 | Aside from the usual windstorm, flood, minor earthquake, squirrel intrusion ... you know, those little things which make life interesting ... we can go for weeks at Brimm Manor with almost nothing happening. Even the Little Red Car stays out of trouble.
Then comes the day when two things happen at almost the same time. For example:
Earlier this week (actually, last week, I suppose, by the time you read this), I learned that AOL was shutting down its online journal service. That's where my journal, "Chosen Words," resides ... or, has resided ... for the past few years.
I was advised that at the end of October it would be no more. Period.
Well! I can tell you this: I spent a sleepless night ... and I'll spare you the details of that ... but I do have a new home for "Chosen Words" now, and I've been making daily entries there (knock on wood) since October 1.
If you'd like to take a look (and please excuse my "moving in" clutter), here's a link you may copy and paste:
http://rbrimm.bravejournal.com
(OR you may go to the bottom of the page and click on the link there)
Enough of the bad news, though ... and believe me, having to make a move like that is definitely bad news.
Fortunately, at almost the same time, I received word from Finishing Line Press that pre-publication sales of "Wood Smoke," my third poetry collection, assure a press run of 250 limited-edition copies.
What great news that was! And I want to thank all of those who bought copies, sight unseen, in sufficient quantity to assure that kind of press run. I appreciate your votes of confidence, and I do hope you are amply rewarded by the collection.
A reminder: Mailings were originally scheduled to start going out at the end of October, but I've just received word from Finishing Line Press that mailings will start about the third week in November ... so patience, please ... patience ... and again, many, many thanks.
-S&G-
NOTE FROM KELLY (Colorado) ... "The aspen have already turned that glittering yellow, making the mountain look like it has veins of gold. It's been a strange week, with people panicking over the gas shortage in the Southeast, the bail-out and the debates. Your journal ("Chosen Words") and S&G remain a peaceful oasis in this crazy, busy world."
Well (blush-blush), thank you, Kelly. Thank you.
-S&G-
LOREE (Kansas) wins the coveted Mythical, Mystical, Magical Gold Star for being the first to respond to last week's installment of Squiggles & Giggles.
You will note that I say she WINS ... rather than she RECEIVES. Now, before somebody points out that this sounds like a political promise, let me explain.
There are technical reasons, one of which I'll share:
I used to carry a couple of those little cards which contain removable sticky gold stars. Remember? If I gave a poetry reading on a particularly bad weather night ... and there seemed to be plenty of those ... I would pass the cards out to the audience and suggest that each person take one as a reward for having braved the weather.
Well, I've run out of Gold Stars ... but Loree will still have this reward on her record, if not actually in her possession.
-S&G-
A CLOSE SECOND in the honors department was HELEN (Florida), who was having major computer problems ... so much so that she had gone to the public library, to use one of their computers to keep in touch. Let's hear it for Helen!
-S&G-
"THIS MORNING," writes LOREE (Kansas), "I got up and found that, though it did cloud up overnight, and the wind HAS shifted, the rain chances are next to nil. Guess what? One of my first tasks this morning will be dragging that octopus (the one that's usually all coiled up) around the yard with me. It HATES that, and loves to get even by kinking at the most inopportune times, making me walk its length, looking for where it has done that. Watering is not my idea of a good time, by any stretch of the imagination."
-S&G-
BOOK NOOK ... KELLY (Colorado) has picked up her copy of "Old Man and the Sea" to read through again.
Which reminds me, I have some favorites stashed around here someplace, and probably should lay aside the old magazines for a while, in favor of some REAL reading.
-S&G-
TODAY'S QUOTE: "What I really need is a bigger organizer, maybe occupying a space the size of a city block, rising several stories above its neighbors ... and with a memory like ... well, like ... oh, you know ... like that large, gray animal ... " Professor Squigglee
-S&G-
TODAY'S POEM: I know, my selections don't always match the seasons, but this one seems to. It's also fairly typical of the way I write. I long ago gave up attempting formal verse, because I almost always stalled after the first few lines, leaving my "story" untold ... and me with another layer of egg on my face. Instead, I try to paint a picture of sorts with the words and phrases that come to me ... most often of very ordinary things, seen in a different way. I try to see them as a child might, looking at them for the first time, for example, the white plastic container: "swaying lazily/ beneath the cool green/ eaves ... "
This one was originally published in Capper's:
CURTAIN CALL
The last rose
has bobbed its head
beside the trellis
and is gone now,
but the impatiens
hangs on in its white
plastic container,
swaying lazily
beneath the cool green
eaves of the garage
while savoring
this late-season sun,
saucy blossoms
still providing us
with unrelenting color,
bargained through
summer-long waterings
and occasional
words of praise.
-S&G-
Until next week ... take care ... see ya.
-S&G-
© 2008
| |
