2009: Wishing you and your family & friends many blessings for this winter holiday!

From Cafe Writing's September/October 2009 Project:

Option One: Seven Things

A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.

--Lemony Snicket

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called "Seven Things," in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, "Give me seven things that [whatever]." We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you're drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Give me a list of seven things that make a library good. These can be real or imagined, physical or intangible. Have fun with it. As always, explanations are welcome, but not obligatory.

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Libraries vs. Bookstores

1. Poetry books
2. Comfy couches
3. Good & quiet study areas
4. Arts & crafts presentations
5. Wireless Internet access
6. Media to check out (e.g. movies, audio-books, etc.)
7. Great reference books & sources (for the scholar and artist in me)

Of course, there are some things that libraries don't have that I do like at bookstores:

1. Stationery stuff
2. Calendars & planners
3. Boxed sets of "little hobbies" (e.g. origami in a box, grow-your-own bonsai in a box, etc.)
4. Comic books & manga
5. Cafes (I love the smell of coffee but can't drink it.)
6. Magazines
7. Plushies, stuffed animals, collectibles, & toys

From Cafe Writing's July/August 2009 Project:

Option Four: Can You Picture That?

Use the the following photo to inspire a piece of writing in any form (poetry, prose, whatever).


Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto.

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Through the Binoculars*

i.
With binoculars,
I still can't see the wind
chasing the tails of seagulls
scooping up bread crusts by the shore,
but I can feel how
I have become a rooster
when it tousles my hair,
when I do not look back at it
and see if it brings me
sand dust to my childhood dreams.

ii.
Awaiting in the wings,
the world is much closer on my stage.
My eager eagle eyes
find treasures within
the bark of a redwood tree
to the holes and mounds of creatures,
all of their names I do not even know
until they find their way to my gut.
I can then spell their names
with twigs and leaves,
categorize them in nests
of thoughts.

iii.
If life were
in California skies,
I won't have to see things so closely,
hold onto things so dearly
with these binoculars.

*Note: It's a working title. Can't think of a better one...


I've also written a haiku on Twitter as well.