Posted by Xine at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: 2010 Winter Games , British Columbia , Erick McCormack , Kim Cattrall , Michael J. Fox , Ryan Reynolds , Sarah McLachlan , Steve Nash , YouTube

Back from our vacation in Kauai and slowly getting used to the idea that I am back at work (full-time) on Monday. Will slowly begin to take down our Christmas decorations this weekend in preperation for Epiphany (January 6). I will also redraft my to do list for 2009 and hope to post something more substantial in the coming days.

In the meantime, for your reading pleasure (and perhaps amusement), I post the results of a recent quiz. Turns out, I am wonder woman.

Could it be because I answered the question about a push-up bra with a resounding yes?!

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 90% Green Lantern 90% Spider-Man 80% Supergirl 70% Superman 60% Iron Man 60% The Flash 50% Robin 40% Hulk 40% Batman 30% Catwoman 10%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Posted by Xine at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: distractions , diversions , happy new year , quiz , superhero , wonder woman

It’s way past my bedtime. In trying to find the “sweet spot” for chicken scratch, I came across these ten questions. While some of the questions are geared towards marketing/merchandising blogs (and don’t really apply to me) - they do serve as good jumping off point for discussion. Do I really know what chicken scratch is about? Do I really know what I want it be? The only way to know is to start writing until the answers become clear … to be con’t …

1. Who are your primary and secondary targets for your blog?

2. What do you want to tell them?

3. Do you understand what the key informational needs of the audience are?

4. Are you reading other blogs on that topic, and ones targeting your customers and prospects?

5. If you are reading, are you leaving comments that add to the online conversation on the blogs you cover?

6. Do you have a firm grasp on the types of keywords to focus on that would be relevant to your blog?

7. Do you follow those keywords on Technorati and Google Blog Search? Do you have alerts set up around those keywords at Google Alerts? (or possibly even use a reputation management system?)

8. Can you commit to blogging at least two-to-three times per week? (consistency is key, based on the expectations you set with your audience)

9. What is your ultimate goal in starting a blog? In one year from when you start blogging, how will your life be different?

10. Are you looking at blogging as a challenge or something that could be fun?

Posted by Xine at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: 10 questions , audience , blogging , search for meaning

There’s no question; the presidential race has eclipsed the federal election taking place on October 14 across the country. How can Dion, Harper and Layton compete with Palin?

Why the Palin parody on SNL has generated such media interest is simple. According to Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic:

the amazing thing is that a whole section of the script was directly transcribed from Palin’s actual attempted interview with Katie Couric

From the excerpts of the recent interview with Katie Couric I’ve seen, I would have to agree.

Our federal election is so bland compared to our neighbour’s. We too worry about climate change. We too are concerned with health care and the economy. But none of the election platforms have seemed to gain much traction.

Posted by Xine at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Tags: Andrew Sullivan , federal election , Katie Couric , presidential campaign , Sarah Palin , SNL parody

This video moved me deeply. I have been thinking about my place in this world. I have been thinking about the purpose of my blog. What is it that I want to share? I don’t have the answer, but do know that my existing format was not working. Fall brings the opportunity to break out of existing patterns and so I shall.

And so begins the unfolding.

Posted by Xine at 11:05 PM | Permalink
Tags: authenticity , sense of self , The Five Secrets , writing

And because I’m feeling nostalgic - I bring you Lucy dancing syrtaki. OPA!

Posted by Xine at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Tags: Greek Dancing , Greek Food Festival , Greek Music , I love Lucy , Syrtaki

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Article published by Jessica Wapner, May 2008, Scientific American.

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. “We believe something in the brain’s limbic system is boosting their desire to communicate,” Flaherty explains. Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.

Posted by Xine at 9:21 AM | Permalink
Tags: blogging , study , theory , writing

I may not be posting much these days but chicken-scratch has had lots of behind the scenes activity. A new and improved blog with increased functionality and more writing from me (I promise) will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

I have also been experimenting with social media like Twitter. And I am working on integrating all aspects of my online world. In the meantime, if you do miss me, please check out my self-conscious twitterings here.

Let the adventure begin.

Oh, and Happy Victoria Day to y’all!

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Read: The Fury of the Poor ~ By SPIEGEL Staff

Around the world, rising food prices have made basic staples like rice and corn unaffordable for many people, pushing the poor to the barricades because they can no longer get enough to eat. But the worst is yet to come.

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Who wouldn’t want to own their own literary action figure? Check these out at Teptronics.

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Roy’s Doty’s Leap Year card — Carpe Diem! Found on boingboing.

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PARIS—Children on swings at La Villette amusement park, 1996.
© Richard Kalvar / Magnum Photos

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You Are the Index Finger

You are ambitious, driven, and capable. You aren’t afraid to take responsibility for your actions - or place the blame on whoever deserves it. You are honest, free thinking, and objective. You see things in your own way - and you aren’t afraid to let everyone know about it. You get along well with: The Thumb Stay away from: The Ring Finger

Found at Thomma-Lyn’s and decided to play along. Which finger are you?

Posted by Xine at 7:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As of February 15, this will be our front door:

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Found on Cin’s blog and decided to play along. Won’t you join me?

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Vote for this ad on you tube.

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The song is “New Soul.”

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Writers spend three years rearranging 26 letters of the alphabet. It’s enough to make you lose your mind day by day. ~ Richard Price

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Chicken-scratch turned one yesterday and I am dreaming of owning a home. This one, in particular:

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A FREE picture book library: Lookybook.

About: “Lookybook allows you to look at picture books in their entirety—from cover to cover, at your own pace. We know that nothing will replace the magic of reading a book with your child at bedtime, but we aim to replace the overwhelming and frustrating process of finding the right books for parents and their kids.”

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From the Chronicle, an article by Eric G. Wilson on how “American culture’s overemphasis on happiness misses an essential part of a full life.”

Ours are ominous times. We are on the verge of eroding away our ozone layer. Within decades we could face major oceanic flooding. We are close to annihilating hundreds of exquisite animal species. Soon our forests will be as bland as pavement. Moreover, we now find ourselves on the verge of a new cold war.

But there is another threat, perhaps as dangerous: We are eradicating a major cultural force, the muse behind much art and poetry and music. We are annihilating melancholia.

Posted by Xine at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How would like to work and shop in this foliage covered building in Seoul, Korea? Mass Studies Architects designed this multi-use building (shop on first floor, restaurant on second) for Belgium designer Ann Demeulemeester.

Posted by Xine at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I had great plans to write a best of chicken-scratch post. It seems my body has other plans. Stuck at home with a hacking cough and runny nose, I can barely muster enough energy to type these few sentences. So, I’m off-line for a few.

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For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

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Want a fun way to expand your vocabulary and donate rice to charity? Then play the word game at: www.freerice.com

Have some time to shamelessly eavesdrop on New Yorker’s conversations? Be endlessly entertained and horrified: www.overheardinnewyork.com

Didn’t get that puppy for Christmas? Check out: I do dog tricks

Need to escape the dreary and cold December weather? Place yourself in the middle of this scene:

Posted by Xine at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We’re heading up island to eat, drink and be merry. My best wishes to you and yours for a safe, happy and memory-filled Christmas.

Posted by Xine at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

By David Crossland in Dresden from Spiegel Online.

Dresdner Stollen baked in the grand city of Dresden is the queen of German Christmas cakes and has gained a growing popularity abroad. But the small town of Torgau is risking the wrath of Dresden’s bakers by claiming it invented the cake 550 years ago, and launching its own Stollen to mark the occasion.

At Christmas time in Germany, no household is without its “Dresdner Stollen,” a bread loaf-shaped cake containing raisins and marzipan which the city of Dresden has prided itself on for half a millennium.

Posted by Xine at 7:29 AM | Permalink

Buy this fine art print: Blue Dog Rose.

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Buy this print from Broomhill Pictures.

Posted by Xine at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Forget the Nintendo wii, the 12-inch Talking Jesus Messenger of Faith doll, made by one2beleive of Valencia, California is the must-have toy of the season. Walmart sold out last week. Read Consumerist.com .

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Does the world really need to see a Jesus figurine riding a bull or kicking a soccer ball? Apparently - there’s a market for it. A company based in L.A. wants you to keep Jesus with you always, especially this Christmas.

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Lets101 Quizzes - Fun Quizzes

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Join idea-sandbox.com. Membership gets you a cool card and lots of tips and tricks to jump-start your creativity.

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We’ll be celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary tomorrow evening; I look forward to growing old with my beloved. When we’re gray-haired, wrinkled and weathered, we’ll still hold hands and watch the world go by from our favourite park bench.

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You’re a Jellyfish!
It seems that no matter how hard you try to conceal yourself and your thoughts, everything is still in plain view for others to see. Nonetheless, you have a knack for keeping people from exploiting this advantage by using your sharp wit and disorienting charm. You have long limbs and you know how to use them. While you frequently seem drawn to the beach, you should avoid it at all costs.
Take the Animal Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

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Brilliant poster found at Reform School Rules. I’d love to have this in my office.

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For her monthly readings on astrologyzone.com.

It’s birthday month, and you’re feeling excited. Romance is in the air and life seems as close to ideal as you’ve ever seen it. Planets creating a near-perfect triangle pattern will work in unison to help create quite a bewitching time for you. Exciting romantic episodes and foreign travel will combine to create a month to remember for a long time - even forever.

While you have the first few days (November 4 and 7) to help you get closer to your heart’s desires, the month will really take off once the new moon arrives, November 9.

In the few days that follow that new moon, you’ll be ready to tell the universe what it is that you really want - and get it. Love with someone near will be true and deep now, and you will have the capability to feel the full extent of life’s pleasures. You may now get engaged or wed for your birthday - if this hasn’t just recently happened, it would be an ideal time.

Later, when Uranus turns direct on November 24 your social life will take off, and single Scorpios who have been saying there have been “slim pickings” out there will be delighted at the more substantial types that will show up. If things have been a bit dull, they won’t be that way for long! Uranus has been out of phase since June 23, but will now move in a strong, sure course. Your weeks and months ahead will be chock full of wonder and light. There will be so many days to enjoy ahead!

Foreign travel is also such a strong possibility that if you’re not flying to a faraway land for a honeymoon, it surely could be that you’re planning a trip for another reason. Mars, your ruler, will go retrograde on November 15, so try to go during the first half of the month when your journey will be more enjoyable and productive.

If you are dealing with business interests abroad, the same rule applies - make a push for closure early in the month. Later, from November 15 to January 30, spend time reassessing your projects and delay on key actions.

Certain financial deals and maneuvers will mark the time around the full moon, November 24. If you are to wed soon, you may be changing your name on your credit cards and generally deciding how to merge funds. If you need funds to buy a house, or to go to college, or start a business, an answer from your banker, financial aid advisor, or venture capitalist could please you at this time. While you may have to pay money out, you have a wonderful chart for seeing more flow in. There is no reason to be too concerned. Dear Scorpio, the world is your oyster!

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Hmm - it seems my recent focus on death means that chicken-scratch now requires parental guidance.

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It gives me great solace imagining that my mom and dad have been reunited in death. In their 42 years of marriage, they walked everywhere together, always holding hands. My father opened doors for my mother and polished her shoes. And my mother made sure my father was well dressed; his shirts and pants neatly pressed.

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I came across this article by Mary Lefkowtiz on latimes.com (link is below). Do you agree with her comments that monotheism “poisons” human life?

Mere mortals had a better life when more than one ruler presided from on high.

Prominent secular and atheist commentators have argued lately that religion “poisons” human life and causes endless violence and suffering. But the poison isn’t religion; it’s monotheism. The polytheistic Greeks didn’t advocate killing those who worshiped different gods, and they did not pretend that their religion provided the right answers. Their religion made the ancient Greeks aware of their ignorance and weakness, letting them recognize multiple points of view.

There is much we still can learn from these ancient notions of divinity, even if we can agree that the practices of animal sacrifice, deification of leaders and divining the future through animal entrails and bird flights are well lost.

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Cupcakes for Clara on Etsy has me wanting to buy everything in stock. With Christmas just around the corner (or so it seems), I am making my list (checking it twice) and scanning the web for charming, handmade, whimsical treasures.

A bluebird stuffie:

Kitten finger puppets:

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And this is where I’d rather be …

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My October 2007 horoscope courtesy of Astrology Zone.

In the coming month, you’d do well to step back and reassess your life. Only by stepping off the merry-go-round can you see how far you’ve come and decide where you’d like to take things next. While you take your schedule down to a more manageable pace, consider taking a trip overseas. You appear to be entering an important phase, one that will help you develop important contacts and interests abroad. If you’ve not yet acquired a set of luggage that you like, consider doing so soon, for between now and the middle of May of 2008 it will be getting quite a workout.

If you can’t actually leave town, Mars’ angle to Mercury suggests lots of communication will go back and forth with one or more people at a distance no matter what, whether on your BlackBerry, computer, fax, or iPhone. Keep in mind that Mercury will be retrograde, so everyone will be more susceptible to misunderstandings. Go the extra mile to be sure that the messages you send are clear and accurate.

A close relationship is about to see a serious commitment at the full moon, October 26. You may get engaged for your birthday, choose a wedding day, or actually wed. Sign with a business partner to advance a venture. Saturn will be prominent, so you can be sure the tie you make will be one that lasts. Mercury will be retrograde this month, so you may want to wait until the new moon November 9 to actually sign, but there is no harm in holding talks.
If you are single, Neptune will switch on 100,000 watts in your house of romance on October 31. Even if you’ve been disappointed with love in the past - this time, give love second chance. You’re never too old to fall head over heels all over again.

Creative ideas also will get a big boost at month’s end. Present an idea, have an interview or presentation, and get the kind of approvals from VIPs that you used to only dream about!

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Found on someecards.com “for when you care enough to hit send”

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You Are Expressionism

Moody, emotional, and even a bit angsty… you certainly know how to express your emotions. At times, you tend to lack perspective on your life, probably as a result of looking inward too much. This introspection does give you a flair for the dramatic. And it’s even maybe made you cultivate some artistic talents! You have a true artist’s temperament… which is a blessing and a curse.

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Found on Red’s blog.

Who Should Paint You: Andy Warhol

You’ve got an interested edge that would be reflected in any portrait You don’t need any fancy paint techniques to stand out from the crowd!

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Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

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Found at Red Garnier’s blog. Won’t you play along?

What is your favorite Christmas gift? The gift of time, time spent with loved ones. One of my favourite quotes from The Little Prince sums it up best: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

What is your best memory of Christmas? Truly? We confirmed my pregnancy on December 6, 2004, the feast day of St. Nick and on what would have been my father’s name-day. Growing up this always marked the beginning of the Christmas season. More recently: spending the first Christmas without my beloved Mama with my uncle and our extended family up island. I could feel my mom and dad’s presence around us. EM was in heaven running around with all her older (mostly male) cousins.

Depending upon where you live, do you have a hot or cold Christmas? We live on the west coast of Canada. It’s mostly cold and rainy in December. We don’t usually get snow until mid-January.

Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once? Absolutely. Close friends of ours will be moving to Australia in Spring 2008. We plan to experience a tropical, warm Christmas in the next two years.

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real? Even if it has to be a Charlie Brown tree, real please!

What is your favorite carol?

Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.

What is your favorite Christmas dinner? I’m a traditionalist: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, you get the idea.

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas? Can I plead the fifth, even tho’ I’m Canadian?

Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts? Are you kidding me? Did you know that Norad tracks the sleigh? Can’t wait to share the magic with EM!

Posted by Xine at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

My life-style change has begun. No more drinking spirits or diet pop. No more processed carbs or refined sugars. Lots of veggies and lean protein. We’re four weeks away from our trip to Hawaii. We’re four weeks away from me being comfortable in public, wearing a tankini. Enough said. Wish me luck!

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Create your own visitor map!

While I’m not yet convinced that chicken-scratch needs another widget, I do think the visitor map is spiffy.

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Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

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You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

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My overworked brain is not letting me rest this evening … in need of a diversion or two and as part of my constant search for meaning, I am taking random quizzes on the internet.

It seems I’m both a book nerd and Snoopy sidekick!

You are Woodstock!
Take this quiz!

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Found on Miss Frou’s site.

How will you be defined?

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With huge apologies to my regular readers and commentators but chicken-scratch seems to be getting more SPAM than usual. I’ve increased security to my site. In doing so, I inadvertently erased all the feedback received for last week’s Thursday Thirteen entry.

Your comments are vitally important … and my ineptitude … well, it’s as annoying as all the junk e-mail in my in box.

My SPAM filter seems to be in working order now. So all is good with the universe. I do hope to be hearing from you soon.

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no longer need to be feared. Alessandro Esteri of Italy has redefined the little black book. 12 blank booklets/journals designed to be used one per month. Each booklet features a perforated number on the cover denoting the month. The packaging is so lovely and efficient. I wonder how much writing/creating I’d actually get done?

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At age 89, one of the world’s most prominent film-makers has passed away.

I first became aware of Ingmar Bergman through “reading” his work Wild Strawberries (film still below) during my introduction to film class in my second year of university.

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Everyone likes getting dressed up before a special occasion, especially when the occasion is as special as the traditional Horse Racing Festival, which takes place at the end of July every year in Yushu in western China. Here Tibetan riders pose for a photo in their traditional costumes before the festival begins.

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The art of Jennifer Collier is beautiful, delicate and whimsical. I am (particularly) enamoured with her travel stilettos and miniature dresses.

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It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
~ George S. Patton, Jr.

I’ve not felt like blogging lately.

Have been dealing with the loss of my dear uncle, who passed away on Tuesday while vacationing in Greece. The funeral has taken place on Rhodes, even though he lived in Vancouver for most of his adult life and was a Canadian citizen.

My tears, like the rain, fall intermittently.

Good night sweet uncle, good night.

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Playing along with Luna this sunny Sunday morning: she says and I think …

1. Situation :: Uncomfortable
2. Theme song :: Anthem
3. Kelly :: Bag
4. Club :: Country
5. Swerve :: Bend
6. Couch :: Recline
7. Bigfoot :: Myth
8. Arbitrary :: Rule
9. Inventor :: Alexander Graham Bell
10. Blazer :: Uniform

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You’re One Hundred Years of Solitude!
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Lonely and struggling, you’ve been around for a very long time. Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Don’t know how Marquez would feel being part of Oprah’s book club … However, this does happen to be one of my favourite books.

Found this quiz on Dew’s site and decided to play along. What book are you?

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From the Londonist.

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Enter the fantastic world of Vladimir Kush, a Russian-born artist who has been promoting and selling his artwork since 1987. Part Salvador Dali and part Picasso, Vladimir’s observations of both the natural realm and the human psyche are truly amazing.

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What on earth was I thinking when I answered Luna’s questions …

1. Happen :: Occur
2. Terribly :: Wanting
3. History :: Fiction
4. Master :: Servant
5. Petrified :: Forest



6. Moan :: Pleasure
7. Attack :: Stealth
8. Picture :: Clear
9. Students :: Teachers
10. Potter :: Clay

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Last week, the wonderful, intelligent and subversive Miss Frou bestowed the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award to me. Proud to be included in such a tribe, I immediately posted the button on my sidebar and then … spent the next week deliberating who the award should go to next.

Here’s what Miss Frou said about me:

Xine: - Queen of the short but powerful blog post. Her writing is just magical, and she has the best linkage between words and images that I’ve ever seen.

Here are my top picks for this rockin’ award:

1. Dewey from the Hidden Side of A Leaf. In the relatively short time that she’s been blogging, Dewey has created a dynamic community of book lovers. Her site is a hub of activity. She created the blogroll game and has hosted a number of carnivals. She really knows her books. I can always count on Dewey for an honest, articulate assessment of what’s going on in the book world. Visiting her site makes me feel really smart …

2. Red from Red Garnier’s Red Pages. Red has introduced me to the world of romance and erotic writing. A talented, published author and a gentle soul, Red’s blog is a place to go hang out, have fun and learn a thing or two about hot lovin’. Have you read Spin Devil yet? If not, you better hurry because Spin it Again, will be released on July 4th. And yes people, there will be fireworks!!!

3. Colleen from Loose Leaf Notes. I always enjoy visiting Colleen’s space. She’s a poet and deeply spiritual person. Her writing is crystal clear. She’s also intelligent, witty and enjoys life to the fullest. I visit Colleen whenever I need to be transported to a magical place full of wonder and joy.

Dewey, Red and Colleen - YOU ROCK! You each have made my blogging experience memorable, worthwhile and meaningful. Thank you!

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Hence, my G-rating … I wonder what the baseline is?

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This scant reliability of our memories will be satisfactorily explained only when we know in what language, in what alphabet they are written, on what surface, and with what pen …

- Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved

Posted by Xine at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The lovely and talented Thomma Lyn, tagged me for a birthday meme today.

Here are the rules: You go to http://www.wikipedia.org/ and type in your birthday (only month & day). Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and then you tag 5 friends.

My birthday is October 25.

Three Events

• 1415 - The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

• 1945 - The Republic of China takes over administration of Taiwan following Japan’s surrender to the Allies.

• 2001 - Windows XP is officially released.

Two Births

• 1881 - Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1973)

• 1912 - Minnie Pearl, American comedian and singer (d. 1996)

One Holiday

• Virgin Islands - Thanksgiving Day

Five friends that I’m tagging to play along:

• Red Garnier
• Miss Frou Frou
• Dewey
• Colleen
• Susan Helene Gottfried

Posted by Xine at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

If you persist in throttling your impulses you end by becoming a clot of phlegm. You finally spit out a gob which completely drains you and which you only realize years later was not a gob of spit but your inmost self. If you lose that you will always race through dark streets like a madman pursued by phantoms. You will be able to say with perfect sincerity: “I don’t know what I want in life.”

- Henry Miller, Sexus

Posted by Xine at 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I say and you think …

1. Compulsion :: Creative
2. Spiritual :: Ecstasy
3. Spray :: Bouquet
4. Compatibility :: Questionable
5. Pursuit :: Happiness
6. Fake :: Illusion
7. Mobile :: Alabama
8. Ceremony :: Secret
9. Ribbons :: Paper
10. Mozart :: Driven

You too can play along with Luna.

Posted by Xine at 8:12 PM | Permalink

© Dennis Stock / Magnum Photos
DEAUVILLE, France—A woman on the beach, 1985.

For more Beach Daze photos visit Slate.

Posted by Xine at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Red tagged me late last week and asked me to recycle a post from my blog. The post below was written on my European Adventure site as Dev and I were preparing for our trip to Greece and my beloved Mama was in the last stages of dementia. For you, gentle readers, I ask you to read this post first and then follow up with my first entry, here, written in January 2007.

Mama,
there are moments
during night’s final yawn
when I can feel your warm breath
tickle my cheek.

I extend my arms only to embrace darkness.

More than anything,
I want to lay my head inside your mouth
and be swallowed whole.

I love what I do not have and
you are so far.

My final meeting concerning Mama’s care took place yesterday morning on Great Thursday. While we’re away, Mama’s medical team will keep in touch with us via cell phone or e-mail.

It is on this day that Greek households around the world dye their Easter eggs red. Only last year, Dev and I spent Great Thursday driving around the various Mediterranean delis in Victoria searching for the appropriate packets of dye so that we’d have red eggs for Pascha.

On this day, there were no dyeing of eggs, only tears.

Mama is now receiving “comfort care” as she is in the late stages of her dementia. While I met with the hospital administrator, Mama’s nurse came in and asked if she could take the chicken to visit with yia-yia. I followed soon after.

Words fall wingless as she is able to only mimic what is said.

I love you, Mama.

I love you, Mama.

Look at the chicken.

Chicken.

Mama, forgive me.

Forgive … me.

How could this happen?
How did this happen?

Is this what happens,
when you pray for a Christian and peaceful end to your life?

Mama’s medical team reassures me that it is OK to travel - that we should travel, now, while there is time. And so today, on our Great Friday, the most holiest of days, Dev and I continue on with our plans. I pack in silence; Dev completes his errands.

Mama, forgive me.

Posted by Xine at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Regular postings resume next week. Please forgive the interruption. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Posted by Xine at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Douglas Adams: Forty-two

Aristotle: To actualize its potential.

Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature.

Salvador Dali: The Fish.

Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Emerson: The chicken didn’t cross the road; it transcended it.

Emily Dickinson: Because it could not stop for death.

Goethe: The eternal hen-principle made it do it.

Hemingway:To die. In the rain.

David Hume: Out of custom and habit.

Timothy Leary: Because that’s the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

John Lennon: Imagine all the chickens crossing roads in peace.

Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.

Nietzsche: Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you.

Plato: For the greater good.

Jean-Paul Sartre: In order to act in good faith and be true to itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Thoreau: To live deliberately and suck all the marrow out of life.

Mark Twain: The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.

Voltaire: I may not agree with what the chicken did, but I will defend to the death its right to do it.

Wittgenstein: The possibility of “crossing” was encoded into the objects “chicken” and “road”, and circumstances came into being which caused the actualization of this potential occurrence.

Posted by Xine at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

For your own enchanted version visit the newly upgraded bless this chick factory.

I’m off to work now.

Posted by Xine at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My regular blogging schedule is interrupted as I am away on course: learning about appreciative inquiry. For today’s diversion, I bring you:

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	8.2
Mind:	8.3
Body:	7.3
Spirit:	7.2
Friends/Family:	7.1
Love:	7.3
Finance:	8.5
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Posted by Xine at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Open the door,
you know how little time we have to stay,
and once departed …
… may return no more.

-Omar Khayyam-

Posted by Xine at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Found this quiz on Miss Frou’s site and decided to play along. Seems I’m channeling Myrna Loy, what about you?

Your Score: Myrna Loy

You scored 19% grit, 28% wit, 33% flair, and 30% class!

You are class itself, the calm, confident “perfect woman.” Men turn and look at you admiringly as you walk down the street, and even your rivals have a grudging respect for you. You always know the right thing to say, do and, of course, wear. You can take charge of a situation when things get out of hand, and you’re a great help to your partner even if they don’t immediately see or know it. You are one classy dame. Your screen partners include William Powell and Cary Grant, you little simmerpot, you.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you’d make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Posted by Xine at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)