Thankful Thursday: The Sunset in Las Vegas

Today I am grateful for the clouds and the sunset. Mountains surround Las Vegas and today the clouds hung low over those jagged peaks. This evening the setting sun transformed the clouds into burning embers. It looked as if the mountains themselves were on fire.

Clouds burn without heat
Embers glow embers above mountains
Las Vegas sunset

Tuesday Research Topic: Poetry Forms

This week, I am working with these poetry forms.

Sunday - Pi (Archimedes’ Poem) Title: “The letter X symbolizes the Unknown” posted in my writing.com portfolio under the contest Submissions folder. Pi (Archimedes’ Poem) is a 6-line poem that uses the important mathematical constants of Pi = 3.14286. Each line’s word count correlates to the number of pi. There is no rhyme or meter requirement. So the Poem according to Archimedes is built up in this way:
line 1: 3 words
line 2: 1 word
line 3: 4 words
line 4: 2 words
line 5: 8 words
line 6: 6 words.

Monday - Traditional Go Vat Title: “A Sock Dilemma” posted in my writing.com portfolio under the folder Contest Submissions. A Traditional Go Vat Poem that has at least two stanzas that are composed of three lines each, with eight syllables per line. The 1st two lines of each stanza rhyme. The last line of each stanza is a refrain either in whole or in part (the last word in the line). The rhyme scheme is a, a, B, a, a, B.

Tuesday - Burns Stanza AKA Standard Habbie Title: “First Contact” posted in my writing.com portfolio under the fold Contest Submissions. Burns Stanza AKA Standard Habbie consists of 6-line stanzas, with no stanza limit. The rhyme scheme is a, a, a, b, a, b and the syllabic structure is 8, 8, 8, 6, 8, 6.

Wednesday – Yama (not yet written). A Yama is composed of quatrain (4-line) stanzas, without stanza limits. Each line has six syllables, with a rhyme scheme of a, b, c, b …. The subject of this poem is death, grief, sorrow or simply a poem of loss and the poem must have a title.

Thursday – Sedoka (not yet written). A Sedoka is a 2-stanza poem with 3 lines each. The syllable count is 5, 7, 7 and 5, 7, 7. This poem addresses the same subject from different perspectives and does not rhyme.

Friday – Rubliw (not yet written). A Rubliw is a poem written as a message to someone, or group, or humanity. It is a monorhymed, with all the lines having the same rhyme. Its syllable structure is 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and is centered.

Saturday – Roundeley (not yet written). A Roundeley has no stanza limits, but must have at least two stanzas. Each stanza consists of four lines, with no specific syllable count. There is no restrictions on syllable count.

Please note that the source of my research this week is “A Poem a Day” contest on writing.com. Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Free-write Friday: Friday Morning and Evening Interruptions

It’s Friday evening. This entry is a free-write, which means I just start writing about anything. Normally, a free-write covers several subjects, but this evening it will probably cover my day. In addition, it may not make any sense.

This morning I started to compose an entry for my other blog, but encountered interruptions. I did not get back to the entry until this evening. I forgot most of what I intended to say. I posted the entry anyway with a partial explanation.

I think I will handle next Friday’s entry differently. I am staring at the screen and wondering what to write next. I expect to encounter an interruption any minute. Lately interruptions cause me to forget the next sentence or paragraph.

I am going to end this free-write because I hear my mother crying. I have to go see if she will tell me the problem. Mom has Alzheimer’s disease, so sometimes she cries in the middle of the night.

Thankful Thursday: Today I am Thankful for the Internet

I was born in 1946, before the Internet. I grew up without the Internet; I remember my parents and grandparents paying bills by writing a check and placing it in the mail. In order to pay the mortgage on time they had to put it in the mail a week or two before it was due.

When I pay the mortgage, I go online to the website of the bank that holds the mortgage and set up the payment to come out of the checking account on a specific day. I do the same with most of our monthly bills, which helps because I do not have to drive all over town or go to the post office to mail the checks.

I am thankful for the Internet because it keeps me connected and helps when I pay bills because I do not have to use gas to drive all over town. If it were not for the Internet, I would spend most of my weekdays driving all over Las Vegas. In addition, I can increase our household income by working online.

My mother has Alzheimer’s disease and I am her caregiver. As my mother’s caregiver I do not work outside the home, if it were not for the Internet I would not be able to work or to interact with others.

Website Wednesday: My Favorite Writer’s Website

My favorite website is writing.com. The reason I like this website is the helpful reviews, the contests, the challenges, and the members. This month I am participating in a 30-Day blog Challenge. Each day the participants receive a prompt, which each one responds to and post in his or her blog.

Another reason I like this website is the free online portfolio each person receives when becoming a member. In addition, there are numerous writing tools and a full e-mail service. It is easy to share your work with other members and receive reviews.

Writing.com has been encouraging writers since 2000. Come and join the fun. While you are there Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Research Topics: Notes on Las Vegas and Nevada History Part 1

The Las Vegas valley

1. 1827 Jedediah Smith travel through the valley that was full of lush meadows
2. 1829 Rafael Rivera named the valley “Las Vegas” which means “The Meadows”
3. 1844 John C. Fremont established a fort in the Las Vegas valley

A change in plans

I have attempted several times to have entries on specific themes for each day of the week. I am going to make another attempt this year. Some of the themes were Thankful Thursday, Website Wednesday, and Sunday Comics. I am keeping Thankful Thursday and Website Wednesday. To those I am adding Free-write Friday, Mundane Monday, Tuesday Research Topics, Weekly Writer’s Quote Saturday, and Poetry form of the week Sunday.

Some of those topics are familiar, so I may have planned to use them in the past. However, going through all my past blog entries is no an option at this time. The main goal is to write at least one 200-word entry everyday. I plan to post the entry between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM, this will give me time to research, compose, proof read, and post the entry. It will also allow time for interruptions and a slow computer both of which I encounter on a daily basis.

Themes in chronological order

• Poetry form of the week Sunday
• Mundane Monday
• Tuesday Research Topics
• Website Wednesday
• Thankful Thursday
• Free-write Friday
• Weekly Writer’s Quote Saturday

A crisp Monday in Las Vegas

The wind chill factor
Makes driving in Las Vegas
Chilly and pleasant

I had an appointment with my primary care physician this morning. I need a coat walking from the house to the car or into the doctor’s office. While inside the car, I did not need the coat. This time of year, I never know whether to wear the heavy sky jacket or a light sweater.

Saturday afternoon clouds in Las Vegas

White afternoon clouds
Reflecting the slow setting sun
Imitating snow

The late afternoon clouds reflect bright white sunlight. They remind me of snow. These are not rain clouds; they are just decorations against the deep blue afternoon sky.

Sunday Comic Memories from my childhood

I remember sitting on my father’s lap while he read me the Sunday Comics. We sit at the kitchen table and he would read the comics aloud between sips of coffee. At the time, we lived on College Street in Blackwell, Oklahoma.

I remember watching Dad sip his coffee and wondering if the coffee tasted as good a it smelled. One Sunday morning, I decided I wanted to taste Dad’s coffee. I reached for the cup, but instead of picking it up I pulled it off the table and spilled it in Dad’s lap and mine.

The coffee was hot enough to burn. Mom and Dad rushed me to the hospital. I think at that time, the hospital in Blackwell was on College across from a grade school. At the hospital, the doctor took care of my burns and my parents took me home. This is all I remember about this incident, it did not stop me from wanting to drink coffee.

Walgreen Prescription Savings Club

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

In 2011, Walgreens attempted to negotiate a new contract with Express Scripts, Walgreens and Express Script so that they could continue as part of its provider network. These negotiations fell through and the contract ended on December 31, 2011. On January 1, 2012,  all Walgreens pharmacies were no longer a part of Express Scripts provider network. As a results, patients covered by Express Scripts had to change pharmacies and drive further to have their prescriptions filled. Naturally, customers are not happy about this since they have to drive farther to find a pharmacy with less convenient hours and locations.

Walgreens is offering a Prescription Saving Club Walgreens Prescription Savings Club with a $5.00 annual membership for individuals and a $10.00 annual membership for families. The family membership covers spouses, dependents 22 years of age and younger, as well as pet. Those individuals or families who join this club receive discounts on prescription drugs.

The benefits include flu shots, diabetic supplies, nebulizers, and pet prescriptions. This club offers savings on all generic prescriptions, as well as, more then 8,000 brand-name medications. In addition, club members receive bonuses when purchasing Walgreens brand-name items and photo finishing.

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Weekly Writer’s Quote: The role of a writer

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but to say what we are unable to say.” ~ Anaïs Nin

The roll of a writer
is to speak for the voiceless and downtrodden multitude,
the disenfranchised components
of humanity.

This is the beginning of a new poem, with the working title “The Roll of a Writer”. I know there must be a better word then “components” and I will find that word when I finish the poem and begin the rewrite, but for now I am keeping the work in the first stanza.

The roll of a writer
is to wage peace,
while the armies of nations
stand ready to
wage war.

I am not sure how many stanzas this poem will have when completed. I think I want more then two because I have more to say on this subject. However, I am composing this entry while fixing breakfast for my Mother and me. The microwave just sounded, so I have to see if our breakfast is hot and ready to eat.

Thankful Thursday weather in Las Vegas

Blue-sky sunshine clouds
Beautiful Las Vegas day
Gratitude weather

Today I am thankful for the weather. It is not too cold, so I can go outside without a heavy coat, which makes carrying trash to the garage a pleasant experience.

The Sunday Comics with Warmed over Coffee

Microwave hot cup
Waits for me to take a sip
Reading the Comics

Garfield looking good
Holding a cup of coffee
Odie yips and barks

Amusing comics
Some make me laugh while others
Give me a chuckle

Blondie, Delbert, Zits
Garfield, Cul de Sac, Fox Trot
The Comics page 1

Baby Blues, Jump Start
Classic Peanuts, Mutts, Buckles
Get Fuzzy ... page 2

Page 3 and page 4
Pickles, Drabble, Marmaduke
Mother Goose and Grimm

Read Hi and Lois
Pearls before Swine, Bizarro
Then Grand Avenue

Read Argyle Sweater
The Family Circus, For
Better or for Worse

Read Do Gone Funny
Hagar the Horrible and
Then Over the Hedge

One Big Happy, Frank
And Earnest, Freshly Squeezed now
My coffee is gone

Form: Senryu group – a group of Senryu poems. Senryu a Japanese similar to the haiku, but with a different subject or theme. The senryu is a 3-lined unrhymed poem with a syllable count of 5-7-5 and the theme concerns humanity, the individual, or community.

Weekly Writer's Quote: My Self and My Own Time

“The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all times.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

I don’t like to write about myself, most of the time. I do write about my mother. Mom has Alzheimer’s disease and short-term memory issues. One of the results of this is that she forgets she ate and therefore, she wants to eat again about ten to thirty minutes after a meal. I have to admit this does make life interesting because on Saturday and Sunday, when she is home all day, she wants to eat all the time.

There is plenty of food in the house; the problem is finding something for her to eat that is low in dietary fiber (she is on a low fiber diet) and not fattening. Mom now weighs 130 lbs. When she began going to the Adult Daycare center last year she weighed 95 lbs.

I fixed a macaroni and spaghetti sauce for us this weekend. All right, I know its probably high in calories, but its supposed to be filling. At least, that is what I thought. I added a can of green beans and heated it in the microwave. Mom still wanted to eat again ten minutes after she finished eating two bowls of the macaroni. The food either was not as filling as I thought or Mom forgot she ate and this made her hunger again. Perhaps I should put this incident in a short story.

Morning Poem (A senryu)

I wrote a poem
Before dawn scattered darkness
About prayer’s light

The senryu is a Japanese form similar to the haiku, but with a different subject or theme. The senryu is a 3-lined unrhymed poem with a syllable count of 5-7-5 and the theme concerns humanity, the individual, or community.

Reassessing one of my 2012 writing goals

It’s Monday, January 02, 2012 and I am reassessing some of my writing goals. The goal I am reassessing is daily blog postings. I set daily word count goal for this blog at 200 words; I think I will lower that to 100 words or posting every other day.

It has been a long day. I am tired, so I think that has to do with the reassessment. I started out the day writing and doing laundry. The morning writing worked out well. Maybe I should start the day by posting to this blog first before I get tired. Once I get tired, I have difficulty focusing on a single subject.

I can do a free-write when I am tired without thinking, but when it comes to writing on a specific subject or theme I encounter problems. Before I give up the idea of writing a 200-word daily post to this blog, I will change attempt composing a post before doing anything else. I will try that for a week or so before changing my mind about this specific goal.

Sometimes morning writing is easier then afternoon or evening writing. At other times, it is easier for me to compose a post in the afternoon or evening. I will attempt morning post for a while, in addition, I need to figure out why my muse is more active at certain times of day then others.

Sunday Comics: Happy New Year

Today I read all the Sunday Comics. Normally I read only the comics I like, but this is New Year’s Day and Sunday, so most of the comics have a New Year theme. The comic Cul de Sac brought up a superstition my Grandmother always followed on New Year’s Day. Grandma would never do laundry on January 1, because of that superstition.

In Garfield, the scales were lonely because no one wanted to know their weight after all the holiday food. The last time I used a scale the doctor weighed me and I noticed I had gained weight. I need to use my bathroom scales at home, then I would know if I gained or lost weight. That sounds like a good New Year’s resolution to me.

I enjoyed reading the Sunday Comics because most of them concerned New Year’s, New Year’s Day, or New Year’s resolutions. Over the Hedge covered the Mayan Calendar and the predicted end of the world. I find the discussion of the world ending on December 21, 2012 interesting and sometime amusing, but I do not think it will end. True, I do think some changes will occur this year, but the world will not end.