sitting in one of the satellite wi-fi enabled offices, prepping to knock out a little hard work. but then, "hard" is relative, huh? i've got contracts and invoices, and ideas to make manifest--much better than just turning in from a day chopping cotton or cane in the fields, i know.
everything is relative.
i suppose i write at this moment to jumpstart both my brain and my fingers. i did take the plunge and got a smaller, more updated powerbook. it feels...cool. :-) now i just have to wear this one out.
and wear it out i shall, with all of the things dancing in my head. i have a comprehensive implementation plan for the theatre company, my artistic life, various business endeavors, and an overall timeline that is ambitious, if not down right complicated at times.
but sometimes i fight with myself on what to do first: do i squeeze out the first of about 3 novels that have been conceptualized, outlined, or started? what about the poems (which seem to always find their way onto various and sundry pieces of paper, napkins, etc.; and the essays...oh the essays! and play number...9...yeah, that's a pressing one along with number 10.
then comes the timeline: i definitely have a timeline for play number 9, play number 8's production, and play number 10's rapid development, as well as screenplay number one. if i do those first, then i can get to novel 1, novella 1, and short story 5(?) and essay-i've-lost-count...
day before yesterday, i saw the phenomenal documentary film "Music is My Life, Politics my Mistress," about the life of the late Oscar Brown, Jr. if it comes anywhere near you, SEE IT. that brotha was a trail-blazer: over 1,000 written songs, 500 spoken word/poetry pieces, and 12 plays. cats like that are models for this current generation of people who consider themselves cultural contributors. seeing a film like that basically eroded for me any chance of finding that elusive thing called sleep.
sleep. wow. anybody else out there looking for that mystic, mythical, legendary wraith? it hides from me, poking it's head up at the most inopportune moments, teasing me with a nod here and there, then fleeing when a conscious thought that desires birth shows its determined, dogged face in the room of my consciousness.
has anyone else found peace with this ghost called sleep? it haunts my physical temple from time to time. every now and then i embrace it and let it possess me, wiping away tension and floating off to another plane with my conscious worries in short-term storage.
but i sometimes fear this phantom, sleep. it wants to rob me of my human potential, to block me from fulfilling THE CALL, to stand in the threshold of success and say, "Why not take a walk with me for a while," with a beguiling smile.
i suppose i shall have to live with this spirit; accept it as a living thing that has a right to life--in my life. perhaps, if i let it have it's way from time to time, it will give me enough strength to stand tall and face a better tomorrow.
i can't help but to wonder, though: in a time where so many of our people desire sleep--either mental or physical--as a continuous companion, if those of us who are called to realize the dreams we get when within its grasp when we awaken aren't willing to lose it some, where will our people stand? how will we grow? how will we know?
i go now. i just got some really healthy sprout/cucumber/hummus sandwich that's good for me (translation: "probably tastes like fluffed green dirt but as i'm getting older i have to watch what i eat when i'm starving after 10 pm so that i don't contract the i-tis."). so i'mma eat and then get on this work.
speak on your thoughts.
joc
just a quick one from my hotel in Hayti (Pronounced Hay-Tye), Missouri. i'm performing HOW BLAK KIN EYE BEE? at a conference tomorrow. i'm looking forward to it. i've modified the show a little, for a younger audience, so i'm not gonna talk long--gonna make my tech changes.
i am excited, because i just put all my sound cues on my i-pod. Sisters With Voices did a Hurricane Katrina Benefit with my theatre company and they had everything on the i-pod. it was so cool, i had to try it. i've mentioned it to some other performers and they've used it to their benefit, so i'm ready to roll with it for the first time.
on the way in, we saw a lot of the West Tennessee tornado devastation. a town up the road had 60% of it destroyed, and a town 10 miles down the road from where we are had almost 100% of it destroyed. our hotel is full of FEMA workers. i tell you, it's humbling to see the devastation of a natural disaster.
well, i'm going to go over some lines and changes, then get (drumroll...) a FULL night's sleep!! lol...now THAT's rare. but i figure if i'm going to step aside and let The Ancestors speak through me tomorrow, i might as well shore up the vessel.
blessings and have a good holiday.
hey hey...a note from the coffee-shop/office post-News and Notes Roundtable appearance. the movie, The Second Chance DOES open in Memphis, TN this weekend. so if you know friends, family, or enemies there, call them and tell them to check it out. they can find listings at Fandango.com. ah, the beauty of technology.
sending a special web shout out to my fellow Roundtable members Dr. Mary Frances Berry (www.maryfrancesberry.com) and Tara Setmayer (www.tarasetmayer.com). we had a rockin' good time with Farai (www.faraichideya.com) on the show this morning. if you want to hear it, as usual, click on the NPR link on this site and have yourself a blast. i've said it before and i'll say it again: if there is a more informative, stimulating radio program that covers the spectrum of news and culture from our perspective than News and Notes with Ed Gordon, i don't know about it. keep up with it by going to www.npr.org and checking out the show, if you're not already a listener, either via the radio or the web.
i think i've torn up my powerbook, pray for a brother. it's not gone yet, but it is wearing down. i'm kinda holding off on getting the new Macbook pro, because i've heard mixed reviews. so if i'm able--or if someone wants to hook me up with a mac endorsement--i think i'll go for a 12-inch powerbook with a super drive. it's a little smaller than my 15 incher, but i like the style and portability of it.
Ordinary Heroes
the play i talked about in the last entry just had its first public reading and it went well. a sold-out house and lot of good feedback. i anticipate minimum re-writes and a February world premiere here in Nashville. keep an eye and an ear out for it, it's an important piece.
well, i think that's all for now. i'm going to get out and hit it. i've put in a solid 3 1/2 hours of office work in here at the coffee shop and my but is starting to scream for relief. when i get a coffee shop one day, will someone remind me to consider padded seats? (or will i be thinking, don't pad the seats because customers will stay all day and you won't be able to rotate in new people?) hmmm...we'll cross that bridge one day. that's one of the side dreams: a little coffee shop, named after my pop, where people can go early and late, and hear good music and eat good stuff and see good friends and have great debates that will spawn the next generation of creative and intellectual minds. btw...
congrats to my brother, Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr, of Howard University. he has a profile on him in the campus paper and is getting ready to unleash a blitzkrieg [sp] of intellectual wisdom on the world. mark this word: your grandkids will be studying his texts. keep an eye out for him, because that cat is bad. i say that because he IS. AND he is my brother and i'm proud as all get out of him for all the lives he's touching and transforming in the classroom. if you've had the opportunity to take his class in African-American studies, you know i'm not lying. if i was a modern-day prosperity preacher, i'd tell you "You know Da Lawd is movin' yo' heart. Go on up there and when you see him, put a fifty dollar bill in his pocket, and God'll bless yah real good!"
did i tell ya'll i've heard that before from the pulpit. that's another story.
keep pressing on. someone FINALLY got the answer to my question in the blogbeforelast. i'll send out a cd Nekar.
peace
joc
