More photos in Dobby the Miniature Schnauzer Growing Up album on my Flickr page.

Technorati Tags: dobby, miniature schnauzer, Photography, puppy

Thursday Things is a new weekly post with site news and discoveries around the net.

Award

I received the I Love Your Blog Award from Roshan at Awake & Dreaming. The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1) Add the logo of your award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5) Leave a comment for your nominees on their blogs.

So I bestow this award to some of my favorite subscriptions: (Anti) Social Developement, Evolving Scenes, Mania Ravings, Morgan Howard, Our Best Version, Smile My Day, Wassup Blog, and WD Favour.

Guest Post

I have done my first guest post over at Life as I Know It, an informative and heartfelt blog covering self improvement, poverty, peace promotion, education and the environment. My post is titled Admitting is the First Step, about the first step towards change.

Useful Resources

181 Free Twitter Resources - Buttons, Badges, Widget and Counters to Help You Find Followers.

Twellow - A Twitter directory of users by category of interest. Also includes searches on bio text, name and location.

Permalink Structure - How to create your permalink structure to be more user and SEO friendly.

Generatus - A review of Generatus, a website that allows you to automatically generate status messages for Twitter, Facebook and more.

LinkedIn Tips - 10 tips for using LinkedIn like a professional.

YouTube Favorites

Stinky Feet



Roomba Driver



Obese Cat Does Wii Fit

Technorati Tags: blog award, Blogging, linkedin, twitter, Web 2.0, youtube

Photo by Dave Shewmaker

Imagine this

A sunny day, no clouds in the sky
No chance of rain
You lie on the ground
Back nuzzled into the grass
Looking up at the sky
Basking the warmth of the sun’s rays

Now picture this

The warmth disappears
Yet the sun still remains in the sky
Not a cloud in its way
Nothing between you and it
You see it but you do not feel it
The warmth was just there
But within moments, it was gone

Now think about his

Is it the sun’s fault
That you cannot feel its rays
Did the sun stop shining
Was there a cloud blocking the rays
Was there a breeze blowing over
Surely there was not
Because anyone around you could see
The sun’s rays are still touching you
And they would say how wonderful it is

Now change places

Think of yourself as the sun
And love as its rays
And I am the person on the ground
Did you stop shining on me
Did anything come between us
The answer is no, it is not your fault
There was not any other thing in the path

Now ask yourself this

Does this mean it is my fault
Something inside me has changed
Or did I just lose the ability to feel
What would you say
If I could only feel the sun’s warmth
When the sun is not there
But when the moon is out
Or when the clouds have taken over

Never think that I do not want to feel that warmth

This is a piece I wrote this over ten years ago. Interpretations are welcome.

Technorati Tags: Poetry, sunlight

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry consisting of verse written in three parts of five, seven, and five syllables. The haiku poem also makes reference to a kigo, a word that relates to a particular season. While Japanese haiku is formatted in a single vertical line, haiku in English is usually printed in three lines.

Here are two haiku examples that I wrote:

A love haiku for my fiancé…

If you did not know
how long my love for you blossoms -
tis infinitely

A haiku on dying about my grandmother…

She passed when the leaves
began to fall in autumn,
the season she liked least

And a cat haiku inspired by the site How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You…

My midsummer born cat
are you secretly plotting my
untimely demise
For me, one of the most difficult things was confirming that I had the write syllable count in each part. Fortunately, I found a free syllable counter tool that does the trick.

So, if you are feeling inspired, why not enter a haiku writing contest why not try out your hand at haiku? Copyblogger is was holding their second Twitter Writing Contest. First prize is a MacBook Air! The rules are that you have to tweet your clever haiku submission via Twitter in the following format: Phrase one (5 syllables) / phrase two (7 syllables) / phrase three (5 syllables). Then post it with a link to your tweet in the comments. The deadline is was midnight Sunday, November 16th. I am hoping to be able to re-submitted my entry, as my first one was not that great - I should have done the research for this post first before entering.

So if you don’t have a Twitter account, missed the deadline, or just want to share, feel free to put your haikus in the comments!

Technorati Tags: cat haiku, contest, haiku, haiku poems, Japanese poetry, love haiku, Poetry

Video of this house and its surroundings on Youtube.

Technorati Tags: mississippi, Photography