M is for Mother [A Sonnet] (A-Z Challenge)

I wrote this about 7 years ago but thought I would share it with you as part of the A-Z Challenge. I tried to write it in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet. I'm sure it's nowhere near right, but it means a lot to me nonetheless. Hope you like it.

 

 

A Sonnet

Within a crowd I thought I saw your face;

Your Roman nose, your glinting eyes, your skin,

Your gait, a restless memory; a trace,

Of long lost motherhood, my flesh and kin,

As painful memories are lost in love

And longing, to be with you once again

Is all I crave; a moment from above,

A touch, a glance, communion to attain.

 

A time to heal, a bridge to build and cross

This endless gulf of space and time, and yet

To grasp and hold and feel what I have lost;

To quench my thirst and feelings of regret,

But when you looked into my face I knew;

Your vacant glance told me it was not you.

 

 

L is for Lifelong Learning (A-Z Challenge)

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.

  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” 

(Henry Ford)

 

Lifelong learning is inevitable, in one sense. We can't help it: our five senses make sure of that. Everything we experience must teach us something. But what I'm talking about in this blog is deliberate, purposeful enquiry - more than experience. I love the quotation by Henry Ford (above) because it speaks of one of the many fruits of learning - keeping the mind keen and vibrant. It might mean taking a course or going on a journey, reading a book or having a conversation with friends. But it's not the act itself; it's the attitude and intention with which we do it.

When we are children there are good evolutionary reasons for being credulous but when we attain adulthood we begin to come to our own conclusions about life. And we should take full advantage of our innate capability to experience, to reason and to develop our knowledge in a way that shapes our values and stimulates our minds. And as we get older we will know that it was time well spent. Because of lifelong learning we may become old of body but we will be young of mind.

K is for Knackered (A-Z Challenge)

It had to happen at some time during the A-Z Challenge: I'm Kompletely Knackered and Kannot Kthink of anything to Kommunicate about 'K'.

Back tomorrow to regroup!

J is for Jargon (A-Z Challenge)

Today's blog is about business JARGON....

Annoying jargon in the workplace to be exact. It's amazing what we will say in the workplace that we wouldn't dream of saying at home. Here are some examples, which annoy me greatly! What about you?


Bandwidth
The limit of your ability. "Excuse me darling, do you mind taking the rubbish out today, only I don't have the bandwidth" - I don't think so!!

Boots on the Ground
Referring to employees sent to a location to do project work of some kind. I've heard this so many times in the office, it drives me mad!

Downsize
Reducing the size of the workforce - redundancy. Say no more.

Ballpark
Making an estimate - "Can you give me a ballpark figure?" I have to admit I use this quite a lot myself, and it annoys me!

Facetime
A face to face meeting. What's wrong with just MEETING?

Touch Base
Don't you just hate this one? One to be avoided if you have any self respect. Why not just say "I'll contact you". Then you wouldn't sound like a complete and utter t*%£

Blue-sky Thinking
I'm not even going to grace this with an explanation.

Thinking Outside the Box
Ditto!!

Muppet Shuffle
My personal favourite - Getting rid of underperforming employees and passing them onto another unsuspecting department!

I is for Ingleborough (A-Z Challenge)

Ingleborough has become one of my favourite mountains. I walk there often since moving to the Yorkshire Dales about a year and a half ago. This photograph was taken recently, on a lovely spring day on one of the many approaches to it. Winter is still trying to cling on in the UK and you can still see the snow on the mountainside. But spring is certainly in the air now.

Ingleborough is the second highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, at 723m and one of a trio of mountains known as the 'The Three Peaks'.  The other two are Whernside (736m) and Pen-y-ghent (694m). I've had the pleasure of climbing all three a number of times. These three peaks are climbed regularly, one after the other, as part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge: a 24 mile circular walk ending in a little village called Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Ingleborough is intriguing in that there are visible remains of ruined battlements at the summit and evidence of ancient round houses. I love the thought that people have lived and died on this mountain for so many centuries. One funny story is of a round tower ,or Hospice, which was built close to the summit in 1830. On the day of its opening the celebrations became so raucous and alcohol-fuelled that the tower was pulled down and partly destroyed by the revellers. It was never re-built and the rest was destroyed some time later. Its scattered remains are there to this day.

H is for Hard (A-Z Challenge)

I came across a Facebook post recently about why English is HARD to learn. This is why:

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he could get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there was no time like the present, he decided to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the bass drum.
9. The dove dove into the bushes.
10. He did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row amongst the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell into the sewer.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my gum got number.
19. After seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

 

G is for The Great Gatsby [A Review] (A-Z Challenge)

Some regard The Great Gatsby as F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel. I cannot say otherwise, as this was my first exposure to his work. 'Fine', however, is too small a word to describe this novel. I became immersed immediately into the glittering, roaring twenties; the wonderful world of excess, money and ambition.

 

The story is seen from the viewpoint of Nick Carraway, who finds himself living across the street from Jay Gatsby's Long Island Sound mansion. His narration drew me into Gatsby's world of parties and his decadent lifestyle, wonderfully described using beautifully poetic language. I found myself re-reading whole paragraphs just for the sheer pleasure of it; this is not a book to be rushed.

 

Nick enters Gatsby's world by invitation and as their relationship develops, so too does the feeling that Nick is always on the outside looking in, never getting close to who Gatsby really is and where he has come from. Gatsby's past remains mysterious to the end and I always felt that whatever he was hiding would never fully come to light. And that's fine because, here, it's the journey that counts and not the destination. Gatsby is a self-made millionaire with a murky past. When he moves to Long Island Sound it is to be close the Daisy; his love of years ago.

Their relationship ended when he went to serve abroad and she ended up marrying a brutal and bullying man - Tom Buchanan. Now Gatsby is once again in pursuit of Daisy, with terrible consequences.

 

I found the characterisation and description of relationships to be most pleasing about this book: the quality of Fitzgerald's writing brings them to life. I had a similar experience when reading Brideshead Revisited recently. And now I see there is a film about to be released staring Leonardo Dicaprio and I can't wait. The story is simple but rich. I hope the film does it justice. I intend to review the film here in due course.

 

Do yourself a favour - buy this book, make yourself a coffee and enjoy!