11 posts tagged “sunday scribblings”
Last week I was a bit off in my photo-a-day efforts. Between accidentally deleting (on my camera) several sunset and moon shots...spending all my energy shooting school activities on Thursday (and I keep those off my blog)...and two days flat out forgetting (in all the craziness) to even shoot a daily photo...well, let's just say I'm glad I'm doing this only for myself and not playing by anyone else's rules. Here's a sample of what my week looked like with just a tiny bit of 'cheating'...
Monday - I really shot this the day before (on Sunday afternoon). I was getting out of the truck at a strip mall on the northern edge of town when I suddenly noticed this barn across the road in the distance. I do love the zoom on my new camera.
Tuesday - You already know we had In-n-Out on Super Tuesday. :)
Thursday - This is to replace the pretty sunset photos I had taken. It was sunny last week and it began to feel like Spring was on her way. (I took a lot of photos on Thursday for two school events.)
Saturday - You'll have to settle for this cheesy, free souvenir photo from the golf tournament (with Jeffrey's closed eyes).
Although I was late for all of the prompts, I did write three poems yesterday for Sunday Scribblings (2/3 prompt was "foul" and 2/10 prompt was "fridge space") and Writers Island (2/4 prompt was "magic"). The poems are here: foul, fridge space and do you believe?
And now, I'm going to spend my holiday day off seeing if I can get caught up a tiny bit. ;) Happy Monday!
Sorry I haven't been posting much in the last week. I've just been on the go. And there was something else afoot, too, I realized in retrospect. I was getting very depressed about what was happening in the Presidential campaign. I know some might not understand that. Some might say: jeez, girl, relax--it's just politics. But it was getting so personal. You all know I'm supporting Obama and I'm honestly not trying to sway anyone in who you choose to support. I'm just speaking for me. I felt what Bill Clinton did last week was blatant race-baiting. I felt strongly that he was trying to marginalize Obama and paint him as 'the black candidate.' So you can probably imagine how happy I felt on Saturday when voters in South Carolina of all colors and ages and genders supported Obama enough to give him a resounding victory. If there's one thing America doesn't need right now it's further damage to our already fragile race relations. If you didn't see Obama's victory speech, I suggest you watch it even if he's not your choice for candidate. I think it's a speech that speaks to all Americans. "Out of many we are one." The video is here. I was overjoyed to hear that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg endorsed Obama, comparing him to her father. Her Sunday New York Times Op-Ed piece is here. And as I write this, Teddy Kennedy is about to endorse him, too. Like many Democrats, I believe there aren't huge policy differences among the three Democratic candidates, so it comes down to things like character and vision. I know I'm not alone when I say that Barack Obama makes me feel proud to be American again...and I haven't felt that way since childhood.
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I said one of my steps would be to write two poems a week. I wrote two this morning...to catch me up for last week. :) The first was for the Sunday Scribblings prompt of "miscellaneous"--it's here. The second one is here.
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My family likes to get together for dinner to celebrate each of our birthdays. Because of schedules, we still hadn't had my birthday dinner, but my sister-in-law was insistent that I swing by their house Friday evening before going to my nephew's basketball game. She wanted me to come by before she'd be taking C. to her dance recital. My brother and I would be going to the game and all of us would be attending C's performance on Saturday afternoon. When I opened my gift, I understood. Marty, Chelle and the kids gave me a camera. To say that I was surprised is an understatement. It made me cry. I told her that I'd just put a new camera on my Mondo Beyond list. She said, "Well, you document our entire lives!" (I maintain a private blog for the family.) I asked C., "Is this because I'm 'the official family photographer?'" She laughed and said, "Yeah!" Chelle wanted to give me one with a great zoom and good video capabilities. I'm still trying to figure out the settings, but I played with a zoom a bit at C's recital yesterday. I also shot video of every one of her performances and it really does do good video. I'm having a hard time uploading the clips--maybe the files are too large. Not sure, but I'll get it figured out. But here are a few tentative first shots...
Today's Sunday Scribblings prompt was a major touchstone of my life through my 20's...dance.
[Please forgive my banner-switching madness! I'm just in one of those antsy moods where I can't find anything I like for this holiday season.] :)
The prompt at Sunday Scribblings today is "misspent youth." Although I was convinced I was misspending my youth while I was in it, I no longer feel that way. Here's why.
I had no idea when I sat down to write for Sunday Scribblings that that would be what would come out, but writing that poem felt very therapeutic. I think I'm going to spend a little more time today just sitting with it and thinking about all that I've done in my life so far. I'm so grateful for all of the odd and quirky and wonderful and lucky and painful and hard experiences I've had. I wouldn't be me without them. Although that poem is just the tiniest overview of some of the chapters in my life, writing it reminded me that there have been some very clear and distinct forks in my road. Moments when I took what felt like the 'wrong' road because I was too afraid to take the 'right' one. The difference for me today is that I don't beat myself up over past choices, because I see now that what seemed like a 'wrong' choice based in fear ultimately got me back on the road where I am now. And what's a little detour here or there when you look at the big picture? There's meaning in my zigzagging...I just didn't know what it meant at the time.
For Sacred Life Sunday today, I would encourage you to think about your her*story...and all that it's given to you.
Kelly's comment on the previous post gave me just the prompt I needed for today's Sunday Scribblings prompt, "I carry..." My take is here.
We had a wonderful and full day yesterday. I was going to accompany Jeffrey to a gig today, but decided to stay home. I've still got a tiny bit of cold lingering and I felt like hunkering down. I'm going to look for the sacred in the quiet today. Hope you have a Sacred Life Sunday, too.
Rather than write an actual post for Sacred Life Sunday today, I'm going to offer up a sacred buffet for you to sample from...little morsels from here and there...
Today's prompt at Sunday Scribblings is "left and right." Here's my take...inspired by a couple of posts I read early this morning at Jennifer Lee's Life Unfolds blog that reminded me of a Myers-Briggs test I'd once taken. I surfed through months and months of Jennifer's blog this morning. (I hope she doesn't think I'm a stalker!) :) I was directed there by a link at Jamie's Starshyne Productions blog--another great blog I've been reading regularly for quite awhile, but haven't often commented on. I've vowed to correct that. Jamie also has a great blog called Wishcasting. Have a wish and want a safe place to 'put it out there' and have others affirm it with you? Then check out Wishcasting.
We watched Canadian actress Sarah Polley's most excellent Away from Her with the extraordinary Julie Christie last night. It's a beautiful and thought-provoking film, and we were both touched and moved by it. Jeffrey said this morning as we were lying in bed that he was still thinking about it. Here's a short clip of Sarah talking about her film...
Lori-Lyn continues on her YouTube-documented 100 Days Challenge. I've greatly enjoyed watching her videos--so many great tips and insights there.
I really related to Solbeam's "Collapsed Cairns" post: "...I get the opportunity to wake up (again and again) in the same bed, to the same set of realizations, wondering, “…didn’t I already come to these conclusions?” and if so, where did they go?" Indeed.
This morning I realized that I hadn't been by my poetry blog in six days. Some people like to meditate in the morning...or light candles...or write in their journals...or blog (ahem). I realized (yet again) that I feel a lot better when I sit down first thing and write a poem. It doesn't have to be good or pretty--it just feels good to do it. It has become a practice for me.
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Yesterday's prompt at Sunday Scribblings was money. Here's where I took that prompt this morning.
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On the complaint-free front, I made it until about 9 pm on Saturday before I started bitching to Jeffrey about cookie-baking methods. You know, because that's really important. But I'm happy to report that yesterday really was complaint-free. It was a lovely, relaxing day. So today will be day 2.
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I didn't do anything in my NaJoScriMo journal on either Saturday or Sunday. Saturday I spent time making the 'dream chair' happen (see below) instead of journaling. Yesterday I thought of going to my journal, but I noticed that some 'shoulds' were entering into the equation..."I really should be journaling..." And, remember, the only rule about NaJoScriMo is...no rules! So I just noticed the thoughts and let them pass.
And my sleep cycle has been way off, and staying up for almost 24 hours on Friday (going to Monterey) and then waking to the time change yesterday left me feeling rather out of sync. I spent a large portion of the day thinking that I should really be sleeping. :) It was still a nice day--I just felt a little out of whack. And I think I'm realizing that my journaling might best be done in the evenings (at least on weekdays)---when I'm not on a time limit and trying to squeeze everything in before I have to get ready for work. (And can I just say that it seems weird to have it getting light so early now--I really do love the early morning darkness.)
1000 Journals had its world premiere at AFI Fest in L.A. last night. There's a second screening today at 3:15.
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And I liked this from an article called "The Real Secret" by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in that issue (I haven't read the entire magazine yet): "Learning to balance the worldly with the spiritual has nothing to do with vocation and everything to do with intention."Interviewer: "I think of you as...saying to people, 'Everyone can make art and live an artful life.' What holds people back from doing that?"
Miranda: "...You have to genuinely believe that there is something interesting and special about daily life and your experience of it..."
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Yesterday I was thinking about 'tag clouds.' You know, like this. Awhile back (many months ago), I made myself some business cards using a tag cloud sort of layout. They're around somewhere...I'm just not sure what I've done with them. The 'problem' I've always had has been in 'defining' myself--giving myself a label. Even as a child I felt really confused by the idea that I was 'supposed' to do that..."What do you want to be when you grow up?" You mean I can only be one thing? I still don't understand that. I realize that doing that makes life in conventional America a whole lot easier to live in many ways. Our culture is set up for that sort of life definition. But I think I'm finally making peace with the fact that I'm just a tag cloud sorta gal. Please don't ask me to choose just one thing...because I can't...and I won't. No wonder I love Miranda July...
Jeffrey's plane was a few minutes late on Saturday afternoon, so I pulled out my camera and snapped a few pictures. There's some cool public art at SMF (Sacramento International Airport). The luggage carts in the baggage claim area of Terminal A are my favorite. The first time I saw them was when we landed bleary-eyed at midnight on March 31, 2005 after flying on a one-way ticket from St. Thomas. We were back in my home state to start another chapter in our lives...to start all over again. The sight of those huge whimsical luggage cart sculptures cheered me that night as we stood exhausted in a nearly empty terminal awaiting our bags. I've stood near those clocks (awaiting arriving passengers) and walked under them many times...and never noticed them until Saturday. Having a few minutes to really look around that terminal made me realize how often we simply don't see what's right in front of us.
Yesterday afternoon he wanted to go play nine holes of golf, and asked if I'd like to ride along in the cart. I didn't have a burning desire to do that, but he'd just been gone for eight days and I knew that he wanted me to go. I also knew that he'd been wanting to show me where he works. I've ridden on several courses with him (and many times on the St. Thomas course where we lived and he worked, both in daylight and darkness). It was a gorgeous Fall day yesterday--not a cloud in the sky--but quite windy. He asked as we were leaving if I had my camera and I said I did. But when I pulled it out on the 1st tee, I discovered I'd forgotten to put the memory card back in. So I put the camera away and just enjoyed the scenery. It's such a beautiful time of year, with the Fall colors and the leaves changing. And there's quite a bit of wildlife around the course. We didn't see any of the burrowing owls (he was disappointed that the wind was keeping them out of sight because he's been wanting to show them to me). But we did see many ground squirrels (scampering into their burrows), a couple of hawks and some ducks. He veered off course just a bit on one hole as we were waiting for the foursome in front of us to try to show me the barn owl, but it wasn't in its usual tree. He pointed out some trees that the beaver had recently taken out. (It's amazing what they can do.) But the most spectacular moment was when we were sitting in the cart in the middle of a fairway waiting for the party ahead of us to finish on the green so he could hit his second shot. A beautiful coyote came running across the fairway (from left to right) not 10-15 yards in front of us. We saw him head north toward the walking/bike path that borders the course and then lope down the path for awhile. He blended in quite well with the Fall surroundings at the edge of the field. Not long before, Jeffrey had mentioned for the first time that he sometimes sees two coyotes in the very early morning hours and now here one was running right in front of us. We couldn't help but giggle with delight. When we first spotted him, I felt a quick pang of disappointment over not being able to use the camera, but that quickly passed. Because it was simply enough to look--to bear witness to his beauty and feel lucky that he'd chosen that moment to make his way northward.
I did post for Sunday Scribblings yesterday. The prompt was "My first act as Queen/King of the world will be..." I didn't feel ready for world domination just yet, so I stuck to my own country...and felt a tad drunk on (imaginary) power.
I just had to pop in to share this. I still participate most Sundays at Sunday Scribblings, but long ago I made the switch from prose to poetry in my offerings there. This is the first week that Laini and Meg haven't put up a prompt; it's the first weekend that they're both traveling at the same time. But Sunday Scribblings, like most internet communities, has a life of its own and some participants decided, prompt or no prompt, to post links there this weekend anyway. I'm someone who almost never posts early to day-specific community group posts, but since we're headed out of town this morning, I went ahead and wrote something and posted my permalink a day early. Because some of the early comments were a tad guilt-inducing, Laini added to her SS post that if we wanted to, we could use "sorry" as a prompt and she'd post participant links on Monday when she returns. I didn't want to use "sorry"--why should they feel guilty for missing a week? I chose instead to think of it as sort of a No-Prompt Carnival. I encourage you write something this weekend--anything, in any form--and post a permalink there. After all, it's not every day we get to experience no-prompt freedom at that wonderful community. ;)
Mine is: scenes from a laundromat
Come along with us, won't you? At least Flickr-virtually? I don't think there's gonna be a whole lot to do there... ;)
Have a wonderful weekend! I'll check in tomorrow when we return...
