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 |   Drop by drop the snow pack dies, watering the arid lands below. |
    Other Blogs and Journals containing the continuing writing adventures of Prosperous Snow celebrating   "The Snowflake Chronicles"  "More Snow Melt" "Writing in Snow" "Welcome to My Life" "Memories of Snow" "Dreams of Snow " Poet999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff http://poet999writingthoughts.blogspot.com/ Poet999 - A Butterfly Emerges From Her Cocoon http://poet999.blogspot.com/ |
| First, let me say I really don't like the working title for this fantasy novel because I'm not sure it fits the concept. However, it is what I have at the moment so I'm keeping it for now. Synopsis of the Shadow of the Serpent Description: Why is the Valley of the Crested Towers safe from the Shadow Serpents? For ten generations the Families of the Crystal cavers have endured the Treaty of Serpent Wells. Negotiated by Imperial Commander Forest Grubner between the surviving members of the High Council of the Crystal Caverns and the Jurians, the treaty merged the councils of the ancient enemies into a single governing body that oversaw the ruling of two groups. In the generations since the Princess Alena DeCarlo, surviving head of the Caverns’ council, signed it, the Families have kept the letter if not the spirit of the treaty. The Families of the Caverns are composed of two different species. The Families of the Inner Caverns and the Families of the Outer Caverns; while the council is made up of prince and princesses, foster siblings one from the inner caverns and one from the outer. Because of the bond that forms between a prince and princess, they are immune to the poison of the Mist Serpent that inhabit the Families original homes, the caverns they fled ten generations ago. The Families of the Outer Caverns are Elfish in appearance, while the Families of the Inner Caverns resemble extremely tall bipedal lizards. In most cases, the bond that makes the royal pairs foster siblings forms either at birth or soon after. There are exceptions to this, especially in the Anton-DeCarlo lines. There is reason to believe that the sibling bond that holds these two lines together form while the children are still in their mother’s wombs. Like the Princess DeCarlo, the majority of the survivors were women who were in the birthing chambers when traitors, Serpent Helm troops, took over the main Caverns. Therefore, no one is precisely sure what happened during the Purges. Survivors suspected that the traitors murdered all members of the council and their families, but no one knows this for sure. Imperial Commander Grubner found the fleeing women and negotiated the treaty with the Jurians. According to the treaty, the merged council follows the same make up as the original Caverns Council. There are three levels, the Inner or High Council made up of prince and princesses, the Intermediate Council made up of lords and dukes, and the Lower or Outer Council composes of counts and barons. The treaty further states, that if there is an Anton prince/princess and a DeCarlo princess/prince they will be the head of the joint council. If these bonds aren’t formed then the next in line is Jurian princes and princesses. Oddly enough, this clause in the treaty is the only part that can be broken and cause the treaty to dissolve. The first heads of the joint council was a Jurian prince-princess combination, after that, for eight generations an Anton-DeCarlo pair ruled the council. However, in the last generation the Jurians were in charge again. This occurred because of two things, first there was an assassination attempt on the High Council of the Crystal Caverns at an oasis called Golden Caverns. While the princes and princesses weren’t killed, the sibling bonds between the royal pairs were completely severed. The only royal pair that weren’t at Golden Caverns were Prince Holden Anton and Princess Clara DeCarlo. Three months after the incident at Golden Caverns, Prince Anton announced that he and the Princess DeCarlo had chosen mates and were planning a traditional double wedding ceremony at Teller Caverns. It was during this ceremony that the Serpent Helm Commander Jess Grubner, a descendent of Forest Grubner, attacked Teller Caverns and sealed all the known exits from the caverns. The only official survivor was the Princess DeCarlo who was pregnant. Because of these two events, the Jurian prince, Torus, and princess, Marinna, become head of the joint council. Recently Prince Torus died or was murdered, it isn’t clear which occurred. The Princess Marinna attempted to pass one of her sons off as a DeCarlo and a prince of the caverns. The problem was neither she nor her son could prove the royal bond was ever formed with an Anton princess. Thus, the intermediate and lower councils split into three factions. The first faction, which Lord Harris controlled, backed the Princess Marinna’s son Hans DeCarlo. The second faction, headed by Lord Dayton, wanted the Families of the Crystal Caverns to merge with the Families of the Oasis of the Whispering Desert. The third faction, headed by Lord Hartmann, wanted the next generation of princes and princesses, even though they hadn’t yet proved themselves capable of handling their own affairs, to claim their seats on the High Council. The Imperial Commanders, holding the seats on the High Council for the princes and princesses, refused to back any of the three factions. Instead, they pushed to have the Families of the Crystal Caverns to merge with the Families of the Snow Caverns, which hold sway on the other side of the Whispering Desert. As for the princes and princesses waiting to claim their seats on the High Council, they secretly took refuge within the Valley of the Crested Towers. The princes and princesses did not intend to flee either to the desert or across it. Their intention was to find a way for the Families of the Crystal Caverns to reclaim their original homes from the Serpent Helms. The only way they felt this was possible was to ally themselves with other enemies of the Serpent Helms. These they found in the Valley of the Crested Towers, whose people had also lost land and kin to the Serpent Helms. Prince Jarvez Anton and Princess Maria DeCarlo, the traditional heads of the Council of the Crystal Caverns, are the last royal pair to take refuge within the Crested Towers. Like all the other pairs, they have kin, either half-siblings or first cousins, within the Valley. Since their kin in the Valley have different last names than the royal pairs, this relationship is not widely known. Inside the Valley of the Crested Towers, Princess DeCarlo finds her mother and half-brother, but only after, she has married Lord Calvin Jessup a man old enough to be her father and one of the most powerful Lords in the Valley. The Serpent Helm Commander Morris Grubner and his troops murdered Lord Jessup’s first wife and eldest son in an ambush. Lord Jessup’s youngest son and next in line for the title isn’t well liked by most of the council. Recently someone on the council raised a question concerning the legality of Lord Jessup’s marriage to his first wife, which if proven would make Lord Jessup’s youngest son ineligible to inherit the title. In addition, Prince Karloff, of the Families of the Crystal Caverns and a survivor of the assassination attempt at Golden Caverns, is trying to negotiate a treaty between the council of the Crested Towers and, Karloff claims, the Families of the Crystal Caverns. Actually, Karloff has allied himself with the Grubners. Lord Jessup, who leads a faction opposed to the treaty, doesn’t trust Karloff. To give his negotiations legitimacy, Prince Karloff invited Prince Anton and the Princess DeCarlo to attend the negotiations. However, the Aton-DeCarlo pair appointed the Princess Adela and Prince Jason, both survivors of Golden Caverns, to represent them at the meeting. In addition, unbeknownst to Karloff, Prince Furcell and Prince Davis, contemporaries of Karloff, have decided to attend the meeting as well, they are angry with Karloff for not informing them of the negotiations as he had promised to do when he signed an agreement with them after Golden Caverns. Of the three surviving Grubner brothers, there were originally five, only Travis is going to attend the meeting. The other two, Morris and Clave, are persona non grata within the Crested Towers. The Serpent Helm Commander Tyron Morpheus killed the two oldest brothers. Morpheus, the youngest son of the Princess Dora, another Golden Cavern’s survivor, has a personal vendetta against the Grubners and is in the area of the Crested Towers. The people of the Crested Towers can’t reclaim their stolen land without assistance of the Families of the Crystal Caverns, any more then the Families can reclaim their land without assistance. The reason for this is that the lands of both factions claim contain Serpent Helm outposts and infestations of deadly poisonous Shadow Serpents. The only ones immune to the poison are the royal pairs, individuals that are descended from both the inner and the outer caverns, and dragon cats, which eat the Shadow Serpents; a few other individuals do have a high tolerance of the poison, but not immunity. The Serpent Helms, who are human or elfish, can live in serpent-infested areas because of an antidote to the poison. The problem with the “antidote” is its side effects. Anyone living on the serpent-infested land must consume the antidote on a daily basis to survive. However, besides being highly addictive, the antidote has an effect of the libido, especially when a Mist Serpent bites the individual, and the genetic make-up of those consuming it. In addition, the dragon cats, which normally only feed on the snakes and other vermin, attack and eat anyone consuming the antidote. All these together make the antidote’s use over long periods and several generations undesirable. The bond that forms between a prince and princess is unique. It gives them the ability to know what the other is thanking, saying and doing. In certain cases, the other experiences the emotions experienced by one. This can be disconcerting and upsetting to those witnessing it. Only two things that can sever the bond permanently, one is death and the other is consuming the antidote to the poison of the Shadow Serpents, which custom forbids the royal pairs to drink. If one or both of the royal pair do consume the antidote, then after the bond is broken they respond to the other side effects in the same way everyone else does. The events at Golden Caverns, which play into this story, are these. The prince and princesses who attended the meeting received large doses of the poison antidote in their food, and then someone locked them in chambers with the poisonous snakes. The antidote severed the royal bonds; the prince and princess remained locked in the chamber for week or two before they were rescued. What happened at Golden Caverns, no one knows for sure, the survivors couldn’t remember anything after they consumed the antidote. It’s known for sure that by the time rescue troops released the prince and princess from the chambers, the princesses were pregnant. Prince Karloff and Imperial Commander Costar arranged the meeting at Golden Caverns. Jon Morpheus, Tyron’s father, was the only person ever charged for anything. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Imperial Commanders overseeing seats on the High Council found him guilty and branded him as a traitor. This didn’t change Princess Dora’s opinion of him, but it did cause Karloff, the presumed father of her oldest son, to remove her first born from her custody. Once Prince Anton and the Princess DeCarlo enter the Valley of the Crested Towers, they find there is something very odd about this valley. For one thing, the poisonous serpents can’t seem to get a hold in the valley. There are Shadow Serpent pits scattered in the mountains that surrounding the valley, but those snakes that do get into the Valley die without leaving offspring. It isn’t clear what protects the Valley, it could be magic or it could be a natural phenomenon no one is sure, but something obviously protects does it from the Shadow Serpents. The Serpent Helms want the Valley; because it’s the only place they can survive without consuming the antidote. The antidote’s genetic effects have begun taking its toll on the Serpent Helm population and unless they find somewhere where they can live without it, they will become extinct. On the other hand, the Families because they rely on the dragon cats to keep the population of Shadow Serpents under control can live any place as long as they take the proper precautions’ to ensure that the cats are healthy and in good breeding condition. An interesting breeding note about the cats is that the larger the Shadow Serpent population in an area the larger the cats litters are and the more often they mate. Word Count = 2,035 |
| 5 'Izzat 164 B.E. - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 about 5:14 PM PDT The count down to National Novel Writing Month has begun. I entered the NaNoWriMists Contest this year. Sign ups on NaNoWriMo.org begins on October 1 and planning begins for the novel on that day as well. I've entered NaNoWriMo for the last two years. The first year I completed the challenge with over 50,000 words. The second year I entered, but didn't do anything at all with the novel. In fact the only thing I remember about it was that it was a fantasy novel, but what the name was escapes me. This year I don't think it will be a fantasy novel. I have a particular creature in mind that I've been attempting to do something with for a while now. It's going nowhere fast (I've never heard of anyone going nowhere slowly). Any way I think my main problem is lack of planning. I didn't plan the first novel, I just started writing and the planning came in as the novel moved along. I don't like that, because about half way through I realized that the first chapter wasn't actually the first chapter. I'm looking forward to planning the novel this year and see how that goes. I've got a place in my port already picked out to hold the novel. I've got a working title for the novel. The characters need some work, which is probably why I haven't gotten very far on the idea. It isn't that I don't know much about the characters, but I think that I need to look at the whole situation with new eyes. Perhaps I need to write a character sketch on the main characters. I'm at lose ends with this one, but I've got a gut feeling that if I can just put the characters and the plot into words it's a good idea. I'm not going to say much more about them at the moment. I have to do a little house keeping in my port, remove a synopsis for another novel that. Not that I'm going to get rid of it completely. I'll put the synopsis in an entry in this blog, where I can keep it and review it periodically. |
| 4 'Izzat 164 B.E. - Monday, September 10, 2007 about 9:11 PM PDT I finally bought a new mop, which isn't a sponge mop. As anyone who has read any of my blogs within the past month or so knows, I hate sponge mops! As far as I'm concerned sponge mops are the invention of the devil and Mrs. Satan wouldn't have one. Since the sponge mop handles I have are still good, I'm going to put them on free cycle. There must be someone in Las Vegas that wants them. True they'll have to buy new sponge heads, but that's a lot cheaper than buying the entire mop. Besides they may have another use for the handles. I'm going to use my new mop on Tuesday, September 11, in either the kitchen or the dinning room. I haven't decided which yet. I'm not going to get online very much on Tuesday, I have housework to do and I have the feeling I need to get as much of it done this week as I can. My focus is the living room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast room (not necessarily in that order). Actually considering the way I work there won't be any order to it. |
| 2 'Izzat 164 B.E. - Sunday, September 9, 2007 about 5:49 PM PDT OK, so my life wouldn't actually fit in a nutshell (is this one word or two). My life wouldn't fit in a bread box and it almost doesn't fit in my house. Since March 12, 2007 I've been on line and home either sporadically or obsessively depending on whether I needed another month's upgrade or not. My upgrade is good until December 15, thanks to angels. My mother is home and complaining all the time about having to sleep in a hospital bed and use either a wheel chair or walker, so I think she's probably getting better. True she's back on the meds for the diarrhea, but it doesn't seem so bad this time and I think this dose of pills will take care of the problem. In the coming weeks I have 30 in depth reviews to do, plus whatever other reviews. I have contests to enter, short stories and a novel to finish. I'm back on line for a while. I still have a house to clean, but I'm getting a handle on the clutter. My brother gave us a $200 gift card to Albertson's, so now I can go get a decent mop without feeling guilty. The sponge mops I have I'll either offer on free cycle or throw them away. Since the handle's are good I'll probably offer them on free cycle. Someone out there must like sponge mops. I have two off site blogs I'm planning on making money with, so I have to get at least 40 post in them before October 10 or 25. That does mean at least two a day for the next few weeks, but since I view myself as determined it shouldn't be a big problem. Of course, since I set a goal to do this writers' block assisted by my inner critic has reared its ugly head. This means some of the post will be responses to prompts. I joined the yahoo prompt group Daily Writing Practice and have the prompts in a folder in my yahoo mail when needed. I'm in a good mood, I see light rather than darkness for a change. I'm two days behind on housework because my brother and his family were in town. Tonight is the night I catch up on the laundry. I caught up on the dishes yesterday. I'm being optimistic for the first time in a long time. |
| 1 Izzat 164 B.E. - Saturaday, September 8, 2007 about 7:40 AM PDT Today is the first of Izzat, Might, and the morning here in Las Vegas is clear and warm. Last night Mom and I went to the Feast of Izzat at the Baha'i Center. The theme for the readings was the Right of God, very inspirational and encouraging. There are two specific prayers in the Baha'i Prayer book covering this subject. I think I'll attempt to writing a poem, but I'm not sure about the form at this point. I normally write free verse poems, but not always. When I want to write a poem on a specific subject and don't have any idea where to start, I choose a specific form. Writing a poem in a form helps me to focus on the subject and the theme. I have a Book of Forms by Lewis Turco that I consult when look for a form to use. If I don't find a form in there, then I do an Internet search or go to the forms posted on writing.com. For the past two day my brother and his family have stayed at the Flamingo. His wife is in Vega for a seminar and her company paid for a hotel room for the family. So Mom and I spent Thursday and Friday visiting with my brother and his youngest sons. They took us to eat at the Flamingo Buffet, I don't know the price of the buffet there, but it's worth whatever the price. The Flamingo puts out quit a spread. Friday, as we were walking across the court yard, I saw both a black swan and an black necked swan. The hotel casino has a nice collection of birds, including Flamingos I'll probably use the black necked and black swans in a poem. The only draw back of two days spent away from home is housework. I'm behind on both the laundry and the dishes. What a way to start out a month, with both laundry and dishes to do. I'll do the laundry while I'm washing dishes. The washing machine is unbalanced and dances across the floor in the spin cycle. If I'm in the kitchen when the cycles change it's easer to keep the machine from moving. I prevent the washing machine from moving by standing against it, while it's spinning. It's either that or move it back into position when it stops. Standing against the washer and preventing it from moving is easier on my back. |
| 17 Asma 164 B.E. – September 5, 2007 about 11:00 AM PDT Note: From Yahoo Journal Writing Group – September 4, 2007 This exercise is from 'The Writer's Path- A guidebook for your creative journey.' 1. Open your dictionary at random 2. Without Looking, bring the tip of your finger down on the page. 3. Read all the definitions of the word your finger lands on. If there are unfamiliar words, look them up too. 4. Begin a session of free-writing with a sentence containing the word you choose. Variation- Use the word as a title for a poem variation- look up seven words, use them in a letter to a friend. Sarah decried the criticism she received from her siblings. It wasn't that she was lazy, she tried best to keep her section of the room clean and neat. Every evening, when she returned from school and finished her homework, she would dust, sweep and mop. She put her books back on the shelf and set her stuffed animals on the trunk that served as a dresser and chest of drawers. After completed these chores, she said her prayers and went to bed, but the next morning her area was a mess. The stuffed animals, with the exception of the teddy bear she slept with, were strewn all over the room. Her homework and other papers scattered all over the floor. Ella, her eldest sister, always stood over her bed glaring at her. "Why," she'd snarl, "can't you do a decent job of cleaning your section of this room. It's bad enough we have to share the same room, without you living like a pig." Sighing, Sarah would get up and straightened everything again, but this time she put the stuffed animals on the bed after she made it. Sarah had learned long ago that saying anything or defending herself always made Ella mad. Therefore, Sarah remained silent all through the rest of the morning until it was time to go to school. Sarah enjoyed school, there she could relax without being criticized for something. After school she returned home and did her homework in the kitchen. However, when she went upstairs to the room she shared with Ella and Morgan, the younger sister, she found her area in a mess again. After school it was Morgan who set glaring at her as she came through the door. "Well," Morgan berated, "it's about time you came up and cleaned that pigsty of your's up and hurry before Mom gets home." Again Sarah cleaned her area up and went to bed. Then one morning, Sarah had enough. She got up and began the daily routine, but this time she moved slowly until everyone left the house. Her mother didn't notice because Sarah was always the last to leave for school and get home. After everyone had left, she took Ella's largest backpack of its shelf and removed everything it held. The next thing she did was pack as many of her cloths as she could in the backpack. Then taking her teddy bear, she put the rest of her stuffed animals in her trunk and left the house, with the backpack hanging from one shoulder and holding her teddy bear. |
| 15 Asma 164 B.E. - September 2, 2007 about 8:40 PM PDT One of my off site blogs is called Poet 999 - A Butterfly Emerges from Her Cocoon at http://www.poet999.blogspot.com. I've found myself doing a number of things lately that I haven't did before. Last year during writing.com's 6th Birthday Party, I didn't join in any of the activities. This year is different, I'm joining in all the activities I can. This year I'm in a much better frame of mind. This year I'm less afraid of trying something new. This year I'm sixty years old and am attempting to say or rather scream "SCREW FEAR!" (figuratively) from the mountain tops or at least the tops of the tallest hotel casinos in Vegas. I'm not sure what's change besides my age, but something has. I'm still wanting to be cautious, however the more I do that my inner critic say "You can't" or the equivalent thereof, the more I want to do it. I wasn't a rebel when I was a teenager. I was fairly conservative and afraid to do things out of the ordinary or that other people might laugh at. I held that until the day I turned 60 and I realized that if I was going to succeed at anything, then I had to take a chance. I'm slowly emerging from my cocoon. I'm still afraid at times, but it's getting better. I've noticed lately that I'm less afraid if I say my prayers regularly and read from the sacred scriptures. I've noticed, in the past few days, that I'm wanting or needing to set a time schedule to get everything completed in a day. I'm going to attempt the time schedule again. I've tried it before and everything works well up to a point. One of my problems is I get focused on something and don't want to quit what I'm doing. I have to work on that, I know everything will work out, I know I'll get everything completed that has survival value. I still obsess the small stuff sometimes though. I have noticed something else lately. I look at ways that I can change my behavior and make the house keeping easier. |
Happy 7th Birthday There is an old saying (I can't remember who said it) that "the gods favor odd numbers". Seven is an odd number and a sacred number. It brings good luck (according to gamblers) and it suggest a change for the better in fortune. That's about all I know about the number seven, although if I did some research I'd probably find out more.       To Do For writing.com's Seventh Birthday  Make a writing.com birthday entry in Poet 999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff http://poet999writingthoughts.blogspot.com. Writing a poem about The Best Gift. Make a writing.com birthday entry in Poet 999 - A Butterfly Emerges from Her Cocoon http://poet999.blogspot.com.Do seven reviews every day in September. (This is a stretch for me because I haven't attempted that type of goal before and it means staying up later than usual on certain nights.) Make a writing.com birthday entry in my Yahoo 360 blog. Write a tribute to writing.com.Announce to off site groups I belong to about writing.com's birthday (this is several yahoo groups and one MSN group).NOTE: The blog entries I'll scatter throughout the month of September so they're not all made on the same day. |
| 13 Asma 164 B.E. - August 31, 2007 about 11:52 PM PDT Note: I used Prosperous Snow to come up with this name. ********* Sometimes when you have a stressful day or week,you need some silliness to break up the day. Here is your dose...The following is an excerpt from a children's book, "Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants", by Dave Pilkey: The evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names..... Use the first letter of your first name to determine your NEW first name: a = stinky b = lumpy c = buttercup d = gidget e = crusty f = greasy g = fluffy h = cheeseball i = chim-chim j = poopsie k = flunky l = booger m = pinky n = zippy o = goober p = doofus q = snotty r = loopy s = slimy t = falafel u = dorkey v = squeezit w = oprah x = skipper y = dinky z = zsa zsa Use the first letter of your last name to determine the first half of your NEW last name: a = diaper b = toilet c = giggle d = bubble e = girdle f = barf g = lizard h = waffle i = cootie j = monkey k = potty l = liver m = banana n = rhino o = burger p = hamster q = toad r = gizzard s = pizza t = gerbil u = chicken v = pickle w = chuckle x = tofu y = gorilla z = stinker Use the last letter of your last name to determine the second half of your NEW last name: a = head b = mouth c = face d = nose e = tush f = breath g = pants h = shorts i = lips j = honker k = butt l = brain m = tushie n = chunks o = hiney p = biscuits q = toes r = buns s = fanny t = sniffer u = sprinkles v = kisser w= flubber x =humperdinck y = brains z = juice Thus, for example, George Bush's new name is FluffyToiletshorts. Go figure. Now when you forward this..use your new name as the "title of the subject line". Be yourself...That' s what makes you...YOU. |
| 12 Asma 164 B.E. - August 30, 2007 about 8:40 PM PDT There are four open mic readings coming up in September that I'd like to attend. The first is on Tuesday, September 4, at the reJAVAnate on the corner of Flamingo and Pacos. It starts at 7:00 pm. This is the Labor Day open mic; I haven't written any new Labor Day poems in a couple of years. I don't know what approach to take. I'm considering using birth as the theme rather than the ordinary Labor Day subject of work or not working. The next is the First Friday reading on September 7, I think it starts at 7:00 or 7:30 pm. I'll have to look at the e-mail in my yahoo.box for the location. I haven't attended First Friday before, but I've always wanted to. It's a night of art and other related events. I may not writing anything special for this one, if I decide to go. I'd like to go, but I'm not sure whether that will be possible. Ever since Mom went into the hospital in March, I've had to look at all the components of a night out. I think Mom would enjoy going to First Friday, but the problem is ... I'm looking at the problems again. For the past several months, I've look at the roadblocks and not anything else. I'm tired of looking at the roadblocks. Mom's recovering, she could be doing better, but she is recovering. Just once I'd like to stop worrying about what might happen and just do something. The third poetry reading is the 9/11 Remembrance open mic. It's at the reJAVAnate on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. I have two 9/11 poems and if I go to the meeting I need at least three. Not that it would matter what I read, but I like to follow the theme of the reading as closely as possible. The fourth reading is women's night, that's at the reJAVAnate on Tuesday, September 18, I think. I volunteered Mom and I both for it. Mom wants to attend and I think it would be good for her, if ... There's that if again! It always comes up when I'm deciding whether or not we can go somewhere. If I ask Mom, she's just going to tell me that whatever I decide is alright with her. I know she'd like to go to the reading. She enjoyed herself last Tuesday when we went to the men's poetry night reading. The main problems, at this point, are gas and money, things seem to be turning around slowly. However, the could just as easily spring back to the way they've been since March. I'm worrying again! I'm finding things to worry about. I can't seem to shake the worry habit. The habit of looking at the roadblocks near by rather than the final destination. I didn't used to be like this. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. It's like I have a mind set or focus that doesn't realign. I'm getting irritated with myself. |
| When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. (????) They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. (????) They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. (????) The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table And poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the Empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and Favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. "Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend." Please share this with someone you care about. ~ I JUST DID ~ NOTE: This was forwarded to a group I belong to and I thought I would share it. I don't know the original source. |
| 7 Asma 164 B.E. - August 26, 2007 about 11:00 AM PDT It doens't bother me being a Baby Boomer or a Sexagenarian. Actually most baby boomers are either sexagenarians or on the verge of becoming sexagenarians. Aging doesn't bother me either, my mother said today I didn't have any wrinkles. I know that I don't look like I'm sixty years old. True I'm not aging gracefully, I'm fighting it every step of the way unless I can get a senior citizens discount or something like that. There was a time when it bothered me to ask for stuff like that, but not any more. In fact, I've started doing a lot of things lately that I used to avoid. I ask for something whether I get it or not. When one asks can I have ...? then the answer is either yes or no. There is a 50% chance of either answer. Another thing I do is pick up aluminum cans off the ground in parking lots. If anyone gives me a strange look, I smile and say "Gas money." I don't care what they think, if I can sell a few cans and get a gallon of gas great. I had an interesting experience the other day. Mom and I went to Food 4 Less to get coffee and cat litter. There was a guy on a motor cycles (not a Harley) who let me turn, then smile at me and said "Hi beautiful." I liked that. I enjoy guys saying stuff like that to me. He was somewhere around my age, but I doubt that it would have matter whether he was younger or older. I like it when men flirt with me. Come to think of it, maybe I'll find a construction site and walk by just to see if the men working their will whistle at me. My mother is an Octogenarian and she was complaining the other day, that she has no boobs any more. I didn't ask her if she wanted a boob job, maybe I should. Alternatively, maybe I should just tell my brother the next time he ask what Mom want that he can get her a boob job for her birthday or whatever. That would really make his day. There are some things I do worry about. Lately I've suspected I may be a bit paranoid, of course I drive in Las Vegas, so that could explain the paranoia. This isn't the easiest town to drive in. It isn't the easiest town to walk in either, but I'm more concerned about driving right now. Driving and cleaning out trunks (not my car trunk) that have books in them. I either need to get more bookcases or start giving away or selling some of the books I do have. I cleaned out a trunk to put some stuff in it and found The Complete Idiot's Guide to Journaling. I looked through the book and found some interesting ideas and facts, while I was cleaning out the same trunk I also found an old math book. I'm going to make an altered book out of the math text, but I think I'll read through the journaling book before I decide what to do with it. Words of Wisdom However, no two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is--in other words, not a thing, but a think." Penelope Fitzgerald, The Gate of Angels Quoted in The Complete Itiot's Guide to Journaling, chapter 2, page 12 |
| 6 Asma 164 B.E. - August 24, 2007 about 10:20 PM PDT I started out with specific intentions with this blog. I even posted the goals in the blog introduction (mostly for my benefit). I've apparently gotten lost in the dark. I don't think I've achieved any of the goals lately. I feel an urgency to get things done, not only house work but writing as well. Yet the harder I try the less I get done. I feel like I'm floating somewhere in space, lost in the darkness between the stars or perhaps the galaxies. I'm pulled in several directions at once. I feel the gravity of opposing star systems and galaxies pulling at me. Forcing me to choose one or the other, but then rejecting me if I start to float toward them. OK, maybe I have a rejection complex. I know that I feel that no matter what I do it's not going to be good enough. Not matter how hard I try I'm going to fail at something. I don't know exactly what's going on with me or in my life, but whatever it is it's getting to me. In an off site blog I said I thought I'd been going through a crises of faith, but I'm not sure about that at this point. I don't doubt Baha'u'llah, I know that whatever is happening to me I can depend on Baha'u'llah and God, but I don't think I can depend on anyone else. Sometimes I'm not even sure I can depend on myself. I know when this all started. I know the exact date and approximate time. On March 12, at about 7:00 PM, I took my mother to the hospital, she was doubled over in pain. Everyone came to my ... or perhaps I should say our aid ... supportive and encouraging. Now I feel abandoned, alone ... floating in the darkness. The situation is getting better, but it's getting better because I'm focusing on spiritual issues in my personal life. It's getting better because when I pray I focus on the prayers and their meaning. It's getting better because I'm looking for the ways the prayers are answered, rather than expecting the answers the way I want them. I feel abandoned and alone when I look at human beings rather than at Baha'u'llah. When I read the scriptures and the prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah, I never feel alone or abandoned. Perhaps the out come of this whole situation is to change my focus from self and human beings to God's Will as revealed through Baha'u'llah. I know that in the past few days my faith has gotten stronger, I've looked at the way my prayers have been answered and found that He who puts his trust in God, God will suffice him, He who fears God, God will send him relief. Baha'u'llah |
| 3 Asma 164 B.E. - August 21, 2007 about 9:00 PM PDT I've decided that I like scrubbing floors on my hands and knees. It's a spiritual experience. I felt much better today about myself and the events in my life. It sounds weird liking to scrub floors on your hands and knees. I'd worry about myself, but I just don't have time for that none sense. I think I'm coming out of my cocoon after 60 years. One of my off site blogs is Poet 999 - A Butterfly Emerges from Her Cocoon http://poet999.blogspot.com. I think it's about time I did some house keeping on that blog. Usually I don't keep blog entries archived there more then a year back and I think I have entries going back to 2005. So it's time to start deleting early entries. I keep copies of my entries in an off site journal. I'd print them off but I don't have ink cartages for my printer right now. Which makes submitting work a bit difficult. I'm stuck submitting via e-mail and on line for a while. Well I think that's all for today, I still have to sweep the kitchen and living room floors so I can mop them tomorrow, but not on my hands and knees for a few days. |
| 1 Asma 164 B.E. - August 20, 2007 about 7:30 PM PDT The e-mail messages keeps telling me to update my blog. So I'm updating my blog. It's close to sunset here in Vegas, so the date is probably closer to the 2nd of Asma than the 1st, but I'm not into technicalities at this time. I'm typing this entry directly into the blog. I have did all my off site blog entries that way for the past few days. I've found myself short of time and it takes less time to compose the entry in the blog then to compose it in Word and then copy and paste. I feel as if I'm in a time crunch. I have the urge to get things done. Talking about getting things done, I did something today I've never did before. I'm not sure how well I like it, I'll have to try it a few more time before I know. The thing I did today for the first time in my 60 years on this planet was to scrub the floor by hand. I got down on my hand and knees and scrubbed the floor. The reason I can't say whether I like to scrub floors that way was because I cried the entire time. Actually I didn't scrub an entire floor, just a part of one. The reason I did this had to do with difficult to remove dirt and a sponge mop. Anyone whose has ever read any of my blogs knows that I detest sponge mops. They are an invention of the devil. In fact, Mrs. Satan wouldn't use one. Now why was I crying, not because I was on my hands and knees scrubbing floors, with a wash cloth no less. I was crying because suddenly I realized that nothing I could do would be good enough. I'm in a Valley of the Shadow mood. I have no doubt that I'll probably attempt the hands and knees thing again. Hopefully next time I'll be in a more positive mood and can determine whether I like washing floors that way. |
| 13 Kamal 164 B.E. - Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 10:24:15 PM PDT Note: The following questions are from an iVillage course I’m taking. I completed the sentence. When introduced to different perspectives and new ways of doing things I typically act in one of two ways. First, I will reject it outright and my thoughts will tell me that it is a silly way to do something or that it is impossible for me to accomplish. Second, I will accept it as possible and want to attempt it, but my self-doubt gets in the way and tells me that it is impossible for me to accomplish or that things like “that” aren’t meant for people like me to do. The first response occurs when I’m in a depression, filled with self-doubt and am listening to my inner critic. The second, response occurs when I’m in a more optimistic mood, but my inner critic gets in my way. It’s easier for me to ignore my inner critic or tell him to shut up and get out of my way. I’m not sure that the environment has a lot to do with my reactions, because most of the time its whether or not I’m depressed over something going on in my life. My biggest fear in learning a new task is not being able to do it perfectly the first time. The problem is that if I do it perfectly on the first attempt I don’t learn the task properly. Where as, if I have to do it over one or two times before getting it right I learn to do it properly. I feel least comfortable about trying new things when I’m alone and don’t have anyone to consult on the method I’m using or to critique the outcome. I tend to find it easy to learn a new skill when I have someone present who I can discuss what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. I don’t want the person to show me how to do something more than once, but I do like to have the outcome critiqued. Followed by a discussion of how I can improve the skill. The one (negative) thing I find hardest to overcome about the way I think is my own self-doubt and self-criticism. Sudden insights and new ideas tend to come to me when I’m alone in prayer or meditation. However, this isn’t always the case because at certain times when I’m having an especially tough test, I find that an “ah moment” occurs when I’m watching somebody else or discussing something (especially something I’m having difficulty in achieving) with someone else. I am most likely to act on a new idea when I’m under stress and confronted with a dead-end situation. Learning is most enjoyable for me when I can apply what I learn to a situation in my own life. I would consider myself to be more creative and innovative if I could find a way to increase my income and start a business that uses my talents and skills. Reflecting on the way I think overall, I would say that sometimes I’m an optimist and sometimes I’m a pessimist. I’m usually a pessimist when I’m looking at my limitations and considering if I have the talent to do something. I’m an optimist when I place my trust in God through Baha’u’llah and don’t look at my own limitations. |
| 10 Kamal 164 B.E. – August 10, 2007 at 7:12:02 AM PDF Word Count = 627 The darkness surrounds me, no matter which way I turn there is deep night. No light comes from any direction. There are no distant stars. There is no hint of sunrise or sunset. There is only the darkness, only the deep ebony firmament above and only the pitch-blackness around me. I do not know which way to move. If I go forward, will I fall into a bottomless pit? On the other hand, am I falling into one already and do not know it? Where am I? Am I in a cave, am I moving through a subterranean cave, am I in a castle dungeon, am I walking through a deep forest at midnight? I do not know the answers to these questions. I am not sure I will ever know the answers. How did I get here? My memory is of waking up in the dark. I do not have any memory, beyond finding myself in this place. I am walking in the dark, I am standing in the dark or perhaps I am sitting in the dark. I am not sure which. Odd that I do not know these things or how I arrived in this place. It is even odder that I do not know who I am. Everyone knows his or her name at least that is what I think. Perhaps I am wrong there. I have not memory of a past either. It is as if I have walked through this darkness forever. Perhaps I am dead and do not realize it. Perhaps this is hell. Perhaps … perhaps a lot of things, I just do not know. I do know that I would like to see the sunlight and the starlight again. Again … I just thought or was it said again. I just realized that I do have one memory. That is of starlight flickering through the atmosphere. Where did I create that memory? I can remember the starlight, but not the circumstances surrounding the moment. I am tired; I must rest. I must sit down on the ground or the floor of where ever I am and rest. I must lay down or put my back against a wall and rest. I must close my eyes and sleep for a little bit. Then when I awake I can decide what to do, I can decide which direction to go. Once I rest, my head will be clear and I will be able to continue this endless journey in the dark with either my hope renewed or in complete hopelessness. Maybe I should give up all together and just sit until I pass into the next world. However, what if I am already dead and do not know? What if this is hell and I am condemned to go on and on eternally in the dark? There is another alternative! I could be in the birth canal of paradise. I could be on the verge of being born into … into what heaven or something else. Maybe I have not gone through the experience of material birth. Maybe I am in the birth canal of my mother waiting to be born. Maybe I am in the womb waiting to be born. I do not know. I only know that I must rest for a moment before I continue. Therefore, I will sit down and lean my back against this stonewall and go to sleep. Interesting, the wall does not feel like stone to my naked body. It feels like a soft material. It gives when I put my back against it. I want to know where I am, but I am so tired that I cannot keep my eyes open. I will just close them for a second and … Note: I don’t know yet what I’m going to do with this. I think the character is female, but I’m not sure. I’m not even sure where this piece is going. |
| 7 Kamal 164 B.E. – August 7, 2007 at 5:34:35 PM PDF I finally posted "Invalid Item" . One of the things on this list is to unclutter my life. What do you think I found while online at writing.com? I encountered "Take A Walk On The Purge Side" [E] by SaraJane  . This is encouraging and written as if the author is talking to a friend. I enjoyed reading and reviewing it.This isn’t the first Twilight Zone Music moment I’ve had. True it’s a first encounter on writing.com, but it’s not the first time it’s happened to me. I get these moment about once a month or so. I decide to do something or I’m discussing a situation with my mother and I encounter something on the same topic. Anyway, now all I have to do is to unclutter … excuse me purge my life of the excess baggage and unwanted items I’ve collected over the years. This isn’t an easy task. Especially since I have a spare … perhaps I should call it junk room. I keep the door closed, not because I don’t want to look at it or clean it out, but because when I have dry cat food in the house that’s where I keep it. That’s the only door in the house that the cat’s can’t open. |
| 6 Kamal 164 B.E. – August 6, 2007 at 8:03:24 PM PDT Note: Posted on yahoo journal writing group; please pass it on. TEST FOR OLDER KIDS The answers are printed below, but don't you cheat. 1. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, Who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don't know, but he left this behind. What did he leave behind? ____________ ____. 2. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. in early 1964, we all watched them on The _ ____________ __ Show. 3. "Get your kicks, ____________ _______." 4. "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed_____ _________ _____." 5. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, _ ____________ ___." 6. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we "danced" under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the "___________ __." 7. "N_E_S_T_L_E_ S", Nestle's makes the very best......._ _________ _____." 8. Satchmo was America 's "Ambassador of Goodwill." Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was ____________ ____. 9. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? ____________ ___. 10. Red Skelton's hobo character was named ____________ ______ and Red always ended his television show by saying, "Good Night, and "___________ _____". 11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their_______ _______. 12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW What other names did it go by? ____________ & ____________ ___. 13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, "the day the music died."This was a tribute to ____________ ______. 14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called ____________ ______. 15. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ____________ ____. ANSWERS: 1. The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet. 2. The Ed Sullivan Show 3. On Route 66 4. To protect the innocent. 5. The Lion Sleeps Tonight 6. The limbo 7. Chocolate 8. Louis Armstrong 9. The Timex watch 10. Freddy, The Freeloader, and "Good Night,and may God Bless." 11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned.) 12. Beetle or Bug 13. Buddy Holly 14. Sputnik 15. Hula-hoop Send this to your "old" friends. It will drive them crazy! And, keep them busy and let them forget their aches and pains for a few minutes. |
| 5 Kamal 164 B.E. - Sunday, August 5, 2007 at 8:11:41 AM PDT I look out my window and see a cloudy sky. It’s still early here in Vegas, only about 6:00 A.M. I haven’t been outside yet or even listened to the morning news, so I can’t say for sure how cloudy it is or how cloudy it will get. Not that it really matters how many clouds we have, this is the 2nd week in August, it’s still monsoon season, the humidity is up and I have a heat rash between my boobs. I was unable to complete the 21 Days of Poetry Challenge II, however I kept the prompt and completed those yesterday. I posted the last response early this morning WDC time. I changed the name of the book, it’s now "Invalid Item" . I still have about 4 entries I can put in that book, so I’m going to find other prompts else where to respond to.I encounter something interesting on one of my yahoo groups yesterday. It was a reference to prayerstreaming. I did a web search and the only thing I found on the subject was a couple of books. I didn’t keep the names of them, but I’ll do another search later and then tomorrow when we get out, I’ll go to the library and see if I can check out a book on the subject. I’m not going to buy the book until I have looked at it. I need to see if I really want it as part of my permanent library or I just want to read the book. Today daily prompt in the yahoo journal-writing group is “What's your favorite part of your body? Why is it a favorite?” This is one of those prompts repeated once a year. Last night I though about not answering prompt, but I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll put that in "Invalid Item" and write a poem about it. I think writing about my favorite body part would be a good exercise. Right now, I think I’ll use one of my own body part, rather than choosing one from someone else. I’m not sure whether I’ll post the response to the group or not. I’ll have to think about that. Speaking of my yahoo e-mail box, I finally cleaned it out. I just took a deep breath and started deleting. OK, maybe it wasn’t as swiftly as that, but I did ge it down to a reasonable amount. Now if I can only keep it that way. The problem with e-mail is it’s a never ending battle to keep the inbox clear of junk. I also rejoined a yahoo group I’d unsubscribed to a year or so ago. When I unsubscribed, I didn’t realize how much I would miss that group. It’s a daily prompt group. The prompts are the type that I can use either as a journal or blog entry or for a story or poem. I think I have to post about once a week and responds to the entries of other about the same way. Posting to a group once a week or once a month I can handle. Fortunately, the responses don’t have to be reviews, my reviews are becoming very involved. Talking about posting to groups, there are a couple or three I have to post to on writing.com. I think I’ll post "Invalid Item" to the poetry group. Even though the book isn’t completed yet I’d like some feedback on what I’ve written. I also have to post to the yahoo journal-writing group. Today is share an entry Sunday, so maybe I’ll post the link to this blog and let the group read it. That sound’s like a good idea, especially since I haven’t made a lot of other journal or blog entries else where and am too sleepy dot do any right now.I just looked outside, it’s clear to partly cloudy. That’s alright for now, I have to go to the store after while and then to the gas station. I’d rather not drive in the rain here in Vegas. Not that I don’t drive in the rain, it’s just that if I have a choice I’d rather watch the rain from my living room. |
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