Monday Moments

Hope it was a good weekend. I'll just be getting back from a week in PA visiting Dad. I'm sure I'll have some senior moments to share later. However, this Monday Moment is courtesy of a trip to New York City many years ago. I love the Swatch store in the Times Square area and always wander in (and buy). Sure enough, this watch captured my eye and credit card.

WORDS 

Words Matter.   Henry Ward Beecher wrote, "All words are pegs to hang ideas on."

Rudyard Kipling said, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

And Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "For words, like Nature, half reveal
and half conceal the Soul within."

WORDS MATTER

I hope everyone heeds this Monday moment.  Carry on.........

Seamless Safire

Over Labor Day Weekend, I stood on the Wilmington, DE waterfront and watched young crew teams train. I admired their coordination and teamwork. No oars dragging in the water. Instead, crisp and steady, the boats glided seamlessly.

William Safire, New York times columnist, passed away on 9/27/09 and as Mark Davis wrote in the Dallas Morning News, "There are many left to man the oars of punditry, though few will do it with such grace." You didn't have to agree with his conservative politics, but you couldn't disagree with his love of the English language. He wrote seamlessly and debated endlessly over word usage, structure, and style.

I pulled out my copy of Safire's Language Maven Strikes Again, and chuckled as I perused a few chapters. In the forward he wrote, "It's your language, too, buddy; if you want to abuse it and muddle it up, you will do that for yourself, not for me. If, on the other hand, you are willing to think about how we communicate, and consider the words and the forms of grammar, then you are automatically a member of the Authority, entitled to the thrill of membership."

It's a fun journey. Grab an oar and start paddling.

Woo with Words

Strolling the grounds of the Clark Gardens, Weatherford Texas, we watched this peacock strut. He sensed the white feathered female nearby but she ignored him, so he worked harder to get attention.

Whipped up the razzle dazzle. Still no luck. I think she yawned, if that's possible.

Finally, he unveiled the show. Spectacular color, massive plummage, he tapdanced his heart out. Alas, she scurried away.

If only he'd written her a poem, wooed her with words - well chosen words. Rid himself of unnecessary adjectives or adverbs, and honed in on action verbs. He thought about the video production, but didn't have the right script.

It's all about word choice.

Joanne

soar higher

This little bronze piece, sculpted by Dave Rizzo, sits atop my writing desk.

She flings into space. Arms outreached. Full of trust, hope, abandon. The interplay of shadows on the wall offer depth and contrast.

As I place a stamp on an envelope today and entrust my words to the post office to deliver them to an agent, editor, or literary journal, I fling my writing into the world.

Hope someone catches me.

Joanne