Wordsworth II @ bing!

i woke up. then i groaned. extra classes. which I asked for. but i didn't feel like attending. my wallet was, and still is empty. the last amount of money deposited into my account was rm80 on july 25th, 2008. thing is, i do not like leaving the house without a single ringgit note on me. so i contemplated just staying home and asking a fellow classmate to share important tips with me. then, the niece gave me some money. 'go to class!' she said. omg i can't believe i got bribed to go to class by my own niece! so here i am, after the class that my mulut gatal asked for, slightly more informed than i was 2 hours ago.

but i digress, this post is not about how i hate being poor. in my life, i have only read poetry in front of an audience once. i dont know why, but i feel like it takes more soul as compared to singing and performing. in fact, i only read my poetry to (or allow it to be read by) a very select few. the things i write (besides law essays - which tend to be a bit boring) come from deep within me. allowing access to my poetry means allowing myself to be vulnerable. my poetry is myself, raw and exposed. so when georgette invited me to read for Wordsworth II, i was initially a bit skeptical. but i slept on it and the next day i texted her my reply.

yes.

so yesterday, with my posse of great friends, we headed to bing coffee company. there was no one when we got there. i was such a tangled wreck of nerves that i managed to arrive before georgette did, and georgette arrived early.

*** ducky in the jar, where the performer's names were kept. ***

brief introductions were made, and readers' names were to be picked out and called randomly (this is the part where i seriously wanted to get up and run). but i (thankfully) was not called out first. so enjoyed watching the gifted readers' before my name was called.

*** the first readers, who immersed us in a fantasy world ***

*** the housemate, who damn near shocked us all. ***

*** the lady who read us the excerpt of her novel. ***

*** robert raymer, creative writing lecturer in UNIMAS, and author of the book, Lovers & Strangers. ***

*** err. the pisang goreng guy. ***

then aaron's name was called. up went the tangled wreck of nerves - who tried (unsuccessfully) to hide behind the stool - and he looked out into the expectant faces of the audience. eh, why am i referring to myself in the third person? anyway i flipped my notebook open and introduced myself with a poem. i was shaking like the proverbial leaf! here's the thing though, the moment i admitted to being nervous, the feeling left me. of course, looking at the smiling faces of my friends also helped spur me on. so i let my written words represent me.

when it was over, i was on the verge of jumping up and down like a deranged housewife high on spanish telenovelas. such was the adrenalin rush.

then i sat and enjoyed the rest of the show.

i did not manage to catch everyone's names. so most of the pics are nameless. heh. i know i had a notebook, a pen AND a laptop there with me but it did not occur to me that i should jot things down *sigh* the perils of being aaronparan.

*** the other hopeless romantic ***

*** the lady nominated for the malaysian women's weekly woman of the year award. ***

*** the one with the most endearing drunken stories. ***

*** the woman who made it all happen, georgette. ***

later on we just sat down and enjoyed each others company, and bings' food (omg you should SERIOUSLY try the lamb panini there!).. and of course, we camwhored. heheh.

it was a good day..