Poetry Friday

This week's poem is an original that I wrote when I was a senior in high school. I enjoyed my 20th high school reunion last weekend (see post two below this one), and I thought it was appropriate to post a poem from that time of 1989.
For my senior spring break, I was fortunate enough to go on a trip with three friends and my best friend's parents. My BFF's parents rented a sailboat complete with captain and cook, and we got to come along for the ride. We each paid for airfare to the Virgin Islands (actually my grandma was kind enough to pay for mine), and they took care of the rest. It was so wonderful and generous of them to share such a special trip! So we lived on the sailboat and sailed the Caribbean for a week. A wonderful, memorable, picturesque week.
I've always thought this trip would make a great setting for a YA book. Maybe someday I will tackle it, and write a book about four girls on spring break on a sailboat.

Here's the sailboat. Its name was the Southern Cruz.

Here's the four senior girls having the time of their lives.



Before I went on this trip, I wrote a poem in English class. Here it is!



THE DREAM by Kelly Polark 1989


My dream is of a sunset

softly falling beneath the sandy horizon.

Its lovely reflection on the Caribbean blue,

the fresh breeze rippling the pastel purity.

The only break the peaceful water allows

is the gentle jumping of a dolphin

calling

calling me to escape to a life in paradise.

The promising future will

make this dream

a reality.



Thanks for reading! Find more poetry links at Book Aunt today!

Tune for Tuesday

Today is my son’s tenth birthday. My daughter’s seventh birthday was last week. My four year old turns five in a week and a half. Back to school time just wasn’t hectic and busy enough for me so having all three birthdays at this time makes my life a piece of (birthday) cake. It’s crazy time.
This week’s Tune for Tuesday is picked out by my kids. No, it’s not Miley (one of lil Missy’s favorites) or Avenged Sevenfold or Lynyrd Skynyrd (J-Man’s faves) or Imagination Movers (JD’s show).
They picked this lil tune that will make you laugh. Or want to buy a pet fish. Or wonder if Vanilla Ice has a younger brother.
Presenting "The Mean Kitty Song."

Class of '89

This past weekend I had my 20 (yes, 20) year high school reunion. Twenty freaking years. Man, I don’t feel that old. But I am. But come to think of it, I do feel it after being out late two nights in a row and attending all four events of the weekend. We had a whirlwind of activities starting with a tour of the high school and a mixer on Friday night. Dinner on Saturday night. Family picnic on Sunday.
I had fun. A whole lotta fun. But now I’m tired. A whole lotta tired. I partied like it was 1989. Wait, I wasn’t old enough to party then. But you get the idea.
I did enjoy my high school years. I was involved in lots of extra curricular activities/sports, I had good grades, good friends, blah, blah, blah. It was so fun reconnecting with old friends and spending quality time with my best friends. My husband went to the same high school as well (but graduated in '88) so he had fun, too.

Here are some things I enjoyed in my years in high school.
Fave TV Shows: Roseanne, Cheers, Family Ties
Fave movies: About Last Night, Weird Science, Top Gun (c’mon, the volleyball scene!)
Fave bands: Def Leppard and Guns n Roses
Fave rockstar: Kip Winger
Fave actors: Michael J. Fox, Charlie Sheen (in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
Fave food: burgers, pizza, Chinese food

Some things change, some things don't. I still love comedy sitcoms. I still love rock bands. I still love the same food!

In our yearbook, the seniors listed their h.s. activities and their"future plans."

My high school activities included student council, executive board, national honor society, homecoming court, yearbook staff, cheerleading, basketball, softball. I was a busy girl. But I do think extra curriculars do help kids stay out of trouble.

Here is what I wrote for my future plans:

"If my psychic powers are correct, I will graduate from college, become an elementary teacher, marry a goofy but cute guy, squeeze out a few puppies (one boy, one girl, 3 yrs apart) and never ever grow up!"

The funny thing is most of it came true! All except, I didn't forsee my third child then (but then again, he was a "surprise" bonus baby). And I did have to grow up after all.

In the top picture you can see all four of my student ID's. Slightly embarrassing. Here's a pic from my high school graduation and then a pic from last night.

Poetry Friday

I've chosen summer fun over Poetry Friday the last few months (sorry, buddy!), but I'm ready to get back into the Poetry Friday schedule!

I have an original poem by Kelly Polark today. The title is "Dad And Me," and it is in this month's issue of Stories for Children magazine. This isn't really about my dad and me. (But my dad is awesome!)

Read my poem here!

Kyle has this week's Poetry Roundup at The Boy Reader!

Tunes for Tuesday/GNO

Last night I had a wonderful evening with my two besties. My best friends since grade school (we grew up in the same neighborhood) and I went to Ravinia for a Pat Benatar/Blondie concert. A perfect girls night out.
Ravinia is a different concert venue. There is a pavilion, and there is a lawn where you can set up a table and chairs to enjoy the concert. We sat in the lawn, brought chairs, coolers and a mini table and enjoyed the musical night under the stars.
The Donnas opened the night. They were fun, though I am not familiar with any of their songs. Pat Benatar was next. She has so many hits like "Heartbreaker," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," and "We Belong." She has an amazing voice. Did you know that the second Mtv video to air on the day it was launched was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run"?

Blondie was last. Can you believe that Debbie Harry is 64 years old?! Her voice sounded great. Love the old tunes. It was fun to see two female powerful, beautiful pioneers of rock in one night.

So today we have two tunes from the eighties. And by the way, yes I intended to look like a chick from the eighties last night. (I was even rocking a side ponytail.) When I got home at midnight, I said to my husband, "Guess how many people dressed up like the eighties tonight?" He answered, "One." And he was right! Just little old me.
Here is my favorite Pat Benatar song, "Promises in the Dark."

Here is my favorite Blondie song, "Heart of Glass."

Blondie - Heart Of Glass- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Soup's On!

Have you ever watched The Soup with Joel McHale on the E! channel? This is my very favorite show on TV, and I watch every episode. The host, Joel McHale, shows funny clips from tv shows and makes fun of them. Joel is so sarcastic and says all the things we think while watching bad tv. He cracks me up.
Here's an older but funny clip from The Soup:



My mom and I saw Joel McHale in October. See my post here on that. Comedian Chris Hardwick was the warmup comedian before Joel came onstage. He made us giggle as much as Joel did. My mom and I were in the front row, and Chris even heckled me (but then he complimented me, so I forgive him).
Chris now hosts a tv show titled Web Soup. In this show, he shows funny clips from the internet and says sarcastic things. So of course I like this show, too! This show is on the G4 channel which I've never heard of, but I just searched for Web Soup on my Directv guide and found it. Web Soup shows clips like "Things You Can't Unsee," "That's Un-incredible!" and "Best Video Ever this week." The clips are disturbing and funny.
Chris is also the voice of Otis on the cartoon Back at the Barnyard. He also co-hosted Singled Out on Mtv with Jenny McCarthy way back when.
Here he is on Web Soup! The headbanging grandma will be me in 40 years.

Up North

I spent the last eleven days up in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Way up there. I’ve been going up there each summer all of my life. Now my children enjoy the same serene lake and family time that I used to. I love watching them enjoy the exact same things that I used to at their ages. It’s great to get away from our busy routine of home.
We started our vacation with cousins on my husband’s side and had lots of giggles. My two oldest kids’ even went tubing for the first time. We played Pass the Pigs with extra silly rules. We had a great Wisconsin fish fry.
We then went to my dad’s cabin where we shared nature at its best. My kids spent hours upon hours fishing and catching frogs at the lake. My sister and daughter even kissed a frog, but alas it didn’t turn into a prince. My youngest son caught his first pike. My daughter caught bluegills and a perch. My oldest caught pike, walleye, and bass. My hubby and dad caught big, big muskies (48 inchers among them) and were downright giddy about it. We went mini golfing (I stink). We read (I read The Shack and The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan-I couldn’t put it down!). We played board games (Pass the Pigs, Earthopoly, Fishin-opoly). We watched kids movies (Race to Witch Mountain, Madagascar 2 and the same Wizards of Waverly episode on the Disney channel a hundred times). We saw lots of animals (our dogs, the new puppy next door, loons, herons, bald eagles, bats swooping at me head, deer, froggies). We also went to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame (see huge musky in top pic).

We also took walks among the beautiful pines and along the lake. On one walk, the kids and I found the following things in alphabetical order on what we called our ABC walk.

ABC walk
A acorn, ants
B birch tree, bald eagle
C cracked branch, crinkly leaves
D dog, dead tree
E evergreen, echo
F flower, frog
G gravel, grasshopper
H high voltage sign, hole
I icky rabbit poop, irksome bugs
J jagged rock, jumbo tree
K kicking sand, knotted ribbon
L lake, ladybug
M mushroom, mailbox
N needle from pine tree, nine ferns
O orange leaf, oak tree
P pinecone, plants
Q quiet butterfly, quick blue heron
R rocks, raspberries
S steep hill, stump
T totem pole, twig
U undergrowth, under average rainfall
V violet flower, very fast hummingbird
W water, weeds
X eXotic moss, eXtra special walk
Y yellow boat sticker, yard
Z zen, zinnias

It was a great vacation, but it is good to be home.