Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Last night I accommodated Daniel by smuggling him some fake blood to use as shock (and fun) factor in his bicycle race, the Spooky Spoke :) In turn, he ate my brains out. Yay! Today after church, i bought some Halloween candy for the neighbor kids...butterfingers and hot tamales. did i do good? I was hoping for the flavored tootsie rolls (my FAVORITE!) but...those two are also my favorite. Get this: they were replacing the rapidly depleting halloween candy with red, white, and green candy! christmas is Out Of Control!! merry christmas already!
anyway...today's poem is a recycled zombie poem i wrote a couple months ago, but as it's halloween, tis fitting. i hope you all get lots of candy, even if you are too old for trick-or-treatin'. rot them teeth!

Once I was a human, many happy years ago.
Today I am a zombie, and I'd like you all to know
That zombies have it pretty rough: The living want us dead,
And there's no law restraining them from bashing in our heads.
So here I call for compromise--we Have to have some brains,
But You could choose them--how 'bout those from the criminally insane?
Or ponder this: how many brains Are hardly ever used--
For TV turns them all to mush (Poor brains! You're so abused!)
Don't let a good mind go to waste! We have a use for it!
Now can't you see this plan is for our mutual benefit?
We'll work together, fight for peace, till loving kindness reigns:
Our right to live an undead life--your right to use your....BRAINS!!!

Poor Basil...

Good afternoon! Quick poem today, a flash-"inspiration" i had a few moments ago when I looked over at my potted sweet basil and realized that, alas, it might not make it :( my roommate and I had to scurry last night to get all our plants in because there was a Freeze Warning out--i also had to dig up/pot two hibiscuses in the icy dark, and the aforementioned basil. The back yard hibiscus was about to blossom, so today it looks radiant and gorgeous...but the basil? Not so much. I think the dirt may not be aerated enough. Seems kinda clay-ey. In other news, I apparently got something of a marriage proposal today, resulting from a man's eating an espresso cake that i made for my roommate to take to work :) Yay Warren Brown and Cake Love! And...tonight...i am going to COOK! not bake. cook. a chicken/noodle/bell pepper/green olive etc recipe. this is a big step...both my roommate and my boyfriend need carbs for some races tomorrow! yay and good luck!! oh, and the sepia-toned picture is of this wonderful dutch idea: chocolate sprinkles on buttered toast. my nana sent me the sprinkles after a trip to holland...today i bought toast. toast it dark! delicious :)

Basil, please don't wilt away
And leave me to the fate
Of eating bland spaghetti--oh!
Please say it's not too late
For watering, for fertilizer,
Anything you need--
Just say the word, the world is yours,
Sweet Basil! Hear me plead,
Behold my tears, the horror of
Your most untimely loss.
Without you, I've just cooked tomatoes,
Not a sumptuous sauce. :( *

*the sad smiley is part of the poem, it's that dreadful :)

Sweet-Tooth Confessional

Today was a near-perfect day! Slept in, baked an espresso cake (different from a coffeecake...because it actually contains ground coffee! :) , went to the gym (muscles muscles here i come!), went to Doubleshot where I got to sit/chat with a friend and write the following poem, then Mod's Coffee and Crepes downtown for dinner, then HOME! for a nice quiet evening. Started a translated book called Black Rain by Japanese author Masuji Ibuse about the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima. Ran across it at Gardner's books and bought it because I've never read any literature on that, especially from a Japanese perspective. Quote from the back cover: "A novel based on real diaries and interviews with survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima, Black Rain probes deeply into the emotional significance of nuclear attack on ordinary people." Promises to be eye-opening/heart-breaking.
On a lighter note, today's poem:

Here's a vice I'd not confess
To anyone but you:
Sometimes, late at night, I eat
A piece of cake...or two.
I sneak across our shadowed hall
On silent, slippered feet--
I open up the kitchen door,
My heart begins to beat
Quite loud, it seems, but no one hears--
They're deep into their dreams--
And there's the cake! I cut a slice,
And top it with whipped cream.
Nightmares follow, I'm afraid,
Whene'er I pull this trick,
So sometimes I'm afraid the thought
Of cake might make me sick.
It hasn't yet, though, and my urge
For midnight pastry snacks,
Like letters to a callous love,
Predictably comes back.
It's strange, though: I'm convinced I'm not
The only one like me--
I think that this corrupted strain
Runs through my family.
Some nights we go to bed while one
Whole cake sits in the fridge,
But when the morning dawns, what's left?
Not even one small smidge.
And I--I swear!--have but consumed
A single piece...or two.
I hope they all confess their sins,
As I've confessed to you.

A Latte and a Green Star

Today, over coffee, i asked Daniel to give me a topic for my next poem. He cut out a small paper star with an exacto knife, colored it green, and gave it to me. :) Here's what was written:

Last night I discovered
To my very great surprise,
While looking through my telescope,
A wonder in the skies:
One star shone green, bright neon green,
Not yellow like the rest--
"That couldn't be a ball of flame!"
I mused with interest.
"What could it be composed of, then?
Lime jello, possibly,
That jiggles as it floats around
In zero-gravity.
Perhaps it is a giant frog
That eats the stars like flies--
And maybe planets, too, and we
Are all about to die!
I'll bet it has a tongue a million,
Billion miles long,
That could reach as just as easily
As I could sing a song!
Ugh, now I'm merely panicking!
Stop panicking, and think!
Just count to ten, take deeper breaths,
Go grab an ice-cold drink...
That's better. There's the star again...
Oh dear, I think it moved!
What if it IS a frog, and my
Hypothesis is proved--
Proved by our death! Too late for fame
Or scientific clout--
Oh dear, I feel like a baited,
Hooked, and helpless trout!
It's closer--yikes, it is a frog!
And naught can save us now!
It's HUGE! It leaps...off nothing...
And all I can say is...wow.
What's this? It's passed us by?
It isn't hungry after all!
I'm so relieved! It needs a name.
I think I'll call him Paul!"

Can't. Draw. Birds.

This is Trouble the Cat. Sitting regally (with an air of boredom) on a bed.
First order of business: http://blog.doubleshotcoffee.com/
Read the entry titled "Nekisse". You will want to buy this coffee. I want to buy this coffee. Superb writing, delicious coffee. Fantastic.
The two avians in the second picture are a Puddleduck and a Cuckoo from today's poem. That is the most identifiable version of them that i was able to draw. Somehow, i managed to capture the cuckoo's half-longsuffering, half-trepidatious quality! :) But I couldn't keep it up. So...use your imagination as you read this poem:

"Cuckoo, dear," said Puddleduck,
"I think it's time you knew
That swimming is the greatest thing
A bird could ever do!"
"But I'm not built like you!" frowned cuckoo,
"Darling, stop and think:
Your feet are webbed, you're born to float!
But I would surely sink!"
"Aw, you're just scared," sniffed Puddleduck,
"And talking like I'm dumb!"
She cried five tears, till Cuckoo sighed,
"Alright, I guess I'll come."
"Hooray! You won't be sorry! I'm
So happy I could burst!"
"Please don't. I couldn't take it if
This day got any worse."
They reached the pond and dipped their toes,
Then quickly drew them out--
"You're kidding, right?!" shrieked Cuckoo.
Puddleduck began to pout.
"Stupid winter! I forgot.
Well, isn't this just great?"
"Don't fret," said Cuckoo, brightening,
"I'd love to learn to skate!"
They waited for a couple days
Until the pond was ice,
Then skated to their heart's content,
"Oh yeah, this is the life!"

Quotes and a Rhyming Rant :)

So...i can't say no to fundraising schoolchildren. I have supported a basketball team, bought boy scout popcorn (where is it?!), and, as of a second ago, a bar of the "World's Finest Chocolate" (which it isn't...). I guess i figure that other people need my money as much as i do, which may or may not be true. for certain, i don't need the chocolate. sigh. Anyhow, here are a couple fun quotes from books i've been reading. The first is from "The Education of Little Tree" by Forrest Carter; the second, from "The All New Complete Book of Bicycling" by Eugene A. Sloane.

Little Tree and his grandfather are growing watermelons, with Little Tree waiting impatiently for them to ripen. He describes a few ways to test for ripeness in a watermelon. Here is one of them: "You have to know what you are doing to thump test a watermelon and make any sense out of it. If you thump it and it sounds like a--"think"--it is total green; if it sounds--"thank"--it is green but is coming on; if it goes--"thunk"-then you have got you a ripe watermelon. You have got two chances to one against you, as Granpa said is true in everything."

Talking of the burgeoning bicycle craze in the late 1800s: "The bicycle craze even alarmed businessmen in major cities for a while. They thought the bicycle would bring the nation to economic collapse, and there were a number of compelling statistics to bear them out...By 1896, the watch and jewelry business had fallen almost to zero, piano sales had been cut in half, and book sales had dropped disastrously. Apparently, no one stayed home and played the piano or read, and instead of buying jewelry, people bought bicycles."

And, in closing, an idealistic rant against working dead-end, hateful jobs :)

Flitter 'way a year or two
In travelling 'round the globe,
In learning to play bongos, or
To knit yourself a robe
Using the wool of your own lambs
And dyed with berries you have picked..
Just don't waste time to make a dime
On work that makes you sick!

Lose an hour here or there
By dreaming up a plot
Where good guys dress in tutus and
The bad guys dress in naught.
Or learn to trim an evergreen
Like Edward Scissorhands...
Just don't spend time to make a dime
On work that you can't stand!

Excuse me now, I have to learn
To draw a wildebeest.
Be wise, be ware, be penniless,
But be yourself, at least!

Fox Fears and Other Matters

Woo-hoo! Image-loader! Alright, the shirts. Woot.com sells a shirt-of-the-day, and when they get too many extra, they have a "random shirt" day--you pay them $6.99, and they send you a random shirt. So a couple weeks ago, Daniel and i were checking woot.com, and lo-and-behold! Random Shirt Day! We went for it. First time ever, for me. Waited impatiently and finally on Tuesday they arrived! we opened the package together, and my first reaction was, "oh my goodness what the heck is that?!" because my shirt, as seen in the picture, is a portrait of Admiral Ackbar (sp?) from The Last Starfighter...a movie i still haven't seen, although now at least i have heard about it. You can't tell from the picture, but he has his fingers caught in a Chinese Finger Trap, which has something to do with a line of his from the movie in which he frantically yells, "It's a trap!" That's all i know. :) but his ugly little face quickly grew on me and i am proud to wear him. The Really incredible part was part 2, Daniel's shirt. Which is a caustic pizza/chef growling, "do you want a piece of this?" Why so great? Because Tuesday happens to be...$5.00 pizza night at Joe Momma's! And we opened the package right before leaving, under agreement that we would wear whatever they'd delivered. so, a pizza shirt just in time for pizza night, how crazy is that?! :) and an adorable, confusable alien.
Today's poem is about a Fox with a million phobias that threaten to utterly cripple him and turn him into a recluse. my biggest fears are highways and being awkward in conversation (which inevitably leads to greater awkwardness) :) sometimes, it'd be easier not to leave the house...but thank goodness for city streets and 40 mph. :) His name is Fozzle. Here he is:

Tripping over tricky rocks,
Or muddying some brand-new socks
Were two fears that kept Fozzle Fox
Holed-up within his lair.

"A bit of sunlight might be nice,
But what if I run into...mice?!
Or catch a batch of fleas or lice?
Go out? I'd never dare!"

But Spring was in the laughing breeze
That tickled all the dancing trees.
He thought of birds, remembered bees,
And Fozzle Fox grew sad.

"What if what I fear up there,
Like mud and moss and matted hair,
Or being bullied by a bear
Is really not so bad?"

He fretted over this for days--
His heart said "aye", his mind said "nay!"
But suddenly, he could not stay
Inside a second more.

And so, he packed an extra pair
Of socks, and brushes for his hair,
Repellent 'gainst both bugs and bears--

And Fozzle faced his door....