Through Pen and Lens

Well, here we are at the last official class, and again, I have screwed up. Okay, that's not entirely true. I have been working on ideas for my final project, and needless to say, I have been going in all sorts of directions. So, when we were to give a little presentation on where we were, I had to kind of bullshit my way through because I hadn't yet found my focus. And then there's Dr. Reese. That woman can read a person like a dictionary. There must be some mystical force hovering over her. She didn't comment on my all-over-the-place-probably-not-readiness. But she did see something in the images I presented that made her suggest the eye in the I. See. Told ya she's brilliant. And that's not sucking up, just fact. Anyway, I've decided to do sets of images. A person's eyes close-up, and create an image based on their response to the question, If you could have only one visual image represent you, what would that image be? Should be interesting. The ...

Fun stuff! We had to do a commercial about self-help books, etc. I decided to do a radio spot because I don't have access to a video camera here in Dallas. That would mean appropriating Ashley's, and that would be wrong. Guess I know what I'm adding to my "with my student loans" list. There were video, slideshow, and live-action commercials. I even helped Allene with her live-action by flipping the cards as she did the funniest commercial ever. Thank god we practiced it before class because I would have cracked up and been off cue. Things are getting easier when it comes to getting the theory in. Guess it's just practice. Or maybe not sweating about it so much. Well, here it is. I tried to do it with a sexy voice. If I can figure out how to load it, I will post that part later. Are you tired of those self-help books nobody has time to stop and read? Hi folks. This is Judy B from the Quiet Storm, FM 106.2, G-Trouble Radio. And speaking from personal experi...

Dr. VOR pushes, pushes hard, the buttons. You  will  if she has anything to say about it. And she usually has something definitive to say. So, let me catch you up on the goings on this semester, most due to the afore mentioned personage. Today, I had lunch with an influential person in the art world in Houston; an associate provost with all sorts of ties; a director looking for an editor; an administrative assistant who may be connected to my mother's family; and a student who, among other things, is experimenting with spinach in his cooking, something I look forward to sampling. How in the world did this eclectic grouping become my lunch companions? What's the title of this post. Dr. Alvia Wardlaw (the first of the lunch companions) was the guest speaker today for the UTD National Diversity Month Celebration. (I would love to sit in on one of her classes at TSU.) The program was "Icons, Emblems, and Ancestral Legacy: African-American Art and its Impact on the 21st C...

Before I forget, I believe I owe the class a party. I stated in the post, Popcorn Venus, 28 September, that when I got it right the first time, I would have a party. I've been so busy, I kinda forgot about that. Excluding the sonnet which worked but I didn't like all that much, the first assignment I got right without having to do anything more to it and that I actually liked when I completed it was (drum roll here) the monologue. Actually, that's not entirely true. If we go in the order in which they were due, the monologue is it. However, because we were behind in class, we presented the dialogues first. I got that one right, too! Haha! So, the semester is quickly drawing to a close, just as we all  (yeah, that's me, too) begin to comprehend the significance of the assignments for this class. When you know the theory, you can apply it anywhere; you can see it everywhere (evil scientist's laugh here). Me, I can remember the idea of the theory but have a tendency ...

Okay, there's a lot to be said for the fluidity of identity, but I will be brief. The following is the assignment for today, a manifesto. What's great about it, I truly believe it. I hope it inspires you. We have policed ourselves into believing the definition of a Sexual Self imposed upon you by the Other – the Powers that Be. But we had forgotten two fundamental truths: Power is EVERYWHERE; and Where there is Power, there is RESISTANCE! Meet Your resistance : Sex and gender, male and female. Disavow these repressive limitations, these marginalizing concepts of your bodies. They do nothing to envisage aspiration. Therefore, there is no longer – there never was – an obligation to cleanse your Within . We have come from Within to celebrate your diversity Without ! We Queers as Folk will blur – NO! Obliterate those supposed lines. Break and remake their daily Implementations of Identity – one no more true or “false” than the last. But they will be Y our Own ! We w...

Ethnicity – Now there’s something that can truly fuck with your identity. Was that too harsh? Too bad cause it’s too true. Most of our identity is wrapped up in our ethnicity. Whatever your ethnic background, who would you be if it were changed or taken away? Really think about it for a while. Talk amongst your Selves. I can wait. Deep shit, aint it? I am so loving this class! But we didn’t actually meet today. There is a performance scheduled for Friday that we are to attend as a class, “Keeping it Real: Hip-Hop has Gone Gay” with Tim’m T. West. Unfortunately, I will be living one of my other identities down on the coast and will be unable to attend. But, we did have an assignment: a dialogue. Some of you might recognize a couple of phrases from your own lives. But let me remind you, everything I hear, see, etc. is up for grabs. And as always, names have been changed to protect me from possible suit. Let me know what you think of the dialogue. Scene: Brothers Edom (moved to Franc...

I seem to be doing that quite a bit lately, talking to myself. Perhaps it is the underweight white noise in the apartment. I’m used to birds and turtles doing it at all hours; dogs barking or worse: snoring; aquariums splashing; the washer and dryer continuously in motion; “beeps” from computers; and at least two TVs on, on different stations, calling to me. That’s home. The apartment in Dallas is my “studio,” and I haven’t quite got it right, yet. Maybe this weekend I’ll record the sounds of home, load them on my laptop, and play them on a loop when I get back. What was I supposed to be writing about? See, not enough noise to keep me focused. This is why I’m talking to myself. (Cue music!)  Who am I, anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don’t know. What does [she] want from me? What should I try to be? Apparently, I am the embodiment of Paul from A Chorus Line right now. And he definitely doesn’t what to know himself. Hmm. Wonder what that means? No. I have no...