Looking at Naked Souls

There are many forms and styles of poetry. As I travel across Xangaland, I've noticed that poetry and prose falls into two categories: the strip tease and the bare naked. In the tease the innermost thoughts and emotions are revealed after reading several poems and entries and over time. It is as if the writer/poet is taking off one piece of clothing at a time to finally give a fleeting glimpse of the soul laid bare. And then there are others who strip naked in every entry/poem. They show immediately and plainly who they are and how they feel. I am sometimes shocked, and at other times amazed to see all the flaws and all the beauty at once. The question is - What kind of blogger/poet are you?

These words lay bare

Stripped of distraction

Naked thought and emotion

Painful poetry

I reveal my fear

Unbutton my anger

Pull off the veil

And display my wounds

Who is more uncomfortable –

The soul streaker

Or the bystander

The exhibitionist

Or the voyeur

Everyone looks

But none admit to seeing

Currently Gladiator (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) By Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris see related

Looking Thankful

It is Thanksgiving Day and so appropriate to answer saintvi's question - What 25 things are you thankful for? So I've been mulling this over since she posted on the 20th of November.

1.   My husband who still loves and lusts after me. He still gets that look

after 29 years of marriage.

2.   A soft pillow and warm covers every night, because I know there are

those that lack these.

3.   My sons, even with the worry, my life would be diminished without

their presence.

4.   My mother, as I got older she became a friend, inspiration,

and role model.

5.   As much as I complain, I am thankful for my job. I enjoy what

I do and get paid to boot.

6.   The ceramics studio where I can play with clay and have fun.

7.   My sisters and my husband’s siblings, with all the attendant spouses and

nieces and nephews. Should all else disappear they are still family.

8.   My eyesight. I love to see the details of creation through my own eyes

and through the eyes of others.

9.   The colors of the visible spectrum. Guffaw if you must but a

monochromatic world would be sad.

10. My education. When I look at the opportunities I’ve had because of my

education, I have to be thankful.

11. Friends. I am thankful for those that I sit down with at meals and those

whom I’ve never met in the flesh.

12. The seasons – I cannot imagine living in a place where there is no winter or

autumn, or summer and spring.

13. My faith. Some doubt and deny or want proof but I believe. There is a

God and He is good.

14. Books. All books, any books because they are a way to experience

the world and the minds of others.

15. Potatoes. The ultimate comfort food, this nourishing tuber has infinite

possibilities in the kitchen and industry.

16. Laughter makes the sun shine brighter and the world a better place.

Humor is the gravy on the potatoes!

17. Freedom from want encompasses all those necessities that I often take

for granted and never think about.

18. Freedom from fear - not only for personal safety but the security of

knowing the edges of my world.

19. Freedom of speech. It includes my freedom to express myself in this

forum without repercussion.

20. Freedom of religion because I can choose to believe or not and have the

choice of what and where too.

21. The night sky, to remind me that there is more to creation than this

small planet.

22. All the mice I work with. Small miracles walking around in soft fur coats.

23. I’m thankful for ice in the summer and hot cocoa in the winter.

24. Good judgment and common sense – because smarts are not always

sufficient.

25. Xanga because it is the vehicle and conveyance to take me into your

lives and to bring you into mine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Currently Monsters vs. Aliens By Seth Rogen, Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Paul Rudd see related

Looking in the Recycling Bin

People at work sometimes look at me funny. Maybe it is because I wash plasticware forks and spoons to use again. Perhaps it is because I was upset when my spoon broke. You see I had formed an attachment to that plastic spoon. It was special in that it was sturdy and every time I used it it was one less piece of plastic in the landfill. Nearly everyday I have a yogurt for lunch. I prefer the fruit on the bottom style and was stirring when the handle snapped. My lunch companion immediately dashed to hand me another spoon. Waving her off with the offer of a new plastic spoon, I proceeded to eat with the "short" spoon. It still functioned as a spoon. Talk about funny looks. Which made think about the rush to replace broken people in our lives.

I dated a young man in high school and college for 4 years. I thought he was the one. He was smart, driven, and caring. By the time we broke off the relationship (He dumped me but proposed twice after that), I realized that he had a problem with the imperfection of humanity. I was lucky that I found and married someone with the same "til death do us part" philosophy.

The disposable society is a real problem. We embrace the "green movement" to reduce, reuse and recycle things but have yet to consider our relationships in the same way. If you don't like someone - ditch them. You have problems with a relationship - scrap it. Someone has a flaw or foible - discard immediately. Too bad many don't see the pile of "garbage" (broken hearts, broken dreams, busted relationships and shattered lives) they are leaving in their wake.

Looking at Street Lamps

Mankind is constantly attempting to create and recreate elements in our world and then bend them to our will. As examples, animals have developed chemicals to ward off predators and the sun provides heat and light. These man wants to harness. We have developed ways to generate light when and where we want. Freed from dependence on the rotation of the planet to spin us into sunlight. Man has found the secret of the chemical composition of poisons, replicated them and then used them against each other. We tamed fire and made it warm us in the cold, cook our food, dry our clothes. Are we are constantly thumbing our noses at God to declare "Anything you can do I can do better" like defiant Annie Oakleys? Or is it more imitation as a form of flattery and fawning to be closer to our Maker? I look up at the sky on a hazy night without seeing the stars and can not decern which glowing sphere is the moon. We are constantly mocking all creation and the Creator. No matter if you define it as 1. ridicule or derision, 2. to mimic, imitate, or counterfeit, 3. to challenge; defy or 4. to deceive, delude, or disappoint - we mock.

Fling your light across miles

Illuminate the dark

A perfect orb dead inside

Brought to life

By human touch

Beyond reach or reason

Street lamps mock the moon

Looking at Vacation Time

Let's talk about vacation. More to the point, vacation time granted by employers. Specifically, the vacation time I've accrued over the course of a year. Due to my longevity at my current employer, I am entitled to 5 weeks of vacation. In the beginning, you were given a chunk of vacation and sick time on the first of January. During the course of the year you whittled away at it until it was all gone. This required you to track how much you had used and portion it out accordingly. Since the old policy did not allow you to roll over vacation time from year to year, December became a crunch month to get it used. The use it or lose it plan required supervisors and managers to approve vacations even when it wasn't convenient.

Our current policy allows a 40 hour carry over to the next year and the vacation is earned in an allotment of hours per paycheck. At 5 weeks (200 hours) of vacation, I earn something like 8.3 hours per pay period. There is a maximum balance you can have, and when it is reached you stop earning vacation time. It translates into a 'use it or lose it' situation for me. So when I noticed that my vacation balance was closing in on the 200 hour mark, I started looking for days to take off this month and next. Thus I put in for 2 days off in the interval between now and the end of the year. They were approved. I didn't take any chances, going directly to the big boss for his OK and signature. Although I've been told on many occasions to take time off if I need it, no problem. The glares and angry stares make me wonder at their sincerity.

Right now I have 188.06 hours of vacation (thank goodness I can roll over 40 hours) and 56 hrs of comp. time to use. That comes to aproximately 25 days to use or lose in the next 21 working days (until the holiday break and the end of the year). Knowing that there is no way I can get all or even most of those days off makes me wonder why I do it. Why do I put in the extra hours? Why can't I get time off when I want it?