Fred Poets Society

Welcome back Top Chef!

2009-08-20T22:19:00.002-05:00

What started out as a summer guilty pleasure has turned into a full on obsession. Well, obsession is probably a little strong. I've been watching "Top Chef" since season 2, back when it used to just be a summer show. It was great because all my other shows went into reruns and I had something new to look forward to one night a week.Anyway, here we are at season 6. On Facebook, I already dubbed

2009-07-19T20:54:00.000-05:00

Exasperated

2009-07-10T23:09:00.003-05:00

I was just contemplating one of the great frustrations of being a parent. You set up what you consider to be a few simple, reasonable rules, and yet the children seem to either forget about the rules or just pretend that the rules even exist.For example, the remote control for the TV belongs in the basket on the end table when it's not being actively used. I have told the children many, many,

Taming your inbox

2009-06-23T16:12:00.002-05:00

Here's a truly great article about organizing your email inbox. To quote:But many people are struggling with e-mail overload and overwhelm these days, and from my consulting and training on the topic, I think I’ve figured out part of the reason why: people are keeping their information in e-mail format rather than converting those e-mails into what they really are: information, tasks, calendar

What do you do with a surly teenager?

2009-06-08T18:31:00.003-05:00

Calling all parenting experts! Or just people who have management experience. How would you respond in this situation.Some "friends" of ours have two daughters. One is 14. We'll call her "teenager". The other is 11. We'll call her "little sister". This family has fallen into a pattern of behavior that so far only results in the parents getting angry, teenager sulking and little sister ending up

2009-06-04T09:09:00.001-05:00

If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying? Shantideva

Tra-la, it's May...

2009-05-30T22:32:00.002-05:00

And in the blink of an eye, May has come and gone. I have many, many good reasons for not posting during May.What did we have in May?Honors bandConfirmationA visit from the WildersMission trip fund raisers and meetingsFinal choir concertLost season finale partyFriday night wine tasting partiesBand world tour (I got to chaperone!)School field tripsFinal band concertSchool fund raisersFinal flute

Benediction

2009-04-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

BenedictionBlessings be with them, and eternal praise,Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares!The Poets, who on earth have made us heirsOf truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays.O might my name be numbered among theirs,Then gladly would I end my mortal days!”William Wordsworth

Acrostic

2009-04-29T06:00:00.002-05:00

AcrosticMaiden, though thy heart may quailAnd thy quivering lip grow pale,Read the Bellman's tragic tale! Is it life of which it tells?Of a pulse that sinks and swellsNever lacking chime of bells? Bells of sorrow, bells of cheer,Easter, Christmas, glad New Year,Still they sound, afar, anear. So may Life's sweet bells for thee,In the summers yet

Your turn: submit a limerick

2009-04-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

I can't think of anything good for today's post, so it's up to you, readers.Today's assignment: submit a limerick.It could be an old favorite, or if you're in need of a challenge, submit one of your own.....

Arbor Day

2009-04-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Plant a TreeHe who plants a tree Plants a hope. Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope;Leaves unfold into horizons free. So man's life must climb From the clods of time Unto heavens sublime.Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree,What the glory of thy boughs shall be?He who plants a tree Plants a joy; Plants a comfort that will never cloy;Every day a fresh reality,

Epigram

2009-04-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

On Shakespear[e]What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bonesThe labor of an age in pilèd stones?Or that his hallowed relics should be hidUnder a star-ypointing pyramid?Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?Thou in our wonder and astonishmentHas built thyself a livelong monument.For whilst, to the shame of slow-endeavoring art,Thy easy

Shakespeare

2009-04-23T06:00:00.003-05:00

It is widely held that William Shakespeare was born this day in 1564. It is a matter of historical record that he did die on this day, 1616.Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbearTo dig the dust enclosèd here.Blessed be the man that spares these stones,And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Patriot's Day

2009-04-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Lines Suggested by the Graves of Two English Soldiers on Concord Battle-GroundThe same good blood that now refillsThe dotard Orient's shrunken veins,The same whose vigor westward thrills,Bursting Nevada's silver chains,Poured here upon the April grass,Freckled with red the herbage new;On reeled the battle's trampling mass,Back to the ash the bluebird flew. Poured here in vain;—

Kalamazoo

2009-04-20T06:00:00.002-05:00

A B C D E F G HI got a galIn Kalamazoo.Don't wanna boast,But I know she's the toastOf Kalamazoo zoo zoo, zoo zoo zoo.Years have gone by,My, my, how she grew.I liked her looksWhen I carried her booksIn Kalamazoo zoo zoo zoo zoo.I'm gonna send a wire,Hoppin' on a flyer,Leavin' today.Am I dreamin'I can hear her screamin',“Hiya, Mister Jackson,”Ev'rything's O KA L A M A ZO oh, what a gal,A real

Your turn: submit a haiku

2009-04-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Now it's your turn to work, readers. Today's assignment: submit a haiku poem.It could be one that you are personally fond of , or write your own!Possible topics:SpringFaithGrowthA sweaty toothed mad manChildrenThe OfficeRainMudFriendshipBlogsPetsHave fun!!

Nebraska

2009-04-18T06:00:00.003-05:00

The Kinkaiders 1You ask what place I like the best,The sand hills, O the old sand hills;The place Kinkaiders make their home,And prairie chickens freely roam.Chorus: In all Nebraska's wide domain 'Tis the place we long to see again; The sand hills are the very best, She is the queen of all the rest.2The corn we raise is our delight,The melons, too, are out of sight.Potatoes grown are extra

Books

2009-04-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

I cannot think the glorious world of mind, Embalm'd in books, which I can only seeIn patches, though I read my moments blind, Is to be lost to me.I have a thought that, as we live elsewhere, So will those dear creations of the brain;That what I lose unread, I'll find, and there Take up my joy again.O then the bliss of blisses, to be freed From all the wants by which the world is driven;With

In honor of my Grandmothers, Cora Frank and Irma Nothwehr

2009-04-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

GrandmaI know what makes a Grandma grand—she always has a treat,A cookie or a piece of cake or apple pie to eat,And when we go to visit her she gets the good things out,And we don't have to ask for more as long as she's about. Then Ma will say: “That's all to-day;Don't give them any more; You'll make them ill. I know you will,To-night we'll walk the floor.”A Grandma never punishes or

RIP Abraham Lincoln, 1865

2009-04-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

O Captain! my Captain!O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.O Captain! my Captain! rise

RIP Titanic, 1912

2009-04-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Convergence of the TwainIn a solitude of the seaDeep from human vanity,And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.Steel chambers, late the pyresOf her salamandrine fires,Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.Over the mirrors meantTo glass the opulentThe sea-worm crawls--grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.Jewels in joy designedTo ravish the sensuous mindLie

2009-04-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

This day, in 1387, would have been the first day of the fictional pilgrimage that takes place in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Easter poem

2009-04-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Cross and the Tomb“He died,” saith the cross, “my very name” Was a hated thing and a word of shame;But since Christ hung on my arms out-spread, With nails in His hands and thorns on His head,They do but measure—set high, flung wide— The measureless love of the Crucified.”“He rose,” said the tomb, “I was dark and drear, And the sound of my name wove a spell of fear;But the Lord of Life in my

Hymn

2009-04-11T06:00:00.003-05:00

O Saviour of a World Undone1. O Saviour of a world undone!Whose dying sorrows blot the sun,Whose painful groans and bowing headCould rend the vail and wake the dead,Say, from that execrated treeDescends the ruddy tide for me? 2. For me did he who reigns above,The object of paternal love,Consent a servant's form to bearThat I a kingly crown might wear?Is his deep loss my boundless

Sonnet

2009-04-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,I all alone beweep my outcast stateAnd trouble deaf heaven with my bootless criesAnd look upon myself and curse my fate,Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,With what I most enjoy contented least;Yet in these thoughts myself almost despisingHaply I