2023-07-31 14:29
I found this image of a typing table described as "antique." It was the same style of table and manual typewriter I used during my first advertising job at Marshall Field's!The recession was… Read More
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Frugal Poet's Guide To Life Blog
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Poet, dramatist and yoga instructor Cynthia Gallaher leads journal writing workshops, poetry writing workshops, creative writing workshops and yoga classes in libraries, schools, park districts, retreat centers, art centers, senior centers and spas. Certified RYT 200 yoga instructor, registered with the Yoga Alliance.
2021-11-23 14:00
“…my Chicago had its moments: the Surrealist attack on Robert Bly that ended in a fistfight and the arrival of police.” ~ Paul HooverOne four-below-zero winter&rsquo&hell…Read More
2021-10-03 21:15
Sister Dexterity wool dryer balls with pure essential oils setDo you ever walk around your neighborhood, expecting to enjoy the fresh, natural aromas of green grass and leafy tree… Read More
2021-08-08 20:13
Sometimes it pays to wander at random, then be surprised at what awaits you. Ten years ago, I was the second writer-in-residence at a new program at Shake Rag Alley, a cultural center in the… Read More
2021-04-30 21:48
As poets, we probably know it's important to write every day. But even while understanding such a wise guideline, if you're like me, you probably don't write every single day. Whether it's b… Read More
2020-09-01 11:42
Don't we sometimes fantasize about what your perfect dream house might be like? A topic you might journal about during this Covid-19 time of uncertainty is what you picture as your dream hou… Read More
2020-07-20 02:21
A earth-shaking story that barely appears in any Western news source is evolving right now in China along the Yangtze River. Here is a "what-if" poem of what might happen in the near future… Read More
2020-06-18 01:49
An excerpt from my memoir manuscript of 1969, "The Year of 14 Jobs" Job 3: Waitressing at the Bum Steer, Harwood Heights, Illinois, 1969 (formerly Aunt Jemima's Pancake House)The street… Read More
COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Homeopathics, Herbs, Foods, Essential Oils & Supplements For Prevention
2020-05-08 11:26
Dear Friends,There aren't many scientific papers on COVID-19 as it's emerging, and the most accurate we can be is to provide an informed clinical impression. Forty years ago, I made the… Read More
2019-11-27 13:43
big orange, Illinois,rotund autumnal heartland center,pumpkin territory.August’s thrum begins to drumagainst tough hidesof pumpkin acres,the ripening signal.tiniest ones line wind… Read More
2019-07-27 14:25
Way back in 1986, poet Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem about Bernie Sanders. I am no Allen Ginsberg, but today I offer a recent sestina poem I wrote in Bernie Sanders' voice (words my own, but i… Read More
2019-06-15 12:13
You’ve probably heard at least a little if not a lot about CBD oil lately. It’s all in the news and in magazine articles. CBD is short for cannabidiol, a substance extracted fro… Read More
2019-05-25 12:55
From selling floor to the slam, from cubicle to podium. Where to go in between? Happy hour!As a frugal poet, my dinners were usually eaten at my kitchen table, as were breakfasts. Lunches we… Read More
2019-05-09 12:49
Chapbooks were originally small, inexpensive books sold from street carts by merry olde English peddlers called chapmen. From the 1500s through part of the 1800s, these little books, on a va… Read More
2019-04-27 12:07
In his classic book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, author and creativity researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi outlines the characteristics of creative ind… Read More
2019-03-16 14:52
My stepfather John worked as an administrator for the Port of Chicago back in the 1960s, which had its offices at Navy Pier. One of his duties was to check on all the bridges and bridgetende… Read More
2019-03-10 15:18
Second in a seriesWhat does wabi-sabi have to do with being a frugal poet? Wabi-sabi, though quintessentially Japanese, can be applied to any culture’s poetry and is, in fact, an inte… Read More
2019-03-08 13:46
Smiley-face note: Wabi-sabi is not to be confused with wasabi, a hot green horseradish paste commonly served next to Japanese sushi.Japan, one of the most refined, thoughtful and poetic soc… Read More
2019-02-26 16:31
In addition to poetry, I have a fascination with the stage and theater, at least from a writer’s perspective. At the urging of friend Terry Soto, who also was an avid playgoer, I volu… Read More
2019-02-24 14:59
At age 4 in Chicago, I woke up from an afternoon nap, bitterly and inconsolably crying after a dream. I had just re-lived, in the dream, a death I experienced in Switzerland in which my St… Read More
2019-02-24 14:58
Some may call it poetic license. I call it memories before birth and even before conception. More and more people have publicly claimed similar memories. And now I suppose, so do I.As a chi… Read More
2019-02-13 22:39
The recession was still raging after two years of my pushing around a book cart [at Chicago's Marshall Field's department store], wearing a smock. There were no openings in the store’… Read More
2019-02-04 13:43
Happy Chinese New Yearyou make a mistake, erase it from the board.you tire of dabbing the bottom of the paint cup.you want a fresh start,to break free from the same-old, be brand new, but s… Read More
2018-06-21 14:15
Earlier this year, I gave the last poetry reading at Billy Corgan's Madame Zuzu's Tea Shop in Highland Park, Illinois. As a theme, I decided to read a handful of poems I had written about te… Read More
2017-08-18 02:58
moon pulls a room-darkening shadeacross the sun, a small circleto have a private conversation,a face-to-face performance appraisalbetween this midsize starand earth’s orbiterafter near… Read More
2017-08-03 13:14
Somewhere there’s a certified organic family farm, surrounded by more than 9,000 acres of protected land, far from agricultural drift, with mineral-rich soil sitting on one of the most… Read More
2017-07-20 20:49
I’m a writer and poet. Ideally, I need a quiet place to be creative. It doesn’t have to be large. But for years I never had such a space other than a shared dining room table. Te… Read More
2017-07-14 11:51
The following is a reprint of a recent message from my publisher, Bookbaby. Company President Steve Spatz interviewed me and wrote this piece in regard to the recent National Indie Exce… Read More
2016-12-16 23:47
After my son marked his third birthday, I felt ready not only to take a small breath after raising a son from a baby to toddlerhood, but also felt ready to mark a few beats to focus on my ne… Read More
2016-07-30 01:34
I was 12 years old and my mother, stepfather and I had chosen that summer to leave Chicago, at least for a short while, for our big family trip to New York City to see the World’… Read More
2016-05-03 13:36
Launching soon: Frugal Poets’ Guide to Life: How to live a poetic life, even if you aren’t a poet. My new eBook and print paperback is in the works to appear this summe… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I'm leading a three-day Spiritual, Creative and Dream Journaling retreat the weekend of April 25-27, 2014 at The Christine Center in central Wisconsin. If you or anyone you know might be i… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Learning to wield a knife correctly proved to be a two-edged sword. Would my cooking live up to the new skills I was now so proud of? My world and attitude were turned upside-down as onions… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
The Health Freedom Expo is more than a place to get a few healthy hints. It is a radical, grassroots, compelling weekend convention of dedicated, educated experts who care about our world an… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
I'm leading a three-day Spiritual, Creative and Dream Journaling retreat the weekend of November 22-24 at The Christine Center in central Wisconsin. If you or anyone you know might be intere… Read More
2016-03-18 11:20
For the frugal poet or any person in pursuit of a simple, yet elegant, intelligent and active lifestyle, yoga is one of the frugal choices. Yoga can be performed virtually anywhere, at most… Read More
2016-02-10 14:42
refugewithin temporary refuge,your trapezoid paletteinside Maison Jaune in Arles.pale violet walls, bed, fresh yellow butter,scarlet coverlet againstcitron sheets, puzzle-piece floorof celad… Read More
2016-01-17 18:07
I started writing this blog post to talk about the four yoga classes I now teach on Tuesdays at McFetridge Yoga & Fitness Studio, which are Hatha, Slow Flow and morning and afternoon Gen… Read More
2016-01-17 18:07
I started writing this blog post to talk about the four yoga classes I now teach on Tuesdays at McFetridge Yoga & Fitness Studio, which are Hatha, Slow Flow and morning and afternoon Gen… Read More
2015-12-31 22:47
New Year's DayIt's the clean slate,the board washed of yesterday,a new document page,a big open space under "Comments."The sun rises over and outshinesthe fireworks display of last night,the… Read More
2015-10-11 13:27
Is There a Real Joe Brandt? Dreamer of Mega-Earthquake in CaliforniaSupposedly, in 1937, when he was 17 years old and sustained injuries from hitting his head from a fall from his horse… Read More
2015-09-28 16:17
I’m a poet and a playwright, and as many writers like me, I find myself ever needing more dedicated time to write. Even though I am now fortunate enough to work my day job from h… Read More
2015-09-21 22:56
How many FDA-approved male sexual enhancement medications are out there? Dozens. How many FDA-approved female versions? Zero.One of the reasons may be because of differences in ma… Read More
2015-04-16 12:22
A reflection in light of the 2015 AWP Minneapolis panel discussionMinneapolis, MinnesotaAs a poet and writer, I try to get away for a devoted chunk of special writing time at a writer’… Read More
2015-03-15 11:03
Stanger than fiction? There are circumstantial reasons to believe that the characters of Gaylord Ravenal and Magnolia Hawks in Edna Ferber’s novel “Showboat,” and in the su… Read More
2015-02-20 16:50
you make a mistake and want to erase itfrom the board.you tire of dabbing the bottom of the paint cup.you want a fresh start,to break free from the same-old, same-old,be brand new, but still… Read More
2015-02-18 00:34
Post-Katrina Mardi GrasKatrina, huffy hurricane, howler, home wrecker,how could New Orleans celebrate after the likes of you?was it not your winds, but your rains that broke the levees?left… Read More
2015-02-18 00:34
Post-Katrina Mardi GrasKatrina, huffy hurricane, howler, home wrecker,how could New Orleans celebrate after the likes of you?was it not your winds, but your rains that broke the levees?left… Read More
2015-02-06 22:03
The year 1969, in retrospect, was one of the biggest in classic rock music. It was also the year my friends Sue, Mary Jane and I, three 16-year-olds, signed up for summer telemarketing jobs… Read More
2015-01-21 15:32
One summer, I flew out from Chicago and spent the month of July in Berkeley, California, hanging around the University of California campus for no apparent reason, whiling my time away. I wo… Read More
2014-11-06 19:53
Well then. I have been eating healthy for years, preferring organic, non-processed, non-GMO and/or grass-fed foods, and cooking at home as much as possible. But during those same years, seve… Read More
2014-10-27 16:25
At the time of this writing, the Ebola Virus Disease has had its sporadic brushes with the U.S., such as in Dallas and New York City, but has not become a pandemic, as it &hell…Read More
2014-06-29 13:01
I found a large clear glass cold drink dispenser with a spigot at Tuesday Morning atop another glass unit which holds ice (not pictured). I haven't used it quite yet but hope to soon this su… Read More
2014-06-29 13:01
I found a large clear glass cold drink dispenser with a spigot at Tuesday Morning atop another glass unit which holds ice (not pictured). I haven't used it quite yet but hope to soon this su… Read More
2014-06-24 14:57
One of the most refined, thoughtful and poetic societies, Japan, has gone through unfathomable disasters in recent history, such as the profound earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe a… Read More
2014-05-23 15:54
“Was it only by dreaming or writing that I could find out what I thought?” ~ Joan Didion“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream r… Read More
2014-02-26 16:09
I'm leading a three-day Spiritual, Creative and Dream Journaling retreat the weekend of April 25-27, 2014 at The Christine Center in central Wisconsin. If you or anyone you know might be i… Read More
2013-09-19 14:06
Just as creative greats and average folk from the past and present have done, you can use dreams to inspire your own poetry, fiction, painting, jewelry making, music, solutions to global iss… Read More
2013-08-01 14:15
Before Dennis Farina became a popular, noteworthy actor, and while he worked as a Chicago Police officer, he also moonlighted evenings here and there at area teen clubs as a security bouncer… Read More
2013-06-07 12:19
If you’ve ever been away from home at a writing retreat, you know how rich and valuable those special days can be in helping push your work forward in a vibrant way. At writing retreat… Read More
2013-05-22 12:48
“Shall we walk as we talk?” is an old stereotyped line from movies to give the actors some action during a dialog. In a similar fashion, but without such cinematic contrivance, y… Read More
2013-05-05 14:24
E-books are out there on every topic, but there are few on aromatherapy. Fellow aromatherapy practitioner Andrea Butje, who runs the Aromatherapy Institute, has come out with a new book avai… Read More
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