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! 25 September 2009

From Denny: Lately, the news coverage has been about so much misfortune for humanity worldwide. Mother Nature - and we - are out of balance. So goes humanity, so goes the natural world...

There are raging floods, raging fires, loss of jobs and fortunes, divorces, so much negativity. These are the times and the cycle of life tests. Some folks have never been tested so harshly and are worrying how long they can figuratively tread water. That's when it's a good idea to get back to basics and do a refocus upon inner spirituality no matter what the religion of choice.

When blogging about the 50 inches of rain that fell on Atlanta, a place I had lived for many years, I was reminded of shock, sorrow and sadness visited upon so many. When you first get tested like this it is difficult to adjust. Adapt you must as that is the only way to balance, through the gauntlet of change.

While thinking about all the excessive rain and flooding, I was also reminded of the Native American thoughts about rain. They divide rain into Mother Rains and Father Rains. The Mother Rains are soft and nurturing, helping growth and beginning a life anew. The Father Rains are destructive, destroying all that was built because it was shown to be upon a false foundation or it was time to tear it down to build something better.

We all love the nurturing easy soft rains but are in fear of the harsh loud severe storms. The Native Americans lived in Nature, observed Nature and learned from Nature. Today we are too removed from Nature and have forgotten so many of our ancestors' wisdom about balance and harmony. This poem is to bring back our ancient memories we all own so we can live fuller happier lives.


***


Rain Blessings





Life encircles, waits and teaches
Gently offering Mother Rain
Nurturing, healing and growing





Life surrounds, exploits and disciplines
Harshly demanding Father Rain
Judging, crashing and destroying





The Rain of Sorrows weighs heavy
Loading our hearts’ pockets like stones
May the Sun of Love slip safely into your heart





Drying up brimming waters of gloomy sorrows
Transforming sorrow stones to nothing dust
Blown away easily in one quick strong breath





The Rain of Troubles appear unexpectedly
Cramming our minds with screaming worry rats
May the Sun of Wisdom sit down on your doorstep





Lighting your inner lantern onto a new inspiring path
Dissolving lack of harmony with one powerful thought





The Rain of Worries and Fears hover overhead stagnant
Soaking our valley of desires like a rushing flash flood





May the Sun of Understanding speak words of calm
Welcoming the rational return of wordless balance
Banishing like a wizard what lingers as unimportant





When the Rains come welcome them all in your Life
Mother Rain as nurturing, Father Rain as destroying
Purpose, understanding, growth through trial they bring





From the Rain of Sorrows we leave behind the past
From the Rain of Troubles we leave behind resentment
From the Rain of Worries and Fears we leave behind mistrust





Heal your disappointments and come back into harmony





Nurture your happiness and create your inner peace





Grow your courage to reach out beyond yourself to Love



Denny Lyon
Copyright 24 September 2009
All Rights Reserved

*******

Photo Credits

Sunset photo by anirbanbiswas_c8 @ flickr

Lightning Photo by phatman @ flickr

Red rain photo by tourist_on_earth @ flickr

Storm clouds Photo by muha… @ flickr

Hand in water Photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Into the sun path photo by James Jordan @ flickr

Clouds photo by luc.viatour @ flickr

Go with the flow Photo by muha… @ flickr

New day Photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Reflection Photo by muha… @ flickr

Heart bridge Photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Inner peace photo by Jeff Kubina @ flickr

Peacemaker Photo by muha... @ flickr

Libations Friday! 12 June 2009

Photo by once and future @ flickr

From Denny: With the economy still in the dumps along with our wallets, this video can perk up the coffee lovers. Demoed is the less expensive way to get that coveted coffee experience we no longer can afford on a daily basis like we used to do. There are quite a large variety of coffee makers available for any budget.

Sitting on the table is one of my favorite coffee companies, Gevalia, from Sweden. Every flavor they make is carefully considered, tested and just plain awesome! We are big fans of the French Vanilla flavor when we want a flavor coffee in our house. They carry coffees from various coffee houses in Europe like Café Sperl in Vienna, Austria, a coffee house still remembered with affection. Clearly, this video also demonstrates how there is still a huge market for coffee consumption!

Video: Be Your Own Barrista

“David Gregg from Behindthebuy.com demonstrates to Harry Smith a variety of home baristas so that designer coffee experience doesn't have to burn a hole in your pocket.”


Watch CBS Videos Online

From the Café Moto site comes our coffee drink recipes for this week. Their funny motto over there is “we drink all we can; the rest we sell.” You really need to check out this site!

Most of us love Café Latte. I like the way they describe the process. Find out the practical tips of how good coffee is achieved in the following offerings!



Photo by Joshua Reppeneker @ flickr

ESPRESSO

We'll put this one first as it is the basis of most coffee drinks.

RISTRETTO: "Short pour." Usually 1 ounce for a single and two for a double. The original Italian espresso.

LUNGO: "Long pour." This is the typical American espresso and is 1.25 ounces for a single and 2.5 ounces for a double.

CAFÉ LATTE

Steam 12 to 14oz. milk between 120 F. and 140 F. Prepare a single or double espresso. Pour espresso into cup and then tilt the cup and pour the milk slowly down the side. This lifts some of the espresso to the top of the cup and gives it a swirled, marbleized appearance. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon.

ESPRESSO CON PANNA

Espresso topped with whipped cream.

From Denny: I love the name of this one; sure made me laugh! Also, it’s a great lead-in to my silly poem. Maybe I can claim I was drinking a Hammerhead coffee when I wrote it…?

HAMMERHEAD

An American creation meant to get you wired fast and furious, hence the reference to the shark. Good, strong coffee poured over two shots of fresh espresso. Leave room for cream. Usually ordered by very fast talkers with jittery eyes.

Now for the poetry section, or should I say, silly poetry section:

Do you ever just want to jot down something utterly silly, total nonsense, of not much redeeming cultural value yet somehow it just must be significant? I mean, after all, we are all great writers of soon-to-be historical mention, right? OK, probably not, but it’s fun to dream on…

I talked about anagrams this week. As a writer I do like to play with my words like little kids play with their food (future artists at play). Every now and then I like to play with words in a visual sense where the poem only looks good on paper. Reading it out loud is fine but the auditory loses out for the finer shades of meaning only viewed visually. I like to play with words that sound alike but are not the same subject.



Photo by k0a1a.net @ flickr

Ditties are good for the soul; they help loosen up any emotional rigidity or the results of a bad day. In the following little ditty I played with the sound of the words “I, eye and aye (archaic word for yes).” Creating this little poem was a lot like reading those old vaudeville jokes of “who’s on first?” It’s a short-cut reference, using the sport jargon of baseball, and about the confusion that can happen in a conversation when you don’t know who exactly is being referenced when the speaker uses “him” or “her.”

You could read this poem on a couple of levels, like a philosophy student, or even as a conversation with God or just as silly fun. There is nothing more fun than writing on several levels simultaneously, sort of like playing multi-dimensional chess. The more simply you write, often the more meaning can be packed into it. Also, people can enjoy it on any level.

Life is like that: take a chance, make some choices and live out loud. Choose a word you enjoy, inject a little humor and you are off to the poetry races! Have some fun!



Photo by zedzap @ flickr (such a cool photo!)


Eye I


She eyed me
I eyed Him
He eyed Us

We saw

Eye: aye
Now
You see 2
Who saw whom?

I eye: aye



Denny Lyon
Copyright 13 September 2008
All Rights Reserved

Have a good weekend, everyone! Live out loud!

Video: The Don't Quit Poem

Inspirational video! Great for creative people to help with discouragement and burnout. Good images and music. Worth the listen.

Seven Illustrated Quotes: Art and Writing

Seven Illustrated Quotes: Art and Writing - Quotations excite the mind and inspire the heart! Why not pair art photos with your favorite quotations for an exercise in writing beauty?

By Denny Lyon
Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr