%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." CHARLIE CHAPLIN  Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte        This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  “At last came the golden month of the wild folk-- honey-sweet May, when the birds come back, and the flowers come out, and the air is full of the sunrise scents and songs of the dawning year.” ― Samuel Scoville Jr Use this quote to inspire your entry today. ==== Maybe, in Scoville’s story, that “golden month” of May came back for the bear family in a normal climate, but where I live, it came with a 94 degree heat. As its result, I had to go out early enough this morning for a few errands before the heat got to me. As such “the merry month of May” has turned into the “scorching grill” for those of us who live somwhere way down south. Instead of the month of May, though, I am much more impressed by the bears and honey. Bears have many species just like us people, except I don’t think they kneel down to racism among them for they are intelligent, big, strong, and fast animals. And no wonder they like honey, the one delicious thing food item made by bees, flowers, and mother nature. Plus, among all other edibles, honey is the only one that doesn’t go bad, and thus, it doesn’t need refrigeration. Some insist on honey’s medicinal properties. Whether they are right or not, we all appreciate this golden liquid in a cup of tea to soothe colds, sore throats, and nerves. Now, how did I end up here from that merry month of May! Ask the bears. They are smart, and they like honey, too.  For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From  Lilli 🧿 ☕   "Only Love is Needed" Here is a beautiful, well-written poem of earthly love when one partner is so sweetly begging the other one to come around. The problem for me is I never liked begging, especially for love, as love is given freely but not as the result of cajoling, but I think, with poetry, anything goes.  Then, probably for being a realist, this word love, together with the many different meanings it suggests, has me in stitches. The same for the ditty “All you need is love!” No, you need many more things. You need: clothes, shelter, food, a commode when you need it, some money, family, friends, an occupation, a working mind, a belief system, and good will toward everyone. What is still the most surprising for me is when people mistake hormonal needs for love. Yet, we’re all fooled by this need as we’ve been there in our younger years when we made that very mistake, and as a result, many separations and divorces keep on happening. To overcome this, a healthy love for life, for oneself, for others, for the creation and its Creator should be the answer. Many involvements we so haphazardly unite under the word “love” should then gain some serious meaning. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: "The magic of the hill top is seeing her little books bought to life in the place where they were created." Peter Tasker --- This quote is about restoring Beatrix Potter’s home, on a hilltop where she grew different kinds of plants and put her drawings of them in her books. When one looks carefully one can see about where each of her stories were created. Here’s a link: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/restoring-beatrix-potters-garden Wouldn’t it be nice if each author’s creations could be traced to the actual time and space where they were created? For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Alexi 
--- This poem takes its flight into the air from a scared emotion, the fear of flying, but then, it branches into other feelings and thoughts some of which are the author’s privileged, internal musings. I don’t know. I never had such fears. In fact, I enjoy flying. Yet, I don’t read too much into it either. To me flying is just a convenient way of travel. Maybe I am not too much of an emotional person. Yet, there is this one time I can’t forget. The plane I was in was going to Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) in Blountville, TN. I was traveling alone and reading a book. When the pilot announced that we were there and about to land, I lifted my head from the book and saw the chains of blue mountains in layers, almost like blue mists. I gasped. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever set eyes upon. This was probably two and a half decades ago, and that view still lingers in my mind. I bet if people come up with taking photos of what’s in one’s mind, this would become a very vivid photograph. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: They say we all have a book in us. Do you agree with this statement? --- I guess since everyone has a life, everyone can have a story to tell. How to approach it and revealing how much of one’s life could be among the challenges faced. Most of us, however, have several books in us. Except, they are hesitant to come out. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Lilli 🧿 ☕ ’s "Becoming a Writer in the Digital Age" --- I enjoyed college education greatly. And not for its parties, either. I enjoyed it for the subjects I studied. They showed me new avenues. Yes, college education teaches some things, but not everything, and this is where the author and I part ways. Learning to write and to read is a very personal thing. That’s how we have so many ways of writing and so many different approaches to writing. The writing bit and even the choices we make in our reading is totally up to our very own and unique emotional and intellectual make-up. I understand this piece was contributed by someone else other than Lilli 🧿 ☕ . So chances are my disagreement is with that someone else. Granted, I have no bones to pick with the way he approaches the business view of writing; however, that has never been my problem. My problem with most writers is that they adopt the business view, way before they hone in their skills and find a personal style of writing, and this brings down the art of writing and cheapens the appreciation of readers in general. Granted also when he says, “Nobody is waiting for you. And you will never be ready.” True. However, better to wait and get a few years of practice rather than dive head first into a muck. This is how I feel. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” Khalil Gibran, Sand and Foam What do you think about this quote, and in what ways life is like a tree? --- Trees are like poetry in the way that a poem inspires and stays with us after we’ve read it. Looking at a tree is like that, too. Who wouldn’t feel inspired, rejuvenated, and thankful for the existence of that tree after watching it and really noticing it? Trees inspire deep thoughts in people just like life, in being breathing and serene entities. Plus, their lives are longer than ours. They might even be wiser than we are since they have lived longer and experienced more. Trees are also like life in the way they can flourish even under the worst circumstances. They can also stretch upward and downward, establishing roots, something of a reminder of so many people and even other living beings. Then, have you ever watched a burned down forest giving off new shoots? If that’s not life, I don’t know what is. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: On Sharmelle's Expressions  ’s "The Barn Owl That Said Mooooo" --- Just the title alone is funny in this piece. On barns, however, I have little knowledge or experience. Having said that, I can’t forget the abandoned barn in a partially abandoned farm we visited during the mid-nineteen-eighties as part of a sightseeing trip. Somehow, its door made me sad enough to shed a tear or two. It was a heavy door, left half open, and it had lost some of its slats. The barn itself was crouching a bit forward like an old man with a bent-back, with its once red color turning brown. Yet, there’s a happy ending to this barn. My friend in that area wrote to tell me that the very barn that had made me sad was recovered, spruced up, and was being re-used as an arts and crafts workshop, mostly for making quilts. Now, when I think of this experience, instead of feeling sad, I feel recharged and happy, thinking there’s no end to the creativity and wisdom of our people, especially in that area. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Here’s John Steinbeck describing a sunset in The Grapes of Wrath: “A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.” What do you think of sunsets and how would you describe one? --- Sunsets are breathtaking and I especially love the ones I can watch from the back of the house on mild days. On the line of the horizon, the darkest reds mix with the breeze and bring dreamlike images into mind, and higher up purples and the last rays of the sun yellow to off-white reflect on the sky while the colors right above me darken faster and faster. It is then that I try to put to sleep the memories of sunset-watching with a specific loved one, and my tears pull me inside myself. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From winklett in the woods  ’s "Marking Endings" --- Is Labor Day a festival? I believe it was made for that very idea of a festival to give workers a break and a reason for a fun-time so they can continue with renewed energy afterwards. Labor Day also signals the ending of summer. Labor Day to me, however, has always meant that the white pants and skirts of summer had to be retired to the back of the closet or folded away until the beginning of following summer. Where I live, though, summer is eternal throughout the year with a few cool breaks in between. Still, being that my town is mostly made up of NewYorkers like me, one can rarely see a white pants, shorts, or skirts on people. Maybe I should rebel against the order of things especially where fashion goes. After all, people all over the world, and particularly ordinary working people in factories, mines, fields, and offices, are rebelling every day in many ways of their own invention. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Eric Hoffer Is Eric Hoffer correct in his assumption? Since we are social animals, how much do you think we are attuned to others in our groups or cultures? --- I am not the one to disagree with Eric Hoffer, as scientific knowledge points out to the fact that the primate part of our brain dictates us that we fit in with the group we’re in. Unfortunately for our free will, we do this without knowing or understanding what we’re doing. Mastering this primitive part of our existence takes some doing because the social force is so ingrained inside us that it is almost like an internal organ whose actions we’re not aware of until a pain of some sort alerts us. There is nothing wrong with what a group dictates. A group just is, and it is especially difficult to stay away from it when we are born into the group and think of its rules and hierarchy as the sublime state of being. When the group intelligence is high, it can assimilate the differences of its members; however, even the best and the most intelligent groups end up becoming rigid in time. In addition, when we are so part of a group, we fail to see its effects on us. The thing is, the social force of the group exists inside us as well as outside of us, its size and chemistry depending on the particular group or culture we’re in. Plus, being and feeling to be part of a group, tribe, religion, culture, or nation makes us feel energetic and alive, which in itself, is an addiction. There is nothing wrong with all this, but when we side with the tribe or group against others in order not to lose our place in its hierarchy, we’re not being true to our very own selves. I believe to stop acting with the tribe against our own hidden will, we need to master the primitive parts of our character, which begins by the observation of our own selves. To resist the pull of the tribe we need to see and observe our tendency to demonize the other and especially rival tribes, groups, nations, political parties, and even sports teams. Once we recognize this tendency in us, it may be easy to rectify it. And who knows, we may become the leading force inside our group’s culture to put an end to fights, riots, and civil and international wars. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: From Lou-Here By His Grace  ’s "Purple Dawn" Write about this poem in your Blog entry today. --- I am not much for camping out in the open, either. I rather prefer a comfy bed, more so my own, let alone in the wilderness of the old Wild West. As romantic as the good old days may seem to most, to me today counts and today, in my old age, I prefer to be in my own element. I’d rather read about the good ole’ West in books than experience it. Maybe because in my younger days I traveled a lot--too much, I’d say--and ‘ve had my fill. Now’s the time to take care of my creature comforts. Good poem though. I liked the descriptions a lot and that the poet agrees with me in essence. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." — Charles M. Schulz What's your favorite chocolate? Why? Is there a special memory connected with the confection? ----- Dark chocolate is my favorite. I especially like it when it comes with hazelnuts in it. Why? It tastes good to me. I don’t care whether something is a good brain or heart food or not. Those who come up with such findings change their minds as if changing underwear, in the first place. With my likes and dislikes, my own opinions count.   A memory?: Two of them. 1. My husband’s first gift to me was a box of top-grade, fine Swiss chocolate. 2. When I was very little and was having a temper tantrum, my mother would have me lick a tiny bit of chocolate. We always had a stack of chocolates at home. That alone goes to say what kind of a kid I was.  For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: Jon Little (they/them)  ’s "Invalid Item" . Do you believe in "little green men" "gremlins", or the "bogeyman?"--- No. Even if they existed, they would be too afraid to come to our earth, especially if they knew how easily we always pick fights and get into such violent wars with one another. I bet, however, since such stuff entered our imagination, it might have been created somewhere in the vast universe for I believe imagination/mind creates stuff or makes the imagined situations come true. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Have you ever attended a Writer's Workshop? ---- Yes, many years ago, say more than half a century. Since I was studying lit at the time, it was the thing to do. Although many still attend those and I get invitations all the time, I don’t think a Writer’s Workshop will benefit my writing at all, except for making friends with like minded people and having a good time, which is exactly what we are doing here in WdC. Except we pick and choose what we want to do. Another reason for me not to attend a writer’s workshop is, I work alone much better. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: LegendaryMask❤️  ’s "High in the Sky" . Does faith play a role in your life? If so, tell us about it. If not, why?---- Yes, the role faith plays in my life is central and a big one, but I don’t make an issue of it in the company of others. It is a very private thing for me. It feels like, if I made a big to-do about it, it would get hurt by the thoughts of others. This is partly because there is a big difference between faith and fanaticism since fanaticism is the way most seem to treat their faith. Then, there is the emotional factor that I treat my relationship with the divine like a jealous lover. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Write about culture for today's Blog entry. ---- This depends on what you mean by culture. In its most basic form, culture is the name for growing microorganisms in a certain medium placed in a petri dish, possibly in a lab. Otherwise, it may mean a set of shared values and practices of a group or it may mean customary anything. It may also refer to gained knowledge, excellence of taste and enlightenment. Since each group’s or nation’s culture may be different, whoever is deemed to be cultured in one society may be seen as a vulgar ignoramus in another. Then, if you shave the word down, you end up with the word “cult.” Now that’s something to think about, isn’t it! The culture we generally refer to in our lives, however, not only deals with the material but more so with the abstract, such as ideas, education, beliefs, tastes, and attitudes. This shared culture in a society democratizes that society, and in our time and place, it may well refer to the mass media, politics, religion, and learning in general; however, it doesn’t necessarily mean elitism. Most people mix culture with elitism, which, IMO, is a serious mistake. Being aware of the needs of the society--as to the importance of its history and traditions, its current output in terms of the arts, written material, press, and the willingness of the citizens to engage in civil dialogue—is what makes us cultured individuals who add something to the culture we live in. I, therefore, believe that each one of us is obligated to gather as much knowledge in those areas and not shy away from the positive give-and-take of ideas and opinions or fear those who work against the best interests of our culture. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: From ♥Hooves♥  ’s "Dinner at Eight" Select a poem from this book and write about it. "Apple Autumn" ----- I so love the first stanza of this poem. Very few poets and writers can use adjectives that may refer to several things in a short stanza. I mean “crisp and clear” for sure, where the two adjectives define the morning, apples, dawn, and the sounds of a typewriter. This stanza alone is a very strong poem because through descriptions, it hints at several emotions, such as appreciation, nostalgia, delight, etc,, without even naming them. Another reason I like the poem, however a secondary one, is that it reminded me of one home my family had with seven apple trees in one part of the backyard. We raised our children there, and in my opinion, it was the best place we ever lived in. Then, the kids grew up and we sold the place and moved down south, to find out that, like apples and everything else, what we loved was made to last for only a season. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: What are your weekend plans? ---- I don’t make plans for weekends or any other day, aside from the routine things. Since anytime I make plans, something happens to mess with them. Then, weekend plans are for people who cannot find the time to do things during their hectic weekdays. For me, the only good thing about the weekend, mainly Sundays, is that I don’t get unwanted calls. Unwanted calls, usually on the landline, which I keep only for routine business stuff, are terribly annoying. Thus, I made it a habit to say that I don’t buy, support, or donate over the phone. Usually though, the annoying calls come from crooks posing as agents from the Social Security, Medicare, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, or vehicle warranty stuff. AT&T shows the invalid numbers and VOIP calls on the Caller ID but doesn’t give me the option to block those numbers, while I can do just that on my cell. I don’t know why the same company can let me block numbers on my cellphone and not on the landline. It must have something to do with their business plans. Surely, when it comes to the business plans of big companies, the consumer is the one given the short end of the stick. For: "Space Blog Group" prompt: From winklett in the woods ’s "Backdoor" .An uninvited guest (a memory it seems). What would you do in these situations? ----- I know this beautiful poem from long ago. And yes, memories have a way of sneaking in through the back doors of the mind. What to do when this happens? I am usually disconcerted when a memory sneaks into my mind and I never plan ahead for it. Yet, this happens often, and I usually let it play its course, but then, I try to keep busy and get my mind occupied with something else to tear it apart from the claws of remembrances. I remember reading somewhere of an enzyme that aids in reviving old memories. It makes me wonder why anyone would want to do such a thing unless treating a trauma, which should be done in the presence and under the guidance of a professional, anyway. On the other hand, chances are all memories can be considered traumatic: the bad ones because, when we recall them, we live through their unpleasantness once more, and the good ones. we live through them, feeling we’ll probably never experience such good times ever again. In either case, we feel sadness or even grief. Who needs that! Still, something in nature, an inflection in someone’s speech, a song or a poem, even a scene in a fictional book can trigger memories. A great friendship bond, a lover’s gaze, the recall of a success can travel through our minds in a split second, transporting us into past experiences. Many people value such memories as it gives them a pat in the back for having lived through those good old times. Such stuff we may hold close to our hearts and may even think ourselves lucky for having had those times in our lives. Yet, isn’t this living in the past? Isn’t this a throwback, rather than a vision for future? I am not very sure that memories are as valuable as we make them to be. As Haruki Murakami wrote, ““Memories are what warms you up from the inside. But they’re also what tears you apart.” |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" "If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. "Author Unknown Discuss how you felt reading this quote. Did you immediately think of someone special or a time in your life? ---- Funny, about how I felt about this quote. You’d think it would remind me of my late beloved husband or some time in my youth or something to do with my children, but no. My first reaction or thought was about God. Although I stay away from religious or spiritual stuff online, this is what I felt immediately when I first read the above quote. Each time something happens, good or bad in my estimation and in the short or the long run, I find His hand in it, and that makes me smile whether it may involve the entire evening sky or the entire creation with all the universes in it, I cannot say. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: From Jeannie   ’s "Prince Remembered" . Who is your favorite musician? What do you like about them?--- Needless to say, I like all music. For liking so many different kinds of it, it is difficult to say I have a favorite musician. Yet, narrowing it down, since I had a bit of training in classical music, I’ll have to pick Beethoven. After all, Fur Elise was the first small piece I had learned to play. Plus, when a kid, Beethoven was the one musician whose life story I’d read. From that book, I gathered that he had music in his mind and only that, and strangely enough, he was deaf. He would walk the streets, thinking, composing, and talking to himself, which made people believe he was somewhat off and children followed him making fun of him. When in concert, he would stop performing if the audience was not paying attention. He was a character all right! Whether he might have been a grumpy person or he was misunderstood, Beethoven lived in his music, and I truly appreciate the output from such a dedication. Then, as the result, it is that fantastic music he created, stretching all forms and previous musical norms to unleash emotion inside his symphonies, concertos, string quartets, piano sonatas, chamber works and even an opera. What wasn’t understood in his time now is considered to be the greatest music of all time. Imagine that, more than 11 billion miles away from Earth, the Voyager spacecraft is, at this very moment, carrying a gold vinyl record containing two pieces by Beethoven. Now, that's something! |
| Prompt: "Knowledge is love and light and vision." Helen Keller Use this quote in your Blog entry today. --- Who could argue with that quote! Knowledge above everything else is a state of awareness. It is gained through experience, learning, observation, and being able to act effectively on the accumulation of one’s capabilities. Then, love is the balancing act that governs these capabilities. As to Helen Keller, she could feel the importance of knowledge, and this is evident in the way she describes it. Her knowledge and the difficulty of obtaining it, due to her disability, made her aware of the world and the beauty of it, once she learned to appreciate life in general. I believe by light she means grasping and understanding and by vision she means penetrating into the meanings of things. Yet, these two very important parts of knowledge would be dry and monotonous if they were not encased in love. Then, when we offer to others anything wrapped in love, it is always one of the most beautiful things in life. Prompt:x The T Lady x ’s "Go to Sleep, Little One" about a baby that will not go to sleep. How do you get a baby to go to sleep or if you have never had children what do you when you can't sleep? ---- It is different with every child. My first one needed a long stretch of conversation while he was in bed and I sat next to him. It was something close to a therapy session. He wasn’t too much into listening to stories. He wanted to talk about real life events, rehashing what happened etc. To this day, he likes conversing with me on the phone for at least an hour each time he calls. My second child, although he, too, is now a big conversationalist, never needed that bedtime support. His eyes began closing before his head hit the pillow. In my case, in old age, I always fall asleep while listening to something either on YouTube or elsewhere. I guess I could fall asleep on my own, too, but I like having fun more. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" “Dickensian poverty tends to occur after Christmas in January. For it is then, with pockets empty, diary decimated and larder bare, that the general populace sinks into a collective pauper's hibernation until Valentine's Day.”~― Stewart Stafford Do you agree or disagree? --- What is there to agree or disagree? If you spend too much, you have to watch your finances for a while so you are not bankrupt. That’s a problem, I think, we all have with too many expensive Christmas gifts. It seems as if such a gift shows one’s affection both for the occasion and for the receiver of the gift. It need not be so. If for the occasion, how about donating to a soup kitchen, for example, and giving the people we love thoughtful gifts we make with our hands? Then, the “hibernation until Valentine’s Day” need not happen. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From 🌕 HuntersMoon  ’s "It's Your Move" . The author compares life and romance to a game of chess. Do you agree or disagree? Why? --- At first, I thought he’d make fun of the stuff, but he doesn’t. Instead, he’s cynical and sarcastic a bit. Who’d blame the poet for feeling this way if it’s all a game? Unfortunately, most treat life and/or romance like a game. To me, if it’s a game, it is more like some bloody football or rugby game. Then, when you go after Kings or Queens, you are more likely to get disappointed. Going for humans, however, may turn out to be more logical. Who knows, the pawn you warm up to can be a King or Queen inside. As to the game of chess, I don’t know if I agree or disagree, but chess is a game of strategy that requires precise memory. That may be why after I play a game or two, I usually suffer from headaches, while on the average, I never get headaches. That’s the reason I don’t play chess as I once did in my youth. It might just be that my already meager mental powers have fallen way below average. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: "Perseverance, commitment, compromise and passion are ingredients you hold close." Use these words in your Blog entry today. ---- At this point in my life, perseverance takes the crown. Compromise is always there. None of us could live another minute without it. As to passion, it depends on ... passion for what? That sentence quoted in the prompt, however, is a great statement for young adults as their life motto. I think it can guarantee success because it is easy, through the life’s ups and downs, to forget noble goals or even smaller ones since the immediate daily problems can block our will to succeed. Thus, it is a good idea to have a motto or a mantra in the mind to link to our deepest values and to calm and encourage us. Other than encouraging us forward and inspiring us in our work, a motto or a mantra can replace destructive self-talk or thinking and change any bad habit that works against our well-being. Some may think this as cliché thinking. Yes, there are many clichés in life, as this one may be; however, they may not be untrue or less usable. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Words Whirling 'Round ’s "Going On" . What do you think? What would we do without this common symbol? ---- If by common symbol, you mean the letter e, I would be totally lost without it. E is the queen of my writing kingdom. Yes, letters are the symbols of our talking and thinking systems. As far as I know, a symbol has a literal, figurative, and conventional meaning. Can we shoo any one member out of a symbol system like the alphabet? I didn’t think so; however, the poet Words Whirling 'Round has done such a great job in "Going On" that it made me wonder if taking away a symbol from its system may be possible, be it for a single moment. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt What was your biggest learning experience in 2020? === From my personal experiences in 2020, I learned how durable, independent, and fearless I am, something I never knew or even suspected about myself. It was an eye-opener, though it came through a lot of pain. In general, though, I saw how petty some people could be and how generous and helpful others are. In most ways, my affection for the humankind has increased because of the different ways I saw people react to a pandemic. To tell the truth, I will never miss 2020. It was the most hellish year in my life and certainly it was one of a kind as far as the world history is concerned. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From lavarion ’s "Poetry" What are your views on this? ---- Poetry to me is artistically sculpted language that expresses and evokes feelings and throws a light on subjects and emotions that a piece of straight prose can’t. Yet, poetry cannot be defined or nailed down to a certain method. Any such effort always gets lost in time and meets its timely death. Sometimes, the rhyming, musicality, or the beat in the lines add to the emotion and expression of it. This is fine by me. But no one should expect those things from all poets. If the poem has a certain quality to it, if its meaningful, expressive, and lets the reader discover some awareness and emotion, it doesn’t matter whether a poem has a form or not. From that point of view and because I love a good poem in any shape or form or without any shape or form, I say, each to his or her own as far as poets are concerned. I also believe that poetry has an ever-evolving quality, which keeps it alive. Plus, the conditions of the place, time, and nationalities offer the poetry readers a variety of poems and styles, as an almost feast to enjoy. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Choose one of these quotes to discuss in your blog- or if you're in a writing mood discuss all three. 1.The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination.- Terri Guillemets 2. Let all the failures of your past year be your best guide in the New Year. - Mehmet Murat ildan 3. Kindness is like snow—it beautifies everything it covers.- Kahlil Gibran ---- 1. It is difficult to attach a color to any one season because all seasons for me is a swirl of colors, but I’ll try. Spring is the color of hope, with all shades of lighter, brighter greens as the dark days of winter slide into warmer days, meaning new experiences or a chance of renewal. I like summer only because of its light that elevates the mood. It is the color of the smiles on one’s best friend who accepts who you are and encourages who you might aspire to be; however, sometimes, it is too hot where I live; so then, I liken it to a hellish experience. Fall used to be my favorite season when I was much younger, maybe because of the fancy colors on the leaves, since I never thought of facing what they meant, and now, I know they meant change, and I think fall is the color of sadness, facing one’s shortcomings while life is ebbing from nature all around us, be it in a spectacular garb. As to winter, it is the color of being sheltered in my family’s warmth as we gather by the hearth even though not much of my family is left now. It is also the feel of warm woolen sweaters and curling up with a hot coffee and a good book. Whenever I can get hold of a good book, which may be in all seasons, then I have all the colors I need, alone or with people, anywhere. 2. Excuse me! I tend to disagree with this quote. If you’re talking about 2020 alone, the year failed me big time. That year should be the one to atone what it did to me, not me to it. I won’t go into details here, but I am not letting anything nasty in the past be my guide. Yes, I learn from my mistakes--I think--always, but I won’t let those mistakes or their memory carry into my future. Instead, I’ll pack up what I have learned and gathered throughout my life and use it as fuel to warm me up in my later years, no matter how few are left. 3. Kindness, yes. This is a great quote. I like it and I have written about it several times. Kindness means generosity, consideration, and concern for others, without expecting praise, reward, or even acknowledgement. There are small kindnesses like saying a comforting word to someone who is sad or bigger ones like making sure a homeless person has shelter. Kindnesses are more real to me, if they are done incognito, but that may not always be possible. Just two days ago, my neighbors showed several kindnesses to me. It seems late at night, a woman went through our backyards and porches, and stole and broke things. She was about thirty years old, since someone’s camera caught her image and the police got her fingerprints on a neighbor’s furniture. She couldn’t get into our porch since the doors were locked but she got into the unlocked storage room in the back, in which we had garden things. She took out a wheelbarrow and other stuff like hoes and hoses and threw them on the grass, and broke a few empty pots. She did much worse damage to the neighbors. I think what she did was done in anger, not in need. A good thief who needs things doesn’t do intentional damage. Two of my neighbors helped me carry the broken stuff to the front for the garbage collectors and helped me put the ones back in the storage room, which I lock now. We have lived in this neighborhood since 1993, and nothing like this has ever happened. Then, I thought of the woman who did all this at four o’clock in the night, and believe it or not, I felt her misery. How much she must hurt to do what she did to all our houses! Yet, what she really took were windchimes and small garden ornaments. She did break some things of mine but they were old and I’d probably throw them out, anyway. So, thinking about her, I said a little prayer for her. I hope she gets caught and is helped and I certainly hope and pray she doesn’t feel so wounded anymore. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Mikibits ’s "Glances" , a poem about a coffee shop whose customers and staff were all eyeballing somebody who was eyeballing somebody else. Why do humans act like this in your opinion?---- Eyeballing is carrying people-watching to the extreme. Eyeballing can make others feel uncomfortable. Most of the eyeballers use this method to communicate their personal messages to others, as if they are detectives or stalkers. They might be doing this out of a need to connect or out of boredom. There’s a lighter version of this that we authors use a lot. In fact, I am a fan of it. It is called people-watching. It is an observation method, drawing conclusions about people from their postures, actions, and bits of conversations I hear. This is a way of gathering writing material; however, the observation shouldn’t be done in a conspicuous form. In fact, I omit looking at the same person for very long. After the Covid thing, I haven’t been going out much, but before that, my favorite places were the restaurants and the book stores where I observed several people at the same time. This has a shielding advantage over looking at only one person. I am sure many writers here are people watching like me, also. I wonder what their methods are, if any.  |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: "The Nutcracker sits under the holiday tree. A guardian of childhood stories." Vera Nazarian Write about the Nutcracker in your Blog entry today. ---- The nutcracker is a tool to crack walnuts and other such nutty things, and I guess, it would make a nice gift while sitting under a tree, wrapped up in ribbons and tinsel. The nutcracker is also a story written by E. T. A. Hoffmann, titled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." It was later made into a two-act ballet together with the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Russian choreographers. Although not popular in its first showing, the ballet has become a regular Christmas fare performed all over the world. The ballet and the music was a dreamlike experience when I saw it for the first time and a few others after that. Recently however, it has become “too much of a good thing.” Still, I like its music and from it the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From Solace.Bring "Still and Snow" Do you like snow? Tell us about it. === Snow is. Whether I like it or not, it comes down on us first beautiful and bold, then turning to ugly slush. I used to love snow when we had house with a two-acre backyard secluded because of tall pine trees on its sides and several oaks in the middle. There was a clearing about 30 yards from the house where I had a rose garden and a small vegetable plot. After the snow would stop and a full moon would come up at night, the entire place looked like a fairyland out of this earth. That scene is etched inside my mind, and anytime I think of snow, I view that scene. Yet, I didn’t like it when the snow came down harsh with the wind in a slanted or even a horizontal blur. It was like being invaded by some unearthly militia, paratrooping from the sky and covering everything dead or alive. Where I live now, there is no snow. Do I miss it? Honestly, no. I don’t miss the cold. I don’t miss the circles we rubbed on the windowpanes just to take a peek at the outside. Yet, most of all, I don’t miss the shoveling. Still, I have to admit. Snow is a pretty thing. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: What do we mean by the word “indulgences”? What may common indulgences be, and do you have any indulgences? --- It depends from which stand one addresses this question. From the psychological point of view, an indulgence can border on what hedonism and self-centeredness might be. Thus, an indulgence can be overlooking someone else’s self-pleasing actions like eating too many sweets or allowing oneself such or similar an action. When one self-indulges like that, they obtain the object of their desire up front without any regard to the cost of it, be it physical, psychological, or financial. Since most addicts become addicts by letting themselves enjoy such temporary ecstasies, which in turn become addictions, any indulgence should be treated with caution. Some people mix indulgence with self-nurturing, but they are not the same things. When people self-nurture, they take care of themselves in a loving, prudent, and respectful way, say when they are feeling down, by eating a piece of chocolate but not repeatedly overdoing it. As far as the word indulgences go, Roman Catholicism has had a different take on it.The church announced, at one time, that it would accept prepayment or confession for the absolution of future minor sins or a sort of amnesty for afterlife and called it Indulgences. The history of Indulgences goes far back into the First Crusade. Then, according to the America magazine, close to our time, it was: “On Jan. 1, 1967, Paul VI issued the apostolic constitution Indulgentiarum Doctrina, a long instruction that was a modest reworking of the medieval teaching on indulgences. It ended with 22 norms on the doctrine and some relatively modest revisions of the practice. The definition of indulgences the pope gave is quoted verbatim in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.” In our day, according to Simply Catholic, it is accepted as: “Indulgences can be applied only to the punishment that is due for sins already forgiven, either in sacramental confession (in the case of mortal or venial sins) or by personal expressions of sorrow (in the case of venial sins only).” For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From afinger83’s "Invalid Item" Write about acts of kindness. ---- From my point of view, acts of kindness are giving from oneself to others or doing something nice for someone else without any expectations. Kindness in itself is mostly a behavior or an action. It has nothing to do with a feeling such as gratitude or the wish for reciprocation. It doesn’t matter to whom kindnesses are shown. Acts of kindness can cause recipients feel loved and can raise their self-esteem and optimism. Acts of kindness also offer positive results to the people who show such kindnesses. It is been said that the people who volunteer their time or money for charitable causes often have better immunity and fewer aches and pains. I believe, however, that most of the time, kindnesses are shown by positive functioning people who are themselves satisfied with life and who may experience little or no negative emotions. Those who are experiencing serious griefs or anxieties and can still show a good number of kindnesses are probably saints walking among us. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: The Adjectives Game List 5 things you like or dislike tasting, and then list 5 adjectives for each item. For example, you might like the taste of cake. The 5 adjectives might be: sweet, gooey, yummy, nutty, and scrumptious. Now do the same for your other senses. This builds your sensory vocabulary and ability to write with flair and color. --- Likes Brie Cheese: slightly nutty and fruity, rich, velvety, cream-colored, buttery Pizza Margherita: savory, aromatic, crusty, cheesy, red and white swirling, unique as to ending with no-leftovers, Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich: sweet and sour, salty, scratchy, crusty, cheesy, gooey, mild and harsh combined Grilled sweet peppers: tangy, fruity, limp, roasty, toasty, seared, with its-skin-peeling Dark Chocolate: robust, sweetish, fiery, holistic, mahogany-colored My only real dislike is homemade mayonnaise, only when it is made with egg yolks and not whipped well. I get nauseous with its eggy smell and taste. Then, of course, I won’t eat insects, boiled, baked, fried, sauteed or in any other way. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: From T. Merle ’s "A Wolf's Sonnet to the Rabbit" . Did the wolf ever consider the rabbit and did the rabbit ever pray for the wolf? Write about a rabbit and a wolf.==== The wolf doesn’t kill for the joy of killing. It kills for food. Unlike the stupid men who kill a beautiful lion just to have their photos taken as if they conquered the entire creation. As from the point of view of the rabbit, no one wants to be eaten alive. Yet, most carnivorous animals go after the flawed and old members of other animal species. In doing so, the success and survival of each specie is guaranteed. This has to do with the workings of evolution, which in its process, selects adaptations, increasing the fitness of each group. Leaving the wolf (or rather the fox since it is the fox that's always after small game) and the rabbit in their natural habitat, let’s look at how and why there are predators and preys inside the human family. The predators here have less lofty goals than their preys, and it feels easy for them to exploit the weaker yet more spiritually evolved people. Human predators are those who use an undeserved authority over others. If not placed in higher positions by the rules of the society, they form this authority over others through gifts and favors to obligate reciprocity. Most predators look for others’ triggers, at where their vulnerability is. Thus, it is a good idea to think about where our vulnerabilities are, so we won’t become preys. As to if a rabbit (prey) would pray for a wolf (predator), I think that is possible only if the prey is a highly evolved person. Some Holocaust survivors chose to forgive their captors and torturers. Some of those survivors might have even prayed for the welfare and the souls of those who so harmed them. For example, as a ten-year-old child that was subjected to the experiments headed by Mengele, Mozes Kor forgave Dr. Hans Munch and wrote and signed a statement “Declaration of Amnesty” in which she granted amnesty to Munch and gave it to him at Birkenau’s ruins. I think the year was 1992, then. If I were her, I couldn't do that, even though I think I am a pretty forgiving person. Would I pray for someone who has hurt me? Yes, but that doesn't mean full forgiveness. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: "Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision." Winston Churchill Use this quote in your Blog entry today. ---- I agree, although the idea behind Churchill’s words is obvious. A question could be, then, can courage exist without fear? I think even a mild form of fear should be there for courage to surface, as you have to fear something to react to it. That fear need not be a bone-chilling, negative-result-expecting type of a fear, either. For example, if you would think someone in the room was putting down someone else there needlessly, you would verbally defend that second person or at least you would try to change the aggressor’s attention to another subject. This is what I call doing the right thing, since you have feared the second person getting hurt and decided to do something about it. Then, there was that chance that the aggressor could get at you with putdowns, too, and so your reaction became one of courage, also. Usually, when we say fear, we think about ourselves being harmed. Yet, harm is not a nice thing to happen to any one person, us or others. And the decision to defend the harmed always shows courage, regardless of the intensity of the fear or the degree of the destructibility of the event that evoked the fear. Thus, the word fear, rather than the fright that freezes and rends a person helpless, becomes more like a reaction as a reason or catalyst to act. For: "Space Blog" Prompt: deemac  ’s "The Old Farmhouse" What kind of house did you grow up in? Tell us about it. ---- The house I grew up in was an old, wood-frame, three-story house. The memory of its first floor still impresses me. The entrance hallway had a high ceiling that cut off a good chunk of the second floor. The floor on the entrance hall was of stone and as big as a big bedroom. Since it was cooler than the other parts of the house, my mother put a sofa and chairs there to turn it into a living space during the hot summer days. The second place in this house that wasn’t ordinary was the kitchen. It had a large hearth, gas stoves, and other kitchen things. It was also very large and became the second half of the ground floor. In addition to the cupboards and other kitchen needs, we had a huge table in the middle with chairs around it that probably could seat 12-16 people. Most of the time, the leaves on the table were dropped, which made the place seem bigger. We always ate in the kitchen even with guests. At one side of the kitchen were two large floor-to-ceiling windows and a door that opened to the backyard. The other two stories of the house were like the other houses with bathrooms and rooms for living and sleeping. Years later, the house was razed down and an apartment building was put in its place as had been the fate of all other houses on the street, which turned from a neighborhood of family-owned private residences into something that became mostly commercial. I don’t consider it a neighborhood anymore and I have avoided passing through that street for decades, now. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
