74th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition

74th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition

More than $30,000 in cash and prizes! Win a trip to New York City !

GRAND PRIZE: $2,500 cash and an all-expense paid trip to New York City to meet with editors and agents. Writer's Digest will fly you and a guest to The Big Apple, where you'll spend three days and two nights in the publishing capital of the world. While you're there, a Writer's Digest editor will escort you to meet and share your work with four editors or agents! Plus, you'll receive a free Diamond Publishing Package from Outskirts Press.

Entry Deadline: Monday, May 16, 2005..

Compete and Win in 10 Categories!

Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
Article: Memoirs/Personal Essay
Article: Magazine Feature Article
Short Story: Genre
Short Story: Mainstream/Literary
Poetry: Rhyming
Poetry: Non-Rhyming
Script: Stage Play (* submission by mail only)
Script: Television/Movie Script (* submission by mail only)
Children's Fiction

Entry Fee: Poems are $10 for the first entry; $5 for each additional poem submitted in the same online session. All other entries are $15 for the first manuscript; $10 for each additional manuscript submitted in the same online session.

Add $2 per manuscript to all entries postmarked after Monday, May 16, 2005. Entries postmarked after Wednesday, June 01, 2005, will not be accepted. you sure can't beat those prices

wouldn't it be great if someone from Splash won? YAY!!

Read More Here

The History Of Mother's Day

Mother's Day History: Anna Jarvis ~ Modern Day Celebration
The history of Mother's Day originated in the mountains of Appalachia and is now celebrated in countries throughout the world. However, the founder of Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, regretted ever starting the tradition.

In the United States, Mother's Day originated nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a "Mother's Work Day" to raise awareness of poor economic and health conditions affecting the children in her community. 15 years later, Julia Ward Howe, a pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," proposed an annual event called Mother's Day, but the idea received little support. She organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

The Goddess Nut ~ Historic Ties With Pagan Festival
Mother's Day! The original event, has close ties to an ancient pagan festival. The earliest recorded in history honored the Egyptian goddess Nut. Nut, goddess of the sky and wife of Re, the god of the sun and creator of all, was incredible beautiful and kindness. Her generous and loving nature was apparently extensive, leading her into affairs with Geb, the god of the earth, and Thoth, the god of divine words. Re found out and, understandably, was furious with her, issuing a curse that his pregnant wife.

Greek Mythology
The concept of Mother Earth arose centuries later in Greece. In the 7th century BCE, the poet Hesiod gave the "deep-breasted" earth mother the name Gaea, she who "gave birth" to the sky, sea, and mountains, as well as the ruling gods called the Titans. A few centuries later, Gaea's daughter Rhea, was honored each year with festivals called "Hilaria". Festival revelers brought gifts and flowers to honor the mother of the Olympians.

What Kind Of Mother Are You?


You're an earth mother! Your friends sometimes
call you Gaea, because you're the original
earth goddess! You and your kids both have
dirt under your fingernails, and you spend as
much of your time as possible out of doors.
Your kids have an incredible appreciation for
nature.


What kind of a freaky mother are you?
Take The Quizilla Mother Test

What Makes Good Poetry?

What makes good poetry? Because this question opens the virtual door to ambiguity, there really is no clear-cut answer, not in the strict sense of the definition. And because there is such an enormous array of poetry out there, not all of it is reducible to a common blueprint.

There are, though, what have been called hard edges when it comes to birthing a poem. Poems need them to survive and there is a common list of what this constitutes. In the interest of brevity, I will list them accordingly, without definition, their meanings not difficult to deduce.

meter
grammar & syntax
vocabulary
fearlessness
wit
insouciance

When you have mastered the above the last hard edge is icing on the cake. Keep an indifference to the reactions of readers to your work. Never, never tailor your poem to suit the tastes of others. Your poem is answerable only to yourself, God, and your internalized aesthetic criteria.

paulygrl (c)

Convenience Man

What's gone still lives in my soul,
dead lyrics written on ancient parchment
scrolls. I sit in the dark, my perfume
losing its magic waiting for you.

I wait the moment not to come. Gone the
white of glacier slipping out to sea, the rigid
center of you unfolding in silence.

I am a temporary refuge for your crown,
coming by when it suits you, wearing dark
glasses in the rain.

You cannot stain a black coat, feigning
indifference. It's gnashing bared serpent's
teeth giving you away.

Too long the holding on became the saving.
For years I mended the same coat, the pockets
were always empty.

paulygrl (c)

Gardenias Shaped to a Lazy Afternoon

Gardenias shaped to a lazy afternoon.
Sunlight draping around each sweet-
scented bloom.

Counting seconds as blessings, velvet
petals soon fade. Disappearing quickly like
quarters in an arcade.

Moments to cherish, no seconds to waste.
So different from yesterday when our
youth we did taste.

From moment to moment each year goes
by. Summers get shorter as we ask
ourselves why.

Fragrance as sweet as life's early years.
Minus such thoughts of regretful filled
tears.

To ponder life's seasons in a memory
filled room. Savoring gardenias shaped to
a lazy afternoon.

paulygrl (c)

Last call for Mothers Day poems for the Rollin Thunder 'Editor's Choice' Poetry Challenge

Last call for Mothers Day poems for the Rollin Thunder 'Editor's Choice' Poetry Challenge. Submission close Sunday May 1st. Show mother your poetic love - take Rollin Thunder's Poetry Picture Challenge. Muse the picture 'Mother's Day'. Mother's Day is Sunday May 8th, 2005. Then post your Mother's Day poem here (click to post).



Top poems for each poetry challenge receive award banners and other prizes. mothers Day prizes are split 60/40 - see prize pool for awards prizes from our sponsors. First Place and a Honorable Mention will be awarded prizes. Winning poems will be published on our syndicated blogs Rollin Thunder Poetry Blog and Blogosphere Zoo Blog

Poems are judged by a point system by our editors. Submissions close May 1, 2005 - Winners will be announced on the May 4th. Mother's Day is Sunday May 8. 2005.

Share the Rollin Thunder Poetry Picture Challenge ..invite your friends to take the Rollin Thunder's 'Mother's Day' Poetry Challenge with you! Submit your poem or prose today... Make this Mother's Day Special!

Sponsors Mother's Day Prize Pool *Watch It Grow*


Rollin Thunder Poetry


BlogOsphere ZoO


SplashHall Poetry Boards


BlogClicker ~ Get More Traffic
1 Year Gold Membership ~ $120 Plus Value


5lbs of Fresh Roasted
Fair Trade Organic Coffee
sorry only USA delivery available


800 Banner Credits. Blog Exchange
The Free No-Click Banner Exchange


1000 Blogging Credits
Blog Explosion ~ Explode Your Blog Traffic


2000 Banner Credits
BlogAzoo ~ Build Your Blog Traffic For Free

Watch for the Mother's Day prize pool grow - enter today. Its all Free!

If you have any suggestions or need help, please email me at cafeRg@gmail.com

Your submission is your permission to The MountainSplash.Com and SplashHall Poetry to post your poem at will within its communities. You keep all creative and intellectual property rights. Tell your friends. Lets make this Mother's Day special!

Help Us Choose A Name For Our Fair Trade Organic Coffee

As some of you may have noticed, Splash has started to sell coffee. But not just any coffee. All of our coffee will be from small farmers that practice environment and social responsibility. All of our coffee will follow guidelines set by such orgainzations as TransFairUSA, Cup of Excellence, and most importantly -you- the coffee drinker.

Our prices will range from appx $5.00 on up, with the average and most common price of $9.95 (the average market rate for specialty coffee). Most coffee will be available as fresh roasted coffee, both ground and beans. Splash will also offer green coffee beans for home roasters. We will offer special purchases that we will keep our eyes open for, passing savings and great coffee onto you.

Portions of the revenue will go back into Splash and its members in form of gifts (like what we are offering in our poetry picture challenge), cash - in our annual poetry awards gala, and improvement of the Rollin Thunder and the SplashHall Community (our parent) -like improved webpages and blogs, even offering FREE personal webspace, an annual poetry meet, and so forth.

With all that said to help you understand our purpose and goal, we need a name for our coffee. Listed in the poll is some suggestions and we would like to know what you would like to see Rollin Thunder call our coffee. The name chosen could be exact or a variation.

Please, either choose from the poll here or post a name you feel would do the Rollin Thunder and the SplashHall community and its special coffee justice here. If you're not a Splash member yet, you may have to join. Membership is FREE!

please note: any name given and chosen is considered inkind and donated to the Rollin Thunder and the SplashHall community.

SplashHall Art & Poetry Boards Is Looking For A Few 'More' Great Poets & Artist

SplashHall Art & Poetry Boards is looking for a few 'more' great poets and artist. SplashHall Poetry will be celebrating its 4th birthday come June 1st, 2005. To help us celebrate this gala event we would like to involve even more dynamic poets and artist that enjoy the freedom of helping each other, including beginning poets. In doing so we hope to expand discussion and creativity of all poetry and art.

Present activities include Showcasing of poems, workshopping of poems, prose and short stories. International competition as well our own challenges. Open blogging at Rollin Thunder Poetry, our syndicated blog, where you can add your commentary, creative insights in regards to poetry and art. There is also open posting at our offbeat blog Blogosphere Zoo, also syndicated, here you can post in a variety of topics, lifestyles, erotica, social justice, fair trade or just about anything you would like to share with the world. Coming this fall is live poetry readings and other poetic and artistic events in our VP Chat. You can even sell your poetic craft at Splashhall Poetry Boards.

Here's just a sample of over 20 interactive forums at SplashHall Art and Poetry Boards:

Poetry & Poets In Rags
Rus Bowden roams the planet and brings you up-to-date poetry news. A quick look from major sources. Turn off CNN. Turn on P&P.

Splash IBPC Monthly Competition
InterBoard Poetry (Competition) Community - hosted by Web del Sol, SplashHall and participating poetry boards. Competition among poetry boards on the net.

CafeRg's Poetry Picture Contest
Enhance your creative juices.. muse the picture, write, then post your poem or prose here. Win Awards Banners!

Splashers Poetry & Prose
Share read Splashers poetry & prose homegrown from within. This is the place to showcase your poems and prose.

Eerie Poetic Attic
Welcome into the darkness. Meander among the macabre. Stroll through the aisles of the arcane. Ogle the occult. Enter our magical poetry world.

Erotica
Share erotica poetry and other erotic poetic content here. You need to be 18 years or more to click this forum. Be sure to read guidelines.

Haiku Poetry
Sprays of the Splash mist. Come in, treat your creative. Words, image; just plain yours.

cin(E)-poetry & Poem-torial
Multimedia poetry is here & growing. Produce your cin(e)-poetry (video). Create Poem-torials (pictorial).

The Poetic AX ~ Sometimes Sharp
Get your poem ready for publishing or that competition. Everyone can use a second opinion. Exchange ideas, constructive & creative. Sometimes sharp critiquing.

Discuss Poetry Styles With Other Splash Poets
Do you have questions about villanelles, sestinas, free verse, limericks, haiku, sonnets or other poem styles? Discuss and share with other Splash Members.

Blogs For Bloggers
Do you have a blog you would like to share? Art, Poetry, personal journal? Blogs for bloggers in the great blogosphere.

SplashTrader ~ Splashers Market Place
While we are remolding our store, you are free too sell your poetry, books, art, this & tats, or your old pair of jeans. You're on your own here but donations back to SplashHall is appreciated.

So whether you're a seasoned poet, artist or a beginner wanting to learn from the experienced, please consider joning the SplashHall Art & Poetry Boards and our dynamic interactive community of many poetry forums, art rooms and halls. If you enjoy online interaction, helping and sharing with others - please click here. Its all FREE. Thank you!

Final Call For Poems For CafeRg's Splash 'People's Choice' Mother's Day Poetry Picture Challenge

Show mother your poetic love - take CafeRg's ~ Splash Poetry Picture Challenge. Muse the picture 'A Mother's Love'. Mother's Day is Sunday May 8th, 2005.



Then post your Mother's Day poem or prose here in this forum at SplashHall Poetry. (limit 1 poem per person per challenge)

Top poems for each month receive award banners.. and are published on our syndicated blogs including Rollin Thunder Poetry and BlogOsphere ZoO

Also Win

5lbs Of Fair Trade Organic Coffee
To Be Shared (60/40) By First Place And Honorable Mention.

Please Note: Offer good for USA delivery only

Top Poems are chosen by you the members by an anonymous Splash Members poll.. (submissions close April 25th - then voting will begin)

Submit your poem or prose today... Make this Mother's Day Special! Click Here

Hackers Use Blogs To Spread Virus Worms, Trojans And Keyloggers

Blogs are becoming a popular hacker target, said a security and content filtering firm Wednesday, blogs increasingly are being used as a safe haven by hackers for storing and distributing malicious code, including identity-stealing keyloggers.

"We're seeing that more and more of the locations where malicious code is stored is on blog sites," said Dan Hubbard, the senior director of security and technology research for San Diego-based Websense. So far this year, Hubbard said, his lab has discovered hundreds of blogs involved in the storage and delivery of harmful code.

In particular, keyloggers, trojan, malware and other spyware writers are turning to blogs -- and away from traditional hosting and/or e-mail services -- because they offer large amounts of free storage space, they don't require any identity authentication to post, and most blog hosting services don't scan posted files for viruses, worms, or spyware.

While end-users can do little beyond keep safe and smart practices in mind -- however, Hubbard said, there is plenty blog software makers and hosting services could do.

"They need to add some type of security on top," he urged. "Anti-virus is a good start. And limit the type of files that can be uploaded, by, for example, restricting executables (.exe)."

Mother's Day Poetry Picture Challenge Prize Pool Grows

The prize pool for Rollin Thunder's Mother's Day Poetry Picture Challenge grows with the addition of Blog Explosion. They have included 1000 blogging credits this round. Blogging credits are good for banner and blog impressions to help promote your blog.

The Mother's Day Poetry Challenge prize pool is shared by both the First Place poem and Honorable Mention poem as judged by the Rollin Thunder's Editors. All which are accomplished poets.

To enter your mother's Day poem in the Rollin Thunder's Mother Day Poetry Picture Challenge please click HERE. The Mother's Day Poetry Challenge is free to enter.

The Mother's Day Prize Pool currently is...


Rollin Thunder Poetry


BlogOsphere ZoO


SplashHall Poetry Boards


BlogClicker ~ Get More Traffic
1 Year Gold Membership ~ $120 Plus Value


5lbs of Fresh Roasted
Fair Trade Organic Coffee sorry only USA delivery available


800 Banner Credits. Blog Exchange
The Free No-Click Banner Exchange


1000 Blogging Credits
Blog Explosion ~ Explode Your Blog Traffic

Watch the Mother's Day prize pool grow - enter today. Its all Free!

Make This Mother's Day Special! Enter Today!

Why Fair Trade Organic Coffee

For a moment, give the coffee you're drinking right now (or today) some thought? Or perhaps you're a tea drinker? Soda? In one way or another they are relevant to Fair Trade.

Fair Trade means just that 'Fair Trade', a fair transaction between a buyer and a seller. It also has a deeper impact on 'us all' both socially and through the environment. The Fair Trade Movement was created to bring you a quality product while offering the creator fair compensation for their efforts or craft. While offering fair compensation it also contributes to their families and the communties which they live.

"Coffee is a very good crop for us. We are members of the coffee cooperative, and they give us a good price. Because they buy our coffee fruit, we don’t have to process it. We expanded our coffee farm two years ago, and we will plant more seedlings this year." - Maria Soares - and Family grow coffee in East Timor.

Fair Trade is spreading its grassroots from coffee and artistic crafts to fruit and sweetners. These are products that are mostly from third world counties, like Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Ethiopia, Kenya, East Timor and others.

Genuine Fair Trade traders deal directly with small farmers and cooperatives in these countries. They help and assure that their growing practices adhere to certain Fair Trade stanards, both socially and environmentally, as dopted by Fair Trade advocates and organizations. They assure Fair Trade practices are followed from the farms or estates all the way to the roasters and coffeehouses. Even the workers of these coffeehouses share the idealogy of Fair Trade.

Two coffee workers in Nicaragua seperate coffee beans from the cherry with a wooden press.

For more detailed information about Fair Trade click TransFair Canada or TransFairUSA.

Fair Trade Coffee is not just about social justice or environment conciousness, its also about global networking, good will, sharing lives and views. Its is also a way of life - perhaps a way to understanding each other and bringing about global peace. You may laugh but maybe what America (or the world) needs is a political party called The FairTrade Party :-) or at the least a Department of Fair Trade, to assure that humanity transforms into a responsible and 'just' planet of neighbors.

Now back to that coffee or beverage you're drinking. Is it commercial profit oriented or Fair Trade organic coffee, humanity aligned?

"Big name brands mean bigger profits for your foodservice establishment. That's especially true of coffee." Proctor Gambles-Folgers Coffee.

Next we will look at the quality of Fair Trade Shade Grown Organic Coffee. How, like fine wine, fresh roasted Fair Trade organic coffee taste much better than commercial coffee. We will also touch on what's called cupping and how Fair Trade organic coffee can also, like wine, be identified by region and method of processing.

click on 'Cool Coffee Beans' for past articles on Fair Trade Organic Coffee.

Coffee Legends ~ Fact Or Myth? You Decide?

Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil. It is the most significant part of the economy in many of the world's poorest countries.

Kaldi And His Dancing Goats
It is told an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi was napping on the job and awoke to discover his goats had roamed to a distant hillside dancing around a wild coffee tree. He hurried his way to them and saw that they were eating the red berries from the tree. Curious about the dazzling energy of his usually lackadaisical goats, Kaldi decided to try the berries, also.

Kaldi, too, experienced the burst of energy and an euphoric high. The coffee berries became a daily ritual for Kaldi and his dancing goats. Along came a local monk and questioned the goat herder about their appearance of dancing, Kaldi showed him the red berry coffee tree. The monk, amazed, experimented with different ways of preparing the berries and began to serve a tea made from steeping them to his monastery. Hence, the begining of coffee and, ummm, dancing goats.

Whether or not Kaldi discovered the wonders of the coffee tree, we do know that the earliest records of natural organic coffee consumption are from monasteries in the homeland of Ethiopia. From there it spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. First coveted for it's medicinal properties, it was the social effects of coffee that made it an integral part of Arab life and by the mid sixteenth century the world's first coffeehouses were opening in Constantinople, Cairo and Mecca.

Read More At The New Blogosphere Zoo


Support Social Justice!
Buy Fair Trade Organic Coffee

I'M SO MAD!!

I just want scream with our damn government!! Do you know what they want to do now?

The want to make it illegal to drink alcohol while on the internet!! Can you believe that? And get this "the FBI has Designated a Special Task Force to surf for offenders.

I mean I agree no one should be surfing while stoned drunk but this is ridiculous, I mean I am in the privacy of my own home, I should be able to enjoy a few drinks while chatting.

'Slick George' has had this bill slipped in under some other bill that provides for summer funding for some Head Start bill - the sneaky SOB!!

Write your congressperson now before they pass this "Most Ridiculous Insult to the American People!!

Do It Now Please!!

cafeRg