Quotation Saturday

RISK-TAKING

"Be willing to launch in faith, with no guarantees of success. This is the mark of personal greatness."
~ Brian Tracy

"Dare to risk public criticism."
~Mary Kay Ash

"Be like the turtle. If he didn't stick his neck out, he wouldn't get anywhere at all."
~ Harvey Mackay

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation."
~ Pearl S. Buck

PARENTING 101

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.
~Roger Lewin

If I could say just one thing to parents, it would be simply that a child needs someone who believes in him no matter what he does.
~Alice Keliher

FEAR OF FAILURE

One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more
intelligently begin again.
~Henry Ford
 
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
~Vincent van Gogh
 
Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
~Oliver Goldsmith
 
Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems.
~Nelson A. Rockefeller

ON WRITING
 
"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." Gloria Steinem
"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music the words make." 
~Truman Capote

"Writing well is at one and the same time good thinking, good feeling, and good expression; it is having wit, soul, and taste, all together." 
~Buffon

"Take away the art of writing from this world, and you will probably take away its glory." 
~Chateaubriand

"You must write for yourself, above all. That is [your] only hope of creating something beautiful." 
~Gustave Flaubert

What a Week!

Prov 25:16 Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
***

Well it started off on the right foot as Easter came and  we went to the wonderful Church service that was flooded with the yearlies. That’s the folk who come once or twice a year? Mainly Christmas and Easter. It makes them feel like they are doing something good for God, and I’m sure God is excited to see them, but I bet he wishes they’d stay.

Then we had an awesome family dinner at my beaus sister's house, with ham and cheesy potatoes, and an egg hunt for all the tradition followers. That means that the kids range in age from 14- 22, and all have a blast seeking out the candy-filled plastic eggs, and returning to eat all the candy. What a fun sight and day. 


Beau, being blind, usually gets a little overwhelmed with all the noise but this time it didn’t seem to take a toll on him like it normally does. Maybe he’s getting used to the sounds and commotion? I know he’s having a blast at audio book-heaven and enjoying writing reviews for all the books he listens to.

Which leads me to today’s post. Where have I been all week? Well I sort of hit a stumbling block, or should I say, a Writer’s Block! The weather has been cold and windy, the days have been spent in shadows of light trickling in the window and the time outdoors is spent in a coat which really hinders any yard work or gardening that I’d like to do.

Winter has Spring in its clutches and is just not letting go and that can be quite depressing to the human psyche. Depressing and frustrating. Everything seems to be frustrating me these days, from the whimsical, “It’s gonna be a breezy day” which really means a WINDY day with gusts exceeding 40 mph, all the way to the clouds not letting the sun come out and play.

I sit at the computer frustrated at all the Social Scenes, games, people, falsity, hypocrites, weather, you name it, then I open my word to type something and I draw a total blank. Well I can write what is frustrating me and through that I’m hoping it weeds out the mangled thoughts that are hindering my writing and gets me on the right path to writing again.

See, Joni? Now that wasn’t so hard! Let it all out and get yourself back together. I’m sure May will bring warmth and sunshine. It will bring a doctor visit for beau and possibly the promising news of being put on the cornea transplant list, and all will once again be right with the world. Or will it?

Only time can tell and only time is the healer. I’m closing off all the negative vibrations and going to rejoice in the promise of a New Day. May you all seek out the positive that all the negative tries to strangle from your thoughts. Hold your head high and know, God loves YOU!
 

Tuesday was Astri's birthday ~ somber day because she WOULD HAVE been seven!

Poetry ~ In His Glory ~

Luke 23: 34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

~ In His Glory ~
(c) Joni Zipp

I’ll deeply inhale the mornings breath
walk through the day of your death;
Weep as tears fall from the sky
raise my eyes to ask You why?

Why did you leave us, why let man win
to bury the burden of humanly sin?
Will we sit idle and watch as you hang
forgetting all the Hosannas we sang?

Will we remember the blood on the cross
as we lust for life forgetting the loss,
can man walk ‘round with his head held high,
knowing you came if only to die?

Agony washes through my veins
my heart laments for all of your pains.
I don’t pretend as hypocrites do
to immerse in honor every holiday or two.

I walk in the path that is set before me
trying to bathe in all your glory.
You rise to bask in heavens glow,
and gave to me the right to sow.

I’ll carry your words, I’ll heal my heart
knowing that you will never depart.
Man tries to mask all that you’re seeing
not knowing You’ve leaked into his being!

I drench myself in the beckoning light,
that cradles me through each day and night.
I drink from the cup of all your words
that fill my soul like fluttering birds.

My heart weeps red but unlike you
it only seeps my garments through.
Your bloodshed gives to me new birth
a righteous soul unveiled on Earth.

Matt.28: 19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

All rights reserved: copyright © joni  zipp

Quotation Saturday

LIFE

Matt. 7: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on. 
~Samuel Butler  (1835 - 1902)
 
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
~Sir Winston  Churchill (1874 - 1965)
 
The unexamined life is not worth living.
~Socrates (469 BC - 399 BC), in Plato, Dialogues, Apology

LOVE ~

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
 
Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves.
~Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)
 
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
~ David Viscott
 
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
 ~Henry David Thoreau  (1817 - 1862), Journal, July 25, 1839
 
1 Thes. 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

LIGHT ~

Rom. 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
 
There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
~JamesThurber (1894 - 1961)
 
Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light.
~Plato (427 BC - 347 BC), The Republic
 
2 Cor. 1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

Poetry Sunday ~ Hosanna! Hosanna!

Matt. 28: 19 - 20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
***

Hosanna! Hosanna!
(c) Joni Zipp

He gave life to the dead, cleansed the impure
healed the sick, became all lepers cure.
Fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind,
revealed the innocence of the childrens mind.

If you were thirsty, He gave you to drink,
Washed away sins with nary a blink;
Of his eyes we shined while light was dim
righteousness filled our cup to the brim.

Turn your cheek from the one that maims
seventy times if you burn with flames
Forgive, forget, move on I say
I’m reaching out to show you the way.

Disciples slept, while Jesus pleaded
to let him live unless he was needed.
Crying out he returned to die
while all looked on, not batting an eye.

They rejoiced and sang; praised his name
Hosanna! Hosanna! Into town he came.
Fronds of palms were laid at his feet.
All glory to Jesus our Savior we greet.

But lo and behold this man betrayed,
was scourged and beat but never swayed!
“My Father, My Father why have you forgot,
I gave them all that you said they’d have not.”

With one last breath he gave up the ghost,
shedding blood where man needed it most.
Our sins forgiven; our God came as man
In a wondrous fete generations will span.

Will we remember the sacrifice made?
Can we ever honor the price that was paid?
Do we respect all things that He taught
our souls are free for sins his death bought.

My Glorious redeemer, Savior and King,
I bow with honor my soul shall sing.

All rights reserved: copyright © Joni  Zipp

Quotation Saturday

CONTENTMENT

I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended, and patient when there be no redress.
--Elizabeth Montagu

Contentment is the realization of how much I already have.
--Dave Grant

RECOGNITION

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."
-- Mother Theresa

"Praise works with only three types of people; men, women, and children."
-- Anonymous

"Appreciate people.  Nothing gives more joy than appreciation."
-- Ruth Smeltzer

"When someone does something well, applaud!  You will make two people happy."
-- Samuel Goldwyn

PURPOSE

You must be single-minded. Drive for one thing on which you have decided." -- George S. Patton

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The single common denominator of men and women who achieve great things is a sense of destiny." -- Brian Tracy

"When you have a clear purpose, you won’t have time for negativity." -- Mark Victor Hansen

CHALLENGES

Every time you face a challenge, you are being tested as to how strong your beliefs and intentions are. People who go through great hardships to achieve greatness have a kind of aura about them that says: "Don't mess with me, I know what I'm about. I have been thoroughly tested in battle." Confront your challenges with a brave face. The greater the challenge, the greater the gift of power.
--A. C. Ping

Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.
--Theodore N. Vail

DREAM

A skillful man reads his dreams for self-knowledge, yet not the details but the quality.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Our waking hours form the text of our lives, our dreams, the commentary.
--Anonymous
 

Hope is the dream of the waking man.
--French Proverb
 

Dreams are the touchstones of our character.
--Henry David Thoreau

Itchy and Scratchy

Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world. ~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

***

Character building is not something that is just a fly by night thing to do. There is some really deep thought that needs to go in the construction of a beloved character that your reader is going to latch onto and never want to let go of through many readings and many generations.

A few characters that stick out in my mind is Eleanor from The Haunting of Hill House, Gem from To Kill a Mockingbird, and most recently I think of Odd Thomas from Odd Thomas, and Max and the birdkids from Maximum Ride. Shirley Jackson, Harper Lee, Dean Koontz and James Patterson, respectively.

These characters were not just put on paper and thrown into a story. You have to have a basic idea of who that character is. After you got your premise down of the story you want to tell, you start filling it in with characters. The main character is the one you want to spend the most time with because he/she is going to not only carry the weight of the story but have the most lasting impression on the reader.

Basically you are building the person from scratch, but you might have an idea from someone you’ve met in life, maybe a person you admired and looked up to, or maybe an evil sinister man whom you loathed as child will become your antagonist. Either way the path is being laid and you need to build a strong house to get this character on board.

Does she/he have blue eyes, green eyes or purple eyes, in Odd Thomas’ case? Are they tall, short, small, big? Anything stand out to make them special? Think about that one. You’re going to want something to stand out on that character like never before written.
We have enough blond bombshells, they are more caricatures than characters. We have enough men with chiseled cheekbones and etched out abs.

We need something unique, a scar perhaps? Then you can build on it, as a scar from say a fire many years ago, an accident a few years ago, or a pimple that won’t go away from a few weeks ago? Whatever the case may be, your character needs to be unique. No cookie cutter cut-outs. Unique in the fact that he/she has not been done before. The reader wants something new!

As you can see in the TV industry, it is very hard to come up with something new. This is the reason they inundate the screens with reality tv, because they think that is what people like. So isn’t that what you like when picking up a book? A character/hero/heroine that rings true to life? Or do you read  to see the same old things over and over.

I don’t think you do. I have pretty brilliant readers and you look for something fresh every day whether it is in a blog post or a book or an online story, you’re looking for NEW and getting the same-old, same-old.  Is that how you’re going to build your character? Getting a little itchy and scratchy there are ya? You now feel the need to go and CREATE?

Don’t let me stop you! Write Right!

Sagacious Jowls

"You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country."
~ Robert Frost
***

I’m no grammar expert, I know my dictionary and am excellent in spelling. Sure I get a few words misspelled and I’m always kicking myself in the butt for that, but all in all I consider myself a person who spells correctly.

I also like difficult words but surely there is a place for them. When used incorrectly or in the wrong place, you can really throw your reader into a state of perplexity that he or she didn’t sign onto when they picked out your book to read.

I’m reading such a book now, fifty pages into the book and I still don’t know where it is going. The author throws words out that I can’t even repeat because while I have the intelligence to know what the words mean, it just didn’t fit in with the telling of the story. I won’t tell you the book, but I’ll tell you the author, Peter Straub.

This is a first time read of Mr. Straub, and while I ‘heard’ he was an okay writer, I didn’t hear that he was good at storytelling. You can be a good writer that throws a story together, has the conflicts in all the right places and time in the telling of a tale but this man is just not a show’er. What I’m saying is that he is telling the story. And as we’ve learned, if you read my blog, showing verses telling is a big difference.

But not only is he telling the story instead of showing, he’s using these words so out of context that it is tripping me up while I’m trying to read the story. Last night I tripped over ‘sagacious jowls’? I mean really, you can’t find another word? Why couldn’t he have used ‘sapient’ or perspicacious? (kidding) I just don’t know of any writing, unless maybe you’re of the descent of snobbery, where you would use that term sagacious.

There is a place and time for that language, like at a business meeting of lawyers and doctors where they are all sitting around with sagacious smiles, but jowls? I don’t know, that’s a tough one to call. I think writers want to reach readers, and not lose them. If the intellectual of society is sitting around reading Mr. Straubs book, then good for them, but to me, just an average reader, I do not, in no way shape or form, want to trip over words and stumble through very hard to read paragraphs.

Maybe by the end of the book, I’ll tell you what it was about. That’s if I get that far. By Saturday if I can’t figure out where this story is going or what it is about, it’s going back to the library! Then I will get the book Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson (click to read audiobook review) at which time I will not be disappointed because Mr. Matheson knows how to carry a story, research it and make the impossible seem possible.

Crazy Characters

"However great a man's natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once." Jean Jacques Rousseau
***
Characterization

This week we’re going to learn about characterization. Characterization is basically getting to know your character like you would any friend that you have. Their thoughts, their likes and dislikes, maybe their skin color or eye color and lastly, a name. Yes your characters become some of your nearest and dearest friends. You spend mornings, noons and many nights with them so the least you should do is know them, intimately.

As an exercise, we ask for your character to tell us about you! What would they see your life as being? Are you a bored housewife living vicariously through your character, Lola. Or are you a busy stay at home mom who colors her world with the likes of Beth and Bob?

When you climb inside your characters head, and look out into the real world, what would they see? Is there life exciting compared to yours or are you more exciting than them. Oh goodness... you better make your character’s life more exciting than yours.

Can you imagine reading a book, and the character appears as a cardboard cutout; meaning, stiff, colorless, flat, no real connection to the reader? If that’s the case then for sure you’ve lost your reader. We have to give our readers more to sink their teeth into. They, as you well know, don’t pick up a book to be bored out of their skin. They pick it up so they can jump into a fantasy world alive with conflict, pain, struggle and hopefully a resolution.

Now I don’t pick up a book for the fantasy elements, I, personal preference here, like the reality elements. I like a character who could be me, or my sister or maybe my mother or brother. I like to see within characters elements of my real world. I like to see possible struggles that I went through and want to see how they get resolved in a book.

Keep in mind I’ve had a colorful life, maybe not to some, but daily, monthly, yearly struggles are my forte. So when I read a book I want the character to survive the unconscionable blood of the past. I want them to soar like no eagle has soared before. They need to take whatever obstacle is thrown at them and either overcome it, or die.

You’re going to lose the reader if your main character is a wimp and dies; also spells out a boring story.  And trust me, you don’t need a voluptuous maiden to be a main character either, although everyone loves a good ‘Damsel in Distress’ novel, don’t they?

Get inside your characters head, know every mole, every pimple that has surfaced, every flaw on their skin, and everything that makes him or her tick on a daily basis. By allowing the character to interview you, you in return will be learning intricate aspects of them, without even knowing it. Try it, you might like it. :)

Poetry Sunday ~ The Wonder of Wonders

Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
***

The Wonder of Wonders
(c) Joni Zipp
***
The wonder of wonders
of the night
the stars are still
the moon is bright.

The wonder of wonders
of the sky
if only we knew
the answers to why.

The wonder of wonders
of hidden meaning
take it all in
as one who is gleaning.

The wonder of wonders
the master has spoken
I give you the rainbow
as a token!

All rights reserved: copyright © Joni  Zipp

Quotation Saturday

HOPE ~

Charity is the power of defending that which we know to be indefensible. Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.
--G. K. Chesterton

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work; you don't give up.
--Anne Lamott
PROCRASTINATION ~

Some people procrastinate so much that all they can do is run around like firefighters all day -- putting out fires that should not have gotten started in the first place." -- Nido Qubein

"You may delay, but time will not." -- Benjamin Franklin

"It seems to me that it's actually harder to invent excuses than it is to get the sale." -- Jeffrey Gitomer

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." -- Don Marquis
FOLLOW YOUR DREAM ~

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
--Pamela Vaull Starr
 
The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; the question is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young man ceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks his conditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success.
--Hamilton Wright Mabie
 
The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
--Paul Valery

GROWTH ~
 
The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
--Robert Cushing
 
The way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
--Socrates
 
Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous.
--Abd-el-Kadar
 
If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
--Lord Chesterfield

Prioritize

May the sun fall upon you, may the rain drizzle your skin, whatever the weather where you are, let the joy of a new day begin! ~joni
***

It is certainly hard to sit down and write, when outside the window Spring is happening all over the place. I mean, little sprouts of green are popping up everywhere, Robins are doing some kind of waltz on the front lawn, trees are slowly being filled in with buds, evident on each and every stem. Yes, Spring is happening right outside my window!

I always sit in awe of the glory that comes alive with Spring. While winter rests in dormancy, fall has its departure of leaves and summer has its scorching heat and humidity, Spring has livelihood like no other season.

I often do my Spring cleaning to prepare not only the house but my spirit for cleanliness. It’s as if, if I have a clean house, then my soul will come alive and do a jitterbug and bring into me a buoyant springtime propulsion of zest and zeal!

But Spring is also the time I prioritize. The time I take into consideration those things that are front and center, things that are important to me and have an affect on my life. The computer is not in the forefront of my life, social forums do not hold me captive, games are there but only a shadow to the real meaning in my life.

Writing! That is standing right there in my face looking at me, begging me, pleading with me to drink from the letter pool. Sure I use the computer for writing, but it doesn’t own me. I have a notebook that I can scribble in so this technology is not going to wrap its slithering arms around me and yank me into its vortex.

While the social scene is a fun place to meet with your virtual friends, it is not the end all to all of your existence. Hey people, there is a world right outside your window, balloons written with the words 'REJOICE IN SPRING' on them are passing you by as you bind yourself to a false sense of happiness.

As priorities take the stage and the curtain rises to accolades of applause, you will see that life is not going to pass you by as you sit and enjoy your priorities dance along the stage. They are within reach as you have front row seats. They are physical needs that you need to pay attention to and allow to become more important than a virtual form of bliss and decision makers.

Don’t let life pass you by as you mechanically go through the day-to-day humdrum; same thing every day. New fun, new pages, new friends and new power. Find the power within you to embrace reality, prioritize the real world, make a new beginning of each day and maybe just maybe, Spring, will ask YOU to dance!

Windy Woes...

Psalm 31:7
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
***

Ugh... here we are with another Tuesday upon us. A Tuesday where it is supposed to be Spring and it feels like winter! Yesterdays thirty-four degrees upon wake up with a 21 windchill is not my picture of spring in any sense of the word.

Had someone told me Nebraska was a wind tunnel, I think I would’ve ran the other way, found a new direction. As it is, I’m feeling like a part of a vacuuming system. The relentless, gusting, gnawing, bone-chilling vibrations of the winds really can throw off someone who just wants to play in the garden and enjoy spring.

I love Nebraska and all that the beauty it offers to ones soul, but come on, does it really need to be this windy? I lived in Baltimore for most of my life, we had a few windy days, then I lived in Texas for six years, again a few windy days, but here in the wide open plains of Nebraska, I would say that out of the two years that I’ve lived here, more than 50% of those days were spent in wind!

I can bear the back-biting, spine-tingling cold, I can deal with sun scorching heat dripping humidity, but wind? I can not take much more of this. It literally blows my mind!

Today began yet another f2k session, and as I usually post about it before it comes upon us, I didn’t this time because I’m not mentoring this session and possibly the session after that. The wind kind of has me in a state of upheaval, the season (Easter) kind of has me in a state of yearly reflection, the roller coaster weather has me in a state of perplexity, wondering is this spring, or is this winter.

As I coast through my days realizing there comes a time in ones life where we must prioritize and focus on things that really matter, I’ve decided to focus on me. Selfish of me isn’t it? Not at all, I’ve always taken care of everyone else, helped new writers come into the fold of the writing world, basically held out my hand to whomever was/is in need and sometimes I get lost on the path that I was walking down.

So as I focus on things that matter, some things have to blow in the wind, pun intended. I’m going to focus on writing, writing and more writing. And taking care of my family, so they know that THEY are the most important things in my life. My garden will be planted soon, I just know it. I’ll till and plant and watch spring come to life before my eyes. The school year will come to an end and I’ll spend my days out in the yard with my son, going to the doctors with my beau, and just enjoy all that God has put in my life for me to take care of.

The wind will subside eventually, and when it does...I’m going to relish every ounce of rain and sun that we get and allow it to not only drizzle my skin but penetrate my soul until the really important things in life are front and center for me.

Poetry Sunday~ Wellspring of the Season~

Psalm 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and del- ivered them from their destructions.

***

Wellspring of the Season
(c) Joni Zipp
***

Spring flourishes as buds burst through the soil
branches have nubs that appeared without toil;
long winter nights have now given swift rise
to sweeping old leaves from the cloudless skies.

Earth has shaped this beautiful display
of fragrant pleasantries and colorful array.
We take for granted the burgeoning blooms
looking for light where all darkness looms.

Hand in hand we walk through the meadow;
orange collides with buoyant yellow.
The warmth of the sun; the tickling grass
all give rise to Springtime's sheer glass.

The beauty is wrapped in a myriad of shades;
sunbeams dance off of dew-laden blades.
We inhale the life of this glorious treasure
wrapped in the love of heavenly pleasure.

Humans who falter in the deceptive lure
bother not with keeping things pure.
Guilty and gullible with nary refrain
never enjoying the soft-spoken rain.

Dance in the sun, let its fingers drizzle ~
your body is sculpted by its gentle chisel.
Allow it to shape and mold your being,
relish our God and all things you’re seeing. 

All rights reserved: copyright © Joni  Zipp

Quotation Saturday

PROCRASTINATION

Some people procrastinate so much that all they can do is run around like firefighters all day -- putting out fires that should not have gotten started in the first place."
-- Nido Qubein

"You may delay, but time will not."
-- Benjamin Franklin

"It seems to me that it's actually harder to invent excuses than it is to get the sale."
-- Jeffrey Gitomer

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."
-- Don Marquis

PROBLEM SOLVING

"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer."
-- Denis Waitley

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
-- Theodore Rubin

"Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds..."
-- Norman Vincent Peale

"To solve any problem, there are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, whom could I ask?"
-- Jim Rohn

IMAGINATION

The imagination exercises a powerful influence over every act of sense, thought, reason,
-- over every idea.
--Latin Proverb
 

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.
--James Russel Lowell
 

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
--Louisa May Alcott

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
--Albert Einstein

Tomfoolery

Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
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I think I’ll give up on my writing blog!

April Fools!

Such a silly day of pranks and tomfoolery; where on earth did this April Fools day derive its origins from?

From Wikipedia:

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392), the "Nun's Priest's Tale  is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two. Modern scholars believe that there is a copying error in the extant manuscripts and that Chaucer actually wrote, Syn March was gon. Thus the passage originally meant 32 days after March, i.e. May 2, the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England  to Anne of Bohemia , which took place in 1381. However, readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "32nd of March," i.e. 1st April. In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox.
 

In 1509, a French poet referred to a poisson d’avril (April fool, literally "April fish"), a possible reference to the holiday.In 1539, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on the 1st of April. In 1686, John Aubrey  referred to the holiday as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference. On the 1st  of April, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London  to "see the Lions washed".The name "April Fools" echoes that of the Feast of Fools , a Medieval holiday held on the 28th December.
 

In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on the 25th of March in most European towns. In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on the 1st of April. So it is possible that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on the 1st of January made fun of those who celebrated on other dates. The use of the 1st of January as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-sixteenth century,and this date was adopted officially in 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.
 

In the eighteenth century, the festival was often posited as going back to the time of Noah. According to an English newspaper article published in 1789, the day had its origin when Noah sent his dove off too early, before the waters had receded; he did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April.
[end wiki]
 

Well now, that was an eyeful! I say that April fools day is for fools who believe everything and are willing to accept things at face value. Tricks can land you in a heap of trouble. Just read the book Needful Things by Stephen King. One trick led to another, all assuming the wrong person played the trick and eventually all of Castle Rock was blown to bits, just because of the spinning wheels of tricks.
 
So as you go about today, playing needless tricks, all in the name of ‘fun’, remember some people don’t get the humor and it could have ill effects; possibly coming back to bite you in the butt.
 

“There’s no fool like an old fool.”