tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97566542024-03-18T23:17:02.305-04:00ChickenScratches by Ginger HamiltonMy Blogspace on the Internet since 2004
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(Creative Non-Fiction, Fiction, Poetry, Metaphysical Musings, Occasional Humor and B.S.) featuring Guest Musicians, Poets, and Other Creators because variety is the spice of life.
<br><br>© 2004-2016 Ginger HamiltonGingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.comBlogger740125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-22085622084401719552016-11-13T01:15:00.000-05:002016-11-13T01:15:12.419-05:00Yiddish Hallelujah by Daniel KahnToday I heard this most wonderful version of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah." An artist named Daniel Kahn translated the essence of the song into Yiddish. The video has English subtitles and if you're familiar with the song, you will see the lyrics vary from the original. However, I think they are just perfect. ~~GH
Hallelujah, written by Leonard Cohen. Transadaptation into Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-21634891452456727752016-11-12T19:46:00.001-05:002016-11-12T19:46:47.297-05:00Death in Tehran
What does this parable mean to you? It's a favorite of mine. ~GH
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-73316420926806981262016-10-19T21:11:00.000-04:002016-10-19T21:20:59.884-04:00A Thousand and One Nights
The following text is being parked here to help preserve it. A brilliant bonvivant, editor, writer, author, artist, songwriter, dancer, and all-round creative woman I call my friend, Marie Lynam Fitzpatrick, shared the text link with me. Someone else captured it when the old Geocities site was shut down.
It has captured my imagination and I hope it inspires you as well.
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-65185465085196905732016-06-07T03:12:00.000-04:002016-06-07T03:41:14.655-04:00Neil Gaiman's SpeechI really enjoy his voice in this talk. And the tips he gives are excellent, as well. ~~ GH
Keynote Address, University of The Arts
134th Commencement
May 17, 2012
I never really expected to find myself giving advice to people graduating from an establishment of higher education. I never graduated from any such establishment. I never even started at one. I escaped from Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-12185041510864114032016-04-26T03:46:00.000-04:002016-04-26T03:46:09.294-04:00Gentleman Caller
Funny how important things can be forgotten. Just today I remembered we made a pact, he and I -- a pact that he cannot take me. I must give myself to him or he cannot have me.
We have sat together many times, he and me -- we -- balancing the soul between us like the ballast we were. He tugged the soul toward him to see if it was ready to go; I pulled it back to center, refusing to let it Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-27724318725909065572015-12-02T10:23:00.000-05:002015-12-02T10:23:36.608-05:00A Fairy Tale Love
I took one of those time waster quizzes (What Kind of Love Will You Get?) and my result was "A Fairy Tale Love."
So I decided to define that. Here are my results:
Combine deceit, treachery, and drudgery with a generous helping of imprisonment, isolation, and confinement. Mix well with unrealistic expectations, unavoidable interactions with hostile predatory animals, and a portion of Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-43560167694336953182015-11-10T16:45:00.000-05:002015-11-10T16:52:41.076-05:00The Faith Healer (Joke)This isn't something I wrote. It's an old country story that cheered me up today, and I thought it might give you a smile or two, also.
There were these two brothers who lived way out in the country. Their names were Homer and Gomer. Homer hobbled around on a crutch because he had been lame since he was a small boy. Gomer couldn't talk plain, he sounded like someone was trying to saw Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-11393427423435978942015-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-26T00:01:00.098-04:00We Must Risk Delight
Photo credit - Petar Boterri
A Brief for the Defense, by Jack Gilbert
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babiesare not starving someplace, they are starvingsomewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God Wants.
Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would notbe made so fine. The Bengal tiger would notbe fashioned so miraculously well. Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-56856931599493824432015-09-24T01:04:00.000-04:002015-09-24T01:04:04.848-04:00Perfect Love
Do you know what would be perfect? What would be perfect is to be loved with the depth and intensity of a grandmother loving her grandchild, to be made love to with the passion of a new lover who possessed the familiarity and skill of an old lover. That would be about a perfect love. I could stand me about a lifetime of that kind of love. ~GH
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-59901057063530257242015-09-21T00:16:00.000-04:002015-09-21T00:29:58.602-04:00Autumn EquinoxMy buddy Trinny shared one of her favorite verses with me, and I wanted to share it with you. ~~GH
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~~John Muir
I actually felt a bit of aGingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-50992164971494887082015-09-19T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-19T00:01:00.896-04:00Unsweetened T - Grab a Gallon or Two
Trinny's Unsweetened T
Wow, all I can do is deeply curtsy to the Mistress, Mistress Trinny that is. Go treat yourself to some real-life writing about ruro-urban West Virginia. I dare ya.
Here's a link: Unsweetened T
Thank me in the morning . ~~GH
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-88955995611090151382015-09-18T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-18T00:01:00.157-04:00Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaimanwill be at the WV Book FestivalOct 23-24, 2015Click for more info
I have a confession to make: I found the best blog on the internet, and I can't get enough of it - www.BrainPickings.org - and if you're a creator, it will be one of your favorites too.
Neil Gaiman's Eight Rules of Writing:
Write
Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
Finish what you’re Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-56971732321796773752015-09-17T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-17T00:01:00.476-04:00At The Food Pantry
The big man at the food pantry pushes me to take groceries I
don’t want. He offers me boxed mac’n’cheese and I tell him I can’t eat powdered
flavorings. He tells me not to be proud – I fib and tell him I’m allergic to them
to get him to leave me alone. When I get home, I find boxes of powdered mac’n’cheese
in the bottom of one of my bags anyway.
He offers me a big tube of toothpaste. I Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-328878934872389112015-09-16T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-16T00:28:05.689-04:00"I Have What You Need"
What would you do if you had the ability to look into a person's eyes and predict their future? This Twilight Zone episode from the first season, "What You Need," is the story of a peddler with this ability who uses his talent to help sell his wares.
How would you apply this to your daily life? Think about your job duties and how a talent such as this could be utilized to make the world a Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-50141638165960695322015-09-11T00:47:00.000-04:002015-09-11T00:47:06.673-04:00Just A Bite Before I Go
Just A Bite Before I Go - by Ginger Hamilton"You can't feed a person who's on a ventilator. The machine's pressure forces the stomach contents out and up, and the fluid gets into the lungs. It's called aspiration. The patient can die." Jill's cheeks puffed out as she exhaled. It was hard enough being an outsider in this family; it was frustrating to be both a nurse and an outsider trying to Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-31006688744915117012015-09-09T09:31:00.000-04:002015-09-09T09:31:10.080-04:00Confusing the End with the MeansIt used to be that having a tan indicated you spent a decent amount of time doing outdoor activities, such as working outdoors and/or in the garden, going for walks, playing tennis, swimming, etc. The tan was a natural consequence of your activities.
Then it got to the point where people groomed the tan* so they had that look when they actually weren't doing those activities.
It used to be thatGingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-83426056144346421082015-09-07T23:14:00.000-04:002015-09-07T23:14:05.415-04:00Extravaganza
The walls are saturated in creamy light. Sunshine fills the room, exposing the floorboard's uneven shades of ocher. Backlit curtain folds reveal golden tiger stripes poised to leap from their hooks. A stream of light, escaped from the window's veils, reveals a dust particle storm. Locked in a riotous dance on warm air currents, they pirouette upward with the sun's strength.A Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-68440807143122888162015-09-04T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-04T00:01:00.584-04:00Moments of Our Lives
Moments of Our Lives
There are moments that clamor,
like births, deaths, and weddings,
that we always remember.
And ones that slip in
like whispers in the wind --
a baby's first smile,
the taste of melting butter
on a biscuit fresh from the oven,
the exquisite smoothness
of a lover's lips --
that we never forget.
~Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-51193802519726998452015-09-03T00:21:00.000-04:002015-09-03T00:21:41.268-04:00TomBoy
I was a mean little girl. Ornery, and meaner than a snake. I was cute, too. Think Ellie Mae Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies except I was chestnut-haired, not blonde. I loved critters and the outdoors and hated dresses and girly stuff like getting my hair combed or sitting demurely with my ankles crossed and being seen and not heard.
Did my share of beating up fellers, too, although I Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-2290098633960510152015-09-01T00:01:00.000-04:002015-09-01T00:01:00.524-04:00Please Don't Feed the ElkLast week I decided to augment my cat Momma's special dry chow with wet food. The idea was it would improve her quality of life and enjoyment.
Well, she quickly became Miss Entitled Queen Kitty Give Me Some More Right Now Dammit. I was too ill and weak to do anything but scoop some chow into her bowl all weekend and when my helper Lucky #13 returned Monday morning, Momma complained LOUDLY and Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-63541455042998628852015-08-29T00:38:00.000-04:002015-08-29T00:38:58.131-04:00A Bite of MidgesI find language fascinating. Names for groupings of animals is strangely logical. Most people are familiar with certain terms, such as a murder of crows and a congregation of baboons. How about . . . A streak of tigers. A shiver of sharks. A covey of quail. A passle of pigs. A chine of polecats (that's skunk to you non-country folks).
I picture someone sitting on a wrap-around porch one Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-88624247435867511022015-08-27T00:17:00.001-04:002015-08-27T00:17:51.007-04:00Look at Me, Son - I'm Talking to You!Today's post is unique. It is a video plea from law enforcement in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, for information leading to the arrest of a burglar who broke into a local grocery and stole hundreds of dollars.
The officer is determined to capture this criminal, and boy, does he ever threaten -- well, just listen for yourself! ~GH
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-47579792957160513592015-08-24T00:01:00.000-04:002015-08-24T00:01:01.174-04:00Flashback: The MuseFlashback from August 21, 2012:
My Muse was inspired this morning. Here is the result:"Rage, rage against the dying of the night.Do not go gentle into that bright light."
That is all. Don't judge. The Muse is not a morning person. ~GH
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-61713327530452188042015-08-22T00:53:00.000-04:002015-08-22T00:54:17.834-04:00The Little Black Fish by Samad Behrangi
Painting by Farshid Mesqali
The Little Black Fish is a revolutionary tale dressed up as a children's story but in actuality, a political allegory.
Do we continue to live as we've always done? What if one dares to choose another path?
I hope you will enjoy this. It was my first glimpse into Persian literature. ~~GH
The Little Black Fish
By: Samad Behrangi
The Little Black Fish; paintingGingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9756654.post-64679222991266247512015-08-20T01:51:00.000-04:002015-08-20T01:51:07.354-04:00Beauty and Love
Beauty and Love are as body and soul.
Beauty is the mind, LOVE is the diamond.
They have been together since the beginning of time.
Side by side, step by step.
~ Rumi
Gingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07728780415534447590noreply@blogger.com0