Rowie's Scribbles

Once upon a time in a land far away… A typical beginning with a non-typical ending! It may be an analogy of the world oil scenario today but it’s a pretty good piece of literature, I was very impressed! Written by Les Skinner, I came upon this article in the World Oil magazine while at work. The article gave a smart & creative description on how politicians manipulate the industry for selfish reasons. I couldn’t find the article online & I shan’t post the entire article online. I suggest getting the magazine which has other interesting articles ( Expanding Roles of NOCs , 131-141). You can also get the article straight from here ( http://www.worldoil.com/May-2008-Drilling-advances.html ). But if you’re unable to get the magazine, drop a comment & I will try to provide the soft copy for you :) We need more articles like this for the laymen to understand the industry’s perspective on crooked politicians! Reference : Skinner, L. (2008, May). A tale of two craftsmen...

Another favorite by WB Yeats :) O heart, be at peace, because Nor knave nor dolt can break What's not for their applause, Being for a woman's sake. Enough if the work has seemed, So did she your strength renew, A dream that a lion had dreamed Till the wilderness cried aloud, A secret between you two, Between the proud and the proud. What, still you would have their praise! But here's a haughtier text, The labyrinth of her days That her own strangeness perplexed; And how what her dreaming gave Earned slander, ingratitude, From self-same dolt and knave; Aye, and worse wrong than these. Yet she, singing upon her road, Half lion, half child, is at peace.   I felt homesick today so here's a hint about my mood :)

It seems I'm in a mood for dreams :p Broken Dreams There is grey in your hair. Young men no longer suddenly catch their breath When you are passing; But maybe some old gaffer mutters a blessing Because it was your prayer Recovered him upon the bed of death. For your sole sake - that all heart's ache have known, And given to others all heart's ache, From meagre girlhood's putting on Burdensome beauty - for your sole sake Heaven has put away the stroke of her doom, So great her portion in that peace you make By merely walking in a room. Your beauty can but leave among us Vague memories, nothing but memories. A young man when the old men are done talking Will say to an old man, "Tell me of that lady The poet stubborn with his passion sang us When age might well have chilled his blood.' Vague memories, nothing but memories, But in the grave all, all, shall be renewed. The certainty that I shall see that lady Leaning or standing or walking In the first loveliness of...

Another beautiful poem by the great Sir William Butler Yeats: The Lover Tells of the Rose in his Heart All things uncomely and broken, all things worn out and old, The cry of a child by the roadway, the creak of a lumbering cart, The heavy steps of the ploughman, splashing the wintry mould, Are wronging your image that blossoms a rose in the deeps of my heart. The wrong of unshapely things is a wrong too great to be told; I hunger to build them anew and sit on a green knoll apart, With the earth and the sky and the water, re-made, like a casket of gold For my dreams of your image that blossoms a rose in the deeps of my heart.  The last line just squeezes my heart. He does have a way with words...

I know, I know, I've been dormant for a while...I've been busy, here's something to enjoy...the transcript for Obama's Inauguration Speech: My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the ...

William Butler Yeats is one of my favorite poets, plus he's Irish :p This is one of my favorite poems, I first came across it in the book "Valley of Silence" by Nora Roberts: Aedh Wishes for the Clothes of Heaven "Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." The last 3 lines are my favorite; the words speak for themselves, beautiful simple words ;) WB Yeats FTW!

Written by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, I first heard this poem when it was recited by Andrea Corr (of the Irish band the Corrs). The words plus Andrea's melodious Irish accent was a joy to listen to & it's one of my favorite poems. Never Give All The Heart Never give all the heart, for love Will hardly seem worth thinking of To passionate women if it seem Certain, and they never dream That it fades out from kiss to kiss; For everything that's lovely is But a brief, dreamy, kind delight. O never give the heart outright, For they, for all smooth lips can say, Have given their hearts up for the play, And who could play it well enough If deaf and dumb and blind by love? He that made this knows all the cost, For he gave all his heart and lost. WB Yeats A simple poem that speaks of guarding your heart against fickle lovers. The words speak for themselves. I have the mp3 of Andrea's recital, if you're interested, let me know & I would be happy to email it ...

Barack Obama is a gifted speaker & this is justified by the victory speech he gave on 4th Nov after winning the 2008 US Presidential Election. A historic event called for a literary piece that is heart-moving & brought tears to my eyes (seriously). It's a long read, but I promise that it's worth it. Change has Come If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voices could be that difference. It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian,...

On 28 Aug 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington D.C. & delivered one of the best speeches ever; aptly known as the "I Have A Dream" speech, he spoke of his dreams for the future of Americans living together in harmony with equal rights. I've heard it on the Oprah Winfrey Show (yes it's true haha) & I'm not ashamed to say that it made me cry. I'm just gonna put the best parts (in my opinion here): Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able...

This is part of a story I've been writing *for the past 3 yrs*, this is a preview: PROLOGUE              He dreamt. In his dream, he was back in the time he had been born to. To a peaceful life, to a war. To the change of his life.             He had been a warrior, fighting for the freedom of his people when the war came. A man in his prime, he struck down his enemies with a fierceness and violence born out of the need to protect and defend the life he was blessed with. His people had been simple farmers, herding cattle and their lives were peaceful. Until the soldiers of the west came to his home, slaughtered the men, raped the women, killed the helpless children. They destroyed all he had loved, his wife. They had left his daughter motherless. Fuelled by this rage, he had left his daughter in the care of his sister, and joined the makeshift army comprising of men from other villages that had been pillaged to fight this band of evil.             So fight he did, slashing his ...

If you have read the Queen of the Damned from the Vampire Chronicles written by Anne Rice, you will find this short story to be similar to that novel. It was an experiment & a fun thing to do at the time, written last year. DORCHADAS              This is the tale of Dorchadas. He was a spirit but not a natural one. He was evil, dark and consumed by madness. He could not remember from whence he came; only that he was old, very old and he wanted to be in the flesh. He had seen the worlds of old; from Babylon to ancient Greece , from the Gobi desert to the beautiful land of Americas . Yet it was Egypt that drew Dorchadas close to man. Close to the flesh he sought to embody. Dorchadas yearned to be human. He yearned to feel the wind on a man’s skin, to feel the lips of a woman, to feel liquid water roll down the throat. He yearned for mortality, the very thing he lacked.                Dorchadas had tried countless times to be in the flesh. Yet it seemed that this being was too d...