So I sit down to write
even though the timings tight
There is so little time
to even think of rhyme
So many things to do
and I am stuck with you
I promised self last night
that today I'd write
Other people's poems
often read like tomes
I want my lines to run
and frolic very lightly
so once you've left the page
you'll come back, maybe nightly?
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
So I'm trying to be optimistic again
O.K. I just gotta do this even if it is short. It is like meditation or exercise, you must be consistent or it is no good. I did practically nothing today but I did read the great article Nick posted from cracked.com. I can't keep thinking about the article. I cannot say anything better and the guy really made me think. It seems like a long time ago when I thought like that. I have really become a pessimist and for no good reason as nothing bad has happened to me personally..
I think it all really began with our invasion of Iraq and finding the later truth of no nuclear weapons. I watched our "shock and awe" and listened to our embedded reporters and thought we were doing a good thing to get rid of Saddam. I was thrilled when his statue was pulled down and I really believed we were ridding the area of a tyrant.
Then slowly the war went on, the truth came out, our killed and wounded kept coming home in body bags and stretchers; and what did we gain but unending war and bad world press? I stopped being optimistic about our country or believing anyone in power. We missed our chance to get Bin La din on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, then came the great recession in 2007. It just kept going on and on from there. Friends and family lost jobs, homelessness and poverty grew, civil rights were challenged and voter suppression began in ernest. My most cherished hopes for a better life for all of our citizens were being eroded. I became more and more depressed, sarcastic and negative about our congress and local and state govt.
I became a member of the opposite of a tea bagger. I became an old cracked coffee potter. No relative of Harry.
Anyhoo, the cracked .com" 7 reasons the news looks worse....." gave me a new lease on optimism. I can't deny my frustrations but perhaps I can balance them more objectively and remember it is out of my hands anyway. History will judge, not I. And I loved the embedded cat video
I think it all really began with our invasion of Iraq and finding the later truth of no nuclear weapons. I watched our "shock and awe" and listened to our embedded reporters and thought we were doing a good thing to get rid of Saddam. I was thrilled when his statue was pulled down and I really believed we were ridding the area of a tyrant.
Then slowly the war went on, the truth came out, our killed and wounded kept coming home in body bags and stretchers; and what did we gain but unending war and bad world press? I stopped being optimistic about our country or believing anyone in power. We missed our chance to get Bin La din on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, then came the great recession in 2007. It just kept going on and on from there. Friends and family lost jobs, homelessness and poverty grew, civil rights were challenged and voter suppression began in ernest. My most cherished hopes for a better life for all of our citizens were being eroded. I became more and more depressed, sarcastic and negative about our congress and local and state govt.
I became a member of the opposite of a tea bagger. I became an old cracked coffee potter. No relative of Harry.
Anyhoo, the cracked .com" 7 reasons the news looks worse....." gave me a new lease on optimism. I can't deny my frustrations but perhaps I can balance them more objectively and remember it is out of my hands anyway. History will judge, not I. And I loved the embedded cat video
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Why I have a love/hate relationship with FB
I am led to blog again by a Facebook incident which has forced me to review once again what I am doing and why I do it. I got on Facebook a couple of years ago just to find out what it was. I discovered to my surprise that I really was enjoying my FB experience. I began to encourage my friends and family to get on it with me so we can keep in touch with what each other was thinking , enjoying, where we were traveling to and from, getting engaged or having babies....All sorts of exciting stuff I had not known about for many years. For me the benefits of FB have been mostly positive. I find that while my family seldom if ever writes and rarely cal,l they will keep in touch somewhat on FB. I am separated by a lot of miles by most of my family and friends. From India, Korea, New York, Pennsylvania, to California and Michigan, among just a few places, my friends and family are scattered far and wide. From FB I have met up again with my great nieces and nephews. Josh, Nick, Sean, Angela, are all my friends now. Their significant others Elizabeth and MerryDeath, and now little baby Natalie are on my radar, where normally I wouldn't have a clue from their parents and grandparents where they were or what was happening in their lives. I have connected with old friends Becky, Helene, Charlene, and have become much closer again, to Eileen and Jenny. I have become friends with Joretta and some of her kids and love keeping up with them. Debra is in touch much more often and I am so thrilled to be in contact with her again. Amy is in touch through FB but I have not found Dylan, Zack or Brooke yet. Blake and Kenny and Michael ignore me but perhaps it is an older guy thing. Srini too, isn't officially on FB but he reads the posts from family and his friends in martial arts and really enjoys them.
There are so many other people I would like to find and be in touch with but I forget to look for them when I'm on FB. If your out there and see me, send me a friend request.
I really enjoy posts about you and the family and the animals. I like to know where you have been. Its O.K. that you don't say where or when you are going, but I love the updates when you get back. I love to know your daily details, like comments on funny kids, kitties, dogs, or other wild life. I enjoy recipes you post, cute sayings or profound thoughts or just status updates. I like to know about family reunions, frustrations with daily life, funny things that happen or pictures you take and post.
The whole experience is mostly good.
What I do not like, however, are political statements which bad mouth others, or which put others in a bad light or try to convince others to one's point of view. I do not like religious statements for the same reason. It is one thing to mention you are campaigning for the Tea Party, Republican, Libertarian, Democrat or Progressive party, or to mention that you went to a rally, etc. It is quite another to post political rants or smear campaigns or negative cartoons or racist comments. I also do not like statements of faith which imply if you don't think or feel the same way, you are wrong and worse than that, damned. I love hymns and lovely religious music and interesting links to what my friends and relatives might also find interesting. I hate rants right out there in my face, which I am forced to hide or skip over continuously. I just do not believe FB is the forum for our deepest faith and political beliefs. There are blogs and emails which are much more suited for this type of exchange, or even links and private messages through, FB. Please just do not proselytize to me when I just want to know you better, share a few laughs and pictures, and relate to you all in a gentle way. So much for this blog. See you all again soon.
There are so many other people I would like to find and be in touch with but I forget to look for them when I'm on FB. If your out there and see me, send me a friend request.
I really enjoy posts about you and the family and the animals. I like to know where you have been. Its O.K. that you don't say where or when you are going, but I love the updates when you get back. I love to know your daily details, like comments on funny kids, kitties, dogs, or other wild life. I enjoy recipes you post, cute sayings or profound thoughts or just status updates. I like to know about family reunions, frustrations with daily life, funny things that happen or pictures you take and post.
The whole experience is mostly good.
What I do not like, however, are political statements which bad mouth others, or which put others in a bad light or try to convince others to one's point of view. I do not like religious statements for the same reason. It is one thing to mention you are campaigning for the Tea Party, Republican, Libertarian, Democrat or Progressive party, or to mention that you went to a rally, etc. It is quite another to post political rants or smear campaigns or negative cartoons or racist comments. I also do not like statements of faith which imply if you don't think or feel the same way, you are wrong and worse than that, damned. I love hymns and lovely religious music and interesting links to what my friends and relatives might also find interesting. I hate rants right out there in my face, which I am forced to hide or skip over continuously. I just do not believe FB is the forum for our deepest faith and political beliefs. There are blogs and emails which are much more suited for this type of exchange, or even links and private messages through, FB. Please just do not proselytize to me when I just want to know you better, share a few laughs and pictures, and relate to you all in a gentle way. So much for this blog. See you all again soon.
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