happy vd day.

"To V.W."

This person –
Her demeanor entrances me
Anxiously I ponder her being
Not having met
Kept from me
She radiates beauty
Gushes with passion
In her I see myself –
Vibrant, vivacious, vexing
Inherent in complexities
Numb to anything but “the now”
Gregariously grateful. Me.

- special thanks to Richard Le Breton

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From Mabel to Aunt Rosa...From Katie to Jeff.

This postcard, dated December 26th, 1911, is exactly 99 years old today. Right now. I posted it to my blog at the exact time the postmaster stamped the back of the card - 5:00 pm. It was given to me two years ago, I believe, by my friend Katie. It was sent by Mabel Shafer from Larwill, Indiana to her Aunt Rosa Martin in Los Angeles, California. Katie's from IN and I was, at the time, living in Los Angeles. The postage was 1 cent.

The postcard reads (as best as I can make out):

Dearest Aunt,

How are you? Don't work to [sic] hard out there because life is to [sic] short to kill yourself off by working. I will have to tell you that we have 9 more new pieces for the graphone (something to do with a part for a phonograph?). Well, I will have to tell you if I graduate in the spring I have an organ promised to me. I am always so busy with my school work I don't have time to write to anyone so you will have to excuse me for not writing oftener.

Mabel Shafer and all.

(The address this was sent to is on Cambria St. just south of Wilshire, almost in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.)

Thank you, Katie. Found this in the move back to Wisconsin. Merry Christmas to Rosa, Mabel - and my Katie.

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It's time for thyme.

I've had this nasty chest cold for too long. Already blasted through one bottle of Mucinex and half-way through the 2nd. Hmmm. I believe it's good old-fashioned, granola eatin', tree huggin' homeopathic medicine time.

I did a little research on the Internet and talked to my friend Katie in Indiana whose family owns two health food stores (Katie's a plethora of information on this subject. You can ask her anything. Her sister too - but she's in France.).

Off to Whole Foods to pick up some thyme in the spice section. Wrong. Fresh thyme. Go back to Whole Foods. Now the recipe. What kind of recipe tells you to add anything to A CUP OF BOILING WATER? OK, so I add 1 1/2 cups of faucet water (anticipating evaporation) to a small kettle and boil. Bring to boil. Add two tablespoons of thyme. Continue to boil covered. Strain and let set for a minute. And drink.

VOILA! I'll be damned. It's working. I feel like a witch. Or is it warlock? Wiccan? None of the above? Whatever - I'm a believer.

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I plead the 5th.

Truth be told I did have a hand in this - in killing Katja. And I wish I hadn't.

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Ways to Be Cool - Part III.

This was first posted on Inked-In, a writer's website I belong to (not sure where he got it). Then my friend Katie posted it her on blog. Now it's here - with my slight edits. I jotted down the first thing that came to mind when reading each of the notes.

You'll need to click on the photo and it'll open up so you can read everything. Hit your backspace arrow to get back to my blog.

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A Christmas Eve illustration just for me!

"The Spirit of Christmas", by Katja Grace.

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"A Winter Match".

Illustration by my friend, Katie Grace. I think I might use this as my Christmas card this year - to email to people.

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Chapter 14 - "Richard Le Breton & V.W. lounging"; Notes from Lost Man's Lane Cabin, by Richard Le Breton.

"Ohhh weren't those times primal, dear?"

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New Ditalini Press blog banner is so delicious I want to slurp it up like a piece of spaghetti.

This is the new blog banner created by Katja for Ditalini Press - an online writer's group I belong to. Writers suggest topics and everyone contributes in his or her own way. I've got a few things posted - you'll just have to scroll through the blog (excerpt from my one-act, REVEILLE!, Thanksgiving crostic, Onion-esque stories). By the way, "ditalini" is a type of pasta.

I think this new banner is awesome. Excellent job, Katja.

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Chapter 8 - "Traipsing Indiana, Traipsing Indiana"; Notes from Lost Man's Lane Cabin, by Richard Le Breton.

Like the song, "Gary Indiana, Gary, Gary Indiana..." from "The Music Man", isn't it? Oh, forget it. Thanks for the photos, Katja!

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Origami No. 15. "Lucid Love".

We have never touched but I feel something for her.
Our world is confined to a shiny, black, concave surface,
Our expression of LOVE
Is four quick taps of an “L”, an “O”, a “V” and an “E”.

She is my spring when I fall.
She is a light when I find that I am in the dark.
As if an errant leaf - she flittered in where I could see no trees.
Yet I feel we are from the same branch.

She dreams of me and, in lucid attempts, tries to touch me.

Doubt. Fear. Love. Lust. Longing.
I feel that I know her; still she remains a stranger.
Is she my betrothed that I never married?
Is she the daughter that was never bore?
A sister lost in my mother’s womb and unseen by my eyes?
I can not explain what mine eyes have not yet seen.

We have never touched but I feel something for her.

Copyright © 2008 by Jeffrey James Ircink


Origami is sort of my catchword for a featured blog entry that highlights my original writings - could be an excerpt from one of my plays, a poem, a song, a rant, a rave, a cursing, etc. Origami is the art of folding paper (the word is of Japanese origin). So, within the folds of this particular blog feature you may find something really beautiful, meaningful or poignant.

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Jets v. Rams & Obama "Hope" poster inspire the "Jeff Ircink" poster.

I'm still at Donovan and Maria's watching football, so I'll wait to review the game until later, but the Jets annihilated St. Louis, 47-3. This "St. Louis Slaughter" (as it has now become known as) made me think of the Obama PR election campaign and a picture of me that Katja Grace ingeniously Photoshopped. First, President-elect Obama's:

Now my version:

I'm the one who added the "Rams Suck" part. Jeff likey.

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Soy bean field in Indiana.

© Copyright Katja Grace.

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Origami No. 13 "Untitled" by Katja Grace.

This poem was written by a very special person in my life - Katja Grace. She wrote it especially for me.


The dirt wore into the linen
always in the field
There were quiet signs of light
shining through the August tree line
The man stood upright
adjusted his collar to the bone
looked up to see a lady coming
down a dragged and filtered path
They stood there in the dream
the house beside them
towering like an American Taj Mahal
It was how hard his father had worked
labeling the effort seen by the years
And that he'd passed with little more than 'Goodbye'
was on the soil where they now laid each other down
Then – away with a lonesome cloud
the dream slipped from their hands
Although they held tight and tried
the roots where bound to earth
were released into the sky
And they woke on separate pillows.
One of well worn linen
the other a
tightly woven factory cotton
bleached out
against her head
suffocating the dream of that land
with Its worn and dirty hands


Origami is sort of my catchword for a featured blog entry that highlights my original writings - could be an excerpt from one of my plays, a poem, a song, a rant, a rave, a cursing, etc. Origami is the art of folding paper (the word is of Japanese origin). So, within the folds of this particular blog feature you may find something really beautiful, meaningful or poignant.

Read more!