Poetry Challenge #234-Cloudy with a Chance of?
Hip-hip Okay, it’s Meatball Day!
March 9th is National Meatball Day. A day set aside to honor meatballs, according to the National Day Calendar some restaurants even serve meatballs for free today. (What it failed to mention was whether that meant the restaurants would serve meatballs to customers or serve customers who were meatballs. . .) Moving on:
Poetry Challenge #234
Cloudy with a Chance of ?
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the #1 definition of “meatball” is “a small ball of chopped or ground meat often mixed with breadcrumbs and spices.” By this definition, the first written mention was in 1856 (although I didn’t follow up to find out where or by whom}.
But I did explore further.
Definition #2: “A stupid, clumsy, or dull person.”
Definition #3: “A pitch in baseball that is easy to hit.”
Other names for meatball include: netball, kofta, frikadelle, bitki, cheatballs (as son Max calls the store-bought frozen variety) and ala All in the Family: “Michael!”
In honor of the day, using one of the definitions of meatball above, or the popular picture book, movie & series, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (first published in 1978), to create a meatball of a poem. But . . .
Do not use the word “meatball” in your poem.
Do use one or more of the synonyms for “meatball” in your poem.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me #10-Kindness Rocks
Kindness Rocks! Colorful, Thoughtful, Delightful stone nuggets sharing words of encouragement, hope, love from strangers to strangers.
“Our mission is to inspire intentional kindness in others, one rock at a time”
The Kindness Rocks Project was begun by Megan Murphy, a “ Women’s Empowerment Coach, Business Mentor, Kindness Activist, Meditation Instructor and Lecturer,” when after losing her parents in her early teens she’d walk the beach looking for guidance/messages/signs from them in the form of rocks. In the website video she shares how, finding a heart-shaped rock meant her parents were telling her she was on the right track. Listen to the rest of Megan Murphy’s “How the Project Began” with a tissue.
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for Kindness”
I don’t know if the Kindness Rocks Project is an offshoot of, part of, inspired by The Kindness Project, begun by Dr. Joanne Cacciatore in 1996, as a way of coping with the death of her daughter Cheyenne or not but the two projects are so aligned that on some level—the heart level—they totally are!
Here’s what I do know:
Gathering rocks is a cheap, easy fun!
Painting rocks is cheap, easy fun!
Deciding what to write and draw on those rocks is cheap, fun—not always easy—definitely thought provoking.
Placing those Kindness Rocks with hopes that a stranger will find them is exciting, fun and makes our hearts happy.
Kindness is something humans of all ages, shapes, sizes, social-economic situations can give.
If you need more, here’s a Step-by-Step tutorial from The Kindness Rocks Project to get you started:
Besides:
Kindness is a renewable energy!
Fin Pal asks Norman: "Up to New Tricks?"
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
This drawing is not from Miss Racz’s class. It was sent by another friend at another school but we are pretending those are first graders asking questions. “Pick me! Pick me!”
Dang! That’s a lot of questions isn’t it?
Miss Racz’s first graders sent an email after viewing the Norman One Amazing Goldfish read-aloud on World Read Aloud Day #WRAD
There was no way we could answer them all in one note—there wasn’t room on the paper. But, we gave it a try.
Scroll down to read what we answered. And then, we have a question for YOU! . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
What cool tricks do you think Norman the goldfish should try? And what do you think Norman’s next adventure should be?
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #233-Ho Hum, Humdrum, En-er-ee!
Ho-Hum, Humdrum, Second verse same as the first…
Exactly one month after Groundhog Day are you still doing things the same old way? Getting up on the same side of the bed? Tying your shoes the same way? Drinking coffee the same way—from the same cup, singing the same verse of the same song over and over—and maybe slightly off tune: “I’m En-er-ry the Eight I am/En-er-ee the Eight I am I am/I got married to the widow next door” . . . Enough!
For today is officially National Old Stuff Day! A day to look at your life and make some changes. Or, in the words of the Little River Band, Time for a Cool Change. But first:
Poetry Challenge #233
Ho Hom, Humdrum, En-er-ee
In honor of Old Stuff Day, look around your room. What treasures do you have?
Write a non-rhyming poem describing one (or more) of your treasures. Make it as descriptive as possible using as many senses as you can. What does the treasure remind you of? Is there a story that goes with it?
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
M&M turned this junkyard Hoosier into a bar!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .