Puzzles!

I did 5 puzzles this month. Four were ones I'd done before and two of those were ones I've posted on DW before (the 1000 piece Prairie Wind Flowers and the 500 piece Confection Street). The new one below is by far the most difficult puzzle I've ever put together. It is a 1000 piece of the painting "Spring" by Victorian era artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema (who is one of Miss Marple's favourite painters).



( Two More Puzzles: Cat & Autumn Scene with Train )

My Poem: Original Work: Stone Fruits: Gen

Title: Stone Fruits
Fandom: Original
Word Count: 17
Rating: Gen
Poetic Form: Tanka
Notes: I read the children's book Every Tree Has a Story by Cécile Benoist and Charlotte Castaut to Minisculus and learned about a project where 40 types of stone fruits were grafted to one tree, and I thought it would make a good idea for a poem. I couldn't make it tight enough for a proper haiku, so I went with a tanka.

forty cultivars
peaches cherries nectarines
grafted together
in bloom May to October
found family of stone fruits

My Poem: Original Work: A Muderous Abecedarian: Gen

Title: A Murderous Abecedarian
Fandom: Original
Rating: Gen
Word Count: 235
Lines: 32
Poetic Form: Abecedarian
For: GYWO Yahtzee - Poetry - Sevens
Prompt:


I tiptoe through the handsome stacks of polished woods.
I tiptoe to the section marked ‘Up to No Goods.’
I do not make a peep—so quietly I creep—
to seek, to peek, in all the likelihoods.

some Arsenic in sugar bowl would do
a little bit of Belladonna, too
some Cyanide would leave a bitter smell
and Digitalis foxed in gloves might tell
some Electricity would shock them all
but why be fancy? choose a simple Fall
forgotten Garrotin’ is worth a try
and Hemlock's handy way to say good-bye
for some, Insulin, withheld or replaced
for other souls, Jurisprudence disgraced
a Ketamine parfait might do the trick
if Ligatures wound tight don’t seem to stick
there’s always Morphine, just a little prick
but Noose and shove might well be just as quick
Ourang-Outang amok? not a sure bet
but Ptomaine can be trouble to un-get
an unmarked Quagmire in which to descend
Revolvers work well, no matter which end
some Strychnine, with or without poison dart
or Thallium, which needs a goodish start
Untraceable taint is a slippery gent
but Veronal is heaven-(ever)-sent
when all else fails, a Whack upon the head
or knife-wielding Xanthippe with uncertain dread
a Yew berry tea infused until it’s sludge
or, last resort, a Zeppelin with a grudge

I tiptoe out with all my doubt left on the shelves
and go well-versed (well-cursed) where know-how, know-which delves.

Video: Shakespeare

I really liked this group reading of three of Shakespeare's most famous speeches.

Watch on YouTube

Poet's Corner: four sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese is lunabee34's Poetry Jam selection for April. So, if you like EBB, check it out. Here are my favourites.

Edited to add: I like this reading of the sonnets at Librivox. The voice is British, female, and sounds as if she's off to die of consumption or haunt someone's mirror.

XIX

The soul’s Rialto hath its merchandize;
I barter curl for curl upon that mart,
And from my poet’s forehead to my heart
Receive this lock which outweighs argosies,—
As purply black, as erst to Pindar’s eyes
The dim purpureal tresses gloomed athwart
The nine white Muse-brows. For this counterpart, . . .
The bay crown’s shade, Belovëd, I surmise,
Still lingers on thy curl, it is so black!
Thus, with a fillet of smooth-kissing breath,
I tie the shadows safe from gliding back,
And lay the gift where nothing hindereth;
Here on my heart, as on thy brow, to lack
No natural heat till mine grows cold in death.

The first line does it for me. It's such a great line. My favourite single line of the whole set of sonnets.

( 24, 25, and 37 )

The State of the Ficcery: April 2020

What's ahead: May is the Merry Month of Masturbation! (mmom) I don't think I can manage 31 masturbating fics/ficlets. But here there may be drabbles.

Viewing: I ended up watching the film Knives Out and really liked it. It's so very, very rare that there are ever modern mystery films that are not adaptations of books, so you almost always know who did it. And this was a brand new story with actual clues and fair play and very old fashioned. It was lovely.

I also watched The Pale Horse, which, yeah, is one of the above adaptations; when I have a new set of library request next month, I am going to re-read it because I really don't think it went like that :/

I also re-watched Good Omens which always makes me happy. I love Crowley.

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April Word Count: 24,523

Writing: 3 fics for Dick or Treat [2 of which were also for my Jeeves bingo]

The Magic Flute

18 poems featuring 15 different poetic forms [12 of which were for the GYWO Yahtzee picture prompts]

( Read more... )