Here we help you connect more deeply with your community and/or waste time at work. All the stories from the past 7 days on AltDaily, for your enjoyment.

Newt’s kiss, his kiss, is on Mitt’s lips.

Somebody’s got plans for the dandelion…

Warm and fuzzies. Let the sky never be just blue again. Winter be damned forever. Gratitude and grace abound.

Art, concerts, clubs, activism, love, fear, sex, destruction, and a cash bar. Get yourself in some really uncomfortable situations and live your damn life.

Spoiler alert: we’re all gonna die.

If you don’t get out and enjoy yourself this weekend then we can’t help you. We just… can’t.

A local jewelery business gave us these two sweet pieces to raffle off. They’re rad and so is Luna Rosa.

So, while some of the work is a little young- it is definitely youthful in a good way. It’s the kind of feeling you get from talking to a gawky, smart teenager that is bursting with potential and on the verge of coming into their own.

AltDaily is a lighthouse in Norfolk’s sea of journalism, and a major seaport without a lighthouse is very dangerous proposition.

“We need to work-on being a destination and not a stagnant trendy novelty.” – Nichole Ashikis

Last Friday night was my second time taking advantage of Norfolk’s now-friendly busking laws by performing as ‘the first acquisition of Norfolk’s Human Statuary.’ Here’s what happened.

We need to take our cues from places like New Orleans, whose citizens go out of their way to make their surroundings reflect their personalities, regardless of their income level.

Hello world.

Thinking about it now still shatters my brain. Things make so much less sense when you watch real live people spin like violent cyclones one minute and then suddenly they’re gliding through the air like a wind-plucked dandelion tuft.

Mama said the way to keep a diary was to write down the opposite of everything that happened, so she gave Jason a blank book so each night he could tell how all the boys played kick the cans until the boogeyman came.

The multitudinous illuminated windows of the high rises really did seem to wink at me, promising what nature’s vistas never could: the excitement and potential of human adventures, of foreign voices and bodies and ideas interwoven with the framework of the city.

Black Magic, MacArthur on Ice, O’Connor Frikin Night, Loni Love, Holiday Light at the Beach, Fresh Fridays, d’ARTini Night, Ghent’s Annual Holiday Tree Lighting and Caroling, Art after Dark, The Concise Dicken’s Christmas Carol, The Fighting Jamesons, 10th Annual Fair Trade Festival…

Local graffiti artist/vandal sparks discussion among the AltDaily faithful over whether or not a
‘SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY’ stencil found on Hague Bridge is art, vandalism, or both.

Gobble Gobble! It’s Thanksgiving weekend ya’all (and I’ve been watching a lot of Paula Dean). If a four day weekend isn’t reason enough to get your out of the house, here are some other reasons.

Get out before everyone else is out shoving their Christmas spirit down your throat.

Our run-on sentence review: Appropriate and fun for the whole family with a magical set that conjures a world at turns wondrous and terrifying, Hansel and Gretel is an evening where a timeless fairy tale comes alive through the enchanting vehicle of narrative and emotion that is opera.

Lola’s, Venue on 35th, Great American Trailer Park Musical, Hansel and Gretel do opera, Fighting Jamesons, Sharx!, Belmont, JewMa, Freedom Marathon, MONSTER JAM, Plan B Comedy, Ramp Jam, B-boying, CRUSH…

If you’re into Japanese Punk Rock, cake, puppies, women, anime, the 1960s, art, guns, easy money, festivals, bikes, photography, pottery, women, movies, drinks, great food, dancing, or even fairy tales, then there’s a good chance the perfect activity awaits you this weekend.

Process. This is what art is: the creation, the trial and error, the hours alone in the studio, editing bay, or with a laptop in the dark. Art is not the final product you see in a gallery or museum. It is a team of seven people sweating over a piece of molten glass that literally glows with heat.

The rules are thus: No more than 100 words (supa flash!) about what would happen if a horror movie character invaded some place in Hampton Roads. You get to choose the character and locale. Give it a whirl, it might be scary how good it is.

In my opinion it’s the perfect weekend. You can be whoever you want, whatever you want, and however you want to be. You make the rules.

A trifling little poem in the spirit of Halloween and mermaids.

I am now convinced: pop up art events are good for the soul.

They say it’s going to rain this weekend, but I refuse to be locked inside. No t-storm or puddle is going to keep me from having fun. And it shouldn’t stop you either.

New York and L.A. will be fine on their own, but we are all we have. We have to stick together.

A portfolio of Virginia Beach photographer Pattie Kake’s work, which finds inspiration in all corners of Hampton Roads.

Dederer, author of ‘Poser, My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses,’ reads at the Old Dominion University Literary Festival on Wednesday.

The theme of this year’s festival is centered on Pablo Picasso’s idea, first written in 1925, that “Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.”

$10 to see the Tony winner for best play, “God of Carnage,” tonight, plus great deals at Hell’s Kitchen. Just because you’re broke doesn’t mean you can’t live well.

Stopped they must be; on this all depends.

Proposals are being solicited for projects, hands-on activities, performances, multimedia art works, sidewalk/store-front installations, written word and any other creative temporary art project ideas.

AltDaily is working with the City of Norfolk Department of Cultural Affairs on a yet-untitled zine featuring four or more urban legends set in Norfolk.

After Pulp Fiction and Big Lebowski, I was quite sure I had reached a peak of happiness. Then came BTTF.

Like to write, edit, and make an impact in your community? Check this out.

It’s that point during the summer when you have two options: make this summer the best one of your life, or let it just quietly fade into fall. You decide what you want to do. (I vote for the first option.)

So far there are 5,356 confirmed attending, over 3,000 maybe. The infection turns into an epidemic this Saturday night.

Don’t miss out on all the fun events happening in Hampton Roads this July 4th weekend!

Local writer Michal Mahgerefteh shares two poems with us. “Frozen in a Mask of Calm” and “The Childless”

Quarters please!!

Forget staying in. This weekend is packed full of music, barbeques, and great local art shows.

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own documentary or fiction film but thought to yourself, “How? I don’t have a fancy camera or even know where to start,” then have we got the class for you…

Do you just want to dance this summer? AltDaily will let you know when and where.

The new DNC-sponsored–and art-infused–bike racks Downtown are a huge step forward.

We’re looking for writers willing to help give voice to those left unheard in the Norfolk area.

A look at the creation of the Norfolk Summer Play Fest 2011.

Comics plus bagels and pizza? Must be Local Heroes Free Comic Book Day.

When a city has real energy the people have a different kind of dynamic between them: we recognize that we are drinking from the same tap, and we all got to do our part to make sure the well doesn’t dry up.

This Saturday, April 23, is the 2nd Annual Day of Dance for Autism, with the proceeds again benefiting TASA.

Want to be a part of some performance street art on Art | Everywhere opening night? Read more.

As long as we are willing to create and share our ideas, the world of the arts will continue to grow. Art truly is everywhere; it is in all of us.

Kat from AltDaily’s Monthly Art Events suggests these hot tickets.

Mary goes to a party of an acquaintance. Les is there. Mary pretends Les does not exist. No one exists to Les but Mary. Les floats through crowds to speak simple and mundane words at Mary. Les has an intuition about Mary.

“My vagina was angry and full of angst. Thinking back on it, I do not think that my vagina even liked herself. She just pretended to.” The Vagina Monologues come back to Hampton Roads.

Shouldn’t power then come with the prerequisites of honesty and truth of heart? Shouldn’t freedom be preached only by those who live their truth?

“You want to know if everything you’ve read is a lie, all the funny stories and crazy misadventures I’ve had, the heart breaking realism you’ve come to love about my writing. You want to know if CNN, Oprah, and Amazon are right. Well, there’s a simple answer to that question.”

Writing and cooking are two of my favorite things.

Indeed, they’re a lot alike — a messy mix of knowledge and improvisation, experience and innovation, and continual revision with a lot going on in between the lines.

Find out about the latest CAC exhibit, an SPCA fundraiser (with food from Hell’s Kitchen and New Belmont!), and where there’s gonna be a awesome free drawing session with local street models, for all you arty types out there.

We want someone who is going to bring the meat.

Plus, a listing of art happenings going on this week.

Good art should make you want to buy a magnet. Great art should make you want to buy an umbrella or jet ski.

Ever daydream of becoming the next, great American writer…why not start here?

We’re looking for writers willing to help give voice to under-heard voices.

An interview with Katherine Riegel and Ira Sukrungruang, who will be reading at the ODU bookstore on February 8th.

Excitement is buzzing through me as I look at the list of all the dance happenings this month.

It felt like it was Us vs. Them, students vs. professors, little vs. big, and down with the man! We were united in a cause to express ourselves. And Christine painted a six foot vagina. Vindication.

If you want to ultimately succeed at making art that doesn’t suck, you have to approach the process with obstinate rigor.

Liquidmethod Doug Clarke tells the story of his favorite punk rock girl, Wendy.

I wanted so badly to be able to write a poem: a poem was beautiful; it held a certain power, like being punched in the heart.

Putting this together felt good.

The call to artists for the MacArthur Square Station public art, and other things inspiring our pants right off us.

“It’s the audience that’s being satirized in this opera, not the characters,” Winters explained. “When you leave this opera, all you can say is ‘I got punked by Mozart.’”

Teaching someone how to write is essentially giving them the only tool they need besides an imagination (which I believe still comes standard in humans) to build their own universes.

Todd Rosenlieb creates. He makes things happen.

“Cole Conversations Over Breakfast,” a poem found in today’s news.

“Many of you will never see again an art space that looks like this one.”-EVMS Professor Matthew Bernier to his Art Therapy students

The points made in The Art of Community about the challenges of galvanizing members of a community should resonate equally with committee organizers, clergy, corporate managers, and World of Warcraft guild leaders…

Todd Rosenlieb from Todd Rosenlieb Dance teaches us how to dance in anticipation of Friday’s Jackrabbit Slim Twist Contest at The Naro.

We want to paint as many boarded-up buildings in Hampton Roads as possible.

We’ve extended the deadline to September 17. Arists and designers: don’t miss this chance to design ALL of the artwork that will hang on the walls of The Public House, a new gastropub-style restaurant to open in Ghent later this fall.

In Ghent. 6pm to 8pm. The time has come for music and performance to rise from the sidewalk like returning spirits.

Part of the dichotomous plot is fully rounded out with this question, which is full of the philosophical speculation I love about Mad Men: “Since when is forgiveness a better quality than loyalty?”

Go git it, artists and art lovers!

Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction… We want it all. The more locally-themed, the better.

Let’s write something lovely, shall we?

They’re looking for something that pops… is edgy or psychedelic.

Meet Thursday night at Jack Quinn’s at 5:30 pm for planning and practice; Go to the corner of College Pl. and Granby St. at 8:30 pm to see it.

We want you out more and more, until city council passes a busking-specific ordinance and the norm from 21st to Waterside, and eventually beyond, is creativity and culture on display all the time, everywhere.

Downtown is the best urban center we’ve got. We have to own it. We have to walk those streets like we run those streets. We all need to come out on Thursday for the Art | Everywhere closing night.

Kickstarter just might be the future of how awesome things happen.

Norfolk is offering up to $76,000 for artwork recognizing skate culture at upcoming skate park.

Jaime tells the truth about the fear and anxiety that comes with auditioning for ballet as a young girl. Now, eighteen years on, she’s imparting some of those skills she learned to her new students.

Citi Bank. Leonard Bernstein. The Public Theater. Bloomberg. If I told you all these were connected by one element, you’d be hard pressed to guess what that thing was.

If charity is about giving with no expectation other than doing good, microfinance is more like philanthropic investing.

As I flick off the soft box and cut the lighting the photobooth’s interior, a young woman wanders over. “So how many girls flashed the camera tonight?”