since I'm such a geek, I will share some of this poetry with you in an effort to gear up toward the next Walk the Word.  I've gotten Sarina's OK to share some of her poetry as well.  Here we go.  Let's start with a couple of the ones I wrote for your Walk the Word and then I'll transition into some Sarinapalooza for you.

Currently reading : Geisha: A Life By Mineko Iwasaki

5:59 AM - 41 Comments - 32 Kudos - Add Comment

Funky Dream
Current mood: tired
Category: Travel and Places

I had a very confusing dream last night.  

My family and I had traveled o Japan and we were staying in a high rise hotel on a small bay surrounded by beaches.  My mom and the little boys were there. Everyone in the hotel spoke English.  The boys were playing with other kids in the room and I looked out of one of the wall-sized windows onto the bay.  The waves (traveling from one side of the bay to the other and back) were over 100 ft high and looked relatively normal, if inordinately huge, but then morphed into what looked like monster fingers from the old Scooby Doo cartoons only they were water.  Each wave looked like a water hand from the elbow up, but spread out across the whole bay, traveling back and forth, menacing the tiny beach goers.  My mom came up behind me and said she needed a medication (I think it was heparin – a blood thinner) and was waiting for the doctor to get it for her.  As we waited, we looked over a railing down into the hotel lobby where Pat was (My deceased step dad) and he lifted a glass of wine in my mom's direction and nodded to her.  The doctor came (in the person of a lady I work with in Californi