POETRY: I Come From the West

I come from Ventura, from California
hiking through cattle to Two Trees, seeing
Channel Islands float in the sea, from
eucalyptus at Mound school, the quad at Buena.
I come from Aspen, La Honda, Taos,
Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View,
Los Altos, Peet’s coffee, Ridge Winery,
Stanford, Santa Cruz, Reno, Jackson Hole.

I come from driving halls delivering
fresh VC Press newspapers, from
reciting poetry on hay bales at
Renaissance Faires in Agoura, Larkspur,
Novato, from climbing the Collegiate
Peaks Yale, Harvard, Columbia, from
Yosemite granite, gym plastic,
Gibraltar sandstone, monkey bars, school roofs.

I come from mud between my toes, hail on
my head, sagebrush in my cuffs, hot springs
dripping from my curls. From burrowing owls,
red tail hawks, spotted owls, house wrens, finches,
peregrine falcons, bats. From bird nests,
cecil bruner’s, rose geraniums, pine.
From trailers, vws, stucco, tents.

From East winds and El Ninos. From
Sierra, Rockies, Tetons, Pingora,
Castleton Spire, Cascades, Mojave,
Great Basin, Coachella, Black Rock City,
Telescope Peak, Wheeler Peak, Badwater,
oceanwater. From sweat. From tears. From dew.

While it would be more obvious a connection to yesterday’s post about flarf and conceptual poetry to post a 315 experiment poem for today’s Monday Poetry Train, I am more intrigued by recent journeys into where I’m from.

Where are you from? How does where you’re from define who you are?

Once in February and once in June, I scoured my past to tell my story in as an evocative and poetic way possible in attempts to get the “best job in the world”–first, as Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef, then as Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. These journeys, as well as recent connections with old friends and journeys into facebook which takes me into the past, places me in the present, and offers me glimpses of the future, led me to decide to post this poem today for the Monday Poetry Train. I look forward to adding some links and illsutrations. And finding out where you’re from! Post a link here if you write your own “where I come from poem” for us to go see!

New in Conceptual Poetry & Flarf : Kenny Goldsmith Strikes Again!

Last June, I attended a Conceptual Poetry Conference at the University of Arizona Tucson. Now, a year later, Kenneth Goldsmith has edited the current issue of Poetry, Flarf and Conceptual Writing in Poetry Magazine : Harriet the Blog …published by the Poetry Foundation, much of which is also available on-line at Harriet the Blog (Flarf and Conceptual Writing in Poetry Magazine : Harriet the Blog …) and written the following essay,

Flarf is Dionysus. Conceptual Writing is Apollo.

An introduction to the 21st Century’s most controversial poetry movements. In this essay, Goldsmith asks,

With so much available language, does anyone really need to write more? Instead, let’s just process what exists. Language as matter; language as material. How much did you say that paragraph weighed?

Our immersive digital environment demands new responses from writers. What does it mean to be a poet in the Internet age?

His answer includes:

These two movements, Flarf and Conceptual Writing, each formed over the past five years, are direct investigations to that end. And as different as they are, they have surprisingly come up with a set of similar solutions.

What is conceptual poetry? Goldsmith offers up a primer in this extensive pdf here. In his Poetry essay, he compares and contrasts Flarf with Conceptual Writing:

Yet for as much as the two movements have in common, they are very different. Unlike Conceptual Writing, where procedure may have as much to do with meaning as the form and content, Flarf is quasi-procedural and improvisatory. Many of the poems are “sculpted” from the results of Internet searches, often using words and phrases that the poet has gleaned from poems posted by other poets to the Flarflist e-mail listserv. By contrast Conceptual Writers try to emulate the workings and processes of the machine, feeling that the results will be good if the concept and execution of the poetic machine are good; there is no tolerance for improvisation or spontaneity.

Flarf plays Dionysus to Conceptual Writing’s Apollo. Flarf uses traditional poetic tropes (“taste” and “subjectivity”) and forms (stanza and verse) to turn these conventions inside out. Conceptual Writing rarely “looks” like poetry and uses its own subjectivity to construct a linguistic machine that words may be poured into; it cares little for the outcome. Flarf is hilarious. Conceptual Writing is dry.

During my stay in Tucson and after, I wrote a series of posts about my experiences there and my attempts to understand this kind of poetry better which you can find at the end of this post.

In Tucson, I met many of the poets Goldsmith mentions in his essay and pdf or features in this issue, including LA poet, Vanessa Place who wrote the poem below. (Please note: I am struggling to get the stanza breaks to “stick;” you may choose to read and view the poem Miss Scarlett here.)

Miss Scarlett

by Vanessa Place

Miss Scarlett, effen we kain git de doctah

w’en Miss Melly’s time come, doan you bodder

Ah kin manage. Ah knows all ’bout birthin.

Ain’ mah ma a midwife? Ain’ she raise me

ter be a midwife, too? Jes’ you leave it

ter me. She warn’t dar. Well’m, Dey Cookie say

Celebrating Independence

Above is a Muppet version of celebrating Independence Day; and here’s the FFArtRiders version:

On the “Fossil Fuel Free Ride” July 3, we visited Bell Arts up the Avenue, Sylvia White and V2 in midtown, and Art City back near the Avenue.

I was too busy keeping the ride rolling and neglected to get photos; fortunately, Mark was able to shoot while we rode!

After the ride, we picked up hot dogs, chips, vegies, and beer for an after party at Art City where Steve TV had reinvented an art installation, and Russell and crew cleaned the place up for us. Art City is always magical but sunset in summer is a special time indeed for us to enjoy the glow of the ride.

Marialyce brought homemade lemonade concentrate to combine with the ice water Jason brought over earlier, and the Big Monkey BBQ’d the dogs. A number of new and old friends meandered over to Art City after the performance pieces at Sylvia White, and many of us hung out until almost midnight.

Not sure where the NEXT after party will be yet, but the next RIDE is the Animal Fair Ride August 7!

The crowded street shows the Push’em Pull’em Parade where a few thousand families walked Main from near our house to the July 4 street fair downhill in downtown; this photo is close to the tail end of the parade–the Big Monkey and the small boy are wearing the blue wigs. (Go Dodgers!)

Happy Independence Day, USA! Enjoy the fireworks, everyone! I know we will!

Support “pay as you drive” legislation before July 9; DON’T sign petitions to undercut Prop 103!

As much as possible, we ride our bikes to get around and commute in town. You’ll see a group of us in our patriotic best out tonight riding around to various galleries for First Friday rather than the standard practice of driving.

But in California, it doesn’t really matter how many miles you drive a year when it comes to car insurance costs–no matter how much less you drive under 12,000 miles a year, you pay the same basic amount as anyone else.

This could change if insurance regulators have their way and the public supports them enough in a face off against a powerful, well funded,  and very profitable insurance industry.

That would mean it’s up to you–and you have until July 9 to post your comments to the state legislature.

Burning Man by Bike plus TARP for the Playa Bound & for the Do Lab

Ahh yes, getting warmed up for playa bike rides with the First Friday ArtRide tomorrow night! Meet up with us at the Son Jon Road City yard parking lot before 5:30 or from 530-6pm, OR outside or inside the Artists Union Gallery or the bar at Aloha or C St restaurant along the Ventura Beach Promenade.

And here’s a cool reduce-reuse-recycle idea for the Playa bound:

Big lumberyards wrap their bales of lumber in huge tarps for shipping, which the yards (like Builder’s Supply on 72nd in Omaha, NE) throw away. The tarps are huge, black or tan on one side & white with company logo on the other side. A Burner asked to have some & they said all she wanted, and that they work for tent flooring as well.

These are not just plastic sheets, they’re the regular fiber tarp like the blue stuff you buy at the hardware store. They’re great for a lot of pruposes including tacking around the front of camp to keep from tracking in so much dust. They’d also be good for windblock or additional shade.

And if you start on this now, you’ll have plenty of time to customize them! Anyone else got great playa tips? Post them here please and post on the ePlaya Q&A/Tips and Tricks forum (http://bit.ly/sqJx9)

Can’t wait to get your Playa going? Join the Do Lab July 11 for a FUNdraiser in LA for their Playa installation

June Wrap Up : : July What’s Up

June 2009 has been and gone; another month’s worth of days and nights spent. And what did I do here on this blog? What was the big news here last month? What in the world did I write and did you read in 9, 370 page views in those 43 posts last month–one every day and then some?

WordCamp SF 2009 (and getting my posts on it linked to Blog Herald and to WordPress’s Wordcamp SF post), First Friday ArtRides in June and July, Burning Man exploits and art as always, and last but not least, my application to be the Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. The hit posts for last month and of all time are listed below.

Summer is a time for outdoor concerts, vacations, BBQs, bike rides, camping, growing gardens. Being close to LA means there are lots of great events going on 1-2 hours away from free concerts at many of the museums and public spaces like the Santa Monica Pier and Grand Performances downtown to Shakespeare and street fairs.

This weekend the country erupts in Fireworks and patriotic displays of affection. Around here, July 4 highlights are always the free show up in Santa Barbara off Stearns Wharf and the Rotary show at Ventura College which costs unless you find a spot outside the field.

If you go to Santa Barbara, be sure to drop by the grand opening of the new Fishnet store and gallery which my friend Jenessa is involved with–she’s been tie dying and sewingup a storm and I am sure her creations will be a hit! (Beware of traffic headed to Michael Jackson’s Neverland for the public viewing!)

Poetry-wise, I’ll be at the Artists Union Gallery for Robert Peake read July 14. As I get a chance to post about other literary and artistic events, you know I will!

We’re most excited about the Fossil Fuel Free Ride July 3; join us at 5:30pm as the moon rises on the Ventura Promenade for a 6pm ride around town with stops at various art spaces and followed by an after party! The moon will be bright and almost full for the ride. Other July astronomy highlights, according to my trusty Tidelog:

F July 3: Earth at Aphelion
T July 7: full moon; penumbral lunar eclipse (not much to notice)
T July 20: new moon; solar eclipse–umbral shadow lands in India, crosses, Nepal, Bhutan, Mynamar, China, southern Pacific Ocean

Astrology-wise, according to Astrology.com, “Uranus, the planet of rebellion, turns retrograde today July 1.

Uranus is the oddball of the solar system. For starters, it rolls along its side — on its equator — instead of spinning upright in its orbit the way planets typically do. Uranus is also in retrograde for more than half of the year. This means it is only direct for two weeks, and is retrograde for about five months out of every Earth year.

Astrologically, Uranus liberates you from the shackles of convention and applies pressure to change whatever is stagnant in your life. Uranus rules electromagnetic energy and is like a lightning storm that creates chaos as it cleans the air, revealing a fresh new world once the storm has cleared.

But when Uranus is retrograde, expect the unexpected. Wonderful and startling surprises are very possible. This retrograde may set your wild side free, or it could make a notoriously outgoing person uncharacteristically shy.

To know exactly what to expect, review the placement of Uranus in your birth chart. If Uranus is direct in a chart, intuitive and inventive impulses flow on a regular basis. However, when Uranus is retrograde in a birth chart, rebellious urges tend to bottle up and then burst forth, seemingly out of nowhere. A retrograde period seems to reawaken freedom urges within individuals, causing them to suddenly and unconsciously rebel against any ruts or confinement in life. Is Uranus retrograde in your birth chart? Should you be on guard against your own rebellious tendencies in the following months to come?

The Lunar eclipse Tuesday July 7 is in my sign, Capricorn, about which Astrology.com says:

The second lunar eclipse of 2009 takes place on July 7, signaling the beginning of a dramatic eclipse period. A solar eclipse occurs on July 21 and then another lunar eclipse happens on August 5. A lunar eclipse always occurs during a full Moon, when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow on the Moon. Eclipses also come in pairs.

We tend to be more emotionally expressive during a full Moon, and this time around, that bright orb in the night sky is no exception! This won’t be a boring month and you’ll want to keep your eyes and ears open so that you can take full advantage of the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls. This is a time to stand back and assess your goals. Your career/work life gets a lot of attention now, and with Saturn making a helpful aspect, you just may get the support you’ve been hoping for! The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Aquarius, which will be exact on July 10, boosts your optimism. While the eclipse in practical Capricorn keeps your feet on the ground, this idealistic duo reminds you to dream big!

Top 15 Posts for 30 days ending 2009-07-01:
9, 370 total page views

2009-06-01 to Today

Title	Views
Trick Out Your Burning Man Bike	533
Is America’s Shakespeare Bruce?	478
Google Voice Transforms Your Phones	387
Great Barrier Reef Fun Activities	338
Saturn Moves Forward Again	210
Poetry News: W.S. Merwin wins Pulitzer	175
Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word:	168
heavenly mews: a summer solstice poem?	145
Put a poet to work in a vineyard!	131
Mike Ness of Social D joins Bruce for LA	122
Burning Man 2009: Plan on checking out	110
Chris Ringland’s Ebenezer Shiraz 2006:	107
Last Day of 2008: Saturn Retrograde	102
POEM Summer Solstice Inventory June 1993:	95
Ugg, Simple, Teva Outlet sale & more	91
Discover Ganesha: Remover of Obstacles,	80

To date: 98, 100 page views
Posts w/over 1000 Views
Inspirational: Next Lunar Eclipse	5,029
Last Day of 2008: Saturn Retrograde	2,925
Chris Ringland’s Ebenezer Shiraz 2006:	1,950
Trick Out Your Burning Man Bike:	1,637
Great Barrier Reef Fun Activities	1,284
Is America’s Shakespeare Bruce	1,208
Google Voice Transforms Your Phones	1,172
POEM I am a scary smelly skeleton pirate	1,086
on being a mom…a poem	1,030

Al Gore Says: Declare your fossil fuel independence! Join the FFArtRide July 3!

Dear Art Predator, This Independence Day, we have a lot to celebrate — including a major victory for our planet.

The historic vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the House of Representatives last Friday moves this bill to the Senate. Now, we must continue to build momentum and work for its passage.

Just as our founders struggled to achieve our nation’s independence, we must encourage our leaders to stand up to the entrenched special interests in another struggle of great historical importance — the fight for our energy independence.

Tell Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell that you support bold action on clean energy legislation. This July 4th, declare your energy independence and demand that they work to do the same in the Senate.

Declare your energy independence to Senators Reid and McConnell.

First Friday ArtRide This Friday: Fossil Fuel Free Ride July 3

I heard a rumor that Liberace is joining us for the Fossil Fuel Free First Friday ArtRide this Friday, July 3–and he’s wearing this absolutely smashing sparkly red, white, and blue number on the Ride! I know, it’s just toooo wonderful! We’ll stop traffic with Liberace in the lead in this get-up!

What will you wear? Red white & blue? Stars & stripes? Or will you come as a dinosaur? (Yes, I’m talking to you, Tracy!) Flags and pinwheels are fun to fly off the back of your bike, and shirts with the Ventura Bicycle Union logo on them are always in style. (A $25 donation to the VBU on Friday gets you a shirt and a membership!)

We meet at 5:30pm on the Promenade outside or inside Aloha, and we ride at 6pm around the downtown area going to different art galleries, including the Bell Arts Factory, 432 Ventura Avenue:

THE LAO A Snapshot View RIVER - SPIRIT - PEOPLE in the TOOL ROOM GALLERY Photo by Richard Newsham RICHARD NEWSHAM & CATHY FORTUNA – THE LAO Richard Newsham is the Marketing Specialist for the Community Services Department in the City of Ventura. Through the years his support for the artists in the community has been invaluable. Now it’s time to turn the tables on Newsham, and to show his talents to us. He’s a poet whose work is often inspired by the paintings, poetry and sculpture of other artists as well as ’the unique’ in people, both at home and abroad. For First Friday, July 3, Newsham finally shares his favorite things with us at the Bell Arts Factory - Tool Room Gallery. Newsham partnered with friend Cathy Fortuna, to travel to Laos, and to produce a snapshot’s view of life along the Mekong. River/Spirit/People, is the subject of a photo exhibit, with touches of poetry and a splash of colorful weavings of the region. Friday, July 3, is the reception for the first City employee to exhibit at the Tool Room Gallery. The installation is the work of artist Sarah Kalvin who curates the venue. The reception is from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, with light refreshments. The exhibit runs from July 3 to July 26. Gallery hours are by appointment, call: 805.653.1174. Read about Richard in the Ventura County Star June 28 article Bell Arts Factory is located on Ventura’s Westside at 432 N. Ventura Ave. The Tool Room Gallery is a new addition to the arts facility that exhibits renowned individuals and innovative newcomers. View: Tool Room Gallery location

A MEDITATION INSTALLATION IN THE JANET ADDISON COMMUNITY ROOM FIRST FRIDAY – JULY 3, 2009 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM

And we may get as far east as Midtown’s V2 to see “In the Mood: Part 2:”

As much as I love Erik Reel’s work which we saw at Seabreeze on our March and April ArtRides, I don’t think we’ll stop at Stoneworks to see his show–we get too many flat tires when we go there! We may get to Laurel Street to Seabreeze and to Art and Soul Ceramic Studios–you’ll have to come along and see!

Then follow us to the afterparty where we’ll enjoy beer donated by Anacapa Brewery, music, and food! Bring $10 to donate to the VBU for all you care to eat and drink.

Saturday morning July 4 is the Rotary Club’s “Push ‘em Pull ‘em Parade;” park at the San Jon Road City of Ventura Maintenance Yard and walk with us up Chrisman to the start of the parade near Chrisman and Main. Later that afternoon,  I heard a rumor about a Stars and Bars ride–about 10 miles round trip including a ride out to the Harbor. We’ll be the ones in the Ventura Bicycle Union shirts!

More Friday themed rides:
Aug. 7: Animal Fair Ride
Sept 4: Full Moon Critical Manners Ride
Oct. 2: Critical Manners Mustache Ride
Oct. 30: Ghost Ride
Nov. 6: Super Heroes Ride
Dec. 4:  Santacon Ride

3:15 Experiment Poetry: Aug. 24, 2007–baby baby are you calling me?

Holly Holly
I dreamt of you
your name was on
the tip of my tongue
when I awoke.

You have a baby coming
and when I thought of
you when I awoke
with your name in mind
I heard your daughter’s name–
Emily. Emily–it’s a nice
name. Is it the name
you plan on calling her?

I’d always thought you’d name
a daughter after your mother
your mother who died
when you were a girl
your mother who has no
first name as far as
I know you’ve always
referred to her as Mom.

Baby baby how are you?
Were you calling to me
across the night
wanting me to say hello
to your mom for you?

I wrote this as part of the 3:15 Experiment back in 2007 when my friend Holly was pregnant; less a few weeks later, she did indeed deiver a baby girl who she named Ella. I visted them last weekend, so they’re fresh on my mind. For more poetry, ride the train!

Here’s to you: MJ, FF, Ed McMahon & Sky Saxon “You’re Pushing Too Hard”

You’re Pushing Too Hard

My friend Ron Wells writes:

Amidst the passings of the King of Pop, the poster icon for Charlie’s Angels, and Johnny Carson’s sidekick, few will notice or mention the death of Sky Saxon, lead singer and songwriter for the  mid-60’s garage band, The Seeds. He died on June 25 in Austin, Texas. He was in his 60’s, though no one is certain of his exact birth date.

So this is for Sky, and all those other adults and kids who were, and are, out there strumming and thrashing their guitars in garages everywhere,  driving the neighbors nuts and causing a horrific amount of racket in hopes of hitting the Big Time.

And this is especially for all those musicians who are now beginning to pass on from this world, with little notice and even less mention.

In the mid-60’s you couldn’t turn on a radio in the greater Los Angeles area without hearing The Seeds, as well as numerous other bands screeching straight out of their driveways on to vinyl platters and blasting throughout the rock and roll world in transistor radios to the waiting ears of eager teenagers everywhere.

The Seeds were lucky: they had a few hits.