There is always some madness in love.
But there is also always some reason in madness.
Friedrich Nietzsche
But there is also always some reason in madness.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Classic Billy
When the Free Bird crashed I was in high school in a small town in North East Ohio. I never dreamed at that time that I would ever find myself having Thanksgiving dinner with the family at the table of the youngest brother, Johnny VanZant a little over a decade later.
It seemed surreal to visit the mausoleum in Orange Park, and sit on the bench that Charlie Daniels had inscribed with a poem as a tribute.
Johnny had just released Brickyard Road and was trying to decide if he would form the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Band. I had taken a job with his first wife, Cindy as a window decorator at the area malls.
Johnny signed the deal of course, and his life was forever changed in ways none of us could ever have foreseen. But crash survivor Billy Powell signed on to play the music we loved so much, and we got to enjoy him a while longer. I chose the tune above so you can see a little more of the classic keyboard player
Save me a ticket on the other side, Billy, and our condolences to the family and the band.
And Counting
The countdown clock is racing toward April 1. At present there are just 62 days until Fade In! I can’t wait. It’s not just going to be a Frenzy, it’s going to be an Über Frenzy!Are you in?
A New Venue
The jury's still out about whether I will continue this blog past March, but I'm getting my feet wet in another venue.
Check it out here: The Music and Arts Journal
Check it out here: The Music and Arts Journal
Power Prayer
Every once in a while I feel like I get one over on Mother Nature. My friend Bob and I had a meeting marathon late yesterday with a laptop clinic and a Drama Brainstorm meeting, (all good) just hours ahead of a new wave of inclement weather some of which could be ice.
Our pantry is more than half full, we have chopped wood, news papers for fire starter if need be, candles, water and a mountain of books including my new Robert Frost poetry book that I've barely dipped into yet.
On the radio they're forecasting five to seven inches of snow over the next thirteen hours. What? I'm ready for winter to be over. I'm ready for a pick and choose climate-controlled external environment.
This morning I was surprised to find snow on the ground and a notice for a two-hour delay. Yay! A sleep in!
Three, five or seven inches of snow? How much is too much? If we get a packing snow (which is in the forecast) then we'll line the drive way with snowmen. Kim P will be making snow angels.
What will you do if we get a major snowfall?
I'll be praying the power lines hold.
What's In a Name?
Honey, Sweetie, Sugar-Pie?
Or the quick-to-spring-from-your-mouth expletetive?
We've all been called something besides the name we were born with. Some of us have nicknames, or pet names or secret names!
This name game came in an email from my friend Sheri W.
Follow the directions in parentheses. It's actually really fun...
1. YOUR REAL NAME: Juli Elyce Ocean
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(first 3 letters of real name plus-izzle.): Jul-izzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:
(favorite color and favorite animal): Purple Monkey
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:(your middle name and street youlive on/or neighborhood if it's a number) Elyce North-Hill
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your lastname, first 2 letters of your first name) Oceju
6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite alcoholic drink): Green Stolie
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your lastname, 1st letter of your last name,2nd letter of your momsmaiden name, 3rd letter of your dads name, 1st letter of asiblings first name, and last letter of your moms firstname) Ueoebay
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(parentsmiddle names:) Margaret Andrew
9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of yourpets):
Black Yuki
10. YOUR HOOD NAME (first 3 letters of your first name and add -iqua or -shea): Juliqua
Get the facts on National No Name Calling Week!
January 26th-30th
You Look Fabulous!
You are a really faithful blog reader
and I appreciate you!
Who doesn't want to hear a compliment?I am on a quest to give everyone I meet today a compliment about their hair or their clothes, or how well they drive or do their job.
WHY?
It's National Compliment Day!
January 23rd
Today is John Hancock's birthday so it only seems fitting that we should celebrate National Handwriting day! If you're like me, you have a drawer full of long thin pointy things that you never touch because you work on a keyboard all day. But most likely, they're pens or pencils.
To celebrate the day, get out a piece of paper and a pen and write a letter longhand. Don't worry if you don't have access to all those fancy fonts. Don't panic that your handwritten letters don't look as machined as the ones your laser printer spews out. Mail it to a friend far away. Or, if you're short on time, send a postcard to someone you haven't talked to in a while. You'll make their day.
Don't for get to sign it with your John Hancock!
Don't for get to sign it with your John Hancock!Seems Questionable
It's answer your cat's questions day!
Seriously, I know you think I make this stuff up, but why bother when truth is stranger than fiction?
I'm not up on everyone's cat's names anymore, so if you have one post it in a comment, I'd love to know!
In Cognito
While watching television the other day, I almost missed Campbell’s soup touting the fact that their select soups are MSG free. Meaning no Monosodium glutamate. I thought there had been a ban on MSG back in the 80’s, didn't you?
Although I have yet to confirm that, it was on the table as being problematic, I decided to so some research about MSG.
It’s back, and it’s turning up in all the wrong places, mainly our food and according to some people, even in vaccinations. A site that is warning about the ills associated with MSG www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm lists alternative names and other additives with which MSG is added and therefore dodges the legal requirement to be listed.
There are also 115 cited studies that link MSG to obesity, as one astute writer put it, “MSG is the Nicotine for food.” and causes addictive over-eating. A second major concern, aside from all the medical difficulties associated with obesity,(diabetes, heart trouble, neuropathy, vein blockage and stressed adrenal glands) is blindness.
Lately two friends of mine suffered ocular troubles with no apparent cause for onset.
Armed with new information, I sauntered to my pantry hoping against hope that I didn't have any MSG laden foods lurking there. Much to my dismay, I was proven wrong.
Out of 14 cans of soup, one of them Campbell’s Mushroom, all fourteen listed Monosodium glutamate. I put them all in a grocery bag and intend to return them to the store where I bought them.
Additionally, every other brand of soup I had contains Msg.
These ALWAYS contain MSG:
Glutamate Glutamic acid, Gelatin Monosodium glutamate, Calcium caseinate, Textured protein, Monopotassium glutamate, Sodium caseinate, Yeast nutrient, Yeast extract, Yeast food, Autolyzed yeast, Hydrolyzed protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed), Hydrolyzed corn gluten, Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium)
And as you can imagine, there are many more names under which such a chemical is hidden.
These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing. I'll give you the short list of the ones I see in my own food labels:
Carrageenan, Maltodextrin, Malt extract, Natural pork flavoring Citric acid, Bouillon and Broth, Natural chicken flavoring
Soy protein isolate, Whey protein isolate, Natural flavor(s) & flavoring(s), Enzymes anything Seasonings (the word "seasonings"). There are easily two dozen more, and much more information of which to plumb.
They advertise the things that are good for us and make you pay more for them. Ask yourself this one thing, if it’s good for you, why do they keep changing the name and trying to hide it? They haven’t hidden things that are good from us, have they?
For more information check out this site: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html
I'd be interested in what you think.
Although I have yet to confirm that, it was on the table as being problematic, I decided to so some research about MSG.
It’s back, and it’s turning up in all the wrong places, mainly our food and according to some people, even in vaccinations. A site that is warning about the ills associated with MSG www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm lists alternative names and other additives with which MSG is added and therefore dodges the legal requirement to be listed.
There are also 115 cited studies that link MSG to obesity, as one astute writer put it, “MSG is the Nicotine for food.” and causes addictive over-eating. A second major concern, aside from all the medical difficulties associated with obesity,(diabetes, heart trouble, neuropathy, vein blockage and stressed adrenal glands) is blindness.
Lately two friends of mine suffered ocular troubles with no apparent cause for onset.
Armed with new information, I sauntered to my pantry hoping against hope that I didn't have any MSG laden foods lurking there. Much to my dismay, I was proven wrong.
Out of 14 cans of soup, one of them Campbell’s Mushroom, all fourteen listed Monosodium glutamate. I put them all in a grocery bag and intend to return them to the store where I bought them.
Additionally, every other brand of soup I had contains Msg.
These ALWAYS contain MSG:
Glutamate Glutamic acid, Gelatin Monosodium glutamate, Calcium caseinate, Textured protein, Monopotassium glutamate, Sodium caseinate, Yeast nutrient, Yeast extract, Yeast food, Autolyzed yeast, Hydrolyzed protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed), Hydrolyzed corn gluten, Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium)
And as you can imagine, there are many more names under which such a chemical is hidden.
These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing. I'll give you the short list of the ones I see in my own food labels:
Carrageenan, Maltodextrin, Malt extract, Natural pork flavoring Citric acid, Bouillon and Broth, Natural chicken flavoring
Soy protein isolate, Whey protein isolate, Natural flavor(s) & flavoring(s), Enzymes anything Seasonings (the word "seasonings"). There are easily two dozen more, and much more information of which to plumb.
They advertise the things that are good for us and make you pay more for them. Ask yourself this one thing, if it’s good for you, why do they keep changing the name and trying to hide it? They haven’t hidden things that are good from us, have they?
For more information check out this site: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html
I'd be interested in what you think.
A Solar System Break
How's your monday going? A little too harried? Too much Inbox not enough Outbox? Grab a relaxing cup of tea, your headphones and maximize your screen. It's less than a ten minute break.It just might do you another world of good.
And you can always come back next monday.
Perfect Day
"My two favorite things in life are
libraries and bicycles.
They both move people forward
without wasting anything.
The perfect day:
riding a bike to the library."
Peter Golkin, museum spokesman
Completely Different
Now for something completely different... A nod to my favorite drummer, Prince Richard and to Sean Barber who told us about the Blue Men Group.
Ray Bradbury
"My stories run up and bite me on the leg-
I respond by writing down everything
that goes on during the bite.
When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off."
Ray Bradbury
Bryce Courtenay
"Each of us has been designed for one of two immortal functions,
as either a storyteller or as a cross-legged listener to tales of wonder,
love, and daring. When we cease to tell or listen,
then we no longer exist as a people."
Bryce Courtenay
And Counting
I had the same hit counter for a few years when all of a sudden, it quit ticking. Has you counter ever done this?
So, the search began.
I wanted one with fun designs that I could stick in my starting count. One company had beautiful designs but they only started me at zero. No deal!
Not after working so hard to get my numbers up.
I finally settled on a great little company called amazingcounters.com
Check them out and get yourself a little something!
So, the search began.
I wanted one with fun designs that I could stick in my starting count. One company had beautiful designs but they only started me at zero. No deal!
Not after working so hard to get my numbers up.
I finally settled on a great little company called amazingcounters.com
Check them out and get yourself a little something!
Early Warning
We've been having a lot of fun haven't we? I write most everyday, and you come over and read. It works for me. It felt synergistic, didn't it? I am more disciplined than ever about writing every day.What you don't yet know, is that 40 days from today, I will have completed my one lap around the sun. I thought it only fair to give you a heads up.
Maybe I'll keep going like this, another lap around the sun.
Maybe I will start another blog... the "Margins Blog". It's for people who leave room in their lives for things to happen. They aren't so duty bound to their schedule, they aren't legalistic about daily attendance... I'm thinking about it and a few other opportunitues. I've been asked to post on the Music and Arts forum and I'd be honered to do that. If all the daily blogging were channelled into filler articles for one year, I might develop an income base. I think it's a worthy goal.
I'm weighing the options. You've been a really faithful reader, so whatever I decide, I promise to let you know. I won't leave you hanging if there is anyway around it, okay?
Of course, if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.
Bounce
It's hard to say why I'm driven at all. I heard someone say, Hope springs eternal. I guess in a nutshell, that's me.
I can have the worst day and some how, the feeling comes over me that maybe tomorrow will be a better day. It isn't always. But I keep on believing that it could be.
Sometimes when it was just the two of us, things were really hard on my daughter and me. I'd wonder to myself, what is it all for? Is there a point to any of this?
Sometimes, she would get down. I'd tell her, believing it with all my heart,"It won't always be like this. It's going to get better."
Maybe because I want to believe when we're hitting rock bottom, it has to get better. There's no where else to go from there but up. Have you ever seen a hard rubber ball hit the floor? It can only bounce as high as the force with which it hit.
Here's to falling harder. And while you think about that, listen to Martina sing Anyway.
I can have the worst day and some how, the feeling comes over me that maybe tomorrow will be a better day. It isn't always. But I keep on believing that it could be.
Sometimes when it was just the two of us, things were really hard on my daughter and me. I'd wonder to myself, what is it all for? Is there a point to any of this?
Sometimes, she would get down. I'd tell her, believing it with all my heart,"It won't always be like this. It's going to get better."
Maybe because I want to believe when we're hitting rock bottom, it has to get better. There's no where else to go from there but up. Have you ever seen a hard rubber ball hit the floor? It can only bounce as high as the force with which it hit.
Here's to falling harder. And while you think about that, listen to Martina sing Anyway.
I'm a week into January feeling the most reflective I ever have. All the thought provoking songs coming to mind in a stream... The ones that pull at the heart, the ones that make you wonder how long winter will last, when summer will return.
I picture Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath in dark print dresses, having tea on cold iron patio furniture, in a misting rain, under a cement colored November sky. Until their hair hangs in dripping strands and their faces shine wet. Talking about end times.
But only theirs.
I picture Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath in dark print dresses, having tea on cold iron patio furniture, in a misting rain, under a cement colored November sky. Until their hair hangs in dripping strands and their faces shine wet. Talking about end times.
But only theirs.
In Your Head
The first time I saw this video on MTV years ago I was disturbed by the imagery and practically ran out to get the CD. The song itself triggers less than pleasant memories of home. I think I somehow hope to be absolved of them the longer I listen to the music. So far it's been like trying to view a train wreck through a mirror.
Years later I see that I identified with something of the violence in Ireland. Being half Irish myself. This has become one of my daughter's favorite tunes although I can't imagine why. We did our best to prevent her being in an environment like this, and succeeded so far.
Does this clip move you in any way?
Angeline Arms
You wonder sometimes how you survive some things in life. When you look back at the wreckage of your soul, if it was someone else you think, "I'd feel something more about this."
But it's not someone else's life. It's mine. And I think of how my shock meter is so bent, that the things that should shock me don't. That I talk about a relative's attempted suicide like milk is two bucks a gallon surprises some.
People don't always know how you got to be where you are today. If you're blond or beautiful, if you're smiling and relatively happy, if you are successful or seemingly so, people may even think life's been easy.
and nothing could be farther from the truth.
Thank God for guardian angels.
Telescope Eyes
Does anyone ever really get used to being edited? Or do we just thicken our hides put our crash helmets on and plunge ahead... head first, at the speed of light?
Why do we do this?
Is it the nature of the writer to write? To be heard? To be understood?
At one time or another, I have wanted all of those things. It is always touching to me to not only be understood, but to touch the heart of the one who reads, to haunt the minds of others with the stories that haunt me. To leave my questions in the hearts of someone in whom they just might sprout and grow. To hear the words, "You moved me, that was brilliant. Great story."
I hear this song Telescope Eyes by Eisly when I'm being edited. I try to remember that the editor's job is to clarify what I have left muddy, to peer into the dark corners that I have painted over.
Even when it hurts. Especially if it hurts.
Kudos to Elizabeth Oliver of Rambler for shining the light where I didn't want to look, so that in the process I can become a better writer. I believe every great editor is a great writer.
Frozen Thoughts
Pretty sure this sums up how I feel
about starting a new year in the dead of winter or celebrating
about starting a new year in the dead of winter or celebrating
my first birthday without my dad around.
I'm really glad for my new family and friends.
But sometimes, I still miss my cat...
Seeds and Butterflies
Julia makes me crazy with ideas.
I have been working on those insane pages. I've missed a few days even. I may do as my friend Kim, who says some weeks were 8, 9 0r 11 days.
I like the sound of an 11 day week.
What insights do I glean? That everything can be brought to life with words. The muslim woman getting a sleep study done might be of interest to you. We were in the sleep study clinic today getting a new mask for my beloved.
Or maybe you'd like to hear what we found out about those new notebooks at Microcenter? Or how much faster my laptop runs now that I got a 4 gig ready boost? (Really fast!)
And like Jack, ideas trip off the brain and sound so promising...
But wasn't that my just a few days ago printing off all those pages? Hundreds of pages of incubating essay ideas that are like money in the bank if I'd just eat my peas and carrots and drink my milk and give birth to them.
And stop running errands long enough to have a linear thought. I love vacations, the idea that when it ends, I will have saved up ideas like seed packets, sprinkle them out into the soil of my mind and after a few hours of watering, they will turn into magic beanstalks.
Julia's book is like magic butterflies in a way. All we have to do is catch them... and while you think about that,
listen to one of my favorite tunes by Mazzy Star.
I have been working on those insane pages. I've missed a few days even. I may do as my friend Kim, who says some weeks were 8, 9 0r 11 days.
I like the sound of an 11 day week.
What insights do I glean? That everything can be brought to life with words. The muslim woman getting a sleep study done might be of interest to you. We were in the sleep study clinic today getting a new mask for my beloved.
Or maybe you'd like to hear what we found out about those new notebooks at Microcenter? Or how much faster my laptop runs now that I got a 4 gig ready boost? (Really fast!)
And like Jack, ideas trip off the brain and sound so promising...
But wasn't that my just a few days ago printing off all those pages? Hundreds of pages of incubating essay ideas that are like money in the bank if I'd just eat my peas and carrots and drink my milk and give birth to them.
And stop running errands long enough to have a linear thought. I love vacations, the idea that when it ends, I will have saved up ideas like seed packets, sprinkle them out into the soil of my mind and after a few hours of watering, they will turn into magic beanstalks.
Julia's book is like magic butterflies in a way. All we have to do is catch them... and while you think about that,
listen to one of my favorite tunes by Mazzy Star.
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