MySpace is a great way to "meet" and get an idea of a musician's or band's sound, but it's a lousy way to do business - even if my service is affordable, incredibly cheap, or in some cases free, depending on circumstances. Introducing yourself here is fine, but don't expect a gig, unless I've booked a show with you before and I'm one of your groupies. (A few local bands can claim this distinction and know who they are.)

The Events page/function won't let me change the date of the event because something is wacky about the date and time feature. (Error: "Start date must be in the future." Me: "But it is in the future #@$%!") The "edit" option won't even let me cancel. So I'm posting the Facebook link and reposting the Eventful and Do512 listings for SUMMER MUSIC CARNIVAL 2 on Friday, July 10 here:

Hosted By:
DIY Revolution

When:
Saturday, July 11, 2009

Where:
Carousel Lounge
1110 E 52nd St
Austin
78752

Description:
The summer carnival of local music returns for one night only – and it's the night Mayor Daley (the band) comes to town! Attic Ted headlines, and Preston Dukes Band opens the show. Experience the liveliest indie, noise and zolo rock rides in town. A Short films premiere presented by Preston Dukes and friends precedes the free music festivity at 9 pm.

Click Here To View Event

How to Care for African Violets

Also included: my first recorded poetry reading online. A very rough recording.

Audio - mp3

I didn't forget it's "Lazy Blogger Wednesday". Here's a link to the only (substantial) blog I'm posting today: http://diydanna.livejournal.com/146160.html.

Recommended Sites for National Poetry Month (U.S.A.) April 2009


"April comes like an idiot, babbling and stewing flowers." - Edna St. Vincent Millay

Poetry has always had a powerful effect on me. Since childhood I've read and written poems that have formed my thoughts, feelings and opinions of the world as I perceive it. History and science books helped shape me as a thinking human being who constantly questions conventional wisdom as well as newfangled ideas. But it's poetry that expands my imagination and creativity, and expands my heart and mind to diverse points of view - in verse. Poems truly are life distilled.

Recommended sites to read and to interact personally with poetry:

• Poetry (Library of Congress) Of course, government is in on National Poetry Month. It's a conspiracy to commit to the literary arts.



• Modern American Poetry More than the online companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry,  it's a portal to learning almost everything you needed to know about American poets and their works. (Click on the "Poets" link to begin.)



• Poets.org A site about poets with selected poetry. Read it, or hear it.



• Poetry Daily A poem a day from "emerging and eminent" poets.



• Poetry Foundation Find a poem that fits a subject of interest or mood.

And for the young ones:

• Poetry 180 "A poem a day for American high schools."



• Giggle Poetry A fun, educational way to explore and create poetry.



• Poetry4Kids.com "The biggest collection of hilarious poetry for children anywhere on the net," according to Poets.org.



"Poetry is life distilled." - Gwendolyn Brooks

Miscellanea

Electronic Poetry Center is another good place to start reading or listening in April, and every other month of the year. It's an online international festival of poetry. Looking for a good book of poetry by an individual poet or in a collection? New Pages may be the right place. They also include a good inventory of literary magazines. Curious about some of America's favorite poems? The Favorite Poem Project features a diverse group of people reading their favorite poems - captured on video.

Poet and musician Ismael Archbold offers a list of "20 Poetry Books That I Love" on Facebook, which "tags" fellow poets and poetry lovers, to get their perspective on the books "that made you fall in love with poetry". Like "20", Poetry International Web goes beyond national borders and is worth exploring. Greatest Poems Ever Written is arguably another site worth visiting during Poetry Month.  Many classic, and a few modern poems written by Americans are presented by Poetry.com.

Brenda Richards, another new favorite poet and prose author of mine, has a Sunday Literary Series. Richards' collection of original work (essays, prose and of course, poetry), plus profiles of literary figures (written, audio and video format) can be @ Facebook.

About One Online Poetry Publication

I'd also like to plug a personal favorite, Haggard & Halloo. I've been an online supporter and house writer for this creative and contemporary fiction publication for over three years. H&H has some of the most interesting and provocative poems you'll ever read.

My Poem-A-Day Challenge?

Still not sure if I can create 30 original poems in 30 days, but I'll do my best. I recently attempted contemporary variations of the sonnet, so perhaps anything is possible when it comes to writing poetry. Check my wordpress blog starting Wednesday, April 1st to see if I take the challenge. It's part of Facebook's NetworkedBlogs too!

Addendum: As much as I've enjoyed browsing the web to read poetry and purchasing it on Amazon, nothing beats browsing the nearest bookstore. BookPeople, Half Price Books, Borders and Barnes & Noble all have poetry in fairly large sections—ripe for the picking. I've also found the occasional poetic gem at Goodwill and local thrift shops.

Archbold stresses we "think globally, act locally" by visiting other international online hubs and our favorite local bookstores: Choriamb - "Poetry News & Reviews" on mainstay LiveJournal; The Page - an excellent feed of poetry and more, w/ Twitter updates!; and UbuWeb - "Concrete poetry's utopian pan-internationalist" dream. Here's a list of locally owned & operated stores in Austin, TX:


• 12th Street Books



• Bookwoman



• Domy



• Monkeywrench



• Resistencia


And when you're done reading a book of poetry, read it again - and recycle by donating or selling it.

Stop feeling helpless over things and situations beyond your control. Handle one battle at a time, and offer whatever support you can. We can't do everything or be everything to everyone. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Stop beating yourself up about a failed relationship or a failed attempt to connect with the opposite sex. It won't help with the next one. It takes two people to make it happen, and sometimes fault can be shared equally.

Stop comparing yourself to other people - including women you wouldn't really want to live up to even if you could. For better or worse, you are who you are and should value the differences - what makes us unique.

Stop repeating unhealthy or even vicious cycles. Change what doesn't work, celebrate what does in moderation, and accept yourself as a human being who is capable of change as well as appreciation of self even when change isn't coming soon enough.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Don't let the behavior of others toward you dictate how you treat yourself. If it feels like no one loves or appreciates who you are and what you do, love yourself enough not to throw a pity party. It won't help you move on - to seek positivity by being positive.

This note to self has gotten bigger as my heart and mind are open to the possibilities of total contentment by stopping—and contemplating my actions and behaviors.

For some reason I couldn't post this @ MySpace last week, but this week I can, thanks to Do512:



MakeMusic TalkMusic presents an interactive party - music, films, robots – and dancing – during SXSWi. Live music, world premiere videos screenings, and Maker Faire-friendly demos... Free/No Badge/No RSVP req'd. Complimentary Three Olives Vodka (for a limited time), plus an all-night Three-O drink special.

Addendum: Check the MySpace calendar. It's all free stuff, official and unofficial, happening during SXSW (March 13-21). See also Facebook and Twitter, where I spend most of my online time, for SXSW updates.

Friends, see LiveJournal for complete post.

Filling out information for grad school and financial aid applications and getting LinkedIn to prepare for relocation recently led to the epiphany: I'm finally living one of my New Year's resolutions.

I'm finally emigrating from the Austin, TX area to the Portland, OR area in late July/early August. Some of you already expected me to be gone, some of you didn't know I was planning to move, and some of you could care less where I move. But I wanted to share this because I'm excited about the forthcoming adventure. It means living a new year's resolution from 10 years ago. I should have been in Portland that long ago for continuing education and a career in writing. I'm a late bloomer I suppose.  Perhaps it's just a really long post-graduate break. Ha-ha...

About those words Grandma shared with me a decade ago that still echo in my head, "Do what makes you happy...":  I haven't always lived up to these words, but I am completely surrendering to these words in 2009. What really makes me happy is being creative, working with creative people, and sharing our talents with the rest of the world. Writing, editing and publishing are what make me happy, Grandma. In 2009 I'm doing something to make those words my life - personally and professionally - by moving.

Working with other writers as an editor and publisher, and eventually as a small, green-friendly publishing house and press is what will make me happy. So I'm going for it. And I need the discipline of school and hands on training to get it done, something that hasn't been available to me in Austin despite all my searches, connections, and networking.

So I need a little specialized training to make my own opportunities for happiness. A new challenge to take me out of my so-called comfort zone which has become a shell hiding my bright talents.

I hope this update isn't overloaded with metaphors and sentimentality when I mean action.

I'm not just sitting around, biding my time till the move. I have been and will continue to be creatively active during my last six months in Austin. Despite my disappointments and setbacks, I have grown as a writer and editor and will continue to write and edit for projects like The Lipstick Pages, my many blogs, and freelance for any local or national publication that will have me, like Decider and local edition of The Onion. I'm even running a pilot show for the internet radio show I'm starting in Portland, right here for Austin area music lovers - TBA soon @ diy revolution (the myspace group and blog), and Test Pilot Show. And I'm still writing insane poetry and (very short) fiction for Haggard & Halloo, when I'm not working on getting a collection of poems and stories published.

So I'm not hiding out till my out of state escape. The time to live my resolutions is now, in 2009.  

It's Lazy Blogger Wednesday, so I'm posting screen shots instead of copying & pasting or retyping info.







There were a few bands I really wanted to include but couldn't due to voting limitations. You know who you are and how awesome you were in 2008.

You may submit your ballot online @ http://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/musicpoll/08/, or pick up the latest Austin Chronicle at most local businesses and venues and snail mail it.