My hundredth post!

The ASIFA Showcase is Saturday, and it's going to be really good- I'm so impressed with the level of submissions, and the show is going to be very strong. And it's FREE, so please come- Saturday at 11am at Cinema 21.
I think we've done everything we can do for BeTween- now we just need to hope people show up and bring their participation hats. There will be coffee, and bagels, and maybe some swag, and we've left ourselves some room to be flexible depending on how many people show up. I so sincerely hope that people benefit from it- David and I were talking about how hard it can be to get people to come if they don't think there's anything "in it" for them. I wonder why the tech community doesn't seem to have that problem- they benefit personally when the group benefits collectively, so they don't need to be persuaded of the value of collaboration. I wish we had more of that spirit in the creative community. Baby steps, Rebekah- baby steps.

And, as always, let's close with a poem- I've been reading a lot of Jane Hirshfield lately.

THREE FOXES BY THE EDGE OF THE FIELD AT TWILIGHT

One ran,
her nose to the ground,
a rusty shadow
neither hunting nor playing.

One stood; sat; lay down; stood again.

One never moved,
except to turn her head a little as we walked.

Finally we drew too close,
and they vanished.
The woods took them back as if they had never been.

I wish I had thought to put my face to the grass.

We kept on walking,
speaking as strangers do when becoming friends.

There is more and more I tell no one,
strangers nor loves.
This slips into the heart
without hurry, as if it had never been.

And yet, among the trees, something has changed.

Something looks back from the trees,
and knows me for who I am.

Poem and stuff

I'm really excited about BeTween- I think it's going to go really well, and if it doesn't, we've learned what we'll need to do for the next one. Yes, David and Sam really want this to be an ongoing thing, which pleases me.

Now it's just a question for me of maintaining momentum, following up on the loose ends, connecting with the people on my list to connect to. I don't want to get lazy here in the home stretch.

And I've been listening to the Poem of the Day podcast, which reminded me of Jane Hirshfield. Here's one of my favorites from her:

Letting What Enters Enter

Even in January rains
the blossoms open --
absence and longing
are also the plum-fragrant spring.
As the woman with her sign and cart of rags is spring,
beside the highway, stepping slowly
through the undimmed flower of her life.
"What I now most want to happen
in my raving heart, make it happen --"
Sappho's cry to the goddess.
Who knows if that prayer was answered?
Each part holds the rest in the chill
spring rain and the silence; let one animal
eat from your hand and the whole herd comes.
but the woman was not beautiful
or whole in her heart's raving,
and she forgave me nothing that I love.