Blog @ Work

A weird story: An 18 year old boy was captured by the police on Saturday night and handcuffed. He managed to escape the police station, with his handcuffs still on, and wandered through the night. In the morning he went home, where his father immediately brought him, handcuffed and all, back to the police station. The boy got a warning and was released after that.

I think it is a bad story since we don’t know what the boy was in for. Did he had too much to drink at a Saturday night, was he violent or what, the story doesn’t tell. So it leaves me clueless. I think it is smart of the father to bring his son back to the station since that is the only way to get rid of the handcuffs. In the end the only thing it did cost was time.

How frowzy is too frowzy in my household? Frowzy meaning: gloomy, dull, drab, dark, dim, stuffy, close, musty, stale, stifling, shabby, seedy, run down. I have somewhat neglected my household, the rooms are tidy but no more than that, I have to clean my kitchen and do the dishes. Writing has kept me busy these past period and since I am not much of a housewife, I have paid less attention to these chores in and around the house. I am making this commitment with myself as I write this: tomorrow I will clean out my kitchen. It is not the first time I am in a situation like this and I have written about it in earlier blogs: "Dishes or no dishes, that's the question"  and "Get your butt over there!" . It is something every few weeks happens. I have to clean house!!

There is a row of linden trees outside my apartment building. I am looking at a Tilia cordata from my balcony. I love the sight of that tree with its lush green during summer and its bare branches during winter. The linden tree is the home and resting place for lots of birds. The seagull, the tit, the jay and the dove all sit on the branches and eat or rest during the day. It is a lovely sight.

There was one day when the sun was shining and I was looking through the green leaves into the blue sky; this picture frame reminded me of the painting by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, Almond Blossom, 1890 with the branches of the almond tree against an azure blue sky. Now every time I am looking at that linden tree I am reminded of that most exquisite painting. It fills me with joy.

Furthermore trees are the lifeline in Nature’s realm. They can become very old and they are accompanied by stories of creatures and fairy tales. The Bhuddha sat under a special tree in India when he got enlightened. I always find that one of the most beautiful pics in history. I have a beautiful drawing of woman-tree in one of my poetry blogs "In every nook and cranny"  [18+]. Very mysterious!

I listened to a part of the audio of The legend of Sleepy Hollow (above), this wonderfully written story from 1900. I think the Headless Horseman is indeed a ghoulish spirit and not Crane’s rival Brom Bones who is marrying Katrina the next morning. Although Brom Bones “looked exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related.” I don’t think it was him because apart from the schoolmaster’s wandering horse, trampled saddle, discarded hat, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin there is no further sign of Ichabod. He just vanished. Being a schoolmaster for so many years made him a conscientious man I think and he wouldn’t flee from his life in this quiet town, just like that. The fact that he disappeared into thin air makes me suspicious of foul play by a ghost or a spirit. At last the stories of the haunted came alive and took a victim, Ichabod Crane.

I never watched the Jetson, I am a Flintstones girl myself, but I get the
draft of the prompt. I think we are still in an age where things are going fast but not that fast as in cartoons featuring the future. There are too many rules and regulations before an invention can get on the market. I would love a flying car that you could fold up in a briefcase, it would be very convenient. But in the meantime I take the bus or the tram.

I agree with Churchill on this. Success is not final; it makes you humble to know this. Don’t get lost in the high of a success; it is not there to stay. Failure is not fatal, it will not kill you.

My recent success is on WdC winning a lot of prizes during the summer months. It is making me feel very good about myself and that in itself is not wrong. But as the success continued I noticed I got a serious addiction growing, I got a little depressed as I didn’t win or got an MB for that day. That’s when I seriously talked to myself. I don’t want to have withdrawal feelings like your average dope addict. It has to be lighthearted and fun to participate at WdC, since I am planning in staying for years. So the last part of the quote is the most important: It is the courage to continue that counts. I hope to do just that for this coming period.

To avoid any spell or malediction on this Friday morning, I make my purple potions early, and without any obstacles I gather the hounds back in the house so it will bring clarity and quiet in the neighborhood. I am not a bad witch!

Two-dimensional characters use speech and act in the story but they only have one personality trait or emotion. (The Good versus Bad). They lack background, explanation, depth and dimension. Three dimensional characters have all that because of motives, desires and flaws. They are alive and the reader believes their existence.

Three-dimensional characters are more difficult to write. You have to think things through, follow a plan or take good time to flesh out your characters and make them real living and breathing persons. I have one story that doesn’t work for me although the concept is very interesting. But I think it’s because I created a two-dimensional character thus far, and I, as the writer, have even difficulties believing in him. So I better go back to the drawing table and flesh him out.

Since I use the computer I barely write by hand anymore. Even jotting down ideas is directly on the computer. I formulate ideas into words as I am typing, especially for blogging. For longer stories I try to make an outline first, but usually I just start writing and go from there. The fact that a writing program, such as Word is having a certain layout helps me tremendously in my writing. You can put new lines in between older ones, delete or highlight what you have written so far and that works better in the process.

I sometimes have this idea that the story is already out there, only to be found by the writer. So instead of writing i.e. creating the writer merely finds what already exists in one form or another and fills in the blanks.

If it was a famous writer say like William Shakespeare and I was able to buy his writing set: an ink pot and a pen he really used in his writing, than I would be tempted to buy it. I would give that item a very prominent place in my house or my study, so I could look at it often and get inspired by it. Other than that I would not be very interested. I don’t care much about famous people in general, they are just people who happen to be in the eye of the storm a lot, sometimes because of their achievements, but sometimes only because others have an insatiable desire to put people in the spotlights for no apparent reason other than the need for temporary hero’s.

As it happens I am having an off-day today: I have caught a cold and my ears are closed. I am sneezing and generally feeling unwell. I have postponed two appointments today because of it. I generally don’t talk about me not feeling well and hide inside my house. I soldier alone. Only when it is taking me more than a week I will let others know I don’t feel well. In that case I will ask for help if needed. But I prefer to be sick on my own and don’t bother others with it. I just don’t like the feeling of being dependent on others. I rarely ask for help.

'Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. Alice Walker

Expressing gratitude is a way to say that you acknowledge the importance of somebody else or something else, other than yourself. It shifts the focus on the other in your life. As somebody who is mainly preoccupied with oneself, being and living alone, it is a great way to be less selfish and more grateful to others and to life in general.

I love October as the month of fall. The colors of the leaves are golden, orange and red, the pavement is full of crackling dead leaves and the weather is crisp and hopefully sunny. We have left the summer but are not yet in winter. That transition period is mostly a time of reflection.

This year I hope to start a new job in October, so my hopes are high. I just have made a first appointment for the first week in October to talk about what they have to offer.

A full-scale career change would only be possible if I was younger. Then I would consider going back to university and do English Language and Literature this time. After that I would move to the States and try a career as a writer. Perhaps teach psychology or English at high schools first to earn a living and then try to write that bestseller sequel so I would be in a position to write full time. There was a time when I wanted to move to the States permanently, but life got in the way so it didn’t happen. I would need the English language and Literature degree so I would be more confident in the English/American language. I probably ended up marrying an American and raising kids in the process.

The most patient person in my life would be me. I learned to be a patient person, life taught me that. Because of my misfortune in the past I learned that life can be harsh sometimes and you need to go with the flow, don’t go against it. That means you have to be patient with yourself and others, let people be themselves and live by the motto ‘live and let live’. I try to do that in my daily life. I did go faster or slower than the pace of life was dictating and that didn’t work for me, it always meant trouble. So I try to follow the pace of life as it presents itself to me and go with it.

I don’t know if patience has anything to do with genius though. A lot of geniuses are impatient people, having their own idiosyncratic and strange personality traits. But they get away with it because of their special talent. They don’t need to be social or patient or nice since they have this wonderful talent to explore. To accomplish something in life on a large scale does probably involve patience.

For my writing, having the sun around me, fresh air coming from outside through the open balcony doors and not too cold in the house are the best ingredients for me to write. That means that most months year round are good enough for me, except when it’s too cold to have the doors open. But then there is the heating to make it comfortable inside the house. All months of the year have their own inspiring atmosphere to me.

A very funny and totally non-political movie comes to mind I watch once a year for the past ten years because it feeds my feelings of social justice and morality is TRADING PLACES (1983) with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. It is the story of Louise Winthorpe III, who is a managing director at the Duke & Duke commodities brokerage. Billy Ray Valentine is a hustler. The millionaire-owner of the company Randolph Duke makes a wager with his brother Mortimer that the men can be successfully swapped.

It is a movie about the two separate worlds of the have and have nots and how close those worlds are. With a little effort the lives of the successful manager and the homeless bum can be swapped and turn around for good. In the end the millionaires are taken to the cleaners and the two main characters live happily ever after. Justice is done in this movie. Apart from a great cast, a good story line and a great setting it is the story I watch every year at least one time. It never bores me and it remains hilarious to watch.

When entering the Afterlife I dust off my spirit like a risen phoenix out of its cage and go about my fruiting business with love and understanding of my past life.

To me the mind is a kind of naturally- occurring computer -- an information-processing device. It comes with its own medium of computation, a system of symbols that constitutes, literally, a language of thought. Cognitive states and perhaps mental states generally, involve functional relations to token symbols in this system. To view these thoughts as miracles I find difficult. I prefer this biological-computing mode of thoughts. Miracles are something totally different.

No, this rhetoric is not necessary during the election. I think Trump’s remarks are beyond rhetoric they are very dangerous and they evoke hate and hate crimes. Clinton is merely to sink to his level. I think they both think they can get away with this harmful behavior, and in fact they can. Citizens don’t stand up against these sound bites and mud sliding. They get the presidency campaign they deserve. Although I am not a huge fan of Hillary Clinton I think Donald Trump is one of the most dangerous men in power at the moment and I am holding my breath and my heart if he wins and becomes the most powerful man in the world. I think it is the worst scenario at this time and age with so many conflicts worldwide. It will be very harmful for the USA and for the world if he wins.

How well do you know yourself? I think I have a good grasp at myself as a person now. It took me a while to fully understand myself after a dark period in my life, 12 years ago. But it turned out rather nicely. I turned out a rather pessimistic kind of person, and I am still working on that. I have to be more aware of the positive things in my life.

Tell me about your life at the moment. As a writer I am on a high right now, my Muse is back, thanks to WdC and I have spent the whole summer writing which was really fun and inspiring. Now that summer is over I hope to hear from my new job as an assistant librarian soon. If that’s not working out then I have to think things through again. For now I am good as it is with lots of time to write.

Is there anything you would change in your life right now? My health is somewhat of a concern right now. I am on meds for diabetes type II. My blood sugar level is always too high, I should exercise more, but I can’t find it in my heart to use the home trainer more often. Perhaps during winter time. I hope I can pull that off.

Is there anything you like to do next year? I am going to visit New York City, next spring, if everything is going the way I see it. Looking forward to visit Ground Zero and walk around the city that never sleeps.

She stared at me for a moment, then grimaced and with a sigh, she put away the book she was reading. “Okay, let’s have it, what is it this time?”

I looked at her with a frown, not sure how to continue. “Well, it’s like this…me and the guys came up with this idea. We want to hang out some more during weekends, you know…male bonding and stuff. We are going to camp out and do some fishing at the lake. Starting this Saturday… every Saturday!” I was really determined about it.

“What do you mean, like every Saturday this month?”

”No, from now on every weekend, I want a Saturday for myself. You know you are always complaining not having time enough for your writing and stuff, well, now you have it…I will be away the whole Saturday so that means you can do your stuff too.”

”And who is going to do the weekend groceries then? I am not going to do that on my own every weekend, I simply am not.”

“We can do those on Friday night. It’ll be quiet Friday after six. We can do it then and still have our Friday night together.”

“Can’t I come with you on Saturday?”

“No you can’t, it’s a male thing. We want to be without our wives and girlfriends. I’ll be back early Sunday morning.”

“Wow, you mean the whole Saturday and Saturday night as well?”

“Yes. I want quality time with my buddies as well. We don’t see each other that much; it’s time to change that.”

“Well, you and I are not joined to the hip, so I guess you take your quality time with your buddies.”

“It’ll be okay then?”

”Sure babe. You have some fun. I’ll make sure I have that time for myself as well, it will be a good change.” She picked up her book and started reading again.

Discussion closed. I thought that went rather well.

Prompt: How did the very first cake and dinner that you ever made turn out?(BCoFs)

The Pilgrim ship Mayflower has a famous place in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future United States. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims had lived for some years in Leiden, a city in the Dutch Republic. "Just as a spiritual covenant had marked the beginning of their congregation in Leiden, a civil covenant would provide the basis for a secular government in America."

“In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.”

Humor is number one, I think. But the ability to form loving relationships is a good second. It will help you through life, so you don’t have to walk it alone. Humor is an individualistic trait; the second one is a community trait.

I agree. I have waited for nine months for my Muse to show up, he never did and I had a terrible writers block. Then I came upon this site WdC and all changed for me. It is for me the perfect surrounding to get motivated every day (for the past three and a half months now) to write. Without it I would have been in the same rut now. A frame for my writing inspires me the most. WdC gifted me that.

Knowledge is never useless especially when they hold some significance. But there are some dates that have little knowledge to others in this forum since they are specific Dutch.

Aug 15 is a special day for me and my family since that is the date of Independence of Indonesia. Indonesia was a colony of The Netherlands for more than 400 years that ended on August 15 when the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on 15 August, 1945 following the Nagasaki atomic bombing. Two days later the declaration of Independence marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution, fighting against the forces of the Netherlands and pro-Dutch civilians, until the letter officially acknowledged Indonesia's independence in 1949. It marked the so called Bersiap period where Dutch Indos (among them my family) were captured by the Indonesians and put in war camps. I wrote a little bit about it in "Invalid Item"  .

Another important date for The Dutch is the third Tuesday in September, this year on September 20. Little Prince's Day is the day on which the reigning monarch of the Netherlands (currently King Willem-Alexander) addresses a joint session of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives in the Hall of Knights in The Hague. The speech from the throne sets out the main features of government policy for the coming parliamentary session. Furthermore The Minister of Finance opens his briefcase which holds the figures for the coming year. It is a national holiday. The Hague will be swamped with tourists who all will watch the Golden Carriage tour with the Royal Family.

This year they will use the Glass carriage since the Golden one is in for repair. It will take 4 years and 3 million euro’s before the Golden Carriage is back in business again.

Prompt: Jon Benet Ramsey Murder. 9-11. What are some tragic events you think about and wish you could have done something to make a difference? (BC)

Paint remover: I love that smell. It reminds me of good times moving house and redecorating. The first time was when I was going to live with my boyfriend at the time. We had managed to get a three room apartment and decorated it with light blue in the living room and old pink in the bedroom. My boyfriend was very handy and could do anything his mind was set on. So we refurbished the whole house and have lived there happily for three years. Then it was time for me to move on. That second time I got a two room apartment nearby and my then ex-boyfriend helped me refurbish that apartment. We painted it blue as I recall. We stayed good friends from then on forward. I lost touch with him the last ten years but hear of him from a mutual friend. He is doing great; having three kids and is still with my successor.

I don’t agree with this prompt. I don’t think happiness is a right. It is at best a gift from Life; at worst something you have to work for to get it. Happiness didn’t come easy or cheap in my life. I have struggled hard to find it at last.

I have totally forgotten about the time between birth and ten years old. I think I have blocked it out since it wasn’t the best of times for us kids in the family. There is one memory and that is written in "Splash"  [E]. One of the few good memories. I cherish that one.

My best subjects were the Dutch, English and French language and literature. I loved reading books in those languages and talking about those during oral exams. I was always a confident speaker and I think that’s 50 % gain already in oral exams. My worst subject was Mathematics, although I loved doing it, but I didn’t have the brain to fully comprehend. So I had private tutoring lessons in my last year at high school to make me understand the equations better. Best to do exams in Math because it was a requirement for entering the Social Sciences at university. And I chose Psychology. Math was a huge part of the program and I’ve always struggled with it. But I passed all the exams in the end! Also there was a big theater class in high school were we experimented with theater, made a play and performed. As I did theater in secondary school as well, I entered theater class in high school too for the last two years. In one play I was the orange wigged mistress of the main character with a dance and an excellent drunken scene; in the other play I was Rea the daughter of the Roman dictator. I loved theater and still do.

They are attitudes and attributes in the writing process. Beginning is always the biggest issue; you have to have permission from your Muse to start writing. You need courage as a writer to continue the process and keep focused. You need forgiveness of yourself if you fail and have to restart again. Writing is a difficult process; there are many pitfalls and hurdles to take. But it is also the most fulfilling work to do. Creating worlds that did not exist before, creating art. I love it!

You are attending an event, all of a sudden; the spot light lands on you and you are called up to the stage. What will you do? The applause is growing louder, what will you say?BCoFs)

My best subjects were the Dutch, English and French language and literature. I loved reading books in those languages and talking about those during oral exams. I was always a confident speaker and I think that’s 50 % gain already in oral exams. My worst subject was Mathematics, although I loved doing it, but I didn’t have the brain to fully comprehend. So I had private tutoring lessons in my last year at high school to make me understand the equations better. Best to do exams in Math because it was a requirement for entering the Social Sciences at university. And I chose Psychology. Math was a huge part of the program and I’ve always struggled with it. But I passed all the exams in the end! Also there was a big theater class in high school were we experimented with theater, made a play and performed. As I did theater in secondary school as well, I entered theater class in high school too for the last two years. In one play I was the orange wigged mistress of the main character with a dance and an excellent drunken scene; in the other play I was Rea the daughter of the Roman dictator. I loved theater and still do.

They are attitudes and attributes in the writing process. Beginning is always the biggest issue; you have to have permission from your Muse to start writing. You need courage as a writer to continue the process and keep focused. You need forgiveness of yourself if you fail and have to restart again. Writing is a difficult process; there are many pitfalls and hurdles to take. But it is also the most fulfilling work to do. Creating worlds that did not exist before, creating art. I love it!

You are attending an event, all of a sudden; the spot light lands on you and you are called up to the stage. What will you do? The applause is growing louder, what will you say?BCoFs)

This prompt is a difficult one for me. I can’t remember any advice my mother has verbally given me, but she was an advice against marriage by her presence and behavior with my father. For me she was the example of what I didn’t want to be: unhappy in a marriage that clearly wasn’t working. My mother and father always quarreled as long as I can remember, they fought their battles every day for the entire 39 years. Although they loved each other, they could still sit and hold hands and were extremely focused on each other, they didn’t know how to live with each other, in my eyes. As a result of that, the three kids learned that marriage was not the best choice in life, and relationships were always difficult. Both my brother and me never married at all, and my sister once married but got divorced long time ago (as three out of five do these days!). All three of us are single now. I vum (declare; slang word from New England) that’s for a reason.

If you are able to be happy for other people, happy when others are doing great and you can rejoice their lives it makes you feel better. You are delighted for them, and since you know those people it might rub off on your life as well. Furthermore you are then able to place yourself in their shoes, and it triggers feelings of compassion. If other people can have a wonderful life then it’s possible for you to have a wonderful life aswell. It triggers a sense of community spirit. Muditã is a helpful state to rejoice life in general, knowing that we are all interconnected as human beings.

I read the reasons why English kids wear uniforms in the first place are three fold. To remove the need for parents to spend out big money on the latest brand names and to avoid the embarrassment of students whose parents do not have the money to keep up with the latest in overpriced fashion. Secondly to preserve a working environment where students can concentrate. To encourage a sense of membership of and pride in an educational institution.

I think it is ridiculous the police was involved in this. This is purely a matter between school, parents and kids. In The Netherlands we never wear any uniforms and I am totally against it. Puberty is a period were kids experiment in developing their own identity, and wearing the clothes that fit that (changing) identity is part of growing up.

I think if it is part of the school system then students should allow varying in accessories, jewelry, and shoes. It is a strange relic from ancient times and not fit for this modern age of individual exploration. There is no need for a fashion police.

”Do you want to know?” I looked at her enthusiastic face when she greeted me after all those years. I had something to tell her and she wouldn’t like it. “Your boyfriend Pete, he was the former boyfriend of my cousin. He has been in jail, did he tell you that?”

“There were some problems in the past; he did mention that to me,” she said somewhat defensively. “Everybody deserves a second chance.”

“Did he tell you what those troubles were?” I asked inquisitively.

“No,” she said,” “I never asked, I figured he would tell me once we were married and he’d confide in me.”

“It would be too late by then,” I said bitterly. “He was put in jail after sexually abusing my cousin’s kids, age 4 and 6. Did you know he was a child molester?”

She broke into tears, gasping for air. “What do I do, he never told me that…I never would have him getting into my life if I knew that, you know what happened when I was eight, with my uncle? I barely got over that…and now I am about to marry the same kind of monster? No way, no way…” She became hysterical.

I patted her on the back and hugged her.

“Are you sure? “ she sobbed.

“Yes I am sure, I was friends with the both of them years back, she is family, they invited me to their home many times, I stayed for dinner, and we went shopping while he looked after her kids. We all were devastated when she found out and had to report him to the police. I think she never got over it. The kids are fine I think, they can’t remember much and they got counseling just in case. They are eighteen and twenty now, they are doing great. She is a nervous wreck though. I wouldn’t want that for your future.”

“What am I supposed to do? The wedding is tomorrow?” She asked, still in tears.

“You talk to the organizers and cancel the whole thing. Then you confront him.”

“I cannot believe this“, she said nodding her head. “How could I misjudge him so?”

“They all look like nice guys, “I stated, “hell, they all are nice guys, otherwise they wouldn’t pull off those horrendous tricks. But he is a sick man, child molesters can’t be cured, they stay sick, treatment or no treatment. Come on, I will back you up all the way.”

His life was never the same after reading “Catcher in the Rye”, by J.D. Salinger. He identified totally with this coming-of-age novel, written in 1951. When he read this excellent novel about Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old boy in between adolescence and adulthood, he recognized this Holden, who admired in children attributes that he struggled to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. The book is still regarded "as the defining work on what it is like to be a teenager.” Holden is at various times disaffected, disgruntled, alienated, isolated, directionless, and sarcastic, feelings and attitudes he recognized fully in himself. After reading the novel he packed up his things, bought a second hand car and left the dormant town in the mid-west he grew up in. He left for adventure and never looked back. He worked on a ship for a couple of years, saw the world, and settled in Bali, Indonesia where he opened a scuba diving resort with some friends and grew a beard. Was it not for Catcher in the Rye he would have become a shop owner of meat products like his old man. He never regretted the choices he made and was a very happy man leading an alternative lifestyle.

On 9/11/2001 I was at home on sick leave. That morning I had just done some chores around the house, probably looked at my garden, and was just curious if something happened that day, so I switched on the television set at our local news. They reported something was happening in New York, so at 9.05 American time I switched over to CNN. I saw the first tower in smoke and watched in horror to see the second twin tower being hit by a plane. The television stayed on from that moment, I never left the scene 24/7 for days. It was horrible, it was heartbreaking. I immediately called my dad so he could watch too. We spoke briefly about the horrors that happened and I returned quickly to the television set. It was my main focus for weeks on end, I was so touched by it and all was magnified by the fact that I watched it from the start; I felt I was part of the whole situation and felt personally affected by it. I have been to the States twice since then and was totally head over heels in love with the country. I hope to visit Ground Zero in New York City in spring of next year, to finally be able to pay my respects to the deaths of that dreadful day so many years ago.

Two people with money to burn have put down deposits for the ultimate getaway -- a trip around the moon, the president of the space tourism firm that booked the trips said this week.

Tickets to ride cost $150 million apiece which, in comparison to NASA’s multibillion-dollar Apollo moon program and the cost of flying in space in general, “is actually very affordable,” Space Adventures president Tom Shelley told the National Space Club Florida Committee during luncheon panel on space tourism.
When laughter filled the room, Shelley added, “Well, it’s good value. Let’s put it that way.” (seeker.com)

They shared everything, their home, their time, and their lives. The two elderly sisters were content with living a quiet life in western France. They took care of each other, especially now Clare the oldest was bedridden. But the other sister, let’s call here Eugenie, had a secret dream she never told Clare about. She wanted to travel and see something of the world while still in her sixties. So every month Eugenie bought a lottery ticket and dreamed a little dream about what to do with the money once she won. Which she never did. Till one day in spring: she went to the grocery to see whether her ticket had won anything when the lady at the counter gasped and looked pale: “You won one million euro Eugenie, congratulations.” Eugenie was in shock, walked back to the house, saw her invalid sister Clare and realized she could do nothing with the money while Clare was still there. So she picked up a pillow and smothered the invalid Clare till death. Then she packed her things and left town. She was caught by the police a few weeks later whilst in Paris to prepare for her big travel around the world. She got sentenced with fifteen years in jail.

I walk along and stop
I step along and drop
everything

This rhythm of walking
a few feet before
losing one’s – balance -
is the strangest:

Swaying
Swinging
Hurtle
Sling.