Karzai's deal with the devil

Thought for today: I'm grateful to be a woman in America, and sad for Afghan women.


The August 20 election looks dim for Shia women with the impending law to strip away their rights.

The law essentially gives a husband the right to withdraw basic maintenance from his wife, including food, if she refuses to obey his sexual demands. It grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers. It requires women to get permission from their husbands to work. It also effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying “blood money” instead of going to prison.

It seems unthinkable for this to happen in the year 2009, but it's happening!!

Thankfulness

Once in awhile, I find a need to remind myself of the things I have. Today is a day to write a gratitude list:

I am grateful for my children - their undying love, their cheerleading, their hearts and their smiles
I am grateful for my children's health
I am grateful for my health
I am grateful for my job
I am grateful for the warmth in the air today
I am grateful for the many musical instruments and the inspiration behind the songs
I am grateful for my clean car
I am grateful for this yummy cookie :)
I am grateful for my awareness of things

I heart Chicago

Thank you ee cummings

a poet, a man, who felt it all fully and embraced his love, his angst, his passion

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

The love of Vivaldi

I have a strange ability to remember pieces of useless information. One thing that I seem to remember frequently is the music I hear in films. I can remember the sound for years, even decades, without even knowing the song title but I never forget it.

Case in point: Vivaldi's Mandolin Concerto in C Major. I heard this piece of music in a movie for the first time when I was a young girl. I was maybe 7 or 8. I watched a movie on television with my parents that involved a man who was beached on an island and he fell in love with a beautiful woman of the sea - no she wasn't a mermaid and no it wasn't Splash or The Blue Lagoon.

I didn't hear the music again until I was in my 30s but I never forgot it. In fact, just a few years ago I played it for my piano teacher on the piano from memory and she identified the composer and piece for me. Lucky for me the piece was written by one of my favorite composers. Before that, I could only name other works by him such as the Four Seasons.

Listening to the thunder roll

I took a mega long nap with my baby love this afternoon and it was heaven on earth. Only problem now is, I'm all awake!

Luckily there's a fantastic thunder storm to enjoy right now. It's pouring outside and the loud thunderclap crashes above me are gorgeous and make me feel absolutely alive.

Willow wishes that could come true

Making some serious progress with the edits to my novel. It just may be ready for letters to agents, publishers and/or editors by September.

And as I said before, if it doesn't happen this time, I will self publish! Because seriously folks - this girl has so many more projects in her.

Sushi lovin'

I enjoyed a roll of spicy salmon and a roll of avocado today and it was fan-tab-u-lous. The avocado roll is just supreme by itself and I know that is that bit of purist in me shining through.

I think I could probably devour the delicious textures of sushi several times a week if my budget allowed. What's even better: I had very nice company for lunch. Thank heavens for beautifully sweet co-workers.

Thoughts

I had a thought today: what if I had never met those in my life? Those who are reading this - what if I would have never met you? With regards to some people in my life, my soul is touched and I have a feeling my world would be vastly different had our paths never crossed.

With regards to some others, my world would be not as full, rich or passionate.

I owe a lot to the people I love.

Sometimes the world is just so beautiful

Today I felt the sun on my back and shining on my hair. I watched quietly as my extended family talked, played, drank, ate, hugged, kissed. These summer days and dreaming those little dreams and smiling about it all - it's like living in the middle of the ocean.

On the day you read this - find a person you love and TELL them. Don't forget to tell them.

Make a run for it!

It's a new day and it's gorgeous outside. I think I'll make a plan to get some vitamin D from that beautiful sun during lunch hour today.

Now...I just have to escape the fluorescent bulbs of this cubicle hell! Escape plan is being drafted.

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Reading and feeling the sonnets of life

This is the year that I am enjoying -- and actually noticing what I used to and perhaps lost track of: all the colors of the world that I haven't perhaps really seen in a while. I feel blessed to be reminded of such beauty that exists.

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Sweet Summer Loving

The summer is finally in full swing and I'm going to Summerfest a couple of times. It should be great. I love outdoor music festivals. Now, I just got to get some work off my plate so I can really enjoy.

Thought for today: Enjoy a sunset with someone no matter how far away they may seem

Living as a yes person

I typically like to live as a "yes" person. A friend sent me an e-mail and in it, this message was at the bottom and I thought "Yes! That's cool" so here it is:

Life is short:
Break the rules
Forgive quickly
Kiss slowly
Love truly
Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we should dance

And I so agree

Saturday morning

Coffee and oatmeal with my baby love and her big cheeks and tiny feet. Sometimes, the love is so big I feel I may burst.

One Hundred Love Sonnets

Is this sonnet not completely awesome? I am grateful for having my eyes opened.

Neruda's poetry is the stuff that makes one feel truly alive and realize the human condition. It is the stuff of life and how the lines between lust and love get blurred. I really appreciate some new found knowledge too. It is so crystal clear now.


Pablo Neruda's Sonnet 11

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
Like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

The love of learning

I have discovered Pablo Neruda's poetry! Oh where have I been? Under a rock? To steal a line from a cool website I just found with some of this gorgeous poetry when speaking of Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets "You may need the whole book and keep it as a breviary you check: a sonnet a day, to start with a bang not with a whimper. "

to say thanks

There's a shift taking place, a slight and subtle change starting within me. A stirring. It's all good.
I can't help but look to the sky and say thanks.

Trekking

In the hours that drip away
under dark sky
and crescent moon
a jaunt
takes me to the avenues
of candid solitude
and the streets
of streaming lights
and winding tunnels
seeking the
perfect connection
to the highway of
my destiny,
the autobahn in my life's
movie,
as I begin to grasp
the dimensions of this new
journey
and the chambers of a sublime
heart I am discovering.
But for now
all that is heard is that familiar
voice
in printed letters
on the billboards
of my imagination

if only I could drive this fast

Midnight munchies

The trouble with staying up late is I get hungry. But I won't let myself eat. That would throw off my whole plan.

somebody

This song has been on my mind all day:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kingsofleon?blend=6&ob=4

xx

Too nice to be indoors today

A drive to remember

I'm caught on a high-speed exchange highway
somewhere in the area
where beguilement borders trepidation
at the cross streets:
Intrigue Avenue,
Confusion Lane and
Euphoria Boulevard.
And of course, killer road trip tunes are playing



Don't ask for an explanation. You won't get one.

Why I'm a night owl

When the shadows
peak around corners
and you can hear
the time tick
with delight of being acknowledged
and
the feline's yawn
fills the room
that is when
you can hear the
voice of your
choosing
at last
someone you have missed
someone you had forgotten
someone you again want to know

Dreams and goals

Today arrived with thoughts of the future and the endless possibilities. It's time to get off my arse and make something happen. I can't just pretend I'm really living anymore.

I've made the first step toward one of my life dreams. We'll see if the universe will humor me - at least for awhile.

It's you...again

How is it
that you unwrap
that last hidden layer,
the one I put away
on a secret shelf
to shroud from
the sounds of strums?
It is you again
with your one word
gentlest of gestures
stirring that private
underground to the core.
You again like no other,
even as names appear
to distract and
hundreds of lines
may try and
thousands of characters
in white space inspire.
But how to forget
yours?
How to disremember
that open spirit
sweet in
the purest form?
How to dismiss
you --
ever so kind
ever so unavailable
you?
How?

Swooning over Cage

I've forgotten how much I love Nick Cage -- especially in Moonstruck.

How true it is

Ocean waves are one of my fave natural sounds

Back from Arizona. Sweeeeeet. A beautiful place and wide open space to collect your thoughts and get back in the groove. I found some peace at cathedral rock in Sedona and staying with a great friend was especially comforting.

the twouble with twitterwaaand

Twitter feels like a big black hole where you can only hear the sound of your own chirps, dying on the branch. My tweets get lost in the maddening, tweeting jungle. I think this video says it best (at least it's funny as hell:

http://www.cbrich.com/supernews-twouble-with-twitters/

Looming birthdays and the mind tricks they play

When I start to wonder about age and feel a tinge of "ouch," I just recall women in Hollywood who are older than me (Sarah Jessica Parker, Demi Moore, Diane Lane, Halle Berry).

They look fantastic. I know they can afford all the "stuff" but that doesn't change the date on their birth certificate.

Meanwhile, I feel pretty great. Birthday? Fo-getta-bout-it!

zzzz

Really super chilling this weekend. :) Catching up on sleep.

my professional life

Today arrived with some surprises - but I'm rolling with it. In my life, I've learned to be flexible and focus on what is in my control.

mmmmmm

Dancing is the BEST! I wish it was Friday or Saturday night right now - I want to dance dance dance.

Assistance please

Visitors -
Please help me out. I need a name for the untitled poem I posted on Monday March 23. It's one of those rare times when I have a loss for a title. And no, you don't have to register to leave a comment - you can post as an anonymous person but leaving your name in your post is always nice.

Driving Through the Night

When it's all done,
and the chatter of the day
leaves you for awhile,
and only the radio is there
to witness your streams
through a
windshield of wishes,
all obligations dry up
to let your river open.
It's a quiet mind embrace
and you can finally
hear your waterfall
as solitude washes over it.
Like waves of years
you can surf
there are sights unseen
that only your
mind's eye
has permission to swim.
The dance of a thousand kind gestures,
someone scenarios and
conversation circles
all that you can remember,
loop through your spirit
like fresh water springs.
It's all there
raining in
until your ride
alone
ends.