tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65016901610739164272024-03-05T00:18:49.053-08:00City Muse Country MuseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.comBlogger398125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-25290104281070151992015-02-08T07:26:00.000-08:002015-02-08T08:01:49.399-08:00Finally, a Reunion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yep, it's been awhile. It's amazing how time just gets past you. Last weekend though I was able to slow life down a bit and savor friendship. I traveled to Chicago during the <a href="http://www.ala.org/" target="_blank">ALA</a> conference to meet up with Juliet to celebrate the new book release of our dearest <a href="http://kathycannonwiechman.com/" target="_blank">Kathy Cannon Weichman</a>! Take note of her name, I have a feeling if you are going to hear it a lot in the coming years. And Juliet and I couldn't be more proud. Kathy is a beautiful writer and an even more beautiful person. I was so honored to be able to spend time with her. The book will be out this spring. Put an order in!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="277" src="https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t31.0-8/1492291_10153644816415290_1797005317_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juliet and her family with the Latvian orphans</td></tr>
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Juliet has so many irons in the fire which is normal for her. When she isn't changing the world through her work with several non-profits, she is just being an amazing mother, wife and friend. In addition she has some great forthcoming works and I have no doubt by this year's close I'll be traveling back to celebrate her accomplishments. In the meantime she is raising money to bring back the orphans from Latvia. She has opened her heart and home to them for a couple years and this year wants to do it again. You can watch her video <a href="http://www.youcaring.com/family-fundraiser/change-a-life/302948#.VNT5Mf-2P7I.facebook" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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I am doing my best to keep my journal and enjoying each moment as it comes. I am so thankful for good friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2P4fUtl90IvImfmA5vpfyQE_WRxNeYYWmn5ez_YOnPGHdhKKDh0BpX_EPi950SpIfJf9zPlckQ4ObYHLlUzbpmsPjk2kaIC2dZFfJ3ePCb_52UKpukOFdYL7jHet5dMr_Q-lXHoFHk03T/s1600/IMG_1249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2P4fUtl90IvImfmA5vpfyQE_WRxNeYYWmn5ez_YOnPGHdhKKDh0BpX_EPi950SpIfJf9zPlckQ4ObYHLlUzbpmsPjk2kaIC2dZFfJ3ePCb_52UKpukOFdYL7jHet5dMr_Q-lXHoFHk03T/s1600/IMG_1249.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Juliet and Kathy</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-61035741437938749762014-10-10T02:00:00.000-07:002014-10-10T02:00:05.733-07:00Joining JulietSometimes you have to just set life aside and honor the beauty of friendship. Last weekend I flew to Chicago to be with Juliet. We filled the time with our usual things, lots of good food, stops into little shops and appreciating each other's beer from afar. I also spent time with her husband Kevin and of course the lovely Bond kids, who are growing so fast into amazing people. I also experienced the madness of parking cars for the Northwestern football game. And we lounged on the couch as I scratched Daisy's belly. The time was restorative for me, inspiring and love filled.<br />
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“Sometimes I need<br />only to stand<br />wherever I am <br />to be blessed.”
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-Mary Oliver<br /> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Juliet on a morning walk by Lake Michigan</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-30539825388488120702014-10-09T03:33:00.001-07:002014-10-09T03:33:23.318-07:00A Little Laughter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My poem yesterday was a bit morose so I thought I'd share something a bit more cheerful today. If this doesn't make you smile, you might need therapy...</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-31522936787480679452014-10-08T06:30:00.002-07:002014-10-08T06:30:25.998-07:00Myself Today<div class="MsoNormal">
I had this moment today<o:p></o:p></div>
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A microscopic flash of future myself<o:p></o:p></div>
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This mirrored twin was silver-bright<o:p></o:p></div>
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But her edges</div>
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Milling inside moving shadows<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maybe a ghost<o:p></o:p></div>
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Or a muted, damaged thing<o:p></o:p></div>
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And I thought, </div>
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No.</div>
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This is myself<o:p></o:p></div>
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Clear-eyed and able<o:p></o:p></div>
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My mind veered from the monster</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Back to this moment<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
by Juliet</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-15181925073649937512014-09-22T02:00:00.000-07:002014-09-22T02:00:07.917-07:00Not knowing where to turn, I look to poetry for wisdomI am heartbroken with Juliet's<b> </b> news. I am also hopeful because I have to be.I call on every saint, light all of my candles and burn sage. I ring bells in mediation, scream out to the pines, to the birds and the wolves for strength, for justice and healing. Juliet, you are in my heart, always will be. I am at your side. I love you dearly, friend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>In Blackwater Woods</b><br />
<b>By <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/mary-oliver" target="_blank">Mary Oliver</a> </b><br />
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td><table style="width: 300px;"><tbody>
<tr><td>Look, the trees</td></tr>
<tr><td>are turning</td></tr>
<tr><td>their own bodies</td></tr>
<tr><td>into pillars</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>of light,</td></tr>
<tr><td>are giving off the rich</td></tr>
<tr><td>fragrance of cinnamon</td></tr>
<tr><td>and fulfillment,</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>the long tapers</td></tr>
<tr><td>of cattails</td></tr>
<tr><td>are bursting and floating away over</td></tr>
<tr><td>the blue shoulders</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>of the ponds,</td></tr>
<tr><td>and every pond,</td></tr>
<tr><td>no matter what its</td></tr>
<tr><td>name is, is</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>nameless now.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Every year</td></tr>
<tr><td>everything</td></tr>
<tr><td>I have ever learned</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>in my lifetime</td></tr>
<tr><td>leads back to this: the fires</td></tr>
<tr><td>and the black river of loss</td></tr>
<tr><td>whose other side</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>is salvation,</td></tr>
<tr><td>whose meaning</td></tr>
<tr><td>none of us will ever know.</td></tr>
<tr><td>To live in this world</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>you must be able</td></tr>
<tr><td>to do three things:</td></tr>
<tr><td>to love what is mortal;</td></tr>
<tr><td>to hold it</td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>against your bones knowing</td></tr>
<tr><td>your own life depends on it;</td></tr>
<tr><td>and, when the time comes to let it</td></tr>
<tr><td>go,</td></tr>
<tr><td>to let it go.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td></td></tr>
<tr><td><br />
<b></b></td><td><br /></td><td align="right"><br /></td><td align="right"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-80297770641723723632014-09-16T14:34:00.001-07:002014-09-17T13:48:51.070-07:00Joining JeanneTen years ago, my life fell apart. My dad had two heart attacks, my husband had an affair and one of my best friend's brain literally exploded. My dad recovered. My marriage healed. But Jeanne's brain could not withstand the resulting trauma of a ruptured brain aneurysm. Since then, there have been countless moments where I ached to pick up the phone and to hear her stilted, low laugh. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ7p3-e0Di009J72SDtvWW3hZzFpCmLaOwwd4ImHdJYLCSkDgUIZqdODP446pIpBMtkIeLxq6VaW4l24_E-mhClg7LFcOM4UNDLveG50JYP26319R3hXX6C7wQ3pxm2G02R9ARbVyIyNS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-16+at+4.25.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ7p3-e0Di009J72SDtvWW3hZzFpCmLaOwwd4ImHdJYLCSkDgUIZqdODP446pIpBMtkIeLxq6VaW4l24_E-mhClg7LFcOM4UNDLveG50JYP26319R3hXX6C7wQ3pxm2G02R9ARbVyIyNS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-16+at+4.25.50+PM.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But none of those moments compare in magnitude to now. <br />
<br />
What were the odds that Jeanne would be my college roommate; that she would call two weeks before our freshman year to say, "What color is your bedspread? We should coordinate." What were the odds that despite her earnest questions and eager demeanor (or maybe because of it) I would feel like her sister after one short week of close quarters. She was so goofy. You could not NOT love her.<br />
<br />
Over the next fifteen years we would share a love of over-the-top romantic blouses, french fries and maxi-pads. Our kids (three each) would be born at nearly the same time. Our weekly (sometimes daily) phone calls were often loud and included lots of stereotypically Italian hand waving at the injustice of it all. We had mutual outrage over husbands, budgets and our massive, motherly lack of sleep. She helped me plant my first garden. I sent her mix CD's. Then, a brain aneurysm burst and felled her. For the next two years, she lay in a semi-coma wasting away in a nursing home.<br />
<br />
Experts estimate that approximately five percent<a href="http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AneurUn.htm"> of people have a brain aneurysm</a>. So I suppose it isn't so crazy to think that someone I loved might die from this frightening condition. What is surprising is that two weeks ago, I joined Jeanne in that five percent. <br />
<br />
After an MRI ordered to determine the cause of a rainfall of seizures I've had since April, the neurologist called to say, "Juliet, we think we might see something that looks like a small aneurysm." <br />
<br />
"I'm sure it isn't," my mother said. "I have a good feeling about this."<br />
<br />
I didn't have a good feeling about it. Still, I was hopeful. I mean, <i>what were the odds? </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Right, so I haven't processed this yet - the fact that if it bursts, it's about 20% likely that I might survive with good cognitive function - or the fact that only 20% of brain aneurysms never burst.<br />
<br />
Am I going to die from this? Will it be soon? Will my children suffer the kind of agonizing grief and confusion that Jeanne's felt? Should I write letters to my kids for their birthdays - weddings - for when Lilly becomes a mother or my boys become dads, you know, just in case?<br />
<br />
The neurosurgeon says, "It's a waiting game. Right now, the aneurysm too small to risk the complications related to brain surgery." Wearing a monogrammed coat he shrugs, "In six months, we will do a new MRI to see if it grows." <i>If I make it that long, </i>I think. <br />
<br />
Right now, I am tired from all of the medications, afraid of lifting heavy objects or taking an Advil for my headache. I'm watching my blood pressure because high blood pressure can contribute to a brain bleed. I'm not salting my food and I am trying to exercise for thirty minutes every day but not too strenuously. The number of doctor's appointments I've scheduled, pills I'm popping and visits to the pharmacy could rival that of any seventy-year-old grandma. And quietly, as I lay in bed with my eyes open at five AM, I'm wondering if they have matching bedspreads in the afterlife.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-85395489730295358522014-08-11T05:53:00.001-07:002014-08-11T05:53:56.391-07:00Brain BreakSo Gina and I have booth been off the grid for the most part this summer. While I focused on parenting and health nonsense, Gina's whole life has been on hold. I'll let her tell her own story but I will say that it has a happy ending.<br />
<br />
For now, we both need a brain break. But we will return shortly...<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-88788975118894102532014-07-24T09:48:00.000-07:002014-07-24T09:48:30.846-07:00Too TiredThis has been an exhausting week. In the last five minutes, I pulled Tomass into the house for punching his brother's broken and still healing shoulder, attempted to put him in a time out and got kicked, punched and given the bird...<br />
<br />
But I do want to take a minute to thank Rachel Nieman, friend and partner at <a href="http://evanstoncope.weebly.com/">COPE</a>, for bringing us a beautiful dinner last night (which has turned into lunch today as well.) Holy crap, a little goes a long way.<br />
<br />
Thank you for your kindness! Last night, instead of cooking and cleaning up - I read a few chapters in a mystery novel. Ahhhhhh....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-78093409743727977002014-07-11T06:48:00.000-07:002014-07-11T06:48:00.111-07:00Friday Original Poem - A Prayer for GinaIt's been a while since you've heard from Regina. She's all tied up in a <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/08/parents_sue_devos_childrens_ho.html">legal fight</a> that may change the fate of her entire family and her energies are fully directed towards this hope that a handful of lawyers, a judge and people with deep pockets but little remorse, will do the right f-ing thing. <br />
<br />
I'm not particularly religious but I do believe that directing your thoughts and energy someone's way can make a difference, even if it simply provokes a kindness. If you have a moment, think about her. And send your most passionate prayers towards Regina and her incredible family.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnaF9X3LWJc0TR5K0JXoGdsKe7n6dsv-CDsobbq4h_RCSXGr0UqhlOdZvf6qD5c2F0ZsfwHYDOozmSEcg1JL4qFM770TZfkvTLb8oendmFvdhrWOz4Rze-jlmHLdB7O5J6C7anRtbyf_Uy/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-10+at+8.42.32+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnaF9X3LWJc0TR5K0JXoGdsKe7n6dsv-CDsobbq4h_RCSXGr0UqhlOdZvf6qD5c2F0ZsfwHYDOozmSEcg1JL4qFM770TZfkvTLb8oendmFvdhrWOz4Rze-jlmHLdB7O5J6C7anRtbyf_Uy/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-10+at+8.42.32+AM.png" height="223" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Battle Cry</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To you whose smile is wide</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and open</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Towards the physical drain of every day slopping up,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
hanging in, wiping and feeding,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
washing and comforting,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
as if they are still infants.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Though it should never have ended up</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
that they might need you in this way</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
after so long.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To you whose patience,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and stalwart persistence,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
pushing against a riptide of business and greed,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
should bring a kind of ease</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If not justice. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
-by Juliet Bond</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-88597077191440306852014-07-10T06:33:00.000-07:002014-07-10T06:33:30.597-07:00Being ThankfulI know, I know. I sound all Pollyanna for writing this and some people may be sick of my waxing on about peace and love and generosity but F-You. I'm grateful.<br />
<br />
I'm grateful for this opportunity to love a whole bunch of difficult kids.<br />
<br />
I'm grateful to get through every day without screaming, dissolving into tears or turning on my own family.<br />
<br />
I'm grateful to my friends who surrounded us at an outdoor concert this week, gave us hugs and were just there.<br />
<br />
I'm grateful to my daughter, who my mother referred to as the "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10154336597515290&l=5173038807495388324">Latvian Summer Camp Director.</a>"<br />
<br />
And I'm grateful to my son Casey who is rolling with this chaos during the day, even as he crawls into bed with us at night.<br />
<br />
Last, I'm grateful to Kevin. Taking on three Latvian orphans was neither his idea nor his preference but he's done it two summers in a row now. He hugs those kids every day. He makes them meals and reassures Tomass that he will be back every day when Tomass panics, looks at me and asks, "Dadi darbu?" <br />
<br />
Is Dadi going to work?<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone supporting us through this summer. Your presence in our lives, a joke here and there, a shared meal or a kind word of encouragement are more important than you could ever know.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6E9OmNcU1ygunaBLQFgT64t5wqnzIMg1gGobwhIs8gHzOgVE9Y2Pq3JV5n5cE4BsaHx1h9Tg-DvlMGCUZchw4V4zqpvZkgeBYyhBNctb0ARPviVClH7le3S5QHuFnZ01lj66zbJNxQNXr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-10+at+8.32.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6E9OmNcU1ygunaBLQFgT64t5wqnzIMg1gGobwhIs8gHzOgVE9Y2Pq3JV5n5cE4BsaHx1h9Tg-DvlMGCUZchw4V4zqpvZkgeBYyhBNctb0ARPviVClH7le3S5QHuFnZ01lj66zbJNxQNXr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-10+at+8.32.07+AM.png" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-70041407657316813132014-07-06T04:27:00.000-07:002014-07-06T04:27:00.116-07:00Sunday Reading SuggestionI struggled with this one. <i>Tease</i> by Amanda Maciel was a challenging book. The main character was wholly unlikeable. She'd bullied a girl into suicide - along with her even more mean best friend - and felt no repentance. Throughout the book, I kept waiting for it to hit her, the realization that she'd been cruel beyond anything most kids engage in. But even in the end, I didn't feel like the punch to her gut was hard enough.<br />
<br />
The book description says that it has a "strong anti-bullying theme" but maybe it wasn't strong enough.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigolZ2y30Adc0HbRQw0LBgfFjEpMGsB_FxseuOW6QovguBpAM7rGJPmD6pPzy1PobMGCMajaswxk8N04iHLPndLIj98w5mqBeoSqh-k3QSAt4MCA8bvfNsnGAT3fWSgKuffgAAGB6qZVCr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-06+at+6.23.52+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigolZ2y30Adc0HbRQw0LBgfFjEpMGsB_FxseuOW6QovguBpAM7rGJPmD6pPzy1PobMGCMajaswxk8N04iHLPndLIj98w5mqBeoSqh-k3QSAt4MCA8bvfNsnGAT3fWSgKuffgAAGB6qZVCr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-06+at+6.23.52+AM.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
-<i>J</i></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-38762976359293798322014-07-04T05:48:00.000-07:002014-07-04T05:48:00.538-07:00Friday (not original) PoemLike I said, im noguris.<br />
<br />
So today I share a poem that I relate to because I can't. I just can't be creative. There is dinner to make, vacuuming and laundry, planning activities, showers to encourage, and an endless sea of clothes to put away and counters to wipe.<br />
<br />
<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<h1 style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; margin: 10px 0px 3px; padding: 0px;">
Recall the Carousel</h1>
</div>
<span class="author" style="background-color: white; color: #4d493f; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/laura-kasischke" style="color: #043d6e; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">LAURA KASISCHKE</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div class="tab-content active" id="poem" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<div class="poem" style="color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 25px 0px 0px;">
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Recall the carousel. Its round and round.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Its pink lights blinking off and on.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
The children’s faces painted garish colors against</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
an institutional wall. And the genetics. The</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<em>We won’t be here too long </em><em>...</em><em> Do not step off </em><em>...</em></div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
The carousel? Do you recall? As if</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
we were our own young parents suffering again</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
after so many hundreds of hours of bliss.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
And even the startling fact that</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
what had always been feared might come to pass:</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
A familiar sweater in a garbage can.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
A surgeon bent over our baby, wearing a mask.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
But surely you recall</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
how happily and for how long</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
we watched our pretty hostages go round.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
They waved at us too many times to count.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Their dancing foals. Their lacquered mares. Even</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
a blue-eyed hunting hound</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
was still allowed back then.</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-26517352565754080592014-07-03T05:37:00.000-07:002014-07-03T08:52:59.978-07:00im nogurisI'm tired.<br />
<br />
It's a good tired. This tired comes from a place of absolute concentration on one, specific thing...parenting. <br />
<br />
I like this. It's unusual for me to focus in this way. In my real life, I teach, write, volunteer, coordinate non-profit services, schedule community conversations, serve on three boards and balance a marriage and parenting.<br />
<br />
Right now - just the parenting.<br />
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The kids are doing well with a few hiccups here and there. Tomass was great for the first five days but yesterday we all had flashbacks to last summer. At bedtime, he was tip-toeing across the edge of the bannister while imitating the, "who-ha-ha-ha" laugh from old vampire movies. He'd hidden the ipad under his butt when he finally got into bed and, after Kevin took it away, he shot off into the girl's room to steal an old Fanta from under Mairita's bed. An orange filled-with-corn-syrup-and-sugar Fanta. Yeah, that's what he needed.<br />
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Mairita and Lilly are adjusting to one another. It turns out, the addition of Lasma (Mairita's best friend who is being hosted by our friends Chris and Nancy) has thrown a wrench in the fragile bond that Lilly and Mairita achieved last summer. Lasma is threatened by Lilly. She drags Mairita off and they whisper and giggle while Lilly escapes to her room to Facetime with her friends or listen to boy bands. Lilly's not hurt. She'd rather not try, which is bugging me. I want my daughter to care more abut Marita's feelings and understand her fear of rejection. So yesterday, I took Lilly and Mairita to the mall, gave them each twenty bucks and copped a squat on a bench (occasionally nodding off in front of complete strangers.) The girls shopped together, helping one another to choose matching wallets and fashionable tops. When we got home, they split off into different rooms and Mairita wrote in her journal while Lilly listened to music. Small victories are still victories, right?<br />
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Toms is his usual, sweet self. He helps with Tomass, plays enthusiastically with Casey and finds joy in most of the activities we plan.<br />
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This week, Chris suggested that we all pile into our mini-van and drive to a farm to go strawberry picking. For us, this is a novel, fun activity. But for the Latvian kids, it was business as usual. They live on a farm...<br />
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Still, Toms and Mairita filled boxes of strawberries so fast that today we will be making jam and yesterday I whipped up four strawberry pies. <br />
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So im noguris. But it's all good. It's all really good.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-30003388572052327882014-06-26T04:38:00.000-07:002014-06-26T04:38:01.818-07:00Today is the Day<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial;">
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While our kids have mixed feelings about the invasion, Kevin and I can't wait for the kids to arrive today! Wish us luck as we wrangle, chase and snuggle these amazing children. And, if you are in the area, stop by and get to know them!</div>
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The Children of the Poor</h1>
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<span class="author" style="background-color: white; color: #4d493f; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gwendolyn-brooks" style="color: #043d6e; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">GWENDOLYN BROOKS</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
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1</div>
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People who have no children can be hard:</div>
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Attain a mail of ice and insolence:</div>
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Need not pause in the fire, and in no sense</div>
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Hesitate in the hurricane to guard.</div>
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And when wide world is bitten and bewarred</div>
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They perish purely, waving their spirits hence</div>
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Without a trace of grace or of offense</div>
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To laugh or fail, diffident, wonder-starred.</div>
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While through a throttling dark we others hear</div>
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The little lifting helplessness, the queer</div>
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Whimper-whine; whose unridiculous</div>
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Lost softness softly makes a trap for us.</div>
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And makes a curse. And makes a sugar of</div>
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The malocclusions, the inconditions of love.</div>
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What shall I give my children? who are poor,</div>
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Who are adjudged the leastwise of the land,</div>
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Who are my sweetest lepers, who demand</div>
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No velvet and no velvety velour;</div>
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But who have begged me for a brisk contour,</div>
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Crying that they are quasi, contraband</div>
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Because unfinished, graven by a hand</div>
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Less than angelic, admirable or sure.</div>
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My hand is stuffed with mode, design, device.</div>
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But I lack access to my proper stone.</div>
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And plenitude of plan shall not suffice</div>
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Nor grief nor love shall be enough alone</div>
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To ratify my little halves who bear</div>
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Across an autumn freezing everywhere.</div>
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3</div>
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And shall I prime my children, pray, to pray?</div>
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Mites, come invade most frugal vestibules</div>
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Spectered with crusts of penitents’ renewals</div>
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And all hysterics arrogant for a day.</div>
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Instruct yourselves here is no devil to pay.</div>
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Children, confine your lights in jellied rules;</div>
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Resemble graves; be metaphysical mules.</div>
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Learn Lord will not distort nor leave the fray.</div>
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Behind the scurryings of your neat motif</div>
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I shall wait, if you wish: revise the psalm</div>
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If that should frighten you: sew up belief</div>
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If that should tear: turn, singularly calm</div>
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At forehead and at fingers rather wise,</div>
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Holding the bandage ready for your eyes.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-17729747058299334692014-06-24T01:30:00.000-07:002014-06-24T01:30:02.532-07:00Happy Birthday, Kevin <div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top">
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44th Birthday Evening, at Harris’s</h1>
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<span class="author" style="color: #4d493f; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/ted-berrigan" style="color: #043d6e; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">TED BERRIGAN</a></span><div class="tab-content active" id="poem">
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Nine stories high Second Avenue</div>
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On the roof there’s a party</div>
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All the friends are there watching</div>
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By the light of the moon the blazing sun</div>
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Go down over the side of the planet</div>
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To light up the underside of Earth</div>
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There are long bent telescopes for the friends</div>
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To watch this through. The friends are all in shadow.</div>
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I can see them from my bed inside my head.</div>
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44 years I’ve loved these dreams today.</div>
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17 years since I wrote for the first time a poem</div>
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On my birthday, why did I wait so long?</div>
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my land a good land</div>
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its highways go to many good places where</div>
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many good people were found; a home land, whose song comes up</div>
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from the throat of a hummingbird & it ends</div>
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where the sun goes to across the skies of blue.</div>
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I live there with you.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-90557046646676904752014-06-23T03:24:00.000-07:002014-06-23T03:24:00.500-07:00Tagged: Author Writing Process by Juliet (Blog Tour)<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This blog hop asks writers to ask and answer four questions about how they write. Then, writers tag others to post their answers. </div>
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So thanks to the gorgeous Kathy Wiechman for the tag! (And see my tags below.)</div>
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Kathy is an incredible writer of historical fiction. More info about her can be found at: <a href="http://www.debbiegonzales.com/%20." style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #d8471d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Deb's blog">http://swaggerwriters.blogspot.com/</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWn1tYXwIV5kfC2nA1thZGWnflYUUyN6t2dugYXxoEl9olD7eeVmBQWIVfWnkhB40Cf_IrFc5f-ZHoxYRCTy7M0WiXQUa0mez4EDaieJ6axKIGVcyy9DsXtcXlmiqfEZtmloNW-AlmM3Gg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-06+at+4.59.50+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWn1tYXwIV5kfC2nA1thZGWnflYUUyN6t2dugYXxoEl9olD7eeVmBQWIVfWnkhB40Cf_IrFc5f-ZHoxYRCTy7M0WiXQUa0mez4EDaieJ6axKIGVcyy9DsXtcXlmiqfEZtmloNW-AlmM3Gg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-06+at+4.59.50+AM.png" height="182" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ok, here goes:</h4>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">–<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="049330517-02062014" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What are you currently working on?</span></span></strong></h2>
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I am working on three, er...four new projects. The first is a co-written early reader about adoption with my friend, <a href="http://www.carriegoldmanauthor.com/">Carrie Goldman.</a> We are really excited as the revisions are close enough that we may be sending to our agents this month! The second project is a play abut racism. I am working with the amazing Tim Rhoze at Fleetwood Jourdain Theater and had an initial table reading last month. The last two writing projects are related to the dress code debate that I got into in my hometown. After a really interesting workshop, I've written and am revising an <a href="http://www.theopedproject.org/">Op Ed</a> to send to various publications and I'm simultaneously writing a book proposal on the same topic.</div>
<h2 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.425em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">–<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="049330517-02062014" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does my work differ from others of its genre?</span></span></strong></h2>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I don't really have a genre so maybe that's how it's different?</div>
<h2 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.425em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">–<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="049330517-02062014" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Why do I write what I write?</span></span></strong></h2>
<h2 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.425em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Because it feels great to craft something I am proud of. I LOVE to see my work on stage. It's an incredible way to revise - by seeing the work in the bodies of others, you know exactly where it goes astray. I also feel such passion for the topic of the subordination of girls. Girls are sexualized, humiliated and body-shamed every day. I want to be a part of stopping that.</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Last, my first book was about adoption and I'm still connected to the topic and the adoption community.</span></div>
<h2 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.425em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">–How does my individual writing process work?</span></strong></h2>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I like to write in the mornings and because I have so many things going right now, I tend to hop from project to project based on where my heart is that day or if I have a meeting, interview or deadline.</div>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I have a terrific critique group who helps me with revisions and sometimes meet privately with writing friends to get feedback. </div>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now, I get to tag some folks!! And I tag:</div>
<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
1. <strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Robin Morgan,</strong> a longtime friend and someone whose sense of humor, ability to love and write are pretty unparalleled. Robin writes blog posts on her new hometown, her kids and used to post amazing recipes. Please check out her site at: <a href="http://www.carriepearsonbooks.com/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #d8471d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Carrie Pearson's site">http://rainydayriot.wordpress.com/</a>. Check out her blog on June 24th.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60ado-Z9vVJcNX81nG6F9tn7U-W5Dxh4T1CyFrvJZFH0OyD25GhX_lpqbPvWkwhgmIpMSbfMwQ5YJwEgn5Z0h8vNmpJeto8dl_aeKapKUt7RwQLVR8U0G44_0AkVTmbsIWOQbrjFjgQbe/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-08+at+6.54.48+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60ado-Z9vVJcNX81nG6F9tn7U-W5Dxh4T1CyFrvJZFH0OyD25GhX_lpqbPvWkwhgmIpMSbfMwQ5YJwEgn5Z0h8vNmpJeto8dl_aeKapKUt7RwQLVR8U0G44_0AkVTmbsIWOQbrjFjgQbe/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-08+at+6.54.48+AM.png" height="320" width="298" /></a></div>
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<div style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
2. <strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tracy Bilen.</strong> Tracy is also a Michigan author. Her first YA suspense WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND garnered rave reviews. Her second one is on its way! And, I have a special fondness for Tracy–she won me in a mentorship contest and I got to work with her on her first novel over the course of a year. What fun. What a great writer. Check out her post next Monday and her website today! It’s at: <a href="http://tracybilen.com/" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #d8471d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Tracy's site">http://tracybilen.com .</a></div>
<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-26507111500726517722014-06-21T23:17:00.001-07:002014-06-21T23:17:57.068-07:00Happy Birthday, Casey!<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top">
<h1 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 10px 0px 3px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Birthday Lights</span></span></h1>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Blue-eyed babe,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Careful sun.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Open-hearted, youngest one</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now a boy</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Growing up</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Still my little</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cheerful pup.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="tab-content active" id="poem">
<div class="poem" style="margin: 25px 0px 0px;">
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I love you, my sweet, sweet 10 year old boy.</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-39157081970950681662014-06-20T02:00:00.000-07:002014-06-20T02:00:05.435-07:00Anniversary<div class="MsoNormal">
When you met me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still-faced in the hallway of our high-school<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was thinking of musical notes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the way they might make me seem important<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rooting and desperate as any infant,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Found a pretty girl with a head full of jabber<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And only noticed the pretty.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You grabbed hold, not knowing that<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The craggy drive we’d take would last thirty years<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe more<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-62887728753137302452014-06-19T04:33:00.000-07:002014-06-19T04:33:00.566-07:00Friday Original Poem<div class="MsoNormal">
Latvians</div>
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<br /></div>
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Next week</div>
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Next week they come</div>
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With bone-thin arms that wrap</div>
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Around our necks</div>
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Warm smiles and wicked grins</div>
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We cannot wait</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-38026221960477687902014-06-19T04:18:00.000-07:002014-06-19T04:18:00.021-07:00Lucky<div class="MsoNormal">
This month is filled with birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. It gets me pretty nostalgic about family, friends and the incredible luck that my life is filled with.</div>
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I can't think of a title for this one so if anyone has a suggestion...</div>
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What if there was nothing better<o:p></o:p></div>
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Than the shadowed, slanted pool of <o:p></o:p></div>
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Silence in our early morning living room?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What if your holding up the covers<o:p></o:p></div>
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To let me slide in after a long, worth-it day<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is better than the taste of salt and chocolate?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What if our children,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Butter colored, yielding and vulnerable,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Are the best ever born?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What if this year,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Parents still healthy despite it all,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Holds firm long enough to call them great grandparents?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What if our home <o:p></o:p></div>
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Warm and thick with cat hair,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Keeps its filthy luster forever?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What if I could keep wrap up these tender moments<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like so many flour-soft tacos<o:p></o:p></div>
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As protected as any row of socks,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Worn and waiting in a closed drawer.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-23336171900757046132014-06-15T04:20:00.003-07:002014-06-15T04:20:51.864-07:00Sunday Reading SuggestionI hate short stories. Just as you start to connect to a character and plot, the story ends - usually abruptly. When I pick up a new book, it's always a novel, the fatter the better. It makes sense then that <i>The <a href="http://www.bing.com/search?q=twelve+tribes+of+hattie&FORM=HDRSC1">Twelve Tribes of Hattie</a> </i>didn't work for me. The structure of the novel is short chapters that highlight the experiences of each of Hattie's children. And there weren't many plot lines that intersected, with the exception of Hattie herself. Yes, the historical fiction aspects of the book are important. And the subordination that each of the characters grapple with are independently interesting but because they are only glimpses, the novel doesn't satisfy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTMMHIhOmFFIeoTpPRPRIyBKMh_Zqg6wsmfh_7osjjAoWEDd5VKmX2p_FrXAzvtCLNScv5CCF_JDrQFdh-lE6kwjifg0aUPQzpxqb9y_-QYgKdf0pbOwV1KkR2UmkX8I6RyTIQvLw91uY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-15+at+6.19.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTMMHIhOmFFIeoTpPRPRIyBKMh_Zqg6wsmfh_7osjjAoWEDd5VKmX2p_FrXAzvtCLNScv5CCF_JDrQFdh-lE6kwjifg0aUPQzpxqb9y_-QYgKdf0pbOwV1KkR2UmkX8I6RyTIQvLw91uY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-15+at+6.19.36+AM.png" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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I have to give this one a thumbs down. But if you like short stories, it could work for you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-18900178397314633672014-06-15T04:10:00.000-07:002014-06-15T04:10:00.309-07:00Sunday Reading Suggestion<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ377EA/ref=oh_d__o04_details_o04__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">Say What You Will</a></i> by Cammie McGovern<br />
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Oh! This was so wonderful. Who doesn't love a love story? And if it's between two quirky characters, it's even better. But this is an author who takes risks. The storyline is believable in the way each character feels such anguish over their limitations. And it goes a bit farther than quirky with the main characters, really. One has cerebral palsy and can only speak through a voice controlled computer, the other has a progressive OCD.<br />
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How do they come together and fall in love?<br />
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Just read it.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-88212619314955374552014-06-12T03:48:00.000-07:002014-06-12T03:48:00.554-07:00It's My Birthday (Cheerio, chaps)<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
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Cheerios</h1>
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<span class="author" style="background-color: white; color: #4d493f; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins" style="color: #043d6e; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">BILLY COLLINS</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
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One bright morning in a restaurant in Chicago</div>
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as I waited for my eggs and toast,</div>
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I opened the <em>Tribune</em> only to discover</div>
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that I was the same age as Cheerios.</div>
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Indeed, I was a few months older than Cheerios</div>
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for today, the newspaper announced,</div>
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was the seventieth birthday of Cheerios</div>
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whereas mine had occurred earlier in the year.</div>
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Already I could hear them whispering</div>
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behind my stooped and threadbare back,</div>
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<em>Why that dude’s older than Cheerios</em></div>
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<em></em>the way they used to say</div>
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<em>Why that’s as old as the hills</em>,</div>
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only the hills are much older than Cheerios</div>
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or any American breakfast cereal,</div>
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and more noble and enduring are the hills,</div>
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I surmised as a bar of sunlight illuminated my orange juice.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-84952373598217331442014-06-09T03:00:00.000-07:002014-06-09T03:00:01.078-07:00Motivation<a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/mary-oliver" target="_blank">Mary Oliver</a>, one of our past <a href="http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html" target="_blank">poet laureates</a>, writes, “Poetry is prayer, it is
passion and music, it is beauty, comfort, it is agitation, declaration,
it is thanksgiving…Often poetry is the gate to a new life…It brings new
thoughts or welcome remembrance of old ones. It offers simple pleasure,
complicated joy, and even, at times, healing.”<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6501690161073916427.post-68296350598944793642014-06-08T04:01:00.000-07:002014-06-08T04:01:00.209-07:00Sunday Reading Suggestion<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMVO1N8/ref=oh_d__o02_details_o02__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass</a></i></div>
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Meg Medina won the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award for this one and it's well deserved. When Piddy Sanchez hears that Yaqui Delgado wants to kick her ass, she doesn't even know who Yaqui is. As Yaqui closes in, Piddy must balance work, her eroding academic record and an obsession with finding her father.</div>
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I loved the voice in this book. In fact, I read it in one night - dragging it into the bath with me and carrying it up and downstairs as I tried to focus on tasks but really just wanted to stay in Piddy's world to see what she would do next.</div>
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Read this one. It's fun, indulgent and real.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088847302697137912noreply@blogger.com0