Saturday, April 24, 2010

Poem: Lost & Found

I get lost so easily.

I get lost going "home", I get lost coming back. I get lost in my thoughts and find myself in a place I didn't mean to be.

I'm so glad you found me.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Soulful Sundays

I attended Soulful Sundays at Club Genesis on the 18th of this month. It was my first time. I am looking forward to the next edition.

I have a regular Friday plans so I'm good for getting friends to come out and enjoy some music and open mic entertainment. I think I have found a great Sunday activity. Soulful Sundays happens the 3rd Sunday of the month.

The host was a very pleasant person D. Noble. A man, I have never met before. The whole thing was casual and friendly. It was almost like going to a friend's for some live music, a little trash talk and some awesome poetry.

I was fortunate enough to see the North Carolina A&T slam team perform. They are a very talented group.

The feature poet's name was MEKKAH. She was wonderful. I really enjoyed what she had to share. I hate that I didn't have any money to buy her DVD.

Time will tell what poetry has in store for me.

More to come...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Inspiration - no recorder, no paper! Darn.

I do a lot of thinking when I am driving. I work odd hours so the drive home from work is usually pretty quiet. Unless I decide to try to chat with someone while I'm scooting along.

The drive into work is normally filled with inspiration and no way to put those words down. That is frustrating. I'm thinking about a conversation or something I saw and words start to fly around in my mind into little bits of poetry. More like bubbles because once they float off they are gone, gone, GONE!

I need to get more sleep.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

No Marathon for me, I'll take a long walk.

My mother is coming for a visit.

If you still have your mother, you may feel something from the words above. My feelings? Anxiety mostly, but excitement. I love my mother very much. I think that my relationship with her is better than any of my 5 other siblings. That relationship comes with a cost. A price I am willing to pay. That price? My home is a preferred destination. My mother knows my children better than any of my sibling's children. Even though I don't call my mother as much as some of my siblings, my children call my mother. I think that is so sweet.

It occurs to me that my children might be "telling" on me to my mother, but she doesn't fuss at me after talking to them, so they get to continue to live under my roof. I'm not sure what they talk about, but I am pretty certain they are not talking about what punishment they are on now. Then they might have to tell "Mommy" what they got in trouble for and they want to keep the rose coloured glasses on my mother's eyes.

My mother has historically come to visit for 4 weeks at a time. This trip will be a shorter one. Two weeks. I wanted to feel bad about cutting her visit short, but I thought back to her last two visits and she has wanted to go home in 2 weeks and I have felt like I am keeping her at my house against her will. I've decided that I'm not even going to fight it. Two weeks and she is free to go.

My mother told me that she doesn't want to go where she is not wanted. She knows that I want her to come for a visit. I have to practically hound her to get her to come. I feel like I have to put on a Vaudeville Show. I just don't have it in me to keep flipping, dancing and doing jazz hands until she agrees to stay.

I realized that I am so much like my mother, it is scary to acknowledge that I will one day be just like her. God willing, I will be more cheerful. I think I have a pleasant disposition.

Like her, I don't like being told what to do, even if it is for my own good. I like to be shown the reason in a course of action and to decide that I agree with it for whatever reason I might have, normally as long as it is not "for your own good." Even though that is the best reason to do anything at all. Right? Shouldn't we all be looking out for our own good? People often don't do what is for their own good and end up having to deal with the Universe's course corrections, putting them back on the path to what is for their own good. Life is funny that way.

So I will soon hit the road to pack her into my SUV and bring her to my home for a couple of weeks. I will read her my blog and perform my poetry for her. She will tell me that I am being too sassy or something along those lines. She will poke at me and I will needle her. I will show her how we make all of our bread now, something that has happened since her last visit. I will boil the bejesus out of some vegetables so they are soft enough for her to eat without hurting her gums.

My current work schedule makes it hard for me to be able to really enjoy my mom because, when she is awake...half the night, I am at work. When I am asleep during the day, she is awake and wondering why I am not up to entertain her or take her to do something. I have a better plan this time. I am going to let her grandson wake her up early in the morning to talk and play blocks, his favorite. I am going to make her breakfast before I lay down to rest. I really like when we get a chance to sit and chat with each other.

My mother is such a smart and clever woman.

So I'm sharpening my wit, toughening my skin and singing a happy tune as I drive down the highway. Soon my hall will be filled with the sound of judgementalism! (I know that is not a word, but you know what I mean!) I will be slightly sleep deprived and my children will get to spend time with their Grandmother.

I wonder what stories she will tell me about the past. I promise to share the good ones.

More to come...Thanks for reading.

So What's in a handshake?

One of the great things about getting out on a regular basis is meeting new people. My inner "Mad" scientist really loves to watch people interact and to get to interact with other people.

I enjoy the things I see and I think my favorite thing to see is hugs. I like the warmth and caring that putting your arms around someone shows. I like to meet people that hug rather than hand shake. I will always offer my hand to shake, but really like it when someone makes a face at my hand and opens their arms.

I am a super affectionate person. SUPER. AFFECTIONATE. Yes! That's me. I love to hug and be hugged and I am blessed that I am always around people that are pleasant to hug.

There are times when I meet someone that I am not sure if offering a hug is appropriate. There are some that go by the rule of not shaking hands with women, but I worry sometimes about someone being creepy and just wanting to feel my chest against their body.

I guess that I may have to reconsider offering my hand in the future. Why? I shook hands with a man last night that grasped my hand so tightly, I immediately forgot his name. I feel terrible because I wanted to know what it was. The shock of having my hand squeezed as though he perceived me as a threat, removed the information from my mind before I could store it.

I found an interesting article on handshake etiquette here: Read the article from the link if you like.(http://ezinearticles.com/?Handshake-Etiquette&id=2250694)

I figured I would share here the points shared that speak to my recent experience.

***A good handshake can make or break your first impression. Here are a list of things that will help you make a great impression with your handshake.

1. Stand when you shake your hands; always make sure you stand still when you shake hands. This may seem simple and obvious, but there are people who mess this up by offering a hand while sitting down or while walking.

5. Have a firm handshake: A limp handshake always leaves a bad impression, so does a bone-crunching handshake. If you are shaking hands with a lady, you can still have a firm handshake - many ladies are offended when someone gives them a limp handshake just because they are women.

10. Always end your hand-shake with a pleasant smile and eye-contact.***


I am bad for offering a hand when I am sitting down. I think I will try to make sure, if I decide to continue to do hand shakes, that I will make sure I am standing for them. When I read the "bone-crunching" reference, I thought "That's what happened to me." There is something sort of funny about the CRUNCHING, not CRUSHING. Somehow referring to the sound exaggerates the experience to the extreme.

My hand still hurts. I still can't remember the guys name. Darn.