So I’m in Washington, DC right now, nursing a newly cropped-up cold, stealing more wifi from the lobby because, seriously, why would I go all the way down to the lobby to use free internet, or pay $10 to use it comfortably in my bed? That’s ridiculous. What is this, Fairfax Marriot, 1994? Sheesh.
I’m cranky because I am, as I mentioned, sick. I’m also cranky because I haven’t slept a lot in the past few days, the tournament was exhausting, and my people quota is entirely, completely full, yet the entire speech team is in my hotel room.
Not that I don’t like my speech team. I love them. They’re wonderful. They accept me for all my awkwardness and crazy, and they usually find it quite entertaining. But right now, I needs me some ME time. And by ME time, I mean, of course, “sleep”.
The tournament went super well, for the first tournament of the year in an unfamiliar region with an unfamiliar climate. If I’m being honest, I can admit that I only started preparing for this tournament about a week and a half ago, and my stuff got memorized during the course of the past two days. I didn’t even plan on COMING to this tournament until about, well, a week and a half ago, and yet I got to the final round for poetry both days in a row. The first day, I got fifth place, and the second day, I got second, which is pretty freaking cool.
I love my poetry piece. I love performing it, I love reading through it, I love just thinking about it. Here’s my intro:
Mingon McLaughlin once said “there is something in every atheist itching to believe, and something in every believer itching to doubt.” This quotation suggests that, regardless of our individual ontology’s, human beings are still constantly driven to reflect upon the nature of faith. This should come as no surprise, considering that Walter Burket, professor of ancient religions at the University of Zurich, remarks that even in the most technocratic and materialistic corners of our contemporary civilization, religion has still found niches in which it flourishes. And in a secular society where it’s become commonplace to hear phrases like “I’m not religious… I’m spiritual,” it begs us to consider the way that our views on religion are evolving. With poetry “Drunk Text Message to God” by George Watsky, “The Victory Explosions” by Derrick Brown, and “A Prayer” by Lisa Buscani, we explore modern dialogues of unconventional faith. A program, arguing that a physical infrastructure is never required for spirituality.
Isn’t that AWESOME?? The George Watsky piece, which you can see in its entirety below, is my favorite, and, after you watch it, you’ll see why. It’s just so much fun to perform, so full of life and energy and awesome. I’m going to try and kick everyone out of my room now. Bye.
