Catty Musings

Hola, bloggers! Bom Dia! Cats are for me the most elegant creatures in the animal kingdom. They are ever so graceful and so so sweet when they are being fussed about. And they are ever so loyal. But one thing I like about cats are their noses. I love to pinch them when they are cold, as a result, my cat Shy's nose has become carabish (dilapidated....ha, ha! joke!) Cats always remind me of idleness. You know why? Observe a cat in its idle times when it is just catnapping and you will notice how gracefully serene and tranquil it looks. How about human beings, how are we when we are idle? Oh never be idle! We can never be graceful when we are idle because when we are idle we are subject to destructive thoughts, dangerous impulses, and perilous pressures from without. All of these contribute to anxiety.

There are some who would rationalize their idleness by their advanced years. Just because you have grown older doesnt mean you can be idle as long as you want. Don't ever think to immunize yourself from the responsibility to industry simply because you have become older.

Let me tell you this:

Commodore Vanderbilt built most of his railroads when he was well over seventy, making his hundreds of millions at an age when most men have retired.

Tennyson was eighty-three when he wrote "Crossing the Bar."

Michelangelo was producing masterpieces in the filed of sculpture at eighty-nine.

Titian painted his incomparable "Battle of Lepanto" at ninety-eight, his "Last Supper" at ninety-nine.

Monet was painting great masterpieces after eighty-five.

Men like these mentioned don't have time for anxiety. Worry is a time thief and they refused to be robbed by it.

We can always admire the gracefulness and tranquility of cats when they are idle but we can never achieve the same gracefulness and tranquility when we are idle. Always keep in mind that "an idle mind is a devil's workshop."

Have a great new week bloggers and God bless us all!

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."

~~Ralph Waldo Emerson~~

Poetically Yours

Autumn Hilltop by Childe Hassam

Hola, Bloggers! Good day, Bom dia! Change of season and autumn sensation for poetic verses and rhymes. The poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, E.E Cummings, Wlat whitman, robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and William Cullen Bryant are some of those poetic works that influenced my poetic inclination. "A Psalm of Life" by Longfellow for me sums up my whole philosophy and attitude towards life. I consider it one of the best poems ever written.

Since the great object of poetry is to please, every means is employed to that end. Let me tell you, until now I've been striving diligently for the perfection of my versification so as to produce harmony that appeals to our aesthetic sense and thus enhances the beauty of poetry. I strive for poetry everyday even when I'm busy. I see rhymes, reasons that produce verses amidst the hustle and bustle of daily living. I sincerely believe that when one is poetically inclined, he/she can always see beauty in everything even in the most adverse circumstances and in the most vile of persons. Poetry, to me, is reaching in and out both to the most desirable and undesirable and always try to incorporate beauty in them however way that is.

Every writer or artist who decides to believe in himself, to go against the grain, to face years, perhaps a lifetime of rejection and worst of all indifference, needs to remind himself of an old saying in the underworld: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime," or in this case, "If you can't take contempt, don't make an attempt."

To the budding and aspiring poets out there, young and old alike, I would say, write on and versify poetic images that are originally your own. Never imitate a certain style. Free verse is the best to undertake, that's what I employ, it works for me and it will work for you too. Write verses even under difficult conditions, never give up, "practice makes perfect." Inspired or not, write on, versify and you will achieve what you aim for. Have pleasant days ahead bloggers and God bless us all!

"...good work comes out under pressure of a bad life; he who lives does not work; one must die to life in order to be utterly a creator."

Tonio Kroger, in Death in Venice and Seven Other Theories, tr. H-T Lowe-Porter, Vintage Books, NY; 1962, p. 94

Literary Musings by Ophelia

Hola, bloggers! Bom dia! As a short story writer I always love happy endings. When I was still young I used to feed my mind with stories of travels and adventures and romance all with happy endings. One of the great short stories that I really, really love is from Giovanni Boccacio's Il Decameron, The 5th day, Ninth story. I read and reread this from time to time. I also fed my mind with the stories from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury tales and from the Arabian Nights or the Thousand and One Nights. Oh how my mind wandered excitedly through the pages of those stories from far off lands! I remember very well as a child I used to have with me a small notebook wherein i carefully jotted down words and phrases from books that appealed to my wild imagination. I love words...lovely phrases and poems with beautiful rythmic lines captivate my vivid imagination. I used to read romance books under the mango tree in our backyard near a lake with crystal clear waters running and would always wait for the sunset so i could look through the river at it. Until now i do this...i love the feeling when i am surrounded by nature. I used to romp around the ricefields catching dragonflies and racing through the grassfields toward the teeming hills. While on top of the hills I would always look at the next town over the horizon. Oh boy, such sweet memories of childhood to recollect!

Now, whenever a good subject for a short story pops up in my mind, i would gather inspiration first by way of surrounding myself with the things that put my mind at ease and at peace so i can have the focus to write down effectively the ideas budding in my mind in order to come up with a great story right at the tip of my pen or rather at the keys of my keyboards...however you say it...lol. Well, as a writer, i had undergone series of disappointments but i have NEVER given up even for once, instead, every rejected piece of my stories served as challenge to strive more diligently to achieve perfection...if not perfection, at least rise above mediocrity. To the young budding writers out there, Iwould advise not to get discouraged by rejections, instead keep on keeping on until you get the satisfaction that you desire, at least the satisfaction that you have tried so well on a field of an endeavour. Till next blog, have great days ahead bloggers!I am Ophelia Jane Julia wishing everyone who pass by my blogger sites a blessed weekend!

It Is Well

"Short words, soon spoken; but to have a suitableness of heart to them is one of the highest attainments of faith. To be sure, it is well; we think so when all things go according to our wish, when there is nothing in providence that crosses our desires, that thwarts our designs, that sinks our hopes, or awakens our fears: submission is easy work then. But to have all things seemingly against us, to have God smiting in the tenderest part, unravelling all our schemes, contradicting our desires, and standing aloof from our very prayers; how do our souls behave then? Faith sets aside every obstacle. It shall be well; the end will be peace. God is with me and He will make all things work together for good.

It is a dark night, but the darkness of your heart will not light a candle for you. It is a terrible tempest, but to quench the fires of comfort and open the doors to admit the howling winds into the chamber of your spirit will not stay the storm. A troubled heart will not help us in our difficulties or out of them. You have not all you could wish, but you have still more than you deserve. Your circumstances are not what they might be, but still they are not even now so bad as the circumstances of some others.

There are flowers that bloom in winter, if we have but grace to see them. Never was there a night of the soul so dark but what some lone star of hope might be discerned, and never a spiritual tempest so tremendous but what there was a haven into which the soul could put if it had but enough confidence in God to make a run for it. Rest assured that though you have fallen very low, you might have fallen lower if it were not that underneath are the Everlasting Arms.

~~C.H Spurgeon~~

Permanent Love

Wedded by Lord Frederick Leighton

Hola, Bloggers! I am back and I feel good to be back after a very busy week on assignment. I need to finish everything that has to be done at work so i can have my most-awaited vacation leave at last!!! Ok, the busy sked had not take the romantic out of me...ha, ha. Mind refreshed having not logged on the net for quite a time, I feel bright and breezy and still am the romantic renaissance woman that i claim to be. So again at this time I want to share with you a bit of my love philosophy...AGAIN! I told you i'm so romantic...lol! For me, love must be eternal and unconditional. Eternal means in simple word, sticking to each other through thick and thin being true to the marriage vows of "till death do us part." Unconditional simply means an all-encompassing love; accepting and understanding each other's faults and mistakes, defects and weaknesses. Let me tell you in a simple illustration. If my lover has bad breath, i won't be turned off because i love him but his bad breath must be cured...lol...so in a not so offending way i will tell him nicely to use dental floss regularly to protect gums and teeth from decay...ha, ha...i'm enjoying this. I would even brush his teeth, mind you. If he has body odor, i will give him axe...lol...oh boy!...i'm just joking...What i mean to say is...when you really love someone, you must accept them as they are and make them not break them.

I once heard a man say: "Love is not love if it alters when it alteration finds." He was commenting on the response of a young wife to her husband who had come home from the war. The soldier, severely wounded, had extensive facial disfigurement and was missing two limbs. Yet she warmly welcomed him back and would not think of leaving him.

Such devotion is hardly in keeping with the attitude that prevails today. a prominent newswriter observed that old-fashioned weddings are back in style, but not old-fashioned lifetime commitment. Most people, he says, are glad for easy divorce laws that makes possible a quick release from their wedding vows when they become a burden. Because of this, I'm gladdened every time I see love and tenderness between a husband and wife - whether young or old.

Isaac was not a dynamic man like his father Abraham. Yet his singular love for Rebekkah stands in sharp contrast to the other patriarchs of his time, who had concubines and many wives. Nothing in the Scriptures suggests that he ever followed that practice. He is portrayed as a kind, loving, faithful husband.

True love endures in spite of difficulties. Paul says it "never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8). It does not depend upon the continuance of pleasing qualities in the loved one. It flows from a deep desire for the welfare of the other and grows sweeter with the passing of the years.

I like old-fashioned weddings. But I'm more excited about old-fashioned marraiges - where love is permanent.

The marriage bond that joins two hearts

No power on earth can break,

If these two hearts will yield to God

And of his love partake.

~~Dennis J. DeHaan

Always Yours,

OPHELIA

Mamma Mia!

Hola, bloggers! This time i go to the movies. One of the hit movies this summer is the film adaptation of the West End stage musical, based on the songs of successful Swedish pop group ABBA. Mamma Mia did very well at the box and was said to have the largest opening weekend of any musical film in the US! Oh, yes! I love it very, very mucho because of so many things. Besides that Meryl Streep tops the list of my favorite Hollywood actresses and ABBA being one of my all-time favorite pop group (mind you i have all their songs on DVDs!), most of the filming was done on small Greek islands, including Skopelos and Skiathos and Damouchari in Pelion area of Greece. These places gave romantic touch to the movie and i couldnt help but giggle, giggle and giggle to death! The movie has a very interesting plot revolving around mother Donna (Meryl Streep) and daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who wants her father to give her away on her wedding day but does not know who he is, but after reading her mother's diary from 20 years ago, she concludes, he is one of three men: Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth),or Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard)....Who is really her father among the three...that's where the story revolves and which makes it a musically hilarious and entertaining movie! Watch it, watch it! I guarantee you will love it! It's a perfectly entertaining movie...one of the best musical films i have ever seen! Mamma Miaaaaaaa!!!! Take it from me!

Take care one and all and have a great, blessed and entertaining weekend!!!

Never Alone...

Dear Friend,
I just had to write to tell you how much I love you and care for you.
Yesterday, I saw you walking and laughing with your friends. I hoped that soon you'd want me to walk along with you, too. So, I painted you a sunset to close your day and whispered a cool breeze to refresh you.
I waited .... you never called. I just kept on loving you. As I watched you fall asleep last night, I wanted so muchto touch you. I spilled moonlight onto your face, tricklingdown your cheeks as so many tears have. You didn't even think of me. I wanted so much to comfort you.
The next day I exploded a brilliant sunrise into glorious morning for you. But you woke up lateand rushed off to work. You didn't even notice. My sky became cloudy and my tears were the rain.
I LOVE YOU!!!
Oh, if you'd only listen. I really LOVE you. I try to say it in the quiet of the green meadow and in the vibrant blue sky. The wind whispers my love throughoutthe treetops and spills it into the vivid colors of all the flowers.I shout it to you in the thunder of the great waterfalls and compose love songs for birds to sing for you. I warm you with the clothing of my sunshine and perfumethe air with nature's sweet scent. My love for you is deeperthan any ocean and greater than any need in your heart. If you'd only realize how I care.
My dad sends his love. I want you to meet him.He cares, too. Fathers are just that way. So, please, call on me soon. No matter how long it takes,I'll wait forever.
Because I LOVE YOU.
Your Friend, Jesus

written by Yvonne S. Rathkey