justification.

ok...
i know i haven't been here
but here's a few reasons why:


old stairs.


new stairs!!!

making christmas cards

painting presents

wrapping presents


the idea for the christmas town card came from mary engelbreit's home companion
dec 05/jan 06 issue....it is actually a kit you can purchase from paper source
however this one is a little more put together on my own but using their
fantastic idea....

the tags on the presents are from martha stewarts holiday handmade gifts
special issue...they were made for the tree in the magazine but i love how
they turned out as tags...every year i try to come up with something
new for tags and this was perfect!

so...
if you have been wondering where i have been...
i have been cutting, pasting, gluing, dabbing, cursing, giggling,
clapping my hands, frowning, singing christmas songs,
attending kids nativity plays and christmas concerts,
baking cookies, making gingersnaps, sweeping up sawdust,
watching christmas specials, knitting on the damned death
blanket, sweeping up pine needles mixed in with sawdust,
making paper chains, saying "not around the tree, no
running around the tree",
and lastly, loving the christmas season...
this is SO my time of the year....
heehee

paper paper everywhere...






























wow.
i never plan
on not
being here
but then
the first thing
i know,
i have not been here
for days...

what have i been doing?

knitting like a madman
on the blanket
that will prove to be
the death of me...

making red and green
rice krispie squares...

painting snowmen...

washing snowpants and winter coats
repeatedly...

reading christmas magazines...

oh.
and all parents check the
tv guide at 3 in the afternoon
to plan out the best strategy
for what christmas specials they
will be watching that night, right?
i mean, the fact that i
"called dibs"
on the tv from 7 til 9 last night
because the flintstones christmas
was on, followed by the jetsons!
that's fair, right?
i offered to let them watch too...

poetry thursday...something new.


a poetic meme.

1. The first poem I remember reading/hearing/reacting to was …
it would be a toss up
between a poem that had a line
"in xanadu did kubla khan
a stately pleasure dome decree..."
and "the highway man" which i
immediately fell in love with...
i would sit in the hallway upstairs
(which had great acoustics)
and read it aloud with dramatic flourish...

2. I was forced to memorize (name of poem) in school and …
jabberwocky from alice through the looking glass when i was
taking a children's literature course in university...i LOVED
that course...and we needed to memorize that for the exam...
heehee

3. I read/don’t read poetry because …
i am not really sure. i read it but i don't read it often.
i started off reading lyrics to music as poetry and i think
that is what really shaped how i write today...
i like sharp, concise poetry...words like bullets
nothing really flowery or sappy...i go right for the gut.

4. A poem I’m likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem is …
my most obvious answer is alba by ezra pound...i have written that
short poem in the cover of every journal i have owned...

5. I write/don’t write poetry, but …
i write but i don't often consider it to be
poetry...
snippets and catchphrases
mindsets and mini emotional explosions...
but poetry?
i don't know.


6. My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature …
i don't see a strong distinction between the two
for myself...
i think poetry can be found in many mediums,
whether intended or not...
and what becomes poetry for one person
may not for another...
i tend to choose books subconciously
that have are inherently dark and poetic
and the ones i love possess a certain flow to the words...

7. I find poetry …
a release
a refuge
a silent friend
a documentation
in secret code.

8. The last time I heard poetry …
sadly, i don't.
i need to look online more
and take advantage of that avenue
because i'm certainly not going to
find any poetry readings here unless
i drive 45 minutes away
or do them myself...
:)

9. I think poetry is like …
a puzzle,
a code,
the hammering out of cryptic syllables
and rhyme similiar to
the stacatto beat of morse code,
intending meaning,
intending understanding
if only we can break between the lines,
look beyond the words.