Loose Leaf Notes

1. The pouring of tea is like the conversation that comes after the contemplation of the steeping.  The darker the steeping, the deeper is the taste of meaning.

2. “This portal! How remarkable that it’s there in your kitchen. The wonder of gazing down that rabbit hole, that well of wisdom—into fantastic pictures, to stories that lead around the cup and up the sides, beyond the daily to magical, often humorous, luminous inspiration—through the tea leaves remaining in a cup…” – More from Wisdom in a Teacup by Gretchen Lawlor HERE.

3. I don’t drive far from home / and can barely read my own writing / but I miss the inspiration/ closed between the pages / of bright futures and good graces / Where once in a lifetime love spent / is stamped like a passport in faded print… Read The Notebook in its entirety HERE.

4. In writing poetry (as in life), I try to avoid self-victimization and drama as much as I avoid soundbite solutions and glossing over.

5. In working with words, the meaning is the wild card that trumps the rhyme. The rhyme is like the physical appearance you can’t change.

6. “It’s not lost on me that I’m so busy recording life, I don’t have time to really live it.”  -David Sedaris

7. “A Woman’s Place is in the House” has taken on a whole new meaning.  It’s actually the title of an article in Elle magazine, referring to the fact that on November 6, 2018, 35 new women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making this incoming class the most diverse by race and gender in the body’s 230-year history.

8. This past year, Merriam-Webster added 850 new words and definitions. Many of these words seem like they have been around for several years. Often they have, because the dictionaries don’t want to include words that are merely passing fads. Some examples of recently added words or meanings are: Cryptocurrency, Glamping, Microfinance, Mansplain, Demonym, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bandwidth.

9. Justice prevailed as the “word of the year,” named by Merriam-Webster.  Other words that were looked up at significantly higher rates than they were a year ago, according to the dictionary,

10. Sometimes my random Thirteen Thursdays remind me of Seinfeld, a show about nothing.

11. Seinfeld said in 2016 interview with Rolling  Stone that he’d welcome Donald Trump on his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – if only for comedy’s sake. “He is buffoonish enough, with the long ties, the pinky-index pointing,” he said. “He’s as funny as it gets.” But the comic would insist on driving an open-top car: “I wanna see the hair fly.”

12. It must be my Irish DNA that makes me love tea over coffee and dark beer over wine. A pub and a tea shop have a lot in common for those who enjoy a good brew. I’m drawn by the intoxicating flavors, the alluring aromas, the warm and cold, the clear amber tones.  Whether assam, ceylon, pekoe, earl grey, or darjeeling, a china cup of tea is a pool of poetry, a remedy for whatever ails.  Whether stout, larger, hops, wheat, or ale, good beer is hearty food for my body and soul. Both beer and tea pamper and nourish me. They call me to slow down and partake in the present moment.

13. “I don’t think there’s a good excuse for being unhappy.” Jerry Garcia

_______________Thirteen Thursday