Change

Something new, something old…

by taohobo

Woohoo!! I just changed domains, kind of, to http://haikujourney.com for this blog – that’s something new. The something old is that https://taohobo.wordpress.com will still work and it’ll simply redirect to haikujourney.com.

As a blogger, you’ve gotta love WordPress and the tools, support, training, etc. that make it so easy to have a great blog (Ok, I’m still working on my part of that. lol 😀 )

So now I have a blog site that matches the name of my blog, makes more sense to people, will make it easier to find – in other words all the things you don’t want to have to constantly worry about while you’re trying to create content for the blog. And these are all things I may have never done if I hadn’t spent a great month with @michelleweber, @supernovia, @jeremylduvall on Blogging 101, and with @benhuberman, @lettergrade on Writing 201 and all of the bloggers, writers, and poets that were my “classmates”.

Divergence: “What are you willing to do today?”

by taohobo

I occasionally diverge from the usual content of this blog. Yes, there’s usual content..? But, many things capture my attention and interest so this inaugurates a new feature: Divergence Saturday. And, I can’t think of a better topic than health at a starter.

I’ve been following Dr. Chet Zelasko for several years now. Like me, that always helps, he likes to dig into, research, facts, why, what, and then explains it very clearly – that mean’s simply. Plus, I’ve met him and talked with him so I know that what he says here, reflects who he is, someone I trust. He blogs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday here: DrChet – Straight Talk on Health. He posts nice and early, at least for me on the East coast, so I can read him before I get distracted by the day.

The quote in the title of this post is how Chet ends every blog about health. Whether it’s something he’s concerned about, or the answer to a question – yes, he answers questions – it always ends with something you and I can do to be better. So…

“What are you willing to do today?”

And, thanks Chet!

Off course…

by taohobo

Once in a while I’ll diverge, gently or enormously, from the haiku path. I’ve done that at least once before when my friend Anthony Demangone from NAFCU posts something especially interesting, important, spot on… Well, all his posts are but many are more business focused.

This post, Are you too busy? – Musings from the NAFCU CU Suite on the other hand is about life. The very thing Haiku attempts to capture in seventeen syllables.

So here’re some great ideas to apply to your journey

My walls…

by taohobo

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Wall to Wall.”

Hangs our life, little pieces of it, memories in frames. Boldness, fearlessness, is on our walls, – the painters asked twice, “Are you sure this is the color you wanted?” Small shelves honor ceramic art by our sons, carvings, and photos too. Life is on our walls, wall to wall.

Teacher’s Pet

by taohobo

Well, not me. I was probably Mr. T.F. Davies’ biggest headache. And, he died before I was mature, smart, brave… enough to tell him what an impact he’d had on my life.

He was constantly after me to read. It seemed a daily project, maybe it was only weekly, but I remember that he was unrelenting. Just taking a book, waiting a couple of weeks and returning it was not enough. He asked questions, lots of questions, questions that could only be answered if you’d actually read the book. Opening it, skimming, dog-earring some pages, nothing else would work. He knew those books hadn’t been read.

In his persistence he finally offered me a very slim book, funny that I don’t remember which it was. Just that it was a Sherlock Holmes story – suddenly I was hooked, deeply, the barbs fully imbedded. I wanted another. Then another. Finally I’d read all the Holmes books in our school’s small library. He found me more, playing me well, enough to reel me in but not enough to break the still delicate tippet.

From Doyle to Conrad, from Conrad to Michener… Each book about something I was interested in,  mysteries, the sea, adventure, the world. The written word has shaped my life and my insatiable curiosity is never sated. I wonder how much more I would have learned had I been teacher’s pet. Thank you Mr. Davies!

Teacher’s Pet