March is all about watching for spring while it rains, waiting under fresh sheets with a cup of tea and a good book. Every flower bloom, leaf bud, and sunny day is cause for excitement. March Writing Prompts Cold morningsWhisper Shakespeare to mePale sunlightThe meadows bloomPressed flowersThe leaves begin to peekStrolls along the riverPlanting a tea gardenCrisp linenWildflowers return
I’ve been sorting through a box of old mementos and photos for a massive scrapbooking project, and along with some old poetry, I’ve also stumbled on some old art projects and other artifacts from my childhood. It’s funny how you can forget about an object until you see it again, and then a whole flood of memories come back. This sketch and painting was a high school art class assignment where we chose a picture from a pile, and sketched it upside down. We then chose one color, and painted the same picture upside down using different shades of that one color. I remember feeling so proud when my art teacher told me I had chosen well when I selected blue.
December may have some of the longest, coldest nights of the year, but I appreciate the extra time in the dark. It’s just more time to look up at the stars. Writing Prompts Total eclipseFade into the nightEvening fogThe moon’s Cheshire grinAdrift in the Milky WayCloaked in darknessEarthshineGuided by Northern lightsA silhouette in the mist
Over 2,000 years ago, Celtic pagans celebrated their New Year on November 1st. Called Samhain, it was considered the end of summer and the arrival of the dark half of the year. The night before, they would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward of ghosts. Celtic pagans believed that at this time of year the veil between the world of the living and the dead became thinner then at any other time of the year, and the ghosts returned to walk among the living. As time past, and and Christianity was introduced to the region, those traditions were merged with other Roman and Christian holidays into one day of celebration known as Halloween. In the colonial US, Halloween was celebrated sporadicly in some regions, spurred mainly by European immigrants in southern states, mainly as harvest festivals where ghost stories where told. It wasn’t until a flood of Irish immigrants, fleeing to the US to escape the Potato Famine in the middle of the 19th century, that this changed. The Irish brought their beloved Celtic …
Bandmates Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge may have exuded immature, goofball personas during their time in Blink 182, but underneath they were very serious musicians and songwriters. Take their hit I Miss You, for example. They discussed themes first, and then each wrote on of the verses in separate rooms. Barker wrote the first verse, and Hopper wrote the second. They then reconvended to bring the song together with the chorus and record it. Hello there, The angel from my nightmare, The shadow in the background of the morgue. The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley. We can live like Jack and Sally If we want. Where you can always find me And we’ll have Halloween on Christmas. And in the night we’ll wish this never ends, We’ll wish this never ends. (I miss you, miss you) (I miss you, miss you) Where are you? And I’m so sorry. I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight. I need somebody and always This sick strange darkness Comes creeping on so haunting every …
