Preprise

I sent it to you. Enjoy!

If you want to just give the tune a listen to see if you want to take a shot at it or not that's cool too. I'll send you the file...

Superheros?

Patrick, you pat-ROCK!

If you want to participate in this activity, click the following link to hear the tune -> LADADA Post you rlyrics in this thread. I'll pick a set of lyrics based on the following. 1: Has to techniaclly fit in the melody. Each "la" or each note is roughly one syllable. It's flexible. I can tweak the number of notes to fit the lyrics but not exageratedly. Meaning that the pattern should be similar overall. Also, the notes that are longer should have words that require emphasis or at least make sense to emphasize. A common problem is "the". It sounds weird to sing, the sun meets THE moon. I could tweak that to sort of sing a half beat on the and elongate "moon". Same goes for high notes. Just try to keep it in mind but don't let it shackle you. 2: It has to "click". Sorry, I can't really describe what makes lyrics click with a song. It can be appropriate to the style or unexpected. It can be literal or abstract. It's something that just works. 3: I have to recieve the lyrics before February first. You don't have to stick to the verse, verse chorus, verse, chorus structure. You can add and substract. Don't hesitate to ask questions here in the thread. We'll have good fun!

I love the idea of having one of you thespians read my work on youtube. I would totally go for that! Also, video would be a good way to incorporate more boobs in the site. Who hear has nice boobs would and read poems? I'm an idiot. Here are some more of my thoughts. If you look at other successful "forums", what do they do that creates success? One, the forum is just a part of the project. Two, they offer something very few others do. Three, they keep it moving. Why not make the forum just a part of the community. We've got a start with what's been tossed around already. The facebook and youtube ideas for instance. But I think the Pen could become a Website. I mean the full rigamaroll. With one of the main links of the site being the forum, another being video, others could be blog, where a newsletter relating to different aspects of writing is posted regularly, sometimes written by members. Subjects could have a narrow focus at first so that the brand is clear and then widen afterward. I would suggest articles about improving one's craft of writing, or stories of empowerment through self-expression. No need to be expert advice, just amateurs discussing with amateurs. It might sound like a lot of work, but once set up that sort of thing isn't more work than a forum I'd guess. That way we'd be casting the net wider. Facebook (and other social networking sites) would help create connections. Whereas the blog and forum would help keep people around. Wordpress provides excellent user-friendly software from what I hear and nice customizable templates are easy to find. Being the person that I am, I view this as a branding exercise. And clarity and consistency are key. Let's pick one or two clear objectives and hammer away at only those for an extended period of time. Set realistic goals and achieve them and keep it rolling. In cyberspace anything that stops, dies. Now, I'm not saying let's turn this thing into a corporation, but I think it has lots of potential. Here are some things I think would help us distinguish ourselves from others. A poetry incentive for national poetry day (, does that day exist? We could coincide it with a pre-existing "holiday" to maximize chances of us getting hits), anyone can participate, we carpet bomb the internet with links to the Pen's website where the incentive is described. All participants write a short poem. We then film ourselves reading the piece in a public place. Then on a set date we carpet bomb the internet with links sending to the pen's youtube channel where a dozen people. You spin the whole thing as "self-expression for self-esteem" or something catchy like that. Blog articles ensue. You know something quirky like that to fit the philosophy that "The Pen is indeed mighty" and to show that this is a site that encourages creativity. Which brings me to another idea. One of the links of the Website could be project ideas. Anyone can submit an idea for a project and everyone can vote on it. The top ideas get featured on the front of the site. The other ideas don't get smothered, folks can participate as they like but the popular ideas get an extra push. At a design forum I frequent, they have two categories for posting work. One is "show and tell" here, folks post their work for show and folks are required to say something or say nothing. Then there's a separate one for critique. If you post in "critique", you agree to the possibility of being grilled, fried, toasted, crushed, trampled, skewered cooked and torn apart. This clears up any confusion as to who is willing to have what kind of feedback. Does the pen do NANOWRIMO? I know some folks who do it every year and might enjoy discussing it with other writing nerds. It is my conviction that people just want to feel important. There's nothing wrong with that. So anything that gives people that feeling of importance will translate into success. Anyway, my brain explodes omni-directionally when confronted with something like this so... uhm... Finally, I'm might be willing to lend my graphic design brain to this thrust. But I'd need it back for thinking about boobs and superheros. Re: "Write the lyrics" Singing each set of lyrics submitted would be more work than I can handle at the moment. And voting could cause awkward situations to arise. I would suggest that I simply pick the one that "clicks" the most and make a video with credit provided. I could do that quarterly for sure. So, I'm gonna go ahead and do that. Look for it soon!

I'm neither claiming nor pretending to be captain of this ship - I was just letting you know how we currently meet. Thanks for supplying the particulars Signe. I see now my comment might have come across as snarky. I'm sorry about that. The question was just that, a question. Which goal do we set for ourselves? Stimulate activity or increase membership. Also, I was suggesting skype because it has audio. I think it would help the discussion if we could do it in real time. ... P.S: If we do want to do a "write the lyrics contest", I already have a song for it. PM me. I'm happy to focus on building that project up.

Are we trying to stimulate activity in the current members or to attract new members?

I've been thinking about this quite a bit... Not the boobs thing, but the stimulating activity. (Well, that's just a joke waiting to happen righ there). Could we set up a skype meeting to discuss all of this live?

I dpn't know what type of software the site uses ut generally, widgets are fairly easy to install. Like twitter feeds. I know wordpress is well setup for that sort of thing. But there as well, it's up to the users to experiment and pimp the site on their facebook and actually make use of it. Visually speaking, I'm a graphic designer so I'd be happy tp consult with the powers that be if they want an informed opinion.

I really do think heirarchy is a secondary concern. I think more on-line social network integration would help the most. Twitter, facebook, myspace and youtbe integration into the site would help.

Not quite yet. The holidays have created ridiculous deadlines where I work. (it is past 3am as I write this and I started my day at 9am yesterday). But soon I will be able to dedicate a few minutes every Wednesday, thursday and firday during my lunch break.

Here are some other ideas. Youtube, poetry slam A brand re-design Social networking Also, more boobs.

Here is an idea!

HA! Dig a little in my youtube chanel. You'll find some covers. Absolutely! I've got some chords and melodies just waiting for lyrics! I would like to discuss this project with the admins and organize it practically. So that it becomes a reality.

This is more awesome than buffalo burgers!

Jason bursts into the office, eyes pink but full of resolve. "Tell you what pervert! I'll pay you in services rendered dammit! That's right slimeball, I'm talking me in 'naughty nymph', nude and lewd. What do you say?"

Hmm, that's a good point. When i sing this song the first part did feel a little off. Your feedback is very helpful. I'll tweak this a bit. Thank you for the input and welcome to the community!

I have some chords and melodies kicking around. The melody will give you a rough syllable count and the chords will give you the song structure. From there you can do whatver the hell you want. Then we tweak and twook until it's right. I can send you a video in pretty much any format you like. My email is juggling(dot)jason(at)gmail(dot)com.

This is awesome! I would love to collaborate with you! Have you ever written lyrics for a song?

Absolutely!

I like it!!!

Read this book. Aplly it's advice diligently.

I too loved The Fantastic Mr. Fox. My biggest laugh: "That's just bad songwriting. You wrote a bad song Peter!"

I will never lose my soul! I will never lose my soul! I will bury it on the moon In a hole I'll extoll. I will never lose my soul! I will never lose my soul! I will cast it out to sea And the fish will eat it whole. I will never lose my soul! I will never lose my soul! It will shift and transform Into something to behold. And when the world is sold and all lose control I will have my soul. I will never lose my soul!