life is good!

i've had a good week. i'm in a good mood, and laughing a lot. even my colleagues noticed. not that i am normally a grumpy old person, but this week was just - better.

i said goodbye to the group i have been teaching the last five weeks (how time flies!), and i am going to miss them. it's been fun. the last two hours together were spent chatting, and eating, and laughing a lot. they gave me a huge bouquet of flowers today, with some extras thrown in that won't mean anything to anybody else, but they were our very own inside jokes. here are a few pics - smell the roses! and sunflowers, too, my favourites (as i had told one of the ladies ...)!







things at the 30:30 forum are just ... oh, FUN! it's buzzing with creativity, and even though i am finding this round tough, i am sooo glad i decided to do another one. it seems that ideas are buzzing around, and we are picking up buckets, oranges, and, er, sizzling vibes, as well as forms, from each other. it's just a lot of fun, and a lot of lovely lines have been written lately. i'd actually love to meet the 30:30s in person, i have a feeling it would be terrific, and we'd probably all be in stitches all the time. at the moment, there are mostly "old" regulars - john vick, arlene "auntie" ang, lisa prince, sharon hurlbut, keith bris, fast-becoming-regulars - annie bien and liz gallagher, and also 30:30 newbies - nathan "innuendo" mcclain (who has contributed to, um, global warming) and jude goodwin. freada had to drop out due to a death in the family, cheryl disappeared, lauren is busy with her new job, dave seems to be taking a break, but i am sure they will be back.

here are my round viii titles:

viii.01 - harvest moon haiga
viii.02 - how much ground would a groundhog hog ...
viii.03 - what is the sound of one hand clapping?
viii.04 - who's keeping time with the timekeeper's daughter ...
viii.05 - last night
viii.06 - a driving instructor has a recurring nightmare
viii.07 - In writing
viii.08 - report with a damp patch
viii.09 - weather report
viii.10 - Report with waning moon
viii.11 - Report with morning dew

about half of them could be called erotica. hmmm. blame it on the 30:30 vibes ...

i have read nearly all of john siddique's the prize. if there is one thread running through all poems, one thing they have in common, it is love: a love of family, friends, and - above all - life. a passion for life. i like that a lot. his poems are very "real", very like life.

vienna is beautiful and warm. blue skies. terrific pre-sunrise clouds.



music of the day: did me good by the elected.