Just below the collarbone, fear is sitting, all a-stir, wondering should it leap out through your voice. "What street is this?" "How did I get here?"
Pay attention. Think.
You're driving home from work. You're only driving home from work. There was a detour. You know this street. Just find the sign. Remember.
You have lived here twenty years. You have driven down Lake Drive. It intersects with Hall Street. somewhere. somewhere.
There it is! A corner! Green street signs: Lake Dr., Breton.
And you do not know which way to turn. Left. It must be left.
On you go, and NO! Breton now should come to Hall Street. Lake Drive should have come to Hall Street. When and where does Lake Drive come to Hall Street? somewhere. somewhere.
This is Reeds Lake now, and I am lost in East Grand Rapids, and I know my home is OVER THERE -- somewhere. somewhere.
Backtrack now, okay, there's Breton. Should have turned the other way. Which way, now, would be the other way?
Finally! Oh, finally. I see a landmark, and it isn't backwards. I can place the billion times I've passed here, now.
I'm sure which way is Hall from here, at last.
I was less than a mile from my home, on roads, every one of them, that I've traveled every day. But not this way.
Have I described sufficiently how it feels to be "directionally challenged" as I call it?
I'm extremely intelligent, even creative. I have a good sense of direction in a lonely place where I can see the sun, the stars or the sky.
In my own home town I must be very careful to pay attention, or I will not find my way. I take the same route every day. To keep from getting bewildered. I never do get lost. I am smart enough to compensate. And I never let the fear rise any higher than my collarbone.
In a strange city, I just follow a map; and that is very easy for me to do.
But I cannot, absolutely cannot, describe for you the route I travel. I do not see the landmarks. Not in relation to each other, anyway. I know where some things are. Heck, I guess I know where a lot of things are. But not in relation to each other.
Monday, January 26, 2009
More Humor From My Sister
Round Robin Email from my sister:
Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread the stupidity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even a chuckle)...in other words, send it to everyone. We all need to smile every once in a while.
Spread the Stupidity
Only in America ........do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America.....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America.....do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America.....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America.....do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER ....
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens
Our skin?
|
|
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?
Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dish washing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Speaking for the Disenfranchised
I hope that I am old enough, and that society has become tolerant enough, that it will not adversely affect my father and my mother for me to publicly confess that I was born illegitimate. As a 1952 unplanned pregnancy to an unwed mother, before Roe v. Wade, I would like to speak for the unplanned children of today, please, if I may.
To quote my grandmother (she told me this is what she told my mother):
I realize that abortion is now legal. Before it was legal, it was available, and it was dangerous to the mother. It has always been dangerous to the child. Legalized abortion has not changed that fact. Abortion is dangerous to the child. Her life is snatched before a breath is drawn. Her voice will never be heard. She cannot do any evil. She cannot do any good.
My new president, for whom I voted, and in whose vision I see hope, has made two bold acts during his first days in office, to reverse the decisions of our former president.
He has ordered the closing of Guantanamo within a year, and ordered the trials be stopped for 90 days so he can review the situation.
I wish he would have attached a 90 day window to his decision to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research. Polarizing voices of the pro-life movement have never, to my knowledge, bothered to table their passion long enough to persuade as though they expected the so-called pro-abortion camp to be open to reason.
I believe, and am convinced, that the "liberal" people I know personally are open to reason. Have some respect, my conservative friends, and talk without acting all injured self-righteous. Get your pious pride out of the way of actually making a difference. There is fresh air blowing. Add your breath to it. If you'd get the chip off your shoulder, you might be surprised to discover real human beings who are willing to listen to your reasons for believing embryonic stem cell research is a bad choice.
The same ethics that demand legal advocacy for our presumed enemies, demand a voice for the unborn.
I'd just like to quote from David McCullough's 2001 biography of John Adams, and then open the floor for discussion.
" 'Do you expect he should behave like a stoic philosopher, lost in apathy?' Adams asked. Self-defense was the primary canon of the law of nature. Better that many guilty persons escape unpunished than one innocent person should be punished. 'The reason is, because it's of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished.'
" 'Facts are stubborn things,' he told the jury, 'and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.'"
To quote my grandmother (she told me this is what she told my mother):
"You made one mistake. Now don't make another one."
I realize that abortion is now legal. Before it was legal, it was available, and it was dangerous to the mother. It has always been dangerous to the child. Legalized abortion has not changed that fact. Abortion is dangerous to the child. Her life is snatched before a breath is drawn. Her voice will never be heard. She cannot do any evil. She cannot do any good.
My new president, for whom I voted, and in whose vision I see hope, has made two bold acts during his first days in office, to reverse the decisions of our former president.
He has ordered the closing of Guantanamo within a year, and ordered the trials be stopped for 90 days so he can review the situation.
I wish he would have attached a 90 day window to his decision to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research. Polarizing voices of the pro-life movement have never, to my knowledge, bothered to table their passion long enough to persuade as though they expected the so-called pro-abortion camp to be open to reason.
I believe, and am convinced, that the "liberal" people I know personally are open to reason. Have some respect, my conservative friends, and talk without acting all injured self-righteous. Get your pious pride out of the way of actually making a difference. There is fresh air blowing. Add your breath to it. If you'd get the chip off your shoulder, you might be surprised to discover real human beings who are willing to listen to your reasons for believing embryonic stem cell research is a bad choice.
The same ethics that demand legal advocacy for our presumed enemies, demand a voice for the unborn.
I'd just like to quote from David McCullough's 2001 biography of John Adams, and then open the floor for discussion.
" 'Do you expect he should behave like a stoic philosopher, lost in apathy?' Adams asked. Self-defense was the primary canon of the law of nature. Better that many guilty persons escape unpunished than one innocent person should be punished. 'The reason is, because it's of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished.'
" 'Facts are stubborn things,' he told the jury, 'and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.'"
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Neurons, Synapses, Economics, and Life
Kira is out of her blue funk, and is aptly leading a Library group here on Multiply. She receives no pay for this. It is excellent work.
Here on Multiply, and lots of other places on the Web, people are blogging away about all sorts of things. Mostly we don't get paid. We share ideas. We expand each other's horizons. The world has never been like this. Or has it?
I read Ben Franklin's autobiography a few years ago. He told me what it was like at the dawn of American history. A few weeks ago I also read A History of the American People, by British author Paul Johnson. He told me some very insightful things about the philosophical background of America, from a European perspective.
Barack Obama is our new president. This man's greatest gift to us, from my perspective, is his motivational speaking. He pulls together all our collective angst and rekindles our faintly remembered hopes, and helps us to believe we just might, collectively, be able to make sense of life on earth, and order it in such a way that everyone gets what they need.
Because of the Book Reviews posted on Kira's Library group, I made a trip to one of our local libraries today. (Thank you, Ben Franklin, that we have public libraries in America.) Besides the books I went there to fetch, I discovered, by browsing, another book that I just started to read tonight: Mirroring People, by Marco Iacoboni. It's a neuroscience book, published in 2008. It's subtitle is, "The New Science of How We Connect With Others." To me, it is fascinating and exciting to read. My own neurons are firing so rapidly as I read it ... I am having so many "Eureka" moments as I process and connect all that has entered my stream of consciousness these past couple of months.
I am not sure that I am able, tonight, to write for you a full description of the path my thoughts have journeyed; but write I must nonetheless, because I've perceived some things that I just must share.
In our brains, our neurons fire, and we have billions of them. Synapses are the connections between the neurons. The more synapses, the more creative we are able to be. Currently the phrase often used for creativity is "thinking outside the box." That phrase simply means being able to have a fresh perspective on an old problem, such that you might actually increase the likelihood of solving the problem. In other words, not being so wary of "reinventing the wheel" that you fail to consider that there may be an alternative to the wheel when it comes to efficient travel and/or portage.
I am coming back to the internet, and then moving on to the economy, so bear with me please.
This socio-political experiment called America was precipitated by intense exchange of ideas after the invention of the printing press. America has just this year shaken off some things that bogged us down, caused a civil war, in fact. We thought we were doomed to division because ideology was our only unity, and that ideology turned out to be diverse, and comprised of many cultures. What's the same about Americans? Is anything the same on a genetic level (as it probably is for, say, Italians)?
I think something IS the same about us genetically. Be we Native Americans or any other cultural race by DNA, all of us here sprang from people who MIGRATED to a different place, BELIEVING LIFE COULD BE BETTER.
I postulate that some genetic marker remains in all Americans which gives us a propensity to believe that life can be better. We've got a gene, I think, that makes us people who will TRY, people who will SEARCH, people who will -- dare I say it -- HOPE.
In fact, history, I think, has shown, that the darker the days, the more likely Americans are to rise to the occasion. They used to call it "Yankee Ingenuity." Whatever you call it, throw us into adversity and our genetic code kicks in, despite our present paradigms, and we work together and figure things out and end up better as a whole than even we think is possible.
So what have we here? A massive exchange of ideas on the world-wide-web! It was not thought spawned on American soil that spawned America, you know. We stood on the shoulders of giants (to loosely quote from a movie, and I don't remember which one ... maybe it was Jurassic Park). I think that what's happening here does not affect just us, but our little experiment affects all of humanity.
For the most part, there is no money changing hands as we all blog our little hearts out, and read each other's thoughts, and make our sundry neuro-connections, then go about our business. But we sure do spark each other, don't we?
I just want to share with you my excitement about that fact. I think good stuff is gonna come of all this sparking, kids.
As an aside (but a brief one) a commentator on election night observed that we'd had two baby boom presidents -- Bill Clinton and George W (now I thought George W was born during WWII, which makes him not technically a boomer, but I could be wrong about that). The commentator went on to remark how the boomers were supposed to "change the world," and then he implied that they didn't, and then he said that Barack is a subsequent generation.
I just want to say that the boomers did change the world. The paradigm shift that brought the seeds of an internet that is (at least presently) FREE, is Woodstock Generation through and through.
Okay, enough about that. Now the ECONOMY.
What has value? Well, what do we NEED? What is ESSENTIAL?
We must all eat and drink. We must all have coverings and shelters against the elements.
Because of those needs, certain things have REAL value. Food has real value. Food springs from the earth, because of the sun, and water. Land is called "real estate" because it has real value. The dollar equivalent of its value may change with so-called economic fluctuations, but even so, the land itself is what is truly of value -- particularly if the land is fertile and well-watered and in a favorable climate for production of food. Or if the land contains other "natural resources" useful for the maintenance of life and health (timber, for instance, to name but one).
Another aside here -- haven't you noticed, kids, that the water we need FALLS FROM THE SKY, the food we need SPRINGS FROM THE GROUND ... I could go on an on, but ISN'T THAT COOL? Was that by design? DESIGN? If you think not, I betcha you think a bunch of other goofy things too. But enough preaching. Back to the economy.
We are in a TERRIBLE recession. World-wide, no less. Why? Has the earth decreased it's production of food? (No.) Has the land disappeared? (No.) Has the sun exploded? (No.) Has the rain stopped falling? (No.) Are there still sufficient resources to maintain life on this planet? Um, Yes.
Do we all still want to work to harvest the things that need harvesting and convert the things that need converting to make them more useful or pleasing? (Um, yes -- we need MORE JOBS as a matter of fact.)
Do we all still want to BUY food and other stuff? ABSOLUTELY!
Are we willing to trade with each other? We sure are. Heck, we'll even do the types of things that most interest us free-for-nothing, so long as our basic needs are met. (Like blog, for instance.) We'll even share our food and other resources, expecting nothing in return but hoping only for respect or affection, on our more magnanimous days.
So what's the matter with our economy? Oh, some of us (maybe a bunch of us) thought it might be fun to trade things that are not real. Let's bet money on the future value of, oh, say "real estate." Let's buy land and sell it, just to make money on the increase in it's perceived value (rather than to use it for the sustenance of life).
We built a house of cards, and eventually it collapsed. If we took high school economics, we should have seen this coming.
Okay, the inflated speculative value has collapsed, and it's not going back up, either. Some gamblers lost a mess of money. Losses hurt. Okay. Get up and build something that's real.
I think that's what Barack Obama and our "leaders" are about to do with us. We're going to provide "jobs" building some real and decent things that will benefit our children and grandchildren down the road, and pay the family grocery bills in the meantime. Every little household gets the chance (I hope) to say about unnecessary debt, "Whew! I won't do THAT again. Too scary how it can bite you in the butt." We might not get to do the jobs we thought were our birthright, but we will be productive again, and pretty soon our economy will have a positive "gross national PRODUCT," and everyone who wants a job will be able to have a job, and since we're basically a decent bunch of people, we'll provide for the people who cannot work, and probably even for the people who simply will not work.
I wish I was more eloquent, but this may be the best I can do. I'm writing my ideas anyway, hoping I might "spark" a few of you who turn a phrase better than I do, or who are able to neuro-connect on a higher level than what I do. I'm adding my little spark to humanity, I hope; and I'm giving it free-for-nothing, and I do not care if anybody ever remembers my name. Since we are five degrees connected to each other (or whatever that idea was a few years ago ... maybe it was eight ... it doesn't matter) I'm hoping that somewhere down the line enough common sense and realistic optimism shines from my little synapses that a bunch of families benefit for generations to come.
Here on Multiply, and lots of other places on the Web, people are blogging away about all sorts of things. Mostly we don't get paid. We share ideas. We expand each other's horizons. The world has never been like this. Or has it?
I read Ben Franklin's autobiography a few years ago. He told me what it was like at the dawn of American history. A few weeks ago I also read A History of the American People, by British author Paul Johnson. He told me some very insightful things about the philosophical background of America, from a European perspective.
Barack Obama is our new president. This man's greatest gift to us, from my perspective, is his motivational speaking. He pulls together all our collective angst and rekindles our faintly remembered hopes, and helps us to believe we just might, collectively, be able to make sense of life on earth, and order it in such a way that everyone gets what they need.
Because of the Book Reviews posted on Kira's Library group, I made a trip to one of our local libraries today. (Thank you, Ben Franklin, that we have public libraries in America.) Besides the books I went there to fetch, I discovered, by browsing, another book that I just started to read tonight: Mirroring People, by Marco Iacoboni. It's a neuroscience book, published in 2008. It's subtitle is, "The New Science of How We Connect With Others." To me, it is fascinating and exciting to read. My own neurons are firing so rapidly as I read it ... I am having so many "Eureka" moments as I process and connect all that has entered my stream of consciousness these past couple of months.
I am not sure that I am able, tonight, to write for you a full description of the path my thoughts have journeyed; but write I must nonetheless, because I've perceived some things that I just must share.
In our brains, our neurons fire, and we have billions of them. Synapses are the connections between the neurons. The more synapses, the more creative we are able to be. Currently the phrase often used for creativity is "thinking outside the box." That phrase simply means being able to have a fresh perspective on an old problem, such that you might actually increase the likelihood of solving the problem. In other words, not being so wary of "reinventing the wheel" that you fail to consider that there may be an alternative to the wheel when it comes to efficient travel and/or portage.
I am coming back to the internet, and then moving on to the economy, so bear with me please.
This socio-political experiment called America was precipitated by intense exchange of ideas after the invention of the printing press. America has just this year shaken off some things that bogged us down, caused a civil war, in fact. We thought we were doomed to division because ideology was our only unity, and that ideology turned out to be diverse, and comprised of many cultures. What's the same about Americans? Is anything the same on a genetic level (as it probably is for, say, Italians)?
I think something IS the same about us genetically. Be we Native Americans or any other cultural race by DNA, all of us here sprang from people who MIGRATED to a different place, BELIEVING LIFE COULD BE BETTER.
I postulate that some genetic marker remains in all Americans which gives us a propensity to believe that life can be better. We've got a gene, I think, that makes us people who will TRY, people who will SEARCH, people who will -- dare I say it -- HOPE.
In fact, history, I think, has shown, that the darker the days, the more likely Americans are to rise to the occasion. They used to call it "Yankee Ingenuity." Whatever you call it, throw us into adversity and our genetic code kicks in, despite our present paradigms, and we work together and figure things out and end up better as a whole than even we think is possible.
So what have we here? A massive exchange of ideas on the world-wide-web! It was not thought spawned on American soil that spawned America, you know. We stood on the shoulders of giants (to loosely quote from a movie, and I don't remember which one ... maybe it was Jurassic Park). I think that what's happening here does not affect just us, but our little experiment affects all of humanity.
For the most part, there is no money changing hands as we all blog our little hearts out, and read each other's thoughts, and make our sundry neuro-connections, then go about our business. But we sure do spark each other, don't we?
I just want to share with you my excitement about that fact. I think good stuff is gonna come of all this sparking, kids.
As an aside (but a brief one) a commentator on election night observed that we'd had two baby boom presidents -- Bill Clinton and George W (now I thought George W was born during WWII, which makes him not technically a boomer, but I could be wrong about that). The commentator went on to remark how the boomers were supposed to "change the world," and then he implied that they didn't, and then he said that Barack is a subsequent generation.
I just want to say that the boomers did change the world. The paradigm shift that brought the seeds of an internet that is (at least presently) FREE, is Woodstock Generation through and through.
Okay, enough about that. Now the ECONOMY.
What has value? Well, what do we NEED? What is ESSENTIAL?
We must all eat and drink. We must all have coverings and shelters against the elements.
Because of those needs, certain things have REAL value. Food has real value. Food springs from the earth, because of the sun, and water. Land is called "real estate" because it has real value. The dollar equivalent of its value may change with so-called economic fluctuations, but even so, the land itself is what is truly of value -- particularly if the land is fertile and well-watered and in a favorable climate for production of food. Or if the land contains other "natural resources" useful for the maintenance of life and health (timber, for instance, to name but one).
Another aside here -- haven't you noticed, kids, that the water we need FALLS FROM THE SKY, the food we need SPRINGS FROM THE GROUND ... I could go on an on, but ISN'T THAT COOL? Was that by design? DESIGN? If you think not, I betcha you think a bunch of other goofy things too. But enough preaching. Back to the economy.
We are in a TERRIBLE recession. World-wide, no less. Why? Has the earth decreased it's production of food? (No.) Has the land disappeared? (No.) Has the sun exploded? (No.) Has the rain stopped falling? (No.) Are there still sufficient resources to maintain life on this planet? Um, Yes.
Do we all still want to work to harvest the things that need harvesting and convert the things that need converting to make them more useful or pleasing? (Um, yes -- we need MORE JOBS as a matter of fact.)
Do we all still want to BUY food and other stuff? ABSOLUTELY!
Are we willing to trade with each other? We sure are. Heck, we'll even do the types of things that most interest us free-for-nothing, so long as our basic needs are met. (Like blog, for instance.) We'll even share our food and other resources, expecting nothing in return but hoping only for respect or affection, on our more magnanimous days.
So what's the matter with our economy? Oh, some of us (maybe a bunch of us) thought it might be fun to trade things that are not real. Let's bet money on the future value of, oh, say "real estate." Let's buy land and sell it, just to make money on the increase in it's perceived value (rather than to use it for the sustenance of life).
We built a house of cards, and eventually it collapsed. If we took high school economics, we should have seen this coming.
Okay, the inflated speculative value has collapsed, and it's not going back up, either. Some gamblers lost a mess of money. Losses hurt. Okay. Get up and build something that's real.
I think that's what Barack Obama and our "leaders" are about to do with us. We're going to provide "jobs" building some real and decent things that will benefit our children and grandchildren down the road, and pay the family grocery bills in the meantime. Every little household gets the chance (I hope) to say about unnecessary debt, "Whew! I won't do THAT again. Too scary how it can bite you in the butt." We might not get to do the jobs we thought were our birthright, but we will be productive again, and pretty soon our economy will have a positive "gross national PRODUCT," and everyone who wants a job will be able to have a job, and since we're basically a decent bunch of people, we'll provide for the people who cannot work, and probably even for the people who simply will not work.
I wish I was more eloquent, but this may be the best I can do. I'm writing my ideas anyway, hoping I might "spark" a few of you who turn a phrase better than I do, or who are able to neuro-connect on a higher level than what I do. I'm adding my little spark to humanity, I hope; and I'm giving it free-for-nothing, and I do not care if anybody ever remembers my name. Since we are five degrees connected to each other (or whatever that idea was a few years ago ... maybe it was eight ... it doesn't matter) I'm hoping that somewhere down the line enough common sense and realistic optimism shines from my little synapses that a bunch of families benefit for generations to come.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
For Kira -- Who Just Built Me a Poetry Corner to Play In !!!!!
I can write a limerick!
I can write a sonnet.
I can write a song of love
And put a new spin on it.
I can Haiku Japanese.
I can psalter Hebrew.
I can Frost a two-forked road
And Shakespeare thee till ye do.
I can play with words all day,
Till Doctor Seuss eats french fries.
I can make my muse skip rope
Until "Hot Peppers!" he cries.
I can hang with logophiles.
Now we'll amuse each other!
"Get your nose out of that book!
Go play outside!" said mother.
Okay, I'll swing and sing me songs
And dream in words that rhyme.
Some day there's gonna be a place
To play with words on line!
I can write a sonnet.
I can write a song of love
And put a new spin on it.
I can Haiku Japanese.
I can psalter Hebrew.
I can Frost a two-forked road
And Shakespeare thee till ye do.
I can play with words all day,
Till Doctor Seuss eats french fries.
I can make my muse skip rope
Until "Hot Peppers!" he cries.
I can hang with logophiles.
Now we'll amuse each other!
"Get your nose out of that book!
Go play outside!" said mother.
Okay, I'll swing and sing me songs
And dream in words that rhyme.
Some day there's gonna be a place
To play with words on line!
-- Poem by Rani Kaye -- All rights reserved.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
1979
I need a savior
Who is stronger
Than the troubles of this life.
I need an anchor
That pulls tighter
Than the tumult and the strife.
I need a master
Who is bolder
Than the ones who hold me slave.
And when someone comes up to me
And says "gimme"
He says,
"I already gave."
-- Poem by Rani Kaye -- All Rights Reserved
Particularly Prolific
Poems I wrote on June 17, 1989, in order:
Five or six people in each age of men
Express something true with the brush or the pen
And others repeat it, again and again.
And falsehood, if clothed in a nice-enough rhyme
Is also inscribed in the marble of time.
On Generations:
At seven, we wonder, and move things about.
At seventeen, we just try to get out.
At twenty-one, we begin to pursue.
At twenty-five through fifty, we do.
At fifty-one we begin to rule.
And after we've built and we've ruled, we rest
And decide that the days long gone by were the best
When our parents were building, and their parents ruled.
This we determine at seventy-two.
Now which perspective is actually true?
I think it's the one that we own while we do.
While we grapple with present necessities,
And our children store up memories.
Random musings:
#1
A flower from the nursery,
Meant to thrive in fertile soil,
Will sometimes bloom in rambling wood
If someone puts forth toil.
#2
Is the essence of a thought
With no meter and no rhyme
A poem in its infancy,
Or just a piece of time?
#3
At seventy-four, my mother-in-law
Remembers fondly and says it,
That people in old times would walk where they went,
Thinking nothing of it.
"The world's gotten wider ... and smaller," I told her,
And she agreed, then she said,
"The stores would close early at night and on Sunday."
"The world's gotten different," I said.
When we wait safely in the grave,
And our own sons are old and gray,
What will they think of longingly
About this unremarkable day?
---- Poems by Rani Kaye ---- All rights reserved.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
For I Have Loved, Not as I Should, a Creature Made of Clay ...
On Raglan Road on an autumn day,
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue.
I saw the danger, and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November,
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passions pledged.
The queen of hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay,
Oh I loved too much; and by such and such
Is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind.
I gave her the secret sign
That's known to artists who have known
The true gods of sound and time.
And words and tint I did not stint.
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her long dark hair
Like the clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet,
I see her walking now
Away from me, so hurriedly,
My reason must allow,
That I have loved , not as I should
A creature made of clay.
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of day.
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue.
I saw the danger, and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November,
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passions pledged.
The queen of hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay,
Oh I loved too much; and by such and such
Is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind.
I gave her the secret sign
That's known to artists who have known
The true gods of sound and time.
And words and tint I did not stint.
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her long dark hair
Like the clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet,
I see her walking now
Away from me, so hurriedly,
My reason must allow,
That I have loved , not as I should
A creature made of clay.
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of day.
America Does This Really Well
"... and you know what?
America does this really well -- the transfer of power."
America does this really well -- the transfer of power."
-- David Gregory, on NBC Nightly News
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I Will Choose the Picture
This is the photo for Writer's Block Challenge #54.When I downloaded the photo, the title of it turned out to be "train-station-trey-ratclif." Whatever that means.
To the right of the photo are possibly windows. I think I see the hint of trees.
A long way distant from those trees ... a long way distant from the hour when I write, is another world. Very real. That is the picture I will write about.
It is quiet in the woods tonight. The snow is knee-deep, but the wind has stopped howling.
The fire inside my cabin is warm. It is warmer in a cabin made of logs and heated by wood, than it can ever be in a frame house heated by natural gas and forced air. A wood stove's fire burns constant. Twelve-inch logs keep the cabin snug. Sometimes, in the deepest winter, you need to open the windows to let out some of the warmth.
It is quiet in the woods tonight. The birds are bedded down, the deer have withdrawn to the swamp, and the moon is high in the sky.
The pines are draped in new snow. The stars are beginning to glint from afar. The light from the wood stove is all that I want. For it is quiet in my soul tonight, as well.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
If a dog was the teacher (snagged from Kira)
If a dog was the teacher you would learn stuff like:
* When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
* Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
* When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
*Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
* Take naps. Stretch before rising. Run, romp, and play daily!
* Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
* Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
* On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
* On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
* When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
* No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.
* Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
* Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
* Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not.
* If what you want what lies buried, dig until you find it.
* When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
* When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
* Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
* When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
*Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
* Take naps. Stretch before rising. Run, romp, and play daily!
* Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
* Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
* On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
* On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
* When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
* No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.
* Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
* Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
* Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not.
* If what you want what lies buried, dig until you find it.
* When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
My Multiply Wish List
I wish my Multiply In Box would be a little more programmable! I want to read every one of my contact's blogs. I do not want to miss the ones that are posted on a day or so that I'm not online. But I don't want my In Box to be constantly full of comments that have been added to blogs. Seems to me that Yahoo360 was easier to manage. And so is MySpace, for that matter. I can "subscribe" to the blogs I don't want to miss. Does anybody have any tips? Am I doing something amiss here with my settings?
Soup - Chicken with Black Beans, Pineapple, and Salsa
I like to be creative with food preparation, and when I make something that's a keeper, I try to remember what I did, and write it down so I can do it again.
This was really easy to remember, and tasted delicious; plus it was easy to prepare.
Layer the following items in your crock pot:
boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used one small package from the grocer ... I think it was maybe 6 thighs ... but they look so small without their bones, you know)
fresh or frozen pineapple chunks (I used about 1 cup ... actually it was 7 large pieces that I had frozen from fresh ... but it looked like about 1 cup)
canned black beans, undrained (I used one can)
salsa (I used 1 jar of Spartan Salsa)
Set your crock pot on High and let it cook for 4 hours. Before serving, break up the chicken pieces with a fork, and stir the soup.
That's it! I think it might even be "good for you" ... and it certainly does taste good!
BONUS RECIPE: The Chicken, Black Beans, and Salsa if you don't add the extra liquidity from the pineapple, make a very good burrito filling. When I make it for burritos, I sometimes buy Peach & Mango Salsa ... which is what made me think about adding the pineapple today ... because I only had regular salsa in the house. I think the soup today tasted even better than the burritos.
This was really easy to remember, and tasted delicious; plus it was easy to prepare.
Layer the following items in your crock pot:
boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used one small package from the grocer ... I think it was maybe 6 thighs ... but they look so small without their bones, you know)
fresh or frozen pineapple chunks (I used about 1 cup ... actually it was 7 large pieces that I had frozen from fresh ... but it looked like about 1 cup)
canned black beans, undrained (I used one can)
salsa (I used 1 jar of Spartan Salsa)
Set your crock pot on High and let it cook for 4 hours. Before serving, break up the chicken pieces with a fork, and stir the soup.
That's it! I think it might even be "good for you" ... and it certainly does taste good!
BONUS RECIPE: The Chicken, Black Beans, and Salsa if you don't add the extra liquidity from the pineapple, make a very good burrito filling. When I make it for burritos, I sometimes buy Peach & Mango Salsa ... which is what made me think about adding the pineapple today ... because I only had regular salsa in the house. I think the soup today tasted even better than the burritos.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Repost - Writers Block Challenge # 27
I wish I had a camera that could show the view from me:
Peripheral and everything I do and do not see.
And it would have to focus without zooming, and should stay
Attentive to the details and wide angles of each day.
Photographic memories! I’ve heard some people have them.
Not me, though, only words are stored, retrievable at random.
I cannot tell you what I saw unless I first told me!
Word pictures I’ll remember. That’s why I write poetry.
Second Wind
Why would a quiet soul want a scary door?
This is not the door to MY heart.
If I close my door, it is only for solitude ... it is only to revive ...
and never would I want to terrify you away.
This is not the door to MY heart.
If I close my door, it is only for solitude ... it is only to revive ...
and never would I want to terrify you away.
P.S. If you ever see a scary door like this one, I say slap some paint on it and plant some flowers!
Note to Self
Read replies you missed tonite on the blogs of Teri and Zee. Too tired to read them now, and InBox will have buried them by tomorrow, no doubt.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Connectedness
Many of you have recently read my blog entitled "All Over the Place". I should have been careful what I wished for. The other day, I got an email from a friend I know "in real life" asking me to connect to her on facebook. So I set up a profile there real quick this morning. Now, as today has progressed, my little facebook inbox is full of people I "know in real life" trying to connect to me.
And that scares the heck out of me.
Because in "real life" I am shy as can be and quiet as can be and un-noticeable as can be. And hardly ever does anybody know what I am thinking. Except maybe in a classroom type setting. I will raise my hand and point out a relevant fact, and then discussion will ensue, but I do not dominate that discussion. I just connect the dots, and the group moves along, and they don't really even notice that I sort of directed them. And that is comfortable for me.
Blogging and making friends on line has gotten to be really comfortable for me, too. In a way, most of my Multiply friends "know" me better than most of my "real-life" friends do.
But what will I do if my real life friends read my blogs and expect me to be as articulate in person as I can be in writing? I'll be a FAILURE, that's what!
Groups of people who all know each other and all know me ... well that is UN comfortable for me. Because, well, groups always want you to SAY something. And you have to be quick, and witty and I'm ... well ... SLOW. I think too dang deeply. I need to process and connect all the dots. I need to listen.
Sigh.
Well, I've got a facebook page now, and I suppose I gotta update the little blurb every day "Rani Kaye is ... (you're supposed to fill in the blank)." My 50+ year-old "real-life" friends are filling in those dang blanks!!!! Who knew?
Maybe in 2009 I'll become as comfortable with verbal communication as I am with blogging and commenting. When I was on Yahoo 360, I never ever ever commented ... I just read blogs. It wasn't until the Yahoo mass-exodus began that I quit lurking and contacted the people whose blogs I read so that I could come over here and not lose the writers I loved to read. Then one of those friends taught me to comment. (Okay, so I AM an idiot. I had to be taught to comment.) Now I do it all the time. Maybe someday I will even learn how to do it in real life.
... I'm not leaving Multiply, though, that's for sure. I'll just practice a little with facebook, and then maybe invite my facebook friends over here to see what a "real" blog site is like. Grin.
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