Tag: blog

Dancing at the Mall

Dancing at the Mall
by Leslie Noyes

A song from my teens wafted down into the food court where I was engaged in a lackluster meal.

Putting a limp slice of pepperoni pizza aside, I rose from a red plastic bench and danced enthusiastically to

Twist and Shout, my Ferris Buehler moment, while lunch breaking students watched with open mouths,

Giggling and pointing at my intricate gyrations. I winked and smiled and reveled in the knowledge

That I’m alive and at sixty still capable of doing the audacious thing when the music hits me just right.

https://youtu.be/YXUjGftU7-k

Snapshot #168

I noticed our cat, Patches, looking puzzled while peering intently out into the backyard this afternoon. She didn’t seem agitated like she might be if a snake was the object of her attention, nor was she chattering in the way cats do when a bird is in sight. This little guy was causing the commotion. I think we should call it, “Mom, Why Is That Rock Moving?” 

Mark My Words

Take your big red pen and mark an x over the parts you find offensive. I guarantee you’ll cross out 

Obscenities right and left. But will you not obliviate the hunger of starving children? A curse word upsets

Your delicate sensibilities but the thought of a woman panhandling only causes disdain. Pull yourself up

By your bootstraps! you cry, without noticing she’s sold her boots to feed her children. You claim

To be pro-life, but in truth you are only pro-birth. Stop pretending you care when you voted for a heartless bastard.

Snapshot #167

This unfortunate sign placement gave me a giggle. How about calling this, “To Every Thing There is a Season….”

As the Lightning Strikes

Lightning strikes and then
Nothing is ever the same
Start again from scratch


Wild bolts sear the sky
Blinding electricity
Frissons gone frantic


That hush afterwards
Silence rushing to fill space
Anticipation

Snapshot #166

At Disney Springs (once known as Downtown Disney) one can be entertained by this gentleman and his strolling piano. I call this one, “Music that Moves Me.”

Kim Stanley Robinson

Love science fiction? Then I highly recommend the writing of Kim Stanley Robinson. His novel, New York 2140 caught my eye a few weeks ago and after devouring it, I was hooked. The title tells us where and when, but the story is amazing. 

Mr. Robinson keeps his readers engrossed in the adventures of two water rats living in a Venice-like New York City in the year 2140, while simultaneously juggling stories about the angst of a young stock broker who trades in an index based on changes in sea level, a police officer seeking to solve a major crime, a couple of technology geeks, a union activist, and a video celebrity turned champion of human and animal rights, among others. 

I’m currently reading his book, 2312, and am so thoroughly immersed in Robinson’s world that I’m dreaming of life within a mobile city on Mercury. Not only have all the planets in our solar system been terraformed to accommodate human life, but so have their moons and a good number of asteroids. 

Robinson has an amazing technical imagination, and I’m left wondering if his writing might prompt scientists to explore the viability of some of his ideas. I certainly hope someone is taking notes.

Snapshot #165 and a Song

This is yet another photo from our recent DisneyWorld trip. Maybe this one should be titled, “I Should Just Let it Go!”

https://youtu.be/moSFlvxnbgk

Concert Shaming

A Facebook friend started a little guessing game on the social media app and it’s now gone viral. The idea is to list ten concerts and have your friends guess which one you haven’t attended.

I tried to play. I did. But when I realized that all of my groups seemed rather lame compared to those of my friends and acquaintances I deleted the post in progress. I didn’t have the Stones or Paul McCartney or Elton John on my list. No, I had Merle Haggard and Tanya Tucker, Charlie Pride and Brooks and Dunn. Big acts in their day, but I definitely have concert envy after reading some of my friends’ lists.

But just for grins, here are ten concert acts. See if you can guess the one I didn’t see in person. And try not to make fun of my taste in music. 

1. Dixie Chicks

2. Three Dog Night

3. The Fifth Dimension

4. The Cowsills

5. Hootie and the Blowfish

6. Huey Lewis and the News

7. The Captain and Tennille

8. Garth Brooks

9. Boyz 2 Men

10. Foghat 

Snapshot #164

I took this one of our youngest grandchild, Harper, during her family’s most recent visit to Florida. I call it, “I Believe She Can Fly.”