Friday, February 22, 2013

Ragged

Yesterday was a day of mishaps. On days when I go to Welzheim (like yesterday) I take the train to Rudersberg and take the bus from there to Welzheim. Instead of getting off at the central station, I went one station further because the bus driver told me last week that for the next 6 weeks the bus will not be stopping at the central train station but in Rudersberg Nord instead. So that's what I did.

I got off the train and walked to the bus stop. Then I noticed a paper hanging there. Not only had they changed the route but the schedule had changed as well. I had to wait 45 minutes in the cold for the next bus to come. It was not fun. I tried to call my friend to let her know I would be late but a message on my cell phone told me my card needed to be loaded (no money left). Wonderful. Then the bus driver forgot to stop at my stop, so I rang the bell again and she stopped right in the middle of the road.

My friends and I were meeting at a different place than usual, at one of the women's houses. I had been there once before but it is sort of hidden. I walked around aimlessly until I found a street corner that looked familiar. I turned right at the corner and followed the hidden drive to the house. I had found it but was 10 minutes late. We had a nice time together and then I headed home.


That evening we made homemade beef vegetable soup. We always make it in our pressure cooker. It's very old (from my husband's grandmother) but still works well. Except something went wrong and for the first time since having it (over 10 years) it had a mini explosion. Not huge, but some of the carrots and celery and leeks and beef  flew up about 6 inches and landed on the counter.

Yep, it was just "one of those days" and I was feeling a little ragged. So I decided to do some online reading before bed and came across a blog post by Sheryl Oder. I know her from participating in the April PAD challenge (write a poem each day from the prompt given by Robert at Poetic Asides). I don't know Sheryl well and have never visited her blog before (I believe she just started blogging not too long ago). Anyway, it must have been poetic fate, because this was exactly what I needed to read. The post with her poem "This April is a Ragged Poem" had me smiling in no time.Maybe you will enjoy it as well.

To go to her blog (Sheryl's Sporadic Word Tag) and read it, CLICK HERE.

****************

If you liked Sheryl's poem, I hope you left a comment telling her so. And in my comments section? Well, what I'd like to know is...

what is the last bad thing that happened to you? 

AND 

Does it still bother you or can you laugh about it now? 

As always, thanks for stopping by Lind-guistics.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Kiss for Valentine's Day

In my last post I shared the tearsheet that featured my short story and a photo of a beautiful lady. If you missed that post, you can read it now by CLICKING HERE. Except there was one thing that I didn't tell you then. Not only do I have that story in the February issue of The Poetic Pinup Revue, but I also have a poem featured as well.

Here it is:



In case the print is too small to read, here is the poem.

I've known you for what seems an eternity.
I know all your little secrets, mister,
know the man inside others never get to see,
so don't expect me to write you a love letter
telling you how the world would stop spinning
if you were no longer here and how the big bang theory
would sum up the breaking of my fragile heart.

Don't think for one second that I will profess
with written word my eternal love for you,
because after all this time how could you even
have the audacity to think that a mushy love poem
could express the way that I feel about you when
words could only graze the surface of its depths.

TPPR doesn't list titles on the page with the material, just in the table of contents/credits, but the title is To My Husband, Stefan. So today, on Valentine's Day, this poem is for my husband, who I would be totally lost without.


Did you celebrate Valentine's Day in some way? Did you give gifts? Tell me about.

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Many Faces of Love

The other day I had a few minutes to spare and decided to post something here, but I didn't. Why? you might ask. Well, it wasn't for lack of ideas. The problem is that I had too many idea and not enough time to do any of them justice. So I just signed off and went to bed. Then I stared at the ceiling a bit while all those ideas swirled around in my mind. I wasn't sure which one I would use the next time I sat in front of my laptop, but I decided it would somehow work itself out. It's like when you need to buy a gift for someone but don't know what. You go shopping and as you walk in the store you find the perfect gift setting on the shelf. Yep, that's how it will happen I told myself.

And you know what? That's really how it happened. Except it is not any of the ideas I had thought about the other day. This topic just sort of fell into my lap so to say. I sat down, checked my email, and there it was waiting for me. What was it? My spreadsheet for my flash fiction piece that is featuring in the upcoming (to be released on 12th) February issue of The Poetic Pinup Revue.

Never heard of The Poetic Pinup Revue? Here is how the publication is described on their website:
  
We’re not quite a pinup magazine.  We’re not quite a literary journal.  We’re not quite a poetry rag, or a fine art photography showcase, we’re not quite a lot of things and very much a lot of others.


How would I describe it? It is a magazine that features flash fiction and poetry paired with images. Very artsy. Sometimes those images might be a black and white photograph of a winding staircase or a colorful drawing of a museum scene (both in the October 2012 issue) or a lady drinking from a martini glass (December 2012) or a sketch of a women or even a very tasteful nude. Yes, there is some nudity in TPPR but in the several issues I have seen, they are all artistic works. I liken them more to paintings of nude women in museums, yet with more depth to them because 1) they are doing something other than just posing nude for a painter and 2) the editor (Harlean Carpenter) takes great care in choosing the best image to complement the text (or vice versa). Of course, not all the images are nudes (only a small portion - though I understand the current issue has more than usual, but then again, this issue also has many more pages) and not all pictures even have a person in them. In the December issue which has the theme "food for thought" there was very artsy photo of a cut lemon and some sort of cube (ice?) on a granite countertop. The photo is shades of black and white with shadowing but the lemon is yellow.

Even with all that I've said, I realize this magazine might not be everyone's cup of tea. I really like it, because it is unique and interesting. This is, I believe, the fourth time I have had work featured. Do you want to see my tearsheet? Don't worry. For any of you out there who aren't into nudes, you can breathe easy.

Here it is:

Flash fiction by Linda Hofke, Model: Vicky Lievens (I don't have the photographer info but think it might be by Kelly Van Wonterghem)

I think it looks great. And see? This is not really a pin-up shot, is it? It's so much more. That's what you get with TPPR.

 If you are interested in buying a copy of the magazine (which has the theme The Many Faces of Love), you can click here to get information. If you do purchase a copy, please be sure to fill in the "Who Sent You?" field with my name.

To submit work to The Poetic Pinup Revue, CLICK HERE for information regarding upcoming themes.

To read reviews of TPPR, CLICK HERE.

For general information regarding The Poetic Pinup Revue, CLICK HERE.

AND here is my favorite link of them all. This link has samples from various editions. To see a whole bunch of awesome spreadsheets, CLICK HERE.


I'd love to hear your thoughts on my spreadsheet/my story, about your views on nudity, about photography, poetry, on artistic expression... anything vaguely related to this post. Go ahead. Lay it on me. If you have a thought (c'mon, I know you are thinking something), go ahead and write a comment for me. It will make me happy, and I like being happy.