Saturday Fun!

In a little while, I will be relaxing in bed with a word search and a cup of cinnamon tea. Check it out. Well, check one of them out. They have I don't know how many, but more than one literary word search that can be printed. A literary word search, candlelight, cinnamon tea and the sound of (albeit virtual) crickets and rain...perfection. (You will have to click the post title in order to be transferred. My editing choices seem to have vanished.)

In the sidebar, you will notice a Kurt Vonnegut quote about kindness. I love this quote. It is straight to the point with no foofy fluff. If you click on the picture you will be taken to a brand new site called "kind over matter". Again, I'm sorry that I can't add the link to this post. Amanda Oaks and Jenn Gibson are the sweet souls behind that blog. I encourage you to go there and take advantage of their free downloads! They offer free downloads of business size cards that encourage people to think about kindness. I think that is TOO FANTASTIC! I've been living the life of a hermit this week, but will be strategically placing these cards all over Chicago tomorrow!

Also in the sidebar is a button stating that "musings" is an award-free blog. I thank everyone who has given me awards! Make no mistake...it's wonderful to be acknowledged! :) But I am uncomfortable picking and choosing recipients to pass the awards on to. It's just a weird personality thing. Therefore, I think it best to become "award-free". Again, if you will click on that button, you will be transported to Miss Penniwig's blog. She is the gracious lady who freely provided this graphic. In fact, she offers free graphics on a daily basis!

Well, I hear that literary word search calling my name...

My Sunday Offering

Wall Mural at Shrine of Our Lady of the Mountain, Anjara, Ajlun, Jordan







His Love
Despite repeated attempts
to annihilate His love,
He still reaches out.

Saturday Fun! Jung Typology Test

My type is INFP.
My strength of preferences:
Introverted 78%
Intuitive 25%
Feeling 62%
Perceiving 44%

Qualitative analysis of my type formula:
very expressed introvert
moderately expressed intuitive personality
distinctively expressed feeling personality
moderately expressed perceiving personality


Publicity Still - Universal-United Artists
Always
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter
Role: Hap

Other Healer Idealists:
Princess Diana, Richard Gere, Audrey Hephurn, Albert Schweiter, George Orwell, Karen Armstrong, Aldous Huxley, Mia Farrow", and Isabel Meyers

What type are you?

Wildflowers, Poetry and Pearls

in memory of our sweet Mimi, our own precious pearl with the beautiful spirit of a wildflower


Stumbling through blogs this evening, I found a real gem of a poem by Ruth Forman, posted by Black-Eyed Susan’s. The poem is called Poetry Should Ride the Bus .

I then went out to gather wild flowers, so to speak, and came back with this bouquet:

Black-Eyed Susan by John Gay

ALL in the Downs the fleet was moor’d,
The streamers waving in the wind,
When black-eyed Susan came aboard;
‘O! where shall I my true-love find?
Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true
If my sweet William sails among the crew.’

William, who high upon the yard
Rock’d with the billow to and fro,
Soon as her well-known voice he heard
He sigh’d, and cast his eyes below:
The cord slides swiftly through his glowing hands,
And quick as lightning on the deck he stands.

So the sweet lark, high poised in air,
Shuts close his pinions to his breast
If chance his mate’s shrill call he hear,
And drops at once into her nest:—
The noblest captain in the British fleet
Might envy William’s lip those kisses sweet.

‘O Susan, Susan, lovely dear,
My vows shall ever true remain;
Let me kiss off that falling tear;
We only part to meet again.
Change as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall be
The faithful compass that still points to thee.

‘Believe not what the landmen say
Who tempt with doubts thy constant mind:
They’ll tell thee, sailors, when away,
In every port a mistress find:
Yes, yes, believe them when they tell thee so,
For Thou art present wheresoe’er I go.

‘If to fair India’s coast we sail,
Thy eyes are seen in diamonds bright,
Thy breath is Afric’s spicy gale,
Thy skin is ivory so white.
Thus every beauteous object that I view
Wakes in my soul some charm of lovely Sue.

‘Though battle call me from thy arms
Let not my pretty Susan mourn;
Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms
William shall to his Dear return.
Love turns aside the balls that round me fly,
Lest precious tears should drop from Susan’s eye:

The boatswain gave the dreadful word,
The sails their swelling bosom spread,
No longer must she stay aboard;
They kiss’d, she sigh’d, he hung his head.
Her lessening boat unwilling rows to land;
‘Adieu!’ she cries; and waved her lily hand.



Black Eyed Susans by George Wallace

I see the bright face of this our still young and hopeful nation
more in a parking lot weed than in the display
of its proud public gardens, untamed as the original
North American wild, outwitting us to the last
& filled with the breath, a continent wide,
of unplanned vitality.

In the lowest dandelion, in the fairy clover,
in the dusty sway of goldenrod where two highways merge,
the ragged memory of prairie grasslands calls out to me
& praises still sung to the sun-rippled expanse
of northern forest.

I leave to Europe the curve and grace
of horticultural refinement, manicured intention,
& tired topiary imagination & rather, stoop to worship her,
even at this crumbling bit of earth,
your voice, America - stubborn, plain, strangely

triumphant. So long as a single unplanned flower
raises up its head to greet the expectant sun,
I too shall greet, in celebration, the promise
of your ragged, wonderful world, which is the reason
why we came here in the first place

& yes, pretty as a patch of Black Eyed Susans.






Black-eyed Susans (music video by Lori Willcuts)







Thank you, Bing, for the Let's Be Friends Award! Stop in at Living, Loving...and Coping and learn a bit about the beautiful and kind PinkLady. :)


And another big thank you to Linda at Psyche Connections for the Your Blog is Fabulous Award! Shucks. Please stop by Linda's and introduce yourself! (You'll be glad you did.) :)

I hope that you all have a beautiful weekend. I will be reading some short stories from my 100 Shots of Short list.


the sweetest black eyes of all~

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Today is Elizabeth's 17th birthday! Elizabeth is a talented and passionate writer. I hope that she will someday give me permission to post one of her stories here at musings. For someone who began life painfully shy, she is now a gregarious and spunky young woman! (Did I mention that she, too, is intelligent and beautiful?) Happy birthday, PB!

Shh! She still believes!

Happy Birthday, Hannah~

Today is our Hannah's 18th birthday! She illuminates, she blossoms, she inspires! (And did I mention that she is intelligent and beautiful, too?)
Happy birthday, sweet Hannah!
(sorry, sweetie, but I just love this pic!)(and the next one!)

I am the only thing that is stopping me.

Irene Latham guided me to Perseverance Quotient. Your final score allows you insight into whether or not you have a good chance of persevering in the effort to achieve your dreams.

My Total Score: 87

85-94: Excellent, just don’t get too comfortable.


Therein lies the rub. I am waaaay too comfortable. So comfortable that I gave myself a whopping score of 3 out of 10 on number 6. The question was: Ability to focus. (Do you finish projects you start?) Ha! I do not stay on task. Which is humorous in that much of my employment history includes helping autistic children and adults stay on task. Go figure.

At this point it would be easy to say, “Hey, I have an ADD diagnosis. Really. I flit from one thought/thing to another, willy nilly. I can’t help it. It’s how God made me.” The thing is, I can help it. I am able to focus. Without medication even. It simply requires effort, tricks and technique. I know this because I have proven it on more than one occasion. More often than not, though, I glide through my days wearing my rose-colored glasses and imagining all the things that I will do. You see, I have always had great plans for myself. I just never got around to the doing. Basic survival, yes. I understood that. I got up everyday, went to work, came home and raised my five children alone. I am not lazy and I do what must be done. (I’ve read that goes back to my presumably inherited hunter/gatherer DNA.) It’s the things that I dream of doing that I have almost always failed to achieve.

But already this year I am making improvements in some areas. For example, I am staying on top of my blogs. However, I am not submitting my stories and poetry for publication. Slowly, I am going to incorporate that into my days. Using a planner that is solely for my writing schedule has kept me on target with my blogs. Now I will add “send out submissions” to that planner. Even only two a week will be something! Baby steps, folks, baby steps.

(Fear not. I have written about the trials of ADD before, but I have no intention of it becoming a recurring theme. My wiring is a bit different from the norm, that’s all. We all have our challenges and this is mine. But it is by no means an excuse.)Look...snow! (get it?)





image found here



There's a certain slant of light
by Emily Dickinson

There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons —
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes —

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us —
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are —

None may teach it — Any —
’Tis the Seal Despair —
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air —

When it comes, the Landscape listens —
Shadows — hold their breath —
When it goes, ’tis like the Distance
On the look of Death —

My Sunday Offering (a cinqku)

image found here


His gift
outshining
any other,
tenderly folded in
crimson.

Saturday Fun! (Valentine Theme)

Love Word Search

Valentine Hangman

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts

Celebrate Love: A Few Favorite Love Quotes

Here are some thoughts on love that I appreciate:

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
~George Sand

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outwards together in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

… and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.
~Thornton Wilder

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
~Emily Brontë

Happy Valentine's Day!


Remember to stop by The OTHER Mother for more Freedom to Marry blog carnival posts!

Something Blue

My blue and gold elephant is a reminder of female strength and love. Elephants are majestic. They are powerful, capable of removing great obstacles. They are devoted to family and friends. They protect those they love. As far as I am concerned, these are the characteristics of real women. Real women (as opposed to plastic, foofy goofs) are resolute, yet forgiving, an intimidating presence, but not pretentious. Real women take no prisoners if unjustly provoked. What they long for, though, is peace.

Please visit The OTHER Mother for more links to blogs celebrating Freedom to Marry Week.

Something Borrowed

I remember seeing a television movie version of The Borrowers when I was young. I saw the latest film version with my own children. But enamored as I've always been by the story, I have yet to read it. I need to change that. :)

(Please visit The OTHER Mother for more Freedom to Marry blog carnival posts!)

Something New

I have recently joined a postcard exchange. While at the Art Institute of Chicago on Sunday, I gathered numerous art cards to send out. Kyle found this beautiful book of Mary Cassatt cards for me.(image found at amazon.com) I had been admiring Woman Reading in a Garden in the Art Institute's collection a few minutes earlier.(image found at ARC)



Don't forget to visit The Other Mother for links to other blogs participating in the Freedom to Marry Week blog carnival!

Something Old

For today’s post of Something Old, I have chosen an ancient love poem. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Flower Song (Excerpt)

To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me:
I draw life from hearing it.
Could I see you with every glance,
It would be better for me
Than to eat or to drink.

(Translated by M.V. Fox)
found at National Geographic

Starlit Dreams (a dodoitsu)

Memories stoked by twilight
have power to warm a chilled heart.
Dreams long buried, forgotten,
still breathe 'neath the stars.

Freedom to Marry Week

Robin Reagler at The Other Mother sent me an e-mail inviting me to participate in a Freedom to Marry Week blog carnival. Yes!

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I really do not have enough background regarding gay rights/gay marriage to say anything other than, "Damn right." But isn't that what it all comes down to anyway? Damn right.

The theme of Robin's blog carnival is centered around the old fashioned rhyme, "Something Borrowed, Something Blue". Here is the lineup:

Tuesday: Something Old
Wednesday: Something New
Thursday: Something Borrowed
Friday: Something Blue
Saturday: Valentines Day/Celebrate Love

I think that this is going to be a lot of fun and I look forward to checking in at The Other Mother for links to posts by other bloggers. I hope that you head over that way as well.



Song of the Open Road
by Walt Whitman

Listen, I will be honest with you
I do not offer the old smooth prizes
But offer rough new prizes
These are the days that must happen to you:
You shall not heap up what is called riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve.
However sweet the laid up stores,
However convenient the dwelling, you shall not remain there.
However sheltered the port, however calm the waters, you shall not anchor there.
However welcome the hospitality that welcomes you,
You are permitted to receive it but a little while Afoot and lighthearted, take to the open road
Healthy, free, the world before you the long brown path before you, leading wherever you choose.
Say only to one another:
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money; I give you myself before preaching and law:
Will you give me yourself?
Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

Stories as Nourishment

If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.
~Barry Lopez, Crow and Weasel



A big thank you to Khaled Kem for sharing the Your Blog is Fabulous award with me. Your blog is most fabulous, Khaled.

While I get a bit self-conscious about peer awards, I truly am grateful and honored. It is such a joy to be read and appreciated. I appreciate all of you. I know that all of us who write are thankful for our readers.

I hope that those of you who have been so generous as to give me an award will understand my discomfort (darn it, I can't think of a better word, but I know that there has to be one!) with displaying and bestowing. It's that dreaded introversion rearing its ugly head, I suppose.

Phew! I've been putting that off for a couple of months now. I just don't want to anger anyone or hurt their feelings. And most of all, I do not want to give the impression that I am ungrateful.

Before I walk offstage, let me say once more how very much I appreciate each and every one of you. You inspire, encourage and enlighten me. (swift curtsy and shy smile)




We live just a couple of blocks away from the Oliver Typewriter building in downtown Chicago. I will eventually put some photographs of the building on Musings. You know me, if it is old I love it!

My Sunday Offering (a cinquain)

Temple
of all temples,
a beauty unsurpassed
by the architecture of man;
her heart.

More Saturday Fun!

You Are a Playwright

You are a highly literate wordsmith. You love both reading and writing. You are also a natural storyteller. You can turn a mediocre anecdote into a riveting tale. You find people and all aspects of life fascinating. No topic is off limits for you. In modern times, you would make a good filmmaker or novelist.

What's Your Medieval Profession?

Aren't the Internet Quiz Gods amazing? How about you? Do they have you pegged, too?

Saturday Fun!

Nordette Adams tagged me at Facebook! Can you come out and play? It's fun, especially if you love words. Simply copy, delete my answers and insert your own. The answers, by the way, must begin with the first letter of your first name. If your name also begins with S, you must choose answers other than mine. If you like, leave me your answers in a comment. I don't have to be back home until the streetlights come on. :)

1. What is your name: Susan
2. A four Letter Word: spud
3. A boy's Name: Sylvester
4. A girl's Name: Suki (okay...so it's a diminutive. but it's so cute!)
5. An occupation: sex therapist
6. A color: salmon
7. Something you wear: stud earrings
8. A food: squash
9. Something found in the bathroom: sunscreen
10. A place: Salem
11. A reason for being late: spilled soup
12. Something you shout: Stupid moron idiot!
13. A movie title: Same Time Next Year
14. Something you drink: strawberry soda
15. A musical group: Steppenwolf
16. An animal: sloth
17. A street name: Sterling
18. A type of car: stretch limo
19. A song title: Starry, Starry Night
20. A verb: slouch

An Ideal Evening

I love the sound of a typewriter. Hearing it mixed with song and conversation is inspiring.

Hundreds of Ways

In reverence,
I breathe in the air
brushed by a redbird’s wings.

I sing by the lake
where no one can hear but the reeds

and they don’t seem to mind.

My prayers ascend on the shoulders of angels
as my feet stand firmly on earth

and I am reminded
that “there are hundreds of ways to kneel
and kiss the ground”.

~Susan Sonnen


quote by Rumi

Masked (a prose poem)

She silences her morning alarm and draws the blanket over her shoulder. She shivers not so much from the cold without, but from the storm within. Demons, lies, pretenses. Trepidation flanks her yet she gathers strength enough to stand, select an appropriate mask and move forward. Continuously monitoring the quiver at the back of her throat, she greets her peers and plays the part that is expected of her - flawlessly, if you will.

~Susan Sonnen

Midget Words

Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap.
~George Bernard Shaw

It would seem then that an abbreviated word in conversation would be like a gift sent with inadequate postage paid.

This occurred to me as I was writing ‘congrats’ to someone. Immediately I thought of how much I dislike that abbreviation, yet I use it anyway. I feel like a cheapskate now...deliberately cheating my friends! Well, maybe I don’t feel that ashamed, but I do dislike the abbreviation of congratulations. When spoken, ‘congrats’ sounds as though 'congratulations' has been unexpectedly attacked by an axe murderer.

What midget words do you hate?

Blame it on the post office! Postmarked: January 29, 2009

21 years ago today, I was blessed with a pudgy bundle of joy...

he's a bit taller and leaner now...



Today is John's 21st birthday! He is my delightful, intelligent, handsome, hilarious and courageous son. (No, I am not biased. Yes, I am quite proud.) Quack, quack, hit me back, John Boy!


Happy birthday, John Mark!