Friday Morning Poetry, vol. 11

I realize that it’s no longer the morning, but hey – maybe you’re in Hawaii. In which case, grab a cup of coffee, have a seat and enjoy one of my favorites from e.e. cummings: “you are tired.”

You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.

Come with me, then,
And we’ll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)

You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.

But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—
Open to me!
For I will show you the places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.

Ah, come with me!
I’ll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I’ll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.

 

The Crazy File

Here in the office we have a section set aside in our filing cabinet for what we like to call “crazy mail.” Don’t ask me why, but every so often we get a letter in the mail that’s just ridiculous, and makes you question the sanity of the sender. Some of it is less crazy and more fantastic – like a manila envelope painted with this elaborate portrait of someone. (How that ended up being sent to us, I don’t know. But it’s a pretty decent work of art.)

Last month, someone sent us a 4-page long poem, written in what seems to be pretty close to iambic pentameter. Props to whoever wrote it. I’d love to know what they were trying to convey in that. Yes, poetry can be confusing. I know this – I was an English major. But this one makes no sense whatsoever. It’s like E.E. Cummings gone wild.

Today, we got a phone call that I wish we could have recorded to put into the crazy file. This woman called, wanting to pitch her idea for a “new hit song” to my boss. I told her he was busy. So instead, I got to hear her idea. Note that I’m talking ideas here, not lyrics. She doesn’t have any written. But she’s willing to give us her ideas and sign something saying she doesn’t want any royalties once this song becomes big. I’m not really sure why she thought to call our office – song writing/producing isn’t exactly our specialty. By the end of our conversation I was grateful for two things. One, the amount of amusement she brought me. Two, the fact that she didn’t ask me to repeat her idea back to her. I was neither taking notes nor listening very well.

A Laugh for Your Monday: that awkward moment edition

I think awkward is hilarious. I love it. Some people might tell you I work to create awkward situations. I wouldn’t deny that. There’s just something so entertaining about that feeling that covers a room – when you know that everyone there feels extremely uncomfortable. So today’s dose of hilarity plays off of that, through a favorite website of mine: That Awkward Moment. It’s similar to Dear Blank, Please Blank in that users submit awkward scenarios or comments for everyone to squirm at. Some recent favorites:

• That awkward moment when you can’t stop laughing while you’re telling a joke, and by the time you finish it, your friend doesn’t think it’s funny.
• That awkward moment when your mouth makes a weird noise by accident and people assume you’ve farted.
• That awkward moment where the chain mail murderer can’t kill anyone else because they all stopped reading after “don’t read this.”
• That awkward moment when your nanny turns out to be your ex-husband disguised as a 60-year old British caretaker.
• That awkward moment when you buy a bag of air and there’s chips inside.

The Eerie Sound of Silence

Today, I’m challenging myself. (what’s new.) I’m spending the day in silence. Before you think I’m crazy, let me explain. I am talking today. My job would be kind of difficult without it.

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about our generation, and how out of touch we are with reality. At my college, you saw two types of people walking to class: people with a group of friends, or people with headphones in. I’m fairly certain that my college wasn’t alone in that. My generation has a really hard time with silence. If it’s not an iPod, it’s our cell phone, the radio, talking to ourselves. Radio stations hit it big by streaming live online – so we can listen even when we’re not in the car. But what happens if we shut all that off? Why are we so afraid of silence?

I don’t have profound answers to that question. I think it’s because it’s easier to avoid problems than to deal with them. If we’re constantly surrounded by noise, we can’t even really think about our problems. That’s unrealistic, though. I have issues in my life! I don’t want to run from them. I want to face them. I don’t want to live in fear of the voice in my head. What will it say if I unplug long enough to hear it again? Pope Benedict XVI talks about how this generation needs to cultivate an “inner life.” We need to know God, yes, but we need to know ourselves. We need to be silent.

Thus, inspired by this conversation with a friend, and today’s post in Passionate Homemaking, I’ve decided to unplug today. No iTunes, no iPod, no radio, no TV, no needless texting. It’s just going to be me today.

I’ve only been at work for 45 minutes, and it’s already a little weird. All I can hear is my computer humming and the sound of myself typing. I have faith that this will be good for me though!

A Laugh for Your Monday: Google Edition

Today’s laughing edition isn’t long, drawn out, or dramatic. But it does make me laugh, however briefly. Here’s what you do:

1. Go to www.google.com.

2. Type in “tilt”. Hit enter. Watch.

3. Go back to Google.

4. Type in “do a barrel roll.” Watch again.

 

That’s it for today, folks!

Friday Morning Poetry, vol. 10

Today, I’d like to share a set of haikus with you from Haiku 365. These caught my eye last week, and I’ve been waiting to share them with you ever since.

Creativity/Stirs joy from within my soul/Acknowledging God

Today/Reason alone/To be joyful

Source: Haiku 365.

Stepping up your game

I’ve finally gotten around to making my New Years resolution for the year. I didn’t decide to eat better, lose weight, think positively, stop smoking, be a better person, or any of your other stereotypical resolutions. Instead, I’ve resolved to step up my game at work. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, it’s probably no secret to you that I don’t see myself staying in this job for another year. My one year anniversary was yesterday – the sooner I can leave, the better!

I’ve spent a good amount of time in the last few weeks looking for a new job. Of course, not knowing what I want to do with my life has been somewhat of a hindrance to that. But I’m making progress. I’ve learned 2 things so far:

How to not look Stupid in the Workplace

Or, as the author of the article I’m about to share named it, “10 Words You Mispronounce that Make People Think You’re an Idiot.” Growing up, I had a friend who, for the life of her, could not say “ambulance.” Her favorite pronunciation was “ambliance.” That’s cool when you’re 10. But if you’re old enough to have life insurance, you should get your English down. That’s the point of Justin Brown’s article, which lists 10 commonly mispronounced words that make you look

The Strategies of Maintaining a Budget

Today we digress slightly from your typical office nonsense chatter, to take a look at something that’s been on my mind a lot in the past few weeks: money. I love money, as I’m sure you do. But I hate it too. Life would be so much simpler if everything was free! (Of course, then we’d have to work for free, too. I wouldn’t like that so much.)

I kicked off my new year with an unexpected financial emergency that almost drained my bank account. Lets hope that doesn’t become a trend. As a result, I transitioned from my standard monthly spreadsheet budget to the emergency

A Laugh for your Monday: Last Years Edition

It was around this time last year that Dear Blank, Please Blank was a big hit. Everyone was talking about it. At least half of the Facebook statuses in my news feed were excerpted from that site. People were holding entire conversations using the DBPB format. Even though it was extremely overused, I never stopped thinking it was funny (with the exception of the far too numerous Twilight/Harry Potter references. That got old fast). In honor of that great time in internet history, I present some of my current dear blank, please blanks:

• Dear Lady Gaga, Want to shock us? Wear something normal. Sincerely, Your unpredictability is becoming predictable.