Monday

Poetry Series: Week 5

This post was inspired by a few random thoughts which just happened to fit together quite well...yesterday in church, Pastor mentioned Elizabeth Barrett Browning in her sermon (one of my favorite poets!!!!), and I decided I wanted to use one of her poems for the poetry series today. However, my dear Miss Browning has so many amazing works to choose from, I couldn't decide which to use!....but then I remembered the music meme that's been circulating around many of our blogs, and I thought that I'd spotlight two wonderful poems of hers that focus on music....enjoy :)


A Musical Instrument
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

What was he doing, the great god Pan,
Down in the reeds by the river?
Spreading ruin and scattering ban,
Splashing and paddling with hoofs of a goat,
And breaking the golden lilies afloat
With the dragon-fly on the river.

He tore out a reed, the great god Pan,
From the deep cool bed of the river:
The limpid water turbidly ran,
And the broken lilies a-dying lay,
And the dragon-fly had fled away,
Ere he brought it out of the river.

High on the shore sat the great god Pan,
While turbidly flowed the river;
And hacked and hewed as a great god can,
With his hard bleak steel at the patient reed,
Till there was not a sign of the leaf indeed
To prove it fresh from the river.

He cut it short, did the great god Pan,
(How tall it stood in the river!)
Then drew the pith, like the heart of a man,
Steadily from the outside ring,
And notched the poor dry empty thing
In holes, as he sat by the river.

"This is the way," laughed the great god Pan,
(Laughed while he sat by the river)
"The only way, since gods began
To make sweet music, they could succeed."
Then, dropping his mouth to a hole in the reed,
He blew in power by the river.

Sweet, sweet, sweet, O Pan!
Piercing sweet by the river!
Blinding sweet, O great god Pan!
The sun on the hill forgot to die,
And the lilies revived, and the dragon-fly
Came back to dream on the river.

Yet half a beast is the great god Pan,
To laugh as he sits by the river,
Making a poet out of a man:
The true gods sigh for the cost and pain—
For the reed which grows nevermore again
As a reed with the reeds in the river.


I think the most fantastic line in this poem is "The sun on the hill forgot to die/And the lilies revived, and the dragon-fly/Came back to dream on the river." LOVE IT!

And here's another:

Perplexed Music
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

EXPERIENCE, like a pale musician, holds
A dulcimer of patience in his hand,
Whence harmonies, we cannot understand,
Of God; will in his worlds, the strain unfolds
In sad-perplexed minors: deathly colds
Fall on us while we hear, and countermand
Our sanguine heart back from the fancyland
With nightingales in visionary wolds.
We murmur 'Where is any certain tune
Or measured music in such notes as these ? '
But angels, leaning from the golden seat,
Are not so minded their fine ear hath won
The issue of completed cadences,
And, smiling down the stars, they whisper--
SWEET.


I've never seen this poem until today, and I think it's just made itself one of my all-time favorites. The language is so absolutely beautiful; words like dulcimer and sanguine and countermand just give me goosebumps! And the overall idea of the poem...that God blesses the world with such unbelievable beauty that often, our human eyes and ears can't even begin to comprehend it... my favorite part of this poem is easily the end: "And, smiling down the stars, they whisper --/SWEET." oooooooooh....*happy sigh*

Sunday

Hmm

I am currently experimenting with the layout of the blog, though really, I don't know how much it matters since most of you are probably reading this via the bland black-and-whiteness of a feed reader anyway....but at any rate, your thoughts are most welcome :)

I am exhausted. Three parties in 30 hours is a lot for anyone; I think my (very limited) social abilities have been completely depleted. I need to recover from excessive amounts of mingling and cupcakes, so I am off to spend the rest of the night curled up in bed with my three latest library finds: Always Grace, by Tim LaHaye, because I love his writing and because this is much different the the usual apocolyptic fiction of his so I'm curious and because even I need a gooey romance story that makes me sigh happily every so often; Poetic Meter and Form, by I-don't-remember-but-it-looks-interesting-and-it-has-that-wonderful-old-book-smell-that-makes-me-swoon; and River Secrets, by (as most of you probably know) Shannon Hale, because Anilee and Somnite got me hooked on the BoB (haha, look at me, using Bayern-related acronyms!).

Ta-ta!

P.S. Check me out! This is post #10 this month. That's right folks, TEN posts this month; that's the most EVER. We're talking wowness of a record-breaking magnitude, here. AND!!! I still have nearly 27 hours before June is officially over, so who knows?! I might even EXCEED 10!!!

Saturday

Seven Songs of Summer Meme

ZE RULES:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to."

[Ok, so here are the first seven songs that come to mind when I think about what I've been listening to lately...a pretty amusing mix, actually!!]

ZE SONGS:

1. Walking on Sunshine -- Katrina & the Waves
2. Brown-eyed Girl -- Van Morrison
3. Hallelujah -- Krystal Meyers
4. Average Girl -- BarlowGirl
5. Anthem -- Superchic[k]
6. Hey Baby -- the Crazy Frog version!!
7. Mirrors & Smoke -- Jars of Clay


[edit] BONUS SONG!! (Just cuz I am such a rule-breaker and can't stick to only seven...!):
8. American Pie -- Don McLean (I have been listening to this song on repeat nearly non-stop for the last 20 hours. I kid you not. Yes, it played while I slept last night...!)

ZE TAGS:

I tag Anilee, Somnite, & Patrice. I think everyone else has done it already...?

Friday

Top 3 Idea Books Every Writer Should Have

....to help conquer writer's block and get the creativity flowing!

1. poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, by Susan G. Wooldridge

Ok, so it might have originally been aimed at poets or wannabe poets like myself, but in all honesty this book is fantastic for writers of any style or genre. It has wonderful exercises that challenge you to think and explore and is full of anecdotes and examples from the author's own life. My very best friend in the entire galaxy gave me this book for my birthday a few years ago, and it is my all-time favorite book ever. I kid you not; every time I have opened this book I've written something -- not always somethinig good, but it never fails to give me ideas and get me writing, and sometimes that's the hardest thing in the world to do!

2. The Pocket Muse, by Monica Wood


I just receieved this book in the mail today, and am positively in love with it! Again, it doesn't matter what you write -- this book is for you if you've ever suffered from lack of ideas or inspiration. It is a fantastic mix of tips and tricks to make your writing better, stunning black and white photos, lists, ideas, random words to get creative juices flowing, scenarios, characters in need of further development and prompts to get you thinking and writing. AMAZING! And the layout is gorgeous; each page is beautiful and unique and I swear, this book just exudes creative vibes.



3. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, by Philip Sexton



Filled with more then a hundred intriguing and interesting pictures, every page in this book has a photo, a lesson about some aspect of writing, an accompanying exercise or two to practice the lesson and simple questions and captions to make you think. The book is divided into sections like "Characters" and "Dialogue", designed to help you improve your writing lesson by lesson. This is incredibly helpful and useful, but I've found that the book is also fantastic just to pick up and page through and pick an image at random. Mix and match the prompts and photos to come up with interesting combinations, and then just write and see where the words take you.

Monday

Poetry Series: Week 4

I stumbled across this poem tonight purely by accident and absolutely fell in love with it.
I love the descriptions and the personifications of the beach....I love the calming effect of this poem and how the words just wash over me.
Most of all, I love the title -- Where Angels Rest -- it's like the epitome of beauty, serenity, and glory.

WHERE ANGELS REST
Marcia Schechinger

Cool waves softly stretch
breathing in the wind
Slightly covering
sand's warm body
The tempo rises and falls
as a breeze ascends the waves to shore
with white foam
then swallows them back again
Like a duet they play,
the wind and water
moving in methodical rhythm
harmonious with my heartbeat
Surf sweeps gently as if imploring
for peaceful tranquility
Here, I sit, quietly thinking
this must be where angels rest

Poetry Series: week 3

(Thanks to my dear best friend for the idea for this post.)

We are supposed to have thunderstorms today. I absolutely, positively LOVE LOVE LOVE thunderstorms.

I have ALWAYS loved thunderstorms. I distinctly remember many times, when I was little, when it would start to storm and my little brother would go running and hide under a blanket and I would go sit by a window and just watch it; sometimes for HOURS. Thunderstorms have always captivated me. I’ve always loved the mystery of them; how they come from no where and last for unknown amounts of time and then disappear slowly until suddenly, you realize that your gray clouds have gone and the sun is shining again, and you don’t even know when that happened.

Thunderstorms are composed of tightly controlled power. A power that roars so strongly that it can shake the very walls of my house; a power that flashes so brightly that it can light up the darkest of skies for miles and miles in every direction. I love the fact that even though something this strong could easily result in disaster, it doesn’t; instead, it makes a lot of noise and lets everyone know how strong it is but in the end, pours down drops of life-sustaining water. I love the intensity of storms. Some people personificate storms as angry, vicious things, but I’ve always thought of them simply as powerful.

Thunderstorms make me think about God, too, which might sound strange, but bear (bare?) with me. I think there are plenty of times when God chooses to act like a thunderstorm. He often comes out of no where; when we least expect it; and does things so strong and mighty and unbelievable that we’re forced to stop and look and think for a minute. He’s got a power strong enough to shake us to our foundations. And He constantly pours down the things we need -- the blessings, the guidance, the mercy -- to survive.

I love thunderstorms :)

A THUNDERSTORM
By Emily Dickinson

The wind begun to rock the grass
With threatening tunes and low, -
He flung a menace at the earth,
A menace at the sky.

The leaves unhooked themselves from trees
And started all abroad;
The dust did scoop itself like hands
And throw away the road.

The wagons quickened on the streets,
The thunder hurried slow;
The lightning showed a yellow beak,
And then a livid claw.

The birds put up the bars to nests,
The cattle fled to barns;
There came one drop of giant rain,
And then, as if the hands

That held the dams had parted hold,
The waters wrecked the sky,
But overlooked my father's house,
Just quartering a tree.



A THUNDERSTORM
Archiband Lampman

A moment the wild swallows like a flight
Of withered gust-caught leaves, serenely high,
Toss in the windrack up the muttering sky.
The leaves hang still. Above the weird twilight,
The hurrying centres of the storm unite
And spreading with huge trunk and rolling fringe,
Each wheeled upon its own tremendous hinge,
Tower darkening on. And now from heaven's height,
With the long roar of elm-trees swept and swayed,
And pelted waters, on the vanished plain
Plunges the blast. Behind the wild white flash
That splits abroad the pealing thunder-crash,
Over bleared fields and gardens disarrayed,
Column on column comes the drenching rain.


What do thunderstorms remind you of?

Friday

Taking q's advice

[q told me to write. "It doesn't even have to make sense"...well...]

It was so hot in my house yesterday that the chocolate chips, the chocolate chips that were sealed inside their yellow Nestle bag inside a drawer under a countertop far, far, far away from the dishwasher and the sun and any other heat-producing source...the chocolate chips melted. Into one big gooey glob. Chocolate chips aren't supposed to melt inside a drawer! Is there no safe haven left?!

So what did I do? Well, there's only one thing you can do with a bag of gooey chocolate chips. There's no hope left for them; obviously they'll never be the same again. Their sanctuary of the dark drawer has been invaded; suddenly there's no where left for them to go.........

I ate them.

There's nothing like gooey chocolate chips to make the monotony and dreadfulness of summer a little more tolerable.

Wednesday

Top 5 Reasons Why This Isn't A Real Post:

1. Chemistry is evil. And therefore still not done. Blah.



2. Evil trolls have taken up residence in my bedroom and keep throwing things onto the floor, un-organizing the desk and scattering shoes around. As such, my room will not stay clean, and as such, I am perpetually attempting to clean it anyway. Not because I want to, mind you, but because I have to. Merh.



3. You know how most people's summers are relaxing times, where they can unwind and focus on the things they don't have enough time to do during the rest of the year? Not me. My summers are just as busy as the school year. Busy-ness includes, but is not limited to: Summer job. Never-ending college search. Babysitting. Extracurriculars. Summer camps. Need to plan 5 lessons for upcoming week of VBS (Vacation Bible School) that's I'm teaching at our church. Guitar needs practicing. Etc.



4. Writer's block. Severe writer's block, I might add. I have not written anything, save for a short story which I'm relatively sure is idiotic, for weeks. Which is so absolutely not me. This latest block has rather far-reaching effects; it's permeated not only my stories, but also my poems, journal entries and now I'm afraid it's affecting my blog! AAAH! Any ideas, folks?!?!



5. Aforementioned trolls, apparently growing bored with being confined to my bedroom have spread out and brought all sorts of dirt and other bits of crud throughout the house and therefore causing me to have to vacuum. Again.

Monday

Poetry Series: week 2

(Ah, yes; as you can all see I've made GREAT progress on the deciding-on-a-real-title-for-this-series front....)

Week 2! Here we go!

Cloak of Laughter
Abigail Cresson

I wear a cloak of laughter
Lest anyone should see
My dress of sorrow underneath
And stop to pity me.

I wear a cloak of laughter
Lest anyone should guess
That what is hid beneath it
Is less then happiness...

But, ah, what does it matter
To you who are so wise?
My cloak falls tattered at my feet
Before your tender eyes.

For cloaks to cover sorrow
Are meant for stranger-folk
One cannot hide away from friends
Beneath a laughing cloak.

Oh, futile cloak of laughter
How frail you are, and thin!
Love looks through you so easily
And sees the grief within.



I have fallen in love with this poem :) I discovered it in some ancient poetry anthology that I got from the library ages ago and I've loved it ever since!

I thought this poem was particularly fitting, at least for me, this week...I have a very, very, very dear friend who happens to be going through a rough time lately and dealing with a lot. She keeps trying to convince me that she's OK and that I don't need to worry about her, but I know that's not quite true. So, my dear, if you happen to be reading this right now, please just know that I love you and I'm here for you and you can let go of your "cloak" anytime, now.
And if you guys could say a prayer for her, that would be muchly appreciated. God will know who you mean. :)

Sunday

End World Hunger

OK -- short and sweet tonight. I've started at least a half dozen "serious" posts over the last week, but haven't had time to finish any of them. Yet.

But for right now, here's an important post.

According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children.

We can make a difference.

Many of you have probably heard of this site already; I know I've been talking about it quite it a bit over the last few months. But I don't know that I've ever posted it on here.

Lately, I've become rather obsessive about ending world hunger. People laugh when I say this is one of my life's goals. Ok, so it's a big goal. But hey, you need big goals if you want to achieve great things, right?!

Please check out this site:

Help end world hunger

Make it a habit. Make it your homepage. Make it a goal to play for 10 minutes or 20 minutes or 1 minute every day.

If you haven't heard of it yet, listen up. FreeRice is, in a word, miraculous. It's a series of online vocabulary quizzes. There's no signing up; you don't need to make a username or give out your email or log in to play. Just click and you're ready to roll. It's a SMART vocabulary game, too; it tests you, automatically assigns you a level based on your performance and continues to adjust and refine the words it gives you so that you're constantly being challenged to learn new words without being discouraged. All of you high schoolers -- this is fantastic SAT prep. BELIEVE ME!!

And, the very best part? Every single time you get a word right, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Hunger Relief program. In a few minutes you can donate a few hundred or even a few thousand grains of rice. Coupled with that of thousands of other players worldwide, the site has donated over 35 billion grains of rice since October 2007.


Ready to help?

... Play FreeRice often and spread the word

... Read more about FreeRice and how it's combating world hunger

... Join the ONE campaign to fight AIDS and extreme poverty

... Learn more at Poverty.com


I've been telling people for years now that I'm going to change the world. Want to help?

Monday

Poetry Series: Week 1

Hmmm. I've been thinking, lately....I've decided that I'm going to try posting a poem every Monday...I mean, seriously -- what better way to start out your week?! And it might not necessarily be an original poem; they could be well-known favorite poems or perhaps completely unknown poems by random obscure poets that just happen to jump out at me at the time...or maybe something in between. Who knows...I'm still in the brainstorming phase. I'm hoping, though, that this will help me post more regularly and keep things at least a tad bit more interesting around here...

I still need to come up with a name for this little series, though...ideas, anyone? Alliteration is fun but I've already ruled out "Meditative Mondays" (sounds too sleepy) and "Metaphorical Mondays" (has too many syllables) and there aren't any fantastic "p" adjectives to pair up with "poetry"...although, in my defense, it is rather close to midnight and there's a fantastic chance I'm just not thinking straight.

So, seeing as it's Monday (at least, it is if I post this within the next 19 minutes...!), here is the very first entry of...whatever it is that I'm going to name this series.

*ahem*

Sandcastle Promises

Sandcastle promises
Built on uncertain shore
Beautiful to look at
Yet good for nothing more.

Lacking a foundation,
Made up of tiny grains;
Bits of rock soon washed away
Until not a single one remains.

Hopes, once packed together
Now quickly fall apart
These sculptures have no meaning;
They’re momentary works of art.

Their existence is soon shattered
By waves of reality
All my sandcastle promises
Have eroded completely.

So have I based my life
On all the petty things?
Or do I live with purpose,
Does my life have meaning?

Do I believe all that I say,
Am I willing to take a stand?
Or am I simply building
Fragile castles in the sand?


Hmmm.. I was going to post my thoughts on this poem but I changed my mind. How about if YOU guys tell me what YOU think??