How time flies.

So the last time I actually wrote anything akin to a "blog", I had been so busy I had forgotten I had already had created an account and now i have two. BOOOOO. Shows how much I use this thing.  Now its been about two years later and I think I can actually work on this and a bit more. Grey hairs aside, life is pretty damn sweet. I have no complaints and as always, life works out in ways you should count as blessings. 


I don't know where I am going with this, except to say, expect much more from my website (please visit it later today-www. thepoetmendez.org), this blog, and me. If I have failed you as a friend over the last year, let me make amends. If I have overlooked you, let me apologize. I feel happy for once. Not just content. So let me spread that to some people. See you soon. And on yeah . . . VIVA MEXICO!!!

TWO years ago we had this:

and it was amazing. Basically created by Zelene Pineda, Joe B and Stephen Gros, it was a no-brainer.
Formula: bus load of local poets + local venues + great poetry = Word Around Town Tour. 2006 was a golden year for all that. I was just getting to get to know Marlon Lizama and Jerome Washington (why the hell i didn't know them before, I dunno, por ser cabron, yo creo), and it was the first time I was running into poets from all over town under one roof!! It was refreshing. It was a chance to meet, mingle , network and share with the crowd a love of poetry and writing with people who felt about the word, the same as I do. And I was embarrassed that I had taken like a 3 year break from doing readings. i must have been crazy.


The second WAT as just as impressive, if not even more diverse. It was more raw, more in your face and surprising. We even had a special guest - Mr. Paul Flores from San Diego. Although I will admit, I had some mis-givings about this tour. It was a little suspect that Paul just kinda showed up on the tour. I remember him from a previous event the year before, but aside from that, no one ever came forward and said that he would be on the tour. It was just a little uncomfortable. He had a show in town with two other poets and it felt like he was using out time to do some free PR. But, it still didn't make a difference. In the end, pride aside, big headed egos deflated (mine included) and we breathed a breathe in between lines and stanzas and spoke of beautiful/ugly images, and the PEOPLE smiled. i came away impressed with Mr. Flores (and every other poet) and once i spoke with him, he mentioned that Houston was gem: It was the only place he knew that had more than 4 poetry spots in town. It was true. You could go see/read poetry every night of the week if wanted. But times do change . . .

So what the logo means . . .

so this is my first blog. yea me. so i guess I can start on what the whole logo for the site means:

www.thepoetmendez.org

Saw it? Good.
O.k. so, one night, like 5 years ago. I woke up from what felt like an awfully stark pesadilla (nightmare) and in my grawgy state I managed to grab my notebook on the ground and write something so i wouldn't forget it. I fell back to sleep and the next morning, i ended up seeing a pencil drawing of what became the logo . . . weird.

You can read into it whatever you want to, but for me, the symbol is only of a man , stuck in the moon. It's me, or an artist or a slacker or any poor hijo de puta trying to figure a way out of something entraping yet equally beautiful. To me it is a symbol of a man forever working on himself, never settling, always evolving. The moon is a stark white canvas, somewhat uncharted, and the guy is on the inside, trying to get out and take a look around himself. . .

I am done. Sounds like BS. but well. It's helped me so far. jodate.