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    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire: The Ultimate Fan Guide [Kindle] $0.99.


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    Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire:  Ultimate Fan Guide

    Georgiana is the subject of the movie "The Duchess" (currently on Netflix) and a relative of the young Prince and Princess of Cambridge. Get the Ultimate Fan Guide -- with plot points, history, and what happened to the historical characters -- for only 99 cents!

  • Green Party Peace Sign Bumper Sticker


    Green Party Peace Sign Bumper Sticker
    The Green Party has continually opposed entry into war and has consistently called for the immediate return of our troops, in stark contrast to the Democratic and Republican parties.
    Today we march, tomorrow we vote Green Party.

  • Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened?

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    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook on Amazon

    Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? eBook

    Reflections on Occupy Wall Street, with photos, fun, and good wishes for the future. eBook, Occupy Wall Street: What Just Happened? (Only $.99 !) In the eBook, the Occupy movement is explored through original reporting, photographs, cartoons, poetry, essays, and reviews.The collection of essays and blog posts records the unfolding of Occupy into the culture from September 2011 to the present.  Authors Kimberly Wilder and Ian Wilder were early supporters of Occupy, using their internet platforms to communicate the changes being created by the American Autumn.

    The eBook is currently available on Amazon for Kindle;  Barnes & Noble Nook ; Smashwords independent eBook seller; and a Kobo for 99 cents and anyone can read it using their Kindle/Nook Reader, smart phone, or computer.

Poet Walt Whitman’s Birthday is May 31st: Celebrate in Silence

Walt Whitman is one of my favorite poets. I like to remember his birthday, which is on May 31st, and falls on a  [Thursday for 2012 and Friday for 2013] this year. There are some events and celebrations around this time at the Walt Whitman Birthplace in Long Island. And, my idea for a holiday to this beloved, transcendentalist, nature poet is to set aside 15 minutes on his birthday to celebrate silence.

More about a silent celebration of Walt Whitman’s birthday:

Celebrate Walt Whitman: Listen To The Waves

Walt Whitman, was born close by to me in West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island, New York. For me, Whitman has become a touchstone for something more than just beautiful poetry. I first discovered Walt Whitman for myself when he was quoted in a sermon at an interfaith church in Virginia. Then, a bookstore colleague of mine read with me from Leaves of Grass, and I was awakened to this powerful voice of self, universe, and nature, combined. Since then, I have come to realize Whitman’s amazing gifts as poet, as political figure, as reshaper of language, as prophet, as loving brother, and as complicated and beautiful a person who ever lived.

Whitman’s sense of self and his poetry are effused with a love and connection to nature. In the book, From Noon to Starry Night, by Philip Callow, I relished images of Whitman sitting on a hillside near his family home in West Hills and listening to the sounds of the waves. Whitman credited this constant backdrop of Long Island’s pulsing waters for the subtle rhythm in the new poetic language he invented. And, as a good transcendentalist, he had a genuine passion for the sea, the sun, and the earth over material goods.

As I considered what Walt Whitman has meant to me, and what I know he could mean to many other artists, I thought of a new way to immortalize him…a kind of transcendentalist’s holiday.

On Walt Whitman’s birthday – each May 31st – every person and business (especially those on Long Island) should observe 15 minutes of silence.

We could stop mowing our lawns, stop driving our cars, click off our cellphones, turn off all buzzes and drones of machinery, and just listen. Listen to the silence that enfolds us again in the embrace of nature. Listen to the silence that inspires us to art and poetry. Listen to the heartbeat of the waves which, in Walt’s time, you could hear from every point on the island.

“Listen To The Waves” essay by Kimberly Wilder. Please feel free to repost with credit given. Or, write your own proposal for a Walt Whitman birthday celebration.

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Some information on the science (and importance) of silence can be found here:
www.acousticecology.org/

A definition and some thoughts on Free Verse (a style which includes Whitman’s new, poetic language):
Free Verse entry at Wikipedia

Bonus Video:

If you love Walt Whitman like I do, you may be amused by the whimsical video below. It was taped at a Walt Whitman birthday celebration at the WWBA/Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. It includes several Walt Whitman impersonators.

 

 

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4 Responses

  1. […] Korner (of The Common Ills) We thought she was smarter 9 hours ago OntheWilderSide Poet Walt Whitman’s Birthday is Thurs 5/31: Celebrate in Silence 11 hours […]

  2. […] Poet Walt Whitman’s Birthday is Thurs 5/31: Celebrate in Silence (onthewilderside.com) […]

  3. […] Poet Walt Whitman’s Birthday is Thurs 5/31: Celebrate in Silence (onthewilderside.com) […]

  4. […] Poet Walt Whitman’s Birthday is Thurs 5/31: Celebrate in Silence (onthewilderside.com) […]

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