Jacob Sam-La Rose

Elsewhere… May 17, 2013

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:30:45 +0000

"We know this, somewhere in our hearts, that there is a deep need to create, and help others create…"
“We know this, somewhere in our hearts, that there is a deep need to create, and help others create whether through direct mentoring, or simply being present in the world (think of when you’ve stumbled upon someone’s work at the right time.) I am kicking myself for not writing down the source of a study I encountered recently that named belonging as necessary to staying alive as food and shelter. We know art helps us belong, process, heal, connect and declare. It is the life force that has changed our minds, turned our hearts, kept us afloat and encouraged survival. So how do we continue creating in the solace of our bedrooms and studios, but move to bring our art and process into a space that directly impacts the world? Through mentoring, formal or informal, teaching, or simply sharing through the internet or in real-time spaces, we give people the chance to connect with us through and beyond our work, and encourage them to find a way to express their own desires, secrets and needs.”

–
Caits Meissner— What Do My Poems Matter, Anyway? Confronting Art’s Place in the Hierarchy of Need.

Amen.

I’m thinking of that moment a young upcoming artist, in a conversation about work, spoke of teaching/facilitating/mentoring from a disdainful stance, as if it weren’t real work. That irked me for a long, long time. A strong artist doesn’t necessarily make for the best facilitator. And although there’s a long-standing model of poets working as teachers and educators, not everyone wants to teach. Indeed, there’s something to be said for earning a living beyond your art, of making sure you stay connected with and alive to a world beyond the classroom, beyond the everyday endeavour of making words work. But we all have something to learn. And I’ve learned so much from the young poets and students I’ve worked with. I’d like to think that there’s a decent body of people, young and not-so-young, who’ve gained something valuable from the time they’ve spent working with me.

My work is about making things, about changing perspectives, about building bridges between disparate ideas and states of being, about alchemy, transforming things. Part of that work happens on a stage, or through the pages of collections and anthologies. Part of that work happens in school rooms and workshop spaces, transforming the silences in people’s mouths to things that need to be said, or rather helping those people to find their own brand of alchemy, so that they can do these things for themselves. They’re different forms of work— the stage more focused on the individual “I” (even if only as a conduit for a poetry that can be claimed by the listener), the workshop/class necessarily less so— but, for me, they stem from the same root. A poetry capable of affecting real change. Yes.
You want to say the bell to a trumpet. A hollow sound. The sound of emptiness…

You want to say the bell to a trumpet. A hollow sound. The sound of
emptiness becoming

whole. Whole as a loaf of bread, and the hungry sound that echoes.

A sound thin as water? Or deep, deep as the echo of the womb
where the one you thought you would raise was gone, unexpectedly

on a night of hard rain, when she knelt in the bathroom, the thumb-sized
bloody loss. How many years ago you cannot count except

with your thumbs.

A thumb-sized sound.

That small. That full of losing. How large it grows. And you are lost in the
forest of what did not happen,

searching for the way back to before, but the black birds have swallowed
all of the crumbs.

Sean Thomas Dougherty— Sonogram

I’ve loved Sean’s work for a long time now, about as long as I’ve self-identified as a poet. Here, find an extract of Sonogram. Follow the link for more. If this is indicative of a body of new work forthcoming, I’m excited. Very excited.
"If I was talking to someone who was young who was just starting out, go to college for something…"
“If I was talking to someone who was young who was just starting out, go to college for something other than writing. Like don’t go to writing school. Go for science or something that’s really interesting and then write about that. That would be my advice to them. Do you know Murat Nemet-Nejat? He’s a Persian poet but he lives in the states and he had a workshop at St. Mark’s and he said to us, “Well, the nice thing about being a poet is you’re making bread that no one wants to buy so you can make it as salty as you’d like.” So when I think of that, that’s when I’ve written my best stuff. There’s no stakes in poetry. The best poets have not made their livings off it and possibly weren’t even acknowledged much in their lifetimes except for maybe other poets or a few people. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change that they were great. When I read something I know if it’s great or not. It doesn’t matter who wrote it and it doesn’t matter who else likes it. To me that’s an inherent quality and if people want to be poets that’s what I would go for. Go as hard and deep as you can into your own vision and make it pop into the world and shape it and make it exactly you—and what you’re seeing. Make it into a solid thing. Then just put it out and don’t worry if people like it and don’t try to adjust it for anyone. If they don’t like it, it doesn’t change it. That’s my advice.”

–
Maggie Dubris

Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to learn from anyone else. Always, the balance between your own vision and the wisdom of others who’ve already trodden similar paths. Consider Bruce Lee’s model: take instruction from masters so you can forge your own way…
"I was looking for Baudelaire’s grave and we met this Frenchman and he said, “Are you looking for Jim…"
“I was looking for Baudelaire’s grave and we met this Frenchman and he said, “Are you looking for Jim Morrison?” and we said, “No, we’re looking for Baudelaire.” Even though I wanted to see Jim Morrison too. He was so happy to find people who weren’t looking for Jim Morrison that he took us to Baudelaire’s grave. You know these people are real but to actually see the place they’re buried is so strange. If you can see someone’s grave you’re not their contemporary but you’re in their time in a certain way. Like we can’t see Homer’s grave. We can’t see Sappho’s grave. We don’t know where they’re buried. We don’t even know what they looked like. But Baudelaire—we’re contemporary enough we can go to his grave or Emily Dickinson—you can sit in her chair. It’s interesting because it expands your idea of who’s your contemporary.”

–
Maggie Dubris, interviewed by Ali Liebegott for Believer Mag

http://believermag.tumblr.com/post/50096754461/image-by-shary-boyle-interview-with-maggie

This resonates. I was recently asked, by a host just before a gig, if I could have any long-dead poet in the audience, who it would be. Response? I blanked. Completely. Brain scrabbled for an answer and offered up Langston Hughes. It was a nice question to be asked: unexpected, challenging in the best way. Kept me on my toes.
Mastery, Robert Greene

Mastery, Robert Greene
booksactually:
“When the heart is not enough it finds another…

booksactually:

“When the heart is not enough it finds another room. Water does this. Traffic slows for rain. Let the tangled roots come and teach you sprawl, moral substitution, efficiency: every weed leans towards the ungraspable. In time fingers write their own music whether or not they are slender. Breathe. Make your own gravity, pull down sunlight. It takes longer than years to cross the door.”

— Other Things and Other Poems

(new and selected poems, with Croatian translation)

by Alvin Pang

Alvin Pang— lovely poet, lovely human being. If you don’t have any of his work in your library, rectify immediately. That is all.

Elsewhere… May 10, 2013

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:30:04 +0000

STORYBOARD: Capturing the ‘Humans of New York’ (by…

STORYBOARD: Capturing the ‘Humans of New York’ (by Tumblr)

Street photography practise reaffirmed.

Yes, it’s essentially an advert. No, I don’t care. Love this project.
Just read poems at an event for the Forward Arts Foundation….

Just read poems at an event for the Forward Arts Foundation. With Rhian Edwards. Who is officially a bad-ass poet.

I haven’t shared a stage with Rhian since “back-in-the-day” and I remember seeing some of her early gigs at the Poetry Cafe. Now we’re both Forward Poetry shortlistees (2012). Time passes, eh?

Pictured: Maisie – Forward Arts Assistant Director – presides over copies of Breaking Silence, Clueless Dogs (Rhian’s award winning collection) and the Forward Poetry Anthology.
2013/4 Brad Frost (by CreativeMornings/PGH)
Right?

2013/4 Brad Frost (by CreativeMornings/PGH)

Right?
Tate: Remixed— five years after the fact, I stumble across this….

Tate: Remixed— five years after the fact, I stumble across this. More accurately, I’ve been pointed in this direction— some interesting new work on the horizon for me, and this serves as stimulus. Francesca Beard’s a perennial favourite around these here parts, but I’m particularly digging this work of hers. Nick Makoha and Polar Bear also produced work for the same project. Go see.
ability slows (by Nathaniel Whitcomb | Think or Smile)

ability slows (by Nathaniel Whitcomb | Think or Smile)
According to one theory, the moon formed when a Mars-sized chunk…

According to one theory, the moon formed when a Mars-sized chunk of rock collided with Earth. After the moon coalesced out of the debris from that impact, it was much closer to Earth than it is today. This idea is taken to its fanciful limit in Italo Calvino’s story “The Distance of the Moon” (from his collection Cosmicomics, translated by William Weaver). The story, narrated by a character with the impossible-to-pronounce name Qfwfq, tells of a strange crew who jump between Earth and moon, and sometimes hover in the nether reaches of gravity between the two.

Elsewhere… May 3, 2013

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:34:16 +0000

"When you recognize that you’ve found yourself in this wilderness (and you will; perhaps even often),…"
“When you recognize that you’ve found yourself in this wilderness (and you will; perhaps even often), just remind yourself that your goal should be to share something transcendent with others through your work. Even the best ships occasionally need a good course correction.”

– The Define Journal | What I Have to Say Wednesday: Parker Fitzgerald
"First thing every morning after waking up, I take a pill that may cause drowsiness. The darkness…"
“First thing every morning after waking up, I take a pill that may cause drowsiness. The darkness begins to peel away in long, uneven strips, exposing patches of brighter darkness underneath. Later, I’ll feel as I often do, like a candle eavesdropping on sunlight. Going up on the escalator, a vague little man who reminds me of me will hug a bag from Infinity Shoes to his chest. I’ll have the sense that anyone who isn’t a victim is a suspect. In infinity shoes, you could, theoretically, walk forever.”

– ‘The Shadow of an Airplane Crosses the Empire State Building’ – Howie Good; via Right Hand Pointing
"What I fault newspapers for is that day after day they draw our attention to insignificant things…"
“What I fault newspapers for is that day after day they draw our attention to insignificant things whereas only three or four times in our lives do we read a book in which there is something really essential. Since we tear the band off the newspaper so feverishly every morning, they ought to change things and put into the paper, oh, I don’t know, perhaps…Pascal’s Pensees! …and then, in a gilt-edged volume that we open only once in ten years…we would read that the Queen if Greece has gone to Cannes or that the Princesses de Leon has given a costume ball. This way the proper proportions would be te established.”

– Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (via Caterina.net)
jackcheng:
I spent a half hour this morning thinking about my…

jackcheng:

I spent a half hour this morning thinking about my ideal daily routine and here is the result.

Shameless reblog, for no reason other than to say “me too…”

Elsewhere… April 26, 2013

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:33:28 +0000

"What’s that sound? It’s the sound of thousands of text-nerds squealing with delight as…"
“What’s that sound? It’s the sound of thousands of text-nerds squealing with delight as they open their freshly updated Drafts app for iOS.”

–
Drafts 3 is a Go

By now, you probably already know how much of my writing gets done via an iPad (read: a lot). In terms of a writing workflow, I’ve been through most of the popular text editors, and while Drafts is a a bit of a “bus stop” app as referred to in the linked article, it’s a useful one for focusing on the writing first and pushing that writing to wherever it needs to be later.

Sadly, I’ve moved on from many of the iOS text editors I’ve fallen for over the past couple of years of writing on an iPad. WriteRoom’s still on my first page (and I refuse to delete it out of sheer love), but is gathering the digital equivalent of dust from lack of use. Writings and iA Writer never really saw that much active use if I’m honest, even though Writings was particularly interesting for organising sets of documents on the fly for readings. Although I recently reloaded Daedalus to see what I might gain from it’s organisational metaphor of “stacks” (as opposed to files in folders), I’m sure to delete it again (font options are limited/unappealing, and the page width doesn’t really support longer lines of poetry).

Fellow text-nerds in the audience, take note: I’m still a loyal Scrivener fan for longer writing projects, but since I made a shift from a plain text system (Shock! Horror!), Evernote is the hub for most of my writing. Evernote works everywhere— iPad, phone, desktop and web— and even supercharges my notebook fetish by allowing me to snapshot and tag handwritten pages. Drafts serves as a beautiful (read: effortlessly functional AND aesthetically pleasing) conduit for pushing my writing to Evernote or anywhere else I need it to be. Colour me one happy writer. Squeal.
"We need to make space for “creative reading” as much as “creative writing” – at least if we…"
“We need to make space for “creative reading” as much as “creative writing” – at least if we understand “creative reading” to be something like “ways of reading that are not only rigorous, careful, attentive to historical context, different connotations and nuances of meaning and so on, but also inventive, surprising, willing to take risks, to be experimental, to deform and transform.””

– Nicholas Royle on “composition and decomposition.” Pair with Francine Prose on how to read like a writer and Virginia Woolf on how to read a book, then follow up with this 1936 to acquiring knowledge, of which critical reading is a centerpiece. (via explore-blog)
"For a year I went blind as a freight train, thrashed
in a wild grief, because nothing as loud
as my…"

“For a year I went blind as a freight train, thrashed
in a wild grief, because nothing as loud
as my sorrow could be heard. Now, in the formless dark
I can’t untangle my tongue
even to know what kind of help to ask.
But he tells me I’m all flintstrike
deep in the basement’s gut: again, again, again, again—”

– Extract of Small Bang Theory by Anne Shaw | Kenyon Review Online. Follow the link for the full poem.
"Think about it this way. We have 7,000 languages. Each of these languages encompasses a world-view,…"
“Think about it this way. We have 7,000 languages. Each of these languages encompasses a world-view, encompasses the ideas and predispositions and cognitive tools developed by thousands of years of people in that culture. Each one of those languages offers a whole encapsulated universe. So we have 7,000 parallel universes, some of them are quite similar to one another, and others are a lot more different. The fact that there’s this great diversity is a real testament to the flexibility and the ingenuity of the human mind.”

– Lera Boroditsky – ENCAPSULATED UNIVERSES | Edge.org (via Roberto Greco)
"Creativity comes from listening to the problem actively as you would in any good conversation. Some…"
“Creativity comes from listening to the problem actively as you would in any good conversation. Some people do this within their own heads. Others must engage in conversation aloud. Either way, it’s a process of a creative asking the problem questions and responding to each new wrinkle that evolves. We’ve all spoken to people whose only goal in a conversation is to hear the sound of their own voices. A raconteur of creativity is a very rare thing, but so many creatives believe themselves to be one.”

–
Kenji Ozdemir – How to Work with Creative People

Great site. Looking forward to future posts. These kinds of initiatives often grow out of commercial concerns— I get the feeling that the eponymous “creative” that the site focuses on is at least 60% designer, perhaps with some illustration and copywriting making up much of the remainder? I’d love to see something like this with the literature sector in mind. How to work with writers and poets? Sure, it’d be a smaller potential readership, but…

Or, maybe (a more practical suggestion) some of you commissioning literature professionals want to figure out how to get your hard won wisdom into the mix? Just saying.

Here, There Be Dragons

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:19:20 +0000

There was a time when I used to have a notice on my website that said something to the effect of it being a constant work in progress. That was when I used to dabble in cutting edge web technologies and was constantly adding new functionality or experimenting with what a website could do. Today, when I say that this is a work in progress, I mean that this is a new installation, a fresh new look and feel, and it’s still very rough around the edges. After an extended period of letting this site fend for itself and lavishing my attention on Tumblr, Twitter and all those other more sociable spaces, where the cool kids hang out, I’ve had enough of feeling like an absentee site owner, and I’ve been spending some time here to make amends.

If anything here is broken or seems unfinished, it’s because that’s exactly what it is. I’m working on it. I’m a big fan of iteration, of learning as I go, and I hope you don’t mind having access to an unfinished version of my home on the web while I work at getting things in order. It’s beta, rather than completely dysfunctional, so you should be able to get at the most important things: some information about me, some samples of my work and a way to get hold of me if you’re sufficiently piqued. Everything else will follow shortly.

Of course, you could drop some thoughts about the new upgrade in comments. That could either be a nice ego massage or a kick in the egoistic equivalent of the unmentionables. But hey— no pressure…

Riga, Riga, Riga…

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:02:50 +0000

I recently spent 5 days in Riga, courtesy of the British Council. I had the opportunity to work with local Latvian poets and performers, support the local SLAM poetry scene, perform for a range of audiences, lecture on the nature of “urban” poetry and the impact of the city (London) on my writing, and hang out with Aoife Mannix and Van G Garrett. Above: some footage from one of our rooftop performances…

I Will Do What I Love…

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Sun, 08 May 2011 11:07:39 +0000

So, I’m back in Blighty. I’ve been catching up with myself for the past few days, putting things back in their appropriate places, digesting my experience of the past few weeks.

I’ve been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travelling in my time – Botswana, Malaysia, the US, Germany, Finland, up and down the UK – not as much as some people I know (Anna K, I’m looking at you), but considering that much of my travel has happened as a result of the fact that I push words around on pages and screens, I’m thankful for everywhere I’ve been. Of all the places I’ve known, Singapore is the country I’m always most excited about heading back to.

This time, my journey to Singapore had layered goals: to get away from the regular grind of London’s day-in-day-out to refresh, write, and reconnect with people I hadn’t seen since my last visit (2009). True to form, I also passed through a number of Singaporean schools (shout out to Temasek JC, Nan Hua High School, Cedar Girls Secondary, Clementi Town School, St Anthony’s Canossian, St Andrews JC) and had the opportunity to run a couple of workshops for local writers – both to push their writing, and their use of web-based tech to support their work.

I bought more books than I should have (books cost more in Singapore), ate obscenely well for a ridiculous amount of money (next to nothing), didn’t take enough pictures (but loved each and every response to my vintage Yashica), walked a lot (Dhoby Gaut to Chinatown, anyone?), ran a workshop in my favourite Singaporean bookstore (geek-crush! score!), met some amazing people and wrote. I also managed to pick up what I think may have been the last iPad 2 in the country.

I’m already planning my next return. I’d like to give my camera a bit more of a work-out. Capture more. And I’d like to engage in some focused writing inspired by the locale – maybe attach myself to a local community project and write in response. I’ve seen a fair amount of Singapore, but I still feel as if there are depths for me to explore. How do you engage with the reality of a place when you’re only passing through? And there are so many neighbouring countries that I have yet to visit. I skipped Malaysia this time round, so I’ll be keen to get back there when I’m next nearby. And that’s not to mention plans for travel to Japan, Australia, New Zealand…

Thanks to everyone that made my time in Singapore what it was – including Angela Cheong and the Fortune Travel crew, Pooja Nansi, Kay Vasey at the British Council, the ‘Finding a Fresh Perspective’ writers, Yong Shu Hoong, Miriam Nash, Kenny at BooksActually, William Phuan at the Arts House, all of the students who turned up at the Arts House event (including those who asked for the chocolate poem – I hope it was worth waiting for) and anyone else I may have neglected to mention. All in all, not a bad trip. Not bad at all.

(Image from an art exhibit on Ann Siang Hill, in a Fred Perry outlet, no less. Artist: Rage Goh.)

What’s going on…

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:54:55 +0000

Every now and then, someone throws a fairly innocuous question into a written message that sends me into a little tailspin of indecision. That question being: “so what are you up to at the moment?” Hmmm. So how much detail do you want with your answer there, sir/madam?

Easy fix, I figure, is to post a little update about what I’m currently up to. Then my answer can be as simple as inserting a hyperlink, instead of trying to decide between full, mid or lite disclosure. Of course, that kind of breaks the polite convention of communication, whereby people want responses that at least bear the air of a tailored response, but in this age of social networks and increasing demands on every connected individual’s time, what else is one to do? If it makes you feel any better, I wrote this post for YOU. Yes, you. You know who you are.

At time of writing, I’m currently:

- Managing the London Teenage Poetry SLAM. In the midst of conducting a survey across the project to find out how the 11 different poet-coaches are doing with their residencies, as well as checking in with teachers and shadows, building a consultation group, redeveloping the project website, steering the design of this year’s promotional material, proofing last year’s anthology (for the 5th time– long story…), and trying to plan for the upcoming Community Building Day– one of two dates on the project when everyone involved (teachers, students, poets, shadows, office staff) all come together to work with each other. Among other things, I get to plan what 150 people need to do for every moment of Saturday the 28th of March between 10am and 6pm. The fact that I’ve done it for six years in a row doesn’t make it much easier, surprisingly.

- Prepping to run a SLAM project for six Camden schools between late March and early July. The London Teenage Poetry SLAM winds up at the end of June (before slumping into post-production). I usually run two major SLAM projects a year, but not usually at the same time. Death by project management? I have no one but myself to blame, I guess…

- Preparing for the recording of some footage for the BBC. Not sure how much I’m supposed to say about that, so that’s all you’re getting out of me for now.

- Fulfilling residencies in Morpeth School (in Bethnal Green) and Erith School (in Erith, surprisingly). For March, I’m teaching two days a week, one day in each school, which works out pretty well. At Morpeth, I’m working with two groups of year 8s that alternate each week. At Erith, I have a true residency, where I get to work with most of the students in the school and implement ideas for showcasing the poetry they produce.

- Running a poetry programme at the Barbican with a scarily talented batch of young poets aged between 14 and 19. More about that later.

- Trying to tie down the details for a live online poetry showcase between London, New York, Chicago and LA. It’s looking pretty precarious at the moment.

- Devising new brands for some of the projects in my “web” portfolio. One more to go and I’ll be happy. Currently very excited about the brand that’ll be replacing Metaroar. Of course, I’ve still got to tie down my vision for the future development of the project, but hey– I’ve got a shiny new identity for it. Gotta have priorities in order, eh?

- Doing some behind the scenes development on http://thefoundryproject.org, testing a few features for the next development of the project.

- Trying to tie down a proposal to get some of the young poets I work with to participate in the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival in May.

- Mentoring some emerging poets. Naomi Woddis and Miriam Nash particularly. Both fantastic.

- Procrastinating about the writing of a poem commissioned by International PEN.

- Editing furiously– with one manuscript that’s receiving full focus, and another two or three in the queue behind that.

- Trying hard to ensure that Fridays are writing days, though I’m less convinced that I’ve got enough brain left for a full day’s worth of dedicated writing after a hard week. It’s just not fair to schedule a writing day after two full days of hard teaching (with the Barbican evening class sandwiched in between every fortnight). Might well switch my writing day to Tuesday, which would make a lot of sense. Writing days are currently focused towards continued development of a body of work for the next manuscript. More about that in coming weeks, too.

- Reading poetry pamphlets as a selector for this quarter’s PBS pamphlet choice.

- Trying to find some time to think about running a regular event at the Poetry Café. They want me to run a SLAM. Apart from being wary of becoming known as Jacob “SLAM” La Rose, I’m wondering what I might do to play with the SLAM format…

- Working on a feasibility study for the Arts Council. And somehow stockpiling invitations to participate in consultation groups for the Arts Council and the Barbican.

- Working as Creative Consultant on a national poetry and science project, name of Evolving Words.

- Trying to push forward the further development of this site. Although I really like the sparse typographical nature of it’s current incarnation, I remember the old version fondly, and I’m starting to itch for something more… designed. Something with a little more embellishment. If you come visit in the wee hours and things look a little weird, don’t adjust your screen or question the veracity of the sell-by date on lunch– I’m just testing templates.

- Recovering from some messy family stuff. Being reminded of the mortality and fragility of people you love is humbling.

- Celebrating the forthcoming publishing of my poems coming in
* City State: The New London Poetry (published by Penned in the Margins)
* Michael Rosen’s A-Z of Children’s Poetry: From John Agard to Benjamin Zephaniah (published by Puffin)
* Identity Parade: New British and Irish Poets (published by Bloodaxe, 2010)

And aside from the nagging feeling that there are a few things I’ve forgotten, that’s pretty much it. Of course, I wouldn’t have to do such an exhaustive dump of information if I was blogging more regularly…

[And if you didn't know, today's blog title is brought to you by Marvin Gaye...]

Advice for breaking a poet’s block…

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:28:51 +0000

Keep pushing it, as best as you can. Also radically change your stimulation. What inspires you? Expose yourself to different and new ideas. And freewrite, a lot. Use free-writing as a way of getting words out without the pressure of having to produce something of high quality. Switch off all the voices in your head that judge or analyse your output. Do you journal? Take up sketching, just as another creative vent. Play around with photography; grow a pair of fresh, new eyes through which to see the world. And who are you currently reading? How often do you strike out looking for new poets that delight and engage you? What are you reading beyond poetry? Find a poem you like (or don’t like) and rewrite it, or answer it. When was the last time you went to a poetry event that you weren’t reading at? Find an event and go to it, in service of your own writing (as well as supporting poetry). Again, if you hear a poem that strikes you (for better or for worse) try to answer it with a poem of your own.

(Some thoughts in response to a friend that’s suffering a block at the moment…)

I think I’m turning… Cantonese.

Jacob Sam-La Rose — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 10:50:25 +0000

Looking for Chinese expletives a la Firefly (it’s a long story that involves trying to help someone curb their use of colourful language, then setting a personal challenge to have a range of more creative invective at hand…) , and found this: “Words made of the same phoneme, but different tone, usually are semantically unrelated. But each phoneme/tonal is usually a homophone for several words. For example, the phoneme “si” in Cantonese could mean the following, depending on tone:

poetry/corpse
cause/waste/history
taste/try
time
market/city
soldier/to be
know/color
tongue
eat/eclipse.

Hmmm. I feel a poem coming on.

In other news… WordWide unplugged was a pleasure to be a part of. Both Zena Edwards and Roger Robinson rocked. Really looking forward to seeing Roger’s album get the props it deserves. In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing Roger get the props he deserves, full stop.

Christmas coming soon. Christmas shopping to do. Bah. Humbug.