I Blog Poetry and Prose

I don't have a favorite political candidate, when I vote--which I do in midterm and presidential elections--I attempt to find the lesser of the two evil and vote for that candidate. When I hear them talk they, glaze over the issues that I find important and, throw verbal stones at their opponents. They accuse their opponents of taking bribes money from special interest or walking their party's line, when they, themselves, are guilty of the same sin. They claim to work for unity, but the only time they do is when the issue is of minor importance in their party's agenda.

I'm not a sports fan. The only sports I watch on television, or follow online, are the Olympics. Even with those, there are certain sport I follow closer than others. During the Winter Olympics, I like the to watch the ice dancing and single skating competitions. Sometime will watch the luge, and the skiing competitions. During the Summer Olympics I prefer to watch the swimming events. Sometimes I'll watch the rowing events, but this depends on which country is in the lead. I'll watch the running competitions if I've heard of one of the competitors.

At 71 years and 10 months, I've went through a lot of new normal experiences. The death of a loved one or close friend always begins a new normal. You go through the stages of grief, without ever getting over the grief and missing the person. Sometimes the loved one returns in a dream to comfort, and show that in the spiritual world they are still thinking of you. Sometimes a scent simultaneously generates a tear and a smile, this is just another way the loved one is attempting to send comfort from the spiritual world. Eventually, one gets beyond the stages of grief and the new normal is established.

I have never, knock on wood (as my grandmother used to say), broken a bone. I have, however, sprained both ankles. This occurred when I stepped out of a pickup truck into a ditch. This, of course, was my own fault because I wasn't looking where I was disembarking the truck. My right ankle was worse than my left, because I stepped out of the passenger side and my right foot was the first to hit the ground. I learned to look where i was stepping instead of at the person--in the driver's seat--I was talking to.

I have no objection to celebrities friends, families, or fans celebrating their birthday. I don't think any celebrities birthday should be celebrated by the general public. I don't follow celebrities or make a practice of reading celebrity news. I believe celebrities have a right to a personal life, and birthdays are a personal matter. Some celebrities enjoy big parties, with a lot of publicity. Some of them, I suspect, would prefer a small gathering of close personal friends and associates. I went through the "crazy over celebrities" phase as a preteen and teenager. I out grew that somewhere between my eighteenth and twentieth birthdays.

I disagree because there are degrees of perfection in the universe. I look at a rose, I think it is a perfect specimen of a rose. A week or so later, I see another rose, with a different color, and seen in it as a perfect rose. In both cases, I am right because the second rose has a higher degree of perfection than the first rose.

I have no idea why Mr. Sartre turned down the Nobel Prize for Literature; I suspect it may have had something to do with his political beliefs. Other, logical, reason could be he didn't want the prize, or he was, somewhat, modest when it came to his own writing and felt that the prize suggested he had reach the pinnacle of his literary career. He didn't give a reason, which is his business. Each writer has their own reasons for accepting or rejecting an important literary prize.

I don't want to be Emperor of the world or even King/Queen of the Hill, because I'm sure there would be someone else out there trying to push me off the throne or the hill. However, if I was made Emperor--in a duly confirmed election--I would graciously accept the job. I would implement a few necessary changes; after appointing cabinet members from the indigenous peoples across the planet.

I am looking forward to November, because the Twin Holy Days will be celebrated in on November 9 and 10. These are my favorites because they celebrate the Birth of the Bab and the Birth of Baha'u'llah. Since 2015, these two Holy Days are celebrated on "the first and the second day following the occurrence of the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz".3 This means that these celebrations fall on different day each year.

This prompt is getting me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing. I normally don't think about, or even list, the things about myself that I like. I think it has to do with leftover dogma from my childhood. I was taught, or picked up from the way other people talked and acted, that I wasn't supposed to consider the good things about myself. This may be part of my low self-esteem issues, which I still confront.

Today is a link in the chain
uniting yesterday and tomorrow,
and a moment in history
ascending into the space-time continuum.

The things on my cluttered desk, which was cleaned off once this year. I have to clean it off again because it attracts clutter once I clean it off. I am not going to list the normal things that are common to desks in this day and age (sorry or not about the cliché). Fortunately, I only have to list ten of the things on my desk, because there isn't enough room to list everything.

My taste in music has expanded and my favorites have changed since I turned 60. I still enjoy the music I of my childhood and teenage years; however, today I prefer music that is much more spiritual and relaxing. If I hadn't been limited to five songs, I would have chosen, at least, nine. After meditating on my choices, I whited the list down to five.

It's Monday, October 15, the third Motivational Monday in October 2018. I've had a cinnamon roll and my first cup of coffee, which should be enough motivation to finish this list. I posted my goals list to "Weekly Goals"  and have a copy of it in "Weekly Goals for 2024" . That particular document has other things that I need to do, as well. The only things in "Weekly Goals for 2024"  that I seem to be able to do in a consistent basis is the weekly goals list, and cleaning out my writing.com inbox. The other thing I accomplish, on a semi-consistent basis, is write poems on "Themes For Poems and Blog entries" . The items on the list below, will end up in a poem, short story, or essay; unless I get distracted (a problem lately) and ignore them entirely.

It's a beautiful autumn morning here in Las Vegas. The temperature is a cool 60 degrees, with higher temperatures expected when the sun ascends over Sunrise Mountain. Temperatures are expected to get up to about 71 degrees, which means we will have a pleasant Sunday. I'm the only one in my apartment or neighborhood who is up this morning. If anyone else is awake neither they nor their pets making any noise. It is mornings like this that make me smile, because they are calm and tranquil.

This week, I read all six article in the series Turning to Your Dreams for Spiritual Guidance   by David Langness. This weekend I plan to read the two articles in the series Pondering the Deep Wisdom of Dreams   by Paul Mantle, and, next week, read the six articles in the series Follow Your Dreams & Meet Your Soul   by David Langness. Any thoughts those articles, or the sacred quotes in those articles, inspire I will place in the entries in "Writing in Snow" , along with my gratitude lists.

I have found a prescription for living,
in this would of separation and affliction,
and that prescription
is reliance
on God.

I already celebrate or commemorate several worldwide Holy Days with the Baha'i Community. I thought about the international days I would name myself, and only three came to mind. Those would be World Citizen Day, Golden Rule Day, and Try A Little Kindness Day; however, two of those are already taken. World Citizen Day   is celebrated on November 4 and International Golden Rule Day   is April 5. This leaves me with Try A Little Kindness Day, which, I think, should be celebrate on August 8 the day Glen Campbell   died.