Hiatus from Blogging

Hello all my dear friends.

I will be taking a brief hiatus from blogging.  My mother, who has Alzheimers and is in frail health, is in the process of being put into hospice care.  She also lives with me in my home so caretaking has been difficult.  It is a painful part of my life, watching my once vital, funny, and intelligent mother dying.   I will be back as soon as I can.  In the meantime, I wish you all happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and many many hugs and blessings.  I imagine I will be back sooner than I anticipate because I love writing so very much.  In the meantime, your prayers and good wishes are earnestly needed.

Take care of yourselves.
Love,
Toni

\

Mrs. Kanzen, you have cancer…

I have written before about being diagnosed with cancer and now being a cancer survivor.  I was diagnosed in October six years ago.  We see all of the time information about and campaigns for breast cancer. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer – normally a silent killing cancer, but again, because of vigilance on the part of my PA and the grace of God, I am here to send you all this love letter. Ovarian cancer is almost always diagnosed too late and mimics symptoms of other diseases. We don’t hear as much about the other cancers as we do breast cancer for some reason.

Ladies: please have your gynecologist, when doing your PAP smear, take a swab from higher up in the uterus which is where this cancer starts. Tell your daughters, your sisters, your mother, your friends. Men, you do the same thing with women you love and want to continue to love for many years.  Everybody, get those colonoscopies and men, bend over and crack a smile for your MD.

Taking care of ourselves – men and women, is important. Lots of fresh veggies and fruits, low fat diets, exercise, certain foods to eat; stop smoking and stop fooling yourselves with those steam cigarettes that contain nicotine. Just stop it. I stopped smoking over 30 years ago from a 2 pack a day habit, cold turkey. You can do it. I know you can. We’ve heard all of this so many times, we don’t hear it any more. When my dear papa was dying, he had me promise to stop smoking.  I did it out of love.  I think you all have people you love and who love you.  As a cancer survivor and your biggest fan, please, please, please take care of yourselves.

I hope this works as I am always link challenged.  This is supposed to be a downloadable cancer awareness color chart….ovarian, my ribbon, is teal.

ribbon_color_chart_printable

Hugs and love….

 

Shuushi, haiku, and other stuff

This started because I was asked if I could post kanji for the Romanji words I use sometimes for a word in the Japanese language.  And that was because of the work “shuushi”.

Okay, I’ve been studying Japanese language for about 20 years and often get thrown back on my butt. I am not a scholar and I don’t want to offend anyone or anything. this isn’t a lecture or learned’ treatis –  just an observation by a Westerner and a Southerner to boot.  Obvious:  The Japanese language isn’t just about words: it’s the culture in toto and over a vast amount of time.  Same word, different symbols, different meanings, different points in time or activity.

I was asked for the Kanji for a poem I wrote: Shuushi – Autumn contemplation. Well, there’s like 12 or 13 meanings for the word and how it is used. It runs the gamut from Master’s Program to a religious tenet. Tucked in there are things about accounting (income and expenditures), doing something from beginning to end – consistently, to the meaning I used for shuushi: autumn contemplation, melancholy thoughts about autumn.

And then you have Kanji, Kiragana, and Katakana: three different ways of writing the symbols for a word. Oldest way to most contemporary.  Many times, because of all this, I just use the Romanji form and dang, it is still confusing!!!!

I’ve been working on a post about rain for about a year. Oh yes, simple, hey? NONONONONO. The Japanese have about 50 words for rain depending on type, season, when in the season they occur. and that brings us to true Haiku – not just a short poem with 17 symbols many people write and call “haiku”.  The “shuushi” I used is a kigo – a Japanese season word. And while this has 17 syllables:

“Potato salad
Fried chicken and string beans –
A Sunday dinner”

it is merely a short something or other with 17 symbols. There is no season word, no cutting word to delineate between two different scenes.  It is not haiku.

So at last Sarah, here ya go:

autumn contemplation

Master’s Program

income and expenditure

You all are of course encouraged to question or comment.  But I will not get into arguments or long debates about this.  I am not a scholar as previously stated, just a plain ol’ Southern girl doing the best she can with concepts and culture way over her little 4’10” head.  Maybe in the next 10 years, I might just complete that post about “rain”.

Liebster Award – ME?!?!?!?!?

The Liebster Award is awarded to up and coming blogsters with under 200 followers.  Wow.  I haven’t been up and coming since I was 11 and remained 4’10” for the rest of my life.   People are odd about awards sometimes.  Some people do not accept them, some think it’s a popularity contest, others think awards will make you a hack.  All of this may be true.    But I still remember the first shiver of pleasure I had when somone “liked” my first post.  I still remember the awe when my first follower signed on.  I keep that pleasure and awe  with every like and every follower.  To me, the awards are a tangible proof that someone appreciated something about my blog.  Will I change my writing for the masses?  NONONONONONO!!!!!!!

I thank you all for your likes and following – I just wish y’all would comment more!  I like comments.  I like conversations.  So please, more comments!  Bless you all for reading my multiple personality blog.  You are the bestest!

I also wish to thank  AB, 賢者   at:  http://el34ax7.wordpress.com/  For nominating me for this award.  Please go check him out immediately!  I know you will find his poems well worth your time.  Open yourself up and let the words flow inside and all around.

I have listed my nominees – all are worthy.  They run the gamut from human and animal rights defenders to gamers to poets to photographers to witnesses to the Christian lifestyle.  Please visit every link and give them a go.  You’ll discover some amazing people.

The rules:

1. Thank the Liebster Blog presenter who nominated you and link back to their blog.

2. Post 11 facts about yourself, answer the 11 questions you were asked and create 11 questions for your nominees.

3. Nominate 11 blogs who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen.

4. Display the Liebster Award logo.

5. No tag back thingys (Don’t give the award back to whomever gave you the award).

 

MY NOMINEES:

http://thesunnykitchenn.wordpress.com/

http://growingwonderwoman.wordpress.com/

http://ensummerfield84.wordpress.com/

http://pattersonty.wordpress.com/

http://shuohometataemasu.wordpress.com/

http://twohp2few.wordpress.com/

http://pratibhajanisvegetarianrecipes.com/

http://thepracticalmystic.org/

http://karenlawrencephotography.wordpress.com/

http://ogpmom.com/

http://nomadicpedestrian.wordpress.com/

 

11 FACTS ABOUT ME:

1.   I have a cat who likes blueberries

2.  I am an absolutely amazing cook.  Trust me on this.  My fried chicken gets fan mail.  I am a vegetarian but my family is not – I often prepare two meals, although they are coming along.

3.  Major geek.  I have three different Star Trek uniforms in my closet.  My shower curtain design is of the periodic table of elements.  I received a “just because” gift in the mail yesterday – a tee shirt stating:  If you aren’t part of the solution, then you’re part of the precipitate”.   Go figure, huh?

4.  I graduated from the Culinary Arts Institute.  I used to be a chef in DC and N’awlings but it made my crazy.  Now I only cook for those I love and with love.

5.  I have not yet achieved mediocrity although I am trying very hard.

6.  I’m not Japanese – at least not in this life.

7.  If I could live anywhere, I’d live in Japan.

8.  I’m only 4’10” tall.  I have had people tell me they think I’m taller.  A Scorpio with moon in Scorpio and Venus in Scorpio would definitely give that illusion.

9.  I was once thrown out of Studio 54 for being too rowdy.  My cousin Billy was thrown out with me (he was also with me at Woodstock – neither of us remember much)

10.  Sitting outside on a summer night between the hours of midnight and 4:00 am is one of my favorite things to do.  I write a lot during those times.  I love the night.  During the still hot summer and in the winter when it snows are my two favorite times.  You will find many of my poems are about the night and the seasons of the night.

11.  I have 11 friends all born on 11/16 between 5:30 am and 6:30 am.  Different years though.

THE 11 QUESTIONS I WAS ASKED BY MY NOMINATOR AND MY ANSWERS:

1. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moon light?  Oh my yes!

2. If so, to what song? If not, what are you waiting for?  Disco Inferno/did the Quick Step

3. Why did you start writing?  My father put his fountain pen in my hand and told me I could change the world with that pen.  I followed it as it danced across the paper.   I was four.

4. Who is your favourite writer and a brief “Why?”  J.D. Salinger  “An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.”      Franny and Zooey    

5. Where do you write? The bed? The bath? The beyond?  Wherever I jolly well want to write!

6. What is your favourite work of art?  My gravatar:  The Great Wave by Hokusai

7. Cake or death?   Strawberries

8. What is the tastiest thing you’ve ever eaten?   A fresh picked, warm from the sun, home grown summer tomato with so much acid, it reaches out and slaps you before you can take a bite.

9. What is a question that you’ve always wanted answered?   How do we take the bop out of the bop-she-bop?

10. In which period of human history would you most like to live?  Edwardian or Edo…depends on my mood.

11. Amadeus: best movie ever? or greatest movie ever?  それはあなたの決断です   Salieri:   Displace one note and there would be diminishment, displace one phrase and the structure would fall.

11 QUESTIONS FOR YOU – THE NOMINEES:

1. What would you do if you won a huge amount of lottery money?

2.  What do you see when you look in the mirror?

3. If you weren’t you, who would you be and why?

4.  Name three things that make you smile.

5. What song best describes you?

6.  Red wine, white wine, sake, or coca cola?

7.  How would you describe your blog?

8. Do you have any pets?

9.  What is your favorite food?

10. What question have you always wanted answered?

11.  Samurai or Arthurian Knight?

Valentine John 3:16

 

 Blessings to you all

 

“For God so loVed the world,

        that He gAve

             His onLy

             begottEn

                  SoN,

                      That whosoever

        believeth In Him

           should Not perish,

        but have Everlasting life.”

John 3:16

Eye candy and full moon madness

WARNING! EYE CANDLY ALERT!!! THIS IS A TOTALLY USELESS AND GRATUITOUS POST WITH NO REDEEMING QUALITIES!!! READ FURTHER AT YOUR OWN RISK. MEA CULPA,

I am blaming this on the boogie, the rain, the bossa nova, Rio….
Sunday evening, my late dear friend JT’s sister called and berated me for not coming to his travesty of a social occasion funeral. Traffic sucked Monday morning. My perfidious snake of a boss was lying in wait before I was even due to log in. When I opened my email, a good friend had emailed me a picture of a shirtless Takeshi Kaneshiro. I then read a post by a friend of what his “Opposite Day” would be. Now combine this with way too much coffee and you get – Total Full Blown Full Moon Madness Lunacy Meltdown. It only lasted an hour but it consisted of replying to my friend’s post (not publicly thank goodness for him). The storm, while short, was powerful.  I promise I’ll get back to my usual after this diversion….

The result of this is eye candy, including that shirtless photo. Not only is Takeshi Kaneshiro one of the most beautiful men in the universe, he is also an excellent actor. His profile is also….amazing. Love that nose of his. And that mouth….So in my madness, I am thankful for this gorgeous man and the ability to cream butter and sugar together – both are delicious.

(the pictures are from various sources)

This one started it….

The profile…..

Another profile….younger then but still love that nose

Oh yeah….definitely GQ  and sooooo intense

Call me a chilled can of pineapple and stick a fork in me…I’m done.  This from Chung King Express

Heartbreak….not really

facebook engancha (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay.  So today I received notification I had been “unfriended” by three people on Facebook.  Gee.  I am devastated.  I think the last time I went on Facebook was sometime early last year.  I thought I would have been exiled from Facebook by now.

Truthfully, I can only take so many pictures of grandchildren, the Christmas tree, OMG LOL look at this…., I’m sick and have diaria (at least spell it right), somebody I don’t know but who knows somebody that knows somebody, that knows somebody that knows a distant cousin wants to be my friend.  Wow.  I am complimented (not. LOL).  I don’t really care that 10,138 people in North Carolina are curious about how my Farm-something-stupid game is going and if I will trade a duck, tractor, shovel for a horse, barn, row of peas.  And RG3 (who?) and his knee.

Life is about what you do – not what you post on Facebook.  Take some time and personally email the people you REALLY want to see your new house with pictures of said house.  Instead of blurbing…Happy New Year to all of my 1,249 closest friends (gush, goo), call or email those truly dear to you and let them know you are thinking about them.  In the time it takes you to peruse several hundred useless daily posts, you can contact quite a few people.

Please Facebook….exile me.  I have important things to do folks!!!  Like doing this blog.  So……IMHO, BTW, OMG, LOLOLOL…..whatever.

 

My Other Car is a Klingon Battlecruiser

Or … welcome to LaLa Land.  I am a realist, believe it or not.  But tucked away in my brain is my own world.  My blog is part of that world.  I invite people to sit on the porch, to visit the nishikigoi pond, to come by for fried chicken and lemonade or when the magnolias are in bloom, to help themselves to the blooms.  In turn, I’ve had visitors to the blog talk about camping out and being sure to leave it spic and span behind themselves.  Zooey the cat visits, Walter the black lab is also a regular and courteous visitor.

Sometimes though, the real world is just too much.  I have to leave and go into a world where thee is no one shooting children, torturing animals, starving the elderly.  In my world, there is no domestic violence, women are not circumcised so they can feel no sexual pressure nor are they tortured for learning to read or daring to have an opinion.  No one goes hungry, all have a place to sleep, eat, and be safe.  The past few days I HAVE JUST FREAKING HAD ENOUGH.  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

But I also realize, if I stay in that perfect world, I won’t be out in the real world trying to make a difference.  I can’t count on everyone else to do my part.  So I made a resolve today – I would light a candle against the darkness, I would spread kindness instead of hurt.  I would do good instead of evil.

There is a movement on Facebook to do random acts of kindness.  Yes, I know….blahbah,  warm fuzzy, silly stupid stuff to a lot of people.  Personally, I think we are better than that.   I paid the toll this morning for the guy behind me and asked the toll taker to tell him Merry Christmas.  At McDonald’s I bought the breakfast of a man in the Army, on his way to his day’s duties at Ft. Lee. My husband, even when he was unemployed and money was so very tight, would buy the lunch of a service person.  I always found money in the budget to make up for it.  Say thank you to a service person, or EMT, or firefighter, or a cop.

Smile back at the child in the seat of the grocery basket in front of you.  Hold the door for someone.  Let the car in front of you in line from the on ramp.  Buy a cheap bouquet of flowers and hand them out to people you ride one the elevator with everyday.  Tell someone how much you appreciate them.  Say I love you twice to your spouse as you go out the door.  Buy some $5 gas cards and hand out randomly to cars parked around you.  Volunteer at the local Veteran or Children’s Hospital.  Help out at the local food bank.

DO SOME GOOD.  Make someone smile.  Slow down and smell the rain in the air.  Watch the sunset.  Savor life.  It is all too short.  Kindness is in short supply.  Let’s make it more available to everyone.

In the meantime, I’m going to cruise around in my Klingon battle cruiser and see if I can keep that skinny dog on the side of the road from starving – help him get to a shelter and be warm.  Stop to offer help to that woman with a flat tire.  I’m going to load up my battle cruiser with some toys and drop off at the closest Toys for Tots drop off station.

I think LaLa Land might just be achievable after all.  I need your help though.  Who’s with me?

FLU SUX

WEll, the flu laid me low during Thanksgiving.  I slept out the holiday and most of that week and the next medicated via doctor and medicated via me:  hot apple cider liberally doused with Samurai Saki.  Good for you.  Makes you sweat out the toxins and clears up chest congestion and gives you sweet sleep. I haven’t slept so much in 25 years (I usually sleep 2 – 4 1/2 hours a night).

So….this being said,  I haven’t had a chance to do much notifying, thanking, etc.  Please all of you who have started following me the past few weeks and visited, accept my thank yous.  I never cease to be amazed that I write something that touches you to like or comment. 

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving (those of you who celebrate) and in the coming month of December, there are a lot of holy and secular observations going on.  Whatever you celebrate, I hope it will bring you joy, spiritual fulfillment, happiness, peace, and smiles.

Bless all of y’alls heart and in the next few days, I’ll be storming you all with stuff.  Again, Thank you.  🙂

HURRICANE SANDY – PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS ON THE EASTERN US COAST AND KEEP IN MIND IN CASE YOU HAVE TO HAVE WORK DONE FOR YOURSELF ON ANY FUTURE PROJECTS.

In the aftermath of storms such as Sandy, people are vulnerable to unscrupulous contractors/builders. Check with your state agency for contractors, architects, professional engineers to determine if they are licensed and/or have had any sanctions against them.

AVOID SCAMS BY:

• Before hiring a contractor, consumers should observe the following Tips
o Hire only licensed contractors.
o Check for a valid contractor license Get three references and review past work.
o Get at least three bids.
o Insist on a written contract and do not sign anything until you understand the terms.
o Pay 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever amount is less.
o Do not let payments get ahead of the work. Keep records of all payments.
o Do not make final payment until you are satisfied with the job.
o Do not pay cash.
o Keep a job file of all papers relating to your project (change orders, warranties, etc.).
o Take pictures during the process

SCAM SIGNALS:
o High-pressure or scare tactics (“offer good today only”)
o Over-friendly sales pitches
o “Material left-over”
o Escalating prices
o Deals that sound too good to be true