Sunday, September 30, 2007

it was an amazing fight last night!
i really didn't have a favorite to root for. i like them both. the kid from youngstown fights in the style i like but the other guy is really fast.
the kid from youngstown won. that's not all that far from here and a lot of people that i know went to college there.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

home again. wrapped up in my big fluffy blue robe with the stars and a big bright yellow crescent moon on the left breast. my woobie blanket is waiting on the couch and i'm minutes away from watching the boxing match while a load of clothes are splish splashing away in the washer downstairs.

see you all in the morning. ; )
pretty fall day. me, i'm looking thru my books for a book i know that i have on putting a book together and all that jazz! it's here somewhere! if the dust bunnies didn't shred it for their nests. ACK!
there's a boxing match on hbo that i'm looking forward to.
haven't seen a really good match in awhile. i had been planning on watching but i had forgotten about it.
gl's dad called and reminded me. thanks, richie!
ran into pudd'n boy and gl last night. i told him i posted his joke. he laughed.

Friday, September 28, 2007

this is a joke from pudd'n boy:








A man goes to an oral surgeon to have a tooth pulled.

The dentist pulls out a freezing needle to give the man a shot.

"No way! No needles! I hate needles!" the patient said.

The dentist starts to hook up the laughing gas and the man again objects.

"I can't do the gas thing - the thought of having the gas mask on is suffocating to me!"

The dentist then asks if the man has any objection to taking a pill.

"No objection," the patient says, "I am fine with pills."

The dentist then returns and says, "Here's a Viagra tablet."

The patient says, "Wow - I didn't know Viagra worked as a pain killer!"

"It doesn't," said the dentist, "but it will give you something to hang onto when I pull out your tooth."










this just gets me going...
just snapped this picture of bob with 2 little halloween rubber duckies that belong to my little sweetie. after i saw it, i was reminded of a little bronze my gramma had of romulus and remus. i don't know what happened to that little statue. it and the legend fascinated me as a child.













joke day (no, not my cat)







Your cat's so fat it hopped on the scale, and it said,


To be continued...!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

matthew shepard act
Senate Passage of Hate Crimes Bill Moves Bill Closer Than Ever To Becoming Law

9/27/2007

WASHINGTON– In an historic step toward equality for GLBT Americans, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which updates and expands the federal hate crimes laws to include bias motivated violence based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability, and provides new resources and tools to assist local law enforcement in prosecuting vicious crimes.

"For over a decade our community has worked tirelessly to ensure protections to combat violence motivated by hate and today we are the closest we have ever been to seeing that become a reality," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Congress has taken an historic step forward and moved our country closer to the realization that all Americans, including the GLBT community, are part of the fabric of our nation. The new leadership in Congress fully understands that for too long our community has been terrorized by hate violence. And today, the US Senate has sent a clear message to every corner of our country that we will no longer turn a blind eye to anti-gay violence in America."

The Senate in a bipartisan vote of 60 to 39 accepted cloture which ended debate on the bill and then moved to approve the Matthew Shepard Act by a voice vote -- attaching it as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill.

On May 3rd, the House of Representatives passed a companion bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592), with a strong bipartisan margin of 237 to 180. Twenty-six state Attorneys General, including 23 from states with anti-hate crimes laws already on the books, as well as 230 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations support the Matthew Shepard Act and the LLEHCPA because, despite progress toward equality in almost all segments of our society, hate crimes continue to spread fear and violence and local law enforcement often lack the tools and resources to prevent and prosecute them. Some of these supporting organizations include the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 26 state attorneys general, the National District Attorneys Association, the NAACP, the Episcopal Church, the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the YWCA of the USA and the United Methodist Church.

The President has threatened to veto the legislation, calling it "unnecessary." According to the FBI, 25 Americans each day are victims of hate crimes–that means approximately one hate crime is committed every hour. One in six hate crimes are motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. It’s time to update the law to protect everyone, and this year marks our best chance yet to get it done.

"Hate crimes terrorize entire communities and violate America’s core democratic principles that all citizens are created equal and are afforded equal protection under the law," continued Solmonese. "On behalf of the millions of Americans who have waited too long for these critical protections, we urge President Bush to sign the bill when it arrives on his desk."

The hate crimes amendment was introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). It confers authority on the federal government to investigate and prosecute crimes committed against victims solely because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability when local officials are unwilling or unable to do so. It also expands existing federal hate crimes law to improve prosecution of bias-motivated crimes based on race, religious, national origin and color and provides additional resources to local law enforcement.



The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.



i have been working for this for a long time. e-mailing, writing, pestering friends and family. i've done it,because i am a mother but more than that, i am a human being. i am not gay and i don't think of these things as gay issues. i think of them as simply the right and human things to work towards.

won't you help?



cross posted at the pittsburgh women's blogging society
Automatic weapons fire from troops sends thousands of anti-government demonstrators running through the streets of Yangon, Myanmar. Several people are dead, a Japanese official says. Authorities also raid monasteries in an effort to end the protests, which are being led by monks. from aol news.


send strong and healing thoughts and prayers.

also, note what happens in governments that lose sight of or do not have, a "we the people" ideal.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007





Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) Reclining Nude (1910)




nighty-night
today is layla's birthday! she's spending it lounging by the window here and occasionally looking at the chipmunk that lives outside below it.








i SWEAR if i EVER hit the lottery i will build a small house in the middle of about 25 acres of woods and have me some dogs and cats and a few brown chickens and maybe a little goat. i'll have the best damn computer money can buy and i will become the odd little hermit in the woods!
nice morning. we're taking mom for her check up.
nothing much else today.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007














the night sounds begin



dusk is inches from my bare shoulder
i can smell the dirt
outside my open window
rich and warm.

we wait for the full moon
my shadow and me.
our naked feet ache to dance.




HAPPY MOON FESTIVAL
found this via shakesville:










From the Democratic Caucus:

EMANUEL STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BUSH’S PRIORITIES

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement after reports indicated that President Bush will ask for $200 billion for the war in Iraq and threatened to veto a bipartisan plan to provide health care to 10 million children:

“This week, the President asked for $200 billion more for the war in Iraq. In the same week, the White House said the bipartisan plan to give 10 million children health care included ‘excessive spending’ and threatened to veto the plan. For this President who helped rack up three trillion dollars in new debt, it is not about the spending, it is about priorities and the President has made his clear.”



and we let him tell us heathcare, even for our CHILDREN is socialism!
walked around the place for an hour or more. kicking ideas around for my book.
slow, but steady i guess it's a start.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

hey, i moved the folder with the poems for my book from the back of the one file drawer to the front. woohooo!

wish me luck! ; )
8 deer in the yard. they are snuffling the ground looking for the acorns that are just starting to fall.

Saturday, September 22, 2007


getting dark. i'm sitting here and trying to convince myself that tomorrow, tomorrow
(yeah i know sappy song)i WILL dig into my files and start putting together the poems that i have been gauging good enough for a book.
yes, my often thought about and more often put off thinking about book.



ack! i just hate myself when i get to thinking about it and yet i want to, no i NEED to so terribly bad.


hate and fear and doubt and sweat and tears and headaches and chest pains and still
i have this need to!

fucking loon that i am.
no matter if i start the process or not tomorrow, i can't win and i can't lose but i can nit pick myself to death.
just got in. well, i'm a sunburned little critter but i
spent a very nice day with friends and such.

tho...

ouch! : (
i have to laugh at the truth of this.

i called my mom today to check in, see how she is.
she was bemoaning that she has gotten old "all of a sudden"
because her hands shake sometimes. she will be 89 in a few months.

i told her to, "cheer up, i'm old too."

to which she said, "yes, but you were born old."


she's right. i've always been an old soul.

funny stuff!
went out last night. still only have those few words on that paper scrap.
just can't seem to channel the energies in a pleasing direction. my thoughts are just scattered.



to my friends:

mabon

blessings on the

autumnal equinox

Friday, September 21, 2007





now THESE are HEELS!

lilac suede and gorgeous but i've never worn them outside of the house.
still can't manage to walk gracefully in them. : (

four inch heels!

yes, going out later but these aren't spikes, just a pair of my "tall" shoes so
the bottom of my jeans don't trip me!
always makes me wanna DANCE!


























What Shall A Singer Ask Of Apollo

What shall a singer ask
of Apollo? What shall
he request, pouring wine
from the offering bowl?

Not the fertile cornfields
of rich Sardinia;
not the fine herds of hot
Calabria; not gold
or ivory from far
India; not the land
that's washed away by the
gentle waters of the
quiet-flowing Liris.

Let those whom Fate assigns
prune the vines with scythes from
Calenia, so that
some rich merchant may drink
deeply from golden cups
the wine for which he trades
Syrian merchandise
(he is dear to the gods,
for three or four times each
year he ventures out on
the Atlantic, unscathed) —
my feast shall be olives,
chicory, and mallows.

Grant me health, I pray, and
to enjoy what I have:
to pass my old age with
a sound mind, with honor,
and with my cithara.




horace






Apollo is the god of music (principally the lyre, and he directed the choir of the Muses) and also of prophecy, colonization, medicine, archery (but not for war or hunting), poetry, dance, intellectual inquiry and the carer of herds and flocks. He is also a god of light, known as "Phoebus" (radiant or beaming, and he was sometimes identified with Helios the sun god).


The son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. He was also the god of plague and was worshiped as Smintheus (from sminthos, rat) and as Parnopius (from parnops, grasshopper) and was known as the destroyer of rats and locust, and according to Homer's Iliad, Apollo shot arrows of plague into the Greek camp. Apollo being the god of religious healing would give those guilty of murder and other immoral deeds a ritual purification. Sacred to Apollo are the swan (one legend says that Apollo flew on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans, he would spend the winter months among them), the wolf and the dolphin. His attributes are the bow and arrows, on his head a laurel crown, and the cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. But his most famous attribute is the tripod, the symbol of his prophetic powers.
When the goddesss Hera, the wife of Zeus (it was he who had coupled with Leto) found out about Leto's pregnancy, she was outraged with jealousy. Seeking revenge Hera forced Leto to roam the earth in search of a place to give birth. Sicne Hera had forbidden Leto to stay anywhere on earth, either on terra-ferma or an island at sea, the only place to seek shelter was Delos, being in the center of the Aegean, and also difficult to reach, as there were strong under-currents, because it was said to be a floating island. Because it was a floating island, it was not considered either of Hera's prohibitions, and so Leto was able to give birth to the divine twins Apollo and Artemis (before Leto gave birth to Apollo, the island was encircled by a flock of swans, this is why the swan was sacred to him). As a gesture of thanks Delos was secured to the sea-bed by four columns to give it stability, and from then on it became one of the most important sanctuaries to Apollo. (A variation of Apollo's birth was that the jealous Hera had incarcerated Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, but the other gods intervened forcing Hera to release Ilithyia, which allowed Leto to give birth ).

Apollo's first achievement was to rid Pytho (Delphi) of the serpent (or dragon) Python. This monstrous beast protected the sanctuary of Pytho from its lair beside the Castalian Spring. There it stood guard while the "Sibyl" gave out her prophecies as she inhaled the trance inducing vapors from an open chasm. Apollo killed Python with his bow and arrows (Homer wrote "he killed the fearsome dragon Python, piercing it with his darts"). Apollo not only took charge of the oracle but rid the neighboring countryside of widespread destruction, as Python had destroyed crops, sacked villages and polluted streams and springs. However, to make amends for killing Python, as the fearsome beast was the son of Gaia, Apollo had to serve king Admetus for nine years (in some versions eight) as a cowherd. This he did, and when he returned to Pytho he came in the guise of a dolphin bringing with him priests from Crete (Apollo's cult title "Delphinios" meaning dolphin or porpoise, is probably how Delphi was so named). After killing Python and taking possession of the oracle, the god of light (Phobus) became known as "Pythian Apollo". He dedicated a bronze tripod to the sanctuary and bestowed divine powers on one of the priestesses, and she became known as the "Pythia". It was she who inhaled the hallucinating vapors from the fissure in the temple floor, while she sat on a tripod chewing laurel leaves. After she mumbled her answer, a male priest would translate it for the supplicant. Delphi became the most important oracle center of Apollo, there were several including Clarus and Branchidae.

Apollo, as with Zeus his father, had many love affairs with goddesses and mortals. Apollo's infatuation for the nymph Daphne, which had been invoked by the young god of love Eros, because Apollo had mocked him, saying his archery skills were pathetic, and Apollo's singing had also irritated him. Daphne was the beautiful daughter of the river god Ladon, and she was constantly pursued by Apollo. To escape from Apollo's insistent behavior, she fled to the mountains, but the persistent Apollo followed her. Annoyed by this, she asked the river god Peneus for help, which he did. As soon as Apollo approached Daphne, he tried to embrace her, but when he stretched out his arms she transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo, distraught by what had happened, made the laurel his sacred tree. Apollo also loved Cyrene, she was another nymph, and she bore Apollo a son: Aristaeus, a demi-god, who became a protector of cattle and fruit trees, and a deity of hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping. He taught men dairy skills and the use of nets and traps in hunting.

The most famous mortal loves of Apollo was Hecuba, she was the wife of Priam, the king of Troy. She bore him Troilius. Foretold by an oracle, as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty, Troy could not be defeated. But the hero Achilles ambushed and killed him, when the young prince and his sister Polyxena secretly visited a spring. Apollo also fell in love with Cassandra, the sister of Troilius, and daughter of Hecuba and Priam. He seduced Cassandra on the promise that he would teach her the art of prophecy, but having learnt the prophetic art she rejected him. Apollo, being angry of her rejection punished her, by declaring her prophecies never to be accepted or believed.

Asclepius, the god of healing, was also Apollo's offspring, after his union with Coronis, who was daughter of Phlegyas, king of the Lapiths. While she was pregnant by Apollo, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus, but a crow informed Apollo of the affair. Apollo sent his twin sister Artemis to kill Coronis, and Artemis carried out he brothers wishes. While her body was burning on the funeral pyre, Apollo removed the unborn child, and took him to Chiron, who raised the child Asclepius.

Apollo also, as did his father Zeus, fall in love with one of his own gender, Hyacinthus, a Spartan prince. He was very handsome and athletic, which inflamed the passions of Apollo. One day while Apollo and Hyacinthus were practicing throwing the discus, Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, who was also attracted to the young prince, and jealous of Apollo's amorous affection towards the boy, made the discus veer off course by blowing an ill wind. The discus, which Apollo had thrown, hit Hyacinthus, smashing his skull. Apollo rushed to him, but he was dead. The god was overcome with grief, but to immortalize the love he had for the beautiful youth, he had a flower grow were his blood had stained the earth. Apollo also loved the young boy Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. The impassioned Apollo gave Cyparissus a sacred deer, as a love token. The young deer became tame, and was the constant companion of the boy, until a tragic accident occurred. As the young deer lay sleeping in the shade of the undergrowth, Cyparissus threw his javelin, which by chance hit, and killed the deer. Grief-stricken by what had happened, Cyparissus wanted to die. He asked Apollo to let his tears fall for all eternity. With apprehension Apollo transformed the boy into a tree, the cypress, which became the symbol of sorrow, as the sap on its trunk forms droplets, like tears.

Apollo could also be ruthless when he was angered. The mortal Niobe, boasted to Apollo's mother Leto, that she had fourteen children (in some versions six or seven), which must make her more superior than Leto, who had only bore two. Apollo greatly angered by this slew her sons, and Artemis killed Niobe's daughters. Niobe wept so much that she turned into a pillar of stone. Apollo was infuriated when the satyr Marsyas challenged Apollo to music contest. After winning the competition, Apollo had Marsyas flayed alive, for being so presumptuous, as to challenge a god.

Apollo was worshiped throughout the Greek world, at Delphi every four years they held the Pythian Games in his honor. He had many epithets, including "Pythian Apollo" (his name at Delphi), "Apollo Apotropaeus" (Apollo who averts evil), and "Apollo Nymphegetes" (Apollo who looks after the Nymphs). As the god of shepherds he also had the cult titles "Lukeios" (from lykos; wolf), protecting the flocks from wolfs, and "Nomius" (of pastures, belonging to shepherds). Being the god of colonists, Apollo influenced his priests at Delphi to give divine guidance, as to where the expedition should proceed. This was during the height of the colonizing era circa 750-550 BCE. Apollo's title was "Archigetes" (leader of colonists). According to one legend, it was Apollo who helped either Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy.

In art Apollo is at most times depicted as a handsome young man, clean shaven and carrying either a lyre, or his bow and arrows. There are many sculptures of Apollo and one of the most famous is the central figure from the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus, at Olympia, showing Apollo declaring victory in favor of the Lapiths in their struggle against the Centaurs.
today's joke comes to you from bob the cat:







Q: What is cleverer than a talking cat?


A: A spelling bee!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

>
>
>
>
>
> Growing old is a gift
>
>
>
> Growing old -- This made my day!
>
> The other day a young person asked me how
>I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as
>old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I
>explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and
>let her know.
>
> Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
>
>
>
> I am now, probably for the first time in
>my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I
>sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the
>sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in
>my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those
>things for long.
>
>
>
> I would never trade my amazing friends, my
>wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As
>I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself.
>I've become my own friend.
>
> I don't chide myself for eating that extra
>cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko
>that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled
>to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
>
> I have seen too many dear friends leave
>this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes
>with aging.
>
>
>
>
>
> Whose business is it if I choose to read
>or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? (This one I
>definitely can relate to on some days & eves!!)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I will dance with myself to those
>wonderful tunes of the 40 &50's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep
>over a lost love ... I will. (Dance~Dance!)
>
> I will walk the beach in a swim suit that
>is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with
>abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
>(What do they know, anyway?!?!)
>
>
>
> They, too, will get old.
>
> I know I am sometimes forgetful. (For
>sure!!!!) But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I
>eventually remember the important things.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sure, over the years my heart has been
>broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a
>child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But
>broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion.
>A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of
>being imperfect.
>
> I am so blessed to have lived long enough
>to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever
>etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so
>many have died before their hair could turn silver.
>
>
> (I always loved swinging on a swing!!)
>
>
>
>
> As you get older, it is easier to be
>positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question
>myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
>
>
>
> So, t o answer your question, I like
>being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not
>going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time
>lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I
>shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>i got this just now from my friend doug (hi doug )

i love it, so like i do with most things that i love, i share.
>
>



now try and restrain yourselves. it'll be tough i know. way, WAY too sexy!

yes, YES! here they are...


my new glasses.
the pictures i recently posted of my mother's house made me remember this poem of mine:




Buckeyes


our yard had two buckeye trees
catty corner they mirrored each the other
branch and trunk.


I grew up in their overlapping shadows
playing halfway between the two

cracking the spikey green balls
with my sneakered feet
prying loose the shining buckeyes with
grubby hands to feel the smooth oiled seed.


Years have passed
disease took one, lightning the other.


it came to me as I stood
in a yard with no more shadows
that the rich browns of the opened buckeyes
looked very much like the wood of a coffin.
yeah! got my new glasses. i like them and i'd better for what they cost.
but, i can see better sitting here with you all, whoever, wherever you might be.
don't expect less typos tho. that's a whole different thing. ; )








http://www.theitsaliveshow.com/Zombiefest2007.htm
great looking morning.
wrote a few words on a piece of scrap paper.
it's a start.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

i saw the news piece on cmu prof.pausch.
there's a great post on him over at the pittsburgh women's blogging society.
anyway, i was in awe of his courage and his attitude.
then i had to go out and i spent a good deal of my time listening to petty complaints and bickering that has been blown all out of proportion to events
and i thought of this man and his wife with her grace and compassion.
now, all i want to do is to be able to sleep for awhile!

my god, some people don't seem to realize what they have. i know that there have been times when i have been guilty of the same thing so i can't point any fingers but ...

well, went to the dentist. had my teeth cleaned and checked. everything's fine, but i need full x-rays next time, so they say! get my new glasses tomorrow. at this rate i'll be putting on my favorite dancing boots but having to borrow my mom's freaking cane! getting older is not for wimps! ; )
i was reading over at blue gal's and was reminded that it's "talk like a pirate"day
and since my baseball team be the PITTSBURGH pirates, i just gotta say

"arrrrr matey!"

i'm sending readers over to say hi to the pirate queen her own self.
if ye be having a bold heart and a grand sense o humor!













http://lesbianpiratequeen.wordpress.com/

lovely day. we took my mom to get her blood tested. she was scheduled. then took her back to her new apartment. i have a dental cleaning this afternoon. whoopee!!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

just got in. went to a local car cruise. i go to this place a lot to eat. so i know some of the people. i got to play with a sweet boxer and i talked to a guy there that has a wonderful dog that i just adore. she wasn't there tonight, home with his wife and kids but her name is shelby and she is a dog like hooch from the movie "turner and hooch" a dogue de Bordeaux( not sure of the spelling)shelby is a doll baby. huge and lovable and i wish she were mine.

nighty nite!
You Are Me

You are me and I am you.
It is obvious that we are inter-are.
You cultivate the flower in
yourself so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself so
that you do not have to suffer.
I support you you support me.
I am here to bring you peace
you are here to bring me joy.


Thich Naht Hahn





bob, looking at me as i type and bob, "helping" me make the bed!!!!

hint:

look for the large bump!
beautiful tuesday. tho fall is here.
i can tell because my chipmunks are sitting straight up
and chooking away like crazy.that's fall, even before this weekend, even before the first leaves change.

Monday, September 17, 2007

the year my daughter was born:









a little bit of my childhood gone long ago.







this is a wonderful organization. they do so much, especially for kids with NF.
on a personal note EVERY time i have e-mailed them with a question they have been right there with answers or referrals to some of the finest doctors in the field. one of which, dr. cynthia tifft who is the head of the NF clinic at children's medical center in washington dc. was right there to help out with a medication question. she went above and beyond for me even tho we had never and will never meet.

so if you are looking for a charity to donate to. this is an excellent one.

thanks, sherry

Sunday, September 16, 2007

oh and i was staring in the same familiar dumpster this afternoon looking for a word or 2, anything but nope, just garbage and flies and a few raggedy looking wasps.
this is my mom's house. she is selling it now that
my father has passed. i can remember my dad bringing a dozer home and filling in the yard you see here and then my family building the wall and the steps. the pear tree that used to be there is gone now as are the 2 buckeye trees that used to be in the back. the fire escape that goes up to the 3rd floor, well that used to be my bedroom when i was a teenager. cold, cold as it could be in that room. the summer was hot as hell but at least i could leave the door open in the summer!
odd feeling, knowing that it will be gone. i haven't any real attachment to it but it does feel strange.
someday, perhaps some more poems might come from the memories of the place. more than one have come as is.



Saturday, September 15, 2007

a little saturday poetry snack to nibble at or lick at like an ice cream cone.

tasty










you shall above all things be glad and young



you shall above all things be glad and young
For if you're young,whatever life you wear


it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever's living will yourself become.
Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
i can entirely her only love


whose any mystery makes every man's
flesh put space on;and his mind take off time


that you should ever think,may god forbid
and (in his mercy) your true lover spare:
for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
called progress,and negation's dead undoom.


I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance

ee cummings
oh, an odd little thing:

the car's number was 83 and jordan made 83 laps when the oil pan was damaged and he was out of the race and even stranger still, the other day a friend of mine who had just found out the car's number told jordan to play 083 in the lottery. he didn't. it hit.
the pictures below, well the 1st. is the hole in the oil pan that took my nephew out of the race last night. the 2nd is what the car looked like at the end.
he is o.k. the family called me to let me know. he was pissed about running over a chunk of something that had been knocked off of another car and putting that hole into the oil pan but they all had a good time.

Friday, September 14, 2007

got this over at shakesville. oh, thank you thank you.
i love it!




quiet here. everyone went to watch my nephew jordan in the enduro race.








had an eye exam today. been putting it off for well over a year.
i'm sitting here with dilated pupils and fuzzy vision. had to get the prescription changed. i figured that. i could tell my right eye was getting weaker and i wanted to get a lighter weight frame since i will be wearing them more and my nose has been broken twice. it's fairly sensitive even to the weight from glasses.
wow, put a down payment down, have to pay the rest next week when they come in.
ah well, have to "bite the bullet" sometimes.
i was playing my cd " instant karma save darfur" yesterday.
it's the one i have on the side of this blog. it's a great, great cd!

thought i'd let you all know.
a friday joke from way, way back when my kid was little:

what's green and dangerous?

a frog with a hand grenade.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

this is not an excuse, just an example of how i am sidetracked from writing.

yesterday i was sitting on the couch trying to rearrange a few words in my mind.
sometimes getting one line just the way i need it to be can make the rest of the poem write itself.
so, i'm sitting there. it was very quiet because all of the doors and windows were shut against the chill. i could almost reach out and grab those few words when layla comes prancing in with this teeny, teeny little mouse(and i mean teeny even for a mouse). layla had her head held high and was as proud as could be seeing as how she and bob had been stalking something the night before.
me, i just looked at this tiny little limp body and told layla to put it down(i figured i'd dispose of the poor thing before she decided to get all hannibal lector on it.)
she looks at me, pauses, drops the mouse which wasn't dead after all.
it starts dashing around with layla bopping it like a hand ball and bob watching.
i'm yellimg for her to stop, and the mouse scoots into the kitchen and under an old carpet sweeper that i had standing in a corner. it's one of those old 50's type metal bissel push thingys. good for quick little pick ups, no motor deals.
this then, bob decides is HIS job. bob is the muscle of the team. (they do operate as a team)layla is the quicker of the two but bob will push things out of the way or get doors opened etc.
well he is shoving this thing and banging it inch by inch from the corner.
so i, being the loon that i am(i realise this, believe me, i do!)
i put bob into the other room, shut the door and go over to the sweeper. the poor little intended victim by this time had crept into the sweeper so i picked up the sweeper and put it outside. hopefully the little critter left. then i let bob and layla back in the room. they are used to me by now and went back to lounging in a patch of sunlight as they usually do at that time of day.
so the words were lost and the poem not started. like i said, not an excuse just an explanation.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

truly gorgeous morning!
only going to 70. seems like fall is here.
i love fall tho i have to bundle up it is
just a beautiful season and usually too short around here.

we are starting up the scholarship work again.
had our 1st. meeting last week. it takes a lot of planning and work
and we are fortunate to have dedicated people on the committee.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

9/11

everyone knows what today is.
i'm not posting a poem about it, no post at all about it
except this:

it shouldn't be used as a political tool.

blessings on those that died. those that survived and on their families.

Monday, September 10, 2007







wonderful. just wonderful. so worth watching!
sun's out. i'm over on the other blog awaiting any word on how the meeting downtown went. that would be the meeting on:

Police and Domestic Violence



come over later and see what's said about it.

http://pghwomenbloggers.blogspot.com





this is the car my nephew will be driving in the "enduro" race at lernerville friday.
i can't go. not that i can't make it. i just can't watch. i'm way too much of a "fretter" to sit there and watch.
i'll be rooting from here!
jim received a great review that i want to share:







Dockland: a Preview
Jim Bennett
Whiston Town Hall (31st August 2007)
Reviewed by Angella Tippton

Poetry: the very word brings on shivers of impending boredom. Having spent several nights at open mic events in Liverpool being sent to review another one did not excite me. My experience, with few exceptions, is of people with little talent for writing, writing poetry that is hardly worth the name, that no one will ever want to read. So the only way they can get an audience is to go to an open mic event with other people who are in a similar position and speak their poetry at each other. I have yet to find anyone in an audience who has come to hear the poetry, most come to read or are dragged along to support someone who is going to read. Or they have been sent to write about it. That then is how I found myself at another poetry reading after I swore I would never go to another one.

OK this was a little different. For a start I was told that it would involve music, and that the performer was a singer/songwriter as well as a poet. The person I came to see and hear was Jim Bennett at the Council House in Whiston. Why Whiston? Well I suppose it had something to do with the fact that this small invited audience were here to see if they could invest in a stage production written by Mr Bennett and I suppose to get a few advance reviews of his show, like this one.

If you haven't guessed, I am not a fan of poetry, but Bennett doesn't do any old poetry, first of all there are hardly any rhymes, he does a sort of talking prose, often with lists. When I asked later I was told it was a style of Beat poetry. I must say that if you are a great fan of the convoluted quasi rap that passes as poetry today, you probably will find that Bennett leaves you cold. But, if you are a fan of the quirky, and are open minded, then this might be just the sort of thing to float your boat. Two of his poems were outstanding. In 'Liverpool Is' he mentions almost everything about Liverpool except the Beatles, and finishes with an outstanding last few lines. This is one of those poems that resonate for a long time after you first hear it. The other outstanding poem is about the Irish famine called 'With Mud on their Boots', which brought a tear to the eye, not because it was too gushing but rather because it was true and had echoes in today's world. Perhaps also it has to be said that Bennett is a great reader of his own poems with a superb reading voice.

The presentation is very slick and professional as you would expect from someone with Bennett's experience, he has been writing for forty years. He used pictures and short movies and sound tracks to punctuate his performance and he sings. OK he would not be up there in X Factor but he would not be out of place in a folk club. He has a steady quiet style which belies the strength of his lyrics, though he was best when accompanied by Richard on the guitar rather than playing it himself. His vocal style is intimate and the emotional range quite moving on some of his songs.

The intention with the presentation is to showcase the songs and poems from a stage play he has written called Dockland. This was produced as a response to his two years as a poet in residence at Liverpool's docks.

The stories and songs grew from the stories being told to a child as he sits with his father at the Pier Head in Liverpool. Later Bennett said that a lot of the material was from his father who had worked on the docks and in ship building.

The overall effect of the poems, the songs and the little fill-ins was to ensure that it was over all too quickly. When Dockland comes to the stage it will be populated by professional actors who I suppose will make a good job of it because the story is a very good one, and the poems and songs memorable, but there is something very special about hearing the writer perform his own words that makes you realise what writing is about. "This is", said Bennett, "an attempt to capture something which has gone now. To record it in the only way I can." I am glad he did. And I am glad I went and had the chance to hear this master wordsmith performing at the top of his game.

Has he converted me to poetry? No, but I might pay just a little more attention next time I go to an open mic event and I will certainly watch out and try to catch him performing again.

Bennett will be touring his preview of Dockland in Merseyside throughout 2008, visiting New York and the Edinburgh Festival in the process, and hopes to bring the full version to the stage by 2010. The tour information will be available from www.poetrykit.org
“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”




Aristotle
watched the hbo documentary on wounded soldiers last night.
alive day. catch it when it's on again. i know they have it on demand if you have that service.
it's straight forward, no politics, just their stories in their own words.
it's breathtaking in a way. it's heartbreaking as well.

now, i've got to do some reading of poems for the poetry kit list, some c&c and then i'm not quite sure what i'll do.

rainy monday here.

Sunday, September 09, 2007









almost 8 at night and i'm FINALLY up and getting some things done.
my body has been playing tricks on me lately.
i actually had an opportunity to dance last night. just 1 fast dance with a friend, goofing around. i wanted to see how my hip felt if i danced. if perhaps THIS new medication was doing the job. surprise, no hip pain! tho it was only 1 fast dance, i'm pleased.




finally dragged my lazy ass off of the couch.
here's a little something i found below:
got this over at shakesville/shakespeare's sister.
we better wake up before we have a government here
that is fundamentalist. you've seen from history where that leads.


http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/






POLITICS-US: Bush Appointee Campaigns for Evangelicals
By Aaron Glantz

SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 5 (IPS) - The head of the U.S. federal government agency that doles out benefits to disabled veterans is under fire for saying Bible study is "more important than doing [my] job."

Two organisations, Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), demanded an investigation Tuesday of Daniel Cooper, President George W. Bush's undersecretary for benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Their complaint stems from an appearance Cooper made in a fundraising video for the evangelical group Christian Embassy, which carries out missionary work among the Washington elite as part of the Campus Crusade for Christ.

In the video, Cooper says of his Bible study, "it's not really about carving out time, it really is a matter of saying what is important. And since that's more important than doing the job -- the job's going to be there, whether I'm there or not."

Veterans for Common Sense and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation believe Cooper violated the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits government officials from advocating a particular religion while on the job.

They also believe Cooper violated ethics rules that prohibit government officials from using their name, picture, or title for proselytising or fundraising.

"We're very concerned about this because hundreds of thousands of veterans are waiting for their benefits while Cooper himself says that promoting his religion is more important than helping the veterans," Veterans for Common Sense's Paul Sullivan told IPS.

Since Cooper was appointed the head of the Veterans Benefits Administration, the number of veterans waiting on their disability claims has increased dramatically, from 325,000 in 2002 to 600,000 today.

On average, a U.S. war veteran must wait six months for an answer to their application. If a vet decides to appeal a denial, the process often drags on as long as three years.

In addition, Veterans Administration hospitals, clinics and counseling centres report that more than 52,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But under Cooper's leadership, only 19,000 of those veterans were approved for service-connected disability compensation for PTSD, a significant discrepancy.

The groups are also upset that Cooper gave his top aid, Ronald Aument, the deputy secretary for benefits, a 33,000-dollar cash bonus while the claims backlog grew larger.

"He's prostituting his position," argued Mikey Weinstein, the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. "We could have done just as poorly as he's done by sticking a German Shepard or a cactus in that job."

Sullivan and Weinstein turned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the Veterans Administration's own inspector general cleared Cooper of any wrongdoing.

"We made a referral to the designated agency ethics official," said Cathy Gromek, a spokeswoman for the VA inspector general's office. "He reviewed the video, and he determined that conduct portrayed in the video did not violate federal laws or regulations."

When asked to provide a copy of the inspector's report, Gromek told IPS it was not readily available. A request would need to be made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), she said -- a bureaucratic process that often takes weeks, or even months. Veterans for Common Sense has already filed a formal request for the report, but whatever it shows, the organisation's director Paul Sullivan told IPS the FBI still needs to get involved.

"It's like the fox guarding the henhouse," Sullivan said. "VA's Inspector General, who is a political appointee, should not be investigating other political appointees within his own department."

Daniel Cooper wasn't the only high ranking official in the Christian Embassy video. The video also featured Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson and a slew of current and retired Pentagon officials, including Army brigadier generals Vincent Brooks and Robert Caslen, retired Army Chaplain Col. Ralph Benson, and Air Force major generals Peter Sutton and John Catton.

Long time observers of the religious right say the controversy surrounding Daniel Cooper is part of a pattern.

"Evangelicals have been working through the military and government agencies since the Cold War as part of the fight against 'Godless Communism', but they tried to follow certain boundaries" said Chip Berlet, a senior analyst of Political Research Associates in Boston. "With the Bush administration we've seen many egregious examples of officials stepping way out of line of any kind of boundary, of which this promotional video is a particularly notable example."

In 2005, for example, the group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State issued a report accusing officials at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs of religious discrimination.

Cadets were frequently pressured to attend chapel and take part of evangelical services, the group said, with prayer part of mandatory events at the academy. In at least one case, the group said, a teacher ordered students to pray before beginning their final examination.

someone on the street here is making pancakes.
a foggy sunday morning. so grey that the crickets are sill making night music.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Dockland
by Jim Bennett



stories from the Merseyside docks and of a dock workers family told in poetry and song




A special presentation giving the background to many of the songs, poems and stories from the stage production of DOCKLAND
and performed by the author Jim Bennett will be touring in 2008
The intention is to perform this seminal history of the Dockland of Liverpool in as many different places and to as many
people as possible during the 2008 when Liverpool is European Capital of Culture.

During 2008 Dockland will be performed in schools, community groups, libraries, in parks,cafe's and gardens.
Anywhere where we can set up and perform

If you know a venue that would like to have a performance please let us know.

The performance will be premièred in the 3rd room at the Everyman Bistro in Liverpool in November 2007.
and will be available throughout Merseyside from 1st January 2008
The production will visit New York for three weeks of performances in June 2008 and Jim will appear at the Edinburgh Festival for two weeks in August

Dockland was written during Jim Bennett's tenure as Poet in residence for Liverpool's Historic Waterfront and as visiting poet for New York's Waterfront and this performance is part of his commitment to that project.

Contains performances of the songs
"Dockland", "The Ballad of Seth Davey", "Charlene", "Liverpool Lou", "The Wrecking Coast of England" , "Hope Street", "All my Mates" and others

and the poems
"Liverpool Is", "Hope Street", "With mud on their boots", "Birkenhead"
plus many more

Jim Bennett - is a writer and poet once described as "the best performance poet in Liverpool".
He is a three time Dadafest award winner for his festival performances.
For more information about Jim goto http://www.poetrykit.org/jim/index.htm







Contact info@poetrykit.org
for anyone in the area:









friday-joke day!



How many economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?



None. If the light bulb really needed changing,
market forces would have already caused it to happen.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.










Develop interest in life as you see it;
in people, things, literature, music -- the world is so rich,
simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people.
Forget yourself.



Henry Miller (1891-1980) American author.
goodbye, luciano.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007












Misnomer

They speak of the art of war,
but the arts
draw their light from the soul’s well,
and warfare
dries up the soul and draws its power
from a dark and burning wasteland.
When Leonardo
set his genius to devising
machines of destruction he was not
acting in the service of art,
he was suspending
the life of art
over an abyss,
as if one were to hold
a living child out of an airplane window
at thirty thousand feet.

by Denise Levertov
USA (1923-1997)
talked to my friend mitch this morning.
today would have been little noah's 2nd. birthday.
seems like yesterday that we were attending his funeral.
he's in a better place tho. i am sure of it.
http://carbolicsmokeblog.blogspot.com/


oh, do check out the carbolic smoke ball today!
been kicking around an idea for a poem. i'm not sure in which direction i should take it tho.
we sold my father's car yesterday. the one that used to have the chrome naked winged angel hood ornament that we buried with my dad. odd sort of flat feeling watching it being driven away.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Monday, September 03, 2007


get better soon pud'n boy!
he messed up his ankle while on vacation.
pud'n is almost as bad as i am when it comes to navigating stairs!
i've been tagged by konagod!
cool.


players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
then i'm supposed to tag 8 more people, but truly, i don't think i know 8 bloggers that i could tag, or at least 8 that haven't been before me with this so i'll just do me and see if anyone wants to jump in.

8 random things, hummmm?


1. when i was a toddler my hair was almost blonde but darkened to almost black by the time i was 20.

2. i got my 1st.(and so far, my only)tattoo to celebrate making it to the age of 50 (cause i never thought i would, and more than once, shouldn't have) the tattoo guy, steve and i sang oldies to the radio while i was having it done and he was highly impressed with my tolerance and my ability to sit still for an hour and a half. my singing ability, not so much. i can't carry a tune in a bucket!

3. i have some pretty odd learning disabilities. one of which gives me a really poor sense of direction and i mean REALLY poor. my family says that if they blindfolded me and spun me around in the living room i couldn't find the front door. a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.

4. if i feel a cold coming on i have to clean up the house before i get really sick because i can't stand to be sick in a messy house. makes me crazed.

5. people have always mistaken me for being younger than i am. nice now but used to piss me off when i was younger. really caused me more than a few problems.

6. i have never been stung by a bee. (good thing too cause a lot of people in my family are allergic to bee stings) i am allergic to pine trees. if i touch them, i rash out big time.

7. i used to hate foods like cabbage and broccoli, now i love, love, love them.

8. i adore old bad films. like plan 9 or attack of the crab monsters or white zombie. i HATE war films.
except "so proudly we hail" and m.a.s.h. i saw that movie 7 times when it came out.
once i went by myself,once with a friend and the other 5 were different dates.(oh, to be young again, but knowing what i know now!!!)
been a busy morning while all i wanted to do was clean the place!
just had the jehovah's witnesses at my door!
geezzzz, i wish they'd leave people alone. it's 11 a.m. on this labor day, few people are home on my street anyway.

4 people, look to be a couple in their 60's and a couple in their 40's.

i have to say this:

even IF i had been inclined to listen. i wouldn't have after hearing how authoritarian the older man was to the 2 ladies when they got out of the car.
he was down right rude and only because they elder lady had said calmly that it looked as if few people on the street were at home.

jackass!
just saw one of the coolest things!

i was outside and heard the sound of a small plane overhead.
i looked up and there was a plane trailing a banner sign( the "will you marry me?" types)they used to advertise a lot of things this way when i was a little kid. anyway, THIS plane was trailing a clear sign with red letters that said,"tell tim murphy not to fund bush's war!"


made my labor day. ; )
beautiful morning, another one of those golden mist mornings.
went to a friend's block party yesterday. tons and tons of good food and even better company.

looked around for poems but none to be found.