Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Saturday

Theresa Davis Featured Peforming Artist





Come Share Your Love with LLL and Theresa Davis This Saturday

The event you've heard about, read about, can now be experienced first hand this Saturday, February 24th at Aphrodite's Toy Box. In collaboration with Aphrodite's Toy Box, Felicity Nuance, and Labrys Atlanta Magazine, Nghosi Books is bringing you its Ultimate Pleasure Series with the premiere of Sexy Saturday Storytelling!

One of our featured spoken word artists for the evening will be Theresa Davis. Theresa is one of Atlanta's best known performance poets, giving voice to the things that you've been thinking but never could articulate. She has gone on to forge an impressive career as a solo performer, winning poetry slams, and featuring at spoken word venues around Atlanta and the nation, as well as leading writing and performance workshops and headlining conferences across the southeast. She is a member of The Word Diversity Collective/Art Amok and represented Atlanta as a member of the 2006 Art Amok Slam Team in Austin, Texas last summer. Theresa continues to document her poetry as a staff writer of Labrys Atlanta Magazine. Her children Imani (18), Tia (17) and Zion (6) are her constant sources of energy and inspiration.


So please join Theresa Davis this Saturday, February 24th from 8:00p.m. - 10:30p.m., as she and the other talented artists share their blessings with us.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

ART AMOK & CLITERATI!!!

Cliterati & ART AMOK!
present
AMY WEAVER
Thursday, February 22nd, 8pm
at THE SPOT
736 Ralph McGill Blvd.
ATL (between block Lofts, & Tower II)
Because open mouths need food & words!
$5 for the artist
AMY WEAVER is introspective, fearless, and dynamic. She is a survivor whose work covers literacy, feminism,
diversity and biting social commentary. She loves to perform, was born to teach and hopes to someday
be worth her weight in poem.She's so brave, she can talk about her Vag in a room of hundreds.
PS (THIS IS HER BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!!) Audio samples of her work can be found at www.myspace.com/amyweaver.
THEN
ART AMOK! Slams w/ Amy Weaver!
Saturday, February 24th
$6, FREE to slam,
first come first served slam sign-up 9.30pm
7 Stages Theater
1105 Euclid Ave.
ATL, 30307 (next to Variety Playhouse in Little 5 Points)
404-523-7647 box office
AMY IN SLAM POETRY:
As a part of the Dallas SLAM poetry scene, Amy's accomplishments in the past 5 years include:

2001—Team Dallas (rookie year) wins the National Poetry Slam, bringing the first championship to Texas.
2004—February, represented Dallas at the first Individual World Poetry Slam
in Greenville, South Carolina
2004----August, Team Dallas, takes 3rd place over more than 70 Teams at the NPS held in St. Louis, MO.
Her poem achieved the highest score of the evening in the team finals round.
2006—Competed and coached a 1st year team from Dallas--Pugsley's Library at the NPS held in Austin.
The team was highly acclaimed for their group work, and Amy's performance as an individual poet
landed her on the Individual Finals stage, placing 10th in the nation.
She is only the 3rd Dallas/Fort Worth poet to reach the Individual Finals at NPS.

Other credits

Since 2004, Amy has been mistress of all things poem at the Annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival. She schedules all of its performers and volunteers for the poetry stage for this 3-day outdoor event, uniting readings across the DFW metroplex with slams and readings held throughout the weekend, as the on-site coordinator. She also hosts many of the events held throughout the festival.

Amy has been featured at numerous Slam venues, poetry events, and festivals across the nation, including the Nuyurican, Bar 13, and Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, some of the most prestigious venues in the country. She is the author of 4 poetry collections, Snapshots and Confessions(2000), Naked (Snapshots and Confessions (2003), and Look Both Ways Before Jumping Off This Cliff (2005). She has also released 2 spoken word CD's, Naked (2001) and People, Places, and Things (2005). She is available for Feature Performances, event hosting, writing and performance workshops, and lectures.
In May of 2006, Amy graduated from the University of North Texas earning a B.A. in both English Literature and History. She worked on-campus for 3 years in the Office of Disability Accommodation as the Lead Test Proctor and Assistant Testing Coordinator. She was also active in the local chapter of GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Denton).

--
Because open mouths need open mics.
http://cliterationline.com

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Celebrate Good Time



HAPPY FORCED AMERICAN ROMANCE BRAINWASH CONSUMERISM DAY!!!





Yes, I said it.
What happened to the days when you just knew someone was your Valentine.
They didn't have to be exclusive just allow you to give them a little card that said something clever like,"I CHOO CHOO CHOOSE YOU!"
Now there is built in rejection.
I watched helplessly as countless middle schoolers were shut down by potential valentines. Sad! I became default valentine for a few meaning the chocolate gods were kind!

I didn't ask my valentine to be my valentine officially, sorta just assumed valentineship. Hopefully shut down is not in my future!

Friday, February 09, 2007

Empathy for Anna




i just finished having a pretty good conversation with my students. it's always interesting when pop cultures offers up a teachable moment. one of my students is pretty upset about anna nicole. she says she just feels so sad and she's not sure why. of course the calloused child in the classroom took this as an opportunity to try to make her feel stupid so i felt it was my duty to step in. i asked her what she was feeling and what did she know about anna nichole.

she said,"i knew that she had done a lot of scandalous things like marring a really old man and being labeled a gold-digger. i know she would grant interviews and appear at events drunk or high slurring her speech. Her reality show was pretty embarrassing. she was the first girl who didn't look like she'd blow away to be a model for guess jeans. that makes me proud of her."

"is that all?" i prompted.
her voice cracked she said, "i also know that she had a baby and lost a baby a few days from each other. that she was being sued for paternity and other stuff. that she was unhappy and had fought so hard to maintain some kind of dignity. i think she gave up because all of a sudden life seemed to hard. it was easier not to be here. i mean even looking at her baby girl something that makes people happy had to bring her pain. a constant reminder of what she'd lost. i really think she died from complications of a broken heart. this world, people, love can break you. she was broken."
she started to cry.
hell i cried.

i stood hugging her for a long time. the other kids were glassy eyed but to tough to let the tears spill. i told her, "while i don't know everything about everything and i am no authority on anna nicole, i think you reaction is normal because you are human. the human in us allows for sympathizing with others. what you are displaying with your emotions is empathy."

she asked what that was.

"it's an attribute that young people are often accused of not having. it makes me proud that you are human and that even when others are broken you can feel the human in them. very admirable. please don't lose it. it doesn't make you weak or crazy to empathize with others it makes you human, reminds you that you are alive and you value other alive things and that you feel a connection when they are gone. being human is a good thing."