GROUND WAVES art/djs/comunidad today in Diamond Hill 11/28/09 'til 8pm

Today! FREE! All Ages!

No bad moods, big sells, proprietary attitude.

It's ALL good vibes cuz it's a PAIN FREE production. Big ups to Mike and Mercedes for coordinating this event.

Hope to see y'all there: 3509 Oscar Street -- Mapsco 48-V -- in the field behind the Dixie Heights Baptist Church

I was selected to perform at the Out of the Loop Fringe Fest next year

Forgot to mention that my application and proposal to present my one-woman show "Saliendo Abierta" was selected for the Out of the Loop Fringe (Performing Arts) Festival in Addison, Texas. The Festival takes place in March 2010, and my performance will be presented on the mainstage on the evening of Sunday, March 14, 2010. Save the Date!

Looking over the Out of the Loop website, I see that some wonderful performers and shows will also be featured during the 2-week span of the Festival. Check it out.

I'm hoping to tour "Saliendo Abierta" to other venues and festivals, possibly even on the Eastern seaboard, in the coming year. (My undergrad alma mater, Goucher College, in Towson, Maryland, has invited me to speak on a panel about literature and poetry next April for the 125th anniversary its founding.) Also, my friend and colega, Claudia Acosta, has tentatively invited me to take my show to New York City for a monthly performance series she is spearheading called "Culture Shock: a melting pot of raw arts." So many possibilities. I hope the planets configure to make good on the promise and the plan.

The glass ornament i painted for the State Capitol holiday tree

I finally finished the holiday ornament that Lon Burnam's office gave me to decorate for the Lone Star Celebration Tree, which will be displayed in the State Capitol through the beginning of January 2010.

Photo credit: Four Hearts Photography

Thanks to the O'Briens (Danny and Kathy) for giving of their time to photograph the ornament before I delivered it to Lon Burnam.

To achieve the smoky color effect on the ornament, I poured silver, black, and white acrylic paints into the small opening at the top and swirled the colors around to mix them together for a marbleizing finish. I also used a pipe cleaner to spread the color evenly. Afterwards, I used a permanent paint marker to write the following poem on the exterior of the ornament:

sleeping panther rise
remove the smokescreen from our eyes
no more gas drill lies

I think this ornament will aptly represent what's on some of our minds lately here in the District 90 sector of the Metroplex.

Chi Kung is making me move some energy - creative impulse is surging now

I am in a burst of creativity now, and feel boosted by the Chi Kung (!) and Tai Chi class i am taking on Thursdays at the Acupuncture Wellness Center located right in my 'hood--Fairmount of Fort Worth, which even has its own website.

The instructor, Martha Fiddes, is so great to focus on the Chi Kung, which has been my favorite internal martial art so far in life. (I took a coupla classes in the 1990s in Austin, and somehow felt i couldn't afford to stick with it. Now I know I cannot
afford to NOT stick with it.)

We are breathing into our internal organs and practicing the Sun form of Tai Chi which is so elegant and beautiful to me.
It's considered the most "flowing" form.

More relaxed in my body and ready to focus on some new writing, I've started on a collection of poems about the border (Texas-Mexico border as well as the borders within) and hope to have them finished by next week. For a competition deadline.

I am not now as socially-available as before, but am choosing to enjoy my new focuses (foci) at home. Have been marbleizing glass holiday ornaments, a new experiment and expression for me. I was brought to this because of a request by the folks at the offices of State Rep. Lon Burnam. They gave me the task of decorating a large transparent glass orb which, when I've finished with it, will be mailed to Austin and hung on a holiday tree in the State Capitol. How's that for a poet who doesn't do much visual art?

Will show the results when I'm finished working on it.

Sometimes family just has to come first...

...which is why i spent a coupla weeks putting together this new photo blog for my nephew, who just turned one year old today. Channel 4 News' daily morning show has a feature wherein photos of children (5 years and younger) can be emailed in for brief broadcast on the kid's birthday. I emailed in a jpg of Lucas and it was shown on the telly twice this a.m.! While the photos were being displayed, there was a technical problem that happened right when Lucas' picture was on the screen, and so it was "stuck" for all to see for at least 30 seconds. Pretty funny.


Happy First Birthday, baby Lucas!