Day: January 23, 2009

Odds & Ends

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January 23, 2009

8:14 pm

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On Writing, Random Notes and Errata

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TIME IS RUNNING OUT! This is your last reminder as the days tick down: mental_floss is giving away five $10,000 scholarships for college. Enter to win by saying, in 750 words or less, why you should win your tuition. YOUR DEADLINE IS JANUARY 31st, so DON’T DELAY!

I’m not sure if this is good news or not — but news it is. Alloy Entertainment, the book packaging company that came up with the idea for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the Gossip Girls series is now accepting …YA manuscripts. Generally, all of their ideas come from in-house sources, but now they’re looking for fresh ideas… possibly those not centering on a.) a group of girls b.) who are all having romances, journeys, and dramas. Good luck, writers.

It’s the 250th Birthday of Robert Burns this weekend! dress up your Burns dolly and read a poem of his! Then eat some …sausages, if you can’t stomach the idea of haggis, and raise a glass for THE most famous Scottish poet, whose humble beginnings, various carryings-on with women other than his wife, and razor-tongued political commentary still managed to leave him Scotland’s favorite son all these years later.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.

Poetry Friday: Words to Live By

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January 23, 2009

10:51 am

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On Writing, Poetry Friday

Earlier this week, the words of Rabbi Hillel echoed through my head, as the change of administration in the country took place. “We understand,” the gentleman said, “that greatness is never a given.”

Do we understand?

Nothing is a given, and never has been. No one is handing out greatness or goodness or change or hope. Everything has to be… taken, hands opened, accepted, reached for, grasped, and achieved.

If we are just for ourselves, then who are we?
If we are not for ourselves, then who will be?
If we don’t reach out now, when will we?

Perhaps a strange thing, to place the words of an ancient Jerusalem scholar on the side of a whitewashed Presbyterian church. But I think the wisdom of Rabbi Hillel is transcendent enough to work, and the imagery of a plain and practical church, with its churchyard full of the past, speaks to the generations behind and before us who knew:

Nothing is a given.
What a world, in which we have a chance to make something of ourselves…

Poetry Friday is at Laura’s place. And don’t miss her fabulous picture of the dungeon at Urquhart Castle, and the “15 Words or More” poems which came from that prompt. Some pretty intense observations.

All content (unless otherwise attributed) is © Copyright Tanita S. Davis and may not be reproduced in any form.