A few years ago, while studying poetry in San Jose State's MFA program, I began writing a collection of short stories titled, "We All Tell Stories Well." The theme of the collection had to do with the "power of lying" and why people tell lies. In writing the stories for this collection (so far I have two) I didn't want to dive too deep in the muddy psychological or philosophical waters of why people lie (childhood trauma, compulsion, called "fat jelly bean" too many times in elementary school). Rather, I wanted to focus on stories where people lie and the great fabrications that people of all ages can come up with when trying to achieve some goal.

After attending the Screenwriting Expo in LA this past weekend, I started thinking more about how lies that characters tell make up the bedrock of so many great conflicts in screenplays. Think about the last movie that you saw, wasn't there some sort of lie involved? Often times we think of a lie as being malicious; a falsehood that people tell to avoid trouble or to crawl their way out of it (outer journey). Still, not all lies have a malicious external impact. Many people tell lies to escape inner pain or heighten the joy snuggled on the inside  (inner journey). I would agree with the large number of active screenwriters and Hollywood film consultants in that the inner journey and outer journey must work with each other, further, external lies are not amorphous and usually reflect something deep (a lie) embedded within.

Hopefully, I'll find time to get back to We All Tell Stories Well, but for now, I'm trapped in the tangled web of my screenplay, The Whiskey Runner -- loving every minute of it.

RECOMMENDATION:

History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truths Behind World Events our History Books Got Wrong (Paperback)

Over the past couple of months, I've moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, re-embarked on a solo music career, challenged myself to write my first screenplay in 3-months, and met some amazing people that have helped me to refocus this blog, yet again.

In the process of shedding off all of the crazy band experiences that I've been in and the ego-filled and humble-less musicians that I've worked with, I realized that the only time that I was truly happy playing music was when I was a singer-songwriter, banging songs out on my acoustic guitar. Back in 2000, I begin playing the guitar after begging my father to buy me an acoustic Alvarez from Sam Ash (I was obsessed with Ani Difranco back then, so I just had to have her brand of guitar). My father never failed to indulge me and I thank him for that; and I thank my parents for indulging the awful sound of some badly written tunes. I literally played til my fingers bled, but out of those 6hr-7hr stints of just banging and playing and banging, my voice truly came through and grew. I met a dynamic writing partner and thinker, Hakhi Alakhun, who I want to thank for helping me grow as a singer, thinker and overall musician.

So nine years and four-to-five bands later (I've lost count), I'm back at the guitar, banging it out and trying to get my callouses back - and it feels like I've never left it. The songs are pouring out of me, maybe because I've found true love in my husband, Michael Martin (I give thanks), maybe its because I have refocused my poetic hand to screenplays and loving every minute of it (I give thanks), maybe its because I'm digging into my soul and uncovering beautiful crystals and moons and "pluto is a planet" and the truh over the truth over joy over joy (I give thanks). Maybe its just that I've accepted that life is a spiral, circling upwards and upwards. It goes with out saying that change is a process that can hurt deeply, but I give thanks that in the process of change, the soul is being refined. And in the process, my fire has never died.

I am currently working on a solo album called, "Wishful Thinking" and a screenplay entitled "The Whiskey Runner."

"Write at least a song a day for 30-days then come back to me with last 3 you've written" - Music Industry Exec. that I met in 2006.
 

...and I am not surprised. It goes without saying that this has been a tremendous, mind-bending, colossus week. Tuesday, November 4th 2008 will always go down in my mind as Juneteenth II, New Year's Day, The Rising of the Phoneix, the day America took the bull by the horn and rode it to slaughter.

As I watched Senator Obama become the first African-American President of the US of A, I as did many people across the world cried, jumped, prayed, praised, cried, clapped, hugged, cried, praised and prayed. It wasn't only that President-elect Obama and his team of intellectuals, community shakers, hopefuls, game-changers had broken through a thick, bolted glass ceiling, but that Americans of all ethnic backgrounds, beliefs and goals came together and voted for hope, voted for change, voted for a dream, voted for a collective vision, voted for humanity. Millions of people went to the polls believing that they were not only voting for change in their future, but also that of their fellow man. We voted "Yes We Can" to humanity. We voted "Yes We Can" to loving our neighbors, taking care of our global neighborhood. Taking care of one another. This act of love and of worship is truly divine, supernatural, and a symbol of promise.

Michael (my husband) and I always tumble into discussions about what is wrong with the planet, the nation, our neighborhood, our household and what we can do (with our miniature hands) to CHANGE the negative into the positive. I've always thought that one step would be for the governmen to create a mandatory national volunteer program (a bit different from Americorps, per say) , particularly one that could be adopted in the educational system as well as in corporate America. People helping one another and the planet, could become one of the greatest cornerstones for understanding in this country. What could be more a symbol of citizenship then helping your fellow man learn better, think better, understand better...restoring the planet so that we can continue to benefit from it? I mean, shouldn't students get educational credit for serving their community? Shouldn't it be mandatory for students to help their community grow? Shouldn't employees get tax breaks for volunteering? I think volunteerism is one of the biggest hammers for shattering ignorance. It forces people to use their hands to feed someone else and not just themselves and/or their immediate families. It makes people really understand that in one way or another we can only grow together -- This is what "one nation under God (God would love this idea) INDIVISIBLE..." means....

I have to admit that my husband and I are just formulating our plan to become volunteers in our community. We've been picking out programs -- i'm partial to helping people learn to read and write, accurately express their visions and ideas // Michael is partial to protecting and caring for animals and contributing to the benefit of keeping our planet beautiful through parks restoration and the like -- we agreed that we will do both. I'm excited for our future :o)

So what does this three paragraph rant really mean and why am "I not surprised" that Obama won?

Really...I am not suprised that America has chosen to elect Change because I have read the dreams and hope and visions of so many great poets who have fortold that this day will come. Instead of quoting them here, I've decided to devote this blog to re-interpreting poems through the focal lens of our culture. In other words, how do these poems mean and ring in our culture today. I will try not to regurgitate the theoretical hodgepodge that I learned during my 2 years of study in the MFA program at San Jose State. I will try to be honest, speak from my heart, and my gut; interpret language based on my street education, as well as my academic. As my favorite poet, Nikki Giovanni says in her book Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, "when you get that plastic money, buy yourself an experience instead of a thing." I hope my experience of reading great poetry, will translate in this blog and that the renewing of the mind that has happened to me over and over again after reading a great poem -- will be your NEW Beginning and persuade you to do the same.

Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day

Free

I just came across an article in Newsweek, "Free Speech" discussing Paulo Coelho's recent marketing tactics. It appears that to HarperCollins unawares, Coelho has been offering readers free downloads of his books, in languages from German to Japanese and everywhere in between. Coelho says that along with more traditional marketing tactics for authors including book signings, readings and reviews, free downloads has increased his readership.

This ongoing fight in regards to who owns the internet, who gets paid off the internet and how people are paid from using the internet as a means of dispersing their art has caused its fair share of wars in various industries, most notably and recently, television. I think as an artist (and alchemist), our first inclination is to make the best art that we can and to get it out to as many people who will receive (If your first inclination for your art is to make money off of it, then you're no longer an artist -- you're a mechanic.)

Business folk are not on the creating end, yet they do want to make as much money as they can on the dispensing end. Further, nothing can be free if you're art is linked to the business -- even if it is dispersed freely there is always a means to the end and that comes in the form of advertising. Hence, if Coelho formed a partnership with, let's say, BitTorrent and allowed them to disperse free copies of his book embedded with advertising -- then both parties make money and of course, the fans are happy because they get to read some of the best writing around for free. Further, if Coelho formed a partnership with, lets say, YouTube and offered free vidcasts of his performed readings from around the world, then YouTube can make money off of the advertising embedded in the video and fans will be happy because they can view footage of Coelho live.

It may sound pretty simple and some of you may believe that placing advertisements in your art is like selling your soul to the devil, but I disagree. I think advertising in this form -- be it, you get the opportunity to choose what advertiser you would like supporting your art -- helps to balance the scales. I believe in the power of ad-supported content. Hopefully, with this, the word(s) "piracy" and "a free Internet" wont seem as dirty.

 
GREAT QUOTE
"I always thought that when, at the beginning of your career, you strive to be read, you can't change your mind later and become greedy about it," P. Coehlo

Sayo is Currently Reading: The Pilgrimage by Paul Coelho; National Geographic "Black Pharaohs," February 2008.
Sayo is Currently Listening to: Her Band's Demos -- Bella Bella

A few years ago, I came across a book called The Alchemist by Brazilian writer, Paulo Coelho. I have to admit that before picking up the book, I had heard of the book's title and the writer's name synonymously tossed around in Brooklyn poetry circles, aligned with the words "genius" and "spiritual" and "breathtaking" and "transforming." Instead of being inspired to go find this "life changing" book, I was intimidated. I had just begun to make my way through NYC's poetry scene as a burgeoning poet, hungry for words, for knowledge, for absolute change. Everyone around me was smart -- somewhat -- and seemed to understand life in years beyond their actual. I didn't want to begin reading a book, only to have to put it down because the context was way over my head; I didn't want to appear dumb.

A few weeks after beginning my first temp job as a marketing assistant at Pressman Toy, in the Flatiron District, I stopped by Strand bookstore to pick up something -- anything really. "18 miles" of books -- rows and rows of novelists, essayists, poets...on and on...it was impossible, as a reader in NYC, not to know Strand and not to have visited its towering shelves. It was here that I found The Alchemist. Unemployed...living on crumbs and poetry...begging for change...It was time to start reading this book.

I won't go into how this book changed me or why you should read it now. However, what I found is that the book is stylistically simple, yet philosophically profound. The motifs that continue to stick to me and drive me in its subterranean way is the author's dialogue regarding dreams and alchemy.  "It is the possibility of having dreams come true that makes life interesting," (11). The question is how do we go about realizing those dreams?

One of the goals of an Alchemist is to understand wo/man's relation to the universe; understanding the will of God by understanding the world. One cannot understand without be compassionate towards that which s/he is trying mentally grasp. One cannot be compassionate without loving. I believe the realization of dreams stems from a love of the self, the world and God. The day-by-day belief that one can be changed, transformed, refined can only be realized through the consistent acts of love towards the self, toward others, towards God.

Daily, I am trying to understand myself, my fellow man, God. I am trying to love stronger, more consistently and more faithfully. I am an Alchemist in Training and I know that in this chosen trade, I am not alone.

Looking forward to meeting more of you...