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 |  Every person is a new door to a different world...
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Skyewriting ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** "The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? - it is the same the angels breathe." ~Mark Twain ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** "When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance." ~Thomas Merton ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Why I'm Here~ ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive." ~from Six Degrees of Separation "Writing can be a creative and invigorating way to make our lives available to ourselves...We may discover that the better we tell our stories, the better we will want to live them." ~Henri Nouwen You can also read my poetry at "Invalid Item"  I'm so glad you dropped in! Peace and Blessings  ~Mandy~ |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** luscious crimson berries adorn barren branchlets amidst a wintry wonderland elation fills the air resonating birdsong ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** resounding notes of hope and joy chiming out to each girl and boy songs of peace for all to employ the church bells ring they come to celebrate his birth a miraculous day on earth praising the wonders of his worth the choirs sing Carolina Blue  posted an eintou on his MySpace blog. The form uses a 2-4-6-8-6-4-2 pattern. The first verse is my attempt at the form. The second verse is also a form courtesy of Ken...He likes to call it the "Rhodesian." alfred booth, wanbli ska posted two versions of the eintou "Invalid Entry" . His first uses the syllable pattern and the second uses a 2-4-6-8-6-4-2 word pattern...I'll have to give that one a try.Both images are snapshots I took while on a drive in the countryside two weekends ago. It was truly a winter wonderland. Today...not so much. Ice is everywhere and driving is treacherous. But I'm in for the night, sipping a cup of hot apple cider with just a dollop of caramel syrup stirred in. It's like drinking a hot caramel apple...Yummmmm! |
| Today was Any Old Kind of Day. I took a Taxi to Old College Avenue and some Poor Damned Fool was lamenting about The Day They Closed the Factory Down. He said, "My Old Lady hopped a Greyhound after having a Quiet Little Love Affair with the Pretzel Man. She said 'He's Good to Me' and that there was Only One Choice...to Get on with It." I Wonder What Would Happen to Him if he were to Stop Singing These Sad Songs... As I wandered around Dogtown, I was entertained by a Dancin' Boy and a Song Man. Then I spotted a woman I once knew. Her name was Caroline and she was Burning Herself with a lit cigarette. They Call Her Easy as they boast of their Manhood. I wonder why she let her Dreams Go By. In my mind, She is Always Seventeen. It seems that Everybody's Lonely These Days... As I continued down the street, a Barefoot Boy was struggling with a Tangled Up Puppet and an Old Folkie was telling Short Stories with his Six String Orchestra. Suddenly, Somebody Said, "A Sniper just took four others with him On the Road to Kingdom Come." I Wonder What Would Happen to this World if it were a Better Place to Be... But the Parade's Still Passing By and all I know is I Don't Want to Be President. I just want to wish on a Shooting Star and to live my Country Dreams. I know that somewhere along the way we all Grew Up a Little Bit, but deep inside, I'm still a Woman Child. I Miss America...the way she used to be. Though he is probably best known for his 1974 hit "Cat's in the Cradle," all of the underlined phrases in the above passage are songs written and/or recorded by Harry Chapin. ************************************************************************** Harry Forster Chapin was born in New York's Greenwich Village on December 7, 1942 to Big Band drummer, Jim Chapin and his wife, Jeanne Elspeth. When his family relocated to the Brooklyn area, he became involved with the Brooklyn Heights Boys Choir and learned to play the trumpet, banjo and guitar. During his teens, he began performing with his brothers. His father would sometimes join them on the drums and years later, his two younger brothers would accompany him as he entertained audiences around the globe. As a young adult, Harry studied architecture at the Air Force Academy and philosophy at Cornell University, all the while entertaining friends with his folk music. Eventually, he left the university to pursue a career as a film maker. He and associate, Jim Jacobs completed a documentary, entitled Legendary Champions, which won several awards at both the Atlanta and New York film festivals and was also nominated for an Academy Award. During his film-making years, Harry also composed several songs, telling stories with his lyrics...a style which would later become his trade-mark. Harry often credited radio personality, Jim Connors for the success of his debut album, Heads and Tails after Connors discovered the single Taxi and encouraged other programmers to give the song air time. When Harry performed the song on The Johnny Carson Show, he was asked to return the following evening for an encore performance. Chapin and Connors became good friends and Harry wrote the song W*O*L*D based on Connor's life as a DJ. The song became a hit in the UK and was somewhat instrumental in inspiring the television series, WKRP in Cinncinati. Harry met his future wife, New York socialite Sandy Gaston, when she contacted Harry for music lessons. They married two years later and together they had two biological children along with Sandy's three children from a previous marriage. Sandy wrote a poem and Harry composed music to accompany it. The result was his only number one hit, Cat's in the Cradle. While some of Chapin's songs wove tales, others spoke of hardship and strife. Sniper was based on the 1966 Texas University shooting. Throughout the song, he delves into the psychology of the sniper, asking the same questions we ask when such an event occurs today. In The Day They Closed the Factory Down he sings of the factory moving to another town to make shirts for less and a small town slowly dying as a result. Not only was Harry a performer, but he was a philanthropist. He believed in supporting the Arts and strived to eradicate hunger around the world. During the 1970's, he gave as many as two-hundred performances per year, squeezing benefits in between his already hectic schedule and encouraging other artists to do the same. He lobbied for the U.S. government to pass a resolution for a government commission on world hunger and co-founded the organization World Hunger Year along with Catholic priest and radio personality Bill Ayres (not to be confused with controversial...ahem...political activist, Bill Ayers). Also to Chapin's credits are a Broadway musical, The Night That Made America Famous and a book of poetry entitled Looking...Seeing. On July 16, 1981, at the age of 38, Harry's life ended tragically on the Long Island Expressway when a semi-trailer collided with his Volkswagen Rabbit and it burst into flames. Autopsy results would show that he died of cardiac arrest. Erratic driving prior to the collision indicates that he most likely suffered the heart attack prior to the collision. On December 7, 1987, Harry Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal for his charitable work. Today, his music lives on and his work continues through The Harry Chapin Foundation. I Wonder What Would Happen To This World if we all followed his example... "Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people.” -Harry Chapin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O974VaxRMjo |
| While searching through various wallpapers online, I found the following image. I would like to challenge others who feel inspired to write a verse, story or essay, using the image as a prompt. The acrostic below is my offering... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** What does this world have to offer? Oppression and indignity...or freedom and opportunity? Racism and intolerance...or integration and acceptance? Leisure and comfort...or poverty and suffering? Dissension and violence...or unity and peace? Vigilance and awareness...or apathy and ignorance? Isolation and abandonment...or validation and love? Enmity and division...or allegiance and community? What does the future hold for the next generation? |
| I'd like to honor a special woman. She was one of the first to welcome me to WdC and made me feel at home right away. She always has a kind word for everyone and she has an amazing heart. She recently shared the following entry with me and I'd like to share it with others...You'll be glad you took the time to read it. "Blue Crayons" I put together the following slide show...I hope she likes it. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=358897152&blogID... Debi Wharton , I think I speak for several people when I say We love you! |
| Today, our students were dismissed early, so I exercised an option I rarely take advantage of...I took the afternoon off. After treating myself to lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant, I embarked on a mission to find a new winter coat. Visits to my two favorite "big girl" retailers proved fruitless...The selection was poor and when I finally found a suitable replacement for my current outerwear, the price tag discouraged me. I was reminded of why I make it a habit to shop out of season. Not one to waste an opportunity for a little "me" time, I settled for a half-dozen, multi-colored hyacinth bulbs and a bag of aquarium gravel for drainage, knowing that somewhere in my cupboards loomed a seldom-used, decorative bundt pan that would make a suitable centerpiece for the kitchen table and planter for my bulbs. The coat could wait until spring...I was content with my purchase and anxious to get my hands in the soil. On my way home, I heard a song that reminded me that while a little self-indulgence is healthy, and sometimes necessary(After all, aren't mothers often a little too self-sacrificing???), it's not all about me. When I get bogged down with work and the responsibilities that accompany motherhood, it's far too easy to become self-involved. Next week, my favorite radio station and a local television station are encouraging Central Iowans to participate in "Make a Difference Day." The idea is to perform small acts of kindness for others...buying a cup of coffee for the Salvation Army bellringer, reading to the churlish old man who never receives visitors in the nursing home, buying lunch for the person behind you in the drive-through lane...You get the idea. I'm already pondering small things I might do to brighten someone else's day. I'd like to extend a challenge for others to do the same. Tell me...what will you do to bring put a smile on another's face?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGr8as7pPBE |
| This morning, I woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground. It took me back to a time when my children were small and we'd catch snow flakes on sheets of black construction paper. We'd marvel at the beauty and uniqueness of each one. It inspired me to write this simple one stanza cinquain. If you're not a poetry writer, I encourage you to give this form a try. It's simply five lines consisting of a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable pattern. I'd love for you to share your memories, cinquain style. A wonderful weekend to all! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| I paused before posting my previous entry, nearly deleting it. An entry about the weather in Iowa...Who wants to read that???? However, I needed to post something. Weary from a physically and mentally draining week at work, I decided to enter the blog, not knowing the sequence of events that would follow. alfred booth, wanbli ska commented, asking how far I lived from Marshalltown and also mentioned that he had attended college with a young lady from the area. Now...What are the odds of someone from the suburbs of Paris asking me about a sleepy little town in Central Iowa, population approximately 26,000 which just happens to be my hometown??!! I sent Alfred an e-mail, informing him of the coincidence and that I still had relatives in the area and promising to see if I could locate his friend, Teri. I found her...or more specifically, her mother...quite easily. The person I encountered on the other line was a charming 87-year-old woman who seemed thrilled to have a captive audience. We reminisced about Marshalltown icons which still exist and have remained frozen in time for at least four decades. We lamented that Taylor's Maid-Rite now has catsup bottles on the counters, for those wishing to desecrate their sandwich...After all, anyone from Marshalltown will tell you that to put catsup on a Taylor's maid-rite is akin to blasphemy! She shared with me details of her life...from canning to the difficulties of raising a somewhat wayward son, to which I nodded empathetically. After nearly an hour, I hung up the phone with her daughter's phone number in hand and a warm, fuzzy feeling radiating from within. This woman was as sharp as a tac...If I have the good fortune to live to the age of 87, I hope that I'm as vibrant as my new friend, Mary. A couple of hours later, I received a phone call from Alfred's friend, Teri, who was thrilled to receive his contact information. We also reminisced a bit and that call ended with an invitation to visit the next time I happen to pass through Missouri and instructions to bring a pizza from Zeno's with me. I'm tickled that my simple blog was instrumental in reuniting two long lost friends...and grateful that in the process, I made two new friends myself. (((HUGS))) to you Alfred...Have fun catching up!  |
“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” -Mark Twain I wonder if Mark Twain was living in Iowa when he made this statement.  Iowa weather gives a whole new meaning to the common dilemma, "What should I wear today?" I've literally run the furnace AND the air conditioner within a 24-hour period. I rely heavily on the forecast to determine whether I should wear capris, cuddle-duds...or both! Yesterday boasted a high in the low 70's. It was breezy but pleasant...A nice day to have lunch at the park, enjoy the fresh air and the final remnants of autumn colors. The evening brought with it heavy thunderstorms and tornado warnings...Violent thunder that shook the house, lightening strikes that threatened to take out the local transformer and the power with it, and had my 60lb chicken dog trembling in fear at my feet and my daughter obsessively glued to the doppler on our local news station. Today, it's been raining off and on while the temperatures have steadily dropped...It's the cold rain that chills you right to the bone and leaves you wishing you'd never gotten out of bed. Tonight's forecast includes SNOW!!!!! Now don't get me wrong. I love snow...on Christmas eve or on mountain tops. Any time before Thanksgiving, it's a dreadful four-letter word.  Tomorrow, the high is only supposed to be 36...Literally half of what it was just 48 hours earlier. I'm inclined to grumble, but since that won't change a darned thing, I think I'll make some mulled cider and curl up with a warm blanket and a good book instead.  Yeah, I know...People only talk about the weather when they have nothing else to talk about but... “The minds of men do in the weather share, dark or serene as it's foul or fair” -Marcus Tullius Cicero |
| This morning, I woke up to a thick fog. The vivid autumn hues are fading, leaving the landscape dull and colorless. This time of year can leave me feeling a bit depressed, so I'm going to mimic Kåre Enga in Montana  's example of filling various glass containers with colored water and also purchase a pad of paper and a set of water colors. I also thought it would be an appropriate time to share a multi-media piece that I put together, entitled "My Favorite Color." This was my first attempt at a multi-media production. I composed the verse first, then came the task of finding images to illustrate each line. Ultimately, I combined a slideshow and the verse, complete with a couple of my favorite instrumental compositions. It was a grueling day. I spent approximately sixteen hours on this project, but the end result was well worth the effort. I'm currently working on a project that will be a modification of the verse, so please enjoy the short presentation and then answer this question from a new perspective...What is your favorite color? "My Favorite Color" |
| Tonight, miniature witches, Power Rangers, ghosts, princesses and football players will converge on my neighborhood, gracing doorways and regaling residents with knock-knock jokes and childish humor...all in the hopes of carrying home a stash certain to cause bellyaches and please local dentists. Most call this festivity Trick-or-Treat. In my little neck of the woods, it's referred to as Beggars' Night. I didn't realize that this was unusual until it surfaced during a conversation with a friend who happens to live in a different region of the country. My friend had never heard of Beggars' Night before. Beggar's Night often coincides with Halloween, but not always...It varies from community to community. For instance, this year, our rural town is celebrating on October 30. Why? Because Friday is football night and our local high school team is 9-1. Also, as is often the case, community leaders often wish to detach the festivities from their pagan roots. The custom of children dressing in disguise can be traced back to Ireland and the Celtic festival known as Samhain. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the deceased could penetrate the living world and cause sickness and damage crops. Bonfires were held to ward off evil spirits and people would dress as creatures from the underworld in order to become indistinguishable. During this time, children would travel to their neighbors homes to gather fruits, nuts and sweets in preparation for the harvest festival. This evening, it's all about fun, lame jokes and lots and lots of candy. The best joke thus far... What school did Sherlock Holmes go to? Elementary, my dear Watson! And I loved this pun... Smoking will leave you "coffin"...(Apologies if I offend any smokers) How does your community celebrate? Have you heard any good jokes? What's your favorite candy to pilfer from your child's treat bag? My children's bags were always mysteriously devoid of Snickers bars. Shhhhh...Don't tell them! Happy Beggars' Night! |
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