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Lady Brain Blog

5/2/2021 0 Comments

Brain Candy - May 2021 Event Calendar

Woweeee, it's been over a year since our last Brain Candy Calendar! It's lovely to see more virtual and live (or hybrid) gigs on the books, and it's even more exciting to see Lady Brain members getting back to work and having some of their income streams revived. Please do us a solid and show up for these incredible working musicians - buy the tickets, buy the merch, shower them with tips, and let them know how much you appreciate the time and energy that goes into arts and entertainment! Check out the action this month:
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stylized photograph of a person holding a big lollipop up to one eye like monocle. They are wearing a red headband, glasses, red lipstick, and long sleeve blouse and standing in front of some dark green foliage. Overlaid on the photo is a small yellow circle with black text that reads "brain candy"

Wednesday, May 26 - Tori Roze and The Hot Mess at The Casbah on TWITCH Livestream
Tune in and join Tori Roze and The Hot Mess as they celebrate their 13th anniversary by rocking the famous Casbah stage, broadcasting live from Twitch. More info. 

Saturday, May 29 - Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres at Quartyard in Downtown's East Village
Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres will play two shows, opening for The Sleepwalkers. Early show, 5:30pm. Late show, 7:30pm. More info.

Sunday, May 30 - Lady Brain Presents: API Appreciation House Concert and Fundraiser
​An afternoon backyard house concert featuring live (& livestream) music to benefit the SD API Coalition and to support/lift up our API Lady Brain member headliners Tricia Lynn and Thea the Band. Featuring small opening sets from Chloe Lou, Shayna, Corina Rose, and Christina Bernard. Leading up to the event, we'll also be shouting out/lifting up additional API Lady Brain members who can't make it to the event but will be there in spirit, so make sure to keep your eye on the Lady Brain blog! More info.
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12/20/2020 0 Comments

Lady Brain Presents - 2020 Year in Review

Welp, that was certainly not the year we planned for. But despite everything, Lady Brain Collective members stayed creative and stuck together, and Lady Brain Presents did our best to showcase their awesome work to the community. Here's a quick video recap of just some of the work we did and fun we had. Thanks to all of our members and Patreon contributors for supporting us - and if you're not yet aboard the Lady Brain train, find out how to join and/or contribute - 2021 will be even better with you in our fam!
Video Description: This video slideshow features various social media graphics, photographs of Lady Brain Members, gig flyers, screenshots of virtual/zoom events, and member artwork - all occurring at Lady Brain Presents, either in physical locations or online over the year 2020. The video covers the following topics:
-Community Gatherings (Lady Brain members at open mics, house concerts, venues)
-Virtual Showcases (Lady Brain members participating in online events)
-Workshops and Meetups (images of hikes, vision boarding, guest speakers, virtual presentations)
-Lady Brain Media (photos of podcast guests, Lady Brain writers, online reviews, gig flyers, social media graphics, blog features)
-Lady Brain for Hire (gig sharing and business spotlight social media graphics)
-Lady Brain for Change (Lady Brain raised $600+ for RAINN)
-How to Join - www.ladybrainpresents.com/join -How to Support - www.ladybrainpresents.com/contribute or www.ladybrainpresents.com/shop
​-See You Next Year & Photo credits to local photogs/friends who captured this year’s events: Sydney Prather, Alyssa Douglas, Darci Fontenot, Cathryn Beeks, Mary Hamer.
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10/22/2020 0 Comments

October Member Meetup Recap: Zopen Mic

Thanks to all members who participated in this month's virtual open mic meetup! Lots of heartfelt and poignant pieces were shared, covering an array of topics like love and acceptance, social change, processing time and anxiety during a pandemic, and more. In lieu of a community gathering this month, we thought we'd share some of the pieces that were performed on this public platform. Read on for a partial replay and discover if any of these artists' words or music resonate with you!

Julia Sage

Original Song: Here Comes the Clock
View this post on Instagram

□ . . Did you hear that sigh of frustration in the beginning? At first I was gonna edit it out, but decided to leave it alone. When you are a songwriter who writes in different languages and one of them is not your mother tongue, sometimes it can get quite frustrating when it comes to singing your songs out loud... words don’t flow together naturally so you have to be thinking about the pronunciation way ahead of time; keep track of the consonants and vowels flowing together in a way that feels unnatural a lot of the time... so yeah, sometimes it’s frustrating because you hear something in your head that you can’t quite replicate smoothly because you put too many words together in a verse to get your point across... therefore, the annoyed sigh after having to record the song for the upteenth time □

A post shared by Musician, Songwriter, Artist (@thejuliasage) on Oct 14, 2020 at 11:07pm PDT


Bonnie Nicholls

Original Song: Nothin'

Dishes in the sink, evidence of drink
In bottles and cans near the door
Unanswered texts, unrelenting requests     
To see if I've got off the floor

All I wanna do is nothin', lie around and give in to the fear
All I wanna do is nothin' and slowly disappear

Curtains drawn, weeds in the lawn
Detritus on the porch
Bed unmade, bills unpaid   
The whole place should be torched 'cuz

All I wanna do is nothin', lie around and give in to the fear
All I wanna do is nothin' and slowly disappear

No energy left  to explain the entropy inside my brain    
Inertia is the only thing that 
moves      
me     
now

All I wanna do is nothin', lie around in bed all day
All I wanna do is nothin' and slowly slip away
Slowly slip away, and slowly slip away

Susan Lipson

Original Song: Let's Reframe
Complacency is how things go from bad to worse
And it really is a curse
When silent shrugs are all we show.
Standing by, not standing up
Is the reason things don't change
For we ALL must rearrange
The status quo.
The worst of history repeats
Unless we stop the trend.
It's up to us to end
The unjust treatment we allow.
We can say it's not our fault,
That we've done nothing wrong,
But we owe more than a song;
We've got to act and stand up now.


Chorus:
Who are we?
Let's reframe
As if viewing Earth from space
We're just multicolored folks--
The human race.
Who are we,
staking claims
Based on pigment in our skin
When the color of our blood Is just the same?!


We're part of systems that allow
Injustice to exist
Now it's time we all resist
The -isms hidden in our laws.
No human merits privilege
More than any other,
We ALL come from a mother--
To grow in peace is our shared cause.
Only what we add in goodness
Can measure human worth
For we're all here on this Earth
As vital cogs in a machine.
So, if some of us are broken
Then ALL of us must fix
The social structure, adding bricks
To build foundations not yet seen.


Who are we?
Let's reframe
As if viewing Earth from space
We're just multicolored folks--
The human race.
Who are we,
staking claims
Based on pigment in our skin
When the color of our blood Is just the same?!

Until we give up stupid notions
That anyone's worth more,
We ALL know what's in store:
More of the same.
Unless we teach our kids that they are
No better and no worse,
We'll maintain the racist curse
With no one else to blame.


Who are we?
Let's reframe
As if viewing Earth from space
We're just multicolored folks--
The human race.
Who are we,
staking claims
Based on pigment in our skin
When the color of our blood Is just the same?!

Chorus repeats

Astra Kelly

Original Song: Heavy

Heavy, unsteady
Waiting for voices to follow
Heavy, unsteady
Searching for words I can swallow
The rain came to shatter, pouring down pain
Drowning perceptions we had
Waiting, unchanging
I won't give in to the madness

Chorus:
Heavy, heavy
I can't carry this weight
Steady, steady now
Lean into faith, til we break
Through

Thoughts come in like tremors
Sirens signal the storm
The rain came to shatter, reflections of me
Pieces of the puzzle to place
Heavy, yet ready
Guide me into grace

Chorus:
Heavy, heavy
I can't carry this weight
Steady, steady now
Lean into faith, til we break
Through

Bridge:
Dreaming of finding home, safe from the storm
Be weightless my soul, when fear lets me go

Chorus:
Heavy, heavy
I will carry this weight
Steady, steady now
Lean into faith, we will break
Through

Lindsay White

Original Song: A Little Piece of Quiet

It's like the windows in my spirit and my soul 
have all been painted over
It's like the locks in my heart 
were changed, and not by me 
and no one made me a key

It's like I'll never know what could grow 
outside these gates
What kinds of fates would await me
It's like these poison clouds are shrouds 
upon my ears
It gets harder and harder to hear

I just, I just need
A little piece of quiet
Turn it down
Shut it out 
Gimme more of that sweet silence

​It's like more people just keep dying all the time
with bigger numbers come smaller headlines
I make a fist, resist, 
but this twisted mind it binds my wrists
I exist in fits
Is this all there is
If I killed this sound
Would I drown or live

Repeat Chorus

Cathryn Beeks

Original Song: This Time
let's face it
we're not gonna change
some people's minds

they weren't raised right
taught to kill and fight
you know the kind

and all I can hope for is
their children will see the light
look with your heart, kid
You know what they're doing ain't right
 
this time we are living in
makes me wanna give in and die
but this rage keeps me living
injustice makes me wanna try
I don't understand how some
folks can turn a blind eye
no more will I ignore
I aint letting up this time
 
It's now or never
I ain't ever seen it this bad
so many years of pretending
what we had
now everything's broken and
every one is the glue
If you won't join us
I will fight harder than you
 
let's face it
we're not gonna change
some people's minds
they weren't raised right
taught to kill and fight
you know the kind

and all I can hope for is
that their children are not blind
look with your heart, kid
we'll make it better this time

Thank you, readers, for stopping by and lifting up our members by bearing witness to their work! Community members and prospective members, please check out our FAQ pages if you are interested in being a part of the Lady Brain fam!
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9/30/2020 0 Comments

The Vulnerability Project - September Community Gathering

This month was all about exploring vulnerability. Starting with a virtual workshop led by Dr. Lorri Sulpizio, attendees were challenged with finding and posting a visual or creative representation of their current state (see below for some examples). 
After the completion of the workshop, we challenged members to continue tapping into their own artistic vulnerability and asked them to share what came up creatively as a result. The idea was not to create a masterpiece, but rather a simple and honest reflection of the moment we are in. Some members utilized the above photos as inspiration, others started from scratch. Below is their beautiful and honest art. Thank you, collective members for sharing yourselves with our greater community. 

Cathryn Beeks

Cathryn Beeks is a musician, producer, and mixed media artist (not to mention founder of Listen Local Radio as well as host of the Lady Brain Podcast). She says, “It's amazing how perspective changes everything, how everything changes, including preconceived notions. What was once so distasteful has now become a comfort zone, a place to settle down and live a life full of simple pleasures."
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Image description: Graphic design of cactus against black backdrop with text that reads: I ran from you once. Now you hold all of my dreams. Together we'll thrive.

Lizzie Wann

Lizzie Wann is a published poet and spoken word artist. The piece she submitted is called “Life's Work" - it combines inspiration from two of our initial visual prompts: the Danielle Coke quote as well as the Baskoro Lanjar Prasetyo work. She says, “Recognizing where I am personally in the midst of inequality and racial injustice, among other things, has been difficult yet ultimately motivating. Understanding the ebb and flow of energy needed to combat these struggles remains a constant lesson."
Life’s Work

morning fog matches my brain
grasping for clarity as my eyes adjust

sun struggles to break through

revelations about the past

explode my here and now

disassemble awareness


work begins to unlearn

I gather blue smoke

to synthesize renewed insight


every day is a choice to act

that is, to take action,

not to pretend for colorless accolades


it becomes a daily election

to cast a vote toward justice

to righteously fight for freedom 


this grim fog hovers

but clear skies are beyond

in joy, in celebration, in resistance


Marie Haddad

Marie Haddad is a musician and mixed media artist. Below is her untitled photograph submission.
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Photo by Marie Haddad. Image description: Shadowy images of a person

Astra Kelly

Astra Kelly is a musician, producer, artist, and spiritual practitioner. Her spoken word piece is called “The Right to Mourn."
The Right to Mourn
I feel robbed of my right to mourn. 
You’re talking about rights?
to bear arms, to harm 
your brother, your father, your grandmother? 

My grandmother passed alone the day before my mother’s birthday who is battling cancer during a pandemic....navigating a whole other systemic 
blunder. 

How many lives lost on the side while dis-ease rages far and wide 
and those we love left vulnerable to die? 

How can you not see as you run naked through the streets 
with your fuck you flying, screaming I don’t care 

From there, we’ve fallen 

I feel robbed of my right to mourn.
There have been no moments of honoring lives lost, 
our test of endurance or our resilience 
in bearing the cost of this madness. 

I want a voice that glides on fire as we stand ready to fight. 
Who shouts “we will rise up strong and give everything to the cause.”
One who rallies our hearts to unite as an army of love. 
I long for one who speaks and the wind blows stronger 
as the spirits whisper of empowerment and materialize into our frame 
as we prepare to play the game 
risking everything for the ones we love and simply cannot lose. 

I feel robbed of my right to mourn.
My chest tight with holding back, fear in my throat, afraid of the breakdown, 
feeling the weight of this reality and the impending rebirth of the humanity we’ve lost. 

I want to be close to you. I miss you. I want to grieve with you together as one so we can rebuild when the moment comes and the danger has passed

Forgive those who cannot embrace the truth and who dwell upon the murky depths of illusion 

For now, we wait.

Astra Kelly · The Right To Mourn - Spoken Word - AOK

​Lindsay White

Lindsay White is a writer, musician, and organizer of Lady Brain Presents. She says, “I'm increasingly concerned, anxious, and depressed about what is happening in my own mind and heart, as well as what is happening in this country. We have always been terrible as a country and as a society at acknowledging the harm we do to ourselves and each other; instead we seek out distraction, we stoke division, we fuel fear. We'd rather have a spectacle than have a look in the mirror. I'm taking off social media for the next few months to tend to my wellbeing and try to do good in the world without feeling the pressure or guilt or shame or fear or anger that my online experiences seem to exacerbate. The below is one of the final pieces of prose I shared on my Facebook account. Hopefully if and when I do return, we'll be vaccinated and Trump-free."
The Worst of Us
​
He told us who he was back in 2016 and since 2016. We can’t seriously be clutching our pearls about the taxes. We can’t seriously be surprised about the bullying and lack of decorum. We can’t seriously be flabbergasted by the misogyny, the manipulative appeal to Christians, and the fanning of fear flames. We can’t seriously be shocked about the latest in a series of white supremacist dog whistles. What is this theatre we are sucked into, where he does what we know he will do, then we point at it hysterically and say “see!?” to all the other people who not only also knew he’d do it, but LOVE (overtly or covertly) that he did it? There’s got to be some other way.

I hope voting this vile creature out of the highest office in the land looks like a sunrise, sounds like thunder, feels like trash day, smells like spring, and tastes like freedom. And I hope we remember that we should have all taken the responsibility to flick him off the national stage like a picnic ant back in 2016 when we had the chance to casually do it without hundreds of thousands of casualties. When we had a chance to empower a qualified womxn over an incompetent manchild. So the next time someone comes along who is a threat to all things that are good and safe and kind and just, we don’t make sport of letting them prove to us for four years what we already knew. Please, for the love of democracy and the safety of this country and its people, do not cast your ballot for Trump. He is the worst of us. He is the worst for us. He is the worst.

Thanks to all those members who attended our vulnerability workshop and who shared their creations! And thanks to YOU for attending this virtual exhibit on vulnerability! We will be taking the remainder of the year to focus on private member meetups and workshops, and will keep the community posted on future public community gatherings as soon as we get the green light to organize in-person events! In the meantime, please be sure to visit our Member profiles to see how you can support them during this hard time, and don't forget to check out our LB For Hire page if you'd like to employ a local creative womxn for your next project! Prospective members, find out more about joining the Lady Brain Collective here.
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8/9/2020 0 Comments

Lady Brain Film Festival 2020 - Selections Announced

Thanks to all who participated in this year's (virtual) Lady Brain Film Festival. The pandemic threw a huge wrench into our event plans, but we are still so excited to support our members and recognize their awesome work. Not to mention, our selection committee was stacked full of incredible womxn filmmakers and artists who were kind enough to share their work and expertise. Click below to experience the festival from the comfort of your home!
Lady Brain Film Fest 2020
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6/30/2020 0 Comments

June Community Gathering Recap - Creative Process

Thanks to all who participated in June's Creative Process collaborative journal series - if you missed any of the entries, please click on the pictures below to read the work of members who contributed their writing, poems, music, etc. Don't forget to join us in July for Queer Voices, an interview series featuring some of Lady Brain Collective's LGBTQ+ members.
Image description: Two rows of three photos each. Top row, left to right: Lisa Brackmann, Susan Lipson, Lizzie Wann. Bottom row, left to right: Lindsay White, Tori Roze, and Mary Hamer. Click on individual image to see full blog and full image description.
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5/11/2020 0 Comments

May Community Gathering Recap - Mother's Day Brunch on Instagram Live

Thanks so much to everyone who tuned in to our Mother's Day brunch on Instagram Live yesterday! It was our first time live streaming from that platform, and we had a great time celebrating mothers/motherhood. Special thanks to our performers Thea! The Band, Mary Bee, Karina Frost, Gretchen DeVault and Lindsay White for putting on a great show!

Don't forget to circle back to the blog next month for our June virtual community gathering called Creative Process. This collaborative journaling project will showcase the written work on several Lady Brain Members, serving as a time capsule of sorts to mark this moment and movement in time.
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4/20/2020 0 Comments

April Community Gathering Recap - Songwriter's Book Club Takeover

Thanks to everyone who participated and shared a song for our virtual book club takeover of the San Diego Songwriters Club. We're still getting used to this whole online gathering business, and this was a hard pivot to make because we were so excited to be in a room with our friends book club talking about this book. But, it was still lovely to check out beautiful songs from members of both groups (particularly from one of our newest members Danielle Angeloni!) and we are so proud of LBC member and book club organizer Unison Colthurst for doing amazing things with the community she leads! We're looking forward to scheduling another book club takeover when the coast is clear for being in a room together!
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3/30/2020 0 Comments

March Community Quarantine Recap - Lady Brain Livestream

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our first ever Community Quarantine livestream on Facebook! Featuring virtual sets by Julie Albright, Julia Sage, Astra Kelly, Rosy Dawn, Corina Rose, and Bonnie Nicholls, attendees were able to experience the concert-style lineup in real time and enjoy an array of musical styles from some of the most talented womxn in San Diego!
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We will continue to offer online and streaming showcases for the duration of San Diego's shelter in place order, so make sure to check in on socials and our home page for updates and announcements!
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3/26/2020 0 Comments

March Community Quarantine

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Please join us on Sunday, March 29 for our first Community Quarantine concert! Here's how it works - each performer will be live streaming from their personal account, but we will also be sharing those feeds on the Lady Brain Presents Facebook Page, so no need to jump around from profile to profile if you don't wanna! We're looking forward to bringing a little music and community into your homes! The concert is free, but if you have the means to tip our artists and our organization, a little goes a long way!

Lady Brain Livestream - Community Quarantine
Sunday, March 29 - 2pm

Tune in: www.facebook.com/ladybrainpresents

Lineup:
2pm Julie Albright
http://venmo.com/Julie-Albright-8

2:20pm Julia Sage
https://venmo.com/julia-h-
paypal/venmo: gothmodel@hotmail.com

2:40pm Astra Kelly
http://www.venmo.com/astra-kelly

3pm Rosy Dawn Selwitz
https://venmo.com/Rosy-Selwitz

3:20pm Corina Rose
https://www.gofundme.com/san-diego-creatives-relief-fund
(This is a fundraiser hosted by Heather Yambrovich, a local music/art lover who is setting up outreach for local artists in need of assistance.)

3:40pm Bonnie Nicholls
(not collecting tips)

To contribute to Lady Brain Presents:
https://www.ladybrainpresents.com/contribute.html
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