ME! ME! ME! The Cassendre Xavier Newsletter
the "Reader Feedback" ediccione, if you will. (As it were.)
Cassendre Xavier a.k.a. Amethyste Rah is a self-described "renaissance negresse" (musician/writer/actress/visual artist). She is the award-winning founder of Philadelphia's annual Black Women's Arts Festival (est. 2003) and currently resides in her native city of New York. Visit her online at www.cassEndrExavier.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) GREETINGS (UND ZIE SALUTATIONARY DEVICE UNITS)
2) YOU BAD-ASS READERS ROCK MY WORLD!
3) BLACK WOMEN'S ARTS FESTIVAL NEXT WEEKEND!
4) ARTISTIC PROGRESS REPORT
5) THE RENAISSANCE NEGRESSE CATALOGUE
6) FAREWELL BLESSING TYPE THINGIE
CONTENTS OF TABLE
1) GREETINGS (UND ZIE SALUTATIONARY DEVICE UNITS)
Well, helloooooo, m'wee pupperlings, how are ye all?!
I am feeling waaaay super duper chipper on account of all the writing I've been doing. It is truly wonderful for the brain to be used when one's brain is fashioned to, uh, be used in this, uh, fashion, heh-heh!
As usual, I must remind ye that the best way to enjoy this newsletter is to print it out and read it on the john or over breakfast. Don't be all trying to absorb it in a few seconds and blame me for making it too long, alright? Thanks! Also, I don't edit these days, I just let it pour out and go "Doh!" over the mistakes later after I've already sent it everywhere and printed out my own copy to read myself to sleep just before bedtime as such as it were there.
I am officially hereby issuing a parental advisory because as time goes on, my writing gets a wee lustier, so iffn' any youths are on this list, you may want to warn them. But other than young Miguel in France, whose lovely family I met while busking here in NY, I'm pretty sure all the rest o' yuzz are adults like me!
I urge ye to post blog comments or email me whenever the spirit moves ya. All feedback is welcomed and most appreciated!
That official type stuff having been said now I can move along and say thanks for letting me be mice elf again, and for reading my words with patience and openness. Hope you're well!
2) YOU BAD-ASS READERS ROCK MY WORLD!
I reached two breakthroughs as a writer this past week - the first is that I wrote so much, just to make myself happy, and then after I did that, I felt so happy that the things I used to depend on for a significant amount of Moi's happiness, such as a letter from a pen pal (not just any pen pal, mind you, but someone I once knew, and yes, I do mean in the Biblical sense, heh-heh ;-), anyway, this used to be a highlight of my week, to receive a letter from this person, but then I was making myself so happy writing and posting a lot that it was still sweet but didn't mean as much as before. Second breakthrough was that my level of feedback from readers has reached the point where I can no longer personally respond to each of you. This is one reason I've decided to occasionally include a portion of your responses in my ME! ME! ME! Newsletter. I will leave all quotes "anonymous", and I'm only interested in posting things that you send in that may be useful to someone on my mailing list, not just "Great newsletter, Cassendre!" although that does warm the cockles of my heart and thank GOD I have an excuse to say that word, twice even: Cockles. Heh-heh! Cockles! Okay, now I'm just pushin' it. :-)
Here is some feedback from readers, as well as some conversations I've had with readers, as a result of your feedback, which may be of help, or at the very least, a goodly amount of entertainment, as it were. (If you will.) I hope you enjoy, because I certainment did!
(P.S. I'm not including the feedback I got on my "Pap Smear" article. Details down below. Pun intended, heh-heh!)
Firstly, the idea for this issue came in part from a reader who responded to my ME! ME! ME! "Look In Your Own Car" ediccione:
" i have to share this with you. when your last newsletter came thru i had this vision. it was "WE WE WE!! the rolling down the windows edition (as it were)"
Thank you! Beautiful concept. But that I were selfless enough to share, iffn' you will, quite that much space, as it were. Seems there ain't no fakeness in the whole ME ME ME thing. I really do want it to be about ME ME ME, heh-heh. Call Moi a Miss Piggy or Barbra Streisand wanna be. I ain't too proud to hog space. By the way, pigs have thirty minute orgasms, did you know that? And they only chew AND savor their food, unlike dogs who chomp and mindlessly swallow. That's all I got to say on this matter. You know, since you asked about pigs and how long their orgasms are. ME! ME! ME!
"Thank you for your periodic Bulletins. I really enjoy reading them - they are GOOD! I am also a singer on the side (looking to change careers from --------- to the Healing Arts) and an ever-so-often 100% raw foodist. Many Blessings!"
thanks so much for taking the time to write and express your appreciation for my writing. it means a lot to me that it has helped.
the world so needs more healing, and i'm sure as you take step after step towards your dream to apply your gift in service to humanity, you and your dream will be totally supported.
you're exactly the kind of person i write the newsletter for, to inspire and share my struggle so that you know you are really not alone, and that progress does indeed happen over time.
keep the faith, keep the dream and vision clear in your mind and it WILL come to pass! i look forward to your first effort, be it CD or major live performance of your Healing Artful music and/or whatever spirit, the folks who need your healing, and the raw foods tell you to do! ---blessings, light, and hope, -c.
"I hope you're not feeling so tired"
Actually, I'm bored out of my skull, not tired. Huge diff! But I have to say the more I write, the less bored I become.
"someone told me once that boredom is not having confidence that there is space for your contribution. this was a very clarifying moment for me, as i get catatonically board for no discernible reason!"
About my recent break-up, and to anyone out there in a borderline toxic relationship considering getting out:
"Thanks for the good vibes. And good for you for getting rid of the romance that stopped being romantic. We will know that the perfect
relationship is on its way to you."
Uncategorizable:
"Well, remember to soak your feet as much as you can... something I always forget to do but it feels so good... even just clogging the
drain a bit during a shower, so the warm water gets up to the ankles..."
And the shortest and sweetest:
"thank u for being u"
We should all be us. I've heard Mos Def and tons more brilliant artists say in their award acceptance speeches, "Do you."
That's what it's all about. Me being ME ME ME and you being YOU YOU YOU! It's not always easy to be yourself. It's taken
me 39 years to muster up the gumption to believe I could totally be myself, and only time will tell how well I get that lesson
down, and how fast. I hope you can learn it faster than I did. Or if you already have, write in and tell the rest of us your secret!
3)
BLACK WOMEN'S ARTS FESTIVAL NEXT WEEKEND!The Fifth Annual Black Women's Arts Festival is happening next Thurs, July 31st thru Sun Aug 3rd, whoo-hoo! My set will be on Friday, August 1st, 7:00pm at the Metropolitan Bakery & Cafe 4013 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104. (Free--Donations Welcome). I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing, but heels will be involved. For the complete schedule, please click here, or visit www.BWAFphilly.org.
To purchase tickets, click here, or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BWAFphilly/message/2342
4) ARTISTIC PROGRESS REPORT
A) MUSIC
Learning new cover songs to record to YouTube, completing old originals and starting new ones. Asked my brother if I could use his studio to record myself playing keyboard on one of my next projects, and he said yes! Had an idea for a line of CDs featuring content from a book I've enjoyed for years and emailed the author of said book last week for permission to use some of the content. Still waiting to hear and in the meantime, am thinking about whether I really want to do this - it would be a huge and brand new undertaking. If I don't hear from him, that may be my answer! The print out of that email is one of my proudest possessions currently. Most excited about the possibilities of YouTube, because it's so much fun and immediate. I can't wait til you hear what songs I've been working on. You're not gonna be ready!
B) WRITING
Man, oh, Manoschevitz, I have been writing the way Donald Trump makes money, the way Paris Hilton makes the headlines, the way the media loves themselves some Obama.
Blogs, newsletters, personal paper letters to one special writer - it's all super good stuff. Most importantly, it's balancing me out in ways I never imagined. In writing my deepest thoughts, I am vacating my mind of the pressure to maintain certain concepts. I air them out, look at them, and decide which I want to let go of. It's a beautiful thing. I've decided to just write and write and write and be happy, and then collect those bad boys into a book and then sell that puppy online. That's The Big Dream. That's The Plan. All this verbiage will someday be in your hot little hands in real paper format, either with a spine that you read on the train, or coming out of your printer in Norway because you downloaded it minutes earlier. (My first CD Baby sale was to a customer in Norway, so I'm a little fond of that country for the purposes of that story/example :-)
Below is just a smattering of what I've been writing and publishing online. Click on them or visit
www.myspace.com/cassendrexavier or
www.cassendre.livejournal.com to read them.
One Lucky Girl: How to Get Through a Pap SmearOne Lucky Girl - On Mothers & SonsGreen Smoothie Raw Blog - Maxi Pads, Bathroom Tissue & Ice CreamGreen Smoothie Raw Blog - A Burger Can't Come In Your Face 6/3/08(You'll have to scroll down to read that one)
C) ACTING
So I went to the theatre to usher, and that's a story I'll have to tell you another time because I'm running out of space.
D) VISUAL ART
Daydreaming and planning future projects again. You know Moi. Always "in the clouds" with my thoughts - my rightful Aquarian place :-)
5) THE
RENAISSANCE NEGRESSE CATALOGUE
The Cassendre Xavier Music Gallery (or visit )
http://cdbaby.com/all/cassendreGuided Meditations by Amethyste Rah (CX) featuring the music of
Thaddeus (used with permission) (Or visit
http://stores.lulu.com/cassendre)
Books by Cassendre (or visit
http://artivistpublications.homestead.com/services.html)
Please note chapbooks have been discontinued and contents will be reprinted in future editions. Other books are available at the links from the website, which will be updated soon also. Thanks!
Watch Cassendre's Free Videos on YouTube! (Or visit
http://youtube.com/cassendrexavier)
For even more CX videos on YouTube, use
this search link, or visit
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=cassendre+xavier&search=Search.
6) FAREWELL BLESSING TYPE THINGIE
May your path always be clear and crowded with helpful friends and angels.
May your trust in yourself continuously grow and strengthen.
May your doubts fade and be replaced by newfound, unwavering faith in your self.
May joy be your constant companion.
May abundance be your state of being.
May all your best dreams and visions come true, or something better, and may it be for the good of all.In lightlihoodness (a.k.a. "lightnation" or "lightnage"),
Cassendre a.k.a. Amethyste
renaissance negresse
BONUS:
PERFECTLY USELESS TRIVIA:
Number of times the word "ass" was used in this
ediccione: 1.
Words from the Official CX/ARah
Wickedary (not "dick-tionary", - courtesy of uber-feminist scholar
Mary Daly):
*ediccione - edition, issue
*lightlihoodness (a.k.a. "lightnation" or "lightnage" - light, or "lightery"
*pupperlings (or, alternately: pupperlinks) - an affectionate term for CX/ARah readers/listeners, used in the same appreciative spirit that
Dame Edna calls her audience "possums" and
Craig Ferguson calls his audience "monkeys".
*salutationary - greetings, salutations
----there are more up there, but I'm too bored to finish. Short attention span. Merry Christmas!
--------If you like
ME! ME! ME! The Cassendre Xavier Newsletter, you'll love
One Lucky Girl Blog and
Green Smoothie Raw Blog all viewable at
http://myspace.com/cassendrexavier and
http://cassendre.livejournal.com --------
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