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New Weekly Poetry Picnic Schedule Announcement:
From now on, Weekly or Regular poetry collection starts on Mondays, at 10:00 am (CDT), and will stay open till Sundays, 11:00 pm (CDT), almost an entire week for you to share your poetry with us...
See You At our Week 40 Poetry Picnic Tomorrow, 10:00 Am... ;)
Welcome to Poetic Reflections. I am Blaga and I will be introducing you to poets of our community every Sunday! Today we will meet CC Champagne. Enjoy the interview and for more- visit her HERE.
Tell us about yourself...
I
am CC Champagne, an extroverted hermit, clueless know-it-all and shy
seductress, all rolled into one magnum sized bottle of sparkling
attitude, served icy cold with a steaming side-dish of self-doubt and
depression. Technically I'm old enough to know what I have but still
young enough to use it (which I sometimes do very, very well). Like
everyone I have my off days (and have had both off weeks, months and
years in the past), but with the help of poetry, patient friends and
family and sometimes excruciating psycho-analysis I am slowly finding
my feet.
Currently based just outside Stockholm, Sweden
I am a Swedish woman with an English mind (that never seems to shut
up) and a heart that beats for all things Swiss, words and handsome men
with silver tongues. I don't know if there is much more to say?
*smile* (http://ccchampagne.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/interview-with-myself/)
Tell me about your blog and the name, what does it mean to you?
Originally A Glass of Bubbly (http://ccchampagne.wordpress.com/), along with the name CC Champagne, came to me while taking burlesque classes at Burleskakademien, Stockholm (http://burleskakademien.se/),
in 2009. Seeing myself as more fully grown woman than some of the
other girls (both in age and size) I wanted something that would give
off sparkles for my first, and as I thought at the time only,
performance on stage. My first suggestion was Alotta Champagne, but one
of my fellow students immediately associated this with Alotta Vagina
from The Gold Member/The Spy Who Shagged Me films, and you don't need
more erotic misunderstandings when you are a burlesque performer! For a
few months I performed as a part of a burlesque troupe, but when I
started doing intense psycho-analysis I just couldn't keep up. One day I
may return to it, but for now that part of my persona is dormant.
Finding the name CC Champagne made the choice of a name for my blog A
Glass of Bubbly natural.
Until
June of this year I had never posted anything on A Glass of Bubbly
though, so in a way I am just re-using something new in a different
way. Both the burlesque experience and my blogging are things that are
helping me feel better about myself, making me realize I am entitled to
my place and the space I take up and that sometimes me being me can
actually help others become who they ought to be.
When did you start blogging?
In April, at Random Misanthrope (http://randommisanthrope.com/). I was absolutely petrified the first time I posted something. From June I set out on my own with A Glass of Bubbly.
Do you remember the first poem you wrote?
Oh,
dear... *blushing* The first poem I remember writing was for my mother
on Mother's Day one year... I was probably between ten-twelve and I
couldn't afford to buy her a present so I drew her a card and scribbled a
poem. It was in Swedish, but the sentiments were that since I couldn't
afford flowers I hope she could make do with the daisies I had drawn
and the knowledge that my love for her was priceless. I probably wrote
poems even earlier, but I only remember short stories before then...
What inspires you the most to write?
I
find my inspiration absolutely everywhere, but that doesn't mean what
comes out of it is any good, though! Anything from the shape of a cloud
over-head (http://ccchampagne.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/cumulu/) to a discarded cigarette-butt on the ground (http://ccchampagne.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/what-we-leave-behind/) can make words pop into my head... At least lately.
Miss Kitten (http://www.misskitten.org/),
a poet I truly admire, re-acquainted me with the word prolific a while
back... Over the past few months I have embodied that word and it is
just so wonderful to have the words in my head spill out rather than
stay bottled up.
Of course emotions of all kinds inspire more than anything else...
When did you start writing poetry? Do you write fiction as well?
Before
April I hadn't written anything in a very long time. As a teenager
riddled with angst and self-doubt I spouted what feels like millions of
poems (mostly bad) in both Swedish and English, but the earliest I can
remember is the mother's day poem previously mentioned.
I
have a dream to some day try my hand at fiction as well, yes. I did
that too as a teenager, but after once comparing my fiction scribbles
with the, in my opinion much superior ones of a very dear friend around
the age of 15 I have never got back into it. I am my own harshest
critic and find it difficult to start since I am convinced I will fail.
Favorite author? Poet?
Tough
question, very tough question! I don't have a favorite poet since what
I like very much depends on my mood or where I am in life, but I have a
favorite poem, one I hope will one day be put in my obituary, and that
is Song, by Christina Rossetti (http://www.poetry-archive.com/r/song.html).
Again,
favorite author also depends on my mood... I had a teenage obsession
with Stephen King, but that has passed (thankfully).
Favorite quote?
"Here
is my final point. About drugs, about alcohol, about pornography and
smoking and everything else. What business is it of yours what I do,
read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as
long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks,
American Comedian
Plans about writing in the future?
To paraphrase Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind: Frankly, my dear... I have absolutely no idea! *smile*
At
some point I suppose I have to grow up and start thinking about all
the time I'm spending writing and what I'm doing with it, but for
now... I'm perfectly happy just writing.
Any advice to poets who wish to start their own poetry community or to create just a blog?
* * * * *
Happy Sunday to everyone!
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