The Social Poets: The Heart Remembers: Veterans Day poem Libations Thursday 11 Nov 2010

The Social Poets: The Heart Remembers: Veterans Day poem: Honoring the life of others as well as our own.

Editorial Cartoons 2 Jan 2010

From Denny: Here's a sampling of editorial cartoonists' opinions, love 'em or hate 'em, as to the news and the year and decade that was and what the New Year might bring us:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

A short video of a few of the New Years fireworks worldwide:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Mike Keefe - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

It's the big ugly fact that if government does not spend the economy will crash down upon our ears. As it is, the banks are still not lending much for car loans and demanding 20% down for houses, creating a shaky economy:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Larry Wright - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Gary McCoy - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Milt Priggee - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jeff Parker - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

*** For the full post, full of more grinners, over at The Social Poets, go here.

*** THANKS for visiting and have a great weekend!

Catch Up on This Weeks 51 Posts At Dennys Blogs 17 Nov 2009

From Denny: After a year of blogging, I turned around and suddenly realized I've been producing a lot of content. Nor am I silly enough to think you check in every day with every blog. :) So, in case you missed anything this week, here's a menu of various posts all in one place for an easy read - and bookmark - so you can read when you feel like it:

From The Social Poets:

Roundup of Sunday Funnies 16 Nov 2009

Life Advice Poem by Rudyard Kipling

This Weeks Editorial Cartoons 14 Nov 2009

Reflections of That Moment - Libations Friday! 13 Nov 2009

5 Powerful Soul Affirmations, Soul Journey Poem

Funny Money Advice - Cheeky Quote Day! 11 Nov 2009

Musicians Are Territorial Animals, Funny Post by David Thomas

Roundup of Late Night Funnies, Cartoons 9 Nov 2009

From the funny posts at Dennys Funny Quotes and Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd:


From Dennys Funny Quotes:

Funny Secret to Longevity Photo and Story

10 Funny Love Quotes, Funny Cat Photo

Funny Money Advice, Cheeky Quote Day at The Social Poets

Video: Weirdest American Gluttony Foods

3 Paradoxically Funny Head Scratching Quotes

Awww, 7 Funny Dog Photos to Make You Laugh

What's stupidly popular at Dennys Funny Quotes these days:

42 Monday Morning Funny Coffee Quotes, Coffee Cartoon

25 Weird Coffee Trivia to Astound and Amuse You

10 Funny Work Quotes for Monday Morning

5 Monday Morning Posts to Get You Laughing!

From Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd:

9 Funny Socially Inappropriate Store Signs - what gets lost in translation from Chinese or Japanese into English, some really tacky ones!

Ouch! Best Love Story in Three Pictures: Prez Bush and Sec Condi Rice - a bit silly.

Outrageous Video: Overview of World Censorship on the Web - serious look at how content is heavily censored and in which countries, interesting overview.

First Lady Michelle Obama on Leno Show - how the Obamas don't take themselves too seriously.

Odd News Video: Liquor Warehouse Implodes in Russia

Weird News: Man in Breathalizer Costume Arrested by Police

10 Outrageous Glenn Beck Quotes That Prove Insanity

From the food blogs, Romancing The Chocolate and Comfort Food From Louisiana:

From Romancing The Chocolate:

Savory Chocolate Recipe: Mini Hamburger Sliders with Sauce

Chocolate Trivia from Horror Director Hitchcock

Video: Cool Food Gifts for the Holidays, Southern Sweet Chocolate Coconut Pie Recipe

3 Quick Awesome Chocolate Recipes for the Holidays

Chocolate Trivia - Who Are the Biggest Chocolate Gluttons on the Planet?

Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake

From Comfort Food From Louisiana:

Video and Recipes: Holiday Challah and Ciabatta Stuffings, Vegetarian and Sausage

Cajun Joke: Boat For Sale by Beaudreaux and Thibodeaux

Video and Recipes: 3 Fabulous New Orleans Sweets

Cajun Joke: Boudreaux and Thibodeaux Fix Destroyed New Orleans Levee

Video: Unbelievable, OK, Weird, Foods and Recipes

Cajun Joke: Boudreaux and Thibodeaux Play Golf

Video and Recipes: Lobster Grits Polenta, Turkey Andouille Sausage Grits Casserole

Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs

From Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:

Life is a Gift!

Whats Your Attitude Toward Life?

Veterans Day Quote, Links to Memorial Poems, Peace Quotes

3 Wonderful Quotes About Joy

5 Powerful Soul Affirmations, Soul Journey Poem

How Do You Know If You Have a Weak Mind?

When Something Inside You Dies, Do You Know How to Renew Your Life?

Do You Sell Your Soul For Others Admiration?

From The Healing Waters:

Video: Tim McGraw Making a Difference

Video: Halle Berry Making a Difference for Battered Women

The Perfect Work Quote to Keep Your Head Straight on Monday Mornings

Video: Awareness, and Gibran Quote

*** Thanks for visiting and come back often! :)

Its Cheeky Quote Day at The Social Poet 9 Sept 2009s!

From Denny: It's Cheeky Quote Day over at The Social Poets and today I'm featuring another early American entertainer who was a big hit during the dreary Depression years: actress Mae West.

The woman was known for being a bit saucy and downright risque for her time period. She was a child actress in Vaudeville who grew up to write her own comedic material and star in many a Hollywood movie during the 1930's.

To read more about her and enjoy many more rib-tickling quotes from her and a couple of short videos from her movies, go check out Cheeky Quote Day, here.

3 Quotes From Mae West

* I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.

* Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.

* Don't keep a man guessing too long - he's sure to find the answer somewhere else.

For Cheeky Quote Day featuring Mae West, go here.

Libations Friday! over at The Social Poets

From Denny: It's Libations Friday! over at The Social Poets! Featured is a new poem that is rich with wonderful art photos: Soul Journey. If you are a blogger or writer you can place these wonderful photos in your posts and articles as they are from flickr's Creative Commons.

To read Soul Journey and enjoy its wonderful art photos, go here.

Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr

Art Photo-Rich Poem: People Trees

This was the poem I wrote last week for my Friday poem over at The Social Poets blog and I've been meaning to get it up over here. The folks over at StumbleUpon came in by the hordes for these wonderful photos, enjoy!

Drink in the richness of the wonderful photos from the photographers over at flickr in creative commons. (I find them beautiful and emotionally soothing.) You are free to use their photos if you also give attribution and a link back to their flickr page.

I've been thinking about what poem to write all week, and, as usual, started on another idea which just didn't gel well or in time. That's what's good about setting deadlines for yourself as you get that rush of adrenaline going to get out the words. :) Anyway, was researching some wonderful photos and kept finding awesome trees and one thing led to another as I knew my eternal mind was tapping my everyday mind on the shoulder and saying, "Hey! What about this?"

Photos often do give me inspiration for writing as so many ideas start flowing. Take a trip on over to flickr yourself to get inspired. You can always view my 5,000+ favorites I've found while researching for articles as I keep them bookmarked "just in case."

*****

People Trees



Some of us ruggedly root ourselves mountain high to savor the views



Some of us enjoy beauty’s lingering mirrored perfection



Some of us feel forlorn in life’s landscape, until we see we are a duet



Some of us like to stand tall with a crowd, all in a perfect row



Some of us like to party with different people, the more the merrier



Some of us like to stand out in a crowd, fiercely plumped proud



Some of us see our own rippling beauty, reflected in the mirrors of others



Some of us rush to greet the exploding morning at first blush



Some of us sway and bend with life’s swirling storms yet remain



Some of us rush zig zagging through life and still look wildly beautiful



Some of us safely hold dear a child’s swing and his playful heart



Some of us are strong, sheltering lightly in the shadows



Some of us rise up from the water and tenaciously breathe through our knees*



Some of us suffer, enduring kindly a bit of indignity from time to time



Some of us absorb the strongest truth, filtering softly inner light



Some of us like to stroll unknown passageways and secret gardens



Some of us play hard to get, secretly happy to see company coming



Some of us like to wear jewelry, all decked out at least once a year



And some of us



dream big



just by looking up – lost in thought for hours.


Denny Lyon
Copyright 20 August 2009
All Rights Reserved

* Copyright is for the text of the poem only, copyright for the photos belong to the photographers.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for visiting!


*Cyprus trees have what are called "knees" - those bumps you see sticking out of the water near the roots which are underwater in the swamps. These knees are how the cyprus tree breathes the air!

*****

Photo Credits

Mountain Mist treeline photo by Lida Rose @ flickr

Rugged lone tree high on a mountain photo By Chris Gin @ flickr

Cherry blossomed tree reflecting photo By rachel_thecat @ flickr

Cherry trees blanketed by snow photo By lrargerich @ flickr

Cherry blossomed trees all in a row photo By VJ flicks @ flickr

Bluebells partying in a stand of trees photo By left-hand @ flickr

Red tree photo By code poet @ flickr

Trees reflected in the river photo by Denis Collette @ flickr

Sunrise in Corfu, Greece photo by Katarina 2353 @ flickr

Bent tree Bonsai Moon photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Rolling hills and tree photo by Katarina 2353 @ flickr

Trees give support to the child’s swing photo by lepiaf.geo @ flickr

Sheltering tree photo in the shadows by Zest-pk @ flickr

Cypress tree at sunrise in the water photo by Bill Swindamon @ flickr

Suffer a bit of indignity tree photo by Scarleth White @ flickr

Filtering Illuminating light tree photo by *clairity* @ flickr

Strolling with the trees photo by Bjǿrn Giesenbauer @ flickr

Tree of Peace photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

Christmas tree photo by laffty4k @ flickr

Redwood trees in California photo by aigeanta @ flickr

Strong tree’s canopy photo By -= Bruce Berrien =- @ flickr

Black and white tree canopy photo by anonymous

Louisiana Summer Sigh

Louisiana Summer Sigh: "Writing exercise in the form of a “simile smile” and an original poem about us and summer changing into the next season of life."

By Denny Lyon @ HubPages

From Denny: For several weeks now have been rolling around some thoughts on how to write a summer poem. Never content to write on only one level I had to think about it for a while! :)

Found some outstanding photos from my flickr friends to illustrate it. Take a look and enjoy the awesome photography, especially of the cute kids! They are a larger format on HubPages than the blogs so you can see the detail better.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography @ flickr


Flickr, Louisiana Summer Sigh, Poetry, Denny Lyon, writing exercise, summer poem, summer gumbo, winds of change, seasons, kids and teens

Video: The WHOLE Truth That Happened at the McCaskill Racist Town Hall Meeting

From Denny: As usual the media doesn't show the news clip with the whole story, therefore creating prejudice and feeding into inaccurate views: yellow journalism. Now the truth is coming out about the health care town hall meeting in Missouri with Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill. What everyone saw on the national news is a black woman being "escorted" out, OK, actually she was dragged out by a mob of police; the white people overwhelmingly and enthusiastically cheered her removal.

The black woman and her friend were booed by the room of white people when they came in and sat down with posters. When a journalist asked what was on the poster to elicit such booing and beratement they went to unroll the poster to show the reporter and that's when it happened. What this uncut unedited video proves is that she was attacked by an angry white man who got out of his chair, crossed the aisle and came from her blind spot as she was sitting in her chair with a poster on her lap. HE attacked her! What did the police do? They saw her go to retrieve her poster while the white-haired white man was tearing it up into shreds out of sheer spite.

Who gave him the right to destroy her property in a public place? Who is this guy? Why did a rush of police go to drag her out of the meeting when it was clear she was attacked? Why did only one, count them, one police officer half-heartedly and gently escort the white man away from the scene? Did they arrest him for attacking the black woman? Missouri must be one seriously racist and arrogant state. Glad I don't live there.

Shock of shocks: Even Louisiana isn't that stupid and mean-spirited as the Midwestern part of our country has become. Everyone talks about the South being so horribly racist; looks like the Midwest has taken over that "honor" and beauty queen tiara title. These people should be ashamed of themselves for denying a woman the right to own a poster.

What drugs are they on? Better yet: What drugs do they need to be on for such bizarre excessive belligerance and violence? Sounds like a need for mood enhancers like used for acute depression. Is that what all this racism in the country is really about: mentally ill people who have gone untreated for decades?

So what was the poster? Are you ready for the shocking truth? It was a photo of little ol' lady Rosa Parks. That's it. You have got to be kidding me! No kidding; these folks in Missouri are whacked in the head for that kind of over reaction to a poster. Remember the whole room applauded what that one guy did so they are as guilty and as weird by association - and approval of clear wrong-doing.




racism, politics, Missouri, Breaking News, Senator McCaskill, town hall meetings, news, Denny Lyon, The Social Poets

Bloggers Unite: Global Human Rights Abuses

From Denny: This is a post I ran over at The Social Poets Friday evening for the Bloggers Unite Human Rights Day post on 17 July 2009. Bloggers everywhere are all blogging on the same day about human rights.

***

Humanity is at a crossroads in our world history where we must make a profound decision. It’s time to live better.

Currently, human rights abuses are no longer exclusive to certain regions of the globe. There is a sharp increase in human rights abuses worldwide for decades now and situations are increasing in violence yearly.

Stories abound globally of the most heinous crimes to humanity. Nothing good is accomplished by mankind trying to annihilate mankind. Just what is going on in the world? Here are just a few areas:

• Hamas and Taliban Islamic terrorists and other terrorist groups worldwide are on a bloodthirsty killing spree with bombings of civilians, women and children in many places in the world.



Photo by azrainman @ flickr

• Rogue unstable governments, covertly cozy with terrorist groups, working feverishly to acquire the nuclear bomb so they can kill off their neighbors they don’t like because they are another religion, a different economic or another kind of social system – or just plain won’t give them what they want.

• Genocide in Africa because people of different tribes can’t work out their differences like civilized people.



• Jailing journalists - trying to report the truth - as political temper tantrums to get their own way: North Korea and Iran.

• Tortured prisoners worldwide with the most notable recent heinous acts perpetrated during the Bush years on terrorist suspects never given trials, mainly because there was no real hard evidence.



• Under Taliban Islamic law and culture women are still regarded as subhuman and not deserving of first class treatment like men.

• Here in the United States, during the Bush years, women were raped, often savage gang rapes, at our military universities yet went unreported.

• Then there are battered women worldwide from Islamic to Christian countries whose husbands will not stop pummeling them.



We, the majority, are allowing the few to terrorize us, our neighbors and our loved ones. We must mobilize to stop it. How? Education for starters.
In the end, in order for humanity to not come to an end, we must consider a working alternative to what exists today in the way of abuses. It is a basic human right to be loved. Loved, you say? Yes, loved. We all have the right to be loved.

Love comes in many forms. We have the human right to certain expectations of basic decency and civility. We have the human right to healthy drinking water and sanitation and affordable housing. We have the human right to expect our political leaders that are guardians of our country to be honest and get serious about addressing pressing social and economic issues.



Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr

Human rights abuses worldwide, in our own countries, in our homes will continue until the average person stands up and says "No!" to it all. Human rights abuses will continue until we all get serious about connecting up to create a tsunami force to push humanity along until we all do better, choose better and, in the end, start living better. Now that’s Love in action! We all have the human right to be loved. Let’s give Love.

A few places you can go for education and plug in to help:

Bloggers Unite where you can help by blogging

Youth Movement For Human Rights - worldwide

Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International, dedicated to bringing world attention to human rights abuse


North Korea, United States, denny lyon, Human rights, Nuclear weapon, Africa, Amnesty International, Human Rights and Liberties, Sharia, The Social Poets

How Do You Handle Excessive Stress?

Interrupting GoGo's catnap to tell her about the health benefits of smiling... Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

From Denny:

In case you missed it, yesterday I ran this quote over at the quotes blog, Beautiful Illustrated Quotations, and thought it was also a good fit over here:

Every now and then you get to quote yourself which I find quite amusing! How does that happen? Well, the spiritual development people know exactly what I'm talking about as it often goes like this: You are replying to an email as I was in this instance, or, say, you were having a conversation with someone, and, suddenly, out pops this fantastic one liner. You know it's profound or memorable or just plain good advice.

There is a lot of chaos, job loss, sudden onset of health issues and violence going on right now in our economy. People are struggling with their particular life tests, looking for ways to battle or handle excessive stress.

I grew up in a harsh environment of constant stress and created a lot of coping skills to help me manage the stress instead of the stress controlling me. Here is the most recent advice my spirit jumped up and offered to a recent email friend whose husband is now out of work and lost their house of many years.

There is a lot of hurt going on throughout this country. Like anyone I have my own garbage to deal with from time to time, yet I follow my own advice as in this quote. It has never failed me.

Inevitably, the bad times begin to fade and finally end and then a new cycle of properity begins. Keep your mind and eyes on the positive - even when you know it's down the road. Eventually, you will arrive at that better point in your life.

Quote

“Keep smiling. Humor keeps your attitude pushed up and your heart wide open to sight the new opportunities coming your way.” Denny Lyon, 16 July 2009



Health, Stress, Mental health, Coping skill, Emotional Health and Wellbeing, Kids and Teens, Lyon, Support group, Denny Lyon, humor, smiling

Totally Ridiculous Comedy: Jacks Nightclub

Totally Ridiculous Comedy: Jacks Nightclub

By Denny Lyon @ HubPages

From Denny: "I like nonsense - it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope... and that enables you to laugh at all of life's realities." - Dr. Seuss

Wrote this recently as a raucous fast-paced ridiculous short story. It's really a bit long to post here and when that happens I park those writes over at HubPages. Take a look and you will be amused! Thanks for visiting!

Here's an excerpt from my world of the ridiculous:

"Jack jumped over the electric blue fox - who was hunting down the orange cat - who was preying upon the stupid cockroach that was having an identity crisis - and believed he was a popular dragonfly down at the local Irish pub - because he sang Irish songs everyone loved and wrote some damn good poetry.

The orange cat circled back to chase the identity crisis cockroach - who just knew he was really Irish in a former life - while the blue fox preened and bathed in the fast-paced lights of the nightclub – this fox enthusiastically embraced blue as the new fashion neutral - it was Jack who was looking for the weird alien orange cat that kept eluding him - who was stalking the brave Irish-singing cockroach determined to make it to Broadway.

The powerful-singing cockroach drowned out the elegant Irish pub-singing dragonfly - and soon the people customers complained about the strange odd noises blaring from the rising platform – it was two ants standing on a leaf singing opera - and more ants joined them from the audience singing 49 Bottles of Guinness Beer on the Wall and Get Down Tonight! – and soon the nightclub was jumping and bumping - and the people were dancing and squishing and splatting the friendly ants - who got the place hopping on a Saturday night in the first place."

For the rest of the story just click on the title link!

New Additions to Photo Blog Roll!

From Denny: "Can I tell ya?" Spent hours and hours this past weekend pouring over some awesome photo blogs, amateur and professional alike, sifting through them to place the BEST on my blog roll for you! There are about 70 choices now - around there, I lost count... :)

If you enjoy looking at photos and want to see what is going on in the photo blogosphere then this is a good place to start. My blog roll list is located at my photo blog, Visual Insights.

Talk about a wonderful way to while away a few hours with beautiful and thought-provoking photos! Take a look and enjoy! Go here.

New Health and Humor Posts!

Photo of nuttall woodpecker feeding the family by mikebaird @ flickr - Mike is an awesome professional photographer! Check him out on flickr.

From Denny: Am working feverishly to get caught up on my daily posts on all blogs. Here are the latest updated blogs:

The Healing Waters: 3 Fascinating articles from Evelyn Lim about positive affirmations, intelligently written.

Humor blog, Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd: The latest updates from my friend, Christoph, who is one funny writer with a skewed view about today's pop culture. He will keep you laughing - and it's all true! :)

OK, back to the salt mines to get caught up with the other blogs! Thanks for visiting!

Dishonor: Cheated Election Results in Iran

Photo by Shahram Sharif @ flickr

Dishonor: Cheated Election Results in Iran: "Current Iranian leaders move into a dangerous era: clerics may become an endangered species in Iran and political assassinations will become the order of the day if the will of the people continues to be suppressed."

By Denny Lyon @ HubPages

From Denny: Featuring this over at The Social Poets blog where I write about social issues as part of my Social Issues Poets (SIP) repertoire. If the post gets too long I turn it into an article and throw it up on HubPages.

Wrote this on Sunday as the people in Iran weighed heavily on my mind. My heart really goes out to them during this time. Just click on the title to take you to the article. It's a little long to put up on the blog. Thanks for visiting!