Change one thing to change everything - can we reduce violence?

My most recent article for Examiner.com deals with how we can over come our feelings of helplessness in the face of horrific violent events.

Change One Thing

For Those Who Mourn

Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser Now on E-bay - Ocean Grove Pier Photo

Ocean Grove Pier Perspective (c)2002 Noreen Braman

My fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy relief is now live on e-bay. All proceeds from the mini print of Ocean Grove Pier Perspective will go to the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund. 

Go to the fundraiser on E-Bay.

Digital Art Photography Featured on Epiphmag.com

I am featured artist of the month for December 

on this online magazine :) 

http://www.epiphmag.com/

Putting the Universe on Notice (Thank you, Henry Kissinger)

Crisis (c)2012 Noreen Braman

Cyber Monday Book Sale Also Aids Sandy Relief

Don't forget the code!

Cyber Monday book deal - plus your purchase of my books will help raise funds for Hurricane Sandy relief when purchased from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/noreenbraman

Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser

Now ready to ship!

Ocean Grove Pier Perspective (c)2002 Noreen Braman

Jamesburg, New Jersey photographer, Noreen Braman, will be donating all profits from the sale of a mini photo print of her 2002 Photo – Ocean Grove Pier Perspective. The photo print comes in an archival quality greeting card that is suitable for placement in a 5 x 7 frame.  Each mini print is signed and numbered by the photographer and labeled on the back as a special edition of 50 issued to raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Cost: $25

If interested, please go to www.noreenbraman.com for ordering info.

Sundog Over New Jersey - iWitness Weather Photos and Video Photo

Sundog Over New Jersey - iWitness Weather Photos and Video Photo

This was taken over South Brunswick on the afternoon of November 18, 2012.

Ocean Grove Photo Being Sold to Raise Hurricane Sandy Relief funds

Ocean Grove Pier Perspective (c)2002 Noreen Braman

Jamesburg, New Jersey photographer, Noreen Braman, will be donating all profits from the sale of a mini photo print of her 2002 Photo – Ocean Grove Pier Perspective. The photo print comes in an archival quality greeting card that is suitable for placement in a 5 x 7 frame.  Each mini print is signed and numbered by the photographer and labeled on the back as a special edition of 50 issued to raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Cost: $25

If interested, please email info@noreensdigitaldreams.com for availability

Hurricane Sandy donation from book sales

I'm a Jersey Girl who survived Hurricane Sandy fairly well, and got her power back - unlike so many others in the state who lost everything. I am currently going to donate at least $1 from the sale of each book purchased from this page to the Sandy NJ Relief Fund.  Or, you can donate directly to relief efforts at:
www.SandyNJReliefFund.org
I am also offering a free laughter yoga session to any shelter or organization in Central New Jersey who is assisting storm victims. You can reach me at info@njlaughter.com. 

Vote. Today.

Jersey Strong after Hurricane Sandy

Here in New Jersey, we are still pulling ourselves together, repairing damage, restoring power and other services, and leaning on each other for support. It is going to be a long road back, but we are Jersey strong, and we can do it. 
 
If you are running a shelter or other assistance program in Central New Jersey, and would like a free session of Laughter Yoga to help relieve the stress and tension of the past week, please contact me at info@njlaughter.com.

Milltown power due to be restored today. Good news for my son and pregnant wife. No word on Jamesburg. It is cold but ok, and sun is out!

Another night no power, no heat, but lots of good food, since we have to cook everything that defrosted. Office closed until Monday.

(3/3) d up her cage. Spotty cell phone service, don't even know if this will get through

(2/3) bbq right now. No heat, no hot water, but generous friends who are sharing what they have. Worried about my cockatiel surviving the cold, but have bundle

(1/3) Sending a message from my phone to my blog, hoping it rolls over to facebook. No power here in Jamesburg, minimal damage in my neighborhood. Cooking on my

(2/3) bbq right now. No heat, no hot water, but generous friends who are sharing what they have. Worried about my cockatiel surviving the cold, but have bundle

(1/3) Sending a message from my phone to my blog, hoping it rolls over to facebook. No power here in Jamesburg, minimal damage in my neighborhood. Cooking on my

Hurricane Sandy Gets Ready to Visit New Jersey

Free Halloween Short Story Collection Includes Noreen Braman's "Hurricane Jane"

My short story, "Hurricane Jane" is part of a scary collection of stories now available from Ether Books. After downloading their free iPhone app, you will have access to all the Halloween mayhem you can take! The Android app is due out any minute, so, Android users, bookmark the page and check back!

"Hurricane Jane" was inspired by a writing prompt from Stephen King's book "On Writing." It tells the story of how domestic life takes a violent twist for Dick, Jane and their young daughter, Nell. Also available from Ether Books is my story "The Lamp," a haunting story about vintage furniture and rock and roll.

Press Release for "Pull Cord for Nurse" podcast

Six Years of Coughing Up a Lung

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On October 18, 2006, I was sick. Really sick. So sick that I began to wonder if I could cough hard enough to expel a lung or another body part. Despite my poor health and in the interest of medical science, I spent an afternoon on the Internet, trying to determine if such a thing was actually possible. Eventually, I concluded that no, it was not possible. In the following days I also explored where the expression “frog in your throat” came from, as I was feeling that I really had one in mine.

Almost six years to the day I am happy to report that I have blogged along since then without a repeat performance of that nasty illness. I’ve written about lots of things: rodents, dogs, books and Laughter Yoga. However, a check of my all time stats reveals that “Coughing Up a Lung” is my all-time, most read blog post, getting several hits a week by people who are actually using a form of “can I cough up a lung” as their search phrase. I’ve realized that this must be a real source of public concern and that I owed my readers an updated blog post. So, I typed “cough up a lung” in the search engine box and came up with some amazing updates.

The first articles that grab my attention are all about a case reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2012. A woman from Birmingham, England had been having an especially bad asthma attack, with violent coughing.  When intense pain finally drove her to the hospital, it was discovered that she had actually herniated her lung, forcing a part of it through her ribs – technically OUT of her chest cavity. Not up and out of her mouth, but close enough to be written up by the prestigious medical journal. 

The US National Institute of Health has a medical paper entitled “coughing up a lung,” in which the case of a 10 year old girl with severe coughing and a lump in her neck is described. The mass is discovered to be herniated lung tissue, forced there by coughing.  Again, not quite coughed all the way up, but pretty close.

Furthermore, one of the articles goes on to point out that you can actually rupture your spleen by coughing and yes, pop your eyeballs out of their sockets! Another tells the tale of a woman who coughed up fruit seeds that had been lodged in her lungs since 1984! Having a daughter who burst blood vessels in her eyes while vomiting, and a son who forced grains of rice out his tear ducts while vomiting, I have no trouble believing that these things can happen!

Of course, there are other, less reliable internet sources,  such as message boards, where someone will always be claiming that they “know someone” whose lung came halfway up their throat, or the smokers who insist that they are hacking up lung tissue. There is even a song by rapper Jay-Z that mentions “cough up a lung.” I suspect the search engine hits on the term “cough up a lung” went up just for that reference alone. It looks to still be a popular expression, as well as a fearful possibility in the minds of those who are hacking their brains out.

Wait, can you really do that?

SUBSCRIBE TO MY SMILE SIDE OF LIFE NEWSLETTER

Sign up for The Smile Side of Life Newsletter

For Email Newsletters you can trust

I am starting a SMILE SIDE OF LIFE Happiness Club in the Middlesex County, NJ area. Currently looking for a free meeting space and want to hear from those interested in participating! I am starting with a "virtual" happiness club - via a newsletter! Sign up above!

Read about Happiness Clubs

A Short Story for Halloween - Listen Free!

For Halloween! Listen free to a 6 minute story, Pull Cord For Nurse. http://t.co/hMmWtogq

Free Short Story for iPhone, iPad

iPhone and iPad users: download this free book app and you can read my horror/fantasy short story "The Lamp" as soon as it is posted. (within 24 hours)
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id362070951?mt=8

Free Kindle Book 9-21-12 to 9-23-12

To celebrate the arrival of Autumn as well as the arrival of the paperback version on Amazon, the Kindle version of "A Bouquet of Roses" will be free 9-21-12 to 9-23-12. No Kindle? No problem! download free reader software for your computer, smart phone or tablet!

Other books are on special when ordered through my webpage, and a portion of sales will be donated to the Red Cross for hurricane relief.

For details, see: www.noreensdigitaldreams.com

We Need to Laugh More

A Roderama Word Cloud

A portion of book sales to be donated to Hurricane Isaac relief

Hurricanes and floods are no joke, and we have had our share here in New Jersey. Starting August 29, a portion of my book sales will be donated to the Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Isaac. Thank you in advance for your support!

go to: www.noreensdigitaldreams.com

Review: Alice in Writerland: A Writer's Adventures in the Ugly World of Publishing

Alice in Writerland: A Writer's Adventures in the Ugly World of Publishing by Elisa Hategan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An intense look at book publishing as applied over the events of Elisa Hategan's life. It contains honest assessments of her experiences with the academic writer workshop cliques, as well as the egos and failings of book agents. As a writer myself, I sadly believe her writing story to be closer to the rule than the exception.

View all my reviews

Managing Stress with Humor - August 17, 2012

Read about my upcoming seminar in Plainsboro on August 17!

Smashing Cans Goes to London - for free!

Go with Smashing Cans to London for some jolly good fun! Now FREE for you iPhone or iPad!

Et Tu, July?

The month of July is named for Julius Caesar, the famous Roman general and emperor, who, despite his long list of accomplishments in war and literature, is best known as the poor sap in Shakespeare’s play that gets assassinated by his friends. Since that time, the “Ides of March” has been considered an unlucky time. However, it seems to me, that an entire month dedicated to the memory of Julius Caesar might have its own aura of bad luck. Well, at least it seems that way to me right now. This year, July has been no friend of mine.

First of all, the entire United States has been locked in a heat wave of record-breaking proportions. Some areas of the country are so hot and dry that farmers’ fields look like landscapes from a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel. In other parts of the world, excessive rain is causing flooding on a scale rarely seen. Scientists are debating whether this is global warming, natural climate change, or some combination of both.  To my knowledge, I am the first person to realize the connection to Julius Caesar’s dark shadow over July.

Proving my theory by using global weather events may seem too broad and far reaching, so I am basing my conclusion on my own personal research. Research that consists of a close, analytical assessment of incidents, events and conditions that I have personally experienced this month.

First of all, this unrelenting heat wave is happening at the same time as I am enduring that rite of passage know as “Hot Flashes of Hell.” Record-breaking temperatures exacerbate my internal record-breaking temperatures, resulting in the ability to fry an egg on my own forehead, all the while sweating through every stitch of clothing I own. When I step out of the shower, I can barely dry off the water before becoming redrenched in my own perspiration. Doing my hair has become a race between the blow dryer drying my hair, and my scalp resoaking it. It is embarrassing to arrive at the office and be asked, “Is it raining out?”

The next set of unlucky incidents involves household plumbing. Both the kitchen sink and the toilet decided to fail this month. Attempts at repair in the kitchen created a hidden leak that was only discovered when the soaked-through cabinet began dripping water onto the floor. The toilet attempted to bankrupt me by continually running, but only flushing if it was taken apart and coaxed from the inside.

At this point, I still wasn’t getting July’s message. My house does seem to develop odd problems at strange times. Frozen water pipes on Christmas Eve, for example. I am actually accustomed to the fact that my television remote control also changes the settings on the air conditioner, and that the television volume can suddenly go way up by itself, right before it turns itself off.

None of that prepared me for the onslaught of escalating technical catastrophes at the office. The actual technical details would require many, many pages. The bottom line is, our once smooth-operating office computer network has descended in an oily morass of communications issues with computers stealing each other’s identities, refusing to cooperate with the server and blatantly exposing themselves on the Internet. Support staff from the Internet provider, the server computer maker and the network administrators from 3 separate building networks have been reduced to mumbling to themselves.

And again, in computer world, these things do happen sometimes. However, why would all office computers suddenly not be able to access the public Wi-Fi? Nothing short of a universal alignment of Murphy’s Law, the Summer Doldrums and the unrelenting bad luck of Julius Caesar could cause this much chaos in such a small area.

Thankfully, July is almost over. I almost have a solution for the computers, but I am tempted to not even try to implement it until August 1.

Free Kindle Version: "Treading Water" by Noreen Braman

THREE DAYS ONLY! July 21-23 Get the Kindle Version of the second edition of "Treading Water" FREE! No Kindle? No problem! Download free reader software! Don't miss this great deal!

Noreen Braman's books on sale to salute the dog days of summer!

Orion's dog, Sirius, is flying high in the sky, and bringing with him those hot, sunny days that make dogs and humans alike want to sit in the shade and relax. Here are some specials on my books that can help out with that!

Now until the dog days stop barking, you can get the new edition of "Treading Water" for 10% off the list price, "A Bouquet of Roses" for 10% off, and "I'm 50-Now What?" at 30% off list price, on my special purchase page.

And if you need some laughter in your life, take a Summer Humor Break with me at the Center for Relaxation and Healing! You could win a signed copy of "Treading Water!

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Bouquet of Roses

by Noreen Braman

Giveaway ends August 14, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Review: Will Love for Crumbs by Jonna Ivin

Will Love For Crumbs by Jonna Ivin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I join those who could not put this down. As a writer who has tried to silence my own demons as an adult child of alcoholics, I felt Jonna's pain and strongly empathized with her feeling that the Universe was against her. This is a well-written, honest exploration of a rough chapter in Jonna's life, and it left me wondering what happened in between the end of the story and today.

View all my reviews

Get "A Bouquet of Roses" free!

July 7 - 8, get "A Bouquet of Roses" for Kindle free! Download free reader software if you don't have a Kindle!

Mid Century art glass

All cleaned up and sparkling in the sunny garden window.

Balance your life with Humor & Laughter - Friday August 17, 2012

Take a humor break with me! Chill out, de-stress, and win a signed copy of my book!

Balance your life with Humor & Laughter - Friday August 17

Use this coupon code for 20% off my books here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/noreenbraman

Smashing Cans App Featured in Local News

Read the article.

The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

The King of Plagues: A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is my favorite Joe Ledger book to date. The wild ride continues for Ledger, who has had scarcely time to catch his breath since book 1. Maberry skillfully weaves together real world events and tragedies and gives us a common cause for them all. He could have just as easily called this book the King of Conspiracies.



View all my reviews

New Ad Promotes Treading Water

See my ad for Treading Water in this month's Beach Reads edition of Shelf Unbound.

Some reviews of "Treading Water"

Thank you for all the positive feedback on my book, "Treading Water." I am working on releasing a Kindle Single this summer featuring some of my previously published short stories — maybe a horror piece or two!

Some quotes from reviews of "Treading Water".

"An enjoyable read!" Natalie K. on Goodreads (with 4 stars).

"Quite funny and a blast from the past."  - Dorothy, Pittsburgh, PA

“When Braman starts to talk about Carol, I start to feel the book. I start to hear its voice and understand why she wanted to write it. All of us want to be heard; we want to find a way to make sense of the mental chatter that has the power to keep us up at night and to convince us of what people must be thinking." - Kat Kiddles, Uncustomary Book Review

My mid century kitchen

Smashing Cans Comes to iPod/iPad

 No matter how old your children get, there are always opportunities to be the proud momma. For example, when your oldest attains a PsyD, your middle child becomes a wonderful mother, and your youngest releases his first iPhone app. And of course as the proud momma you can't wait to brag to all your friends and blog readers. So, tonight let me take the chance to point you to "Smashing Cans," a fun, addictive new game for iPod and iPad!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smashing-cans/id525475437?mt=8#

and on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SmashingCans

Teleseminar for Laughter Yoga Leaders

My latest Laughter Yoga column:  

http://www.examiner.com/article/good-news-and-bad-news-a-laughter-yoga-business-teleseminar

2012 Design Salary Infographic

Find design jobs and careers at HOW Design.

The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another page-turner, this one deals with eugenics, old threats with new technology, and plenty of monsters, including the most frightening - the human. The mountains of gore and detailed description of fighting maneuvers are a bit too intense for me, however, the storyline keeps me reading, and I am already looking for the next one. I am not happy about all the outcomes, killing off the sole strong female broke my heart. I so wanted her to live and give us female readers someone to identify with. And the other thing that I didn't like ( and believe me, I've had this issue in my own books) was the high amount of errors - some of which really confused me. For example, in one instance, a character called Eighty-Two is suddenly referred to as Eighty-Six, making me think another clone had entered the storyline. Nonetheless, a fun read with some pretty heavy subtext.


View all my reviews

Note to TIME: Motherhood is a hard enough job

The June 2012 cover of TIME Magazine has accomplished its goal. It has elicited intense reactions and spawned editorials, Facebook and Twitter postings, and at least one parody on The Daily Show. The model has been roundly criticized for posing for the photo, especially since it includes her fully recognizable 3-yr old son. The hostile, challenging, headline,  “Are You Mom Enough?” is like an arrow to the heart of contemporary mothers.

I hate the fact that I am commenting on this cover, giving it even more exposure. But what I hate even more is the way this image disrespects all mothers, no matter what their parenting style. Yes, this mother is an advocate of prolonged nursing. Does this photo accurately portray how she regularly nurses her 3-year old?  I hope not. It appears to be nothing but a staged image, arranged to make both the mother and son look bizarre — and controversial. It reminds me of the videos of (you know who it was) allowing her son to eat directly out of her mouth. Both are disturbing and both are being used to sensationalize parenting trends that at worst, have yet to be proven effective (and might might actually be harmful), and at best, are not for everyone.

I hate that, whatever the article says about attachment parenting, this image will forever be associated with it. I hate that it will polarize mothers rather than bring them together for healthy discussion. And I hate, most of all, that more pressing issues, such as prenatal care for mothers without health insurance, child care for the working poor and the availability of jobs at salaries that can actually support families, are being overshadowed.

Motherhood is a hard enough job without this.

Motherhood Comes Full Circle

This year, Mother’s Day provides me with an extraordinary opportunity to look back at my life from a unique — and in many cultures — sacred, position.  From ancient goddess-based civilizations to new age consciousness-raising groups, the stages of a woman’s life have served as religious metaphor, reason for subjugation and the starting point of self-analysis. And while the stages, roles and paths of today’s women may have many more facets, the concept of Maiden, Mother, and Crone still holds relevance – especially on Mother’s Day. To me, these three ancient elements of womanhood translate into three elements of motherhood; my roles as Daughter, Mother and, now, Grandmother.

As a daughter, I grew up rejecting much of what my mother did, vowing to be “different.” My formative years were colored by my mother’s alcoholism, leading me to believe that once one becomes a mother, one loses all interest in the outside world and spends the rest of life regretting the past and ignoring the future. For me, it was to be a Maiden’s life forever — no marriage or children for me.

But marry I did, and not only had children, but had three is short succession. My new attitude was that by accepting the role of Mother, I would be the most involved,  and dedicated mother ever, and one who not only knew what was going on in the world, but participated in it, fully and intensely. It was perhaps my fierceness as Mother that contributed to the collapse of my role as Wife. But I shouldered my new Single Mother role with as much, if not more fierceness. As my children matured into adults, leaving the nest but not my heart, my role of Mother evolved into that of anchor and mentor.  I continued to learn and grow, not wanting to “go gentle in that dark night.” The concept of a wrinkled old Crone, no matter how wise, was not for me.

Now, as I embrace one grandchild, and wait for another later this year, I realize that the role of Grandmother sits on my head like a crown of diamonds. It honors me and honors my life, and all the roles I have played. It elevates me to matriarch, and I am humbled by that. My curiosity about the world and my desire to grow are still intact, and now I get to share it with another generation.

World laughter day at the Jersey shore May 6, 2012

Any excuse to go the the Shore is a good one, and tomorrow, I have one of the best reasons for going. Tomorrow is World Laughter Day, a day to celebrate laughter and world peace, and that is not a far stretch. If more people would spend more time laughing, there would be less time for discord and violence in the world.

Laughter Yoga teaches us to "laugh for no reason" and doesn't rely on jokes or slapstick or baudy humor. Done as an exercise it adds in Yogic breathing to ramp up the "feel good" hormones. Laughter Yoga asks us to "fake it til we make it," because the human body doesn't know the difference between laughing at something funny or "laughing for no reason."

As a Laughter Yoga leader I am privileged to help others discover this fun and easy method for relieving stress, bringing oxygen into the body and increasing the joy in life!

Tomorrow I join the person who trained me, Beverly Burns, on the boardwalk between Ocean Grove and Asbury Park for a joyful and free laughter celebration.  On the beach. Join us!

Limping Over the Finish Line on the Last Day of NAPOWRIMO

Poetry Marathon

the winners have been crowned,
the crowds have winnowed down,
I still limp along the route,
short of breath and sore of foot,
to cross the abandoned finish line
with worn out words trailing behind.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

World Laughter Day - May 6, 2012

My latest article for Examiner.com
World Laughter Day - May 6, 2012

Review of "Patient Zero" by Jonathan Maberry

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Since I am not a big fan of zombies, I purchased this book because it promised to be more than a zombie book. And, wow, did it keep that promise! Not only does this take a completely different spin on zombies, it weaves in a swift-moving contemporary plot involving terrorists, secret government agencies, double- and triple-crosses, psychology and pure mayhem. Joe Ledger joins Miles Flint on my list of reluctant heroes, doing battle with clashing cultures, inhuman creatures and evil on a massive scale. As a native of New Jersey, I also appreciated the local color of the Tri-State area that Maberry added to this book.

I look forward to reading the other books in the series, as well as the prequel short stories.

View all my reviews

Another Watery Adventure

I may be looking at a Volume 2 for my book!

Yesterday, an appliance malfunction reminded me that water-related events continue to haunt me. I thought I was safe when the 100 year flood in Jamesburg only brought water into my yard and right up to my deck, but not into my crawlspace or house. For the past several winters I have scrupulously avoided frozen, burst water pipes by always remembering to let the kitchen faucet trickle, just a tiny bit. And the Atlantic Ocean has allowed me to maintain my dignity by not knocking me down or removing my swimwear during my summer visits. But, the water may be still, but it is running deep. I have a toilet that refuses to be fixed, and will run water incessantly if not closely monitored. The way the little chain manages to knot itself up, despite numerous adjustments, points to more at work than faulty parts. Which brings me to this week's adventure, in which two elements conspired against me, water AND fire — or at least smoke.

In preparation for a seminar in NYC, I threw in a load of laundry that included just about every seminar-suitable piece of clothing I own. I also included the only jeans that fit me comfortably. Basically, I left out formal wear, outfits that require panty hose, and sweats. As the washer filled up, I filled the teakettle (with what else, water). When the teakettle whistled I came back into the kitchen and noticed an odd smell. The air seemed to have a lot of teakettle steam in it. As I poured the water into the tea cup, I realized that the smell was more smoky than steamy, that it was getting worse and that the washer had stopped. As soon as I got near the washer, I realized the smokey stink was coming from it, and my first thought was that the motor was burning up. I tried to pull the washer out so I could pull the plug, but of course, true to the way my life goes, the washer was full of water. i turned it off, but the stink was growing and I expected to see flames behind the washer at any minute. A fireman's brigade was quickly formed to empty the water from the washer and dump it in the sink, using a bucket, a pot and some water bottles. My eyes burned and my throat hurt as we bailed and bailed until finally the washer was light enough to move. Thankfully, the plug was not hot, no wires were burning, at least on the outside of the washer. No flames were evident, and with no power, the washer cooled down. The smokey stink clung to everything in the house.

My mind flashed back to the apartment I lived in when I was 18. A basement apartment. An apartment that might not have been legal due to the insufficient plumbing. The way I learned about that was the day I came home to find sewer water spewing up out of my toilet and my kitchen sink. It was 4 inches deep in the kitchen. Luckily, at that time, I had a portable washer, and I spent a long evening with a bucket, dumping the water into the washer, and then putting the drain hose out the window to get rid of the fouls smelling stuff. I was able to break my lease shortly after that. Getting the smell out of my belongings took a lot longer.

Today, I hauled all the sopping wet clothes from this recent washer adventure outside and hung them to drip dry. I skipped the seminar (having nothing to wear) and began the "waiting for the repairman" ritual. While waiting, I counted all the pennies I could find to try and determine if I could replace the stackable washer and dryer if indeed the motor was fried.  It was looking more and more like I would be patronizing the disgusting, expensive laundromat in town.

I greeted the repairman like a teenager meeting a pop star, and hovered nearby as he began to take apart the washer. Taking off the cover let out a last gasp of choking stink, and we both coughed. The repairman did his thing while I tried not to overwhelm him with anxious questions. Finally, his head came out from under the washer. In his hand was what looked like a giant seal from a mason jar. It was black and crunchy. It was a "belt" and it had slipped out of wherever it was supposed to be, and it had burned the only way rubber knows how to burn — by stinking up the place. He replaced the belt, we ran the washer through its paces, and to my great relief, it worked fine! The specter of the laundromat faded from my brain. I could hear my checkbook actually sign with relief.

Later, as I reloaded the washer with the original load of clothes, I thought, maybe the water stuck in the washer when it stopped wasn't again the universe's damp way of compounding a problem for me. Maybe the water was there to protect me, in case the overheated belt actually did start some flames. Maybe water is finally my friend. I may have to stop torturing it in the tea kettle.

NAPOWRIMO April 16

Discoveries

this morning I found
that I could not shut off the TV with my car keys
lock my door with the DVD remote
turn the lights on with my cell phone
call my daughter with the calculator
or go to work without a briefcase full
of gadgets.

(C)2012 Noreen Braman

NAPOWRIMO April 15

The Poem in My Pocket

the poem in my pocket
is written on my heart
in sweeping calligraphic letters
that pulsate with my heartbeat
and flow through all my veins
in rivulets of modern verse
constant refresh of my soul.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

April 26 is "Poem in Your Pocket Day." For me, that is everyday.

NAPOWRIMO April 14

Ambition

I'm a happier drone than most
getting to sample the rarer flowers
but some days all I can muster
is the thought that a flower is a flower
and how I'd like to buzz in the trees
or even over the water.
After all, no one told us we couldn't fly
what other impossibilities
can I attempt?

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

NAPOWRIMO April 12 and 13

Womanhood

My span of years was not spent, and my labors were not
endured, so that you could exact penance
now, in stealth while I am asleep.
others, before and behind me all have shared the
pain, through times of fruit and
ashes.
Unwilling to go gently, we grapple with your presence,
sweating and shouting in dreams full of dead relatives,
emerging at last, battle-scarred, but alive.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

*****************************

Aftermath

The pain

remains.

(c)Noreen Braman

************

NAPOWRIMO April 8-10

Money Zombies (in 3 parts)

4-8-12

Alms

the hands of the monied
dole out sustenance in trickles
onto the tongues of the parched.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

4-9-12

Payday

the hands of the monied
hold mortgages on the lives
of the indentured in their employ.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman

4-10-12

Corporation

the hands of the monied
joined in a communion of the undead
demand equality with the living.

(c)2012 Noreen Braman