Pamela Schloesser Canepa's Blog, page 74
April 15, 2017
M is for Mother. #AtoZChallenge
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Mom in her youth, holding her baby brother.
“Mother,” by Pamela Schloesser Canepa
An icon of strength,
Mother paved the way for me,
Courage led by faith.
(c) 2017, All rights reserved
**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
April 14, 2017
L is for Light. #AtoZChallenge
Photo taken with my Smartphone.[image error]
John 1:5: I think this Scripture is quite appropriate for Good Friday. L is not only for light, it is for Lent. In my faith tradition, Lent is a dark, somber corridor which leads us to the light. The story of Good Friday is one of the hardest for me to relive in my mind, and the hardest to share. It tells of mankind hitting rock bottom. It is an ugly story of an innocent, loving man being betrayed, whipped, beaten, and crucified. Such is the darkness. Yet, the light will come, because this loving man (also part of God, the tricky part to explain) forgives us. What an ultimate example of unconditional love!
Scripture: John 1:5 New International Version
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Whatever faith you practice, may you feel the presence of the light today.
**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
April 12, 2017
K is for Kramer. #AtoZChallenge
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K is a hard one, but since you know about my love for Seinfeld (if you’ve been paying attention, that is)….
K is for Kramer, Cosmo Kramer. Really, it’s all about Seinfeld. I was deeply entrenched in the lives of Seinfeld and his friends during the 90s. Each character supplied something I needed. Elaine showed me I wasn’t such a loser in love. George showed me I wasn’t such a loser in life. Jerry made me laugh and wish I could date him, and Kramer always swept it and made a joke of George’s maladies, a mess of Jerry’s apartment, and competed with Elain for, well, a kid’s bike. He also ticked off his lawyer and got brilliant ideas stolen. And somehow managed to feed himself while having not a single lucrative job. Brilliant, I tell you!
As for the actor, let’s not talk about what happened to his career, or that night he disappointed and angered America with his crass words. What I try to remember is his Seinfeld part, and he delivered it brilliantly. Heck, I still catch Seinfeld re-runs from time to time, even though I know what happens in almost all of them! I could go on and on about other characters, but the letter was K, so you’ll have to wait. 
J is for John Malkovich. #AtoZChallenge
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Photo courtesy of Bing Creative Commons.
Today’s post is just for fun!
J is for John Malkovich. Allow me a brief moment for some fan-girling. He has seen me through the decades. Making Mr. Right, Dangerous Liaisons, Being John Malkovich, and that one series about Blackbeard that could have been better but drew me in because he was in it. His acting fits a wide range of genres. Light sci-fi, sardonic sci-fi, magical realism, Historical fiction, and he is memorable in each one even when he wasn’t the lead character. Do you remember him in “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?” He was just a little scary, but definitely memorable.
He sure can fake an accent. I was convinced for years that he was French. More recently he has brought us his loose cannon character in R.E.D, and he was good at it, radically. My interest in this actor probably gives away my age. And why do we watch the career of such an acting dynamo? Escape from our everyday lives, my friend. The very thing that awaits me the moment I finish this interlude.
**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
April 11, 2017
I is for Information. #AtoZChallenge
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Free verse by Pamela Schloesser Canepa
(c) 2017
Some 20 to 30 years ago
the Internet exploded into
an infinite system of information.
And I couldn’t think of an I word.
April 10, 2017
H is for Hiking. #AtoZChallenge
Mon.[image error] They won’t stop and pose, so here’s a sneak photo, I call it a sneakie!
Everyone is getting along. There is plenty of fresh air and movement, no time or need for talk to fill the space, though I throw some words in now and then. My son replies in one-word answers. He doesn’t talk to me much lately as he has entered adulthood, but the trail does not require much talk anyhow. Our dog is happy as a jumping bean and my son is the one holding his leash. They are capable of the same pace; I lag behind, and that’s okay. They have youth ahead of me.
The hike through a local trail has been an excellent way to spend family time. Especially when my son didn’t have a job and needed to get out of the house. It’s a good thing for my dog any day, he loves to run, sniff, explore, and to do it all with his human companions is just golden to this loyal canine. My son has bever been overly enthusiastic about having this dog, yet they are totally compatible on the path, neck and neck. I must add though, that my son doesn’t wait too long for the dog to sniff and I interject about that at times, but it’s all good.
Now, my son’s employed again and a bit more independent. Not to mention, he gets a lot of exercise while working. He may not need the hikes so we may not be taking as many. I may just have to store this in my bag of tricks for any day in the future when he feels down and needs an excursion. In the meantime, I may be spending more time at the dog park. Bixby loves to run and sniff with other dogs, and we haven’t been in a while.
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**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
April 8, 2017
G is for Gethsemane. #AtoZChallenge
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*Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
From Matthew 26:36-37, ESV: “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘“Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ”
In the Christian faith, we are nearing the end of Lent, which means the story of Gethsemane is near, a telling of the hours leading up to Jesus death as he prayed and prepared himself. It is a dark, somber story, which tells of: the evil that men do, the weakness of someone who is supposed to be a friend, violence, betrayal, suffering, death, all of which happened to Jesus. Sadly, all of these stem from the human condition.
Yet, something else is at the heart of the human condition and this story of Jesus and Gethsemane: the desire of mankind to strive towards spiritual nurturing and enlightenment, to find our way to the light. To believe, when times are darkest, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a benevolent power that will calm us and give us what we need to sustain such dark and painful times.
Jesus’ disciples were hitting rock bottom. Betraying their Lord and leader is certainly at rock bottom, and I just imagine how that felt when he actually died. But the whole Easter story does carry a light of hope, a promise of spiritual gifts, forgiveness, and resurrection. I used to want to avoid the story of Lent. I studied it in depth throughout my whole childhood in Sunday school and parochial school. But the truth is, you have to go through Lent before you get to the joy of Easter. Otherwise, you really don’t know just what it’s all about. It’s sort of like childbirth. The pain is 100% worth it.
We are bottom feeder humans. Many of us would deny our Lord or our faith when it is more convenient. But even we can ask and hope for forgiveness. This is the story of the contrast of dark and light and of rebirth. Many might say it simply represents Spring. But it is the epitome of faith, belief in things not seen, and things that we once believed impossible.
**The AtoZ Challenge theme for my blog is “Who I am.” Yes, it’s wide open. In April, I will blog from A to Z to include little tidbits about me, poems I’ll share, and stories. Each day I will write something based on the next letter in the alphabet. It’s been fun so far, yet it has really given me a chance to pause for reflection as well.
Want to know more about the A-Z blog challenge? Visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
April 7, 2017
F is for Flash fiction. #AtoZChallenge #fffaw
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Photo credit: Yarnspinnerr
“I shall dominate! I am King of the Jungle! Watch me swing fearlessly from branch to branch!”
“Just hurry up, Rory. It should be my turn now!”
“I feel so free up here! Look at it, Joe!”
“I am. Now hurry up, and make sure you don’t land to the left. Looks like a long drop!”
“I’ll bet you didn’t think my arms could hold out this long. You’ll never last as long as me. Did you check your watch? I’m gonna time you when you get up here. I’m gonna-”
**Crack**
“Ahhhhh! Rory! Help!”
**Crash**
“Ah, man, Joe, you didn’t!”
“Help, Rory! Get an ambulance! I think I broke my leg!”
~Pride cometh before the fall.~
Find out about this Flash Fiction challenge at https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/fffaw-challenge-week-of-april-4-2017/ A photo prompt is added every week. Writers follow certain guidelines: Please include the photo prompt with your story and credit it to the photographer. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit. Pingback to the challenge post in your story’s post. Add your link to the InLinks button. See more at the website above!
F is for Flash fiction. #AtoZChallenge
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Photo credit: Yarnspinnerr
“I shall dominate! I am King of the Jungle! Watch me swing fearlessly from branch to branch!”
“Just hurry up, Rory. It should be my turn now!”
“I feel so free up here! Look at it, Joe!”
“I am. Now hurry up, and make sure you don’t land to the left. Looks like a long drop!”
“I’ll bet you didn’t think my arms could hold out this long. You’ll never last as long as me. Did you check your watch? I’m gonna time you when you get up here. I’m gonna-”
**Crack**
“Ahhhhh! Rory! Help!”
**Crash**
“Ah, man, Joe, you didn’t!”
“Help, Rory! Get an ambulance! I think I broke my leg!”
~Pride cometh before the fall.~
Find out about this Flash Fiction challenge at https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/fffaw-challenge-week-of-april-4-2017/ A photo prompt is added every week. Writers follow certain guidelines: Please include the photo prompt with your story and credit it to the photographer. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit. Pingback to the challenge post in your story’s post. Add your link to the InLinks button. See more at the website above!
April 6, 2017
E is for Eighties, as in 1980s! #AtoZChallenge
[image error] Here I am in TN at Hands Across America, 1984 or 1985, with my Olivia Newton- John hairstyle.
