“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”
Lt. Commander Robert W. Copeland to the crew of the USS Roberts, 7 a.m. Oct. 25, 1944
Lt. Commander Robert W. Copeland on the USS Roberts
November 16, 2021 at 3:29 pm (Books, Calls, Recommended)
Tags: COVID Reading, military history, reading lists, The Philippines, World War II
Poetry Friday: “Like the Molave” by Rafael Zulueta y da Costa, Written 1940
October 29, 2021 at 10:41 pm (Artists and Writers, Calls, Filipino Writers, Personal Bookshelf, Philippine History, Recommended)
Tags: causes, COVID Reading, Filipino writers, Fridays, grief, heroes, inspiration, Jose Rizal, memorial, memories, poetry, The Philippines, US history
This poem is epic.
The molave was a Philippine hardwood (said to be impervious to fire), now extinct.
Jose Rizal was the writer of the seminal novels Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He was tried by the Spanish for inciting a revolution, and shot by firing squad in Manila’s Bagumbayan Field.
Self has not been able to find much about Rafael Zulueta y da Costa. He died in 1990, and apparently this was his only poem. He wrote in English. At the time of writing, the Philippines was still an American colony.
Like the Molave, Part I:
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace:
There are a thousand waters to be spanned;
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;
There are a thousand crosses to be borne.
Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are
Grown flaccid with dependence, smug with ease
Under another’s wing. Rest not in peace;
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. The land has need
of young blood — and, what younger than your own,
Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,
Forever oblate on the altar of the free?Not you alone, Rizal. O souls
And spirits of the martyred brave, arise!
Arise and scour the land! Shed once again
Your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red
Into our thin anemic veins; until
We pick up your Promethean tools and, strong,
Out of the depthless matrix of your faith
In us, and on the silent cliff of freedom,
We carve for all time your marmoreal dream!
Until our people, seeing, are become
Like the molave, firm, resilient, staunch,
Rising on the hillside, unafraid,
Strong in its own fibre; yes, like the molave:
Help for Afghan Refugees
August 18, 2021 at 8:19 pm (Calls, Links, Places, Recommended, television)
Tags: Afghanistan, causes, CNN, news, opportunities
From the CNN website:
- As the Taliban increases their grip in Afghanistan, thousands of civilians continue to flee their homes fearing retribution, persecution and general chaos. The refugee crisis there is still taking shape amid growing desperation and uncertainty. Relief workers are scrambling to help. You can assist them through the organizations listed here.
Flower of the Day (FOTD), June 7: Roses
June 7, 2021 at 12:06 am (Calls, Dearest Mum, Family, Flowers, Links, Sundays)
Tags: Cee Neuner, summer, transitions
Thanks again to Cee Neuner for hosting this wonderful challenge. I love the picture of wild daisies she posted today.
This gorgeous bouquet is from my oldest best friends, Bob and Diane Varner. We lived in side-by-side apartments in Menlo Park, when we were in our twenties. She and Bob moved to El Granada many years ago, but we kept in contact.
Yesterday, I broke the news to them that Dearest Mum didn’t make it. She fought a long, hard battle in Manila with covid, lasted three months. She was admitted to Makati Medical at the height of the latest surge, in March.
I’d been having weekly FaceTimes with her since the start of the New Year. When she missed one week, then another, I called and they said she had a fever. Then, dread test results: positive for covid. She was sent home from the hospital in May, no longer with covid, but she never quite recovered. She lasted till June! She passed very peacefully in her sleep, two days ago. She was 85.
In the afternoon, I was rushing out the door when I stopped and was dazed. Amazed. Speechless. Aren’t these the most GORGEOUS roses you have ever seen?
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
Essential Beginnings in Nonfiction, UCLA Extension Writers Program
April 11, 2021 at 2:58 pm (Artists and Writers, Calls, Memoirs, plans, Recommended, Sundays, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Marianne Villanueva, nonfiction, opportunities, teaching, UCLA Extension, writing process
I have been teaching this course a long time, almost 20 years. It was, and still is, my favorite course to teach. And, because of a lot of pandemic chaotic stuff and fixing my 1939 cottage, I am only teaching it ONCE in 2021. (Promise I’ll be back early 2022)
What happens during the course? YOU happen.
Don’t ask me to explain why I am a better teacher of nonfiction than I am a teacher of fiction. I know, I’m a fiction writer. Maybe I’m too close to the process, I’m not as good as explaining how it happens for me. Nonfiction, though, is a whole other story.
Trust me. I have kept this course as streamlined as possible to allow plenty of time for discussion and interaction with each student.
My hope is to get everyone to the happy place where they see writing as a verdant field of dreams.
There is one text, a classic.
There are my “lectures,” which are much less classic but okay, they’re useful.
There are THE WRITING EXERCISES EACH WEEK which will fill you with so much tension and joy, you can’t even explain it. Because that’s how writing, the act of sitting down and writing, actually feels (If standing on your head writing works for you, hey . . . )
Registration is open NOW. Class begins May 5 and ends June 15.
Since this class is ON-LINE, you can take it from anywhere in the world. I usually have, in one class, students from at least three continents: North America, South America, Asia, and the UK and Europe.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
Free Submissions, Today Only, FIVE SOUTH
April 11, 2021 at 2:39 pm (Artists and Writers, Calls, Links, Lists, Recommended, Sundays, Writing)
Tags: Literary Magazines, opportunities
All day today, Sunday, April 11, the literary mag Five South is temporarily suspending submission fees.
All other writers guidelines still apply. Such as WORD COUNTS:
- Flash: 1000 words
- Short Fiction: 5000 words
- Poetry: Open
Here’s the link for full guidelines.
There is a typo: Simulataneous Submissions.
But hey, this is a good journal, and they do get back to you fast.
The Narrator, Ballistic Kiss
April 7, 2021 at 8:47 pm (Books, Calls, Surprises)
Tags: COVID Reading, fantasy, humor, novel, reading lists, Sandman Slim
Which is when the fucking phone rings again. For a minute I feel a twinge of relief, hoping it’s Candy with a good excuse to cancel the party. Instead it’s Abbott. My landlord. His calls, I can’t ignore. I put the phone on speaker and say hello as I continue cleaning the weapons.
pp. 10 – 11
Ha. Ha. Ha. What is this series? It’s self’s first Sandman Slim. Loving the tone.
Just One Person From Around the World: Redwood City, California
March 31, 2021 at 10:13 pm (Calls, Conversations, Links, Places, plans, postaday)
Tags: causes, humor, politics, Protests
This Photo Challenge is courtesy of ThatTravelLadyInHerShoes:
I have stopped watching the news….I have dropped all social media, except for my blog, which I try to keep to positive vibes…. there are a lot of folks in the world, who are everyday folks, just trying to provide food and shelter and love……….they are trying to make a living…….keep their kids educated and basically just take care of their families, without an agenda. Me too. I think there is more of us…. Just trying to live our lives….. So, I would like to take the time to focus on one person a week to bring us together, to celebrate ordinary folks.
Feel free to join Just One Person From Around the World by creating your own post and then share your link in the comments! Also, add the tag JUST ONE PERSON FROM AROUND THE WORLD to your post so it is easier for me to find! Thank You!
Calling All Emerging Writers!
March 5, 2021 at 9:33 pm (Artists and Writers, Calls, Links)
Tags: Canada, contests, Fridays, Literary Magazines
Enter the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction
Deadline: 1 May 2021
This contest is specifically for writers who have yet to publish their fiction in book form. Submit your short story (maximum: 3,500 words) by 1 May 2021 at 11:59 p.m. PDT for a chance to win $1000 (Canadian) and publication!
Entry fee is discounted and comes with a one-year print subscription to The Malahat Review.
$25 (Canadian) for each entry from Canada; $30 (Canadian) for each entry from the USA; $35 (Canadian) for each entry from elsewhere.
Go here for full contest guidelines.
Getting Through It
February 17, 2021 at 12:38 am (Artists and Writers, Books, Calls, Conversations, Dearest Mum, Family, Links, Lists, plans, Plays, Recommended, Relatives, television, The Economist)
Tags: Cal Shakes, concerts, COVID Listening, COVID Reading, COVID watching, favorites, Garden, memories, Mendocino, music, Peaky Blinders, Shakespeare, The Crown, The Expanse, Trader Joe's
It’s been almost a year since the world stopped, plans got thrown out the window, and nothing will ever be the same.
Self thought she’d take a moment to celebrate the things that got her through the past year:
Of course, gardening. Her garden has never looked so great. Every day she watches the oxalis in her backyard get higher and higher. And she just loves it.
Second, books, and her fantastic local library and their curbside pick-up system. She’s been using it since June (Before that, she ordered many books from Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, which is equally fantastic). Also, self would like to thank the AUTHORS of these wonderful books. When self needed to be transported to another place and time, these authors delivered:
Self would also like to thank FREE CONCERTS. The week after everything shut down, St. Bride’s in London began streaming everything. And so did St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, which used to hold free noontime concerts every Tuesday.
She would also like to thank Cal Shakes, whose summertime Shakespeare was a high point of her summer, as long as she was home in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Her first Cal Shakes was Romeo and Juliet. ADAM SCOTT PLAYED ROMEO. Sold!!!) A few days ago, she got a message that they would mount ONE live production this summer (Dates to be announced), with appropriate social distancing, of course: Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
Also, FaceTime. Self has actually learned to FaceTime with Dearest Mum. It’s been so great.
And The Economist, which managed to come every week (every two weeks lately, since DeJoy destroyed the USPS)
Finally, she’d like to thank her favorite TV shows, because she’d never have gotten through without them: The Expanse (closing with Season 6), Peaky Blinders (closing with Season 6), The Crown.
A big hand also for Trader Joe’s, for being most sanitary of all the different supermarkets she’s shopped in.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
Kanlaon 