Ain’t Too Proud to Beg The September 30th deadline for the next issue of Mosaic Minds is rapidly approaching and the poetry section is feeling sad and lonely. If you’d like to contribute a poem (or two) for our upcoming issue, please send them to: poetry@mosaicminds.net. The theme is Fears & Phobias, but submissions with any theme are welcome đ
Crazy busy week ahead. I hope to see you at the end of it. I hope to have a job offer at the end of it. Possibly two.
I just got my raise from Ericsson, which is retroactive to April 1st. It was an excellent one, o the irony.
I finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Kidd Monk* last night. I had a hard time putting it down. Even though it wrapped up a little too nicely for my taste, it wasn’t predictable and I like that in a book. The book before that was Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and frankly, while it had a couple of good bits, it was way below what I expect from Neil Gaiman, and gave me no further reason to try again with Terry Pratchett. Maybe I’ve just read too many stories that involve angels/demons and the fight for the end of the world, but it felt very hackneyed and done before.
Yes, choir practice was really 6 hours yesterday, albeit with a 45-minute break for lunch. We have a huge program coming up in the middle of October, with 5 concerts, and in addition to the 10 or so songs that we are doing, we are also working with a flamenco dancer, a jazz saxophonist, and a drummer. The theme is Spanish, and we are doing several Spanish songs and interpretations of Spanish rhythms. I’m designing the flyer and the program as well. We have another 6-hour practice in 2 weeks. I don’t mind though, honestly. Singing all day is a wonderful way to spend time. It’s like breathing, only better.
I love 2 of the songs we are singing, so much so that I can’t stop singing them, and end up serenading my children while bathing them, and fixing them dinner and putting them to bed. One is actually a spring song called Krusmynta**, and the other is called Om Du Ănskar, which means “If you wish.”
Om Du Ănskar
Akta dig jag kommer, kommer strax och tar dig. Du kan ej stÄ över, titta snart jag har dig. Om du önskar vinna kungen, finns det fyra i leken. Kung i hjÀrter, kung i rutor, kung i spader, kung i klöver. Genom linden blÄser vinden, under eken börjar leken. Glad och galen under alen, bortom trÀden vaggar sÀden.
Look out, here I come, coming quick to get you. You can’t pass your turn, look soon I will have you. If you wish to win the king, there are four in the game. King of hearts, king of diamonds, king of spades, king of clubs. Through the lime tree blows the wind, under the oak the game begins. Glad and crazy under the alder, beyond the tree the grain is waving.
*or Sue Monk Kidd, I can’t keep it straight.
**Curly spearmint