Dear Loungers,

The Epiphany Lounge has been resurrected as promised...I've been busy freaking everybody out in this, Nick's Wild Week2™ but its all good. (Apologies especially to Lee, Lanna, Kylie, Heidi, Candy and Simon for the Night of the StarSailing™. And the Morning of the Missing Magic Grape Leaves ™ It's only sleep after all.)

IMAGINE THIS:

The Epiphany Lounge is transforming itself into an arts jam just as I thought. We're still looking for a name but its essentially going to be a marriage of artists and art forms dedicated toward helping children or young adults see the world differently....to teach them to look at the world with an artistic eye, if you will. Because it all starts with seeing. Seeing is believing. And as we all know, if you don't believe, there's hell to pay.....

The idea is that we would tag-team an idea, an artistic concept, to give a child/teenager/college student (aged anywhere from 9 to 23)an artistic recognition (an epiphany) that speaks to them about how special they are or could be and how they have a duty or an obligation to be magicians of reality....to turn their realities from the ordinary to the extraordinary and back again. They would then pay it forward with the only coin of value: Revealing it with their own (existing/embryonic)artistic family/community and making one of their own...

The embryo of the idea: I was mentoring a child called Dalton, about 10, for about a year but had never really made him excited about having me around. He was pleased. But he was never excited. I thought I was letting him down because I really wasn't comfortable with the fact that I couldn't teach him anything....he was very bright. The woman in charge of the mentoring program had told me he just wanted a father figure, but I'm not really very good at that, being only 31 and having no kids...but one day I came up with the oldest trick in the book to brighten up a boring day: Ask kids a question and give them an ice cream if they get the answer right. I couldn't believe how easily I could hold their attention...but once I had it, I wasn't going to use it cheaply (by counterfeit learning or learning about trivia)...once you have their attention, you better use it wisely (which is to give them the real deal, which to me is the magic pen....and the magic words...to help them to see/write reality differently...to reorganize it, to reshape it, to turn it from a waste of the divine into divine waste.

As I was thinking about this, I was playing paper airplanes with Dalton, and he was having a ball. So I thought I'd create a paper airplane flying championships, where the kids who fly their planes the farthest get a prize of a model airplane...then I would use the fun of this event as a metaphor for all sorts of creative adventures next school year when they'll make their own prize. Such as a kid who's asked to write a song about the plane or the contest and who gets to have a real musician to sing it to him or for him...and who'll get the CD to keep at a concert attended by the artists of the Epiphany Lounge....or the girl whose painting about the experience gets hung in a gallery for a week and the artists in the epiphany Lounge have an "opening" for her or something like that. Get the idea?

Why this is cool: From my point of view its the perfect way to inspire both adult artists with kids wonder, touch children in a special way, and arm them with the power of love of art so they can become artistic missionaries....

****N**** 

Posted at 11:34 AM + Care to
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  The Epiphany Lounge is not dead!!

It came back to life on the third day, which would be a Sunday and Lanna and Lee and Heidi and Me all had a whole lot of fun with some magic grape leaves, a lot of poetry and many, many, many epiphanies, showering down upon us.. 

Posted at 1:30 PM + Care to
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  Loungers:

It's been a wild ride since the Epiphany Lounge was born. If you guys even got just a fraction of what I've gotten from it, then the whole thing's has been a wild success. Unfortunately, my Epiphany has been that artists are an idiosyncratic bunch, and wisdom, friendship and creativity only comes after a personal commitment has been made to seek those things out -- no desire, no passion, no epiphany.

The disappointing turnouts for the Epiphanuits, the lack of comfort/desire to use the Lounge as a way to develop relationships, creative and otherwise, combined with the difficulties of populating the Lounges has led me to make this decision:

I am pulling the plug on the Lounge as we know it. Instead, the Lounge will become a metaphor for a spirit of creative adventure and discovery that seeks to find diverse environments and methods to build friendships, inspire creativity and spread joy.

To relaunch Epiphany I am asking for Lounge5, June 27, to be a SuperLounge. Those of you who really believed in the Lounge, got involved and felt enriched by it (and you know who you are) get to nominate themselves to this one; there's no limit on the number of people who'll dine, but I'm guessing it won't be more than 12.

Please get in touch if you want to be there. I think it will be interesting.

Have a creatively blessed day.

Your very own LoungeHed (forever)

**N**


 

Posted at 7:13 AM + Care to
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  Loungers: Yes, the day finally has arrived.

Kylie Yerka, fashionista, musician and the Epiphany Lounge's one-and-only "Bar-room Barnabas" (ask her, it will make her day) is going to host only the third Epiphanuit™ ever at her pad at 214 Pine Lane in Anderson.

The easiest way to find it: Pine Lane is off Clemson Boulevard almost exactly opposite from Mama Penn's on Clemson Boulevard, right by the Dunkin Donuts, not far from the intersection with Whitehall Road.

Continuing the Epiphany Dessert™ trend begun with the "semi-successful" baklava (you know you have a great friend when he can be honest with you, right Joshua?), she's baking an éclair cake especially for the occasion. I hear its (appropriately enough) quite heavenly. See you at 8 p.m. (or later). Bring a guitar/songs/poems or anything that you think might add to the entertainment. (No, we're not looking for REO Speedwagon CDs; yer hear that Crystal and Heidi?)

LoungeHed

**N**
 

Posted at 6:22 PM + Care to
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  i've had the most amazing idea that will bring Epiphany™ to a whole other level....i've got one more person to bounce it off, but I think it would be AWESOME! Check back Wednesday for an update! 

Posted at 1:36 PM + Care to
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  Loungers:It's that time of the month! Epiphanuit™ on Wednesday at 8 p.m. is going to pour the blessings of friendship and creativity on our heads like a cool shower on a hot summer's day. For those of you who haven't been able to make Epiphanuit™ before, (which would be the last two Lounges) it's just a house party, essentially, where people in the Lounge can meet other people in the Lounge and ask those nosey questions you never had time for when you were eating together, strike up a super-fascinating conversation or arrange for some serious creative action. This time, the twist will be some possible discussion of a late June/mid July(?) Arts Jam at the Anderson County Farmer's market.

#1 Piece of bad news: I've had to cancel EpiphanyLounge5™ because I've decided that I'm moving to a new apartment and will have to prepare to move this coming weekend.

#2 Piece of good news: I've decided to make Epiphanuit™ into Epiphanuit on the Road™ on June 9 to accommodate a new K&N electronica trip to Atlanta. The Epiphanuit™ here is that anyone who's ever wanted a crash course in whether they like drum and bass/electronica (artists include Dieselboy; details at www.eleven50.com) should come and have an epiphany. It's a late show (probably starts around midnight) and it's not for the faint of heart. I can't guarantee you'll like it, you won't get any sleep, and it's probably a little pricey! But you never know...

#3 Piece of good news: We'll have a proper Epiphanuit™ on June 23! And Epiphany Lounge5&$153; will now be June 20.

Drop me a line and give me a holler just to remind me there's people out there! 

Posted at 12:50 PM + Care to
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  Here's an interesting website for all those folks in the Lounge™ with a visual arts bent. Lounger ™Karoline Burgett, of Kakilaki Clay and Arts passed on this tip about Upstate Visual Arts. I think it's definitely worth a look. On a more narrow scale, it's what I had hoped the Lounge could turn into, a multi-disciplinary set of connections and resources for creative artists in Anderson.

 

Posted at 7:10 AM + Care to
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  it's been a quiet week in Epiphany Lounge.™ seems like most people are doing summer things, like having cook-outs and vacationing in faraway places. A hardy core group of Loungers™ are keeping the spirit alive, but many have sadly come and gone through the Lounge™'s door seemingly never to return...its kind of poignant actually, from my perspective.;. very much like life in general: fleeting.

Still, besides the momentary navel-gaze, the Lounge™ is plowing on with the idea of an outdoor performance at the farmer's market (possibly), and there'll be a de facto planning session at the Epiphanuit ™ next Wednesday. (To those who read this thing, but haven't come to any Loungeý events so far: please come visit! It would be nice to feel the love of the lounge™!) On a serious note, I think it's important we have some of the details nailed down before we actually book the date. it probably wouldn't be good if we came across as half-assed to the same city fathers who might need to be on our side at some point.

so, anyone who wants to perform, has ideas about how we should execute the cunning plan to ovethrow Anderson's artistic establishment, or actually and most importantly, entertain people, should definitely come armed with wit, wisdom and an empty belly: We plan to have loads of chips and dips!

Long Live the Lounge™! 

Posted at 6:23 PM + Care to
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  for those of you who missed Lounger™ Rob Carranze and Star FX at the soiree, you've got another chance when he plays The Alley in Anderson on friday night. let's put together a crew and see our very own Rock God in action! 

Posted at 1:30 PM + Care to
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  looks like Lounger™Simon Grant may have put together a poetry jam at Loose Change in Clemson...the place has gotten a little more snooty since it changed hands -- i remember the place when it was a real coffee bar --but the opportunity to perform some writing is all good. Simon's looking for folks who want to take part. It will be Wednesdays anytime between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

personally, one of the ephiphanies since I've gotten to know Simon is that listening to what you write, and having to be sensitive to audience reaction as well as pacing, can only help a writer. It doesn't strike me as a coincidence that Charles Dickens was one of the best pure "storytellers" and he used to perform his work rather theatrically. (And i think it was a little magic realist like simon's work.

 

Posted at 7:17 AM + Care to
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  cheers to the Lounge! a core group of hard partiers helped me celebrate my birthday (31, ouch!) Friday through Saturday. we had a lot of fun roasting what turned out to be about half a 185 pound pig on an industrial size pit (shout out to Ken and his friend Joe) and it came out pretty darn tasty, i must say. the fun parts were: #1 injecting a special louisiana serum into the pig with a syringe; #2 trying to split a log with a hammer and screwdriver; #2 trying to turn the pig without a long handled fork; and #4 cutting it up, which was a greasy affair.

The funnest (back off, I'm allowed to free write when I have only a minute) part of the celebration was the baby pool. Those who are easily shocked should turn away now...if you're still with me, we basically filled up an 8 foot-diamter plastic paddling pool and let ourselves saok under a tent in the shade. At one point it was me, Heidi, Crystal and Candy and Melanie all wearing nothin but bathing suits, making it look like one of those gangsta rap videos. (At least that's the artistic self-justification I'm using.) McD and Joshua: you should have been there guys!

can't say much more because I pressed for time, but it was the most fantastic birthday party ever....i'm looking forward to realizing my dream of a pig roast a rave on an island in the middle of Hartwell Lake.... 

Posted at 11:08 AM + Care to
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  based on the Epiphany Lounge™ conversation on Sunday about what art is, and how subjective answering that question can be, through the wonders of the internet you get to decide is it art, or is it just plain, old crap?

it's quite telling that there's such a fine line...

- shua 

Posted at 1:53 PM + Care to
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  another week begins with the ending of another lounge....Epiphany Lounge4™ had a full complement of Loungers™ -- Damon Downs, music empresario, musician and dj; Westleigh King, musican and dj, Anthony Price, musician; Kim Dick, sculptor, Lisa Klingspor, industrial designer; Clark Webb, photographer, Scott Foster, artist, and Kristie Roberts, chef.

the funniest thing happened at this Lounge that never happened before: the guests mutineed against the questions i posed; at one point actually calling them crap, (although probably not in those words). they seemed particularly problematized by the "is art x or y?" nature of the questions, which was supposed to be tongue in cheek and a chance to be playful, but i think they were more interested in actually breaking it down....no question: this Lounge really wanted to get its hands dirty, sink its teeth into the meaty ponderables of art and its role in the world as a "changer" of hearts and minds, and actually find some answers!!

Highbrow philosophical moment #1: Anthony Price's rumination on the question of whether animals are creative or artistic or just playful and the difference

Highbrow philosophical moment #2: Clark webb's absolutely incredible formulation that when he's taking someone's portrait, his job is to see them the way they see themselves: "To capture their soul."

Highbrow Philosophical rumination #3: Damon Down's deceptively simple epiphany that art is anything that is done well. (That last one reminds me of M.C. Escher and his pondering on why the concept of an artist and art only came into common parlance at the renaissance. Before then, architects, sculptors and painters were craftsmen.)

I think the funniest moment of the evening happened in the kitchen, when I momentarily freaked out about the possibility that my moussaka didn't cook properly (i always underestimate how long it takes to cook something like that.)
Actually, this Lounge™ was my first attempt at cooking an entirely Greek menu for the gabfest. of course, its not up to me to say whether the moussaka -- meat sauce, potatoes, eggplant and cheddar-cheese bechamel sauce -- or the Baklava (made Wednesday and rescued from the sea of syrup and rehabilitated) hit the spot, but it was at least a good idea to give the Lounge some Greek lovin'.

roll on Epiphany Lounge5!!
 

Posted at 4:35 PM + Care to
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  CALLING ALL LOUNGERS

This is Matt Mantooth here. This maybe the most shameful use of this blog space. I am posting this blog in order to see if there are any resources within the Epiphany Lounge that may be of some help to me. Next Saturday, (May 8) I will graduate from AC. Therefore I will then be jobless and homeless. If anyone knows of any possible job openings or any nice places to live with a low rent, let me know. I majored in graphic design, so anything remotely related to that field would be great. You could contact me at matthew.mantooth@ac.edu. Thanks. 

Posted at 2:01 PM + Care to
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