Bamalama poetry

So the thing about speech kids is that they visit. And then they get things done. Boom-like dynamite.

And then they have to wake up in the morning, finish packing, and drive through Iowa. What winning?

Limerick for a Saturday

There once was a girl from Nantucket
She carried her life in a bucket
The bucket started to leak
Which made her look weak
So she yelled at the people to "suck it."

I hope you enjoyed that little impromptu limerick. I think it's the basis for a really good prose. Called "Leaked."

That Story About Answering Phones

Thus begins the first day of the extension. With some grace, we managed to start a bit later, although I'm still attempting to convince Kris that my natural sleep schedule does not include the words "Meet in the Courtyard by 7:30." What a shame too. I could use the shut eye.

I will say that I am getting back on track with letter writing. Since this past week was one fraught with campers and no sleep, I felt I could not devote the necessary time to letters, so this week I'm responding to all of the things!

Oh, here's that story about the phone call.  My mother so kindly reminded me.

Remember Slam Camp? Well, since I picked everyone up from the airport, I had all of their phone numbers saved in my phone, including Kika's.

Fast forward. Last week (yes, the one before Speech Camp), I got a call from what I thought was Kika. My phone said Kika, and smart phones are really smart. So I answered in a Kika appropriate:

"HEY GURL HEY! Whachu do?"
"Hi, is Kelsey there?"
"Gurl! This is!"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yeah, spit it poet."
[Silence]

At this point I'm a little confused, because the Kika I know would have not only appreciated this greeting, but would have responded in kind. Too confused to continue, I began again:

"Are you still there?"
"May I speak to Kelsey?"
"Yes, this is she."
"Kelsey, this is Teri from GTS (Gustavus Technology Services)"
[Gulp]

Uh.......  WHAT??!?!! You mean to say that I just greeted GTS in a very non-GTS approved fashion? Woof. My Life. I would like to point out that I confirmed with Justin that my phone did, in fact, say Kika as the caller ID, and that I'm not just delusional.

After I finished my job related call with the now confirmed non-Kika caller, I set down my phone and looked panicked.  When Justin asked what happened, I responded with, "That was not who I assumed it to be..."

Since then I've done some digging and it turns out that the GTS number was saved under Kika's contact info. Strange, I'll admit, considering that I have texted her in the past... So let your lesson be learned, answer your phone only when you're sure. Or just don't answer your phone. Whatever works for you.

Get Free Poet (Just Kidding, Stay There)

Oh yes, it's a Gustie Poem.
Even though it's Thursday. I give my heart to you anon.
I wish with all my being to wake up
A new born
Speech critiquing super coach
And to let the people see how good they can be.
Sweat out the negatives at the Dive,
And choose instead, sweet dreams
On which ride the gusts of opportunity.
G.O.A.T.

Uh... you get the point... Sort of.

Better Believe I Dig Poetry!

Another.... And another...
Haikus never get old.

Blog views are down, mom
But practice takes lots of work
One on Ones begin.

Monday? Never Would Have Guessed That

Another poem for another day:

Short blog posts reflect
Pieces to be cut or found
Streets ahead, Pride 1.

Haiku for 148

Yet another SSI induced poem:

Last performances--
Bitter sweet. Library sesh:
Finding lit is hard.

Put Your Hands in the Air!

SPEECH CAMP!!!!!!!!!
Therefore I will be writing poetry- get with it.

There once was a pride at speech camp
Their name was renowned (like Lamp)
They brought all their stuff,
And moved to the bluff
And no, we don't need an amp.

Am I a Poet?

rainbow
lemon
floss

These are the three words given to me by my lovely roommate, Mariecus in order to make this blog, apparently, fantastical. What should I do with them? That's an excellent question.

The good news is that we could do a little grammar lesson. Talk about the purpose of nouns and verbs, direct objects, and transitive verbs. But I'm afraid that with any amount of that, I would end up losing a lot of readership and the few friends I have collected over the last 20 years of my life. So I won't go there. (Though if you would like me to give you a itty-bitty English lesson, I'm all kinds of chalkboard.)

But instead, I will take a different tangent and talk a bit about poetry and the reflexivity of words-especially in music. So put an ear to this tune and see what you think of this. For reference sake, this is Kurt Elling (shameless plug: he's a Gustie with a Grammy-what up world?) and this song never fails to make me smile.

And I feel that Mariecus's list of words inspires the same kind of poetic interlude. 

Lemon rainbow floss,

Floss the lemon rainbow. 

Floss the lemon, rainbow-

Rainbows floss lemons.

Floss rainbow lemons. 

Floss! Rainbow lemon. 

And that is my post dedicated to Mariecus's random days. 

It's 4am and I'm Wide Awake Singing a Song

Good news: I survived.
Bad news: I'm exhausted.

So this morning at 3:55am my alarm goes off. It sounds a lot like a fire alarm, so it's pretty effective in making me jump out of bed. But just in case, I set an alarm for 4:00am, and 4:05am too. But I was up and at them at 3:55 and Justin and I made a quick coffee and donut run before making sure that the 4 last poets to the airport. And although they were sleepy, we made it out of there in plenty of time. The only tragic moment of the day was when my coffee cup failed me and proceeded to spill the black gold contents of the magic cup all over my lap-whilest driving. Basically the worst occurrence ever. Hot coffee everywhere and I'm wearing khaki shorts.  Boo that. But the worst of it is that I have lost precious amounts of coffee. Woe is me.

But we got there on time and said our tearful goodbyes. Then Justin and I boogied back home to get some sleep.  Well, actually, I was too awake to sleep right then, so I went for a little walk around the arb.  Wrote a little bit, napped a bit, and came back before it got too hot. And for a good chunk of the afternoon, I took a nap and have begun the 3rd season of Mad Men. So despite being far too early to wake up, I think today was pretty prime.

The Sun'll come out- long after I wake up!

Let's hear it for the end of slam camp!!! Ok, tomorrow is the end end as the last of the poets make their way home on planes. Oh, planes you say? Yes, the earliest of the planes means that I am bringing 4 disgruntled students and Justin to the airport tomorrow at 4:45 am. That means, I'm going to bed. Right now. Now. Ok now. Now. NOW.

You get the point.

Also: Michelle, I will call you tomorrow. When I have the cognitive ability to hold a conversation.

We Are Slamily

Today-we slammed.

And tomorrow-we slam.

And then I drive all the people to the airport and sleep in a different dorm.

And then I wake up long before God does and do that again.

This is my weekend, and haters gonna hate.

But seriously, this slam camp has been incredible to watch. It's remarkable how invested each poet is in not only their own work, but in the work of every single other person there. I honestly believe that the instructors are learning just as much as the kids are and I can't wait to see what in the world these people are coming up with. Here in a year, you'll be hearing about them-rocking worlds and spitting words in the air. Incredible to witness, and incredible to be involved. I'm honored and humbled by the amount of talent and passion that has collected here at GAC for a few short days. Keep it up "Slamily," you will do great things.

In other news, I would like to welcome Spaulding and Ben to the letter leader boards. No one has taken a clear lead yet, so get those pens to cranking.

Themed Thursday: The Pitch

THEMED THURSDAY!!!!

I hope you got yourself pumped up for this-because I did. So I've been talking a lot about writing with slam camp and all. But here, Michelle and I have concocted a different sort of writing for this blog-off spectacular. It all started from this obsession we have with Mad Men. That means advertising, and that means a pitch (no, not the baseball kind... or for you extra stringent feminists out there- softball). So that's what we're doing. We're pitching you a pencil. The regular kind. You know, the one you learned to write with and then had to have in your pencil box all through elementary school? The familiar, sunshiny yellow friend that got you through handwriting books and in class assignments.  Those were the good old days. So here goes, I'm pitching and you're catching. Play ball!


There are a variety of ways we can take this-art work wise in the very least, and this mantra has the capability of branching from print to film with out another thought. In it's simplest form, the slogan is the thing.  The sheer imagination inherent in the product itself. This is the tool for any child, any person to draw, create, write, imagine, and enjoy. There is nothing new or remarkable, but this is the product of the American dream.  Simple tools to achieve great things. And the Yellow #2 Pencil is the thing to do it with. And all #2 Pencils have 35 miles worth of creativity. "Where will that write you?"

So although I'm by no means the best on the art team, I'm doing my best in dealing with the budget cuts. So please excuse the artwork until I lure someone more artistic than I back into the studio. I'm working with the simple tools supplied to me.

And that, concludes today. Boom.

Haiku Death Match

In order to make
this an interesting blog
I will write: haikus.

Mariecus, Ava
And I judged a slam haiku--
As in, to the death.

A violent battle
Judged by scarves of silent wit
A-shusha-shush-shush

The Great Oz will speak
And pantomime applause for
Silence is the rule

Endings can be hard
But humor is an asset
Squirrels and Werewolves thrive.

I'd Give This Post a 8.1

Please welcome your JUDGES!!!!

Dats right. Mariecus, Ava, and I went to our first poetry slam. As judges.

Slam camp is swinging and these kids are already up and batting.  Well, sort of. They did some "Cover Slam" for us tonight. So basically they read someone else's poem with only 10 minutes of prep. Good, sure! Especially for some of them who haven't performed much. There are some who don't have any fear of audiences, but others are a little more cautious and they are bound to be learning all kinds of things here.

Just imagine what kind of environment this is fostering. A place where high schoolers can express themselves in their own words, then in a controlled, supportive place find their voice and get the encouragement and feedback that they crave. This is genius! And I've already bragged about the people working with them.  Holy smashed avocados (Get it?). It's going to be beyond epic. And I totally dig it.

Bet You Want My Job [Sunday Edition]

Let's hear it for the slammers! Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyyiyiyi!!!! That's not what they actually do, but for serious-there be some serious talent on the GAC campus this week. Holla. And I'm really excited to tell you all about the rhyme-spinning wizards that are be-boping around St. P for the week. I mean, let's be real, Strings camp was fun, but this is going to be off the heezy. (Is that how that's spelled? Running with it.)

Let's give you a little run down of all of the professional talent on campus. Here you go:

Sierra DeMulder: Transplant to Minneapolis, and is working word magic like this:

Next up is Cuban Hernandez. Coming all the way up here from farther south than me, and that doesn't mean anything because I'm just farther south than Minnesota. So there. 

And lastly, Adam Henze. I know Adam from some speech things, he tends to lurk around here and there and once in a while we see each other creeping from opposite corners. It's a good time.

So now that I've given you about an hours worth of putzing around on youtube having your mind blown from the sheer power of words, I'm going to go to bed and get some shut eye before a new day of stellar-awesome-word-bashing-fun begins.

Prague delay (just like real life)

I procrastinate
Far too well to update you
Seventeen syll'bles

(that means you don't say that syllable right? Ok, great, glad we're on the same page.) I'll be done with my Philosophy paper I'm writing about Moua by tomorrow, so I'll tell you about our most exciting day in Prague.

Hints to keep you reading this blog and not to skip it like you probably want to right now because I let you down:
1) There were pretty things
2) There was singing
3) There was good food

That's it! "I'm the stone you can't squeeze blood from and that's the truuuuuuth!" (That's a Muppet's Christmas Carol quote for you.)

You probably also were the one to throw me out the door, I'll accept that fate....