A little of This, and

A lot of that...not my backside though!

It is cold here in Princeton. I am ready for the spring already. How about you?

I spent the weekend and a few weekdays with mom Valerie. She needed my help with some errands, she ended up sick, furniture advice, computer help, and a few other things. Most was accomplished, but with her ill we could not get all the furniture in the spare bedroom in place. I convinced her to donate the coffee table to the hurricane Sandy efforts. It was a very 70's to 80's glass piece she did not need up there. Hubs and I always felt it was in the way to pull the sofa bed out.

This weekend is going to be spent doing some photography. Spark 18 started and with all the photos I have taken the past four or so years, some need to get used. I partnered up with Tyson, a poet friend out of Washington State. His inspiration poem is a challenge, and would be nice if I had taken more photos on my way back from Texas, in the south.

Hope all is well, and you had a nice holiday! Peace to you all...

Looking Forward

Today is a day to give thanks for what we have, to pick up the pieces and move forward with little complaint.

It is also an American holiday that I am not crazy about.

Am I starting off with a bitch today, well, yes. I do not like turkey. I hate making it, but because the hubs family lost their home in Bluepoint, LI, New York, we are not having the usual get together. Which would still mean a bird on the table. My dad always made a ham, something I like, but because of salt it doesn't like me back (high blood pressure). So...

I am up early to get the turkey breast in oven and make the dressing. The real heirloom bird goes in around ten, and we will eat a late lunch, early dinner. I made four pies last night, and we had cocktails with a friend on the other side of our development. I will take a nap after turkey goes in, and my son and his girlfriend will cleanup and get table ready.

On the upside, I am going to LI to stay with hubs step-mom. A girls weekend. Hubs has work and would prefer to stay home. We always spend four days after Christmas with her, so she is good with that.

Peace to you all, and Happy Turkey Day, if that is what you like...

(photo above taken in Hawaii. Hubs was the shutter bug and kept taking my photos, so I give him attitude from time to time.)

So so Fabulous

Oldies out there, have you ever wondered what ever happened to Fabulous Fabian, well I found him. His name popped in my mind for a curio poem, and I kind of remember his being in movies or .something when I was a tween. He was somewhere between cute and old at that age.

He tucked himself away in Philly all these years, and with a younger woman. Never married until later, as he frequented poetry slams and back alleys until then, oh I am kidding! He still...still has his looks! An idea for a poem draft turns up fascinating things on the internet...shows you how a boy sitting on his stoup draws attention, and that they still were creating boy bands all those years ago.

Just a share moment. If you want to read the site I found, here is more about Fabulous Fabian

The photo above is off one of the beaches we stopped on Oahu, HI on our vacation. I saw a heart from the position I sat in the convertible in the tree stump, palm I presume. I see love in so many things...if you want to use the pic, email me, otherwise No Stealing please...

The Human Devil

Ahhh, poetry. It is good again, to be writing. In the quiet of my home.

So I will share some lines...and it is still, almost a white draft...

The Drummers Gone Before Daylight

O’ little one can we speak

of the weak and of the lost

behind their backs

the good book tells all who will listen

tales of less wanting more

more being the lesser of two evils

before you ever entered the desert

where did it get them boys

lost and coming down from a rush

brotherly love gone wrong

one a lover

the other a killer who dreamed of being a drummer

both disguised in sheep’s clothing

cheaply made over seas

where things turn and turn

on a dime buying half a soul

in the corner of a bar

a woman sits and eyes the crowd

broad are her fingers

but true love continually slips through

red eye light fixtures

dangle and swing over head

moody and tantalizing

she can’t leave it all behind

Eve’s first mistake was declaring

her first born was a man

before he ever opened his eyes

the brother’s keeper cast out

no choice but leaving it all behind

I had a child my first born

day and night I lay by its side

asking nothing but you to save her

now I wander across the sands of time

I left the bar

I dropped my sword

reread your words and only found wisdom

where is the justice

now we write our own book of life

growing older on a worlds cheap dime

open eyes and no disguises.

Not really sure how it will all pan out. I struggle with form over writing lines...send me back to writing camp, and I won't roll my eyes again...ever.

Pearl Harbor 2012 Vist

Our first three days in the islands was a visit to Oahu, Honolulu and Waikiki. We drove the whole island in a day on Wednesday, visited a museum, and had an early visit to Pearl Harbor scheduled for Thursday morning.

I had never really been a war enthusiast, a patriot yes, but when my father and brother would watch them as a child I would huff out of the room. Today war and gore bother me. I don't care for fighting and hoped my son would not ever get into those games kids play today. He has no desire.

Hubs didn't really ask if I wanted to do this, but as a loving wife who wants him to support my likes I went with a smile. During the video they present I remembered why I don't do things like this. I have never seen Schindler's List or any other award winning history filled movie. I cried. Like mood music during a two hour preaching session in a Baptist church I was moved. Not comparing the two, but they get you with that video. There is a reason I am so sensitive, always have been. But even more so now.

You then hope aboard a small boat and go over to the memorial. It is a beautiful site to see. And it is over the sunken (by the Japanese with a bomb) and left as a tomb on the bottom of the harbor.

Go visit. My favorite island of Hawaii so far.

Time to pack up and go...

A comment from Dash made me realize all good things come to an end at some point. We can't be on vacation forever. Work is calling hubs and me back to Jersey. I also want to get busy with volunteering with Hurricane Sandy this and that's. It has bothered me that many of my friends and family aren't doing so great while I am sipping pinacoladas by the beach and pool. Although we haven't been doing that everyday. Hawaii is so much more complicated than that. I will say there was a bit of disappointment when I began traveling around the big island and saw lava lava lava exposed in so many areas. But I am glad I got to experience the adventure in the first place. Grateful for all I have and experiences.

Hope peace is filling your minds and days...

Oh and Farmlady, the goats (feral and domesticated) here are fabulous. They have had a problem with feral goats eating all the greenery and have eradicated the numbers over the years, but they are adorable if you can catch sight of them eating off the Kohala side, which we did yesterday on the way back to Hilo. There were two silver crossing the road the first few days we were here and it seemed odd to me, so I even wrote my own Hawaiian Legend after telling it on Halloween to my friends here in Hilo. So here is the first draft...

Legend of the Silver Goats of Kohala's Lava Desert

     taken down for revision and submissions...

This is just a first draft I quickly researched and wrote, will work on a 1,000 flash version for submitting.