Sunday, April 28, 2013

Still April! Wow!



Write a praise of your favorite springtime food and/or drink.

In praise of asparagus

There is a Finnish book called "the restaurant of goose pen", where different Finnish authors have written about food. There are recipes, memories, gastronomical thoughts, and all kinds of things written about food.

Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Perigrinations of an Epicure by Joseph Wechsberg

Try to mediate the sensations eating this food creates in you, the scents and views, the feeling of first mouthful... try to make your readers want to eat this too...

Great Food series

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Well, well... still April :-)

With less than two weeks to Beltane.


You know the song "Nessun Dorma"? 
Do you know the story behind the song?
Why, do you think, do I associate this song with Beltane?

1. Describe Beltane with one word. Write about that word.

2. What would your ideal Beltane be?

3. Handfasting
Write about your ideal handfasting, write about a handfasting where everything goes wrong, or just something, and how it changed the whole thing.
Think about all the weddings you have encountered, and think about the stories about and around the event.

4. Morris dancing, clogs...
Terry Pratchett wrote a fantastic piece about clog dancing in "Lords and Ladies"
The Lancre Morris Men faced one another, rain plastering their clothes to their bodies. Carter, tears of terror mingling with make-up
and the rain, squeezed the accordion. There was the long-drawn-out chord that by law must precede all folk music to give bystanders time to get away Jason held up his hand and counted his fingers.
"One, two..." His forehead wrinkled. "One, two, three..."
". . . four..." hissed Tinker.
". . . four," said Jason. "Dance, lads!"
Six heavy ash sticks clashed in mid-air.
". . . one, two, forward, one, back, spin. . ."
Slowly, as the leaky strains of Mrs. Widgery's Lodger wound around the mist, the dancers leapt and squelched their way slowly through the night. . .
". . . two, back, jump..."
The sticks clashed again.
"They're watching us!" panted Tailor, as he bounced past Jason, "I can see 'em!"
". . . one... two... they won't do nothing 'til the music stops!... back, two, spin... they loves music!... forward, hop, turn... one and six, beetle crushers!... hop, back, spin..."
"They're coming out of the bracken!" shouted Carpenter, as the sticks met again.
"I see 'em... two, three, forward, turn... Carter... back, spin... you do a double... two, back... wandering angus down the middle..."
"I'm losing it, Jason!"
"Play!... two, three, spin..."
"They're all round us!"
"Dance!"
"They're watching us! They're closing in!"
". . .spin, back... jump... we're nearly at the road..."
"Jason!"
"Remember when... three, turn... we won the cup against Ohulan Casuals?... spin..."
The sticks met, with a thump of wood against wood. Clods of earth were kicked into the night.
"Jason, you don't mean-"
". . . back, two... do it... "
"Carter's getting... one, two... out of wind..."
". . . two, spin. . ."
"The accordion's melting, Jason," sobbed Carter.
". . . one, two, forward... bean setting!"
The accordion wheezed. The elves pressed in. Out of the corner of his eye Jason saw a dozen grinning, fascinated faces.
"Jason!"
". . . one, two... Carter into the middle... one, two, spin. . ."
Seven pairs of boots thudded down...
"Jason!"
". . . one, two... spin... ready... one, two... back... back... one, two... turn... KILL... and back, one, two. . ."
Intriguing? It should be... find the book and read it.
If you have already read it once, re-read it (unless you absolutely hated it. I mean... I LOVE Terry Pratchett... I love his weird sense of humor, his brilliance, his constant twixing with things, turning things upside down, taking sayings literally, or mixing them up... I never know what I get when I read Terry Pratchett, but I know it's going to be good. :-)

5. Which is your favorite love couple from a book?

6. Which smells and scents do you associate with Beltane?

7. What is your favorite spring flower?

8.

9. April 28th is "Kiss your mate" day

10. Magic mirror... Snow White's stepmother had one. Galadriel had one. What would yours do? Do you know any mirror magic?

11.
"The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of many worlds of consciousness that exist, and that those other worlds must contain experiences which have a meaning for our life also." 
- William James

12. What do you really know about elves, fairies and other such beings?

13.

14. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

15. Green... as simple as that. What does the color green mean to you? What does it symbolize in your own symbol world? Why do you think the color of Beltane is green?

16. Green Man

17.

Yes. I know. It's a Christian song. Composed as one, sang as one, meant never to be anything else.
Nevertheless, there is only on Lord of the Dance and He's not Jesus.

18.   The White Stag
        
19.    La Belle Dame Sans Merci
   
20.  "A lion chased me up a tree, and I greatly enjoyed the view from the top." — Confucius

21.  The May Basket           

22.
       
23.  May 1st is the international workers' day.
Even if you are not a Socialist, it doesn't harm to show appreciation to all the work people do. The world would stop quickly if no-one worked. Write a praise for workers and bodily work.

24.    Aphrodite... Do you think She was a benevolent Goddess?
What about Eros and Psyche?          

25.    Friendship Bracelet

26.     Daisy Chain  

If these names are not enough to inspire you to write something, google "daisy chain short story" or "friendship bracelet short story"

27. 
The fair maid who, the first of May
Goes to the fields at break of day
And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree
Will ever after handsome be

28.    Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Goodfellow or Puck   


Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green?
With his long tail hanging down.
He sits quietly under every tree ---
in the folds of his velvet gown.
He drinks from the empty acorn cup
the dew that dawn sweetly bestows.
And taps his cane upon the ground ---
signals the snowdrops it's time to grow.

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green ---
no place to dance, no time for song.
He wears the colours of the summer soldier ---
carries the green flag all the winter long.

Jack, do you never sleep ---
does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, powerlines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so ---
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree
are the charges left for you to groom.
Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green.
Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night.
And we are the berries on the holly tree.
Oh, the mistlethrush is coming.
Jack, put out the light.

29.   Write a character you think is smoking hot... he/she doesn't need to be a believable person, he/she doesn't need dimensions or any good qualities, he/she is not after a romantic relationship, making friends, not even talking with anyone. He/she only wants one thing, and when you meet him, that's the only thing in your mind as well... you would sacrifice anything just for one night... you would leave your children, you would leave your spouse, your friends, your family... you would sell your honor and pride, you would walk from your grandmother's dying bed, just to have a quickie in the hospital's cleaning room... He/she works on you like Axe in the ad.          
30.    Write a love poem.     

31.   

32. Come Into The Garden, Maud...

33. "Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side..."

What is your favorite musical instrument? Write about it. 

Think about the movie "Red Violin", for inspiration.
Think about "The Piano".
Think about Moria and the drums... oh, the drums...

Agatha Christie has written a collection of short stories called "The Hound of Death", and in it is a short story called "The Call of Wings"... and in it is a description of a man playing an instrument... sort of a flute.

34. The Indian festival of Holi.

35. May Pole

36. Bonfire

About these three, of course you may write anything you like, but if you need more inspiration, describe what you would experience if you were to participate in such celebration.
I was thinking about Susan Cooper's Greenwitch, and the making of the Greenwitch. It is a simple description, but very well written. Now, of course, I happen to love Susan Cooper, so your experience might be different.

37.   Think about movies... think about a sexy scene. Why do you think it was so effective?
I personally think one of the most erotic scenes in a movie was the one in which Don Juan de Marco seduced the woman in the restaurant...

38.   birds - song birds - spring birds singing - love birds...


39.  
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover."
— Mark Twain  
 
 40. Clover

And then, one more: May Day is a good day to think about environment, the nature spirits, green thinking, ecology, Gaia and other such things.
Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring, that still converts people to think more about the planet than themselves. She was just a person. Just a writer. Like you...

Monday, April 1, 2013

Oh, dang...

I had forgot all about this blog...
sorry *blush*

So - it's April. April 1st, actually... April Fools' day.

I hate April Fools. I hate practical jokes. In our family this day is the Contrary Day.
Today we'll do things in the reverse order, eat dessert for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
We eat things we don't usually eat.
We'll wear mittens in feet and the sweater as pants.
We turn left when we are supposed to go right.
We do the things we are most afraid to do.
We do the exact opposite of what we are asked to do
We especially mote our negative thoughts and words. If I tell myself I'm ugly, I say "no, you're wrong, I'm beautiful!"
It's a "yes!" day, a day of trying out new things, taking new paths, thinking new thoughts...

So - here's a couple of prompts to you:

- Learn about the tarot fool and write a Fool's Journey

- Learn about the Holy Fools
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos135.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ