I know I promised...

more haunted plantation pics and stories, but then life happened...

It is not a great pic as far as light and all that, but I love Asian buildings-- and the corners. Once, getting very upset at a township for tearing down a begota just up the street; it was an obsolete thing, maybe an eye sore to the new owners, but yet they built a yoga studio with yin and yang signage on the property...I found the Asian structure to be a beautiful sight each day.

This photo was taken either in Seoul or on Jeju Island in Oct 2011 while visiting number one son who taught English for a few years. I did not see the dragon cloud until three am this morning while rummaging through files for a poetry project hubs is developing in his computer language skills.

Anelisa would have been 27 on March 1st; we often cloud wrangled with her brother who loves dragons and has a great one on his shoulder and arm breathing out her date of birth and passing date...just eery in so many ways. I could not help but write a quick poem for this.

Peace friends and family

Open Mics Abroad- Coffee Club R

It's Open Mic night in my area and I am reminded of how I love Open Mic abroad experiences. Over the past five years as hubby and I have traveled around the country or abroad we seem to find these venues. He gets four weeks vacation in his job, and we use it.

When we make the choice for a destination there is no rhyme or reason we just go where we both have always wanted to go. Before we get in the car or board a plane I usually look to see if there are Open Mics in which I can perform. I have had some luck finding good venues. However when we planned our Korea trip, I had no idea we would stumble into an Open Mic venue.

Do Koreans know what Open Mic is? The certainly have coffee shops. All over the place. Often three or four on each corner. It's crazy! But they love their coffee as much as Americans do on this continent.

We were walking the palaces of Geonju, Korea, and strolling the burial mounds of 1,000 year old emperors and became hungry. I noticed on the map we were right across the street from an area called 'Drunken Alley'. Streets lined with restaurants and bars. They also happened to have coffee houses. The first door we came upon and looking for a light meal, was Coffee Club R. The young man inside said he had sandwiches and light drinks, even cocktails if we wanted.

Jung Youn Kim (pictured above) as it turns out is the owner. He barely looks twenty something, but is actually mid-thirties. We began talking about Open Mics, as I spied the stage and music set-up off to the side. He graciously served us our food and drinks and picked up his guitar. Jung sat down next to us and began to play some folk tunes.

He told us that not too long ago the streets were lined with coffee houses hosting open mics. Fortunately he has held on to a prospering business and ideal of offering a place for people like me to perform. I had not brought any work with me on this trip, or I would have shared. But, I remembered my work was saved on this blog! So, I began reading from a few poems and the 'Crush' series. It was well received (the younger generation speaks English very well).

This experience reminds me no matter what our skin color, culture upbringing, or many other things that separate us...we are the same, we see art forms as a way of expressing our inner selves. There is so much more deepness to this, I can barely let the emotion come through on this post. It's beautiful. I love meeting others who share like this.

I also have been to a few Open Mics in the Pacific Northeast, Canada, Southwest, and many other areas we have traveled. Just Google 'Open Mics' and you might be surprised at what comes up. Maybe a little digging will take place. Ask Facebook friends, I did and they gave me so much other information for future travels.

Traveling abroad, or even a road trip on your continent? I suggest writers, poets or musicians take advantage of situations, be prepared, and bring material. Jung also provides instruments for singer/songwriter or musicians to use. He even built his own stage for the very quaint establishment.

Check out this live performance at Coffee Club R in Geongju, Korea 'Hey Soul Sister'

Another October Fly By

Where is the time going? I am sort of glad we were not home for Halloween. The past two years only two or three kids even came around our neighborhood. Hubby buys bags of candy, and then we end up eating it for a few days, then I take it and give it away.

While we were on Jeju (known as the Honeymoon Island in Korea) we had the opportunity to visit a place I dare not post on facebook, because hubby's family might be offended. Since this is TMI, I get to post a few pics over here. The place is called Loveland. They are stuck in the 1950's era as far as relationship thinking over here, or so we have been told by local twenty something friends of my son and his girlfriend.

They meet the opposite sex by introduction, no public display of affection, they get engaged after a long courtship, unless they get pregnant, which we were told happens at least fifty percent of the time, rarely divorce, and visit a Love Motel for some privacy. Because many families all live together, due to affordable housing and lack of money. But....and there is always a but.

For some reason they have to parks where sex is openly displayed- Loveland and Penis Park. Go figure...

Okay, so far I have spared you the racy sculpture pictures. And hubby took lots and lots of them, why? Who knows. Well, here goes...I will share...just one racy picture...

Shocking right?

I RACED to get in this swing with hubby. The park was crowded.

This is one pose we have not been in for a long while.

We are not sure what the sign above us said in Korean, but I am almost certain it may say 'Suckers'...for love that is.

Here is a sneak peak at their idea of art...

A giant mechanical...something or another...

I am also pretty sure whatever it is does not lift off or take man to the moon...or could it?

Me In My Eyes

Did you know Picasso wrote poetry? Most people do not, unless they have studied him. My kids loved his work when we would visit museums during school field trips. I took them when I home schooled, art was a big part of their lessons.

I have abandoned sculpture engraving and painting to dedicate myself entirely to song.

— Picasso to Jaime Sabartés April 1936, he was fifty four years old.

Poetry became his alternative outlet after divorce, and a few other emotional trials.

My children took an art camp one summer and enjoyed learning about Picasso and three other well known artists. I still have those paintings in storage, if the NJ bugs haven't devoured them.

dogs

dogs eat at the night
buried in the yard
they chase the moon in a pack
the white of their teeth
compared to stars

the windows close against them
iron bars in transparency

life closes against them

the morning will crush them to dust
with only the wind left
to stir them up

So many of them inspire me to write and sketch...

Jessie Carty spoke in a post last week about how we can go periods without writing. Often our lights are turned off in one room so we can move into another area of creative endeavor. It's how I roll.

Sadly on my trip there was no cooking. I was invited to cook in a friends house when we return from Jeju this week. He is fond of certain things I can teach his new wife and has a much larger apartment with all the updates. My son's kitchen is an eight of a galley, smaller than a small yacht galley would be.  My body is sore, and I posted some photos on Facebook.

(photo above belongs to moi- Seoul South Korea night life area, Gangnam-gu, where I was held captive until 3 AM. I was the only sober one in the group. We had dinner with my son and Andi's engaged friends, Jeff and Cindi, whom is Korean)