I Wear a River on My Finger

His eyebrows shot up.

He had accepted the intercourse would be merely fine. Life now allowed food, clothing, shelter, just basics, and that was all there could be to his existence. He wanted to gleefully shout, TYRONE, but he knew the context required unyielding obedience to absolute silence. Any noise would invite calls of "Tallyho!" and a tempest of tsujigiri from the birds.

There was no escaping them. They had tried concoctions of poisons and even leaving out sacrifices of cattle or sheep, but the monsters were unstoppable, and they only wanted to eat one thing: people. There were some who knew the secret to avoiding the feathered freaks, but they kept it to themselves. No, to maintain control over this potentially volatile populace, the white population kept careful guard over their most potent weapon of all--knowledge.

He was too pusillanimous to risk the chance he might escape the birds if alerted, so he had been hoping for a simple, lagom release that allowed him to remain in control. I want no mistakes, he had thought. When a performance like that goes well, though, it’s fantastic, and, despite his intentions, he lost control as the act reached its peak. It started with his eyebrows, then spiraled badly from there. The onomatopoeia of the sounds that escaped his lips in that moment was singular, and even though they were accompanied by regret they were also followed by something akin to lalochezia. It was done and there was no taking it back.

Still, he felt a bit of schadenfreude that it was this particular partner who would be the one joining him in his fate, someone who clearly deserved it more than he did. As he appreciated the callipygian view, he pointed vaguely in the direction of the herbs they'd prepared before their encounter.

"Light that shit, and let the slow burning embers bring the sage’s soothing aromas to your hopelessly jaded senses," he said. "Things are about to get interesting."

That bit of randomness above is the result of an experiment. I vaguely requested comments in two different Facebook posts, then challenged myself to combine them all in some way. Here are the prompts I gave and the ingredients I had to work with:

What are some good words?

• Biden wins the electoral college!
• Bird. It is ALWAYS the word, and the best one.
• Tsujigiri ((literally "crossroads killing") is a Japanese term for a practice when a samurai, after receiving a new katana or developing a new fighting style or weapon, tests its effectiveness by attacking a human opponent, usually a random defenseless passer-by, in many cases during nighttime.)
• Schadenfreude
• Lagom ("just the right amount". The word can be variously translated as "in moderation", "in balance", "perfect-simple", and "suitable" (in matter of amounts). Whereas words like sufficient and average suggest some degree of abstinence, scarcity, or failure, lagom carries the connotation of appropriateness, although not necessarily perfection.)
• Accepted
• Lalochezia (Lalochezia is the emotional relief that a person may feel after cursing. Sometimes lalochezia is also used to refer to the use of profanity to provide such relief.)
• Still
• Obedience
• Onomatopoeia
• Pusillanimous (having or showing a shameful lack of courage)
• Unyielding
• Context
• Onomatopoeia
• Food, clothing, shelter
• Callipygian (having well-shaped buttocks)
• Intercourse
• Silence
• Fine
• Tempest
• Tallyho (a huntsman's cry to the hounds on sighting a fox.)
• Gleeful

Added definitions mine to make sure I was using them correctly. I chose not to work in the Biden victory.

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4:

• They tried concoctions of poisons and even leaving out sacrifices of cattle or sheep, but the monsters were unstoppable, and they only wanted to eat one thing: people.
• His eyebrows shot up.
• When a performance like that goes well, though, it’s fantastic.
• TYRONE
• Light that shit, and let the slow burning embers bring the sage’s soothing aromas to your hopelessly jaded senses.
• I want no mistakes.
• To maintain control over this potentially volatile populace, the white population kept careful guard over their most potent weapon of all--knowledge.

I enjoy seeing all the different responses to prompts like these, a bit for their Rorschachian nature but mostly because of all the different perspectives. I also fielded responses for this because it's such a flexible word, but didn't try to work it into my challenge.

What kind of shell?

• Chocolate
• Taco
• Sea
• Turtle
• Snail
• Crab
• Egg
• Common decency
• Candy coated
• Peanut
• Bank account
• Conch
• DOS
• Snail
• Pasta. Stuffed. With sauce on top.
• One you need to break out of?
• Empty, exhausted, of a human being?

Classify as: things librarians do on the public service desk to pass the time between patrons.

Our five-year-old made an elf trap at school. The tubes on the end are the normal ones from the North Pole factory where they go to work, and the one in the middle looks the same but has two lids that will slam shut. Then he'll have his own captive elf to make him toys on demand all year long.

I wonder if he'll catch any and if I can get a piece of the action.

I relate to this entirely too much.

Marzana loved games of strategy. And as extended social interactions went, they were surprisingly less painful than most. People didn't expect you to make small talk, and games tended to provide clues to help you work out the necessary conversation, which made it much less stressful.

― Kate Milford, The Thief Knot

I've even said basically the same thing before.

This came across my feed recently and I like it so much I wanted to save it.

Isaiah 58.6-8

Is not this the fast that I choose:

   to loose the bonds of injustice,

   to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

   and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

   and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

   and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

   and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

   the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.

Ideas like these shouldn't be ephemeral. Love, charity, and justice aren't just a Jesus thing.

I've received two lovely notes recently from work colleagues wrapping up the year with gratitudes. This one was an email.

Thank you for being SO amazing this year!  One positive thing that has come from all this has definitely been the fact that I got to collaborate with YOU! This year has been different from all others and the fact that you've remained so positive, innovative, resourceful, and resilient is something to be celebrated. I count myself lucky to be able to work with you! 

"Chance made us colleagues, but the fun and laughter made us friends."

And this was an anonymous note:

I appreciate your deep thoughts and new ways of looking at things. Your ability to see explanations for decisions and processes is very valuable. Thanks!

Now I feel all warm and fuzzy.

The headline on this is misleading, because the thrust of the article is that it's better to go light, which is one of my core beliefs. Compassion and cooperation lead not only to more happiness but success and meaning as well.

Are People With Dark Personality Traits More Likely to Succeed?

We wanted to understand which personality profile – dark or light – leads to more success and happiness in the long run. There is an oft-touted saying that ‘Nice guys finish last’ and, on the face of it, this might seem correct. If you’re always expending your energy caring about others, perhaps you’re bound to get left behind. If you’re willing to deceive and exploit others without worrying about their feelings, you can look after ‘number one’ and rise faster to the top. But does the research back this up? . . . 

[Those with dark personality traits] don’t end up with higher average incomes than their peers with light personalities.

On top of this, those with dark personality traits don’t have much luck outside of work. Even if they manage to avoid prison (imprisonment being a high possibility for those with extreme traits), they are at increased risk of suicide and violent death. They are also not particularly happy: people with dark traits tend to report poor self-image, an inability to intimately connect with others, and little life satisfaction. In contrast, we found that those with light personality trait profiles have fulfilling, intrinsically rewarding lives: they generally have a more positive view of themselves, more positive connections with others and find life more satisfying.

The key factor here seems to be empathy . . . In our new research, we found that this seems to be what leads to a more satisfying life. Similarly, being prosocial – acting kindly, cooperatively and with compassion toward others – is also significantly linked with higher wellbeing.

As a species, we’re fundamentally built for social connectedness, and we depend on cooperation and trust. When those with dark personalities try to take advantage of this for their own personal gain, they do so at their own peril. . . . 

There’s a third group: we found that about 40 per cent of individuals show a balance of dark and light traits. . . . 

Compared with those with a light personality, mixed individuals have lower levels of life satisfaction and a less positive self-image. It seems that the mixed group are on the way to the light personality profile, so to speak, but fall short of the full expression – and the added dark traits are what’s holding them back.

From a link within the article. Granted this is a self-assessment, but I still find it pleasing and do my best to reflect this result

Based on your replies to the test questions, you are strongly tipped toward the light side of the force!

Note: each of us has a mix of light and dark facets within us. Also, personality traits can change. You might want to use this information as an opportunity for self-reflection and growth.

This feedback should not be taken as clinical diagnosis and is provided simply for informative purposes on how your responses compare to the ones given by others who have taken this test.

Here you can see how you score in each of the six facets that we have analyzed:

Light Triad facets

Faith in humanity: believing in the fundamental goodness of humans

Your score in this facet is greater than the average by 7.55%.

Humanism: valuing the dignity and worth of each human being

Your score in this facet is greater than the average by 1.1%.

Kantianism: treating people as ends in themselves, not means to an end

Your score in this facet is greater than the average by 6.35%.

Dark Triad facets

Narcissism: Entitled self-importance

Your score in this facet is lower than the average by 12.55%.

Psychopathy: Callousness and cynicism

Your score in this facet is lower than the average by 13.75%.

Machiavellianism: Strategic exploitation and deceit

Your score in this facet is lower than the average by 23.5%.

Knock Before Entering

Inspected Nov. 8, 2020

Even graffiti wears masks in 2020 for Covid safety 

I was recently looking at some old work files and thought this interactive bulletin board I created for National Poetry Month in April 2012 was worth sharing here. Well, these ingredients for it, anyway.

The welcome, printed large:

Invitation

A poem can be anything--

Words combined in any order;

To make you think,

To make you feel,

Of something fake or very real.

Some tell tales,

Some capture moods,

Some are goofy odes to foods.

Patterns, rhythms,

Sometimes there,

Sometimes free form without care.

Some will rhyme,

Others won’t.

The only wrong’s not writing along.

Put words on paper--

Any words--

Any order--

We’ll hang it here

For all to see,

And all will call it poetry.

Fun food for thought:

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

 ~ E. M. Forster ~

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

~ W. H. Auden ~

We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.

~ John Fowles ~

You don't make a poem with ideas, but with words.

~ Stephane Mallarme ~

Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.

~ Thomas Gray ~

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

~ Robert Frost ~

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything.

~ Steven Wright ~

 “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”

~ Lewis Carroll ~

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure.

~ A. E. Housman ~

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.

~ E. M. Forster ~

You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.

~ John Ciardi ~

A silly sign to accompany what follows:

Particularly Potent and Practical

Poetry Prompts

to Promote a Plethora of Pondering . . . 

for Probable Poetic Propulsion;

for Popping Printed Personality;

for Prodigious, Poignant Productivity.

Half-page prompts, printed as handouts to take, use, and return:

Color Poem

Pick a favorite color and think of all the things you associate with it. To get going, you can start each line with: (Color) is a . . . 

Yellow

Yellow is the sunshine.

Yellow is a banana.

Yellow is my dog’s fuzzy fur.

Yellow is my favorite dress.

Don’t just think of physical objects, but all the things the color might represent for you:

Yellow is my happy color.

Yellow is the color of sweetness.

Yellow is the taste of honey.

Yellow is a healing kiss.

Once you get your list complete, you can play with the order and structure if you want:

Yellow, yellow, yellow.

Yellow is my happy color.

Bananas are yellow.

My dog’s fuzzy fur is yellow.

Sunshine, kisses, and honey are yellow.

It must be a yellow day.

-----

Lie Poem

This poem is all about using your imagination to see what you can invent. “Suppose” this was true.  “Pretend” things are like this. Have fun seeing how outrageous you can get. Put a lie in every line so you make a whole poem of things that aren’t true.

In My World

I am the president of Tasmania.

I was born a bear.

I became butterfly.

Now I am a watermelon.

My shirt is made of the moon.

I wear a river on my finger.

And I don’t wear shoes

Because my feet are really wheels.

The grass is blue in Tasmania.

Though I live in a tree.

The monkeys bring me red bananas

To eat for every meal.

The monkeys are blue

Just like the grass,

And teach me my lessons

In poetry class.

-----

Noise Poem

This poem is about all the noises you hear in a particular place.

Start by thinking of a location: your home, school, driving, the playground, the city, the library, a soccer game, your grandma’s house, outside your window, in your room, etc.

Then think of all the things in that place, everything that happens there, and what kinds of noises they make. Some noise poems will be very loud and others quite quiet.

The Swimming Pool

Splash!

Scream!

Smack!

At the swimming pool I hear:

   Water splash and scatter.

   Water trickle and drip.

   Water kerplunk and get drunk.

   Children screaming.

   Feet smacking the concrete.

   Bodies smacking the water.

   Goggles popping on backs of heads.

   Skin sizzling in the sun.

-----

Acrostic Poem

An acrostic poem is based on a name, a word, or a phrase. Each letter of the topic begins a line of the poem. If we wanted to use “library,” for instance, we would start by writing it vertically like this: 

L

I

B

R

A

R

Y

Lackman Library

Linking me to learning is my library.

Always free. Always fun.

Creativity captured in stories.

Kitten, kangaroo, koala bear information.

More than I have time to know.

Always free. Always fun.

Notice all the things to do,

Like poetry month activities.

Interview the librarian when I need help.

Books they help me find.

Recommendations for what to read.

Assistance on the computer.

Reading, watching, listening, playing.

You should join me next time.

-----

Wish Poem

What do you wish for? List all the things you wish were true. Start each line with: I wish . . . 

I wish I was invisible.

I wish I didn’t have to eat my vegetables.

I wish I could fly.

I wish I had a dog.

You can go on like that for as long as you want and you have a poem; or, if you want, once you have your list of wishes you can expand it with details:

I wish I was invisible.

I could listen without being seen.

Sneak out of my bed when I can’t sleep.

Disappear when I’m embarrassed.

I wish I didn’t have to eat my vegetables.

That candy was all that I needed;

Full of health and nutrition.

What my parents wanted me to eat.

I wish I could fly.

I’d go wherever I wanted.

Visit my friend far away.

Soar peacefully with the birds.

I wish I had a dog.

My own fuzzy cuddle buddy.

To guard and protect me.

To love me always.

-----

Animal or Thing Poem

For this poem, you pretend to be something else.  Imagine you are that thing. What kinds of things do you do? What do you feel like? What do people do with you? How do they treat you?

I Am a Flower

How does it feel to be a flower?

The soil supports me, feeds me.

The sun makes me warm and bright.

The wind whispers through my petals.

A bee drinks from my nectar.

The Television

I sit,

Quiet, dark, hard, and flat.

Alone.

Waiting to entertain.

Then someone sits before me,

Turns me on,

And I come to life.

Light, color, sound.

Action, drama, laughter, excitement.

I tell stories.

I share information.

I capture moments.

I bring joy.

-----

Senses and Similes

Help get your creative juices flowing by making comparisons using your senses. Practice going through all five senses, thinking of things you might associate with them. They can be anything, even things you wouldn’t normally, hear, see, touch, sniff, or eat.

_____ tastes like _____

_____ looks like _____

_____ smells like _____

_____ feels like _____

_____ sounds like _____

Sunshine tastes like warm bread fresh from the oven.

My hair looks like a squirrel’s nest.

Spring smells like energy.

Failure feels like a gray, cloudy day. It makes me feel like a turtle, hiding in my shell, slow to move.

My brothers sound like a thunderstorm, rattling the windows, shaking the walls, pounding on the house. They flash like lightning when they fight, making the air taste like electricity.

And one more piece of food for thought:

Metaphorical Language Tickles the Brain

 “ . . . Words like “lavender,” “cinnamon” and “soap,” for example, elicit a response not only from the language-processing areas of our brains, but also those devoted to dealing with smells. . . . Metaphors like “The singer had a velvet voice” and “He had leathery hands” roused the sensory cortex, while phrases matched for meaning, like “The singer had a pleasing voice” and “He had strong hands,” did not. . . . .”

http://nyti.ms/FPplzu

QR code eliminated.

So there's that.

Hmm. Deep thoughts and new ways of looking at things?

Chupacabra