Welcome to the Poetry Around Me

Since I'm on a poetry kick, I've decided to talk about how I find poetry (much like math) in unexpected places. I'm someone who sees math everywhere. It's just second nature to me. Unlike math, however, poetry turns up in unexpected places.

I also think that there's a lot of math in poetry, but that could just be me.

I'm not sure if poetry was a popular unit in my school or not. I remember in elementary school that most of my friends liked the poetry units, especially the funny poems like the ones by Jack Prelutsky. However, in high school, the poems we were reading weren't as entertaining and required a lot of effort to understand. Sylvia Plath might be a great poet, but I was never all that fond of trying to analyse her work.

Since leaving school, I haven't gone out of my way to read a lot of poetry (until very recently that is). That doesn't mean that poetry hasn't managed to worm it's way into my life without me noticing.

There's a lot of variety and versatility in poetry. If I'm not looking for it, I can easily miss when poetry is happening. Usually there's a rhythm or rhyme scheme to poems (especially the ones that are read to us as children), but sometimes there isn't. I think that free verse is becoming more and more popular with modern poets.

A few years ago, I came to the realization that song lyrics were essentially poetry combined with music. Think about it for a second. What are some of the components of poetry that song lyrics often have in common?

1. There's a rhyme scheme. 
2. There's distinct rhythm.
3. They occasionally tell stories.

I'm not saying that all poetry and all songs have these three things in common. There are just as many nonsensical poems out there are nonsensical songs. But the similarities in structure are hard to miss once I started looking for them.

Of all the music genres today, rap is probably the best example of spoken poetry.  I've watched a few freestyle rappers and they have a ton of talent. They create their own rhythms, while telling a story, and making sure everything rhymes. Rappers are amazing poets.

Songs are one example of finding poetry in an unexpected place (unless I'm just dense and this is something everyone else has noticed). What about others? After all, poetry is comprised of words, written and/or spoken. Where else can I find poetry that I might have overlooked?

How about memes?

Specifically inspirational memes. There are a lot of examples I could pull (just ask Google) and I could easily fill this blog post with nothing but inspirational memes (same thing can be said about cat memes). Instead I'll direct everyone to Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for wall to wall examples of memes.

They don't have the same structure as song lyrics, heck most of them don't even rhyme. However, there are tons of poems out there that don't look at all like the traditional poetry we studied in school. Forget the sonnets and epic poems of yesteryear and embrace the free-verse of style of memes.

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and part of a poem in a kids book. It's also become a meme...

That's right memes are free-verse poetry in action.

So here are two examples of how poetry has surrounded my life without me noticing. I didn't even mention all the children's books that could also count as poems (such as Dr. Seuss).

Maybe I'll save that for another post...

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I like hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week!

Welcome to Returning to My Inner Poet

I used to write a lot of poetry. I had a journal in high school that I would write in nearly every night. It was filled with the start of short stories, silly poems, and nonsensical doodles. I still have this journal and occasionally have a good laugh going through it.

I wonder if he ever regretted any of his early poetry?

Poetry was a fun hobby in high school. It was part of my whole: "I'm going to be a famous writer/artist someday" shtick that I try to pretend didn't exist (yeah, high school me was an interesting person). They were short, easy to write, and my creative writing teacher always wanted poems for the literary magazine. I think I had four or five poems and a couple of drawings published before I graduated.

Then I just stopped writing poems.

I don't really remember why I stopped. I think I took a few years of writing off all together in college, until I was blackmailed talked into writing fan-fiction.

I seem to recall having a poetry writing assignment my freshmen year of college. I was pretty sick when I was told to write a sonnet and don't remember many details. However, I do remember my professor saying that the poem I wrote was prefect mathematically, but otherwise sucked.

Meh, I was never a huge fan of sonnets anyway. I liked haiku and limericks a lot more. They're playful and funny.

So nearly a decade has gone by and I haven't written a single poem. And then I have a really bad month. Not bad like bad things keep happening to me, but bad as in my mental health wasn't in the best shape. I keep trying to find the right way to describe what I'm feeling and I lost a lot of interest in writing.

Finally I managed to put some thoughts on paper. Just a couple of rhyming lines that wouldn't make much sense to someone casually glancing at them. A few more weeks go by and I go back to those lines and add a few more. Suddenly I had a poem that helped me describe what I was feeling.

I didn't do anything with the poem. It's been sitting in a notebook for the better part of a year now. I've been focusing on short stories and novel writing.

Then I make a new friend at one of my writers groups who loves to write poetry. We actually have similar stories when it comes to writing poetry. We wrote a lot in high school and then stopped writing for one reason or another only to start writing years later. They've asked me to help out proofreading some of their work that they have on Wattpad (a website where you can post original works for people to read).

When they started sharing their poetry with me, it was like a switch had been flipped. I started writing more poetry. It's still slow and they probably aren't the best poems (not by a long shot), but I'm finding that I really enjoy it.

I might do a few more posts on poetry and see about posting some of my poems here. April is National Poetry Month, so I'm either really late or seriously early to celebrate. But why should I only celebrate poetry once a month?

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Storm's Eye

This morning, Hurricane Irma made landfall and began it's destruction of Florida. Earlier in the week, it devastated the Caribbean islands in it's path, virtually leveling Barbuda. Yesterday, Hurricane Katia struck Mexico, hours after they suffered a large earthquake. Houston is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey and it looks like Jose is about to strike Barbuda and several other islands for a second time.

It's not a good time to be a resident in the Gulf Coast.

Thunderstorm at the Jersey Shore

This list isn't including the many other natural disasters that are happening around the globe at the same time, let alone in the United States and Canada. As the southeast is being flooded, the northwest is being consumed by fire.

I've lived through massive storm surges, but nothing like what is happening with Irma. In 2011, an earthquake unexpectedly shook Virginia. I had been outside at the time and hadn't felt anything, but anyone inside a building did. About a week later, we had to be evacuated off of campus because of a large hurricane headed right for us. We called it the "hurrication" since it was right after summer break had ended.

My experience certainly doesn't compare to what happened in Texas, let alone what Floridians are facing with the most severe storm system ever recorded currently hovering over their state. Since the Earth is currently in a warming period, these super-storms are liable to become the norm.

What kind of damage will these storms do?

I'm not just talking about the financial damage. Though these storms will cause major financial damage, especially if the rumors are true that FEMA will run out of money before the end of the year because of Harvey and Irma.

But we shouldn't forget about the emotional and mental damage these storms will do. Losing an entire livelihood is scarring. Everything you've ever had is gone overnight.

People die during these storms.

I remember going to New Orleans a few years after Hurricane Katrina hit. My church youth group was down for a big conference with all the other ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) churches in the United States to help the city and celebrate Jesus. It was hard to see that some areas that were still suffering because of the damage the storm had caused, even after a few years. Three years later, the ELCA youth were again in New Orleans to help with the clean up.

I hope everyone is able to stay safe during Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and Katia. If you would like to help out by sending donations, I'd recommend going to Charity Navigator to check different charities that are working on relief efforts. They already have pages for Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.

I can't even imagine what the people most affected by these storms are going through. I hope you are able to stay safe, especially those of you also in the path of Hurricane Jose.

Welcome to Expression Without Words

Sometimes words fail me.

Maybe that's weird since I write so much (and occasionally can't stop talking), but it's true. Sometimes it's hard to verbalize what I'm thinking and feeling. It's as though there's a disconnect between my mouth and mind. 

Sometimes it's not words that fail me, just one word. I'll do my best to describe it, but my meaning is nearly always lost in translation. I'm sure it's a problem everyone has experienced. That doesn't stop me from getting frustrated when I can't express what I need or want to. 

Communication is an important part of being human. But when I can't use words, how can I express myself?

When I get hurt, it's easy to tell someone I'm in pain. It's when I'm asked to explain the pain that things get tricky. Is it a burning pain? An ache? Does it feel like I'm being stabbed? Is it emotional pain, but still manifests itself with a sickening physical feeling? 

Maybe I can draw a picture instead of trying to describe something that can't be described? Art is a wonderful means of expression. Things can still get lost in translation and meanings can change over time, but often art is the greatest means of expressing what words fail at. 

The visual medium can express so many different things. I especially love the abstract and expressionism. Paintings like the scream are incredibly stimulating and thought provoking. I can't always verbalize what attracts me to these paintings, but sometimes I think they do a better job expressing my emotions when I put pen to paper. 

Music is another medium I often turn to when I'm having trouble with words. Yes, a lot of music has words in it, but there's a lot more that is just sound. Music is a collection of sound that can exist simply to exist, to tell a story, or to make the listener feel an emotion. 

When was the last time you watched a movie without a soundtrack? Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds,  is incredibly off putting because there's no soundtrack. Music helps convey emotions in movies, especially if the characters on screen aren't speaking. 

There are many days that I wish I were a better artist and musician, but I don't think I was born with the talent and I lack the patience to constantly practice. However there is no denying that art and music are incredibly important mediums for conveying information that I might otherwise struggle to communicate. 

Words aren't always enough. Sometimes I need something else to help me describe what is going on in my head.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Character Inspirations

After 4 years of producing one blog post a week (give or take a few skips here and there), I've finally hit my 200th post. I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about this week. I've been working on the icon series for a few weeks now, but I wasn't sold on the idea of limiting myself to my personal icons.

Instead I wanted to write about the many characters in books and graphic novels that have inspired me. They aren't in any order and there aren't any ranks.

1) Nancy Drew - she was my first strong female role model in books. For a long time all I would read were Nancy Drew books. I hope she keeps inspiring generations of young girls.

2) Cassie Logan - she was my second biggest female role model in books. I would recommend to anyone to read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry at least once in their life. 

3) The Golden Trio from the Harry Potter Books (because I just can't pick one)- I was at the perfect age to grow up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. These books shaped my childhood and continue to shape my imagination.

4) Asterix - Asterix was my first comic book hero. He and his good friend Obelix protected their village from the Roman invaders and went on tons of adventures. 

5) Jim Hawkins - I read Treasure Island in my early 20s and I wish I had read it sooner. It was a fun read and a great adventure novel. 

6) Tohru Honda - Fruits Basket was really popular in my middle and high school, which is how I got interested in the series. I loved all the characters, but Tohru really stands out as someone special. She's the most accepting character I've ever come across in literature and she really wants her friends and family to be happy.

7) Sherlock Holmes - I love the mysteries Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. I also like the many new interpretations that have come out. I don't know how much I'd want to be like Sherlock, but he doesn't seem to care what anyone else thinks of him. He's fascinating person and isn't boring in the slightest.

8) Alice of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - I love these books and the Disney animated movie. Alice is a true dreamer in every sense of the word.

9) Yusuke Urameshi - He might not be very smart and be a bit of a delinquent, but deep down he has a good heart and is super loyal to those he cares about. Yu Yu Hakusho was one of the first manga I read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes great characters with interesting stories to tell.

Each of these characters have their strengths and their faults. They're all very different characters and have very different stories to tell. Some people might not like the characters at all. 

What makes a character interesting or inspiring is left up to the reader. Yes, the author has the important job of shaping the character, but the reader is the one interpreting and judging them. I have found that the characters I love and am inspired by most are often very flawed, but are still able to do amazing things while flawed.

If you haven't read any of the books or graphic novels I have listed above, I totally recommend each of them.

What I have learned from each of these characters is to

Be as inquisitive as Nancy

Be as strong as Cassie

Have friends like Harry, Ron, and Hermione

Be as confident as Asterix

Be as adventurous as Jim

Be as accepting as Tohru

Be as fascinating as Sherlock

Be a dreamer like Alice

Be as loyal as Yusuke

And follow my own path to build my own story.

Thanks for sticking with me for 200 blog posts. Until next week...

Welcome to Icons Part 6: Iconic Moments in History

Have you ever wondered what you would have been doing during some of histories biggest events? Would you have marched with the Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement? Or picketed the White House with the Women's Suffragettes? Which side of the French Revolution would you have fought on?

History has always fascinated me. From a young age, I'd watch documentaries on anything and everything that was on the History Channel (you know, before it became nothing but pawn shop reality TV and aliens). I especially loved the specials on Halloween and warriors of the ancient world.

I spent many days in history class imaging what it would have been like to be apart of some of the biggest events taught in class. I wished I could have gone to Woodstock and jammed with the rest of hippie culture. I imagined what it would have been like to journey along the Oregon Trail (and hopefully not die of dysentery).

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that I've lived through some pretty big historical events (at least from an American perspective). At the time, I might not have realized they how big or significant they were going to become or the ways these events would change the course of history. Some events will leave a positive impact on my life and the lives of many other people. I got to witness the election of the United State's first black president and the legalization of gay marriage. Other events have left scars that will likely never fade, like living through 9/11.

Every generation seems to have a few events that they will always think back to and remember with exact detail. I remember asking my family about different events that they lived through. My mom has a couple of memories from the Detroit riots. My dad likes to joke about surviving the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island. I've heard that my grandfather never forgot the day Pearl Harbor was attached. And there were a lot of stories about how my grandparent's families lived through the Great Depression.

Decades seemed to be defined by certain events that happened. When I think of the 1930s, I image the Dust Bowl and extreme poverty. The United States of the 1960s, I imagine a country divided by politics. The Civil Rights Movement was at it's height as were the protests against the Vietnam War. JFK was assassinated and astronauts walked on the moon. The 2000s were a time of rapid progress and prosperity before it all came crashing down in 2008. The start of the decade launched us into an era of fear and ended with a slogan for "Hope".

Everything that has already happened is history. Some things have been forgotten and lost to time, such as the origins of the Nazca Lines. There are events that are only remembered through folklore and legend. Remember when archaeologists found the city of Troy? Most historians had thought the story was just a myth before physical evidence suggested otherwise.

History is written by the people who survive events and make an effort to pass down knowledge. The event that happened can't change, but how it is recorded and remembered can. History can be used to inspire nationalism and extreme pride in a country's people, almost to the point of blind devotion in extreme cases. It can be written in a way that hides or brushes over "uncomfortable" truths that modern societies would rather forget than acknowledge. It's never rewritten, but occasionally needs to be revised.

There are major events going on all the time. I can't just dream about what I would have done, but what I can do in the present. Protests and counter protests have been all over my news feed and social media. The threat of a nuclear attack is at the highest that I can remember (I wasn't exactly around for the Cold War).

What will the 2010s be remembered for?

What impact will I have on these events? Only time will tell.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week!

Welcome to Icons Part 5: Moments in Pictures

"A picture is worth a thousand words" or so the saying goes. In the past two hundred years, the invention of the camera has changed how we are able to view our world. What was once limited to special occasions and those with cash to spare, taking pictures has become accessible to everyone (mostly of food, cats, and dogs being shamed).

Now if we want to record a moment of our lives we just need to pull out our phone or digital camera and start snapping away or recording a video. We're bombarded with images everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and many other social media platforms have made it easy for us to share these moments. Images travel fast when everything is just a couple of clicks away.

My world is filled with images or people, places, and events. Some pictures inspire wanderlust and envy. Others repulse us and make us cringe away in disgust. There are some photos that mysterious and make us question reality. And then there are the ones that document an important moment in time.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo of her blowing a kiss into the camera has long been the face of old Hollywood glamour. The photo of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out has become iconic over the years (though I'm not sure the famous scientist would be happy about that). The photo below show a struggling mother with her two children that my mind always jumps to when I think of America's struggle during the Great Depression.

Historical events in particular seem to have a lot of iconic photos. When I think of the end of World War II, I immediately think of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. Images from the Civil Rights movement would include Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the photo of Ruby Bridges going to school surrounded by protesters carrying hate filled signs. I don't think I'll ever forget the image of the Twin Towers on fire the day 9/11 happened.

This past weekend, I was inundated with images from my home state of Virginia. I wish I could say that they were beautiful photos of the mountains in the summer, but they weren't. Instead I saw image after image of angry white fascists carrying tiki touches. It will be hard to disassociate these pictures from bigotry and hate anytime soon.

But for every photo of hate that was posted, there was another photo showing the people counter-protesting them. Now my Twitter feed is filled with photos from vigils being held all over the country for Charlottesville and the photo of Heather Heyer, who died yesterday counter-protesting.

Before the age of the Internet, the iconic photos that were distributed were typically limited to what newspapers and other media outlets would publish. If they didn't like the photo that was taken or if they didn't want to report on an event, they wouldn't print the photo and it might be lost to the sands of time. Now, anyone can determine which photos become iconic. We're not limited to what's published in print. If someone takes a photo and posts it online, it can go viral in hours.

It's not just reporters who are reporting on historical events. It's everyone with a cell phone and a social media account.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.