Week #16 Words

Here's our five words for the week! (Mary's learning the Ness-ly and the -ly rules, by the way. Remember you can use any form of the word you want.)

Brokenness
Morally
Careening
Anarchy
Brazenness

The rules are HERE. Happy writing, bloggy friends!

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At Least It's Not Birds...

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's my friend dt's entry for this week! :-) Catch up with him over at Cayenne Lemonade.

Breaking up is hard to do…
(Climate, Visually, Cavalier, Suddenness, Jurisdiction)

I was told I could come by and get my “stuff” which amounted to a weight bench and some weights and I don’t remember what else.

I tried to get a friend to go with me, but either he was busy or wise enough to know the climate over there was dangerous, or potentially so. He was almost right.

I pulled the chevy (I think it was Cavalier) that I had borrowed into the driveway and walked down the grass to the house.

I gathered my things from the porch and took them to the car. I looked back, hoping she’d come outside. Her father stood in the doorway, guarding the exit and visually taunting me, it seemed.
And then, I did the wrong thing. I walked back down the yard. I knew I was out of my jurisdiction, but I went anyway.

He sneered at me and slammed the door.

I lost it. I yelled, I screamed. I stood on their front porch and said they had no right to break us up.

The house was still. I opened my mouth, but with a suddenness that silenced me, he came out the door and lunged toward me. Her little brother, right on Dad’s heels, took a swing.

In a heartbeat I remembered that he once shot someone who just wanted to drink beer on his land…I remember that he got away with it…and as I remembered it, I ran.

I don’t remember much after that.


she called dt today. just wanted to chat. after 25 years.

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Why I Haven't Been Posting Much...

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Seven on....SUNDAY!

I have NO IDEA what happened to this week! It flew by and I'm not really sure why.

1. Some pictures of the kids I took today:

2. My latest doodle...Not sure what it is, really. Maybe a picture frame? Maybe the head of a lion? I'm going to put it away and let it steep a little and then come back to it.

3. I'm trying to work a little on my corner I use for drawing. I hung a string to put either my work or images that inspire me over my table. Next, I'm going to clear out a couple of cubicles and organize my supplies. Lighting is an issue. More to come...

4. We spent a night and day with some friends going through the Navigator's Second Half material Friday and Saturday. We did a spiritual gifts and primary roles inventory plus personality typing. Really no big surprises there except my personality type came out differently for the first time ever. The goal of the workshop is to develop a Life Mission Statement in the weeks to come and then we'll all get back together and go over them. I learned a lot... about me and about Matt. It was good teaching and wonderful fellowship.

5. Less than a week before the big day! We leave for Philadelphia on Friday morning and the "race" is Sunday. Wowzers! Not feeling very prepared at the moment...

6. This has NOT been a good week for reading! I'm pretty much stuck where I was last week:

Currently reading: The Help, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, The Creative Call, Journal Spilling, Furious Pursuit and Art & Fear. I was very excited to get in my Thomas Nelson Blogger selection:

7. I've been thinking about: In last week's sermon, our pastor used this quote from Michelangelo - "I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." He was using it as an illustration of how God chips away at us, forming us into the creatures we were intended to be, through this earthly process of sanctification.

Blessings, bloggy friends -

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Week #15 Words

Ack! A whole day late - Sorry! But here they are: Week #15's words for the 5th Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge. Remember you can use any form of the word you want.

Climate
Visually
Cavalier
Suddenness
Jurisdiction

Check here for the rules for the 5th Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge.

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's another poetic form from Ginger using our Five Words:

Southern Grits
(Craving, Nonchalant, Daub, Admit, Indignant)


Indignant, you attempt to walk past
A nonchalant banter across the room
The craving in your heart to make me last
Indignant, you attempt to walk past
You'd admit your loathing by moving fast
Daub of red cheeks signals impending doom
Indignant, you attempt to walk past
A nonchalant banter across the room


Ginger used a Triolet poetic form and said, "Whew! Okay, that form isn't hard, but doing it with the five words is. That was fun... "

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Sleep

Yesterday's prompt from Poetic Asides November PAD Chapbook Challenge was to write about something slippery. Sleep seems like a slippery thing to me, so as I was falling alseep last night out on the porch (my favorite place to sleep) snuggled up with Mary (my second-favorite person to snuggle with), these lines came to mind.

Sleep

I move in
and out of sleep

my book sliding
to the floor,

stolen slumber
on the porch –

dreams come knocking
at my door.

A small breeze blows,
leaves rustle,

the moon shines and
night birds sing.

In my mind I
slip away

on silvered waves
and feathered wing.

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's our Tennessean blogger over at Cayenne Lemonade with an entry for this week's five:

Looking for a sponsor
(Craving, Nonchalant, Daub, Admit, Indignant)

About two months ago I did something stupid…to be specific (as I readily admit I’ve done stupid things since then, but I am speaking of one particular thing)…agreed to quit eating beef jerky.

(I would have agreed to quit “cold turkey” but I don’t really know what that means…why is it “cold turkey” people talk about quitting and it being so hard? Were there no Twinkies when this phrase was coined?)

Anyway (the screaming in my head makes it hard to focus hence all the parenthesis) the craving for a Slim Jim has now reached critical mass.

This became apparent when earlier today, when I saw a lesser man (or at least a smarter man who didn’t agree to stop eating them) tear open the plastic at the top and bite off a huge chunk. I nonchalantly wandered over and asked him if that was the spicy Tabasco or the regular.

He must have noticed the daub of drool on my lips because he indignantly told me, “GET YOUR OWN.”


dt recommends a Pepsi to wash it down

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Seven on Saturday

Hello, bloggy friends. This week has been busy with a class in Raleigh for work. That kind of threw the whole week off a bit. I'm hoping next week will be a little more calm and productive.

1. I'm admiring Nicole at Blue Biciletta and her Natural Patterns Alphabet. Also, she has a wonderful idea for a Monthly Art Club. I'm thinking about it for Mary for Christmas. She loves artsy/crafty things and loves to get mail. Might be perfect! Or maybe I'll just get it for me...I love getting things in the mail, too!

2. Speaking of receiving things in the mail, a friend clipped this article about new NIH Director Francis Collins and dropped it in the mail to me. The article said Collins had established the BioLogos Foundation and website in 2007 "to advance what he saw as the essential harmony of faith and science." He stepped down from leading the foundation the day before he was confirmed as Director on August 17th. Interesting website. Like I've said before, after reading his book, I don't necessarily agree with Collins' point of view on evolution, but it looks like there's some good articles to read. Check it out.

3. It is official. I'm old. Matt and I have been asked to participate in a small group weekend seminar of... gulp... The Navigators'.... SECOND HALF ministry! :-O Humph. Don't laugh, Lynn.

4. The Boy is off visiting The Girl in Virginia, but should be home tonight. E is at work after spending most of the day at her first SAT attempt. Mary is playing with a friend. So, it's just me and Matt... and the dog. He's watching LSU and I'm blogging. The dog is curled up at my side. Ah, peace.... but off to small group in just a few minutes!

5. I never do this. I hosted a jewelry party this morning. It was fun with new friends and old. As my "new" friend (who has never been to my house before) was setting up the jewelry in the dining room, Mary informed her, "Mom went to T.J, Maxx yesterday and bought a bunch of stuff and redid the whole house." Then she added, "It was a real mess before." Nice. :-) The "bunch of stuff" was six coffee mugs and six glasses... Love my Mary!

6. I'm pretty excited to be taking an art class tomorrow called Image This at Swank (a cool little coffee/art shop in our downtown area) with a local artist. Not sure what to expect... I'll have to let you know how it goes.

7. Other tidbits:

- Currently reading: The Help, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, The Creative Call, Journal Spilling, and Furious Pursuit. Plus I've added this week Art & Fear. I'm going to read it and The Creative Call with my fab friend Maria between now and the end of the year. Very excited about that!

- 14 more days until the BIG RACE! :-)

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November Desktop

Here's another desktop from Shabby Princess! :-) E looks thrilled at having her picture taken, doesn't she? I got a very similar look this morning as she left to go take her first stab at the SAT.

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Week #14 Words

Oh! Forgot to post this last night! I know you've been waiting all night with baited breath...

Craving
Nonchalant
Daub
Admit
Indignant

Here are the rules for the 5th Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge:

1. You must use each of the five words, but you can use different forms than the ones listed. (For example, if the word is looked you can use look, looking, or looks.)

2. Titled entries can be emailed to upsidedownbee [at] hotmail [dot] com. Include the name you would like to have as your signature (real name, pen name, anonymous, etc.), website address if you have one, and a short one sentence bio.

3. Entries should be monologue form (a story or poem written by a single character giving view of his or her innermost thoughts) and have a maximum length of 600 words.

4. Once the next week's five words are posted, no more entries will be accepted for the previous week's. :-)

5. I reserve the right to not post entries that wouldn't be appropriate for the intent of my blog. (Kinda doubt that would happen.... but just in case!)


Later, bloggy friends -

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Fall

Here's my Day 3 poem for the PAD Chapbook Challenge. The prompt was to write a positive or a negative poem. I went for positive - about Fall, my most favorite season!

Trees undress
slowly
one leaf
at a time,
baring limbs
that point to
Heaven,
revealing
a secret
posture
of praise.

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Doodles

Three Days in Class = Two New Doodles!

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5th Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's my Five for this week with a continuation of Lydia's story from a couple of weeks ago:

(Historian, Writhe, Preyed, Employable, Conveyor)

I turn and rest my forehead on the coolness of the window and reach to feel the slim silver disc of my Health Historian hanging around my neck. It’s been there all my life, the one singular constant, feeding the docs my daily data, reminding me of appointments, and signaling me when I am mistreating my body – not taking in enough water, pulse racing because of stress, eating unhealthy food. The small dot at its center stays red as long as I am employable, as long as I am healthy enough to go to work, but turns black if I become sick. I remember very few days when I couldn’t go to the Artisan’s Guild.

I look down now and see that not only is the center dot black, but the whole silver disc has changed color. Something deep down inside me writhes and I feel suddenly preyed upon, fighting the urge to fling the door open and jump from the car. I take several deep breathes and try to focus on the scenery outside.

I’ve only been outside of the Automated Atmosphere twice before and each time the trees have looked different. Today their leaves are yellow and orange and red. It must be the season that was once called Fall. We’ve learned about seasons, years, months, and days in our educational study times, and about the unpredictability of weather on the outside. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. I can’t imagine living with such uncertainity, but I have to admit today the trees are incredibly beautiful, more beautiful than any tree I've ever seen on the Inside. I would like to paint them if it were allowed, but it’s not. I shift in my seat and feel the brushes and paint I brought along with me through the soft fabric of my bag. In the city we have only sunny, perfectly heated days, with no humidity and scheduled gentle rains for the plants and trees.

As I look out the window again I have the strange sensation that the car is not really moving, that instead it’s the trees that are moving quickly by on some huge conveyor. It’s a trick, a mirage of movement that the Immigration Office wants me to believe. I shake my head and the feeling goes away.

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