Wednesday, January 27, 2010

FSO- Up/Down Your Town

Everyone is so good, so creative in their interpretations of our weekly topics that I almost was lazy and didn't write anything about it. This topic was originally suggested by Sara Lulu but because she no longer participates, I couldn't ask her to write something for us and I liked the suggestion so much I just took it as ours.
So here goes my ideas on this topic for our towns ....

Look down at your feet, at the surface where they walk. Look back, back the way they came and where they go.

Look up, above your head. What can you see? How is it protected? What lights your days and your nights, on the path that you walk?

This topic brings so much to mind I will probably have trouble settling on one thing - just this week I have noticed designs in the tiles in the front of stores, floors that are wood and some that are bare concrete - designs are so distinctively Brasil - we'll see you on Friday. -GingerV

Okay, you guys are used to my artistic sense of adventure and interpretation. I got asked to video an very lovely and talented singer/songwriter Flora Newberry. She teaches music as a prestigious school in downtown Princeton. She needed a video for her father's 70th birthday, since all the siblings were sending that to him this year. I said "It's sunny outside lets go to one of my favorite spots. I just wrote a poem about it, and I always felt Princeton Battlefield Monument would make a great back drop for my directorial debut one day.

Ha! We get there and the sun is gone, and we are very very cold, but the show must go on! I used it for my 'Look Up, Look Down' theme as well.



















































Here is my perspective with sound- sung by Flora Newberry...




You know how tomatoes go, you look on the ground and figure this is a good spot to plant them. Then before you know it your looking up at a beautiful plant, then you want to eat'em!


Home Grown Tomatoes Song Written by Guy Clark, but popularized through singing by John Denver- Video directed and filmed by E Stelling (always wanted to see that somewhere)...


Thank you for stopping by and you can go check out more My Town Friday Shoot Out Members...

Monday, January 25, 2010

'Juicy' Aftermath

















‘Juicy’ by Rebecca Haegele

Obsession’ably Orange

Fingers caress
Dimpled beauty
Tainting oil for oil
Fragrance faint
Zester’s flavor dreams
Peeled back
Revealing more, than
Just a heart, a slice,
sections
lips do seek
Each taste
Each kiss
Sweeter than the last
Here for
only moments
Juice felt fast
Sticky aftermath
Often, ‘blood’ is spilt
Wasted life, recipes
spent; fleeting stains
will not remain
Cravings cast
upon moments, daze,
until presence; its
gaze. Speaking
memory, passion
set ablaze...

Give in, take the
chance, have your
slice, wild ways
wild bites, heed
my warnings
Obsession will strike!

© Written by, E Stelling, 2010

All poetry, and photography cannot be duplicated without permission by the blog author, and or photographer via elizabeth@cookappeal.com, Thank you

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Muse Monday 9- Enigma Writing

I have begun following a site called Read Write Prompt -




This weeks photo prompt is by Sepleture {Mood Disorder}



















I felt it was a great photo for this weeks Muse Monday theme entry, and for their 'Get Your Poem On' over at RWP...


read write prompt #111: broken chair
by Nathan Moore

What is going on in this photo? Why is the figure staring at a three-legged chair? Why is the figure wearing a hood? What is keeping the chair from falling down?

This image appeals to me because of its enigmatic nature. In terms of writing, you might want to stay with the questions the scene elicits, linger over them, hesitate before rushing to an answer.

Or, as is often the case when faced with an enigma, you might start to symbolize. Is this is picture about facing a problem, contemplating mystery, the incomplete and frail work of human labor in the face of nature’s grandeur?

Immaterial Portal by E Stelling

‘Planets Aligning in the next 24 Hours’ read the morning monitor headlines.
Feeling uneasy as he read all five computer screens lined up around the old make shift classroom, Less could see corporate media was still using dog-whistle politics to guide the underground urban decay to the surface.
“Damn Incorporeal wars; it is a good day to go out and rummage portal landings” he screamed at the screens.
Quickly gathering only a few things he might need, Less would dress light, so he could travel by foot, and move as fast as possible.
He had to return before sunset; it was just the way of life on the top world.
With no present danger of too much sun radiation he knew exercise would be good for his recent mercurial twists of temperaments.
Seven hours of gravitational pull, and two planets blocking the only real threat to his getting out of that damn bunker helped him forget the disembodied revolutions.
Face it anyone left here to begin with was a planetary vagabond.
Less pulled back the black covering from the only window he had not boarded up.
The renaissance clouds he saw spread across the sky was a good sign that the water supply might be renewed for upcoming months.
Wells were dry and he would not risk underground wilderness riders tunneling where he might choose to dig.
Less closed back up the window and headed out the back tunnel entrance.
After two hours of walking the desolate dry grounds he decided to take a few minutes and head up to a mountain plateau just over the horizon.
Often he would find uncovered object left from wild howling winds he heard deep into the night; it also allowed him to see for miles and see if there were any signs of movement from other top dwellers.
His water was almost gone in the canteen, so he had to return soon and set up collectors for the potential rain clouds moving in by the minute.
The sky reminded him of pictures his father used to collect.
Romanticism they would call it.
Painters that believed in socialism and a world of change.
Just as he reached the top he saw an object sitting alone.
Stunned he decided it was what he believed to be a dolmen.
Had a portal opened up in this very spot?
Nothing of this material remained on his planet for ages.
Ancients talked of its existence, but no books existed with pictures.
Plastic objects were the propaganda of the corporate legacies.
The material was as if it was made yesterday.
Less feel to his knees.
What emotions he felt at this moment.
A dolmen appearing in this very spot, and how could this be?
What was he to do?
Time was running out, and the sky was speaking speed to him.
He had only moments to decide what sign was being revealed to him.

Now I have to take this and turn it into a prose somehow. Due Thursday, so I will re-post by then!

28/1/2010- Here is one I found in my archives; it could fit as a short modern...

Dreams
So real
Fingers
Could
Never
Change
Strangers
Pass
Years
Matter
Time
Songs
Unsung
Hearts
Beat
Rhythm
Skips
Undone
Secrets
Dismantle
Dreams

© E Stelling, 2009


This is below is the piece I Dismantle'd from the Sci-Fi piece I attempted last week...

Planets Aligning, twenty four hours seemed like years
Morning monitor reads like corporate media menu
Old dog-whistle politics, guiding people astray
They head to desolate underground, urban decay
Even on good days, portal remain refuge awaits
In spite of sun radiation, needed exercise, dress light
Hidden bunkers, hunger, disembodied revolution
Clouded out by renaissance sky, revealing beauty
Hopeful, filled canteens, desolate ground cover green
Future, mountain plateau just over the horizon
Uncovered objects left, wild howling winds lead astray
Signs of movement from other top dwellers?
Collectors, often scary, fleeting nightmare play
Damn incorporeal wars, blasting, effects everlasting
Stunned one might be, set upon the knees as if to pray
Dolmen, ancient existence, materials no longer remains
Emotions, propaganda prompted, times mistakes…

E Stelling, 2010- (I feel this piece is unfinished, need more time to re-arrange)

Please feel free to leave comments on how you feel any of these pieces worked for you...Thanks!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

FSO- Sounds In Your Town

"There are two versions of this theme. First, the simple one. We’ve been treated many different aspects of what your town looks like. Treat another sense: what makes your town sound like your town? Traffic? Kids playing? Birds? That annoying dog next door? Fill our senses with a different perspective.

The complicated version (and I apologize for not giving you more lead-time on this) I have heard called a ‘blind hike’. Find a trusty partner. Wear a blindfold (no peeking!). Get your camera, and with the help of your partner, wander around noticing what you hear. Take pictures (no peeking!) while you’re at it. It’s quite fun to do, and the photos will surprise you. Enjoy!" - NanU

Just returning from my two week trip to see my son, I have had little time to run around town and take the photos that would make this a good shoot out. However I decided to get a few of my open mic friends to help me in my dilemma, so here goes...
















Can you hear these glasses clinking together?
















Can you hear Tim playing the spoons?


 Can you hear Rich's harmonica?

This one is funny, but sad all in one shot. I was looking out a friends window and this is what I heard...




Here is a closer listen to the gnawing of teeth on the corner of a picnic table...I like wood as any chef who loves to smoke a good piece of meat, but this is taking it a bit too far...





I hear the sizzling of my dinner food in the skillet, so gotta go!

Thanks for stopping buy and listening to my town of New Jersey, and you can go to Mr. MckLinky, and check out the other members sites!