one thing after another!

Hi folks  Its 12:11PM on Friday 12/9/11 and so far since my last posting I'd had 6 art shows, two parties, 5 networking meetings, 2 clients and a fund raiser.  Tomorrow I've got a job fair, a seminar and a party on Friday and more to come. This is what I meant when I used the term "Holiday Schedule" last time. I was too  worn out to explain it then. Sorry for any confusion but now you know.  Here's the stuff for this week and the poll. Enjoy!



Join us this coming Monday, December 12, for a real treat when our featured performer will be poet-singer LU HIGHSMITH, followed by one of the best open mics in the area.All are welcome to participate in our open mics: comics, singers, poets, Musicians, storytellers -- you name it! No rants, though!


We hope to see you all on Monday -- it will be the 2nd last Free Speech Zone at the Tango!! 389 Gregory St. Rochester, NY  It's been a great 2 years at the wonderful Tango space but the owners recently decided to end our regular spoken word series  We'll keep you posted on where & when we'll resurface! And don't forget that our monthly series at Fisher on the 3rd Sundays will be continuing.

Our next event there is the annual Rochester Poets Open Reading on January 15 -- poets of all ages and levels of experience are invited to perform.

Come on out!! If you've never read your work in public, this is your chance to perform in a fantastic venue, the Ross Art Gallery. Thanks Frank ( 585) 260 9005 for more info!

1.www.thepedestalmagazine.com  A new lit magazine that's been around for 60 years. 

2. It is coming up on Jan. 21st, 3 PM, Saturday, at Lovin' Cup near RIT/NTID campus. John Roche, a Liberal Arts professor at RIT, and I will coordinate this event as our 4th year. This performance will consist of hearing and deaf/hard of hearing poets/performers taking turns on stage, which means that there will be beauty in the honor and respect toward English and ASL poetry/storytelling/whatever else. Before our Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam 4, on Jan. 13th and 14th, Peter Cook and Keith Wan will perform at NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf). Do not know what time their show will be and will get back to you when I find out. These two well-respected deaf performers won't perform for Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam 4, but they will be our guide toward our performance at Lovin' Cup after their performance. This can be crucial toward growth and honor toward ASL poetry in general. 

Henceforth, I would like to ask some of you, who are ASL poets/performers/storytellers/whatever else, to consider joining Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jan 4 at Lovin' Cup on Jan. 21st. Hearing performers who know ASL are welcome to perform, too. John Roche will seek for hearing poets/performers who speak English versions while I will seek for deaf/hard of hearing/ASL-abled performers. If any of you want to perform and can do so on Jan 21st, 3 PM-5 PM time slot, then let me know. 

Thank you and shall our hands flutter in the air with beauty like the wings of butterflies.

Eddie Swayze

3. Bush Mango Drum & Dance in Performance!Friday, December 16, 2011 at 7:30pm until Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 10:00pm An exhilarating evening of music, dance, theater and song from Guinea, West Africa! Two shows, Friday at 7:30 and Saturday at 7:30. !Bush Mango Drum & Dance 34 Elton Street Rochester, New York.  Bring the family!




4. As a part of the debut of Soul Conversations online store,

we are offering you a special discount on all of our literature.

 For each book sold, $3.00 will be donated to persecuted Christian organizations!

This offer is available from November 11th through December 23rd, so don't miss out! Pass the word on to those you know! Go to the 'What I Provide' page of the site and order a book today!know that $3 of each book sold through my company Soul Conversations, goes to Solidarity 


International, persecution.org and The Voice of the Martyrs to help persecuted 


Christians around the world. Blessings, Liz Ciccone

  Soul Conversations Call us now! 651-764-5181  Or visit www.soulconversations.ne

5.Ellyn Maybe's Poetry Rodeo 7:00pm until 10:00pm Thursday, December 15, 2011The Ellyn Maybe Band which includes Harlan Steinberger, Robbie Fitzsimmons, Danny Moynahan and Tommy Jordan will perform and there is also an open reading where the band will improvise behind you. General admission $8, seniors and students $5, members free.
681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291 · Get Directions? Phone (310)822-3006 Website http://www.beyondbaroque.org

6.INTO THE NOW Friday, December 16, 2011 Playing your Favorite Dead,Dylan,Stones, Originals

Temple Bar & Grille109 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14605 hosted by Ray DAR

7.Feral Fusion at the Amsterdam Cafe in North Hollywood.
Feral Fusion has, at its core, the spoken word: lyric poetry, prose poetry, free verse, hip hop, slam, storytelling. .. To combine the spoken word with music, dance, visual art, performance art, digital sound overlays or other voices — that's the Fusion — that's when the spoken word becomes an explosive force. Thursday Nights at the Amsterdam Cafe  10905 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
(NoHo Redline Metro Station) Sign Up - 8:00 pm  Start - 8:30 pm  Solo poetry/spoken word - 5 minutes or 3 poems Fusion artists - 10 minutes Hosted by Angel Uriel Perales and Cindy Weinstein (aka Feral Artist) 

 Wow! Looks like I'm not the only busy person this week! Here's a short poem 

Seasons greeting to one and all

Lets go out and have a ball

if you feel there is nothing to do  

just scroll through this blog and look back a week or two.

Special alert:  My upcoming book : The Green Lantern, a Guide for Achieving the 

American Dream. Volume 2 How to Survive in a Modern Economy ( Even on a Poets income!)

Will be self published through Skysaje Enterprise and is due to hit stores in March of 

2012. We have begun accepting pre- orders.  The price is $15.00  ( $10.00 per signed

 copy , $5.00 shipping and handling charges.)  Here's the blurb for the book:

Well, it’s finally done! The original book was written some 12 years ago and a lot has stayed the same and in some cases has gotten worse: The Bail out, The crash The reduction in credit worthiness of the USA, protection for the “middle class”.  Our “leaders” in congress so unable to come together and discuss these issues that the “emergency measures,” had to be put in place to occur automatically if they could not get the deficit down and they STILL could not agree on a plan!  Contrast that with the Author of this book who in the same 12 year period has successfully put out the first edition of this guide, taught at the university level for three years, conducted an international poetry contest for three years, Written another 5 poetry books (one of which is currently in its third edition and another in its second.), produced a CD and helped teach his fellow poets how to earn a living from their words too.  All this AFTER spending a Year on a Psychiatric Ward in a suicidal depression which writing the first edition of this book helped get him out of. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER TAKE YOUR ADVICE FROM? Send your payment to laughingl@yahoo.com via Pay Pal or send a message to the same email address to inquire where to post the paper check to if you'd prefer that method of payment.

here are the links where you can buy my poetry books , Amazon.com is having a sale on my book  Instant Poetry (Just add words!) it normally retails for $8.95 . I charge $13.00 for signed copies ( you can send payment via pay pal to the same address . just indicate which book you want.) Amazon is selling them starting at $2.26 plus $3.00 shipping.) Here's the links:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Poetry-Just-Add-Words/dp/1450255523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296114461&sr=1-1






It's also available from Barnes and Noble. com and any of their retail stores at full price. Here's the link for that: 




http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/instant-poetry?keyword=instant+poetry&store=allproducts




and through the publisher at: http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000187234









I have the second edition of ,my follow up collection called "Chocolate Box:" 







 available as a down Loadable PDf e-book through CFK publishers. here's the link for 







that:  http://www.biblio.com/search.php?author=&title=Chocolate+box&keyisbn=&format=&dealer_id=27786



One last thing: I told you last week I would be taking a poll as to whether or not to restart the contest. so far I've heard from 11 people who said don't, 4 who said go for it  There are already an awful lot of contests that exist  anyway but running one was fun and I'm willing to do It again if you'd want me  to so here's the question: the average literary contest pays out $500.00 to  winner and cost $20.00 to enter. If i were to start up the contest would you be willing to submit and pay the fee or not? We've still got 3 weeks to got till the end of the year but if you have not already responded, Please get 
back to me on this ASAP . My e-mail is laughingl@yahoo.com. You can also leave your comments on this or any other blog related issues by clicking on the word"comments" at the bottom of this page.




have fun! see you next week.