Some folks are penny wishers, others are star wishers.
If you prefer stars, here’s a chalk star to wish upon …
~
This is a re-post from a couple of years ago. Thought I’d revisit it now–
at a time of year devoted to intentions, resolutions, success plans. Sometimes, perhaps, it’s better to drop the effort and hope for something grand …
12th c: monastery baths existed in this area
1880’s: first spa hotel built
1937: drinking cure hall added
1979: daytime hospital established
end of 20th c: spa thoroughly renovated and modernized
now: a popular meeting place for artists and writers
Treatments:
healing drinking cure
physiotherapy
mud packs
Finnish sauna
dry and steam sauna chambers
foot massage
underwater massage with water beam
refreshing massage
medical healing massage
carbonic acid tub bath
weight bath
Grab onto the railing…underwater massage
with jets in all directions. Thermal bubbles like this are
commonplace in Hungary. Hot springs in Canada don’t feature these contraptions.
Not long ago, I wrote about the human practice of assigning homo-sapiens the names of non-human animals.
Now, in a ‘stone’ called ‘Catch & Release’, I offer a cross-species sporting reference to a mate-selection ritual used by some individuals. The 22 words–in all their glory–appear in the U.K.-based web-zineA Handful of Stones. According to editor Fiona Robyn, a small stone is a very short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment.
To read ‘Catch & Release’,
click the fish below:
A note about the image: I captured it while staring through water, looking down at a pond, standing on the bridge behind Festetics Castle in Keszthely, Hungary–the place where ‘Catch & Release’ was conceived.
And a question:
Do you use non-human animal references to describe assorted human activities and practices?
It’s even cooler when mail with my name on it contains something other than bills.
Take, for example, the package above — sent to me by California-basedFolded Word Press Managing Editor, J.S. Graustein. The package contains two custom-made postcard bundles that unfold into a labyrinth of color-coded stories, written and made just for me.
There’s room for more, and it doesn’t matter where you live.
The point of the party is to share what is (or isn’t) growing in April near you.
For directions, and to see who’s arrived, follow this link.
Hope to see you soon!
Karyn
April is over and submissions are closed.
To all who stopped by to view and/or share, thank-you!
The April Garden Party photos are preserved. Have a look.
While I’d like to think I’m special — the only person on the planet with the opportunity to trade tailored words for just a dollar — it’s not the case. For a whole host of reasons, Molly has made the exchange available to people other than me — to everyone, it seems. On her website she states:
“For $1.00, I WILL WRITE YOU A POEM and post it here and on our friend, Facebook … let’s call this enterprising, exciting, intriguing. Here are the facts:”
I first read about this a while back, but was reminded the other day when I saw a blog post about the poem she wrote for Dorothee Lang.
I wondered:
If I place a PayPal order for myself, what sort of poem will she craft?
She’d asked for guidelines; prompts; instructions. I didn’t give her much to go on:
“No special instructions. I’m thinking of this as an intuitive poem — one where you, the writer, will know exactly the words I need to read.”
Molly, thank-you for Nancy Drewblood’s promise of new vistas with each forward step.
On another note …
Molly has hatched a plan to do a Ph.D. Item #10 on her fact list reads:
“I will cast a net and apply to dream PhD programs, good PhD programs, and backup PhD programs.”
Drawing from experience, having walked that road myself, I figure that even with full funding and brisk poetry sales she’ll need plenty of cash. I think she ought to hike her rate from $1.00 per poem … to more than that.
Look forward to seeing what’s growing (or isn’t) near you!
April is over and submissions are closed.
To all who stopped by to view and/or share, thank-you!
Scroll down to see the April photos. They’re preserved.
It’s one thing to experience social life, another to describe it, and something different altogether to depict it visually.
I discovered Palindrome on the BluePrintReview blog just a moment. It knocked my socks off. I left a comment. Here’s what I said:
“So glossy and seductive like beautiful masks people wear at parties; masks that beg to be pulled off b/c of the compulsion to see who’s underneath …
… a fascinating visual depiction of sociology, of the ongoing tensions between self and society, and the ways in which identity is negotiated …”
To my words I’d like to add:
It represents the weight of expectation — of family, ethnicity, race, class, gender, socialization, education, religion, occupation, etc.
It also represents human struggle and the capacity for resistance …
***
The mastermind behind Palindrome is Isabelle Carbonell — a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Washington, D.C.
Here’s how she describes her work:
“Palindrome is a “videopainting” about what society demands us to do as either immigrants or citizens: to assimilate. It is a palindromic painting about the mirror of identity, the multiple masks we offer in different settings, and our subconscious rebellion that emerges in times of epiphany.”
Was chatting with a fellow passenger on the Canada Line. He offered to sell me four tickets to the Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Great seats: third row from the front at B.C. Place. He bought them for $1,100.- each when they first went on sale. The intent was to re-sell for a profit.
Now he’s asking $1,600.- per ticket. It’s easy math: $2,000.- in his pocket if he unloads them for the price he asks. Thing is, the Opening Ceremony is under three weeks away. He’s having trouble selling. He’s advertised on craigslist and registered his tickets with the VANOC resale site. But so far, he says, no takers …