A Tale of Two Blogs

SO, I got sucked into this tumblr thing...but now I feel sort of disloyal to blogger, where I got my blogging start.

Eventually, I will have to find a way to divide the content.  Perhaps this one will be more about my writing, and tumblr will be about life & thoughts in general.  I haven't decided yet.  We'll see!

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc?

Does anyone actually still read this?

The Sea

So, I'm copying my friend who posted a poem on her blog a couple days ago. I'd have done it sooner, but I was having computer issues. They are resolved, at least for the moment, so I'm going to share this tidbit I wrote just over a year ago, while in Ireland. Fair, green Ireland totally brought out the poet in me.
The day after seeing the Cliffs of Moher, we took a ferry ride from Galway to the isle of Inishmoor. I wrote the poem (and took the picture) on the ferry ride.




The Sea
The Sea, the sea
the rolling sea
salt spray
and foaming froth;
graceful waves and
misty rain;
islands wreathed in fog.

The Sea, the sea.

the mighty sea:

though men traverse

your breadth,

who can tame your

savage waves?

You are fierce and cold as death.

The Sea, the sea,

the wild sea:

rough winds and

frigid depths;

desolate cries of

lonely birds;

Your kingdom by Neptune kept.

The Sea, the sea,

the majestic sea:

her empire vast

in reach;

a kingdom teeming with

perilous life,

deeper than eye can see.

The Sea, the sea,

the restless sea:

ever churning, never

at rest;

driven by wind and

currents within,

until Earth's final breath.

The Sea, the sea,

the gentle sea:

whispering your

secrets sweet,

to sailors, explorers, and

lovers of life;

your lullaby sings me to sleep.

JMR, 7/22/08

A Psalm of Life

So, Wendy tells me that April is National Poetry Month. Since I have little to blog about, aside from Lost, I will steal/copy/borrow/recycle an idea from Wendy's blog and share with you my favorite poem.

I found it in a High School English book from 1901 (seriously!) and just fell in love with it. It speaks to many of my favorite themes. I've tried to memorize it, but I always seem to forget a stanza. The last three were quoted by the minister at my Grandma Jean's memorial service.

A Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long and Time is fleeting,
And out hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act--act in the living Present!
Heart within and God o'rehead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Most Ardently

So, despite the lack of bloggage, there actually has been a lot going on--at least in my noggin.

2009 has been decent to me so far, how about you?

• I'm heading down to Branson at the end of the week, tagging along on my dad & brother's road trip to Texas. Can't wait to see my BFF! Brianne's got a great role in her community's production of "Into the Woods," and I get to see it opening weekend!!!
• Then a couple of weeks later, she's coming to the Burgh. Sweet! Party at my place!!
  
• I got to see Fiction Family in concert at Grove City last weekend. Fiction Family is a project of Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins and Switchfoot's Jon Foreman. Check out their album--it's really good. The concert was fun, too!
• I'm reading this book called "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl." It's a true story of a girl (Shauna Reid) from Australia who went from 350 lbs to lose half her body weight over six years. She didn't use a magic pill, and she struggled through rough patches where she regained some of what she'd worked so hard to lose. It's really good--and it's not a diet how-to. It's about learning to accept yourself, no matter what flaws you see when you look in the mirror. She even finds love in a Scottish pub (this is me being jealous!!)--before reaching her "ideal weight."
• I've finally begun to achieve some maturity by keeping my flat relatively clean this past month. This is a big achievement for messy ol' me. But something happened when I cleaned up on New Year's Day. Ever since then, I've magically begun putting this back where they belong, and straightening periodically, instead of waiting until it's an absolute wreck that I can't find anything in.
• I borrowed my friend Wendy's copy of the Keira Knightley version of "Pride and Prejudice" and have watched it three times.
  

Wait. Somehow I suspect that last one should not have made it on the list. It's not really an accomplishment; it's certainly not anything to brag about. But...it is true. I even downloaded the soundtrack. Yes, I've been feeding my voracious inner sap with Victorian romance. *Sigh.* There's just something about that Darcy that gets me every time. And, hey, I'm a single, romantic gal. I can't dream, can't I? And make flair...and desktop backgrounds featuring photos and quotes from the movie....Okay, fine, I'm obsessed. You can say it.

Seriously, though--and I hope this isn't a shocker--I've been thinking about love lately. How it seems to come so easy to some people, and yet, it's eluded me for so long. I'm not bitter, though sometimes it's very easy to get cynical. Is it possible there's a "Darcy" waiting for me somewhere? Are there any left? And even if there were, what are the chances he and I would a) meet and b) fall in love?

I've spent the last few years being relatively content with my singleness. (Read the archives. It's documented.) Now, as 30 looms on the horizon, I'm starting to wonder if love will ever come my way. I'm not particularly worried. But heaven help me!--I can't watch a movie like "Pride & Prejudice" without feeling something stirring in my sappy ol' heart! A longing to be pursued and loved, like Elizabeth was. Well, God alone knows if and when that will ever happen.

So, since romance is out of the picture for me right now, I'm trying to focus on other things. Like being healthy, tidy, and content. Mm. Okay, so that last one's a bit tough. The truth is, I STILL have NO IDEA what I'm doing with my life. I keep thinking something's going to change. I keep waiting for a sign, some direction, anything. BUT...I'm also trying not to stress out about not having my life figured out. Even if I am nearing 30!

There are days--most notably, Mondays--when I groan and grumble and whine about feeling stuck. But I'm trying to remember that God has a plan for me, even when I can't see it. He is leading me, even though at the moment it feels like I'm going nowhere. It's not for lack of trying!

I wrote last year about how I felt like I could sense change around the corner. I wasn't kidding; I still do feel that way. But it's vague and hazy; it hasn't taken shape yet. Does it include a Scotsman who will fall "most ardently" in love with me? I have no idea.

For now, I'm trying not to get to overwhelmed with big-picture things. I'm trying to focus on baby steps. Small changes I'm making. Little goals. This time next week, I'll be at Brianne's!! Yay!! And that's about as far ahead as I can see. Luckily, it's a pretty great view.

PS: For those who, like me, share an affinity for all things Austen, I give you my P&P background:

Considering I haven't done one of these in a few years, I'm rather proud of it. Made with the Gimp.

Friday Surprise!!

Okay, I have something I would like to share with you. I've been keeping it to myself for a while, mostly to see how things would turn out. Now, before you get all excited, let me explain. It's just a blog.

You read that correctly: I have a new blog.

No, I'm not abandoning this one, not by any means. Why on earth, then, would I be starting a new one? The answer is quite simple: I was asked to.

I saw recently that an online music community called hearitfirst was looking for some blog writers. I "applied" so to speak, sending samples of my writing...earlier posts from this very blog. And they accepted me! I guess I'll be writing for them pretty regularly...they just published my first post, and I've already been given an assignment for next week.

Hearitfirst.com is all about Christian music (Sorry, Brianne! Maybe I'll find a way to mention Nickel Creek, Imogen or Damien yet, though). They have a few different blogs on different topics. The blog I'll be writing for is a "Spiritual Growth" blog. Does that sound as intimidating to you as it does to me???

Anyway, I just wanted to share the news. Happy Friday, Everyone!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Or should it be Happy Anniversary?

For ‘twas one year ago today that I first logged onto blogspot.com, at Brianne’s behest, to get myself a blog. And so the bright pink and link-ified “Scope For Imagination” was born.

This is my forty-second post. That means I've averaged a post once every 1.23....weeks.

I myself can hardly believe that I’ve actually somewhat kept up with it for a whole year. I was never great at journaling, if you must know (however strange that sounds). But I do love to write, and I also love to share my opinion on…well, anything I have an opinion on.

When I think about where I was a year ago, and where my life is heading now, I am quite amazed. God is Great!

I would write more, but there’s quite a lot going on at the Richards’ Residence these days. But don’t worry. I’ll fill you in eventually. All in good time.

Oh, Shoot. I Should Blog.

Wow. Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, shame on me. What on earth have I been doing?

Well, since you asked:

• re-watching season one of LOST
• emptying baby bottles full of money at the Pregnancy Care Centers
• working on my third revision of “The Jagged Edge of Lightning”
• leading worship (sometimes singing by myself, gulp!) at Community Worship
• working on making a quiz about LOST
• watching movies, both at home and in theaters
• admiring my tattoo

Yep. I’ve been busy.

I have seen a couple of good movies lately—Walk the Line was pretty good, though hard to watch at some points because he just wrecks his life for a while. Still—Joaquin and Reese did great jobs, both singing and acting. The Lake House was very good. I love Sandra Bullock, and I hope I don’t jinx anything by saying she’s one of the few actresses I unabashedly admire. (Now watch, she’s going to be saying in her next interview that she’s joined Scientology with Tom Cruise.) Well, anyway, the movie was good and I recommend it—if you like that kind of romantic movie type thing.

I’ve also been working on my DVD collection…I made a list of all the movies I own and all the ones I still want to get, and it was rather frightening. I already have close to a hundred movies. And the sad fact is, a vast majority of them are either romance-based or family fluff. However, that is not entirely my fault; in my house, my brother buys all the action/adventure/blow-em-up movies, so I don’t have to. Though I did buy Spider-man 2 and Batman Begins.

Speaking of superheroes, tonight we’re supposed to go see Superman Returns. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be good. You know how lame DC can be…okay, that was mean. What I meant was, some of the earlier Superman movies were kind of cheesy. So, we’ll see. If it’s good, maybe I’ll dedicate my next post to it. Or maybe just to superheroes in general. You know I loves my heroes!

Post the First

Welcome to my first ever blog! I was having a conversation with one of my best friends last night (LATE last night) and she suggested I start a blog. And though I have to wonder who really has time to read all the blogs out there, let alone write them, I decided to try it anyway.

The title of my blog is taken from L.M. Montomery's writings. She created the original Drama Queen, Anne of Green Gables. Anne loved to daydream and was always talking about places that had scope for the imagination. I also love to daydream. Especially when I'm at work and I imagine that I'm the kind of person who says exactly what I'm thinking. I don't. I hardly say anything. But that's because I need to keep my job a little longer.

So there you go. I would just like to add that part of the reason this isn't a more riveting post is because I am distracted. Our computer is in the living room, where the TV is also located. And at the moment, my dad and brother are enraptured by an anime movie. A rather loud anime movie. And my cat, Phoebe, keeps meowing plaintivley for attention. So I'll end this for now. But don't worry. I'll have more riveting posts later. Stay tuned...