Poem in Your Pocket

Here's my (Jill's) poem in your pocket. Mom is kindly typing this in for me because I'm a luddite and she is a kind, generous person.

Often I Am Permitted To Return To A Meadow

as if it were a scene made-up by the mind,

that is not mine, but is a made place,

that is mine, it is so near to the heart,

an eternal pasture folded in all thought

so that there is a hall therein

that is a made place, created by light

wherefrom the shadows that are forms fall.

Wherefrom fall all architectures I am

I say are likenesses of the First Beloved

whose flowers are flames lit to the Lady.

She it is Queen Under The Hill

whose hosts are a disturbance of words within words

that is a field folded.

It is only a dream of the grass blowing

east against the source of the sun

in an hour before the sun's going down

whose secret we see in a children's game

of ring a round of roses told.

Often I am permitted to return to a meadow

as if it were a given property of the mind

that certain bounds hold against chaos,

that is a place of first permission,

everlasting omen of what is.

~Robert Duncan

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Ok, here is my poem in my pocket for today. I hope someone else will share one!

One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain has Corridors—surpassing
Material Place—

Far safer, of a Midnight Meeting
External Ghost
Than its interior Confronting—
That Cooler Host.

Far safer, through an Abbey gallop,
The Stones a'chase—
Than Unarmed, one's a'self encounter—
In lonesome Place—

~Emily Dickinson

Story People

I love Story People. If you haven't seen them you can view their site by clicking here. They are the creation of artist Brian Andreas. I was in a shop in Old Sacramento a while ago and saw his stuff there. The first thing I saw was a sculpture with a story called More Fair on it and I stood in the store and cried. The store owner said that was ok, a lot of people did when they saw it. A friend bought the Impossible Position print for me and after I came home & looked at the website I ended up ordering Flying Woman. It was difficult to choose & I now have a whole list of stories that I want!

Anyway take a look at the website. You can read random stories and you can subscribe to a story a day in your email. I did that & it's pretty fun to read them every morning.

Little Boxes

I found this week's quote (To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e.e. cummings)  a few days ago online. I can't remember what I was looking for when I came across it (not unusual for me, I'm always finding what I wasn't looking for) but I really liked it & added it to the blog. I keep thinking about it - which I guess is the point! Anyway it made me think about the song Little Boxes which you can listen to in the video clip below. Between the quote, the song and the movie, Bread & Tulips, I've been thinking a lot lately about expectations and being what you want and weird stuff like that!

We all, to some degree aren't ourselves. We try and be what we think other people want, to fit ourselves into the box we're told we belong in by our families and society. I think some people get into their box, get comfortable and happily live their entire lives that way. Some poke their heads out and duck back fast because it looks dangerous outside. Most of us are comfortable a little bit out of the box so long as we know it's there in case we need it. Then there are those people who consciously say forget it, tear the box apart and get on with their lives. Generally those are pretty interesting people to know. Rarer though are the people who don't even know there is a box. You can't put them in it because they can't see it. Those people don't have to fight the battle of being themselves - they just naturally are.

Somehow, and it's awfully odd given that I'm a person who clutches her little box with great passion, I managed to give birth to one of those people who just don't get it. If you know Jill, you know what I mean. She is always herself. I find that quite amazing. Parents, if they are wise (not that I'm claiming to be), learn from their children. I've learned a great deal from Jill not least of which is that it is ok to be who you are.

Are You Ready?

Thursday, April 30th is the 2nd national Poem in Your Pocket Day. Choose a poem you love, keep it in your pocket and on Thursday share it with as many people as possible. If you aren't ready with a poem yet and need some ideas you can check out Poets.org.

Since this is a blog & I can't see everyone who reads it, it would be really cool if you shared your pocket poem by posting it here Thursday!

Bread and Tulips

If you haven't seen this movie I'd recommend doing so. I don't watch movies very often but I was house sitting this weekend and being away from home sometimes causes one to do wild and crazy things. The homeowners had a huge (okay 3) stack of netflix movies and Bread and Tulips was one of them. It sounded good so I started watching. Well it turns out the movie is in Italian with English subtitles. I hate watching movies with subtitles so I very nearly turned it off. Fortunately I decided to keep watching for a few minutes & then I was hooked. I have to admit that by the end of the movie I had pretty much forgotten it wasn't in English because I enjoyed it so much!

I don't want to give away the story so here's a quick overview. Rosalba Barleta is on vacation with her family and gets left behind by the tour bus. She ends up in Venice and decides to stay there for awhile. She finds a job and begins to make a new life for herself. Meanwhile her husband hires a plumber as a PI to track her down. It sounds like one of those mid-life crisis, someone finding themselves movies and in a way it is but it's more than that also. One reviewer said it was like Rosalba had spent half of her life marking time in a world with which she felt no connection. Then she finds herself in a world that makes sense for her. We should all be so lucky.

That's all I'm going to tell you so get the movie! It really was great. As I said I don't watch a lot of movies and usually the ones I watch I'm not all that impressed with. I really liked this though. It won 9 Italian Academy Awards and a bunch of other film awards. So you don't have to just take my word for it!

Silent Sunday

Poetry Day

Louise Gluck is one of my favorite poets. I don't think I've read anything by her that I haven't liked. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1993 for The Wild Iris, the collection which contains today's poem.


The Red Poppy

The great thing
is not having
a mind. Feelings:
oh, I have those; they
govern me. I have
a lord in heaven
called the sun, and open
for him, showing him
the fire of my own heart, fire
like his presence.
What could such glory be
if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters,
were you like me once, long ago,
before you were human? Did you
permit yourselves
to open once, who would never
open again? Because in truth
I am speaking now
the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.

Twitter

Come on folks. No one is following me on Twitter! Well 2 people are but I'm not related to them. I'm a really interesting, fascinating, exciting person. Follow me! Look to the right & you'll see something that says Twitter updates. Click on Follow me on Twitter & you can follow me. See how easy life can be. Actually this is going to be very interesting. I'm going to Tweet stuff about trying to stick to my weight loss/exercise program. You can all post encouraging tweets in response! Pretty exciting isn't it?

Miss California

So have any of you heard about Miss California's answer to a questions about same-sex marriage during the Miss USA pageant? The question came from Perez Hilton and was: Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not? Carrie Prejean's answer was: I think it is great that American's are able to choose one or the other. . . I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. . . (You can watch the video clip below.)

If you are a faithful reader of this blog - which I'm sure you all are - you are aware that I disagree with her. I very strongly disagree. There are few issues I feel passionate about. Same-sex marriage. Gun control. Keeping libraries open. That's about it. The one thing I think is more important than these issues is freedom of speech. People have the right (or should have) to express what they believe. They absolutely do not have the right to force their beliefs on others but they do have the right to say it. So the people who believe she is so horrible for saying this think what? That she should have lied about what she thought? You can be offended by her answer, you can disagree, be glad she lost, whatever. At least understand this: if you deny her right to say what she believes, you jeopardize your own.





If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

National Pet ID Week

Oops, I almost missed this one! April 18-24 is National Pet ID Week. A Catster blog post gives you details on how you can help protect your cat. In short they are:

1. Take a picture of your cat.
2. Get your cat microchipped.
3. Register with a pet ID and recovery service.
4. Make a contact list for your pet.

I've done all these things but the only thing that is "bad" is that my cats don't wear a collar so they don't have a tag. When they were small I tried collars on them and they hated it. Since they don't go outside I've never worried much. I don't know, maybe I should try again?

Dead At Your Age

Well this is a bit weird but kind of interesting I guess. The site is called Dead At Your Age. You input your date of birth and it tells you people who were - you guessed it - Dead At Your Age! I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that I've lived longer than Napoleon by 2 weeks thus far. I've also lived longer than the following people:

John Gorrie
Billy Kyle
Susan Butcher
Alois Alzheimer

The last one gives me great hope. My slightly warped brain figured out that if I've lived longer than the guy who "found" Alzheimer's disease perhaps I won't get it. Anyway as I said it's a little strange but if you have nothing better to do try the site.

I found this site because I subscribe to a blog called AltSearchEngines. It's a pretty interesting site (well if you like search engines it is) that you might enjoy visiting.

Silent Sunday

Poetry Day

Still National Poetry Month so here's another one for you! Since I shared some pictures of the California coast yesterday, I thought I'd give you a poem about it. I kind of had in mind something comfortable and naturey but while I was looking I kept coming back to this one by Robinson Jeffers.

The Coast-Road

A horseman high alone as an eagle on the spur of the mountain over Mirmas Canyon draws rein, looks down
At the bridge-builders, men, trucks, the power-shovels, the teeming end of the new coast-road at the mountain's base.
He sees the loops of the road go northward, headland beyond headland, into gray mist over Fraser's Point,
He shakes his fist and makes the gesture of wringing a chicken's neck, scowls and rides higher.

I too
Believe that the life of men who ride horses, herders of cattle on the mountain pasture, plowers of remote
Rock-narrowed farms in poverty and freedom, is a good life. At the far end of those loops of road
Is what will come and destroy it, a rich and vulgar and bewildered civilization dying at the core,
A world that is feverishly preparing new wars, peculiarly vicious ones, and heavier tyrannies, a strangely
Missionary world, road-builder, wind-rider, educator, printer and picture-maker and broadcaster,
So eager, like an old drunken whore, pathetically eager to impose the seduction of her fled charms
On all that through ignorance or isolation might have escaped them. I hope the weathered horseman up yonder
Will die before he knows what this eager world will do to his children. More tough-minded men
Can repulse an old whore, or cynically accept her drunken kindnesses for what they are worth,
But the innocent and credulous are soon corrupted.

Where is our
consolation? Beautiful beyond belief
The heights glimmer in the sliding cloud, the great bronze gorge-cut sides of the mountain tower up invincibly,
Not the least hurt by this ribbon of road carved on their sea-foot.

California Coast

I went to Monterey this past weekend. I had originally planned to go to the Carmel Mission (yes Jill I'm aware that isn't the "correct" name) but due to the holiday that plan had to be changed. I knew they were closed on Easter but figured they'd be open Monday. When I got to the Mission on Monday there were a bunch of people in the parking lot so I assumed it was open. I went to the door and valiantly pushed as hard as I could. After a minute (during which time I assume she was smirking) a woman standing nearby kindly pointed to the sign on the door which said the Mission would be closed until Tuesday. I felt a little foolish but at least I knew I wasn't extremely weak all of a sudden.

Anyway since that plan fell through, I decided to do something I haven't done in quite awhile - drive south on hwy 1 past Monterey. I ended up driving to Big Sur and aside from nearly being blown off a cliff a couple of times and having to squint to see through the fog, I had a great time. It was a beautiful day to go - foggy, windy and cold. Truly I think that is perfect weather to view the California coastline. I forgot to bring my camera with me but fortunately had my iphone & was able to take some pretty good pictures. They could have been better but I was reluctant to lean very far over the fence. I think it was the sheer cliff dropping to crashing waves on pointed rocks that deterred me.

So here are a few pictures for you. If you haven't been down that way in awhile I'd suggest a trip. You get some pretty spectacular views. Just watch out for those cliffs and the cows. Cows? There was a field of cows - probably 500 or so and they were fenced in with a gate that had an American flag on it. I'm pretty sure they are part of some government plot to infilitrate cows into my neighborhood. I was going to take a picture of them but was afraid to get close.

One other thing I found interesting. There are all these little bridges that you drive over and they have a sign with the name of the bridge and when it was built. They were all built in the 1930's. I can't express how safe I felt driving over them. You can sort of see the sign in the first picture but you can't read it. You'll have to believe me - it said 1932!

Oh yeah. I like the last picture - you can see a cave down by the water. I considered climbing down to see if I could go inside it but upon reflection that didn't seem like such a smart idea. But it is pretty neat to think about!

iTriage

I'm very disappointed in my family. There is a very cool application for the iphone that can be purchased for the low, low price of .99. And no one bothered to tell me about it. iTriage gives you information on 300+ symptoms, 1000+ diseases and 350 medical procedures. You can link to information on the web, it finds your location and shows you medical facilities close by. In short, it is a hypochondriac's dream app. Oh, maybe that is why no one told me.

Anyway if you have an iphone or ipod touch (maybe other smart phones, I'm not sure), you might be interested in downloading it. I'm having a lot of fun finding symptoms! I'd write more but I'm on my way to the hospital right now. . .

National Library Week

April 12-18 is National Library Week. This is an annual event to celebrate the contributions of libraries and librarians. The theme for 2009 is Worlds connect @ your library.

Libraries are very good places. I'm telling you this in case you haven't been to one in awhile. Did any of you read From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? I don't want to tell you much about it because I know you are all rushing to your local library to check it out. Anyway the two kids in the story run away & hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While I've never been there, I have to agree it would be a pretty cool place to hide out but far, far better, in my mind would be a library. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be hiding out in a library? When I was studying I would occasionally go to the CSU library. I say occasionally because it isn't really a very effective place for me to study. All those books distract me!

I love libraries and can tell you the location of all the libraries in Alameda County and a few in other counties. In case you don't know where your local library is (please don't tell me if you don't, it would cause me a lot of pain), you can check the Libraries on the Web site and find one.

I've heard rumors that the economy isn't doing so great lately. Libraries are still one of the best values around. A free card and you can check out any book you want. Bookstores are great but not free! So if you have nothing better to do, or even if you do, spend an hour or two this week at a library. If you're an adult and haven't been in awhile you may be surprised at the changes!

Silent Sunday

Afraid of what???

On Wednesday Vermont became the 4th state (Mass, Connec, Iowa) to legalize same-sex marriage. Apparently a fearful occurrence for some people that has prompted, among other responses, the video shown below. You know, I still don't get why people care so much. Why would you want to deny someone the right to marry the person they love? I really don't see that it has anything to do with religious values, unless your values include being petty and mean-spirited. Maybe I missed something. Anyway take a look at the video - in a way it's kind of funny. I found the link to this video in Mark Morford's column on SF Gate. I'd suggest reading it, I think he has some good points.

The Wasteland

Another poem for you. 

From The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot

April is the cruellest month, breeding  

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing  

Memory and desire, stirring  

Dull roots with spring rain.  

Winter kept us warm, covering        

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding  

A little life with dried tubers.

Silent Sunday

Twitter

I'm sure you all know what Twitter is - right? It's a social networking site that utilizes mini-blogs as a method of communication. You can post up to 140 characters at a time and people can sign up to follow your fascinating thoughts. Now here is very exciting news: I have a Twitter account and you can all sign up and be my followers! You'll need to have a Twitter account of your own which you can get by clicking on the word Twitter in the first sentence or in this sentence. (See how easy I'm making things for you.) My Twitter name is pmduo (for my cats in case you wonder) and you can find me here. I only have one tweet (a posting) up so far but if I get a bunch of devoted followers I'll probably put more up. Just think how much fun you could have reading my random thoughts!

I'm not very optimistic about this whole thing. I joined Facebook quite some time ago and post many thoughtful, insightful things on it and I only have a few friends. It's quite humiliating actually. Feel free to join Facebook and be my friend.

April is

National Poetry Month. Here's a short poem to start the month.

Our way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.

~ Rumi