Cheer Up!

If you’re feeling even the slightest bit down, watch this vid – it will brighten your day. I promise!

This was sent to me from my friend Jenny and here’s the scoop:

This video was made in the Antwerp, Belgium Central (Train) Station on the 23rd of March 2009.
. . . with no warning to the passengers passing through the station,
at 08:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing ‘Do, Re, Mi’ begins to play on the public address system.”
As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances.
They created this amazing stunt with just two rehearsals!

The Sea – Theme Friday

Emerald blue and crystal green dreams that rush the shore and explode in an ecstacy of froth.

Chatters hum from oiled denizen. Spray. Swat. Snooze. Kick sand. Splash. Shells sparkle – treasures given and snatched back when you reach for them.

Sun leaves its mark- red, brown, butterscotch, fushia. Flirts with clouds that fluff across the sky, waving hello and goodbye.

Laughter makes song that nestles in deep and warms our winter nights. Our Christmas by the sea.

Christine’s sea ebbs and tides here

Jess’s seashore flows here.

Pen – Theme Friday

The pen presses to paper
which gobbles the ink
the travel is endless
the sights, divine
Reality doesn’t matter
borders have no meaning
Time plays no part
Identities slip on and off
like a bevy of party dresses
that flutter in a flurry of indecision

The pen is freedom
a voice of descent
That can pass through walls
small minds
the hulls of ships
the bars of prisons
the airwaves
virtual universes
prejudice and bias
skin color and class
wealth and poverty
Through gaping maws
and the eye of a needle.

Its cargo, ideas
opinions
imaginings
dreams
new points
from which to view
A flame
eternal and
hope everlasting

Jess’s pen writes magical things here and

Christine’s pen is creating universes here

It’s Been a Year

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than a year actually, since I left the safe world of WordPress for self-hosted land. Though I would never delete this blog since it was my first born, so to speak, I have to admit the self hosted blog has become my favorite child. For many reasons.

While WordPress makes it easy for you to set up your own free blog and offers you many options, it just doesn’t compare to the options available to you. From thousands of themes that are absolutely gorgeous, to cool little plugins, widgets and endless varieties of layout and design. It’s actually a little overwhelming at first. In fact, in the first week of self hosting I was ready to push the delete button many times.

You own it. Now, there is certainly a degree of ownership with a free blog – it’s not like some squatters will swoop in and take it from you – but WordPress does have the final say on what you can and cannot post. Most of the time that may not matter – but there may be times when you don’t want to have to worry about being censored. Self-hosting allows you that freedom. You really do own every bit of your blog and I suppose it’s the difference between owning and renting a home. Because your blog is your home on the internet, in a way.

You can advertise or sell or both. Many people blog in order to just express themselves, or find like minded people and that’s a great and fun thing to do. However, a lot of us have products, intellectual properties, saleable goods, information products, what have you and that is verboten here. On a self hosted blog you can advertise and sell your wares to your heart’s content. Which is not to say you should stop writing content, because that is what got you where you are – still, it would be awfully nice to make a living from your blog, wouldn’t it? Or at least part of a living.

So looking back over the last year, all the trials and tribs – the learning curve that was sometimes way too steep and all the other things that took place to bring about the change – I have to say I wouldn’t do it differently if I had it to do over again.

I hope you’ll drop by and see the new place – it’s not quite so new now that it’s been around for a year but I always like it when people drop by. You know?

Writer Chick

Shutterbug Bug

Okay, well I guess that isn’t techinically true, since I don’t think there is a shutter in a digital camera but… I sure do have the photobug lately. In fact, I’m a little obsessed, especially when it comes to my tree. Oh yes, there is a felled tree in the park which I have adopted and now own, which I visit pretty much every day. Strange, eh? I suppose I’ve done stranger things.

Anywhoo, rather than putting in all the pics one at a time and in full size, I’ve created a little gallery below (sure hope it works) and if you see something that looks good, click on it and it should enlarge. Anyway, gotta go, I think I see a photo op now…

Weekend Meme

Well it’s the weekend, so it must be meme time again, eh?

This one is from Alex over at Someday Syndrome. Thanks, Alex.

I am: just me.
I think: too much, too often
I know: I can survive anything
I have: too many ideas and too little time
I wish: people were kinder to each other
I hate: as little as possible, it serves no purpose and resolves nothing
I miss: having my own little house, the room mate thing is getting old
I fear: I won’t have enough time to do everything I want to do.
I hear: what people think
I smell: everything, which can be a little distracting.
I crave: chocolate sometimes but I’m not a craver at heart, if I want something then I usually just go get it.
I search: for the truth, not just mine, but the truth in all things
I wonder: why life can’t be more simple.
I regret: nothing. what is done is done, you cannot call it back. there is no point in regretting.
I love: the ocean, the blue of it, the sky above it, the vast space of it.
I ache: when I exercise too much or don’t get enough sleep
I am not: trying to be anyone but myself. What you see is what you get.
I believe: all people are basically good, despite evidence to the contrary
I dance: when I am joyous
I sing: all the time, especially old jazz standards and blues
I cry: when I’m happy and when I am sad, my emotions are volatile and at the surface.
I fight: when I have to, I don’t like to fight but I’m not afraid either.
I win: when I remain true to myself, regardless of the circumstances.
I lose: when I give in to things I know aren’t true or me.
I never: want to stop writing.
I always: believe change is possible.
I confuse: people sometimes.
I listen: with all of my senses.
I can usually be found: at a computer keyboard.
I am scared: of very little.
I need: space, a garden, writing implements, friends and purpose in what I am doing.
I am happy about: sunshine, flowers, laughter, song, art.
I imagine: a world in which there is no war, crime and insanity but peaceful co-existence where everyone strives to improve the state and condition of the world and nothing more.
I tag: no one, do the meme if you’ve a mind to. It’s an interesting exercise actually.

Hey Buddy, Have You Got the Time?

One of my chums sent me these amazing pics – little models made out of old watch parts:

Sorry for the shitty, cop-out posts guys, but I’m still wiped from my weekend project. Hopefully it gets better later in the week.

10 Reasons Why it's Good to Take a Week Off Blogging

Hey everybody, I’m back and thanks to all the fabulous guest posters who gave me the time off I needed last week. You’re all wonderful bloggers and good friends and I appreciate it more than you know.

So, the week was good for me and I’ve realized that every now and again it’s good to take some time off from the routine and here are a few reasons why:

1. Eventually you run out of recipes and need some time to find some new ones.

2. Your hands are not really intended to take on the shape of crawling crabs and it is much easier to smoke when you can extend your fingers.

3. You occasionally need a day when the thoughts, “I am so blogging this,” “what the hell am I’m going to post today?”, “Why doesn’t YouTube have decent vids anymore?”, and similar thoughts aren’t dancing around your brain.

4. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and your eyes can indeed adjust to natural light again if you just give it a a day or so.

5. Reading an actual book doesn’t make your eyes hurt and can easily be taken to a park, a chair, the backyard or the beach without missing a thing.

6. A day without email can be filled with adventure and new discoveries instead of viagra ads and old jokes and get rich quick schemes.

7. Life has a beautiful rhythym of its own and everything does not have to go at lightning speed and sometimes it’s better when it doesn’t.

8. Barbecues in the backyard, stars in the sky, nightblooming jasmine, hummingbirds at the feeders.

9. New ideas come unexpectedly and allow your mind to grow.

10. Sleeping is a good thing.

Granted, not one of my usual funny lists – though that was my original thought. But the mind goes where it wants to sometimes.

Theme Fridays – Park Bench

In my travels as a blogger, I’ve had the pleasure of encountering some great women writers and have thought it would be fun to do a sort of Writer’s Circle (cooperative project ) with them. Recently, during a casual conversation I mentioned this to Jess and Christine and in no time flat, Theme Fridays was born. The idea is simple – pick a theme and each write a piece based around that theme. We hope to make it a regular feature and add other women writers to the circle as time goes on – in fact, any women writers out there who might be interested, please shoot me an email. We hope you enjoy this new adventure into literary fun. Visit Jess’s park bench and visit Christine’s park bench . Oh, and don’t forget to pick up some cotton candy, hot dogs and ice cream while you’re at the park. 😉

She sits upon me and waits. Looking up as they pass by and wondering who will stop. Will anyone stop? Does anyone see the lost in her eyes, the shine in her heart, the arms that reach out for the life that passes her by?

I whisper but she does not hear my consolations, commiserations, salutations. I tell her the stories that have come before, so she will know she is not alone in her yearnings – not a solitary soul but one of many.

“I’m not special,” she writes again and again in her journal. The ink soaks the page, deep and black.
“Yes, you are!” I hover over her shoulder, whispering loudly.
“No one will ever see me,” the pen assaults the tender pages and the tears smear the words.
“I see you,” I long to sprout arms that can embrace.
“What’s the use?” The journal and pen fly from her grasp and land at my feet. She stands up and the chill splinters me.
“Come back,” I call to her but she drifts away, into the crowd – a blur of black and white, folding into the other invisibles in the noon day sun.

He bends down and retrieves the journal and pen, then sits upon me. He reads her words and looks about. He takes the pen and writes, “I’m not special…”

A Christmas moment

Take a few minutes and click here – it’s the pause that refreshes.

WC