Oriah

Oriah is a writer who lives and works in Toronto.  She has published several works and is perhaps best known for her book The Invitation which has been translated into over 15 languages.

From her website: 

The focus of her life and work has been an on-going inquiry into the Sacred Mystery. Her writing, teaching and personal journey all explore how we can each become the individual we are at the deepest level of being and how we can co-create meaning together in the world. Blending humour, insight and compassion for our human struggles Oriah encourages herself and others to be ruthlessly honest and infinitely kind toward our own strengths and our weaknesses.

I have been reflecting lately on relationships- thank g-d those closest to me, my husband, my parents and a handful of friends I've known forever- continue to be a source of happiness and solidity to me.  

As our life path has continued and changed people have dropped out of our lives.  I find myself not mourning the loss of these relationships so much as anticipating with excitement the people who will fill the spaces that are now open.  Transition has always been an exciting time for me.  I love the anticipation of traveling, going to new places and meeting new people.  

These words written by Oriah are inspirational- 

The Invitation: 

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

What or who has been inspiring you lately?

Bashert

On our ten year anniversary

Dr J and I don't celebrate Valentines Day- Never have, seems a bit redundant.  

When he leaves for work, before I wake up, he leaves me a note.  

When we lived in Detroit he would fill up my car with gas for me in the winter.

Now in the dessert he fills up my car for me in the summer.

We had a short courtship- less than a year before we were married. 

When we found each other is was bashert. 

We didn't wait, we didn't take time to figure it out- we were just grateful to have found each other. 

According to Jewish writings before a male child is born, a 'voice from heaven' announces who he will marry- bashert means 'it is meant to be'- fate or destiny. 

The word bashert can be used to refer to any kind of fortuitous good match, such as finding the perfect job or the perfect house, but it is usually used to refer to one's soul mate.

This poem is a favorite of ours:

On Marriage
 Kahlil Gibran
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

I also relate marriage to the the lyrics of the Beyonce and Jay Z song Bonnie and Clyde:

She do anything necessary for him
And I do anything necessary for her
So don't let the necessary occur!

Riddles And Stars

The Perseid meteor shower is the dusty remains of a comet called Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862. Every August when Earth passes closest to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, amateur astronomers can see shooting stars in the night sky.

We drove deep into the desert and sat on the hood of the car in darkeness.

While waiting for the shooting stars from the meteor shower we pondered some riddles.


It has towns but no houses;
It has forests, but no trees;
It has rivers, but no fish.
What is it?

Monkeys said: Ghost Town
Answer: A Map

What is it that a mother loves very dearly
But which can never welcome her when she comes home?

Monkey says: Daughter
Monkey 2 says: Cat
Answer: A baby before it is born

The air alone gives birth to this.
It lives without a body.
It hears without ears.
It speaks without a mouth.
What is it?

Monkey says: Wind
Monkey 2 says: God
Answer: An echo

Do you know any riddles?

Did you see the meteor shower?

Poetry by Lady Ren and My Monkey

Grace of My Year In Haiku was kind enough to ask me to write a haiku as a guest post on her blog.

When I told her that my oldest monkey likes to write haikus, she readily agreed that we could both write one.

To read my haiku as well as my monkeys and to see photos of us, check out: My Year In Haiku

If you would be so kind as to comment on our blogging poetic debut that would make our day!

Mola

To read a post about the Mola art the monkeys and I did as part of our Farts and Crafts click this.

Thrifting With A Monkey On My Back

Yesterday I went thrifting.  There was a lot of negotiation, bribery and threatening involved, because it was not a monkey free trip.

You need to be good, Yes it’s going to take a long time, I will buy you a treat, If you are not good I will take away the treat.
I had an awesome time. (Don’t ask about the shadow/monkey).

I thought I would see if they had any cute summer dresses and they did-I tried on six (monkeys love it when you go in the fitting room) and I bought two. I am wearing one today and tried to get a good photo. I have a new appreciation for Etsy shop photographers! The very first photo is by a monkey the others are me in a mirror.  It matches my toe nail color perfectly although I was not trying to match- the Oh So Koi- by Opi was already on my toes when I bought this dress:

I am in love with the ruffles down the front, the ruffled sleeves and the cute coral colored buttons that go the whole length of the dress- And it fits me perfectly.

My jump for joy moment was when I found the FREE TO BE YOU AND ME book for (drum roll) 99 cents! When I was a child I had a record player in my playroom with several shoe boxes of vertically stacked singles from the 60’s and 70’s- To this day I know songs by heart from my parents’ collection.  Out of all those records I only had two of my own, Free To Be… You and Me and There’s A Hippo In My Tub.

This book has all the song, stories and poems from the original soundtrack and even includes some scored music. The primary focus of the album was to teach tolerance and acceptance and to defuse gender role stereotypes and to celebrate feelings, happiness and individuality. I fell for all of this. A lot of the poems, stories and song are still relevant in today’s world. The idea was conceived by Marlo Thomas and features such artists as Carol Channing, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross on the album and in the subsequent movie/video.
My favorite outtakes from the soundtrack and now book are:
Free to Be… You and Me, Boy Meets Girl (the story of two new born babies trying to figure out if they are a boy or a girl), Parents Are People “Mommies are people/ People with children./ When mommies were little/They used to be girls,/ Like some of you/ But they grew.” I remember listening to these lyrics really wanting to picture my mom as a little girl AND picturing myself as a mommy! It’s All Right to Cry “It’s all right to cry/Crying gets the sad out of you./ It’s all right to cry/ It might make you feel better./ It’s all right to know/Feelings come and feelings go.”

My two MOST favorite are both by Shel Silverstein Ladies First: “I am a real little lady. Anybody could tell that”-is a story about a little girl who "ladies first's" herself to a tasty demise by a lair of tigers- and Helping.

The funny thing is that Ladies First was my favorite as a little girl but Helping is my favorite as a mom. Dr. J loves to sing “And some kind of help is the kind of help that helping’s all a-bout. And some kind of help is the kind of help we can do with-out”- during those ever so helpful moments when the monkeys are creating more work for us while they ‘help’ us- Of course the monkeys have always been oblivious to the sarcasm or true meaning of the lyrics.
Click to read reviews or to order the same book for as little as one cent! Or order the CD for less than $5

I found this grainy video of the movie that I vaguely remember seeing- the sound quality is great- just the video sucks- anyway it’s 44 minutes long- I just played it as background and it made me feel so happy.
If you are interested the first two songs are Free To Be... and Boy Meets Girl (voice by Mel Brooks).

Free to Be... You and Me (1974)
Uploaded by QzDaddy. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Early Bird Gets The Worm

I love reading poetry. I love reading poetry to my monkeys. They have been laughing out loud over this one.

EARLY BIRD

Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird

And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.

If you’re a bird, be an early early bird-

But if you’re a worm, sleep late.

Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends

Shel Silverstein is one of our favorite authors. I personally think he was a genius.
We have the whole collection of his books, three of them are autographed- although not to us!
Please read his poems. They are wonderful.
http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html

Push by Sapphire

I am ready to see the film Precious. I have been preparing myself and I wanted to read the book first. I read the book in two sittings. It is very short.

For those of you who don’t know- Push is the tile of the book by Sapphire and has been made into the film Precious. The protagonist Precious Jones is a black American girl who has suffered incest, by both biological parents. It is truly gut wrenching. It is nauseating. It is sometimes hard to read and I think that is part of why I read it so quickly.
Here are a few quick thoughts about the novel.
Sapphire writes the novel in a callow phonic verse. As the character grows and learns the words progress. It was not at all difficult to follow; in fact it enhanced the experience of losing oneself in the story. I an curious to see if this novel is translated into other languages and how this will be done. 
Sapphire writes in a lyrical prose which is comparable to the spoken word style of poetry performance. This talent radiates an otherwise dark story.
Finally, this story gave me a glimpse into a life that I have never had to endure. The story is a layered look into the lives of how despicable people affect others.  It is a story about the people whom society often overlooks.  It is ultimately a story of survival although clearly getting out unscathed is not an option.
I will never be the same after reading this book and I would imagine neither will you.

THE YEAR OF THE TIGER- Bellagio Las Vegas

Based on the Chinese Zodiac the year of the Tiger begins on February 14th 2010 and ends February 2, 2011. The Tiger is the third of twelve Chinese Zodiac animal signs. A Tiger is well known for its fearlessness and courage. The tiger is a natural leader with a strong sense of self and dignity. Tigers are intelligent, alert and farsighted. In Chinese wisdom The Tiger is a sign of luck and bravery and used to ward off household disasters such as fire, theft and ghosts.

In Feng Shui the Tiger is known as one of four celestial animals and associated with the color white. The other three animals are the green Dragon, red Phoenix and black Tortoise. The Tiger is symbolic of the Yin energy and associated with metal.

Until February 28, 2010, the Bellagio Conservatory is featuring a Chinese New Year display.
The Conservatory incorporates “Feng Shui elements to created harmony, balance and positive life energy.” According to the Bellagio: “Feng Shui experts are brought in to make sure the energy in the room is just right. This includes analyzing the flow of the water and the direction the animal props are facing.”

The showpiece of the exhibition is the tiger, made of dried botanicals and standing among Taibu rocks, which are believed to encourage circulation of natural energy.

The Conservatory also includes a Ming Dynasty- wing tipped gazebo inspired by a structure at Yu Yuan Garden, located in Shanghai.

Red lanterns are a symbol of brightness, happiness and reunion. They are also said to ward off evil sprits and are thus imperative for all traditional Chinese festivals.

All this tiger talk reminds me of my favorite William Blake poem:

The Tyger

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Astroturf Art and Wheelbarrow Love

I am particularly fond of certain words/names. I love the sound of ‘Astroturf’, ‘Zamboni’ and ‘Chilean’, as in "I’ll have the Chilean wine".
Growing up, both Babcia’s had Astroturf covering their cement stairs and patios, in their tomato filled gardens. Come to think of it every old Polish neighbor I had growing up, had Astroturf somewhere in their yard. I have never personally used Astroturf but if I had a category for ‘things I wanted my whole life but didn’t realize’ this couch would make my short list. I would also put my monkeys on this list, at the top.

I saw this photo and a ‘how to’ article on Redymade.com, the website for a very cool magazine. I am a huge fan of using salvaged/recycled materials and enjoy checking out ideas on this site.
http://www.readymade.com/projects/article/astroturf_garden_project

I love the fire pit wheelbarrow and have seen it done before, but on a farm.  Not sure if this meets fire regulation standard in an urban setting.
Also reminds me of one of my favorite poems by William Carlos Williams:

The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

Learn more about Chilean wines:
http://www.winesofchile.org/
Learn about Frank Zamboni:
http://www.zamboni.com/story/story.html
and to further satiate your desire for knowledge, everything you ever wanted to know about Astroturf:
http://www.astroturfusa.com/AboutAstroTurf.aspx

Led Zeppelin

I have liked Led Zeppelin since grade nine, slow danced to 'Stairway to Heaven', had mix tapes of their songs, bought a few CD’s and then didn’t listen to them for ten years.
Last year we visited our friend’s S and W in Costa Rica and Dr. S burned a bunch of their stuff. Part of that illegal burning session included our possession of Led Zeppelin’s complete Box Set and Box Set II.
Like most of the other musicians I love, they write poetry and sing it.

Here are some of the lyrics to:

The Battle of Evermore
The Queen of Light took her bow and then she turned to go

The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom and walked the night alone

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light

The Dark Lord rides in force tonight, and time will tell us all
And what about D’yer Mak’er? Tangerine? Immigrant Song... I think they are genius poetry mixed with incredible adhesion of words to instruments to create music.
Led Zeppelin first played together in 1968 under the name Yardbirds and ten years later were winding down their tours and live concerts. Their song Stairway to Heaven is the most requested radio song, ever. In 1971 they released Going to California, a song about Joni Mitchell as well as Black Dog which was the first track on their unnamed album IV one of the most popular rock albums of all times.


The movie Almost Famous written and directed by Cameron Crowe is based on Led Zeppelin’s members Jimmy Page (guitar) and Robert Plant (vocals).

Here is a link to a great Rolling Stone article about the band:
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ledzeppelin/biography

This article discusses the bands lyric controversies
http://www.furious.com/perfect/jimmypage.html

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was born in 1934 in Montreal, Canada. Born into a middle class Jewish family, in the middle class Jewish neighborhood of Westmount, Mr. Cohen identifies strongly with his Jewish roots.

He received his B.A. in 1955 from McGill University and studied with Irving Layton. After finishing his undergrad Mr. Cohen spent one term at McGill’s law school before attending Columbia from 1956-1957 and publishing his first book of poetry: Let Us Compare Mythologies. This first collection of poems explored his Jewish heritage with classical and Christian mythologies juxtaposing religion with sensuality.

In 1961 Mr. Cohen moved to London, England where he wrote his first novel, a semibiographical novel based on the life of a Montreal Jewish boy’s journey to discovery though writing titled: The Favourite Game (1963). In 1966 he published his second novel Beautiful Losers and achieved international acclaim as a song-writer, singer.

Mr. Cohen has eleven studio albums his last one "Dear Heather" came out in 2004.
On March 31st 2009 Mr. Cohen is releasing “Live In London” recorded live on July 17, 2008 at London’s 02 Arena, an indoor venue- during his 2008 World Tour and includes songs from his 40 year repertory.

The album Live In London includes:

Disc 1 -

1. Dance Me To The End Of Love

2. The Future

3. Ain't No Cure For Love

4. Bird On The Wire

5. Everybody Knows

6. In My Secret Life

7. Who By Fire

8. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye

9. Anthem

10. Introduction

11. Tower Of Song

12. Suzanne

13. The Gypsy's Wife

Disc 2 -

1. Boogie Street

2. Hallelujah

3. Democracy

4. I'm Your Man

5. Recitation w/ N.L.

6. Take This Waltz

7. So Long, Marianne

8. First We Take Manhattan

9. Sisters Of Mercy

Click here for a review by Jim Allen on Leonard Cohen’s performance Thursday February 19th 2009 in NYC:
http://www.prefixmag.com/features/leonard-cohen/beacon-theatre/26253/

RHCP

Yes. As in that band- Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I have been a huge fan since I was in 6th grade. Had a poster of Anthony Kiedis above my bed throughout adolescence and to this day think he is one of the sexiest men alive.

In nineth grade I wrote an English paper about the RHCP's lyrics for a poetry assignment. My English teacher Mrs. F gave me a good grade but wrote in the comments that she didn't know if she agreed with me (I had handed in a cassette tape (!) with the three song/poems I analyzed). In my mind I had failed- as an unconvincing writer.

Do you think this is poetry:

Under The Bridge

Sometimes I feel

Like I don't have a partner

Sometimes I feel

Like my only friend

Is the city I live in

The city of angels

Lonely as I am

Together we cry

I drive on her streets

'Cause she's my companion

I walk through her hills

'Cause she knows who I am

She sees my good deeds

And she kisses me windy

I never worry

Now that is a lie

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all the way

It's hard to believe

That there's nobody out there

It's hard to believe

That I'm all alone

At least I have her love

The city she loves me

Lonely as I am

Together we cry

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all that way

Under the bridge downtown

Is where I drew some blood

Under the bridge downtown

I could not get enough

Under the bridge downtown

Forgot about my love

Under the bridge downtown

I gave my life away

About five years ago I was on a flight from Toronto to Miami- Anthony Kiedis was on my flight-I was travelling with Sir S. When we were waiting at luggage claim I positioned myself beside him, arms length. His girlfriend and I exchanged pleasantries briefly over Sir S.'s gorgeousness. There is no doubt that AK looked at me and acknowledged my existence.