Of Sand Castles, Fractals and Kaleidoscopes

What do these three things have in common?

They are all beautiful examples of the ephemeral, reminders that nothing lasts forever, that things change constantly.

I sometimes get grumpy about change just like anyone else, but I do make an effort to breathe through it because ultimately there's not a thing I can do about change except to accept it.

I have held off, until nearly the last possible minute, changing over to the *new* (not so new anymore) blogger program. I am being forced to use it and spent a good portion of yesterday trying to figure it out which is not exactly my idea of a good time.

Which means, this is my first post under the new system. I suspect (as with so many other computer programs and systems) that about the time I'm really comfortable and happy with it they'll come along with a new and improved version.

Sigh.

The only thing permanent is change. We all best get used to the idea and enjoy the scenery and each other while we can for it can change in an instant.

Fractals

Kaleidoscope


Do you handle change well, breathe through it and go on? Or do you fight change, worry about it and try to control it?

Changes for Thursday

Like a cairn, nothing stays the same. How boring it would be if it did. Lucky for us cairns fall apart leaving behind the rocks with which to build a new one. It will never be like the one that came before. And, it will be different to all that come after.

































I'm building a new Thursday cairn. I thought about how I could relate it more to writing, but at this point I feel anything I might add would be superfluous as there are already many of you out there doing a wonderful job covering the topic. Not to mention the fact that I don't feel all that knowledgeable or confident.

What, I wondered, could I possibly contribute?

And then it came to me. What do I really love? I love words. So, I have come up with a grab-bag of subjects that, for the most part, relate to these lettered creatures without which we would have nothing to say.

On any given Thursday one of the following topic titles may show up.

Word Play: In which I take two seemingly unrelated words and challenge you to figure out the word or words I'm actually looking for. As in: earthy pig. What word might replace an earthy pig? The answer will be posted the following Monday. So, you'll have to come back Monday to find out what an earthy pig is.
Alternatives: The page on my blog that gets the most hits is Over Used Words. This topic will provide alternatives to, what else? over used words.
Origins: Here I will give the history and origin of interesting words and phrases.
Abstractions: In which I will take an abstraction, add a verb and place, describe what it's wearing and summarize the action. As in: Anger roared across the rooftop in a tattered tux then leapt off the edge in despair. I'll then challenge you to write your own abstraction using the chosen word.
Titles: In which I'll pick a word, any word, and make up titles. Then I'll challenge you to make up a few of your own. As in CLOUD: The Amber Cloud, Cloud City, Clouds of the Eye, If Clouds Were Pillows. Then maybe we can each pick a title and write a 100 word drabble or other bit of flash fiction.
Definitions: When I run across an interesting word I don't know I'll give the definition (and origin too.) I'll use it in a sentence and ask you to do the same.
Random Thought Thursday will continue to be dedicated to a random quote from some well known person, or not.
Six Impossible Things: In which I will think of six impossible things before breakfast and ask for your contribution.

Does this sound amenable to you? Can you think of any other wordy type things that would be of interest?

Mondays, by the way, will continue to be dedicated to vignettes of growing up in the Virgin Islands, current stuff going on in my life that I feel like sharing, and other random acts of writing.