i hosted rev jen's open mic last night. it felt really good to get back into the host seat after so many years and funny that it was the same night of the week as i used to do it in santa cruz ......

it's been 5 years since loosing what is art and it still hurts. it was 2000 when we had our last show there. it was called "the wreckin' ball" and it was a complete blow out of all the talent in that town. santa cruz. the open mic i started in the performance space i founded there grew from nothing to something really significant to alot of people. people literally came out of the woodwork to come to the open mic. we built a performance space in an empty storefront with an ugly carpet. we built it on donations from the community and some grant money i got given to us. in the beginning the stage was on a harley davidson packing crate and the audience sat on the floor on cushions. at the end we had red velvet theater chairs, 50 of them, a real stage with theater curtains, a lighting and sound system, a piano that was tuned regularly and most importantly a really large following. the space was rented out on the weekends and during the week for various activities and shows. we had monthly art shows hung on the walls. it was like a dream place.

then the landlord evicted us. they said they had to do a toxic waste clean up on the whole block. that block housed 2 large artist collectives, what is art, a center for sustainable transportation, a music studio...... we all lost our spaces. the kicker was that they didnt demolish the buildings until just like 2 years ago. so we could have kept going for at least three more years .... i was just there a couple months ago because my friend kaya died and the place where is was is fenced in and looks like a dirty puddle of nothingness.

but what is art lives on in the hearts and minds of the people that used to go there. ( i sound like GW) many times i have met people in nyc or canada or seattle or wherever that know of what is art. if you ever meet anyone from santa cruz, ask them about it. it was over by the clock tower. they'll know. i am a little bit of a folk hero in that town. not a big feat, its a small town. i used to get a little annoyed by my own noteriety because i couldnt just go to the farmers market and buy some produce or what ever with out people i didnt know calling me out. now i kind of miss being known. nyc is a really fucking big place.

anyway, hope you all liked my hosting. i had a damn good time. next time i will bring my cat on a leash.

today i am preparing to go to an important interview for the nyc teaching fellows program. if i get it, i will become a special education teacher in one of the five buroughs public school system. most likely the bronx. i am digging the bronx, so that would be cool with me. i would move over to the south bronx in a second, now that i know brook park. i am so impressed by their impact on that community. there is some guy talking about trying to purchase a building for an arts community over there and i would so love to make a small black box theater there and get the local kids into open mic....

i need something meaningful to keep me grounded in living here. other wise i am going to fly away back to santa cruz where the populace is so much whiter its like looking at a sea of rice milk. i like my sea to be chocolate, caramel and vanilla swirls......