Tag: dreamy

we’re not our skin of grime, we’re not our dread bleak dusty imageless locomotive, we’re all beautiful golden sunflowers inside… -ginsberg

so! much! is! happening! all good things. i love the busy-ness but i also love just climbing a tree and staying up in it for a half hour.. ha! wanted to check in quickly with beautiful things all abound, thank GOD it seems like we’re finally slinking out of winter!

compass project is in full force again, with stickers in queens, NYC, montana, baltimore, korea! and more going out soon.. it excites me to no end to see how much people enjoy them.

trying new things! THE WILD PAPERS which has been a beautiful idea in my head for months is coming to life with the sparks of my closest collaborators and i couldn’t be more pumped – or nervous ;) THE WILD PAPERS is my latest project/initiative which is all about reclaiming wildness, the limitless of childhood, and culling memories and dreams. after initial conception and subsequent inspiration from many conversations and question exchanges with close friends, it had its more public start as the queens lit in action workshop at queens council on the arts i did last month (which was amazing! bouncy balls! compass rings! memories exchanged! laughter! writing! sense triggers! BUBBLES!) to pull memories out of my captive audience ;) in myriad fun and strange ways.. and it will debut as a site-specific performance at the lewis h. latimer house on MAY 9! this is a first for me.. hope to see you there!

in general –

feeling so grateful for my community of artists, firestarters & wordsmiths. it doesn’t matter how many times i get on that stage.. i’m always nervous, jittery, excited. because this is what i live for. and i thank god for every listener, spectator, hand shook, smile shared, spark acknowledged, boundary defied, every electric moment of feeling ALIVE.

i am learning, struggling, spreading wings, dreaming bigger and louder everyday. the ego ROAAAARRRRSSS at me but i keep finding ways to keep it quiet. who wants to hear it complaining of failure when there’s so much fun to be had? ;)

i just applied to be 2015-2018 queens poet laureate.. this is a dream i’ve had since i first discovered the existence of one and met paolo javier, who was so cool and kind to me, in 2011 or 2012. HERE. WE. GO. i am also finalizing the rundown of “art of poetry,” my very own empyre productions episode on QPTV/queens public television! which is another longtime dream i’ve had.. just goes to show – keep doin’ yo’ thang, keep being yourself – as weird, strange, whimsical as you are – because you never know who’s watching.

i am a rough draft inDEED. (thank you so much to handan from LPAC and 44rd for the sick tee! i love my queens/LIC family <3 #roughdraftfest!!)

i’ll leave you with this:

i realize now why there is death and life to all things. snow melting and the earth breathing again. i realize now why i had to keep running. why my last love burned my sense of self to the ground. why i had to learn to dance again in the ash. we never want to let go of anything. but the trust that everything has a purpose is what makes the flowers sleep, knowing they will bloom again. i am sharing myself now in a way i only dreamed was possible. i now know why this sufi saying brings tears to my eyes and a ringing to my insides.. “shatter my heart so a new room can be created for a Limitless Love.” blessed, blessed be.

sprung!

XO

a.

COMIN’ UP:

Featured Reader at debut of LIC Reading Series at LIC Bar 4/14/15 [Facebook]

Hosting the No Bullsh%t Hip Hop Showcase at Hail Hail Bar 4/23/15 [Facebook]

Participating artist in Jeanne Van Heeswijk’s “Public Faculty no. 9” at Queens Museum – May 14-17, 2015 [Website]

THE WILD PAPERS site-specific performance debut at Lewis H. Latimer House (museum anarchy!) – 5/9/15 STAY TUNED!

**JUST ANNOUNCED!** Queens Lit Festival produced by Inspired Word NYC & co – Aug 1 & 2, 11am-5pm at LIC Bar. A grassroots celebration of literary arts plus music, open mic, vendors, ALL QUEENS BASED! I’ll be hosting some of the open mic & reppin’ my Nature of the Muse series (Aug 2nd). [More info]

PS:

when my best friend/writer/artist/revolutionary extraordinaire NICK NEON (who JUST launched his incredible website and is ALSO embarking on an exciting journey for his next feature, ultrableu) came back to the states for xmas, we shot this gorgeous dreamy video for the equally gorgeous and dreamy LISA KURNER. please take a look. this song is so special, for so many reasons. it’s my story too.