Libations Friday! 9 October 2009

*** The Paradox Dilemma: Whether we own our house or the house owns us! :)

From Denny: Lately, I've been watching too much HGTV House Hunters International that I think I'm beginning to "channel" it. :) Seriously though, it did get me thinking overview wise of humanity in general when it comes to building a home.

Then I went cruising through the Flickr database and had too much fun finding these awesome and unusual photos. Try plugging in a search over there for "houses" and you will pull up over 300,000 photos. After wading through over 2,000 photos these were the winners for you today.

The poem was sparked by the house hunting programs and then refined as I found some most curious house photos that revealed the owners' desires and intent for what they wanted to create in the world and for their lives. Then the poem was off and running! Enjoy the wonderful art photos.


Hunting Our Home





It’s our nature to make a home for ourselves
Dividing the inner space for comfort
Designing the outer armor for show
Cultivating a garden to complement and rest





We wonder about what the other guy has...
Where do they live?
How do they live?
Why did they choose what they did?






We travel the world exploring
Opening doors and entering novel rooms





Crowding into our heads fresh ways to see
Different places and distinctive faces


Look at all the extraordinary people
Their houses speak their owners’ intent





The wealthy build grand gleaming palaces
Strutting their status in society and imagined worth





The homes point the way desire travels





Sometimes wealth can seep corruption





And old houses reflect unintended decay





Perversion builds a home destroyed by atom bomb tests





Old status homes descend down to the haunted
Playgrounds for today’s Halloween children





Some remain abandoned for centuries obsolete





Others live abundantly well-loved in lush fields





Still others thrive most elegantly aloof





While some cling to live ruggedly remote





Others perform the dance of the cliffs most modern





While others melt grinning into their environment





A few joyfully proclaim themselves, unabashed
While others choose another intentional life





One chooses outward memorials to those now gone





While another chooses inward Hopi contemplation





Some chose to cultivate isolated serenity





Some visit simplicity in the warming sun





Some blend home with garden in delight






Some soar their intellect with imagination





We continue walking through this thing called Life





Always poking through the hedges to see more





Remembering our houses, our homes, our creations





Are truly, while growing and changing, are but fishers of men


Denny Lyon
Copyright 9 October 2009
All Rights Reserved


Thanks for visiting, everyone! Have a great weekend!

*** For more poems with great photos visit the companion page I built to my poetry blog where I have all kinds of links like to friends who write poetry and much more. Check out the links to my poetry under Dennys Poems and Libations Friday! segments and enjoy laughing at the funny quotes on the Cheeky Quote Day! segments too, it's called The Social Poets Fav Links, go here.

*** I built yet another companion page to The Social Poets blog to stash links to my favorite blogs and bloggers(and growing, if you have any suggested sites or blogs to add, please email me: Denny Lyon, warriorspearl@gmail.com). To visit The Social Poets Fav Bloggers, go here.


***

Photo Credits

Houses in Vlissingen (Holland) photo by Pingu1963 @ flickr

Rococo-style stone house in Guadalajara Mexico photo by Wonderlane @ flickr

Ornate green door photo by Señor Codo @ flickr

Inner room photo by wili_hybrid @ flickr

New Orleans French Quarter "Miltenberger House" house photo by David Paul Ohmer @ flickr

Dragon weather vane photo by James Jordan @ flickr

Twilight storm photo by James Jordan @ flickr

Rundown house photo by just_a_name_thingi e @ flickr

Atomic bomb test house (Nevada, USA) photo by itjournalist @ flickr

Haunted house on the hill photo by country_boy_shane @ flickr

Lonely Ireland house Photo by dingbat2005 @ flickr

Canola fields house photo by Paraflyer @ flickr

Yellow Brazil house Photo by tipiro @ flickr

Trail house photo by bwhistler @ flickr

Modern west coast cliff house photo by pnwra @ flickr

Stone house in Portugal photo by Jsome1 @ flickr

Striped house in Portugal photo by pedrosimoes @ flickr

The Cross House on Chesnut Street (Chicago, Illinois, USA) photo by Señor Codo @ flickr

Hopi house photo by Al_HikesAZ @ flickr

Little isolated house photo by Fr Antunes @ flickr

A house on the beach photo by fotografar @ flickr

Town House, Chinon Photo by *Susie* @ flickr

Little Red House on Pine Planet Photo by visulogik @ flickr

Live oaks walkway at Oak Alley Plantation photo by David Paul Ohmer @ flickr

Garden walk photo by oseillo @ flickr

White House photo by dcJohn @ flickr

Fisherman from Portugal photo by pedrosimoes @ flickr

Libations Friday! 8 May 2009

New coffee recipes, new coffee site, original poem AND it's Friday! Does Life get any better? :)

Coffee Photo by once and future @ flickr

From Denny: With the “hurry up and wait all day” jury duty this week I didn’t get a chance to pre-load any of my posts. They were keeping us longer than usual as a Mexican drug lord was on trial, complete with over a million dollars in drugs as evidence and a SWAT team to protect his sorry criminal self from assassination. Let's hear the applause for where our tax dollars go: forced to protect mocking criminals while awaiting trial. Such is the downside of a civilized society dealing with the savage violent members.

So you can guess how many people wanted to be on that jury... I didn't really care if they picked me or not as I can't be intimidated and have no use for bullies. I was the last person to be paneled and once they found out I was a journalist I made the immediate cut. Many of the jurors complained that it was a bit creepy giving out your home address and other personal information in open court since the accused has the right to know where his accusers live. Talk about a law that needs to be changed - like yesterday!

Apologies for any inconvenience to my readers as I know you clock in from time zones all over the world. Usually I try to load at least one post a day by early morning my time (and Canada’s) so folks across The Pond in Europe have a read by late afternoon.

Hello to the folks in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Greece as I’m surprised to find so many readers from Eastern Europe. Hello to those of you in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Denmark!

As to the folks in the Mideast - like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - and Asia - like lots in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia - Thank You for checking in for a visit!

Now on to the coffee portion! Found this interesting coffee site: BestOfCoffeeNews.com.

Here are some of their coffee advice tips:

Troubleshooting Coffee

Does your coffee taste bad? There are several possible reasons why the coffee doesn't taste right. Here are some possible solutions to common coffee problems.

• Stale coffee beans or stale grounds? This will create a recipe for bitter coffee. Get fresh coffee!

• A dirty pot? An unclean coffee pot makes bitter coffee. Follow the coffee maker cleaning instructions.

• Poor water quality? Typical city water may lead to bitter tasting coffee. Use clean water if possible.

• Using an incorrect ratio of coffee grounds to water? If the ratio isn't right, the coffee can turn bitter, or make the coffee taste like nothing.

Coffee Maker Maintenance

How to you clean your coffee maker? In order to be able to keep making good coffee, do this every month:

1. In case you have a built-in filter, take it out.

2. Fill your carafe with water and add two tablespoons of vinegar.

3. Pour the mixture of water and vinegar into the coffee maker and turn on the coffee maker.

4. Let it brew halfway through the brewing cycle and stop the machine for about 15 minutes. Resume the brewing process and let the brewing finish.

5. Now, rinse the carafe out and brew plain water through the system - twice. Rinse out the carafe, and you're now all done!

Here are two recipes from BestOfCoffeeNews.com:

This is definitely one I’ve not seen. I suppose if it’s made with fresh farmer’s market yogurt it could be outstanding, though I doubt I’d try it with what’s available in most grocery stores stuffed full of preservatives, additives and sugar.

Coffee Yogurt Drink

Ingredients

• 8 ounces plain yoghurt
• 8 ounces cold black coffee
• Sugar to taste
• Ground cinnamon

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a blender and serve in a long glass with a straw. Decorate with cinnamon. Serves 2.

***
This one sounds refreshing for a summer drink with all this mint!

Peppermint Coffee Cream

Ingredients

• 2 ounces white creme de menthe
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 8 ounces hot freshly made black coffee
• lightly whipped double cream
• mint chocolate cut into thin slivers

Warm a brandy glass. Add the creme de menthe and the sugar. Add the hot coffee, stir well. Pour the whipped cream over a spoon onto the top of the coffee. Decorate with the slivers of mint chocolate. Drink through the cream without mixing.

***



Photo by Sarah Sitkin @ flickr

Now on to the poem. How many times do you find yourself amused by something small that happens in your daily life? Parents and grandparents experience this often. Do try to record those amusing real life incidents - if only to write about years later. Look at it this way: you can embarrass your kids at their wedding, entertaining the wedding guests with funny stories.

Though I don’t have children there are times when my husband is a great substitute. Most days he is the hard-nosed tough-minded businessman. And then his Irish side pops up out of nowhere to hijack his personality and he is like a daredevil nine-year-old on a sugar rush! He definitely keeps my life from being too serious.

No matter how annoying he gets I still enjoy watching him at play – or should I say watching him “in play” like some strategic game plan like you see in sports. It’s like a coach called Life handed him a playbook and told him to execute it! The way some people’s minds work when mildly stressed and the inventive solutions they create…

As you read this light-hearted and total silliness ditty, think of the amusing childrens' writer Dr. Seuss' “musical words” in your head and you will have the right frame of mind to be amused and follow the beat of the poem. Oh, and don't forget to write fan letters to my husband! :)

Have a good weekend, everyone! Thanks for visiting!




Pastel Drawing by Denny Lyon


The Husband Who Cleans

Lunching together at home my husband and me
One Friday summer at noon: Horror happened!
Spilled my red sauce dots, splat! All over ivory

My husband he comforted me, No big deal!
I’ll clean it later, good intentions he had
OK, I agreed, forgetting ‘til many hours that late

Like many a wife I circled back to clean
But not found those red dots! So astonished was I!
My husband proudly approached to show me you see
Pointed to where the red spot dots had been dining
And declared the ivory cloth so spotless and cleaned

I peered closer, doubting, to examine for wet
Found none, now perplexed, now downright puzzled,
What ever did you use to clean “It”?

He solved the problem, can’t you see?
Rotating ‘round the tablecloth one place setting
Grinning wildly, he lifted up the long S & P tray
He exclaimed, so proud he was to me, See? I cleaned!
The red dots they remained, new home, well hidden,
Under the accommodating accomplice S & P tray...



*Male Motto: If you can’t see it, then it’s clean!

*Disclaimer: My husband wants to make sure everyone knows it was the woman who was the table slob… He’s sensitive.


Denny Lyon
Copyright 18 July 2008
All Rights Reserved