f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

I had the best of excuses for ignoring my weblog the past few days: I was in western New York, helping to celebrate the tenth birthday of my wonderful niece Elisabeth [“Lissa”] Grace Giacalone. (And, I was even treated by my haiga-collaborator brother Arthur to a fabulous concert at Chautauqua Institute by Emmylou Harris and Carolina Star (a reincarnation of the legendary Seldom Scene; see this article from the Wash. Post, which should inspire all aging boomers who love to play music).

Lately, I’ve often thought how lucky we are to be on the planet during the rather short part of human existence when photography has been available for saving and highlighting our memories. When other memory functions may be fading, photos bring back vivid images of the young ones who have enhanced our lives. In honor of Lissa and the many smiles and warm moments she has given me, I put together a Baby Lissa Montage (in color). See Lissa enjoying her first ice cream cone, her first Thanksgiving with Uncle David, her first night in a big-girl bed, and more. For more, feast your eyes on Lissa in her first pair of sunglasses.

Lissa and her delightful little brother James have graced this weblog often over the past few years. Check out their trip to a pumpkin patch, and their effort to teach us all to “Live to Love, to Laugh and to Learn.”

Of course, the visit has worn out this old uncle, so I’m going to head for a nap, after ending with a few poems from Jim Kacian, who was honored last week by the Haiku Society of America, for the bi-lingual re-publication of his book Presents of Mind (see our previous post).

brightest moon up all night

sundown –
one dog starts
them all

the melon splits
ahead of my knife –
midsummer heat

for my birthday
another trip
around the sun

……………………… by Jim Kacian – Upstate Dim Sum, guest poet, 2001/II

first page
of the new journal
untrammeled snow

after snowfall
a Buddha on the lawn
with coal eyes

……………………………… from Presents of Mind

p.s. Lissa noted recently that she was about to enter double-digits and “would be in double digits for most of the rest of my life.” She has a very good point.

p.p.s. Although he is cloaked in anonymity, the Editor of Blawg Review is almost surely in double-digits himself.  Ed pulled off a Blog Carnival double-header today (after being double-cross again by Steve Bainbridge), hosting both Blawg Review #120 (in Kingsfieldian style) and Carnival of Trust #3.  If, like myself, you have not discovered the Carnival of Trust, you might want to check out the prior editions (first and second) of this montlhy compilation of weblog materials dealing with the most important concept of trust.  (It is limited to the ten best recent postings as chosen by the host.) CofT is the creation of Charles H. Green of Trusted Advisors Associates.  Here’s what Charles has to say about the venture:

As I wrote when announcing the first Carnival of Trust my hope and ambition for the carnival is to begin establishing a home base, a center of gravity, for people who are interested in fostering greater trusted relationships in various realms of the world.

While my own material is primarily business-oriented, the Carnival of Trust will be explicitly more broad than business alone. Trust is heavily personal in nature, and I hope the submissions will reflect that—postings that deal with personal trust, business trust, and political trust are welcome, as well as pieces on the nature of trust.

I’ll be setting a hard limit of 10 postings per Carnival. The host will personally make the decisions about inclusion, in an inevitably subjective manner intended to push the thinking ahead in those broad areas of trust.