A Sense of Doubt blog post #4167 - Writing about SuperstitionJust this today.
LOW POWER MODE: I sometimes put the blog in what I call LOW POWER MODE. If you see this note, the blog is operating like a sleeping computer, maintaining static memory, but making no new computations. If I am in low power mode, it's because I do not have time to do much that's inventive, original, or even substantive on the blog. This means I am posting straight shares, limited content posts, reprints, often something qualifying for the THAT ONE THING category and other easy to make posts to keep me daily. That's the deal. Thanks for reading.
BLOG VACATION #1 - 2026 - Taking a blog vacation for a couple of weeks, until at least June 26th, 2026. But now that it's past June 26, I am not sure when I am resuming normal operations. Mostly reprints. A few simple shares (not that simple shares are out of the norm) and THAT ONE THING. Need time for other things.
Link to the original post I am reprinting below:Saturday, August 22, 2020
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2013 - Writing about Superstitions, Phobias, Taboos, and other furry birdsGreetings reader. Thanks for tuning in.
Here's a writing prompt I devised for my creative writing class, followed by a poem from 1987 (which probably needs rewriting), followed by the year in number, which is 2013, and so I have things to share about that year.
Choose a subject area and then choose a topic.
SUBJECT AREAS- superstitions
- taboos
- obsessions
- phobias
- magic spells and/or prayers
For instance, if you choose superstition, you could choose a broken mirror or walking under ladders. Good taboos could be things, like eating human flesh (as we have already had poems about this one) or polygamy.
You get the idea.
Focus your poem on your topic choice, such as the superstition of "Knock on Wood" that was the focus of my poem reprinted here.
Don't judge me. I wrote it in 1987.
Also, I didn't really hit the target of ONLY knocking on wood, but it's here among other superstitions.
KNOCK ON WOOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sit at the window sill for days.
Blackbirds ornament the trees.
I press clover in wax paper,
hang horse shoes -- points magneting sky.
Hour by hour, I telescope a lake
doing a triple-time swing, like Benny Goodman
played, to fill my windowside days --
legs cast in old sheets. I remember picking
briars off my corduroys, and hiding hundreds
under the roots of a birch, twisted like a head
of snakes. The stockpile of burrs protected
the seams of my childhood from spectres
unearthing themselves from the cornfields
and unmown back-lots after nightfall.
Now, I hide the fragments of an oval looking glass
under the pink rolls of fiberglass and mildewed
pressboard in the attic of this farmhouse.
And then I knock on wood (a pine table)
that it will be atonement enough for what lurks
in my adult nights.
At my window, I have rotted. From treeholes
shaped like seedpods split along the breast bone
the crows, two round black spots in the tar
of the tree's insides, watch my deterioration -- waiting.
Until three wise fates break bread in my house
and steal me into their warm bosom,
heather, garlic clusters, and rosemary
will garland my stained glass
window which depicts wizened nuns casting salt
over shoulders and priests drinking their holy vows.
The glyphs I have painted will ward off witches
who come to call, their heads thick with roots.
Knock on wood.
versions:
(8703.17, 8704.20) (re: 8712.18)
THE YEAR IN NUMBER: 2013https://abcnews.go.com/US/13-unforgettable-things-year-2013/story?id=21234950https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/30/5224680/the-year-in-review-the-biggest-stories-of-2013http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2013.htmlIn January of 2013, I was cleaning my things out of my parents' house on Richland Woods. I noticed that I had A LOT of t-shirts. Yearning for some kind of writing project, I wonder if I could count through writing. I could create a blog and write about a different t-shirt every day, sharing what it signified, why it was special. Would I get to 365 without adding any? Did I have fewer or more than a year's worth of t-shirts worn on a daily schedule?
I rejected the idea. I felt that the narcissism of writing about myself every day was more than I could bear let alone how much others could tolerate.
Two months later, in early March, I found out I had prostate cancer. Two weeks or so later, a t-shirt came in with my weekly order at Fanfare, and I thought of the blog again. I no longer cared if it was self-involved, self-absorbed, or even a lot narcissistic, I was going to do the blog.
Not sure if I had 365 to start as I added many along the way.
here's the blog:
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/here's the first post:
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/03/t-shirt-1-son-of-satan.html.jpg)
T-shirt Number One: An auspicious beginning, yes? The subject matter/name of this T-shirt is likely to turn away many potential viewers/readers. This may be part of the clever intention. I am mad for comic book themed T-shirts. Retro images from the 1970s are my new kick. The day I passed on ordering a retro Machine Man shirt, this one arrived at the comic book store. I had forgotten that I had ordered it until I saw it in my weekly comic book pull, which is part of the fun (and the endorphin addiction) of ordering, buying, and owning T-shirts. However, the tales of Damion Hellstrom from the Marvel Comics of the 1970s are among my favorites. I am a little surprised that there is no mention of the controversy such a comic character stirred up in the 1970s, though I have no direct knowledge of any Bible thumping disapproval.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to reveal that I had cancer.
Eventually I did in this post:
T-shirt #77: NarcissismThat year changed my life. I had surgery and had my prostate removed. My wife was a great supporter. And Once I recovered, we took a trip to Hawaii, which was spiritually transforming.
I also learned that I could produce a blog entry every day, and if I fell behind (like now as this one is being posted a day late), I could catch up.
BOOM!
And so to showcase the year, here's many photos. Some of me, some of family, and some I just added to my main folder in 2013, which I think shows a great progression of ideas and thoughts in 2013.
First, some family.
Mom at Christmas 2013, that's the new CONDO.
See the T-shirt?
That was this post:
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/05/t-shirt-41-advanced-dungeons-and.htmlTurkeyville May 2013
Turkeyville November 14th, 2013
And Mom had a visit to Bronson June 15th, 2013.
My parents, prepared for Halloween 2013:
New condo: 8209 Pattiwood
My 51st birthday!Various photosWANT!!
Purchased and some (not all) consumed the day I learned I had cancer:
Unfortunately, we got CHICKENS.
FRIENDS!!!
Me, Jeff "Jafe" Waldeck, Steve Curl.
Note the T-shirt:
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/06/t-shirt-81-starship-enterprise.htmlHAWAII
at Mauna Loa Volcano
atop Mauna Kea
working in Detroit hotel
Note the t-shirt
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/09/t-shirt-185-black-panther-1978.htmlAfter prostate surgery
Leaving hospital
My friend SAM MEYERS
Many eras of K-Grads and current K students
my friend Tom meets Ian McKlellan
TOO MANY PICTURES OF SATCHELNEW CONDO
Wife buys treadmill; Satchel adopts treadmill
I see this many times a day
Hiding under the bed because of fireworks
Satchel's #4 favorite thing: going places!
Did some fermenting!
Satchel does not like being left on the side line when dad plays Ultimate
Satchel with her sister Lucy
SPECIAL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2008.22 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1877 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2607.15 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 4031 days ago & DAD = 685 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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