As I was scrolling through YouTube, I came across a video of someone doing a pour painting. As I watched; the thought filled my head, “I can do that.”
Pour art 1
Lost Past; A Star Trek Story
Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation.
Who’s dreaming now?
Westerfield appeared to be sleeping soundly in his bed. He let out a moan.
“No, no.” His dream was more intense than any dream he had ever had. Voices filled his head.
“You will choose the first to die.” The voices spoke, overlapping voices that sounded almost demonic.
“No. No one needs to die.”
“Yes, someone will die. People have died. The blood of many will be spilled in the name of Westerfield.” He moaned. “No.”
“You are a bad person, Westerfield. The bad in you out weighs the good. You CHOOSE!”
“No.” He persisted.”
“Will it be your old friend Captain Picard?” Picard’s image floated across his mind.
“No.” He thrashed in the bed.
“Will it be your nagging sagging battle axe of a wife?”
He saw his wife waving her fist at him, screaming at the top of her lungs because he stayed late at the office again. He felt a surge of bitterness. “No.”
“Will it be your daughter? She was supposed to be a boy anyway. Now who is going to carry on the Westerfield line?” She was walking down the aisle with the man he wouldn’t have picked for her.
“No.”
“Will it be that secretary that you shipped off? She tried to bring charges against you because you got her pregnant. Just think about what that would have done to your reputation in Star Fleet.” He was giving her the envelope with her transfer papers in it. She was near tears. But would not give up the child inside of her.
“No “
“How about your son-in-law? He is the monster that married your daughter.
That bastard. Unfit to marry the only Westerfield left on Earth. TRASH!” He saw them sitting on a bench kissing in his backyard. It made him sick to think of his daughter with him.
“No.” He wildly kicked the covers off of him.
“I know. What about Data? You hate Data. It’s no secret. He knows it. You know it. He got something you couldn’t and you hate him for it. Make him pay.” He saw Sher and Data talking. She was smiling that big smile that he loved to see. Data was holding her hand across the table. He filled with bitterness at the thought of Data kissing her.
“No.”
“Well then how about your granddaughter? She should have been a boy.” She went skipping across the grass. Her little blonde locks bouncing as she hopped.
Westerfield smiled to himself. If there was one person in the world he could love, it was her. She didn’t hold it against him that he didn’t get promoted or that his hair was turning gray. She held no animosity toward him.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I have never killed anyone.”
“No?” Questioned the voices. “But you tried.”
“No!” He shouted waking himself up. The pounding of his heart echoed in his ears. There was no one in the room but him.
Coreopsis 6-b
Orion had long skinny fingers. Hands that were soft but cold to the touch. She noticed a white ring around his ring finger. “Lose something?”
He glanced at his finger for a moment. “No,” with a fluid motion, he pulled the ring from under his shirt. He was wearing it around his neck.
She cleared her throat. “I am sure you were expecting a man. I get that a lot.”
“I was.” He admitted, motioning to a porter whom took her bags and followed them onto the train on the opposite side of the station. She clung to her book and a smaller bag. They went up the stairs, through the open car door into a roomy sleeping car. It looked like pictures she had seen of trains; though, bigger than she imagined. As she looked around it dawned on her that they didn’t have a compartment, they had a whole car.
“You act as though you have never been on a train.” Orion stared at her.
Everything in this room was beige. She had expected more color.
“What?” He asked, noticing her expression.
“I was expecting more color.” She wiggled a little. “Color that imitated the thrill of riding a train.”
The porter put her bags in a closet but concealed a cough as he did.
Orion then sat on one side of the room taking his hat off and laying it in the floor beside the seat next to the window. His hair was salt and pepper in color. She thought this was odd. He looked too young to have salt and pepper hair.
She sat across from him.
“I have always had a fascination with trains but this is my first train ride.”
“How can I make this ride more enjoyable for you?” He said through gritted teeth.
She watched him for a moment. His breathing became rapid as his skin turned an ashen pale and he broke out into a sweat. “Are you hungry?” He hissed.
“No, not yet. You?”
He stretched his long thin frame out on the seat and went to sleep. When he woke, it was dark outside. He glanced over to see that she was still reading. She had taken her hat off. He still couldn’t see what color her hair was. “Good book?” He asked.
“Hard.” She sighed, “Yet interesting.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a research journal.”
“Oh.” He sat up, “about what, if I may ask?” His head started spinning when he rose up. He asked her that question in order to draw her attention away from his discomfort.
“I have a friend that has a hypothesis, and I’m watering this down, that because the brain is such a powerful tool that it can heal the body when modern medicine can’t; through meditation and hypnotherapy.”
“What do you think?”
“The brain is amazing and powerful. I have read stories about parents that can hear their children crying across town and know that something is wrong. I once had a patient that could think about lowering his blood pressure and it would drop. I don’t think he’s too far off the mark. However, his paper is in desperate need of work. Would you like to read it?”
He flashed a smile. “No, I’m sure it is over my head.”
“I feel like I should be reading it with an encyclopedia by my side. While the use of some professional jargon is necessary; he has gone overboard, I think, in an effort to sound credible.” Her stomach growled.
He stood up, extending his hand to her. “Come.”
She accepted. He led her through one of two doors that was in the back of the car the door they went through opened into a dining room. A waiter stood beside another door leading out of the dining room on the opposite side. Everything was so formal. The elegance of this little room took her breath away. Orion pulled out her chair guiding her to the table as she sat. He walked around and sat in front of her.
The waiter walked over to the table. “What can I bring you my lord?”
He glared at the waiter, “Ladies first.”
“Sorry my lord,” He turned his attention to her. “What can I get for milady?”
“What do you have?” She smiled.
“Anything you want.” The waiter said proudly.
“You’re kidding?”
“Never about my job.”
She looked at Orion. “What are you eating?”
While they were talking, the waiter lite a lamp on the table.
“I usually eat soup.”
“Then I will have what you have. I can never make up my mind when I have endless choices.”
“Very well,” Orion ordered French Onion soup, with bread on the side, and white wine. The waiter bowed.
“Could you make mine water?”
The waiter bowed again before disappearing.
“Do you ever smile?”
“When the occasion calls for it,” He answered dryly.
“Oh.” She flattened out the white linen napkin on her lap.
The waiter reappeared, pouring wine and water before promptly leaving.
Relationships
The most amazing
relationships I’ve had in
life has been my friends.
The Red Words: part 3
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
Man says, “you will have no peace. You will toil all the days of your life for me.”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Man says, “see my gun? Your life is worthless to me. Except for what I can get out of you!”
Jesus says, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Man says, “you are fat, old, lazy, stupid, too skinny, what is there to love?”
Jesus says, “You Shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Man says, “there is no greater love than thy self.”
Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Man says, “I’ll get there anyway I choose.”
Jesus says, “All things are possible for one who believes.”
Man says, “God is a myth. What is there to believe in?”
Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Man says, “take this pill. Do this drug. This will give you everlasting life.”
Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Man says; “car loans, mortgages, credit cards, I will give you reasons to be troubled.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Man says, “You are poor. You are scum.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn.”
Man says, “Christians don’t cry.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.”
Man says, “meek is weak.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Man says, “there is no such thing as righteous.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Man says, “mercy is overrated.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Man thinks he is god.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Man says, “there will be no peace as long as there is an earth.”
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Man says, “if you are different from me, you will be persecuted.”
Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
Man says, “you have nothing to rejoice about.”
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Man says, “we will lock you away behind walls of stone and iron.”
The Bible says, Jesus wept.
*A special thank you to members of Jesus and Izzy and my co-workers for sharing with me their favorite Bible verses that were the spoken words of Jesus.
Chico’s Place
I’d like to thank Nolcha Fox, Editor of Chewers by Masticadores and LatinosUSA and team for their support highlighting a children’s book all about Chico. Thank you 💕
I did it,
For the month of November, I did the walking challenge 100 miles. 3.5 miles per day. I did it.
A few days were really hard. Didn’t feel good. Tired. Just wanted to go to bed. But I did it. What did I win? Just the knowledge that I can do 3.5 miles a day.
Lost Past; A Star Trek Story
Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation.
Cleaning is good for what ails you
Data had returned to the Jormungand. He felt the need to be there. Sher’s private quarters were still a mess. He knew that she would not want anyone in there with it looking the way it looked. He rolled up his sleeves to start cleaning.
The longer he cleaned the better he felt. The sick feeling at his stomach went away. He got a good look at the pictures as he cleaned. He saw a picture of Q that he had not noticed the first time. She and Q were snuggled up on top of a tower.
“We have known each other for a long time.” He heard Q from behind him.
“Where was that picture taken?” Data didn’t turn around.
“Torre Pendente Di Pisa, we are on the very top. That was the day we first met. The war with Genoa was over, people where moving around again without fear. I bumped into her at the bottom.” He smiled. “She raked me over the coals for being rude. I wasn’t watching were I was going. We ended up racing to the top, getting there at the same time. She was,” he paused. “is amazing. I have never met anyone like her.” He stepped beside Data. “I had heard of the Turritopsisians but had never met one.”
Data finally spoke. “Why has the Continuum forbidden you to get involved?”
“There are some civilizations that it is best to know that they exist and hope that your paths never cross. You give them a wide breath when you do meet.
The Continuum and the Turritopsisians, we are aware of what the other can accomplish. It has been our policy not to get involved in each others affairs. Sher is my friend. I can’t stand by without getting involved.”
“That sounds a little human to me.”
“I was mortal for a while.”
“What would happen if the two peoples got into an altercation?”
“We would destroy the cosmos before we knew to stop.”
“Are Betazoids the only civilization that has naked wedding ceremonies?”
“To my knowledge they are. Why?”
Data pointed to a picture. It was of a wedding where the entire wedding party was naked. There was a beeping sound in the suite. Q disappeared. “Yes.” Data looked around confused. The door from the kitchen opened, Geordi and Deanna entered.
“Wow! Data, did you do this?” Geordi asked in amazement.
“Yes, I was astonished that it made me feel better. Counselor since you are here, I wish to show you something.” She and Geordi walked into the living room where Data was. He pointed out the picture of the Betazoid wedding. “Do you know these people?”
Deanna studied the picture. “It is a Betazoid wedding. That looks like it was taken in the Garden of Pina. I have never seen the couple before. May I borrow the picture?” Data slid it out of the pocket it was in. There was nothing on the back of it. She took a closer look at it. “That is the Garden of Pina.”
“What is the Garden of Pina?” Geordi asked.
“It is a private garden when nobles refresh themselves. So this couple was either very important in Betazoid society or they knew the right people.”
“How hard would it be to find out who they are?”
“I will see what I can find.”
“Thank you.”
“We came to tell you that the filter could be taken out now. I knew you wanted to dismantle it so I wouldn’t let any of my staff remove it.” Geordi spoke.
“Good.” They left.
Data was in Cargo Bay 1. He had an area blocked off to work on the filter. So that the radioactive material it contained wouldn’t contaminate the ship. “What have you found,” Geordi asked from behind him.
“I am amazed this contraption worked.”
“Someone is very clever.” Geordi walked around the covered table. Data had taken the filter apart into six little piles and had them numbered. “Each pile of parts is made by different civilizations.”
“So that no one civilization could be blamed for making it.”
“Right. Though someone had to assemble it. In order to find the right parts to fit together, it took a great amount of time.”
“Do you think someone has been planning this?”
“For a long time.”
“This entire mission gives me the willies.”
“Sorry.” Data questioned.
“Makes me nervous. I get the feeling we shouldn’t be here.”
“There are many people aboard the Enterprise that share your feeling of discomfort.”
“What about you?”
“I have not finished formulating my opinion. However, I do agree that ‘the game is afoot, Dr. Watson.’ Geordi smiled. “I do agree my dear Holmes. There is a mystery to be solved here.”
Data smiled in spite of himself.
The Red Words; part 2
Read the red words” can refer to two distinct concepts: a social movement encouraging Christians to follow Jesus’ teachings in their daily lives is the one we are interested in.
Social and religious movement
- Focus on Jesus’s teachings: This movement centers on the belief that Christians should pay close attention to the words of Jesus, which are historically printed in red in the Bible.
- Advocacy for social justice: Proponents advocate for biblical values like fighting poverty, supporting immigrants, and defending human rights. 1
Jen Hamilton is involved in a forum called ‘Read the red words’. I think she’s on Instagram and FB. I don’t use either of these platforms. But I’ve been able to read about her on Google.
Why do we have red letter Bibles? The red words in certain Bibles, known as a red-letter edition, represent the words spoken by Jesus Christ. This practice was started in 1899 to make it easier for readers to identify Jesus’ direct quotations, symbolizing them with the color of his blood and highlighting His central role in the scriptures. 1.
Why are the red words important? When Jesus is quoted in the Bible, red words are used to set what Jesus has to say apart from everything else. Jesus’s words are important. They pack more weight than the author of the books. I mean it’s Jesus. Right! The son of God. The messiah.
There is a school of thought that Jesus is being turned into a ‘hippie deity’. All about peace and love. While Jesus did promote peace and love, he had some harsh words. Matthew 7:2 warns us of judging others. Matthew 7:5 warns us about being hypocrites. Jesus flipped a table in the temple proclaiming, (Matthew 20:13 .. It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” There are at least 64 warnings Jesus gives us in the New Testament.
What about that ‘hippie love’? I found there are at least 71 statements of love from Jesus in the New Testament. For example: Luke 6:35 “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Love your enemies; that sounds like a hippie kinda love to me. In the beatitudes, Jesus lifted the ‘poor, those that are hated, those who hunger’. The very people that society pisses on. Widows, orphans, poor, and hungry. You are less of a person if you fall into any of these categories. But Jesus loves you and encourages us to love.
Christians celebrate Rahab, the harlet (Joshua 6). After Jesus started his ministry, he was homeless. Staying with those that offered him shelter (Matthew 8:20). Moses was a murderer (Exodus 2:11-12). Are you kidding me? These are the very people modern society hates.
So was Jesus a hippie? Kinda, he doesn’t fit the modern definition on all points. He was homeless. Check. He was a rabble-rouser, fighting the religious establishment. Check. Roman soldiers marveled that his coat (robe) was one piece. It had no seams. Though he dress like the people around him, it was different. Check. And he loved. Check.
He was upsetting the apple cart of the religious establishment and they didn’t like it. Spreading love and religious freedom to everyone. Jew and gentile. Roman or Israelite. Free or slave. That’s why Jesus had to die (John 11:50). He ate with, healed and taught sinners. Sinners just like you and me.
“But you’re wrong, I can’t find 71 statements of love.” Does it matter if that number is right or wrong? Personally I don’t think so when Jesus is quoted as saying: Matthew 22: 36-40, New International Version 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” There that word is again. In red again. LOVE!
Why do we find it so hard to love? Think about the last 5 interactions you had with random people. How many of those interactions had any love in them? Out of 5, I’m guessing 1. Our first reaction is to flip off a distracted driver in traffic. Fuss at the person in front of us in the check out line because they are going through the self check out with a buggy full instead of 15 items. Or that person who parks at the gas pump after they have filled up their car and goes inside. Again where is the love? Satan uses every weapon he has to pull us away from God. And hate is one of the top 5 weapons Satan uses.
In the words of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, “where is the love?”
1.
Google overview
2.
King James Version of the Bible
3.
How many times does Jesus talk about love? – The Christian Corner – Quora
Coreopsis 6-a
Orion walked onto the train platform. His pristine white suit glistened in the sun. He sat down on the bench tipping his hat to a lady who was already sitting there.
“You could put someone’s eyes out with that.” She voiced her very dry unwanted comment.
His heart stopped. He was afraid to move, afraid he would fall off the bench. After what seemed like forever, his heart started beating again. The sound of her voice was like something from a dream; something that he had forgotten. He glanced over at her; she seemed to be enjoying a book. It was a private bound book, not a professional one.
The sweet smell wafting through the air from this stranger was an interesting distraction for Orion. It too seemed to stir something in the recesses of his memory.
“What will put someone’s eyes out?” There was a hint of confused distaste in his voice.
“The sun glistening off the white slick fabric of your suit; it’s as powerful as a mirror.”
“Do you always comment on strangers clothing?”
“Only when the opportunity presents itself,” she turned a page in her book. The next train rolled into the station. People flooded the platform. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that he paid them no mind. Interesting fellow, she thought. “Catchin’ a train?”
It took him a long time to answer her. So long in fact that she didn’t think he was going to respond. Maybe he didn’t hear her.
“No.” The tone of his voice changed, it had a calm smoothness to it; sending ripples through her. A sensation she noticed.
“The other option would be waitin’ on someone?” Her voice was so alive. It seemed to vibrate through his ears. It made his heart race.
“Do you always engage people that sit down next to you in unwanted conversations?”
“When there are empty seats all around and someone makes the choice of sitting next to me, then yes. If your object is to avoid people, then you should sit as far away from them as possible.”
“Yes, to answer your question, I am waiting on someone.”
She turned her attention back to her book. Orion looked at her. She was wearing brown woven sandals, a brown broomstick skirt, a white short sleeve peasant blouse, and a wide brimmed brown straw hat. The hat was so large that he couldn’t see her head.
“Don’t you think brown is a poor choice for summer?”
“Tit for tat.” Her voice dance. “Perhaps.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you waiting on someone?”
She didn’t look up from her book. “Yes.”
There were several more minutes of silence between them. “I am waiting on a Fan-o-re-iean.” He spoke.
“You say that as if it’s a curse word.” She closed her book gently on her left index finger.
“No, not at all. I have to be careful when I say it. I always pronounce it incorrectly.”
“Does the Fanoreiean have a name?”
The word that he had such a hard time pronouncing flowed freely from her lips.
“Dr. Zabane.” She sat up on the bench extending her hand toward him in a handshake. “Sarah.” She had lifted her head and he could see her face. It was an amazing face. He looked at her for a moment. Her eyes, they sparkled and danced. His throat was suddenly dry. He looked around for some water but found none. No one’s eyes had ever look this alive to him before. It caught him off guard.
After what he knew was a lifetime, he took her hand and kissed the top of it, “Orion.”
Poetry & More 