Jim's Café ~ Sunday, March 21st 2021

[Auri]

2. Slytherin Pride.- ill share a happy story. One of the book releases was during my sons summer camp. He loved the Harry Potter series. He has a treasured memory of me bringing it to him at camp. Reading the whole book, then sharing the book with others to read too. 💓💕💓

That's a very nice story. ♡

But I do relate very well with regards to rule breaking, and loyalty.

You criminal you, stealer of trampolines!
Loyalty for sure is one of your biggest strengths.

I do have quite a few poems, love writing them but haven't shared in awhile... my poems are a bit too long usually.. I'm actually desperately trying to get rid of the writers block I've had recently.

Hope the block passes soon, can't wait to read them.

 

[Auri]

Common Courtesy Day : This is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you want to see.
Erm... is this a question?

More of a reminder.

Common courtesy - something many people should try to remember more.

Something many people should take you as an example for.

I think the Slytherin is portrayed and implied as the bad guy throughout the series, as in they are villains because "just that" without much more explanations and sense.

I don't think that's true. The way I understood it in the series is that it is not black and white at all - some Slytherin characters were extremely important to the positive development of the story, fundamentally misunderstood, or simply uneducated and manipulated by the more Machiavellian ones. If we apply this to real life by essentially listening and caring more rather than assuming, we can see the beauty in everyone, and how unique and needed everyone is.

 

[LonelyHiker]

1. World Poetry Day : Do you write poetry? Have any poems to share? If not, what's your favourite poem?
2. Slytherin Pride Day : What is/are your best Slytherin trait(s)? Ambition, determination, leadership, resourcefulness, survival skills, cleverness, disregard for rules, confidence, loyalty, passion...?
3. International Fragrance Day : What's your favourite perfume/cologne? scent?
4. Common Courtesy Day : This is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you want to see.

1. I used to write poetry, but lost the spark/motivation years ago. Hard to choose a favorite poem, but two that stand out for me are "Dulce et Decorum est" by Wilfrid Owen and "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats. They both capture the current Zeitgeist of humanity perfectly:

Dulce et Decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer,
Bitter[1] as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

2. Loyalty and passion (to a fault, actually...)

3. Don't really use cologne much these days...a little aftershave (Old Spice or Skin Bracer) from time to time. I DO like to burn incense, Cedar and Sandalwood especially.

4. A little sad that they had to create a day dedicated to courtesy, but this is the world we live in...


A forest oasis in the West Texas Chihuahua desert

Old growth forest in Great Smoky Mountains NP

 

[Auri]

I love, accept and celebrate you exactly as you are. I am glad and grateful you exist and think you are a wonderful, inspiring miraculous person who deserves to be happy. You were absolutely meant to be born and even if you aren't sure of your purpose you are meant to be here.
I think if everyone could seriously believe and also feel these things to be true about themself then it would definitely be a very positive change in the world. I try hard to believe those things to be true as well so that each person I interact with will have the best possible version of me rather than one that is more negatively focused.

Everyone should read this again. ♡

 

[LonelyHiker]

some Slytherin characters were extremely important to the positive development of the story

Indeed...Slughorn and Snape both were instrumental in V's defeat

 

[Sunspots]

Dulce et Decorum est

This was one of my exam pieces for Literature - it's been ingrained on my brain for 36 years

 

[Baywasp]

1. World Poetry Day : Do you write poetry? Have any poems to share? If not, what's your favourite poem? I used to write poetry a lot more than I do now. I still do on occasion. I posted a poem I wrote on here back in 2019 about Tottenham Hotspur during one of their rough patches. It's called Echoes of Glory, based on a quote from one of Spurs' most successful managers. (“It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory.”--Bill Nicholson) I'll copy the poem here as well, in case anybody else wants to read it
   
   Echoes of Glory
   I can hear them cry out in the distance
   up into the grey, sullen skies
   a call for honor, a call for grace.
   The fallen emblem in tatters,
   its once lustrous form almost rusting over.
   I hold my breath as I pass by.
   Clad in lillywhite they come
   gleaming out of the dark like planets on a chilly night.
   Joining them in silence, I wait.
   We stand together.
   For now, we are one.
   The essence of hope, dreams, and unity
   returning to the lifeblood of this place.
   Our singing rises slowly.
   The voice of the crowd spurs on faith
   reveals strength, brings us somewhere we can say
   “This feels normal again.”
   In lillywhite we raise the emblem
   back to its former state of splendor.
   And when we’re done we walk on
   our heads a little higher
   the skies a little brighter.
   And the echoes of glory ring out across the city.
   
   
2. Slytherin Pride Day : What is/are your best Slytherin trait(s)? Ambition, determination, leadership, resourcefulness, survival skills, cleverness, disregard for rules, confidence, loyalty, passion...? Like seemingly many people on here, I am a Hufflepuff. But I would say I have the traits of loyalty (which I kind of thought was a Hufflepuff thing as well) and passion. Maybe some ambition, but not the cold + calculating kind.
3. International Fragrance Day : What's your favourite perfume/cologne? scent? I don't like the smell of perfume or cologne in general. But I do like things like scented lotions or candles. I'm trying to remember which ones I preferred. my dad would always make me go to Bath and Body Works with him to help pick out lotions or other products for my mom for Christmas/Mother's Day/birthday, even though I would get a little overstimulated by how strong the smells were in those stores. I do remember liking cucumber melon, but it wasn't necessarily my favorite. In terms of candles, I always liked the coffee-scented ones
4. Common Courtesy Day : This is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you want to see. I try.

Thanks for the tag @Auri and sorry I'm a bit late

 

[MosesY]

Thank you @Auri for opening the cafe and the tag, I am a llitle late

1. World Poetry Day : Do you write poetry? Have any poems to share? If not, what's your favourite poem?

I used to write some poetry, have not in years. I don't read poetry any more either. A few of my favorite authors are Ernest Hemingway and Jack London, no poetry there but their books are great.

1. Slytherin Pride Day : What is/are your best Slytherin trait(s)? Ambition, determination, leadership, resourcefulness, survival skills, cleverness, disregard for rules, confidence, loyalty, passion...?

I had to google "Slytherin." I have never read Harry Potter. I guess two of the traits I have would be loyalty and passion.

1. International Fragrance Day : What's your favourite perfume/cologne? scent?

My favorite scent comes from a freshly mown hay field. My favorite cologne is "Sex Appeal" by Jovan. It is cheap but smells good.

1. Common Courtesy Day : This is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you want to see.

Yes, if I want to change the world start with myself. A good plan.

 

[Bradamante]

Okay, I am finally answering

World Poetry Day : Do you write poetry? Have any poems to share? If not, what's your favourite poem?
Yes, I write poetry. In my signature there's a link where you can check them out if you like
Gosh, it's hard to pick ONE favorite but I will go with "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, because it was the first one my bf introduced me to, regarding this beautiful art.
I add the link where you can read it, it's too long to paste it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock

Slytherin Pride Day : What is/are your best Slytherin trait(s)? Ambition, determination, leadership, resourcefulness, survival skills, cleverness, disregard for rules, confidence, loyalty, passion...?
I would go with passion, I always try to pour everything of me in what I really care of.

International Fragrance Day : What's your favourite perfume/cologne? scent?
I love the smell of grass freshly cut.

Common Courtesy Day : This is your opportunity to start being the change in the world you want to see.
We're so many and at the moment there's only one planet we can live on, so we just need more tolerance of each other.

 

[Lumos]

Slytherin Pride Day : What is/are your best Slytherin trait(s)? Ambition, determination, leadership, resourcefulness, survival skills, cleverness, disregard for rules, confidence, loyalty, passion...?

I have all of those qualities

I'm actually a Ravenclaw but I took the test three times, got Ravenclaw twice and then Slytherin

 

[thedevotee]

Thanks for the tag, @Auri. Hope you're doing well.

1. World Poetry Day : Unfortunately I don't write poetry. I can understand it but haven't been able to develop the kind of appreciation for it the way some people do. I don't have a favorite poem, but I kept this tweet I found a while back. It's not a poem, but reads like one (I think):
   
   You shoved everyone out of your way
   To get off the plane
   Yet here we are
   Together
   At baggage claim
   
   
2. Slytherin Pride Day : I'm an absolute bore for this, but I'm not really familiar with Harry Potter. Watched all the movies but did not take up a genuine enough interest in it to be to be a fan.
3. International Fragrance Day : Oud wood. Or anything woody or musky.
4. Common Courtesy Day : How people will remember you: it's not so much what you say to them, but how you make them feel.