Words Of Wisdom

Because I wanted to have a place to create everything that I that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You animals. There's a movie theater.

~Michael Jackson

Open Mic

Women’s / Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike

Feb 23 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Hosted by Vittoria Repetto—the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the Lower East Side—the jam has showcased the famous, the infamous, the unknown for over a decade. Come out and deliver (up to) 8 minutes of your poetry, prose, songs and spoken word. 

Bluestockings
172 Allen Street
New York, NY

Words Of Wisdom

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

~Marcus Aurelius, Soldier (121-180)

Current Read

The is the book I'm currently reading. This was the only novel Sylvia Plath wrote.

Words Of Wisdom

Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent.


~Virginia Woolf, Author (1882-1941)

Transformation

My wife and I will perform in a play at church later this month in honor of black history month. My wife will perform a monologue and read a poem. I will read a monologue. We have been involved with the theater arts for about a year. The leader pointed out that to my wife that she is a good actor and that I was a natural storyteller. 

I'm quiet and reserved by nature. Performing and writing plays and doing improv has allowed me to go outside of myself. I'm not a perfectionist but I like to do things well. When I rely on the script so much, my natural story telling came through. 

I wrote a novella but will rewrite it. I will be rewritten from a transgender prism. This just came out of the blue. I never wanted to limit myself just as a transgender writer. I realize now that my trans experience needs to be incorporated because it is who I am as a person. More onion layers are being peeled away. I'm being transformed in mind and heart. 

Tangerine Movie

I watched this movie at the Sage Center last night. Off the bat you would think that it's about transgender women who are down on their luck. Tangerine is offbeat, funny, quirky, thought provoking and real in some cases. Many qualities come through. Betrayal, anger, desire, friendship. In spite of their circumstances, positive qualities come through.

The language is rough but life on the street isn't pretty. The movie didn't focus on transgender women per se but on the story of Sin-Dee and Alexandra, two women who through thick and thin stay with each other.  

Tangerine was filmed on an I-pad which I found fascinating. A lot more of this type of film is in offing I believe.

Today's Word

SEPULCHRAL, adj.

Very sad and serious: very dismal and gloomy

Orlando

I recently read Virginia Woolf' s book Orlando which was published in 1928. I am familiar with some of Mrs. Woolf's work, and this book didn't disappoint. It is the story of a man who wakes up as a woman three decades later. It was here that the book became much clearer. Orlando learns what it is to be in a woman's shoes and the things expected of women. Orlando is in the 16th one day then wakes up in 19th century the next. 

Orlando learned much about the the aspects of femininity. It speaks to me as a transgender woman and the things I had to learn. I wonder if Virginia Woolf was dealing with some of the same issues as Orlando? 

I would recommend reading Orlando to anyone and will make the book a staple part of my personal library. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Orlando an eight. 

Words Of Wisdom

I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.


~Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet (1917-2000)