Old Letters - A Poem

Sometimes while cleaning house you find old letters
Letters from people you admire
People you look up to
People who are intelligent
Then you reread the letter
With a clearer mind than when you first read it years ago
Then you wonder
Where did the intelligence go
During the letter writing
What happened to the person
I once so looked up to
And admired
What happened to the not-so-common
Commonsense
Was it a lapse of reason
A snap judgment with pen in hand
What happened to peace, love and understanding
Turns out truth
Scared even the smartest of beings
Truth hurts
Even the toughest role models
And the student becomes
The pushed away

written by liz nance dec 2013

Lighting Up the Night

a few pictures i took of Christmas lights tonight

 

Quote for the Day

“Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.” -Kurt Vonnegut

Quote for the Day

“Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.” -Edward Abbey

Quote for the Day

“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC” -Kurt Vonnegut

Quote for the Day

“It comforts me to think that if we are created beings the thing that created us would have to be greater than us, so much greater, in fact, that we would not be able to understand it. It would have to be greater than the facts of our reality and so it would seem to us, looking out from within our reality that it would contradict reason. But reason itself would suggest it would have to be greater than reality or it would not be reasonable.”-from Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Quote for the Day

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." -Nelson Mandela

Quote for the Day

"Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way."  from the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Quote for the Day

“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.” - Charles Bukowski (German-born American poet, novelist and short story writer)

Quote for the Day

“Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.” -Garrison Keillor (American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality)

Quote for the Day

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” -Groucho Marx (American comedian and film and television star)

Quote for the Day

"I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." -Diane Ackerman (American author, poet, and naturalist)

Quote of the Day

"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." -John Henry Jowett (English congregational pastor)

Quote of the Day

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” -Theodor Seuss Geisel (American writer, poet, and cartoonist)

A Picture for Today

A Thanksgiving day in the past that I am forever thankful for.

Quote for the Day

"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches." -Alice Roosevelt Longworth (oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt)

Quote for the Day

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made the victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." -Harvey Fierstein (American actor and playwright)

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey Fierstein
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_life.html#Q3Qwo7FAVLk25BUm.99

short poem #5

i've got a grocery list that doesn't include bad habits anymore
no appetite for late night destruction of health
no more ignored ingredient and nutrition labels
for the feeding if the moment

though occasionally there's still the late night sweet tooth
that sneaks up on you when you've had too much salad
the one that sends you to the fridge to pull it open, stare
pull it open, stare
pull it open, stare

third times a charm in realizing that the cupboard's bare
funny how at these times it can be full
and feel bare

what happened to kool-aid and oreos
what happened to dipping unhealthy foods
into dips that make them even more so

my arteries are clogging
heart barely beats through sluggish rhythms 
however my mental veins are flowing
and my heart strings are starting to untangle

so i'll hold off on that trip to the hot spot
for tonight
just for old time's sake

 read my first four short poems

short poem #4

short poem #3

short poem #2

short poem #1

 

Band Photos and Learning Curves

Being a musician I really enjoy taking photos of musicians. I have had some awesome opportunities for that at the Nantahala Brewing Company. Recently, some friends of mine asked me to help with some band photos. I am not accustomed to taking photos of musicians who know they are having their picture made. It took some getting used to. A learning curve for sure. They were patient and kind. However, something else I learned from this experience was not to upload my photos into some random program and then delete them off my camera! I took massive images and it downsized them to 72dpi. No good. Unfortunately, that means I have done that to several rounds of photos. That's ok, lesson learned. With all the said, here are a few of my favorites from that day.

This picture of fiddler, Sally Anne Morgan, was my overall favorite. 

Just a quick glance and she stuck out her fiddle. Nice.

photos of The Freight Hoppers by Liz Nance Bryson City, NC 2013

truth and love

last night i started writing out what i would say. i felt like i was writing a speech. i felt like i was trying to fit a big story of my life onto a single piece of steno paper. it wasn't happening. i got through the, "good evening and thank you for joining me" yadda yadda "supporting the arts" yadda yadda. it all seemed so cold and heartless. so i decided to just write an outline, something to keep me on topic. something to keep me going with an order of events. but life doesn't always happen in any particular order and stories need flashbacks and foreshadowing to be told. my friend jeff asked how much of the story i would tell. my answer was, "all of it". he asked if any of my family would be there. of course not. mainly because of distance, but mostly because they still don't want to acknowledge the "all of it" part. how do you tell a story that others in the story won't tell? how do you share truth when others in the story don't see it as that or aren't ready to accept it as such? how do you expose skeletons when the closet has such guarded locks? tonight i will chance losing touch with family that i love dearly. tonight i will chance ousting myself. tonight i will chance hurting someone to possible save others. tonight i will choose truth. tonight i will choose love.

art and music for survivors

november 23rd is

international survivors of suicide day.

please join me at the grove church 

in bryson city, nc

let me share my story of survival

with you through original

art & music

doors open at 6pm with time for viewing and visiting

music will start around 7pm

for more info please email me

usedmuses@gmail.com

short poem #4

the pictures sent of bones in closets

the rug is coming off the floor

the clues are hitting you from your past

black top roads to memories paved

with a troubled mind to lead the way

formed with a nonsensical idea

that these things were ok

short poem #3

dirty water filling tubs with rings

sins washed out but won't go down

a clogged memory of a drain

sitting in the tepid water 

is causing me to be luke warm

written by liz nance

feb. 13, 2011

"Week of Rock" at Nantahala Brewing Company

Balancing our day jobs with our night jobs with life got tricky for a week, but we lived to tell the tale. It was a great week in Bryson City. The ICF Championship took place in the Nantahala Gorge and brought people from all over the country to our area. Nantahala Brewing Company played host to the "Week of Rock"and what a week it was! Aj ran sound everyday for 9 days! I took photos since I was there. Here are some of my favorite photos from the week.

September 1 Tar and Rosin

 September 4 Sundy Best

September 5 Wyatt Espalin

September 6  The Hermit Kings

September 7  The Floorwalkers

 Hope you enjoyed! Make sure to check out these bands. Lots of talent rollin' through Bryson City.

Angela Faye Martin @ Nantahal Brewing Co.

I have combined two things I love, taking pictures and music. Now if only I could figure out how to be in two places at once and take pictures of me and Aj playing.

Angela Faye Martin is a songwriter living in Franklin, NC. I love her advant garde style of folk music. A poetic singer of haunting tunes. Here are some photos from Angela's show at the brewery in August. The show doubled as a cd release party celebrating her latest album, Anniversary.

 

Musical Shots : Sundy Best

Nantahala Brewing Company has live music almost every weekend. Aj is the audio man for the brewery so we get to hear a lot of new music. I was recently given a new camera, so I've been using the shows as a chance to practice taking photos. These pictures are from last weekend. This is Sundy Best. They are from Kentucky and their show was incredible. Kris Bentley and Nick Jamerson are both talented and very personable. Check them out!