We all have them. Those people, those voices who helped to shape who we have become.

Our influences.

This is a community of intelligent people (well, save for the occasional zombie troll who just won’t go away), and each of us had someone in our lives who taught us those things that made us sit up and take notice, that opened our eyes to new ways of thinking, that helped us to grow, to become who we are.

Our influences.

It was four years ago yesterday when President George W. Bush landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, declaring that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended", while the banner touting "Mission Accomplished" hung behind him. Since that point, thousands of US service men and women have lost their lives in the war that was declared over.

It was just yesterday that President George W. Bush vetoed a war funding bill that outlined specific dates for withdrawing troops from the war he declared over four years ago.

Mr. Bush, has the mission truly been accomplished? If so, why are our friends, family, sons and daughters still running the streets of that far away land, a land populated with a people who had never attacked on American soil?

I have viewed a lot of video clips on YouTube since finding out about it nearly a year ago (1,115 to be exact). But, this weekend, my brother in law showed me a clip that perfectly illustrated what I feel YouTube is best used for – bringing artistic messages to the masses. Sure, watching those Mentos rocket videos are fun, and I have my share of old school punk clips favorited.

But, this video of an artist at work blew my mind. I had to find out more.

The artist’s name -- Phil Hansen, he goes by Philinthecircle on YouTube.

(more below the fold)

Well, it is Tuesday evening and it is unseasonably muggy here in the Philly suburbs. It has been a hectic day of work, culminating with being a few cars behind a car that hit a cyclist on the winding back road that leads to our office.

Needless to say, I wanted a little fluff.

So, I started thinking about my five favorite albums of all time, as they stand right now. Of course, I hold the right to change my favorites as suits my mood, as we all do.

My faves are below the fold, with a little reasoning as to why the hold such vaunted status. I would love to hear what five albums hold that spot for you.

Good Evening.

While the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam has been a regular series on Saturday nights, I wanted to open the floor for some poetry on this fine Monday eve. My reason for doing so is to celebrate the lives of two great American poets – one known to any who took high school literature courses, the other relatively obscure – who were born on this date: Robert Frost (1874) and Gregory Corso (1930). Two very different poets, each having had a major impact on American poetry.

I will be sharing works by both poets and a little background on each. For Gregory Corso, I will re-present the Pslam I posted in his honor earlier this year.

DISCLAIMER - In the wake of  concerns over copyright and possible violations, it is asked that any works by published poets be properly sourced (to the best of your ability), kept to less than 250 words and posted within blockquotes.

Our goal with this series is to share poetry, both known and obscure, to share our love for the written word and those who compose them, and to open new eyes to works and poets that may be unknown or unfamiliar.

Good evening and welcome to the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam!

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is you want – a favorite poem (yours or otherwise), a short story, whatever you have tonight.

Tonight I will focus on a poet who celebrates his birthday tonight – his 88th birthday – Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

DISCLAIMER - In the wake of recent concerns over copyright and possible violations, it is asked that any works by published poets be properly sourced (to the best of your ability), kept to less than 250 words and posted within blockquotes.

Our goal with this series is to share poetry, both known and obscure, to share our love for the written word and those who compose them, and to open new eyes to works and poets that may be unknown or unfamiliar.

Hello and welcome to another installment of the Friday evening series Got a Happy Story.

I don't have much to share tonight, but will tell my happy story below the fold.

I did want to put out the call for a new voice of Happy Stories. For more than a year, Carnacki and I have authored this series. Carnacki has taken a break from posting Happy Stories, and now I am doing the same.

I am hoping that someone will step up to the mic and keep the stories alive.

The nineteen eighties had begun.

Ronald Reagan was our president.

The Seventies were over and the remnants of bad music, bad clothing and bad pop culture were the cornerstones of another wave of the same, yet only different.

And on the West Coast, on the East Coast and in the Mid-West, a new voice of youth began to grumble, a voice calling for change, change both political and personal, the voice of American hardcore music, rising from the ashes of punk rock.

I was still very much a small child in these early days, not yet even ten years old. But, by the time I hit thirteen, my beliefs, my ideas, my life were changed by these voices.

Good evening and welcome to tonight’s "Got a Happy Story?" diary.

Oftentimes, when I settle down to write a diary for this series, the intro, the story, the words, just flow and before I know it, there is the diary ready to be posted at the appropriate time.

Lately, I have found myself at a loss for the written word, which is tough for someone who professes to be a "writer". Which leads me to tonight’s diary.

My story tonight is about creativity and the need for a creative outlet. Please share your happy stories in the comments. After all, that is what this series is all about.

Good evening and welcome to the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam!

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is you want – a favorite poem (yours or otherwise), a short story, whatever you have tonight.

Tonight, I will focus on the poet who changed the face of modern American Poetry, Allen Ginsberg.

DISCLAIMER - In the wake of recent concerns over copyright and possible violations, it is asked that any works by published poets be properly sourced (to the best of your ability), kept to less than 250 words and posted within blockquotes.

Our goal with this series is to share poetry, both known and obscure, to share our love for the written word and those who compose them, and to open new eyes to works and poets that may be unknown or unfamiliar.

Good evening and welcome to another edition of Got a Happy Story?

While it is cold outside here in the Philly suburbs (I mean really, really cold), there is a true sign that spring will begin again shortly – pitchers and catchers reported to Spring training yesterday for most teams.

Again on modest fields in Florida and Arizona, the sound of leather meeting wood fills the air. Every team still has a chance. Players smile as they loosen arms with soft toss catches, batting cages house millionaire veterans and young hopeful rookies, each taking their swings getting into playing shape or dreaming of major league glory.

In the wake of all the recent meta, about blogrolls and drama and all that shit, I found myself dwelling on how I found Daily Kos and how it changed the way I though about the world and politics.

Follow me below the fold for more

Good evening and welcome to the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam!

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is you want – a favorite poem (yours or otherwise), a short story, whatever you have tonight.

Tonight, I will focus on the poet who brought me to writing, like so many others, Charles Bukowski.

DISCLAIMER - In the wake of recent concerns over copyright and possible violations, it is asked that any works by published poets be properly sourced (to the best of your ability), kept to less than 250 words and posted within blockquotes.

Our goal with this series is to share poetry, both known and obscure, to share our love for the written word and those who compose them, and to open new eyes to works and poets that may be unknown or unfamiliar.

Welcome to another edition of the Friday evening series, Got a Happy Story?

My happy story begins below the fold, a brief reminiscence to a more carefree time, thinking back to warmer sunny days on a cold and rainy evening here in the Philly far suburbs.

Please share your happy story in the comments. After all, that is what this series is all about.

Good evening and welcome to the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam!

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is you want – a favorite poem (yours or otherwise), a short story, whatever you have tonight.

Tonight, I will highlight one of the voices of the Beat Generation who often fades into the shadows of Ginsberg, Kerouac and Ferlinghetti (quite undeservedly) – Gregory Corso.

DISCLAIMER - In the wake of recent concerns over copyright and possible violations, it is asked that any works by published poets be properly sourced (to the best of your ability), kept to less than 250 words and posted within blockquotes.

Our goal with this series is to share poetry, both known and obscure, to share our love for the written word and those who compose them, and to open new eyes to works and poets that may be unknown or unfamiliar.

Good evening and welcome to another edition of the Friday night Got a Happy Story? series.

While I don’t have a fresh happy story tonight, I dug down into the way back machine to the summer of 2005 and now present this encore presentation of Got a Happy Story.

PS. The original only got 17 comments, so most have not seen it before anyway.

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Kos Open Mic and Poetry Slam.

I am stepping in for x tonight, who was unable to host due to other real worldly responsibilities.

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is that gets you going tonight, your own work, someone else’s, whatever. One thing though, in the spirit of credit where credit’s due, if you post another poet’s work, please do your best to indicate the source. We wouldn’t want Markos to get in trouble for copyright infringement.

Good evening and welcome to the dKos Open Mic and Poetry Slam!

The sign up sheet is down there in the comments. Step up and share whatever it is you want – a favorite poem (yours or otherwise), a short story, whatever you have tonight.

I will start out things tonight with another of those lesser known American poets – Kenneth Patchen.

Join me below the fold for more...