I would like to pay tribute to a poet, born on this day in 1830, whose work has left a permanent imprint on my heart and mind: Emily Dickinson. During her lifetime, she wrote nearly 1800 poems–only a handful of which were published and those without her permission. The traditional portrait painted of her is that of a reclusive spinster poet who live out her days brooding over a romantic mystery in her past. Scholars have various theories about the accuracy of that portrait, none of which I choose to get into here. I would rather leave you with a sample of her exquisite writing:

An epigram:

Behind Me – dips Eternity -

Before Me – Immortality -

Myself – the Term between –

A Poem:

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

I’ve been taking a mini vacation from the computer. During the past couple of nights, I have lounged in bed reading a trashy novel, gone to a Sonics game (yes, they lost–confirming my suspicion that I jinx our home team whenever I attend a game), and went to see
“A Christmas Carol” at the ACT Theatre. I’ve been having a tremendous time! I wonder why all these fun opportunities come at the same time…ah well. They feed my imagination during the long and boring stretches

Not much to say today. Work was exhausting. My fingers are lacerated with papercuts (had to mail out 1500 class action notices). I enjoyed chatting with Mary Ann, the secretary who sits in the station next to mine, as we stuffed envelopes. We talked about our cats, shopping, made jokes and gossiped about the lawyers. She also told me about a wonderful nursery in Lynnwood which sets up a gorgeous display during the holiday season. I think I’ll get Robert to take me up there soon.

I couldn’t have asked for a nicer review of BrainWaves. Tina’s kind words have motivated me to keep working on my site. I’ve got a lot of ideas to try out