11/08/08

ok, bio time. i've never been good at these things so, i'll write and then i'll let my "manager" (my sister margie) put junk in her own words.

first and foremost, i'm a fan of your mom. your mom, your mom, your mom. she's fabulous! and i'd like to thank her for all her contributions and acts of kindness. i just LOVE your mom...i'm cute. fairly handsome, if you will. i like puppies and cabbage....separately. i'm a Scorpio and we rock, hardcore! we're also the most murdered zodiac sign. indicative? hmmm...i'm terribly afraid of girls yet, i crave them. i suppose that means i'm queer. yes. i am definitely queer. i like boys too but they run much faster and keep getting out of the nets i use to trap them....if you look closely, you will notice i am black. or as researchers claim jesus was, "heavily tanned." shucks y'all, he was dark! i've never heard of any pink folks being native to the middle east. but that's a whole nother' website to get into...

i have 2 sister's i love with all my heart: 12 year old Rhoda and 29 year old Margie. Margie keeps me out of jail, truly, and picks me up from hospitals when bad things go down...i have a new passion for toy cars, like scale models of existing vehicles. the ones who's doors open and the hood raises, stuff like that. every time i see one of those huge Hummer's, i think to myself, "wow, that's awesome! can't wait to get it in a mini!" doing my part to help the environment. oohh what have we here? a chance to ask for toys! not that i'm that famous but, if you come to a show, bring me a toy. i swear you'll have a friend for life. tru dat.

although my mother died when i was 11, in my adulthood, a wonderful women figuratively adopted me and i owe her the world for that. she's mommy stotko! professionally, dr. elaine stotko, department chair of teaching preparation at john's hopkins university. that's right, mommy stotko's was in the bigtime! She finally died in October of 2008 after holding her own in the fight against cancer. i'm proud of her, yes i am!

 toronto is my favorite city outside the U.S. but uncle sam is trying to make it impossible to leave the country so, go while you can! our government is so crazy with "protecting us" we darned near live in a police state! exercise your rights whenever you can! maybe i should save that for another section of this site and leave the bio to the bio stuff...i like to ride my bike but haven't done it in awhile. but i'm gonna start again so i can take off all the baked goods and veggie dogs i consumed in toronto. and just so you know, in toronto, the hot dog vendors on every street corner offer veggie dogs. and they actually cook it on a separate grill! how's that for quality! and no, i'm not a vegetarian. but i like veggie options when available. man, maybe i should add a break here or something. sorry for the eyestrain.

i was / will be teaching special education to exceptionally special teens. they teach me to stay true to myself and what i do. so, the learning is reciprocal, to the max....never thought i'd be a teacher. i always kinda saw myself as a roadie for some rad band i enjoy. but life pushes you off that train before you get a chance to jump. and you either land in daises or in poo. hope you're not allergic to flowers...i like free stuff and bargains. i clip coupons and use them, religiously. thrifty is the more polite term but i break it down to cheap cause there's no shame in it. on the first, the rent is due! whether in comes in pennies or in hundreds, its due. so, if you drop pennies like they don't matter, i'll pick them up. and when i buy my new car, i'll name her penny, after the fool who dropped the change. so there!

i think i'm the only one in the country who enjoys jury duty. of course, because of my name, i've never been picked. but just taking part in our system of government is honorable to me. i love America, but dislike the government. its important to make the distinction...i love independent music but i'm also guilty of busting out a pop song like i wrote it. to name a few: garrison starr, kinnie starr, andy stochansky, ember swift, ani difranco, gina young, lot six, maple rabbit, pony pants, the postal service, weezer, tori amos, ja' rule, beastie boys, stargazer lily, luscious jackson (before they broke up), depeche mode, schroeder, getaway people, dan bern, dar williams, will smith, michael jackson, lil' kim, george michael, chris brown and kate fenner, k's choice, belinda carlisle, morley, lauren hill, eminem (regardless of his demeanor, his music is brillant), kanye west, bitch, madonna, the list goes on! so, i don't have to....i'm somewhat fearful of germs and the diseases they cause yet, i will eat food out off the garbage or, sometimes off the floor. it's like that Seinfeld episode where George ate the éclair out of the trash can

ok, i'll let Margie type now. bye!

• Innocence Bello is a performance artist hailing from Newark, Delaware. She was born Nov. 2nd, 1977 and will not let you forget it, even if you try. She teaches high school when she's not gracing the world's stages, speaking her mind or lighting fires in people's hearts. Since 2000, she's been sharing her brand of art with the world through shows, festivals and around the occasional campfire. She's been lucky enough to perform for audiences of all kinds, in many different arenas. Some of her more notable appearances:

• * I'm a word ranked poet! check it out! 

• * featured performer at the annual Sisterspace festival.

• * opening for international slam poet phenomenon Buddy Wakefield.

• * opening for singer/songwriter Melissa Ferrick.

• * opening for Bitch, formerly of the duo Bitch and Animal.

• *  2-time featured performer in the Vagina Monologues "Foreplay" portion of the show.

• * opening for comedian Elvira Kurt.

• *  3-time featured performer for Latin Heritage group HOLA in their annual production Urban 

•    Innocence.

• *  too-many-times-to-count (more than 15) grand slam champion at the Worddancing poetry reading and being their first representative chosen to compete in the Individual World Poetry Slam.

• *  featured performer at the Delaware Festival of Words annual conference.

• *  featured performer at the annual Delaware Arts Summit.

• *  great sister and fun person, in general.

Innocence's words have been heard at these and many other places, in front of hundreds or in front of 2. Her performances are always powerful and engaging, thought-provoking and expressive. Though you can't tell by her plumpness, she's a starving artist hoping to someday make poetry a full-time job. Help her out by inviting her to your town for a show!

She wants you to know (she forgot to mention in her portion of the "bio") that she has a car named am Besten, which has a hula girl inside, named Bernie, and a newly acquired bonsai tree named Chester, all of which she is very proud. Most importantly of all, she needs love and affection. Come give her a firm handshake or even a hug. she's just cool like that.