Memorial Day

So I know I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks and that's because of RL events.  Between Mother's Day, housing inspections (required in the apartments I reside in), work, and school, I've almost run myself ragged.  So, first, a very late Happy Mother's Day to my mother readers, whether they are biological, lawfully adopted, claimed, feathered, two-legged or more, mothers have helped shape the very creatures they've raised.  My husband got me a yellow iris to celebrate it seeing as we have our almost six year old dog.  Such a good girl, usually.

So, this past week were season finales of both The Voice and DWTS (Dancing with the Stars).  I meant to put up reviews and my personal views seeing as there were numerous members in the cast that I had hoped would make it through very far (only one did), but it was fun to watch.  On The Voice I wasn't drawn to any voices like in some of the past seasons since Gwen Stefani was first on in Season 7.  As I mentioned there were a few notables since then in my opinion.  Taylor John Williams, Mia Z, and YouTuber Kota Wade are only a few.  Season 10, however, was a let down.  At least, originally, it was.  But as I listened to the episodes, two became stand-outs in my mind.  I thought they chose the perfect coaches to drag the potential out of them.  Laith Al-Saadi and Hannah Huston have admirable voices, once they let them shine.  Neither one won.  Instead, finally a female coach had one of her team members.  Congratulations, Christina, on having an admirably chosen contestant.

DWTS Season 22, on the other hand, hosted Kim Fields, who I loved in Facts of Life, but my favorite wasn't Tootie (I could never decide between Blair and Jo); Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner in Full House (DJ was on a previous season, so now I'm wondering when Kim Gibbler is going to join the DWTS contestant family...makes an interesting parallel, doesn't it?); and Nyle DiMarco, who won Season 22 of America's Next Top Model (and he's deaf, if you hadn't learned). I was rooting for all three of these contestants, only Nyle made it to the finale.  To be completely honest, I thought it would be awesome and a bit ironic, though I may not be using that word appropriately, if he won another season 22 reality show.  Nyle did win. It let's me have a wonderful weekend coming up,

Speaking of the weekend, this weekend is extended in the United States to include Monday.  The reason?  It's Memorial Day Weekend.  Even though my husband and I will be taking a short, well-deserved vacation this weekend, he is a veteran (disabled before ever seeing beyond BCT) and every generation in my family tree that I've managed to trace including myself (though I had an other than honorable discharge...really don't wish to go into that.  It should be a general discharge now) has had military personnel somewhere.  I've managed to trace one line back to the Revolutionary War, which they managed to move inland, (over the mountains) before the war officially started by a few years, I think....I'm not looking at the information currently, so I could be wrong about the dates.  We'll take the time to honor those who fought for what they believed in or joined up to avoid war but managed to change themselves around, or really any military personnel who died in battle.  Some were mothers or fathers, brothers or sisters, but every single soldier, sailor, marine or airman was someone's child.  Some lives were cut short.  Others survived so damaged they couldn't reintegrate (One of my great-uncles died in the hospital believing he was still at war.).  No matter what they were or how they died specifically, Memorial Day is a day to honor and remember their sacrifices.  We take a few moments to honor them before truly honoring them by living life as I know they wanted future generations to do.

These people gave their lives so we could all live.  They didn't want their deaths seen as something bad.  The original soldiers remembered on this particular holiday were Union Soldiers, who died for what they believed in: a life of freedom for men no matter the color of their skin.  Obviously, and very much thankfully, humanity has changed to a more equal footing for all people, but not without a lot of hardship and lost lives.  It is sad.  I will not allow myself to disregard their sacrifices.  I will honor them in every way I know and for those who think that the parties and family get-togethers are not celebrating the fallen military personnel appropriately, I can only ask: How do you honor those who gave their lives so you could live free to make your own choices?

April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 5/5

It's the final week of the Poetry A Day Challenge!  My thoughts on the challenge will be given after this weeks prompts.  Speaking of prompts, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 25 prompted for us to write a poem about exercise.  My first thought was the emphasis on health and exercising for that, but there are so many types of exercise, that suddenly I was trying to figure out which type I wanted to write about.

EXERCISE

enveloping so much

from drills to runs to writing

each has its own type

The military uses exercise

to help get the recruits in shape

Known as drills or just trying to be killed

There are writing exercises

like following prompts

or mapping out a story

Exercising rights

is another concept

that has come under fire

Of course, Tuesday is double-prompt day.  This time we received the prompt to write a love or anti-love poem.  I had to double check, and yes, it's 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 26.  If you remember in my Future of April 2016 post, we did a similar one as a warm-up for the PAD challenge.

Against most anything

Not caring for emotion

Telling themselves it's not real

Intelligence is more than heart

Loyalty reigns supreme

Ongoing even when their being a bastard

Veering thanks to their heart

Ever willing for some emotion.

I know it's a bit of a strange acrostic poem, but it works for me.  I'm just not sure on how to title it.

So the 27th was Administrative Assistant Day.  I think this was a more PC (politically correct) term for National Secretary's Day, but I'm just as likely wrong.  So for all the administrative assistants out there, thank you for the jobs that you do.  The prompt for the day was not exactly based around it being Administrative Assistants Day.  No, the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 27 was to write a take off poem.

TAKE OFF

I wished to live off grid

to be as independent as I could

Life just wasn't willing

and Fate agreed with her

I tried to distance myself

to cut off ties of old

but Life just wasn't willing

and Fate agreed with her

So I let them carry me

with Destiny's aid

to where they wished me to be

and not where I truly yearned

For I wished to take off

disappear in the distance

Fate and Life and Destiny

they had different plans

They chose to inundate me

with friends and family

who could freely leave

while I stayed stationary

I think he really likes those poems where there's a blank for a person to finish the title because the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 28 was "Important ___________".  So here's my attempt at it.

IMPORTANT DECISIONS

there comes a time

in every life

when a decision

must be made

it may be big

it may be small

but to be made

must be done.

They are important

no matter the size

decisions to be made

in every life

Two more days, two more poems.  I don't know why, but it's a bit bittersweet.  Will I keep writing poems after this?  Sure, but only as the muse strikes me.  I'm very much a spontaneous writer.  I tend to be a pantser in NaNoWriMo events.  That's why the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 29 made me smile.  The prompt was to write a haphazard poem.

HAPHAZARD WRITING

For most

planning takes precedence

For me however

it's just too much

Too take things away

and when i wish

this is my plan

for every event

i write as i wish

i play, eat or work

it's makes no difference

it just seems right

so take your outlines

calendars and lists

and burn them in bonfire

of failed plot bunnies and trysts

i'll write as i see fit and

enjoy the results

if someone else likes them, great

if not that's not why i write anyway

This brought us to the final day of the PAD challenge.  It's nice to know that even if I didn't write each one on the day they were posted, I've written thirty different poems in a month.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 30 gave us our final prompt.  As is fitting for the end of a poeming event,  the day's prompt was to write a dead end poem.

DEAD END POEM

they said it was easy.

they claimed it would flow

if you just sit  down and write

the words would make themselves known

it didn't work the way they said

it refused to flow as they claimed

i tried to sit down and write

the words refused to reveal themselves

Then suddenly it changed

the words, they came

the poem flowed

even if it wasn't in a poetic form

the words stopped as suddenly as they came

the poem isn't never ending

whether it's good or bad

it hit its own dead end

So there's the last of my PAD poems.  Hope you enjoyed at least one or two out of the thirty I managed to write out.  Was it easy?  I personally don't think any kind of writing is easy, but it was fun.  I wasn't sure I could do the poems daily, but I tried.  I didn't write a poem a day, but I did write thirty poems which would have been a poem a day.  I enjoyed writing them even if they didn't always flow.

How about you?  Did you enjoy one of my poems?  Did you have suggestions for untitled poems?  How about going through the links to read other poets works?  Did you do so, and if so did you find one you liked?  Did you participate?  If so, did you enjoy writing them?  Leave your answers in the comments.

Camp NaNoWrimo April 2016: 5/5

April's Camp NaNoWriMo is over.  As I'm typing this I've only just over 7K words towards my goal, which is disappointing, but with college an early morning job and other real life distractions, I'm not all that surprised.  There is supposed to be another camp in July.  I'll have the same goal and probably work on the same story.  There's so much I can do that won't really contribute to word count that I'll take the time to figure them out.  Things like drawing a map and figuring out a title.  Getting pictures of various buildings and the characters that would exist would be great as well.

If you didn't meet your goal, son't give up.  Any word count is better than not even trying.  If you did meet that goal, congratulations!  And for all you major overachievers who wrote double or more what your word count goal was, be extremely proud of yourselves!  All of those word counts are great towards the works your working on.  Just don't forget that now is the time to revise, unless that is what your Camp project was!