the Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

Happy Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day!

As promised, here comes one of the most life-asserting poems by Josiah Gilbert Holland

A Song Of Faith

Day will return with a fresher boon;
God will remember the world!
Night will come with a newer moon;
God will remember the world!

Evil is only the slave of Good;
Sorrow the servant of Joy;
And the soul is mad that refuses food
Of the meanest in God’s employ.

The fountain of joy is fed by tears,
And love is lit by breath of sighs;
The deepest griefs and the wildest fears
Have holiest ministries.

Strong grows the oak in the sweeping storm;
Safely the flower sleeps under the snow;
And the farmer’s hearth is never warm
Till the cold wind starts to blow.

Day will return with a fresher boon;
God will remember the world!
Night will come with newer moon;
God will remember the world!

Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.

Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.

Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event. And
thanks to Moonroot for spreading the word. I'm in.

the pleasure of reading

I've recently read two wonderful novels written by New York Times bestselling authours. They are "Playing For Pizza" and "Darkfever". Both books impressed me a lot, as one of them is lovely and romantic, while another one is dark and shocking.

“Playing For Pizza” is a lovely light-hearted novel by John Grisham tells a story of a third-string quarterback Rick Dockery who screwed up at an important match and was dismissed from the National Football League. However Rick was not going to give up and made his agent to find him any team that might want him. Against enormous odds the agent eventually found such a team and Rick set off to a lovely city of Parma (Italy) to play for the Parma Panthers. There Rick fell in love with all things Italian and made a journey from an egotistical past, to a true desire and passion towards the sport he loves.

The novel is a wonderful read about building up a character, football, food and love.

I’m a fan of Italy myself. I’ve travelled there a lot and grew to love open-hearted Italians, fancy architecture, cosy villages, delicious meals and wine.

"Darkfever" in a shadowy novel that verges on the paranormal world of myths and legends and the real world, which most people are used to. It tells a tale of a perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman MacKayla Lane. Or so she thought…until something extraordinary happened. When her sister was murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeyed to Ireland in search of answers. As Mac delved deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move was shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future.

The series was called “A seductive mix of Celtic mythology and dark, sexy danger” by Chicago Tribune and that's what it is. If you like dark fantasies, you won't be dissapointed.

To me the main disadvantage of the novel is an absence of an end. The novel is over at some crusial point, and right after it comes the first chapter of the second book called "Bloodfever". "Bloodfever" ends with the first chapter of the third book "Faefever" , and a little voice in my head is saying that there'll be more 'fever" of some sort.

Anyway, the two novels are perfectly written and you'll enjoy them to the full.

Chasseurs De Typhons

I set my eye on “Chasseurs De Typhons” as the title promised a breathtaking story of brave pilots cutting through wild air currents, penetrating in the heart of it and fighting against typhoons. However the first several chapters were mostly about the causes of typhoons, its nature and disastrous consequences and reminded more of a lecture than of a fiction. The lecture spiced with funny tales and variety of adjectives is fun to read. SO little by little I’ve developed an interest in this drastically destructive, monstrous and brutal natural phenomenon.

(These adjectives sound much more frightening in French, but that’s an English blog, so I'm doing my best to translate)

The author, Pierre - Andre Molene, venerates typhoons so much that even his reader shivers with thrill of a coming disaster. He describes the destruction in an off-hand manner. He writes about a ship thrown on a hospital filled with its sailors, as if it were something usual. At the same time he is thrilled with variety of typhoons, their crushing head and primeval power. Pierre - Andre Molene is also amazed by the science that has created the precision instruments to investigate typhoons, therefore he describes excitedly the battle between the power of nature and the power of science.

The further I read the more I enjoy the book and feel the world spinning around as a whirlpool as if I were in the eye of the storm.

the pic was taken in the eye of typhoon Vera

inspiration

Since there is not much inspiration at work, I keep on looking for it elsewhere, mainly books. The beauty of literature is that it provides a great variety of inspiring life stories, poems and anecdotes. I like adventurous stories most, because they give a chance to travel to all those places I may be or may not be to one day.

One of my favourites is Louis Henri Boussenard's, as his stories are both funny and educating. I even had a crash on one of his characters Monsieur Andre. He was a wonderful hunter, traveller and adventurer, who never talked much, but accomplished a lot. Besides, he spoke French, the language of love. Monsieur Andre and his friend took me on a marvellous voyage through Africa, India and even America. It was unforgettable. I also travelled with Ernest Hemingway's novels, and grew to love a lot of countries thanks to them.

Later, I realised that travelling in both real and fiction worlds I have almost forgotten how beautiful my own country was. That is why I am now back to Russian literature and rediscovering the subtlety and refinement in it. The experience is amazing!

a weekend post

Thanks to a national holiday we had four days-off instead of two. If only there always were four-day weekends. So I got a chance to sleep a lot, meet friends and watch the movie Sex In The City finally. It reminded me that it's time to get some new clothes, which will keep me both warm and happy.

I also got a chance to read the book "Pharaoh" by Boleslaw Prus to the very end. It's an amazing book about the daily routine of Ancient Egypt and its mysteries. I was surprised to find a lot of similarities between the modern and the ancient worlds.

The novel is set in the Egypt of 1087–1085 BCE as that country experiences internal stresses and external threats that will culminate in the fall of its Twentieth Dynasty and New Kingdom. As events unfold, the protagonist Ramses learns that those who would challenge the powers that be are vulnerable to cooption, seduction, subornation, defamation, intimidation and assassination. Perhaps the chief lesson, belatedly absorbed by Ramses as pharaoh, is the importance of power of knowledge.

a peaceful week-end

... and what a peaceful week-end it was! The cute little cat below symbolises it completely. There was no jet flights, many-hours walks or binges. I enjoyed idleness lying around the sofa, listening to music, chatting to pals online and reading the most tiresome and at the same time the most exciting author William Somerset Maugham.

I'm reading his Theatre. The plot of which I found really boring back in college, where we were supposed to read it, analyse it and write numerous essays. The storyline still doesn't impress me, but I'm absolutely enchanted with the language: the choice of words is amasing, the punctuation is perfect, the narration flows smoothly due to syntax. I'm simply in love with Mr. Maugham manner of writing and is now really eager to read more of his works.

W. Somerset Maugham once observed: When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me. And today I have to admit, there is something about his books that I'd like to become part of me.