Month: May 2011

Happiness is a cup of coffee

powells:

Amen.

(Source: http://weheartit.com/entry/6988025)

Five Ways to Fail at Design

  1. Refuse to change any other part of your business. 
  2. Design outside of your innovation space.
  3. Try to design for everybody. 
  4. Insist on replicating another company’s success.
  5. Compartmentalize design into isolated tasks.

5 Models Of Content Curation

  1. Aggregation
  2. Distillation 
  3. Elevation 
  4. Mashup 
  5. Chronology 

‘I have stood in yellow sunshine…’

I Have Stood In Yellow Sunshine
“I have stood in yellow sunshine”

From my grandfather’s poetry book, After Every Summer Rain, published 10 years ago. He passed away this past weekend.

Write because there is literature

I don’t write because there’s an audience. I write because there is literature.

Susan Sontag (via theparisreview)

Saturday’s Asheville Wordfest poetry events

Yesterday I enjoyed listening to great poets read their work at Grateful Steps Publishing House and Bookshop and Altamont Theater. There are some many wonderful poetry related events it’s a challenge to decide which events to attend. That being said, here’s today’s list of Asheville Wordfest events:

Saturday, May 7

10:00 a.m.
Children’s events at Spellbound Children’s Bookshop

10:00 a.m.
Youth Writing Scavenger Hunt at Thomas Wolfe House with Janet Hurley of True Ink

9:30-11:00 a.m.
Resilience Panel with Brian Turner, Paul Guest and Katja Esson Explore with poets and film-maker and each other how resilience “works,” what it is and how we develop it.

11:00 a.m.
WORDslam highlights at YMI Cultural Center

12:00 p.m.
Our Voice: Together We Are Strong reading This event is sponsored by Our Voice and celebrates the voice and writings of survivors of sexual assault, at YMI Cultural Center.

1:00 pm
THE DAY CARL SANDBURG DIED at Fine Arts Theatre

1-3 p.m.
IMAGINATURE w/ Hobey Ford, Melinda Tennison, Lisa Alcorn, Cindy Bowen, Hal Mahan, Janet Hurley, Heartworks, SisterJ Spiritvoice. A family event where families can move, make art, learn and discover. Convene at Splashville.

3:00 p.m.
Poetry Under the Magnolia Tree: Listen to the poems our children write!
The Magnolia Tree is between Pack Tavern and the City Building in the park.

4:00 p.m.
William Matthews Poetry Prize Winners YMI Cultural Center

7:00 p.m.
Justin Bigos, Rose McLarney, Kwame Dawes, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Linda Hogan YMI Cultural Center

10:00 p.m.
Mountain Xpress Poetry Bash w/ beer and music YMI Cultural Center

If you are using Twitter, please use the hashtags #avlpoetry and/or #wordfest so others may follow social media updates. Hope to see you at one of these fine poetry events!

Vintage typewriter

(Source: http://instagr.am/p/C_N0H/)

Today’s Asheville Wordfest poetry events

I just returned from a spiritually energizing retreat of sorts. So, I haven’t been connected to the internet.

This is a big week for poetry in Asheville. Here’s today’s Asheville Wordfest events:

Friday May 6

4:00 p.m.
Britt Kaufman, Mendy Knott and Luke Hankins Grateful Steps Publishing House and Bookshop 159 Lexington Station.

7:00 p.m.
Landon Godfrey, Paul Guest, Holly Iglesias, Brian Turner, YMI Cultural Center

9:00 p.m .
An Evening of Translation Altamont Theater at 18 Church St. featuring Thomas Rain Crowe, Emoke B’Racz, Nan Watkins, Luke Hankins, Caleb Beissert

Having been away on a spiritual retreat, I need to get back to the grind of work. But hopefully I’ll be able to attend these Friday events. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Update: If you’re using Twitter, please use the hashtag #avlpoetry and/or #wordfest to follow social media updates.

What inspires your poetry?

It is a question I am often asked after a poetry reading. I usually offer a tongue-in-cheek reply, ‘Metallica, Blind Guardian, and Johnny Cash.’ The deer-in-headlights look I receive is ‘gold standard’ (as one writer puts it). I guess they expect something like ‘Whitman, Ginsberg, and Bukowski’ or some other literary trinity.

Specific books inspire me more than specific poets. During April, 32 Poems blog published poets who offer their list of five poetry books you need to read. I enjoyed reading what other poets offer as recommended poetry reading. But I often wondered if the five books chosen by the featured poets were more a literary bumper sticker proclaiming themselves serious poets or, like indie rock musicians, a list of obscure books that no one knows but should know how important they are.

So, I am not going to offer a list of five poetry books that inspire me. I’ll stick with my initial reply, ‘Metallica, Blind Guardian, and Johnny Cash.’

Thanks to all who attended the May 2011 Poetrio

May 2011 Poetrio
May 2011 Poetrio