13 Thursday Blue Moon
1. If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true. ~ 1528 Proverb
2. I figure the connection between the moon and the cow that jumped over it must be the MOO in the word MOON.
3. And whoever came up with the idea that the moon is made of cheese must have been looking at the moon’s craters and thinking about the holes in Swiss cheese. Or they could have been thinking about how the moon seems to get nibbled down to a crescent of rind every month. Or maybe they saw THIS video, called The Horrible Truth about the Moon.
4. Joe and I got married on a blue moon. At the reception, the band was supposed to play THIS song when I danced with my Dad and THIS song when I Joe and I danced our first dance as a married couple, but they made a mistake and played the songs in reverse order.
5. Yesterday while I was waiting for a deli counter worker to slice up my Black Forest ham and Swiss cheese, I strolled over the greeting card section to look at the cards. There, faced with a display of father’s day cards, I was shocked with the realization that I don’t have a father anymore.
6. Sometimes when I feel uninspired, writing poetry is like going against gravity, like writing with a pen on the ceiling with the ink running down.
7. The photo above is of one of my favorite birthday presents. It’s a pen that lights up so that you can write in the middle of the night or in the dark if you need to. My husband got it at a counseling training, which makes me wonder if they think counselors work overtime.
8. My friend Mara has been writing formal poetry non-stop lately. Her father, Wayne, recently coined the term “sonnet boom” to describe how prolific she’s been.
9. The Writing is on the Wall: According to THIS Vietnam War Memorial website, there are 58,256 names on the Vietnam Wall representing service members who have died directly from combat-related wounds, are MIA or POWs. “Cancer victims of Agent Orange, and post traumatic stress suicides do not fit the criteria for inclusion upon the Memorial. Some have calculated that it would take another two or more entire Walls to include all the names in those two categories alone,” the website reads. Sadly, the suicide rate of Iraq War veterans hasn’t gotten a lot of press but is climbing, as THIS story that my sister posted on Memorial Day on our family email group points out.
10. In a family photograph of my father, taken in Germany at the end of WWII, he’s standing in his army uniform holding a blonde German child in his arms. Her hair is parted down the middle, pulled tightly into two braids. She looks happy. When I was a little girl, I formed an opinion about that photograph. Regardless of the fact that I hadn’t been born when it was taken, I wondered why he was holding her when he should have been holding me…or one of my brothers or sisters at least. We all agreed that my dad was handsome and looked like Elvis Presley back then … so begins the WVTF National Public Radio radio essay about my dad, which aired for Memorial Day of 2004. The rest of the essay is HERE.
11. ‘How are you?’ can be one of the hardest questions for me to answer. Sometimes when I’m asked it, I blurt out something dumb like “I had oatmeal for breakfast.”
12. “I smell like bleach and I have a blister in the middle of my hand from hoeing the garden,” was how I most recently answered when my husband asked this question, which can be translated as: I’m working like a dog.
13. How are you?
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13’s are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
May 31st, 2007 9:42 am
Great list! Happy T13! Mine are up at Special K Family and Being An Air Force Wife
May 31st, 2007 9:58 am
Maybe the moon and cheese guy was just hungry. The smell of bleach can be a nice smell sometimes
May 31st, 2007 10:17 am
How am I? Turned upside down. Just got out of bed and am still digesting all the amazing things you’ve written about in your post. Still thinking about the post about your dad (I commented there too.)
Have a great weekend, XINE
May 31st, 2007 10:45 am
Oh, those videos are great, especially the Dean Martin one! How weird that the DJ would mix those songs up! And thanks for the Robert Plant video 🙂
Have you tried rosemary ham? It’s delish in a sandwich with swiss or provolone, and try it on top of some grilled eggplant…YUM!
I’m…working? Checking emails? Reading blogs?
May 31st, 2007 11:06 am
My animals go crazy during the full moon. Come to mention it, so does my husband.
May 31st, 2007 12:35 pm
What a fun TT! I enjoyed reading it. And I like your responses to the “how are you” question! The first response that pops into my mind for that question is “covered in cat hair”, LOL.
Happy TT, and thank you for visiting my blog!
May 31st, 2007 12:49 pm
I’m feeling kinda Buick. Thanks for asking.
Does Mara write ol’ school sonnets?
May 31st, 2007 1:32 pm
Yes, I think they’re old school. Villanelles too. She leaves them on my answering machine. Yesterday she was telling me that villanelles are likely rooted in country harvest songs, like rounds, which is why they repeat.
I’ve directed her to your site, Rick but she’s a full time student and single mother with no internet at home, so it will likely take awhile.
She has a great answer for How Are You? I was trying to remember it, because the comments I made here came from a conversation I had with her. We were going to come up with some crafted responses to the question, but of course I couldn’t retain it.
I think I’ll say “a yellow Chevy” next time someone asks.
May 31st, 2007 2:14 pm
Well, first off, I love the light up pen!
And I’m so sorry your songs got mixed up. “Baby I love your way” moves my soul…it just sounds like what love feels like to me.
How am I? I am a little ranty today.
But I did have a porch vacation this morning :).
May 31st, 2007 4:06 pm
We have no light up pen but we do have one of those that will write from any angle, even upside down.
I know how you feel in the greeting card section. I lost my dad at 19, my mother 2 years ago. It’s a jolt now and then. Even at age 51, it’s still stange to be parentless.
May 31st, 2007 4:21 pm
An astronaut pen! Does it write good poetry?
It’s my second year without my dad, but I don’t think I let myself even near the Father’s Day cards. I think when both parents are gone one might feel like an orphan.
May 31st, 2007 5:30 pm
i luv you 2 13 (+88)
solve the equation win a kiss
May 31st, 2007 7:34 pm
I too had oatmeal this morning.
I’ll have to consider answering “How are you?” that way from now on. Just to make people take notice. 🙂
~S
May 31st, 2007 10:03 pm
Hi Colleen. That pen is absolutely brilliant. I have a light for my computer keyboard, but it’s boring white. Blue is so much cooler.
Popped by from Michele’s tonight. Tomorrow’s my last day in this job, and I’m feeling a little morose. Change…
May 31st, 2007 10:17 pm
How am I? I’m a little annoyed because I have to get up in the morning & go to work on my day off & restless because I want to go on vacation & I have 11 days left to get through. Otherwise I’m fine, thanks for asking. ;^) I got to drive home from work in a thunderstorm tonight & it’s still raining off & on here so no full blue moon which I was so looking forward to seeing tonight.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
May 31st, 2007 11:54 pm
I have always wanted a pen that lights up, so I can write down my dreams!!
June 1st, 2007 8:41 am
Haha.. what a fun TT. I always have trouble answering “How are you?” too. I tend to say “good” or “fine” even if I’m not, because most people who ask me that don’t really care anyway, they’re just trying to be nice.
Thanks for visiting my TT.
June 1st, 2007 10:02 am
My dad looks like Elvis in his military photos too. 😉 I liked the start of your essay. 🙂
June 1st, 2007 8:37 pm
I love your blue pen!
I automatically answer, “Good!” even if I’m not…they don’y really want to know about bad stuff or health gunk!
June 2nd, 2007 5:42 am
As always Colleen, an inspired TT! How do you do it? I’m amazed! I mean you get so much into each post, but particularly your TT’s…and all the links! Like I said, You Amaze me!
June 2nd, 2007 6:26 pm
That is one of the neatest pens I’ve ever seen! Really neat.
And yes….with both parents gone, many times I do feel like an orphan. It’s still unnatural on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day not to be able to purchase a card.
June 3rd, 2007 5:39 pm
Cool pen. Great TT! Things at my house are just hectic; we’re junebugs flying at hyper speed!
June 3rd, 2007 10:44 pm
“I’m good, How are you?” I say that almost instinctively without any thought of how I really am.
The one about the cards and you realizing your dad was gone just broke my heart. I just sent you a cyber hug.
I always think I see a bear sitting with a honey pot when I look at the moon. I’ve seen it since I was a child and I just can’t shake it. That ole bear is there.
I love your pen! It got my attention quickly.
June 5th, 2007 9:45 am
Post Traumatic Stress is an outcome of all wars, not just the Iraq war.
June 5th, 2007 10:06 am
No question.
June 7th, 2007 3:36 pm
“How are you?”
“The world is made of math, at which I suck.”
OR
“F.I.N.E.”
(you get to try and remember the acronym..ha ha)