My Virtual Reading Room

7 Days Meme copied from holmes221b

The 7 days meme:

day one • a song
day two • a picture
day three • a book/ebook/fanfic
day four • a site
day five • a youtube clip
day six • a quote
day seven • whatever tickles your fancy

Well, anybody who is reading this knows I like poetry as there is a lot of it posted on my LJ :)  So I shall repost one of my favourite poems by one of my favourite authors; enjoy!

A Gray Mood

As we hurry away to the end, my friend,
Of this sad little farce called existence,
We are sure that the future will bring one thing,
And that is the grave in the distance.

And so when our lives run along all wrong,
And nothing seems real or certain,
We can comfort ourselves with the thought (or not)
Of that scepter behind the curtain.

But we haven't much time to repine or whine,
Or to wound or jostle each other;
And the hour for us each is to-day, I say,
If we mean to assist a brother.

And there is no pleasure that earth gives birth,
But the worry it brings is double;
And all that repays for the strife of Life,
Is helping some soul in trouble.

I tell you, if I could go back the track
To my life's morning hour,
I would not set forth seeking name or fame,
Or that poor bauble called power.

I would be like the sunlight, and live to give;
I would lend but I would not borrow;
Nor would I be blind and complain of pain,
Forgetting the meaning of sorrow.

This world is a vaporous jest at best,
Tossed off by the gods in laughter;
And a cruel attempt at wit were it,
If nothing better came after.

It is reeking with hearts that ache and break,
Which we ought to comfort and strengthen,
As we hurry away to the end, my friend,
And the shadows behind us lengthen.

(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

RAISING THE QUESTION

When I grow vexed and weary
From Junior's ceaseless "Why?"
His morn-to-evening query
About the earth and sky,

My nerves are nearly shattered,
My patience flickers low,
But how my ego's flattered
To think he'd think I know!

DEFLATION

Sons and daughters
In their teens
Think their parents
Don't know beans.

Which would not be
Hard to face
Were it not so
Oft the case.

(Richard Armour)

Production of H1N1 flu vaccine fails to meet promised pace
Only 13 million of the 120 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine that the federal government said would be available by mid-October have been delivered. Health officials attribute the delay to the heavy burden placed on drug companies to produce vaccines for H1N1 as well as the seasonal flu, and the slowness and unreliability of the chicken-egg method used to produce the vaccines. Google/The Associated Press (10/21)

H1N1 cases spread from children to other age groups
H1N1 cases are spreading from schoolchildren to the rest of the U.S. population, according to an analysis by Quest Diagnostics, which makes a test to confirm an H1N1 flu diagnosis. While children ages 5 to 14 have had higher overall rates of H1N1 cases, with a sharp increase seen in late August and early September, the U.S. now is seeing delayed by several weeks an increase in cases among the elderly, people ages 50 to 64 and children under 5. Reuters (10/21)