broken collarbone

The stairs disappeared,
could I stand?
Not as bad as feared,
but work was canned.







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Danks Sports Ball

An annual event where elegance rules:
a wonderful treat removed from school.




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keen to go, dreading the flight

HONG KONG - Tian Tan Buddha or Giant Buddha at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island in Hong Kong

MACAU - Golden Lotus at Golden Sands Casino

SINGAPORE - Raffles Hotel


The Long Haul


A queue of saggy-jointed puppets slides
in caterpillar catch-ups. Jerked to stand
by red tape strings, each drags a bag, subsides
and meekly waits for wings to flee the land.

The metal gizzard fills. The mustered, hushed
and clutching at credentials, straighten spines
and readjust attire that won't be crushed.
One flustered aura hovers, then reclines.

Suspended emigration, dozing frozen,
packed like export apples; freight, third class.
Their hands are tied as self-restraint is chosen,
limbo-leashed until sweet androids pass
with trays of welcome rations. They distract
the minds that were so eager to be packed.




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Exercise

My preference is for exercising
mind and not my muscles
but getting out to move about
can clear out brain-bound tussles.

I've walked a lot just lately
and although arthritis stalks me,
the feel-good factor is addictive -
I will be less porky.

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Jack and the Beanstalk

The 5 to 8 year olds, years one
to four: our junior school,
will soon begin rehearsals for
a stage performance. Cool
and cute, sweet or brat,
we need to choose the cast.
Then dancers: teams of stars
and clouds. Online, I've spent the last
few nights in search of backing tracks.
As well as pix of folks-
of villagers and peasants too,
Jacks and giants, harps and cloaks,
tights and aprons, jerkins, caps...
since sewing costumes grudgingly
is shared between 2 teachers.
One of whom is me.

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gifted and talented

Our group of local schools will soon
complete our IT contract,
so now we're planning what might work
to build on skills, in fact
we had a meeting of the leaders,
talked about a plan
for setting up a base and satellites
of teaching spaces... can
we apply for funding to equip a place
for talented we'll stretch?
A base with tech equipment, visually superb?
A place imaginations sketch.


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Winter Voki

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broadband

At last! I bit the bullet,
spent the time and money too.
A parcel came: a metal box
called "adsl & router". Phew!
Last night I got my work laptop
going on broadband
Tonight, eventually, my old
laptop connected and
later or tomorrow I'll
do the old pc downstairs.
So now I'm off to Second Life
Hip hooray. 3 cheers.


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voki

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Second Life

I used to spend my leisure hours
here online. Attraction:
ICQ and yahoo too,
msn... the action
with instant messages and webcams
kept me keen those days.
Then that wore off and message boards
took over: my next phase.
Since then I've dabbled with facebook,
feeling old and bored
but second life just might be right
if dial up were more broad (band).





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Visiting my kids

We flew down south and saw our son
and saw his flat and feed him lots.
We saw Da Vinchy models and
we walked and toured tourist spots.
Cadbury's is famous for its
chocolate, factory was great.
We bought our son some underwear
and took his girlfriend on a date.

We flew back north and drove to see
our daughter and her man, we went
to check the business franchise she
has bought. Then viewed the house they'll rent.
They're packing now and plan to move
this weekend. She is so excited.
I hope her business venture works
to make her rich and so, delighted.

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Easter on the Marlborough Sounds (rondelet form)

Lazy rivers
spill in bays of saline silk, slow,
lazy. Rivers
tangling bush-greyed hills in slivers
of sea, use mermaid combs. They flow
on drowning paths laid out below.
Lazy rivers.


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Contact lenses

The plastic 'glass' is oblong
and the frames form bridge and arm:
my new specs cost a fortune
but there's more to this alarm...
As well as buying updates
I'm spending even more
and now I'm trying contacts
(never saw past cost before).

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The Change - a sonnet

Menopause

Invisible and hormone stoked, my sauna
sears with fifty minute interims
as steaming waves of tidal trauma
drown moon-cycle youth by sluicing limbs .

Instead of days spent draining wasted nests
of unproductive eggs each month, I mark
the hours in mammalian sweating crests.
I'm caged and leashed within a wildlife park.

I picnic anyway, there are more choices
when the years leave nothing much to prove.
There's fascination locked in long-lived voices,
value found in spending time. I move
with less allure, I hide as I endure,
determined to be gracefully mature.


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the meaning of life

Sorting socks is soothing.
So many monotone.
So many paired with partners now
but others left alone.

Life is like a drawer of socks.
Some tightly wrap around.
Some separate. Some lose touch.
Socks and people: so profound.



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ICT & PE

Our cluster group for ICT has planned another conference.
We did so well last year that a repeat was commonsense.
I've thought of several topics for presenters to present on
and started finding movies for some models (deconstruction
of movies showing sporting skills helps students want to learn them.)
And Youtube is a source of many such a sport gem.
Listing any skills that they can see while they're reviewing
creates success criteria we use for self reflecting.
Then photos or short videos on classroom cameras show what
the students have achieved in lessons - Tick their list or not?




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next challenge: flash

Now facebook has been sorted and I've added applications,
posted youtube movie links and photos of vacations,
I'm ready for another challenge: now I'll learn to Flash.
(I've tried it with a shareware app but only made a hash
of all the layers.) But collegues want to try it now - we'll work together solving
all those complicated bits that had my brain reverse-evolving.


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facebook

I've seen the way the kids all go
for online profiles on bebo
and heard about the adult look
of something like it called 'facebook'.
So I decided it was time
to sign up at this facebook. I'm
a member but I cannot see
anything but 'edit' me.
I want to make a page to view
but after checking tabs all through
I've left the site. Another time...
I'd rather watch some TV crime.

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Spent 2 weeks in Dunedin

My boy is 21 years old but nearly didn’t make it.
A broken nose meant abscess growth and septicaemia.
His arm swelled up but he was loath to leave his freezing flat
until his nose appointment so he also got pneumonia.
He staggered in and scared a nurse so much that she soon put him

in Intensive Care! Sick boy. That’s one place no one seeks.
He didn’t know how close he’d been to death – just one day off –
He didn’t know how long he’d be recovering – two weeks –
They operated, drained the dangerous abscessed nose and then,
they operated one more time to drain his elbow too.
Then operated yet again to drain his lungs and left
a dangling tube stuck in his back that poured infection through.
It snowed outside but he was stuck in bed. He slept a lot.
He moved four times to different wards and suffered pills and pokes,
He lived for dressing changes, food and visitors who came
in droves... so many girls who cared and even more good blokes.


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Yes

Watched a movie: "Yes" - in verse
by Sally Potter. Like a dream,
a fantasy, lost love and worse
submerged a 9/11 theme.

Visual tricks matched verbal feasts.
Stereotypes of lonely lives,
of dirty secrets, human beasts,
arab men and aging wives.

Contrasts: sterile empty mansions,
delapidated eastern streets;
busy kitchens, arguments,
hospital and catholic priests.

A cleaner understands this life,
moving dirt around. She'll guess
that zero dirt cannot exist.
Nothing? No, there's only Yes.


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Adventure racing

I've never been a sporty girl, I never hope to be one
but yesterday I went to watch adventure sporting be done.
I went to act as driver and 'support crew' was my role there,
delivering the mountain bikes and changes in their gear.

They didn't even know how many different sports there'd be
until the briefing on the night before (while I had tea.)
They had to run and hike and ride and go spell-dunking too.
They had to kayak on a lake and with a compass, follow clues.

I drove along clay country roads, slip-sliding down and scaring
myself a lot but found the places set aside for daring
parking... Hiking over paddocks... Getting shoes all wet.
My team survived and finished well. It's me who's overset.


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Teaching How to Think

REFLECTION ON 2007 L@S CONFERENCE:

I've heard a lot of theory spouted:
e-games held in high esteem,
problem solving skills undoubted.

It seems they lead to brave risk taking,
virtual, true, but consequential.
And lots of quick decision making...

All this visual strategising
teaches skills for future lives.
(That's the gamers' theorising.)

I believed, but second thoughts,
about commercial dumbing down
of movies, games and news reports...

have made me wonder at the value
of these numbing fantasies.
Is 'thinking' what they'd aim to sell you?

News is censored for appeal;
movies aim at teenage minds.
Computer games are just as real.

Do online feats co-operating,
co-ordinating ally moves,
teach body-language-cue translating?

Are e-rewards for perseverance
and using cheats to rise a level,
encouraging respect, forbearance?

Are the skills that gamers learn
essential for our future years?
Is life a game? Is it youth's turn?


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ICT Contract -the challenge-

A teacher who's truthful, confesses
that the secret to half her success is
not her planning as such,
nor evaluation so much
as experience - outwitting guesses.

An old teacher in term one confesses
she has wondered a lot what success is.
Is it constant revising
and more improvising?
Can change ever minimise stresses?

An old teacher of research confesses
that the secret to any success is,
to make reading a crime
that wastes valuable time
and display, as correct, all their guesses.

An old teacher who likes to inspire
all around to go forth and desire
to be learning each day
in a challenging way,
could be building her own funeral pyre.


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The surface shimmers with reflections waiting for
my toes to merge with their own imagery,
then ripples wrap my aching arch before
I step into the womb of luxury.

A hedonistic lowering of limbs
is slowly escalated into bliss -
as water rises, reaching bathtub rims,
immersion aids seduction with its kiss.

My worry stains wash off and then dissolve
while warmth massages flushing, heated skin.
A careworn creature leaves as I evolve
into myself again, renewed within.

Such private pleasure is a joy sublime,
erotic moments soaking up the time.

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'Twas The Night Before Christmas - Computer Version (I don't know the author)

'Twas The Night Before Christmas - Computer Version

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop,
The computers were whirring; they never do stop.
The power was on and the temperature right,
In hopes that the input would feed back that night.
The system was ready, the program was coded,
And memory drums had been carefully loaded;
While adding a Christmasy glow to the scene,
The lights on the console, flashed red, white and green.
When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
The programmer ran to see what was the matter.
Away to the hallway he flew like a flash,
Forgetting his key in his curious dash.
He stood in the hallway and looked all about,
When the door slammed behind him, and he was locked out.
Then, in the computer room what should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer;
And a little old man, who with scarcely a pause,
Chuckled: "My name is Santa...the last name is Claus."
The computer was startled, confused by the name,
Then it buzzed as it heard the old fellow exclaim:
"This is Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
And Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen."
With all these odd names, it was puzzled anew;
It hummed and it clanked, and a main circuit blew.
It searched in its memory core, trying to "think";
Then the multi-line printer went out on the blink.
Unable to do its electronic job,
It said in a voice that was almost a sob:
"Your eyes - how they twinkle - your dimples so merry,
Your cheeks so like roses, your nose like a cherry,
Your smile - all these things, I've been programmed to know,
And at data-recall, I am more than so-so;
But your name and your address (computers can't lie),
Are things that I just cannot identify.
You've a jolly old face and a little round belly,
That shakes when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly;
My scanners can see you, but still I insist,
Since you're not in my program, you cannot exist!"
Old Santa just chuckled a merry "ho, ho",
And sat down to type out a quick word or so.
The keyboard clack-clattered, its sound sharp and clean,
As Santa fed this "data" into the machine:
"Kids everywhere know me; I come every year;
The presents I bring add to everyone's cheer;
But you won't get anything - that's plain to see;
Too bad your programmers forgot about me."
Then he faced the machine and said with a shrug,
"Merry Christmas to All," as he pulled out its plug,
"And to all, a good night!"



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HAVE A MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS (by Chet Raymo)

HAVE A MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS
(by Chet Raymo)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except father's mouse.
The computer was humming, the icons were hopping,
As father did last-minute Internet shopping.
The stockings were hung next the modem with care
In the hope that Santa would bring new software.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With visions of computer games filling their heads.
Dark Forces for Billy, Doom II is for Dan,
Carmen Sandiego for Pamela Ann.
The letters to Santa had been sent out by mom,
To santa@toyshop.northpole.com -
Which now had been re-routed to Washington State
Where Santa's workshop had been moved by Bill Gates.

All the elves and the reindeer had had to skedaddle
To flashy new quarters in suburban Seattle.
After living a life that was simple and spare,
Santa now finds that he's a new billionaire,
With a shiny red Porsche in place of his sleigh,
And a house on Lake Washington just down the way
From where Bill has his mansion, and the old fellow preens
In black Gucci boots and red Calvin Klein jeans.
The elves have stock options and desks with a view,
Where they write computer code for Johnny and Sue.
No more dolls or tin soldiers or little toy drums
Will be under the tree, only compact disk roms
With the Microsoft label. So spin up your drive,
From now on Christmas runs only on Win95.

More rapid than eagles the competitors came,
And Bill whistled, and shouted, and called them by name.
"Now, ADOBE! now, CLARIS! now, INTUIT! too,
Now, APPLE! and NETSCAPE! you're all of you through,
It's Microsoft's SANTA that the kids can't resist,
It's the ultimate software with a traditional twist -
Recommended by no less than the jolly old elf,
And on the package, a picture of Santa himself.
Get 'em young, keep 'em long, is Microsoft's theme,
And a merger with Santa is a marketer's dream.
To the top of the NASDAQ! To the top of the Dow!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away - wow!"

And mum in her 'kerchief and me in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
The whir and the hum of our satellite platter,
As it turned toward that new Christmas star in the sky,
The SANTALITE owned by the Microsoft guy.
As I sprang from my bed and was turning around,
My computer turned on with a Jingle-Bells sound.
And there on the screen was a smiling Bill Gates
Next to jolly old Santa, two arm-in-arm mates.
And I heard them exclaim in voices so bright,
HAVE A MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS, and TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

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Saint Nichola

Santa is a woman who is dressed up and disguised,
I wonder why no one before has ever realised.
It's obvious if you consider all the preparation
That goes on every Christmas eve in almost every nation.

A woman deals with details, understands a child's list;
A woman won't forget the date, no presents will be missed.
Prove Santa Claus is really not a Nicholas at all?
What man that shape would dress in red when going to the mall?

Saint Nichola replies to all who send her Christmas mail
And that's a skill that's womanly, at which most men would fail;
And look at Santa's workshop where those male elves hang out-
Not many men would want his reputation: gay and stout!

Another circumstance that points to Santa being 'she':
Those reindeer have retained their racks for all the world to see-
A man would surely, long ago, have shot each trophy deer,
A woman's capable of planning for the coming year!

And even if a male Santa had a flying sleigh,
He'd soon be lost, pretending that, of course, he'd find his way,
He'd blame it on his compass making Southern Pole corrections...
If Santa were a male, he would never ask directions!

And as for stockings! Surely now, confusion must be gone,
A man would never notice one unless it was still on.
An empty shapeless knitted sock would hang loose and unfilled
Unless he was a business man but then we'd all be billed.

Devotion through a stormy patch is one more quality
That's seen when looking at time honoured Santa history.
Commitment is too much to ask for many men it seems
So Santa must be feminine, or else it's all pipe dreams!


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Santa's Workshop

The elves are rushing to and fro
And in and out across the snow
In mass production? No, no, no!
Here, toys are made from go to whoa
There's just one elf per toy and so...
Poor Santa's workshop is too slow

For 'though they rush about a lot
And elves are always on the trot
The elves take ages with each toy
And Santa needs a speed-up ploy
For time a-plenty he has not
A long 'good children' list he's got

Now, elf toy-making is an art
To change his ways might break his heart
So Santa watches every part
And Santa wonders where to start
In up-ing his production chart
For current methods are not smart

It's mass production that's the key
But how to help those elves to see?
So Santa said to one he'd watched
"Please show me parts that you have botched"
Of course the elf would not agree
No imperfection could there be

But Santa's hopes would not be slayed
"Show me the BEST part you have made!"
Then Santa called all elves he paid
"Please, stop your work!" Down tools they laid
Then gathered 'round him, elves so staid
"You'll tell me of your skills?" he prayed

The elf toy-makers all spoke out
Each elf preferred one part about
The process more than all the rest
Each elf declared one step the best
"Assembly lines will work, no doubt!"
Said Santa with a joyful shout.

But Santa failed to modernise
His elves all worked with bored, blank eyes
To make one part was so unwise
Now favourite skills each elf denies
The factory lie-up met demise...
"Back to basics!" Santa sighs

I hope this lesson none ignores
Give robots all the work that bores
For elves and people need more scope
Invention, challenge, vision, hope!
But unlike elves' imagined chores
We're the rebels without a Claus...


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Haven't used my webcam in years, or msn

The days of webcam conversations
seem so 'way back then'.
I've used one with net meeting and
Yahoo and msn.
But all this year in education
there's been lots of hype
about the programme used with phones,
the free one that's called Skype.
I have avoided getting it and
thought so what? But now
I'll need to use it with a class
and download, practise how...

The end of another long day, just watched Stargate Atlantis, now checking email.

Just look at me, I'm drooping here
this hot December night.
The day was sweaty, rooms too close
and now I feel a fright.
The air con in my PC suite
cannot defeat the heat,
it seems to squirt out hotter air
so coming home's a treat.
I do not have an air con here
or even use the fans
but lots of trees surround the house:
Reverse 'piration-trans'.

Got a Library fine for $14

Reading too much as usual. Great escape.



















The library is where I go to find the books I need;
escapism is how I cope, my form of gobbling greed.

Acid tongue..and throat and oesophagus

A stomach lining is important when
you want to eat and run. 'Though reflux burps
are pitiful and do debilitate
with sickly churns, it's dignity that hurts.


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Cairns rainforest.













The challenge of the chase through a life where jungle chokes,
paints a purpose in rich hues like amusing masterstrokes.
In the heedless rush for prizes, whether matter, or of mind,
sacrifices are ignored and supporters left behind.

When we follow in pursuit, honing hunting crafts, we thrill
to a tutor's guidance, leading, in degrees, towards a skill.
When the hours are compressed into moments while we strive
with intensity, we know rainbow chasing is alive.

For the challenge of the chase may be lust to consummate
but insatiable desire can't deny more targets wait.

Technology

Last night a friend rang, bored;
her sons had all gone out.
We went and saw as Kiwis scored
in rugby league... it was a rout.
But I loathe sport and drank my wine
too fast. The giant plasma scene
was clicked to 'Jaws'... (just as 'fine')...
and so we talked of TV screens,
of USB, watched photo shows!
The TV switched to our last trip
to Cairns, Australia. Then I chose
a few to keep. A memory chip
(or flash drive/ memory stick)
was in my purse, to their surprise.
I get a kick
to seem prepared and techno-wise.



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holidazed

It's been a week of holidays,
sitting 'round and being lazy,
feeling down 'though that is crazy.

Checking out wall-mounted screens
of LCD. A TV seems
a way of focusing my dreams.

Planning kitchen alterations
(still four years before creation)
but I am feeling 'change' starvation.

Eating fat free foods all day
Lying-in, then rowing. Grey
hair touch ups. Library books. Dog play.

Leather furniture calls to me
and everywhere I go I see
another purchase that won't be.

Is it Spring that muddles minds
while sitting soaking hot sunshine?
Indecisive, sipping wine.

I just can't sit still long enough
to be unwound. Easy life is tough
when having no demands is rough.



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Here we are at the Sports Ball 

My resolution for next year's ball: wear anything but black.  

Ball photos

The ball, which is an annual thing
and where we drink and have a fling,
went quickly so 5 hours seemed
like one and any dancing dreamed...
so now I'm spending equal time
searching photo thumbs online
wasting lovely warmth and sun
looking for that whole group one...
Though it was such a drunken night
my search can't end in pix delight.
But on I click through glamour gowns
and monkey suits and posing clowns
and these are just the formal shots,
another thousand wait of sots
all dancing, twirling, clinging: candid
pix of flab, of lower standard...
I might see sights of my disgrace
My memory hasn't any trace...

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Photo storage online

I spent some time last weekend, joining online photo places:
like photobucket and yahoo, so we can share our faces.
I set up user names and sent up sample pix
and made up lists of what to do then emailed all the chicks
and guys who have a camera. They all have photos too
and in the past I had to ask for copies then I'd do
the webpage making and upload those pix and pages for them.
Now they're expected to upload their own to share and store them.


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Cairns

We've been to Cairns and now returned
to winter rain and cold.
In Cairns the freeze had been adjorned
but drizzling rain was bold.
I thawed. I shopped. We drove a lot
we saw the cyclone damage...
the roofs and palm trees had been lopped.
I wondered how they manage.
We took a cat out to the reef,
Great Barrier Reef - Green Island.
And there we climbed into, beneath
a boat, to 'sub' and see sand.
The jelly fish were stingers so
we chose to not go snorkling,
instead we rode another boat
the kiwi host was chortling
about a whale they'd seen the day
before we went: a white one.
We'd seen a dark one on the way,
though humpback, not the right one.


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Holidaze

It's been a week of sleeping in til noon;
reading books with magic in and googling
on gems and crystals. Buying moon-
stone in a point, jade and jasper, lapis earrings...

I've packed in preparation for a flight:
we're off to Cairns and sunshine; sanity.
I've googled things to do. We might
be tempted. And I've faked a tan in vanity.

It's been a week of waiting, holding on
to nothing-ness and knowing life's no song.


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Mental Murmurs

The image I am conscious of maintaining
is crystal gazer, past the cluttered now
to vistas worth some sacrifice attaining,
impelling action short-sight won’t allow.

I tell myself to smile, find an angle
where challenges are welcomed for the growth
they will engender. Spider-like I dangle,
spinning; watching others try; or both.

The image I regret that I’m projecting
is side-lined, warning fliers of some traps.
the webs I weave must teach while they’re protecting
my charges and myself. (Too much perhaps.)

I tell myself to look for what is working
- despite the problems I would like to solve –
and use it to avoid the pitfalls lurking
in paragon critiques. Skills will evolve.

The image I hope others will remember
is inner motivation that inspires.
That urge to find a way: creation’s ember.
Unique but also stoking other’s fires.


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Green screen

When others take the long-laid bait
and plan to make short films, it's great.
When I am asked to instigate
the green screen setup I can't wait
to try out software, get a take
on how it works and then update.
I love the way I make my fate.
I love the way need fills my plate.


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Rolling Stones

Rolling Stones in Auckland - Easter Sunday


Yes, they rock. The crowd was 60 thousand
someone said. The screen was huge, and so I saw
his lips, his string-bean belly making history.
A concert - rock- I've never been to one before...
thought I only knew one song. But I was satisfied
and sang along with plenty more.
He cavorted, tiny action doll in shiny shirts
below the screen. The lighting show was jaw-
dropping, matching him in energy.
I used to fear self-induced hysteria. Bore
that I am. Judging from my cloud
with rabbit-minded logic. It made me pleasure poor.

A Good Book (Villanelle)

I'm lost and found in her; we've merged in mind.
Our memories combined as she confessed
between the lines, where time is redefined.

Her thoughts are mine and our emotions bind
us closer than true soul mates. I'm possessed.
I'm lost and found in her; we've merged in mind.

Her essence flows through me and I'm aligned
to heartbeats pulsing hope within her breast,
between the lines, where time is redefined.

I weep her joy, experience in kind
the pleasures she discovers; I'm her guest.
I'm lost and found in her; we've merged in mind.

I sob her pain and agonise, resigned
to facing fate as life somehow digressed
between the lines, where time is redefined.

As pages turn, more cameos unwind
but I can only guess at all the rest.
I'm lost and found in her; we've merged in mind
between the lines, where time is redefined.


Diz

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The Art of Conversation (sonnet)

The art of conversation withers when
the workplace fills with challenge. Theories aired
are well researched: Ten roosters crow, a hen
just quickly pecks the eyes from ideas shared.

Do leisure ladies practise repartee?
Are fitness walks and coffee mornings rich
with wit-inciting lingual artistry?
Or is their surface chatter nouveau kitsch?

Do web-based messageboards and email lists
provide a salon conversation pit?
Discussions written lack the nods and fists
or pearling eyes that glimpse an idea's grit.

Who'll learn the fencing skills to parry friction
performing in arenas of conviction?


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Easter

Good Friday was good. The house is cleaned,
my bag is packed and the chocolate fiend
inside me unwrapped and ate a marshmellow egg.
2 hot cross buns were warmed just right
and tomorrow we're catching an aeroplane flight.
We'll spend the day in Dunedin. Got eggs
to give my son when we tour his unicol home.
On Sunday we fly to Auckland. We roam
the country this easter, like rolling stones.
We'll see them in Auckland at Western Springs
then drive 6 hours, for Easter brings
my daughter to visit us. Poor travelling bones....

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Questions (pantoum)

Love the questions in your mind.
Wallow in them, Wonder 'Why?'
Answers drift until confined.
Let the questions stretch and sigh.

Wallow in them. Wonder why
your brainstorm only helps you ask.
Let the questions stretch and sigh.
Scratch the itch beneath the mask.

Your brainstorm only helps you ask
more questions - find a place to start.
Scratch the itch beneath the mask:
gather facts. (Subdue your heart.)

More questions! Find a place to start,
take an open-minded view,
gather facts, subdue your heart.
Questions undermine... Renew.

Take an open-minded view,
ignore habitual compromise.
Questions undermine. Renew
your purpose. Let them energise.

Ignore habitual compromise,
answers hide behind knee-jerks.
Your purpose? Let them energise;
between the facts, an answer lurks.

Answers hide behind knee-jerks.
Answers drift until confined
between the facts. An answer lurks:
love the questions in your mind.


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ICT Conference in Rotorua

I travelled to Rotorua and spent
the last few days a-gog. I went
to see how ICT has changed
and found e-learning re-arranged.

Exhaustion dogged me. Workshops full
of eagerness and ideas. Pull
me, prod me, it's all great
but no one mentioned what the state

of e-devices is - might be -
Instead I learned of Inquiry.
A model we have thought about
and now I'm keen, there is no doubt.

The keynote speakers touched upon
computer software, cameras. Gone
was any other mention
(although some websites got attention).

It shows how far we've come along
the road of digital sing-song.
Now we're recognising tools
as useful... but our teaching rules.




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sudoku pantoum

Written to express my frustration at being fascinated by something requiring no creativity at all!


His elegance is oriental
neatly square and finely drawn.
Deliberate, unsentimental,
poised, inscrutable. A pawn.

Neatly square and finely drawn,
face hiding more than is revealed,
poised, inscrutable: a pawn
whose role is helping fate be sealed.

Face hiding more than is revealed,
a square of squares combines in nines,
whose role is helping fate be sealed
with simple single-digit lines.

A square of squares combines in nines,
as three by three across three times
with simple single-digit lines
predictable as nursery rhymes.

As three by three across three times
exposes patterns, he entices.
Predictable as nursery rhymes
but guessing could create a crisis

(exposes patterns). He entices.
Repetitions have a place
but guessing could create a crisis,
conquering is not a race.

Repetitions have a place
in off-set parallels, like life.
Conquering is not a race,
be slow to move - a foot-bound wife.

In off-set parallels like life,
dictated to by logic's laws,
be slow to move. (A foot-bound wife,
but finding strength within a pause.)

Dictated to by logic's laws
in intricate formations, trapped
but finding strength within a pause.
Imagination stunted, wrapped.

In intricate formations. Trapped.
Deliberate. Unsentimental.
Imagination stunted... Rapt...
His elegance coincidental.

Sudoku



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Picnic

Sunshine and a picnic, what a perfect lunch that makes,
when gentle friends are there to feed the soul.
Unwinding in the sun is more a treat that layer cakes
when there are no demands but idle-loll.


yes I know that's weak but I just downed a glass of riesling too fast...

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Karen Boyes

I went to hear a woman speak
from 4 till 7 at night.
She talked about the way we think,
I got some new insight.

Reticular something is seeing a lot
of whatever we just learned
(or did, or have an interest in),
self-confirmation's concerned.

We ought to wait for kids' responses
when we ask a question.
Instead we answer it ourselves
or paraphrase. Digestion.

Clarify when listening,
being non-judgemental shows
the listener values the speaker's thoughts
(or thinking process), knows

that empathising lets emotions
find some validation.
Children need to know they're safe
if they're to risk creation.



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The spiral of life

Life is a spiralling set of events,
repeating predictably when
the days in the week form a pattern
and even surprises are zen
-like; they fill expectations
and seem as if they had been meant.

It's hard to make progress in spirals,
relationships often stand still,
and if there is no moving forward
our interests are targeted kill;
predestined to teach as if sent.



My favourite horoscope site... Mystic Medusa is magic with words:
http://au.astrology.yahoo.com

Aquarius is a Fixed Air sign; infuriatingly stubborn yet too smart to care what YOU think. Always eager to dissent, the Aqua-Maddie vibes conservative in fringe company and revels in weirding out the straights. The beat of a different drummer? Aquarius marches to the beat of an instrument that hasn't even been invented yet.

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Memory Rut

I rained in my dull halo rut
and while a weak part of me longed
for paving or her greener pastures,
my tears puddled cess-pooling mud.
It spattered the halo wheel turning,
repeating emotion in circles,
reheating cooled memory blood.
My martyr wreath, tread milling rut.



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Prof Dev

Term 3 and 3 weeks into it,
I've learnt a lot so far,
discovered tricks in software and
attended courses. Star
speakers can inspire me
and next week there'll be more.
I'll do some net-safe thinking then
but won't become a bore.
Then later on a conference waits:
3 nights in Auckland. (Smile)
I've stayed at that hotel before
and could be gone a while.



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Friday again

Another week of work has passed
and I feel vaguely wrong.
A nagging itch to change what is
has made me think too long.
Some plans are made and consultation
has been started with
the teachers who my ideas will soon
affect. What's right's a myth.
There's never any end point when
we know how teaching should
be done and so we search and try
new ways that sound as if they're good.

I read about unlearning and
it made me think about
the way we value knowledge more
than kindness, beauty, doubt.
While in relationships forget-
fulness is seen as best
when hurtful actions threaten bonds.
So why like memory tests?


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New home

We've settled in and how I love
this house we bought in town.
The drive is steep the section slopes
and lots of steps lead down
but once I get inside the trek
seems worth each healthy puff,
the house is lovely, feeds my soul
and that is quite enough.

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fatigue

It's Friday. I'm a couched potato, stuffed
and drowning in exhaustion. Buffed
by years of knowing chores build up,
I robot-cleaned before my cup
of tea. Television keeps my mind
off what the weekend adds to lined
and drooping facial skin. Paid work:
A crawling load that I can't shirk.


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school show

This morning I went searching for
some costumes for our show.
I needed Superman and Bond
and astronauts and so
I trailed 'round the dress-up hire
places in the rain.
I got bow ties but boxing gloves
were asked about in vain.
Dinner jackets, buttoned shirts,
in children's sizes -found!
Superman in triplicate
but... no astronauts around.

This afternoon, like every evening
I have spent this week,
I sat with my sleek laptop open,
making pictures peek
on powerpoints that highlight all
the decades that have passed
of our departing principal
for whom the show is cast.



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pantoum - depression is the root of all... art

Art from Depression

Sufferers seek solace salivating,
licking lips at details that depress.
Suffering is deepened double-dating:
company is misery's success.

Licking lips at details that depress,
(reliving bitter scenes) inflicts self-doubt.
Company is misery's success
but loneliness lets inner demons shout.

Reliving bitter scenes inflicts self-doubt -
abscessed pain must drain or it will burst
but loneliness lets inner demons shout
with paintbrushes and pencils, image-cursed.

Abscessed pain must drain or it will burst,
constant aches build barriers to break
with paintbrushes and pencils, image-cursed.
Explosions tear excuse-veneers we make.

Constant aches build barriers to break,
artists are corrosively inspired;
explosions tear excuse-veneers we make
and desolate creations are admired.

Artists are corrosively inspired -
suffering is deepened double-dating
and desolate creations are admired:
sufferers seek solace salivating.



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being bitchy

The tongue is very light and yet I haven't learnt to hold it,
sometimes I wish I'd bitten on my tongue as if to scold it.
For then I mightn't make a mean and pointless observation
about a person I have judged by first impression. The temptation
to jump to bitchy unsubstantiated base conclusions,
is one I should have overcome along with youth's confusions.



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time

As usual there is far too much
to get through every day.
I learnt a while back that there
is only one sane way
to cope with all the various
demands from all directions:
focusing on straight ahead,
avoiding most corrections.
There'll be a lot of interruptions,
lots of deviations
but as I get through each big task
I'll ride with my elation.
The little things fall into place,
they happen in between
while all those unexpected chores
are fresh and keep me keen.



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Shifting House

Packing things might be a chore
but 'though it's work, it's so much more;
anticipation cannot bore
and finally I don't ignore
the little tasks I can't adore
like clearing off a wardrobe floor.

I wrapped up pictures off the wall
and stacked them up so they can't fall
inside a box stacked up with all
the other boxes. I'll recall
the contents since my neatest scrawl
is labelling each, big and small.


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goodness

Thinking how a friend is good and kind and selfless too
it dawned on me that good is something I don't want to do.
I act the part and when it comes to choosing right I will...
I know I won't have any choice... but something in me still
rebels and thumbs its nose at doing what's expected by
the moralistic culture western governments hold high.
As usual this rebellion stems from wond'ring what is 'right'
and how the 'truth' can be defined without a godly light.


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down

I'm feeling down, the lack of sun? A high just yesterday?
I wonder why the body throws these hormones into play.
I had a great day solving things and learning little tricks
but yesterday is gone and now I'm drooping, maybe sick.
Today I went and looked at shops with dining tables, chairs...
I love to plan new purchases so why do I despair?
It's been a good week, life is calm and organised, I cope.
But underneath I want to curl up, read a lot and mope.

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New home

At half past 5, after work
we viewed a house for sale.
The last few I had seen had been
so boring, 'though my male
thought potential was enough...
But finally, a house I love!
Each room was so exciting,
the layout far above
my every expectation,
this place just spoke to me.
We made an offer which they countered.
To our next, they could agree.
So now I'm packing nightly
remembering details,
the house has interest value
beside which, money pales.


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My new house 

house hunting

I spent the weekend looking for a house where I could live,
at open homes I'd listed from the paper.
I'd checked them all beforehand on the web and thought OK
but 3D viewing is another caper.
There's something in the street appeal that really shouldn't matter
but houses have to feel right when you see them;
there's something in proportions when you walk around inside
that whispers nay or yes this is a gem.
But going through the motions is supposed to help us feel
more informed on market value stuff.
I saw a Lockwood house that I could live in happily
but viewing goes on daily. When's enough?


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A painting

A painting in a shop spoke to me the other day, it was enigmatic, the tenseness of the characters made me come back to it several times. A couple in a cafe. I wanted to try the reverse of the saying 'A picture paints 1000 words' so here's a sonnet -
A POEM PAINTING A PICTURE:

Still Life

Low watts in cornered light bulbs hide her clenched
left hand and unseen bruises form where knees
appear demurely placed to please entrenched
conventions. There, glare reaches in to tease.

Her shadowed back triangulates the contrasts,
colours draw the eye past clothes, to lips
that shimmer, partly open as light shone casts
focus on the way her smile slips.

He leans away as one bright finger points
out worry on his brow and strokes a line
diagonally down. A spark anoints
his wedding ring - that slashed round warning sign.

They met for drinks but guilt keeps them apart.
The painting hangs unframed inside her heart.



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sold

I went to town today and signed our place away.
Potential buyers fought and upped the price I thought
we'd get, by quite a lot. So now I'm on the trot
and checking houses every day. I'll limit what WE'll pay.

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My father

He's gone and only memories will keep
my father from oblivion - that hell
where, stripped of voice, death-rest is all we reap.
And yet he's here, for I remember well...

Insistence on high standards in all speech,
on logic, understanding 'what' and 'why'.
Yes, I recall his criticisms, each
a wing-clip meaning we soon yearned to fly.

He showed he cared with knowledge shared; it seemed
as though his mind was packed with filed facts.
A clever man, not hinting that he dreamed
for us or for himself - but that was Max.

He lay there lifeless in that coffin bed
but I can hear him still, inside my head.

Michael Barrymore, Gary McCormick, Tim Shadbolt

One week to go and then we have, two weeks of holidays.
I seem to wish my life away by counting down; it says
a lot about my attitude to work and time away
particu'ly the weariness that's settled in to stay.

But lately I have socialised a lot (for me) and been
to watch a famous travelling show, I dressed up, really keen
to see "Chicago" live and thought that Barrymore would mean
a top performance from a cast to match his brilliant scenes.

Yes, he was charismatic and the other leads were good
but all in all it wasn't great and "My Fair Lady" would
outclass it any day in my opinion. Could
the Napier Operatics go professional? They should.

Then Thursday night I sat upon a barstool laughing hard
at jokes that poured like spirulina, thick and fruity. Bard
and entertainer, Gary McCormick played his every card,
then Invercargill's mayor came on and both of them then sparred.

But now I'm on a downer, silly. That's what happens when
you spoil yourself and gad about and see a lot of friends.
The real estate 'for sale' sign is up; it's helped to send
5 buyers through on tours, so each night I clean till 10.



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Easter

Easter was a time to tidy up around the place,
we cleaned and cleared and trimmed and dumped and sprayed. A hectic race
with time that made me stress a bit but now at last it's done.
The signs go up this week and now each weekend I shall run
the frantic race again for open days until the tenders
roll on in. My inlaws come- a hip replacement renders
men a little worse for wear, so they will stay with us
until the hippy trauma site recovers from the fuss.

Aside from heavy labour we had tea one night with friends
and planned to watch 'Chicago' live next Sunday and that sends
me into pleasant fantasies of jazz and Deco gear
so I feel well rewarded for my broken nails here.


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17 acres in Poukawa, Hawkes Bay, NZ

Up for tender 

Real Estate

We signed up with an agent (real estate).
Amazing that it took this long
to get around to it. I spent the rest of Easter
Friday cleaning, finding I was wrong
to think I'd hate the chores.
Virtuous is how I feel... but stuffed.
Tomorrow there is more to do but
my kitchen hasn't been so buffed
for years. Our place will be put up
for tender, there'll be open homes -4 weeks.
With luck we'll be all shifted into town
by mid July. And I'll have hollow cheeks.


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My Fair Lady

I've had a headache every day but gone to work and ...coped.
Every night I've thought "Tomorrow I'll be fine" and doped
myself with pills again. But Friday was OK. Exception to the rule.
I wandered town and occupied myself for hours after school
because I had a treat in store. A show to go to with a bunch
of other staff. "My Fair Lady" was the show and worth the munch
on half a Subway roll I had while driving there.
A teacher was a dresser and she took me backstage where
I photographed another of our teachers, dressed to dance.
He looked like any cockney boy (and loves to pose and prance).
I rushed to find my seat aware of costumes, dancers and
knowing, later, I'd see more in a tour we had planned.

I love that show, the words can almost roll right off my tongue,
I learned them while I listened to a record when quite young.
Even then I recognised the irony and laughed.
On Friday, laughed so much, my visibility was halved.
Eliza and Professor Higgens watched the film a lot,
they had the voices pat... and their humour hit the spot.
The premise of the story is an awfully clever thought:
that you can be whatever others want but never ought
to think that you will find your happiness that way.
You need to find companions who see underneath the play.


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cars and carry ons

Today my daughter has my faithful black
Toyota FX 1.6 Corolla,
(she's paying for it with a loan quite soon).
And I have got a speedy little roller,
a Cynos coupe that makes me feel so cool.
My life is full of lovely little treats
and that is what helps balance out the crap
when I'm exposed to tempermental feats.

Today I had a teacher crying, saying
she felt as though she'd been under attack,
she took on board the message but the way
it was delivered left her reeling like a whack.
A week ago another pair insulted
each other and they needed mediation.
It's all a sign of pressure letting up
and health that lets them down... to confrontation.

Today a lady rang to about our place,
she took a tour last weekend and seems keen.
She asked a lot of questions then explained
she'd have to sell their house in town. I've been
tempted to go see her place...a swap
would be an easy option... who can tell?
I'll go and look although I must admit
two other places stack up very well.


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My new car 

Mid Life Crisis

It's purple in a lovely blue-ish way,
the car I took a test drive in today.
It's sporty in a low-slung coup-ish style,
I signed a deal to buy it in a while...
(a towbar for our bike stand must be fitted)...
I'll soon be mid-life crisis auto-kitted.


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School caretaker's birthday

The Caretaker

Garth is turning sixty but you’d never guess; he walks
a hundred miles a day around the school and hardly baulks
at tasks - although the toilet rolls that block the loos might bring
a jaundiced sigh and grumble as he does the “caretake” thing.

Garth’s the man behind the scenes who saves the day a lot,
He’ll break a cupboard open if your key you clean forgot.
He’ll get his trusty jump-start kit when engines fail to start…
With jaundiced sigh and grumble he will play the “caretake” part.

Garth will always guard his shed with vigilance. Who’d dare
to take a cloth or cleaning fluid? You’d spend your life in fear.
He measures each container, knows the volume left within,
his jaundiced sigh and grumble means your deed’s a “caretake” sin.

Garth is turning sixty and he’s got his jumper leads,
he’s got his shed of secret tools, he’s done enough good deeds;
he’s claimed his seat for cups of tea at our round table so
I now propose we knight him as Sir Garth, Caretaker Pro.


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Flapper 

Back view of Madrid Soccer team (Outfits bought in Hong Kong) 

Madrid Soccer team at NZ Rugby 7s 

art deco flappers

Last week I went to Napier
to see the annual crowd
who flock to dress as flappers and
adorn the streets. No dowds
would dare to speak against them,
so many in the swing.
I really want to join the throng-
next year I'll do my thing.
I talked it out with girlfriends,
next year will be a week
of Deco madness, flapper fun
so now we'll have to seek
out costume bits and pieces -
the gloves, the head gear, shoes...
The men just wear a white shirt
and braces, who'd refuse?

We also go to rugby
sevens; we can wear
our glamour outfits there as well
and look great, never fear...
the people in the cake tin stands
are dressed in any gear,
so long as we look festive
or crazy, none will stare.
We all wore soccer outfits,
(Madrid's team, white and sharp)
My own had 'Beckham' on the back
and so I made my mark.


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electric fly swat 

electric fly swat

Staff meeting was the cream on top
of 'What a day'... I want to chop
the head off every man I meet. But now
I'm laughing and I must allow
I've lost the urge to snap. The lot
are idiots! Mine bought an electronic fly swat! What?
A raquet-shaped fly swatter that
is strung with wires. They go splat
and fry each fly you swing at. Men!
They watch the fly then spark and burn
but will they ever even learn
a swatter only needs to kill?
This version has an extra thrill.

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The Mission Estate Winery, Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

The venue for the Mission Concert where Rod Stewart is playing tonight.

Rod Stewart

That aging rocker, Rachel's ex
has Lear-ed into the Bay.
He's here to sing in Taradale,
the Mission concert way:
Each year we have an artist who
adorns the outdoor stage
and people picnic in the sun
then sing along and rage
until the darkness has decended...
thousands go each year
but I could not get tickets
so I'm sitting, writing, here.


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back to work

Been back at work a little while and things are settling down,
today I got a whole lot done, there's no way I could frown.
The other day my daughter moved back here, near us, in town.

I wrote a piece of doggerel about a joke sent here,
a joke about 2 blondes... you know, the sort of joke so rare.


She was into lick-proof lip-gloss
and false-eyelash curling tongs,
she wore D-cup stretch bikinis
and the bottoms were all thongs;
she could look as though she listened
while her eyes stayed blank and fond,
she was every man's pet fantasy
-you guessed it - she was blonde.

She was driving home from shopping
and admiring her nails,
half deciding to re-paint them
so her pace was not a snail's,
when a siren interrupted
any nail polish plan
and she slowed, anticipating
a cute uniform-clad man.

But the cop was five-foot-seven
if you didn't count her hat
and beneath the fetching head-gear
was blonde hair. Imagine that!
Well, she checked her Rookies' manual
then, "Your licence, please," she stated
and she checked her butt's reflection
in the window while she waited.

So the blonde who had been speeding
turned away to get her purse
but she fumbled 'round for ages
making things look even worse.
Then she patted her blonde tresses
and she made a counter-strike
as she asked in helpless baby-tones
"Um...what's a licence like?"

Well! Referring to her manual,
the blonde cop looked for clues
and the illustrations helped her
so she grinned into her shoes.
"It's a square shape with your picture on,"
she tried to patronise
but the other blonde was wise to her
and rolled her batting eyes.

So she delved into the makeup kit
she kept inside her car,
she was smiling in the mirror
as she said, "Ah! Here you are."
Next, the mirror was reflecting
prim brass buttons on a top,
so the officer said "Sorry!
-Didn't realise you're a cop!"


GREAT MINDS DISCUSS IDEAS
AVERAGE MINDS DISCUSS EVENTS
SMALL MINDS DISCUSS PEOPLE

My holidaze are almost over and it's hot.
This week has been the summer waited for,
I meant to go to school and do some work but
instead I rearranged the house - no chore
when one is rested. We decided we will sell
and move on back to town again this year.
(We want to live without a mortgage and spend
our money living life without the fear
of overdrafts et cetera.) So I'm inspired...
the house is looking more like magazine homes,
the outside rooms will soon be cleared of junk
and males won't leave mess for magic gnomes.

I washed the cushions from the couches
and planted annuals in the terrace pots,
I've moved a lot of furniture and fittings
and all while nursing stitches -there are lots
along my back (well, maybe 5 or 6) from
a little op to take a cancered mole out.
I didn't realise the aftermath would
be something I can really groan about.


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Outdoor fire place, camping 

Camping on a friend's section at the beach 

camping

Yes we've been camping...in the rain
although the sun came out to feign
a summer for some moments here and there.
The tent developed leaks along
a zipped up window. Canvas: strong
but loses water-proofing year by year.
We saw the new year in with friends
and sunbathed when the clouds had rends.
We feasted nightly on good food we shared.
A tv star and poet I admire
stayed next door but to my ire
I never even glimpsed his manly rear.
And in the sky a twinkling red
(or orange) light was spotted. Dread
of UFOs should make us shake with fear...
But we were keen and watched it 'til
it disappeared. It was a thrill
And daily articles showed lights weren't rare...
This week we read about the scam
pulled by a beach-bum family man:
he'd sent up lit balloons when nights were clear.
And heck, why not? He really got
the people talking. It was hot
gossip. Contrast with tsunami news: severe.

GREAT MINDS DISCUSS IDEAS
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Christmas past

It's over and they've all gone home
and I am left here with my phone.
I've entered all my contacts, tried
the video and photos; 'Why?'ed
a hundred times and said
I know the info.s there, I read
it somewhere in the thick wee book.
I'll have to have another look.
I haven't done the pc sync,
I'm saving that...I'll have to THINK.


GREAT MINDS DISCUSS IDEAS
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Christmas prep

This week I haven't been to work but worked at Christmas prep.
I had to buy the presents - took 3 trips to get in step.
And after that I had to face the chore I'd put off, see...
The house was desperate for a clean and bedrooms had to be
made decent for my visitors: most of my family.
Tomorrow I will buy the lettuces and lots of strawberries
to place upon the cream atop pavlova. Our dessert
consists of pav. and jellies and fruit salad is a cert;
no Christmas pudding in this house, or turkey... no, we eat
a ham with lots of salads, new potatoes... can't be beat.

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The Red Baron and Me 

The Bloody Red Baron

We've had a busy week at school
the end of year is close.
The final concert, kids so cool
the long hours; feeling gross.
On Thursday lunchtime teachers sang
on karaoke, entertaining,
kids stood 'round while cloud tops rang
and prayed it would start raining...
but on we went, my mate and I
to sing the Snoopy song.
She sang and I just tried to fly
and hoped I'd do no wrong.


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Karaoke at school 

I went across the country to pick my daughter up
and brought her home. She's just called me to sup.

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AVERAGE MINDS DISCUSS EVENTS
SMALL MINDS DISCUSS PEOPLE