100 Top Books of the Year

Below is a link to the NYTimes list: 100 Top Books of the Year.

Enjoy and three cheers for reading.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html?ex=1353992400&en=3113593b7ec708e2&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Drought

They shuffle,
nameless thousands
down human highways
in the glaring sun.

We cruise,
nameless thousands
down four-lane highways
in climatized cars.

Wait:
afraid,
weak,
at jammed relief centers.

Wait:

impatient,

aggressive,

at jammed intersections.

Suffer
long nights of
coughs and cries.

Suffer

long nights of

crowds and credit cards

To appease the
gnawing of their
hollow stomachs.

To appease the

gnawing of our

hollow lives.

To feed their bloated children.

To feed our bloated egos.

To keep alive their
dying young.

To keep alive our

dying "youth".

JQM 1990

##

I Resign And I Join

Dear Reader: This post raised hackles when I first sent it out as an email this last spring. It actually generated excellent dialogue with some of my quite conservative friends. I stand by it today.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

I’m renouncing my American citizenship as of today, Tuesday, May 29, 2007.
From this point on, I am a world citizen.
I have had it with this country. I have had it with the mean-spiritedness, narrow-mindedness, and ignorance of so many in this country.

The last straw was reading some of the posts in response to the announcement by Cindy Sheehan that she is hanging up her anti-war hat and bowing out of the anti-war movement. Because basically the Democrats have used her in underhanded ways just as the Republicans abused her openly.
Did she make some big mistakes, like hugging Chavez when she visited his country? Duh!
Have we all made big mistakes? Duh!
Does she deserve to be called by those posting responses: Witch, Bitch, and told, “Good Riddance, Attention-Getting Whore!”
I, for one, don’t think so.
Lest we forget, this woman has experienced the ultimate sacrifice: her precious son died in this never-ending war.
She did more than most people do with their beliefs - she acted on them. Whether or not you agree with her stance, she was demonstrating what this country was originally founded upon - open dialogue and freedom of speech/actions.

This country has become morally bankrupt.
Open your eyes and look around.
And I’m not the first one to say so: Mother Teresa, for one, said America is a nation of spiritually impoverished people.
Read Ezekiel 7 and you will read a prophetic warning about this so-called Christian nation, written originally to a so-called Jewish nation.

I am not planning to relocate to another country, though some days I feel like it. I am not so stupid that I don’t realize that I am afforded many freedoms and advantages in this country.
Just don’t sell me any more lines that we are going over to Iraq or North Korea or Iran to protect those freedoms.
Bogus!
I will have no more part in the imperialistic American empire.
Instead, I will use my freedoms and advantages to further peace and well-being in this world.
I will seek to understand others, with different viewpoints, from different religions and national allegiances, following different agendas.
And I will promote dialogue and self-understanding.

Most of all, I will try to be more and more available to the world’s impoverished and suffering.
Because, when I face Jesus, I want Him to say,
When I was hungry, you fed me.
When I was naked, you clothed me.
When I was thirsty, you gave me drink.
When I was sick and in prison, you visited me.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for Me.

Move over, Mother Teresa, I’m coming through.
No more Indian, American, European.
Christian, Muslim, New-Age, Hindu.
Democrat, Republican, Socialist.
I am a world citizen.
And a follower of Jesus.
Period.

Jlo 2007

Old Woman, Old Woman

Old woman, old woman. Listen and I'll tell you a secret.
No one really cares what an old woman does with her time...
Which provides the perfect cover for doing something...

Subversive
Transforming
Revolutionary

When the day slows to a lazy crawl,

And the hours are so quiet you can hear your bones,

Real-time accelerates.

For the first time, old woman, you have the power to change your world.

Behind the scenes...

Unnoticed by the busy throng that passes by.

A mover, though still.

A shaker, though quiet.

Powerful, though hidden.

Wise, though voiceless.

Don't waste this time, old woman,

By counting:

Past mistakes,

Lost dreams,

Fading beauty.

Let go...

Move out of your shell of irrelevancy,

And into a life that matters.

No one will know.

No one will care.

Now's your opportunity:

To be free of self-imposed perfection,

Other-imposed demands,

World-imposed expectations.

There is no place more powerful.

JQM 2007

Feisty Spirit aka Porch Kitty

Hey, everybody, I just entered the
Iams Fabulous Feline Online Cat Contest.
Below is my entry in the category: Happy Bellies


Meet Feisty Spirit aka Porch Kitty:

In the spring of 2006, Porch Kitty first visited the large, rambling porch of The Dragonfly House, my home in a small town in Oregon.
My young roommate began to set out food for Porch Kitty…and also to hope I would welcome this stray cat into our lives.
I have never been a cat person.
But Porch Kitty and her winning, affectionate ways began to grow on me.
I began spending time on the porch each day getting to know her.
In a few short weeks, I was smitten.
In fact, I told a friend I had never been as attached to an animal as I was to Porch Kitty.
Porch Kitty actually had a collar and tag on her, with the name Spirit. Also, the owner’s name and phone number, but the number had been disconnected.
It looked like Porch Kitty was here to stay. I renamed her Feisty Spirit in memory of another cat that had adopted our porch when my children were young.
I had just gotten to the point of real connection with Feisty Spirit when tragedy struck.
I live on a fairly busy street and Spirit got hit by a car one day.
My roommate, a Vet. Assistant, and I, found her hidden in the bushes, seriously injured.
We tried over several days to take her to the vet, but it never worked out.
Then, all of a sudden, she just disappeared...for almost three days.
My roommate warned me that most likely Spirit’s injuries were more serious than we thought and she had probably gone off somewhere alone to die.
I was deeply saddened.
On the third day of Feisty Spirit's disappearance, I went out on the porch, to the dresser that held the wrist weights I used on my morning walks.
By now, I had resigned myself to Feisty Spirit’s demise.
But, as I opened the dresser drawer, I said out loud: “You know, for some reason I still half expect Spirit to show up one of these days.”
Just as I ended my sentence, I looked down at the foot of the dresser, and guess who climbed out from underneath?!
Ms. Nine-Lives Porch Kitty herself!
To make a long story short, we never did get Spirit to the vet.
But, undaunted by injury, she kept up her patrol, hobbling along as she roamed the porch and yard.
Until gradually and over a short period of time, she healed on her own, and now is as good as new.
She is the Feisty Spirit that watches over my porch, my property, and all who live in The Dragonfly House.
I believe she was sent here.

JQM 2007

Worth Your Attention

Readers.
Please check out this link and make your own educated and informed decision:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
Love,
Jlo

Time to Sling Some Slang

At some undisclosed garage sale this summer I came across The Random House Thesaurus of Slang: 150,000 uncensored slang terms.
As one of the 16 books I am reading at the present time (yes, I actually counted them), I like to peruse a page of this slang book here and there, just for fun.
It really is interesting reading; so far, I'm barely into the A's. (But, remember I have 15 other books waiting in the wings.)
Sometimes I actually read the slang entries outloud because the lists are so colorful, both in description and how they roll off the tongue.
So, just for your education, I include most of the list of slang words that you can use the next time you want to express the concept: abandon.

ABANDON v. bail out, bow out, chicken out, check out, punk out, drop out, opt out, count out, cop out, sell out, storm out, pull out, push out, flake out, snake out, nix out, ooze out, peel out, ship out, burn out, walk out on, run out on, leg, leg it out, ease out, fase out, fase, do a fase, fase away, drift away, dust, fly the coop, ease on, put it to the wind, slide, scratch gravel, duck, heel, haul one's freight, quit the scene, take a powder, walk, bug off, kick off, knock off, slam off, skidoo, go over the side, slough, book, time to book, time to bail, bottle up and go, up stakes, pull up stakes, cheese it, take a walk, cut loose, ditch, shake, leave flat, leave high and dry, leave holding the bag, bag it, leave in the lurch, swear off, pass, pass on, pass up, take the oath, pack in, give in, cave in, give up, throw in the sponge, throw in the towel, pull the pin, pull the plug, pull in one's horns, cry uncle, hang up one's spurs, pack it in, rat, chuck, chuck it, fold, quit cold, quit cold turkey, kick, drop, angle, hang it up, bog down, come off, cry off, stand down, drag it, give up the ghost, give up the ship, kiss goodbye, throw over, toss over, throw overboard, wash one's hand of, change one's tune, change one's song, drop like a hot potato, back down, pigeonhole, sideline, sidetrack.
PS: I left out a few well-known and over-used slang expressions for this word.

Man, doesn't this list get your creative juices going?!
Think of the possibilities for use in a Dear John letter or a sobbing, you-done-me-wrong reply to a Dear John letter.
Almost makes you want someone to break-up with you, so you can try out a few of these gems.

"I just want to know....(sob). How you can cry uncle, quit the scene, and scratch gravel after all these years?! How you can (wail) throw me overboard, give up the ship, and go over the side, after all we've meant to each other?!"

Geeze, on the basis of your creative response alone, the guy or gal might stick around.
Guess I'll have to wait another day to use all I've learned about slang terms for abandon.

This Public Service Segment - for all those recently jilted and needing more than one way to couch the injustice in colorful terms - has been brought to you by jlomowriter inc.

Thank you and good night.
JLO 2007

quote of the day

"Do not go where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."


Ralph Waldo Emerson