#PoetrySummer and Books, Books, and More Books

Week 8: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

 My poem this week is another lyrics selection. It's from the book These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a girl I absolutely loved this books series and especially this book.

Golden years are passing by,

Happy, happy golden years,

Passing on the wings of time,

These happy golden years.

Call them back as they go by,

Sweet their memories are,

Oh, improve them as they fly,

These happy golden years.

Books, Book, and Books

I've been taking a break from writing, while my critique group and some betas read through a revision. As a result, I've actually had time to read. Imagine that! 

Here are some of the books I've either finished reading or am currently reading:

I have pages of notes that I've taken as I slowly listened to the tale again. Brandon Sanderson is one of those authors who, like Jo Rowling, likes to throw in unexpected twists that he's warned you about but you probably didn't realize you were being warned. He's got a complex storyline going here, and he has a wonderful gift of making me care about the characters.

Fun Romantic Suspense with a nice twist at the end.Stephanie received a Whitney Award for her book this year. It was well deserved. Click here for more details about this book and her other works.

1st book in the Saint Squad Series, a squad of Navy Seals who also happen to be LDS. I'm reading Traci's books to my hubby, and I swear every one of them makes him cry. Click here for more about Traci's books.

2nd Book in the Saint Squad Series

Book 1 in a series with characters from Freefall.

Book 2 in the series.

Something that I enjoy is when we're introduced to characters we love and get to see them again in other books. When we read Freefall we were introduced to a storyline that was back story and only hinted at. It was fun to realize when we began Under Currents that this was that story and involved a younger version of one of the main characters in Freefall. 

Listening to

Fun YA suspense. Click here for a write up.

 I've only got a couple more weeks of no writing (I think), and I've got several more books I'm hoping to get to. *sigh* I suffer from the librarian's lament even though I'm not a librarian.

So many books.

So little time.

So what have you been reading?

Summer Poetry - Week 7

Week 7: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

After last week's humor, it's time for something along a more classic theme:

Nine Circles of Hell

 Fire and Ice

~~Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

So, following Frost's whimsy about the destruction of the world, which would be your choice? To go out quickly in a blaze of glory ... or slowly freeze today?

Poetry, Independence Day, & Awards

Week 6: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

It's time for a little humor. This is another poem/lyrics from a song I learned at Girl Scout camp, when we lived in the Philippines back before there was dirt. 

Long Johns

author unknown

I have lost my underwear.

I don't care; I'll go bare.

Bye bye, long johns.

They were very close to me

Tickle me. He he he.

Bye bye, long johns

If you see them you'll know where to find me

With my bare bum stickin' out behind me.

I have lost my underwear.

I don't care; I'll go bare.

Long johns, bye bye.

Independence Day

As a military brat and an Army Vet, this holiday means a lot to me. I posted about some of my feelings on Memorial Day, so I just wanted to share one of my favorite patriotic songs. This one always reminds me of one our gravest times as a nation--the Civil War.

My ancestry includes people who fought for the South. While I'm proud of their willingness to fight for what they believed, I'm glad their side lost that particular battle. And speaking of battles, I lurves this version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It gives me chills every time I listen to it.

I was the choir director at my church for five years, and we were able to perform this once. It took months of practice, and we didn't have an orchestra to help. But still.

Usually I didn't mind doing that church job because, hey, I didn't have to face the congregation. I just had to face my choir, and we were used to working together. But they really needed me to cue them in a lot of places for the piece, and I'm not musically trained.

Scared me to death.

My hands shook so bad as I conducted that I had to pull my thumb in so it wasn't (quite) so obvious. But it was still a thrill and one of the highlights of my life, to be honest, to be part of it. I cried. The choir cried. Members of the congregation cried. *sigh*

Awards

I would like to acknowledge Sierra McConnell over at The Writer and the Resin Roommates for kindly giving me two awards. You should check out her blog. She's braving the July NaNo.

#Poetry Summer and an Award

Week 5: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

I totally stole this from Sarah Eden. She was kind enough to suggest it when I cried for help on Twitter, since I'm old and need short things to memorize. By the way, I can't wait for her book Seeking Persephone to come out in September. It's a prequel to Courting Miss Lancaster, and I've already fallen in love with the characters.

Here's the poem I'm memorizing this week.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

~~Emily Dickinson

Hey, Robin. I didn't even realize until now that you're mentioned in this poem. Are you a fainter? You seemed sturdier than that.

BLOG AWARD

I've also been honored with another awarding of The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award by Kimberly Krey. You should check out her blog. I must be really sweet, because this is the third time I've been given this particular award. Thanks, Kimberly.

Feel free to stop reading (like you're not free to anyway) if you're tired of reading random things about me.

Rules of the The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award (some rules varied but these were the most popular):
1. Copy and paste the award to your blog.
Check

2. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you.
Check

3. Share seven random facts about yourself.
One
I hate the sensation of falling--that feeling of your stomach being higher up than the rest of your body. The kind you get when you're, you know, falling. I'm not afraid of heights. On roller coasters I'm fine going upside down and doing the corkscrew turns. Just not the falling.

When my family went on vacation to Disneyland a few years ago and we spent four days park hopping, one of my family's favorite rides was California Screamer. My daughter assured me it was not bad at all. I went.

As we got off, she said, "See, there were only one or two times when there's that sensation."

Um. No. Try five. I counted them.

Tower of Terror anybody? Why don't you just shoot me?

Two
I have an associate degree from Brigham Young University in University Studies with a focus on genealogy (they didn't have a major).

Three
The only bones I've ever broken are a toe and my tail bone (twice).

Four
I'm a serious Harry Potter geek. And proud of it. You can find me at the Leaky Lounge where I'm a moderator. As of last night I have 12,878 posts. I think I'll have to retire when I hit 13,000. =D

Five
My favorite color is green. Just about any shade, though after wearing olive drab everything for a couple of years I was a little off that shade of green for a few decades. When I got to my permanent duty assignment in Nurnberg, even my dang bedroom walls were painted OD. Ugh.

Six
Dark Chocolate. I like the other versions, but if I have a choice, dark chocolate wins every time. The darker, the better.

Seven
When I was a little girl, I was in love with musicals. I would sit in my classroom at school, just waiting for my teacher to break out in song and dance. Such a disappointment.

This video is totally the stuff of my dreams. How come I'm never in a place where they do this? Life's not fair.



4th rule: Pass the award along to 5 deserving blogging buddies.
Jordan McCollum  (Jordan's got choice writing info and is tekkie resource as well)
James Duckett (the writer, not the guy on death row)
Deanna Barnhart (a fellow member of my critique group and host of July's Gearin' up to Get An Agent Blog O Rama)
Amber over at Litpool (she's counting down until Harry' Birthday with HP trivia and prizes)
Candace's Book Blog (I LOVE her blog background)

Poetry Summer - Week 4

Week 4: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

The poem I chose to memorize for this week is actually the lyrics to a song. The words were written by Michael Williams and sung by John Denver. It seems especially as the warm summer days are here and kids are enjoying their time off from school.

Catch Another Butterfly

Do you remember days not so very long ago
When the world was run by people twice your size
And the days were full of laughter and the nights were full of stars
And when you grew tired you could close your eyes

Yes the stars were were there for wishing
and the wind was there for kites
And the morning sun was there for rise and shine
And even in the sniffles kept you home from school in bed
You couldn't hardly stay there after nine

And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded
What happened to the robin's song that sparkled in the sky
Where's all the water gone that tumbled down the stream
Will I ever catch another butterfly

Do you remember campouts right in your own backyard
And wondering how airplanes could fly
And the hours spent just playing with a funny rock you found
With crystal specks as blue as all the sky


And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded
What happened to the robin's song that sparkled in the sky
Where's all the water gone that tumbled down the stream
Will I ever catch another butterfly

Now I watch my son, he's playing with his toys
He's happy and I give him all I can
But I can't help feeling just a little tingling inside
When to hear him say, he wants to be a man

And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded
What happened to the robin's song that sparkled in the sky
Where's all the water gone that tumbled down the stream
Will I ever catch another butterfly
Will I ever catch another butterfly

What do you miss from your childhood? What did you surrender in your rush to adulthood that, looking back, you wish you could have kept?

Asundry Items

Week 3: #PoetrySummer

(This is from Dan Well's Summer Poetry Challenge.)

For this week I've selected a fun Christmas poem by Countee Cullen. When we used to do The Twelve Days of Christmas (ding dong ditching with our kids), we'd include this poem and give the families some mistletoe.

Under the Mistletoe

~~Countee Cullen

I did not know she’d take it so,

Or else I’d never dared;

Although the bliss

was worth the blow,

I did not know she’d take it so.

She stood beneath the mistletoe

So long I thought she cared;

I did not know she’d take it so,

Or else I’d never dared.

WIP Progress Report.

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

My goal this weekend was to get through Part 2 of WIP #1 to which I'm making a plot line change. Making the change (which has the MC doing something very different than in the original plot) was tough. But I really need to get the entire ms ready to submit to my critique group on July 1st. Ugh.

But, I did it! The fewest changes need to be made in Part 3, so I should have time to do a read through before the end of this month. Phew!

Awards

On another note, I'd like to thank two blogging pals for kindly giving awards. I thank them both.

This is from Tara Tyler. Click here to check out her blog.

This is from Laura Josephson. Click here to check out her blog.

TAGGED Possession and Taking on the Poetry Challenge

Click the Tagged above for Elana Johnson's Possession Celebrations. When have you broken the rules?

Oh. my. heck.

You do not even have enough hours in a day for the times when I broke the rules when I was little. I had my first cigarette when I was five. We were living on South Post in Seoul, South Korea and some friends and I got a cigarette off a Korean guard.

Our parents all smoked. Why not us?

Well, somehow my dad got wind of what we were doing and came racing up where were we at.

Busted!

He took me right home, and I had the privilege of smoking an entire cigarette all by myself.

Green, anyone?

Need I say I've never found them to be appealing since? It didn't help that one time I saw my mother, whom I greatly admired, digging into an ashtray for a butt because she'd run out. I decided right then and there that no object was ever going to control me like that.

And then I met chocolate ...

Poetry Challenge

Fine. I'll do it. I figure anything that stretches the old gray matter is good, right?

I've decided to participate in Dan Well's #PoetrySummer. My friend Robin Weeks has been posting about it (she a brilliant attorney and aspiring writer, so why am I not surprised?), and somehow I just got sucked in. *sigh*

Since I'm running a little behind (and I like silly, funny poetry as much as more serious, cool stuff) my WEEK #1 contribution is a poem I memorized as a young teen (author unknown)--and the fact that I can still remember it is truly amazing:

Love is a peculiar thing.

It's something like a lizard.

It wraps its tail around your heart,

and crawls into your gizzard.

Playing catch up, here is my WEEK #2 poem (also left over from those ancient, early teen days), once again the author is unknown (maybe my Girl Scout camp leader in the Philippines?):

I love you.

I love you.

I love you, divine.

Please give me your bubblegum;

you're sitting on mine.

Isn't this great stuff? I think I can do this!

Oh, yeah. 

I'm going to have to start memorizing them now. *sigh*

I need to select some (very short) poems for the rest of my weeks of summer. Any suggestions?

If you'd like to participate in Dan's challenge, you can participate on Twitter using the hashtag #PoetrySummer.