Happy Birthday, SoapBox Poets!

December 2011, marks the 2nd year of SoapBox Poets!
It all originated in Venice Beach, when a friend and I saw a preachy man standing on top of an igloo chest. I don't recall what he was preaching about, but I noticed the amount of people who soon came in closer for a listen.With Venice being as Boho and Hippie as it comes in Southern Cali, I thought why not a poet?

The few weeks following, Christina Granados and myself, armed with our current work of "twitter poems" or "Raw Bits" as I call mine, red and green milk crates in hand, and hit the boardwalk. There was a lot of competing sounds, but no other poets on the boardwalk. At least, none doing what we aimed to do.

Christina and Jessica setting up (1st SoapBox)

We put the crates down next to the metallic gold guy...the one with the gold stuffed dog... and stood on top our crates and read a line or two, one by one. We had a bunch of mardi gras beads to get people to notice us. We gave them away as some sort of swag for stopping by, but that's where it began. Poet, Jayson Pida came onboard soon after and has remained a great friend and partner in SoapBox. For the next year, we kept it outdoors, true to the boho spirit of the writer, and wild as Venice.

Jayson Pida at Venice

Christina Granados

Jessica Wilson at a special SoapBox in the canyon

In order to grow the group, I found a venue inside. Here enters the Green Carrot, a mom 'n pop coffee shop in North Hollywood, close to my new digs.

The Green Carrot was a great spot being that it was brand new and the owners gave me a lot of creative freedom to set up the event. I'd decorate the place with some of my favorite books, put some swag and save the date cards out to better network. As more interest from the literary community came in, I was soon able to host features. Amazing writers, poets, musicians, to take the floor and center the open mic around them. Going into 2012, we have a new venue...The Amsterdam Cafe, also in North Hollywood. It is a new season altogether for me. We will see how the venue fairs... I am certain, however, that SoapBox Poets will continue and meet many new faces. For that, I am very proud!

Aaron Ferenc

Allan Wilson (my dad :))

Ernest Rosenthal

Happy Birthday! Bon Anniversarie!

I got so emotional, I totally forgot to put up the photos of our celebration last night!

More great talent under the Los Angeles Poet Society umbrella. As a literary coordinator, I couldn't be more proud. It was an intimate gathering at a private loft in the Brewery. Thank you so much to Photographer, Nicole Fournier, who hosted the gathering. It was wonderful to meet new writers and see old friends. :)

L-R: India Radfar, Nicole Fournier, CeCe, Cheryl Klein, Jessica Wilson, Tresha Haefner, Kelly Giles, Jayson Pida

Tresha Haefner (will be featuring at Cobalt Cafe 1/31/2)

Lovely Miss Cheryl Klein

Passing out cuppycakes

India Radfar (Otis alum)

Kelly Giles

Jayson and Tanguy :)

One Month Away!

In one month, I get to marry the most loving person I've ever met in my lifetime! Juan Adrian Cardenas, thank you for loving me. Te amo! I have been in bliss ever since I've met him...and I can't believe how well I could ever get along with another human being. This is a wonderful gift, and I hope all of humanity gets the opportunity to experience this. Dreams come true. You must NEVER give up on yourself. You must also believe that you are WORTH every bit of happiness. You must cherish YOURSELF first before you find true love... True Love Never Diez... :) Love for yourself is really the primary thing...do what you love, be who you want to be... and your energy will exude into the ether...sending out pheromones, this is the attraction. Be yourself... you ARE the attraction. It's so possible, just never give up...that is my advice. Not sure if anyone asked, but I had to write this down. This is the path I've taken, which has led me to Juan. Led ...

In Loving Memory of Anthony St. Jude Greene

My best friend died Sunday, July 24, 2011. Best and oldest friend...a brother and someone connected to my soul throughout life. It's not entirely real to me...we'd always talk, plan trips to see each other. This is going to be hard. He struggled a lot throughout his life; his weight problem, respiratory issues, sensitivity in general as he got older and heavier. It's a damn shame. He was a very strong man. Very strong! He'd fight off death for years. :) He'd joke about it a lot...saying that death is gonna have to fight harder because he's not giving up. His heart gave out, his body had enough trauma. He just had to let go, we have to acknowledge that he lived hard, fought well, died nobly. We'd joke about our heritage...we had much of the same mix of mutt in us, which was quite unique. He was also the son of many many vikings! Norsemen were tough, full of valor and grit, arghhhhhhh! Those medieval times men had nothing on Anthony Greene. :) Noth...

When everyone was quarantined, I felt like

"When everyone was quarantined, I felt like..." I was caged, my cord cut, the outside was in, and I wasn’t ready for that. I felt like I was out of time – no way to re-plan my life, no way to be by anyone’s side. I like mapping the scene, feel heat amongst a crowd, and now, to stay away from them, I have to hide. Close myself off my nature, to enjoy parties dancing, all the things feel more alive… When that door shut, a hurricane hit. JMWC 9/22/20 from class, Panorama High School, 2020

The mind, a dormant stone

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