Category Archives: art

Is there a right way to write?

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When I began to really delve into writing poetry and short stories I was more comfortable writing in long hand.  It freed my mind to truly compose the ideas, the rhymes and the drama, and felt much more like a natural flow from brain to hand to ink to paper.  The archaic version of computers we had at that point did not lend much ease in the writing experience since it was a behemoth that was no more moveable than my car.

In the bygone days of my youth (I make myself sound 100 years old), when I began to read voraciously, I would always have a pen and paper handy to write down any words I found challenging and words that I was excited to use in my writing.  It went on for pages.  I still have those pages and, although they are now collecting dust in a storage bin, they still remind me of my hunger for words.  My hunger now is much more easily satiated.  With the ease of Google, on-line dictionaries and thesauruses I no longer have to put the word to paper and look it up in a bound, hard-cover dictionary.  I even have a dictionary in my Kindle should the need arise to define a foreign word.

Nowadays, I’m sure a chimpanzee would have much more success with that foreign writing object we call a pen.  I used to have beautiful handwriting and now the things that come out of the pen slightly resemble a modified version of shorthand.  (It would be far more beneficial for me if it were shorthand since I currently have no clue what I’ve written!)

shorthand

(photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)

With the ease of the digital age I use a voice recorder if I am overcome with inspiration.  Random thoughts that used to be scribbled on scraps of paper are now stored in my phone for easy access.  My calendar is on my iPhone and so is my shopping list.  Even with my creative stream, that long steady flow of blue ink has been replaced by the gentle tapping of the keyboard on my laptop.  I have finally been able to train my mind to tune out the incessant clicking and it no longer derails my train of thought.

What do you do?  Do you still give the ink a chance or are you a slave to your keyboard?

Love lost, such a cost – Trifecta Challenge

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hands

He used to reach for my hand in the dark.  Even though he was asleep, his fingers would seek mine and become entwined.  He was an angel on Earth.  Now he sleeps eternally.

~~

(image credit: fineartamerica.com)

Written for the Trifecta Writing Challenge:  This week we’re asking for exactly 33 of your own words about love gone wrong.  But we’re asking that you not use any of the following words:

love
sad
tears
wept
heart
pain

A Word a Week Photo Challenge

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I haven’t participated in this challenge for a while but A Word In Your Ear has a great challenge where she opens a page of the dictionary and chooses a word.  You can opt to submit a photo, a poem or story, whatever genre you choose to help you describe the word.

This week the word is undulate.  As soon as I read the word, I was taken back to one specific moment in my youth that I have never been able to do justice with words.

lights

(image credit: ecopedia.com)

We lay on our backs on the dock at our cottage staring into the beauty of the night sky.  The world seemed to stop to allow every bit of life’s energy to be absorbed by the Aurora Borealis.  The lake was a sheet of glass and, while the ground lay breathless, the green hues undulated against the backdrop of the atmosphere and reflected off the water.  Although we were perfectly still, our bodies felt like we were surfing on the movement of the Northern Lights.

This photo, although beautiful, does not do justice to that night sky so many years ago but it does give you a glimpse into the beauty that we had the chance to absorb.

100 Word Song – Limelight

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Moon

Like the moon held captive in the night sky,

I am suspended in my reality unable to breathe.

My true freedom is a vague memory.

My personal space exists only in the lens of a camera.

Vague reflections of a life I once had are mirrored in that glass.

All I wanted was to reflect my passion through my art.

Fragmented moments alone are stored deep in memory,

treasured few blinks in time that I can grasp and hold tight.

I envy that moon, alone in the night sky

surrounded by stars unable to bridge the distance.

Solitude escapes me.

~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge over at My Blog Can Beat up your Blog.  You should check it out and follow him if you are not already.

I got to choose the song this week and I chose Limelight by Rush. (yes, it’s a Canadian band and I am Canadian).  Although the song has a great rock beat in typical Rush style, there is a sadness behind the words that I felt compelled to share.  Neil Peart struggled with their rise to fame and the lack of courtesy shown by fans and paparazzi.  Being in the “Limelight” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vUNxqE_3N0c

The sun will come out – tomorrow??

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After dealing with the “polar vortex”, the unending snow and a delightful case of Pneumonia, I needed something to cheer me up so I went through the archives and found this pictures to help warm me up!

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This was a sunset in the Caribbean.  I can almost feel the warmth.

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The sun began to settle into the blanket of the clouds.

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The sky just looks so animated and inviting.

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It seemed like the sun’s journey had ended.

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But it poked through the clouds before disappearing into the horizon.

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Canadian passion

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If you’re in it just to succeed, you’re screwed.  If you’re in it because you have a burning need to express yourself, that does not allow you to compromise, you have a chance at making something truly exceptional.” ~ Bob Ezrin

IMG_1106

Because I have been excitedly blogging about my Christmas gift to myself,  you undoubtedly know that I went to see The Tenors in Toronto Monday night.  Let me preface this post by telling you I got much more than I bargained for.  One of my very best friends, Kenny Munshaw (who happens to be in the music industry as well and just co-wrote a song with The Tenors) graciously accepted my pleas to meet this group of talented guys and made my wish come true.

I have been a fan of this group for quite a while.  Not only do I appreciate their musical range and the impeccable harmony of their voices but I truly admire the depth of their characters as human beings and their passion for sharing their gifts and their warmth and honesty with the world.

Music affects us all.  It is a universal form of communication that can span any language barrier because it is spoken with emotion and not just strings of words woven together.

The Tenors sing because they love to sing.  You can feel it in every performance. You can see it in the way they watch each other on stage and embrace after each has performed a heartfelt solo.  They are not entertaining to make money, they are doing it to share their love of music – and THAT makes all the difference in the world.

If you have not listened to them, I urge you to follow the link above to their website and prepare yourself to go on a musical journey.  It is a passionate soul and a true entertainer that can make us forget the time and place in which we exist and become transported to a place of magic.

Thank you Remi, Victor, Fraser, Clifton, Kenny, Jeffrey, Max and Darryn “Neville” for an evening I will cherish.

Through the eyes of a legend – Trifecta Challenge

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The classified ad was very succinct.  It didn’t use the word employee, it specifically used the word companion.  I wasn’t in the position to be picky about my job prospects or possible accommodation so I made the call.

I rang the bell and could hear the shuffling beyond the door frame.  It took her several minutes to reach the entrance and when the door swung open I was shocked by the state of her physical being.  She stood all of four feet tall, hunched and emaciated, and her skin could pass for a road map.  An oxygen tank hung haphazardly from a metal pole and she spun the wheels around to move it out of my path so I could enter the house.

Unsure of what I was about to face, I stepped across the threshold and closed the door.   The house was warm and smelled of cinnamon – nothing at all what I expected.  The walls were adorned with black and white photos and an old phonograph was scratching out “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller.  Her demeanor was welcoming and she ushered me into the living room where the smiling faces of Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Joan Crawford watched as I took my place on the settee.  I felt like I had gone back in time.

The service required of me was simple.  I was to transcribe her life as an understudy in the 1930’s and make sure the world read her story and, not only knew her but, remembered her.

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The official age on her death certificate was 106 years.  She had lived over a century and only through her words did I understand the vast world she had seen change over her lifetime.  As I write this preface to her story, I am reminded of her spirit and her failure to relinquish her dream of fame.  It came too late but she finally got her wish.

~

Word count -323.  Image Credit – health.howstuffworks.com

Written for the Trifecta Challenge:  On to the weekly prompt.

1:  one that accompanies another :  comrade, associate; also:  one that keeps company with another
2obsolete :  rascal
Remember:
• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.
• Only one entry per writer.
• If your post doesn’t meet our requirements, please leave your link in the comments section, not in the linkz.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.

– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.bNnsoN4o.dpuf

Stuck – 100 Word Song

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If only I could let the world see me,

see where I linger.

Caught between two worlds, separated only by a reflection.

I continue to write my words, words that come from a place deep within myself,

but those words will never be seen.

Reality lies above and below me.

I can hide in both of these worlds, torn between them,

never sure of which world I will feel truly defined.

I play a role in each of these spaces.

I let those others who dwell here see only pieces of me, not the whole picture.

Caught between my realities.

Above-and-Below

~

(image credit: naturesedgestudio.ca)

Written as a first attempt at the 100-Word Song Challenge.   Lance introduced me to this challenge and I thought I would give it a try.

This is what it’s about –  A song is chosen and the post that is written has to be somewhat based on that song and written in exactly 100 words.   This week’s 100 word song – Above & Below – The Bravery. 

Texture in the sky

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textured clouds

Scattered formations of moisture

surf their way into the rain.

creating visions of cartoon faces

and textures that wish to remain.

The enemy of wind changes their shape

and alters the look of the sky.

But the clouds dance in those glorious breezes

and embrace the purest way to fly.