In the Morning

Sunrise

 

Ding dong, dong ding
Hear the chimes ring
From the high tower
Hark to the hour

Roll over and turn off the alarm.

Westminster chimes, really?

Since when did they wake up anyone?

Oh well. Time to get up.

Head to the bathroom for morning ablutions

No shaving nicks – huzzah!

Breakfast of cereal and toast: raisin bran and rye.

Back to the bedroom to decide what to wear.

Will anyone notice yesterday’s clothes?

Walk out the door to

Wait. What?

Dress slacks and a t-shirt?

Inside, there’s cereal on the floor and bread in the microwave.

Touching a cheek to find shaving cream.

The clock reads 2:15 AM.

Sleepwalking again.

somnambulant promptThanks, Vanessa!

 


 

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Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Casual Vacancy

The weatherman forecasts rain this week.

Just in time for the wheel of time to turn to:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling.

Yes, that J.K. Rowling.

No, it’s not about Harry Potter.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 138.

A tourniquet of fear was released; relief gushed
through three of the watchers; Simon stopped 
pulling his Neanderthal face. 

The Casual Vacancy coverI’ve read Rowling’s two mystery novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith and found them quite engaging; here’s hoping The Casual Vacancy passes muster.

In Retrospect

I gave All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 5 stars.

I found the subject and style of the book engaging; so engaging I finished the novel in under a day.

The book even made it onto my “Books To Buy Even Though I’ve Already Read Them” list.

In my opinion, it certainly lived up to the hype.

Bingo Square: set during a war or conflict

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman earned 3 stars.

The storyline was a tad obvious and the ending somewhat unsatisfactory.

Billed by some as a “sequel” to American Gods, Anansi Boys has little – if anything – to do with its predecessor.

Bingo Square: involves magic

John le Carré’s A Most Wanted Man scored 5 stars.

A well-written suspense/thriller novel that had me guessing.

Bingo Square: suspense/thriller

 

What have you been reading?

 


 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

In This Sign

Thanks to Vanessa of Petal & Mortar for dropping a note in the prompt box!

Distressed Templar Cross
Photo Credit: John Patrick Victor Jokinen (Dec. 27, 2012)

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

So said God to Constantine

So said the Pope to the Masters

So said the Masters to us

In this sign, conquer

Under this sign, defeat the Infidel

Under this sign, conquer the Holy Land for Christendom

Ascalon

Montgisard

Acre

Arsuf

NON NOBIS DOMINE, NON NOBIS, SED NOMINI TUO DA GLORAIM

In this sign, christen

Christened the Templars, for the Temple gave us

the Ark of the Covenant

the Black Books of Wisdom

the Head of John the Baptist

the Holy Grail

the Seed of Christ

the Secrets of geometry

the Treasures of Old Jerusalem

the Power

In this sign, command and control

Command princes and priests and popes and potentates and powers

Control the fighting and fields and finance and future of Europe

A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.

Bernard de Clairvaux, c. 1135

De Laude Novae Militae [In Praise of the New Knighthood]

In this sign, capitulate

Capitulate to the conspiracy and conniving of kings

Capitulate to the threat and terror of torture

God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom.

King Philip IV of France

In this sign, continue

God knows who is wrong and has sinned.
Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death.

Grand Master Jacques de Molay

Continue in legend and myth and lore and secret societies

Continue until the time is right once more

Templar Knight in Battle Dress angelfire7508

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

 


 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Swan Thieves

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you already know what I’m doing this week:

Roger the ShrubberWhile I labor with overgrowth and deadwood, the wheel of time has landed on:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. This will be my second attempt at reading this particular book; I can’t recall why I abandoned it the first time.

So far it is less intriguing than The Historian, but it’s picked up after page 50.

I use the Truly Random Number Generator to pick the page number for my Teaser Tuesday post; today we go to page 45.

[W]hat will we someday do, I always wonder, without the 
pleasures of turning through books and stumbling on 
things we never meant to find?
. . .
And how could anyone consent to give up that smell
of open books, old or new?

This line convinced me to keep reading rather than abandoning it a second time.
 
The Swan Thieves Cover

In Retrospect

I finished two books since the last Teaser Tuesday:

Atonement by Ian McEwan earned three stars for a somewhat predictable plot and a less-than-satisfactory ending.

BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker also earned three stars; the storyline was thrilling but the characters flat.

What have you been reading?


 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: 1916: The Easter Rising (3.0)

Yesterday I cut down the brush encroaching my house.

Last night a piece aluminum siding broke free, blowing in the wind.

This morning I fixed it, and

I had actual, honest-to-goodness wired internet installed.

That’s right:

No more relying on my phone as a hot spot.

No more mooching off my in-laws to download/upload large files.

But let’s be honest, I’ll still spend quite a bit of time there.

Family

Good Food

On the Water

No more using the work WiFi to blog.

Unless I want to, of course.

Disclaimer: I didn’t use it during work hours;

I come in early and stay late.

They don’t mind.

And so, thanks to the packet-switching that drives the internet, SuddenLink Communications, and the wheel of time, it is my pleasure to bring you my first post via my own cabled internet:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.


This week I’m reading 1916: The Easter Rising by Tim Pat Coogan.

Actually, this marks the third time I’ve tried to read it. This should not be a reflection on Mr. Coogan, time and life simply stalled out the other attempts. Thus far, it’s quite readable and enjoyable.

I used the Truly Random Number Generator to pick the page number; it chose page 35.

I must admit, it isn’t the most riveting of passages, but that’s what you get when you leave things to fate/chance.

The British system was based on:

 (a) The grasp of human weakness and vanity.

 (b) A correct appreciation of the value and use 
       of duplicity and Pecksniffianism.

 (c) A clear conception of the truth that success in 
       governing depends on well-contrived 
       antagonisms in the economic and social 
       structure of the state. 

1916 The Easter Rising Tim Pat Coogan Cover

In Retrospect

I finished two books since the last Teaser Tuesday:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré socred 4/5 stars. It was a fairly decent mystery story, but the pace may be a little slow for those accustomed to modern thrillers. After reading, I also understand why people complained the movie was incredibly slow [I haven’t seen it; I wonder if it’s on Netflix?]. However, I loved the story for the story’s sake – even if I did figure out whodunnit about a quarter of the way through – and am thankful my library has more of le Carré’s works.

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie scored 2/5 stars. I found the plot slightly less than intriguing, the characters flat, and the resolution bordering on Deus ex machina. I also new whodunnit by the time Miss Marple made her appearance – it wasn’t that hard to figure it out. On the plus side, my edition didn’t yet exist on Goodreads, so I got to add it to the list!

What have you been reading?


 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

School’s out for summer: long days complemented by sweet southern iced tea.

Dunkin Donuts Sweet Iced TeaAlthough next school year is just around the corner, the wheel of time has turned on its axis to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.


This week I’m reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré.

I picked a line from page 26, the page I’m currently on as I type this:

At a certain moment, after all, every man chooses: 
will he go forward, will he go back? There was 
nothing dishonorable in not being blown about by
every little modern wind. Better to have worth,
to entrench, to be an oak of one's own generation.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Cover

In Retrospect

I actually finished several books since the last Teaser Tuesday.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman scored 5/5 stars. It seems as if people either love it or hate it. I’m one of those who love it. Based on the Goodreads reviews, those who hated it “didn’t understand” it; I guess I can understand that – a working knowledge of mythology is supremely beneficial in understanding the allusions Gaiman makes throughout.

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne scored 3/5 stars. I understand I’m reading an English translation of a French novel written over 100 years ago, but I found the language a bit stuffy for science fiction. I also felt the novel concluded unsatisfactorily.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote scored 4/5 stars for no other reason than I didn’t feel it deserved 5 stars. Having seen the movie (which I don’t particularly enjoy) I understand Capote’s disdain for the film adaptation. The book is always better.


 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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