Lady Liberty

Click Here to order a replica
for your home or office

Orlando’s Statue of Liberty
perches
  on a pedestal
    across from Lake Ivanhoe.

Orlando’s Lady Liberty

holds  
  her torch aloft
    as drivers zoom by.

Orlando’s Lady Liberty

watches
  over a busy
     intersection at Interstate 4.

The statue, a replica

of the original
in New York harbor.

A symbol of freedom,

Orlando's Lady Liberty.

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Orlando’s Statue of Liberty is only a little over eight feet tall.  The statue is one of about 200 replicas installed across the country in the 1950’s as part of a Boy Scout program called “Strengthening the Arm of Liberty.”

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano



Brown Tide at Indian River Lagoon

Algae clobbering
vital sea grass,
in the Indian River Lagoon.

A super-tiny plant, a big name,

Aureoumbra lagunensis—
“brown tide.”

Billions in every quart

of lagoon water,
turning the water brown,

preventing sunlight from penetrating ,

shading-to-death
the meadows of sea grass—

the  foundation

of lagoon marine life—
providing food and shelter.



CLICK HERE
to look inside

The die-off of plants,

devastating to everything—
manatees, wading birds, fish. 

Distressed fish,

swimming erratically,
gasping for air, near death.

The loss of sea grass,

causing lasting harm
to the lagoon.

The  Indian Rive Lagoon stretches along 40% of Florida’s east coast.  Learn more about it at

http://indianriverlagoon.org

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

 

This beautiful artist's rendition of brown tide was done by Joanie Gagnon San Chirico.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

CLICK HERE to get Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise:dvds, games, toys, books, clothing and more

TEENAGE MUTUANT NINJA TURTLES

The turtles are being unleashed—
Nickelodeon’s slicker, hipper
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 

It’s Nickelodeon’s reboot

of the masked marauders
from the New York sewers.

The Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles were a popular cartoon franchise in the 1980’s and ‘90’s.  My son was a huge fan as a child.

8/6/14 Everything old is new again.  A new Teen-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles movie premieres August 8, 2014.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Inward Retreat

Order this beautiful poster
from Amazon.com

Inward Retreat

Obligations.

The daily grind.
To-do lists.
Feeling frazzled.

Meditation,

the perfect antidote for stress,
shifting fight-or-flight mentality
to rest-and-digest.

Close your eyes.

Release the stress.
Physical release.

I found this picture at www.binauralbeatsonline.com

Emotional release.

A wave of rage.

A wave of grief.

A wave of bliss.

A wave of anxiety. 

Let it come.

Feel it.

Let it go.

I took a meditation class and I achieved a deeper level of consciousness.  I felt fully aware, fully awake.  Usually, it feels like the car is driving me, but when I drove home that night, I felt like I was driving the car. 

It is hard to explain.  Imagine your body has a dimmer switch.  We live most at the time with the switch half way up, but meditation pushes the switch all the way up to full power.

 

Unfortunately, although I continued the meditation exercises for a few weeks, I couldn’t get to that feeling again.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Fuss-Free Party

Cocktails in pouches,
single-serving pouches,
margaritas, pina coladas,
and daiquiris

They are fuss-free,

easy to find,
affordable,
for an instant party.

Snip off an end

of the pouch and pour.
Bartender flavor
frozen, chilled or warm.

Sweet drinks,

sweet as soda pop.
Sweet drinks,
sweet as a Slurpee.

No tequila or rum,

in these margaritas,
pina coladas, and daiquiris.
They don’t contain spirits.

These cocktails

are flavored wine,
flavored malt beverages,
a mere 5% alcohol.

Just for fun cocktails—

margaritas, pina coladas,
and daiquiris.

No hassle, shelf-stable, instant party.  I like the sound of that.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

The picture of a frozen margharita comes from www.scienceofdrink.com

 

Interest in Sex

Ladies,

Click Here for books
on Women's Sexuality

know your sexuality,
your sexual anatomy.

Your clitoris.

Your G spot.
Your brain.

Your cervix.

Yes, your cervix.
It’s key in sexual arousal.

The woman who improves

her sexual experience,
knows her own body.

Erotic sensation.

Sexual pleasure.
Sexual stimulation.

Orgasms.

Female ejaculation—
Still up for debate.
 

If they can print this in a family newspaper I can print it on my blog. 

I saw this statue in a museum in Greece when I visited the country many years ago.  I liked it so much, I bought a plaster replica that I still have. 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

All comments that include links to another webwite will be deleted.

Switching to Dems

Registered Republican,
but voting all Democrat.

I want the GOP leadership

to know—
the religious right, the tea party,
they are the fringe, not the base.

The GOP is wrong.

The priorities are wrong.
They use every ruse to excuse
themselves of culpability.

We need to show

the GOP—
the tea party, the religious right
they are the fringe, not the core.

I took this from a letter to the editor.  I think this letter represents a lot of people who have voted Republican all their lives, but can no longer, in good conscience, support a Republican party that more and more represents the fringe and not mainstream Americans.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

Beyond the Moon

NASA’s next major mission— A new outpost
farther from Earth than at any time in history.
 

A gateway space craft to hover in orbit

beyond the moon, a staging area for future missions

to the moon,

to Mars.

At the Earth Moon Lagrange Point  2

the combined gravities of earth and moon
 

reach equilibrium, making it possible to “stick”

an outpost there. Potential missions include

robotic trips to the moon,

trips to the moons of Mars
and even to Mars itself.

A spacecraft beyond the moon,

human access to deep space,

a baby step toward NASA’s ultimate goal,

human footprints on Mars.

It will cost billions, but I believe that it is our destiny.  The universe is there waiting for us to explore it.  Once humans traveled to the new world; now humans must travel to new worlds.   

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

 

This poster is from http://store.petermax.com

 

 

 

 

iPhone 5

The debut of iPhone 5—

long lines at Apple stores,
wireless carriers and retail partners.

Not everyone walked away

with the coveted device,
but supplies will be replenished today.

The next generation iPhone—

thinner, longer, an updated Siri,
and many more tweaks.
 

Zach walked out of the Apple store

nearly three hours after  he arrived—
first in line at 5 am.

He said, “It was worth the wait.”

I have yet to get my first smart phone., nevermind fifth genration.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Little Econ Manatee

 Click Here
 to learn more about manatees

J.B. the Manatee—

on a long strange trip.

He appeared a month ago

in the lagoon

behind the YMCA,

something of a mystery. 

His real name is Lil Joe.

He’s hanging out ten miles

from downtown Orlando,

lost in the Little Econ River.

Winter’s cold could kill him,

in that shallow stretch of river. 

Lil Joe was orphaned

when just a few weeks old.

Raised in captivity,

he’s most likely a bit daffy

about the ways of the wild. 

Newborn manatees learn

survival from their mothers,

where to eat,

where to find warm waters.

Lil Joe is without a clue.

Sea World Orlando,

Sea World San Diego,

the Cincinnati Zoo,

the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa.

Lil Joe was released into the wild;

his caretakers crossed their fingers,

setting him free in February

at Blue Spring, in warm water.

He left Blue Spring. It turned cold.

He was caught in the chilly channel

of the St. Johns River.
He began to suffer.

Lil Joe endured;

he is still alive.
What’s next is hard to say.
Will he get back to the St. Johns River?
Will he find warm water for the winter?
Will his long strange trip continue?

Manatees, sometimes called sea cows, absolutely delight me. They weigh about a ton and a half, yet are so graceful in the water. And there is something about their faces that intrigues me.

10/24/13: Update:  The Orlando Sentinel had a story about Lil Joe yesterday.  He is fat and happy at Sea World. Is he fit to be released into the wild? Physically, but not mentally. He did not have a mother to teach him survival skills, like how to find food, and so he may stay at Sea World for the rest of his life. I hope so.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

This picture is from www.manatees.net

Blah Blah Blah

Click Here
to learn about the art of conversation

Cornered
at a party
at the office

on a stroll

ensnared

in an interminable talker. 

Buttonholed

by a boor

or a boor;

by an egotist,

or a polemicist,

by a labbermouth,

or ababbling barfly.

Often
there is nothing

short of rudeness

that can end it.

So,

hang in there?

Sometimes I’m trapped by the excessive talker, and sometimes I’m guilty of being the excessive talker. 

Sometimes I’d be working late at my office, trying to finish my work and go home, when a co-worker would come into my office, plop herself down in a chair, and refuse to take a hint.  One day I had an idea of how to put an end to this.  I stacked a bunch of reports and papers on my chair.  She came into my office, took the reports and papers from the chair, put them on the floor, and plopped herself into the chair.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Romney Controversy

Mitt Romney.
an unfeeling, uncaring plutocrat.
explaining away another gaffe.

The political world roiled.

Romney insulted everyday people,
people who work incredibly hard.

Romney told high-paying donors—

half of Americans are worthless, lazy,
don’t pay taxes,
don’t have a job,
and don’t want one.

Is this the utterance that decides the election?

Not only did Romney dismissively insult half the people in this country, but his facts were wrong.   He claimed that people who don’t pay taxes are going to vote for Obama no matter what.  The fact is that the states with the highest proportion of people who don’t pay income taxes are “red states.”

Message to people who don’t pay income taxes: You heard the man.  Vote for Obama.

If only people would vote their pocketbook instead of their prejudices, Obama would win all 50 states.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

This picture from www.motherjones. com

Pink

Sassy bubble-gum rocker,
furrowed-brow singer/songwriter
neon pop diva:
Pink!

A little bit of everything—

“The truth About Love”
has it all.

A protest song

some dance music,
pop-rock crossover,
a  break-up anthem,
mushy power ballads,
tongue-in-cheek sass,
hip-hop with Eminem,
feisty garage punk.

Pink is going three.

The singer Pink released a new album, “The Truth About Love.”  Who is Pink? She sounds like someone I might like.

 @ 2012 Catherine Giordano

This is the album cover.

 

Chocolate Kingdom

I found this picture of "Chocolate Castle, "
a video game, at www.maczot.com

A new attraction
coming to Osceola County,
Chocolate Kingdom.

A green house with cocoa trees,
a chocolate museum,
and chocolate bars.

People can see

how the bean,
turns into chocolate bars
on the tour

Order Some Gourmet Chocolate

for chocolate lovers.

People can see

the history
of the delicacy.

Chocolate Kingdom.  Yum. I visited Hershey’s Chocolate World in Hershey Pennsylvania years ago.  Chocolate Kingdon may be more adult oriented.  It opens in November 2012.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Apparently, there is a video game called "Chocolate Castle."  Who knew?  I learn so many things while working on my news print poetry project. 

If you can't visit Chocolate Kingdom, create your own chocolate kingdom right on your couch. Order some chocolate from amazon.cm

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Rosh Hoshanah: A Honey of a Holiday

Click Here for books about
 Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Bees are buzzing around apple trees.
limbs like outstretched arms,
blossoms like open hands.

The bees pollinate the apple blossoms

returning to the hive to make honey.
symbolizing the sweet promise
of a better year

Jewish families dip slices of apple into honey,
beginning of ten days of reflection,
concluding with the ritual atonement
of Yom Kippur. 

The Jewish New Year is focused on others;

making resolutions to help the less fortunate,
improving relationships with friends, relatives,
and God. 

Rosh Hoshanah is about learning to live

CLICK HERE

like the bees do in their colony, 
working together, sharing tasks,
helping others. 

Party like it is 5773 because the year is 5773 according to the Jewish calendar.  The New Year begins tonight Sunday September 16 at showdown with the blowing of the shofar, the rams horn.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Update for 2015

This year Rosh Hashanah falls on September 13. To learn more about honey and honey bees click the links below. 

Inside the Bee Hive: How Bees Make Honey

All About Honey Bees: 20 Questions -- with Answers