#artist love atlanta poem words

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Happy Hump Day!

Here is my new idea for Wednesday’s status. I hope you like it?

I am calling today’s status WEDNESDAY WORDS.

I love words. I have written stage plays, radio plays, TV scripts, novels, short stories, songs, newspaper articles and, obviously, this blog every morning, so you must know I love words!

Here are the rules of WEDNESDAY WORDS: if you decide to post a comment today, just post some words that you really love. Let me repeat that: IF you decide to post a comment today, just post some words that you really love. It could be a few words from a novel? A few lines from a poem? Some lyrics from one of your favourite songs? A profound quote? A philosophical thought? A great line of dialogue from a play or film? Anything you want. Long or short; five words or 30 words, I don’t care! Don’t give us any names or titles, just give us the words they said. If people really like them, they can ‘Google’ the source.

I will start.

“Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, ‘I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.’ Good point there. After all, he was The Walrus.”

REMEMBER: if you decide to post a comment today, just post some words that you really love.

Saw a great ‘vox pop’ on my Twitter timeline the other day. An English journalist asking English people how much they thought medical costs were in America. His respondents were fairly freaked-out when he quoted the figures. Without health insurance, the average per-day hospital cost in the U.S. is $2,883, with California ($4,181) the most expensive, and Mississippi ($1,305) the least. The average hospital stay is 4.6 days, at an average cost of $13,262. If surgery is involved, hospital costs soar through the roof. Calling an ambulance can cost you $400, visiting the ER can cost you $150, pancreatic cancer treatment can cost you $31,000-plus, breast cancer treatment can cost you $48,000-plus. When the government gets rid of the NHS, we can all look forward to these costs but, as we’ve all got loads of available cash, this shouldn’t be a problem.

One of my students was playing me some music by one of his favourite artists. A successful, young trap act from Atlanta. He asked me my opinion. I had to tell him I preferred – what for me is – the golden age of hip hop: EPMD, Biggie, 2Pac, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, Outkast, Mos Def, Pharaoahe Monch, Common etc. The video he was showing me was slow and grungy, used the ’n’ word about 200 times and featured really dark violence. No wonder kids think nothing of killing each other! There was no bass line just a very low, distorted sound. I told him that, back in the day, hip hop was dance music (‘Don’t Scandalize Mine’, ‘Talkin’ All That Jazz’, ‘Treat ‘Em Right’ etc.) He said that young people danced to this music. I was not shocked. What passes for hip hop these days is often very slow and very depressing. Definitely a generational thing!

Have a wonderful and well-endowed Wednesday. I love you all. Yes, a crazy, bald man loves and cares about you.

[lauravernice]

My EP angel. Isaac has been a God Send. This picture is telling our future...Raw Goods Vol 1 will be successful and we are GOING PLACES KIDZZZZ! He’s the BESTEST!

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression, radio version - Ep 39, June 2016 - Naked living, Tokyo Sports 'Lowlife Awards', Muhammad Ali's death.

Kaoru starts by saying at the time of this broadcast, the band will still be on tour and  they will only have two dates at Shinkiba left to do. Joe says he wants to attend the live on June 2nd. This date is also the day of the next broadcast of this show, so he will go to the live, then come home and listen to Dir's new single Utafumi on this show.

Kaoru's first topic relates to a British tv documentary shown on the channel Barcroft TV (now the youtube channel Truly) about a 'naked family'. Kaoru says just the word 'naked' reminds him of the naked old man living on an island in Okinawa, who was visited by Hiranabe. Getting back on track, he continues that the documentary concerns married couple Dave and Diane, who live in Cornwall, UK. This was Diane's 4th marriage, her third being with an abusive man who caused her to see little value in herself. Then she met Dave, who had been interested in naked living since his teens. After being with Dave for two years, Diane has learned to see value in herself again, and has also been happily living naked with him. Kaoru stresses that it seems like they only go naked at home, or at sanctioned places, they are not just walking down the street naked. Both he and Joe wonder about the mentality behind this. They mention the existence of nudist beaches etc. Joe admits that although he usually wears clothes both outside and at home, when he gets stuck writing his manuscripts, he takes a bath to ponder the issue. If he realises the answer to his problem, he will jump out of the bath, and get back to writing, not bothering with clothes. This is slightly different from a naked lifestyle, but it has that same liberating element. Kaoru comments that taking off clothes creates a neutral or 'flat' base. Some people might feel stress from wearing clothes. Joe mentions that the sociologist Kurimoto Shinichiro once said that human beings contain 20% human characteristics and 80% animal characteristics. Joe continues that from the viewpoint of an animal, wearing clothes is pretty odd. Its only humans that do it. In that sense its hard to see whats wrong with naked living. Kaoru agrees, but still thinks we can't all start going naked. Rules around this have developed over time. When you can't even show womens' chests on tv, going naked is a no-no. Joe says, imagine how awful it would be if Hiranabe came to the studio naked? Kaoru finds this pretty unpleasant and asks why Joe had to choose Hiranabe. Joe then brings up writer/actor Shimoda Kageki, who was once gifted a pair of Marylin Monroe print tights from a friend who studied design in New York. He loved the tights so much, he wore them a lot, but was ridiculed for it. His response was to say, 'whats wrong with me wearing something I love?'. Again, its slightly different from living naked, but it shows that what you wear or don't wear shouldn't have to be dicatated by trends. Kaoru repeates the idea that some people might feel stress with clothes, and liberated without them. He then changes the subject a bit to tell a story about one time he went to the toilet in Dir en grey's office. He wanted to use the cubicle, and it was unlocked so he pushed the door open, only to find a staff member in there with pants down. The staff member snapped at Kaoru, 'What are you doing?!' But Kaoru feels he didn't do anything wrong, as the door was unlocked. He didn't want to see a staff member sat on the toilet. Joe says Dir en grey's office sounds pretty interesting.

Next they welcome Tasai for the Tokyo Sports corner, and are slightly disappointed its Tasai and not Hiranabe, because they don't want Hiranabe to be on the show next week when Utafumi is played. Knowing what he is like, they would have preferred him this week so he would not appear on the Utafumi premier show. The song will be played at the end of the show, so any new listeners tuning in the hear the single will be exposed to Hiranabe. Tasai says Hiranabe is probably saving up his energy in preparation. Kaoru says he will cut Hiranabe's mic if he gets too carried away.

Tasai's first news is that Tokyo Sports have announced their own 'Low-life Awards', meaning a list of the most low-life, base stories of the year so far. The number one lowlife story so far is that of the scandal surrounding Tokyo Governer Masuzoe Yōichi. Other stories include the Becky scandal, and the scandal involving Funky Kato's affair. Kaoru mentions that at the time of recording, Masuzoe is still Tokyo Governer, but who knows what will happen. Joe says, the House of Councillors election is approaching, and the LDP/Kōmeitō may be trying to keep thier distance from Masuzoe, but there is still currently no candidate standing to replace him. Tasai speculates whether his ex-wife Katayama Satsuki could stand, or maybe Renho. Joe comments that its a difficult job to do as so many scandals around it get exposed. Masuzoe had been exposed as using public funds for personal luxuries, and one of his claims was for an Italian restaurant which is actually near Tasai's house. Its a family restaurant, which makes Tasai wonder why Masuzoe would claim expenses for this. Masuzoe was also found to have bought a Crayon Shin-chan book with public money, apparently for study. Kaoru thinks he's too stingy. Additionally, despite previously owning the horse that won the Tokyo Derby twice in a row (the horse was sold before his election), he even apparently used public money to buy a discount coupon book for his local area. Kaoru thinks he would probably forget to use the coupons anyway. Tasai thinks there will be a lot more dirty scandals to come in the second half of the year. As for private dirty scandals, Hiranabe would probably win it.

The next story relates to the death of boxer Muhammad Ali. Tasai says he knows and has heard a lot about Ali from wrestler Antonio Inoki, who had a match with Ali in 1976. Joe mentions that Ali appeared on the cover of the U.S. version of Rolling Stone many times, and was well know for his political stances in relation to war and segregation. Tasai then tells a story about Ali that he heard from Inoki. In 1995, Inoki took part in a two day wrestling competition in North Korea, which he also invited Ali to (by this stage his Parkinson's disease was quite advanced). Despite being unable to talk, Ali got up during the event, ran up the stairs and started shadow boxing. He felt some revival of his energy. The following year Ali acted as a torch barer in the 1976 Atlanta Summer Olympics, and according to Inoki it was because of this event in North Korea that Ali regained the energy to be a torch bearer in the Olympics. Tasai then talks a bit about the 1976 fight between Ali and Inoki, which consisted of boxing and pro wrestling in the same fight. Hearing Inoki's story reminds Joe of how Ali was known to believe that nothing is impossible. Joe also mentions the words Ali spoke in his Harvard speech in 1975, also known as the world's shortest poem, 'Me, We'. Tasai asks Kaoru about whether artists need to have a strong sense of will to get through struggles, like Ali had opposing the Vietnam war. He was heavily criticized for his opposition. Kaoru says Dir go by only doing things they like, and if that comes with struggle, then so be it. Its the path they chose, so they must deal with it. Tasai asks if there were any times where people havn't properly understood the band's actions. Kaoru says there is never a time when everything is understood perfectly by everyone. In fact, he prefers not to push specific explanations or meanings about Dir's music. The listeners can use thier own imagination. Tasai links this back the the new song Utafumi, and Kaoru once again repeats his desire for Hiranabe not to be on the show next week.

To finish, Kaoru plus the new jingle campaign, Budokan DVD, and tour, and reminds listeners to tune in next week for a first listen of the new single.

Songs - Dir en grey/Shokubeni

[doraspenlow]

ok it’s clown movie fanfic time

We Go On

(you can read on ao3 here)

It’s been three years now and Derry, Maine is a nice town, anybody will tell you that. There’s been a little boom of people moving in, who knows why– getting away from the city, enjoy the suburbs, commuting in to work. It’s a nice town. The people are nice too. There were some… incidents, quite recently actually, but who wants to talk about that. So some madman who once killed his father busted out and killed some kids. Well, he died. (The cops never found out what happened to Henry Bowers, his skull split open, but they weren’t investigating too hard). So that one poor man got thrown off a bridge. The town had a nice little candlelight vigil. It made the local news, and those boys all went to juvie. Nobody talks about these things anymore. Sometimes it’s as if they’ve forgotten entirely. It’s a nice town. Sure thing.

(The five of them will never, ever go back.)

Bill’s new book is coming out, finally, and the preorder numbers are higher than they’ve ever been. The New York Times gave the ARC the best review they’ve ever bestowed upon him. Something about “fundamental humanity in the face of terror”. Something about “the agonies and joys of growing up and facing your childhood”. They still think the ending is shit. That’s alright. Can’t win ‘em all. Anyways, he doesn’t love the ending either.

He and Audra got divorced– a month after the movie project he’d split from came out. The critics loved the movie. (Loved the ending especially, though it’s not his ending, it’s the work of some guy they yanked out of nowhere to ‘fix things up’). Everybody said the director’s an auteur, Audra’s a genius, that if the academy didn’t hate horror it’d get nominations for sure. All the buzz drove him crazy while he meddled around in his office. He screamed once too often. She left him. It’s probably a good thing– he didn’t know how to cut the chain. Three years later and she’s doing prestige stuff now, she’s engaged to that pretty boy actor boyfriend of hers. He’s happy for her. He really is.

He’s left California for Oregon. It’s cool, northern, but with a touch of that west coast freshness. Everything back east is so old. He doesn’t date, he’s taking time to “work on Bill” as he tells any interviewer who asks. One day he might try again– find some nice woman. A blonde or a brunette. Somebody who doesn’t remind him of anybody.

Richie’s still in LA, and he’s started dating, really dating, for the first time in his life. There were some half hearted attempts at having girlfriends in college, and a few hookups with men here and there, but he’s never done the whole romance thing. He feels awful pathetic, dating for the first time in his life at over forty, but it’s alright. The men he’s gone out with have been very understanding. This latest one’s real nice– a clever, tidy sort of guy, doesn’t care for stand up and had never heard of him before a mutual friend introduced them. They’ve been going for a month maybe. He doesn’t think the guy’ll last, but he’s hopeful someday someone will.

He took a long break, after Derry. An unexpected and abrupt hiatus. There were a few months were he wanted to die, a few months after that where he went to a lot of parties and snorted a lot of coke. That ended, and he started visiting this therapist– some beaky little woman his manager recommended. He still wanted to die a little bit, but he decided it was probably better to live. The tour after that crisis was the “Come Out Comeback Tour”– he wrote some of his own jokes for the first time in a long time. He told funny stories from when he was a kid. It was strange, he reflected, that he had funny stories to tell. Rooting around through his memory was like running his tongue along a line of rotten teeth. It ached, almost unbearably. But there were pleasant moments, and he was glad he hadn’t forgotten them.

“I guess my first real crush was this kid in middle school– he’d been one of my best friends forever, but about seventh grade I started having all of these feelings– and I decided to do something nice for him, something discreet– I was going to give him a popsicle. Like a literal popsicle, you perverts! C’mon! Anyways, at lunch one day I bought a bomb pop, I went to our lunch table and… I chickened out. I stuck the popsicle in my pants pocket, because I was 12 and a fucking idiot, and I went on my merry way. It was only after my next class was over that I realized the popsicle had melted through my jeans. It looked like I pissed my pants. But I pissed my pants for love, and how many seventh graders can say that?”

The divorce was a mess– Bev had expected it to be, but it still made her panicky. She didn’t so much as want to see Tom again, much less have a legal battle. For months, she’d wake up crying, miserable dreams dripping out of her mind like water. She won, in court, testified and showed pictures of bruises and witness reports and described how it was all her work, and wound up getting a restraining order against Tom and full ownership over Rogan and Marsh fashion– now just Beverly Marsh fashion. She thinks about changing the name to something modern, anonymous– but she doesn’t. It’s nice to know she has something hers. That she can be just her, and be alright. “You’ll be nothing without me––” well haha, she is something. She’s Beverly fucking Marsh, and that’s something.

It’s nice to be loved, though. Divorce is as sweet as a summer's day, and remarriage is as sweet as honey. She and Ben got married less than a week after it’s all finalized, in a courthouse, in their everyday clothes, a couple of her friends as witnesses. They bought rings on the way home, simple little bands. They split their time between Chicago and Nebraska– Ben’s used to working remotely, and she doesn’t mind it. He’s started talking about maybe building them a house of their own– she says maybe New Mexico? It’s so warm and dry and safe in New Mexico– and all the artists love Santa Fe.

So maybe they’ll move to New Mexico, or maybe they’ll stay here. It doesn’t really matter where they go. They’ll be together. It feels so good to be loved like a person. It feels so good to know she’s a person. She still has bad dreams, but she has nice ones too. Lovely ones– a boat on the ocean with the sky clear and blue. A litter of puppies she can hold. Her husband kissing her. A group of children, laughing children, playing little kid games. There’s seven of them, the children, all splashing each other in a lake, like they’ve never suffered and they never will. She wants to have children, though she’s getting older now. She wants two or three of them. She likes to think she’d be a good mother.

Ben thinks she’d be a good one too. He adds plans for children’s bedrooms to his favorite piece of mental drawing paper– a building titled “the dream home”. He’s been working on it for a decade– the dream home had a double bedroom before he had anybody to share it with. He was so used to loneliness it took him a while to get used to another person’s rhythms– how she’ll get into bed and just then remember to brush her teeth, hopping back out again, how she sings in the shower and refuses to acknowledge it.

He’d once thought he’d be lonely forever. Now, at 43, he’s trying once more to make friends. He goes to dinner parties and makes meaningful conversation, he takes up fishing with a man from work. You might never love your friends as brilliantly, as totally as you do at 11, but there's a comfort in the easy, mild talks about the weather, about work. He lets himself eat ice cream, now and then, and a social life means less time for working out. Nobody really notices– Bev says he’s still hot. But of course she’d say that, she loves him– And oh, it rushes over him sometimes, she loves him, she loves him, she loves him.

He used to write poems, but he hasn’t since college. He feels like he’s getting rusty with words somehow, and he’s always been better with his hands. He’s fixing to unveil this stunner of a municipal building in Chicago– it’s maybe the best thing he’s ever designed. He takes Beverly on a private tour a few days before the ribbon cutting– there’s some last minute things being put together, furniture and lighting, but she still tears up when she looks around. “It’s so lovely,” she says, “this is the most wonderful–” and cuts off, moved. He thinks, looking at the light caught in her hair ‘I’ll build you something even better, darling. I’ll build you a future.”

Mike heads down to Florida, like he used to dream about. On the way there he made a stop in Atlanta to see Patty Uris. She was very polite, pleased to meet one of her dead husband’s old friends– hungry for stories of a childhood he never spoke of. The mirrors were still covered, and she tangled her hands in and out of knots. Mike still felt guilty. He’s been trying to not feel guilty. He told her anecdotes about Stan as a child– he didn’t know him as long as some of the others, but he knew him enough. He knew him when it was important. “Your husband was a brave man.” He told Patty, who closed her eyes. “He was, he really was.”

He contemplated, for a moment, staying in Atlanta– befriending Patty, telling more stories. But he’s a little sick of playing historian, of being a keeper of ghosts. He heads down to Florida. He gets a job in a small town library, makes acquaintances, meets a woman. If he wants, he can go anywhere in the world. The freedom shocks him, the lightness. Anywhere in the world– Rome, Tokyo, Sydney, Helsinki, Cairo. Places where it never rains, places where it rains all the time. He keeps a framed photo of his parents on the counter– his parents as he never knew them– young and just married and laughing to each other. He likes to think they’d be proud of him for leaving. For having the world at his feet.

He has two dogs and a cat, eats vegan, takes up biking. The children at the library call him ‘Mr Mike’ and climb over his arms like a jungle gym. Eventually, his neighbors start calling him Mr Mike too, which is funny. Most people don’t look at him like an intruder, and when they do it’s easier to shake off their stares. His hair starts greying at the temples and he relishes it. He’s made it this far. He hopes to keep making it.

It’s almost always Mike who send the emails, a tradition at this point– “Hey everybody!! Want to meet up? Where, this time? Kansas? Colorado?” And the others will reply– yes-yes-of course-yes-let’s go to Denver-lets get Greek food-I know this really great spot-how about Mexican-July-maybe August?– And he amalgamates their suggestions into plans, sends off the group message, mark his calendar. He sits back and smile, types out “I can’t wait to see you all again”. Presses send.

So it’s been three years now. And here they are, in a Mexican restaurant in Denver (they never get Chinese). They’re chattering about their lives, the five of them– Mike’s girlfriend, Richie’s boyfriend, Bev and Ben’s fertility treatments. Bill’s a little quiet. They look at him. He pulls the new book out of his bag– four copies. They coo dutifully over the cover, flip through the pages. Get to the dedication. Stop. To six that made my lucky seven– Stan, Eddie, Richie, Beverly, Ben, Mike. All my love. The loser’s club rides forever.

“The ending’s still awful.” Bill says, to stop their tears with laughter. They shake their heads and say they’re sure they’ll love it. He thinks they probably won’t– even he thinks the ending isn’t great. He’s bad with endings, he’ll admit that now.

The friends in the book, they all go off. They kill the bad guy, get their tidy endings, resolve their trauma, end up with their sweethearts or happily alone. He wrote it, and yet it still rings half hollow to him. No one can walk off the page happily ever after. They’ll still have nightmares. They’ll ruin relationships, try to pick up the pieces. Things are always going to be difficult. But they’ll keep going. And that’s the other thing he’s always hated about endings– the finality, the never-see-you-again. That’s the worst thing of all. He’s lucky, he thinks as he looks at his laughing friends, his best friends, the loves of his life, he’s lucky that life isn’t a story. That it goes on. That they’ll keep going on.

The loser’s club rides forever.

[goldstarnation]

FEBRUARY 2020 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn 3 points each (up to 6 points) for writing, by the end of March 7 KST:

A solo para of 400+ words based on their monthly schedule (does not count toward your monthly total).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) based on their monthly schedule.

Threads do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule for the month and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated throughout the month if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: January schedule posts are due by the end of February 7 KST.

Overall Company

The company building spent a month free of Christmas decorations before the building was adorned in tasteful pinks and reds to celebrate Valentine’s Day — not that the idols are allowed to celebrate the holiday in the halls of the company building, of course. Most of the company artists are holding tours or fan meetings or traveling overseas this month, so the decorations might as well be more for the illusion of effort than any real attempt to raise company morale. There isn’t much to be said for news and events from the higher-ups this month again, though.

Important dates:

N/A

Gold Star Soloist 1

By the first half of the month, the tracklist for her mini-album is officially locked in and she’ll finish up recording what she needs to by the end of the month. “Love Poem” has been chosen to be released in March before her album comes out in May. It won’t get a music video, but Gold Star knows she doesn’t need one to be met with success. She’ll need to shoot the photo book for her album this month, as some of the images will serve as teasers for “Love Poem”.

Important dates:

February 20: Love Poem teaser image photo and photobook shoot.

Gold Star Soloist 2

Her Korean tour begins at the very end of the month (see January schedule for special stages). This means long hours in the dance practice studio and, as the concert nears, at the venue. Tickets have already gone on sale, but on the first of the month, she’ll go into a photo shoot for concept photos for the tour that will be used in further advertising and announcements regarding the tour.

Important dates:

February 1: National tour concept photo shoot.

February 29: I AM : RE-BORN tour concert at Incheon Culture & Arts Center in Incheon, South Korea.

Gold Star Soloist 3

Gold Star has set a comeback date for him in April. As had grown increasingly likely in discussions with the company, the single, “Love Die Young” will be entirely English to prelude his upcoming all-English album. It’ll be the first song he officially records off of his album, but it’s been chosen for what Gold Star hopes to be crossover appeal in Western markets while still, hopefully, staying within a marketable sound for the South Korean market so that he doesn’t isolate his domestic fans completely.

Important dates:

N/A

Silhouette

Silhouette takes off for their four date Japan tour mid-month and they’ll be in Japan for around a week, from the evening of the 15th to the morning of the 22nd. Before they leave, they’ll be given the demo guide of their next Japanese single “Bad Girl For You”, which they’ll need to be ready to record once they’re back in Seoul in the final week of the month. The MV won’t be shot until next month, but the members will go in to make sure their outfits for the music video are flattering at the end of the month.

Important dates:

February 16: Silhouette 2020 Winter Live Tour -TROUBLE- concert at Zepp Namba Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

February 17: Silhouette 2020 Winter Live Tour -TROUBLE- concert at Zepp Nagoya in Nagoya, Japan. 

February 19: Silhouette 2020 Winter Live Tour -TROUBLE- concert at Zepp Fukuoka in Fukuoka, Japan. 

February 21: Silhouette 2020 Winter Live Tour -TROUBLE- concert at Zepp Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. 

February 28: Japanese single MV outfit fittings.

Aria

As they gear up for a fan meeting next month, Aria will need to attend fittings as well as shoots for the poster and some VCRs that will be used during the fan meeting itself. It hasn’t been long since fans have seen them, but it won’t make their audience any less expectant for a good show, so at the end of the month, they’ll begin having days of rehearsal in earnest to prepare for the dates next month.

Important dates:

February 5: Fan meeting poster photo shoot.

February 15: Fan meeting stage out fittings (examples: 1, 2, 3, 4.)

February 20: Fan meeting VCRs 1 & 2 shoot.

Origin

On the eleventh, the members will be on set all day to shoot a CF for Indonesian e-commerce brand Tokopedia and three days later, they’ll be on set to shoot a CF for Formula E racing. Following that, Gold Star has granted the members a two week vacation, something that serves as an incredibly rare opportunity for them to travel and rest (granted, with manager supervision) if they’d like, or focus on their individual activities. Their vacation comes to an end so that they can attend another awards show at the end of the month. Gold Star have let them skip some of the minor awards shows, but they need Origin in the good graces of news outlets like the hosts of this one, so they aren’t done with awards shows yet.

Important dates:

February 11: Tokopedia CF filming.

February 14: Formula E CF filming.

February 15-28: Vacation period.

February 29: Performance at The Fact Music Awards at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea (also attending: WISH, Alien, 7ROPHY, Fuse).

Impulse

After their extended Seollal break, the Impulse members are back in action for the Oceania leg of their tour. There are only two dates, so they’ll only be in Australia from the 12th to the 17th before returning to Seoul. Next month, the members get the opportunity to hold a seven-show fan fest in Bangkok where each show will highlight one member who gets to give a solo song or dance cover of their choice for that performance, so the members are expected to be practicing their chosen solo covers this month ahead of that.

Important dates:

February 13: Keep Spinning World Tour concert at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

February 16: Keep Spinning World Tour concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

Fuse

As recently designated Swiss tourism ambassadors, the members are off to Switzerland for ten days where they’ll film a series of promotional videos around the country called “Walk, Ride, Fly With Fuse”. They are working, but they’ll get some time in between to explore for themselves too in hopes the trip will leave enough of an impression on the members for some free promotion later on. They’ll have some time to recuperate from the trip once they get back before another awards show at the end of the month.

Important dates:

February 8-February 17: Trip to Switzerland and promotional video shoot.

February 29: Performance at The Fact Music Awards at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea (also attending: WISH, Alien, 7ROPHY, Origin).

Element

Element finishes off their North America tour mid-month with a short trip to the US and even get to spend Valentine’s Day with their fans in Atlanta (extra fan service toward fans for the holiday is expected). Once they return to Seoul in the second half of the month, it’s time for them to record their comeback single. A mini-documentary will be filmed for their YouTube channel that shows the lead up to their comeback to show fans the process behind preparing for comeback ( — if there’s the slightest chance it shows Element working hard enough that fans will be less annoyed with Element’s recent rate of one comeback per year, that would be a bonus).

Important dates:

February 13: 4lement in North America Tour concert at Patio Theater in Chicago, IL, USA.

February 14: 4lement in North America Tour concert at Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale’s first world tour continues! That means their video diary reality series does as well with a few new episodes in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. During their time in between, they’re continuing to prepare for their comeback with fittings and learning the choreography. They have a shoot for next month’s issue of Marie Claire Korea as well. Next month will be busy with overseas travel and preparations for their comeback and Coachella performance, so management recommends they get all the rest they can between this month’s schedules to prepare.

Important dates:

February 1: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Asia-World Arena in Hong Kong.

February 6: Marie Claire Korea March Issue photo shoot.

February 8: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines.

February 17: Comeback MV and stage outfit fittings.

February 21: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

February 29: Femme Fatale In Your Area World Tour concert at Malawati Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[ohsospeechlez]

Love and let go 🍃🍃🦋 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #loveislove #loveyourself #poet #poetry #writer #poem #poetrycommunity #love #poetsofinstagram #writersofinstagram #poems #writing #quotes #art #writerscommunity #words #poetryofinstagram #poets #writers #poetrylovers #artist #wordporn #poetryisnotdead #writingcommunity #poetsofig #lovequotes #life #poetryporn #instagram #writersofig (at Atlanta, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_OPTk-jJs_/?igshid=vo6ti6ktu71r

[shemakesmusic-uk]

INTERVIEW: ALA.NI

UK-born, Paris-based artist ALA.NI will be releasing her upcoming sophomore album ACCA on January 24.  

ACCA consists primarily of dense, harmonically intricate vocal arrangements with sparse or no instrumental backing at all. It’s the followup to ALA.NI’s debut 2017 album You & I and while some critics made comparisons to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland, the infectious beats and rhythmic tunes on ACCA owe more to Dr. Dre and Errol Dunkley than Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

ALA.NI initially envisioned her second album as a completely a capella project, and indeed ACCA is made up almost entirely of human voices (beatboxing serves as percussion, and she lowered her own vocals with an octavizer on several tracks to create the illusion of bass).

Along with Iggy Pop, Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Atlanta, Get Out), makes an appearance on the album, but make no mistake: ACCA is pure ALA.NI. She wrote, produced, and arranged each song herself, layering up hundreds of vocal tracks in order to create an immersive, hypnotic world that blurs the lines between vibrating vocal cords, bowed strings, and blown reeds.

We had a chat with ALA.NI more about the story behind ACCA and the making of the record, collaborating with Iggy Pop, her struggles in the industry and more. Read the full interview below.

ACCA is dropping in just under two weeks. What is the record about lyrically and what does it mean to you?

"Lyrically, I speak on love of course, but from situations like the abusive relationship of a friend ('Hide'), my definition of love ('Wales'), a relationship in turmoil ('Van P'). 'Papa' was a poem for a friend that took a journey, via Mexico, into becoming a song. 'Le Diplomate' encounters a brief encounter with a french diplomate. I wrote about segments of my life."

You & I was written a capella but ACCA was created completely using a vocals-only technique which I think is so awesome and creative. What inspired you to make the record this way and what was your favourite part of the creative process?

"I always write a capella but with visions of instrumentation around it. With the ACCA album, the first song that made me feel confident that I could make a whole album based just around my voice, was 'Le Diplomate'. I wrote it for the man himself. It was not intended to be a song, but after I reviewed it and impressed myself with my mouth trumpet noises, I was convinced that I could conceive a whole album like this. I like working with parameters, so no instruments was a good one. Although after 3 months away from the studio recording process and some deep consideration and after being told by my mentor that it can't be "the ALA.NI show", I decided to add some subtle additions in the way of a male voice and low end instruments to the compositions. Accordion, bass clarinet, electric bass. Producing for me is like cooking. You add and taste, add and taste. Balancing the flavours out all the way.

"The process was...well I often used the words, "a brain fuck!!!!". It was a lonely process too. I had some stages with other musicians, but that was only for about 10% of the studio time, for the rest, it was just me and the engineer. My favourite part of the process was putting down the vocals. I love harmonising, so that was so satisfying....the rest has literally turned my hair grey! Ha!"

You & I had very much a a jazzy kind of vibe but the tracks from ACCA so far have a fuller and more upbeat sound.

"I never said ever, ever that I was a jazz singer. I have never wanted to limit myself like that, as I know I have many different ways and styles to express the music in me. The ACCA album allowed me to enter more into being able to move my body. I was stuck behind a stagnant mic for so long. I think that was the real reason for giving myself some beats."

You collaborated with legend Iggy Pop on a track for the album. How did that come about? We hear he is a big fan of yours?

"He is just too cool and cute and so incredibly giving of himself. I saw him perform recently in London and I felt so touched and happy and proud to watch this man at 72 do his shit! Damn! What an inspiration. He is a fan and I am so blessed to have his support. I literally got my people to ask his people if he'd like to collaborate and he simply said "yes". I went out to Miami to record him at his studio and it was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Directing Iggy Pop in the booth..."erm Mr. Pop, can you do that again please, the last take was shite!!!" Ha!

"He actually said this about me recently on his radio show...

"I worked as a guest once on one of her tracks and she came to America to produce it and brought a whole suitcase full of incredible microphones with her and she’s a perfectionist, her attention to detail is daunting and I had to toe the line, she’s tough."

"It's not true...honest..."

What do you hope fans will take away from ACCA?

"I have no idea. I can't control their ears or minds. I just made the music my heart wanted to make. I'm just happy to have them receive it...words from my heart. Whether they think its good or bad has nothing to do with me. You can't please everybody."

This is true! So, do you have plans to tour ACCA and if so, how will you translate the record on to the stage?

"This exercise too has been a head fuck. I have decided to go for cello, accordion and beatboxer for my live set up. Cello has a voicing that is very close to the human voice, so it works well and is so versatile as an instrument. Accordion has been a treat to work with. I never thought I'd be working with such an instrument, but it too is versatile and adds a very distinctive tone and texture to the music. I had to convert 300+ vocal parts into instrument parts, which was a fun (not) exercise. Beatboxer can do the most craziest things with his mouth. We are all learning to make mouth noises. Its a nice bunch of us on the road. I'm happy to be around good hearted, passionate people to make music with."

You've been in the industry a few years now. What challenges, if any, have you faced? And how did you overcome them?

"Hahahahahah!!!! It's daily and it seems to get worse the more I push to change the norm. Females are hugely under represented in the music industry, so its a daily struggle. I basically manage, produce, create myself, so its not an easy task I have given to myself.

"I don't have a tour manager, because I hate the fact that when I arrive at a venue, no one talks to me when I do have one. They only liaise with the "male manager" and not the artist. They are not used to dealing directly with the artist, especially a female one who knows exactly how she wants her gear set up. Oh, the fights I've had just to have my monitor where i like it. Its pathetic!"

That is absolutely ridiculous! But sadly, many women in the industry have similar stories. If there was one thing you could change about the music world today, what would it be?

"More tits, less dicks!"

Amen! You have had such an impressive career so far. What has been the biggest highlight for you to date and what are you looking forward to in 2020 and beyond?

"I remember nothing. I do the shit and I move the fuck on. I'm terrible like this. I like to be present and forward thinking.

"My career and life are so inter-twined, that for me, I keep it simple...I am just happy everyday to be alive and to be blessed enough to be able to do the work of my hearts calling. Thats all i ask for. To be able to continue to do the things i want to do....freedom."

ACCA arrives January 24.

Photo credit: Martin-oger Daguerre

[tonybconscious]

Today... Today I push the reset button No more faking the funk, nor freedom frontin' No more hiding my pain nor struggles Today...I'm bursting bubbles Cause.. NO...its not ALL GOOD Financially, I'm in a whole lot of trouble Today, I admit my bad choices My blunders in this life Today, I'll admit it... Yes... I NEED a strong Queen To become my wife And when I had a son I was sooo unprepared But fatherhood is MANHOOD IN THE FACE OF BEING SCARED... TODAY...I will admit, I don't have ALL the answers BUT, TODAY I eat better, and drink more water to prevent diabetes and cancer TODAY, I apologize to every enemy I made To every person I gossiped about And To all whom I've thrown shade I say forgive me to anyone who've I've ever betrayed Whether I know I did purposely Or did it by mistake Today, I send love to every heart I ever broke And Every woman who's feelings, I took to be a joke To everybody else who looks at me sideways or in an unrighteous way... If I ever did anything out of character I SEND MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES...Today !!! May the universe feel the vibration from the words I type and say... As I start anew with EVERYTHING I DO....right now Right here...TODAY !!! ASHE, NAMASTE ‐--------------------- If you appreciate my decades of work and consistency, you can show your gratitude through paypal ( www.paypal.me/tonybconscious), VENMO (@tonybconscious) Or... CASHAPP ( $tonybconscious) ---------------------- Whether it (50) pennies, (50) dimes, (50) quarters, (50) dollars, (50) ten dollar bills, (50)Bejamins, ( 50) Hamiltons or (50) RACKS 💵💶💷💸💰💴 It's not the amount, it's your intent that counts !!! ---------------------- Ashe, NAMASTE TONY B. CONSCIOUS (323)251-4969 #art #artist #blacktwitter #bayarea #berkeley #losangeles #Atlanta #losangeles #50thbirthday #oakland #blackartmatters #blackartist #bay #birthday #freestyle #testimony #affirmation #poem #tonybconscious #tonybconscious1 #tonybconsciousart #tonybconsciousartwork #tonybconsciouspoetry (at Berkeley Marina) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2NByOJjwKK/?igshid=1ofbdfxtmcshh

[immersedinm]

In support of their recent EP release Wild Rivers is currently burning up the highways and byways of the states. Most recently, they were sweeping throughout the south, and Atlanta was fortunate they made a stop at Eddie’s Attic last Thursday evening. Having played the venue before, they seemed relaxed prior to the show as they were spotted happily chatting to excited ticket holders of the sold out show.

A few weeks ago, I shared their tune “Howling” before realizing they might make the long trek to Atlanta. I simply knew it was a winner. When I heard they were making Atlanta a part of their tour, they were kind enough to answer a few questions to help us get to know them a little better.

Wild Rivers is a Toronto based band with seamless guitar, steady percussion and stunning vocal harmonies, all fused together with earnest songwriting. The group began with Devan Glover and Khalid Yassein, and they were voted Toronto’s best new artist in 2015. Since then, they added Ben Labenski (drums), and Andrew Oliver (bass, guitar). Although at their performance in Atlanta, the drummer was someone else (did not catch his name) filling in for Ben. He was talented, but not sure if he was a permanent change or filling in.

1. How did you all meet? What is the story behind the name, Wild Rivers?

Devan Glover-

“A few of us met in college, and through mutual friends. A music career was something we’d all dreamed of pursuing, so after graduation we started to take it more seriously, and that summer we got into the studio to record our first album. We all got together to work out arrangements for the songs, and have been playing together ever since. It all kind of developed from there.” 

“As for the name, honestly it came from hours and hours of playing word association in the car. On long drives, we’d spitball combinations of words that we liked, writing down the ones that sounded cool and resonated in some way. “Wild Rivers” was in the running, and one day we stumbled upon a poem by Gregory Orr that we related to, titled The River (see it here). Thematically, The River resonated with us because it’s about taking a plunge into the unknown. At the time, this was exactly what we were doing, diving into a new career path and experiencing the uncertainty that comes with graduating college and having to figure your life out. The poem mentioned ‘Wild Rivers’ a lot, so that’s how we settled on the name.”

2. When I listen to your music, I feel like it has the roots of folk/rock/country music I have grown up with all my life living in the American south, but you breathe a freshness to it which makes it unique. Who are your musical influences and how does that impact your sound?  

Devan–

“We all grew up listening to lots of classic singer/songwriter, folk and rock music –  James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Beatles. We draw a lot of inspiration from artists in that era – particularly when it comes to songs with a heavy lyrical focus and lots of vocal harmony. We also look to a lot of current folk/rock artists for inspiration – The Lumineers, Bahamas, Half Moon Run to name a few – but individually, our musical tastes span across many genres. I think this works to our advantage, because it allows us to incorporate certain aspects of different genres into our own music, and hopefully create something unique. When you think about it, the best bands have never been bound to a certain genre. Fleetwood Mac has songs ranging from country to pop to folk to rock. John Mayer started as a singer/songwriter, went on to put out a country blues album, and is now sampling hip hop beats in his newer music. We try to operate under the mentality that the best song always wins, no matter if it necessarily “fits” within a certain genre.”

  3. This isn’t your first big tour, what do you look forward to the most this time around? What have you learned about being on the road and staying fresh for each show?

Khalid Yassein-

“We’ve never been to the West Coast, so that’s going to be a huge highlight. We’ve had a lot of people asking for us to come out so it’ll be cool to finally play some shows out there! We’re planning on doing lots of hiking and exploring on days off. We’ve gotten a lot better at managing our sleep and exercising  when we’re on tour. We’re also always looking for healthy food and it’s fun to find new little spots. We’ve been at it long enough now that we know what works and what’s not sustainable. It’s all about balance.” 

  4. What is your songwriting style or music making process? Does the music follow the lyrics or the other way around? Is it collaborative writing or do one or two of you develop a song and then bring it to the band to complete?

Khalid-

“We go about it a lot of ways. On our first record, I  wrote a lot of the songs, almost always with music first and then building lyrics and ideas on that. Devan and I co-wrote a few on that album, which is cool because Devan is mostly lyrics first. On our new EP we co-wrote a lot with each other, as well as with a few songwriters out of Nashville which was a pretty awesome experience. You get a new feel when you step out of your comfort zone with new writing situations, it’s fun! “

  5. When y’all are on the road, what other bands are you listening to?

Khalid-

“We love all kinds of music. A lot of old classics, today we were going through the Beatles discography start to finish. Right now we’re into a rapper called Noname out of Chicago who’s incredible. And in the Americana world we’re really into new records from Rayland Baxter and Ruston Kelly. We like to mix it up for long drives.”  

They gave me a few new sounds and if you know me, you know I have already tapped into them on Spotify.

Wild Rivers at Eddie’s Attic

As we were waiting for Wild Rivers to begin, Eddie’s Attic filled up quickly with a buzz of excitement. It was a sold out show, with very little standing room. I enjoyed chatting it up with people who were there. Two pretty girls were standing behind me, and I couldn’t help overhear their strategy to try and find two empty seats. I made every effort to help them, but it wasn’t possible that night. When I explained about my blog and why I was there, they asked if the band members were friendly and nice. I explained that they were incredibly open and made an effort to answer my questions as well as chat with me before the show. Some bands don’t do that! The girls were big fans trekking miles and miles to see Wild Rivers on a Thursday night, and they actually breathed a sigh of relief to hear the band was genuine.

Certainly talent, creativity, and presence helps, but sometimes it is the extra effort to chat with fans that can make all the difference. Wild Rivers seemed polished and practiced, with no stumbles or fumbles that I could tell. They were hitting all the right notes and truly fantastic.

Wild Rivers-L-R  Khalid Yassein, Devan Glover, and Andrew Oliver

  I really tried to capture Khalid’s dreamy sincere eyes, but I didn’t bring my obnoxious lenses. Others were swooning along side me…It is a forceful combo of crazy smooth talent + good looks. He has something to say and expresses moods and emotions in a way that connects.

Wild Rivers had quiet solo moments with an acoustic guitar, as well as powerful full band, hand-clap inspiring tunes. They mixed up their songs nicely and at moments, I wished I could stand up and sway to the ever changing tempos, but didn’t want to block the view of others.

Andrew’s guitar added a depth to the songs and gave them an edge, which without, would have left them lacking. The drum and guitar complete their sound and help them to expand the possibilities.

  Some bands chat between songs and some bands don’t. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In this case Khalid did most of the talking and it worked well. You could hear a pin drop. He gave some background to his songwriting and the premise for the lyrics. I felt the purpose behind the music, which only made me appreciate it more.

Devan has an incredible voice which puts this band on another level. I kind of expected sweet chirping blue birds to land on her outstretched hands at times. Yep, the range and control was enviable and jaw dropping. She made it seem so effortless. And yes, a woman from the audience yelled out at the end of one song, “You’ve got some pipes girl!” after she belted out a deeper tone.

  I captured a snippet of Wild Rivers performing their latest hit, “I Won’t Be Back”, from their recent EP release titled, Eighty Eight.

  I was able to nab the set list after the show, and the guy sitting next to me was reminded, and jumped up to get another one for his wife (who is also from Toronto!). She is holding it as her friends gather around. They were my pick for super fans (pictured at the foot of my blog homepage) and all went home smiling!

Here is my set list up close. Note-there is a new tune on the list, “Moving Target”. Listening, I could hear the continued growth of this band and recognize the influences of the multiple genres they described in the questions above. 

They have a host of shows from here till the first of December. Don’t miss them while they are still playing intimate venues. Check out if they are coming near you by clicking here. Wild Rivers Shows

As summer begins to loosen up its grip on us all, it was nice to begin fall with a show which proved to be really tremendous.

Wild Rivers-Interview and Photos From Their Recent Atlanta Show In support of their recent EP release Wild Rivers is currently burning up the highways and byways of the states.

[someinstant]

Okay questions from the writers guide. # 11 Books and/or authors who influenced you the most? Which ones as a kid and adult? What is your favorite book and why? 21. Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?22. Who is/are your favourite pairing(s) to write? 42. How do you feel about love triangles? 46. Do you reread your own stories?47. Best way to procrastinate? 49. Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

Oh thank god, I have written myself into a corner and I need a distraction while I figure this out.  And this is gonna get really long if I do this all in one post, so if you don’t mind, Nonnie, I’m gonna break this up into one question at a time.

11. Books and/or authors who influenced you the most? Which ones as a kid and adult? What is your favorite book and why?

Oh, gosh. Okay. So I’m just gonna list a bunch of stuff, first, and then dig into the rest of it in a bit.  Books that mattered a LOT to me:

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

The World According to Garp by John Irving

A Room with a View by E.M. Forester

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Doce cuentos peregrinos by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

View with a Grain of Sand by Wislawa Szymborska

Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Twelfth Night by Shakespeare

Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker

Everything and Nothing by Jorges Luis Borges

By the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders

And, like, this is just me spitballing and not looking at my bookshelves, so I am CLEARLY leaving shit out. So.  Let’s break this into parts, shall we? 

Books that influenced me as a kid would be: anything by Robin McKinley (although The Blue Sword was and is my favorite), everything L.M. Montgomery wrote (although I was particularly fond of the Emily series), and I adored the Little House books as a kid.  Like, Laura was my imaginary friend, and I am not even joking about that. HOWEVER, I now recognize that there are All Sorts of problems with those books– I’m currently working through Prairie Fires which is an examination of the writing of the Little House books, and it is FASCINATING. I highly recommend it.  I also adored everything Roald Dahl wrote, and that’s something that’s stayed with me.  Although I think my favorite of his works, now that I think about it more deeply, would be his short stories– The Marvelous Story of Henry Sugar is brilliant, and The Swan makes me sob.  

And– this sounds so weird, but I’d include Gone with the Wind in this category?  I read it when I was ten (because I was a little shit and was determined to find the longest book possible and read ALL of it), and I’m from Atlanta, so it’s– kinda everywhere.  (My town has a GWtW museum on the square, and there’s a part that recreates the bit where Scarlet shoots the Yankee soldier in the stairwell with mannequins?  The South is an odd place.) Anyway, it’s the only time either of my parents ever talked to me about anything I wanted to read.  I remember when my dad bought me the book, he sat down with me and told me I could ALWAYS read anything I wanted– they’d never stop me from reading something. But it was important, he said, to remember that just because an idea is in a book doesn’t make it right, and that there were words in that book used to describe people of color, and ideas about race and people, that weren’t acceptable. Not in our house, not in school, not in public, not in private: not ever. And it was okay to read the book, and to find good things about the story, but it wasn’t okay to ignore the fact that there were ideas in it that were wrong, and it was important to ask questions about them.

And then he let me read the book, and figure it out myself.  I’m really grateful for that, honestly.  I think it showed me, early, that creative works– that culture– is complicated.  That people are complicated.  That curiosity and appreciation of things that are beautiful doesn’t give you a pass on problematic ideas that rest of the lessening of others. 

And Dad followed through on the “you can read whatever you want” thing, too, by the way.  I wanted to write my junior research paper in Brit Lit on Victorian morality and the articulation of male homosexuality in Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey, and my teacher nearly flipped her shit.  She was a nice lady, but she was in her sixties, and this was 1999 in conservative, suburban Georgia.  She said she’d need a note from my parents if I were determined to do it, so I told my dad.  And he rolled his eyes so hard I’m surprised his retinas didn’t detach, and then wrote, “[My daughter] can read and research whatever she likes, and you can get over it,” on a sheet of paper and signed his name, and it was the BEST THING EVER.  He also thought it was hilarious when I got in trouble for reading Burrough’s Naked Lunch after graduation testing (apparently, that book is not “school appropriate”), although he doesn’t have a high opinion of Burroughs as a writer.  (Neither do I, nowadays.  I was going through a phase.)

This is what happens when your dad is a political journalist who’s as big a book nerd as you are.

As an adult? Oh, man, I love me some post-modernism, and I’m stupidly fond of a good short story.  I’m a particular sucker for “boom” writing out of Latin America from the 1960s and 70s; like, give me ALL the magical realism.  La luz es como agua by Garcia Marquez might be the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever read in my life, and BOTH of my online nom de plumes (the one I created at seventeen and the one I use now) are both references to writers who use stream of consciousness. (SomeInstant comes from Borges y yo, porque “no sé cuál de los dos escribe esta página.”)  I’m also more than halfway in love with Virginia Woolf, and I think I can recite most of the first chapter to Mrs. Dalloway? Although To the Lighthouse is my favorite, outside of her journals.

As to my favorite book: there is no such thing. There is only my favorite right now, and now, and now, and now.  Although if I had to nail something to the wall, I’d maybe pick Wislawa Szymborska’s collection of poetry, View with a Grain of Sand, because there’s not an imperfect poem in that thing.  I go back to her again and again, whenever I need a rock to lean on.  She’s glorious.

[lauravernice]

Part II of “The Cloud”

[missjugheadjones]

Unspoken Words 2

 Word Count: 2170

    A/N: lol heres the 2nd part to Unspoken words, enjoy! I suggest the song mentioned in here, its one of my favs.  Also sorry for not posting as much, things are very crazy atm but im getting back to it. Much love!

MasterList

Jugheads POV-

    "Betty?" I said over the phone, hearing my sniffling girlfriend on the other end. "Yeah, I'm here, come outside." She sniffled again and I listened as she told me that she couldn't, her mom locked her inside the house for the night and no one was allowed in nor out.

    "So I can't come inside to see you?" I asked, and I listened as she told me I couldn't. My heart sank a little bit, not because I couldn't go in and see her, but because I had just left Y/N heartbroken and crying alone in her house for this.

    "Yeah, no I get it. I'll just see you tomorrow." I said, and hung up the phone, throwing it on the seat next to me. I leaned my head on the steering wheel and sighed, I was truly and idiot today. I kicked myself, closing my eyes trying to stop myself from crying, but behind my shut eyes images of Y/N played like a movie. Her smiling, the way her eyes light up anytime she tells an awful pun and everyone groans, the sound of her laugh when she shoots sarcastic comments my way.

    I replayed memories of our time at Pops, late nights in the quiet diner, the only sounds that are audible are of the neon lights buzz, Pops whistling from back into the kitchen, and the tapping of keys and scratches of lead on paper. While I wrote she drew, or also wrote, but she preferred the look of her scribbled words on paper, the smears of black on her hands as evidence of a nights work. A tattered notebook with crumbled pages, a worn and old look, inside the ins and outs of her mind were translated into pictures and poems, proof that there was a beautiful mind behind her beautiful eyes. She thought the digital route to her genius felt cheap, she liked the messy, tangible work that she could carry around with her, and I always admired her for it.

     Memories of the Twilight-Drive In came next, sitting next to her out in the cold air. We'd sit in the back of my dads truck, blankets and pillows sprawled across the bed of the truck, popcorn and candy pieces littered throughout from our many mini food fights we'd randomly break out in. If it was especially cold, she'd sit closer to me, leaning her head on my shoulder and I'd pull one of the many blankets over her. This was when she was most peaceful, sometimes I would purposely tune out the movie and try my best to listen in on her slow and quiet breaths, finding comfort in the serenity of it. I'd look down at her, admiring how her soft features would glow in the dim light of the movie projection and the night sky. She really was beautiful, and I'm sure that these were the nights where it really stood out to me.

    Not only was she beautiful physically, but mentally as well. She had been through so much, endured so much bullshit yet she still had a soft and warm personality that would draw people in. She was energetic, magnetic, electric. Every word she spoke you could hear the emotion behind it, even if it was a useless sentence that had no meaning at all. She was a human piece of art really, she was all of the art in the world placed into a breathing, living person. Poetic and colourful, abstract but simple, she is everything that I felt was beautiful in the world.

    Then came the heartbreak, the memory I wanted so badly to forget about, to ignore, but it was now stuck in my brain.  I led her on, didn't I? And not only that, but I left her crying and alone after. The tears started to fall, and I couldn't help but feel the burn of self hatred rise up from my stomach to my chest. She was broken, on the floor with tears falling from her beautiful (y/e/c) eyes, and it was all my fault because I decided to do something stupid. I decided to almost let my true feelings slip, I should have told her, I should have stayed.

    Y/N is a smart girl, she knows how to put pieces together, and she's quite good with words and if she knows a person well enough, like she knows me, she can guess what is about to come out of their mouth. She knew what I was going to say, I could see the gleam in her eye, the one that time and time again tells me that she feels the same. I brought her up and I let her crash... I am the worst person ever. It would take a miracle for her to forgive me, hell it would take a miracle for me to forgive myself.

    I straightened up and wiped the tears off my face, crying about Y/N in front of Bettys house felt wrong in some sort of sense. Thinking these thoughts about Y/N in front of Bettys house felt wrong, I just need to get away from Betty. I started up my car and ran my hand through my beanie-less hair, pulling away from the familiar home, looking back slightly to see another lone illuminated window, Bettys. And just like with Y/N, I drove away. I was gone.

Your POV-

    "You look cute with that hat on." Jughead said, smiling towards me. I looked up from my notebook and blushed, rolling my eyes and smiling.

    "Not as cute as you." I say, tapping my pencil on the paper. Jughead chuckles, shaking his head.

    "And that's where your wrong, princess." My chest warms up at the use of his nickname for me. At one point it was used to tease me, a nickname given to me by my best friend who said I acted like a princess most of the time. Now that we are together though, its turned into something more, I'm not just any princess, I'm his, and he is my prince, and I wear his crown to show that I'm his and he is mine.

    "Last time I checked, I'm never wrong, thank you though." I snap back sarcastically, beaming at him as he closes his laptop half way and looks admiringly my way.

    "I wouldn't be so sure about that, weren't you wrong today?" he asks, and I fake surprise.

    "Was I? I don't recall."

    "Yes, I'm pretty sure you were. We were listening to music in the car ride home from school and I was listening to 'Atlanta' and you tried to guess who it was by." he says, and I sink a little in my seat, trying my best to keep up my poker face.

    "None of this is ringing a bell, Beanie. I think it was just all in your imagination." I reply, shrugging and leaning back in my seat.

    "No, I still don't think so. You know the song Atlanta right, who is it by then?" he asks, smirking my way and I stutter, trying my best to think of the artist he had told me earlier.

    "Well, I-uh... twenty one pilots?" I guessed, and he threw his head back in laughter.

    "No, Stone Temple Pilots. Close though, but not really." he says once his laughter dies down a bit, and I roll my eyes.

    "Whatever, same difference." I shoot back, and he shakes his head.

    "Not even close." he says, and I shrug.

    "I'll get it at some point." I say confidently, and he nods.

    "I'm sure you will." he opens his laptop all the way again and starts to type, and I watch as his eyes dance across the screen and listen to the sound of keys being hit. He looks so happy, you can see it in his eyes that this is when he is most peaceful. Sometimes I stare at him, watching as he types away on his laptop, and I swear I can see the gears turning behind his loving eyes. I admire how the neon lights of the diner illuminates his face, creating an orange-y red glow that accentuates the features of his face. Sometimes I swear this is where I notice how handsome he really is, right here in this booth when he's happy and content and busy.

    I look down at my notebook, the words and doodles scribbled across the page, the smear marks of the lead being dragged across the page from my hand. I love it when a new, untouched white page in my notebook becomes a light grey, decorated with my thoughts. I stare at tonights masterpiece, just some random writing about Jughead that I had thought up of, and a doodle of a beanie that looks like a crown. As I look up from my notebook, I see he is looking at me.

    "Is there something on my face?" I asked, and he shakes his head.

    "No, nothing out of the normal. Just the usual cuteness." he says, and I laugh.

    "The cheese is strong with you, isn't it?" I asked, and he laughs as well.

    "Hey, maybe I like being cliché, did you ever think of that?" he asks, closing his laptop and placing it in his bag.

    "Yes, I have. Its not a hard thing to pick up on, especially since you do it so often." I reply, closing my notebook and placing it in my small backpack I use instead of a purse. I slide out of the booth seat and stand up, stretching slightly as Jughead stands up as well. I start to make my way to the door until a hand grabs my wrist and turns me around, facing Jughead. He smiles down at me and I smile up at him.

    "Have I ever told you how happy I am that I finally fixed my mistake?" he asks, which is an odd question, but those are never few and far between with Juggie.

    "What mistake?" I asked quietly, and he shrugs slightly.

    "I had bad judgement, I made a haste decision that ended up being the wrong one, and fixing it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me." he tried to explain, yet he was still being so vague.

    "What was your wrong decision?" I asked, and he opened his mouth to say something, but a banging noise drowned whatever he said out.

    "Now do you understand?" he questioned, and I shook my head.

     "No, I didn't catch what you said, the noise was too loud." I explained, and he looked down at me confused.

    "What noise?" he asked.

    "The loud banging noise." I said, shocked he hadn't heard it too.

    "I think you're lo-" there it goes again, the noise. I can't hear the second part of his sentence, and now i'm even more confused than before.

    "Did you hear it just then?" I asked, sure he had to have heard it.

    "No, are you feeling okay?" he asks me, and I take a seat back in the booth, I feel a little dizzy.

    "No, not really, I think I just need to-"

    "Wake up?" he suggests, and I look at him confused.

    "Wake up?" I asked, and he nods his head.

    "You should probably wake up, go see what the noise was." he says, and I shake my head.

    "But I'm not asle-" the noise is louder this time, more urgent sounding, like someone is banging on a door.

    "Are you going to get that?" Jughead asks, and I shake my head.

    "Get what?" I ask, and he opens his mouth to respond, but before he can I cut him off. "You know what, it doesn't matter, just tell me what your wrong decision was." I say, and he shrugs.

    "I think you need to wake up." he says, sitting in the seat of the booth across from me.

    "But-"

    "I can't tell you what you want to know. But I'm sure whatever is making that noise can." he says, and I shake my head.

    "The only one who can tell me left. He ran out, back to the one who he belongs with." I say, and Jughead shrugs.

    "Have a little faith, you still have faith in him right?" he asks, and I slowly nod.

    "I have no choice but to. When you're in love with someone, faith in them kind of comes naturally." I say, feeling quite tired. I yawn, and the diner starts to get blurry, and darker. I blink and things around me are now completely dark, and I'm laying down. I sit up slowly, raising my hand to my head and I feel the beanie on me. It was a dream. Of course it was a dream.

Knock! Knock!

    Who the hell is here right now? I look at my phone and see its 1:27am, its a little early for visitors, who in their right mind wants to talk to me now?

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@kelly27crickett 

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Review: Atlanta Millionaires Club

Atlanta Millionaires Club is the third album from indie folk artist Faye Webster. She takes a wonderful step forward in her artistry by using the project to paint a vivid portrait of all the elements that encompass heartbreak. And with only 10 tracks and a 32 minute run time, she gives you enough time to run it back and cry with her again which is probably being generous.

Webster’s method to convey her thoughts is singing but it doesn’t even really feel like she’s singing on here. Her singing is in such a hushed tone on this record, it sounds like she can burst into tears at any time. So as soon as you hear her words come in with that steel guitar on “Room Temperature” you're instantly swallowed into her heartache. You become invested in her pain and wonder what awful human being could make a person say things like “Nothing means anything, at least anymore.”

It’s those gloomy lyrics after a heartbreak that display a vulnerability that makes it easy to relate to. She sings about her sadness affecting her loved ones with her mother telling her “she’s tired of [Faye’s] sad songs”. And her thoughts get even more despondent when she asks “Jonny, did you ever love me?” Losing a lover doesn’t only leave her questioning the relationship but has her looking inward as well. But she also shows she’s not taking herself too seriously when we get humorous lines like “I miss your voice, you’re the only one with it.” 

All the lyrics on this album are just as straightforward as that. Faye doesn’t opt to use any metaphors or deep lyrical gymnastics to communicate. She sings the lyrics just as she thinks them and everything should be taken at face value especially when she further explains in an interview that "Pigeon" is based on a true story and she actually did send a pigeon to her boyfriend in Australia.

To me, the only fault in the record is when she enlists her Awful Records affiliate Father to come in and take center stage on the track “Flowers”. It takes away from solely focusing on her story and I would have been content only listening to her longing sadness the entire album.

This doesn’t take away from the many highlights of the album though, especially standout “Jonny”. This track shows Faye dealing with the aftermath of her broken relationship and detailing with sharp lyrics her rock bottom. She is very specific when she talks about looking to religion for help (“Sometimes I pray but I will never close my eyes”) and the feelings of loneliness (“And get over how my dog is my best friend/And he doesn’t even know what my name is”) but she does it in such a simple and relatable way that it hits an emotional pocket of a listener that not many can hit.

That is why when she revisits that lush brass and those soothing strings again on the outro “Jonny (Reprise)” no one can be mad. She takes the time to finally get the closure that she’s been working for the entire album. She opts not to sing but instead gives us a poem. Comparing herself to a “white wall [that] seem[s] empty…” but “stands complete”. For the entirety of the record Webster is longing for her lost relationship but at the end she lets us know that she is finally ready to say goodbye. That goodbye is not so much meant for her ex to hear but for herself to hear so she knows things will eventually be ok.

[writingstylez]

🧠🧠🧠 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #poetrycommunity #poetry #poetsofinstagram #poetsociety #poet #poems #poem #poemsporn #poemsofinstagram #creative #creativewriting #art #artistsoninstagram #artist #artists #melanin #selfie #goodmorning #goodmorningpost #goodafternoon #friday #tgif #love #relationships #wordporn #words #atlanta #atl (at Atlanta, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuMQkpWgU14/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1zqqza574z31

[sherilynnmarilyn]

There's an intense desire to love and be loved In proper dosages and all the time 24/7 - 365 We have missed the in depth thoughts The longing of captivating words The touch of your hands Lips amongst the skin The warmth in between the legs Completing the journey with the cross of our paths Igniting the Love, that will always last . Poem by "SherilynnMarilyn" . Photographer, Makeup Artist, Creative Director @sherilynnmarilyn Model @tarenstar . #mua #creative #advertising #beauty #modeling #entrepreneur #potd #portraitphotography #blackandwhite #empowerment #colourucosmetics #sephora #anastasiabeverlyhills #anastasiabrows #lashes #womanempowerment #melanin #love #nails #fashionstyle #empowerment #emotional #marketing #cosmeticbrands #modeloftheyear (at East Atlanta) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuA2iqthiHf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1s2wyb10wxdad

[padeloach]

Words Strung Together

I’m a lover of books for oh so many reasons. They are there when I need information on a new or old interest. They comfort me when I just want to sit curled up under a blanket and sipping hot tea. They let me travel to faraway places and different eras. They evoke emotions from laughing to crying. Books just make me happy!!

As I attended 30A Songwriter Festival earlier this month, it started to dawn on me that books are words strung together and that words strung together can be more than just books. They can be essays, poems and even songs. These strung together words that have become songs can evoke similar powerful emotions as my beloved books. As my husband and I hopped from venue to venue listening to all kinds of songwriters and their stories I became totally smitten with two that I would like to share with you.

Chasing Lovely : This is a sister duo that is now based out of Atlanta. Their songs Always and Never Enough and Speak Out brought me to tears. Chloe and Taylor truly live the struggles of our times and are not afraid to speak out and take a stance. Click on the links above to hear their music, read their lyrics and delightful blog.

Korby Lenker : This guy just made me smile and of course he had me when he sang this song Book Nerd and talked about taking his mom on book tour with him. Yes- he is also an author: Medium Hero is a collection of short stories that range from humorous to thought provoking.

If you are so moved please support these artists by buying their music or book.