9/11 (short poem)

two numbers,
calendar date,
Forever changed

words,
Are there any?
truths,
Can there be?

express?
describe?
the depths
inside?

9/11

two numbers,
calendar date,
Forever changed

By Joanna Ballard
September 12, 2004
© 2004, Joanna Ballard. All rights reserved. No reproduction of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author

Fall 2015 ALREADY! Wow!

Southern Autumn ~ Poem & Photo © By Joanna Ballard. All rights reserved.
No reproduction of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without
express permission of the author.

Click the buy now button below to purchase an autographed print from large to art trading card size of

Southern Autumn 

at a discount 

for blog readers!

Free shipping. As always a portion of all my sales go to help the homeless.

Print Sizes

81/2 x 11 $23.00 USD 4x6 $12.00 USD ATC 21/2 x31/2 $4.00 USD

Something about fall and spring, I get itchy feet. Least it is not 2 years between this and my last blog *sheepish look* I am busy rearranging and cleaning my living space, as well as, my web presence, for maximum creativity. I hope you had a great summer! I did, the weather here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ranged from record highs to record lows. 

One of the awesome first time events for me was the Baton Rouge World Peace Day Festival. A well attended family event! Photo of yours truly showing a young gentleman how work the necklace he bought, courtesy of Christine Schultz Grenat administrator of  Red Stick Free-Spirited Families  facebook page.

Joanna Ballard Louisiana Storyteller/Artist 

Baton Rouge's @ World Peace Day Festival 2015

By Christine Schultz Grenat

Another first this summer was storytelling for a a group of 1-4 year olds, talk about your challenges! I did survive and am able to write about it now. *wide impish grin and virtual wink*.We had a good family reunion up in Shreveport La got to visit with some Yankee cousins and an Aunt and Uncle I have not seen in several years. All in all it was a very good summer.

So now to fall cleaning and creating! My season has started with a small beauty and wonder filled blessing I have been having daily and even sometimes twice daily visits from a green hummingbird (of course when I do not have the camera with me, tho a personal delight). 

My purple trombone naturally it has
a purple mouth piece to go with it!

Also one of the things I need to get back doing is practicing my purple trombone. Just for those of you NOT in the know the trombone put me thru college quite a few decades back (band scholarship) and I could not resist this one! *wide impish grin* especially since I am passionate about purple. I plan to put some little simple tunes in my storytelling after the first of the year I have slacked off on practicing so posting here and hopefully y'all can remind me and keep me honest!

I also want to get busier creating more jewelry and going even more multimedia on my art. Working on finishing up writing my first story CD (I have 2 spoken word CD's which can be heard and purchased on my web site Ballard's Bytes ). Speaking of which I have September and October specials on site, and will be soon working on making the site phone size so you can carry me in your pocket! *virtual wink*

*hint hint hint* for those of you in the Baton Rouge area I do NOT have a Halloween storytelling gig YET! My fav story time of the year, tho I do spooky NOT scary. I have this over active imagination myself *mock deep sigh*.

So all in all a great summer and wonder filled busy fall season ahead, this IS the short list. Tell me about your season in comments I LOVE stories! Please add your fall plans and please feel free to bug me about all of the above as well as drop hints about future blog topics you would like to read from me.

Since you were kind enough and interested enough to read this far. I am giving you a chance to buy this rosary, for yourself or someone else, an offer thru this blog ONLY for the one of a kind rosary below. I will take down the buy now button when it has sold, as always a portion of my sales go to help the homeless. Keep a look out for future art and jewelry offers in blogs, don't forget my specials on the Ballard's Bytes website. Check out my other web places in my bio. Thank y'all so much for your interest and support, stay blessed and keep having FUN!

A Jo~Jo's jewelry original. Five decade rosary created with vintage hot pink and soft yellow (almost creme) wooden beads hand knotted on brown modern hemp with Saint Bernard medal. From the middle of the third decade to the bottom of the crucifix it is 24 inches. Normally sold at events for 45$ Offered here for $40 with free shipping. Created by Joanna Ballard.

Spring's New Beginning's!

Wow! I did not realize it has been nearly two years since I started this blog and then left it dormant, so many life adventures since my last entry, homelessness, surgery, and other living cycles. It is spring and so I begin anew as I type this many in the Northern part of my country are still dealing with some snow and low temperatures so sharing with y'all a pic of Louisiana's wild rose. I Love Baton Rouge!

Louisiana Wild Rose ~ photo © By Joanna Ballard All rights reserved. No reproduction of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without express permission of the author.

On sale, a mere $25.00 8 1/2 x 11, $15.00 4 x 6 Or $10.00 Art Trading Card 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 No S&H message me to purchase a print.As ALWAYS at least 10% of my sales go to Art 4th Homeless

As Spring is filled with new life I am Spring cleaning my place and finishing old projects and beginning new ones my life is filled with joy and laughter new friends and old. New adventures ahead! I will be adding new art and jewelry and some knitting to the Arts of Mojo Store. My work can be found under: JoJos Jewelry, Visions of Joanna, JoJos Vintage Treasures visit the links explore the store and HAVE FUN! 

I am also tweaking my web site Ballard's Bytes, where you can find storytelling, photo shoot and other specials goodies for March and April as well as I am adding pages, etc. Visit explore make suggestions and enjoy Spring! May your Spring be harmonious and peaceful!

Earl K. Long Hospital Baton Rouge LA Closes ~ farewell to Louisiana's charity hospitals :-(

As I start my blogging adventure. I feel part of my purpose as a storyteller is to record the times I am living in, barring all political affiliations, and the experiences of those of us living now, thus this will be part of my eclectic blogs but not the entire focus. Thank you for reading.

So long Earl K. Long Hospital you will be missed!
Photo ©Joanna Ballard all rights reserved

Earl K Long hospital as of 7am this morning Sunday, April 14, 2013 is officially closed. Another facility of the country's oldest charity health care system is gone and now in Louisiana if you do not have medicaid, medicare, or insurance your plain out of luck. Tho at the moment they cannot legally turn you away the ER but, as has already happened with friends of mine, they can slap a band-aid on you and say go see the primary care doctor you do not have, so long and good luck.

This hospital bracelet will now longer be seen or used again.
Photo ©Joanna Ballard all rights reserved

I am personally without, in this now,  insurance, medicaid, or medicare, and in the moment too old for many programs, and too young for many others and as of this writing I am in disability limbo, awaiting my hearing, so with many chronic conditions I am in the charity clinic system but will not in this now be hospitalized even if I need to be.

But sadder to me is a 4 year old friend whose family had to move back to Florida, a move they could barely afford, to get him the health care he desperately needs after breaking his skull in a fall. Unfortunately, many Louisianians cannot afford this option, and cannot afford to be poor in the times we now live in.

Nearly empty parking lot by Earl K Long now permanently bare.
Photo ©Joanna Ballard all rights reserved

All politics aside I am getting the message that if you are poor, even the working poor, working homeless, homeless or disabled, even tho a registered and active voter, in this now, in this country, this state, you are disposable, and basically off the radar as for as the powers that be are concerned. All I do know is the system we had was not working but it was better than the non existing one we have as of 7am this morning.

So we have another abandoned hospital in this state, like the former Doctor's Hospital in Shreveport Louisiana, that could be used for a homeless shelter, an independent living center or emergency shelter and probably won't be, and probably will be another empty monument to what was and most likely won't be again.

I don't know what the answers are but I do know what is happening in this state of Louisiana in this moment is NOT working and will most likely put us further up in the lists of this county's worst.

Greetings and Welcome!

 

Joanna Ballard ~ Louisiana Storyteller

Even tho it is April 1st I am not foolin' around and starting one of my goals for the year as both friends and family have been after me for more than a minute to start a blog. Thanks for stopping by and being part of a whole new adventure. Over time this site will include besides my humble opinion on many topics, reviews of books, possibly cd's, stories poetry spoken word by myself and others, as well as works in those mediums. I plan to showcase some of my art, mainly, but not limited to, digital art photography, my folk art jewelry created on hemp and leather with vintage beads (also including rosaries) and a few stories, poems, and who knows what bits and bytes of my life *wide impish grin and virtual wink* Please take a minute or two to stop by and visit my web site to explore more of many hats and worlds http://ballardsbytes.wix.com/home

Thanks for stopping in and maybe sitting a spell ... new adventures begin! *wide impish grin and virtual wink*