Mad Macedonian

The Decision: Telling the Story of a Photograph

The forest seemed huge and forbidding to him as he stood in the road at its edge and contemplated traversing it to reach his destination.

The decision to leave made, he had begun to walk, but he did not feel threatened.

The valley he was leaving was empty of all life now, and he felt sadness at the thought of leaving the land of his youth.

The road through the forest was his pathway to adulthood.

His Father had walked it, and braved its challenges, as had HIS Father, and HIS Father's Father before him.

And so, it now was his turn, and slowly, tentatively, he stepped forward and set out....

***Image from the Stumble Upon page of Furball123.***

Alone: A Poem

ALONE


In the morning I will awaken, I will walk
In the clinging fog; myself
Will look about, and not see another,
Alone in the park, and break
The silence with breath and footsteps;
I will enjoy the grass and the trees
Seeing what is to see, and hearing what I can not
In the shadows of the dawn; and myself
With hands in my coat pockets,
Will smile in contentment, and
Plan for the day that will be.

***Copyright 12/2006

It's a Long Way to the Prairie

IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE PRAIRIE

( Listen while U Read. ) ;-D

Up to the mighty South Grass came
An eager Snail one day,
All the streets were planted in green,
So everyone was gay!
Singing songs quite silly,
about the homeland Square,
'Til the Laddy got excited and
He shouted to them there:

It's a long way to the Praire,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to the Praire
To the sweetest she-snail I know!
Goodbye to life in the North,
Farewell to the Square!
It's a long long way to the Praire,
But my heart's right there.

The Laddy wrote a letter
To his Lady dear O',
Saying, "Should you not receive it,
Write and let me know!
If I make mistakes in "spelling",
dear", said he,
"Remember it's the pen, that's bad,
Don't lay the blame on me".

It's a long way to the Praire,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to the Praire
To the sweetest she-snail I know!
Goodbye to life in the North,
Farewell to the Square!
It's a long long way to the Praire,
But my heart's right there.

The Gal wrote a neat reply
To her Laddy O',
Saying, "Snike Snailoney wants
To marry me, and so
Leave the South Grass you Gastropod Molluskie,
Or you'll be to blame,
For love has fairly drove me silly,
Hoping you're the same!"

It's a long way to the Praire,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to the Praire
To the sweetest she-snail I know!
Goodbye to life in the North,
Farewell to the Square!
It's a long long way to the Praire,
But my heart's right there.

COPYRIGHT 9/2006

The Jabberliberal

THE JABBERLIBERAL

'Twas brobby, and the flizzy wotes
Did ziffle and wapple in the yillie;
All ninsle were the jorigives,
And the rume taths ingrobie.

'Beware the Jabberliberal, my friend!
The pen that writes, the mouth that talks!
Beware the Jubleftie Snake, and the wind
Out the rear of the Feminista-squawks!'

He took his verpil Microphone in hand:
So long the tinzeme enemy he hunted--
Finally rested he by the BumBum stand,
Then stood awhile and grunted.

And, as in deep contemplation he stood,
The Jabberliberal, with nostrils flaring,
Came shuffling  through the neighborhood,
And screeched loudly without caring!

I am Air America!! And calmly and truly
The microphone spoke Conservative!
He left it hoarse, its voice gone Blooey
He then let loose with a happy expletive!

'And did you silence the Jabberliberal?
Come out of my radio, my voice of reason!
O dribjous day! Yeehaw! Yaziberal!'
I chortled and tried to keep from sneezin'.

'Twas brobby, and the flizzy wotes
Did ziffle and wapple in the yillie;
All ninsle were the jorigives,
And the rume taths ingrobie.

All thanks for the inspiration goes to Lewis Carrol, and his writing, and this interesting post. ;-D

Copyright July 2006.

THE JABBERLIBERAL

'Twas brobby, and the flizzy wotes
Did ziffle and wapple in the yillie;
All ninsle were the jorigives,
And the rume taths ingrobie.

'Beware the Jabberliberal, my friend!
The pen that writes, the mouth that talks!
Beware the Jubleftie Snake, and the wind
Out the rear of the Feminista-squawks!'

He took his verpil Microphone in hand:
So long the tinzeme enemy he hunted--
Finally rested he by the BumBum stand,
Then stood awhile and grunted.

And, as in deep contemplation he stood,
The Jabberliberal, with nostrils flaring,
Came shuffling  through the neighborhood,
And screeched loudly without caring!

I am Air America!! And calmly and truly
The microphone spoke Conservative!
He left it hoarse, its voice gone Blooey
He then let loose with a happy expletive!

'And did you silence the Jabberliberal?
Come out of my radio, my voice of reason!
O dribjous day! Yeehaw! Yaziberal!'
I chortled and tried to keep from sneezin'.

'Twas brobby, and the flizzy wotes
Did ziffle and wapple in the yillie;
All ninsle were the jorigives,
And the rume taths ingrobie.

All thanks for the inspiration goes to Lewis Carrol, and his writing, and this interesting post. ;-D

Copyright July 2006.

The Salute of the Legion

A tribute to writers, and those who have inspired them to write:

THE SALUTE OF THE LEGION

The Coliseum floor is covered by neat, orderly, ranks of Warriors.

They carry the accoutrements of their profession with pride, and confidence.

Confidence in their ability to acquit themselves well, and bring honor to their family, and country, and those from whom they continue to learn to hone their skills.

As they gaze out at the seats around them, filled to the top with all the people who have played a role in helping them get this far, they prepare to pay homage to them on the verge of what is to come....

The Field of Ideas is covered by neat, orderly, ranks of nervous, yet eager, wordsmiths.

Men, women, boys, and girls, of all ages, races, and religious, and political backrounds, dressed in whatever they feel most comfortable in to perform the tasks they have set for themselves beyond this day.

They carry, laptops, notebooks, pens, and pencils, with pride, and confidence.

Confidence in their ability to acquit themselves well as journalists, poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers of all types, and bring honor to their family, and friends, who encouraged them, the writers who inspired them, and the teachers, whether in the classroom, or in books bought off the store shelf, from whom they strived to learn the craft of writing.

As they gaze out at the mass of people gathered around them,  all the people who have played a role in helping them get this far, they prepare to pay homage to them on the verge of what is to come....

All conversation stops...

The ranks come to attention...

And, as one, they extend their weapons of choice in front of them, and  speak...

Their voices ringing loud, and strong, so no-one could fail to hear them...

WE, WHO ARE ABOUT TO WRITE, SALUTE YOU!!!

When I wrote this, back in 2004, a friend and I had a conversation about it:

JASPAR:

"neat, orderly, ranks of Warriors"

Interesting metaphor!

ME: Writers, of all types, are Warriors in the eternal Battle of Ideas. ;-D

JASPAR:

And writers are the foundation of
society (building metaphor).

And help ideas bloom (plant metaphor).

And shoot down others' ideas (gun metaphor). ;-D

ME: Writers dish out Food for Thought. (Cooking Metaphor?). ;-D

JASPAR: Writers do it with pens (sex metaphor). ;-D 

Copyright 12/2004

A tribute to writers, and those who have inspired them to write:

The Field of Ideas is covered by neat, orderly, ranks of nervous, yet eager, wordsmiths.

Men, women, boys, and girls, of all ages, races, and religious, and political backrounds, dressed in whatever they feel most comfortable in to perform the tasks they have set for themselves beyond this day.

They carry, laptops, notebooks, pens, and pencils, with pride, and confidence.

Confidence in their ability to acquit themselves well as journalists, poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers of all types, and bring honor to their family, and friends, who encouraged them, the writers who inspired them, and the teachers, whether in the classroom, or in books bought off the store shelf, from whom they strived to learn the craft of writing.

As they gaze out at the mass of people gathered around them,  all the people who have played a role in helping them get this far, they prepare to pay homage to them on the verge of what is to come....

All conversation stops...

The ranks come to attention...

And, as one, they extend their weapons of choice in front of them, and  speak...

Their voices ringing loud, and strong, so no-one could fail to hear them...

WE, WHO ARE ABOUT TO WRITE, SALUTE YOU!!!

When I wrote this, back in 2004, a friend and I had a conversation about it:

JASPAR:

"neat, orderly, ranks of Warriors"

Copyright 12/2004

Dan Rather Meets Blogger Seuss

Remember Dan Rather?

He of the Political Hit Piece that got exposed by the Blogosphere, and led to the end of his career at CBS?

Dan, and many in the Mainstream, Old-Style, Media, and non-blogging public, understand little about the Blogosphere, and the diversity of content, and contributors there is to be found there.

It's not ALL Politics, and War.

FINALLY, that ignorance began to change because of that 2004 story.

Anyway, here is a little something I wrote for your back then, "In defense of the PJ Pundit", and I wish to thank the incomparable Dr. Seuss for providing the inspiration.

I loved the Doc, when I was 2.

And, bless him, I STILL do. ;-D

Blogger Seuss Meets Dan Rather

I am Blogger.

I AM Blogger.

Blogger I AM !

Newsman Dan! Newsman Dan! I do not like you Newsman Dan!

"Do you wear pajamas when you write?"

I DO wear them, Newsman Dan.

"Do you wear them day or night?"

"Do you wear them in a house? Do you wear them as you wield your computer mouse?"

"Do wear you them as you watch my competitors on FOX? Those folks who give my guy Kerry such frequent knocks?"

"Do you? DO you? Listening to Rush? Hannity? O'Reilly? What mush!."

"Bloggers! I don't like you. With your opinions I don't agree. I wish you'd just leave me be!"

"A pain! A pain! A pain! A pain! Why are you Bloggers such a pain?"

"Say! At ABC could you bark? Here's the number to NBC, go enjoy a lark!
Would you, could you, my plea please hark?"

"Would you, could you, stop being a pain?"

"Could you, would you, please not gloat?"
"Would you, could you, in November, please not vote?"

"I do NOT like you Bloggers. I must say. Hate you! Hate you! Night and day. Leave me alone, I say!"

What can I Say? I LOVE Blogging despite comment spam! I do!

I love to write in my Pajamas, Newsman Dan!

I Blog in my work clothes, and in a coat. And I blog in the nude, please take note!

I do so love to Blog, Newsman Dan!

Your mistakes are quite the story!

Thank you!

Newsman Dan!

Yes Dan.....

Anyone of us, at any given moment, can fact check your behind fully clothed, or in the buff!! ;-D

Copyright Sept. 2004.

Blogger Seuss Meets Dan Rather

I am Blogger.

I AM Blogger.

Blogger I AM !

Newsman Dan! Newsman Dan! I do not like you Newsman Dan!

"Do you wear pajamas when you write?"

I DO wear them, Newsman Dan.

"Do you wear them day or night?"

"Do you wear them in a house? Do you wear them as you wield your computer mouse?"

"Do wear you them as you watch my competitors on FOX? Those folks who give my guy Kerry such frequent knocks?"

"Do you? DO you? Listening to Rush? Hannity? O'Reilly? What mush!."

"Bloggers! I don't like you. With your opinions I don't agree. I wish you'd just leave me be!"

"A pain! A pain! A pain! A pain! Why are you Bloggers such a pain?"

"Say! At ABC could you bark? Here's the number to NBC, go enjoy a lark!
Would you, could you, my plea please hark?"

"Would you, could you, stop being a pain?"

"Could you, would you, please not gloat?"
"Would you, could you, in November, please not vote?"

"I do NOT like you Bloggers. I must say. Hate you! Hate you! Night and day. Leave me alone, I say!"

What can I Say? I LOVE Blogging despite comment spam! I do!

I love to write in my Pajamas, Newsman Dan!

I Blog in my work clothes, and in a coat. And I blog in the nude, please take note!

I do so love to Blog, Newsman Dan!

Your mistakes are quite the story!

Thank you!

Newsman Dan!

April is National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, and it's not too late to celebrate!

This is the 12th Anniversary of the event founded by The Academy of American Poets.

National Poetry Month:

National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets as a month-long, national celebration of poetry. The concept was to increase the attention paid-by individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines. In the end, we hoped to achieve an increase in the visibility, presence, and accessibility of poetry in our culture. National Poetry Month has been successful beyond all anticipation and has grown over the years into the largest literary celebration in the world.

This is the 1st of several posts, this month, that will encourage you to read poetry, and even write poetry of your own as I have, and to encourage you to check out the writing websites in my sidebar.

You may think you don't have it in you to write a poem, but you would be mistaken.

If even I can discover my talent for the stuff then you can, too!

Part 2 is here.

My poems and other creative writing efforts, plus a growing list of writing prompts, can be found in my Poetry, Short Stories, and More Archive. ;-D   

Litter: A Poem

In later December 2004 columnist Gordon Dillow, of the OC Register, wrote a column deploring the refuse that turns up on our local beaches after a rainstorm sends it all down through the sewers, and concrete rivers, to the ocean.

It was called "Sore about what rain brings."

His lengthy catalogue of what he found was as fascinating, as it was disgusting.

As I read the piece I felt that there was poetry, there, if I put some thought  into it.

And so there was.

I sent it to the Letters page, and to Mr. Dillow, in early January 2005.

Mr. Dillow sent a kind reply, but the paper never published the poem. ;-D

Enjoy. ;-D

LITTER

To our pristine beaches they travel all year round,
these tourists from inland, it's their top destination.
Gordon Dillow, citizen, counting them by the pound,
catalogued their names, and declared an infestation.

Pink roses, spray cans, two teddy bears, a railroad tie,
a shopping cart, noodles, hangers, and a bowling pin.
Cushions, purses, shoes, stuff disgusting to the eye;
Smile, God loves you! Our numbers, oh isn't it a sin?

Tennis, ping pong, golf, wiffle, and baseball,
High heeled shoes, flip flops, and cans of fix-a-flat.
One after the other, rain or shine, come one, come all!
Plastic bottles, and noxious butts, are all old hat.

Lemons, and oranges, grape fruit, apples, an onion,
all come down, each year, to mingle with the Grunion.
Plates, and bowls of plastic, they happily call home,
as pork craklins dance with salsa in cups of styrofoam.

As parties run non-stop, with agendas quite sinister,
and Wet Ones Towlettes caress the eager metal chest,
the candy wrappers gather under a fire extinguisher,
hiding from this debauchery they do their very best.

All vacations come to an end and these are no different;
Miller, Bud, and Smirnoff, juiced from coke and beer,
look about the sand, and sigh, the end quite apparent,
as, from down the beach, Public Works draws near.

Copyright Jan. 2005.

Mr. Dillow wrote:

Thanks for the copy of the letter to the editor, and for the poem. Don't know if they'll use it -- that's another department -- but I certainly enjoyed it!

Best,

Gordon Dillow

OC Register

In later December 2004 columnist Gordon Dillow, of the OC Register, wrote a column deploring the refuse that turns up on our local beaches after a rainstorm sends it all down through the sewers, and concrete rivers, to the ocean.

It was called "Sore about what rain brings."

His lengthy catalogue of what he found was as fascinating, as it was disgusting.

As I read the piece I felt that there was poetry, there, if I put some thought  into it.

And so there was.

I sent it to the Letters page, and to Mr. Dillow, in early January 2005.

Mr. Dillow sent a kind reply, but the paper never published the poem. ;-D

Enjoy. ;-D

LITTER

To our pristine beaches they travel all year round,
these tourists from inland, it's their top destination.
Gordon Dillow, citizen, counting them by the pound,
catalogued their names, and declared an infestation.

Pink roses, spray cans, two teddy bears, a railroad tie,
a shopping cart, noodles, hangers, and a bowling pin.
Cushions, purses, shoes, stuff disgusting to the eye;
Smile, God loves you! Our numbers, oh isn't it a sin?

Tennis, ping pong, golf, wiffle, and baseball,
High heeled shoes, flip flops, and cans of fix-a-flat.
One after the other, rain or shine, come one, come all!
Plastic bottles, and noxious butts, are all old hat.

Lemons, and oranges, grape fruit, apples, an onion,
all come down, each year, to mingle with the Grunion.
Plates, and bowls of plastic, they happily call home,
as pork craklins dance with salsa in cups of styrofoam.

As parties run non-stop, with agendas quite sinister,
and Wet Ones Towlettes caress the eager metal chest,
the candy wrappers gather under a fire extinguisher,
hiding from this debauchery they do their very best.

All vacations come to an end and these are no different;
Miller, Bud, and Smirnoff, juiced from coke and beer,
look about the sand, and sigh, the end quite apparent,
as, from down the beach, Public Works draws near.

Copyright Jan. 2005.

Mr. Dillow wrote:

Thanks for the copy of the letter to the editor, and for the poem. Don't know if they'll use it -- that's another department -- but I certainly enjoyed it!

Best,

Gordon Dillow

OC Register

The English Language: A Poem

The English Language

Language, the Eng-lish language.

What kinds of writers use the English language?

Novelists, biographers, journalists,

bloggers posting on their soapbox!

Poets, playrights,

ev-en lyricists whose music rocks

love language, the Eng-lish language,

the language we love to write!

***Created in honor of the jingle known as the Armour Hotdog Song in 12/2004.

Copyright 2004.

Anaheim and Santa Ana Among Best Cities for Walking

Walking, it does a body good...

and there are plenty of great places to do it in Orange County.

Prevention and the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) have, for several years, presented a list of the 100 Best Cities for Walking in the United States.

Anaheim, and Santa Ana were the only two Orange County Cities to make the list in 2006, the last time I checked it out. ;-D

So what was their criteria at the time?

To qualify, a city must be among the country's 100 most populous. It must also have a high percentage of people who regularly walk--for fitness and health, or to get to and from work. (This criterion counted most this year; in past rankings, the number of residents and their use of public transportation carried more heft, which gave bigger cities an advantage.)

After the APMA and Prevention crunched those numbers, we then factored in mass transit; research from the University of British Columbia in Canada shows that every 30 minutes spent in a car increases your risk of obesity by 3%, and each 0.6 mile walked daily decreases that risk by 5%.

Finally, walker-friendly attributes, such as low crime rates, mild year-round temps, and the number of cultural attractions, were weighed, as well as participation in recreational sports and pet ownership. Why do we care about Fido? His needs can increase your physical activity, speed weight loss, and lower blood pressure, find researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The overall survey included over 18,000 topics of information about the top 100 cities from sources including the census bureau, other government agencies, and market research surveys.

Okay, sounds good.

The TOP 10 in 2006?

# 1 Portland, Oregon
#2 Colorado Springs, Colorado
#3 Madison, Wisconsin
#4 Boise City, Idaho
#5 Las Vegas, Nevada
#6 Austin, Texas
#7 Virginia Beach, Virginia
#8 Anchorage, Alaska
#9 Fremont, California
#10 Raleigh, North Carolina

The old article, no longer online, had Anaheim ranked #28, and Santa Ana ranked #69.

By comparison Los Angeles was #44, and Long Beach was #64.

I went to the Prenvention website, today, and found an updated collection of lists. ;-D

Walking, it does a body good...

and there are plenty of great places to do it in Orange County.

Prevention and the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) have, for several years, presented a list of the 100 Best Cities for Walking in the United States.

Anaheim, and Santa Ana were the only two Orange County Cities to make the list in 2006, the last time I checked it out. ;-D

So what was their criteria at the time?

To qualify, a city must be among the country's 100 most populous. It must also have a high percentage of people who regularly walk--for fitness and health, or to get to and from work. (This criterion counted most this year; in past rankings, the number of residents and their use of public transportation carried more heft, which gave bigger cities an advantage.)

After the APMA and Prevention crunched those numbers, we then factored in mass transit; research from the University of British Columbia in Canada shows that every 30 minutes spent in a car increases your risk of obesity by 3%, and each 0.6 mile walked daily decreases that risk by 5%.

Finally, walker-friendly attributes, such as low crime rates, mild year-round temps, and the number of cultural attractions, were weighed, as well as participation in recreational sports and pet ownership. Why do we care about Fido? His needs can increase your physical activity, speed weight loss, and lower blood pressure, find researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The overall survey included over 18,000 topics of information about the top 100 cities from sources including the census bureau, other government agencies, and market research surveys.

Okay, sounds good.

The TOP 10 in 2006?

# 1 Portland, Oregon
#2 Colorado Springs, Colorado
#3 Madison, Wisconsin
#4 Boise City, Idaho
#5 Las Vegas, Nevada
#6 Austin, Texas
#7 Virginia Beach, Virginia
#8 Anchorage, Alaska
#9 Fremont, California
#10 Raleigh, North Carolina

The old article, no longer online, had Anaheim ranked #28, and Santa Ana ranked #69.

By comparison Los Angeles was #44, and Long Beach was #64.

I went to the Prenvention website, today, and found an updated collection of lists. ;-D