My dear friends on WordPress…I have been here trying to keep up and read as many of your wonderful works as I can but life has been so busy and full of things I really have had to deal with.
So today I have had to delete a lot of your posts… I hope you will forgive me! I have every confidence that I shall receive lots more of your lovely posts.
Tomorrow I have to go out and will be out all day… hopefully I will be back to normal, whatever normal is by Thursday.
So, this week our Hostest with the Mostest is Yvette : Here’s what she said. “I thought we would focus our poems on the theme, What Lies Behind the Mask. What parts of ourselves do we hide from the outside world? What do others hide behind their outer façade?
So for this week, write a poem about what lies behind the mask. Choose one of the questions above to explore or allow your imagination to lead you to interpret that question in your own unique way. Use a syllabic poetry form that works for you, and let your inspiration flow. Need help with a form, click here.
I have chosen to do a mirrored Etheree about keeping up appearances.
Pots of makeup on the dressing table Hide my feelings in gold and sable No one needs to know my feelings Fix my smile, stop it peeling . Show the world what I choose Gently hide the bruise. Keep it secret Never tell Use the Spell
You Present Your best side The dark you hide Never let them know Keep up the smiling show Stick knives in as many backs Show your shock at worldwide attacks. Offer your help then ask for payment. Don't let the mask slip, hide your true colours.
This week Colleen is our host for Tanka Tuesday. . Here is what she has to say about the prompt. “You choose the theme, and let’s write cinquain poetry together. Start with the American cinquain and explore the cinquain variations. Please write at least two stanzas if you choose the American Cinquain.”
For the new poets joining in: Please check your syllable count using this counter: https://syllablecounter.net/.
I have been so busy of late that I have been unable to post but I have been reading and commenting on as many posts that I follow as I can. Tanka Tuesday is close to my heart I try to keep up with it as well.
I have chosen to do two types of Cinquain.
Mirror Cinquain are a titled form with two 5-line stanzas which consists of a cinquain followed by a reverse cinquain 2-4-6-8-2-2-8-6-4-2.
NOTIME
No time, I have no time. Impatient time tick tock ! Steeling my most precious moments, It cares Not for My feelings or my sanity Robbing me blind of sleep Zombie like I Stagger.
Reverse cinquain is a titled form with one 5-line stanza in a syllabic pattern of 2-8-6-4-2.
Cancer.
Cancer All invasive gobbles you up Try as we may you win Give up give in? Not yet Not yet Unbeatable this time are Yet one day you will lose Your hold on us. Cancer.
Dear all I am away from WordPress at the moment and I have been for the last week ! I will be back next week!
Now this week and next week I am hosting Tanka Tuesday. Both posts are all set and ready to go out on time. I may be slow in getting around to check on everyone but I will get there I promise.
If you do not do Tanka Tuesday and I usually follow you I promise I have been checking in on you all and will be back to normal soon.
Last week my niece was looking after her granddaughter . They were making a bed for Maeva. My niece had got round to putting on pillow cases when Maeva looked at her and asked.
“Grandma why are you putting two pillows on my bed? “. “So you can be comfortable, Maeva” my niece replied.”I only need one pillow” Maeva announced. “Are you sure” my niece asked .”Oh Grandma! Of course I am sure ! I only have one head! “
Exact date unknown. Somewhere along the San Antonio Riverwalk. Lulu and I strolled there every Saturday for over a year. I will remember those days for the rest of my life she says with tears brimming in her father’s eyes.
This week our host for Song Lyric Sunday is the host with the most, Jim Adams. Jim has set us another interesting post. This week Jim asks us to “Find a song that mentions abandoning, departing, deserting, exiting, leaving, resigning, or retiring! Jim as always give a top notch briefing on the Rules and the Prompt. You can read all about it here!
In 1986 I had all three boys and was busy as could be… having Hubby working abroad a lot ..the boys were, the eldest ten, the middle one eight and a new born…. it was hard and lonely. I was doing okay then one day after getting the boys to school, ( having , fed, bathed and dressed baby, put him in the pram and walked the boys to school)…. I was back home and was putting nappies away …it hit me after ten years I was back to the baby days! I cried for two hours…. then I fed the baby, prepared food, did the housework… walked back to get the boys from school and just got on with life. So this version, of No More I love Yous, the original, always reminds me of that day!
“No More ‘I Love You’s’” is a song written by British musicians David Freeman and Joseph Hughes and recorded by them as the Lover Speaks. It was released in June 1986 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album.
The song was covered by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox and became a commercial success for her in 1995, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart. Lyrics in the video.
So nine years later when the older two were older late teens and the babe was nine this version came out! …Well I had survived full circle! …No nappies. no crying babies..it was goodbye to baby days I had survived!
No More ‘I Love You’s was the first song which David Freeman and Joseph Hughes wrote together as the Lover Speaks in 1985. The song originated with Freeman, who came up with the chorus and the bassline, and Hughes then had the idea for the “do-be-do-be-do-do-do” hook. Freeman had the lyrics for the chorus completed at an early stage and wrote those for the verses later on.
As with each track on The Lover Speaks album, “No More ‘I Love You’s'” is based on a concept in Roland Barthes‘ book A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments (Fragments d’un discours amoureux). In 2015, Freeman recalled of the lyrics, “When you say to someone ‘I love you’, it could be to your kids, your lover, your parents, usually, you hear, ‘I love you, too’. And then one day you say, ‘I love you’, and there’s silence because that person has reached the ‘no more ‘I love you’s’ stage’. They cannot say ‘I love you, too’. It’s as simple as that. All I did lyrically, I think, was put it in Gothic terms.”
The song was first demoed on a portastudio during a rehearsal studio session, with Robert Farrell on guitar, Barry Gilbert on keyboards and Pete King on drums. It was then demoed again at Pathway Studios in August 1985, with Farrell on guitar, Ian Thomas on drums and Hughes’ ex-girlfriend, singer June Miles-Kingston, on backing vocals. The Lover Speaks signed to A&M Records in early 1986 and began recording their debut album with Jimmy Iovine as co-producer. The Pathway Studios demo was used as a guide for the studio version of “No More ‘I Love You’s'”. Freeman later released the Pathway demo, with additional recording in 1992 and 1996, on his fifth solo studio album, Apart & Together (1996).. You can read more here.
Happy Sunday everyone and as always thank you Jim for the great prompt. 💜💜💜
Ping went my phone … Yes it was LindaGHill with this week’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Here is what she had to say . “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “typo.” Use it any wya way you’d like. Have fun!“
Typo
Fingers too fast Can make mistakes that last. A rushed message can cause offence Leaving you embarrassed without defence. I meant to say you’re but your appeared And there are plenty more I fear! I could go on all day But life will get in whey!
“Typo” by Discrete & Sistek (featuring Tudor & Voss)
I was delighted when a copy of the new Dan Antion Masterpiece,”The Museum Murders” arrived at my house via Amazon! Yes I was lucky to receive an early copy to review! I was not disappointed. So here is my unbiased review.
Cover
First up let’s hear what Dan has to say about his main protagonist Rachael Todd.
For those who don’t know who Rascal Todd is, this is what Dan says about herin the series blurb:
We met Rachael (Rascal)Todd — plucky reporter at The Courier-Reformer — in the final book of The Dreamer’s Alliance series when she sought to unravel the unsolved murder of a corrupt FBI agent but ended up becoming a target. She has been solving mysteries ever since — cases that the police and others have given up on or not considered crimes. She is aided and supported by friends and family, including her boss, Bernie, her parents, her boyfriend Terry, and a curiously perceptive tuxedo cat, Bonkers.
Dan also goes on to say. “If anyone wonders why I chose to spell Rachael this way as opposed to the way(s) more acceptable (to Word and other spell-checkers), it was my maternal grandmother’s name.”
For those who are familiar with Rascal Todd but remain curious about this book, here’s what it says on the back cover of the paperback. Actually, there’s a little bit more here because space wasn’t an issue:
The blurb
This time, Rascal has been given an assignment in the Arts & Entertainment section of the paper. She attends a public meeting at a niche museum where she overhears a heated discussion that piques her investigative instincts.
The Skylark Museum is housed in a mansion that once served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, near the entrance to a tunnel that was part of the Pennsylvania canal. The trustees argue over the value of the connection to slavery and the canal, the necessity to retain the building, the long-rumored Skylark fortune, and the untimely deaths of several members of the board. Some people consider those deaths to have been murders. The police either don’t agree or don’t have enough evidence to act. Rascal can’t shake the idea, and she can’t ignore several encounters with a man she considers to be the prime suspect. In addition to the activity at the museum, her boyfriend volunteers her to help Hildegarde Barsan, a woman whose sister has gone missing and is presumed dead.
Is Henrieta Barsan dead? Did Walter Phineas Skylark pass down a fortune? Did Theodore Skylark keep the fortune hidden in the Skylark Museum? How many trustees have been murdered? Who’s next?
The Museum Murders is a mix of historical fiction, suspense, and mystery. It’s a character-driven story with rich and often humorous dialog. There’s also some troubling emotions on display in reaction to a complex series of clues, all pointing to murder.
For those who have followed Rachael and her friends since we met them in Secrets Held Against Evil, rest assured the bulk of the Pittsburgh and Chicago based characters are all represented. There’s even a cameo appearance by a well-known, albeit fictional author in Rochester, NY. If that scares first time readers, don’t worry, there’s enough explanation to bring you up to speed, and you don’t have to read these books a specific order. However, don’t blame me if you find yourself wanting to know more about these people.
Here is my review
Well this book certainly does not disappoint. It is peopled with characters who if you have read the previous books you will know and love. I can also assure you that if you are a first time reader you will soon get to know and love these people. They are the main stay of the story and of the stories before this one. Consistency is the key to Dan’s writing and these people are lovable and real and having read all Dan’s books, and even having contributed to one, I can say he has a real talent for people.
The story is fast moving with many a twist and tern and a few cleverly strewn red herrings! It certainly keeps you interested and at times scratching your head. There is so much going on, missing persons, murder, subterfuse, history and legends, slave escape trails and even buried treasure! But no pirates unless I missed them in the melee.
I enjoy this fast moving book and read it in three sittings . I was satisfied with the ending though I could happily read more. I guess I will have to wait patiently for the next Rascal Todd Mystery.
The Museum Murders, as well as the six previous books, are enrolled in KDP Unlimited. Audiobook format — yes, yes, created with Amazon’s virtual voice since I can’t afford a voice actor, don’t hate me — will be available soon.
Dan Antion was born outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up and attended college in the area around western Pennsylvania. Dan has written and published the popular No Facilities blog since 2011. A lifelong interest in writing became a reality after he retired from a successful 42-year-long career in information management. His first book Knuckleheads was published in June 2022 the rest is history.
Dan lives in Connecticut with his wife, a few pets and all the wildlife they can feed.
Last week whilst out walking in town with my friend we jumped out of our skins as we passed a car playing very loud music, it was stationary in traffic.We both looked at each other, then we were going to tell the driver off but when we looked at him he disarmingly smiled and waved and shouted… “Hello 👋 Pretty Ladies” Well what could we do …we smiled and waved back… Totally disarmed! I said to my friend… “Well we’re in our 70’s let’s take that that at face value” She laughed and said “yes let’s take that”
You have reached a quiet bamboo grove, where you will find an eclectic mix of nature, music, writing, and other creative arts. Tao-Talk is curated by a philosophical daoist who has thrown the net away.
Welcome to my “Heartland Echoes,” where I aim to share my poems with the world, along with my survival story and autobiography of childhood abuse, motivational quotes, and much more. Through my words, I hope to inspire others to share their own stories and experiences. Each poem is a piece of my heart and soul, along with a story of a traumatic past, crafted with inspiration, Hope, faith, love and passion. I believe that by sharing our art and emotions, I’ll be able to connect with others on a deeper level and create a sense of community.
