meme

Lessons of a sea anemone

It’s good sometimes to get quiet, and to go inward.

This beautiful sea anemone is submerged in an intertidal pool.  When it feels safe, it opens up like a beautiful flower. Its tentacles reach toward the sun, sway gently with the currents.

Like most sea creatures, the anemone adapts quickly to the ocean’s ebb and flow. When the water recedes, the anemone pulls in its tentacles. Camouflaged now by bits of quartz and seashells, it lies motionless in the sand. The risks are fewer, now that it’s less exposed to the elements. But when the tides turn, and danger passes, the anemone will once again present its most beautiful self to the world.

And there you have it: One of life’s most useful secrets, exposed by the sea anemone.

On a tangential note, I’ve been playing with some new photo apps. I made a little meme with WordSwag, which you are welcome to download & share.

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Stylish…me? *stifles a giggle*

Thank you, [info]mirtlemist and [info]onegrapeshy , for passing on the The Stylish Blog Award to me!

As you’ve no doubt read by now, this award implies a few responsibilities:

1. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to five blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

I’m going to bend a couple of the rules, ’cause ha!, I’m a trend-setter, donchaknow.  

Without further ado, here’s seven five random facts about moi:

  • I own a Christmas Sweater. Yes oh yes: one of those hand-knit, three-dimensional tops, circa 1980s, that threads all of the season’s magic—glittery stars, prancing reindeer, and a decked-out Christmas tree–into festive holiday attire. Whimsical Tacky as it is, l can’t bring myself to toss it.
  • Quirk #98,484: I get very uneasy when my back’s to the door.
  • I excelled in Vacation Bible School. J
  • We took my in-laws on our honeymoon to Paris. “Wha–?” you might incredulously reasonably ask.  To my mind, the answer’s fairly straightforward: They were rapidly approaching their late 80s, and increasingly feeble. And though they’re world travelers, post-9/11 regulations made it too challenging for them to navigate airports on their own. So I thought, Hey, let’s bring ‘em along–it’ll give them an opportunity to visit cherished relatives (and favorite landmarks), perhaps for the last time ever. My husband agreed, bless his ever-lovin’ heart! Not your typical get-away, but it was a happy experience, nonetheless. And we’re honeymooning in Europe again this fall– just the two of us this time.

  •  I love hymnals–timeless music, set to print, and the rituals of which they speak.  I like the way they smell: moldering paper, mingled with sweaty palms and sweet perfume. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer them to their modern-day counterparts (PowerPointed lyrics, scrolling across a sterile, pull-down screen).

You’re stylish, too, my friends, by virtue of the fact that you face the world head-on, day after day after day. So if you haven’t yet been tagged, consider this your cue! 

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’ve been tagged to reveal a few secrets about moi. Okay, I’m game. Here are nine things you may not know about Melodye, aka Mom.

  1. When my second son was born, the doctor said, “It’s a boy!” But I wanted a little girl, so I said, “Sh*t!” One look at my beautiful baby, though, and I was smitten. This memory serves as a reminder – as if I needed one – that I’m anything but perfect.
  2. I pretended I was mad, but I loved it when my kids would shuffle into my bedroom in their footed pajamas and prop my eyes open with their tiny thumbs and forefingers. “Mom? Mom? MOM! You awake? Come play with us!”
  3. I smile every time I look at this hand-painted ceramic tile. (Looks just like me, doesn’t it?) Homemade gifts are awesome!
  4. Favorite fragrance in the whole wide world? The top of my newborn babies’ heads.
  5. Best bouquet? Freshly picked dandelions, in a Tweety Bird sippy cup.
  6. Much-loved ritual? Reading bedtime stories until my sons surrendered to the Sand Man.
  7. Most important piece of motherly advice: Follow your own yellow brick road, but remember that there’s no place like home.
  8. Best memory: Every moment is priceless. Pain or pleasure, celebration or sorrow, it’s all part of being a mommy.
  9. If I could choose any two people in the world to be my sons, I’d always choose the ones I was blessed with.

I tag every mother and child that wants to play.

Una palabra, no mas

bluemalibu started this meme — a challenge to our writerly vocabularies because it involves one very restrictive rule. Namely, you’re supposed to leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me.*  It can only be one word. No more.

Got that? Now copy & paste this in your journal so that we can drop off a word that describes you.

*Bilingual, I’m not. If I’ve butchered the Spanish in my header, I hope you’ll correct me on my error(s).

Finished? Here’s three more things to think about:

Please hold all good thoughts for our own  bostonerin, who’s waiting on some potentially exciting news!

Oh, snap! Brent Hartinger on Brent Hartinger: “I’ve always been a productive writer. I think that’s because I’ve supported myself from my writing since 1989 and if I don’t write, I don’t eat. So when I talk to writers who tell me it takes them three years to write a book, I think, “Really? Um…why?” I mean, maybe if you’re talking War and Peace, but a 250-page teen novel? What exactly do these folks do all day? They always make me feel so guilty, like I’m doing something terribly wrong.”

Poll Limbo, aka How low can you go? President Bush’s approval ratings fell to a new low of 28% today, according to a CBS poll. Other things with 28% approval ratings: boxer briefs, porn, reptiles, body hair on guys, a wall along the Mexican border, and cottage cheese (courtesy  of D.C. Confidential).


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Who knew?

Gneri and  [info]citycatinwindow tagged me to play the Five Things You Don’t Know about Me meme. Who am I to turn down a party invitation? 

  1. I knew Timothy Leary personally. One piece of evidence: I own an autographed copy of his last book, Flashbacks, in which he inscribed the words, “To my buddy, Melodye…” (The rest of his message is private.)
  2. I tutored Tito Jackson’s young son, and I also tutored one of John DeLorean‘s children. Matter of fact, I think DeLorean’s former wife, model-cum-talk-show-host Cristina Ferrare, still owes me $25.00.
  3. A while back I taught at “Gangs ‘r Us” junior high school, in a crime-infested part of the San Fernando Valley. In a hurry to make it to homeroom one morning, I locked my keys in my car, along with my purse. Quick thinker that I am, I hosted an impromptu, “How fast can you break into my Camry?” contest in the parking lot. Faster than you can say “chop shop,” several students stepped forward with contraptions designed just for that purpose. Two seconds from approach to entry, by the way, was the record.
  4. Like lizzy_lyn, I’ve never gotten a traffic ticket. Not that I haven’t bent and broken the law, understand me: I’ve just managed to avoid being caught.
  5. In 1994, I witnessed firsthand an historic address to the joint session of Congress and the signing of a peace agreement between Jordan‘s King Hussein and Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

What secrets are you keeping from us? C’mon, kibileri  papadan and all the rest of you out there in LJ Land, it’s your turn to dish!

The fine print: Each participant shares five little-known facts about themselves. Those tagged are asked to do the same as well as reiterate this guideline. Each select five folks to be tagged and list their names. (Leave a comment letting them know that you’ve tagged them and that they may see your blog as an example.)    



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