Poetry Monday :: My Culture ~ Not my Poem

Poetry Monday is a blogging challenge started by Diane @ On the Border in February 2017; later it was picked up by Delores @ Mumblings and Jenny @ Procrastinating Donkey.
    Then Dolores took over the hosting duties; but when Dolores left the internet, Diane returned and took over hosting duty again with her and Jenny taking turns suggesting a topic.
    Now Mimi @ Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over, as Diane seems disinclined to take up Poetry Monday again.

The prompts are now taken from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a (drawing) prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog. And they mostly lend themselves perfectly for poeming as well. 

  I have something to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

Today the prompt is  My Culture which by I do not know which strange byways made me think of My Conviction from Hair. This is at least a big part of my cultural background. Even if the lyrics were hard to understand, the messages in this musical crept under our skin.
As we're allowed to post other people'e poetry as well here we go - I do excuse for the earworm

I would just like to say that it is my conviction
That longer hair and other flamboyant affectations
Of appearance are nothing more
Than the male's emergence from his drab camoflage
Into the gaudy plumage
Which is the birthright of his sex

There is a peculiar notion that elegant plumage
And fine feathers are not proper for the man
When ac---tually
That is the way things are
In most species

I still can add and imbed YouTube videos, I hope this plays.

Sunday Selection :: Colour26 Taknemmelig ~ Thankful

Her er månedens farve. Det er ikke en farve, jeg holder af, og derfor der der ikke mange ting omkring mig, der har den farve. Jeg var barn og ung i 1970erne, hvor alt jo skulle være orange eller brunt. Jeg afskyede de farver dengang, med tiden er jeg blevet mere tolerant, men det bliver aldrig en farve, jeg vælger frivilligt.
    Jeg har dog én elske ting, der har netop denne farve. Det er praktisk, for så er den nemmere at finde, når jeg forlægger den, hvilket sker hyppigt.

 -- 🔸🔶🔸 --

That's the colour of the Month. It is so not my colour. I was a child in the 1970es, where everything was either orange or brown. I detested orange back then. Since then I've become a bit more tolerant. But it's still very far from a colour I ever would buy.

I have however one beloved item in this exact colour. It's practical and it makes it far easier to me to find this item when I misplace it. A frequently happening thing.

Den der hobbykniv. Jeg har haft den i mindst 30 år. Af og til har den været væk i lange perioder, men jeg har altid fundet den igen. Den er meget solid og god. Jeg tror, den holder mit liv ud hvis jeg ikke får smidt den helt væk.

 -- 🔸🔶🔸 --

This here utility knife. I've had for around 30 years. Now and then I've misplaced it. Often for long periods, but it has always returned. It's handy and durable. I think it'll last as long as I do - if I don't seriously misplace it.

 -- 🔸🔶🔸 --

Og så er jeg mega-taknemmelig. Skribenten blev væltet af et æsel, da han var på vej hjem på cykel. Han slap med en brækket arm!

 -- 🔸🔶🔸 --

And a HUGE thankful. Hubby was run down by a donkey while biking home today. Luckily he only broke an arm.

Fredagsfrustration :: Digital tvang og fusk Friday Frustration :: Digitalization and Cheating

Her i Uglebo, Helsinge og omegn udkommer der en lokalavis, Ugeposten. Der har været et evigt bøvl med den. På skift fik vi enten ingen avis eller to eksemplarer. Eller en avis og alle reklamer, selvom vi har været tilmeldt Nej Tak siden det blev indført.  Efter at jeg opgav at brokke mig sidste efterår har vi ikke fået avisen. Så pludselig har vi fået den igen de sidste fire-fem uger, hver uge, til tiden og endog uden reklamer. Jeg undrede mig. Og der var da også en skummel bagtanke, for i sidste uge fik vi denne henvendelse sammen med avisen.

--  @ --

Here in the Owlery and the surrounding area, we have a local newspaper called Ugeposten. I've had an epic fight with them these last couple of year. We’d either get no paper at all or two copies for a couple of weeks. Then we had one paper, but also all the ads for local shops and so on - a thing you can opt out from, which we did and a sticker on our mailbox clearly states this. Then we had the paper for a couple of weeks, then no more and then I gave up complaining.
    After I gave up complaining last autumn, we haven’t received it at all. Then suddenly it was in the mailbox, regularly, on time, and even without any ads. I was puzzled. And there was indeed a hidden agenda, because last week we received this letter along with the paper.

If you want the local paper from now on, you'll have to opt in for ads.
At least five a week.

Prøv lige at se bare lidt grundigere på valgmulighederne:

• Hvis man ikke gør noget, bliver man tilmeldt alle reklamer osv.
• Hvis man vil modtage udvalgte reklamer, er der en QR kode og en netadresse, man kan bruge.
  
• Hvis man vil melde fra, er der kun en QR kode
  

... det er dæleme smart. Alle dem, der ikke har en SmartPhone, eller bare ikke kan finde ud af at scanne en QR-kode, bliver nu automatisk tilmeldt alle reklamer.

--  @ --

Let's take a closer look at the options we're given:
    If you do nothing, you’ll be signed up for all ads, papers and what else.
    If you want to receive five selected adverts and the newspaper, there’s a QR code and a web address you can use.
    If you want to opt out, there’s only a QR code

... that’s bloody clever. Anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone, or can’t find out how to scan a QR code, will now automatically be signed up for the whole caboodle.

 --  📰  --

Jeg skrev til den e-posadresse, der er angivet nederst i henvendelsen - lokalavisplus@afk.dk - og fik besked fra Mailsystemet: Mailadressen blev ikke fundet.

Her går det godt. Jeg må finde ud af, hvordan man så afmelder sig. Der er reklamer nok i den lokalavis. Vi behøver ikke flere, og lever også fint uden avisen, som vi som sagt heller ikke har fået i lange perioder det seneste år ... den kan også hentes gratis mange steder i omegnens supermarkeder.

 --  📰  --

I wrote to the email address given at the bottom of the notice – lokalavisplus@afk.dk – and received a message from the email system: ‘Email address not found’.

Things are really fine ... or maybe not
    I’ll have to find out how to unsubscribe. There’s enough advertising in that local paper as it is. We don’t need any more, and we’re getting by just fine without the paper, which, as I said, we haven’t received for long periods up until now, and I can pick it up in many of the local supermarkets when I go shopping anyway.

 --  📰  --

En e-mail korrespondance med en åleglat fyr fra Lokalavisplus gav mig den ønskede netadresse:
Nej tak til det hele
Mit spørgsmål om hvorfor det ikke stod i brevet, fik jeg aldrig svar på.

--  @ --

An email exchange with a slick guy from Lokalavísplus gave me the web address I wanted:
No thanks to all of it
I never received a reply to my question as to why this wasn’t mentioned in the letter in the first place.

 --  📰  --

Så var jeg nysgerrig nok til at gå ind og se på det sted, hvor man kunne tilmelde sig fem reklamer for at få Ugeposten fremover (mit postnummer er 3200). Det er rigtig smart sat op. Se bare her. Først er der alle de mestendels lokale supermarkeder. Let og overskueligt. Og man skal naturligvis klikke på alle dem, man ikke vil have for at fravælge dem.

--  @ --

Curious me looked at the "choose five ads" site as well. It's very cleverly made. If you want to try, my Zip-code is 3200. First there's the mostly local supermarkets, nice and easy. Note that you have to deselect the not wanted ones.

Nedenunder endnu en grå boks kommer så alle de andre dryssende, det er ikke særligt overskueligt, og heller ikke særligt lokalt.

--  @ --

Under this grey box all the other shops are spread out, not very clear, and not very local either.

Fremover skal avisbudet så huske at springe min postkasse over. Nu får vi se hvordan det går.

--  @ --

From now on they'll have to pass my letterbox without putting anything into it. I wonder what will happen.

Så er det nok! ~ Enough is Enough!

Efter en meget tør sommer har vi nu fået nok. Vi har haft "næsten-skybrud" et par gange, altså 14 mm på en halv time. Markerne er fulde af regn, naboens ridebane kan vist kun bruges af søheste, vasketøjet tørrer aldrig og vores frøsø løber over. 
     Jeg tror det er tid at bringe mit "Så har vi altså fået nok regn"-digt. Det er desværre kun på engelsk, og det har været bragt her på bloggen i let forskellige versioner 10. august 2020, 25. januar 2021, 29. august 2022 og 15. januar 2023. I dag er en god dag til at holde traditionen i hævd.

- 💧 ☔ 💧 -

After a very dry summer, we've now had enough rain!  We’ve had a couple of ‘near-cloudburst’ - that is, we've had 14 mm in half an hour where the official limit is 15 mm. The fields are saturated, the neighbour’s riding arena is only suitable for sea horses, the clothes on my clotheslines just never dries, and our small pond is overflowing.
    I think it's time for a re-post of my "Enough of this rain"-poem.
 I originally published this poem 13 August 2018. But I have published it almost every year since then - today is the right day to keep up this tradition:

Rain!
It was rainy all day. I could hear it all night, as I lay in my bed.
Now everything's dripping and drooping, and dreary and wet.
The brooks are all leaping, the rivers all run.
Every field had its water, every straw had its drink.
But there's apples still ripening and berries, I think.
So please, pretty please, can I have back the Sun!

(also published in slightly varying versions August 10 2020,
January 25 2021, August 29, 2022, and January 15, 2023)

But look at the Forecast. It's even (almost all) in English - more rain to come!
Sunday will be halfway decent, then the rains return.

Words for Wednesday and IWSG September 2 ~ Part Two.

• Yesterday was Wednesday.
• Yesterday I published my story using the first batch of the Words for Wednesday supplied by Mimi @ Messymimi's Meanderings .
• Yesterday was also IWSG (Insecure Writers' Support Group)'s 15th anniversary.
• Yesterday I answered their monthly question, as I have done 54 times before, since December 2021. This makes it only five first Wednesdays where I have not answered that question. Once because I had nothing to say, the other four because I was too busy and forgot.

• Today I visited some of the other participants in the IWSG bloghop.
• Today I read J. Lenni Dorner's IWSG post saying:
  Question: Do you have a favorite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?
  Answer The Ally: A loyal friend who helps the hero on their path.
• Today I replied:
  Allies, or friends, make great characters. I could not write a text without one. Now I think I'll have to try. Thanks for the challenge 😉
• Today I still had the second batch of Words left over from yesterday's Words for Wednesday.
• Today I used them for a start of my tale of June, the solitary hero.

Taped
Cream
Moonlit
Beach
Soft
Salty

June taped the shutters in place with broad, green tape. They would not wake her up again tonight. The green tape made a nice contrast to the cream coloured curtains and the newly painted white window frames and shutters. Then she stood in the moonlit garden, looking at her small house situated between the woods and the sandy beach. The garden looked mysterious in the moonlight and the low hedges framed it perfectly. The gates were shut, but easy to open even for a person of slight stature like herself, even for a child.
    It was the house of her dreams. But, a soft voice whispered in her head, that dream did not entail her living all alone in it, with no allies, no friends, not even any family, and with only a slight hope of finding any.
    The salty breeze from the sea mixed with her streaming tears.
 

... to be continued, maybe