very groovy film shoot in me studio today

watching the actress struggle with her inability to access her creative side did wonders for me - saved time and psychotherapy. I'm looking forward to my two-week Beautiful Downtown Sacramento Art Staycation in my very own much too expensive (but good-enough-for-indiefilm) space.

Not being able to touch is sometimes as interesting as being able to touch.
-Andy Goldsworthy

Poetic Form: Cascade Poem
Posted by Robert

Since I was having trouble coming up with a poem today, I thought I'd investigate a new poetic form to help prompt me into action. I've seen the cascade poem mentioned a few times online, but I always assumed it meant the poem was comprised of stanzas with indented lines (creating a kind of cascading effect). But after researching online, I realize this assumption is wrong.

The cascade poem was a form invented by Udit Bhatia (who also apparently created the Alliterisen, which I'll try to deal with in a future post). For the cascade poem, a poet takes each line from the first stanza of a poem and makes those the final lines of each stanza afterward. Beyond that, there are no additional rules for rhyming, meter, etc.

So to help this make sense, here's what a cascade poem with a tercet would look like:

A
B
C

a
b
A

c
d
B

e
f
C


I have my paintings back
rolled tight for five years as I waited for my life to settle
the color is still vibrant and alive right where I had laid it down

after the end of the end of the world
the last nail fallen from the sky, the children grown
I have my paintings back

darkness folded in, and a mantis skeleton - in tact
moved from a friend's house to friend's house to a basement, dank
rolled tight for five years as I waited for my life to settle

wrinkled now, a little bit ruined
and warm from travel, unrolled, seen
the color is still vibrant and alive right where I had laid it down

Slimed!

Okay, so in the middle of a Huffington Post article on pending massive layoffs of teachers, firefighters, policemen, etc is a warm-toned ad of a beautiful, kind-of vaguely post-porn looking girl with a news-flash announcement about a fresh, fun kind of auction that can get any idiot (that would be me) an iPad (in this case I was wanting a camera) for pennies on the price in a new penny auction. Click to get to a tri-state evening news report that makes the site look legit, fun, (if potentially addictive) blahblah. Click something else and you have four minutes to sign up. All looks good. money back guarantees, yeah. seen on every tv show in the universe, endorsed by ...or at least all these big logos are there... three minutes to enter your zip code, password, next page: two minutes to enter card info. (Where was that little pop-up?) right over the part where they rip me off in a non-refundable way? Almost surely.

Once in, (oh this is too boring to even write about). Anyway - an experience of manic, yes-addictive, high-speed, multi-bet pure gambling greed! did i win? did I win?? ooh, whose that asshole that wants my Walmart card?? "Spiffy"? - oh, please!! bid bid bid. just a penny a click. so no big deal. but you work have to play to win bids so you can bid more. big items require you to attach a 1000 bid contribution to your bid, which vanishes, apparently, if someone gets your item first.

If no one else bids in the last ten seconds, the item is yours. 4.3.2.1. Winner!! "Goodlala saved 89%" woohoo! (of course you win quickly so you think it's all possible...but you only seem to win bids). "Spiffy" or "Hothands" is always there bidding - and you can see that they've won 32,547 times and the icon that represents them is three little fires, whereas you of six wins is represented by one little happy face. If they bid before the ten seconds are up, the clock resets to ten seconds and in this way goes by all those awkward days, nights and months of double-dip recession unemployment (without health insurance).

So, I checked my account. huh??? $150 gone!. Wha...? Turns out the floating "you have three minutes" (god, I'm an IDIOT!) pop-up button was over the part where you are buying a membership (NO mention of that anywhere else) and that that membership gives you 300 "bonus" bids at 50c a piece. Deducted. The money back guarantee, I'm told by the 'chat' girl is always honored. "Your experience is important to us." Uh huh. All I have to do is play everyday and NOT have WON in 30 days. Of course, I have already won. And LOST.

The company: Swipebid says they are in Utah, but are apparently in Canada. Shame on the News Reporters and the Huffington Post and all us greedy, bullshit consumers out there.

I don't even WANT an IPad. I just don't want 'Spiffy" to get it instead of me.

I need a lawyer and a confessional.

I've been doing much better in my recent aims to de-digitize (at least some). But I feel like I've let the devil lick my face (and steal my wallet).

Bad Lala! no iPad!