Friday, December 29, 2006

(Observation and Travel Poetry) Hmong New Year Celebration

Get More Poems at PoetryBusinessblog: Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Obama, Oprah-inspired Poetry

Good Reading!

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Hmong New Year Celebration

Hmong know how to put on a good show

And have a good time at the Fresno Fairgrounds

They come from near and afar

They come to the yearly rendez-vous for many reasons

Some come for the foods, tea, BBQ chickens, and papaya juice

Others come for the friendship they hope to establish

Singles come to the festivities to meet a new mate or stumble upon old flames

Young men and women come to browse the vendors

They come to engage in pov pob or ball tossing

Each one of them either has a digital camera or camcorder

To record precious community moments spent eating under the tents

Nobody wants to miss an opportunity to toss tennis balls and listen to music

With the opposite sex, donned in fabulous and colorful dresses

Groups of males walk the grounds and scan the crowd for a past relation

Visitors from other ethnic groups stand out like distant windmills

On California hills and mountains. The mélange of foods aroma attracts them

Girls gossip and have crush on the boys. Is it the last chance for older Hmong

Women to find a date? They are taking their chance with Twin City males

Widows, widowers, single men and women, divorcees come for free hugs and kisses

Everyone hopes the Hmong new year brings good luck, health and prosperity

Before this year's celebration is over, revelers start thinking about the next Hmong

New Year in Minnesota or Fresno. Once again, new opportunities and friends will abound

As I stand right here in their midst, I eat, witness, and laugh with a proud group of people

From the other side of the huge river of tears. I am having a good time with my Hmong friends

Indeed, the glue of sticky rice seals and renews true friendships for ever

***Credits: Poem by JJC (videopinions@gmail.com) was first published by http://podshoppingblog.libsyn.com. This poem and others will be part of a new book published at UrbanBookPublishing Press

Buy the book right on these sites:

http://hmongnewyear.blogspot.com

http://bestsellerpicks.blogspot.com

http://hollywoodhmong.blogspot.com










Sunday, December 17, 2006

Blog2Blook Wants Your Submissions To Participate in LulublookerPrize Next Year!

The deadline for entry to the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize is a month away! All entries must be postmarked by Monday, January 15, 2007 to be considered for the Prize. To enter, visit www.lulublookerprize.com and fill out the entry form. A printed copy of the completed entry form must be mailed with one copy of your blook.

Send your submission to:
The Lulu Blooker Prize
860 Aviation Parkway Suite 300 Morrisville, NC 27560 USA


I would also like to take this opportunity to review the eligibility requirements:

* Only printed, bound books are eligible. Self-published books are just as valid as those that come from a traditional publisher; however, e-books are not accepted. (Neither are print-outs of screen-captures of your blog for that matter.)

* The content of your book must have been developed in a significant way online. This can range anywhere from an archive of your blog posts, reproduced verbatim, to general themes, research, or characters. Note: just having your book available for sale online does not make it a blook!

* Your blook must be written in English (although it can be sent from anywhere in the world). For those of you who blog/write in a language other than English, we'll have big news for you in the coming year--stay tuned!

* If you sent your blook in last year, you can't enter it again. However, if you never actually got around to submitting your blook, you've got a second chance!

Please also refer to the Official Rules for the complete list of eligibility requirements.

If you have any questions, please contact us at blookerprize@lulu.com.

Happy blooking,

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Submit to Blog + Book = Blook, You Write The Book or Blook

Here is your chance to see your stories in print. Here is your chance to be part of this great anthology. This is like the nanowrimoma writing experience. You can submit your writings any time you wish. This is your chance to write the book or blook. Submit your stories, poems, or meditations. If they are accepted, they will be published on this blog. The best ones will be selected to be part of an anthology or blook. This is like Post-Secret. Yes, you may submit your memoirs, secrets, confessionals in less than 500-words.

This is not a lot to ask. In one seating, you can write more than a 500-word story.

It can be done here. You can do it. Jeff Jarvis came up with the idea on BuzzMachine. He is credited to have created the word blook. Blookmark.com defines "Blook." Wikipedia defines the word this way, "One definition of blook is a book serialized on a blog site. Chapters are published one by one as blog posts, and readers can then subscribe to a blook with an RSS feed, tag it, comment on it, etc. This type of blook was popularized by Tom Evslin in September 2005, with the launch of hackoff.com, a murder mystery set in the dot-com bubble. ::: Blooks can include online material. For example, hackoff.com includes both a wiki and a faux company website for the fictional company described in the book. ::: Another definition of blook is a printed book whose content was originally posted on a blog. Tony Pierce published a blook of this type in 2002 which was actually named Blook after Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine invented the term."

Submit your stories right here! videopinions at gmail.com