Inspiration: 1954 Roger Bannister of Britain breaks 4 minute mile (3:59:4)

Break a record 

Break a glass

Break a heart

Brakes on a car

Breakfast

Catch a break

Give me a break

Break the silence

Break a deal

Break bread

Break a fall

Break up

Breakdown

Breakdance

Break a leg

Break in a pair of boots

Break a sweat

Line break

Big break

Breakthrough

Break apart

Break in

Breakout

Break a habit

Lunch Break

Spring Break

How does it work?

Using http://www.onthisday.com/ find an event from history for each day of the month and use that for an inspiration for our daily post. It can be anything from History, Music, Film & TV, Sports. And of course creative license is allowed- to tie back to the historical event in any way we find relevant.

What is the format?

It can be any length but should be fairly short. It can be a poem, story, an essay, a rant, and editorial, etc. Posts should be hashtagged #MDBC2016 on social media.

What happens if we don’t post?

Inspiration: 2012 17 people are killed and 47 missing after a flash flood in Nepal

Landslide

The rains come year after year

Filling the rivers until they overflow

Soaking the dirt

Pelting the mountains

Breaking off pieces of rock

On a rolling descent

Crushing everything in its path

References:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=78070

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/08/18/india-nepal-flooding/14249287/

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/06/11/deadly-floods-and-landslides-hit-eastern-nepal-as-monsoon-season-starts/

May Day Blogging Challenge 2016

How does it work?

Using http://www.onthisday.com/ find an event from history for each day of the month and use that for an inspiration for our daily post. It can be anything from History, Music, Film & TV, Sports. And of course creative license is allowed- to tie back to the historical event in any way we find relevant.

What is the format?

It can be any length but should be fairly short. It can be a poem, story, an essay, a rant, and editorial, etc. Posts should be hashtagged #MDBC2016 on social media.

What happens if we don’t post?

Inspiration: 1927 1st balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field, Ill)

I loosen the lines tied around the stakes  

Empty out the garbage that keeps me weighed down

Stepping away from the squabbles, self-doubt, and the questions

Causing me to run in circles instead of toward the finish line

I retreat into the little basket

A room without walls, a room without distractions

Alone, no voices chattering, without even the white

Noises not noticed until they’re gone

While defying gravity I turn myself around

As I consider each of the four directions

Removing myself from terrestrial terrors

And the anxieties of modern life

With the radius of my spotlight expanding as I rise

Allowing me to let go of the minutia and take in a greater view

Being caught in the heat beating down that allows me to ascend

Being refreshed by the breezes crossing through me

I exhale and acclimate to the new temperature

Occasionally birds cross my path and I am envious of

How easy it is for them to achieve this state

I feel as if I’ve awoken from a sleep that lasted a week

Freeing my muscles from tension, soothing my aches

The solitude of the view from miles above the earth

Being closer to the next life than the one I left behind

Like Peter on the mountain with Elijah and Moses

It’s tempting to want to stay in this place

but it’s time to begin the descent

I savor the last moments of the reverse journey

Revitalizing energy pulsing through my mind and body

May Day Blogging Challenge 2016

How does it work?

Using http://www.onthisday.com/ find an event from history for each day of the month and use that for an inspiration for our daily post. It can be anything from History, Music, Film & TV, Sports. And of course creative license is allowed- to tie back to the historical event in any way we find relevant.

What is the format?

It can be any length but should be fairly short. It can be a poem, story, an essay, a rant, and editorial, etc. Posts should be hashtagged #MDBC2016 on social media.

What happens if we don’t post?

1937 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for “Gone With the Wind”

I read Gone with the Wind a few years ago. It was a great book. It was very long though so it took fortitude. I probably should talk about what an amazing Civil War story it is, but I have to admit what stands out to me is how traumatized I was by the death of the donkey. They rode to death! It just keeled over on the side of the road if I am remembering correctly. And to this day if it looks like a donkey or horse is going to die in a book I either skip ahead or stop reading the book altogether. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t even a real donkey.

Despite that, I highly recommend visiting the home of Margaret Mitchell if you are in Atlanta. You can find out more about that here: http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/mmh.

Some interesting info about Margaret Mitchell. Right after she gave up her manuscript of Gone with the Wind, she wanted to get it back. She didn’t want it published. Also, upon her death (she was hit by a car), her husband destroyed all of her writing, in honor of her wishes.

I always thought that was tragic, there could have been some great jewels there. However, she sounds like a perfectionist and many of us can relate to that.

If you would like to know what other books traumatized me… (more…)

AKA- V is for Valarie

Inspiration: 1979 Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel

We met on the first day of high school at the lunch table in the cafeteria

like Bedouins coming together at an oasis.

Four years of classes, crushes, and passing notes-

we managed to learn a little in between.

Weekend sleepovers with grandma tapping on the wall

for us to be quiet and go to sleep.

Getting in trouble for long distance phone calls

when the phone bill arrived just because we lived in separate cities.

Driver licenses, first cars, the freedom of the open road.

Always a duo, even when other friends came along.

Though we went to separate colleges the bond was just a strong

cemented by our summers in Connecticut.

Weekend trips to historic houses

from the seventeen and eighteen hundreds-

castles, aquariums, Mark Twain’s house,

train rides to New York City and seeing Beauty and the Beast.

But the best parts of those summers

were the morning swims, nightly walks with the dogs

around the cul-de-sac, and ice cream sundae-movie nights

in our basement hideaway.

Driving through towns ending in “bury” and “ford”,

Stopping by the boulder overlooking the ocean

to take a picture of ourselves every year.

There’s no shortage of pictures of us from this time in our lives.

The fun times continued at home in South Florida.

Weekends no longer had curfews,

though most of the time we just went

to the movies and hung out at the pool.

There was the Elton John concert.

We sang every song by heart

and the time we got dressed up

for an elegant dinner and took in a Broadway show.

The unemployed years of our early twenties

when we wondered when we’d get our chance.

Talking on the phone every day for hours,

though now I couldn’t say about what.

New friends came into our lives and also, sadly,

a special one went on ahead of us,

leaving a scar

that could never quite heal.

Sometimes our paths diverged – like a braid that unravels,

Yet the strands always managed to intertwine again.

#MDBC2016

May Day Blogging Challenge 2016

What is it?

A way to make sure we continue writing throughout the next month because we need to be held accountable.

How does it work?

Using http://www.onthisday.com/ find an event from history for each day of the month and use that for an inspiration for our daily post. It can be anything from History, Music, Film & TV, Sports. And of course creative license is allowed- to tie back to the historical event in any way we find relevant.

What is the format?

It can be any length but should be fairly short. It can be a poem, story, an essay, a rant, and editorial, etc. Posts should be hashtagged #MDBC2016 on social media.

What happens if we don’t post?

Absolutely nothing, except we will be disappointed with ourselves and each of us is required to make the other feel bad if this occurs.

My friend and I got involved in the April A-Z blogging challenge and it motivated us to post 26 blogs. Now we find ourselves on April 30^th worried that all of that momentum will go to waste. But fear not, we came up with a great idea- the May Day Blogging Challenge.

What is it?

A way to make sure we continue writing throughout the next month because we need to be held accountable.

How does it work?

Using http://www.onthisday.com/ find an event from history for each day of the month and use that for an inspiration for our daily post. It can be anything from History, Music, Film & TV, and Sports. And of course creative license is allowed- to tie back to the historical event in any way we find relevant.

Just be sure to include the date, year, and link.

In honor of Memorial Day, posts are not required on Mondays to allow a day to recharge.

What is the format?

It can be any length but should be fairly short. It can be a poem, story, an essay, a rant, and editorial, etc. Posts should use the hashtag #MDBC2016 on social media.

What happens if we don’t post?

Absolutely nothing, except we will be disappointed with ourselves and each of us is required to make the other feel bad if this occurs.