Unconscious Mutterings Week 370

You Say, I think:

• 1.Harm :: injure
• 2.If :: what
• 3.On my own :: solo
• 4.She said :: he said
• 5.Illegal :: illicit
• 6.Broke :: damaged
• 7.It’s a :: girl/boy
• 8.Chatting :: tslking
• 9.Cottage :: cheese
• 10.Podcast :: syndacate

get your own list

Dynamic Duo

Last night we went out to eat and then to the Elton John - Billy Joel concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Talk about an awesome concert! We had great seats and the bands, the music, these two giants in music entertainment made this one of the best concerts I experienced.

Admittedly I don't go to a lot of concerts, but I've seen a few over the years, some good ones but this one had so much energy- between the music and the crowd. Billy Joel was more engaging with the audience than Elton John but that’s ok, they each were at peak performance.


A friend of ours that was with us shot some good phone photos, I’m hopeful she’ll send me some that I can post later.

Lot of my favorite songs were a part of the night...

• We Didn't Light The Fire
• You May Be Right  [this quite possibly was written about me] ;)
• Only The Good Die Young
• Piano Man
• She's always a Woman to Me
• Crocodile Rock
• Rocket Man
• Saturday Night's Alright
• Candle In the Wind
• Can You Feel the Love tonight

Journal Bits

A micro snapshot of my writing journal...

• Feb 16 - The short program / uncorked and raw / upon a mirror of ambition
• Feb 21 - Quoted May Sarton - " Loneliness is the poverty of self, solitude is the richness of self."
• Feb 25 -  He grew anamated / arms and voice in flight /sure of himself / surer then he's ever been / looking into the mirror / across a table
• Feb 26 - You never had the good / example that I never had / it's safest in the quiet / in the echo of the shadow / that hasen't moved / but listens

New to me this week

Couple of words that are new to me this week that I like…

• Nascent- the process of being born or developing. Budding, emerging, promising, blossoming, hopeful, you get the picture. I really like this word.
• Slake- to quench or satisfy. Quench is probably one of those overused words in poetry- I see myself using this at some point.

Finding Poetry

‘A genuine poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a sound poem has been added to it, for a fine one helps extend everyone's knowledge of themselves and the world around them.’

This is just one of a series of interesting quotes I found here in a dialogue on poetry.

Confession Tuesday

It’s Tuesday and I’m in better shape today than I was yesterday. I don’t know if I had the Monday Blues, Cold Weather Blues, Back to Work Blues, No. 53 Blues or the Sunday Blues a day late.

As I said, it’s Tuesday, so let’s head to the Confessional:

I heard that Jay Leno is back next week and while I confess I could be tempted to watch as one of his guests is supposed to be the U.S Team skier Lindsay Vonn, but I won’t. I confess I’ve never been a big fan of Leno. I’ve laughed at a few of his monologues but I’ve never really felt he was remotely in a league with Carson or Letterman. So if I do break down and watch, I’ll be back here to confess I lied.

I looked in the mirror this morning after shaving and I confess that I could for a moment I felt I should have a leather collar around my neck. It’s time for a haircut or dog tags. I realize there are countless poets – old men poets with hair that seems all over the place, and they get by with it. I confess they have a few things going for them that I don’t. Pulitzers, National Book Awards, (hell even books), Pushcart Prizes. I think when you have a couple of these you can let your hair go all to hell.

It is that crazy time again when filing for political office begins. With seven terms on the County Democratic Committee in years past and a handful of other races that I’ve run, seeing the mass hysteria of people amassed in the wee hours of the morning for the opportunity to be first on the ballot brought back old times. I confess that a part of me misses this.

Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training Camps this past week. I confess that I really am ready for baseball season to get underway. It’s a Spring Rite of passage. It’s the secular equivalent of Easter. The rebirth – all things anew. I think I’m going to get teary-eyed. Not really, I confess that’s just me being a drama queen (dude).

I confess I poked fun at Lindsay Vonn’s emotional scene after winning her gold medal. My wife thought I was being harsh, and I confess I was. I could accept that it was an emotional moment but I judged it as being too long, over the top, whatever. Never haing experienced what it is like to train for and experience all that is involved up to that point, I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same thing.

That’s it for this week….

Why It's Not The Same

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy the USA men’s hockey team beat Canada in the Olympics. To Canada where there is a real pride of ownership in the game, the loss yesterday was a very big thing. But to be very clear, what the U.S.A. team win means yesterday is not and cannot possibly ever be seen as on the same level as the successes of the 1980 U.S.A. Olympic team. Not even if the 2010 team ultimately wins the Gold.

The U.S.A. Women’s team is playing in the Simi-finals. That’s a big story. You see, the women’s team is not a bunch of professional players. Neither was the 1980 men’s team Herb Brooks coached to a gold medal win over the very senior, very experienced Russian team. I love the Olympics for the spirit of athleticism that is about the purity of amateur competition. Pulling a bunch of NHL players together on a U.S. team to play a bunch of NHL players on a Canadian team is just another NHL game. If you like NHL hockey then you get bonus play.

It’s the women playing on the U.S. team that deserve attention for carrying on the true Olympic tradition. I would love to be able to feel the same way about the men’s team, but we are all cheated out of that possibility. Therefore, all that’s left to say is, You Go Girls!