Loose Leaf Notes

1. Santa didn’t come to Winterfest this year, but my friend Amy’s baby Pearl was there in her Santa suit.  I wouldn’t fit on her lap to tell my Christmas wishes, but I’d let her sit on mine, anytime.

2. If Pearl is a Santa’s helper then the picture below is of her in the workshop.

3. A poem I submitted to the New River Valley Voices writing competition was selected for their fall program. On Sunday, I read it to a full room at the Blacksburg Public Library with eight other writers of poetry and prose.

4. I still get nervous doing poetry readings, but I’ve also come a long way. It’s never as bad as it feels leading up to my mic time, but after doing two recent readings and one rehearsal reading, I vowed to retire after another reading coming up next week, not from writing poetry but from reading it in public.

5. You know, kind of like a mother who just had a baby and doesn’t want to think about having another one.  But she still likes kids.

6. I was really moved by U2’s new songs and their performances on Saturday Night Live this week. The first song they did was called American Soul:  “You are rock and roll / You and I are rock and roll / Came here looking for American soul / It’s not a place / This is a dream the whole world owns / The pilgrim’s face / It had your heart to call her home… For refugees like you and me/ A country to receive us / Will you be our sanctuary / Refu-Jesus…” Well worth the listen HERE. 

7. This one, Get out of Your Own Way was good too: “…Love has got to fight for its existence / The enemy has armies of assistance / The amorist, the glamorous, the kiss / A fist, listen to this, oh / Get out of your own way / I could sing it to you all night / If I could, I’d make it alright, alright / Nothing’s stopping you except what’s inside / I can help you, but it’s your fight, your fight…” Watch HERE.

8. Best Tweet this week: “If Barack Obama cured cancer Donald Trump would try to bring it back.” – Josh Schwerin

9. It’s ironic that Trump keeps whining about the fake news when, as evidenced by his actions and the Russian influence in the election, he is a fake president.

10. There’s always a lot to do in Floyd but times have changed. Today, I’d rather see Santa than go to a Goddess Gathering and dance to rock and roll than to Sufi/Universal Dances of Peace.

  11. The elves in my world have been busy making books and board games, like the one above called “Cake Party.”

12. Now my dreams / are like shopping lists / that repeat without plots / and my poems are / like actors in bad roles – Read the rest of my poem, Things That Don’t Work, HERE. 

13. Instead of The Elf on the Shelf, our grandsons have to find the hidden Gieco Geko  when they come to visit.

______________Thirteen Thursday