A Good Day Already

For over two weeks...I was blocked from uploading song videos to my marakakore channel
on YouTube...because with the creation of a new second channel...my access to uploads
there...had disappeared. Around midnight last night...with the help of a friend's e-mail message...I did some more clickings...which resulted in my old channel...being
operative again. It gave me a great feeling of relief. The blockage...had felt a bit
like being locked out of your home...and being turned back every time you tried to enter it. I immediately celebrated by uploading my song..."The Eagle Flies". I feel much better now...with this channel...and my new channel...poetrydavidcampbell5...both
open at the same time...the way they were originally meant to be. It's turning out to
be a good day already....................Quester.

Do It...And Learn About It

From taking many pictures over the last few years with my digital camera...some ideas
about what to look for in a potential picture...have come to me. One of the things I
look for...is what lies behind the main image in the picture. In today's picture I
was looking for the contrast between the flowers...and the wooden fence behind it.
Do it...and learn more about it...looks to be my motto.................Quester.

A Little Apple Tree

The luscious apple in today's picture...was still on a little tree...I first saw in
the spring...when I went by there today. It is planted right up next to a stone wall
...almost like a vine...by the sidewalk...in front of a home. It speaks to me
of the knowledge of the person who planted it there...nurturing it on its way. It is
also a testament to the trust the planter has in his or her neighbourhood...which has left that little tree...now with 6 or so ripening apples...to bear its apples in peace...without a vandals hand reaching out to pick one...or harm the tree. Looks like it speaks well of the people who live there...or pass by.................Quester.

Not An Easy Road

Beautiful day outside my window. Inside of it...I've edited two videos...checked my
e-mail...found a comment about one of my videos on YouTube...that made me smile.
Earlier...answered a message from another YouTube user...who wanted my e-mail address
so she could send me pictures of her paintings...perhaps thinking I was a possible
buyer. Had to reply...thanking her for her message...saying that over the years
I've accumulated a lot of paintings I've done myself...but it's always good to see
the fine work of other artists. What I didn't mention...was that my mail box usually
crashes...when anyone sends me a bunch of pictures. Hate to disappoint anyone...but
as the young ones would say..."these days...I'm so not a buyer of paintings". I often
...as someone who creates things...find myself being approached by people who mistake me for a consumer of what they have to offer. Anyway...I wish all my fellow artists
well...I know it's not an easy road we're on................Quester.

The Time Of The Fruiting

As tattered as many of the trees and bushes are at this time of year...for me...there is
one thing that makes up for it...the fruit hanging from the tree or the vine. As i do
my neighbourhood walks...I'm impressed by the number of bearing fruit trees I see...
not to mention...grape and kiwi vines. It's a testament...I think...to the influence
of immigrants to Canada...bringing a bit of "the old country"...to their gardens.
Here's to the "Time Of The Fruiting"!...............Quester.

Working Without Pushing It

Continue to have productive days making videos...going with the momentum I've had for a while. At the same time I know I'm likely to need a break at any rime. When the nudge
comes to do so..I'll heed it right away. In the past I've found that when you push
doing things beyond their natural limits...you might get turned off for a long time
from it...so it's good to do what you do...at a natural rate...and not getting intense
about it. Hope to heed my own advice............Quester.

Totem Pole Of Kitsilano-Video

When I first came to live in Vancouver...I found myself in a neighbourhood that
was very pleasing to me...just a short walk from the beach. Soon i discovered there
the tallest totem pole I had ever seen. One of the first things I noticed...
was that the faces on it...were turned towards the land. Intuitively I felt that
the natural placement of a totem pole...was with its facs pointed out to the
ocean. Since...I've seen many turned that way. Regardless...this pole...carved by
master carver Mungo Martin... was an inspiration to me...and it didn't take
long...before I wrote this song about it............Quester.

Two Channel Growing Pains

I'm still caught up in the whirlwind of making videos...this has been one of the most
productive periods in my creative artist's life...and building up my new poetry
channel on YouTube. A strange thing has happened. For several days now...since I
started the new channel...which is for poetry and written word...my marakakore channel
...which is primarily for my songs...has had it's account place...which is like
"channel command" in a way...absent. Furthermore...when I've tried to upload a song
to my marakakore channel...it ends up on my poetry channel. I keep telling myself...
that somewhere up ahead it will sort itself out...but for now...it is delaying my
song uploads to the marakakore channel. I've been making up for that...however...by
uploading a video a day on my poetry channel...as I look at getting it populated
with videos. I look forward to the time...when both channels are functioning well...
and both my songs...and poems...can each have their autonomy...in their different
homes.................Quester.

My New Poetry Channel

It's been an extremely productive but difficult time recently. I've opened a second
channel on YouTube. It's called: poetrydavidcampbell5. It has been tricky to get
going and I've only just begun to tell people about it. I've been having to deal
with one technical block after the other as I build the contents of the channel.
I click things and at times they don't work out the way they are supposed to. I keep
stepping back to take the eagle view of it all. With a new channel...there are bound
to be things to overcome or be patient with...so that's what I'll have to keep coming
back to. What made this new channel necessary...is that I've been finding new ways of
making poetry or other kinds of word videos...with a tremendous upsurge in these
kinds of videos...and they needed a home of their own. I've been blessed to have
created...in more than one idiom...and song has been the dominant sibling. Songs are
the central element of my first YouTube channel...marakakore...with poems...the little
brother...trying to get a seat at the dinner table...a good reason for this new
channel. When I first looked at YouTube...the only "poetry" there...seemed to be...
people reading poems...not their own...by people like Shakespeare. Maybe that has
changed with readers of poems...doing their original work. If they have...I'd like
to join them with some of my own creations...doing "cover poems"...is anathema to me.
So...wish me well...as I sort out my "Technical difficulties". In time...these things
do have a way of sorting themselves out.................Quester.

Two On The River

Today's picture...is a digital one I made some time ago. It came out of thinking about
...my father and I...paddling at night...on the wide river we lived on. That river...
is still very much with me...and from time to time...it comes back in a song...a poem
...or a picture. That river...in the tropics...carried a powerful energy about it...
especially at night. Of course...experiencing it as a child...heightened the
impression it made on me...that's still there...............Quester.

September Rain

August rain day before yesterday...rare this summer...reminded me that September...a
time of beginnings and endings for me...is not far away.................Quester.

Walking Away & Works In Progress

The poem I turned to a video today...is about how you have to work on a difficulty...
in a relationship...rather than the moment you encounter it...to walk away. Walking
away can become almost a reflex action...and bar the way to enjoying a fruitful
relationship with another. The end of the poem raises the question...of how when
you are working on making a change in your life...you'd prefer if no one tested you
about it...until the change is solidified...lest you end up reverting to the old way
...you're trying to change.................Quester.

And The Separation Goes On

This is a song...written from a very deep place...where I could see very clearly...
how we human beings...insist on staying estranged from each other...when we are...
in essence...actually one..............Quester.

Roses Are Red

As a maker of songs...you find different ways of triggering yourself to write a song.

Guest Reading Poetry

Just returned from being one of the two main guests...at a poetry reading...in
Vancouver...tonight. It went well. Did take video of it...but haven't checked yet to
see how it turned out. We shall see. Read some old...some not so old...and one new
poem. Had to read without the help of a microphone...as it had quit for the night.
In that situation you have to focus on projecting your voice outwards. When you do
that you tend to lose...whatever."mellifluousness"...you might otherwise have.
I survived it all in reasonably good shape...and read...about as well...as I could
expect of myself. That's about all you can do. So...here's to the next one........
...............Quester.

Lazy Afternoon

It's a long time since I've looked at this video of mine on YouTube. When that happens
...you tend to have a better appreciation of the song involved...than when you're
over exposed to it. Just let's say this morning...I'm glad I wrote it. Maybe its good
to upload it here...while we hopefully have a few more lazy afternoons left...this year........................Quester.

Pray For Rain...Be Productive

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There's been a heat wave here that's gone on and on. This morning...is grey and
clouded over...and the brown leaves on the tree outside my window...are making those
nervous fluttery movements...I've seen previously...just before rain. I am originally
from the tropics...but I'll be glad when this heat is over. Never thought I'd see the
day when I would welcome rain...but today is such a day. I've amazed myself...through
the last many hot days...and the lassitude they can bring down on you...how...without
getting intense...I've kept my momentum...and a quiet focus...and continued to
complete one video after the other. This last month or so...has been one of my most
productive stretches. Without becoming intense...I hope it continues......Quester.

Working With What You've Got

Had to write this poem a while back...to help me crystallize for myself...how to
handle the difficulties or aggravations felt...from the words and actions of some of
my fellow human beings. In laying out several views of this situation...in this poem
...I was helped to understand...that there are no perfect human beings...including myself...and I would simply have to..."work with what I've got"........Quester.

River Of Time

For me...this song illustrates well...why you keep making your songs...turning some
to videos...uploading some...and not letting yourself be held back...by anyone of them...getting lost in the numbers lottery. For me...this is one of my strongest songs.
Perhaps it's the "Latin American triste"...underlying the story it's telling. It's
interesting...that I grew up in Guyana...with calypso music at the time...dominating
the music scene...but it was often the slow Latin American songs...that
insinuated themselves into my memory...deeper than any calypso could. Among the songs
I write...it is also in those songs...of life...and love...and mortality...where I
feel..."man...you're doing your job". So...here's to "River Of Time"...one of my
favourites among the songs I've written...............Quester.