Poems From A Spiritual Heart: Swirling Thoughts

Poems From A Spiritual Heart: Swirling Thoughts: "A poem about how we are all so connected that one person's misfortune feels like our own."

97 Posts Roundup From All Dennys Blogs

*** Your reading choices from news, politics, poetry, spiritual, health and weight loss tips, party food and chocolate recipes, science and lots of humor from funny videos to political cartoons. Catch up on your fav blogs or get a new fav! :)


Photo by d u y q u @ flickr


From Denny: This post is number 601 for The Social Poets blog, my first! Woo! Hoo! :) Who knew where blogging would take me - and you - this past year?

I'm finally getting back into regular blog writing. I took a couple of weeks off early in January to slow down the daily writing on 12 blogs for a well deserved rest. Just when I was ready to resume writing the Haiti earthquake hit. Then the three week saga started with trying to find my cousin who had been visiting Haiti at the time of the earthquake disaster - to donate her time as a music teacher. After three weeks she was given a cell phone and talked to her mother and sister.

Of course, as usual, worried family is not so good on details, not thinking like a journalist, and I still don't know her exact location. Sounds like she's in some tent city on some soccer field, recovered from vague details of bad bruising and a not described concussion from falling debris as she ran out of the music school where she was giving a concert. Apparently, one of her students died, though again, no details or name given. She has gathered several of her other students with her - again no names or updates on their status - since they are separated from their parents or may not know the status of their parents.

Well, one detail I know for sure is that my cousin Jeanne will do all she can to help the children around her to keep up their attitudes and play some music for everyone to cheer them as well.

I just wanted to take the time to thank all of you, my subscribers and blogging friends, for checking back on all these blogs for updates on Jeanne and new posts too. Some of the blogs have languished for daily posts. The past week I've worked at getting caught up and created this post for a roundup of posts on all the blogs so you can get caught up easily too. Again, thanks so much for showing up to check out each blog as it's much appreciated!




Photo by Ahmed Rabea @ flickr


From The Social Poets:


Libations Friday Poetry

*** Blog Carnival for Poets - create a poem about orphans and your poem linked here: Angels Left Behind: Orphans of the World poem - Libations Friday 29 Jan 2010 - promote your blog!

Three Endings and One Beginning Poem - Libations Friday 5 Feb 2010 - *** 4 life stories of people I have known: 3 committed suicide, 1 reclaimed their life.

I Wait, poem for Haiti - Libations Friday 22 Jan 2010 - *** Told from the point of view of an earthquake survivor buried underneath the rubble awaiting rescue. Dedicated to the people of the Haiti earthquake disaster of 12 Jan 2010.

Humor:


*** Cheeky Quotes Wednesdays ***

Funny Reincarnation and Religion Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day 3 Feb 2010

Inspiring Quotes About Disaster - Cheeky Quote Day 20 Jan 2010



*** Roundup of Late Night Shows *** Mondays

Roundup of Late Night Funnies 1 Feb 2010

Roundup of Late Night Funnies 25 Jan 2010



*** Political Cartoons Saturdays ***

Editorial Cartoons This Week 30 Jan 2010

Editorial Cartoons This Week - 23 Jan 2010



Social Issues News:

Good News: Child Abuse Drops Dramatically

67 Charities to Donate: Helping Haiti Heal

Mission of Hope Run by American in Haiti

This Weeks Posts @ The Social Poets 19 Jan 2010

Popular Posts 2010 at The Social Poets and Thank You!

Popular Posts 2009 and Thank You: The Social Poets





Dennys Global Politics where I pull together several days of clips of ongoing stories into one post:


Haiti News:


What Structural Engineers See For Haitis Recovery

Summary: Surviviors Process as They Rebuild Lives

Lucky Haiti Orphans Found Open Arms, New Homes



Politics in America:


How Wall Street Killed the Middle Class in America

Obamas Political Showdown with Republicans: Full Length Video and Text

Political Showdown: Obama in Face-Off with House Republicans

Prez Obamas 1st State of the Union Speech Text and Video

American Public Angry at Prez Obamas 1st Year in Office




From Beautiful Illustrated Quotations for thought-provoking quotes and commentary:

Let Your Silent Voice Sing

How Do Dreamers Create Our World?

How Are Our Lives Like An Open Book?

Beautiful Quotes

Popular Posts 2009 at the BIQ Quotes Blog




Photo by Tambako the Jaguar @ flickr


The Healing Waters:

Popular Posts 2009 at The Healing Waters

Famous Nutritionist Joy Bauer Offers 5 Dieting Tips for Success

Clean Hidden Areas of Your Home, Avoid Allergy Causing Mold and Mildew

Weight Loss: Not So Secret Secrets Anyone Can Do

How Many Poisons in Our Food Supply?

Healing Remedies: Food in Your Fridge

Healing Power of Plants and Herbs

6 Good Friends You Need to Live a Long Life

Reclaim Your Life, Reclaim Your Joy Now

Updating Your Home: Decorating Dilemmas Solved

Bobbi Browns Makeup Tips, Great Beauty Buys for 2010

Skinny Foods to Help Us Slim Those Excess Pounds

Good News: Successful Potato Peeler Salesman Joe Ades

Trim Off Obesity: 3 Inspiring Stories, Nutritionist Answers Diet Questions




Photo by Image Editor @ flickr


The Soul Calendar for science:


Last Resort Climate Fix: Geo-Engineering

Videos: Explain Rare Haiti Earthquake

Rare Annular Solar Eclipse





Romancing The Chocolate for more than chocolate and party recipes:


4 Fun Marti Gras and Super Bowl Recipes

Sweet Tooth Alert: Sandra Lees Chocolate Truffles

Chef Sandra Lees Easy Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake

Chocolate Cake Recipes at Romancing The Chocolate

How to Cook Perfect Al Dente Pasta, Giadas Simple Recipe

Funny Quotes About Chocolate

Oozing with 3 Cheeses and Cheap: White Lasagna

Winter Brain Food: Parmigiano Pasta with Mushrooms

Swapping Food Choices for Less Fat and Calories to Trim off holiday pounds

Valentines Day: Impressive Four Chocolates Cake

Kid Pleasing Easy Brownie Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Popular Posts 2009 at Romancing The Chocolate and Thank You!




Photo of New Orleans in French Quarter on Bourbon Street by Lyndi&Jason @ flickr

GEAUX SAINTS!!! The Saints win the Super Bowl by 31 to 17 over the Colts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their first Super Bowl win!!!!! It's going to be the first time Marti Gras becomes a nine day celebration down in New Orleans! :)

Comfort Food From Louisiana for more party ideas for a crowd:

Popular Posts 2009 at Comfort Food From Louisiana, Thank YOU!

6 Super Bowl Junk Food Recipes

9 Easy Marti Gras and Super Bowl Eats

Chef Sandra Lees Quick Baby Back Ribs

Super Bowl Food: Jumbo Shrimp and Gouda Grits

5 Tasty and Weird Bacon Recipes

Secrets to the Tastiest Tailgating Party

Newest Fish Trend: Silverfin Asian Carp, 2 Recipes

New Orleans Saints Celebration Menu: Jambalaya and Crawfish Gold

Paula Deens Shrimp Gumbo Casserole

Easy Winter Comfort Food: Beef Burgundy

Cajun Comfort Food Chases Away Winter Cold, 3 Recipes

5 Recipes: Lemon Chicken, Portobello Fries and Sides

8 Easy Yummy New Years Recipes to Warm Your Guests




Photo by Kjunstorms @ flickr

From Visual Insights, a photo blog:

14 Soothing Tranquil Water Photos

11 Great Quotes and Sayings Photos

14 Photos: Our Love Affair with Weird Hair

12 Funny Things You Can Do Outside With Shrubs

Artist Inspires With HOPE Sculpture

Spectacular Photos of Eyes




Photo by Tambako the Jaguar @ flickr

From Dennys Funny Quotes get a laugh:

Funny Quotes From Curmudgeons: These Guys Need to Lighten Up!

15 Wild Cartoons on Prez Obamas 1st Year in Office

Political Cartoons: Obamas State of the Union

Its Official: Folks Bring Back Thiefing Republicans, Hand Senate Seat to Them

Popular Posts 2009 of Dennys Funny Quotes and Thank YOU!

5 Funny Quotes About Time

Funny Music Video of How Americans Sound to Foreigners

Funny New Years Resolutions Cartoons

Funny Quotes About Coffee

Funny Quotes About Jobs and Work

How Funny! 10 Banned Overused Buzzwords of 2009

Jimmy Kimmels Dumbest 911 Calls of the Decade

Funny Quotes: Hollywood Actress Mae West

New Austrian Zoo Photographer is Fruit Happy Orangutan




Habenero pepper water splash photo by Tambako the Jaguar @ flickr


From Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd humor blog:

Popular Posts 2009 at OOOO Humor Blog, Thank You!

Funny Video: The Daily Show Declares Scott Brown the 45th President of The United States

Funny Video: Colbert Says Obama Is Doing Nothing and Destroying Everything

Funny Video: Mocking Rush, Robertson, Maddow Who Mock Haiti

Funny Video: Jon Stewart Lampoons Massachusetts Senate Election

Funny Video: Jon Stewart Lampoons Wall Street Bonuses


*** Get a good laugh, watch a funny video, catch up on politics and ongoing news stories, read a good poem, consider some deep thoughts, check out the science and health news, get tips for weight loss and collect some fabulous ideas for great food so you have a good reason to diet! Enjoy life, not war. Works for me! :) Thanks for visiting the blogs this year!

Happy Birthday to One Talented Trumpeter!

Jeanne "Gabriel" Pocius, left, with Haiti's Minister of Culture, Director of Music Programs, Florence Elie in June 2009

From Denny: Happy Birthday to a dear friend in Boston, Massachusetts by the name of Jeanne Pocius! She’s a classical musician, teaches and tutors trumpet to adults and children alike. Like a lot of public school music teachers she recently experienced the budget slashing of her music program - and their teachers. Goodbye job. To her credit and good character, she still went out there and performed for several charity benefits that raised money for her local school system because she believes that much in a quality public school education.

It's a shame to put our best teachers out on the street. Through music kids develop a personal discipline that will stay with them for a lifetime. A love of music will also help with the adult years ahead when they are feeling stressed during tough times.

The musician’s life can be a tough one and hers is no exception. They go from gig to gig to pay the bills, never able to put down roots any where. Again, to her credit - since she adores teaching children - she connected up with some missionaries in Haiti who were participating in the country’s culture program of teaching music to their children. Jeanne now goes to Haiti several times a year to teach: for free.

Haiti is one of the poorest nations on the planet and yet they have a Minister of Culture who has created a free program to teach music to children. “Do ya think?” that maybe America could take a page out of their playbook?

A few years ago my very talented friend wrote a wonderful book called “Trumpeting by Nature: An Efficient Guide to Optimal Trumpet Performance" [UNABRIDGED] (Paperback or Kindle edition) that is most useful for both beginning children and adults, full of lots of photos to help demonstrate technique.

I’m featuring this book in The Social Poets Amazon book store under Books on Music (just look above the posts area for the store banner in orange) as it is informative and practical teaching for both the amateur and professional alike. You may have a budding musician in the house or a relative who plays on the weekends and feels stuck on a plateau of playing ability and wants to advance, then this book is a great gift, easy to read.

Cover via Amazon

Reviews at Amazon

"Everything You Wanted To Know About How The Heck To Get a Note Out

P. Olguin (Whittier, CA) All I can say is WOW. This is a complete reference, with illustrations and thorough explanations of how to achieve the optimum set-up for yourself. As a working professional musician, I am always looking for tips on how to make my playing more efficient, more musical, more powerful. It doesn't matter what level you're on, you will learn a great deal here. The best part is, although this book is quite thorough, it is not some dogmatic, rigid, my-way-or-the-highway approach to playing. Jeanne's approach is a flexible (like one's playing should be) cafeteria-style menu of information, technique, philosophy and encouragement. This is destined to be a classic, and rightfully so.

Calling all trumpeters

Martin J. Rooney (Boston MA) This is a great book for any level trumpet player. This book will absolutely help any trumpet player improve their playing. Clear, concise, and best of all, IT WORKS! Text is excellent and the photos, which are top quality, illustrate her points very well.

I truly have seen everything :-}

Wilmer Wise (Brooklyn, NY) My copy of Jeanne G. Pocius "Trumpeting by Nature" came today. WOW! In clear English Jeanne has addressed every question a trumpet player may have. The fonts are great for the older comeback player. It's a sight for sore eyes.

I Wish I Had This 25 Years Ago!

Ralph Longo (Beverly, MA) For those of us who learned to play the trumpet incorrectly or inefficiently, this book is a revelation... What is in this book will help you learn to play at your highest level for a lifetime."

Jeanne is one of those child prodigies that can play over 10 instruments, though concentrates on the trumpet. Nothing is more fun than getting a phone call on your birthday and on the other end is this trumpet playing Happy Birthday like it’s a live concert! Now that’s unique! She is always serenading those close to her, blessing us with the sweet melody of her music. She is a fun and friendly person which is why children respond so well to her; she makes music fun!

Jeanne is available to play weddings for those of you in the Boston area. When other musicians run late (read that as they don’t show up on time when the wedding has started) she pitch-hits the other instruments to make sure the wedding is perfect; talk about a work ethic!

Jeanne also tutors both children and adults. She has tutored people from all over the world who visit regularly to brush up on their technique (and moral support). She can be contacted through Skype: (617) 326-7824 SKYPE ID: jeanne.gabriel.pocius. And Jeanne’s Email: jgpocius@yahoo.com.

Spread the word, folks, and let’s support the arts by supporting talented musicians and teachers!

Happy Birthday, Jeanne!