1.29.2010

Sigh...

It's been a rough couple of weeks, and I haven't had the heart (or the time) to blog. I have some poems to share, though, and some thoughts. They will have to wait, though, until I've had some sleep, and some quiet, and some more diet Coke.

1.14.2010

Happy Thursday

It's another Poetry Thursday, folks, and it's been a doozy! So to counteract the dooziness of it all, something lighthearted and fun.

Thanks to my dear friend, Miss Melissa, for first introducing this poem to me a few years ago.

Crayon Pirate

There was a single blue line of
crayon drawn across every wall
in the house. What does it
mean? I said. A pirate needs
the sight of the sea, he said and then
he pulled his eye patch down and
turned and sailed away.

--Brian Andreas

1.07.2010

Poetry Thursday!

In honor of the New Year, I have decided to add a new little feature to this blog o' mine: Poetry Thursdays. (I'm also pondering the idea of "Picture Tuesdays" but we'll see how that goes.) This idea was born out of my love of poetry, and my desire to share it. Thus, the first poem on the first Poetry Thursday is brought to you by Edna St. Vincent Millay:

Sonnet 42

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply.
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

In the next life, I am going to find Ms. Millay, and I'm fairly sure that we are going to be BFFs.

1.06.2010

Second-Rate Superhero

Superheroes have arch-enemies (think Superman and Lex Luther, Batman and the Joker). The forces of Good are always opposed by the forces of Evil (Frodo vs. Sauron, Harry Potter vs. Lord Voldemort). We who are mere mortals will always have someone we just don't get along with; I prefer to refer to this person as a nemesis (it sounds more significant, right?). I think everyone should have a nemesis; it balances us out.

My current nemesis is a woman at work. We are as polar opposite as two people could possibly be, which wouldn't be a bad thing, except that she simply cannot see my point of view. Ever. I generally know where she is coming from, even if I rarely understand it. The difficulty comes from the fact that I am in a supervisory position, and I am the department trainer, which means I'm usually telling her what to do. It doesn't go over well. She cries, I get frustrated, she "tattles on me" to my boss, I defend myself. We never come to a consensus, or get any actual work done.

This would not be all that problematic -- or different from thousands of other awkward work situations -- if it were not for the added complication that this woman is crazy. Seriously. She suffers under some MAJOR delusions, and has very little actual grip on reality. She may or may not hear voices, I don't know. (I'm serious.) She wonders why I can't "just be nice to her." Her version of nice -- that I never offer feedback, suggestions, or anything that isn't rainbow-tinted rays of sunshine, as I constantly build and uplift and tell her what a marvelous human being she is, all while praising the (mediocre - my word) work that she does -- differs distinctly from my version of nice. Besides, nice has nothing to do with it. I'm just doing my job.

It's exhausting. And yes, I know that Lex Luther and the Joker and Voldemort are crazy, but they are crazy + evil genius. MY nemesis is crazy + tears - genius + delusion - money and/or explosive devices and/or magic. I'll never get my cape at this rate...

1.04.2010

This Year, I Will...

I discovered this delightful little website today. It will automatically generate a New Year's Resolution for you. Even though I don't like setting them, and I'm still not going to, I did see a couple that seemed like good ideas...