okay. so I'm glad that I put out a zine, and I have been giving it away mostly. what I don't like is that there are a bunch of discrepancies and errors. the most glaring ones:
spell bound - previous version; I like the one in the zine better.
bend to my breeze - the lines on the bottom of the first two pages of this poem were cut off, and I've changed the line "as I beamed at you" to "as I blew through you" since making the zine.
freedom isn't free - this one isn't on here. the bottom was cut off on the first page of this poem for most of the copies. the last two lines are "how does the "enemy" have the same guns/ as our daughters and sons?"
moebius, cast, expanded - misplaced "sometimes I can't decide if humanity should be saved" in the zine. the online version is how it's meant to be.
it's possible that I will do a second edition with corrections. right now, however I am working on some other things. more about them later.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
moebius notes
so I gave an impromptu reading last night at 2640's Mini Zine Fest Oh Eight, and I think that it went rather well, considering a few things that I guess I wouldn't have figured out without giving said reading.
first of all, I should not do my showier pieces when I am not possessed by them. the last time I performed, I was my writing, and I do believe it showed. I have pieces that need a lot of passion in their presentation, and to do anything less, I'm finding, really detracts from them. I don't feel that it's because the words aren't good enough on their own, more because they need to be expressed in a fashion that the audience will pay attention to them enthusiastically enough to understand what I am trying to express.
"moebius, cast, expanded" is admittedly one of my favorite pieces right now, so it's not ludicrous that I immediately decided to do that one when asked to read. however, this is not a piece to be read; it's one that needs to be presented. I did alright, but I just feel like it was butchered when calling to mind the rapturous sermon I made of it at Sensarium. I have done this poem a bit since I've finalized it, and I think it's time to put it away for awhile. also, I need to remember that I have plenty of other writing that is more suitable for readings, or new situations. trying to do a piece that requires a lot of focus and energy when I am not sure about the audience has led to a feeling of slight disappointment, because I know how much more effective it would be in a different situation.
something that had worked for me during Sensarium was having a short opening piece. I said hello to get used to the mic, and did a relatively easy, sensual poem to warm up to the energy level needed for "moebius..." what was pretty cool that night is that I knew I was going to nail it, I was totally absorbed by it.
so what do I do when I'm not? this is not the only work that I have where I need that dedication to pull off what I know I can accomplish performance-wise, and I know that not every gig will be one where I will have that. not that I'm not into those events, it's more that the vibe is different. I have a habit of reading memorized pieces when I'm not sure of myself, so that I have a prop. I trip up because I waffle between recitation and reading, and then I don't look up because there is a part of me that is scared to see how the audience is doing. it's so different when I just go from memory and feed off of what I see on others' faces.
I've decided to try selecting pieces that don't call for that level of showiness. I have some that actually fare well with an honest reading, and some that work well with only moderate amounts of ham. I call to mind when I read at Load of Fun recently, and had no idea what I was going to read. I went with angry, funny stuff, stuff that I think does well with my voice every now and then, because I can show how much of an exaggeration of my emotions these pieces are, and seem less... cruel. yeah, cruel. when I am upset about something, oh, the venom my words become so that I can deal with the actual situation with some grace. it's cathartic to do so, and makes me feel a little more sane because I have tangible evidence of how irrational someone can be when in a fit of rage. also, I like it when people laugh at me, I like the rant, and I like the cleansed feeling after purging myself of it.
as you can tell, I take these things rather seriously. I find that I am concerned with my writing on many levels, and now that I am reading and performing more, how I sound and how I interact with the audience is very important to me. I don't want to feel caught off guard when asked to read, and I'm glad that I am figuring out what does and does not work. I haven't been putting as much effort into the selection of pieces for more mellow gigs, and now I am finding that I need to remedy that. this is good.
the Zine Fest was a good experience for me, though I was tired and maybe a little underwhelmed by my own participation. I sold one of mine, which was my goal, exchanged for another zine, and gave some away, which I always end up doing. I got another chance to have a captive audience, and though I don't think I blew anyone's mind (there was a pretty entertaining zinester who read his stuff as part of a performance art heavy on audience participation... I will update with his name later when I remember it... anyway, he got a very good response.), I did get a couple of compliments from strangers. good enough for me.
p.s. - soon I will be posting some revisions to said zine, because I just don't feel like fixing it right now.
first of all, I should not do my showier pieces when I am not possessed by them. the last time I performed, I was my writing, and I do believe it showed. I have pieces that need a lot of passion in their presentation, and to do anything less, I'm finding, really detracts from them. I don't feel that it's because the words aren't good enough on their own, more because they need to be expressed in a fashion that the audience will pay attention to them enthusiastically enough to understand what I am trying to express.
"moebius, cast, expanded" is admittedly one of my favorite pieces right now, so it's not ludicrous that I immediately decided to do that one when asked to read. however, this is not a piece to be read; it's one that needs to be presented. I did alright, but I just feel like it was butchered when calling to mind the rapturous sermon I made of it at Sensarium. I have done this poem a bit since I've finalized it, and I think it's time to put it away for awhile. also, I need to remember that I have plenty of other writing that is more suitable for readings, or new situations. trying to do a piece that requires a lot of focus and energy when I am not sure about the audience has led to a feeling of slight disappointment, because I know how much more effective it would be in a different situation.
something that had worked for me during Sensarium was having a short opening piece. I said hello to get used to the mic, and did a relatively easy, sensual poem to warm up to the energy level needed for "moebius..." what was pretty cool that night is that I knew I was going to nail it, I was totally absorbed by it.
so what do I do when I'm not? this is not the only work that I have where I need that dedication to pull off what I know I can accomplish performance-wise, and I know that not every gig will be one where I will have that. not that I'm not into those events, it's more that the vibe is different. I have a habit of reading memorized pieces when I'm not sure of myself, so that I have a prop. I trip up because I waffle between recitation and reading, and then I don't look up because there is a part of me that is scared to see how the audience is doing. it's so different when I just go from memory and feed off of what I see on others' faces.
I've decided to try selecting pieces that don't call for that level of showiness. I have some that actually fare well with an honest reading, and some that work well with only moderate amounts of ham. I call to mind when I read at Load of Fun recently, and had no idea what I was going to read. I went with angry, funny stuff, stuff that I think does well with my voice every now and then, because I can show how much of an exaggeration of my emotions these pieces are, and seem less... cruel. yeah, cruel. when I am upset about something, oh, the venom my words become so that I can deal with the actual situation with some grace. it's cathartic to do so, and makes me feel a little more sane because I have tangible evidence of how irrational someone can be when in a fit of rage. also, I like it when people laugh at me, I like the rant, and I like the cleansed feeling after purging myself of it.
as you can tell, I take these things rather seriously. I find that I am concerned with my writing on many levels, and now that I am reading and performing more, how I sound and how I interact with the audience is very important to me. I don't want to feel caught off guard when asked to read, and I'm glad that I am figuring out what does and does not work. I haven't been putting as much effort into the selection of pieces for more mellow gigs, and now I am finding that I need to remedy that. this is good.
the Zine Fest was a good experience for me, though I was tired and maybe a little underwhelmed by my own participation. I sold one of mine, which was my goal, exchanged for another zine, and gave some away, which I always end up doing. I got another chance to have a captive audience, and though I don't think I blew anyone's mind (there was a pretty entertaining zinester who read his stuff as part of a performance art heavy on audience participation... I will update with his name later when I remember it... anyway, he got a very good response.), I did get a couple of compliments from strangers. good enough for me.
p.s. - soon I will be posting some revisions to said zine, because I just don't feel like fixing it right now.
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