Def Poetry is closing

This just in: Def Poetry on Broadway will be closing on Sunday! Not sure how I feel about that to be honest. Not having seen it, I can't really comment but, based on what I've heard from people I respect that HAVE seen it, it's sort of a double-edged sword. Many poets (good ones, at least) felt it was a dumbed-down version of the best of what we do. A polished spin on Friday nights at the Nuyorican a couple of years back, perhaps. Most agree that they failed to take full advantage of the medium and, on top of…

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Apparently, I'm a very bad person. DisorderRatingParanoid:LowSchizoid:LowSchizotypal:ModerateAntisocial:ModerateBorderline:LowHistrionic:ModerateNarcissistic:Very HighAvoidant:LowDependent:LowObsessive-Compulsive:Moderate-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! -- The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!Here is how you matched up against all the levels:LevelScorePurgatory (Repenting Believers)Very LowLevel 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)Very LowLevel 2 (Lustful)Very HighLevel 3 (Gluttonous)ModerateLevel 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)Very LowLevel 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)Very HighLevel 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)Very HighLevel 7 (Violent)HighLevel 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)HighLevel 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)HighTake the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

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"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Found parking quickly this morning! Yay! Salomé and the kids are back tonight! Yay! Going back to Hartsdale. Boo! Last night's slam... Need another day to digest it. Maya Azucena: WOW! The slam took a back seat to her performance. Read my new poem (the end result from last week's free write) at the end of the showcase. It got some surprisingly strong reactions that caught me off guard as I'm not good with compliments. Not sure if it's because so many people that are around now have never really heard me read or the ones that have are just…

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Looking for parking in the morning so completely sets my day off on the wrong foot! Looking for it in Brooklyn Heights on a Monday morning - where after driving around for 30 minutes, you stick it on a meter and cross your fingers you'll ONLY get a ticket - sucks like a five hour open mic in the park where the swings are off-limits and there is no shade. I'm a little poetry'd out at this point. Since last Monday, I've been at a poetry reading every day except for Wednesday. Haven't done that since '98 when I used…

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"The most common misperception about financial planning that many Americans adhere to is that you can't afford to retire if you don't have a million dollars in your retirement account. That assumes everyone needs a million dollars to retire. The most damaging effect of the statement is to cause the average citizen to throw up his or her hands and say that a million is unreachable, so therefore they will save nothing! The implications for our economy and political environment are monumental." William Gustafson, Ph.D., senior director of the Center for Financial Responsibility at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas NOTE:…

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