Kill Word Verification----rid the world of useless typing

This button was created by Bethany of B&b ex libris. In her own words "I have created a button, that hopefully becomes a movement. A movement for what? Well I am going to call it "Kill Word Verification: rid the world of useless typing."

I am all for it. I am joining this movement from now onwards. Frankly tell me, how many spam comments do you really get? I don't have word verification, neither do I have comment moderation. And truthfully I do not get spams. If I do, those are very rare and in between. I delete those instantly. So what is the big deal? So come shake it, folks! We need hassle-free blogging, i.e, commenting forum. Don't we?

I hate it even more when blogs have word verification along with comment moderation. I think that is being paranoid. However, many bloggers do not know that they have word verification as it can't be seen by blog authors.

If you have it and don't know it, then you should do the following steps:

Go to dashboard---->Click settings---->Click comments----->Scroll down to Show word verification for comments?----->Click No---->Click Save Settings and you are done!

Help spread the word about this movement:

Write a blog post about this and make use of the button. Down with useless typing!!

Feel free to voice your thoughts here. Be nice about it though!

temporal

For sometime now, I have not been able to write poetry. Have your ever thought of words chasing in your mind and you are unable to catch any of those? That's what is happening. Maybe my inner conflict prevents me from writing. Previously words gave me relief by pouring out. Now those very words refuse to come out by hiding, I do not know where. Believe me, I keep searching for those. I can't write anything better than this.

fleeting moments
as yet uncaptured
chased by what?

Weddings and Beheadings by Hanif Kureishi

I was going to give a miss to Sunday Scribblings. However, after reading the following short story, I couldn't resist posting the review here. I felt it goes right with the prompt, Weddings. It might be too dark for some but this is another ugly reality of the world we live in. Let's face it too...

You may choose to read it and write own your thoughts about it or you may choose to ignore it. I leave in on to you.

Weddings and Beheadings by Hanif Kureishi is an interesting title. I found it online in a back issue of Zoetrope: All-Story.

The narrator seems to be a film-maker who is made to video tape beheadings by some people who seem to be terrorists. Although the place is not mentioned, it might have been set in Afghanistan or Iraq or any such place. At least thats what I presumed. It is a short story but makes one sit up and notice. Here the narrator, the place and the terrorists, all remain nameless.

It is dark, deeply sad for the victims as well as their families yet it has that black humour. To quote a few lines of conversation between friends who take such shots:

"Don't bury your head in the sand, my friend. Don't go losing your head now. Chin up!"

"It's too dark, it's not going to come out and you can't do another take."

"You'll get a prize for the next one. Don't you guys love prizes and statuettes and stuff?"

At one point you do feel he is enjoying his work in a macabre way.

"To make the shot work, it helps to get a clear view of the victim's eyes just before they're covered. At the end the guys hold up the head streaming with blood, and you might need to use some handheld here, to catch everything. "

Maybe it his way of being clinical. After all it can affect the mind. This line of work. How did the title come about? It was an idea of one of the writer friends of the narrator to have "calling cards inscribed with WEDDINGS AND BEHEADINGS."

Someday

Posting this from my archives, which I wrote way back in in 2005. Here I have tried internal rhyming along with end-rhymes. This is the only poem where I attempted internal rhyming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Photo Credits: Rick Mobbs






















I only want to know,
to dream
how your caress would feel
so dizzy for contact,
making me reel.
unsure how to act,
not good at this game anymore.
but
sure that your love
will seep through my pores
and
expose my soul,
where
now in secret
grows a weedy garden
of needy wasteland.
where
angst and pain
flows like rain
through the dream-cluttered
gutters of my brain.
my mind
screams a silent
refrain of mistakes.
and in
my dreams,
all that I yearn
seems so far away,
on the highest summit,
out of reach.
but
for now
I have to teach
myself to wait,
willing fate to
deliver one day.

Fine detailing

Are you detail oriented in your writing? What are some of the details you most notice in the world around you? What details do you focus on in your writing - place, character, emotional? What are the kinds of detailed descriptions you most like to read about?

In a simple answer, yes. I am detail oriented. In my poetry, I write it with as much detailing as I can. Words are not to used as only mere trinkets. They have go to a very higher level. For me the spiritual aspect is very important. So with mundane detailing, I also dwell within the mind.

In the world around me, I might not notice the physical aspect much, which I don't but I try to somehow understand what goes within the mind from ones behaviour. I can speculate and conjure up a whole story in a short poem. Is it not what is writing about? I can write about the very concrete, about the zest of a person and also about stream of consciousness. Both make use of different kinds of detailing. The place for me is not the geographical one but that which is beyond it.

Same goes for my reading too. I like historical novels. In that I like all the period details, the costume, the feel of the place, palaces etc et. If I am reading Stream of Consciousness, I also like to know what is going within the mind. Human behaviour is ever so interesting and I also like to know about the movements a person makes under certain circumstances. I also like descriptions of nature, in any way. Sometimes a season change can bring about a change in the thinking pattern of a person. I like to read about that.

I might as try some detailing into one of daily routines I do. One thing I truly like is to brew tea. The early morning tea. The splash of water inside the kettle stirs me. When I place it to heat up, I like to listen to the water gurgling against the sides. I like to watch the tea intermingling into water when I spoon it into the kettle. The change of colour interests me. From light to dark to black. When I add heated milk, I like the swirling effect of it when it slowly dissolves. And the clinking sound of spoon when I add sugar, is music for me. When the aroma reaches my nose, I am ready to pick up my cup and sip it slowly. Such a mundane stuff can indeed make us reach Nirvana. However, to get into that state we need to keep all our senses wide open.

The world where I live, I think more people should read poetry

I know I am reposting this. But for the reason, the world should read more of poetry. And also Andrew needs to be read.

Title: Tangled in Wisteria
Author: J. Andrew Lockhart
ISBN: 978-1-60247-852-7
Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises/2007
Pages: 108

J. Andrew Lockhart is blogger poet. He lives in Van Buren, Arkansas, United States. He writes Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Haibun and Tanka. He was kind enough to send me his book Tangled in Wisteria, which contains haiku, senryu and tanka. I have been reading him for some time now, on his blog.

Andrew was an attorney when tragedy struck. In 1996 he had an intracerebral hemorragic stroke at the age of 30. He rose out of it all and became a music teacher. In his introduction, he writes that music and writing were sidelined and he went to law school.

He came back to writing. Reading his verses one can observe the beauty of nature, find greatness in mundane things and see love in a new light. Those short verses of his are loaded with so much meaning. You can see them in simplicity or the complexities....whatever way you choose to. Those contain nuggets about life and much more.

Here I quote a few of his verses:

"looking up
at the oak tree, planted
when i was young-----
there is no need
for a mirror"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"although you are
so far away from me
i feel your presence
in the cool summer night
as flowers rest"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"buying a pack
of firerackers
made in china"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"brick after brick
after brick after brick---
hidden thoughts"
~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book has four parts----spring, summer, autumn and winter. I read it at one go. But I am going to come back again and again. Each page contains a haiku or a senryu and a tanka. Those verses touch the soul and illuminate it. I am very glad I read it and also that I read him everyday on his blog. Please do check him out. You won't be disappointed.

baser instincts

Photo by idigit teddy
artwork Natural Sculpture
from Flickr
originally uploaded here






Attempting Erotica...*grin*

autumn nights
desiring of heating up
another body

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bathed in cool heat
breathless, hair a mess
autumn feels like sex

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

writhing bodies
tangled sheets
storm unleashed

written request

veiled from prying eyes,
I try to code my words
in a hidden message
extending it only to those
who like to review life
through novels,
poetry, short stories
being but only a part of it
reading between the lines
you can reach the comfy room
explore my books
and sit down for a chat
long and short of it being
where we share
coffee or tea
whichever your choice be

"won't you accept this invitation
to solemnly visit another aspect of me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, as you know, here I invite you to visit my book blog, Reading Room. This is not one of my best poetry works but I can write bad ones, once in a while, can't I?! Even Keats wrote bad ones!

irrationality

whispers filled my ears
permeating into each of my pores
drenching me
with the essentiality of you
with my eyes shut
I took in the moment
letting my fingers read you
pausing at the difficult words
imprinted on your skin
when my senses forgot me
I lost it all gaining into you
you dissolved into nothing
leaving me with my whispers

"still I search for you
with violent desperation"

depth of hell pours forth tirade of words

Is there a book you’d love to read that hasn’t been written? What do you love reading about, and how could you write about it? What fascinates you that could become the subject for your next story, essay, poem, or blog post?

As I like to read books from varied genres, I wouldn't say that the book I would love to read hasn't been published. What do I really like to read? I like to read about history. A novel with strong historical facts interests me very much. That way I get to learn about history along with constraints of that particular period. I read about human endurance where characters with much providence and forsight can go to any length. I also like travel books and stream of consciousness novels. One thing that truly fascinates me, is the internal dialogues. It keeps me hooked and makes me connect with that character as I talk in my mind all the time! Many a times, I prefer to read character driven novels. Even dark characters. Because without darkness, we can't appreciate light.

As for as saying what would interest me to write my next post? I don't know. Many a times, I meticulously compose a poem in my mind and when it is time to execute it on paper, I simply go the other way. My words all scattered, yet with a semblance of order. Sometimes I tend to get a little dark and write pertaining to that. Or I take up any issue and write about that. Last Sunday I wrote a poem on terrorism after the Delhi serial bombings. I can't predict what is going to inspire me. Sometimes depth of hell pours forth tirade of words. Sometimes joyful state dries it all up. How can I say where the wind blows? Nonetheless, as long as I write everything seems to be ok. When words refuse to come, I feel it is sort of death. I hope it makes sense.

What propels you to read or write? Are reading and writing related for you?

An aside: Don't you agree title is important? I bet this title would lead many a reader to visit my blog! Wot say? *grin*

Another aside: 3WW is very much there. Thanks Thom G, for taking it over.