‘breathe in experience, breathe out poetry’ – muriel rukeyser
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in honor of national poetry day
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image credit: nationalgeographic.com
Oct2
Tag Archives: writing
Sep19
never treat your audience as customers, always as partners. – jimmy stewart
had a nice offer
from
an
‘adult novelty catalog company’
to advertise
on my blog
and i smiled
and thanked them
when
i
turned them down
and
thought about
what
my posts
are
really
all about
nature, animals, philosophy, humor, zen, children, travel, art. life, family, love, compassion, adventure
not so much about dancing girls
and their costumes
and their toys
and their boys
not to say
they
can’t be
about
art or love or zen or adventure
too
for they are all
a part of life
and we all
share the same planet
and
i don’t judge
and
i like to dance
and
wear costumes
and
all the rest
but i figured
chances are
the company
has never really read my blog
and has no idea
who my audience
really
is
your audience gives you everything you need. they tell you.
there is no director who can direct you like an audience.
– fanny brice
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image credits: library of congress, dobrador.com
Aug20
write.
May23
“Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.” ― Mark Twain
i before e, except after c?
silent e at the end of a word with a long vowel in the center?
at times, who in the abc really knows?
in the recent comedy, ‘bad words,’
jason bateman plays an adult who participates in a kids’ spelling bee
and is required to spell the word,
‘floccinaucinihilipilification.’
(the action or habit of estimating something as worthless)
ouch.
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“The story’s what matters; spelling’s overrated.” ― Adam Langer, The Salinger Contract
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image credits: focus features, growing jeweled rose.com
Apr29
Half my life is an act of revision - John Irving
http://www.grammarly.com/grammowrimo/
very recently, i received the note below, and was happy to have been one of a huge group of writers on this first-ever collaborative novel writing project. each writer was assigned a date to write her or his chapter, feeding off of the one before it, having never seen it before, and given 24 hours to complete it. i loved the challenge of this project, as well as the international group effort that went into creating it.
Writers, hello.
In November 2013, around 300 writers from 27 countries (and 44 U.S. states) worked together to write a group novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). We called the project #GrammoWriMo; and, clocking in at a total of 130,927 unedited words, we are proud to say that your draft was among the 41,940 completed!
Today, it is with great excitement that the Grammarly team announces the publication of this GrammoWriMo e-book on Amazon. (see above) Thank you for your patience with us through the editing process.
Finally, you’ll note that the e-book is listed for $0.99 on Amazon. Given the theme of the novel, we plan to donate all proceeds from the sale of the book to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
“What you don’t wish for will always be beyond your reach.” ― Micheal Ende
Thank you for all of your contributions to our 2013 GrammoWriMo e-book. We’ll look forward to working with you in 2014!
All the best,
The GrammoWriMo Team
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. - William Faulkner
Jan11
Life is a long lesson in humility – James M. Barrie
it is time at last, to thank my fellow writers for the many awards you have bestowed upon me. these have languished somewhere on the side stage for far too long. i am humbled and honored by your generosity of spirit. not surprisingly, i haven’t followed many of the rules in accepting the awards, but i wanted to thank every one of you none the less. following are the awards and the writers who nominated me for them, in no particular order. each is wonderful and unique in their own way, and i hope that you’ll stop by their sites for a visit. many thanks to all of the rest of you who’ve given me the opportunity to read your words, and who’ve taken the time to read and thoughtfully comment on mine.
awards:
Award Winning Blog Blessed Again
Awesome Blog Content
Best Moments
Blog of the Year
Bouquet of Awards Symphony of Color
Dragon’s Loyalty
Fantastic Blogger
Inner Peace
Inventive Blogger
Liebster
Lighthouse
Loyal Reader
Most Creative Blogger
Most Influential Blogger
Semper Fidelis
Shauney Award for Blogging Excellence
Shine On
Sisterhood of The World Blogger
Sunshine
Super Sweet Blogging
The Versatile Blogger
Very Inspiring Blogger
Word Press Family
and the writers and their sites:
http://publictransituser.wordpress.com
writes and photographs her daily adventures using public transportation in montreal
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a smart and funny approach to movies and music and sports and life in syracuse, ny
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http://peacelovegreatcountrymusic.com
country music and homespun wisdom
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http://runningawayfrom49.wordpress.com
three 40 somethings riffing on life
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poetry and tales in the world of nature and fairies
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http://andthemoonseesall.wordpress.com
lisa writes with a mind wide open
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http://witlessdatingafterfifty.wordpress.com
the world of dating after a certain age
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writer and photographer
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http://talesalongtheway.com/about/
anne’s journey through life
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the story of family and life
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writes about life using photos and stories
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http://juststoplooking.wordpress.com
2 single women’s trip through life
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http://ajaytao2010.wordpress.com
even with his personal struggles he tells about a positive in his approach to the world
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http://cruisingthroughmylife.wordpress.com
engineer and poet in india who writes about women’s issues
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http://joannebest.wordpress.com
poet and fiction writer
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scientist who writes about life
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http://5minutesmoreplease.wordpress.com
freelance writer and animal advocate
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http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/about/
all about animals, peace, social justice, women’s issues
–
http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/about/
insights about life, using art and photos
–
http://animalmikelane.com/animal/
michael writes about his love of animals and adventures in the world
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a brit married to a sicilian, adjusting to life in italy
The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. – William Blake
Jan7
Only the pure in heart can make a good soup. – Ludwig van Beethoven
during my first year of teaching, i discussed the concept of respect with my class of 3rd-5th graders. after, we each wrote something about what respect meant to us. this was written by an 8-year-old, and was my favorite:
i suppose i should have known it would read something like this, coming from my little guy who was a pragmatic vegan buddhist.
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
today, with no school and home once again, i’ll make a simmering pot of tomato basil soup in honor of my young writer. this one’s for you, r. i think you would respect it, i know i will.
Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication. – Maya Angelou
Dec9
happy birthday with notes from my heart
happy birthday to my eldest daughter who lives in a very different time zone and place and across the seas and over the lands and on the other side of the international date line and below the equator and in another hemisphere. as far away as we physically are from each other, our letters – long and flowery, on beautiful papers, or short and scribbled on scraps, or captions made on things to note, using pens and pencils and markers and paint and crayons and cut-outs and news, are one of the things that keep us so close.
today, i think of you and picture you opening the letter that i have written for you to celebrate this very special day. and who knows? one day, you may even look into your rolling ocean and see a bottle bobbing there, or look to your blue sky and see a balloon tied to a note, or turn to a colorful bird, sitting atop a lovely flower in your front yard, holding an envelope in its bill, or watch a kangaroo jump towards you with a packet emerging from its pouch, and know there is a message in there, from me to you, just waiting for you to open –
More than kisses, letters mingle souls. – John Donne
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Sep1
stories told here
had an interesting conversation with my friend. we took turns coming up with one word that defined each of us, and he immediately blurted out the following word that he felt was me: rigmarole.while i had a somewhat negative image of what this word meant, i always liked the sound of it and it was an interesting word to say the least. i decided to look it up for further clarification. after referring to a traditional source, the oxford english dictionary, i found that i rather liked the definition, appreciated the origin of the word, and finally, embraced it as my own. i took it to mean that i simply live life, with all of its complications, and i share my stories, and though not all are long and rambling, i’m quite happy with that.
rigmarole
Syllabification: (rig·ma·role)
Pronunciation: /ˈrig(ə)məˌrōl/
noun [usually in singular]
- a lengthy and complicated procedure: she went through the rigmarole of securing the front door
- a long, rambling story or statement.
Origin:
mid 18th century: apparently an alteration of ragman roll, originally denoting a legal document recording a list of offenses
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Stories are a communal currency of humanity. – Tahir Shah
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Aug11
what has 4 wheels and writes?
i am fascinated, time and again, by my garbagemen. they’ve taken on the role of old-school catholic nuns – strict with their rules, calling me out in front of everyone, and trying to teach me using a tough love approach, though they use ink rather than chalk as their medium of choice, and rap my knuckles with pens rather than wooden rulers.
i am always amazed, that for some reason, there are times when they see fit to stop on their route and write me a note, leaving sticky notes on top of my bins. these notes tell me what i’ve done wrong: bins too close together, wrong item in the wrong bin, green bin to the left of the blue bin, trash not in alphabetical order, and god knows what else, a myriad of my garbage sins.
i find it hilarious that they will take the time to stop and write me these notes rather than just moving a bin over 8.5 inches if need be, taking the trash, and going on with their day. no, instead, they leave it full and with a note atop, promising to be back the next week at the appointed hour to attempt to pick it up again, when my mistake has been corrected. i imagine, at that point they figure i will have done my penance and they will have forgiven me my sins and they are willing and able help me to dispose of my trash, so that i can start anew with a clean slate once again. these guys are all forgiving and have no limit to trying to teach me to do better, and i plan to give them a lovely pen set for christmas this year.
I lived through the garbage. I might as well dine on the caviar . Beverly Sills
I didn't have my glasses on.... 