Saturday, July 27, 2013

My Ton ~ 10,000 Visits!

I am sure there is some rubric out there that standardizes what the growth of a new blog should be after seventeen months.  Frankly, I don't give a rip what anyone else thinks.  When I saw my blog visits pass 10,000 I was excited!  It is now far enough past that mark to account for all the spam and robo hits.

I still marvel at how popular my post of Yeats' The Stolen Child is and continues to be. Equally remarkable is the response to the Abigail Adams posts earlier this month.  So, I choose to celebrate the benchmark of 10,000 rather than worry about how fast I got there according to someone else.

Thank you for the support, and I hope you continue to find joy and inspiration here. I wrote this in commemoration:

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My Ton

Ten thousand tentative beginnings.
… stories to tell, audio to share.
… question, “am I a voice, or a story?”

Ten thousand spooky thoughts last October.
… poems, stories, The Goblin Market.
… moments of amazement .

Ten thousand moments of revelation.
… hesitations at calling myself "Author, Storyteller, Artist."
… delights at the joys of my audience.

Ten thousand compositions in my brain.
… post it notes with ideas and thoughts.
… pauses, wondering what to do next.

Ten thousand sleepless nights of worry.
… bright mornings with new inspiration.
… more stories to share.

© Judith Cullen, 2013

Thursday, July 4, 2013

HAPPY U.S. INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I have several personal traditions around July 4th, and these are among them.

Abigail Adams is a remarkable woman whom I greatly admire.  Her writings show a quick, incisive intelligence that does not lack humor or circumspection.  The correspondence between her and her husband, Statesman and President John Adams, is an inspiring look inside the lives and minds of unique couple at an important moment in history.  Surely, these two souls, who were "one", were meant for each other, and meant to be exactly where they were in history.

So many amazing women to admire,but if I had to make a list of those whom I would love to sit down to a long afternoon of tea and conversation with, Abigail Adams is the list topper - No Contest!

As with all the audio downloads on this blog, these are offered freely. I am an artist and fledgling indie author.  I only ask if you enjoy the files, you consider leaving something in the tip jar on the right hand margin.  Even $1 helps keep the stories coming!  

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - March 31, 1776 ... Click Here

"… I long to hear that you have declared an independency -- and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors." 

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - May 27, 1776 #1 ... Click Here
"We ought never to despair of what has been once accomplished. How many things have the Idea of impossible been annexed to, that have become easy to those who knew how to take advantage of Time, opportunity, lucky Moments, the Faults of others, different dispositions and an infinite Number of other circumstances.

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - May 27, 1776 #2 ... Click Here
"And in saying this I make a Sacrifice which those only can judge of whose Hearts are one."

BONUS!

A Selection from the Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776 ... Click Here
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

LAST DAY for A Trio of Cat Tales free for Kindle from Amazon!  See previous posts for reviews and samples.  Click on the tab at the top of the page to go to the Amazon page and download YOUR copy!