Slam Poetry and Safe Babies

So last night was the slam finals. First round I performed my new piece, Baby Girl. I was in third going into the second round with Missie and Jeremy Loveday ahead of me, Jane Bee in fourth and Steve Thompson and Sasha tied for fifth. After a quick "haiku-off" Steve took the fifth spot in the second round. Final results went, Missie in first, me in SECOND, Jeremy in third, Steve in fourth and Jane in fifth. That means Jane is the alternate but it sounds like Jeremy might be in Korea for it in which case Jane will be on the team. Oh and did I mention that means I'M ON THE FREAKING SLAM TEAM? No? Oh...well...I am...no big deal. But seriously folks, I'm pretty excited and felt really good about the way things went down last night.

Yesterday and today I was at Safe Babies training which is a workshop on working with alcohol and drug affected babies. It's so interesting and I'm learning a lot. This morning I performed my poem at it and it got really good feedback so that was exciting. Anyway, it's been a busy few days for me so that's my whole update for now. See ya!

Free Spoken Word

Hey, I just listened to Luke Maynard's track 'Ghosts on Bear Mountain'. It is so good. The poetry and arts community in Victoria just never fails to blow me away by how talented the people around me are. It is inspiring and intimidating. Click on the link if you have a spare 10 minutes. It is long but so worth it. Luke has also given permission to anyone to download it, burn it, share it, etc. so feel free to pass it around.

Update.

Hey-it's been a while since I wrote. I'm sorry. I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I'm still here just not "here". Well, perhaps I should start with today and work backwards until I get bored. Ok...so good segue way there. Follow me here...bored--board--of directors. Which is what I was doing tonight. At elections for Tongues of Fire because we need an official board of directors in order to apply for one of the grants we're applying for. So now I'm a director at large and Davis is the "assistant treasurer" for TOF. It's all very official and formal. I'm also going to be hosting sometimes next year which will be super fun. I love hosting things and bringing my hyperactivity energy to the room. The meeting tonight was relatively productive. We stayed rather on task and got stuff done butt Steve said it well that it will be nice to just hang out over the summer rather than having to worry about organizing stuff. Though I know it will go quickly.

Moving forward, (or backward as it were), yesterday was the amazing Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long show at Solstice with Dan Mangan who was also wonderful. The whole show was amazing if you could get past the high hippie lady yelling out random inappropriate things such as "moon cycle" and "this too shall pass" throughout the performance. Other than that it was freaking amazing. After the show we went out to Soprano's with Shane et al. and it was super cool to get to hang out with someone who is one of my favourite spoken word poets ever. Shane even played Dani and I a track off of T.O.F.U.'s new album which sounds awesome. I also read him my new piece for the slam which was so freaking intimidating but I made it through most of it without screwing up too much and he seemed to dig it. Anyway, I think you get the point which is that I'm clearly a Shane K groupie. (and I'm ok with that.)

Thursday was the last Tongues of Fire for the year. (insert sad face emoticon) Ryler Dustin featured and he was so good. He was just such a sweetheart too on top of being so freaking talented.




Just try and tell me he doesn't look exactly like Ethan Embry.

We released Sparks Summer 08 that night as well and so far have gotten a lot of great feedback. Davis and I are working on the next one together and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Ok, if I go back any further I will fall asleep and I just got baby down for the night. I have a busy week coming up. Tomorrow night is Stitch and Bitch/Slam Rehearsal. Tuesday morning is hangout with M.C. Davidson, meeting with our new resource worker in the afternoon and Tuesday night is when I start panicking about the Slam. Wednesday night is slam finals and then...well then we'll see I suppose. The competition is stiff but I'm gonna' do the best I can with what I got. I'm just flattered to be competing against such talented poets. I'm curious to see what the outcome ends up being.

Alright, with baby on her way to baby dream land (where everything is made of boobs) I'm going to catch some "shut-eye" myself. I hope to see you all out on Wednesday. (Unless you live in Regina in which case I'll let it slide. Everyone else must attend!) Muah. (That's apparently a kissing noise)

Dear baby girl...

Yes! I'm finally getting a new poem out. Over the past 45 minutes or so I started writing a poem for the new baby and it's not done yet and I don't want to post too much of it because I'm saving it for the slam but here is a little taste...

"And although your neck will not yet allow you I want to teach you to hold your head up high.
To uncurl those legs, as you have entered a world where a woman's worth is determined by how little space she can take up, and so I want you to sprawl because the world needs more of you."

Hopefully I can get this somewhere around the length of a slam piece (3 minutes) and get it memorized in time for the slam.

Hey, stuff is happening!

So Nick and I have something fun planned for the last Tongues of Fire on Thursday. I won't be too specific and ruin the element of surprise but I can say it involves us making robot costumes tomorrow. If I've sparked your interest then hopefully I will see you at Solstice Thursday night! Ryler Dustin is going to be performing as the feature who I had wanted to see last time he was in the area but didn't manage to make it over to Van. He is awesome though and it should be a great show.

In other poetic goings on...Shane Koyczan (and the short story long) will be in town over the weekend. Catch him at Solstice on Saturday night at 7:00 and be prepared to have your mind ba-LOWN because Shane is soooo good. He's one of those poets who write one line that makes you almost cry and then the next makes you laugh. I dream of being able to write like him. Even if you don't go to his show, please at least click on the link and listen to a couple of his tracks.

Final promo is for the slam finals. May 28th at 7:30 at Floyd's. Be there or else! I need a cheering squad. Looking at the list of competitors I am definitely feeling intimidated and not like there's much of a chance of me placing high enough to make the team. That being said, I'm still going to do the best I can and even if I don't make the team I would still like to tag along to Calgary to enjoy in the poetry festivities.

So hey, you guys...come to stuff! Ok? I'll see you there! Ok? OK!

Happy Sunday!

So, today is two weeks of raw food. We got a used food dehydrator this morning for $15 and bread and crackers are "cooking" right now! I can't wait to see how they turn out. The bread takes a day or two but the crackers will be ready in a few hours from now. We're also going to try making cookies that only take an hour or two. I'm feeling much better about the raw food now.

Ok, my weekend. So, Friday night I went to Planet Earth poetry at the Black Stilt because Reynold's school was the feature. I was just blown away by these kids. They did so well and I was so proud of the guys I knew from Reynold's. They're just so talented that it's almost intimidating. I know they'll definitely be better poets at 25 than I am now. I made the slam finals which determine the Victoria Slam team for 2008. I'm now so nervous because there are a lot of great poets competing. Even if I don't win I still want to go to the Canadian Festival for Spoken Word in Calgary this fall. I just think it would be a lot of fun to hang out with the poets and enjoy the festivities/be a cheering squad for the poets who are going. Anyway, I'm going to think positive and I may do great at the slam. Missie and I are going to be rehearsing together on Wednesday. (which is kind of funny since we are each other's competition.) I'm really excited for that and we are also working on a joint piece to perform at a show in June called "Seek Cover" which is basically doing a cover piece and then a response piece. We also booked another school gig at Reynold's which is rad because I love going to do poetry at schools and especially this school which is obviously already pretty fired up about poetry. Yay!

Well, we looked at a place to live today. It was in Fernwood and it would be nice tto stay in the same area. I'm trying not to get too stoked about places anymore since we thought for sure we were going to get the first one and we didn't. This is now the third place we've looked at and it would be nice to get it but there is just so much competition. It was a very nice suite though and a nice location as well.

Other than needing a place to live we're all doing well. Settling into the ol' baby routine and getting divying up of responsibilities figured out between myself and our young Juno girl. I get a lot of cute questions like "Is it ok that she has hiccups?" So far so good.

I'm so happy it's pretty much summer now! I have so enjoyed the past two days of heat although now it feels cold in comparison even though it's somewhere around 20 above. Anyway, it's supposed to rain for a couple days so we best be enjoying the sun while we have it. And on that note...I'm off to enjoy the sunshine! Later punks...thanks for reading!

Sunshine makes me happy!

Summer is here! I am so happy! I can hear birds chirping. I can see sunlight streaming in my windows and I can smell sunscreen! I love summer. I wish it were summer all the time. I love the hot weather. LOVE it. I think I need to move south.

I have to work on getting Sparks done with Nick today. We're having a creative day today. Basically that means writing our "letter from the editor" and possibly taking some photos.

Davis and I are really starting to struggle on the raw food diet. We're on day 13 now and just getting sick of the lack of variety. We really need a dehydrator but aren't sure where to find one. They don't have them at Sears. We're sticking with more fruit, smoothies and these really good Raw Organic bars we found. So we went and got a box each of "Chocolatey Chocolate Chip" and "Chocolate Coconut" and they're both really good. We had raw burritos for supper last night and while they were delicious it still felt like trying to find a way to disguise a salad. The cheese we made for them was really good though with almonds, cashews, pinenuts, miso and turmeric. Also, we made guacamole with fresh corn in it and that was delicious. Still, I think for me after the 30 days it's going to be a percentage of raw food I eat rather than exclusively. I think I could do a raw breakfast and lunch if I got something more substantial for dinner. The best part is that I've lost pounds since we started. 5 in the first week and 2 so far this week. I'm determined to finish the thirty days no matter what.

Well, all is going well with baby. She's quite quiet and so far life hasn't changed all that much for us so far. Newborns are generally pretty low maintenance for the first couple weeks but things should start getting more interesting eventually. For now I'm just storing my energy. Well, off I go to enjoy the sunshine!

i love you e.e.

you said Is

you said Is
there anything which
is dead or alive more beautiful
than my body,to have in your fingers
(trembling ever so little)?
                         Looking into
your eyes Nothing,i said,except the
air of spring smelling of never and forever.

....and through the lattice which moved as
if a hand is touched by a
hand(which
moved as though
fingers touch a girl's
breast,
lightly)
      Do you believe in always,the wind
said to the rain
I am too busy with
my flowers to believe,the rain answered --e.e. cummings

Welcome Baby

Baby has arrived! She emerged into this crazy world at 4:26 this morning and mother and babe are doing well. They're both staying at the hospital tonight and should be home tomorrow. The birth was beautiful and amazing and I even got to cut the cord. Will keep everyone posted on any exciting updates. Right now we're all exhausted and I'm off to bed.

Life Lessons

Don't beat yourself up about mistakes. There is no point in looking backwards at something you could have done better and retracing the ins and outs and ups and downs of what went wrong and dwelling on the error. Forget 'what if's and live in 'what now's. A mistake has no value if you don't learn from it. Look ahead not back.

Likewise, forgive other people their mistakes. It makes it even harder to forgive yourself when someone else continually brings up the error in your ways. If a partner or friend makes a mistake and they know what they should have done wrong a lecture is only going to be a kick when they're down. It's not productive and not based in love.

You're going to be ok. This is not conjecture or speculation. I know that everything is going to work out. It may take a lot of work from you. Once you've put the effort in though you just have to let go and surrender. God will take it from there.

Friends are important. Friends are not disposable. Relationships take maintenance and nothing comes easy but the work you put into it is returned with interest on what you get out of friendship that has has struggles that you have pushed through. Friendships need to be give and take not one or the other and we have to be mindful of how the other person is feeling at any given time. It's easy to be self-absorbed but when we wound others we also wound ourselves.

You will not always feel how you feel right now. If you're laughing now, remember that you will one day cry so enjoy the laughter. If you're crying now don't forget something will happen very soon that will have you laughing again.

If you're doing the best with what you have no one can ask any more of you.

TGIF

Greetings citizens of the internets. I apologize that I have skipped a day of posting. It has been too beautiful out to be blogging. Also, I got my hair done yesterday which took a considerable amount of time out of my day. So worth it though. Now it looks like this...

Oh the vanity that is me. Well, I'd love to know about what you're up to but unfortunately blogging is more of a monologue than a dialogue so on with my life. I know you're all anxiously awaiting a food update as I begin day six of my 30 day raw experiment. At 20% done I have another delicious meal to highlight and make you all hungry. Davis is turning into a real chef over here. We had raw curry and it was sooo delicious. The prep looked like this...


Note those spiralled zucchini. The man is some kind of food wizard.

And...the finished product:

Mmm...so good. The pictures are making me hungry. So, the raw food thing is going really well. I'm eating way less than I normally do but I still feel great. I would estimate I've lost 80-90 pounds since I started on Sunday. (I'm rounding up.) Next project--trying out a polyphasic sleep cycle of 6 20-30 minute naps instead of the 9 or so hours I usually get at night. And yes, I am trying to be Steve Pavlina.

Well...it's looking like we may have a baby sooner than later according to the midwife and the public health nurse they think Juno will go into labour within the next few days! Crazy! Was not expecting baby so soon but we'll roll with the punches. Tongues of Fire was great last night, I'll put some pictures up shortly.

Delicious dinner.

Hey, it's Wednesday...whaddya know! Davis is home sick from work today. He has a very sore throat. It's feeling quite a bit better now. Don't worry too much.

Day four of rawness. Yesterday was the inevitable headache day. I was thinking I had escaped any detox symptoms but late in the afternoon I started to get a pretty intense headache. This morning my headache is all gone and I'm feeling great again. I felt it was pretty important to show you all what delicious food we've been getting up to. Yesterday for dinner we had raw tex-mex wraps and "fries" with "cheese" sauce. (The best thing about raw vegan food is that I get to use quotation marks a lot) Here are some pics of the prep.


Chopping up some jicama.


The filling for the wraps.

And...the finished product!



Dinner was delicious!

That's all I have to tell you about right now.

Update

So I will post pictures of our delicious dinner tomorrow but right now I need to talk to you about corn on the cob for a minute.

Why do people cook it? I always assumed it needed to be cooked to be edible because everyone cooks it. I blindly trusted and I will never do so again.

Raw corn on the cob is where it's at! Go to the store today and buy some corn on the cob. It makes the best, easiest, healthiest snack ever. I feel like I have wasted so many years of my life not knowing that corn didn't need to be cooked. I'm in love. With corn.

More food updates tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Food glorious food!

Day three of the raw vegan challenge. Yesterday was a bountiful grocery shopping trip which should make todays' meal planning easier. Here is a photo...ignore the coffee pot, kettle and toaster as none of them are getting any love for the next 27 days...


Including but not limited to...raw cashews, goji berries, dried figs, organic coconut milk, bananas, watermelon, raw cacao, hemp protein powder, orange juice, organic coconut milk, zucchini, cauliflower, kale, grape tomatoes, blackberries, strawberries, mixed bean sprouts, kalamata olives, ginger miso dressing, spicy tomato juice....and on and on with the delicious healthiness. Mmmm...

For dinner Davis made raw tabbouleh and it was so yummy!


Cauliflower bits took the place of the grain and mostly everything else remained the same. It was really good. We also had raw chocolate pudding for dessert which there are no pictures of because it all went into our bellies too quickly. Now I'm getting hungry!

After dinner I headed out to my new stitch and bitch group which is on a Monday which works much better for me than my Thursday group. (Once the Hills season is done next week anyway. Shhh...) Michelle and Missie are so sweet. They both had raw snacks for me. We sat around and I knitted poorly and chatted and it was a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to getting to know these girls better as they are super cool and Missie is one of those people I really click with creatively. We're working on copoeting (not a word) a response to Dan Leaman's "Somebody Save the Emo Kids" piece for a cover and response show that Jane is hosting in June.

Well. Now it's Tuesday. Yesterday I was up at 7. Today I was up at 10:30. I really want to get out and enjoy what appears to be nice weather. So here I go.

BS Birthday

It used to be that when someone remembered that it was your birthday you were really good friends with them. Now, it just means you're friends on facebook. I've already had a handful of people wish me Happy Birthday today and it isn't even 9 am. Oh and it isn't even my birthday. I changed the date just to see if anyone was paying attention and sure enough people who wished me Happy Birthday six months ago when it *was* my birthday are rewishing it today. They are really thankful I was born! I'm letting you in on this little secret because you read my blog. I'm not really planning on announcing that it isn't my birthday anywhere else. Actually, I'm thinking if I can pull off changing my birthday to August and getting away with it. Ava was with me on my birthday in October and still believed it was my birthday. Now we all know the inevitable outcome. When my real birthday rolls around no one will believe me. But birthdays are overrated anyway.

Well, aside from it not being my birthday I'm feeling great today! I woke up at 7 wide awake. I normally sleep till at least 9 on a day where I have no plans in the morning. The sun is shining and I've already scarfed down a breakie of a banana and a glass of water. I'm hoping to get outside for some fresh air before I have to meet with Nick this afternoon.

So I'm on a campaign to book a few paid photo gigs. Since I'm not working I really need the cash so if you know anyone who would want their portrait shot, family photos, kid photos, pet photos etc. pass my name along and I'll give them a killer deal. Thanks! In the meantime I'm going to toss ads on UsedVictoria and Kids in Victoria to see if I get any responses.

30 days raw.

Day one down! I felt like I was eating allllll day today! Breakfast was a green smoothie with banana, spinach and kale, lunch was a mixed salad with lettuce, spinach, kale, avocado, red peppers and sunflower seeds plus a handful of nuts. It was delicious. Around dinner time we had "sandwiches" with lettuce instead of bread and a sort of guacamole/salsa filling. The rest of the day has been spent snacking on celery, beet pickles, cherry tomatoes, bananas and other delicious things.

I can definitely feel that my body is getting adjusted to this new way of eating. I had a few moments of craving for pasta and bread but I've made it through them fairly easily. So far, so good.

Other than eating I didn't get a whole lot done today. Lounged around with Davis but didn't leave the house for too long. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Nick Janzen to get started on compiling the Sparks submissions. Then in the evening I have a new Stitch n' Bitch group to go to.

In other news, we still have nowhere to move for our July move-out date. Not too worried about it but I feel some mild stress every now and then when I remember there's a baby coming and that we don't have a lot of income. I'm toying with the idea of getting a part time job but not too seriously because I feel like it will be necessary for me to be around the house with the new baby here. The due date is closing in under the two week line now! Well...I will be updating pretty regularly with how the raw food diet is going so stay tuned to find out how healthy I'm getting/if I break down and eat a big plate of spaghetti.

Mmmm...minty.

Why do I feel like the jokes on me?

Also: Why is it still funny?











toothpastefordinner.com

Dear People who don't want to rent to me because I live with a dog:

That's not fair.

Sincerely, Kristy Westendorp

We'll live on love and libraries.

I'm experiencing a lack of energy lately. I really need it to be summer out and hot with the sun shining so that I can get my butt in gear. For now I'm just letting myself enjoy what I am sure is the calm before the storm as we wait for baby to arrive and throw us all into action mode. Davis and I have decided to try being raw vegans for 30 days to see how we feel. We feel like it's still too easy to accommodate us and we want to ensure we can never eat anything anywhere. But in all seriousness even if we go back to eating cooked food I think it will just be good for our bodies to get a break. We're also committing to get half an hour of exercise a day even if it's just a brisk walk around the block. Check out this website for proof that I will stop aging once I become a raw vegan. Ok...maybe not, but this couple certainly looks amazing considering Storm is going on 60 and he mainly drinks orange juice as his main source of nutrition. Anyway, we haven't picked a start date but it will probably be over the next few days and I will definitely be blogging about our experiment.

So we were at Chelsea's show last night when we made this decision. Her show was wonderful as I have never been able to make it to any of the other ones. I was more than impressed by her song writing. I felt just a tinge envious that I can't turn my writing into songs. I'm working on it butt definitely not there. There is such a presence that comes off of Chelsea when she is playing that is what is hidden underneath the surface. With the first word of each song it was like a barrier dropped from in front of her and you could just see her heart.

Chelsea won't like this photo (because it's of her) but I love it. You can see her passion and how wrapped up in the music she is and I love that.

Chels and I had a great conversation about the food shortage and it was amazing to hear someone else say that they are thinking about it so much that it's affecting their sleep. I know I can't take the weight of the whole world on my shoulders but I often feel like I can't help it. The world is just happening around us and we're just along for the ride. Am I cheering you up yet?

Any suggestions for what I should do today? I want to get up and running but I need a good reason for it. I would welcome your thoughts dear reader. Speaking of readers...the library is open again! Maybe that's what I should do. I love the library so much! The library works the way the world should work. It involves such basic values we learn in kindergarten: sharing for example. You pick out all the books you want...take them to the front desk and get a receipt that says "zero dollars, please bring these back when you're done with them or no later than this date." Oh...and if you aren't done with them, you just check and if someone else wants them you have to take them back but if no one else needs them right now, you can go ahead and keep them for while longer. It's so perfect. So socialist. Everyone gets access to books. I don't know why people keep buying books. I mean I love books; we have a lot of them. (Most have been purchased used) But we have so many books that the other day our top glass book shelf shattered from the weight breaking the shelf below it and almost cutting my new friend, Sheila, into a million tiny pieces as she slept on my couch. This would never have happened if we had the library. That's all I have to say about the library. (That it's awesome and saves lives.)

...

Ok, that's just actually all I have to say period right now.

Brad's Date

Just watched a short film my friend Chris Vickers is in and it's actually really good. You should watch it too because it's online for free if you click here. Then you should click the button that says "watch". Enjoy.

Thirsty Thursday

What up people?! It's Thursday today and that means tomorrow is Friday which means it is almost the weekend! It's been a busy but fun week. First important update is that we once again do not have anywhere to move when we inevitably have to. The woman who seemed so keen to rent to us e-mailed and said she felt really bad because we were so "cool" but she is renting to someone else. I can't be surprised because I knew it couldn't be that easy to find a place that allowed pets and wouldn't discriminate against the fact that we have teenage foster children etc. Such is life. Anyway, if everyone can keep an ear to the ground for a two or three bedroom place that allows pets that would rock.

Moving right along...Kyra-Lee came out Tuesday afternoon. After a bit of confusion between Mayfair and the Bay Centre we finally managed to meet up. We had a lovely afternoon adventuring around Vic and eating Thai food before my show. My show went fairly well I think. there were somewhere around 30 people which is apparently a really good turnout for a show at Spiral. Matthew Cook said they get about 10 people on average. (Serves them right for being in Esquimalt.) I had a lot of fun performing and it was cool that so many of my friends came out to see me. Here is a video...



So, that's just a taste of my rambling poetic and otherwise. It was a favourite moment for me when that man walked in. I thanked one of my friends for coming and he took that as invitation for constructive criticism and told me I should banter less and read more poetry but the problem is if you give me a microphone I will make you listen to every thought in my head. It may even be out of my control. Truth is, it was a small room and felt like a group of friends gathered to listen to me so I felt like it was all good. Although, after he said that it made me start feeling like everyone might have been annoyed by how much I talk. Then again, I don't care. I had fun and I think others did too so it was all good. It was also my first time performing more than 5 minutes in a row. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Also, Matthew Christopher Davidson came out and afterwards brought up the possibility of some collaborative projects such as maybe a show and perhaps some recording and I'm really excited about that prospect.

Yesterday I went for breakfast with the Saskatchewan girls before they caught the bus to the ferry. Later Natalie and Chelsea came over for a little clothing swap and I did pretty well. I still have a bunch of clothes to be rummage through before they head to WIN if any ladies out there are interested let me know. We went out to Swan's after that for a drink with Kelly T and her boyfriend who was visiting from up North.

Tonight holds a couple options between either Alex Cuba or Chelsea Chenery. I will probably end up going to Chelsea's concert because I still haven't seen her play. Also, it's free.

Ok, I'm going to lay around for a bit more and then maaaaaybe clean up a bit.