Teaser Tuesday: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading
*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.


My teaser:

"So let me get this straight-we're guiding our path based on a matchbook cover?" Gonzo asks.

~Going Bovine by Libba Bray pg. 146

Top Ten Tuesdays: Favorite Places To Read (Or Maybe Not) Plus a Wish

I enjoy the Top Ten Tuesday days hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I haven't participated in a while so I thought I would today. The topic is Favorite Places to Read and since I read pretty much everywhere I thought this would be fun to consider all of those places. I'm going to add, Or Maybe Not, because there are a few places that although I have read in that location they aren't my favorite places to read. I'll explain as I go along. Also, I've added, Plus a Wish, which is a place that I haven't read yet but I would like to someday.

Favorite Places to Read

In my big puffy recliner chair is my ultimate place to read but I don't mind any comfortable armchair or couch either.

In front of a captive audience which is usually my kids for now but I hope that when I'm not so busy I'll be able to volunteer to read to children wherever I'm needed.

At the library, although I tend to get distracted easily there because I can't limit myself to reading from just one book.

In a bookstore sitting on one of their chairs or I have been known to sit right on the floor reading away a few minutes.

In a cafe sitting at their cute table and with a cup of hot chocolate it's even better!

On a big rock settled by the lake that I happened to find just sitting there waiting for me after a 2.5 mi hike up the mountain - yes, I really did enjoy this recently, can't you tell? It's a known fact for a fishing trip, my husband fishes and I read.

At the beach even if it's sandy, I like the feeling of being outside by the water. Even by a stream or a river will have the same effect.

On a park bench while my children play happily at the park on a glorious day!

Or Maybe Not

In Moving Vehicles: (of course, using common sense I don't mean while driving!) - Although, I know I'll never learn and somehow I always do attempt to read on long road trips but I have found that it gives me a headache. This is where I'm very happy for audio books and although I have to make an effort to concentrate, in order to follow along, I've listened to some great books this way. Plus, you can drive and listen to an audio book safely.

In the Bath: Let's face it - I'm too afraid of dropping my book into the bathtub. I can't relax thinking about ruining the book which defeats the purpose of the bath, right?

In my Bed: Yes, my bed is comfy and I do read there but that's the problem. You see, if a lay down to read I inevitably fall asleep reading sooner rather than later.

Plus a Wish

On a beach in Hawaii comes to mind right away for a more dreamlike experience but for a more realistic version would be in a cozy bay window with lots of pillows if I had one. I suppose I could remodel but then that would take up my money to go to Hawaii.

In the end, it's about you as well. Where are a few places that you love to read? Or Maybe Not? Or Wish To? Feel free to let me know in the comments or join in and write your own post. I'd love to know what you're thinking!

Teaser Tuesday: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading
*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.


My teaser:

Krog: What do you mean by that?
Mrs. L: You said you were like a shipwrecked man clinging to some wreckage.
Krog: I had good reason to say so.
Mrs. L: Well, I am like a shipwrecked woman clinging to some wreckage-no one to mourn for, no one to care for.

pg. 52-53, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Original manuscript cover page, 1879

Image from Wikipedia

Be In Touch

Before Facebook or Twitter and before digital T.V. happened, I was a bit of an avid T.V. watcher with the local channels. I must admit that of all the channels I still really miss PBS the most and still make an effort to see some of my favorites from their shows online as they share them. I also was a fan of ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. I felt a uncomplicated sadness when he departed from this world in 2005 and from his anchorage on the news. His final sign-off still poignant in my brain because of its honesty and YouTube where I can view it and re-live that simple minute from time to time - "The journalist who doesn't value deeply the audiences loyalty should be in another line of work." I've not kept up with whomever is reporting now either. Since I was in high school, I was also a bit of a news junkie and interested in journalism in general. My Grandpa Hatch wrote human interest stories for a local station and I remember having conversations with him about different stories he thought about writing. I loved that he wanted to celebrate the goodness of humanity by writing the stories that should be told more often. So, as you realize, I basically used to enjoy watching the show 20/20 when Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs were hosting it. I enjoyed the stories they covered and always in anticipation I expected the closing line of the show: "We'll be in touch so you'll be in touch." I'm not sure why but that line was somewhat comforting perhaps because I knew that it was coming. For some reason, it caused me to reflect on what I would report from my own life and I felt even then that I needed to write down those reports. Sadly, I didn't always take myself up on that task. I'm still working on a remedy for when I fail to write because the truth is I do enjoy writing. I need to make it a significant part of my daily life and see where that leads me. I'm tired of missing out because I forget what's been happening around me because I didn't write a little something down. So, now's the time for me to change that and here's my way of making a come back to stay in touch with you.

We'll start in November where I had an excited and roaring start with NaNoWriMo only to fizzle out in the end toward an epic FAIL to make it to the 50K deadline. Even though I didn't make it, I'm still amazed with the writing I did do and what came out of attempting this goal. I was able to enter three poems I wrote into a poetry contest and I'm looking forward to seeing if anything comes from that. This definately helps me not feel like a complete failure and the writing I did does not feel like a waste of time at all. I'm alright with it and even like some of it. In fact, I look forward to my third attempt at NaNoWriMo next year. "Third times a charm," right?

Another significant thing that happened in Novemeber was the passing of my father-in-law, Melvin, on Nov. 9th. I still remember readng the text from my husband about it and feeling unbelief. Even though he was eighty-two, it felt so unexpected. I still remember reading his daughter Martha's facebook status when I heard the news: "Exactly one month to the day of my mother's passing, my father passed away. I like to think that it was because he was missing my mom too much." This affected me deeply and I can't explain it. Perhaps because I was looking forward to working with him on a family history project for his dear Clara. Since her death, he had seemed very urgent about it and I could feel his urgency but I didn't reciprocate it back to him like he deserved. I was worried about other non-essential things I realize in hindsight. His efforts to encourage and help me were huge and he fulfilled them right away. He wasn't waiting around, he mailed me what I needed to make sure that this project would happen. Now, I need to fulfill my end of the deal. I'm working on that including the grieving process. Most of all, even though I miss my parents-in-law, I am quite happy that they are together in heaven for their upcoming anniversary of 60 years of marriage this month. I'm learning the depth and scope of their lives and the difference they silently made in their efforts to help others as much as they could serve them. There are many things I hope to continue learning about their lives. I only lived close to them in the first four years of my marriage and I wasn't always as great in the gratitude department when I had that privelege. Looking back, I feel very thankful that they have been a part of my life and my children's lives. I know that we will continue to remember them.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

~William Wordsworth

NPI: FAIL plus Life, Death and NaNoWriMo Part 2

October has now come by and went so fast. I signed up for the NPI (novel push initiative) but FAILed out after only 14 days. Honestly, I can't pinpoint one apparent reason I just crumbled. Since then I've kept up with my writing through poetry and plotting my next course for NaNoWriMo in November and a new editing job that I'll be starting too. Emotionally, listening to music has been my complete solace at this point. I'm so glad for that as it has been so helpful to me.
My mother-in-law passed away on Oct. 9th. She found out that she had leukemia on Sept. 27th. It infested her and her death came quickly for those of us that weren't by her side to help with her hospice care. I'm very grateful that I was able to attend her funeral. I appreciate the efforts of many who were able to help me be able to go. I will not forget their kindness. I still can't believe that Clara's gone some days but I am so grateful that I knew her in my life. I know I'll find this out even stronger in the months to come. Time, in its existence and as a healer is such a unique notion when it comes to death. For the first four years of my marriage, I felt close to certain aspects of Jared's family as I lived near my mother and father-in-law at the time and then our family was whisked away to TX where we've started again here. Clara always called to express her love to us and to remind us to write and share an experience with the family in the "Carter Chronicle." I hate to admit now that I wasn't always happy or excited about doing this. Now, I've come to understand how valuable the written word really is and that is it all we have left of our legacy when we die. As a busy young mother, writing these little stories are the only journal I kept during this time. Now, I'm franctically trying to find copies of these letters to piece this time of my life together for my own reasons and life history. This is what I remember most of my mother-in-law, her devotion to her faith and her family, her love and insistence that we stay in touch as a family. I hope we always will.


Clara holding my daughter Grace on her birthday in 2005.

Please forgive my possibly infrequent posts during Nov. since I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo and also starting to edit a huge document that I've undertaken and plan to do my very best job. I'll be around eventually. In the meantime, look up some of my poetry under the Pocket page and hopefully you'll enjoy it. I'll add more poetry as soon as I can since that is one thing I'm very consistent in writing.

NPI: Day 10

Day 10 word count: 218, 11:55 pm CT, I'm really cutting it close but I've been edgy all day. I think this shows in my writing. I don't like what I wrote yesterday or even today but I did write something down so I suppose that it isn't a complete failure. I'll continue to do my best with the Novel Push Initiative exercise even though I will be traveling to my dear mother-in-law's funeral now. I have very mixed emotions as most anyone does in these times. I seem to feel a whole range of emotions and I have to deal with those. At times, this can work with my writing or against it. It's against right now. Words are not flowing or coming to me strongly. I need to clear my thoughts.

I'm sorry but I feel I don't have anything cool to share from my writing yesterday. Bear with me and I'm sure my muse will come back. Thanks!

NPI: Day 9

Day 9 word count: 92, 11:39 pm CT, I'm sorry it's not in me tonight - I'm a jumbled mess but I feel it will come later. I'm not giving up just give me a moment.

Words from Day 8 -

Looking forward enhanced the beauty of the experience and that’s when I had seen the flower. Yet looking back in the windows of memory had helped control my frustration that a critical moment like this with so much destruction had delivered. This had been my whole world but now it was no longer.

NPI: Day 8

Day 8 word count: 321, 11:41 pm CT. This was a bit tough to write through tonight. I admit it felt like an exercise that I wasn't super excited to do. I had wrote some things on a notepad earlier and felt it at that time but didn't finish until now so it lost its excitement for me. I should have taken the time to write more in that notepad. It reminds me that sometimes writing chooses me and I can't put it off.

A tidbit from Day 7:

A close bond formed without touch or even closeness only moments of brief conversation. Happiness in those moments were sweet. Better than candy, more like a strawberry. Still sweet but so much better for him in the end. This is what he would treasure now and cling to.

NPI: Day 7

Day 7 word count: 324, 11:58 pm CT, sorry I didn't get this recorded in time. Frantically and honestly, I'm working through this scene which is tough to convey in the way I was hoping for. It's ok but I wish that it would feel differntly as I wrote it. Sometimes I'm amazed at how emotional I can be to my own writing and then other times almost detached. I'm really learning of what a process this is for me and it truly is nice to write things down. I'm starting to feel the breathing of writing. I love it!

A little something from Day 6:

She wasn’t strong enough now. She reached out in times of need to imaginary friends. Those that felt they would help her but that was a fantasy because their realities were skewed even more than the depths of her own. Unimaginable but realistic.

NPI: Day 6

Day 6 word count: 336 11:44 p.m. CT

I'm squeaking in - whew - barely making it but I did!

Insight from Day 5:

It could be a coincidence but it is not an accident. It is in these moments that the power of purpose is felt. Lay down in the field of daffodil’s and feel a dream within you want to burst through the doors of your soul. The sun is comforting and the experience is rejuvenating. It will liven your spirit!

NPI: Day 5

Day 5 word count: 537, 11:24 pm CT

I feels to me right now that writing can be such an emotional roller coaster. I've had so much on my mind that I've had to take the time to write it out. This feels like a break in my WIP but it seems necessary for my emotional well-being. In the end, I hope that these thoughts will help a future WIP in some small way. If not, it has been great creative writing practice.

A thought written from Day 4:

In the never ending years of dreams and living, one starts to realize that all we have to share with others is our time. This is what matters. This is what we all want and desire. To share time with others. A simple act of gathering together to share a meal and eat together does more than nourish the body, it enriches our soul. The basic need of eating coupled with the basic desire to spend time with others and feel loved is precious. This is why we must reach out. We must never ignore love. In the end, it is all we have.

NPI: Day 4

Word Count: 456

Ok, so I'm frightfully close to the deadline tonight. I couldn't think of how I wanted the scene to work out. Then after talking to a friend, I realized I had to put to the written word what was really bothering me tonight. Once I worked that out, I was able to get some words to the page. Personal pain is important, even hard to deal with, but necessary to work through. Just like when I have a block, I just have to write through it. At least, that's what I hear works best and I hope that's the case.

A quote from Day 3:

More than he realized, he helped her too. She was too quiet to let this be known but her heart felt it. Secretly, she hoped that his heart felt what she couldn’t say. The few times that she had opened up would have to be enough for now. In time, things might be different.

NPI: Day 3

Day 3 word count: 1020

I have to admit that I didn't expect this many words today. Cool! I feel I'm doing alright so far and I'm learning that I really need practice writing dialogue which is not coming naturally for me. I've been afraid of this for a while. I plan to just keep writing it, even if it seems bad, and hopefully that will be enough to push through and get used to it eventually. I do admit that I like the ideas forming in my current WIP.

Here's a snipit from Day 2's writing:

Lightly - ever so lightly - the rain fell upon the grass.
It watered each tiny strand
it refreshed the earth
to nourish it
and bring to life the effects of Spring

.

NPI: Day 2

NPI(Novel Push Initiative) Day 2: 404 words, 7:22 pm CT, not too shabby today. :)

So far, so good. I wrote later in the day today which may happen on the weekends, I think. During the week, I'd like to stick to my morning writing routine. Today, I wrote more feelings from an idea racing around in my head. In the back of my mind, I hope to develop this into a WIP(work in progress) that I'd like to keep developing.

As promised, here's a tidbit of my writing from Day 1:

For when the heart is lonely, it is hard to feel anything else. She longs for the simple solution such as a phone call, a letter or could she dare even hope for the gentlest of an embrace. It almost feels like a frightened cat is tormented within her tortured heart. Musical lyrics come rushing back to soothe her angry soul. It will happen, one way or another.

NPI: Today is the beginning...

of the Novel Push Initiative. I'm happy to have discovered this through Twitter and I look forward to participating. So far, so good as I'm off to a roaring start this morning by writing 884 words. My goal is 250 words per day and out of those words I just typed up about that many are most likely quality words so I'm feeling great for today already! Yippee! I'll be updating here and on Twitter on how I'm doing with this challenge during October. Perhaps, I'll share a few samples or teaser quotes as well.

I'm also happy to have found a wonderful writer and writing partner on Twitter, Shadow, who has really boosted my spirits during September. She has given me the confidence through her efforts of inspiring me so I felt that I could finally give a contest like this a try as well. Thanks so much, Shadow! I'll be looking forward to your encouragement!

Also, my friends Robin and Carrie have once again been coming to my Scrapbooking group and their encouragement for me to write is helping so much! Even just talking about writing has inspired my imagination too. Carrie is so sweet to text the word "write" to me once a day to prompt me to remember to do so - perhaps with something I said. Robin is an advanced writer and I just found out that she'll also be doing the NPI challenge too! This is going to be great!

Wow, all of this will definitely gear me up for NaNoWriMo this year! I'm looking forward to attempting this challenge that was so elusive for me last year where Erin was my hero with accomplishing that last year. And don't let her fool you, I think what she wrote last year during NaNoWriMo rocked! Way to go and meet your goals, Erin!

I'm also hoping to participate in another writing group again. I've missed that. I hope that it will go well. It may vary how often I can go because the times they will be meeting conflict a little with my schedule but I will make an attempt to go as much as I am able.

Writing equals happiness for me!

Writing quotes:

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium. ~Norbet Platt

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. ~Vita Sackville-West

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

So often is the virgin sheet of paper more real than what one has to say, and so often one regrets having marred it. ~Harold Acton, Memoirs of an Aesthete, 1948

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

Most of all, this is what I'm aiming for myself since I will be making every effort to write each morning:

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. ~Sharon O'Brien

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Fictional Couples in Books

At first, I wasn't sure I could think of very many fictional couples but it turns out as my mind wheels get moving this morning, I can! So, today's topic from Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish is Favorite Fictional Couples in Books. Here's my list:

1. Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility - This is one couple that I root for right from the beginning as Colonel Brandon is introduced and I hope for Marianne to "see" him. There are a lot of ultimate couples(many will be naming one from P&P which I agree with too) in Jane Austen's works and that is such a credit to the way she can write about love, relationships and all of its natural complexities.

2. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter Series - I loved the enchanting progression of this naturally unfolding relationship in the HP series.

3. Chris Nielsen and Annie from What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson - This whole relationship is so complex and intricate which is hard to explain.

4. Mick Webber and Cara Jones from Pickup Games by Marcia Mickelson - This is a fun modern-day romance that might be unfolding at an office near you. So true to our day.

5. Sir Percy and Lady Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel - A classic example of how much do we really know about the one we love?

6. Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler from Gone With the Wind - One of my favorite, although confusing, relationships that made me feel deeply to tear me up emotionally.

7. Fred and Holly from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote - I love the way the narrator (dubbed "Fred") slowly realizes how much he cares for Holly but her reaction to his affection may deny her what she had been looking for all along.

8. Forrest and Jenny from Forrest Gump by Winston Groom - I love the ideals that Forrest romanticizes about Jenny from the beginning but their relationship path was anything but an easy path. An example of how individual choices can affect love life.

9. Irene and Young Jolyon from The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy - After so much tragedy on both accounts, it's wonderful to finally have a unique and happy love relationship here.

10. Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings - I love the whole triangle of Aragorn, Arwen and Eowyn actually. I liked all characters and felt I could feel what they each hoped for in love.

Teaser Tuesday(16): Between the Wingtips: The Secret Life of Birds

My teaser:

Some egrets catch fish by spreading their wings, probably to shade the water surface to prevent distracting reflections - if you have ever tried to count your toes underwater when the sun is shining, you will know the feeling.

~Between the Wingtips: The Secret Life of Birds Photographer: Brutus Ostling Text: Magnus Ullman

My thoughts:
I love learning about birds! This non-fiction book is filled with photo's and information on a variety of birds. It's very beautiful!



Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading
*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.

One of my favorite gigs: Dewey's Read-a-thon Cheerleading

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.”

~Elizabeth Hardwick



It's coming up and time for one of my favorite gigs during the year. I love signing up for cheerleading those who read in Dewey's Read-a-thon. It's scheduled for Oct. 9-10 this year. It's a 24-hr. read-a-thon just like in the good old high school days when I did this type of reading marathon with my friends. Now, that I'm older with more responsiblities I'm only able to sign up as a cheerleader at this time. I do love to read the blogs and let them know that I'm rooting for them. Not to mention, I'm able to get a few more ideas for books for my ever-growing TBR list on Goodreads.

Go, readers, Go!

Top Ten Tuesdays: Favorite Book Quotes

Ilustration by John Howe

How could I pass this one up?! I can't because I really love quotes especially from books! Head on over to The Broke and the Bookish to look at even more great quotes!

Here are some of mine and I'm sure that I have even more tucked away but 10 will be fine for today:

1. Marguerite suffered intensely. Though she laughed and chatted, though she was more admired, more surrounded, more f^eted than any woman there, she felt like one condemned to death, living her last day upon this earth. The Scarlett Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

2. "We sit in the middle of the cafeteria, a fish bowl crowded with minnows,
guppies, tetras, mollies, and angelfish. Sharks circle their prey.
Lesser spiny eels bump their noses against the glass, looking for the
exit. Bits of fish flakes and strings of poop dangle in the air.
Lime-green algae slicks the floor." pg. 105, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

3. Pg. 21: He laughs again. Why does he do that? He is more curious than I am. "You're a tough critic, Jenna Fox. I create art because I need to. It's just something in me. Like breathing."
How can a pine serpent be in him? Especially one that will not last. "This will be gone by tomorrow." ~The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

4. Algernon: I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It ... is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

5. “You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity.” Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Brontë

6. “Well, for instance, when I left her today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she(Mademoiselle Reisz) said. ‘The bird that would soar above the level of plain tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted and fluttering back to earth.’” ~The Awakening by Kate Chopin

7. There's a kind of tenderness that's only possible in the predawn hours, a blue-gray, lonely tenderness that comes from dim lights and sleepiness and immense quiet. A kind of tenderness and a kind of hope. I've always found it hard to feel angry in the half-hour before the sun comes up, ....(pg. 187) ~Love Walked In by Maria de los Santos

8. ...the thing is you can get used to anything you think you can't, you
want to die but you don't, you can't, you just are Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

9. It is not only the white man who breaks the sixth commandment…. Evil and ugly things have been committed against the will of God on both sides. The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter

10. The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

*What type of quotation is your favorite? I love ones that are thought-provoking and give me a reason to commit them to my memory.
Thanks so much for reading my Top 10 today!

Teaser Tuesday(15): Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

My teaser:

It was now the sweetest hour of the twenty-four:-"Day, its fervid fires had wasted," and dew fell cool on panting plain and scorched summit.

~Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, pg. 279

My thoughts:

I found this book at a thrift store and I loved its vintage quality. Can you imagine paying only .45 as the going rate for this book at one time? On the inside, it seems that this book was printed in 1968. Plus, it's true on the cover as it's One of the world's great love stories.


Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading

*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the link above.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books I'm Dying to Read!

Keep in mind that naturally I have a very loooooong TBR(to be read) list and it's a challenge to choose only 10 from so many choices. Plus, as a bonified bibliophile I'm always on the lookout for more! So, I'll put my Top 10 choices down of ones that have been on my mind recently.
Remember, if you'd like to read more Top Ten choices or participate in making a list of your own, check out The Broke and the Bookish for yourself.

1. Evermore by Alyson Noel - At times, all it takes is a little background information from the author herself to get you excited about reading a book! The only secret I keep/is immortality. ~Emily Dickinson

2. Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare - I absolutely love the cover of this book! Plus, it is set in Victorian London and I love that era. Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I'm sure I'm cheating a bit here because I've read about the first 5 pages already but I haven't had time to immerse myself in this book yet. I'm dying to see how things will end and I have to admit I'm a bit afraid of how it will turn out too. Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power. -Time Magazine

4. Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alyson McGhee - I enjoy reading her books and so do my children. This fun new book is a collaborative effort and should come out later this month but it may take some time to get my hands on one. Funny, ebullient ... two friends, three adventures.

5. Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd - I've been hearing all sorts of great things about this book! As you know, I love Jane Austenish stuff so this is right up my alley. This is a superb retelling of the Jane Austen novel in which the house at Mansfield Park becomes the scene of one murder after another.

6. The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright - After I heard Jason F. Wright speak once at Time Out for Women, I've been a fan of his books. I look forward to this one! To the teachers who believed.

7. Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - I know very little about this book but I like the premise and the fact they collaborated to write it. So cool! In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

8. Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey - I'm always so excited to start a new year of reading in a local Classics Book Group I attend. This is the first book choice of 2011. I happen to like Westerns once in a while and this seems like pure classic. Perhaps more than any other novel, contributed to the concept of the American West.

9. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed - This book will most likely take me a long time to read but I hope that it will be very interesting. With penetrating insights for today, this history of the world economic collapse of the late 1920s presents unforgettable portraits of the four men whose personal and professional actions as heads of their respective central banks changed the course of the twentieth century.

10. Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Annette Dumbach, Jud Newborn - Ever since I read The Silenced by James DeVita I have been interested about Sophie Scholl. I haven't found the time to read this version of her story yet and I'd like to. "We will not be silent! We are your bad conscience!" they exhorted the German people to stand up and fight for freedom.

Let me know what books have been on your mind and what you've been dying to read in your comment! Too bad, making and finding time to read all I want can be a complex project of itself but I'm content to keep trying! Eventually, I'll make progress, read and learn something in the process which makes all the difference. Reading is so worthwhile.

Also, if you're interested in book blogs like I am be sure to check out Book Blogger Appreciation Week going on this week! You'll find lots to read from these amazing book bloggers and enjoy reading their blogs in the process. Be warned: reading book blogs can become addictive! ;)

Teaser Tuesdays(14):Evermore by Alyson Noel

My teaser:

"Normally, I'd do anything to avoid a place like this. A place so congested with the random energy of people, their bright swirling auras, their odd collection of thoughts."

My thoughts:

I had to choose this quote after feeling the crowd of people from last night's energy! You see, I feel so lucky that I was able to attend a book signing event at the BookPeople in Austin, TX. I heard Alyson Noel speak and hearing her story of how she came about writing this book convinced me to buy it! I hadn't realized that she would be there so I hadn't thought of buying her book. I can't wait to read it! It was so nice to meet her even if only for a couple of minutes. I love how she signed the words "peace*joy*love" in my book too. I wish everyone the same. Thanks for reading my teaser today!

Introduced to me by: Bookworm Barista
Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading

*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.

Journal Entry: Reflection of 9-11

It’s hard to believe that it has been 9 yrs. since that fateful day. I don’t always realize it but I am still affected by the experience, by the emotion that seized me as I watched a plane dive into the World Trade Center on TV. At first, I was driving down the Interstate listening to the radio after taking my husband to work. I heard what I thought at the time was a commercial for a movie and I remember thinking “That sounds like a bad movie, I don’t want to see it.” At the end of the segment, it was repeated so it dawned on me that it was news not fiction. It worried me. I rushed home to watch TV news. Up to this point, I was curious how an accident like this with a plane could even happen. I had to find out so I trusted what was being said on TV. Safe in my home, I tuned in and in just a very few minutes another plane hit a second huge tower in New York. I was stunned. How could this be real? I already wished that it wasn’t. People - real people were dying even jumping to their deaths. It scared me. I was gripped with a feeling that I couldn’t shake that my husband would eventually be deployed to war. This was real. It wouldn’t be something that an American President would be able to ignore. Life around me was changing. Tears still well up in my eyes, even now, as I truly think of the magnitude of this day and what has happened in my life since which in comparison to those lost is insignificant. I will never forget.

*This picture above was taken when we welcomed our husband/dad home from his deployment in Iraq. (Nov. 2005)

Random Supplement to Words I Love

On Tues., I filled out my top ten words which was so much fun to think about. Now, I've been seeing lots of words everywhere that I like. I also found more quotes to supplement the words I originally chose for my first list. So just for fun, here's a few of those findings:

Ability:

In a search for the words uncanny ability, it brought up a story about a cat who fortells death in a nursing home and funny piece from SNL from the famous Tina Fey portraying Sarah Pallin.

Persuasion:

"You have widely mistaken my character, if you think I can be worked on by such persuasions as these. How far your nephew might approve of your interference in his affairs, I cannot tell; but you certainly have no right to concern yourself in mine."
- Chapter 56, Pride and Prejudice, ~Jane Austen

“The universe, they said, depended for its operation on the balance of four forces which they identified as charm, persuasion, uncertainty and bloody-mindedness.”
~Terry Pratchett

“In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance”
~Thomas Jefferson

“Advertising isn't a science. It's persuasion. And persuasion is an art.”
~William Bernbach

Love:

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay -
Love isn’t love
'Til you give it away.
~Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music, "You Are Sixteen (Reprise)"

"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." ~Albert Einstein



"If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once never forgotten, never let it disappear." ~John Lennon


Fantastic:

"Fashion, by which what is really fantastic becomes for a moment the universal.”
~Oscar Wilde

“One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.”
~George W. Bush


Thinking about my favorite words has been a fun exercise for my brain. As you can plainly read, it's been a bit humorous too. :D Be sure to find a reason to smile or laugh today!

Top Ten Tuesday: Words I Love

Since I love words and quotes so much I thought I would combine the two today for The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tues.: Favorite Words. Here’s my choices which may be subject to change on any given day but for today these are the words that came immediately to my mind that I love, especially the way they sound!

1. Ability ~ " 'I never cheat at cards.' It was true, if one ignored his uncanny ability to keep track of every card in a deck. Some people didn't."
p 10 "A Hellion in Her Bed" by Sabrina Jeffries (ARC) Found in Teaser Tues. at In the Hammock blog.

2. Ludicrous ~ “I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.”
-Mike Tyson

3. Intensity ~“Personally, I experience the greatest degree of pleasure in having contact with works of art. They furnish me with happy feelings of an intensity such as I cannot derive from other realms.”
Albert Einstein

4. Lovely~I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.
~Ogden Nash, "Song of the Open Road," 1933

5. Influence~The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years. Most people believe that aging is universal but there are biological organisms that never age.
Deepak Chopra

6. Fantastic~“Until we're educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do.”
Bill Gates

7. Truth~"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
- Chapter 1, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

8. Imagination~"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment."
- Chapter 6, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

9. Persuasion~“Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.”
-Aristotle

10. Deceive~"It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us."
- Chapter 24, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Now, it's your turn - think about your favorite words and share them with me!

Teaser Tuesdays(13): Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Introduced to me by: Blue Duck Book Reviews
Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading


My Teaser:

"Sure enough, the safe is open wide-but it's not entirely empty. Inside is the bracelet, its gold and diamonds looking even brighter against the ugly gray steel of the empty safe."

pg. 161 in Unwind by Neal Shusterman


*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.

A Quote About Art

Recently, I went to two local Art museums and I saw this quote on the side of a building close-by one of them so I snapped a picture. I enjoy thinking about this essence that it seems to be relating about Art through this quote. I wonder how you might relate or what you may think of this quote. I'm curious so let me know.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Teaser Tuesdays (12): Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Introduced to me by: Blue Duck Book Reviews
Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading

*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.

My Teaser:

"Izzy scrambles over me. I squeeze the chub of her stomach and get one last squeal out of her before she jumps off the bed and dashes out the door."

- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, pg. 271

My Thoughts:

I had to share this quote because I loved the way this scene felt in the book. Beautifully carefree!

~Thanks for coming by today!

Teaser Tuesday(11): The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Introduced to me by: Blue Duck Book Reviews
Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading

*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.

My teaser:

"Deep within herself, the elephant said this name, her name, over and over
again."

pg. 95 The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

My thoughts:

Honestly, I've been quite excited about reading this ever since I read this review from Chris over at Stuff As Dreams Are Made On... I'm enjoying reading this to my kids and we're making an effort to get it read before school starts. Very enjoyable!

Impromptu Flowers

I thought it would be fun to share a few photos of flowers I've seen all around with you. I hope it brings you a smile today!

It seems like I'm like everyone else with the basic fact that you have to take those impromptu trips to the grocery store. If I can avoid it or send my husband, I will. I don't like to go shopping. Lately, I discovered something that has been brightening my day when I do go to that dreaded grocery store and it is the flowers! Many stores have a small flower department and I'm finding that I enjoy taking the time to look at them. It would be fun to buy all the flowers I've been looking at but that's not economically possible. So, one day I started taking pictures on my phone of the flowers and I found that I liked looking at these pictures later. I still don't enjoy going shopping all the time but I do enjoy looking and snapping a picture of those pretty flowers!

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Dislikable Characters

Today's top ten over at The Broke and the Bookish is very interesting because it is about the most dislikeable characters you find in books. You remember, the ones we love to hate, maybe even give us nightmares, or make us feel strong feelings like anger, madness or frustration over. Don't worry, I didn't have time to expound on each character too much about why I didn't like them so you'll need to discover that for yourself by reading about them either in my reviews or in the book itself.


1. Ray from Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

2. Meursault from The Stranger

3. Angel Clare in Tess of the D'Urbervilles

4. Uriah Heep and Murdstones from David Copperfield

5. John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility by J.A.

6. Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights

7. He Who Must Not Be Named (L.V.) in the Harry PotterSeries.


From Non-fiction:

1. Roland Molineux from The Devil's Gentleman: Privelege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century by Harold Schechter
2. Ted Bundy from The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
3. H.H. Holmes from The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson


~Random mentions from others that came to my mind as I wrote this up, since I haven't necessarily read these books yet they're not in my top ten, but because I've heard about them before:

Rosamund from Middlemarch
Ellsworth Toohey of The Fountainhead
Emma Bovary of Madame Bovary
Sue Brideshead in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure


Do you remember any of these from my list? If so, what did you think about them - maybe you even liked them? Otherwise, be sure to tell me what villianous or disagreeable character first comes to your mind in the comments. I can't wait to hear who you pick!

Creativity in Book Reviews

I've started participating in a Thursday meme over at Chrissie's Corner called Radiant Reviews. Basically, this is a meme where you link to any one of your book reviews that has been lacking attention and you bring it up again in the hope that others will see and comment on it showing other bloggers some love as comments really are a vital part of the blog. I love this concept. It's also a way to celebrate book reviewing that takes time and hard work. I've been having fun hopping around to different book blogs and reading their reviews. I'm noticing differences in review style, presentation, what they like to read and it amazes me how unique we all are when it comes to reading and reviewing books. For the most part, I like what I see or I wouldn't keep reading book blogs. I do love book blogs!
I like the creative diversity that can be found in book reviewing. I know I'm as guilty as anyone to falling into a rut and reviewing books in the same way over & over again. I'd like to remedy that. Once in a while, though, I've been inspired by the book to come up with a creative book review. So, I've tried to go for it and use that inspiration. By doing that, it really helps me feel like I've accomplished something. I feel it is important that book bloggers strive to use creativity with book blogging. After all, I think our creativity is what sets us apart from reviews that we could easily find and read on other venues.

Here are some creative things I like to find in book reviews online:

• Write from the heart and use original short & sweet summaries. If I want a summary from the publisher, I can usually find on the back flap or read it at a site like Amazon. I like to see what the reader's point of view was while reading the book.
• Use an occasional different format: a Q & A, a table, poem or prose - something that is unique once in a while that fits the book and feels inspired from it. Of course, these reviews take a lot longer to write so it is ok if they don't show up very much but they are sure fun to read when they do!
• Please let me know if you're going to spoil it. For me, book reading is an experience and I don't want to know a whole lot about a book going in all the time. I like something that will tease me into reading the book. So please, use a spoiler alert, so it's my fault, not yours, if I keep reading the book review and it spoils the book for me.

I realize these are pretty basic in book blogging and this is just my opinion so you don't have to take my word for it anyway. Instead, read other book blogs and see what you think.

Would you like to see more creativity in book blogging? What creative things do you like to see when it comes to book reviews? Do you even read book reviews?

Leave a precious comment and let me know. I'd like to see examples of your favorite book reviews too. :)

*This post was inspired from the #bblog discussion on twitter.

Tweets to ponder:

@SRMcAvoy "Thankfully, we can all find books we love if we read, read often and read deeply." From his disclaimer on book reviewing.

@leewind "If everyone goes home and writes to the trends, then the vampires win." -- Justin Chanda

@markfergbk "let's make sure that love of books is one of the most vibrant messages on the Internet" (roughly) #bookbloggercon

@WritersRelief "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." ~Scott Adams

@deadwhiteguys "Not a fan of all-review blogs- I can walk through B&N and read blurbs if that's all I wanted..prefer more conversation.."#bblog

Thanks for reading!
This post is also an official challenge to all book reviewers to show us what you've got and use more of your own creativity in book reviews. I know you can be visionary!

Top Ten Tuesday - Favorite Book Characters

I love these thought-provoking top ten list questions from The Broke and the Bookish! Today's question is:


What are your top ten Favourite Book Characters?

1. Charlotte from Charlotte's Web - She is the first character that I remember thinking I wanted to emulate her characteristics when I was young. I loved her spider web messages filled with kind thoughts, her love and acceptance of Wilbur, her wisdom and courage to be a good friend to someone completely different from herself that she didn't have to invest in but she did anyway.

2. Emma Woodhouse from one of Jane Austen's masterpieces is so unforgettable. I love how clever, happy and even oblivious she is yet she lives without abandon and her intentions are so enchantingly dear. She is so fun to read about and see portrayed in movies but you can't really capture her magnificent persona along with how misunderstood I imagine she truly is .

3. Jacob from Twilight: kind, gentle, a good listener, romantic, yet not perfection just a great attitude that is progressing as best he can through his suprising twist of fate in his life. Being a bit spontaneous is helpful too.

4. Joe Mack from Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour. I loved his MacGyver type mind, willingness to never give up even in the midst of hindering self-doubts. I just haven't forgotten his journey he faced in this icy frontier.

5. Pablo from Reasonable Doubt by Marcia Mickelson. Confident, charming, helpful, sophisticated and very interesting. I enjoyed this portrayal of a modern gentleman.

6. Professor Severus Snape from Harry Potter. I love the many depths of his character and the way he kept surprising me all the time. Simple, profound and so unique. I felt so much for the many qualities of this character - good and bad. In fact, every time I see a crow now I think of him. I'm not sure why I just do.

7. Lily Bart from The House of Mirth. I enjoyed reading about her and all of her faults, difficulties and hardships. She amazed me with her brutal honesty yet surprised me with her frustrating sensiblities at times. I wanted to see how she would react to the situations unfolding all around her.

8. Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings. She is so courageous, brave and spirited. She didn't worry of what others thought or what she was supposed to do. She took action in spite of warnings not to react. Her loyalty is fiercely not to be forgotten.

9. Beth March from Little Women. She changed the world from her bedside with her broken dreams and dashed hopes but this didn't stop her from loving and caring the people who meant the most to her. She shared all she could with what she was given. She wasn't afraid to say any way she could what was most important. She is a truly beautiful character.

10. Percy from The Scarlett Pimpernel. He's a legend! He speaks fluidly, flowery and is basically very fun to be around because, let's face it, he knows how to work a crowd. He is one extravagant thing yet quite another altogether. A master of disguise and not your run of the mill hero.

Thanks for reading! I'm a bit late in posting but my scheduling of this post had issues today. Sorry. These are the first memorable names that popped into my head from all the different books I've read. I know there are more but I'm glad to have been introduced to and to have read these characters in books. I love to think of them from time to time. Plus, these books are perfect re-reads just to live within the boundaries of these characters lives again.

Radiant Reviews - Thursday Meme

5-Squared: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

You may read this book review of mine if you haven't yet since I decided to participate in this Thursday Meme at

Radiant Reviews at Chrissie's Corner

Perhaps you'd like to share one of your book reviews that you've worked so hard on as well. Or head on over to read others. Beware: you'll probably find more books to add to your TBR(To Be Read) list! Have fun & leave a comment to let the writer of the reviews you read know you've stopped by because, as always, comments are what makes blogging so fun!

Thanks!

Top Ten Tuesday(1): Favorite Books

I discovered this on Lu's Book Blog and I realized that I love to follow The Broke and the Bookish on twitter so I thought I'd participate in her meme: Top Ten Tuesday. Today's top ten is

What are your top ten all-time favorite books?

1) The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter - This is the first classic literature that stands out in my mind. My mom suggested I read it when I was young and complaining of boredom which that adds to the meaning that comes behind reading it for me. Isolated, human fragility, and perceptive are just some of the words that describe it and give you a sense of this book. Simplistic yet well done.

2) The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - I was completely captivated and really enjoyed the main character, Lily. There are many quotes that I love in this book.

3) The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien - I like all of these books but I really do love a beginning of a story and this is one of those rare perfect beginnings.

4)Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - another one that I love the series as well but this is another awesome beginning to entertaining characters and a dystopia novel that will have you questioning everything you know in the world he created and the one you're in now.

5)Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - This really was one of the very first books that I ever loved. I still have my very worn and tattered old copy of this book. I love to talk about this book because I think there is so much to it.

6)The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - This book is one of the saddest books but I loved the imagery and amazing language within its pages. Plath is poetic and I like her style!

7)Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - Honestly, I love the whole series but I'm choosing this one since it is the one I've re-read a few more times than the others. I just love Dobie!

8)The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy - I love the legend of this book! It is silly to some but has depth and layers of meaning to me.

9)The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - This is a "must-read" each Christmas or at least most of them and if I don't get to read it I make sure to see a film adaptation of this book.

10)The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson - This book is fresh in my mind and I just can't forget about it so I'll add it here. It's one of those that changes in your mind after you read it and already, I feel I'm due for a re-read.

Is 10 all I get? I know that there are many more books that I love than this but this is my list for today.

***

Ok, I can't help it so I cheat since three more entered my mind before I published that I have to list, even if just for myself:

11) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

12) The Diary of Anne Frank

13)When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Thanks for reading through all of this!

Just for fun: Right now, see if you can quickly think of a favorite book and leave it in the comments. List the very first one that comes to your mind. GO!

Teaser Tuesday (10): Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Introduced to me by: Blue Duck Book Reviews
Hosted by: MizB of Should be reading

*Anyone can play ~ Find your current read, share a quote from a random page plus do tell what you're reading.
*Remember, you are always welcome to share your teaser in the comments as well.
*For more details be sure to look up how on the links above.


My teaser:

For a brief moment, time stood still. Not really still. It sort of danced and shimmered in place, the lights flickering and dimming before reappearing. If that moment had been a real thing, it would've been a butterfly, flapping and fluttering toward the sun.

~pg. 236 in Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

My thoughts:

In this book , the imagery is amazing! I have felt moments like these, perhaps even many times but wouldn't attempt to describe them - only feel them and let them pass. This is an incredible description that I will ponder as it will forever be fused into my memory now.

Poetry from my Purse

True to form for a writer, I always have to carry good old-fashioned paper and pen around with me so my purse is actually a Franklin Covey planner. I've thought about getting a new purse recently but I can't part with this one. I've had this similar style now for about 10 yrs. & I like that I have something to write or doodle with. I used to carry a calendar too but haven't been this year since I didn't order a refill or find my usual F.C. cheapo ones from Target. I've found that I like having lots of paper instead. So, as I was changing the paper and cleaning out all of those old receipts this time around, here is a poem that I wrote in my purse. Perhaps, this will be a regular feature for every time I clean out my purse.
What about you? What do you find hiding in your purse, on a napkin, a receipt or an old notebook lying around? Feel free to share it if you'd like or let me know what you think when you have a minute. Thanks!

***

Of the Every Day


Rough water
lighthouse
sharp rocks
slashing waves
continuously cut
break apart
only until the elements
beat it down
so much until it
ever surrenders
to the sustaining light

Instead of rough water
reflecting light
being compelled to surrender
giving then receiving
as a lighthouse
I prefer to stand
to bask in the light
to stay off the beaten path
like a beacon
swimming in calm seas
finding the beauty
in the common
the misplaced
surrendering to the honest spirit
of the every day.

***

by J.A.C.