Lamar Should Have Won!

The Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Slam was amazing!

This young poet made me cry. Twice. He should have won. This isn't the best footage of him and certainly doesn't capture his live performance of this poem, titled "Generation X"; he ended the poem last night by connected "us daily" to Mayor Daley, and he addressed Chicago's Mayor, stating that facing the problems of the African-American communities who keep being displaced/quarantined and generally moved to the margins of the city to be made invisible and to ignore, is more important than vying for the opportunity to host the 2016 Olympics in Chicago.

I love the section in the middle of the poem where Lamar "The Truth" claims that "this is not a poem" and then he begins to unpack what a poem is, and what he is doing.

He is very young, but I loved watching his adjustment in the final round of the slam.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9C46swSA8&feature=related

Ed Again

Ed!?

So... Is THIS Ed on Michegan Ave?

Ed!?

This is Ed

Dear Reader(s),

So... today was a bizaar day, beginning with being tired again after not sleeping enough... again. Then, we had the "Ravens" and the "Bluebirds" separated in seminar. This was fun - instead of analyzing two poems for their rhyme and meter for three hours, we, The Bluebirds, enjoyed blithely yet assiduously romping through about six forms of poetry.

And then Jen gave me two ID badges to infiltrate the ALA (American Library Association) conference, so I grabbed Stefanie and we headed out, as "Jennifer" (me) and "Kristin" (Stefanie). It was a bust, we learned the exhibit had ended at 1. Alas!, our greed for free shwag was met with bitter disappointment and a solemn bus ride back to the UC with a bunch of nerdy librarians. One woman behind us learned about "blogs" with her companion. Ah, the cutting edge of media science.

We then headed to the free day the Contemporary Art Museum (which was OK, but we were glad it was free - very small and blase).

And THEN... on the bus ride back... I swear I saw Ed from The Bachelorette - a reality TV show I have been watching only because I adore Leah and find her love of crappy television to be endearing.

Please check out these photos and let me know if YOU think this is indeed THE ED from Chicago who made it to the semi-final round of The Bachelorette last night.

And we are off to spaghetti dinner and a Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry slam where the audience gets to vote and the winner gets cash. Fun.

It's Flicker Time - What the Hammer!?

Notice the symmetry and allusion to Blake's "Tyger, Tyger" AND M.C. Hammer.
Check out my ever-growing Flicker Page! http://www.flickr.com/photos/39973772@N03/

More photos will be streamed tonight or tomorrow!

Chicago!

Wow, I can't believe that I actually posted an obligatory Michael Jackson died blog entry. Oh Well, I was busy with moving and I suppose my sensibilities were off - I was susceptible to rash acts of sentimental nostalgia.
Well, after performing the role of human mule for four days (moving and then traveling with tons o' luggage), I've been here in Chicago for two full days, and love it! I was ushered into the city with great warmth from the people and the buzz of the Pride Parade surrounding me on the train. I was quickly whisked to John Barleycorns in a neighborhood which is very "Wrigley"-esque (in other words, very jockish/male/gendered) - but even there, pride was alive! People are so nice here - the kindness of strangers is Highly Proficient! I expected Proficient, but have been suprised with the mastery of niceness - I ran over several toes (literally with my suitcases in tow - A pun!) and people were fine with it and smiled after I apologized. Weird. I expected non-meanness and that this would be the "nice"ness - but they are actually out-of-their-way nice here.
We had a load of reading the first night and the reading keeps on coming. But it's rewarding because the seminar is so small, making our dialogue of the reading valuable. Yesterday we discussed the history of teaching poetry in the U.S., focusing on the late 19th/early 20th century to the 50's with New Criticism. Today, we discussed what poetry is - what is in poetry/why people write and read poetry through several readings. This is exactly what I wanted to experience, what I hungered for in BOTH my M.A. in Lit. and my M.A. in Ed. I discussed with the Project Leader, professor Eric S., this conundrum of English Departments not teaching teaching in Lit. classes, and Education courses not teaching Literature theory/criticism/pleasure. Both programs fail in their training of teachers, no matter the level of teacher. I shared and concocted a professional goal of melding the two departments but I don't know how to approach this - through a Phd. in Ed with classes in English or vice versa. Well, I want to teach a bit longer and pay off my car before making either commitment.
Last night we went to Second City to see the "Best Of" show - half sketch, half improv comedy. I was so excited and had a blast - I'm really understanding the linguistic and poetic value of comedy and incorporating improv. techniques into curriculum. Second City is the breeding ground of many SNL comedians - I wonder who of the five we saw last night will make it!
In terms of food, I have dipped into some Thai and Indian, but have mostly relied on American food. I hope to research places before finding myself hungry. I should begin with Taste of Chicago featuring food from every neighborhood, and happening down the way at the waterfront, which I can see out our window!
The most exciting part of this experience so far are the folks involved in this seminar - the community is great, and I'm so impressed and excited to be meeting, socializing, and learning from everyone/their experiences.

Lastly, I have started a Flickr account to share photos I don't have room to share here on this blog. So far, I have been shy about photographing folks, but expect more now that I am in the swing here. Flikr address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39973772@N03/

Best - Cat

Change/Sad

I'm feeling sad because...

The King of Pop is dead, marking the end of my-childhood-era
Drugs or Suicide? The last decade has been a slow suicide for him
My apartment is bare and will be barer tomorrow
My cat is anxious but nestled beside me on my only sitting area/bed: my couch
Tomorrow I say goodbye to Lucy (cat) for the summer
I'm tired from moving: probably the main source of melancholy
Said goodbye for the summer to friends
I'm too tired and have too much to do before Sunday to work up excitement over Chicago
I'm touched by the generosity of friends who have helped me move
Moving is hard and we do it so often