random stuff

I was so happy to have received glowing feedback from my English prof on this poem that I thought I’d post it here. Of course, even professional opinion is subjective. : )

Safety

Soft little creatures, scuttling and
Scraping sand on linoleum as feet
Pace aisles. Back, forth, around in
Circles, circumventing countertops.

Artificial light bathes their faces in
Shades of electricity and seemingly
Sinks beneath their skins, fusing in
veins to banish contagious pallor.

Saleswomen glare vacantly behind
Counters, oblivious to shoppers slyly
Slipping between pregnant racks of
Clothing, whispering in monotone.

Inside, shoppers clump in aisles like
Chunks of plaque in arteries. Churning
Along the sides, examining identical
Boxes of macaroni, they fill hungry carts.

Outside, smokestacks and chimneys
Cough, billowing plumes of crystal
Opal into the blackness and it hangs
Motionless, like a reaper’s bouquet.

But everyone inside is safe.

Wow! I can’t believe that 0% of 2080 people are traveling self-knowing money managers! :O

...Granted, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tick all those money/budget-related squares if my husband wasn’t a licensed CPA. : /

I see that I have just acquired another subscriber…someone must have made a mistake!

...or just really wants to help me write about…let’s see…how “Unpleasant Situations Elicit Different Emotional Responses in Older and Younger Adults”....

:p^100

Hello to my new subscriber! :D

I don’t suppose you’d care to help write my essay on Eucestoda...?

(I’m sorry…not even H&E stain can make this look nice…:P )

Sending positive thoughts your way. : )

This is the first house built and occupied by my Ramsden ancestors, right off Lake Drive in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. My Great Grandfather and his siblings were born there. I think it’s a splendid home – and, look – whoever owns it now is in the process of lovingly painting it blue and white…my favorite color combination. : )

I wrote this little piece for my poetry class yesterday. It doesn’t rhyme, has no concrete form and, for the most part, wrote itself. I personally love it, and was surprised that it came so simply.

The poem is about my Grandmother Lylah – who, as a young girl during the Great Depression, had to clean houses to help support her mom and one younger brother. Her father had already passed on.

She was a treasure in my family:

I imagine her.
Tiny fingers clutching broom
Fine mist of perspiration
Collecting like unshed tears
Woven into furrowed brows.

I see her.
Duster in hand, pacing floors
Beating dust from doilies
Sucking thick air hanging
Like a shroud in some parlor.

She looks up.
Her hazel green eyes linger
On the garden beyond the window
Eyelids fluttering, brows relaxed
Longing for the return of beauty.

She drops her head.
With tiny paces she retreats
To the kitchen, to collect her money
Praying it will be enough to satisfy
Mother and brother and landlord.

She arrives at home.
Inhaling the familiar scent of pasties
Daydreams take her to another time
Back to school, no more work
And just a moment of peace
In the childhood world
Of my Grandmother Lylah.

This is a photo of my mother’s mother’s father, a second generation British immigrant. Now, I almost never react to mens’ appearances, but I was stunned when I saw this photo. WOW.

Great job, great grandma…(whistles)

As I was eating breakfast yesterday, Michelle Duggar announced on The Today Show that she was pregnant with her EIGHTEENTH child.

My first reaction was to feel mildly nauseated by this insectile quantity of reproduction. But, of course, there is nothing particularly novel about having over a dozen children; the human female, barring infertility issues, is capable of reproduction for approximately 35 years.

However, humanity is facing troubled times; struggles for basic resources, climate shifts, and man-made categorical conflicts (cough…RELIGION…cough) are already testing our limits…without the need for Duggar-style hyper-exponential reproduction. If every couple alive today reproduced to the extent that the Duggars have, we would face (no ifs, ands, or buts) a global catastrophe of mind-blowing proportions.

But my real question is: Why are we applauding the gross social irresponsibility perpetuated by the Duggars on national television???

Although I would still like to shed about 15 pounds, I am medically healthy, and just feel generally good. I know that these final few pounds will come off in their own good time, with some minor dietary & exercise modifications.

This has been a challenging journey for me – made slightly more so by my being female (females tend to ‘hold on’ to weight more effectively than men, since our bodies want more than anything to house children…it’s a biological thing. ;)...).

To all that are traveling similar paths – I wish you all the best. Never forget to address any underlying psychological issues tied to overeating, though – for healing those wounds is at the heart of recovery.