Perfection

07/31/10

Here I am again, a day late for Melissa’s fun blog hop, Six Word Fridays. Each Friday, she assigns a word for us to explain or define in six words, and many times we end writing poems with six words per line. It’s a great way to get to know our fellow bloggers, and it’s fun! On my sidebar, you will see Melissa’s URL, so click on it and join us.

This week’s word is “perfection,” and here’s what I did with it.


A

Brand

New

Just

Born

Baby

This post is linked to Six Word Fridays

Almost Home

Jenny Matlock’s Saturday Centus is my favorite meme. Each week, Jenny posts a “prompt” around which we are to write a story using only 100 extra words. You can always find her button my my sideboard. This week’s prompt was longer than usual, sixty words, so there was already a style embedded in it. I tried to write in that style, really get outside myself. Did I do it? Can’t tell. You will see the prompt in bold italics.


Almost Home

I organized and packed my things. Did Thomas Wolfe have it right when he wrote, “you can’t go home again?” Twenty years had passed since my high school class graduated and fled Medford for college or jobs in the city. Would many of them attend the reunion?

I tried to make the best of the trip, but driving six hours is a long time on the road. Six hours spent singing car-aoke and taking in the picturesque scenery, but mostly reminiscing about the good times. But those days were long gone and my mind was in a different place now. Or was it? My pulse quickened as I passed the road sign which read "Medford 27 miles."

Good times, really? What about bad times, being labeled a nerd? I sighed to myself. “It’s here, the day you have been dreading, the day you travel back in time.........”

I turn around in a driveway and wasted six more hours on the road.


This post is linked to Saturday Centus

Runaway Words

SWF - A Day Late
As most of you know, Six Word Friday is a writing exercise that grew out of the ample brain of Melissa over at Making Things Up. Each week, she give us a word to ponder and write six words about it or, more often, poems with six words per line. Come join us. It's lots of fun and often inspiring.

Here's my pitiful entry for this week's word, together:


Together, all my words ran away.
Where they are I cannot say
and without them I am blank
stuck searching for them in my
brain so often so filled with
them that they spill theselves out
of my head and travel to
my fingertips on this MacBook keyboard
and speak loudly for themselves. (Sigh).

This post is linked to Making Things Up . Please click on the link in my intro and pay Melissa a visit!

Under My Bed

Is it Monday ALREADY? Java has posted our “Meet Me On Monday” questionnaire, so it must be! Curious about her blog hop? Just click on the “Meet Me On Monday” button in my sidebar............

Questions:

1. What is your favorite sandwich?

Give me a good ole BLT with home grown tomatoes and crispy bacon, lots of mayo, and put it on untoasted white bread. Maybe I’ll have one for lunch.

2. What is stashed under your bed/mattress?

You’ll find a few pieces of luggage (LV duffles that I bought years ago when it was still affordable - in Paris) and maybe a dust bunny or two. I chase them out every week, but they keep coming back!


3. What is your favorite flower?

Hydrangeas in any color and the camellia called “Betty Sheffield Supreme.” It’s white with pink edges on the blossoms, and it’s oh-so-beautiful. Oh, and I also adore alstroemeria...........any color.

4. What is your favorite magazine?

The New Yorker and sometimes “O.”

5. How often do you weigh yourself?

Every morning. It keeps me on my toes, as I weigh in at the top of the normal range for me. Diet? Try to eat whole foods and stay away from the white stuff - sugar, white flour, salt. (This time of year, when tomatoes are so fresh and juicy, I give myself dispensation for eating some white bread and bacon)!

This Post is linked to "Meet Me On Monday."

Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Here we are with another prompt from Saturday Centus: "Somewhere over the rainbow..." Don't know about "Saturday Centus"? To find out more, please click on the "Saturday Centus" on my sideboard. You'll want to check out "Alphabe-Thursday," another of Jenny Matlock's ingenious memes.

This prompt is a challenge because it evokes so many memories in me. It's difficult be creative when awash with sweet memories. So, here is my little story, not a made up one, a real one. You will see the prompt in bold type. (I promise to do better next week)!



SOMEWHERE UNDER THE RAINBOW

Afternoons on Martinique, rainbows appear, crystalline arches fill sun streaked skies,
colors splash across a blue canvas, glowing and fading each in turn, neon fire flies as dusk descends.

They sit on the balcony of their hotel, condensation droplets lace their martini glasses, and they revel in the quiet. The sun retreats and there are only dark blue skies twinkling with a web of tiny stars.

In his half-step flat tone, he hums “Somewhere over the rainbow...” Their fingers entwine, and she hums along. They move inside, still humming, knowing that what’s under the rainbow that really matters.

It is You or I?

Six Word Fridays - A Day Late

Well, Melissa has given us another word for “Six Word Fridays.”
................and the word is.........”YOU”

Hmmmm, let me see what I can do this this.


It’s about you, or do you
mean I when say, simply, you?
You could mean you, of course
but it’s I who’s the star
of this silly verse about you.

Worthy Quotations

Cheap Therapy - July 14, 2010

Like Jennee at Cheap Therapy, I think quotations can be a big part of our lives. Here are three of my favorites:

1. “If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.” - Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton hit the nail on the head with this one. Although I have traveled widely, I have lived in Georgia all my life. Here in the South, we make too much work out of trying to be happy, searching for happiness, pretending to be happy when we are not. Happiness is not something that we can find and faking it just doesn't work.

We make our own happiness. I recognize that to be an over used and worn out cliché, but it works here. We are the only source of our own personal happiness, and we, in many cases, choose whether or not to be happy.

Exception: After profound loss, such as I have known, it is very difficult to conjure up much happiness. We must grieve, and grieve well, before the happiness is us is accessible.

So, in most instances, happiness is a choice, and yes, we can be happy when our lives are in chaos and change. We are the only ones responsible for the way we react to our life circumstances. Nobody else can make us happy!

So, I am learning to stop trying to be happy, but instead, opening my heart and mind to it, so that there is room for it in my soul.


2. “Never submit to the will on anyone for whom you are merely an option.” - Unknown

Have you ever found yourself saying “yes” to an invitation, even though you are relatively certain that you were second, or even third choice? Ever say “yes” just so that someone’s dining table will be balanced out by our presence? Clutch the pearls! Heaven forbid that there be a odd number at the table.

Ever dated a man who you know is dating someone else and who only calls you if she says “no?” I haven’t, thank God, but I have friends who do.

To allow ourselves to be merely an option is to denigrate ourselves and diminish our sense of self worth. It is a form of self torture, I think.

So, I don’t do it! My life is complicated enough without me making matters worse for myself.



3. “Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got.” - Janis Joplin

This almost speaks for itself, and it ties in with the quotation above. By settling for second best, we cheat ourselves out of the potential for real growth and honest self-assessment. I am worth more than that, and so are you. We should love ourselves enough to muster the strength to avoid compromising our beliefs, our talents, our strengths.

Ever turn your head the other way when someone utters a bigoted remark? I must confess, that in the past, I did that, convincing myself that to speak up might cause an argument or even a scene. Not any more! These days, I speak up, and not one person has gotten nasty with me. Often they apologize.

We are powerful enough to be our true selves, no matter the circumstances. Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that fact, but a fact it is.

This post is linked to Cheap Therapy. You will find its button on my sidebar, so click away and join in this discussion!

Meet Me on Monday, July 13, 2010

It’s Monday again, so we have another set of questions from Java at Never Growing Old. Meet Me on Monday is a way for us to get to know a little more about one another, the things that might not be reflected in our blogs.

So...............Here is my Q&A for July 13!


1. What do your normally eat for breakfast?

Coffee is my breakfast. I don’t wake up hungry, and
I just can’t eat first thing in the morning!

2.  What kind of vehicle do you drive?

I drive my late husband’s 1997 Lincoln Town Car. It only
has 60,000 miles on it, and I couldn’t get rid of
the Honda Odyssey fast enough. It was a cruel
reminder of our need for it because of Clint’s
wheelchair. I love driving the land yacht, just love it.
Its in great condition, and I feel kind of cool tooling
around in it!

3.  Have you ever met a famous person(s)?

Clint an I met Harvey Keitel in a bookstore in Paris. I
also met Ellen Gilchrist and Shelby Foote in New Orleans.
I consider them literary celebrities!

4.  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Baskin Robbins Jamocha Almond Fudge. Tasteeeeee.

5.  Which TV Channel do you watch the most?
I rarely turn on my TV, but I DVR several programs.
I always watch The Closer and Law and Order, Criminal
Intent. Ahhhhhhhhh, Jeff Goldblum.

Encounter at The Ritz

07/11/10


It’s Sunday night, and I am just getting around to Jenny Matlock's fabulous meme, Saturday Centus. Each week she gives us a prompt with which we are expected to write a 100 word story, using it as a guide or as part of the text. This week, we have 100 extra words, because she has thrown us something of a knuckle ball by asking us to write in the style of an Harlequin Romance Novel. Hell, I’ve had so much going on, I may not finish it tonight, but I’ll give it a go. I never, ever gave a second thought to writing romance. This ain’t gonna be easy. I’m sure I’ll need the extra 100 words. So, here’s this week’s prompt and my take on it. The prompt will appear in italics.

When I turned around I was startled to meet a green eyed gaze..."



I felt the unmistakable heat of a man, and when I turned around I was startled to meet a green eyed gaze. They were emerald pools in a chiseled face, half obscured by a lock of black hair. He tossed back his head, reached around me to lean on the bar. My breath caught in my throat, and I could feel his eyes scan from my face down to my breasts, glowing now with desire for this stranger. He tilted one side of his full mouth into a sexy smile and took my arm, then slid his muscled arm around my waist, pulling me toward the door.

My heart pounded as he touched the elevator button and we walked inside. Alone in the car, he turned to me, and pinned me against the wall, breathing warmly on my throat before touching the stop button on the car panel.

His strong hands caressed my waist, moving down to briefly brush my buttocks, then sliding up my back to my shoulders and down to the tops of my breasts. Defenseless against his charms, I shimmied the straps off my shoulders, raised my arms and took his face in my hands, kissing him deeply, allowing his tongue to explore my mouth. He restarted the car, it slid open, and he swept me into his suite.

This post is linked to Saturday Centus. You will find the button on my sidebar, so click away and join the fun

Feeling Afraid

Hey, it’s already Six Word Friday, Melissa’s great meme. Today’s word is “feeling,” and as usual I have chosen to write a poem with six words per line. I am currently on an airplane to Miami to visit my son, who has been sick. Yesterday was his 41st birthday.

He has special needs and has had quite a hard time for the last two weeks. I am linking this post back to The Red Sweater so you can read about the Trials of Parrish. Just click on the title of this post!

Meanwhile, here’s my poem for this week.


Feeling Afraid

I could go on forever feeling
these feelings of butterflies in my
throat as the plane descends into
Miami. Sometimes I think the butterflies
live in my throat, have taken
up permanent residence there to stop
me from forgetting to be afraid.



This post is linked to Six Word Fridays! Click on the url in my sidebar under its title! I'm still trying to grab Melissa's button!!!

Expectations

Thanks to Jennee, I have found yet another blog hop, and this one is really cool. Click on her Cheap Therapy Button in my sidebar and pop over to participate! She has given us three thought provoking questions that reveal some things about ourselves.


I’m cj Schlottman. I’m 62 but don’t look it, and I live in Macon Georgia, in the heat belt of the Deep South with my two dogs, Honey, a Lhasa Apso and Belle, a Boxer. I also have a betta fish whose name is Mr. Palmer. I have one grown son who has schizoaffective disorder and lives in a personal care home. My only grandchild is Addie Duck, and she lives in Savannah. She is above average.

Three simple questions? We’ll see.

I’ll take them ad seriatum,

What have people always thought that you would be doing with your life?

I don’t recall ever being pushed in one direction or another by my mother. I think she expected me to educate myself in the field of my choice, and she never doubted that I could do just that. My family and friends, I think, expected me to succeed at whatever I chose to do with my life.

I am a nurse, have been in 1969, and I’m a good one. I’m just making a transition back into the field after the death my husband, Clint, last year. I will be working with Hospice. He was a physician and retired early so we could travel. Thank God for those years. The memories sustain me now.

And I’m a writer both of prose and poetry. I have no desire to be published. It is my “Cheap Therapy,” though I take it quite seriously and work continuously at my craft. I have been a member of an ongoing writer’s workshop for women since 1996. It’s called Zona Rosa and we meet once a month at the home of our mentor, Rosemary Daniell, in Savannah, Georgia, which is 160 miles down the road. If you don’t know about her, she was at the forefront of the feminist movement in the early 1980’s and scandalized the entire South with her memoir, Fatal Flowers. In an effort to improve my writing, I am reading Proust (I’m on the seventh and final novel, The Past Regained) and Nin and Flaubert. I’m working my way to D. H. Lawrence and Dylan Thomas.


Are they surprised by the path you’ve chosen?

No. I have never doubted myself, so others believe in me, too.


Are you surprised at your own path?

I became a nurse out of necessity, as it was the only profession I could predisoe in our little town except teaching. I ended up loving it!

As for writing, I have been writing all my life, so it does not surprise me that I have taken it up seriously.

Maybe this gives a little insight into who I am!

This post is linked to Cheap Therapy. You will find the button on my side bar!

Meet Me on Monday

Here are our questions for Melissa's Meet Me on Monday



1. What is your favorite Fast Food Restaurant?
Does Waffle House Count? If so, that's the greatest!

2. If given a complete freedom to start afresh, what profession would you choose and why?
I would be a professor, a teacher of poetry.

3. Do you prefer your toilet paper to come over the roll or under the roll?
Oh, under, no doubt about it!

4. What was your favorite tv show as a child?
"Ozzie and Harriett." I was in love with Ricky Nelson!

5. What is your favorite Summer drink?
Lemonade, made from fresh lemons!

Choosing our Heirs

It’s Monday night, and I am just getting around to Week Nine of Jenny Matlock’s ingenious meme called Saturday Centus. Don’t know about it? Just click on her button on my sideboard to learn all about it.

I’m pleading “holiday weekend” and “blog overload” syndrome for being so slow to publish my post on this week’s prompt:

"Are you sure that's the one you want?" I felt a little lump in my throat as I peered down at my choice, held tightly in my hand. I didn't think this would be so nerve-wracking. Was I making the wrong decision? I couldn't agonize over this any longer.

I took a deep breath before managing to say, "... Yes, it is."


Here is my take on it. You will see the prompt in italics.



I sat for a moment, taking a breath and drinking in the face on the photo in my hand. I stood and paced around the office, saying silent prayers, pleading with God for help. I reread the biography, and still unsettled, looked to the counselor, pleading with my eyes for some sort of advice.

Finally, I said, “This is it. This is the one, no doubt.

She queried, "Are you sure that's the one you want?" I felt a little lump in my throat as I peered down at my choice, held tightly in my hand. I didn't think this would be so nerve-wracking. Was I making the wrong decision? I couldn't agonize over this any longer.

I took a deep breath before managing to say, "... Yes, it is."
''
My head held high, I walked confidently out of the sperm bank.

My Heart's in Lost and Found

Hey! It's six word fridays again! Today, Melissa has assigned us the word "found." Her format draws six word lined poems out of me, and here is mine for today. Please look on my sidebar for six word fridays and click on the little tools to go to Melissa's blog. You will be amazed at what you find there!


My heart's in Lost and Found
just where I do not know.
I had it with me when
you died, or did I? Maybe
you took it on your final
journey, forgot to send it back.

It was yours alone, for sure
as I gave it to you those
many years past in the heat
of our new love, the fire
of new passion and youthful lust.

I miss my heart as I
do you, my one true love.
Please come back and bring it.
Oh, I know you can't do
that. You can't come back, but
could you leave my heart in
my dream one night, a kiss
out of darkness on my breast,
the flutter of its beating restored?

What X Means to Me

07/01/10

Well, it's Alphabe-Thursday, and we all know what that means. You don't? Then click on Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursdays button in my sidebar and find out all about it, and while you're at it, read some really good writing!



X is for eXamples, the ones
we set for our children and those
with whom we share great love.

X for the eXtras, the ones we
give and receive, like knowing smiles
and unexpected warming hugs.

X is for the eXtraordinary
beauty of a night sky, fire flies
atwinkle in the dark back yard.

X is for eXtreme kindness, like
buying groceries for one who
clearly struggles to make ends meet.

X is for eXultation, the
pure joy of complete fulfillment
happiness oozing from each pore.

X is for Xanadu, that place
we never cease to long for in
our dreams and in our waking.

X is for an X-ray fish who
nearly transparent thrives in the
rivers of South America

X is for Xanax, the drug that
soothes our anxiety when we
are overwhelmed with sadness.

X is for Xavior, Saint
Francis who with a few others
founded the Society of Jesus.

X is for eXhuastion, the kind that
come comes with making love on a
hot afternoon in September.

X is for the X chromosome
that makes me a woman, happy
as I am to be one, happy indeed.


This Post is Linked to Alphabe-Thursdays Button on left!