What's up everybody!!

Well it's August 22nd, 2006 and there's two more days before I perform for my first ever show as The P.o.e.t.i.c. Educator....."Poetry on Earth that is Cool"....TM I"m excited to say that the excitement mixed in with the nervousness is going to accelerate before I go on stage to perform for the kids at Woodcrest Library (1340 W. 106th Street LA, CA 90044; 323-757-9373).....3:30 p.m. to be exact!!

I will be sharing my usual crazy style of mixing in poetry, sing alongs, and hip hop into my new "Poetic Sing Along Hip Hop Show." I hope and pray that all of you will be able to make it to one of my events in the near future......if you can't make it to this free show, then I will be performing at Pinoy Stories in Eagle Rock on September 8th (check my press relesase on ramendoza.com) and the cool thing is that I'm going to co-emcee at FPAC (Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture) on September 10th at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. That should be
pretty amazing!!

This past Saturday, I covered the Love 4 Leyte Benefit Concert at The Grove of Anaheim. It was hosted by Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas and included cool acts such as The Basco Brothers who kicked it hard with their cool hip hop/rap and soulful show, Asin; the old school folk group from the Philippines, DJ Rocky Rock (Apl's partner from Jeepney Music), Jokoy (the hot new Filipino comic from Vegas and now based in L.A......look out for him on Jimmy Kimmel Live on August 31st), and many other performers!! It was an incredible feeling to be able to interview many celebs on the red carpet like stars from "Do You Think You Can Dance?" tv show, Tiffany Limos (a surprise cousin!), trainer Xingu who trained Charlize Theron on the movie flick Aeon Flux, the new upcoming star Arianna Basco, and many others!!

However on the spiritual moment, right now, I'm going through a lot of closure in my life. I'm getting ready to move to Eagle Rock....(My beautiful wife Rose and I bought a house!!!) which means I'm moving out of Hollywood after a long 9-year run.....I have to realize that it's only about 3 miles from Eagle Rock to Hollywood and so I can still go to my mechanic Nestor, cleaners on Sunset Avenue, 99 cent store at Sunset and Hobart, and visit Thai Town for inexpensive massages and food!!! That's okay since Eagle Rock has a lot to offer such as The Plaza which will be having Seafood City and now has Goldilocks and Jollibee (It's like a mini Little Manila or Filipinotown!!), Swork Coffee House, stylish performing arts center, rec centers, close proximity to Glendale and South Pasadena, and we have new friends in that "neck of the woods" because of my involvement with a writer's workshop at the Eagle Rock City Hall.

Another closure in my life is ending my 4-year run as the supervisor for YS-CARE after school program at Normandie Avenue School. Since the administration at the main office "dropped the ball" and didn't secure necessary funding to keep our program alive (about 75 schools in LAUSD had our program and they're keeping only 1/2 the schools opened for YS-CARE). In other words, we are having an Appreciation Potluck at Normandie Ave. this Friday, August 25th and our unfortunate last day at Normandie Avenue is Friday, September 1st.

We tried to get parents to write to the Board of Supervisors, the mayor, senators, congressmen, The Governator, The President, etc. where we gave them the addresses, emails, phone numbers, fax numbers, etc. The only thing that upsets me is that we, the staff nor the administration, didn't go to the press on tv, newspapers, etc. to ask for funding. The staff was told not to pursue it from the administration and so we had to get the support from the parents......the parents had to spread the word....to no avail...they closed down our program at Normandie.....

That's a shame since our program had been very successful for the past 7 years, and that we were very unique in having a program that instilled homework, test preparation, art and fun activities, teacher time, and also enrichment activities such as learning new art projects, making easy meals at home, dance/rap/hip hop shows, wild animal visits, P.E. games and activities, etc. WE WERE VERY SPECIAL AND NO OTHER PROGRAM....EVEN "L.A.'S BEST PROGRAM" CAN NOT DUPLICATE NOR SURPASS THE QUALITY OF

OUR PROGRAM!!!

Here is a copy of the closure poem/rap that we, the students and myself at YS-CARE, had written to shed some light on how our program was definitely one of the best in the U.S.A....here is the rap that we wrote and YS-CARE will always remain in our "hearts, minds, and souls."

We Will Always Remember YS-CARE

Hook: YS-CARE will always be in our hearts.

Since we started our program, you made us very smart.

We love our teachers 'cause they gave us knowledge.

Now we are prepared one day to go to college!!

YS-CARE is special to each of us.

Like riding with our friends on the bus.

We will cherish our memories for the rest of our lives.

We will continue to fly into the clear blue sky!!

(hook)

YS-CARE is great in the U.S.A.

We love our school and need it everyday.

We will remember the fun times that we had.

When we will leave, it will make us very sad!!

(hook)

....To get the last paragraph, please email me at info@ramendozabooks.com so that I can

email it back to you!!!!!! I want to know who has been reading my blog!!!!!

Peace, love, and mabuhay,

R.A. Mendoza

www.ramendoza.com

The P.o.e.t.i.c. Educator