{"id":211,"date":"2012-06-09T15:18:50","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T15:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/?p=211"},"modified":"2014-01-22T11:00:25","modified_gmt":"2014-01-22T11:00:25","slug":"is-anyone-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/is-anyone-out-there\/","title":{"rendered":"IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi!\u00a0 <\/span>Is anyone out there? <\/span><\/p>\n

This feels like getting on a stage where the lights are s<\/span>hining so brightly in your face that you can\u2019t see the audience.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ve been told you\u2019re out there.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But it\u2019s so still and quiet around here that it\u2019s hard to know for sure.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Can you tell it\u2019s my first time doing this?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I wonder what I could say or do to create a stirring.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe if I make a plea like Peter Pan sends out when Tinkerbell falls sick: if you hear this and care, please clap, please blog.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Let me know you\u2019re out there.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m Marika\u2019s mom.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marika Joy Warden<\/span><\/b>\u2019s mother.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That should wake someone up somewhere.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She was the girl in Ithaca who kicked leukemia but died of complications.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In March, 2011.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Remember?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Well, I\u2019m writing a book.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Our book.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Please help.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I wasn\u2019t supposed to become a writer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marika was the writer \u2013 I was the artist, the teacher and the mother, the one who could be counted on to put out good food and drive anyone anywhere.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But after Marika died, I discovered her journals and notebooks.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She spent hours and hours writing songs, poems, plays, prose. The first poem I found was a single entry on the first page of a brand new journal.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She beckoned me, no dared me, to carry on.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She wrote that she wanted to be remembered for her words.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0 <\/span>So I\u2019m here writing a book.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Using her songs, poems and prose as her part of our conversations about tough issues like dying, like how cancer affected her life and relationships, \u2026 the book tells the real story about our last three years in and out of hospitals and all the way to Australia.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s like a duet, her words and my words taking turns on the pages. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been told I need to blog, finally fix up my neglected Facebook pages, brand myself! And get out there in order to establish a platform.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Publishers won\u2019t even look at our book without a platform.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So I\u2019m inviting you all to help me build a platform.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m begging you to help me with this platform thing because frankly, this is the scariest part about becoming a writer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marika loved being on center stage.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But I\u2019m more shy.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And putting myself Out There, telling our story, using the computer beyond emailing, and exposing myself to strangers – my Aunt Bope always says, \u201cDon\u2019t be a stranger!\u201d \u2013 has been a little unnerving.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So don’t be a stranger, please jam with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Party Jam<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Marika Warden
\nOne more drink away \u2018til the night begins.
\nLet the smoke lead the way to another night of sin.
\nAll the laughs and cries, something else came in.
\nPut your soul on overdrive
\nBecause this party\u2019s startin.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Look around at all these people lookin\u2019 for some fun,
\nGot my Rastas, got my hipsters, got a few of everyone.
\nWhen the music stops the after-party\u2019s just begun.
\nGet your nightlights on and ready
\nAin\u2019t expectin\u2019 any sun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1781\"<\/a>Wait \u2013 time out \u2013 the drink and smoke and \u201cnight of sin\u201d stuff \u2013 twenty year old Marika\u2019s words, not mine.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We had different views about things.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But that\u2019s what makes this book so unusual.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019s written some amazing things that I will share with you in these blogs each week.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This particular short song of hers just seemed to summon up her audience, which is what I need to do now.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I know you\u2019re out there somewhere rooting for me in this new project I\u2019m undertaking.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So let\u2019s get on with the show, writing words that bring comfort as they are released and again as they are received.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We can all move past our grief and loss.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In a million ways we can make it all mean something and find joy again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is your wake up call.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>With Hurricane Marika gusting me through ten chapters, a journey to Australia, Ithaca\u2019s gorges, everyday ups and downs and more, I will be writing every Monday, starting in June, 2012 from wherever I am, however I am.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Cheers always!<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinbotie<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi!  Is anyone out there? This feels like getting on a stage where the lights are shining so brightly in your face that you can’t see the audience.  I’ve been told you’re out there.  But it’s so still and quiet around here that it’s hard to know for sure.  Can you tell it’s my first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}