It's not too late, do the work!

 Hello Readers, A trendy saying today goes something like this, 'how do you  _____ without  saying you _____.' An example from a friend:  'How do I show I'm 57 without saying I'm 57? I pocket-dial 911 on my birthday.' Thankfully, my friend was able to straighten this out before any sirens were alerted.  'How do I introduce my dad, without introducing my dad?' Listen to less than 30-seconds of today's service link from 9/30/2007-- Here it is in text: Good morning everyone, welcome to Monitor, a.. we have a song this morning it's on Blue Hymnal 156 -- It's so lively, it's hard for us guitar people not to go too fast with it...we'll try to keep it within [a] ...tempo we can all handle, please join us in Blue Hymnal 156 All Things Bright and Beautiful... Dad's way of introducing this Hymn from a  Cecil Frances Alexander  poem that she wrote in 1848 contains a balance of both humilty and zeal.  'How do I include my mom in my (ye...

September 23 2007 Hello Readers, Setting parameters, boundaries, and guidelines is vital. Two YouTubers/Creators I greatly admire, Rhett and Link, share in their Podcast Earbiscuits the reasoning behind their decision to set limits. In  EB 481 Season 2 WonderHole , I was inspired to set my own parameters with this Blog. My response to art is deeper when I know the limitations of the artist/artwork. This week, I read an explanation of some leaf rubbings the elementary art teacher did with the students. Upon reading the parameters, I found myself looking much closer, discovering it again. Due to these examples I have set some guidelines for this Blog -- I use the Monitor services for each post as a jumping off point, I write from my point of view (no research/details can be corrected in the comments), as I self-reflect, may I personally grow with each post. The September 23, 2007 service opens with my Dad saying Welcome to Monitor --  the members of the congregation grew to cou...

 Hello Readers, I have had several seasons and venues of writing. Many here on Blogger, some scattered throughout my closets and drawers in the forms of handwritten journals, and still others in the form of writing I've done as an educator. Up until recently, I had been feeling stuck and frustrated regarding how to make a creative impact. Thankfully, I found  Paloma's video. Paloma is an actress, singer, and dancer who is grinding her way around Hollywood. The link below should be cued to minute 2, where she shares how she had recently realized she needed to be her own parent. Paloma's Courage  says to me,  Do the Work (take a break from watching videos and post). I love the idea of a new start. Enter the Pop Culture Preservation Society (PCPS), women in their 50s who started a podcast. When I heard the hosts recount their perspective on buying school supplies, I was transported back to my middle school self. Talk about a new start, at the 6-minute mark, enjoy some c...

Hello Readers, This week I found myself pondering the question, 'If you could have something from your childhood (such as a toy/album) what would it be?' I instantly knew my answer, but it was not something I could find on E-bay or Amazon. It was my father's Christmas poems. Every year, on Christmas morning, we would get up before the break of dawn, and find many things: loaded stockings, massive amounts of colorfully wrapped presents under our lit tree, and in the tree itself a handwritten note. Our names, Leslie, Helen, and Amy would each be easily found on the outside or top. Inside was Dad's distinctive drafting-learned handwriting. He always used thick colorful construction paper, the type every child of the 1970's remembers. Dad's style of poetry was a mixture of Dr. Seus' rhythm with a sort of third-person Mark Twain storytelling. The daughter was Tom Sawyer and Dad used her current life as content. The Dr. Seus-like rhythms often made us stumble and ...