tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148958532011-07-30T15:14:38.971-04:00WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-2750963576332833192010-09-11T08:07:00.000-04:002010-09-11T08:07:10.063-04:00

As we all know, today is the ninth anniversary of Some Bad Shit That Happened To A Bunch Of Americans. I don't know why I'm awake at 7am, but since I am, I figured it was as good a time as any to make a few rambling thoughts and partially-related tangents collect in the form of a blog post; one that will probably be preaching to the choir to half my friends&family, and further alienate me from

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-51868256541606351592010-08-31T02:58:00.000-04:002010-08-31T02:58:26.067-04:00

They told me the classics never go out of style, but...they do. Probably it's a terrible idea to post an update at ridiculous hours of insomniac AM. Between the melodramatic tendencies that seem to creep up when one is at their most sleep deprived, and my predisposition towards hysterics, it all comes together to form one ugly fucking pile of self-indulgent, this-misery-needs-company bullshit.

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-63600681147734345432010-08-12T02:36:00.000-04:002010-08-12T02:36:09.288-04:00

Ten minutes ago, I turned off the lights with the earnest intentions of trying to get some sleep at what is - at least in poet time - a decent hour. Now the lights are on again. I'm sitting cross-legged on a bed. This is something I never do. My mind is restless. I tried listening to Neurosis to calm it down, and that was a failure of a plan. I've been home from St. Paul for 3 days, 4 if you

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-69297699384940646572010-08-05T17:29:00.000-04:002010-08-05T17:29:56.343-04:00

The last couple days are basically a cacophony and a whirlwind locked into an eternally violent cage match with one another, and forced to battle endlessly. This, dear friends, is exactly why I didn't promise anything but sporadic updates. At any rate...here's how it all went down. Tuesday afternoon was the rookie showcase. About 30 rookies from cities all over the country got up and threw down

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-87407412258951289602010-08-03T09:10:00.000-04:002010-08-03T09:10:08.345-04:00

7:45am. For those that don't know, I feel compelled to share this fact: I HATE 7AM!!!! Although, given the fact that I stumbled bleary-eyed off of a Greyhound bus 2 hours prior, 7am isn't that bad - it's all just a matter of perspective. Today officially marks my first experience with the National Poetry Slam. My Steel City Slam-mates have yet to arrive in St. Paul; D. Louie is flying solo and

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-45318866156954214442010-08-02T22:38:00.000-04:002010-08-02T22:38:46.837-04:00

It's 9:15 at night in Milwaukee...I'm listening to La Dispute, and thinking that with nearly four hours to go before my bus leaves the terminal, I ought to pass on a few memories of this journey. The last time I posted here, it was to share the news of my grandfather's death. I don't consider it to be sad news, really, because how sad can it be to live a full life, love more people than you

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-37919149381740330812010-07-25T00:17:00.000-04:002010-07-25T00:17:59.084-04:00

After 92 long years of life, my grandpa died in his sleep on Thursday. So it goes. As is the case with many grandfathers, there are a lot of memories. Most of them good. He lived a long life. Spread a lot of love in this world. I think the purpose of life is to leave this world a better place than it was when you were born into it. If you can say you did, then there's not all that much to be sad

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-5508782407983885612010-07-20T14:12:00.000-04:002010-07-20T14:12:03.449-04:00

I've been listening to Fugazi a lot today. Last week, at a thrift store in Wilkes-Barre PA, I found paperback copies of "The Little Prince," "The Stranger," and "Lord Of the Flies" for less than a dollar. For the first time all summer, I have something other than poetry books in my backpack, and I'm not sure how I should feel about that. Yesterday I picked up a hitchhiker named Henry. He had a

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-25784899196878026102010-07-07T13:09:00.000-04:002010-07-07T13:09:12.004-04:00

Since coming home from this tour, I've slightly scaled back the number of shows I've been doing. Of course, by "slightly scaled back" I mean I only have shows lined up every weekend in July, rather than every day for two weeks straight. To be honest, it kinda bums me out! Tour this year was an absolutely amazing experience; riding for 1500 miles with one of my best friends, Mark Paich...riding

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-68421505975222156292010-06-17T22:23:00.000-04:002010-06-17T22:23:51.500-04:00

Well, more like 9:30 in Milwaukee, but who's gonna tell. I'm chilling at Bremen Cafe, getting ready to throw down a quick poetry set at an open mic. It's been a few years since I've been in this city, and I forgot how much I like it. Usually a trip to the Midwest for me entails going to Chicago, but damn if this gritty little city ain't beautiful in its own fucked-up sort of way. This part of

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-33284779941500782892010-06-07T21:30:00.000-04:002010-06-07T21:30:17.673-04:00

We just rolled into Cousin Larry's Cafe in Danbury, CT. Righteous Brother's playing on the jukebox, and a solitary patron on the dance floor ROCKING THE FUCK OUT with a glorious lack of concern for how the world around sees him. The lights are low, the atmosphere is murky and grim...a welcome change from last night's failure. Mark and I hit Brooklyn yesterday at precisely rush hour. In Brooklyn,

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-3161005387414987252010-06-05T01:04:00.000-04:002010-06-05T01:04:43.211-04:00

First and foremost, if you were hoping to read daily updates from the road, you will be sorely disappointed. My ability - and desire - to blog is somewhere at the bottom half of my list of things I claim to be mediocre-to-decent at, and as such, I really only do so when a strong spirit moves me. However, Mark Paich and I are at my parents house; I am sipping tea, and Mark is playing video games,

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-18753654997135994912010-05-15T10:40:00.000-04:002010-05-15T10:40:53.672-04:00

The second installment of my ongoing series of what I've taken to calling "influence poems" is done. I posted the results at an absurd hour this morning; the new poem is called "the Mercy Letter (and Its Frail Replies)" and was created using lyrics from the album [A->B: Life] by mewithoutYou. Credit to Aaron Weiss for his words, and also to Jacob Bannon for the lines penned for Converge's Jane

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-11276426699621814492010-05-10T01:08:00.000-04:002010-05-10T01:08:29.526-04:00

The best thing about Sunday nights is the 2-hour marathon of Futurama that Comedy Central airs. I truly love that show...it's the second-best show in the history of television, after the X-Files. True story. There's an up-and-coming new online poetry magazine called Muzzle Magazine that's based out of Chicago. They're currently taking submissions for their inaugural issue which will be happening

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-48917917596171205492010-05-06T02:03:00.000-04:002010-05-06T02:03:13.572-04:00

I really did plan on taking it easy this month... was gonna go light on shows, not push too hard to write new shit, just get myself prepared for tour next month. That is a nice idea, but my brain seems to be resisting! So here's my newest in a series of harebrained schemes: I set up a profile at Formspring.me - it's some kind of social networking nonsense that allows people to anonymously ask

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-41803887425441428132010-05-05T13:26:00.001-04:002010-05-05T13:26:38.136-04:00

Are you a punk rocker? Are you an old crusty hardcore kid? Are you hip hop? A little bit country, a little bit rock'n'roll? It's fair to say that for those of us who dwell in the artistic realm, the music we listen to has played a major role in shaping who we are. How we see things, how we perceive the world, the labels we use to identify ourselves... As part of April's 30/30 challenge, I

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-36453691795082125372010-05-04T15:37:00.000-04:002010-05-04T15:37:21.778-04:00

New month...guess that means it's time for me to try and post something new. April was crazy! More shows than I probably played all of last year, the 30/30 challenge (which I did NOT successfully accomplish, although I did get several new poems out of it) and the Steel City Grand Slam... did a couple of library gigs towards the end of the month; one at the Knox Public Library, where I spent much

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-56746574323513927522010-04-08T09:33:00.000-04:002010-04-08T09:33:55.122-04:00

Good news, poets! The first week of NaPoWriMo is done; if you've made it this far, then you're already 1/4 of the way there. This year was the first I've ever set such an exhausting goal for myself - I've always been the one hiding behind the excuse that "you can't force inspiration" when it comes to writing, so even the idea of writing a brand-new poem, every freakin' day, for THIRTY FREAKIN'

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-56795906819066361872010-04-01T01:25:00.004-04:002010-04-01T01:37:35.570-04:00

It is 90 minutes into the 30/30 challenge and I have already broken one of the 'rules' I wanted to set for myself.I had intended to write each of the thirty poemsby hand, lovingly, to caress them into my journalthe way that lovers caress each others lips.When I sat down to write,my palms were sweatingmore than they did when I was 16,asking a girl to dance with me forthe last time. So I cheated.I

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-32865108566116602782010-03-31T17:32:00.003-04:002010-03-31T17:33:48.977-04:00

Just a quick note here;starting tomorrow, I'll be taking part in the NaPowriMo 30/30 challenge...30 poems in 30 days.If you wanna see what I come up with,check out the "30/30 Challenge" link.Here goes...W.James1982-XXXX

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-67948380040866227872010-03-30T23:00:00.002-04:002010-03-30T23:33:15.916-04:00

One more phone call to make tomorrow, and the tour with the Astronaut Writer will be good to go. As with anything else one does with one's life, putting this together has involved a major amount of hustle. Countless e-mail's sent, minutes burned away on my cell plan while contacting possible venues, and literally hours spent switching tabs in Firefox between Google Maps and OpenMikes.org trying

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-81293095495846890812010-03-30T01:26:00.003-04:002010-03-30T01:44:24.058-04:00

Weekend Update: with Norm McDonaldAnyone remember that shit? Back when SNL actually had some measure of humor and wit...ah, the days...anyway, I'm a bit late on recapping the weekend's events, but here ya go:Friday night I hit an open mic at Summer House Coffee in Franklin. I was only slotted to perform for 15 minutes, but ended up doing three different sets...I do have a tiny bit more fun doing

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-16377849794268796632010-03-26T00:41:00.002-04:002010-03-26T01:37:13.533-04:00

As a poet, I have never really felt my niche to be in the realm of "highly charged activist" poetry.It's just not my thing...there are people who do it very well (Andrea Gibson's one of the best) but I don't see myself as one of them. I've always been far more drawn to the personal rather than the political. I used to not think myself as "smart enough" to write about "serious issues," but in all

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-55066961814487512462010-03-24T23:07:00.002-04:002010-03-24T23:35:02.168-04:00

Busy, busy, Kurt Vonnegut would have said.It's strange that you can so strongly miss someoneyou never met. Kurt'sbeen gone for a couple of years now...I was readingone of his last collections not too long ago,and it really bummed me out to think thatI'll never read anything again by Kurt Vonnegutthat I haven't already read.So it goes.I sure have had me some adventures lately!A couple nights ago,

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-80428377352364869442010-03-21T20:07:00.002-04:002010-03-21T20:24:08.649-04:00

I'm watching the new mini-series "Life" on Discovery,and like many other nature documentaries I've watched,it's very explicit in pointing out one thing:Mother Nature is a brutal bitch.Three cheetahs team up to take down an ostrich;ostrich kicks its death-throes, and mortallywounds one of the cheetahs.Score: Ostrich -1, Cheetah - 2A fly lands on a bright green and red leaf,hoping to grab a tasty

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-53450302270590621012010-03-20T15:59:00.002-04:002010-03-20T16:42:41.671-04:00

I have a poem that I just recently memorized,and thus have just now started considering itto be viable for performance.I slammed it Tuesday night at the Shadow Lounge.My friend Ryan (Hacker from me&you) says it's his favorite.It's part ars poetica, part"writer's block fucking SUCKS,"it has a line where I compareperformance anxiety - the slam poet kind - to Houdini's death-by-stomach-punching;

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-2705490509504079642010-03-14T00:09:00.002-05:002010-03-14T00:40:15.736-05:00

I am a particularly terrible blogger.Events transpire, and either I forget (or flat out avoid)documenting them, or it isn't untilwell after said event has taken placethat I catch sufficient motivation to poston my internet journal.Had a show a couple nights backat a hoppin' little joint in Eriecalled the Singing Bowl Vegetarian Cafe.I can safely say that this placeis now on my list of places I

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-73446197901422958932010-03-09T15:29:00.002-05:002010-03-09T15:57:55.692-05:00

For the past three and a half hours,I have been sitting in what more or less amountsto my favorite place in town,Michelle's Cafe,typing away on my laptop and looking busy.It is a Tuesday.I have been here since noon.I brought everything I would need for the dayin a light-blue backpack with somewriting scribbled on it in Sharpie marker;laptop-plus-coffee-plus-backpack-plus-stackofbooksmakes me look

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-84734081220079208032010-02-28T20:11:00.002-05:002010-02-28T20:53:12.230-05:00

Been trying to keep busy...seems to help keep my brainfrom wandering off into dangerous and sketchy mental wastelands.I recently did a complete overhaul of the mainWhatIs174 site (again)The old squares page from last year,while highly pretentious in its artfuckery,was not particularly functional as a means of promotion,as evidenced by the number of people saying"it looks pretty cool, but it's

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-56560983567724381462010-02-25T17:46:00.002-05:002010-02-25T17:59:25.524-05:00

I'm snagging the free wifi at Michelle's Cafe right nowin order to add another post to thisinfernal racket that I call my blog.Tonight is yet another open mic night;in another 20 minutes or so, I'll be setting upall the equipment and getting ready toshirk my duties as the host. Well, reallyI shouldn't say "shirk" as much as I should"not-take-seriously" because that's how I roll.This place is,

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-70230146775652356352010-02-22T11:45:00.002-05:002010-02-22T11:55:38.265-05:00

Several moments ago,I watched the smaller of my two catsbrutally and mercilessly annihilatea wasp.Ignoring the fact that I amutterly bewildered as to how,or why there is a waspin the houseand two hundred feet of snowoutside,it was a bit unsettlingto see the savage nature unleashedin an animal that I think ofonly in terms of how adorable she iswhen she climbs on my lapand begins grooming my

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-60311268625316846402010-02-19T09:01:00.002-05:002010-02-19T09:11:24.345-05:00

It is 9:01am.I am sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Pittsburgh;twenty-nine minutes from now, I will be connecting withfamily members I haven't seen in roughly three years.Been wandering about the cityfor the last 4 days, nowit's time to go back home.I don't want to go "home,"don't even want to consider it to be "home."I want to relocate myself here permanently, anddream about 'making things

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-19156534045049315302010-02-16T11:45:00.002-05:002010-02-19T09:01:20.115-05:00

In Pittsburgh for a few days. Spending time with friends, doing some poetry things, and generally just being a vagrant.

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-26321406085650298272010-02-12T18:06:00.002-05:002010-02-12T18:29:19.545-05:00

In January of this year, a chance meeting at Michelle's Cafe afforded me the opportunity to meet a fine young lass from New York who performs under the moniker of "the Astronaut Writer." After blowing all of our collective minds at open mic night with some covers, original songs, and a couple of poems, she disappeared into the Clarion, PA night...until a couple of weeks ago, when she Facebook

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-74959562575474909442010-02-11T19:23:00.000-05:002010-02-11T19:10:43.540-05:00

Not friendly to vegans, but friendly to my belly!

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-20793198130194235332010-02-11T18:17:00.002-05:002010-02-11T19:02:15.602-05:00

Hey presto!After a good bit of tweaking (much thanks to my friend Walter for the CSS help!) I managed to get the old Blogger site to fully integrate with the rest of my page. Presumably what this means is that, since I now can update from absolutely any device that has an internet browser, I might actually post more than once every month or so. Oh, and once again, you can leave comments, so

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14895853.post-75498449830786393312010-02-11T15:33:00.001-05:002010-02-11T15:33:57.134-05:00

Snowpocalypse Two-K-Ten!First of all, let me assert my firm beliefthat anyone who lives in western PAthat wants to bitch and moan about the cold,or the snow,or the early darkness and gray days,srsly...just fuckin' leave!I, for one, find this time of yearto be my favorite.It's hostile as all getout; the weather hates you.Wants you to give up.It'll crush your spirit in a moment.And that, my friends

WilliamJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324703885212871959noreply@blogger.com0