The extremity of violence against women has been on my mind lately. I am participating in the V-Day festival at UW this week, as part of the cast of A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer. V-Day is a movement to end violence against women. I wrote this poem around the idea of […]
Read more >Always when an essay is due, does the poetry flow. Hiatus A beautiful old acoustic guitar sits in this grey house. He hasn’t played in years – hasn’t written, hasn’t sung a note. It’s been a pretty serious hiatus. He left that warm inspirational incubator back when he got a desk job. He’s been pretty […]
Read more >As published in Blueprint Magazine’s ROOTS issue. “Ode” to Garlic Janice Lee Clove by clove you grow a white flower blooming into a shower punch (POW!) of Pazzah in my mouth. Stay with me garlic! Today… Tonight…. Tomorrow… into my lover’s kiss. Toothpaste never stood a chance. Clove by clove you grow into my heart […]
Read more >I am in the cast of Eve Ensler’s (editor of the Vagina Monologues) latest collection of monologues called A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer at UW. I think it really overcomes some of the limitation of the VMs – including male voices, moving into different kinds of violence. There are two performances Monday […]
Read more >I think I have seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) Symptoms may include: change in appetite, in particular a craving for sweet or starchy foods, weight gain, decreased energy, fatigue, tendency to oversleep, difficulty concentrating, irritability, avoidance of social situations, feelings of anxiety and despair — I definitely have had all of these this winter. Especially the […]
Read more >These lines make good points I think. “One law for the lion and ox is oppression.” –William Blake, from Proverbs of Hell “If you piss in my face I am going to call it piss. I’m not gonna call it rain.” –Reverend Al Sharpton from Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror , 1993
Read more >I changed the theme of the site to this clouds one. I like it. I’ve not written any new actual poems of late. I got into a production at UW of Eve Ensler’s latest collection of monologues called A Monologue, A Memory, A Rant, A Prayer. It plays at UW Tuesday March 23rd, Hagey Hall […]
Read more >I have written many songs. Still figuring out who I want to play with, how I will record. But here’s a list of the 27 songs that are finished and ready to go. How will I chooose.. He has Penelope Well well well Stay Sunshine Flake The Solution Lies, All Lies! How do we fall […]
Read more >I have had to write short bios for myself of late. Once for Rooted, and once for the Slam Poetry competition I was in this past weekend. I find it interesting, the task of summing oneself up in however many words. Seeing what I decide to include. I thought I would post them. For Rooted: […]
Read more >If I didn’t sing / On leaving my guitar at home, and promptly regretting it Janice Lee If I didn’t sing I’d forget to breathe, what with this stale air suffocating me. If I didn’t sing my chest would bleed – split by pressure: love, searching for an exit strategy. If I didn’t sing my […]
Read more >Richard Garvey and I wrote and directed a musical. The premiere is this January 2010. It’s about university life, privilege, education, friends, social justice, bicycles, you know, stuff like that. Very exciting. Biggest project ever. Check out our website raindancetheatre.org/rooted This is one of our latest posters. Photo by Zoey Heath. Design by Laura McDonald […]
Read more >Some poems on writing. A frequent topic of mine. The form itself. This is me being meta. Rivers of Words the poem below, is from where I get the title of this site. backlog Janice Lee all those words i never said never i held back back in my mouth overanalyzed practiced reviewed edited those […]
Read more >(Updated Dec 4, 2012) Just thinking on the flip side…for some perspective. Artists. They think they will change the world. Janice Lee I – Musicians Don’t bring out that guitar and sing me songs about other women you love. My ear canals will cave in from the ongoing echo: She done me wrong, whoa whoa […]
Read more >This book has made my week amazing. I would recommend this collection as a good place to start if you’ve never really been into poetry. Accessible, simple, strong, beautiful and gets to the point. From Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful by Alice Walker LOVE IS NOT CONCERNED love is not concerned with whom […]
Read more >Some Byron for you. The adjective “byronic” comes from Byron. He was the tall, dark, handsome, ladies man, unpredictable, enigmatic type. Like Heathcliff – byronic hero. Could be good could be bad. You know. I picked some selections that I think are quite “romantic”, that is, reflective of the values of the romantic period: nature, […]
Read more >Literature: equipment for living –Kenneth Burke.
Read more >This performance is iconic in my mind. All she needed was herself, her voice, and a stage. Well, and some high-key lighting and wicked band accompaniment I guess. She could give her heart again and again, each note aching with emotional intensity. Her songs break me.
Read more >It’s December 1st and it’s snowing!!!!!!!! and it’s so lovely, I take it back Winter, you can blow into town. December is when friends and family gather, eat, sing, and be merry. Now why would I want to complain about that. Contributing to my gratitude for December is that I went upstairs to find in […]
Read more >I did a rough recording of a new song I wrote. Here it is. More music at myspace.com/jazzyjanice
Read more >My band had its last show ever this weekend. Our style perhaps can be summed up as sarcastic gangsta sugar folk-blues. We recorded a cd. Let me know if you want one. Below is a video from the show! It’s our gangsta medley. More video at qik.com/emilyruth More music at our myspace is myspace.com/thetralalasmusic More […]
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