Mendocino Poets in the Schools and the Arts Council of Mendocino County seek applications for the position of Mendocino County Youth Poet Laureate. The person selected will strive to advance awareness of and appreciation for literary arts and humanities within Mendocino county…
Today’s lesson is about Personification — a figure of speech where non-living objects are described to seem like people. In other words, personification means representing a non-human thing as if it were human. Personification gives human traits and qualities, such as emotions, desires, sensations, gestures and speech, often by way of a metaphor. Examples include: “the leaves …
A hangout for most of today’s youth, social media is a mixed bag, especially when it comes to the effect of social media on teenagers, those pros and cons are particularly significant. On the plus side, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat can be lifesavers for teens who feel isolated or marginalized. These groups include LGBTQ teens and teenagers struggling with mental health issues. In addition, researchers have found…
Only in the darkness can you see the stars. There are times, when it seems that light will never come. It is the center of winter and its cold and raining (or snowing) and it seems like the light will never return. It can also seem like this inside, that we are thrust into the deep shadows of ourselves, lurking around in negativity and bumping into feelings we did not know existed. Yet, even in the darkness…
Only in the darkness can you see the stars. There are times, when it seems that light will never come. It is the center of winter and its cold and raining (or snowing) and it seems like the light will never return. It can also seem like this inside, that we are thrust into the deep shadows of ourselves, lurking around in negativity and bumping into feelings we did not know existed. Yet, even in the darkness…
Trees are our friends. They talk to me, and maybe they talk to you too. They are transformers: They breathe in what our lungs exhale (carbon dioxide, or CO2), and breathe out what our lungs need (oxygen, or O2). In essence, trees are the lungs of earth, and we owe our biological existence to them. Life as we know is impossible on a planet with no oxygen. Remember, carbon dioxide…
I think poetry is necessary, especially in times of struggle and crises. Pardon the mixed metaphors, but poetry trumps political discourse. We live in a time when political language is deliberately misused and manipulated – frequently for malicious purposes – to serve and support those in power. This is nothing new…
This week’s Cartwheels on the Sky features a recording of the Mendocino Coast High School Poetry Slam from April 2011. I figured it would be nice to hear how different and the same life was in 2011, and to remind youth that they have strong voices, voices that must be exercised and heard — you are our freedom and you deserve a platform of expression…
So everyone is talking about when the quarantine is going to be lifted. Some states are already allowed to incorporate some activity, and although many of us in California have to wait a few more weeks, we might as well imagine what it might look like when we start to put our toes back into the water of our collective gathering spots…
What do interesting people do to combat boredom besides looking it up in the dictionary? Well, for starters, they do anything but say “I’m bored.” That’s because boring is a state of mind, and by all accounts, you have to be pretty boring yourself to actually be bored. Seriously, life is full of…