Category: A G Moore

Haiku



I’ve been neglecting my blog here, because of all the writing I’m doing elsewhere, but WordPress will see more of me in the future. One way I can do this is to share my posts from other sites. This one, for example, was written for a contest on Steemit. The prize was insignificant, but the fun of writing the haiku was immeasurable. Only one haiku was asked of me. You can see how I got carried away. The theme: vehicles. I only stopped writing because it seemed unreasonable to continue. Feel free to write your own haiku about vehicles in a comment. You’ll see, it’s addictive.


Haiku About Vehicles

Open the windows
No air conditioning here!
We need a new car!!

I love my wagon
It takes me around the yard
When Mommy pulls me 🙂

wagon-148237_640.png


A plane overhead
Makes me think of travel
Where is it going?

A train zooms along
Faces in passing windows
What are they thinking?

train-303705_640.png

Trucks pound the highways
Carrying stuff here and there
The thread of commerce

That red bicycle
It’s the first I ever owned
I’m proud to ride it

bicycle-311656_640.png

My black SUV
Has clones all over the road
A bit boring, no?

The bus spews thick smoke
The people inside look tired
Even the driver

I’m in a balloon!
Scary to float free up here
But so exciting

hot-air-balloon-306007_640.png

Gliding off the cliff
I soar over rocky shores
This is really fun

My scooter goes fast
Much faster than my brother’s
He’s always behind!

My canoe, so sleek
Cuts easily through water
Watch out for rapids!

canoes-294561_640.png

Gigantic cruise ships
Travel the Caribbean
I’ve never tried one

Spiffy snowmobile
Speeds on past skis and snowshoes
Power is not green

snowmobile-34990_640.png

by Categories: A G Moore, Blogging, Creative Writing, Poetry Leave a comment

Dengue Fever

Many victims of yellow fever and dengue epidemics lie in this New Orleans cemetery.

The title of this blog is not a very catchy title, but I thought I’d drop in here and share a bit of information I learned about dengue fever. This is a fever that has plagued tropical regions of the world for centuries, but thanks to human activity, its reach is expanding. There is a vaccine in the works, but not one recommended for general use by the World Health Organization. People pretty much have to depend on physical prevention.

Dengue Fever is spread by mosquitoes, so prevention means keeping mosquitoes away. The two known carriers are Aedes.aegypti (sometimes called the yellow fever mosquito) and Aedes.albopictus, commonly called the tiger mosquito. It’s the tiger mosquito that is carrying the disease into temperate zones. These are not favored by *Aedes.aegypti*. It seems that the eggs of the tiger mosquito can survive a serious winter. And the eggs themselves can carry the disease.

I wrote a rather long article on this, which describes the most dangerous aspect of dengue: the first bout may be survived by most healthy people without much complication. However a second bout, with another variety of the disease (there are four subtypes) can lead to hemorrhagic dengue. This is a potentially life-threatening condition.

So, if you’ve had dengue and think you might be immune. No. That’s not true. You will be immune only to the type that you caught. The other three subtypes are very dangerous for you. Treatment at a facility with experience in fighting this disease is important.

More information, with links to references, may be found at my Steemit blog: “Is Dengue Fever Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?“

Two mosquito species, Aedes.aegypti and Aedes.albopictus, are known to transmit dengue, yellow fever and other viral diseases. It turns out, they can travel pretty far, but mostly take advantage of resources near human habitation. These resources can be any container that holds a small amount of water.

So, empty those gutters. Don’t leave old tires around (this seems to be a favorite egg-laying site), and clear out pools of standing water, no matter where you find them.


by Categories: A G Moore, Dengue, Dengue Fever, DiseaseTags: , , , Leave a comment

Blogging on Steemit

Paul Gauguin blog revuew 080 public
This picture accompanied a story I wrote on Steemit, Anhelo: Ode to Color

 

It has been so long since I posted here, on WordPress.  My attentions have been elsewhere, on Steemit.  This is a platform I highly recommend, but with a few caveats.  Don’t expect to get rich quickly, or get rich at all.  You may make money.  Maybe a lot of money, but if that is your prime motivation, disappointment is likely to be the outcome.

I’ve been posting on Steemit for ten months.  It is a rather absorbing enterprise.  One of the chief advantages, for a writer, is that there is no boundary.  Whatever catches your interest may be material for a blog.

Over the last months I have written stories.  I’ve written on Chinese art, ants, land use in India, the Guinea worm, cryptocurrency…whatever subject caught my interest.  All these blogs had one thing in common–I worked hard on them.  I didn’t cheat the reader.  Sometimes the ‘payout’ was paltry.  That has not been my standard for success.  My standard, every writer’s standard has to be, I think, did I give my all?  Did I shortchange the reader?

If you do join Steemit, I recommend checking out some of the communities that may coincide with your interests.  There are a few science-oriented communities, creative writing communities, communities dedicated to blogs in different languages.  Take your time looking around.  Dip your toe in one place or another.  Soon you’ll find several that match your inclinations.

So, I’m recommending to everyone who likes to write: check out Steemit.  After a few months, if you produce good material, you’ll start to attract attention.  You’ll get feedback.  You’ll have an audience.

And, there is always the chance that you will actually make some money.

by Categories: A G Moore, Art, Blogging, Steemit, WritingTags: , , , Leave a comment