I’m feeling all kinds of extra snarky these days and I’m liking it. The last few weeks have been heavy for me with a self-imposed reticence based on the perception that I’m lacking in prestige (etymology: from Latin praestigiae, plural, conjuror’s tricks, from praestringere to graze, blunt, constrict, from prae- + stringere to bind tight).
It’s more like I’m caught in the middle of my publication journey with some great acceptances in journals I really respect and some heavy rejections from journals I also really respect. This is what happens when you don’t submit to every call that goes out there and you actually care what happens to your work. At least, that’s what happens to me.
This in-between place is pretty familiar for me, I was in a similar spot a few years back as I had the prestige of being the louderARTS Slam Master (through a lot of hard work, natural math ability, and attending more slams than just about anybody I knew) but always found myself losing in arguments because I had never actually won any slams as a poet. Yeah, that little drive down memory lane was a very indulgent peek into my past, but it’s my blog and I’ll reminisce if I want to.
Meanwhile, back in West Oakland, I’m getting more proactive about carving out a place of my own in poetry world and making some personal power moves. One of them is to be more vocal here on the blog and call out some whackness when I see/read it. I’ll also try to balance that with even more critical writing and catch up on some thoughts from past readings that are still on my mind. But poetry is taking a bit of a back seat to electoral politics so let’s praise and bash some things.
FLY: Jeff Chang captures the turn of the historical page on the Vibe blog.
WHACK: Ralph Nader, not just a loser, but a racist as well. Just goes to show you don’t have to be a Republican to be an asshole.
FLY: Derek Walcott pens some verse for the President-Elect
STILL FLY: Alice Walker writes Obama a letter.
HELLA WHACK: Ban of gay marriage passes in California.
GETTIN FLY: SF takes the fight for equality back to the courts.
WHACK: Palin must be ready to run in 2012 cuz she’s taking the road every high-level Republican takes: Blame someone else for your shortcomings.
SUPA DUPA FLY: I came across this during Guy’s live blogging of Election Day and it’s been giving me hope ever since. You should read the whole thing:
I did not vote for Barack Obama today.
I’ve openly supported Obama since March. But I didn’t vote for him today.
People, don’t be whack, stay fly.