Recently, I ventured for the first time into the medium of still photography.  I haven't posted here in a while, so I figured the results would be a good chance to contribute.  Tell me what you think.

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Thanks for all the great comments from last week!

Just to note: Any registered user has posting access, not just commenting access.  So feel free to not just comment, but make your own posts in response to the challenges!

Also, if you have something interesting or inspiring that you want to share, please feel free to do it any time - it doesn't have to be related to the current challenge!

Speaking of the current challenge...

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This week's challenge: Post about something that challenged you.  If you want, it could be a story of triumph over a challenge.  Alternatively, it could be a story of avoidance of a challenge.  It could be something this week, or even something from 10 years ago.  Your choice.

Also, if prose is not your medium of choice, feel free to do it in another medium - art, photography, poetry, whatever you prefer.

 

Looking forward to all the great posts!

~Miriam

So it's technically past a week... by a few hours.  But here's my response to the challenge:

  Something that made me pause. This Shabbos, there was a farbrengen (a gathering of souls).  One of the things said there struck me.  Within Judaism, there does exist the concept of asceticism, of self-abnegation.  There is that which is inherently holy (required), that which is inherently unholy (prohibited), and then there is that which is inherently neither.  These last are things like the internet, that are permitted, and one can choose to use them for either holy or unholy purposes. 

 There is a certain, optional, high level of service in Judaism in which people deny themselves (or greatly reduce the amount of use of) that which is permitted.  In some yeshivas (Jewish learning schools), it is in vogue to practice this.  For instance, to not use condiments on food, such that the sole purpose of the food is its nutrition, and not its taste.

However, one of the people at the farbrengen said in the name of one of his teachers (note that I'm paraphrasing) , that while not putting condiments on your food is fine and all, the real self-abnegation is going to bed on time so you can be well-rested for classes.

Hey you!  Yeah, you, reading this site but not commenting.

Obviously, this site does not make you pause.  So I have a challenge for you:

Post something here that does make you pause.   Pause in thought, confusion, epiphany, humor... whatever it is, just something that makes you pause.

You have 1 week.

(and, to be fair, I'll be doing it, too) 

Inspired by a bowl of ice cream, late at night.

So, guys, I would really like to do my idea, but with my new job and commitments, I simply don't think it would be a good idea for me to.

I really would like to see OOM continue, but I have noticed a hardcore lack of interest recently.  Is anyone interested in taking the mantle and continuing the site?  If someone wants to help the site grow, please tell me, and I will be more than happy to work with you to turn the site into something great.

 Hit me up, guys.

 

I would very much like to be

Bukowski

Old and

All too aware

Hunched, miserable,

Alive.

 

I would very much like to be

That 5 year old I saw in the Art Institute

Writhing in his mother's lap with boredom,

Not caring that his shirt was pulled up to his armpits because the bench he lay on was

Cool

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I think I would like to glow red hot

With madness

Something to talk about, you know?

Instead of forging conversation

Upon general concerns

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I swear about my father

While lounging, sporting his pants.

Pausing for a moment, I realize that in this

Worn, tattered,

Aged

Pair of pants,

I am him

A disgruntled old man,

Frustrated

A born again defeatist.

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I'm in the grocery store, wandering through the aisles, looking for a potholder.  It's the last thing on my list, and it's proving elusive.  Dinner is waiting on it.  I eventually decide to go ask a clerk where they might be located.

As I'm walking to the information desk, I think to ask for some heavenly assistance: "Please, G-d, let me find some potholders so I can make dinner soon."  My next thought is what I could do for Him.  I realize that before I went to the store, I had been eating, and had forgotten to say an after-blessing.  The proper, specific, after-blessing, I don't have memorized.  The general one, however, I do.  I start reciting it quietly to myself as I'm walking.  I finish the blessing, and I look up.

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After some discussion with other Open Micers and some deliberation on my own, I have come to a few conclusions as to the future of this site.

Basically, the blog aspect of the site is great, it has sort of become a simple loose collection of blogs working seperately rather than a collection working together.  I don't think this is anyone's fault, but rather just a natural consequence of the nature of blogging.  I think when we were all together, it was much easier to work together, but seperately, it was an issue.

So, for this reason and more, I've decided to make the following changes:

1.  OurOpenMic will become a pay service.

2.  Users will pay a certain amount (5 to 10 dollars a month) for me to design and maintain a complete web page for them showcasing their art. 

3.  The main page will contain a link and updates to all the other websites.

4.  Users can have as little or as much input as they want in the design of the site.

5.  Everyone who pays will get their own subdomain that links to their website.

6.  The blog will still be up, but will be located on blogs.ouropenmic.com now.  Users will need to be paid users to be a part of this section.

 

Anyway, feel free to contact me about these changes.  It is unlikely that I will change my mind about anything, but I am open to suggestions and critiques of the system I am thinking of.

Feel free to keep blogging, as it may be another month or so before I actually start designing sites for other people.

I know it kinda sounds sucky that I will be charging for this service, but I promise you that this is about as sweet of a deal as you can get on the internet, without designing the site yourself.  I will be in charge of maintaining and designing your site, and will give you complete access to your own administrator area where you can update your art and website on your own.  Trust me, this is an amazing deal.

Dear Loyal OurOpenMicers:

 I have thought about this for a while, and was wondering what you guys might think about it.

I think that our blog is great, and exciting, but we can make this site  alot more than it is.  I want to redesign the site so that people can display their works more individually and artistically.  I want to also make a more interactive environment.  I know that I've tried this before, with mixed results, but I think it was mostly ineffective because the core of the site was still the blog.

This idea would change the core of the site substantially.  Member "Galleries" would now be the focus of the site.  Our contributors would be the stars, and their works would be published in a much sleeker interface.

 Anyway, I know people really love this website and what it stands for, so I want to know what you think, and if you agree that I should go forward this concept.  Obviously, this site is all about you guys (contributors and readers alike) so I want to know the general feel for what people think.

Please leave your comments, I can't do anything without your approval (or lack thereof)!

I’m keeping a close eye on my lips these days,

On those careless, cheating bastards.

I’m sick of their chapped ways,

The way they speak without my permission.

 

Those liars! How they bask and revel in importance when they taunt,

Beckoning, wrapped in oozing layers of glittery, shiny wetness

Its so unfair

That they would steal your attention away from me

 

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The scented allure of your covers has a greater appeal than my own

Yours, unlike mine, envelope and rock me sweetly

Perhaps it is the warmth that courses through your arms, but I secretly believe that it is the detergent your mother uses to wash your sheets

Which smell of us

I would stop at little to fall into dreams like I do in your bed

Instead of tossing, waiting anxiously for the tides of blissful unconsciousness to wash over me, I sink

Heavily floating downwards into the lush and rich pastel tones of sleep

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