Alphabet Game the Golden Way

A powerful piece By Daniel Beaty

Click to Watch
*As a boy, I shared a game with my father-
Played it every morning till I was three.
He would knock knock on my door,
And I’ld pretend to be asleep till he got right next tot he bed.
Then I would get up and jump into his arms.
“Good morning, Papa.”
And my Papa, he would tell me that he loved me.
We shared a game,
Knock knock,
Until that day when the knock never came,
And my Mama takes me on a ride past cornfields
on this never-ending highway
Till we reach a place of high rusty gates.
A confused little boy,
I enter the building carried in my Mama’s arms.
Knock knock.
We reach a room of windows and brown faces.
Behind one of the window sis my father.
I jump out of my Mama’s arms and run joyously twards my Papa’s,
Only to be confronted by this window.
I knock knock trying to break through the glass,
Trying to get my father.
I knock knock as my Mama pulls me away
Before my Papa even says a word.
And for years, he has never said a word.
And so, 25 years later, I write these words.
For the little boy in me who still awaits his Papa’s knock.
“Papa, come home, ‘cause I miss you.
I miss you waking me up in the morning and telling me you love me.
Papa, come home, ‘cause there’s things I don’t know,
And I thought maybe you could teach me
How to shave,
How to dribble a ball,
How to talk to a lady,
How to walk like a man.
Papa, come home, ‘cause I decided awhile back
I want to be just like you, but I’m forgetting who you are.”
And 25 years later, a little boy cries.
And so I write these words to try to heal
And try to father myself.
And I dream up a father
Who says the words my father did not.

“Dear son, I’m sorry I never came home.
For every lesson I failed to teach, hear these words:
‘Shave in one direction and with strong deliberate strokes
To avoid irritation.
Dribble the page with the brilliance of your ballpoint pen.
Walk like a God, and your Goddess will come to you.
No longer will I be there to knock on your door,
So you must learn to knock for yourself.
Knock knock down doors of recism and poverty that I could not
Knock knock….” to read the rest click

Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared him secretly on Mt. Pelion. Later Pelias promised Jason his rightful kingdom if he would bring the Golden Fleece to Boeotia. Jason assembled Greece’s bravest heroes and together they sailed in the Argo in quest of the fleece. On their journey the Argonauts were seduced by beautiful women, attacked by warriors, buffeted by storms, and challenged by monstrous creatures. Finally the blind prophet Phineus told them how to make their way safely to Colchis, where the Golden Fleece was kept. When they arrived there, King Aeëtes demanded that before Jason take the fleece he yoke together two fire-breathing bulls, plow the field of Ares, and sow it with dragon’s teeth obtained from Cadmus. Aeëtes’ daughter Medea fell in love with Jason and gave him magical protection that allowed him to complete the tasks. In return Jason swore an oath of fidelity and promised to take her with him to Greece. When Aeëtes still refused to relinquish the fleece, Medea revealed its hiding place and drugged the guardian dragon. The Argonauts then fled Colchis with the fleece, pursued by Aeëtes. But Medea killed and cut to pieces his son Absyrtus, scattering the parts of his body in the sea. Aeëtes stopped to retrieve them. In another version, Absyrtus led the pursuit and, when Medea tricked him into an ambush, was killed by Jason.

Jason and Medea stopped to be purified of the murder by Circe at Aeaea, and there they were married. When they returned to Iolcus they found that Pelias had continued his tyrannical rule. Medea persuaded Pelias that he could be rejuvenated by having pieces of his body boiled in a magical brew. She then convinced his daughters that they should perform the task of cutting up their father. Pelias was thus murdered by his innocent daughters. Jason seized the city, but he and Medea were expelled by Acastus, the son of Pelias.

They sailed on to Orchomenses in Boeotia, where they hung the fleece in a temple. Then they went to Corinth. There Medea had rights to the throne, and Jason reigned for many years. But he forgot his oath and tried to divorce Medea so that he could marry Creusa, daughter of King Creon. In revenge, Medea, by magic and trickery, burned to death both the father and daughter. Because Jason had broken his oath, the gods caused him to wander homeless for many years. As an old man he returned to Corinth, where, resting in the shadow of the Argo, he was killed when the prow toppled over on him. The story of Jason and Medea appears frequently in literature, most notably in Euripides.

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but
to myself I seem to have been only like a boy
playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now
and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier
shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of
truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Isaac Newton

We were reading ‘We the Living’ the other day and my boyfriend read “Haberdashery” and said ‘What is that??’. I didn’t have an answer.

Haberdashery: Goods sold by a haberdasher

A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons and zippers. In U.S. English, haberdasher is another term for a men’s outfitter.

A haberdasher’s shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.

Obsolete meanings of the term “haberdasher” refer to a “dealer in, or maker of, hats and caps”.

_{The word appears in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Haberdashers were initially pedlars, sellers of small wares, such as needles, buttons, etc. The word could derive from the Icelandic haprtask ‘pedlars’ wares’ or the sack in which the pedlar carries them. In this sense, a haberdasher (Scandinavian name) would be very close to a mercer (French name). A haberdasher would retail smallwares, the goods of the pedlar, while a mercer would specialize in “linens, silks, fustian, worsted piece-goods and bedding”.}

Saint Louis IX, the King of France 1226–70, is supposedly the patron saint of haberdashers.

Guggul

Commiphora wightii

(Guggal, Guggul or Mukul myrrh tree)

A flowering plant. The guggul plant may be found from northern Africa to central Asia, but is most common in northern India. It prefers arid and semi-arid climates and is tolerant of poor soil.

It is a shrub or small tree, reaching a maximum height of 4 m, with thin papery bark. The branches are thorny. The leaves are simple or trifoliate, the leaflets ovate. The individual flowers are red to pink, with four small petals.

Guggul has been a key component in ancient Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine, and now is widely used in modern medicine for treatment of heart ailments.

Resin or sap extract from this small Indian mukul myrrh tree or shrub found across Arabia and India may help to reduce cholesterol. The extract, called gugulipid, guggulipid or guglipid, comes from the guggal or guggul tree and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional Hindu medicine, for nearly 3,000 years in India.

It received regulatory approval in India in 1987 and is used to treat a range of conditions including obesity and lipid disorders. It is used to battle obesity, arthritis and artery disease, and is now approved for lowering cholesterol.

Michael Franti http://www.stayhuman.org

I love this guy! I have listened to his music on and off over the years.

Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966, in Oakland, California) is an American poet, musician, and composer of African, American Indian, Irish, French, and German descent. Franti is the creator and lead vocalist of Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock. He is also an outspoken supporter for a wide spectrum of peace and social justice issues.

Live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMwcXBePqE

Evening is my favorite time of the day. I want to catch those last precious minutes of sun every day. It’s especially important to me in the fall and the winter when there is less and less light.

_Evening

1. The latter part and close of the day, and the beginning of darkness or night; properly, the decline of the day, or of the sun.

He is purring right now and wanting to cuddle up right on top of my keyboard. This is the guy who has been with me for over 15 years. Having him as a buddy has kept me coming home every night. It was because of him that I felt love for the first time. This cat is brilliant and responsive and always showing us something new. He is a huge part of my daily life and I love him. That’s why D must be for my cat!

Christine Maggiore. Pictured below with band The Foo Fighters.

Author of the book
“What if everything you thought you knew about AIDS WAS WRONG?”.

Founder of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives.

I am listening to her new pod casts right now.
Click here to listen, it’s VERY interesting.
http://www.howpositiveareyou.com/2008/06/11/hpay-001/

I am sad to say that Christine passed on Dec 27th, 2008.

When I saw this picture, I knew that “B” had to be for breastfeeding.

For more information on the subject….Mothering Magazine