The Clock is Ticking

**This post feels very disjointed to me. It's the first honest writing I've done in a few weeks and I'm feeling rusty. So, bear with me.

Back in July, I posted this haiku:

Things are not as they
teach us--the Earth is hollow;
I have touched the sky.

I wrote then about it being a 17 syllable catharsis. Lately, it's come to represent mystery for me.

This week's prompt at One Deep Breath is about mystery, specifically the unseen. And so, I'm thinking on it.

I don't do well with the unseen, with being in the dark. I tried to explain this to someone recently, when in the midst of a non-argument argument (which we were so good at), and was told that I was being selfish. I never imagined it as being selfish, more a method of self-preservation, protection. And from him, at the moment, I felt like I needed protection (yes, I mean from him, but not physically.). There are so many things out there that I can't see. Some actually give me comfort (God in my life), others terrify me (the future). Not knowing what was coming prompted the defensive maneuvers.

I need to become more comfortable with the unseen, the unknowable.

But how the hell does one do that?


Okay, so this is my least favorite offering EVER. To see some better stuff, that maybe isn't so disjointed, visit One Deep Breath

I've been AWOL for a couple of weeks. Well, maybe MIA. Life got in the way again, and my writing took a hit. Unfortunately. But, when it came down to choosing between getting a couple of hours of much-needed sleep and writing, sleep will win every time.

But, I should be getting back to this stuff soon. Sleep isn't being elusive anymore--for a variety of reasons.

So, over at Poetry Thursday, the theme this week was 'avoidance.' Particularly, it's poetry that we avoid--poets, time periods, genres, whatever. We all have things we avoid--I tend to avoid Chaucer, because, frankly, it hurts my head. I avoid Poe because all the poetry that was taught in my English classes was his dark stuff, similar to his dark short stories. I adore his short stories, I hate his dark poetry. I realize that not all of his poetry is dark, but what I was introduced to is, and I just won't read the rest of it.

I also avoid rhyming poetry. Ugh. I realize that to follow a particular rhyming pattern is much more difficult than to just write, but I feel so stifled when asked to rhyme. Like I'm being boxed in. And I'm claustrophobic.

So, I've no poetry to share this week...still recuperating from some other things and the creative juices are focussed there...just wanted to share.

To see more on the poetry we avoid, visit Poetry Thursday.

Daddy shared this with me. I wish to 'high heaven' The WonderDog was HALF this smart!

A heart-warming segment from Texas Country Reporter, with Bob Phillips. For more information visit Texas Country Reporter or Skidboot.com

In my literature classes (as in "here's how to choose literature for children and young adults"), we learned about the different levels of reading maturity.

My professor had several she listed, there's generally 4. The 'lowest' level is supposed to be 'unconscious delight'--when someone, usually a young reader, gets caught up in a series like Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys and is just reading because they've gotten excited about reading. The 'highest' is aesthetic reading--reading to enjoy the beauty of the prose.

But I disagree, I get caught up in unconscious delight all the time--I read for the sheer joy of reading, because it excites me. I inhale books...and yes, I'm an aesthetic reader at times, a lot of times.

And so...

Unconscious delight--
simple joy in the words
lost--no, found!--in dreams

For more thoughts on reading, visit this week's One Deep Breath.

Austrian's body found 5 years after death

This is pathetic. Wouldn't it be common sense to check on someone whose mail keeps piling up outside his door???? Where I come from, if a neighbor's papers pile up for more than a couple of days, people check on 'em.

Really, what is the world coming to these days?

I just looked at my calendar for the week. I do this every Sunday night, I guess I'm starting the great switching of gears, getting ready for Monday morning. This week, though, there's something bizarre about my schedule...

There's very little on it.

I mean, there's work stuff, and boy, those days are packed. But there's almost nothing else. In fact, only one day has anything scheduled beyond 4 p.m.

I flipped threw my book for the year...there's no other week since school started that can boast this lack of evening events.

Flip back a bit more...there's no week in 2006 that meets that criteria. Even spring break had evening stuff...and dog-sitting.

You know, I'm willing to bet there hasn't been a week in at least 2 years that didn't have something at least two of the nights. It almost feels wrong, like "what have I forgotten to write down?"

I love it.

At home....Sean Combs In public....P. Diddy

Home....Christopher Bridges Public....Ludacris

Home....Shawn Carter Public....Jay-Z

Home....Trevor Smith Public....Busta Rhymes

Home....William Adams Public....will.i.am

Home....Johnathan Smith Public....Lil John

Makes me wonder...what do their "new" friends call them? The ones who didn't meet them until after there was a public name (a stage name). Hm?

This came up because this afternoon I saw P.Diddy's new video, "Come to Me." Pretty good song.

Oh...and the most famous one...

Public....The Queen

Home....Jayne *giggle*

Judge dismisses alpaca paternity suit
It's an animal for Pete's sake (whoever Pete is). Okay, okay, I understand that she has to know who the father is for pedigree purposes. Fine. I'll buy that. But you know..the kid's a year old, and now she's worried?

Chocoholics find a venue and a menu
New York gets all the nice stuff. Geez.

Lights go off in Iceland, clouds dim sky for star gazers
What a neat event! I just went out Friday night to star gaze, and had to go in search of a back country road to see anything.

Any of you out there dabble in design? I'm incredibly bored with this template and want something new.

Problem...I've found some backgrounds and images I want to use, but can't make it work out the way I want it to.


**Update...this one is temporary, I think. I don't know.

**UPDATE #2...okay, I'll keep it. Especially now that I've moved all my extras in *grin*.