Norman T. Goldfish Answers: Why Were You So Shy?
Look at all those humans…gluuuu
Hey Kids!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Ask Norman: Do You Have Super Powers?
Norman T. Goldfish answers questions from readers. Scroll down to read his responses.
Hey Kids!
Scroll down to read Norman’s answer to Gianni . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Super Norman!
Hey Kids!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #164-Candy Anadilosis
Not sure who’s brilliant idea it was—maybe Milton Hershey’s —but it’s official: November 4th, four gluttonous days past “Trick or Treat” comes the sweetest day of all: National Candy Day!
Note the absence of chocolate…
I have it a half-hearted search but couldn’t find the origin story of the holiday. So here, I’m thinking, is the logic behind the day: everyone with access has had four whole days to cherry pick through the Halloween stash. Really all that’s left is the dregs, so let’s get it over with ripping-off-the-Band-Aid style: Dump whatever is left into a pile, pluck out the odd pencils, toothbrushes & stickers, unwrap the rest, and go for it!
Yoda “Dylan” & Ewok “Aiden”
Stuff as much will fit into our mouths and chew, chew, chew, chew, chew . . .
or maybe safer: join us for the 7-Minute Challenge!
Poetry Challenge #164
Candy Anadiplosis aka the Illusion of Logic
Anadiplosis is a repeated word or phrase. This repetition adds emphasis. It makes your words sound strong and sure. It adds music to your poem. Many poets and politicians use anadiplosis when they’re making a point. Yoda used anadiplosis in Star Wars when he said,
“Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hatred; hatred leads to suffering.”
In honor of National candy day, write a poem using anadiplosis. Make the first line end with the word candy or the name of a particular candy. The second line will begin with the last word and so on.
Try to use strong words—usually nouns—for the last word of each line. Write at least five lines.
Read it aloud to hear the sweet if illogical music!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1680 days ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments. And scroll down for my happy news:
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
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Poetry Challenge #163-The Answer is always Chocolate!
Now, what’s your question?
As if we need an excuse It’s National Chocolate Day. Yep! An entire 24 hours, 1440 minutes, not to mention seconds! At 1 chocolatey nibble per second that’s 86,400 nibbles! That’s my kind of day!
Like Willie Wonka, I think of the chocolate factory with chocolate trees and rivers. I imagine everything you can dip in chocolate.
My VCFA class, “Unreliable Narrators” splurged on a chocolate fountain, gobbled obscene quantities of chocolate dipped strawberries, marshmallows, cake, grahams, carrots, celery, radish . . . after donated it to the school. Writers require chocolate PRN!
Poetry Challenge #163
The Answer is Always Chocolate
Write an acrostic poem, using the letters
C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E as the first letter in each line.
Your poem can be about chocolate or candy or anything else you want it to be—as long as it’s ooey, gooey delicious!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just indulge!
Chocolate as good to read as it is to nibble! & If you like yours chocolate dark, dip into Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War
Post a review, I’ll give you a glug!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than SIXTEEN HUNDRED days ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments. And scroll down for my happy news:
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
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Ask Norman: Do Goldfish Toot?
Norman T. Goldfish answers questions from readers. Scroll down to read his responses.
Hey Kids!
Scroll down to read Norman’s answer to Jude . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Hey Kids!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #162-Be Kind to Your Cold-Blooded Friends
This is a tuatara. Who knew?
Be kind to your cold-blooded friends, for that gecko maybe some critter’s mo-ther/Be kind to snakes, crocs, turtles, tuatara, too/And don’t just stick them all in the zoo…
There are approximately 10,700 species of reptile, that is four-limbed (or like snakes, related to four-limbed) cold-blooded, egg-laying, creatures that have been walking-climbing-crawling-slithering over this planet for more than 312 million years, including turtles, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and tortoises. Besides staring in horror films, what exactly do you know about them?
It’s said knowledge is the best way to raise awareness, so, since today (Oct 21) is National Reptile Awareness Day, that’s what we’ll do with poetry—in the form of a lantern poem!
Snakes, snakes…them too!
Poetry Challenge #162
Be Kind to Your Cold-Blooded Friends
A Lantern Poem is a type of descriptive poetry that originates from Japan.
The Lantern poem uses five lines with a structure of one, two, three, four and one syllables (or words) per line.
It’s called a Lantern poem because, when finished, the shape resembles a Japanese lantern.
Begin by choosing a one-reptile as the subject of your poem. Now, with that reptile in mind, follow these instructions to craft your lantern poem
Line #1: 1 word noun
Line #2: 2 words to describe appearance
Line #3: 3 words to describe action
Line #4: 2 words simile or metaphor
Line #5: 1 synonym
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just slither, creep, crawl into it!
Post a review, I’ll give you a glug!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than SIXTEEN HUNDRED days ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments. And scroll down for my happy news:
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 #161-Love Me Some D-E-S-S-E-R-T
Crumpet, Pumpkin, Sugar, Cupcake, Sweetie…the variety of ways we call loved ones by dessert names make me want to burst into song: Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch…Can’t help myself!
Especially not today, Oct. 14th, officially, unapologetically, National Dessert Day! Or, as I prefer to call it, Don’t Forget What Erma Said Day:
Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. ~ Erma Bombeck
7-Minute Poetry Challenge #161
Love Me Some D-E-S-S-E-R-T
Dessert! There’s always room for dessert! Cindy’s niece and nephew say everyone has a dessert stomach separate from their very full dinner stomachs. If you ask my kids if they have room for dessert, the standard answer is “YES! And it’s shaped just like an ice cream cone!”
List as many kinds of dessert as you can think of. Put your list into some sort of order: biggest to smallest? best to worst? colors of the rainbow? alphabetical?
Write a 2-4 line refrain to stick into your list a couple times.
This will be a sweet, sweet poem!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just do it!
Love Me Some D-E-S-S-E-R-T Playlist:
Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch sung by The Four Tops
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than SIXTEEN HUNDRED days ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments. And scroll down for my happy news:
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
We Need to Talk About First Ladies . . .
Or, Who's going to worry about the China Collection?
NOTE: THIS IS A REPOST FROM THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. AS IT IS STILL TIMELY, I’M SHARING IT AGAIN (The only update is the election date…what does that say about the current First Ladie’s contributions???)
It’s less than a month until Tuesday, November 3, 2020-Election Day! (I’ll be voting—I hope you will too.)
Even if you are sick, sad, tired, disgusted by this presidential campaign thus far—VOTE!
Even if you don’t want to vote for either of the presidential candidates—Please, go to the Polls & VOTE! Presidents aside, there are many other issues on the ballots: Propositions, inc. TAX proposals; elected officials . . . i.e. local & state issues that should concern & will affect you. Remember the Revolution? Taxation Without Representation? (If you don’t VOTE that’s what you’ll be getting.)
Assuming we are all voting, we need to talk about First Ladies. Every other election I can recall, the First Lady has played a huge part in the campaign. Copious hours of media attention has been paid to candidates for First Lady, too.
In the last election, Ann Romney, headlined at well over 40 fundraisers. Contrast that to this campaign. As noted it this Sept 16th CNN report, Melania Trump’s been AWOL pretty much since that July 18th National Convention speech… you know, the one she sort of copied from our current—extremely visible and popular first lady, Michelle Obama.
Likewise, I haven’t noticed much campaigning from Past Pres. Bill Clinton either. So few that the fundraisers Bill subbed at when Hillary had pneumonia stand out. I’m sure, as former President, Bill has been campaigning and fundraising—as a recent Washington Post article “Two Clintons. 41 Years. $3 Billion.” noted, the Clinton’s are pros at fundraising.
To me, the absence of media attention on First Ladies (will that be “First Partners” going forward? Or something else?) is disconcerting. I missed seeing either of the First Lady/Partner? standing behind her/his Man/Woman when their spouses accepted their party’s nominations. And where are the fashion features we’d come to expect? You know the round ups of Jackie’s Hats? Nancy’s penchant for red jackets that led to all of us buying at least one red “Power Blazer.” Or, more recently, Hillary’s First Lady candidate hairdos & cankles? Michelle’s weight and wardrobe updates—and hair, of course. Why isn’t the media chatting about Melania’s hair and clothing—or lack of it? We sure rear plenty about Donald’s hair…why not Bills? Or his wardrobe update? There were heaps of articles about Presidential Candidates ties in past elections. One, “The Psychology of Tie Color,” comparing Mitt’s ties to Barack’s concluded that Republicans prefer blue ties while Democrats go for red. But what about Bill’s ties? If the color of Nancy’s blazer mattered, shouldn’t the color of Bill’s tie?
Fashion aside, let’s focus on what should matter:
According to Wikipedia (the source of all “free”—as in writers are not compensated for their research, verbiage, or time—encyclopedic knowledge) “The First Lady of the United States is the hostess of the White House. . . The First Lady is not an elected position; it carries no official duties and receives no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. Traditionally, the First Lady does not hold outside employment while occupying the office.[1] She has her own staff, including the White House Social Secretary, the Chief of Staff, the Press Secretary, the Chief Floral Designer, and the Executive Chef. The Office of the First Lady is also in charge of all social and ceremonial events of the White House, and is a branch of the Executive Office of the President.”
What do the First Partner candidates plan to accomplish in office? Have any of you heard what issue Bill or Melania plan to battle when he/she is First Partner? Along with serving as hostess, and traditionally selecting the “State China, recent first ladies choose a cause to champion. BTW: Michelle Obama’s choice was “Kailua Blue."
I wonder, is Bill thinking about whether to choose his own china pattern or add to the pale yellow and gold “Clinton China” commemorating the bicentennial of the White House, Hillary selected. And what about Melania? Is she mulling over causes to champion? Or doesn’t it matter anymore? Did it every, really? Were all those article, all the media attention paid to past First Ladies, just filler?
As an American female, I have always paid close attention to First Ladies. It seemed that they, and the causes they championed were important. I googled “Causes First Ladies Championed,” and they were! And they did make a difference. If you doubt it, rewatch the episode of Mad Men where the Draper family went on a picnic. Imagine how high the litter on our highways, roadsides & parks would look like now if Lady Bird Johnson hadn't campaigned for highway beautification?
Here are some causes First Ladies are remembered for championing today.* What mark will the next First Partner make on America & the World?
Michelle Obama: Childhood Obesity
Laura Welch Bush: Childhood Literacy
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Historic Preservation & Health Care
Barbara Pierce Bush: National Literacy
Nancy Davis Reagan: Red Blazers and “Just Say No!”
Rosalynn Smith Carter: Mental Health Care
Elizabeth Bloomer Ford: Alcoholism is an illness, AA awareness
Patricia Ryan Nixon: Volunteerism & Restoring the Whitehouse
Claudia “Lady Bird’ Johnson: Beautify America, wildflowers & anti-litter
Jacqueline Kennedy: Pill box hats, glamour and big sunglasses
Bess Truman: Consummate Hostess
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower: “Million Dollar Fudge”
Eleanor Roosevelt: Humanitarian, Equality for African Americans
Lou Henry Hoover: Athletics & Girl Scouts
Ellen Axson Wilson: Better Urban Housing
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes: “Lemonade Lucy” Temperance
Mary Todd Lincoln: Care & Service to Union Soldiers & Freed Slaves
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams: Women’s Rights
Dolley Madison: Hostess to 2 Presidents, saved Washington’s portrait when the White House Burned, Orphan Care
Abigail Adams: Wrote Letters to her husband, John
Martha Washington: Set an example by hosting weekly receptions in the White House
*First Ladies not listed may well have championed causes. Frankly, I didn’t want to take the time to research more. If you know other’s causes, send word and I will add them.
