Monthly Archives: May 2008

"The Struggle, First Generation" – Introduction

Free Writing, , , , , ,

“The Struggle, First Generation”
-Introduction-
Author: Karen Palumbo

Have you ever stopped to wonder what life would be like as an immigrant in our generous country? Have you ever stopped to wonder what life would be like as a first generation immigrant in our generous country? I would just bet that you probably have not given too much thought to such a simple question.

Yet people from all over the world have been arriving in our country for many generations. They all arrive by airplane, boat, drive or walk, but arrive in our country just the same. For many of the immigrants, their arrival goes unnoticed.

Some have made the decision to arrive on our shores as young men and women. Some have made the decision to arrive on our shores as older men and women. However, the result is still the same because arrive on our shores they do.

There are so many new people and each of them comes from many different countries and dfrom all walks of life. People arrive with their own individual backgrounds. The stories they share of their love for their homeland.

When you take the time to listen to some of them reminisce, about how life was before they decided to arrive here, you can almost detect a twinge of sadness in their voices.

If you should dare have the audacity to ask how they came about making the decision to leave their country of origin you will sense an internal tug of war gently pulling them in two directions. They are thrilled and excited to be in our country. However, they dearly miss their country of origin.

Then there are the children who have not made the decision to come to our country on their own, but are the products of circumstance. Their parent or parents have thought long and hard and made the difficult decision for them simply because of their ages.

Can you even imagine the fear and disorientation that must overwhelm the majority? Can you imagine what it must be like to have just arrived in a foreign land and not be able to understand what anyone around you is saying?

You search for familiar surroundings, but you then begin to realize that this exercise is one of futility because you are no longer in your homeland. What do you do? What do you now look for? How will you ever survive?

The realization that you are alone now must be weighing heavily on your mind, your heart and soul. Were you thinking before you decided to take that leap of faith and endeavor to test your talents in a foreign land that you might just be biting off more than you could chew?

Are you frightened? Are you beginning to ask yourself if you have made the right decision? Are you wondering if you should try to go back to your original point of destination? It can and most of the time is, a very excruciating and painful period in your life.

You were certainly brave enough to endure the agonizing and sometimes frustrating first step, were you not? Now is not the appropriate time for self-doubt. You should tell yourself that to look back would not serve you well, so from here you must set your sights forward.

If you have given it some thought and you think that the struggle of day-to-day living is not complicated with so many issues, then please look again. For many it is the most frustrating time in their lives.

For others they are able to adapt to their new surroundings with relative ease. I would imagine that it just depends on where you are starting out.

Have you arrived in our country alone? Have you arrived in our country with a husband or wife? Have you arrived in our country with brothers and sisters? Have you arrived in our country with aunts, uncles and cousins? Have you arrived in our country with existing children? Okay, so where exactly do you go from here?

Do you attempt to communicate with people whom you do not know anything about? What happens if you are not able to communicate with anyone because you do not know the language?

Now that you have accomplished what many have done before you, where do you go from here? You already are aware that you cannot just continue to walk the streets from one town to the next. So exactly what is it that you endeavor to do from this point?

If you came here with other family members, how will you be able to provide for them? Where do you even begin to search to locate shelter? Where do you go to locate the necessary food for yourself and your family members?

As you can see, it can be an extremely overshelming experience to say the least. This is nothing short of a monumental task for anyone to handle. Now to be an immigrant in an unfamiliar land just has to be one of the most frightening experiences to endure.

As difficult a hardship this whole experience is on any adult, just imagine what it must be like to be a child. The children of immigrants are the ones that are placed in the precarious middle position, if you just take the time to think about it.

I would just imagine that at this point you are wondering what I am even talking about. Well, just think about it. What do you suppose the children of these immigrants are thinking? Remember, they are just children.

Now they too are being forced due to circumstance. They must adjust to a place very unfamiliar. When they finally are allowed the privilege to attend school, do you think that they will wonder how and if they will fit in? Do you think that they will be shy and very quiet simply because they are not accustomed to speaking the new language that they are hearing?

While the adult immigrants are one set of issues to attend to and overcome, the children have another set of issues. Of course, that would depend upon whether or not they were born in their original homeland or here in our fine country.

For whatever reason, as time passes, the children become sandwiched in the middle. What I mean is that they inadvertently become the link between the life they were familiar with and the new life that they lead now. They do not necessarily ask to be placed in the middle, but that is where most end up.

This book will take this family on a journey from leaving their home in a distand land to arrive in America to begin a new life. The struggles they will endure along the way are what will keep this family together. It will give this family the strength to continue forward.

This family’s most difficult hurdle will be the language barrier. Their hopes and dreams are consumed with their children’s well being and future.

Let us all join with this family and follow them through their struggles. We will follow them through their successes and failures. We will follow them through their frustrations and pleasures. The love they have for each other. The love they have for their children.

One Note …

Poetry

I interpreted the heavens today
As a cache of infinite musical notes.
Suspended in random fashion, I viewed
The stars through a transparency etched
With the five lines of a musical staff.
Moving the sheet across the sky, I was
Perfectly beguiled when the stars became
Notes stacked in harmonies of minor fifths
And sevenths – semitones and microtones –
A wash of minuet and motet blossomed
Before me. This supernal opus of grand
Composition flowed forward, aggrandized
By tercets and triads; the resplendent mix
Of heterogeneous interstellar suspensions
Graced the musical staff in random fashion.

Was this the enlightenment of the ages?
Astrophysical symphonies that could unlock
Minds eye – open distant portals – produce
Healing balms capable of soothing broken
Hearts. Could this be the key to opening the
Eyes and ears of those who gaze forever
Inward but never see or hear?

Entranced in sheer loftiness, and given
A gift of heightened auditory sensation;
Centaurus became a cantus firmus, and
Leo Minor a seraphic capriccio. As I moved
The transparent musical staff to the North,
The Corona Borealis played out as a madrigal
Of sweet simplicity, while Leo Major roared
In perpetuum mobile. Moving collectively in
Contrapuntal base, the Gemini twins danced in
An exoticism of far off lands, while Cassiopeia
Became an oratorio of genteel luster. With the
Grandeur of a Turkish Sultan, Pegasus celebrated
With a lively blending of triangles, bass drums,
Cymbals, double-reed instruments, bell-trees and
Trumpets. In bel canto, Andromeda sang in purity,
While Picis Austrinus became a chaste passacaglia.

How consummate; this sinfonia of sounds that
Sated the cosmos. With every movement of the
Musical staff, another motif of harmonic brilliance
Spilled forth in the mysterious mingling of stars.
How diminished I became – gazing up at this glorious
Composition – agnizing that the earth and its dwellers
Were but ONE NOTE in the heavenly euphony.

Richard Lloyd Cederberg

"Age of Entitlement and Expectation" – Introduction

Non-fiction

“Age of Entitlement and Expectation”
-The Introduction-
Authors: Karen and Robert Palumbo

I would like to say a few words about this “Age of Entitlement and Expectation”. Does anyone really know what it even means in today’s world? Exactly what it is? It has occurred to me that we are all surrounded with it every waking moment of our lives, every day. How did we ever evolve to this point? What ever happened to independence and self-reliance?

Could it be that if someone wants something that you might have, it give him or her the right to just take it? We used to call that inappropriate behavior, jealousy, envy and at a stretch stealing. I say stealing because logic dictates that if someone else wants what you already have and they cross the line and take it, what else would you call it?

Have we reached a point in our society that everyone must be a clone of the next? Do we all laugh at the same jokes? Do we all dress identically? Well, in some schools yes. We call that a dress code, or in private schools we call them uniforms.

Is it wrong to be an individual in this day and age when instead we have groups that speak for us? Personally, I have always preferred to speak for myself. I figure that I can explain myself better than anyone else. After all, who knows me better than me? Is there any way to put a stop to it?

This new found attitude has encompassed itself in all of our lives and from the looks of it, it sort of just snuck in when no one was paying any attention. Could this “Age of Entitlement and Expectation” really be jealousy or envy or is it really greed? It just seems a little odd to me how it could have snuck in.

Perhaps we as a society just turned a blind eye and allowed it to happen to all of us. I am not really sure, but I can remember what life was like before it.

It was not always pleasant, but there was always an innocent king of “take it for granted” attitude or hope, as I like to refer to it as, that existed that does not seem to exist at the moment. Where did it go? How can we get it back?

Have we all forgotten how beautiful and wonderful life used to be when we were all independent and self reliant? Have we forgotten about all the freedoms that we allowed to slip through our fingers because we turned a deaf ear? It is time that we begin to pay attention again before we are left without anything.

What will we have to pass on to our children? You know, the next and up coming generation. Humanities gift to humanity. Each individual born is his or her own person. Would you want it any other way?

It really is up to us to teach our children to stand on their own two feet, not to lean on the person next to them. You see, to lean on someone else once in a while is okay, but to indulge in this type of behavior is dependency and that is not okay.

I have always liked independence and self reliance, at least it is a preference of mine. If we do not teach our children independence and self reliance how will they ever learn to stand up on their own two feet and speak for themselves?

What I hear about and even sometimes read in the local newspaper is how it takes an entire community collectively to raise children in today’s society. Again I beg to differ with this opinion because I am still of the belief that child rearing begins with the parents, not the community.

As parents, do you continuously over indulge your children with anything they may want? Do you go broke trying to please them? Do you find no matter what you do for them or what you give to them it is never enough? Try saying no. Try telling your children that if they want something they will actually have to work for it.

If we do not we will be doing a disservice no only to our children, but to ourselves too. We will be raising a generation of human beings that believe that the entire universe revolves around what they want only. Is that really what we all want?

We are beginning to have this already. I see it every time that I venture out, whether traveling locally or long distance traveling. Most people today do not even use the words than you, please and excuse me. It is like these words have been erased from everyone’s vocabulary. Whenever I should come across someone who actually uses these words I am always quite surprised. That is when I see that little ray of hope all over again.

Sugar – High

Poetry, , , , ,

Hello fellow writers,

before I tease you with my newest poem (spring is definitely in the air) I would like to remind you; Mother’s Day is only two short weeks away and if you are scrambling to find the right gift for mom, here is an idea:
An autographed copy of a wonderful, award winning romantic suspense.

Below you will find a quick description of my novel ‘Relocating Mia’ and a link to my website. Order a copy through PAYPAL for only $12 between now and May, 7th and shipping is free!!

Relocating Mia, Award – Winning Finalist of the National Best Books Awards in 2007 is a highly entertaining adventure, full of romance and suspense which is loved by readers who appreciate the drama of international crime, the gut – churning twists and turns of well woven intrigue, and the heart – warming effect of a great love story.

Order today!
http://www.rebeccalerwill.com/bookstore.html use the Pay Pal button and make your mom a happy mom.

Now here is my gift for you: Sugar – High:

I taste you.
Salty comes to mind,
yet earthly rich,
the way I like my wine.
I send
the tip of my tongue to explore
some more – and find another blend
of you.
Intoxicating brew.
Is it the aroma of something tart?
or maybe… my taste buds finding it hard?
to believe it’s your manliness I try
the so called candy of my eye
which seems to tease but never ease
me into a mounting sugar high.

 

Circle of love….

Poetry, , , , , ,

Circle of love……


Allow me to tell of a woman I know,
spreading love and joy always anew.
A good family she came, then she grew,
her very own family, from a circle of two.A woman not afraid to face the unknown,
traveling the seas to live her dreams.
Life blessed with God, love and children,
a circle of love she created it seems.Stay at home mom, married life agrees,
her heart always filled with passion and zest.
Doing what is right, always choosing
her words,
certainly has a knack of knowing what
is best.

Her circle of love began with just two,
children born changed life forever.
Quiet turned to laughter, music to their ears,
would not have it any other way, never.

Together they faced many problems at hand,
this circle of love soon became heightened.
It took many years, the children grew,
learned together they would never
be frightened.

These children now have families of
their own,
this circle of love has continued to grow.
Grandchildren visit, too many to count,
this family is growing, how could they know.

To think it all began with one woman alone,
a prayer a dream mixed with prosperity
and love.
An empire has grown from this circle of two,
by the grace of God on the wings of a dove.

Allow me to tell of a woman I know,
spreading love and joy always anew,
A good family she came, then she grew,
her very own family, from a circle of two.
A Very Happy Mother’s Day To All!

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
4/27/2007 (c)

*From:
“Inside Out, Upside Down and Backwards!”

TRULY SHOCKING photo

Sci-Fi, , , ,

I have recently been working toward my certification as a Paranormal Investigator and have been studying how to analyze suspected paranormal photographs. The study got me to remembering and thinking about probably the most incredible paranormal photo I have ever seen.

When I was around the age of 12-13…some 30 odd years ago…my interest in the paranormal was just beginning in earnest. Anything that was unusual began to interest and even fascinate me. The Bermuda Triangle, UFO’s, hauntings, anything along that line. My father had told me many “Ghost Stories” that had been passed down in his family and held as absolute fact, but he himself was somewhat of a skeptic of such things. Since I had developed such as strong interest in the subjects he tried to help me in my pursuit though.

A photo from a friend of his that he saw one day was to challenge his skepticism and leave an impression in my mind that would last to this day.

I remember my father coming home from work that day and telling me that he had something for me to see. He seemed very excited and perplexed at the same time. One of his longtime friends had taken a photo a few days prior and trusted in my father to look at it and tell him what he thought. As I remember my fathers friend was somewhat of a skeptic himself, but was very perplexed, to say the least, by the photo he had taken. My father asked his friend if he could bring the photo home to show it to me since I had a great interest in things like that. My father’s friend didn’t want to but reluctantly agreed. You must remember that this was 30 odd years ago and many of that time felt that to believe in the paranormal meant you were “crazy”. Even though the friend had taken the picture and seen it with his own eyes he didn’t want to be labeled “crazy” I imagine.

My father handed me the photo without telling me anything about it and asked me to tell him what I saw. My mother also looked at the photo with me. I remember we got a slightly uneasy feeling about the photo from the first we saw it for some reason. As I looked at the photo I could very clearly see 4 ghostly forms beside of a fence. Gaseous in some places and almost solid in others. One was a very tall and large standing form that judging by the fence post behind appeared to be 7 foot tall or taller, with a look, posture and hand position of an authority figure of some type. The three others were much smaller and were sitting on the ground in front of this figure. I remember that one of the smaller ones was sitting with outstretched legs crossed at the ankles. The faces of 2 of the sitting figures could not be seen as they were turned toward the standing figure, but the standing figures face and one of the sitting ones face( which appeared to be looking at the camera) could be made out fairly well. We all agreed that what it looked like to us was a scene of a teacher, preacher, or storyteller of some type talking to a group of 3 “children”. Past the point of the basic photo a chilling detail came to light. It seemed to my mother and I that the tall figure had horns of some type on its head and as I looked closer I noticed that one of the smaller forms did as well. When we told my father this he said that he and his friend had came to the same conclusion, but that he didn’t want to tell us and wanted to see if we came to the same conclusion. We had.

My father then truly shocked us both when he told us that the photo had been a photo of his friend’s new boat that he had recently bought. His friend had aimed the camera at his boat (which was sitting on a trailer next to the fence) and taken 2 self-developing photos. One of the photos showed the boat and the other had shown what we were looking at. The boat had disappeared completely to be replaced by the 4 figures.

The photo was taken back to the friend the next day and I haven’t seen it since. I have often wished that I would have gotten a copy of the photo, but since computers and scanners were most definitely not household items 30 years ago, I unfortunately didn’t get a copy. The friend wanted to forget that anything had taken place so my father did not ask him for a copy or press the matter any further.

I have seen 100’s or maybe even 1000’s of photos suspected of being paranormal in the time since that day, but of the ones I feel are real and not faked I have not seen any to top this one as to its graphicness and unusual content

When you add the facts together that my father had known this man for many years as honest and not someone who would try a hoax. The fact that self developing photos are hard…if not impossible…to alter. The fact that he didn’t even want people to know about the photo. And that he didn’t have access to computer photo altering programs like we have today. I feel it was completely real and chillingly genuine. What was depicted in the photo is completely up to theory but it is definitely one of if not the best examples of paranormal photography I will ever see.

________________________________________________________________________

copyright 2008 Donald Ryles

To read more about Dr. Ryles and his life and to read about : Hidden Secrets of Many, But One… a very true and most unusual book of spirits, ghosts, haunting, and 9-11 being encoded 4 years before it happened, go to : www.drryles.com

________________________________________________________________________