#AwesomeSauce: Meet N' Greet ... with Sierra DeMulder

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi

Have you ever had your mind melt out of your ears because of something someone said? Literally, I mean it. Just KO'd your brain so hard there is no way to recover from it. Final bout, you are left stammering and fall to the ground type of words. This recently happened to me, and I am, in my own opinion, pretty good with words. So to have someone come along and destroy my brain with lyrical content - blows me away. To say this girl is amazing is an understatement. Every word from her mouth comes with the potential to crumble buildings. She is so intense, you are literally on the edge of your seat until you realize you are falling.

It was another Auntie Mae's poetry night, in my hometown of Manhattan, KS. Yes we do have culture here. When my friend Michael Mlekodaj told me they would be having a special guest, I figured “cool.” The last time they had a special guest it was Uncomfortable Laughter another one of Michael’s connects - you may remember the article I wrote about them. Michael Mlekodaj knows some pretty rad poets, to say the least. What I didn't realize was just what we were about to see that night. For 45 min we got our minds professionally broken down and built back up by the one-and-only Sierra DeMulder. I am ashamed to say that as a fellow poet, I had not heard of her. I really should have done my homework before going to Mae's that night.

From her website:
 

Sierra DeMulder grew up in a tiny town in upstate New York.  She first encountered slam poetry at 14 when she watched her father compete (a morbidly embarrassing experience for her).  After getting her start with the Intangible Collective in 2007, she moved to Minnesota to pursue her interest in poetry and to slowly freeze to death. Sierra earned *Best Female Poet* at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in 2009.  Less than two months later, she was awarded a coveted publishing deal from Write Bloody Publishing, which lead to her first full-length book, *The Bones Below*, published in January 2010.  With Sierra’s help the St. Paul Slam Team won the 2009 National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Sierra continued on to rank ninth in the world in the Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, California. She was a finalist at the 2010 Women of the World Individual Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio.  One year later, the Saint Paul Slam Team won the National Poetry Slam, making Sierra one of the only poets to touch every final stage in a calendar year.

Outside of her competitions, Sierra coached the Macalaster College team at the 2010 CUPSI where they placed third in the nation.  She also launched her own teaching initiative, in which she conducts weekly poetry classes geared towards aspiring poets of all ages in the Twin Cities community.  Sierra has featured in hundreds of venues across the country, performing her poetry and facilitating writing workshops in high schools, colleges, homeless shelters, prisons, churches, farmers’ markets, and people’s basements. When not doing poetry, she enjoys making and imbibing coffee, making full use of public transportation, and waxing on about feminism.

Slam isn't even a word I would use to describe her poems. Eviscerate, would probably be a better term. She spins tales like few aged authors can, and is still very young. She captures moments with words, churns them until they fall from her lips like battering rams to your head. Pushing through every preconceived notion you ever had about slam poetry. I would copy and paste lines from her poems but it doesn’t do them the justice that she does when she speaks. For she speaks with such heart and conviction that hearing her live, will pull laughs from your gut, tears from your eyes, and sighs from your soul.

Sierra DeMulder is the future of slam poetry.  She is a budding role model for the youth that seek their own voice and they will find passion within her lines. I cannot praise this creator more. It was odd to sit next to her and talk and not know just how powerful she was until she came off that stage. I barely managed words of praise as she came back to our table and sat. My lips trembled to speak and I am rarely without words.  How haphazardly I spoke of random topics with her like she was just another random friend in town for the week. She probably appreciated that kind of brazen-fool-hearted randomness. Lord knows she probably blushes at such adoration, still I can't fathom any amount of praise that does her work justice. I can only say after you watch the video below you need to go and find more of her work online. See for yourself, the power she possesses. Know her words as they pierce through your core. See her lay line after line like train tracks taking you on a voyage you will never forget.


#nerdsunite

@SaintPepsi's Spoken Word Spotlight

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi

It's that time again. Time to use all those years in college to further me as a person. I went to college and graduated to be a preacher and it helped me as an orator and a short story writer. So tonight you can listen to some of the music I like and the poems I have recently written spoken aloud for anyone in the world to hear all on my friend Blake's radio show live via the internet. The show is called Spoken Word Spotlight. Here's their facebook page so you can like it. I'll be on tonight from 10pm – 12pm CST. You call all listen to the random banter of two artists who not only use brushes but words to paint pictures. Listen live through this link.

You can also follow Blake's creative blog here
and her twitter here @pataphyz
My poetry blog here
and my twitter here @saintpepsi

Thanks everyone for the support!!!!

#NERDSUNITE

#Nerdy Thoughts on E Cigarettes

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi

I have been smoking for about 3 years now. I started as a way to alleviate anal fissures. I know what an embarrassing thing to post on the internet. That's besides the point. I really enjoy smoking. It is relaxing and just a great way to meet people and talk with them. Hell, I even wrote a poem about how much I love it.

That aside way back like 5 months ago... No surely not, No one was alive then!!!! @kristi_gail and I decided to stop smoking together. We were keeping each other to task on twitter, and we were both doing pretty well. I hadn't smoked in like 2 weeks. She, however, lost the battle- I don't blame her. So I was like sweet I can smoke again. I mean it's not fair for one of us to win and not the other, this isn't a race. I was all about starting again, when I asked the girl I was seeing about her feelings on smokers. She said she was against it. Nail in the proverbial coffin if you will. I stayed smokeless. We dated for around about three months and so I was smoke free that whole time.

Still, I missed that feeling, the camaraderie of smokers ... I especially missed going outside to smoke. Seemed like I was always inside sitting on my ass and never went outside anymore. Smoking is a pretty good reason to I guess. So I looked into the E-cigarette. One in particular BLU Cigs. A sleek design and a great advertising campaign totally sold me on it. They advertised on porn sites. Not to mention you could smoke them inside places that had banned smoking. Since all of Kansas had banned smoking inside, I figured what the Hell I would give it a try -you know to keep me smoke free and all.

I got a starter kit which was 60 dollars. I know that sounds extreme for smokes, but when you figure one of these cartridges was a whole pack and it came with about 20 cartridges well not a bad deal. Especially, since the brand of cigarette I smoked was American Spirit the most delicious and expensive smoke you can buy. A pack can run you about 6 bucks or more. I totaled it up and yeah it was pretty cheap.

So, I get this thing in the mail and it all runs off of USB stuff; with one wall outlet charger. Yay tech smoking! It really is the cigarette of the future. Each cartridge was flavored and there was a wide assortment you could use from vanilla, cherry, all the way to normal cigarette flavor. I went for vanilla first. It was amazing and the vapor looked like smoke. No tar and no smoke really. Its a lot more healthy from the assumption you aren't breathing in smoke or tar to you lungs. That's a plus for the medical side of these little bastards. Obviously, because this is a technology thing it weighs more than a normal smoke. It's not a bad weight but you certainly can't keep it in your mouth without locking it into place with your teeth. That's kind of annoying. Still a minor inconvenience because it really doesn't weight that much. Obviously, without the mass amount of crap you are inhaling it's just the nicotine. These are a lot better for you. So this seems like the perfect trade off for a cigarette right? Well for the most part it is, if you are looking to quit smoking. If you aren't they are actually a little frustrating. For smokers that burning feeling in your lungs is familiar. You don't feel that with a BLU. You also have no idea when to stop smoking one. With cigarettes there is a clear ending to it. Obviously, you run out of a cigarette. Each of these cartridges is a damn near a full pack of cigarettes and they last forever. It's not something you can go, “Oh done with this.” and flick it away into oblivion. Also you have to recharge it with the pack itself which is cool from a tech stand point but still not as convenient as just pulling out a new cigarette. 

In summary, I say these are amazing for people who are quitting smoking. By all means go out and get a pack and ween yourself off cigarettes. They are a perfect replacement.  So much better than that damn patch and way better than that shitty gum. If you're not trying to quit they are a much healthier version of the cigarette and hell they are even nerd sheik. So why not rock them with your glasses on and keep an extra one in your pocket protector. For now I really like knowing when my cigarette is finished and that burning feeling. I know I'm killing myself but, there's just something about a real cigarette. However, as soon as I decide to quit again these are the route I'm taking. 

#nerdsunite

#Ringtones are the Twitter of Music

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi

In the past ringtones were an evil annoyance you had to deal with at dinners out with friends when some table full of giggling girls panned through their collection of electronic beeps and whistles to find that perfect tune to show off to their collective of equally enthralled lifetime friends -leaving you three feet away rubbing your head wondering why electronics ever became portable. Equally, astonished at the lack of common courtesy in not using them in settings where there is an ambiance to uphold ... I digress. Since the ability of creating and making ringtones customizable for each of your friends, you can pretty much pick with detailed perfection songs that go hand in hand with how you feel about each one's personalities. I offer up to you a means of figuring out just how your friends feel about you based on their musical matching of yourself, wrapped into a 40 second sound bite.

Call their phone when they are near you and see what song it plays. This will tell you a lot about how they feel about you, of course as a relationship with a person changes, the ringtones may change as well. So you can do this time and time again. For instance the girl I like, her ringtone is a pirate song. Since I have known her she is a pirate to the likes of which I have never seen before. As our relationship has evolved, I now have a new song to apply to her, one I feel better fits current sentiment - and that I cannot disclose at this time, haha! 

My friend Derek has me in his phone with Rev Theory - Hell Yeah! or as most people know it the theme song from Blue Mountain State. I found this a little odd as I'm not a jock, or super involved in sports. I like KU basketball!  That's about it. Still the song is more about being on a super adrenaline kick. So I would surmise that in his mind based on his song choice; I'm a balls to the wall, thrill ride that's bat shit crazy and never slows down. If it were facebook I would, “like.” My friend Nathan has me in his phone as the Super Mario Bros. theme as we always seem to be playing some form of Mario game when we hang out. I am proud to say that so far I have yet to come across a friend who doesn't have an interesting song for me.

I realize not everyone has a plethora of ringtones to dole out to all their friends -so this test isn't an acid test. Still if they are the sort to assign ringtones you will learn a lot about their views on you. Like if you call a friend of yours and they have Cee Lo Green's – Fuck you, it may explain why they never pick up the phone when you try and call them. Personally, I only assign ringtones to my closest friends. This way I always kinda have a heads up when someone calls. I can hop on the phone without looking at the caller ID and instantly engage in conversation. As I run into new music I try and update my ringtones along with it, always looking for that perfect fit to a summarize a friend in 15 seconds. I guess when you think about it; ringtones turn out to be the twitter of music. You only have this much to work with and you have to fit in a whole thought. 

Still put some thought into what you use for ringtones, even if you only use one for everyone. I know my default one is the Victory Fanfare – Final Fantasy 3. Makes me feel like I just won a battle every time the phone rings. That's a good feeling. If you don't pick them carefully you may end up with some awkward moments. For instance I had a very dear friend who was dying of cancer and I am generally a jovial person, so to lighten the mood I started off with a joke. “You're looking awfully thin, I oughta try this diet your on.”  Right after saying that my ringtone notification for a text message went off. That notification was set to the, “DUN! DUN! DUN!” Worst timing ever. He laughed and asked if I planned it. Still, talk about inconvenient. The same goes for using song's like Peaches – Fuck the Pain away. It's a great song to have go off at a party, but not so much in the middle of church.

In anycase for those of you who live life with a soundtrack in their head, ringtones are the little bit of pleasure to make you and your friends smile. Use them wisely for you never know just how they will effect the people you connect them to and the situations in which they sing out from your pocket.

#nerdsunite

#NoRegrets: When to play the "I love you card"

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi

Many of us hold the words, “I love you” in high regard; higher than almost any phrase we have in our language or any any language for that matter. Recently, Ashleigh and I have been working on an article about the phrase, “I love you.” So, that has left me thinking a lot about love ... how people interpret it, and when it happens. From what I have seen we tend to hold on to those words till we absolutely know we can say them and receive them in return. There is without a doubt a level of fear when it comes to playing the "I love you card." Does this mean you aren't in love with someone before you say it? The heart wants what the heart wants. We can't control it's desires any more than we can a caged rabid pit-bull. Love isn't a choice we make. It's not something we can decide to do at our own discretion; love happens and we have to deal with it. We have to press those feelings down or let them explode out of our mouths like word vomit.  Deciding when to let them loose is the real game.

So lets say I've been dating a girl for about a month now and we are really clicking.  I know I'm fond of her but do I love her? It's not about whether you do or don't, if you start a relationship then isn't it your intention is to love that person? It's not to hold your heart back just in case this isn't the one. They are all the one. If you go into any relationship holding back on wanting to be with someone for fear they won't love you back you will never find love. Still we bait our time and wait to say it. It's nice to be sure you love someone. What you are really waiting for is when you are sure they are in love with you too. If you are really romantically invested in someone you love them. End of story. You have given them a piece of your heart. You want to share parts of yourself with them to bridge the trust gap. So you can let them see the person inside you, that you want so desperately to be loved. In fact we should start our counting of anniversary months; as often young relationships do based around when you both agree you are in love with each other. Not when the relationship starts. Lets face it holding on to dates is really confirming that you are in love with the other person. So start it around something that matters. The first time you both agreed to love each other verbally. Not when you decided to try each other on to see if you fit right.

There may be soul mates; but to say you can only fall in love once is the biggest pile of steaming cow shit I have ever heard. You fall in love over and over again through out your life. Generally, it isn't convenient. Sometimes you will fall for a person in a relationship, a person with drama, a person with baggage, and or crazy tendencies. Worse still are people you haven't even met, the beauty and curse of social media is it establishes amazing connections that are based only on communication and inherent trust that this person is who they say they are. Thank you skype for your ease at confirmation of self. Still you meet people that are so perfect for you yet live so far away. The fantasy is of the possibility that this relationship becomes a reality and tangible. This can easily be filed under love as well. We can't help it, it's not our choice who we fall in love with. We only get to choose how and when to tell them about it. If you are my friend and we have talked for hours over the weirdest range of topics I will tell you right now, I love you! If you are a girl that I like and that I am actively perusing chances are my heart fell for you already I'm just waiting for my mind to catch up and make the verbal call.

It's the oldest form of wall building. Stopping yourself from saying you love someone. Fear of being hurt is as powerful as acceptance of love. Building up walls to keep your stoic demeanor. Giving that flash of being ok when you know you're not with the person you want to be with. Laying on one side of a bed wondering what it would be like to have someone close enough to touch.  That connection, that desire we all hold on to. That's the end game.  The life you lead should have one regret, that you didn't say you loved someone when you did. Truly, this is the one thing you can always look back on and recall as something you should have done. Lost chances, lost passions, and lost time spent pining. Everything else in your life, bad decisions, missteps, and wrong turns. Sure you can call them regrets but they all fashioned you into who you are right now, but they are lessons in life. Not telling someone you loved them when you did though. That can be lost forever. That moment when you both look into each others eyes, knowing that you both want to say it and you see the wheels in your heads turning and telling you not to- to protect yourself, and then later leaving and kicking yourself for not acting on that moment. That is always regrettable. Take your moments and live them with out regrets. Tell that person you love them and if they don't respond. Oh well! They know it now. It's their turn to address their own walls. No regrets, no lost chances. Love life! Live life. 

#NOREGRETS

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