Poetry Challenge #117-Celebrate!
Every day is a special day. If a day dawns in need of an excuse to celebrate I make a quick search. I delight in finding calendars that telling what each day is special for—more than 365 reasons to make a ruckus!
Today, April 15th is according to nationaldaycalendar.com, is Purple Up Day! Rubber Eraser Day! and Take a Wild Guess Day!
And, if that’s not enough to get you blowing those weird paper roll-up horns, it’s the 30th Anniversary of National Poetry Month!
Poetry Challenge #117
A Month of Holidays
As the inimitable fashion of Kool and the Gang:
Celebration time…Come on!
No matter what day it is, find something to celebrate. (If only it’s not having to listen to me singing along…because you know I am.)
Choose something to celebrate. Erasers maybe, or purple, or the neighbor’s irritatingly loud wind chimes. (At least they haven’t blown off into my yard or through a window…YET!)
Write a celebratory poem.
Jazz your poem up with some celebratory words: Clap, cheer, rejoice, glitter, shine, hallelujah!
And if you need some mood music, click and listen to Kool and the Gang singing Celebration!
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Start writing!
And when you’re finished…CELEBRATE!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 3500 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy’s.) If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
What Inspires Me #3-Out of the Box Ideas!
Today I posted the last 7-Minute Poetry Prompt!
(If you were relieved to read that, then the joke is on me.)
Speaking of jokes, while clicking around for some prank I could play today (that wasn’t cruel or difficult), I came upon these definitely sound like pranks, but are they???
For now, though, let’s set “Velveeta” hair color aside (as if we could), and focus on my news. (Hopefully you’ll find it inspiring?)…
My latest book RAINBOW KITE is flying! Catch it!
It is perfect for spring as it’s about a kid who
finds a kite.
And it’s kite flying season.
And, words aside, it has delightful art by K.M. Brown.
You’ll find more about K.M. and how she creates are in the Interview posted here.
RAINBOW KITE could really, really, really use your help (and so could I). If you are willing to write a review and post in on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, etc. I’ll send you a digital copy of the book to review. Send me a note!
And now, the answer to the big question of the day: Are those products fake or real?
I had absolutely nothing to do with these products*, finding them or gather the info—it’s from a post by Ariana Losch published in Sporked “Out to Be Real” (And the joke seems to be on me as the image on my screen isn’t showing the whole article excerpt.) I Hope it is on yours. But if not, click to read the article.
*I did a quick search for the Doctor Pepper TicTacs, they are available on line.
Spring, and out-of-the-box ideas, and Kites—That’s Inspiring!
Poetry Challenge #114-User Error
User Error is such a useful term. At one and the same time it blames and forgives:
“Yes, I did it, but it wasn’t my fault.”
Poetry Challenge #114
User Error
Think back on a time when you’ve had a system malfunction? A SNAFU? A mess up? A day, event, moment when you dropped the ball: BONG BONG BONG (If you haven’t ever had one on those times, make one up.)
Take a moment to dreg up all the miserable, embarrassing, nauseating, gut-wrenching details. Allow yourself to wallow in the misery for one more minute.
Write a poem about that time. Try not to rhyme. Not to spell correctly. Not to sound pleasant. Let it be harsh and raw—try breaking the lines in odd places. It other words: write a lousy poem.
End it with those two huge words: USER ERROR!
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Start writing!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge….dang, I forget how long ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #112-Bend it like Adolphe . . . Sax that is!
When we were about twelve, my friend Theresa and I closed ourselves in a music room at CSULB (where my mom was working on her Master’s Degree) and played over and over and over—her on sax, me on piano—the opening phrases of the song Ruthann Friedman song Windy. You know the one:
Whose peekin’ out from under a stairway/ callin’ a name that’s lighter than air?/ whose bending down to give me a rainbow? /everyone knows it’s Windy./ Whose trippin’ down the streets . . .
over and over . . . Theresa and I only stopped when the guy in the next room knocked.
Turned out, he too played a sax. We only wished we could. . .
Said to emote a sound reminiscent of “the echo of an echo” . . . a resonance “situated at the edge of silence,” the saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s (patented in 1846.) Sax only received a 15-year patent for the sax (immediately others began copying his design). Sax’s sax however was the first.
Poetry Challenge #112
Bend it like Adolphe . . . Sax that is!
In honor of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone and several other sax-ish instruments (saxhorn, saxotromba, saxtuba). His saxophone is often described as being “the closest instrumental match to the human voice.” An instrument whose tone (and I write “whose” purposefully) can, in talented hands, mimic human voice inflection.
In preparation for this prompt, Listen to a Saxophone play. This post highlights “The 20 Greatest Saxophonists of All Times” with clippings of each playing.
Adolphe Sax
And now for the poem:
Let your mind wander as you listen. Where does the music take you? How does it make you feel? What does it make you feel?
Or, look at the saxophone itself, it’s shape. And ask yourself, if a saxophone were an animal, which animal would it be?
Draw on these saxophone images and feelings to write a Saxophonic poem.
Set your mind on “Cool”
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
FYI: The child of Belgian instrument makers, Adolphe Sax is credited with having, by the age of 14, invented at least invented about 9 instruments. For more on Adolphe Sax, including why he was nicknamed “Little Sax, the ghost,” read on:
“Sometimes serious, sometimes calm, sometimes impassioned, dreamy or melancholic, or vague, like the weakened echo of an echo, like the indistinct plaintiff moans of the breeze in the woods and, even better, like the mysterious vibrations of a bell, long after it has been struck; there does not exist another musical instrument that I know of that possesses this strange resonance, which is situated at the edge of silence.”
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge so many solos ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #106-Rock Lobster
World’s Lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick
This time of year, after months of dry heat and dry weather, I’m a lobster—literally
But in my mind, with my collar turned up and a towel wrapped around my head like a stiff beehive updo…
I’m Kate Pierson or Cindy Wilson of the B52’s
Guitar please: dur-dur-dur dah-dah duh-da-duh-duh Oooh-ahhhh….
Rock Lobster!
What comes to mind when you think of a lobster?
Is it the cola-guzzling lobster in Erin Moulton’s funny, heartful Tracing the Stars?
Diane Keaton’s lobster scene from Annie Hall?
Pilgrimage to the world’s largest lobster?
Or, like me, a rockin’ red lobster?
Poetry Challenge #106
Lobster Day
Drawing on that lobster experience (or one imagined), list seven words, one beginning with each letter of the word lobster.
Use that list to craft a seven-line lobster poem.
In addition, the poem might include: a sound, a smell, a location, a texture, and the word “ruckus”.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just get cracking!
* There is actually a National Lobster Day! (But why wait until Sept. 25th to celebrate?)
**Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more days ago that I can count. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
What Inspires Me #88-Lighthouse Keepers
It’s the dead of winter, the wind is truly howling, I am sure the seas are churning. If I were a boat…
Lighthouse Keepers inspire me. Think about it, they live, often on isolated islands, sometimes alone, with the full time mission of shining light. Light to guide. Light to reassure. Light to point the way.
Sally Snowman was the only female lighthouse keeper in the US. (I don’t know about now.) She had been the keeper of Boston Light, in Boston Harbor for 17 years when this photo was taken in 2020. (Read more about Sally in Natasha Frost’s Atlas Obsura article, click on the picture)—but not this second! Read on first!
Sally connected with her husband James Thomson through their mutual love of lighthouses and maritime history
If you like lighthouses, you’ll enjoy it!
But this post is about another kind of lighthouse keeper, one that, while she does live on an Island, is definitely not isolated, but she sure does shine…
Mary Ellen Sherlock is more “Light Keeper” than Lighthouse Keeper. She is a source of light. I first met her at a book fair—her table was across the aisle and down from mine. She glowed, her table of books all with stuffies beckoned, and pulled me and everyone else in. As I soon found out, Mary Ellen was glowing because she stuffed with ideas, interest, curiosity.
Find more about Mary Ellen the author at her website: Mary Ellen Sherlock.com
Mary Ellen’s curiosity, and wonder—and gumption—compels her to seek out creatives. To unearth their stories, and to share them. When the opportunity to host a podcast of her own was presented, Mary Ellen glowed.
Recently, about 20 episodes ago, Lighthouse Keepers Podcast, went live. Mary Ellen goal: “amplify stories of compassion, resilience, and service.” Here’s the mission: “Through heartfelt conversations, she spotlights the individuals and organizations working tirelessly to make the world a kinder, brighter place.”
The Lighthouse Keepers Podcast is on YouTube—Subscribe!
In December (hence the holly-jolly everywhere) I was delighted, and privileged to be one of her guests. What’s even more fun is that we filmed the session in A Book Place Boutique, with our buddy, Jocelyn (the owner, curator of this delightful so-much-more than a bookshop) looking on, laughing occasionally, ahem…
Mary Ellen and I had a blast chit-chatting (not sure about what, I’m too icked out to watch)
—check out all the episodes of the Lighthouse Keeper Podcast, they will all brighten your day!
This is a snippet of Mary Ellen Sherlock’s Newsletter with links to episodes (yes, mine too). I don’t think the links will work, but you can type them and find them, or you can click on the picture or here to visit the podcast.
Keeping the light, shining the light, spotlighting service and kindness and joy—That’s Inspiring!
Poetry Challenge #105-Happy Birthday to You-Know Whoo ever!
Happy Birthday! Every day is somebody’s birthday! Who do you know who has a birthday coming up soon?
If it’s YOU then, according to A.I. Astrology, you are:
The zodiac sign is Aquarius (♒︎), the Water-Bearer, an Air sign ruling from roughly January 20th to February 19th, known for being innovative, intellectual, humanitarian, independent, and sometimes rebellious
Poetry Challenge #105
Happy Birthday to You-Know-Who!!!!
Can you write a poem to that person telling them why they’re special or what they mean to you?
Work on it until every word is exactly the one you want.
Do you want your poem to rhyme?
Do you want it to have a certain number of syllables on a line?
Is it a list poem or a story? You get to decide.
You can even give it to the person as a birthday gift!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Wouldn’t be much of a birthday without a song. Here Goes: YOU SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY by the Beatles
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 3200+days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
What Inspires Me #71-Driveway Art
It’s been a while since I’ve shared what inspires me here at the Fishbowl. That doesn’t mean a thing. Finding inspiration in the world—at least one thing a day—is what keeps me going! To kick off 2026, I’m sharing one of my go-to sources of vitamin I. Read on:
You know the saying, “Want something done? Ask a busy person to do it.” My writer-buddy-friend Jim Smolski is one of the busiest people I know. And one way “cool” dude (yep, that’s Jim with his long board back in the day. Get this, while he now lives in the Houston area, he hails from Long Island, just up island from me, now—same sand, same waves, same haircut my brother, Joe, wore.)
When Jim’s not constructing homes and woodworking—or maybe while he is—he’s crafting stories, poems, cartoons, and art. Impressive as that sounds (and exhausting) what Jim does in his “spare” time is what inspires me:
Driveway Art with “The Grandpa Man”
Some time back, a few neighborhood kids expressed interest in art Jim was making. Taking it as a sign, Jim invited them to give it a try.
It started with one table, a few children, and some art supplies…
The line of art tables just kept growing and growing…
“There are other kids and parents they come and go...
as kids grab an empty chair the other kids are coming down the block.
The party usually lasts about 4 hours plus.
And you know what.....?
I love it!!!! ”
The line of bikes and wagons kept growing as word of “Grandpa Man’s” Pop-up art classes spread. And get this, neighbors, watching the budding artists, have started donating funds and supplies to keep the classes going.
Jim never fails to try the weekly poetry-challenges. Here’s a recent one to kick off the new year. (Mind you this is less than 7-minutes poeming.) But it seasoned with a dash of Jim’s spirit!
Glad Tidings
I resolved to break my record.
Make my resolution last.
I decided I would stay on course.
Not give up on them, so fast.
We do have good intentions.
Our plan is to improve.
But life goes on and back we fall.
A needle in a groove.
I’ll find fortitude unmatched.
To escape from the misguidings.
My resolution for the year.
Is to wish you all glad tidings.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl). Here’s to being inspired, and inspiring others! Thanks, Jim!