1978 Poem
I’ve found a poem I wrote in 1978. That makes it the earliest one that I still have.
It’s called Water Sprite.
Favorite Places
A few of my favorite places…
- Acadia National Park in Maine.
- The Four Corners area (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico) – Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, the Valley of the Gods, Sangre de Cristo mountain range, the Canyonlands, Taos (esp. the Taos Pueblo), Los Alamos, D.H . Lawrence’s ranch, etc.
- The seas of clouds in the beautiful mountains of Taiwan. I was woefully under-prepared for the trek along the Southern Cross-Road Highway, but I’ll remember the beauty of it all my life.
- Any of the mini roller-coaster roads through the cornfields of Iowa.
- Berkeley campus.
- Killington Vermont – skiing and reading Tolstoy novels.
- Ardèche Gorges (and the caves) in France
- Anywhere in Provence or Haute Provence in France – esp in the spring. Just start driving – it will astound you.
- I love unusual and fun restaurants with great food and atmosphere. There are a lot of those, but I think the best time I ever had was at La Dame d’Aquitaine in Dijon.
- P̬re Lachaise Cemetery in Paris Рand other beautiful cemeteries
- Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg) in Paris.
- Notre Dame de Paris is spectacular, but I enjoy “buildings” of religion generally.
- OK, actually almost anywhere in Paris. I can’t pick a link for Paris.
- Lilacs in Massachusetts, and lavender fields anywhere.
- Redwoods and alpine.. pine.
- Vineyards, anywhere, in late afternoon.
- Big libraries, anywhere – but especially the Library of Congress.
- The cliffs at Newport Beach RI.
- MASSACHUSETTS: Amherst. Northampton. Quabbin Reservoir. Tanglewood, and the Berkshires area. Plymouth. Salem. Gloucester. Boston. Martha’s Vineyard. …
(thanks to Mark for the idea)
Someday I would like to go to the islands of Elba and Capri. In the States, I would like to spend more time in Washington, Oregon, and California.
What are some of your favorite places?
Busy, hectic – but… VOTE
I’ve been missing in action, I know. I’ll write all about the following when I get more than a couple of minutes.
- Quick trip to the Alabama shore for J’s family reunion
- Visit from my cousin A
- Halloween/Samhain festivities
- Making some calls to remind progressive voters in swing races to vote (Moveon.org)
- Catching up on the hundreds of backlogged emails
- Preparing for a trip to see some of my family and friends in Massachusetts
- Helping J to meet his end-of-month book deadline – permissions, scanning, reformatting, endnotes – and trying to keep household things from sliding any worse than they already are under those deadline conditions.
Um. I think that’s it, other than some household repair things (too tedious to get into) and the sorts of things (sleeping, brushing teeth, etc.) that you have to do – and which take up time – but that don’t “count” on a list like this.
I didn’t even have a chance to make my usual Halloween page. Boo.
When I get a little breathing room, I’ll post a couple of pics, and fill in some details. I suspect the blogging will be a bit light until that book gets turned in, though – so just in case I get completely overwhelmed, I’d better say this one thing to all you American progressives, populists, greens, democrats – oh heck, anyone to the LEFT of Attila the Hun:
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
WebRing Transitioning
In light of the recent changes at WebRing, I’ve decided to offer my ring members an alternative join-up at RingSurf. Those who want to leave Webring, or limit their participation to the terms of a free account, are welcome to use the RingSurf option. New members are welcome, too!
Virtual Church of Benevolent Deities, Inc.
For those who approach the topic of religion with joy and humor – and maybe just a touch of irony.
Forward, You Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses
For former Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Join Forward, You ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses at RingSurf
For all female academics.
Join at Women of Academe at RingSurf
Not in Our Arms, Forever in Our Hearts
For those who have lost a pregnancy, infant or child.
Tequila and Salt Special
And now for a positive recharge…
You may not realize it, but it’s 100% true.
- There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
- At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
- The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
- A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.
- Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
- You mean the world to someone.
- You are special and unique.
- Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.
- When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
- When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
- Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember….when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!
Well, if 50% of it is true, that’s still pretty good. Thanks for sending, Barbara.
This reminds me of a song from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Something about being special and unique. It used to make me cry when I was little. Yes, here it is. You can listen to it too.
You’re Special – Fred Rogers
You are my friend
You are special
You are my friend
You’re special to me.
You are the only one like you.
Like you, my friend, I like you.In the daytime
In the nighttime
Any time that you feel’s the right time
For a friendship with me, you see
F-R-I-E-N-D special
You are my friend
You’re special to me.
There’s only one in this wonderful world
You are special.
Almost makes me want to watch the show. Maybe we should have an adult version of something like this. A nice man sings to us once a day, just to say we’re special and unique. Then he uses puppets to model how to navigate emotions and problems and conflicts while respecting and caring for yourself and others. I’d watch it.
Maybe we could get the key members of the Bush administration to watch it…
and that thought effectively concludes today’s positive moment.
Blogflux and Incredimail – Thanks so very, very much
I am grateful to Blogflux and Incredimail. Bless yer hearts, it’s always a pleasure to work on my anger management skills. But seriously, so not nice of you.
Blogflux: Once again, when I tried to update the image you had at BlogFlux for my blog, you deleted my blog altogether. I have been listed at BlogFlux for a couple of years. I only update the information about twice a year, but whenever I do, you delete my blog for reasons unknown and send me a terse email saying that my blog has not been accepted into the directory. Each time I have had to write to ask why, at which point I have to fill out the whole application again, and the blog is eventually reinstated. Until next time.
If you want to reject my blog, would you mind telling me why? I have read your terms, and I can’t see any way in which my site violates them.
If, on the other hand, you want to accept my blog, would you please stop rejecting it? This is very inconvenient.
Every time you delete my blog I lose my subscriptions. The last time it happened, I gave up and started a new subscription service at Feedblitz – not only because of the abovementioned annoyance factor, but also because my WordPress blog seemed to have an occasional feed problem with your site that stopped the subsciptions. Of course, I have had no problems with any other service. I can vouch for Feedblitz.
However, I have still been listed in the BlogFlux web directory, and I have still linked to BlogFlux until now. You’ve had a permanent link on my site for a couple of years now. My request for a response on this issue has gone unanswered, so um, I’m taking down the link.
Incredimail: My understanding was that my purchase of your email program was a one-time thing. I was so surprised when I received your notice today that you have gone ahead and charged me for another year of JunkFilter membership at the price of $39.95. Thanks so much for not checking with me first.
I can tell you really care about your customers and that you are glad to have me continue to be “a part of the Incredimail community.” You say that “as a valued IncrediMail customer” my “IncrediMail experience” is very important to you. What a nice touch that the price for a one-year subscription to the Junk Mail filter is more than your current price ($29.95) for the Incredimail Premium package.
A wee customer satisfaction suggestion: If you did a customer survey of the community, you might find that many of us who like to use email stationary and image enclosures in the body of an email are nonetheless playing our checking accounts rather close to the bone during these difficult times. If you are really very concerned about your community, you might do us the courtesy of asking us about the timing and desirability of such a charge before going ahead with it. I am so very grateful that this particular charge didn’t cause me to bounce any checks, because the fee for doing so is extremely hefty and I have just authorized payment on my bills for mid-month. Thank you too for not responding to my email. I just love a close community.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The thing about the web? Transparency, baby.
(Sarcasm. Kvetch. Boo-hisssss. Yeah, yeah, same old same old.)