For all you voters out there, I found the site Congress.org particularly useful in digging up information without being bombarded by mud-slinging. It is sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Here is what they have to say about themselves:

It is an interactive platform designed to improve the quality of voter information and create a more educated and engaged electorate. DNet encourages candidates to address a wider range of issues, and to address them in greater depth, than they might in other media. Candidate issue statements are provided by the candidates themselves, without any outside editing.

For city and county information you'll have to find your local elections board website...or something similar.~w

Well, I finally got around to adding some external links to the website. They are listed in the right hand column below the contact information and before you get to the archive list. Check them out! There's some fun stuff there and useful things as well. Please note...I've stuck in a few visual artists under the poetry links and a few not-quite-jazz bands under the jazz links. They're all good though so don't be worried.

I've finished my last session with the 4th graders at Grove Elementary. They did a splendid job performing their poems today. I was impressed. For now my focus will shift to the Poetry Alive! shows I have coming up and the Handz on Artz project here in Tryon.

In case you haven't heard, the Firecracker Jazz Band will be playing every Thursday now at Broadway's in Asheville. Check out their portion of the site for more details.

Now I am off on a web adventure to find out as much as I can about the various candidates that will be on my ballot Tuesday. I encourage you to do the same.~w

I found this on a friend's site and had to try it. I encourage you to try it too.

You preferred Bush's statements 22% of the time You preferred Kerry's statements 78% of the time Voting purely on the issues you should vote Kerry Who would you vote for if you voted on the issues? Find out now!

Just for kicks, here's a rough draft of a newish poem:

Solving for the Unknown

or Why Math is Life

A collection of symbols selected to explain

The process of "figuring things out."

The tried and true methods

of many lifetimes of work

trying to find the answers.

Since there is no book of answers for life's tests,

No preprogrammed "correct response,"

there are only sliding degrees of

"close but not quite"

obtuse angles that leave me wishing for a-cute one.

To find a more precise answer requires a better equation.

What is the square root of the soul?

Solve for it,

Though the answer itself may be meaningless,

it will lead you to the next question.

Copyright ©2004 wendi loomis

Whew! The month is flying by. Blink and it will be over. I've been busy with workshops at Tanglewood Middle and Grove Elementary in Greenville, SC this month. They seem to be going rather well despite a few glitches now and then. Tomorrow is my last day with the 6th grade math students and we'll see them perform poems and check over the accuracy of the blocking maps they have made for themselves. I finish poetry writing with the 4th graders next Tuesday and am already very impressed with what they have written.

Now I'm beginning to look forward to the month of November where there will be more focus on the local program here in Tryon that we are planning for the 7th graders in the area. With that program I become organizer as well as visiting artist and things might get rather hectic. I'm hoping that I can maintain my persistence and determination to make this project live up to my own expectations. Somedays it feels like I've jumped into the deep end of the lake after only a couple of swimming lessons and now I have to make it back to the shore.

All in all though, I feel like I'm finally getting the chance to make a living doing what I love to do and benefiting many other people because of it. As long as it keeps paying the bills, all should go fine.~w

Well, I avoided Ivan entirely in my travels. He went right around us and did some damage to a friend's house north of here. And, neither Francis or Jeanne were able to flood us on our hillside. I'll looking forward to some hurricane free days from now on though.

After returning from the road I dove into the Arts Integration project and started working with a 6th grade math class last week on staging and blocking using angles and area formulas. This week I continue that project and start working with 4th graders on poetry writing and performance as well. Meetings continue for the Handz On Artz project here in Tryon and it looks like that will be rolling along soon.

I finally had time to catch up with myself this weekend while my roommate is off playing an out of town wedding with the Firecracker Jazz Band. There has been much music lately since he's working on 6 or 7 different projects right now. Unfortunately last week we said goodbye to Thibodaux Jones Creole Kitchen & Meantime Lounge. Hurricanes are bad for business, and they just couldn't keep up in the aftermath. Hopefully the kind folks there will reappear with a new space full of good food and good music in the near future.

Tonight I'm going to listen to music from Sweet Mama T and her Red Hot Sugar Babies over at the New French Bar. They'll be playing from 7-9pm every Sunday this month.

So, I guess that's all the news for now. I'm off into another week of theatre, poetry, kids, and jazz.~w