NASA Image of the Day

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Universe Possibles

Earth's exquisite shrug,
Morning....and just beyond the pattern of
Fluid Vapid that is something....
Celestial marbles, vying for
Electron infusion, so they might
Scurry away again

Balls and Jacks, haphazard and joyously scattered across galaxies of Tic Tac Toe, unending;
Creation's Delight,
Trailing stars.

Lisa Stansfield - Live at Ronnie Scott's, 2002

Simple Minds Main Square Festival live

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

HARMONY and the passing of a legend: Joanne Klauke-Labelle, R.I.P.

I remember when Joanne decided on that one word - HARMONY - as a response and outreach to many things: personal sorrow, anguish at "not getting the right signals in time", a way to open firmly shut doors to agony and abuse in the young - amidst seemingly incoherent attempts to work through it; poverty; ignorance.

Music was the natural and available solace that broke down all walls, cleared a way through all fog, crossed all religious, tradition, political, and economic boundaries with brave and unconcerned disregard, and made the clasping of hands a precursor to placing them gently on the keys of a piano, to begin all of those personal journeys through darkness and sorrow, bravery and light.  

Whatever the issue, music could assist. Whatever the sorrow, music could soothe, when words, or money, or paint brushes, or car parts, or tended gardens, or the whir of a sewing machine, or rough affection, or intellectual prowess, met with unreachable anger. Music, for her, and people like her, became a tool in a cache and medewewin arsenal with which to combat all manner of ills - one of many in the artists's never ending and surprising medicine bag of responses to all the worst, manifested in the world. It crossed generations, united the disparate, and brought understanding in seemingly impossible circumstances, simply by being nothing but itself: honest response and the lament of the aggrieved.

"Hello, baby, hello, haven't seen your face for a while;
Have you quit doin' time for me, or are you still the same spoilt child;
Hello, I said hello, is this the only place you thought to go;
Am I the only man you ever had, or am I just the last surviving friend,
That you know.

Harmony and me, we're pretty good company,
Looking for an island, in our boat upon the sea.
Harmony, gee I really love you, and I want to love you forever,
And dream of the never, never never leaving Harmony.

Hello, I said Hello,
Open up your heart and let your feelings flow,
You're not unlucky knowing me, keeping the speed real slow.
In any case I set my own pace
By stealing the show,
Say Hello, hello.

Harmony and me, we're pretty good company
Looking for an island in our boat upon the Sea
Harmony gee I really love you and I want to love you Forever
And dream of the never, never never leaving
Harmony.  (elton john)

.......................Surprisingly, there's a little John the Baptist in us all, when all we have to create Harmony -

   .... amidst the war which seems, like schism, always so much easier to sell, promote, advertise, report on, and add to, for its incessant promulgators -


is the ability to begin a dialogue of its gentle demise, with
Music.

Always underfunded, always underrated, and - like all means by which we cope, naturally,
as creative beings, with loss and stability, kindness and hope, dreams and efforts, unrealized - mostly ignored, except when faced with crisis and no coping mechanisms -
the last grip upon the rope was always one step closer to
Ringing a bell.

One could see it, like a fierce light, suddenly lit, in the dulled eyes, made brighter, instantly, and in the emerging, anxious and strengthened grip upon the string of the proverbial bell, in whatever manner the bell came: guitar, drumstick, tambourine, baton, piano key, maracas.....spoon.

Today, my dearest Friend,
It tolls for Thee. Heaven, I feel certain, will answer.


Ms. Dawn M. Nevills
Anglican, and your grieving Friend.



Monday, April 13, 2015

National Volunteer Week - April 12-16

Has life changed, in some better way for you, because of a volunteer?

Instant Letter #1! Today's convenient way to "write and keep in touch". Just check off the blocks!

Dear ___________________,



How are (  )you?  (  )your dog and other pets?  (  )your latest ailments? (  )your stocks doing?
(   )the forecasts for weather in this year's almanac?(  )other family members you still talk to?

Conversationally speaking, how do you define a friendship like ours?  (  )sheer poetry
 (  )awful (  )unlawful (  )inspirational (  )perspirational (  )frightening for other people with bad intentions (  )fateful   (  )classically romantic, including celibacy (  )for the pigeons

We're drawn together by a bond of:
(  )sensitivity  (  ) shared allergies (  )triviality (  ) odd hobbies (  ) gluttony (  )cheapness
(  )desperation  (  )stupidity  (  )accident.....we met after slamming our heads together while picking up documents after our personal collision - grateful that it involved no actual vehicles.

We'll be friends as long as there are:
(  )dreamers  (  )clouds in the sky (  )flies in the soup (not any we'd ever eat)
 (  )kangaroos in the oceans (  ) scratch that last one

When people describe our friendship they will always say:
(  ) uh oh  (  )they're both still ALIVE? (  )do you owe either of them money? (  )they like you....right?(  )yechhhhhh! (  ) EEEWWWWWW (  )it's a mystery    (  )no one's really sure if they're aliens or one is just covering for the other  (  ) aw....bear hug. xo

We are unique in the annals of:

(  )human history (  ) Jonah's whale....sorry; that was a typo, and never actually happened. Cough.
(  )useless junk known as "shabby chic" (  )unexplained phenomena  (  )swill

And from this latest experience in either of our lives, which we have yet to discuss at length, we have both learned the value of:

(  )trust  (  )confusion (  )pain.....you did high five with a brick again, dolt (  )recycled garbage...mostly yours there, buddy (  ) alcohol - exterior and interior. (  )suppressed laughter
(  )personal hygiene (  )REM sleep cycles

As always,


______________________________________________