janicephelpswilliams's Open Salon Blog

More Memorials: How We Remember Together, Part Two

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:05:51 -0400

Yesterday I posted several photos and links of memorial statues. Today, I've found more to share with you. Some may be familiar already, others not. All, I think, are worth considering. Today I thank those for envisioning, funding, creating, erecting, and maintaining these public memorials.

Memorials to the Attacks on the United States, September 11, 2001

Firemen’s Memorial

The Firemen’s Memorial, situated along Riverside Drive at West 100th Street, is one of the most impressive monuments in New York City. The monument was designed by H. Van Buren Magonigle (1867-1935), and its sculptures are attributed to Attilio Piccirilli (1866-1945).

Thank you to Nilesite on Open Salon who suggested this memorial.

The kneeling fireman statute honors 9/11 first responders. Photo by Nicole Guzzardi

“The Kneeling Fireman,” at 6 E. 43rd St. in Midtown is dedicated to the firemen, police officers and all first responders who served during the 9/11 attacks.

9/11 Memorials Around the Nation
During the decade-long period of healing, people in towns across America have been erecting memorials to the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. There are some 700 recorded memorials in the U.S. and more are underway or planned. Most of them are in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, home to the majority of the victims. Others are hundreds of miles away, such as one in North Dakota.

Boston College 9/11 Memorial Labyrinth

Photo: Boston College

The Memorial Labyrinth on the lawn of Burns Library is the brainchild of Father William P. Leahy, S.J., president of Boston College. Fully financed by the university, the 300-yard long, 28-loop labyrinth is an exact replica of the one in the France's Chartres Cathedral, where for centuries pilgrims walk the pathway to pray, meditate and reflect.

The labyrinth, symbolic of the journey to the holy land, is dedicated to the 22 Boston College alumni killed in 9/11, with their names etched on the stone. One of the victims is Welles Crowther, also known as the “Man in the Red Bandanna,” who guided his co-workers to safety and lost his own life.

Greenport, N.Y.

Osprey Memorial “Morning Call”

Photo: Robert Bessin

Photo and text from: http://www.cnbc.com/id/44006075/September_11_Memorials_Across_America?slide=8

Memorial to World War II

Eternal Flame Memorial, WW II

Photo from http://www.discoverhawaiitours.com/travel-guide/eternal-flame-memorial.html

Memorial to World War I

Burning endlessly in remembrance of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Eternal Flame Memorial stands just across the street from the Hawaii State Capitol Building.

World War One

French stained glass memorial window to an infantry soldier, Paris

Photo by GFreihalter. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_memorials

Memorial to Victims of Lockerbie Bombing, Scotland

Lockerbie Memorial:

http://www.dryfesdalelodge.org.uk/on-eagles-wings

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dfsgal/Dryfesdale%202/05.htm

A large stained glass memorial window to the 270 victims is located in council chamber of Lockerbie Townhall.

The six panels, three small and three large, shows the flags of the 21 nations affected by the disaster.

Memorial to Victims of Rwanda Genocide

“Windows of Hope” from the Kigali Memorial Centre, Rawanda

In April 2004, on the 10th Anniversary of the genocide that split Rwanda apart, the Kigali Memorial Centre was inaugurated. The Centre provided an opportunity to offer a place in which the bereaved could bury their families and friends, and over 250,000 victims of the genocide are now buried at the site - a clear reminder of the cost of ignorance.

Memorial to Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina Memorial, Biloxi, Miss.

http://www.gulf-coast.com/Attractions/KatrinaMemorialBiloxi.html

Memorials to Soldiers of the American Civil War

Returned soldier monument: An 1867 marble statue depicting a Civil War cavalry officer being greeted by a young girl stands outside Connecticut’s home for veterans in Rocky Hill. The statue was sculpted by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, a New Hampshire native who moved to Italy. Some of his other public works include the statues on Abraham Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Ill.

http://ctmonuments.net/2009/11/returned-soldier-monument-rocky-hill/

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch in Hartford, CT

http://ctmonuments.net/2010/02/soldiers’-and-sailors’-memorial-arch-hartford/

A Bushnell Park archway with two towers and a life-sized frieze honors Hartford’s Civil War veterans.

The 1886 Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch features two medieval towers alongside an archway that spans Trinity Street. A dedication on the east tower (the right tower as you stand with your back to the Capitol building) reads, “In honor of the men of Hartford who served, and in memory of those who fell on land and on sea in the war for the Union, their grateful townsmen have raised this memorial.”

The west tower has a dedication plaque reading, “During the Civil War, 1861 – 1865, more than 4,000 men of Hartford bore arms in the national cause, nearly 400 of whom died in the service. Erected 1885.”

I included the above memorial because last year, when researching our family's genealogy, I learned that my ancestors helped found Hartford, Connecticut. So, information on this city has become interesting to me...

Memorial to the Soldiers of the Spanish-American War

"The Hiker" statue at Roosevelt Square, Main & Huron Streets, downtown Buffalo, 2009.

Spanish-American War

"The Hiker" statue was created by New York City sculptor Allen G. Newman (1875-1940); he copyrighted it in 1904. For a time it served as the official monument of the United Spanish War Veterans organization. The name "hiker" was the term infantry men used to address one another casually in the 19th century; "Hello, Hiker!" was a common greeting. Buffalo's statue was dedicated on May 29, 1920. Some other castings of Newman's "Hiker" statue are installed in Pittsburgh, PA; Ypsilanti, MI; Staten Island, NY; Southbridge, MA; Woonsocket, RI; Westerly, RI; Wichita, KS; Arlington National Cemetery, VA.

Memorial to U.S. Pioneers

Pioneer Mother

Located in the southwest quadrant of Capitol Square, this statue was dedicated on May 11, 1937. The memorial represents the confident and watchful pioneer mother protecting her children. It was donated by the Kansas Pioneer Women’s Association, founded by women who came to Kansas as pioneers or were daughters of early settlers. http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-state-capitol-online-tour-lincoln-statue/16578

Memorial to those shot at Kent State University in 1970

May 4, 1970 Memorial, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

http://www.kentstate1970.org/

I attended Kent State from 1974-1978. These markers were not there at that time. I used to roll down this hill in the leaves in the fall. Sit on this hill to draw, to read, to visit with friends. In 1971-1972 I lived in Engleman Hall, very near this hill, the lilac bushes outside my window embedding within the young me a life-long love of that sweet, spring scent.

I have never seen these memorials in person. I wonder what it is like to see them on this hill.

Memorial to those who served in the Persian Gulf War

Bucks County Persian Gulf War Memorial Marker

Marker is on the south grounds of the Bucks County government complex, near the intersection of Main and Court Streets. Marker is in this post office area: Doylestown PA 18901, United States of America.

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=23478

Gulf War Memorial

See photos here: http://www.gulfwarmemorial.org/photos/photos-views-of-memorial.htm

This Memorial is the result of a grieving father's love; he wanted his son to always be remembered. So with the help of a determined committee we set out to not only honor Cumberland's native son PFC Brandon L. Davis, who was killed in action in Fallujah, Iraq, but all Americans who grieve for their fallen soldiers.

Today, memorials can take forms different than in past generations.

Here are photo collections of the Armenian Deportation and Genocide (1915-1919)

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/photointro.html

Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20th Anniversary Book Project

http://www.andrew20th.com/

World War II Overseas Scrapbook

http://www.redcross.org/museum/exhibits/ww2/scrapbook/scrapbook.html

“The Days of Used to Be” Nov. 22, 1917; from: Scrapbook pages from the unbound scrapbook of an unidentified member of the 78th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, on duty in France from the time of his departure from New York on May 19, 1918 to his return and discharge on May 29, 1919. World War I Scrapbook, Mss. Acc. 2009.309, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/16273

More images from Scrapbooks of World War I

How We Remember Together: Public Memorials

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:05:01 -0400

For several years I have been interested in public memorials and how an artist, working with a community, implements his or her vision to permanently honor a specific person or event. On this Memorial Day 2012, I offer a few links, paragraphs, and photos of public memorials.

Franklin Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC

“They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers… call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order.”

Depression-era Memorial, Bread Line. Located in the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." -FDR

Naval Aviation Monument Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Korean War Memorial, Washington, DC

Designed by Frank Gaylord,[4] each larger than life-size, between 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) and 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) tall; each weighs nearly 1,000 pounds (500 kg). The figures represent a squad on patrol, drawn from each branch of the armed forces; fourteen of the figures are from the U.S. Army, three are from the Marine Corps, one is a Navy Corpsman, and one is an Air Force Forward Air Observer. They are dressed in full combat gear, dispersed among strips of granite and juniper bushes which represent the rugged terrain of Korea.[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War_Veterans_Memorial

Great Hunger Memorial, Westchester, New York

The Great Hunger Memorial was unveiled on June 24, 2001 at V.E. Macy Park in Ardsley to commemorate the suffering of millions of Irish peasants who died from the potato famine or were forced to leave their country.

The monument’s sculptor was Eamonn O’Doherty of Ireland.

http://parks.westchestergov.com/v-e-macy-park/great-hunger-memorial

Figures of Grief and History on the Peace Monument, Washington, DC

http://www.aoc.gov/cc/grounds/art_arch/peace_2.cfm

“The Nurse” by Roger Brodin, purchased by the Wisconsin Chapters of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The Highground, Neillsville, WI

http://www.thehighground.org/index.html

Here is a link to a beautiful stone wall (I love stone walls) created by Tom Hendrix just south of the Tennessee-Alabama border. It is a memorial to his great-great-grandmother Te-lah-nay, a Native American evicted from her homeland at age 14 in The Trail of Tears.

http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.com/2010/06/wichahpi-stone-wall-unique-memorial-to.html

National Japanese American Memorial Foundation

http://njamf.com/index.php/virtual-tour-of-the-memorial

Japanese Crane Monument at the National Japanese American Memorial (Washington, D. C.), a bronze sculpture by Nina Akamu

(Note: I just finished reading “Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka. I think it is a wonderful literary memorial to those Japanese Americans interned during WWII.)

Here is the “Manila American Cemetery and Memorial” There are 17,206 military dead in the cemetery there. There are 2 hemicycles containing 24 pairs of fin walls. On the faces are inscribed the 36,279 missing in action military personnel.

http://www.harleycam.com/WW-II/Manila_WWII_Memorial/manila_wwii_memorial.html

American Battle Monuments Commission

http://www.abmc.gov/home.php

The Women of World War Two Memorial stands next to the Cenotaph in Whitehall and was sculpted by John Mills who was also responsible for the fire fighters memorial outside of St Paul's Cathedral. The memorial deliberately does not depict any individual women and is a tribute to all seven million who contributed to the war effort.

The Sculpture of Love and Anguish: Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach by Kenneth Treister, dedicated Feb. 1990

http://www.holocaustmmb.org/

A slideshow of Holocaust Memorials from around the world.

http://www.slideshare.net/amir/holocaust-memorials-from-around-the-world

Help build the Military Working dog Teams National Monument: Saluting dogs who have served since WWII. http://www.jbmf.us/

Whistler’s Mother memorial in Pennsylvania. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2195

Between Oct. 1939 and August 1941, 70,273 German and Austrian physically or mentally impaired patients were killed under Adolf Hitler’s orders (Action T4)

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007683

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4

A plaque set in the pavement at No 4 Tiergartenstrasse commemorates the victims of the Nazi "euthanasia" program. Photo by w:en:User:Adam Carr, May 2006

For the above and the Pennhurst Memorial below, this photograph from those the Nazis killed says it all and represents a memorial of sorts as well.

Worth thinking about: The Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance

http://www.preservepennhurst.com/default.aspx?pg=7

Fundraising campaign for the Harvey Pekar (author of “American Splendor”) memorial at the Cleveland Heights library.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1844705603/harvey-pekar-library-statue-comics-as-art-and-lite

Appeal to the Great Spirit, outside of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin, 1909.

Fallen Astronaut is an 8.5 cm (slightly over 3") aluminium sculpture of an astronaut in a spacesuit which commemorates astronauts and cosmonauts who died in the advancement of space exploration. It is currently at Hadley Rille on the Moon, having been placed there by the crew of Apollo 15 on August 1, 1971.

The Gardener

Depth 5m, MUSA Collection, Punta Nizuc, Mexico.

Jason de Caires Taylor is the creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park located in Moilinere Bay, Grenada. The sculptures are located in a clear shallow waterway providing ideal access for divers, snorkelers and glass bottom boats.

His sculptures have created artificial reefs, and explore the relationship between modern art and the environment. http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

See additional memorials at my next post here:

http://open.salon.com/blog/janicephelpswilliams/2012/05/27/more_memorials_how_we_remember_together_part_two

Living In Harbor Springs, Michigan - May 2012

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:05:57 -0400

It has been nearly 6 weeks since Mark and I moved from Athens, Ohio, to Harbor Springs, Michigan. So much has happened! I am going to let my photos do most of the talking! These are not in chronological order, but neither are the happy memories, visual experiences, and feelings that swirl around in my heart and mind as I become acclimated to this new hometown.

When spring finally arrived, Mark and I went down to the Marina after dinner and enjoyed seeing the first boats docked in the Harbor Springs marina on Lake Michigan.

This is the most recent photo, taken May 24 at Petoskey State Park, about 10 miles from our home. I lived by the Gulf of Mexico for 17 years. It is good to live near water again!

I loved this plant, growing on the sand dunes.

We have become more active recyclers in our new town. These "friends" appear at the various recycling collection stations.

Here is my Hipstamatic pic of the marina in May. Soon, this place will be full of boats!

A few days ago I went to the Goodwill in Petoskey. It is the nicest Goodwill I've ever been in. Bright, clean, well organized! I bought about 10 books, hardcover, that were just like new, 4 sweaters, 4 tops, 2 pairs of shorts, a bunch of brand new socks for myself and Bryce, a cotton dress.... for $60.

Perhaps you think I'm cheap. Perhaps you think I'm dowdy, dressing in someone else's "old" clothes. No, these clothes were in like-new condition. Why not spend $6 on an Anne Taylor shirt and save the extra money for things that really matter. Wearing designer clothes has never been important to me and as I work from home, it is not an issue.

I did not eat this. Someone I was sitting with did. He loves hamburgers. This was the tallest hamburger I've ever seen. It was served at Birchwood Farms Golf and Country Club.

I love seeing the flowers around the downtown area. I remember the beautiful summer flowers and the photos I took of them when we visited last August.

Okay, I love to take photos of food. Here is Mark's serving of French Onion Soup at the New York Restaurant in Harbor Springs.

I am learning to play golf. Well...I am learning to like hitting golf balls while I enjoy the outdoors and trees and ponds. We'll see about the rest!

Here is the interior of the New York Restaurant, where the French Onion Soup was served. I loved the decor of this restaurant.

I love the map/GPS feature on my iPhone. I use it so much and it makes me feel much better about driving places, especially by myself. The photo above shows just how far north in Michigan we now live... the Tip of the Mitt!

Here is a screen shot I took while talking with Bryce via Skype. I miss both of my sons, but am glad we have new technologies to stay in touch.

When I drove to Philadelphia to visit my younger son for my birthday May 7th, everything was still wintery. The trees were just starting to bud. I had my winter coat on. When I returned six days later, the trees had their leaves. This photo of our Chihuahua Jackie was taken on Mother's Day.

After driving 17 hours to Philly and 17 hours back, and a wonderful visit too, this is how I spent Mother's Day...phone in hand, talking with my kids...holding my dogs...reading and eating the great food prepared by Mark.

Before the season brings all the tourists, Mark and I visited American Spoon. I learned the difference between jams, jellies, preserves, conserves, and butters! We bought some delicious products.

If you click on the photo below to enlarge, you'll see they are putting in a new street lamp on Main St. of Harbor Springs. Something I've never seen done before.

Jesse and I had a great day at the Brandywine Museum seeing works by my childhood painter-hero, Andrew Wyeth. It was also interesting to see Jamie Wyeth's paintings of Nureyev, who was also my childhood hero.

This photo was taken from inside the museum of folks paddling on the river.

After the museum, we went to Kennett Square and ate lunch at this nice deli.

This bakery in South Philadelphia would be my downfall. "But we deliver!" they said.

We had a delicious dinner at "The Dandelion" in Rittenhouse Square. The drawing below is their logo.

This was my meal at The Dandelion!

This is an historic house in Philadelphia.

Here is another historic house.

When I returned home from Philly, I drove past the lake between Petoskey and Harbor Springs (one day I will know all of these places names!). I wanted to see if I could get a photo of the swan Mark and I had seen as I had my telephoto lens with me. I discovered there were two swans. And more on the way!

When I left, it was winter. When I returned six days later, it was spring!

And the flag was flying.

And the trillium were in full bloom, all throughout the forest floor in our neighborhood, which is kept as a preserve. Residents must promise to keep their property in a preserve-like state.

Aren't these above the happiest little flowers you've ever seen?

I fell in love with these violets. We had violets in Ohio, of course, but these are the prettiest ones I've seen.

I bought flowers for our front porch from the wonderful garden store in Harbor Springs: Christians' Renolda Greenhouse & Garden Center. I like shopping at locally owned stores.

While in Philly I had the pleasure of meeting with Rachel Simon. We talked for two hours and it was wonderful. We had so many things to talk about. She is an incredible person, a kind friend to so many, and, as you probably know since "The Story of Beautiful Girl" is a BESTSELLER, an incredibly gifted and hardworking (funny how those two qualities go together) writer!

Before heading home to Michigan on my birthday, I also met with the wonderful editor Anne Dubuisson Anderson, who lives in Philadelphia. Anne is working with me on making my work-in-progress, "Finding Pletonia," be the best it can be! Thank you, Rachel, for introducing me to Anne.

One of the highlights of the past six weeks included meeting Larry (aka Mr. Paws). Larry is my "grand-dog" who lives in Philadelphia. He was a rescue dog and is a wonderful wonderful little guy. I can't wait to see him again!

The last six weeks have been exhausting, enjoyable, exciting, happy, bittersweet, sad, a lot of hard work, and a lot of adjustment. I made the difficult decision to close my publishing company of twelve years, Lucky Press. I made the positive decision to concentrate my work efforts on my book design, editing, and illustration services, and on writing and illustrating my own books. The last six weeks involved a wonderful drive and time spent in Philadelphia. It also involved 3 family birthdays, and one right around the corner, and Mother's Day. It also involved the emergency hospitalization of my son, Bryce, who had a serious reaction to some new medicine. He was just released Tuesday after four days, and is doing pretty good. We think everything will be all right, but it was darn scary and all these events, layered on top of each other, combined with unpacking hundreds of boxes (art room, business room, book shelves, Mark's office, living spaces!)...well, it's been a big deal.

New neighbors and friends, new stores and roads and habits (the post office here closes at 4:30!). New foods and newspapers and plants. New opportunities. Newness can be stressful too, but then it starts to settle in. It becomes less new. We adjust. We stop thinking about everything being so new. Before we know it, we just think it is "home." I'm not there yet, but I will be before too long. In the meantime, I can BREATHE in this beautiful Pure Michigan air. Even in the forest, with the trees I love.

Here are some additional photos:

After our move, I finished up the interior layout of Upon Silver Wings III. This book was written by a long-time client of mine, CarolAnn Garratt, who has written three books now on her flights around the world in her Mooney plane. CarolAnn does these Earthrounder trips to raise awareness of and money for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. I am so happy to be a part of her book projects.

As I was learning my way around our new house and town, I was also learning my way around Adobe's InDesign, as this was the first book I ever designed with that software (having always used QuarkXpress in the past). All went well until we were just finishing up to go to print, then a weird glitch occurred, stumping even the tech person at the printer. Well, I ended up finding a way around the problem. Isn't that often the case in life and work? Let's hear it for creative problem solving and teamwork!

Before the Big Move, I had a chance to meet with my creative friend, Flo Clark, who lives in Florida. She was visiting her son and his family in Athens. Flo's paintings of her dog, Daisy, and a poem of hers have been featured on this blog before. It was great to spend time together.

Dear Forsythia Bush in Athens, Ohio. I will miss you more than you know. Every spring day when I looked out the dining room window I saw you in all your brilliant glory. I needed no store-bought flowers. You were more than enough.

Right at the time we were moving, Two True Blue Dragons by David Boyce, illustrations by me, returned from the PRINTER! Hooray!!!!!

We put the tiny paw-paw tree in a playpen and it went with the movers. It had two teeny leaves. They did not survive the move, but today I noticed ONE NEW LEAF. So, hope springs eternal, but I am not so sure paw-paw will grow this far north. We're almost to Canada, don't cha know?

Also, recently published, was Asylum on the Hill by Katherine Ziff. She was kind enough to mention me in the Acknowledgments and that made my day, my week, my month! I recommend this book to everyone interested in mental health history, or treatments, or Athens, Ohio, history. It is published by Ohio University's Swallow Press. Here is Kate's blog. (Please excuse the poor photo of the cover, this is a photo of the actual book I purchased.)

Two weeks before we moved, my good friend's husband died of cancer. I don't have to tell you what that was like. I will tell you that more than 200 people came to the Wake. The memorial service was filled and as a long line of cars made their way to the cemetery, traffic on Main Street in their town stopped as people pulled off the road. It was a beautiful tribute to a man who left his family way too soon, and left a community to which he had contributed so much.

My friend has horses and I asked if I could meet her and her kids at the stables and take photographs of the horses. It was such a special morning. The photo above was my favorite from that day. I hated moving away at a time when I wanted to be a better friend.

After the movers picked up our belongings, we had to sleep in the OU Inn. Here are Jackie and Tyler, comfortable in the hotel bed. They had spent the previous night at the vet's kennel, so were glad to be with us, although they didn't understand what was going on. Little Jackie (9) had the most difficult time with our move. She has heart failure and is on three medications. She is seemed very tired during and after the move. But about a week later, she bounced back and she is fine now. We had her checked out by her new vet, who was very caring.

Here is the moving van arriving in Harbor Springs. They arrived about four hours after we did; it all went very smoothly.

Not long before we moved, I took this photo of the OU basketball stadium. The trees were in full flower. It would be about six weeks before the trees were in flower like this in Northern Michigan.

This photo was taken shortly after we moved into our new home. I was mesmerized by the shadow of the light hanging in the stairway. This is where I think we will live for the rest of our lives. Or at least, for many years. I'm glad because I am not ready to move again anytime soon!

Learn more at www.janicephelps.com

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:05:03 -0400

Today I'm celebrating the release of Jessica Bell's new poetry collection, Fabric ... Wait! Please don't close the tab at the the mention of poetry! Trust me, just read a little note from the author herself before deciding to disappear ...

Jessica says:
My poetry will not baffle you with phrasing that scholars award for academic genius and that can only be understood by those who wrote it. My poetry is for the everyday reader. In fact, it is even for those who don’t like to read poetry at all. Because it is real, stark and simple.

The poems in Fabric are no different. They explore specific moments in different people’s lives that are significant to whom they have become, the choices they’ve made. It’s about how they perceive the world around them, and how each and every one of their thoughts and actions contributes to the fabric of society. Perhaps you will even learn something new about yourself.

So, even if you do not usually read poetry, I urge you to give this one a go. Not because I want sales (though, they are fun!), but because I want more people to understand that not all poetry is scary and complex. Not all poetry is going to take you back to high school English, and not all poetry is going make you feel “stupid”.

You can still say to people that you don’t read poetry … I really don’t mind. Because if you read Fabric, you’re not reading poetry, you’re reading about people. And that’s what reading is about, yes? Living the lives of others?

Are you still here? I hope so!

Please support the life of poetry today by spreading the news about Fabric. Hey, perhaps you might even like to purchase a copy for yourself? The e-book is only $1.99 and the paperback $5.50.

Here is a link to the book trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIouaFaQHb8&feature=youtu.be

Here are the links to buy your copy:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Goodreads

Janice says: "Let's support those who take the time to create poetry, it adds so much to our lives and opens our eyes to seeing words, and life, in new ways!"

About Jessica Bell:

If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she’d give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. And not because she currently lives in Greece, either. The Australian-native author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist has her roots firmly planted in music, and admits inspiration often stems from lyrics she’s written.

She is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and co-hosts the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek Isle of Ithaca, with Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest.

For more information about Jessica Bell, please visit:

Website:

String Bridge (a novel)
Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop
Blog
Vine Leaves
Facebook
Twitter

Harbor Springs, Michigan. April 24, 2012

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:04:34 -0400

Tonight after dinner, Farley (our dog) and I went for a drive and took more photos of our new hometown, Harbor Springs, Michigan. We are learning our way around. The camera helps to "see" what is around us. On this 45 minute ride we saw a wild turkey, two beautiful Golden Retrievers, two geese, some black squirrels, and three deer. I also decided to play around with the settings after-the-fact. I was in a colored-down kinda mood...

This farm is high up on the coastline above Lake Michigan.

What a beautiful location for a farm!

A small pond with Lake Michigan in the background.

The sign above goes with the house below.

Harbor Springs center is under road construction.

I hope it is done soon. It looks like they are getting

ready to pour cement!