Wednesday, January 31, 2007













"I loved you madly; in the distasteful work of the day,
in the wakeful misery of the night, girded by sordid realities,
or wandering through Paradises and Hells of visions into which I rushed,
carrying your image in my arms, I loved you madly."

Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Tuesday, January 30, 2007






















www.aclu.org


i've never been much of a "joiner"
but i love our country and tho i do not always agree with the aclu,
i DO agree with their principles and so i am now a member.

as their founder stated in 1920

" So long as we have enough people in this country willing
to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy."

roger baldwin ACLU founder

Monday, January 29, 2007

http://garydawg.blogspot.com/



this is the blog of gary blankenship
his latest work is below. i was so taken by it i asked if
i could post it here and gary was kind enough to agree.
gary is a poet whose work makes me eager to aim higher.















a poem by gary blankenship:






Redbuds for the Fallen

34 redbuds the first in a small grove
memorials for the 3rd Infantry
fallen in Operation Freedom

318 mounds of pink flowers
purple leaves and mementos
now line an expanded Warrior’s Walk
since the first arbor planted

room for 72 more
unless the forest
marches from Fort Stewart
towards the White House

in a Bagdad schoolyard
five craters planted in the sand
as the line of graves
for Iraqi dead marches
around the world
and back again

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/26/grief.grove.ap/index.html


Gary's book, A River Transformed at http://www.lulu.com/content/178110


gary is a fellow poet and contributor here for which i am very grateful.
this poem is not only beautiful,
it shines with a truth that some would rather not see.

i say, look, god, look.
a cold monday.

Saturday, January 27, 2007












my wonderful son-in-law, eric set
up my mic for my computer today and
showed me how to use it.
now, i can practice speaking into it,
recording short poems of mine and learn
how to give them.
i find that i still am uncomfortable with
my voice. the first i ever heard myself speak
was in high school spanish class. i had no idea
that one's real voice was quite unlike how we
think it sounds.
thank you to eric and to my friend philip.


yeah, my blog is listed on

THE POETRY SUPER HIGHWAY

they are celebrating 10 years!

it's a great place, check it out, o.k?



http://poetrysuperhighway.com/


It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;
it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient
to make some people acquainted with each other,
and seven days are more than enough for others.


Jane Austen


Sense and Sensibility

Thursday, January 25, 2007























friday's joke today

cause i won't be around early tomorrow.








What illness did everyone on the Enterprise catch?

Chicken Spocks!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

i'm snuggling up inside my quilt tonight.
phooey to venturing out!


















cold and going to get colder.
still working on the latest poem and also
trying, ha, to sort out my files.

i doubt i will attempt it today, still snorky
from my cold. : (

Tuesday, January 23, 2007



Your Vocabulary Score: A-
Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!You must be quite an erudite person.





me, killing time til the prez's speech!
as you can see, my daughter was born in a much more
interesting and turbulent time.
In 1973 (the year you were born)
Richard Nixon is president of the US
Supreme Court rules in Roe vs. Wade that states may not prevent a woman from having an abortion during the first trimester
US announces the end of the military draft
Spiro T. Agnew resigns after pleading no contest to charges of tax evasion while governor of Maryland
Gerald R. Ford becomes the first appointed vice president under the 25th Amendment
A total ban on oil exports to the US for six months is imposed by Arab nations after the outbreak of an Arab-Israeli war
President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam
Drea de Matteo, Tori Spelling, Carson Daly, Monica Lewinsky, and Kate Beckinsale are born
Oakland Athletics win the World Series
Miami Dolphins win Superbowl VII
Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup
The Exorcist and American Graffiti are top grossing films
Elvis Presley's Aloha From Hawaii television special is seen around the world by more than 1 billion viewers
KISS performs their first concert, at the Coventary Club in Queens
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack wins a Grammy for song of the year
Schoolhouse Rock premieres
In 1952 (the year you were born)
Harry Truman is president of the US
Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England after the death of her father, George VI
First explosion of a hydrogen device takes place at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific
Christine Jorgensen becomes the first medically and legally certified transsexual
US troops complete their pull-out from Japan
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President of the US
Sister Theresa becomes Mother Theresa and begins her charity work in Calcutta
Rick James, Douglas Adams, and Liam Neeson are born
New York Yankees win the World Series
Detroit Lions win the NFL championship
Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White is published
my daughter brought over my birthday gift
yesterday. i had asked for the JOE COCKER ANTHOLOGY
seems that's a tough one to find. it had to be ordered online
and so it came the other day.

his version of JUST LIKE A WOMAN just is the best,
better than dylan, and that is saying something!


i also got my hair cut today, FINALLY!
had to have over 2 inches cut off but boy, i feel so
much better. small thing, but it made me happy.
2nd working :

say cheese

smile!
i see myself like a photograph
stark
sharp black and white
printed countless times
sliced
by a razor, sharp
stretched tight around
oblong shapes
squared
rounded
shoebox
cakebox
taped tight shut
tied with ribbon
lovely to look at
but empty.

Monday, January 22, 2007









today is BLOG FOR CHOICE DAY


this is as to the point as i can make it.









"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."


Winston Churchill

Sunday, January 21, 2007

below is a first draft.
it is just as i typed it out
no changes as yet. i thought
i'd work on it right here on my blog
see how it goes.
say cheese


i see myself as paper,flat
stark black and white
one photo printed over and over
a sharp razor cuts neat strips
then wrapped around
smoothed tight over
blank cardboard forms
squares and rectangles
oblong emptiness
circle cakeboxes and shoebox shapes
taped shut and tied with string.

Saturday, January 20, 2007















well, i did critique a little for the workgroup
so i do feel like i've done something useful.


it beats digging ditches! ; )
blog thingys!!!! can you tell i'm bored and
too lazy to do anything constructive????





Idealist :


You are a passionate, caring, and unique person.
You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals.
You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily.
Your heart tends to rule you.
You can't make decisions without considering feelings.
You seek out other empathetic people to befriend.
Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships.
In love, you give everything you have to relationships.
You fall in love easily.At work, you crave personal expression
and meaning in your career.With others, you communicate well.
You can spend all night talking with someone.
As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to
develop your own personal style.
On weekends, you like to be with others.
Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.
You Are a Gingerbread House
A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.
Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Intuition
You are:
Multilayered and complexInspired and driven to achieve your goalsA visionary with a complete life planIntuitive enough to understand difficult problems, ideas, and people
cold, cold too freaking cold!!!!!

Friday, January 19, 2007













Andy Rooney said:


As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all.
Here are just afew reasons why:
A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask,
"Whatare you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game,
she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do.
And, it's usually something more interesting
A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in whom she is,
what she is, what she wants and from whom.
Few women past the age of 30 give a
hoot what you might think about her or
what she's doing.
Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match
with you at the opera
or in the middle of an expensive restaurant.Of course,
if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think
they can get away with it.Older women are generous with praise,
often undeserved .
They know what it's like to be unappreciated.A woman over 30 has
the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends.
A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend
because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 30
couldn'tcare less if you're attracted to her friends because
she knows her friends won't betray her.Women get psychic as they age.
You never have to confess your sins to awoman over 30. They always know.
A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick.
This is not true of younger women.Once you get past a wrinkle or two,
a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
Older women are forthright and honest.
They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one!
You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons.
Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning,
smart, well- coiffed hot woman of 30+,there is a
bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with
some 22-year-old waitress.



thought i'd share this! s
it's friday!





What are prehistoric monsters called when they sleep?


A, dinosnore!

Thursday, January 18, 2007



who


who, the owls ask soft
hidden from all but each other
who are you,
in this dark windless time?


eyes wide
ears strain
to hear
who i am.

maybe they know
i do not.
i do not.

who
guess what? my groundhog beanie babies that i
ordered yesterday arrived TODAY!

wow, phil is a fast little guy. ; )

Wednesday, January 17, 2007























GROUNDHOG DAY IS COMING UP FAST!

IT IS ONE OF MY most FAVORITE HOLIDAYS
I JUST ORDERED 2 GROUNDHOG BEANIE BABIES.

ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR MY LITTLE GRANDDAUGHTER!

WELL, MOSTLY FOR ME ; )


CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE...








http://www.groundhog.org/


















The most distinctive mark of a cultured mind
is the ability to take another's point of view;
to put one's self in another's place,
and see life and its problems from a point of view different from one's own.
To be willing to test a new idea; to be able to live on the edge of difference
in all matters intellectually;
to examine without heat the burning question of the day;
to have imaginative sympathy, openness and flexibility of mind,
steadiness and poise of feeling, cool calmness of judgment,
is to have culture.

A. H. R. Fairchild

Tuesday, January 16, 2007











winter has finally arrived. there's a coating of snow!

me, i'm begining to turn into a shade of smurfy blue.

Monday, January 15, 2007









http://evolvefish.com/index.html

a" get well" to terry jones.
i loved the book BARBARIANS
and enjoyed the series
even more!

knocking


your eyes as dark as my need
wet mouth a welcome mat.
a handle to open the door,
an invitation


can make me come,
again.


a day to honor a true american hero!

geeezzzz, forgot one

name a film you can watch over and over again
without fatigue:

this is tough.



DRACULA the one with gary oldman

HOME FROM THE HILL with robert mitchum

THE BLUES BROTHERS and ANIMAL HOUSE

any of the marx brother's films as well.

and, i must confess, almost ANY old 50's
b sci-fi-horror films.


i have a pretty big selection of those.
the best is PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE
but ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS comes close!
and a wet monday morning to ya!
rain, rain, rain...


anyway, i've been tagged by quaker dave
so here goes.


name a book you want to share so much that
you keep giving away copies: THE ORIGINS OF EVENING
by robert gibb

name a piece of music that changed the way you listen
to music: SEVEN METALS SINGING BOWLS OF TIBET
benjamin iobst

name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief: none

name a work of art you'd like to live with: THE PIETA

name a work of fiction that has penetrated your real life:
years ago, about 7th grade i read BLACK LIKE ME.
that validated what i believed about all people no matter
race, creed...

name a punchline that always makes you laugh:

"NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!"

Saturday, January 13, 2007


















can you tell that bob is getting fed up with
me taking pictures of him with the new camera?

Friday, January 12, 2007

friday---JOKE DAY!!!!!!






What did the whale say to the dolphin when he pushed him???


I didn't do it on porpoise!!!

Thursday, January 11, 2007















54 years ago tomorrow.

as the grateful dead sang:

"what a long strange trip it's been."
We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial;
We should count time by heart-throbs.
He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best


P.J. Bailey, Festus


found this photo. it's of my 50th birthday party.

as i wrote, i've been doing a lot of thinking about this

upcoming birthday.having writer's block gave me time to

spend pondering the past 5 years. i'm not upset about turning 55,

HELL i am grateful to still be here. no, i'm thinking of all of the

changes, big and small in my life and in the lives of everyone that

helped celebrate that birthday. 5 years can be a lifetime.

oh, and in case you are wondering just what

i am doing in this picture,

i always said that if i made it to 50 i'd dance on the table so

here i am, in a "burger king" crown, a ratty black feather boa

dancing on the table(actually just flapping the boa like wings)

to the monkee's "daydream believer" i made 4 dollars

(and a "pity" nickel) from my friends

(who told me to keep my day job cause i'd never make it as a dancer!!!

, gee, no kidding???!!)

i had fun tho. this birthday promises to be much more sedate.

well, maybe. ; )

Wednesday, January 10, 2007


my birthday is friday.


i've been doing a lot of thinking
about that.






beats the alternative i guess!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007








a new poem:







d.c. prick wavers

they measure their manhood
in body counts and
broken lives

shattered dreams and
lost faith.

BIG PRICKS , impressive

but impotent.

i found this site via blue gal.

it's a good one, thanks blue gal!







http://www.artbrut.com/

me, new year's eve
in the ladies room with my new
camera!


you can come up with your own jokes!

Monday, January 08, 2007



not even if it were FREE!

and it's $50.00 a person



my apologies to
the sisters of st. francis tho
















been working on another poem.
i think i'm slowly coming out of this
frightening writer's block that stuck me without
any warning a few months ago.

god, i hate when my words get lost and
it hurts physically and emotionally to
search them out. some dark places in here,
places that i'd rather not go. s

Sunday, January 07, 2007


















back to some poetry news. this came via e-mail from
dr. bennett today. jim does an amazing job with this site
and i am privileged to be a member of the pk group.




this just is too great:




For those who follow these things. Poetry Kit has had an unbelievable year.
2 years ago I reported that the Poetry Kit Website had broken into
the top million sites in the world and was regularly in the top 8-900,000
in the world listing. This is out of all websites which is over 12 billion
though Google only record 6 billion of those.

In 2006 Poetry Kit had just over 5 million visitors,
that is visitors not just hits.
(hits give the wrong idea about a sites popularity).

we are regularly in the top 100.000 sites worldwide,
including all the big names and the gaming and sex sites which
trick people into visiting. On Friday we hit site ranking 34,361,
today we are at 72,294, which gives an overall ranking over the
past six months of 87,812 (which includes a month in the summer
when our stats were not recorded due to a server crash on my end
while I was away.

Most importantly of all we are now the highest ranked poetry site
topping out over poetry.com for the first time which has been an
ambition for me for quite a while. Remember they advertise in
national newspapers around the world
Poetry Kit does not use paid advertising.

Jim________________________________________________________ www.poetrykit.org ________________________________________________________
i'm feeling lots better!

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Friday, January 05, 2007

FRIDAY, TAH DAH...





Q: What do you get if you cross a grizzly bear and a harp?


A: A bear faced lyre!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

POWER HUNGRY????



nah, that isn't me, but i like the rest! ha!



; )
You Were Born Under:
You have both a fiery energy and a warm heart.Your charisma and charm makes it easy for you to influence others.Lucky in life, you also have a reputation of being lucky in love.Power hungry, you are determined to get what you want - no matter what it takes.
You are most compatible with a Monkey or Rat.
What Year Were You Born Under?

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

anyone that's been reading me for awhile
knows my friend, charlie tee.
he has a wonderful post on his blog that i think
is a must read. thanks charlie.




you are just great.





http://diffrentstrokes.blogspot.com/


just wanted to!
















SOME OF US LOST OUR HEAD AT THE
NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY!


not me tho. i had a half gallon of coffee
and 2 diet cokes. ; )

Tuesday, January 02, 2007






















"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us."


--Joseph Campbell
new year's eve was nice. i took pictures
with the new camera, but i haven't figured out how to get them
from where they are at on my computer to here.
rainy day.
















full wolf moon

howls outside my window
i open the curtains
quiet now, she sleeps
curled at the foot of my bed.