Muse Sick
Head in my hands,
I am shaking it to the sound
Of that sick beat.
I wonder if music is the only
Muse I need to feel the
Natural beat-beat of my heart
Beat-beat my Muse
Until she’s choking on her
Dis-beliefs of what a woman
Is and isn’t.
I’ve been wearing the skirt
And frills for too long,
And my Muse has been
Dis-playing her feminine charm
For so long we forgot to stand
Up against the bullshit in this world.
Isn’t it so
Dis-gusting?
Her and me, we go way back.
All the way back to when
Feminism was born.
We built our brick walls
Dis-interest for our strength,
Wearing the pants,
Shaking our hips
To the sound of
Drunken lips humming
“You could be my muuuuuse.”
My Muse has always been
Made for the men, but this
Is for the ladies.
Babies, women, superheroes.
We rule the world with our
Heels and skirts flaring
Like the temper of
Dis-temperature.
I hold my head in my hands,
Rolling my shoulders to this
Sick beat-beat of my heart
Beat-beat my Muse down
Until she admits that this
Dis-belief is so
Dys-functional.
Somebody should call the
Ambulance for my Muse
Because we got it bad.
We got the poetry fever
And dear Muse, if you can’t
Handle this living,
Take a sip of my
Medicine.
Don’t you dare
Dis-obey my wishes.
We could go the
Dis-tance one day.
But I need my sick beat-beats.
I call her my MUSE-sick.
-Seraphine The Poet
Smart is Sexy
With computers having claimed a ubiquitous place in our society within a relatively short amount of time, it is safe to say that one of the most prevalent and important languages of the twenty-first century is computer coding. Unfortunately, in a great majority of schools around the country, computer coding is something reserved for a select few, if taught at all. While this is changing, meeting this challenges of the next twenty years will require a concerted effort if the United States and the students of the next generation are to rise to the occasion. Even more pressing is that it is estimated that by 2020 there will be “1,000,000 more jobs than students.”(code.org) More than a little troubling to someone who spent the better part of a decade studying a subject that offers almost the complete opposite in job prospects, the reality of now, is that “computer science is the highest paid college degree and computer programming jobs are growing at twice the national average.”(code.org)
Adding to the severity of the problem is substantial racial and gender inequity, as evidenced by the fact that “12% of computer science degrees are awarded to women.”(code.org) Faced with age old anti-intellectual epithets such as nerd, thankfully much of the stigma associated with titles such as these are falling away, as our society realizes the immense importance of intelligent people, and the fact that smart is sexy. Too long we have allowed a culture that thrives on ignorance to dominate the conversation, and control policy in this country. We barely pay teachers a living wage in this country, and pay people who play games for a living millions and millions of dollars every year.
Based on the fact that “9 out of 10 schools don’t even offer computer programming classes,” and that in “37 of 50 states, computer science doesn’t even count towards high school graduation math and science requirements," the immensity of this issue facing this generation and this country is beyond apparent. Thankfully, in the digital age, learning just about anything, is often just a few clicks away, and a number of organizations have been sprouting up to help fill in this knowledge gap, including codecademy , Code School , and girldevelopit , an organization devoted to “Empowering women of diverse backgrounds from around the world to learn how to develop software.” (http://girldevelopit.com)
It is time that we , as a society , embrace intelligence, and the pursuit of knowledge in all its forms. Without a drastic shift in our collective mindset we risk the chance of missing the next wave of brilliant minds, because they are scared of being called a nerd. I say, no more. Embrace your inner nerd, read a book , learn how to code, go to a museum, have sex in a library and pray you have smart babies. The world needs them.
-Joshua Genius
For more information on coding check out www.code.org and http://csedweek.org for their upcoming hour of code program in honor of Computer Science Education Week December 9-15,2013
A hopeful future.
I was watching a T.V. program the other night that really caught my attention and got me thinking.
Normally, I am not one to write much about what’s on the telly but this particular program was relevant in as much as it reinforced a developing point of view.
The program was MasterChef Jr.
In it was around 20 or so kids (ranging from 8 or 9 to about 13) who competed against each other to attain the title and $100,000. Not bad if you ask me. Now the show is hosted by three people who have all been chefs and/or run their own restaurants.
I am not a particular fan of anyone of these ‘hosts’ but the sheer fact that they treated the kids pretty much the same way as in the adult version of the competition was striking.
The thing that impressed me the most was the amount of skill, poise, maturity (of action and taste) and determination that these kids highlighted. I was blown away by the level of accomplishment where the two finalists (12 and 13 respectively) cooked and prepared meals that most people only dream of cooking.
This brings me to the reason why I am writing this piece. I believe that the ‘Generation Z’ kids are the wave and the hope for our future. The understanding and maturity of the Gen. Z’ ers that I have noticed in different fields leads me to think that we can be in good hands as the years progress. They seem less influenced by fear. Have more open minds and are less divisive more inclusive.
I think that these kids believe that anything is attainable but also come from the reality that even someone as young as they are can already make a difference.
TDB.
November 14,2013
Flip a Coin
I used to be an addict for heart ache. My need to drink and write would thrive in it. Feed off the loneliness. Grease my mind so thoughts wouldn't have a chance to be filtered, just fall face first on the page. When a knife would end up in back, I would bend of backward just to twist it. Tell the person, look what you did! It was the ritual. I'd wake up a few months later hungover, broke, and a lot of new material.
Those were my early twenties. I can't afford the luxuries of black outs, beer bellies, and bulimic wallets. These days when Armageddon hits I find my self in a trance. Write crap, write carp, write carp, and Oh! That was a good line. Drink water, drink water, drink water, damn a Shiner sounds so good right now... It's more about efficiently than maturity or even survival. If I was going to die, it would have happened years ago, death has had her hand down my pants since I suicide jumped out the womb. More of a fluffer than a finisher. So my cycles consist of self destruction, self improvement. I spend a lot of the improvement period undoing damage as opposed to actually improving.
My friends have always supported me despite my end game. Meet up at the bar, help finish a poem, drive my drunk ass home, ask me about my run. It's like, it's all a joke to them in my eyes. They can't take me seriously as a alcoholic because, you know DCR! Next month, he won't have a single drop to drink. Or yeah, he's working out and writing now, wait for someone to come along and FUCK all of that up. Fickle. My passions are fickle. A flower swaying in the wind, am I going to lean east or west? Just depends on the whim.
I want to be a rock. For those who love me and care about me. I want to be the same DCR no matter when they reach out to me. I had a debate last night about people. I said you can't blame circumstance. This is the real world, not a fucken rail shooter. Our options are limitless. But here I am, with all of my conviction, a victim of the hand I've been dealt. I want to put my passion where my pallet is. Make rivers run around me when I'm walking up stream. I weather away as I get comfortable and that's probably my biggest fault. For the real me to come out I have to be moving forward. And I'm grateful for my friends and family who stick with me despite my whimsical ways. No matter those circumstances that change, you, friends, family, are always the same. Like the constant, the consistency I want to be.
-DCR
XXVII
I feel like I am in my zone, creating new realms of living, existing is just for those who are convinced that this life is as far as we see, what we can perceive.
Spiritually gazing in heights that are only formed when the soul is truly free. I will never fit into anyone's mold or idea of what I can be. I am limitless and endlessly creating fresh formulations of looking at things beyond what our third eye can perceive.
I get the motivation to want to tell people to just fuck off because I am so prideful about my accomplishments & sacrifices (and I'm incredibly impulsive) . I don't think I am going to be like Drake and make a song about how I made it, and put a shitty hook to it--dude doesn't even have a voice. Anyways, I think it is best to attempt to carry myself with some class, or at least pretend like I have some and just chill.
I had some tarot cards read for me the other day--said some interesting stuff. I don't buy into anything, but I consider most things at least once.
The number 27 is significant to me because my birthday falls on the twenty-seventh of March, and I have used it for numbers in sports and other things in life that I felt like helped myself identify. The number [in numerology] translates into the number nine, and that has various interpretations of meaning. Numerology.com briefly describes the number 9 here: "The 9 lives in the world and understands the connections between all of mankind. It is a humanitarian, and sees no real difference between its neighbor next door and the person living in a very different culture and environment on the other side of the world. The 9 is the least judgmental of all numbers, the most tolerant and the most conscious".
Numbers are just symbols and symbols have subjective meaning, but I can relate to the concepts associated with the number that mysteriously has purpose for me.
Also, the number twenty seven has always been kind of peculiar because a few exceptional musicians all died at the age of 27. I am 27 years old. I do not fear dying at this age, (nor am I a musician) but I have fear of not living up to everything I have done thus far. Numerology.com also says that the number 27 insinuates: A Counselor (what I am about to get my master's degree in), Volunteer, and an Artist. That information also identifies with me, but I think whatever we give our mind power in the direction of will make itself truth in a way--it is all a matter of perception. Therefore, I choose to not give energy or power to my fear of self, fear of success. I will do whatever it is that I am passionate about, and I have the ability to surpass my own mental blocks. Survival is not about listening to others and settling, for anything.
I take everything I say with a slight skepticism and awareness, that my opinion & perception is open and vulnerable to change. I am not sure that I am comfortable with expectations, but I love to be the thought provoker. I hope this momentum & rant produce some sort of reflection, or at least a rebuttal.
Sunny
here is also a link to a recording of the top paragraph
https://soundcloud.com/sunnyalexander/27-intro/s-jTzvZ
