BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl

Category Archives: Other Thoughts


by 1 Comment

Daily Passion Prompt 32: An Hour of Google

If you had a free hour on the internet to research any topic, what would it be?

daniel-s-tigerWhere was the internet when I had to know Daniel Tiger’s name oh so many years ago? I ended up calling the local PBS station and had their crack research assistant check the vault for Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood episodes featuring the lovable little guy. It took some doing, and a willing person in the know, but eventually I found out. Fast forward to today,  I just checked on Google and had the answer in seconds, with pictures. But I digress.

On the free hours I have (or half hours, or even smaller increments of time), I do a lot of poking around on the internet, generally assisted by Mr. Google. My interests are many and I research all sorts of random topics, from the correct way to make a Mojito (to crush or to tear the mint, to mix at the end or not?) to the lyrics of the theme from the Banana Splits Show. Obviously some of these topics are more important than others, and some take more time and effort than others.

The internet is wonderful for scratching whatever itch of curiosity you may be feeling. Got a question? Google it. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s generally painless. Knowledge is power, and with the internet and an effective search engine, we sometimes feel like Thor with his magic hammer. Who knows what topic will strike me next. It may be a serious one, such as how to teach elements of theme in literature to fourth graders, or it may be that I develop an interest in the history of egg beaters. Whatever it is, I’m sure the internet is full of information about it. I’m so lucky to live in this age, even if we’ve left Daniel Tiger and the Banana Splits behind.


by 2 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 22: This I Believe

international_children_of_the_world
This I Believe
Every child deserves to be loved and cherished.
He deserves to have some adult in his life who is willing and able to do whatever is necessary to ensure the he has a roof over his head, good food in his belly, and a safe place to lay his head at night.
Every child deserves to live free from fear.
She deserves to live in a world without bombings or raids, a world without drive-by shooting or muggings, a world without adults who rage and hurt each other and her.
Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy.
He deserves medical care beginning even before birth and clean and sanitary living conditions.
He deserves to escape harm and injury and disease.
He deserves a world where things like chemotherapy and dialysis are unnecessary, and good health is the normal condition for all.
Every child deserves the chance to learn.
She deserves stories and songs and puppets and games.
She deserves trips to the market and conversations about apples and soup and kittens.
She deserves to learn language and numbers and how to get along with her playmates.
She deserves access to a formal education.
Every child deserves to know that he is important and unique and wanted and loved.
This I believe.


by 14 Comments

Daily Prompt: Eye of the Beholder

Describe what it feels like to hear a beautiful piece of music or see a stunning piece of art.

Beauty surrounds us, yet it seldom stops us. When we allow ourselves the luxury of slowing down we begin to see real beauty everywhere. A perfectly shaped pear is beautiful. A baby’s laugh is beautiful. The hum of a meticulously restored vintage car engine is beautiful. We need only take time to filter out the junk in our world to notice. Too often, though, we don’t have that ability or even the predisposition to try. We are preoccupied with the nuts and bolts of daily living, and the thought of purposefully seeking out beauty seems like a waste of precious time. Time that could be spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, or playing Candy Crush Saga.

At one particularly low period in my life I made it a point to seek out at least one thing each day that made me smile. I would then text these observations to a dear (and patient) friend. Finding the smile each day was meaningful, but sharing it strengthened my connection to the world at large. I remember the man with the giant blue tattoo over half of his face and the woman with turquoise hair pedaling her retro bike down the street. Those may not have been images of beauty in a traditional sense, but they gave me pause, and ultimately I was glad that I had seen them and shared them.

Unlike those everyday experiences, sometimes beauty hits us over the head. It is so powerful that it stops us in our tracks and causes everything else to melt away. Sitting in a symphony hall you can be immediately removed from the hundreds of other patrons, left alone with the piece of music washing over your soul. In the sight of a magnificent sunset the rush of the day fades and you are left feeling serene. Gazing at the work of a master painter you are taken to another level of awareness, lost in the interplay of light and dark, line and form, symbol and message.

These works that transfix you operate within you on  a deeply satisfying level. You are happy to be lost in them. Your life pauses as you allow yourself to be moved. Rarely do you analyze these experiences as they happen, you simply live in them and allow yourself to just BE. After that moment has faded, the piece has ended, the sun has set, you may revisit it and ask why it was so powerful. What about that arrangement made it so haunting? How did the artist manage to capture that light? There’s nothing wrong with this analysis. In fact, if we seek to create beauty imitation is a logical place to begin.However, when you first experience true heart stopping beauty, your mind rests and your heart fills, and your soul can’t help but feel at peace.