usedmuses: November 2013

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Quote for the Day

"I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." -Diane Ackerman (American author, poet, and naturalist)

Friday, November 29, 2013

"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." -John Henry Jowett (English congregational pastor)

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Quote of the Day

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” -Theodor Seuss Geisel (American writer, poet, and cartoonist)

A Picture for Today

A Thanksgiving day in the past that I am forever thankful for.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Quote for the Day

"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches." -Alice Roosevelt Longworth (oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt)

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Quote for the Day

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made the victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." -Harvey Fierstein (American actor and playwright)

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey Fierstein
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_life.html#Q3Qwo7FAVLk25BUm.99

short poem #5

i've got a grocery list that doesn't include bad habits anymore
no appetite for late night destruction of health
no more ignored ingredient and nutrition labels
for the feeding if the moment

though occasionally there's still the late night sweet tooth
that sneaks up on you when you've had too much salad
the one that sends you to the fridge to pull it open, stare
pull it open, stare
pull it open, stare

third times a charm in realizing that the cupboard's bare
funny how at these times it can be full
and feel bare

what happened to kool-aid and oreos
what happened to dipping unhealthy foods
into dips that make them even more so

my arteries are clogging
heart barely beats through sluggish rhythms
however my mental veins are flowing
and my heart strings are starting to untangle

so i'll hold off on that trip to the hot spot
for tonight
just for old time's sake

read my first four short poems

Band Photos and Learning Curves

Being a musician I really enjoy taking photos of musicians. I have had some awesome opportunities for that at the Nantahala Brewing Company. Recently, some friends of mine asked me to help with some band photos. I am not accustomed to taking photos of musicians who know they are having their picture made. It took some getting used to. A learning curve for sure. They were patient and kind. However, something else I learned from this experience was not to upload my photos into some random program and then delete them off my camera! I took massive images and it downsized them to 72dpi. No good. Unfortunately, that means I have done that to several rounds of photos. That's ok, lesson learned. With all the said, here are a few of my favorites from that day.

This picture of fiddler, Sally Anne Morgan, was my overall favorite.

Just a quick glance and she stuck out her fiddle. Nice.

photos of The Freight Hoppers by Liz Nance Bryson City, NC 2013

Saturday, November 23, 2013

truth and love

last night i started writing out what i would say. i felt like i was writing a speech. i felt like i was trying to fit a big story of my life onto a single piece of steno paper. it wasn't happening. i got through the, "good evening and thank you for joining me" yadda yadda "supporting the arts" yadda yadda. it all seemed so cold and heartless. so i decided to just write an outline, something to keep me on topic. something to keep me going with an order of events. but life doesn't always happen in any particular order and stories need flashbacks and foreshadowing to be told. my friend jeff asked how much of the story i would tell. my answer was, "all of it". he asked if any of my family would be there. of course not. mainly because of distance, but mostly because they still don't want to acknowledge the "all of it" part. how do you tell a story that others in the story won't tell? how do you share truth when others in the story don't see it as that or aren't ready to accept it as such? how do you expose skeletons when the closet has such guarded locks? tonight i will chance losing touch with family that i love dearly. tonight i will chance ousting myself. tonight i will chance hurting someone to possible save others. tonight i will choose truth. tonight i will choose love.