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DIARY
7/04/2005
So I haven't update my diary in like forever. Perhaps it's fear of becoming a blogger. So what's new. Oh Yeah, I finally made a national team. I'm on the Urbana Team and going to Nationals next week. (which I swear to you must be somebody's mistake). I've been practicing with the Urbana Team and slamming at the NYC regionals. It's been grueling but so worth it. I've learned so much more about myself this past summer. Loser Slam is going into its second year and we'll be having a who's who of celebrity features I'm sure. I'll try to update more regularly. I'm off to the Urbana send-off party. See ya in Albuquerque jerky!!!
9/09/04
So it was a great summer in many ways. Got to go on a sort of road trip/ poetry tour on the way down to Florida in back. Great times with good friends and some really hospitable spots. Much credit to J. Bradley from Winter Park. He really made me feel welcome when I got there. In recent news, I was a minor character in a bizarre hip-hop horror film being produced by RBG Productions. Flow's manager Stan Neron called me and when Stan calls, you listen. I got to play some drunk white guy who gets shot in the face. Pretty ironic, huh. Be sure to look for "Golddigger Killah" at the Oscars this year. In other great news, Loser Slam is starting up again. It's going to be an awesome year. -C
6/11/2004
Loser Slam was amazing. The poet's were incredible and the crowd was great and I'm receiving a lot of energy to start it up again next September. If you missed any of the nights last semester you missed a lot. Flowmentalz, Helena D. Lewis, Big Mike, Rob Hylton. So many incredible poets and such a great time. I made it to the Urbana Finals at the Bowery Poetry Club and came up a few points short, but the competition was crazy. I slammed against Taylor Mali and Celena Glenn and it was great just getting to share the stage with them. Saul Williams performed that night as well and I was beside myself. I got a chance to talk with him for awhile and it was really cool. I'm planning a road trip/poetry tour for July and I'm trying to hit as many spots as I can. We'll see what happens
2/17/2004
So I guess it's time for me to update my site a little. I released my CD in November, one year after the first time I stepped into Serengeti to the day. It was great. I wished the crowd was bigger and the guitar wasn't as allowed when I tried rhyming over it, but I guess you live and learn. I've started to work with a group of great poets from the area, and have been doing a lot of cool shows. Thanks to Steve Donaldson, I finally got a chance to return to the Nuyorican and compete in the Friday night slam. The Nuyorican had always been intimidating to me since the first time I went there to open mic, but I think I overcame my fears at the slam. I landed second place. I also took the time to visit the Bowery Poetry Club, and meet the living legend, Taylor Mali. The show was great and I won the slam. I still don't know how I won, because Scott and Anis were incredible poets and I was assured that I'd be getting third. But sometimes you just get lucky. So I'll be at this quarters Urbana Semi Finals next week. Otherwise, I've been writing some new stuff and performing at some new places. I got to Slam in Ft. Lauderdale last month, at Chunky's place. It was cool but a very weird crowd. Nothing like being back home though.
9/2/2003
Haven't written in awhile but let me share what's new. Rasheed's CD-release was mind blowing. He took the show above and beyond what a regular poetry feature could be. I'm now more concerned about potentially releasing a CD, cause I know that not only does the CD have to be great, but the release party will be even more work. Also, I got to feature at Poetry in Plainfield and that was incredible. Wajid is my new hero. That man knows how to book and fill an awesome venue. Wajid is full of ideas and he could probably talk me into selling my mortal soul to him. He's a man of vision. I also got to perform at D-Slack's Youth Poets event. It was weird having to pick out which poems had the least language, but I was really glad I got to be involved with something that supported young people. They were really cool too, and I got to see a poetry event hosted by a 13 year old girl with more courage and conviction than I have ever seen. It was impressive.
In other news, I spent most of August working on a CD. I still feel a little preemptive working on a CD seeing as I've only been doing poetry for a year, but I frequently have people asking me if I have any product, and I hate to keep people waiting. Plus I have an audio recording studio at my disposal, so I might as well take advantage of it. Anyway, I've recorded 12 tracks, plus I got four awesome live tracks from the Plainfield show. So hopefully I can get some pressings and put out a CD by November, exactly a year from when I first started doing poetry at Serengeti. Besides, Kirk Nugent (who melted my brain at his feature last week) reassured me that there's nothing wrong with making some money doing this. So look out, Rasheed...my CD release is coming for ya!
And Myra won the first cash slam at Serengeti. And I learned a powerful lesson about going first. But I can't imagine anyone who deserved to win more than Myra. She's an incredible woman and I know she was disappointed about how she did in the finals. Nothing like 200 bucks to reassure you, not that she needs it.
7/19/03
Baltimore was incredible. Actually Baltimore itself is one of the least exciting towns I've ever been too. I'm not one for tourist attractions and such so it's probably my fault. But Baltimore poetry is incredible. Went to Talaam Acey's poetry thing on Saturday and it was great. Performed two poems and got to flip a coin (long story). But the best part about it was that people remembered me, and fondly at that. Lamar Hill was there (amazing as always), and he was super friendly to me. Narubi Selah was also great. We sat together and mixed some small talk in between poems. But what was really great was Queen Sheba. Of course she is a brilliant poet and spoken word artist, but I honestly used to think that Queen Sheba didn't like me or had something against me. But she was the nicest, coolest person in the world to me. She was complimentary and fun and when I went to Street Folks on Sunday, she put me on the feature list. I picked up her newest CD, "one truth", and it's some of the best stuff I've ever listened to. My impression of Queen Sheba has done a complete 180, and I'm so glad I had the chance to get to know her better. She told me anytime I want to come down to VA, she'll find a feature spot for me. By the way, there is no 100 dollar prize for a Street Folks slam, I don't know where I got that from ( damn poetology.com ;-P )
Thursday when I got back, I got invited to feature at Rasheed Adero's "Town Grind" thing in Denville. That was a lot of fun and I got paid to do poetry. (something that I still feel weird about, do these people realize they're getting ripped off). The crowd was really cool, and Gemineye was mind-blowing as always. Rasheed's having his CD-Release party at Serengeti tonight, so I'm definitely there! -C
7/6/03
Planning a trip to Baltimore right now. I have the summer off from work so I'm taking some time to travel and check out some poetry spots in other locations; to just kind of see what's out there. I'm gonna hit a spot called the "Street Folks Sunday Slam" on Sunday. I've never performed at a slam with such a big payout. 100 bucks seems like a lot for a slam, even for first place, but I'm not getting my hopes up anyway. The New Jersey Slam Finals at Serengeti were amazing. I can't believe the poets that I was up against. Just to even share the mic with those people was an honor. Gemineye and Rob Hylton were unbelievable. I made it to the second round and I made my Mom cry. My family and friends were all there to support me. My night was complete. Hopefully, I'll get to try again next year. -C