A morning ramble, and a dedication



So, I woke up this ‘morning’ a little before noon-thirty.  I’m rarely up before noon on the weekends.  I don’t even feel guilty about it.  I know a lot of people accomplish a multitude of things by, say, 11:00 a.m., but at 11:00 a.m. I’m still trying to catch up on sleep. (9).  In typical weekend fashion, I was up late last night watching T.V.  I think around 11:00 p.m. I was texting my nephew (11) in a brief conversation about the show I was watching (Unsolved: The Unsolved Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.). 

Armed with a cup of coffee from my Verismo coffee maker (10), I opened up my tablet and eagerly searched out this week’s Blogo topic – an Ocean’s Eleven theme with a “meet & greet”.  The prompts this week are crazy – so many and all over the place.  I felt like a squirrel trying to cross the road, darting here and there and back with those sharp, quick moves that remind me of Daffy Duck in one of my favorite Looney Tunes episodes (“duck, dodge, thrust, parry.” Damn, I miss those old cartoons.  I feel like the programmers now might as well be on Mars, they’re totally missing the mark). (8)

Anyway – the prompts.  Though we can divide them between two consecutive weekly writing assignments, the masochist in me had to try to incorporate them all in one write.  I do love writing challenges.  I’ve been participating in them since my early days at Myspace (4).  (Ah, Myspace *nostalgic sigh*).  A quick aside about me:  I love writing. I love music.  I love flowers (the name Dahlia Ramone comes from both flowers and music and was inspired by the now-defunct band The Blue Dahlia (which also incorporated my favorite color, a happy coincidence) and, of course, the Ramones.  Also, I love my friends. In fact, my FB crew (3) is primarily comprised of the same circle from my Myspace days.  I love the love, comfort and security they bring me.  One friend in particular who has been with me since the beginning and who has been instrumental in introducing me to many of my lifelong friends (as well as a little writing project known as the PRT), is someone I fondly refer to as My Rock – Michael.  He introduced me to Blogophila back when I was in self-imposed exile from MS.  He coaxed me over with these three words “Is it time?”  I will never forget that. And I wrote my very first entry for Blogophilia that week.  As it so happens, that topic was “The Ides of March.” (1)  Funny how things are circular.  And since one of the bonus prompts is to repost a previous write, I am including it here. (6)

I write about love, mostly.  Sometimes I write about the moon, but since I believe the moon to be synonymous with love, I guess I pretty much just write about love.  I saw this quote by Paulo Coelho, (from his book “Eleven Minutes”) (7) and it pretty much sums up why I do:

 “I need to write about love. I need to think and think and write about love - otherwise, my soul won’t survive.”
(Paulo Coelho, ‘Eleven Minutes’)

Of course, you can’t have love without grief.  In Richard II, Shakespeare wrote “grief makes one hour ten.” (5)  Using that formula, perhaps I’ve spent more hours writing about grief (looking through my archives, this is quite plausible).  But since I hate math and I love the moon and I love love and my soul must survive, I will continue writing about love, with the help of Blogophila and its weekly prompts, for many hours and many moons to come.

Now, I’ve written at length (congrats if you’re still with me), and I have one prompt left to incorporate.  I’ll close with a quote from Ocean’s Eleven: “Don’t use seven words when four will do.” (2) This quote resonated with me because it instantly made me recall these four words: “I’m mad about you.”   You know the song.  And today, for the eleventyseventh time, I’m dedicating it to Michael.

Michael, you started me on this journey with three words.  So here is our song, and my three words for you:

Love you madly ~

 

This was written for Blogophilia

Week 1 Topic: “Ocean’s Eleven”

Bonus Prompts (Choose from below)

Prompts:

1.    Incorporate the “Ides of March” in your blog *

2.    Integrate a line from the movie “Ocean’s Eleven” (Rusty, last minute tips to Linus: “Don’t use seven words when four will do.”) *

3.    Name something used in planning a casino heist (a crew) *

4.    Incorporate a song title from the group Eleventyseven (Myspace) *

5.    Use a quote from The Bard’s 11th Play (Grief makes one hour ten,

      from Richard II)*

6.    Repost one of your favorite Blogophilia posts (please provide the link to the old favorite blog) *

7.    Incorporate a line from Paul Coelho’s book “Eleven Minutes” *

8.    Mention Mars and include a Looney Tune *

9.    Name something you do at 11 AM (sleep) *

10. Name something you would give as an 11th anniversary gift *

      (steel, coffee maker)

11. Name something that you might do with a friend at 11 PM (text) *

 

*** 

(Original ‘Ides of March’ poem):

She was a young girl

and he was her world.
He told her often that he loved her
and she believed it to be true.

He bought her flowers and small trinkets

that brought a smile to her lips;
the thought never crossed her mind
that perhaps he was buying her.

She thought their love was perfect

for he said it often enough.
She was more than happy to do his bidding
her friends saw her less and less.

She never seemed to notice,

she was so wrapped up in his web,
until one day a friend convinced her
to look beyond the façade.

The friend said “search within your memory

can you tell me one time
that when he said I love you
he looked you in the eye?”

The seed of doubt was planted

and her perfect world began to crack.
She began to notice other things
that she never saw before.

Deceived and played the fool

she realized now he had been using her.
The flowers have all long died
and the trinkets lost their sheen.

She tasted love but it turned to bile

and eroded her virgin heart
She vowed never again
to fall victim to hollow words. 

If truth is the daughter of time

and lies became all she knows
then she is an iron maiden
with an iron heart that cannot bleed.

© Dahlia Ramone:  March 13, 2008

Blogophilia Week One (2008)

Topic: The Ides of March 

Bonus points (hard, 2 points): Mention a band which recorded a song entitled "The Ides of March" (Iron Maiden)

Bonus points (easy, 1 point): Quote a Roman author (“Truth is the daughter of time” Aulus Gellius)

 

Predetermined Fate

(Reincarnation by Ethenae @ deviantart.com)

 

 

~ Predetermined Fate ~

 

What begins this course -

our life, the paths we choose,

are the choices ours?

Or are they specific to a predetermined future

laid out by the hands of Fate

and we just step into them nicely

because it's what we were born to do?

 

Look around - where do you belong?

We don't know the birthdate of our souls

we live in borrowed bodies

only knowing this time we were born into

but nothing of where we've been before, or when,

or where our souls will travel to after our bodies are gone.

 

You seem familiar, but we haven't met before.

A land I've never seen speaks to me.

A place I've lived forever, does not resonate within me.

My mind does not know why these things are so

but perhaps my soul does.

 

We strive to find purpose in life

but what if, as we seek to find a purpose in this life

it is the next one that is destined to have the greatest impact?

 

Perhaps when our time is up here,

(whether we've lived a long life or a child barely three)

we were just making a pit stop

waiting as the stars align for our next phase 

and we go again - same soul, different body

 

we remember nothing

feeling only the occasional vague sense of déjà vu

 

maybe there's a reason for that.

 

 

(c) Dahlia Ramone:  February 25, 2018

 

  

 

This was written for Blogophilia

"Bye" Week topic (choose your own): Write about reincarnation

 

Bonus Prompts (choose your own):

 

Hard (2 pts):  Use a song lyric by Dream Theater

("Look around, where do you belong" from The Answer Lies Within)
(First line in second stanza)

 

Easy (1 pt):  Mention the word "Fate"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



An Open Letter to Music



Dear Music,

We’ve been though a lot together over the years:  Rebellion, heartache, joy, inspiration, perspiration, stadiums, mosh pits, road trips, quiet nights at home – you name it, you’ve been there.  You’ve been the one constant I could count on my entire life.  This is not a relationship to be taken for granted.  There is no que syrah syrah here.  It simply “must be.”  You - must be.  I need you like I need air.  Life without you would be a mistake.  Besides, without you my vocabulary would likely be about a third or less than it is now *glances down at ‘my brain is 80% song lyrics’ t-shirt*. 

To tell the truth, you are part of me, and I am an extension of you.  There is no “me” in music.  But there is “us.”  There will always be us.

In closing, I think Kelly Clarkson said it best:

"My life would suck without you.”

 Don’t ever leave me.

Sincerely,

Your greatest fan ~

  

This was written for Blogophila

Week 50.10 Topic:  Without Music, Life Would be a Mistake

 Bonus Prompts:

Hard (2 pts):  Mention a TV Game Show (To Tell the Truth)
Easy (1 pt):  Include a type of wine (Syrah)

Truth or Lie - Answers



 Five Truths and a Lie - revealed.  (Posting answers here because FB notes just about pushed me over the edge).

 

1.    I once fainted and woke up in a stranger’s arms. 

TRUE, though it’s not as romantic as it sounds.  I was in fifth or sixth grade. It was the beginning of Fall, and we had recently gone back-to-school clothes shopping.  My mom, sister, brother and I were at church, and I had insisted on wearing my new clothes – so I was wearing new boots, a corduroy skirt and a sweater.  Only problem was, it was not yet Fall weather.  We had been standing a while in the pew during the sermon, and suddenly I had a hot flash and felt like I was going to get sick.  Next thing I know, some guy’s carrying me in his arms and I could see my mom walking right in front of us, looking back to check on me.  Apparently, I had fainted in the pew.  My mom told me later that when it happened, her first thought was “clutz, tripping in your new boots.”  She thought I just lost my balance and fell.  She said it wasn’t until a minute later when a woman in the pew behind us tapped her on the shoulder and said “excuse me, but I think your daughter just fainted” that she was like “oh, shit!” lol!  So the guy was helping by carrying me to the car, and I came to about half way there.  

2.    I was once shot at while trespassing. 

TRUE.  It was a summer or two after I graduated high school.  I was living in the college part of town, and became friends with the three guys who lived directly across the street from me.  One night one of them told me that they were going to go to the old nuclear missile silos just outside of town, and did I want to go?  My answer?  Of course! Why wouldn’t I??  So we went late at night, it was dark (and full of terrors lol!).  Since the top of the chain-link fence had barbed wire, one of the guys cut a hole in the fence that we could crawl through.  We were snooping around for a bit with our flashlights, then suddenly we heard some guy shout “Hey!  What are you guys doing out here?!”  I guess we didn’t think there’d be on-site security.  So we start running back toward the fence when we heard a gunshot.  We were like “omg is he shooting at us!?” In hindsight, I’m sure he was just firing a warning shot in the air, but we didn’t know at the time and it certainly made us run faster.  We got to the fence and one of the guys just barreled over it, cutting his hands a little in the process.  The rest of us were frantically pacing the fence, trying to find the hole we made.  Eventually we found it and made it out of there.  It was definitely an adrenaline rush lol!

Here’s a video of the site that I found online.  I don’t know who these people are, but the beginning of the video shows what the fence looked like. 

 

3.    I once made my sister drive across town to kill a spider for me. 

TRUE.  (Does no one remember the hairspray story?)  Unfortunately, that blog was lost when Myspace imploded :/  But it went something like this: 

It was sometime between 2006 and 2008.  I had a small front porch, there was a post at the edge, and then some shrubbery (which looked nice and wasn’t too expensive).  I pulled up on the street in front of my house, and the first thing I noticed was that there was a HUGE spider between the post and the bushes.  Seriously, I could see that sucker from the street.  So, as I’m wont to do when spiders are involved, I panicked when I realized I had to get in its general proximity to get into my house.  I ran and as quickly as I could, unlocked the front door and made it safely inside.  Then, I called my sister on the phone and told her that there was a ginormous spider on my front porch and I was basically trapped in my house and she had to come over and kill it.  I could hear her rolling her eyes at me.  Nevertheless, she dutifully drove right over.  When she got there I met her outside and she agreed that it was indeed a huge spider and asked if I had anything to spray it with so she could knock it down and kill it.  I thought for a second, ran into the house, grabbed a can, ran back outside and handed it to her.  She looks at it and says “hair spray??”  I said “yes, spray the shit out of the spider and he’ll get sticky and won’t be able to move, then you can knock it down.”  She shrugs and starts spraying the spider.  But it starts trying to run to get away and she says “it’s not working!  What else do you have?” Quickly I ran into the garage to look.  “Will spray ‘n wash work?” I yell.  “Only if it’s the foam” she yells back.  So I grabbed the can and ran it back to her and she sprayed the hell out of the spider until it finally fell down and she was able to smash it. 

4.    I was once snuck onto a submarine. 

TRUE.  It was back in the mid-80s when I was living in L.A.  I went down to San Diego with a friend (and for the life of me, I can’t remember who I was with – Colleen, was it you??)  I don’t recall if we were at the naval base or if there were just submarines at the harbor for an event (my memory kind of sucks), but I do remember walking around and chatting with one of the sailors, who then asked us if we wanted to take a look inside.  Again, why wouldn’t we?  I remember going down the ladder to one of the levels (is that what they’re called?) and thinking there really wasn’t a lot of room in there.  We didn’t get very far when someone noticed us and said “Hey, what are THEY doing in here?” (That seems to have been a common query in my youth).  Anyway, the jig was up.  We quickly scooted on out and that was the end of the tour. 

5.    I finally went to the movies by myself. 

LIE.  While I have no problem going to concerts by myself (and have done so on a few occasions), I still have a weird hang-up about going to the movies by myself.  I really should get over that. 

6.    I once rode handcuffed in the back of a police car. 

TRUE.  So, mid-80s again, living in L.A.  I was driving to a job interview. The company I worked for was a temporary job at a construction site.  The job was about completed so I was trying to find another one.  On the way, I got pulled over for a car-related issue, I think either the muffler was a little low or a brake light was out.  Anyway, after I gave the cop my license and registration, he comes back to my window and says there was a warrant out for my arrest.  And I thought to myself “oh, shit!  It got that far??”  The exact reason for the warrant escapes me – it was either for unpaid tickets related to my dog’s license, or it was for the illegal registration stickers on my license plate.  Could have been either one.  But he told me he had to take me in, so I got out of my car, he cuffed my hands behind my back and put me in the back seat of the cop car and drove to the station.  I remember sitting in the back seat of the car thinking “well, f*ck.”  At the station they uncuffed me and put me in the holding cell.  There was a wooden bench to sit on, but I refused to sit down because I thought it was filthy and I was wearing a white skirt.  So I just kept pacing and at one point another cop came in, glanced at me and then I heard him ask the cop at the desk “what’s she in here for?”  I’m sure I did look totally out of place in there.  Anyway, I finally got to make my phone call, and I called my friend at work.  She ended up pulling the boss from a meeting to tell him what happened, and he came and bailed me out.  That was a little embarrassing.  I ended up having to pay a fine, and pay back my boss, but I never had to actually serve time.  So, there’s that 😊

 

 

The Pursuit of Happiness



 

This was written for Blogophilia

Week 6.10 Topic: “Wish Upon a Star”

Bonus Points:

Hard (2 pts): Quote George Sand **

Easy (1 pt): Use three vegan foods in your blog (I did not)

 

 

So I was originally thinking of poeming this topic, but when I looked up George Sand quotes, this is the first one that I saw:

"There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved." **

And I disagreed with her.   

Maybe it’s the way she said it, but the part of me that doesn’t like to be told what to do, took issue with her telling me the only way to achieve the only happiness in life; perhaps suggesting that if I hadn’t met that exact criteria, then I haven’t experienced the only happiness possible in life.  Initially I assumed she was talking about romantic love.  In that sense, I’ve loved over the years, but I haven’t been loved back in a very long time.  And just because the second part of her equation isn’t there, that doesn’t mean I haven’t had real happiness, or that the only one happiness we can achieve is hinged upon not only loving but being loved in return. 

But then I thought of the other, non-romantic type of love – love of friends, family, humanity.  When I wish upon a star, do I wish for that special someone to come into my life, for another chance at romantic love and, apparently, my only shot at the only one happiness possible?  *shrugs*  Not really, not anymore.  Because that doesn’t define me or limit my ability to truly be happy.  Instead, I look to the stars and wish that my family and friends stay safe, and happy and healthy.  (Of course, sometimes I go a little sideways and wish for a bajillion dollars so my friends and I can travel the world, but that’s another story – lol!)  But I do love to love, and loving makes me happy.

To love and be loved - how important is that “and”?  That’s what has me the most hung up on this quote.  Is it the vital component to the only one happiness in life? The only one happiness??  I tried to think what it would be like if I didn’t have family and friends who loved me.  Would it negate my capacity to love?  Could we still love strangers, the earth, the moon and stars, the forest or the ocean or the animals?  Would we still love music, and traveling, exploring, creating?  And if we could, then is that enough to achieve happiness?  If so, then there is more than one happiness in life, and more than one way to achieve happiness, and the quote is wrong.

"There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved."

I read that quote to my nineteen-year-old daughter a few minutes ago, and asked her if she agreed with it.  She said she didn’t either, then she referred me to this quote, from the Anime series Code Geass:

“A long time ago, Nunally, Suzaku, and I talked about something. We wondered what happiness would look like if we could give it a physical form. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was Suzaku that said that the shape of happiness might resemble glass. His reasoning made sense. He said that even though you don't usually notice it, it's still definitely there. You merely have to change your point of view slightly, and then that glass will sparkle when it reflects the light. I doubt that anything else could argue its own existence more eloquently.” ― Lelouch Vi Britannia

We all have our own happiness inside us, and our own point of view in how to achieve that.  There is no singular end-all, be-all answer. 

© Dahlia Ramone:  April 2, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Put Your Kilt On (a collab)

~ Put Your Kilt On ~

*Conversation with Christine*

(Live collaboration with Christine Wichman)

 

***

Christine and Dahlia are sitting in a pub having a pint when...

Christine: (Ping) (Looks down at text on phone) Put Your Kilt On, My Hopper app just found us a roundtrip flight to Edinburgh for 500 dollars!!

Dahlia: There is so little money in my back account my scenic checks show a ghetto!

Christine: Lose the melancholy, ‘cause at this price I will pay for both of us!! Happy Birthday!

Dahlia: Woo Hoo! We are gonna have some hot fun in the Summer time! (Clinks Beer Glass to Christine’s pint)

Christine: Summer in the city means we can finally go to the Fringe Festival together. You are going to love it! I have not been to the Fringe since the Summer of ‘69! Ha ha!

Dahlia: I have heard there are lots of Buskers, live music, and dancing in the streets!

Christine: Baby, it’s cold outside in Edinburgh, even in the summertime, all my dancing will be inside. Besides, I love the original plays and spoken word poetry. I might sneak in a museum or two.

Dahlia: I heard that on the Royal Mile they have Sidewalk Poetry and you like that!

Christine: Oh yeah, and last time I enjoyed a hot guy’s love letter in a Sidewalk song. Almost made me want to move to Edinburgh! So sure I will go chasing pavements with you!

Dahlia: Oh my God I melt with you just imagining a guy in a kilt singing to me!

Christine: Hey, this used to be my playground. I love the Fraser kilts the best, I wonder which tartan material that is?

Dahlia: Uhh hellooo? “Boyfriend Material”.

Christine: Oh yeah and pack a raincoat, sometimes it rains a lot in August.

Dahlia: Then how can we read chalk marks in a rainstorm?

Christine: Sometimes the chalk outline is just as pretty!

Dahlia: Well I am not gonna just walk around in the rain to look at tar and cement!

Christine: Note to self. Take Dahlia to the Playground Love Reading, if it rains!

Dahlia: What is the Playground Love Reading?

Christine: This year I heard they will be using the playground for Love Poetry readings. Maybe you can even read some of your own? There is still time to sign up.

Dahlia: But then, where do the children play?

Christine: I am sure they will be back in school by then. Only the adults will still have that Summer feeling!

Dahlia: Hopefully I can conquer my writer’s block by then!

Christine: Well you will have plenty of time on the plane to come up with something!

(Dahlia and Christine clink glasses again)

Dahlia: Bring on the Kilts!!

Christine: Yayyyy for Scotland!!

***

 

This was written for Blogophilia

Week 48.9 Topic: “Put Your Kilt On”

**BONUSES:

Hard (2 pts): Quote Phyllis Diller *

Easy (1 pt): Include the word ‘melancholy’

*  There is so little money in my bank account, my scenic checks show a ghetto!

 

 

We also used the following song quotes:

 

1.    Hot fun in the summertime

2.    Summer in the City

3.    Summer of ‘69

4.    Dancing in the Streets

5.    Baby, it’s Cold Outside

6.    Sidewalk Poetry

7.    Love Letter

8.    Sidewalk Song

9.    Chasing Pavements

10.   I Melt With You

11. This Used to be my Playground

12. Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm

13. Chalk Outline

14. Tar and Cement

15.  Note to Self

16. Playground Love

17. Where Do the Children Play?

18. The Summer Feeling

19. Writer’s Block

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Starting Over

A very good friend who I’ve known for about ten years recently sent me a beautiful bracelet that says “she believed she could, so she did.”  I wear it every day.  She sent it for a particular reason, though the sentiment encompasses me overall and isn’t limited to any one situation.  She knows me well.  I've always bristled whenever anyone would say I couldn’t do something and, when pushed, I’ve always proven them wrong. 

I’ve been in the same place for over twenty-five years now and while I’ve always told myself it’s not for forever, I didn’t always believe I could leave again.  Now it’s coming on time for me to prove myself wrong as well. The hometown is a great place for raising kids, but it was never “me.”  I’ve always been restless here, and over the past two years the yearning to reset and start over has gotten stronger.  I blogged about this once last year, as I was approaching my fiftieth birthday.  Since then, my son has moved out of the house and my daughter just graduated high school, though it will be a little while still before she moves out and is self-supporting.  Their lives are just beginning – they are forging their own paths. 

As for myself?  Who’s to say I can’t start a new life in my fifties?  Yeah, age is measured in years, but the best years aren’t necessarily behind me.  Or any of us, really. I don’t think our age is reflected by the amount of life we’ve lived, but rather by the amount of life we still feel inside.  And inside, I’m driven by the need to grab onto a lightning bolt and live my life in a way that makes me excited again.  It’s never too late, and I have the bracelet to prove it.  I believe I can, and I will. 

I’ve been playing it safe for too long.  Taking chances and putting change in motion is the only way to save myself from regret.  I don’t want to play back my life and have to ask myself “why didn’t I…?”

Take chances.  Do what makes you feel alive.  Even if you just grab a small lightning bolt, it’s still going to be a hell of a ride J

© Dahlia Ramone: June 5, 2016

 

 

This was written for Blogophilia Week 16.9 Topic:

Resetting or Starting Over?

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2 pts) Include a Raymond Chandler Novel

(Playback, second to last paragraph)

(Easy, 1 pt) Incorporate someone being saved