Friends to Celebrate With - that's my favorite kind of buffet!

Met on the rooftop of the Live Oak Music Hall for a coupla hours.

Bringing playful conversation and closeness between friends.

Cody [above] made vegan gluten-free donut holes to share earlier in the afternoon.

He seems to love cookin' fun foods.

                                          Dear Meg, teacher and artist.  Her comfy scarf invited tight
                              hugs as it started to get chilly outside.  Bless her and her strong commitment to the kids she teaches.
Swaziland in 2013, right, Meg?

Bree and I kickin' back on the rooftop, welcoming a view of the Harvest Moon in all

her glory.

 Bree made a cool art card for me, which was comprised of "Happy Birthday" in 50 different languages of the human world, hand-written by Bree in 50 different marker colors.  Wow!

Musician and composer James sat with me and tried to teach me how to play my "Tammy Birthday Song" on our special tabletop keyboard.  If you can't see it, well, you might need to get in a magic frame of mind.

Rose Ann, I'm sorry but there were no cake candles for me to blow out, so I opted to blow your hair instead.  Thinking of dandelion fibers, blowin' in the wind on a beautiful September night.  (By the way, I'll always cherish the 50 words you wrote for me.  Pure inspiration.)

Gloria, we have almost the same exact skin tone.  What's up with that?  We must really be hermanas in life!  Jazz at the library, let's go!

If you have friends, you have everything.  (Jessica, we didn't get a picture together!)

Photo credit:  Jessica Fuentes
Date:  September 30, 2012
Location:  Fort Worth, Texas

During drought, one must find water.

Photo Poem 1.

L with an extra Ele

a meditation on kinship
on the occasion of E.C.'s 2012 birthday




Easy, they think it’s easy maintaining my liquid and
Lovely smile. Only the digging ones, curious comrades who care and dare to
Look below the grin and guffaws, they are the ones who will ever get to
Enjoy the resonant spectrum of the total and

Complete me, the swallowed bird, with dinky displeasures, and buzzing back anger: the
Hard and sometimes humiliating sunspray of what I live to transcend and
Under which I sometimes get
Pinned. I embrace those who dig and spelunk, unafraid of
Intensity and skin-wound, the companions of my heart synched into my stride, a
Kinesthetic empathy as they walk parallel aside me, pulsing salvation tales, breaths of sweet respite, and lay-me-down-softly seafoam.

Opportunity for Artists - part 1

CALL TO ARTISTS
Submit Your Original Artwork for the 2012 National Latino Congreso

Entries due February 12, 2012!

Since 2006, the National Latino Congreso has brought together Latinos from all walks of life-From grassroots community members to national elected officials- to create a united Latino Agenda on a variety of issues. For the 2012 NLC, the Conveners will choose from original artwork entries that capture the principles of the National Latino Congreso.

The chosen artwork will be published on all promotional materials for 2012 NLC gatherings, including the NLC website, the Official NLC 2012 Program Book, as well as 2012 mailing and correspondence.

Artists whose artwork is selected will receive a cash prize of $200 and international recognition.

Guidelines for Submissions:
. Color or black-and-white artwork in JPG or PDF format preferred;
. Each submission must be sent with the artist's name, telephone and email address;
. Entries must be submitted no later than February 12, 2012 by 11:59pm PST (Pacific Standard Time). (No exceptions) Email submissions to info@nalacc.org.

The winner will be announced on February 14, 2012.

Buena Suerte!

Opportunity for Artists - part 2

There is an opportunity to submit a portfolio for review by Nickelodeon between February 6th and February 17th, 2012, in preparation for applying for a Nickelodeon Artist Fellowship.

What is the Nickelodeon Artist Fellowship?

"Developed to broaden Nickelodeon's outreach efforts, the Nickelodeon Artist Fellowship is designed to nurture the development of emerging and diverse artists for positions within the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, while supporting their growth as creative visionaries."

More info here.