Writers Notebook

Treachery - -

I was so very proud to have served this great nation. I felt it an honor. I went proudly to the air port, and held my head high as the hippies and yippies and peaceniks chanted horrible things and threw balloons filled with their urine over the fence trying to hit us.

Sometime, while over there it came to me that all was not as we were told, the war was wrong, very wrong but still I served, MY COUNNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG! I thought, I was so very proud of that great flag of red white and blue that flew over our camps, proud of the heroism of our troops, proud of our country for trying to do the right thing despite their mistaken backing of the wrong side.

The pride stayed with me when I got home, things were not all that great when I got home, the anti war crowd were getting even more angry, and doing even worse things, yet I stayed, I served. For eight years I served, for eight years I stayed with the Army, for eight years I offered my life for my country.

Now, when I sit wounded, unable to fight any longer, my country seems to say "it makes no difference what you did, nobody cares, we want our money no matter what!"

To quote the U.S. Attorney "What are we supposed to feel sorry for you?" My answer was NO, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, just recognize that what I did made a difference.

Turning it's back on it's veterans, that seems the ultimate in treachery.

Sorry for ranting and raving, I am just a bit pissed off and down in the dumps, I will get over it, I always do.

Jerry 7-13-2001 0:36

&&Heather&&

Ah, alas, I did not write those poems. I agree; they are very good. I'm also very flattered that some thought they might be mine!

Debra - I think you are exhausting yourself and your kids aren't ready to toilet train yet. Of course you will get very frustrated and near losing your mind if they aren't going on the potty/toilet and are instead having numerous accidents. Think of it this way: Would you rather change diapers a little longer or have to clean up after messy accidents all the time? Diapers, please. By now I'm sure you're about an expert in toilet training kids; but no matter what they have to be willing and ready. They have to be able to tell when they need to go, and also have the muscle control to be able to hold it for a minute or two while they physically get to the bathroom. This takes time and practice - when they wear diapers they just go whenever there is the urge - no need to hold it in.
If you absolutely won't go back to diapers, have you tried 'pull-up' training pants? They're sort of like diapers, but if they 'go' in them, they feel wet. Not like the 'modern' diaper, which does its best to keep 'baby's skin dry'. It's often hard to tell if those diapers are even wet unless you gently squeeze them (from the outside, of COURSE). Now if you used cloth diapers, it's a whole different ball game.

My daughter trained in two weeks at the age of 2 and 1/2. I wanted to take her camping (not at a campgrounds with bathrooms) so I had a talk with her and she was willing to try. At the end of those two weeks she was even dry all night. We celebrated much like Viv did! Bought her fancy underwear and made her feel special, and we had an absolute blast when we went camping the next weekend.

My son, on the other hand took what seemed like forever. He didn't get interested in actually using the toilet until age 3, and I tried the potty thing for 5 months. He refused to use it. This sounds weird, but I asked my husband if he'd SHOW my son how it was done (pee, mind you) and after that my little guy actually thought it was cool - fun, you know. I guess it's the thrill of 'writing your name in the snow'. Then I bought a potty seat that fits over the real toilet because he wouldn't sit on a potty. He used it almost right away and has been trained ever since. The thing was, we just had to wait until he was ready. If I'd tried to force him to sit on the potty I would have been doing much more harm than good. He doesn't see the toilet as a threatening thing. He doesn't think he'll fall into it, or that I'll get mad at him if he doesn't use it... etc.
Now the problem is that he is busy playing and tries to wait forever before going. He'll be doing the 'pee pee dance' so frantically that I wonder how he can get his wee pair of jeans down in time! But he is getting better.

Mel - brilliant! I love the idea of 'TOADY DANCES DOWN'.
I CAN draw, but usually the manuscript for a children's book is submitted without drawings, and the publisher would contract the illustrator they think would give the illustrations just the right look. It's actually harder to have a kid's book published if you have the drawings already, but I've got a kid's book or two still up my sleeve - for that wonderful day I've got my other novel(s) finished and they're off in the great mailing circle.

Have to run... wanted to say more and greet more people with individual comments, etc., but time does not permit!
Take it easy, friends. HUGS TO YOU ALL!

Heather 7-13-2001 0:06

**Teekay**

Good morning everyone,

Well whoever did the smbolistic, haiku, feminist etc offerings well done. Well done indeed I say.

MEL: Standing ovation. This idea really should be seized upon and worked with, because it seems a shame to let it fade into oblivion.

HOP: Good to see you ol' buddy ol' pal.
To be perfectly honest, all joking aside, I have to tell you that I think I'm one of the most normal people I know.
Although my sense of what's funny may be a little off the wall, I don't have any behavioural conditions which would have me locked away or frowned upon by society, and apart from the occassional bad haircut I can pretty well mix innoticed within the general public.
So yes, as maybe the only normal person on this earth, I can tell you that yes, indeed, they do exist. :-)
I think perhaps my post on 'normal' people would perhaps be more appropriate if I replaced the word 'normal' with 'boring'. :-)

Also, perhaps God didn't actually make those commandments, maybe the church did because they wanted control over man kind, and what better way to get it that through fear of spending the afterlife in hell?

Before anyone jumps down my throat, I would like to point out that I did say 'perhaps' and 'maybe'.
Just covering myself for the onslaught which may follow.
bwaaaark.

VIV: But I am. I am hot on Oprah.

DEBRA: Just so long as it's a pot of despair. :-D
Could be much worse.

TREACHERY:
Beautiful lips speak caramel words
to mask the bitterness,
and a stunted soul, a hungry heart
would seek to make me less.

Soft poetry into my ear
two meanings does it speak,
those perfumed words spoken aloud
to cover the whispers reek.

And cruel innuendo in flattery's guise
'tis the touch of the devils kiss
soft upon this cheek of mine,
-what treachery be this?

Going,

Teekay 7-12-2001 22:14

Viv - I'll send that now. I've been busy these past few days getting my externship done and all the papers finalized - now all I have to do is find a job. :)

Allein Allein's World 7-12-2001 22:10

Mel and Viv:

Well Mel, I know what you're saying. I know that I'm not alone in this either. I am, however, alone in this house with them and that makes me feel alone. Thank goodness for my friends at the NB.

Viv:

Unfortunately, we won't be able to afford Kindergarten, well preschool. Kindergarten is free. Preschool is for the three year olds and we won't be able to afford that. No I'm training them now because they are three and I've had enough changing diapers. I changed diapers every day since 1989. Most of that is because of all the daycare, but my mind is fried and I don't want to do it any more. So I am the one who is ready, apparently it's only me.

Debra 7-12-2001 22:03

Allein: Where's the song to translate. I didn't get anything on my e-mail account yet. Hana is set and will work on it after she studies or on the weekend or between exams. It won't take her too long she says. Please send immediately and don't wait so I can get it to her. Also I have some friends (Japanese) who will visit August 1. I can have them check the translation. They are English prof. who work with me.

Viv again 7-12-2001 21:56

Rosemary: Throw out the photographs and look for someone out here who can draw your book's pictures. I'll bet there is someone here who can have fun with this. I wish I knew how to draw. Also maybe you could use some sort of photographic technique where you superimpose one on the other. I know how to do an old style darkroom trick but it doesn't work all that well. With a computer maybe you have another way.

Debra: Are you training the kids so they can join the kindergarten in the fall? I had to train Hana so she could go to kindergarten (it started at age 3). If you didn't your kid was considered slow...which Hana was. She was very slow to train and once painted the wall for me in the bedroom with you know what. I lost it with that and really let her know I meant business. After that she was fine. I did it that way because we were moving soon and I wanted her to enjoy the town kindergarten. She loved it once she got in and still talks about the fun they had there. Some of her kindergarten buddies still write her from Germany.

On Sarah, I left her in diapers until she was tired of running around with wet diapers. That was the day of the pin up, not pull downables. I just ignored her and then when I had time I'd say, "Oh, you poor thing. that really stinks. I'll bet you'll be glad to be big enough to get out of diapers." THEN AFTER THE COMMERCIAL MESSAGE I CHANGED HER. I'd tried training but when it wouldn't work I said, "Oh you are too little to learn this."

I left her in the darned diapers until she was begging for real panties. Everyone had them and she wanted them. She was about 31/2 Then I took FOREVER to decide and have time to go shopping. Every day I'd wake up and she'd say, "Now?" I'd say, Oh no..not today. I don't have time. YOu have to wait and be a baby some more. Sorry, but I just can't go shopping today. That took about 4 days. When we finally went we made a big celebration of the panties. We bought ruffly pairs, colored pairs and we told the salesgirl (who thought I was crazy) that we were buying her first underware (at 3 and a half! Disgustingly slow!) We had an ice cream party to celebrate and invited her friends to admire the underware. There were still accidents but they didn't happen too often and she didn't paint the wall. I thought it was more fun to do it that way. There was more joy in the growing and celebrating the change from baby to child. This is also traditional in Japan. You celebrate the ages 3, 5 (for girls only), 7. They wear kimono's and go to the shrine. So it sort of fell into line with the Japanese ideas especially when I lied and said it was the custom to train late and underware was like a kimono in a way. They fell right into the game and accepted it, maybe because they were being kind too.
My kids are physically very slow. They don't walk until they are about one year and two months, they didn't ride bikes easily, and they don't really excel in sports until their late teens. It's just a physical awkwardness.

Whatever way you decide on, it's not a big deal. They don't remember too much about it. I think they make a huge hairy deal in the books about potty training. I just sort of did what felt right for each kid. Hana liked being a baby. She was carried until my back broke down at age 5-6. She wouldn't walk anywhere. My oldest carried her, my husband carried her, and even when her feet were dangling almost to my knees, I carried her. If I hadn't forced the issue she'd still be wearing diapers. She's a sweet kid, but not real concerned about being older than she is or sanitary.

Allein: Don't tell her I told you that when she translates for you. She's now very sanitary 14 and all grown up.

Viv 7-12-2001 21:38

RANDALL

Hi all

Sorry to hear of your problems Jerry. I think the distress I see between the lines is something that comes with unwanted age and unforgiving maturity in an unfair world. And it doesn't help to see others apparently breeze through life with few cares. We all see these jerks. With all the money they need. And brand new 50,000 vehicles. And 200,000 homes. And 25,000 bass boats. And vacations to the sea. And wasting enough money in a month that would keep your family in food for a year. And credit cards up the ying yang. Been there. Hell, am there!

An old Chinese man told me one time. "Stand on a bridge long enough and the body of your enemy will float by." Well, actually I read the quote one time. (Red face. Sheepish grin.) The only "Old" Chinese I ever knew were saying things like...."Hey sailor! Come inside check it out!" Or "Hey sailor my sister dances for you!" Things like that. Still the quote is right, well sorta, and probably has more meaning if you live near running water (I don't) or of Chinese extraction. Perhaps it means that eventually those who do you wrong will eventually pay the piper? Sounds good.

Jerry, one of the more relevant quotes I've heard came from Elvira....the Halloween lady. The teenage boys dream girl, with a black shiny slinky seductive slit dress up to there? She hosted a TV show lately...on vampires (Imagine that!) and said. "Being a vampire sucks. I mean that's unnatural!" :-) You gotta love understated humor.

No one promised us a life filled with positives and just as soon as I find out why not and where this person is...I'm gonna look 'em up and try a little bit of their ass on! :-) Cause it seems the older I get the more problems I have. Frankly, I'm dragging so much baggage behind me now I need a dozen Skycaps and/or Baylor Medical just to get along. I thought when I retired, secured another job we would be on easy street. Couldn't have been more wrong if I tried! Ross Perot would weep in shame at the financial load I'm carrying these days. It is very frustrating! Texas poet in residence Willie Nelson once said, "Where there is no solution to a problem, there's no problem." Which is darn hard to follow when the temperature is 105 and the house AC is running 25 hours a day. Unfortunately, the power company does not share Willie's philosophy and WILL pull the plug if you get behind. "Randall, we share your pain, but this is business, so pay or sweat." Still, Willie's remark makes sense in a weird kind of a way, just wish he would learn how to sing......:-)

On a more somber note.....sent a section of my manuscript to Native Peoples magazine in LA. As the book deals with Native Americans, I asked one of their Navajo editors to comment. Nothing yet......

Hang in there Jerry. One day all of this will be behind us. Well, time to have a bowl of peach ice creme.

Randall

Randall 7-12-2001 20:00

Garies - thanks, well I do have a Chevy Silverado extended cab 4X4 and the arms, I guess I could round up a couple of other guys, but I don't think I would use the arms that way. No matter how angry I get, I know doing something stupid like that would only make things so much worse. I would make me feel better for a short time.

Fixing the money thing is going to be hard, but I just got off the phone with an attorney who says he can help for a very reasonable fee. I found him by talking to a friend here in town who is an attorney but doesn't handle such things. I feel a bit better now after speaking with him, he sounded like he knows what he is doing, and how to help.

Don't think I can come up with a shorty today, way to much other stuff happening right now and my sister and brother in law are down for a visit, always a comfort to see them. This is also celebration time here in Lemmon, as we have the Boss Cowman rodeo happening, with all the timings, including a huge block long tent where they hold dances, plays dinners and things like that. The rodeo is a three day affair beginning tomorrow afternoon and ending Sunday afternoon. We bought buttons that let us into all activities, the buttons cost twenty bucks each but are well worth it. I skipped the steak dinner last night, didn't feel up to it. Been having some back trouble of late, and hitting the pills way more then I like. Anyhow I ramble on, so will sign off before I run the notebook over.

Hi to all. Thanks for the hugs, I can use them right now.

Jerry 7-12-2001 18:48

MEL,
Those stairsteps were a cute daydream. The complete impossibility of even getting those animals together, much less lined up is staggering. On top of that, those geese are MEAN. The dog would co-operate but he would be the only one. Have to learn how to manipulate photos. One of each then put them together. I think toad season is over too. Haven't seen one in a couple of weeks.

The cutest ideas are usually the most difficult.
Bye,

Rosemary 7-12-2001 16:02

ROSEMARY: How about photographs of your cute animals in their most-visual moments? :-) Could you line up the Doberman, the goose, the duck and the chicken with the frog?? THAT would be most challenging! But fun! :-)Collaboration sounds intersting - I've wanted to do some kids' books; I too have a lot to learn about them. From working in libraries, I've seen a lot of cute little books that don't rhyme - that's the author's choice!

Mel 7-12-2001 13:46

++Rosemary++
Howdy,

JERRY,
I noticed that 'arcadeathome' has 'death' in the middle. Wonder if they did that on purpose???

HOP,
Darn, I thought you might have a grusome instatutional experience you could gross us out with. I guess I didn't read the piece with the reference in it. It really worked out with you being gone for a while though. Sneaky.

MEL,
Thanks, the knee only hurts when I first get out of bed or a chair. It stiffens up really fast. The MRI is not until the 27th of this month. No telling what the knee will be doing by then.
About the book idea. It sounds great, but finding an artist who can reproduce my vision, and a publisher willing to invest in a new author, and learning the rules of childrens books, (they're rigid about formatting) then they will probably want it to rhyme and I don't do poetry. The whole thing is giving me a headache. But thanks to you and Teekay for your encouragement.
P.S. I loved "Toady Dances Down" Think Collaboration. What's a few miles between writers?

Got to go,

Rosemary 7-12-2001 13:36

**GS**

Posting in the blind somewhat. I am trying to squeeze in a bit of posting before running off for an appointment. I will read all the posts later,

Jerry,

Sorry to have rankled you so, especially at a time when you seen to be under seige. Upon reconsideration, I believe it not best to react to political comments. Your plight with the SS (Social Security) etc. sounds like a very unenviable thing to be in. I am unclear how it shakes out, but it doesn't sound like happy time to me. I hope it works out so you don't have to exercise your right to bear arms (with two other guys in a chevy silverado.) A right, I must make clear, that I do not oppose. Never did.

gariess 7-12-2001 13:10

DEBRA: Tell your kids "what's in it" for them; e.g. as soon as they're potty-trained, as a family you can go more places, you'll be able to take them to the zoo, etc. Make the learning experience end-rewards higher for them. We mommies KNOW the end-rewards for mommies are indescribably relieving! :-)

Mel again 7-12-2001 12:57

DEBRA: Don't feel bad; my other four kids took a normal(?) year or more to potty-train. Some say it's the parents who are getting trained, to take their kids on a regular basis for trips to the bathroom until the kids make the magical connection. I always resisted that self-training; I figured each child would learn the technique when they were ready, with some parental guiding and discipline, of course. But don't make yourself crazy! The day after you fall, exhausted, frustrated, and depressed beyond words, into that pot of despair, your kids will all of a sudden make the connection like it was no big deal to learn and then you'll wonder why you exhausted yourself trying to teach it to them!

Mel 7-12-2001 12:44

Mel:

TWO WEEKS!

In two weeks I'll be face down on the floor in a pot of dispair.

Debra 7-12-2001 12:13

*@* Rachel *@*

Debar - To crap a brick is very painful! That must be why people do what I ask of them in my house. They don't want to see it happen (wink).

Hop - Hop, HOp, HOP! Love that name! I just want to get up and spring all over the house.

Caio for now.

Rachel

7-12-2001 11:52

Heather - I used to know a family like that, but they only had two kids (yes there is a God who saw what was happening and stopped them from reproducing after they had their two) He used to work for me on the PD until I had to fire him for theft. His wife was an absolute bitch, and everyone knew it, including him. Their house was so bad that your feet stuck to the carpet when you walked through their house. When the left town the folks who bought their house (for a song) had to hire a cleaning company to come in and steam clean the whole place. They found the skeleton of a cat under one of the beds that they left, it was in their son's bedroom. They moved to Fargo, where he was hired by the University there as a campus cop, he worked there for a couple of years then had a nervous breakdown. Workers Comp sent him back to college and now he is an unemployed social worker. It was interesting when I fired him, he lived in the basement of the house, she lived upstairs. He had his own kitchen and never went upstairs, she never came down. The kids had the run of the place and no attention from either parent. I got an email from him yesterday (he forgave me for firing him, I haven't forgiven him for making me do it.) He had a link to one of those white power sites, saying they were right, and that he finally found people he could call friends. Now that's scary.

Jerry 7-12-2001 11:15

Hop - retro gaming? Ever tried MAME or RAINE? If you are into retro-gaming, these two emulators will give you over three thousand arcade games, all you have to do is download the software, then get the ROM's. ROM's for mame are at http://www.mame.dk or http://www.arcadeathome.com the later also has ROM's and Emulators for hundreds of other emulators. My favorite is MAME, then Nesticle which is a super emulator for the Nintendo system. There are also emulators out there for almost any gaming system you can think of, even the Nintendo 64 and their competitors. These take up a large portion of my hard drive, but the kids absolutely love them when they come to visit.

Jerry 7-12-2001 11:09

Heather: That is the family from hell. They are perfect characters for a novel (as the bad guys) because every woman has lived through one or more of these pains.

Teekay: Glad you aren't all that hot on Oprah. The woman makes me feel cross.

Heather did you write that poetry? It was fantastic!

Howard: I'm sorry that happened. There's nothing like the gut punch of hearing, "Don't need you anymore." Ignore this, start writing. More than one writer became a published writer out of necessity.

End of the term. Today we had final oral exams. Five kids wouldn't stop talking. I told them to quit three times and they wouldn't shut up. The kids who were taking the exam in the front of the room had to stop talking and wait while I corrected them, then begin again. Three times this happened. Once it happened the kids in the front of the room would not do very well on their exam. I finally said, "Ok, you say one thing more and you fail this exam. O. YOu get nothing. Don't talk.

They kept talking (although one girl was smart enough to get up and go to the back of the room, away from the group). They failed. They went to my boss and complained.

Fun city. Tomorrow I get to go in for a review of grades and attendance. Most have missed just enough class to fail but some are under the 7 absences required to fail. I hope these little spoiled brats manage to trip themselves up time and again. Basically what I want to see is their lousy little backs...and I hope they spend most of their vacation with the people that raised them. Serve all of them right, parents who raised them, and the kids that have to live with the kind of parent who would raise that kind of "kiss my ass" attitude kid. Sorry, blowing off steam.
This place can get to you. That, Teekay, is why I keep a couple of little lizard STORIES (not lies) in my back pocket for the rough times. When all the @##$@%TYU&&^***flies about, I just sort of take those little stories out and run them over in my mind.

Howard, my husband is due to join the ranks of the unemployed after February. Maybe we all should look for a good steam grate together. (I want one outside of the Library of Congress, but I'm not picky, about any library will do).

Viv 7-12-2001 10:43

HOP: You're a rascally fella! :-) I thought maybe you named the Viewoods of your story after a real place when you said you went there! Now you can laugh at me too. So glad it was a ficticious (sp?) trip for you!!! As for staying up late (e.g. till 4 a.m. or later), I used-to-could, before I married and had CHILDREN--having kids who get up early and get you up early and stress you through the day at unpredictable moments takes its toll on your mentally-alert factors. No more late nights for me! Until maybe one day, if and when the kids all leave home for good... Hmm, lessee, sixteen or more years from now, I'll be 62 or so...will I WANT to stay up late by then? Prob'ly fall asleep in my porch rocker, wonderin' where I left my teeth...

Mel 7-12-2001 10:12

I was giggling with laughter (something I should be doing more of) when I read how concerned everyone was when I mentioned Viewoods social rehabilitation centre. I'm sure people like Rachel and Mel got the joke because the phrase about Viewoods was one of the sentences in the opening paragraph of my story.

I'm now an official New Zealand citizen!

I just got a gamepad which works fairly well with all those old console games I have on my computer. I'm a retro gamer and the experience of using a gamepad to play those games is very very very satisfying. Ah, the simple things in life are the best.

Viv's talk on medicine and doctors who asked you what you felt was wrong reminded me of Chinese doctors who tend to rely on looking at the whole body and on what symptoms the patient says he or she has. It's what they call a holistic view.

To cure most of these problems Chinese doctors will give you medicine which doesn't treat the illness per se but strengthens the body using the bodies natural defenses against the viruses or bacteria.

In my opinion, its better thing for everyday illnesses like colds and coughs which aren't life threatening. I might like to add that my mother had excessive bleeding after giving birth to my youngest brother and she took Chinese medication which probably saved her life.

Viv
Stress has the complete opposite effect on me, my immune system gets really hyper and I don't feel or stay sick even if I get the flu. After the stress drops I practically need life support, I shuffle around the house like the living dead giving out moans to try and ease my pain.

Try searching for race on Yahoo. I'm tired of explaining (typing out) the whole thing. I did and found a number of interesting articles denouncing it.

Heather
Oh never mind about the post.

Rosemary
What can I say about Viewoods now that we all know its just a fictional place? First off, its a maximum security centre for the most violent and dangerous inmates and boasts trained security teams with 24 hour surveillance via computer and alarms just about every where.

Most recently, a latent psionically gifted person somehow managed to break out and wreck the whole place. Two detectives have been assigned to it and so has most of the Psi-police department.

Mel
Funnily enough, now that's its the holidays I'm staying up even later than before (4 AM was the latest) but that's at home. It's not that I have insomnia but rather I've just got so many things do. Writing etc.

Randall
I'm going to give your deputy story a "hearty laugh" score.

Rhoda
Coincidentally enough I've been having problems with the CD writer on my computer and my software is CD creator 4. Now that I know the software doesn't work well (thanks to Jerry) I'll try getting others.

Teekay
I was rarely considered normal. So I've always wondered, do normal people even exist? Maybe that's why story tellers exist because people need stories and art to fill a hole their lives which they can't fill. The more creative I feel the more I find myself criticising the "mainstream" entertainment.

That reminds me, if you're a Marxist (should I leave this message nameless in case I get flamed by anti- communist fanatics?) then the ten commandments and religion was devised to keep the population "normal" by what the ruling class considers "normal."

If you're a Christian, the commandments were created because God decided that doing those things was abnormal.

If you're a philosopher, the commandments were created to be debated and examined.

If you're a theologian, the commandments were created to be debated and examined but the conclusion must always be that God is always right and since those commandments are from him they must be.

If you're a chicken, those commandments were created to protect you from human customs although the trade off is your descendants being eaten by man.

Jerry
Thanks for the advice about CD writers. Hopefully I'll get mine working.

Anybody going by the name e-mail name Jack Daniels?

Barnabas "Hop" 7-12-2001 9:49

**MEL**

G'Mornin'! :-) Put on your smiles and stir up the muses - it's gonna be a writin' day! But first, a few words for...

DEBRA: re: potty training...This too shall pass (forgive the pun). My third child trained the easiest: he got tired of climbing the stairs every hour on the hour to sit on the potty and expressed his discontent - he was told as soon as he went potty the right way, he wouldn't have to climb the stairs to the bathroon so often...two weeks, he got the hang of it.

AMERICO: Finish a book this year? Yes! I want to, I want to! Now where did I leave those nails so I can finish pinning my muse to the table? :-) I too enjoyed your beautiful words re: S&S. Inspiring!!

RANDALL: I agree with Mark: send your stories off to Hollywood! :-)

HOWARD: Sorry to hear of the lay-off...(((HUGS))) to you. Remember your shoulder might feel better for it - blessings in disguise - and more time to write is ALWAYS a blessing!!! Go for it! :-)

TINA: Will your hubby bake you a cake for 8/25 if you shop for the ingredients? Nahh - make him take you out to dinner AND dessert! :-) BTW, are you ready for the HIERO book? I'll send it on as soon as you want it. It was utterly fantabulous! :-)

JERRY: Good luck with the finances. Financial problems can make life really tough -- take a deep breath and remember the cheery sun and the azure are still up there, behind the clouds. Hope things smooth out for you soon. (((HUGS)))

HEATHER: Birthmarks...no lasting ones in my family that I recall; baby birthmarks faded by a couple years of age. Along with birthmarks for impacting a person's character or personality can be other physical attributes, like a cleft chin, a tooth that grew in too high and never dropped to the proper place, a widow's peak in the forehead hairline or a "Dagwood" hair that sticks straight up from the back of the head that no amount of combing or gel will flatten...etc. Then there are scars that occur during growing up and stay with you for the rest of your life...I have an "x" scar on on of my knees - a scratch in one direction, followed by a deep scratch not too long after the first one healed... Oh, the variety of things we can conjure for our characters to add touches of humanness to their forms! :-)

TEEKAY: I LOVED the "Ghost and Mrs. Muir" - both T.V. series and the original movie! :-) Re: your novel - try not thinking in chapters sometimes but about the story as a whole; what other events need to happen? Write them down; you can go back later and write the transition words to bridge the previously written chapters with the new scenes...and theblock will probably disappear without much trouble (my theory, anyway!). I think if writing came easily all the time, we might get bored with it. A block makes us step back and look at the big picture again. BTW, thanks for supporting me in encouraging Rosemary. :-) See following...

ROSEMARY: Ouch for the knee! :-/ Hope you're doing okay, not too much pain... Now about those visuals (and Teekay agrees!!): here's a sampling (and I think your muse is giving you these visuals as raw fodder - take them and chew them and find satisfying little stories amidst the grains of inspiration!) #1 - ducks waiting for grain to fall from horse's mouth: could be a counting book, each number represented by the pieces of grain that fall on which the ducks pounce and feed, and inbetween the numbered grain pieces, the horse chews and the ducks wait below... :-) #2 - disgusted horse eating old hay could be the start of a midnight mutiny, the horses break into the new supply for a picnic or a romp, when done they tidy up and return to where they were, and the next morning the farmer is scratching his head wondering why he's low on new hay... :-) #3 - poodle goosing the chicken...I'm still thinking on this one but I believe there's a great story in that one too. :-) And finally, #4 - and also my SHORTIE (heh heh - killing two birds--virtual birds that is--with one stone):

"TOADY DANCES DOWN"
For Rosemary (who saw it first)

leAP!!!

Ahh, Toady in the birdbath,
wet and cool,
Doing little froggy-kicks
'round the pool.

Swimming now is done,
So is the fun!
How to get down?
"Oh no!" Toady frowns.

"Dobey-Man, help!"
The dog circles 'round
And with a kick to the left
and a heel-click to the right,
Toady...dAnCeS...down.

"Goosey-Lady, help!"
Goose by dog found
And Toady dances down.

"Duckie-Friend, help!"
Duck, closer to the ground,
waddles off in glee.
"Can't get down from THIS duck!"
"Ohh," Toady moans. "TREACHERY!"

Then, "Chickie-Gal, help!"
Chick hops closer to the sound,
And Toady dances down.

:-)

Rosemary: thanks for such great inspiration!! My poetry is bad, but hope you get the idea!

Have a terrific writing day, you-all!!

Mel 7-12-2001 9:14

Teekay: Well, we moved across town, and that seemed to do the trick for the most part. Since we've moved, though we didn't move to get away from her (it was an added benefit!), at first she called a lot, and she wanted to come over all the time (and I said we were still unpacking - lie lie), but only recently did I actually go and visit her. Her daughter and my daughter loved playing together, and it was a tough call on my part whether or not they saw each other much (even when we lived nearby). It's not the daughter's fault that the family is a mess. I did not, and still do not however, allow my daughter to play in their house (it's so filthy that I won't go into that). It was all right for her to play at ours, and outside, but I drew the line there. And I was the sole supervisor even if they played at HER house, so they played often at ours.

At that time we rented the top two floors of this great big old red brick home, but we did have some really horrid downstairs neighbours. A nose-in-the-air student couple, who assumed that since I was a mother at 21 I had never seen the halls of a University, let alone a secondary school(or high school, for those of us NBers from the U.S.). They also felt the need to shove useless factoids about nature down my throat - heedless to the fact that I likely knew more about nature than these two suburban-raised, never-climbed-a-tree or made-a-lean-to-in-the-snow or ice-fished in their lives. Their idea of 'camping' was to rent a tidy hotel and watch birds with binoculars from the window. Me, I've been dive-bombed by birds when I got too close up in the tree and was within an arm's reach of the nest.
Not only that, but their idea of preservation of wildlife meant confining a magpie in the spare, windowless room between their kitchen and the front room. Oh, but it had been 'imprinted' by humans because at birth they'd been mauled by the 'breeder'. Really, it was a jerk who raided a magpie nest just before hatching time.
But there is sweet justice. That bird took every chance it got to bite them! And, because magpies can imitate human languages, after every time it bit them it soon started repeating the oft-screamed phrase of, "No bite! No bite!", and would finish with the eeriest imitation of laughter. I could hear it from upstairs. They had to eventually give the bird to the Toronto Zoo! HA HA HA HA HA!

Pertinent to discussion: These two decided that my daughter shouldn't be seen around the yard (since she MIGHT annoy them), especially not with friends. Especially not the neighbour woman's daughter because her daughter had an unfortunate birth mark that this couple found hideous. It is a raised bump with a bruised-looking end, on the girl's eyebrow. It is really quite large. The first time I saw it I wondered if she was being beaten, but it was quickly explained after my daughter brazenly asked about it.

Now I don't care about what my daughter's friends look like per say, and certainly not what a birth mark looks like. That's no reason not to have this wee girl as my daughter's friend, and she is, out of any of that family, a real sweetheart. That's what counts.
And birthmarks, hey, I've got one. Everyone in my family has one. I've lived with it, and it certainly does not mark us as anything other than human! Ours are not raised birthmarks like this little girl's is, but I liken hers to an off-centre unicorn horn, and so does she!
I did wonder, at first, upon meeting this family, that if the surgery to remove the birthmark was free (excuse me, covered) then why wouldn't they have it removed while she was young? They explained that that's how God made her, and there's nothing wrong with it. I agreed, but I did also say that birthmarks do make their 'owners' uncomfortable sometimes. It's not what others will think of it, but the girl herself.
Anyhow, it's not been removed and this wee girl doesn't mind. Now that's what I see that's good in her family. They are right. There wasn't anything wrong with it to begin with. No reason to alter what's already just fine. Guess it was the same with my birthmark, though the only worry was if it changed in size and shape, that it may have to be removed for health reasons.
So far, no problem. My kids have birthmarks too - my son's is like mine, my daughter's is more like my husband's; a perfectly round, brown mole-type mark.

On the subject of birthmarks, does everyone here have one?
Some are teensie things that are no more than a beauty mark - or indeed, it could be just a tiny beauty mark - otherwise known as a dark freckle all by itself, or a small, usually hairless mole. Then there are relatively large ones. I know a young woman with a port-wine that covers most of one side of her face. She's learned to live with it but she's terribly shy of meeting new people - in this day and age people still stare.

My older brother had a port-wine birthmark on his face as a baby, and by two years old it had disappeared. Sometimes they're called 'strawberries'. I knew a boy in school who had one over one eye, and it didn't disappear over time.
Mine is a brown mole, and it's exactly the same shape as a thumb-print, on my left calf. My son's is the same colour and a very similar shape on his back, just above his waistline on the right side. Rather over his right kidney... my daughter's is a small oval that is barely discernable from her skin tone but it's there nonetheless, just at the edge of her knee. My husband's is on his big toe, on the top.

I think a large number of people have birthmarks, and I'm interested to know if perhaps adding one 'onto' one of my characters might be part of rounding them out a bit, giving the reader a real 'image' of who the character is - like Rosemary's 'VISUALS'.

A relatively small thing like a birthmark can have a large impact on the character. I, for one, spent years trying to hide my birthmark when I was in a swimwuit. I hated it, and used to beg my mom to have it removed. She wouldn't unless it was for medical reasons, but she never did actually come out and say, 'You're perfect just like you are.' She did INFER it, I just missed catching that angle for a long time. My friend who has the port-wine on one side of her face is in fact not shy if she's in close company. She went to many different doctors over the years, but for a birthmark that size there wasn't anything they could do within reason.

Anyhow, get back to me on the birthmark Q.
Do, as they say, bare all.

Allein: Howard's snail mail address is written in the front page of the book! Hurrah for Howard's thoughtfulness!

Jerry: I'm really sorry to hear about the financial/gov't trouble. What a horrid PAIN IN THE ASS. Here's hoping you find a lawyer that will not sleep (much) until your claim has been won.

Have a great night/day all.

Heather 7-12-2001 3:13

Haiku:

Bathing, I stand on a stone
Slab. Someone pours water
Over my head

==============

Postmodern

I don't care who or why;
I simply enjoy it.
I stand on a stone slab;
Someone pours water over my head.

===============

Beat

On a stone slab
I simply stand
While water pours
By another hand

Over my head.

===============

Feminist

The sexless hand
Of one who pours water
Serves the bather

===============

Symbolist

Water. Can I not see the Jordan?
Can I not feel the history?
Am I not reminded of my place?
Here, where bathers come singly and in pairs,
One lifts a scoop of water
And pours it on the head of another.

7-11-2001 23:02

Heather - I'll send it back to Howard after I'm done reading it but I'd need an address to send it to. :) I can't wait till I leave to visit Cassandra though - 27 days and counting. :)

Allein Allein's World 7-11-2001 23:01

**Teekay**

A bather, I stand on a stone slab while water pours over my head by another hand.

There, now it's not passive.

Teekay 7-11-2001 21:53

**Teekay**

Howdy Dudes,

VIV: I only admitted to loving Oprah, not her show, but as you've not seen Jerry Springer or Ricky Lake you wouldn't realize that her show isn't the sleaze fest theirs are, though I do agree they are a bit on the boring side.
P.S. Ricky Lake's a woman. (Or an incredibly bad cross dressser .)
I did love Donahue (not the show - just the guy), but sadly he no longer graces the television screen o'er this way.

You were lying about the lizard???????
You know I didn't think he really turned into a lifeguard (just making sure you know), but I did think it may have done something interesting so that it would look like that.
I feel so foolish
-and gullible.
-and cheated somehow.
;-)

Yeah, and I know by your last sentence you're just trying to get me curious agian, but this time girly, I'm not biting.

MARK: Yes, exactly. :-)

JERRY: Back in medieval times it was thought that a person suffering from mental disorders did so because they had too much of some element in their body. I think they were phlegm, blood, water and I can't think of the other so I'm guessing air.
Strange how far we've come in such a little while.
Wether it all be progress though is another matter.

GARIESS: Bless you for your concern, but I sorted out my problem.
I was getting too hung up on writing for other people and so I just decided to force myself to continue on with it and to write at least a page more and as I'd released the pressure I'd put myself under, I just wrote what I was happy with .
(Makes much more sense in my head)
I ended up with 3 more pages. It could've been more but terrible toddler was jumping on my back and making it difficult to write.
I only hope that what I like is what other people like.

A bather, I stand on a stone slab while water is poured over my head by another hand.

I dunno. Is this right. It's not plural. It's not gender specific, it's not passive voiced and I don't think it's too stupid sounding.

DEBRA: Thankyou so much. And so are you :-)

HEATHER: Yep, that woman sure do need Oprah.
When you spoke of thumbs in toasters I thought maybe you were going for the DIY shock therapy.
Seriously though, I don't know what I'd do. I hate confrontation sooooo much. I'd probably pretend I wasn't home every time I saw her coming, and if things got too bad I'd prefer to move (somewhere sunny and beachy) rather than tell her off.
I'm such a wimp.

HOWARD: Gee, that was rather sudden - for me anyway. Ah well, it could be a blessing and as it's a done deal, I guess there's not a lot to do, but to make the best of it and start writing that international best seller. Or finish writing it.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))) to you, just in case you need them.

ROSEMARY: Trailer trash roots showing. Hahahahhahahahha You go girl!!!!

JERRY: (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) to you too.

TINA: Hi, I was wondering where you'd got to.
Any takers on TINA's book 'Contact'? It's sci-fi so it probably won't interest everyone.

Okay, I'm outa here.
I can hear someone knocking at the door, so I'm going to hide now :-D

Teekay 7-11-2001 21:38

Sorry if I seem a bit off today, seems the Federal Government has decided that I make entirely to much money on Social Security Disability, so they have attached one third to pay for the house they took away from me while I fought them for the social security. This combined with my wife's inability to work any longer due to the injury that her surgery failed to fix has streatched our financial situation so far that there seems only one fix. I will begin seeking an attorney tomorow.

Jerry 7-11-2001 20:40

*Tina*

Howdy all!

Wow, go away for a few days and the NB overflows!

Viv, checked out the website of your home area. I'll have to take more time to go over it, but it looks so lovely! Just more people than I'm comfortable with.

Rosemary, those lakes aren't our main water source. We go on water restrictions because we use water from the mountain watersheds, and the reserves start drying up. We don't take much from the lakes, because of environmental factors. This part of BC is actually semi-arid, and in the south part of our valley, there is actually a desert. We are dry! A good spin-off is that the water availability tends to restrict the population growth of the area.

Hallee, more (((HUGS)))
Howard, you too (((HUGS)))

About movie critics.... nyah nyah nyah! (me thumbing my nose at them) I only agree with critics about 50% of the time. I mean, critics praised the movie 'English Patient' until it won Academy Awards, and that movie stank! And the critics hated many of my favourites, including 'Gaticca' and 'Contact'. I'm doing my best to maintain this attitude, so that I can ignore those critics who try to tear me and my writing down. I read book reviews in the newspaper, and they are my main source of discouragement! I put very little faith or confidence or trust in paid critics.

***Official Notice***
BIG party at Tina's house on August 25! My 30th b-day, and it will be a big deal! I plan to demolish the myth of the hated 30th birthday. I shall not age! I shall not be discouraged! I shall continue to pounce on life and not let go! I shall let the horse take the bit in her mouth and run far and fast! This is MY Decade!
***End Notice***

Okay enough ranting. Must go get groceries. I don't know what my hubby eats while I'm gone, but he doesn't seem to bring food into the house! (sigh)
TTFN

Tina 7-11-2001 20:20

Heather:

I don't think I'm out on a limb when I say you just wrote your shortie on treachery a day early.

Bravo!

Debra 7-11-2001 19:39

Garris - if you don't like reading my comments, the feel completely free to skip right over them, and I can do the same for you. Those political issues are always around, and they are issues that are talked about daily in this nation. Just because you would take away guns from anyone who you feel shouldn't have them, and you would support Rosie, or Operah or the rest, then more power to you. But don't presume to tell me what I can or cannot talk about in this form, that isn't what this forum is all about.

Jerry 7-11-2001 17:21

Oh - sorry guys, to be going on and on about this...

but I did want to say that even when I got peeved with this friend, I didn't lose my cool. I just simply said no. I wasn't sure my firm 'No' would work, since she automatically went on in a telemarketer bent, but I just said the same firmly put 'no' after she became exhausted from her speil and that was it. I could tell by the low drift in her voice that she knew she couldn't talk me into it.
I am usually very giving, etc., but there is a certain point that, once reached, I just won't budge. Otherwise I'd be bent until broken. Ain't happenin'.

Heather 7-11-2001 16:14

HOWARD! I'm really sorry to hear that. Like others have already said before me, lay back, enjoy it if you can. I'm happy to hear you'll have more writing time - that's an excellent thing!

Oh - Allein - I think it was you? You mentioned you were going to go and visit Cassandra. I have already read 'The Anything Box' and I was the one who sent it to her to read next. She hasn't returned it to Howard or forwarded it, and it's such a precious (and out of print) book that I was hoping she'd see my message and mail it off! BUT thank you so much for the offer! Perhaps you could secure the book for Howard?

Heather 7-11-2001 15:57

I did lay down the law. However, it took me a while - everyone arrived and basically, to use Rosemary's words, 'bum rushed' the house. In two seconds there was a kid in every room, grabbing at something. Let's put it this way: One 'me' and six members of her family. I have to be just as watchful with the woman 'in question' as I do with her kids. She's roaming through my corner display cabinet when I'm in the next room disciplining her kids. The husband was outside most of the time, chatting it up with my husband. So I sent the kids outside. (HA HA)
It's not that I think this woman is a child herself - she just happens to be rather gimme gimme when it comes to other people's valuables. She's not a theif, but a girping con artist. Vulture about summed it up. She sits on her porch and waits until she sees the neighbours come home and then dives in. We used to live a little way down the street and on the other side from them. It gets very difficult grappling up the side of your house in Ninja gear just to get in unnoticed. Finally, because I did put up with it too long, I cracked down and laid down the law with her. Since we've moved and haven't seen them much in the two years, I've had to re-establish the laws!

For instance: We went to the fireworks for Canada Day, and their family came along too. We live within walking distance, and parking is near impossible, so they parked at our house and walked over with us. Just before we left, the mother asks me for a warmer jacket to borrow. I cringed. It was chilly out. I have a tonne of coats in my closet. She knows it. I let her wear one that I haven't worn in a long time, and one I figured she wouldn't like. She hounded me to give it to her all night.
I was about ready to punch her in the jaw.

But I didn't.

Anyway, thanks everyone. I know I had to spell it out to that family. They just have no concept of manners at other people's houses. Especially when the house they live in is beyond frightening, the kids seem to be astonished and roam around our place as if they're visiting the Roman Colloseum[sp]. It's what they consider a 'hands on' museum.
Don't get me wrong, the house is kid-proofed - but for my kids, not hers. My children have an incredible amount of respect for our rules. They also don't have the tendency to jump on furniture, or swing from draperies. Therefore I have never had to establish rules about that sort of thing!

It doesn't matter much now anyhow - she hasn't called me back since I finally got peeved and said enough was enough.

Heather 7-11-2001 15:52

Heather,
Just slap them.

Jerry,
Your political inclination is showing. It’s very tiresome. These weary old soapbox issues like gun control, the liberal press, the liberal media, etc. are so worm out that there is no way to sneak up on people with them any more, ie via Rosie. Peddling Rush Limbaugh won’t do it either. He is plateaud at preaching to his own choir. We already know you are one of his tenor section.

Howard,
Don’t take it lying down. Unless, of course, your disability requires you to lie down.

Hi, Hallee.

Later,

GS

gariess 7-11-2001 15:04

HOWARD,
Lean back and enjoy the time off, then sue the socks off them for laying off a disabled person. My trailer trash roots showing.

HEATHER,
Your writing gives the impression of a no-nonsense, rule enforceing lady. Pretend you're writing and give the whole group the bums rush. Some people can't accept help without taking advantage of a nice person.

HALLEE,
Always good to see you posting.

Bye

Rosemary 7-11-2001 14:42

Food raiders. My brother's friends are all teenage boys, so my mom had to put up with them raiding the pantry and the kitchen until she finally made a rule that they could choose one thing they wanted to eat and she'd buy it for them. I hardly ever have friends come over but if I do we usually just drink soda or something.

Allein Allein's World 7-11-2001 14:34

Rachael:

Craping a brick sounds loud and painful. I'm sure everyone would stop immediately what they were doing to annoy you.

Just in case you were wondering!

Debra 7-11-2001 14:30

HEATHER: Sounds like you're being too nice. You'll really regret not being firm with her or her kids if the bowl ends up getting broken. I'd establish rules and make sure they were followed. Kids know when and where they can get away with disruptive behavior - and if someone other than their parent puts their foot down, they'll usually listen.

Hallee 7-11-2001 14:17

Awww, Howard - so sorry.

Hallee 7-11-2001 14:15

Woops! I just got laid off - last day is Friday. Was gonna be on disability anyway. Makes life interesting. Will have lots of time to write now I guess...

howard 7-11-2001 14:05

*Rachel*

Heather - I would crap a brick if somebody started to "troll" in my fridge. I have had people try, I just close the fridge, and tell them very clearly how things run in my house. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I do not offer options. I lay out what I have made avaliable, if they do not like it, then then they will just need to hope that they do like the next food selection. I have five children, four of whom have very active social lives, which means that my house is full. I can no and will not get into the lot of them crashing through things. You can tell them nicely. I'm sure of it. I have never had to raise my voice, or freak out over the food thing. I just tell people as soon as I see something that will not go in my house. I explain that while they are in my house they will need to go by my rules. Most kids are good with that. I have had some pretty rough and tough characters in my home, yet they have no issue with my rules. They tell me it is because I explain myself and my reasons. They also say that I make good snacks so they don't care. One thing I had to learn was not to cut up food for the older children. I remember the first time that I cut up food for a 15 year old boy. He just watched with so much fascination and then asked if that plate was for him, the one with the fruit and cookies shaped into happy faces. I almost died when I realized what I had done. He thought it was kind of cool. My kids all still think it is pretty cool, but they also think it is time for me to step off with the mommy plate presentations for snack. I have to respect that. My kids are growing up. Ah well, soon I will get to do food art for Sebastian (grins and laughter).

I'll send you a hug.

Take care you.

Rachel

7-11-2001 13:48

Heather:

I feel your pain. I really do. I think since you are a writer and use words so nicely you should be able to fabricate a nice way to tell them to keep their grubby mits off your nice things full of food.

I would start with, "it's always time to renegotiate and now it's time again, and if they want something to ask first."

Dont' wait until you blow your stack and then you look like the awful person. That's just lose lose.

Debra 7-11-2001 13:05

Teekay - you mentioned Oprah - the woman in question does not have a TV to watch it on. Her husband is a very religious type (of what persuasion, I won't tell)... and he doesn't allow televisions in the house. He thinks commercials are evil, and much of the programming as well. (Hey, maybe they are, but we adults use our discretion. He figures his wife doesn't HAVE any discretion)
So she can't watch Oprah! I wish she could. It might actually help her. God knows it must help somebody; otherwise it wouldn't have the time-slot it does. And Oprah would be a movie actress instead. If you want to know why Oprah is so smug, check her bank balance.

Viv - family of six, actually, plus my family of four. Feeding them? Yikes. Her boys are continually trolling in my fridge and it pisses me off that she doesn't tell them it's rude! (that's AFTER I've already fed everyone) Not to mention my lovely lead crystal and pewter fruit bowl, practically spilling over with fruit that I stock up on for my kids. It's not that I mind so much if it gets eaten, but her kids are constantly grabbing at it, and are very rough with the bowl. It is very delicate. The pewter is the base that the (very thin crystal) bowl sits in, but they are not actually attached. My kids are perfectly aware that they must be absolutely careful with it - it was a wedding gift!
But I can't police the bowl exclusively, since suddenly there are 6 kids instead of 2, traipsing around the house, raiding the kitchen, and running through my flower beds. Mind you, there were only 4 kids (hers) doing any damage. I also find it difficult to discipline other people's kids when the parents just sit there and expect that lack of good behavior. It's not that I yell at my own children - but I expect them to be civilized and decent. Is that too much to ask? I hope not. I really, profusely hope not.

The reason she expects the counseling? Oh, well, you know I was a nurse. I automatically qualify for the job of psychiatrist, don't you know? Not that I ever worked at the Homewood.
Perhaps I could jam her thumbs in my toaster and then I'd have a wound I know what to do with. (Kidding)

Actually, I did take a healthy share of psychology, so I do know what to say, how to listen, and what to suggest; however, I do not agree with the 19 pills a day she is prescribed. There's no way on earth anyone could function on that many pills because of the type of pills they are.

I have a friend with AIDS, who must take more pills a day than 19, but his pills do not alter his sense of reality, nor do they placate his moods. That, my friends, is the difference.

I guess you could liken it to Elvis' drug usage: You take uppers to wake up, and downers to go to sleep. Pretty soon you have to take the uppers to get up at all, and the downers to sleep after all those uppers. Then, they start losing effectiveness. You take more to get the same old effect. Eventually, you try anything, and in any amount.

With this woman, she takes several things for depression, but at the same time she takes pills for her anxiety and nervous twitching, so in essence, the first crop of pills counter-acts the second crop, and she still feels cruddy. Then she has to deal with the side-effects of all the first two loads of pills, so takes more pills for that. There are always side-effects!
I have insisted for years that she would be wise indeed to go into the Homewood and clean herself out. NO pills. Nothing for a few weeks, to get her system cleaned right out - and she'd be in the psychiatric hospital already in case she needs other help/support. THEN and only then, she could be evaluated and if she does need one or two pills, then I suppose it's better than 19. But the way she is? 'Askin' fer trouble, friend, just asking fer it'. Actually, she's already met trouble head on. Anyway, that's my take on the issue.

And yes, shock therapy! Supposedly, the Homewood is one of the few places around that still employs the 'Frank ZAPPA' machine. I find it unethical and completely moronic to still be using that sort of contraption on people's minds.
I'm tellin' you, it's not a happy thought. At the very least, the patient is put under with anaesthesia. Still...

Well, I think I've writ my quota of post today. I know I've forgotten to address a pile of comments and so forth, but I'm ALMOST fresh out of responses at the moment.

Thanks, Americo, for your beautiful words regarding the new project.

Heather 7-11-2001 11:49

Teekay:

In case I haven't told you in a while, you're a ray of sunshine.

Thanks!

Debra 7-11-2001 11:19

Operah? How can a woman who's mother couldn't even spell opera right have anything worthwhile to say. I once nearly got kicked out of college when one of the students I was tutoring approached me in the dining hall and, trying to convince me of her point in a legal document she was working on quoted Operah. My reply will not be quoted here, but suffice to say she learned that Operah was not a legal source that the courts would consider when reading a brief.

I used to enjoy watching Rosie, she was funny until she began her anti-gun campaign, then showed herself a typical liberal two faced idiot by insisting her body guard be armed at all times.

Now Sally Jesse Raphael - there was a talk show host, well she was about fifteen years ago when she began her career on radio. Now she has degraded herself for the camera and become just another media voice amongst many who's hope of changing the world sounds like talking points for the democratic party.

Wanna listen to a talk show, Rush is the best, in fact the only one I like listening to. Now I do enjoy watching Geraldo Riviera, not that I agree with anything he says, but if you watch his show carefully, you will see that whatever he says on his show, is what the liberals in congress will be saying the next day. I think he gets daily "talking points" lists from the Democratic party. This has been the case since Clinton was in office, and during the last presidential election, it was great fun to watch him, then tune in the next morning and see the liberals on TV saying exactly the same thing, using exactly the same words.

Well must be off and try to remember those words I wrote last week, I know I had a great ghost story going in a grove of Aspen trees.

Jerry 7-11-2001 10:42

Teekay,

You are a devil. I know you will perservere. On the one hand you have washing dishes, and on the other, writing. I know which hand fills up first for me. Tell us your sticking points, maybe we can help. Is it plot, character development, story fluency, continuity?

Jerry,
I know your pain. I have been bitten so, often. Just when I think I have it covered it gets me some other way.

Here is an exercise for all you modern minds. Rewrite the sentence below so that it is not either gender specific, plural, in the passive voice or stupid sounding.

A bather stands on a stone slab while servants pour water over him.

Mark,
What Oprah did in Beaumont is consistent with the sense she has of herself as the new messiah for liberal enlightened women. Anything Rosie does is consistent with her sense of herself as the new messiah for unenlightened, unliberated working class women. She likes her sheep pre-shorn. In this way Oprah and Rosie don’t compete for the same livestock.

Later,
GS

7-11-2001 2:17

Shock therapy - I understand now they also use chemical shock, and it seems to work in some cases. I had an uncle who used to go off the deep end about every three or four years. We all knew about it as he became very violent. Seems my dad used to be able to talk him down enough for the sheriff to take him away for his shock treatment. It was very scary, the fellow would show phonomonal strength, once he took one of those old coal space heaters and threw it at his wife. Luckily it was summer and there was no fire in it, but it made one hell of a hole in the wall when he missed. That stove had to weigh over two hundred pounds, and he tossed it like it was a pillow. But as Mark said, once he underwent the shock treatements for a couple weeks, he was just fine. One of his son's now sufferes the same fate, but modern medicine thinks they can treat him with drugs. Guess it works ok from what I have heard, he is doing fine out in California, but when he comes home for a visit, he goes off again and needs to go for treatment. He is a very nice person, a fine worker when all is ok with him, just as his father was.

I have decided that I will indeed backup, it is so easy with my computers networked, just save it to a network drive too, oh and I have an LS120 drive on this computer so I could back up on it too, just lazy I guess. Never to old to learn you know.

Jerry 7-11-2001 0:14

Allein,

I'm glad that you got the book (smiles).

Take care you.

Rachel

Rachel 7-10-2001 23:22

^*Mark*^

Well, I _was_ going to just read a while then turn in. Kept reading and reading, lots of stuff here tonight simply got my juices flowing. Lemmeseenow, 2 B real writerly I need a thing called (prolly) a metaphor. Youse guys are like a shot of nasal spray, now I'm really flowing. Yeah, that's the stuff.

JERRY -- ouch. Well, on to the next project, eh?

T.K. -- One day in 1988 Oprah came to Beaumont, rented out the college auditorium, and did a show for the town. She charged no admission, brought no cameras, and made no publicity gimmicks of the appearance. Beaumont was the first city in the U.S. make her show the #1 program on TV for the region. She came simply to see what Beaumont was like and to say thanks for the support. For a while she fell into the trap of doing shows just like all the other daytime talk jocks. I think her choice to do shows with a positive message is admirable.

On not being able to write, or not having confidence: Well, can you shear sheep?

Oh, Mercury, god of thieves,
Grant me a little tobacconist's shop
Where I can linger in the smells
Of Virginia, Cavendish, and Turkish tobacco.

Mercury, grant me a little tobacconist's shop
With shiny glass displays
Where the hookers come to preen and primp
And prepare themselves for the street outside.

Grant me, Mercury, this little shop
Or any other. Just something
Save this damned profession of writing
Where I must use my brain all the time. apologies to Ezra Pound

RANDALL -- You need to drop your stories into a big envelope and mail 'em to Hollywood

GS -- Yes shock therapy still exists. It is less severe than it used to be, it's a kinder, gentler shock treatment. I, also, was shocked to hear about it, but I have seen the results of treatment (and later the lack of treatment). I'll say it made a real difference in two women's lives here.

I'm with you on Rosie O'Donnell.

HooBoy -- It's later than I'd like it 2b. ttfn. nitenite. ciao.

More Later

Mark 7-10-2001 23:00

Weird, that posted twice. If the Mastersmeitnerium@hotmail doesn't work, just let me know or I'll let you know. Another way is to stick them on your website and we can access them from there. I'm glad that they are Disney tunes but won't they just translate back pretty directly...no, my daughter says they don't. Hummm, what's going on here. This is interesting.

Viv 7-10-2001 22:29

Allein: YES! My daughter already agreed. Sorry to be slow in seeing your posts and thanks for posting it big. I'm doing the finals week here and finishing up homeschooling my daughter. The paperwork is astronomical and I'm using the notebook for little breaks between work. I post on a notepad but I think I'm missing something when I post because sometimes a section isn't there. My daughter can start translating as soon as she's finished the Iowa Basic Exams which I start next week. It will take her about one week I think. She's new at this ball game.
Giving allowance for the end of the term for her, and testing plus juku vacation, could you allow her until the end of July to finish or is it a hurry up job?

Teekay:
Don't know about Jerry Springer or the other guy; we don't get them here. Oprah is trite.
I'm glad she did well with her life, but her show is filled with "women's magazine problems".
Same stuff, over and over. I'd like to get all excited about it, but I hate anything that smacks
of formula. It's too easy, too positive and reminds me of the description of media in Orwells
1984. Yell all you like but she seems too "good for you" to make me want to watch. It's like
eating Grapenuts or Fruit and Fiber cereal. There are just some things that I don't like and
Oprah is one. She makes me want to go get a big glass of wine and a cigarette.

On the lizards and the lifeguards...forget it. I was responding to your post of 7/8/2001
and 7/9/2001. It started as just a little offering to help you with depression. If it doesn't help,
don't take it. What is great is that in helping you I found something that worked for me. It's in
progress and enjoyable.

Viv 7-10-2001 22:24

Viv - Cool. Just inform us when you're done and I'll post them here unless I can get your e-mail address which would be great. Since they are Disney Songs I doubt the lyrics are bad. One I've translated about halfway and then got to a paragraph that the way I translated it makes no sense at all. The other I can't find most of the words in my dictionary, but I may have copied it wrong, so if there's a mistake maybe your daughter will catch it. Thanks. You're both great. :)

Allein Allein's World 7-10-2001 22:23

Ok, ok, I know I should back up - I do have hard copies of all the stuff I wrote last year, and have some of that stored on my server, it is just the stuff I have been working on this year, the stuff I was actually WORKING on, you know as in wrote that - edited that - going to edit that again - GONE. That stuff.

Jerry 7-10-2001 21:46

**Teekay**

I truly have no idea why there's a big gap under my post, but I'm not deliberately trying to take up space in the notebook.

Teekay 7-10-2001 21:00

**Teekay**

Hi All,

GARIESS: HAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHA *GASP* HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA oh my, I must say I found your reptilian post delightfuly cheeky.

JERRY: I am soooooooo sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine that. I always have backed up copies. What is wrong with you?????? You should know to have backed up copies.
Here's a couple of seconds silence in commiseration though.

JERRY: You need to make back up copies, that's what you need.

MEL: Remember 'The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'? I'd like something like that. Complete with housekeeper and cute little dog.
Captain Greig wouldn't be too bad either.

VIV: Please tell me what you're talking about. Why a handsome lifeguard? What does it do? Could you draw a picture or something?
We don't have those lizards this way. We only have things like gheckoes and sleepy lizards and frill necks and GARIESS' type.

My Confession:
I think Oprah is wonderful. I admire her greatly and feel that she has done amazing things with her life.
And at least her talk shows have some enlightment about them, unlike Ricky Lake and Jerry Springer.

No I don't watch these shows (unless I'm having a real funky kind of day), but I have seen them in passing.

ROSEMARY: Actually I think that's a great idea. A kids book based on the animals you have.
The first of which, of course, is 'Toady Dances Down."
Well done MEL.

DEBRA: My advice to you is - don't rush it, these things will come in their own good time.
- I think.
- I hope.
Now, for some advice on the husband front......:-D

ROSEMARY: Sorry, depressing you was not my aim. I just like to know everything and then of course I have to explain myself so....... You see how it happens :-)

Speaking of depressed, that's where I am now.
I'm once again doubting my ability as a writer. Last night I was thinking of other jobs I could do instead and about the only one I could come up with was dishwasher, and I detest dishwashing.
The chapter of my novel I'm at now is just not working properly. Getting it finished is a bit like pulling teeth and it feels like this big black blockade looms in front of me and I'll never get past it.
Does anybody else get put off this easily? Or is it just the domain of wannabe writers?
When things are going swell and the writings flowing well, then life is a beautiful place where the birds are singing and the flowers blooming,
- but when it gets ugly, then everything gets ugly and life becomes dull and washed out and hopeless.
Okay, that's a bit extreme, but it does get a bit shitty.

Going now.

But persevere I shall!!!!!!

Later.

Teekay 7-10-2001 20:57

The edge of the evening to all,

TEEKAY,
Now you've really depressed me. Just 30 more bales sounded like so much less than 73 until you mentioned that we have half as much again to go. Sheesh.

MEL,
Thanks, the visuals are fun. I'm not sure about making a book out of them. Sounds more like cartoons.

Good news and Bad news.
The bad news is that I stepped in a hole while mowing yesterday and hurt my knee. The good news is that there is already a MRI set up for that knee due to ongoing problems.

VISUAL
Disgusted horse chewing on dusty old dry hay while watching us load bales and bales of nice new green hay into the barn.

Bye,

Rosemary 7-10-2001 19:34

I'm engaged to a cat now? Well, I guess stranger things have happened.

Allein Allein's World 7-10-2001 19:15

Jack,

We are about to break a record. This is the longest page in the history of the NB! And it is still working. Well, almost...

Americo 7-10-2001 18:44

Ben,
In November 96 you showed pessimism about your future life and job. Now it's the present. How are things going? BTW: what happened to those fine Notebookers who were writing books in 1996/7/8/9/0... ?

Rhoda,
How's life?

Viv,
Allein asked you to please translate something for her. Allein is Jon's virtual fiancée (not that she accepted him, poor cat). You don't want Jon to interfere, do you?

Howard,
Hope things are all right with you, as far as health is concerned.

Everybody here must finish a book this year. And publish it!

Americo 7-10-2001 18:40

Oh the horror. I'm trying to get my twins into underpants. I have wiped up you know what and you know what for days now. I'm angry and exhausted.

When I look at my husband exhausted and tired and get that look from him I find myself saying, "can I help you."

The treachery for this week's shortie thyeme is when he says, "probably!"

Debra 7-10-2001 14:39

Rosemary: hee hee! Toady Dances Down...sounds like a children's picture book to me! :-) When are you going to take all your cute visuals and turn them into early books for toddlers?! :-) Kids love the animal stories and all you need is a simple plot, like a toad stranded on a birdbath!

Mel 7-10-2001 13:25

Hey there, You guys,

MEL,
Getting down from a duck gave me the most goofy vision of....the toad standing on the edge of the birdbath, underneath stands my doberman, next to him is a goose, then the duck. Some of the ducks are pretty tall so slide a bantey chicken up next to him (unchoked). Now the toad can take stairsteps down to the ground.

Enough sillyness from me,
JERRY,
If you ever get your stories back, please put them on a zip or even just a disk(A:drive) It would be a crime to lose all those great stories. Of course, you could go into the notebook arcives and copy the ones you have posted. Ditto when the Workbook comes back. You take your computers apart too often to risk all that work like that.:-<

I'm off to get my training hat.

Rosemary 7-10-2001 11:46

I can't come up with anything for CNQST because I can't stop thinking "conquistador".

WR= Waddah R'akibum (waddah translates to brilliant)(R'akibum makes me think of ass-kicking)

DTH= Danjuro Tobei Hebi (to me ...juro Tobei sounds like you ought to be)(Hebi translates to serpent)

FMN= Franz Medvedev Narkos (Narkos is obviously narcotics) Merz is a German owned pharmaceutical company you might garner some ideas from

Hope they help jar your creativity, Litter.

Mary 7-10-2001 10:56

VIV - COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME WITH A JAPANESE TRANSLATION FOR A FRIEND? :)

Allein Allein's World 7-10-2001 10:22

Jerry: You sound like you are having the worst nightmare of a day. You definitely have a camping trip coming after a day like that.

Gariess: You are more the type to go out and duel with an electrified toilet seat than walk around with an eyedropper looking for lizards...you sure you want to switch. Anyway, I've got you covered on those toilet seats. I just hope someone outside Japan can understand it. I'll send it to Heather for a test drive.
I very much agree with you about Oprah. I wondered if I was the only person in the world who wanted to just go goose the smile right off her face.

Teekay, I think just a couple drops of cold water does the trick. You don't have to douse the lizard completely. Mine changed immediately. Could be something in our water that does it, stuff tastes like it definitely could change a lizard into a lifeguard. I have no idea why this works. Like most scientific ideas, if it looks neat and is interesting, just remember how to do it again and forget the principle that it's based on. Have fun with it.

I'm sure you've made slime at one time or another; this is just like making slime. Follow the directions, it happens. You really don't have to understand polymer chemistry to do it. Drop the water on the poor little sucker and enjoy the life guard. There's only one problem, I can't get him to change back. It's a pain in the ass because he's stuck this way. Tell me if you have any better luck with yours.

Litter: DTH. In Japanese that's going to be tough to come up with. The Japanese people do not have middle names. Daisuke Hara? That's DH. I'll go through old class lists and see if I find a name that feels good. Every Japanese name has a meaning. (Daisuke means beloved one)

Hallee: I'm not writing either. The only writing time I have, I'm too exhausted to do much more than these posts. I'm thowing posts onto a notepad document as I snatch little peaks at the notebook inbetween all the have to dos. Sometimes I read it for just a second or two during my Business Writing Class when everyone gets down to work and is concentrating on their work. The stuff I write keeps me from screaming dirty words when things go wrong. Too many politics aout the house and husband's job. I try to think of strange things when the pressure gets too high. It's better than yelling what I am thinking at times. I just sort of go off into space and find lizards and such. I post them here because I figure we all can use a lizard now and then.

Heather: Why do some people assume that friendship includes psychiatric counseling , feeding a family of four, coming to the rescue, , and ohhhhhh what a wonderful thing...she's invited you to clean her house as well! Go for it Heather... write up Trechery and Oppression . Sounds as though you've had an ample dose of both.

Viv 7-10-2001 10:16

*Mel*

Hey All - I think the "funk" grabbed me the past several days, still fighting it off...

HOWARD: I finished "Hiero's Journey" Saturday morning. THAT was a GREAT adventure!!! :-) Ready for more Hiero, when you get a chance to send... How's the shoulder? Thanks for the Hector-cherry alert; probably won't get there, my family's not too keen on cherries but maybe fresh ones would tickle their palates.

ROSEMARY: Thanks for kind words re: my posts. I love your visuals!! :-) BTW, doesn't toady know you can't get down from a birdbath? -- You get down from a duck! (Booo... she hears the masses groan.)

TINA: Hope you had a nice trip. :-) Ah, Narnia--one of my favorite childhood haunts as well. Enjoyed the Stevenson poems - thanks for sharing them! :-)

HEATHER: Enjoyed your questionnaire. :-) I also enjoyed "Pay It Forward" (till the ending) - I thought the plot "challenge" was very intriguing, despite the weaknesses of the movie. If everyone in real life could have a pay-it-forward attitude, what a better place our world might be.

TEEKAY: My dream house is by the sea, too. :-) My P* story (if I ever get it done in time) includes the dream house and the coastal setting. Hey, if ya can't live there, write about it anyway! BTW, definitely quarantine any mailed spiders and tissues...better still, "return to sender." heh heh!

RANDALL: GREAT stories!! :-) I DO hope you're putting them all into an autobiographical anthology...?! :-)

MARK: "Would that we could" teach our children better about freedom and its tendency, with too much of it, to lead to the wrong things...

MARY: I love medieval fairs! We have one here in New York State called the Renaissance Fair, weekends in the summer - hope to go this year at the end of August. They are their own little world - a day's escape from the mundane to a world of pure relaxation and fun! I love the amulet bags too - had one till a few beads came loose, sigh. Will have to look around for another.

EVERYONE: Heaps of inspired writing I wish to you today! Chain your muses to your hearts and write it all out! :-)

Mel 7-10-2001 9:12

Litter - OK, I will give your name thing a try, how about:

1) Quinton Chacktaw– I’m going to make this one a US military man. One of the Chief’s of Staff or similar. Black or White – no real preference. (American Indian)

2) Wosaine Rahadaine – Middle Eastern Despot – perhaps a parody on Gadaffi or Arrafat (sp’s?)

3) Fosbert Milton Nastler – European, German or German-Swiss. Fat Cat name suitable for MD or CEO of Multinational Drugs company or the like.

4) Dahan Tho Ho -- Japanese (?) Fanatical Religious Sect Leader or Arms Dealer.

Jerry 7-10-2001 0:49

I NEED CAMPING! CAMPING, I NEED CAMPING!

Jerry 7-9-2001 23:52

(*%(*&(*!@$*&!!!
Ok, now that I got that out of my system. All that I have been working on these past few weeks, all the stories, all the tales, and anything else I happened to write are GONE! Gone in an angry moment, when I typed FORMAT C: /Q!

Well at least the f_____ computer is behaving itself, after two formats and two installs of windows ME, it now behaves itself nicely. If I remember all that I have written, I will try and put it all down again. Oh and that wasn't all, during this HOT SWELTERING DAY, the wife's built-in touch pad on her keyboard quit working, our main computer started randomly re-dialing the internet service provider, then just when it all came togather (remember now this is on a day when the average temp is around 95 and the humidity is right up around 90%) mom called, her insurance agent cancled her insurance, because she has put in to many claims and a different agent was coming over to insure her house, could I come and talk to him. Well I kept control, and left all the computers running on their own, secretly hoping that a thunderstorm would come up and strike the network hub, and KILL the bastards. Mom's house was cool, almost cold her central air pumping nice cool air into all the rooms at a nice steady pace. The clear tube that runs from the condencer in her attic and runs down next to the window looked like a garden hose running the extracted water out on her ever so dry lawn. We arrived at her house five minutes before the fellow was to show up, and began playing pinochle (what else do you do when you are waiting for an insurance salesman?) The clock showed he was a half hour late, then an hour, then two, then at two and a half hours late, he called reporting that he forgot the appointment, but would be there in a half hour. Five munites later he showed. I was having doubts that mom should trust someone who cared so little about being on time, but when he got there, he sounded almost professional. His sales pitch done, he left and we played the "Rubber" match, then left. When I got home, the computers were still running, it took about four munites to fix the wife's, then I began re-installing software on mine. I am still installing, and will be for a couple of days. The advantage of having a twenty gig hard drive.

Just another day in South Dakota. (Excuse the spelling, I haven't found my spell checker CD yet!)

Jerry 7-9-2001 23:50

Sighs. Choking your chickens, dousing your lizards...I can't leave you guys unsupervised for a second!

AMERICO: My writing tends to weaken in the summer, slowly fading for lack of attention. By the time the changing of the leaves starts though, I am ready to nurse it back to health. I guess it is sort of like gardening, there is a definite growing season. The rest of the year is spent tilling soil, fertilizing and stock piling seeds to be planted and raised. Last season's scrap was used to compost or mulch this years crop, just like this year's scrap will do for the next. Nothing ever truly dies; it evolves.

GS: I am truly glad you have returned to us.

HOWARD: Hope you are relatively all right. Hugs.

TEEKAY: Thanks! I think it is pretty safe to say that this is a lesson not soon forgotten.

ROSEMARY: I just love the smell of a clean barn stuffed full of hay, staw and sweet oats. I would have helped you toss bales. :-)

Giddyup

Mary 7-9-2001 23:43

RANDALL

Perhaps I should add a disclaimer.....nah, read at your own risk! :-)

A lady I know recently related she visited some friends up close to Abilene, Texas. She said the largest grasshoppers she had ever seen were on the highway, in the fields and pastures. With a quick measurement using her fingers, the pretty, wide-eyed girl indicated they were about 4" long. Monsters!

I responded with my usual cleverness and charm toward the opposite sex, "Wow! Why didn't you catch a few! They're prime fish bait!"

Grasshoppers are excellent fishing bait in the backwoods of rural Texas. I was shown many years ago a technique to attach a small hook to a grasshopper, using sewing thread, without killing the poor thing. A proficient angler, would then heave, toss or otherwise sail the insect into the middle of a small tank, pond for some of you. The proper grasshopper, matched with proper hook, equaled grasshopper casually floating across a placid tank. No doubt shocked at moisture after living much of his life in VERY dry surroundings, the grasshopper would kick his (or her) legs, thus achieving a modest rate of propulsion.

A large bass settled against a sunken log, resting, after eating a dozen minnows or perch would view the scene above as an affront to his dignity and fishood. (Fish hood? Would that be 2 h's?) Thus confronted with the belly side view of an absurd insect thrashing across HIS tank, the bass would rise leisurely and assault, I say assault, the unlucky victim, who was no doubt enjoying a first cruise. This is a low tech way to wile away the hot summer afternoons...and if the fish aren't biting, on strike or something......my mom once said my brother and I always managed to fall in when fishing slowed.

Now, catching grasshoppers isn't all that easy. One, they have wings, may hop like a ‘roo in heat and two, as freedom loving creations, not inclined to be tied to a fishhook and served up as involuntary fish fodder. Can't say as I blame ‘em. Straw hats are great for catching ‘hoppers, that is after chasing one winged critter across 20 acres of land to the point of complete physical exhaustion. Lots of folks throw rocks, but that negates the "Let the fish kill ‘em doctrine" and turns the poor think into mush besides that.

So, my friends, I am here to enlighten the writing brotherhood. Here is Randall's no fail way to capture grasshoppers, in quantity, with style and drink beer at the same time. All you need is a 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury, big engine, 4 speed trans, a 40 acre sunflower field, a driver, two suckers, I mean "Catchers" and a minnow seine. (Uh, a small mesh net, about 20 feet across 3 feet wide.)

Upon approaching the sunflower field ascertain if there are plenty of grasshoppers in residence. If so, position 2 volunteers or catchers on each front fender of the car. Have one guy hold one end of the seine in the air, the other volunteer, the other end. Clear as mud, huh. Make sure each catcher has a cold beer between his legs, (this promotes stability at high speed.) As not to spook the reclining grasshoppers, gently ease out the clutch, while pressing down the footpedal....everyone scream "CHARGE" and full throttle into the sunflowers!

The effect is startling, however, as to what the grasshopper clan thinks is in question. The Plymouth, 383 cubic inches of American brute horsepower, roars across the level, well, fairly level sunflower field. Sunflowers 6 feet tall explode as the speeding car charges forward and through them. Grasshoppers scrambling to get the hell away from the metal monster careen into the sky, and are consequently netted. The driver, on calm days considered a wild-eyed maniac, leans out the car window whooping and honking the car horn. Hanging out the passenger window a large German Shepard barks furiously. Hundreds of emotionally traumatized grasshoppers are captured in the initial foray. As the red Plymouth clears the field the driver executes a bootleg turn and lurches back across the field for a final pass.

The "Catchers" are spitting yellow sunflower petals and green leaves and dirt... and wildly indignant grasshoppers as they gather in the catch, stashing them in large plastic bags.

"We'll freeze them for later," one catcher boasts.

"Go, go, go," the other whoops washing down the debris in his mouth with a cold Lone Star beer.

The driver stands on the gas pedal and again the Plymouth charges into the field of one sided battle.

Very unfortunately, a game warden happened to be in the vicinity....heard the honking and hollering...and motor racing....and observed a plume of yellow sunflower petals and leaves and dust rising into the still summer sky. Wouldn't you know.....

Seeing a trail of debris, torn and shattered plants, disappearing into the field the diligent officer parks his car, and climbs on the trunk to get a better view. "What in the hell......" Coming rapidly at his position, all too rapidly, a metal monster, belching dust and mowing down sunflowers is headed directly toward him. He observes 2 men sitting on the hood, holding at first glance what appears to be a minnow seine high in the air, bursting with grasshoppers. He locks eyes with one of the men on the fender, notices the guys eyes widened, and mouth open. Too late! Bursting into the edge of the field the Plymouth plows into a jolting slide in a choking cloud of dust and sunflowers and petals and leaves and grasshoppers........and objects that are in motion, tend to remain in motion. One minnow seine, two "Catchers," hundreds of chagrined grasshoppers achieve formation flight, landing in sand and grass burrs at the edge of the game wardens sedan.

I've never seen an employee of the Texas Game and Fish Commission so mad, that is after he got off his ass after falling from the car. He was screaming...."You guys are going to get killed...." "Can't catch grasshoppers like this....." "Drinking beer!" "Get that net away from me!"

Adding to the uproar the Plymouth blew a radiator hose and clouds of billowing steam covered everyone. My brothers dog leaped out of the car, snarling and threatening one and all. Guess he couldn't handle the stress either. Another Fish and Game rep showed up, but no matter how hard they tried there was nothing in the rule book about catching grasshoppers with a car and minnow seine. And believe me they tried.

But mom drew the line at storing grasshoppers in her fridge, so the carp who swim above the dam had a hell of a feast a few days later.

A day in the life :-)

Randall

RANDALL 7-9-2001 23:22

Viv,

I just want to see if I have this straight. You invite me to write something about an electric toilet seat, and you set Teekay a task involving a cold blooded lizard. If this is so, I ask to switch with Teekay. I don't say she should be more comfortable with electrified toilet seats. It's just that I already have a cold blooded lizard. Of course it wasn't always so, It's just that I've aged.

GS

gariess 7-9-2001 23:12

VIV - Can you help me with a translation? Japanese?

RACHEL - I got Shadows today, it's amazing to actually own something you helped write. The pictures of Sebastian were great too - thanks. He's such a cute little guy. :)

Allein Allein's World 7-9-2001 22:47

**gariess*

Heather,
Yes, that word was schmaltzy. Ever wonder where words like that come from? It sounds like an Andy Rooney segment. "Ever wonder what happens to all the socks that never come out of the washing machine? If you’re like me, and you have a drawer full of unmatched socks, what are we expecting to do with them all? If I’m never going to wear those socks again why do I save them? Maybe some day I’ll open a store and sell hand puppets."

Seriously, Heather, it is good that your opinions about the films you like are not subject to influence by the professional appreciators. I miss being able to enjoy the marginally acceptable films I used to see in my younger days (and what side of the margin they fell on was debatable at best.) Those terrible, low budget horror and sci-fi films were fun when I was in my twenties. The bad movies they make today just don’t seem to be fun to watch. I guess I’ll have to ask someone in their twenties.

Mary,
I crack you up? Maybe you should go to the chiropractor’s office.

Americo,
There is something to what you say, my shirt died yesterday, and my neighbor’s chicken is looking pretty bad. Didn’t Teekay say something about thou shalt not choke thy neighbors chicken? Or was that just about choking chickens in general? Don’t choke the general’s chicken? I don’t know, I can’t remember.

Egad! They still do shock therapy? I thought that went the way of the fire hose and the wet sheets.

Teekay,
It was probably watching Oprah that put the poor woman off.
It would do it for me. The only thing worse is watching Rosie O’Donnell. Where in the hell do we get these cultural icons?

Litter,
I seem to recall something about Bell being a Scot. Somehow I still associate him more with "American" culture, but the essence of my diatribe is little diminished by his removal from it. By all means, strike AGB from my post.

Later,

GS

gariess 7-9-2001 22:44

**Teekay**

LITTER: Or maybe Faustmein instead of Freeman. That sounds more German.

Really am going now.

Honest.

Cross my heart.

Ciao.

Teekay 7-9-2001 22:03

**Teekay**

LITTER: Dulthur; Freeman; Wren.
Difficult to think of a US name for CNQST, the only thing that really comes to my mind is something like Conquestro. Perhaps he could be of Spanish decent?
Dulthur's not all that Japanese sounding either unless you use something like Don Tung Ho or some such.

Well that was a lot of fun - thanks. I hope it's of some help :-)

Teekay 7-9-2001 21:56

VIV: But how do they turn into handsome lifeguards????
signed,
more curious than ever.

Teekay 7-9-2001 21:49

**Teekay**

AMERICO: Wow! That is really beautiful.

Teekay 7-9-2001 21:45

Gariess: Hi! I had a lot of fun with your post on dueling vs. dualing toilet seats. It got me started and I couldn't stop. Now two pages later I have something to post on Treachery. It can wait though. It has 777 words. I don't want to be a "space pig" in the notebook. Thanks for the great image! Now, I want to see what you do in a duel with an electric toilet seat. Challenge! Can you write something on Trechery and an electric toilet seat? Shock us!

Teekay: I didn't have time to get into the names of the lizards because Gariess set me off on toilet seats. I will get the name of the lizards who turn into handsome lifeguards when water is dropped on them today. I have to go to the library anyway. If you happen to be in your local library, take some time to see if you find that name, would you please? Sometimes finding the exact Kingdom/phylum/class/order/family/genus/species can be a little tricky. Please remember when you get
your lizard that he is cold blooded.

I also want everyone to know that I am completely bonkers and invite anyone who doesn't feel like being normal today to come over and enjoy a day off. Bring your pens, laptops, paper, and your own bathroom slippers.

Americo: Weak things die in extreme temps. You find more deaths among the old and babies in the heat of the summer and the extreme cold of the winter. You are absolutely right, but what I try to think about is the wonderful feeling of being relaxed, warm, and floating off to sleep. Weak relationships are strained by extremes in temp, so they can die as well.
Best thing to do, keep yourself and the things you love strong.

Rosemary: I'd probably kill myself helping with the hay, but I could feel the prickly dusty itch of the heat as you described it. Nope, Your post was not dull at all. I envy you, but at the same time, I know my body would probably collapse after 5 minutes of that. What
you did was an accomplishment.

Debra: Thanks for the compliment but I found out yesterday they haven't passed that law. The SOFA agreement is under debate. I'm with you, because I'm the kind of person that seems to get entangled in stuff like that. I hope they just leave it as it is until I'm out of here. I think though, change is needed. It's just very tricky to decide what and how to change it so that no one who isn't guilty gets hurt. I think maybe they need to change traffic laws at the same time.

Back to work. Thank you Gariess Teekay Mary and Jack. I took an unexpected break to write that toilet trechery shortie, and now I'm off to work thinking about my lizardy lifeguard's names. This is going to be fun. I wonder if I should check out the cigarette machine to see if there are any good names in there???? Kingdom/phylum/class/or.......

May you all take pleasant flights of fantasy amidst the concentration of the day!

Viv 7-9-2001 21:35

Heather,

Details about "Saints and Sinners"? A writer only needs an idea to turn the wheels of imagination. You'll just have a title and a list of the sins and the virtues to refresh you memory. The project consists of trying to discover yourself and tell the amazing news in your style.

What's your style? Your style probably lies hidden in your predominant defects or in your best qualities (or in a rich mixture of both of them). Your style is your unique way of looking inside yourself and finding there the way mankind breathes.

What methods shall you use? Old writers (i. e. everybody before you awoke) used naked models, that's to say, characters to convey illusions. That's still a good way, at least before you discover something better. But avoid the notorious "show not tell" technique of the bad creative writing courses and start expressing feelings and describing things without fear. After you find the joy of singing with your own voice (don't sing too loud), play the words (not with words, that makes bad music). Play the words like a musician plays the piano. Who knows if, in the process, you'll find out that what's beautiful in a story is the way it is written and the lesson it refuses to teach? Be subtle, but not clever, be intelligent but leave the place of honor to the reader's mind. As a writer you are just a pathfinder, readers and time the empire-builders.

Americo 7-9-2001 21:21

714Kb and rising -- ouch!

7-9-2001 21:07

Hi All!

Still recovering files and settings after the ‘big reinstallation of 2001’. Some of my backed-up email folders are proving a bit stubborn and I only got my address book back today…

MARY – got the mail. Ta very muchly – I’ll thank you properly soon.

MARK – re the 4 pages on a page, book format thingy – I got a program called ‘Blue Squirrel ClickBook, with my latest software bundle – does just what you were talking about and integrates into all the usual Biggies like MS Word, Corel, Lotus, Adobe and a whole host of others. You can set up for 2, 3, 4, 6 or 8 pages on one, back and front with all sorts of bells, whistles and formatting options. I use it to see how I look in print as well – seems nearer the finished thing to set it up like that.

GARIESS – I think you’ll find that Alexander Graham Bell was Scots.

HEATHER – I have Adams’ ‘The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’ sitting on a bookshelf not 3 feet from my right elbow. Wonderful Book, especially the bit where Toe-Rag super-glues the Norse God of Thunder to the floor. Thoroughly recommended!

Finally got back to some productive writing. (After a looooong apathetic hiatus.)
Could do with the teensiest modicum of assistance with some names. What I need are names that fit with 4 sets of letters and brief descriptions. If I do this myself, knowing what I aim to do with the names I fear that my focus will be too narrow. I’m sure that some among you will realise the significance of the sets of letters, relatively quickly.

Here goes: (all are male but worry not, ladies, main protagonist is female…)

1) CNQST – I’m going to make this one a US military man. One of the Chief’s of Staff or similar. Black or White – no real preference.

2) WR – Middle Eastern Despot – perhaps a parody on Gadaffi or Arrafat (sp’s?)

3) FMN – European, German or German-Swiss. Fat Cat name suitable for MD or CEO of Multinational Drugs company or the like.

4) DTH -- Japanese (?) Fanatical Religious Sect Leader or Arms Dealer.

Thinking caps on people. All contributions appreciated. Correct spellings of bona-fide names doubly appreciated.

Ciao for now

Litter 7-9-2001 20:57

**Teekay**

Hi y'all,

GARIESS: I suspect those 17 favourable votes were given either by persons in the 14 - 17 age group, or persons of that mental age, and don't be offended any of you 14 - 17 year olds out there, because my girls LOVED it.
They kept getting upset with me when I got to the stage in the movie where I realized it wasn't going anywhere, but down (and fast) and decided to make up my own lines which was a heck of a lot more fun.

ROSEMARY: I was just curious as to how much you loaded up the first time, because when you said you only needed 30 more it seeemed like you must have loaded up hundreds, but really, you've still got almost another half to go. Gee, sorry about that, that's sounds a bit depressing :-$
This is a long and boring explanation I know.

MARY: ((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))) 2 U.
Oh you poor thing, and you were so looking forward to doing this.
Chalk it up to a lesson learnt, an experience lived through, and remember, never, ever, never do it again :-).

AMERICO: I'm sure there's a lot more to that question that what there seems to be. Therefore, I shall just shrug my shoulders and say "Dunno."

HEATHER: Cripes! That woman sounds like she could do with watching a couple of thousand episodes of Oprah.

Bah humbug, I did it again. I chose to work on my (fanfare please) "??NOVEL????" before going to sleep and therefore spent yet another restless night with all the characters popping in and out of my head and making it bloody well impossible to get a decent nights sleep.
Oh deary me, please don't make it that I have to get up at 4 am in order to get anything done with it. ~shudder~

Going.

Teekay 7-9-2001 20:41

HEATHER: Still 10! :)

I'm seriously lurking all...I'm barely skimming the posts. Sorry about that. Been extremely busy. And a little tired. I'm not even writing right now. I don't really have a block - I just don't feel like it. All this moving, not moving, moving, puppies, kittens, vbs, firing my secretary and losing a friend, my friends and their babies, my sister and hers...so much on me right now.

Hopefully I'll be motivated soon.

Time to do the dishes!

Hallee 7-9-2001 20:00

And though she would make an interesting character, with tonnes of material to choose from, I find it exhausting to contemplate.

Perhaps we could have a shortie night some thursday about oppression. Then again, maybe not.

I have other friends who are bi-polar to varying degrees, and I do not find it exhausting at all to cheer them up, or listen to them when they need me.

I had finally had enough of this woman's draining capabilities last Tuesday. She called, asking that I go over the next morning to 'help her around the house'. This is one of the major reasons to NOT tell people I clean for a living. They expect me to somehow have the ability to not only snap my fingers and erase months of dirty laundry and caked on food in the sink; but that I'll somehow magically reduce their workload forever, with no pay. I am a good friend, but not that good. I also have my own pigpen to (ha ha ha) clean. Actually, it's very clean. Just untidy today. The kids have to clean up their toys every night before bed, but it's not bedtime yet. I can tell by the pulling of hair and the screaming from outside.

Must be the sprinkler yelling like that.

Perhaps I will summon up some writing energy tonight and continue with more on my novel. I DO know where my next few scenes will go, and what I want to happen, etc. And, in fact, I think chatting here in the NB (mind you, I am still talking to myself until there are more posts!)
has given me a bit of a boost. Imagine that!

Ah, sigh. Let your fingers do the talking. Therapy, therapy. I may be in need of some desperate therapy.

(kidding)

(well, maybe I'm not)

Litter, Mary, I indeed feel your pain - at least some of it. My fingers have been swollen for two days and typing is finally not such a chore today. I don't know if it's the weather (usually is) or the moving of a lot of heavy furniture over the weekend, but my rings were too tight to wear these last 48 hrs. Like sausages, my fingers are. ICK. Perhaps it is sympathy pain? How about EMPATHY pain.

Heather 7-9-2001 19:45

Mary: Don't worry about falling behind on reading!
I've let my writing fall behind schedule this week. I seem to have had a hard time shaking the absolute drain on my system from not so much cheering up a friend, but dealing with her and her husband and four kids, and having them stomp through the house all last weekend. My mother aptly put it, when she saw this woman sitting on her porch: "She looks like a vulture!" And, indeed, anything that this woman likes she tries to get the object's owner to give it to her, employing as many interesting yet annoying so-called logistics. Oh, it would fit me better. Oh, it would look so nice on my table... Oh, I think it's my colour, don't you?
She's not wealthy, she's not even got the best in tastes. But she knows something of value when she sees it, or looks for it, or downright invades your space in search of it.
She'd make an interesting character for a novel, but a long one.
I sometimes think she tells people she's depressed in order to gain objects rather than sympathy. The saddest part is that she thinks the object will in some way create a sense of happiness, order, reason for living. Meanwhile she lives in a state of oppression; her escape is the local mental hospital/institution, known hereabouts as 'The Homewood'. Don't get me wrong, this woman does have bi-polar disorder. But the source of her depression is often times her lack of emotional and physical freedom. If you find it 'refreshing' and 'a holiday compared to home' to be locked down into the institution and receive shock therapy, then home must be a prison like no other.

Now, see? I've gone and winded myself right out on you, my friends. For shame.

Heather 7-9-2001 19:31

In response to your question, Americo, yes.
It does seem that a lot of things around here die in the summer. My grass, and my flowers.

Heather 7-9-2001 19:04

Rosemary - you'll get much cheaper rates if you book at least 2 weeks in advance. A return fare for my friend from Florida to Buffalo, NY and back, was about $300, booked three weeks in advance. We didn't book it online, but called the airline's 800 number.

But enough about air fares. Let's talk writing, folks.

Anyone embarking on a challenging project?

Yes, that's right! Americo is planning a project. Give us some details, won't you Jon, Americo? Pussy, perhaps?
We know the title of the new project, but little else!

Still planning to close Phantasium at the end of August; that does leave a fair bit of time for adding stories. I plan on at least one myself. Remember: The stories don't have to be scary. Just about spirits/ghosts, & the like.
This closing date does depend on how long the workbook is 'out of commission', however. Don't worry, Jack, take your time! The more stories, the better. That way, if we have to cut a few, there are still a plethora to choose from.
I will, with Mark's help, edit each story with the author via email; the revised stories can then be emailed back to me. In the edits we may also make suggestions for wording in revision; but it is still up to the author. The final copy of the stories must be approved by each individual in order that they are happy with what will be submitted. Polishing is priority, and so is smiling when it's all done.
That doesn't mean I am not a tough editor!

Chins up and pens hovering...
This week's shortie looks promising!

I dare you all to participate. I've been slack on shortie night myself, these last two weeks. :o<

Better grip myself firmly and pen my way to the page. Ha ha.

I hope puppy number 10 makes it, Hallee!

Heather 7-9-2001 19:02

**Rosemary**
It always seemed to me that more things die in the Winter. The gloomy weather tends to encourage sick things to give up. Maybe the things that die in the summer are more likely to be animals and the winter things are people? My experience anyway.

I was checking airline prices on travelosity.com and the fare from S.A. Tex. to Washington State was $192. You have to change planes in Dallas. So I thought I would check on the prices from Dallas, Tex. to Wa. and it was $435(ish). This didn't make any sense to me. Does anyone here know about those online airline prices? Did I do it wrong?

Oh well, I mowed for about half an hour and the mower ran out of gas. Decided this evening would really be better. It's awfully hot.

Gone again.

Rosemary--again 7-9-2001 14:53

Does anyone here feel that a lot of things die in Summer?

Americo 7-9-2001 14:40

Morning all, normal or not.

TEEKAY,
We loaded 73 bales on that trailer and gave 4 to the guy that helped. I mentioned that we would only need about 30 more to last until next July.(I wasn't really sure about your question) My sister and I unloaded the whole 74 bales ourselves yesterday, (30%me and 60% her. She's 7 yrs. younger and hasn't as much pain. We grit our teeth and keep telling ourselves, "It's good for me. It's good for me.)------What is lucerne? A place or a type of grass? Never heard of it. Our hay is called Coastal Bermuda. We can't buy alfalfa that is grown in Texas or Oklahoma because of somekind of a bug that is supposed to kill the horses if they eat it. Most vet's prefer the coastal anyway.
When my old horse lost most of his teeth, I had to get New Mexico alfalfa for him. The grassy hay was too rough for him. He died about 3 years ago at approx. 35 years of age. That's really old for a horse.

Now that I've bored most of you to death, I'll go decide to mow the yard now or wait until after 7:00pm.
Bye,

Rosemary 7-9-2001 12:47

Hi guys. Haven't been around much lately. I am in the deep end of working on the chiropractor's office. Turns out my sewing machine won't sew the double-thick vinyl I picked out for the tables, so I am reupholstering them by hand. It is killing my fingers and my joints. My wrists are all swollen and puffy. LITTER: I feel terrible that you are in a state worse than mine all the time, because even the smallest tasks like typing this post really HURT! I finished the last one last night and at the end I had to switch to pliers to pull the needle through because my fingers wouldn't hold it anymore. I hope I never see another staple gun as long as I live. My palm feels like it has a stone bruise in the middle of it. This was a much bigger job than I had anticipated and the doctor's wife is a real *itch. I think she is upset that the doctor has me doing it instead of her.

HALLEE: Sorry to hear about the pups that died. I know how terrible I felt when one of the little kittens died. ;-(

GS: You crack me up.

HEATHER: I am sorry that I haven't read the latest excerpt you sent me yet. Now that those damn tables are done I will have more time. My friend is moving and I have been painting her new house for a week and between that, the chiropractor's office and my husband's poorly-timed vacation I am run ragged. Please forgive me.

We went to the Medieval Faire this past Saturday. I wore one of the beaded amulet bags that I make, one with a Celtic cross on the front, and I can't believe the number of people who stopped me and asked which booth I had bought it from. One of the vendor's even came around her counter and asked me if I had made it myself and then escorted me to the office where she and some guy tried to talk me into having a booth in next year's faire. I was very flattered and a little bit proud so I thought I would share. :-) Don't know if I am taking the booth though, it is pretty steep and there are a lot of disadvantages.

I saw a wonderful falconry demonstration there. They are beautiful birds, and when one of them swooped overhead, it lost a feather so now I have that in my amulet bag and it's my only souvenir. I don't think I could have purchased anything there that would have been better.

SHORTIE NIGHT THEME: TREACHERY

Mary 7-9-2001 11:31

Viv:

Thanks for answering my question so elequently. I'm really worried that some innocent person will get caught up in all this bad behaviour. I'm not talking about the already innocent person who did, the girl who got raped, but rather other innocents, like you.

Keep your chin up and your eyes open.

Debra 7-9-2001 8:44

Actually, Gariess, I'd recommend 'Pay It Forward' anyway.
I wouldn't say it was schmaltzy at all - or whatever that word was.

I thought the cast well-suited to the roles, but I didn't get the feeling that the movie was written 'around' that particular cast. Sometimes you get that feeling and, unless it's Robin Williams, it doesn't go over well.

Tell those Rotten Tomatoes to bite me. HA HA HA

Heather 7-9-2001 4:10

Just for the sake of perspective, the movie, Panic with Wm. H. Macy, Donald Sutherland and Neve Campbell got an 89% favorable rating.

GS

gariess 7-9-2001 0:48

Teekay, you devil,

Coyote Ugly got 17 favorable out of 71 total reviews, 24%. The cheif complaint seemed to be that the movie just wasn't bad enough to be funny.

Heather,

Pay It Forward got 35 out of 88, a dismal 40% for a movie so full of Oscar winners. The chief complaint seemed to be with the script, which was largely considered to be lifeless and schmaltzy. The raison d'etre of the film is thought to be an attempt to cash in on the Ocar power of the cast, or a sincerely misguided notion on the part of the production company that there was great stuff in there somewhere. Didn't happen.

Of course among the top ten reviewers, Jay Carr of the Boston Globe gave it a qualified recommendation. He is such an embarrassment to us. I wish he would go to the west coast.

A movie needs a 60% favorable rating to be considered worth the time to watch it.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, a web site which rates movies statiscally according to the nations top critics. You can read all the reviews at this web site. All you have to do is spell Rotten Tomatoes correctly and add the dot com.

GS

gariess 7-9-2001 0:22

Hello everyone: Absolutely exhausted, but we are now officially a Westercon 56 and I am the vice chair. This may take a bit of my time, but will get to the rework of the Workbook this week. Right now, though, I barely have two brain cells to rub together hard enough to strike even one potential spark. So, off to relax and eventually perhaps sleep. Got between four and five hours sleep per night all weekend. That and lots of interactions and schmoozing. Did lend Shadows to a reader I respect. We will see what she thinks of it.

Jack Beslanwitch 7-8-2001 22:31

**Teekay**

Hi all,

MARK: Yeah, I'd keep that opening line too. The only reason I started thinking about it was the second time you mentioned it it sort of stood out without all those other words following on.

VIV: Belated question, but what are those lizards that turn into handsome lifeguards when they get wet. You have me really curious.

ROSEMARY: How many bales of hay did you load up the first time?
I love lucerne bailing time at my FIL's (father-in law) farm.
It's a small farm so it's quite fun to do it. I get to drive the truck. A beat up old black thing with a flat top circa 1672. :-D

GARIESS: hahahhahahaha you!
Well I'm positively egstatic that you have found good reason to haunt the nb" more frequently and oil do my very best to encurij that behavyor.

I watched 'Coyote Ugly' the other night and I've gotta tell you there's a hell of a lot to be said for media hype coz that movie was one of the most tragically ridiculous I have ever seen.
I gave it 2 points out of 10, and I gave it the 2 points coz I got it for free.

Watched 'For Richer or Poorer' last night, with Kirsty Alley and Tim Allen and I thought it was just fantastic.
It's the second time I've seen it and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. Talk about funny.

The script writing was brilliant.
Whereas I think in 'Coyote gly' the scriptwriters must've already gone on strike and the actors just got paid a little extra to make up their own lines.

Well it's Monday the first day of the week AND the first day of the school holidays, so if any of you notice a deterioration in my behaviour just go right ahead and ignore it.
No one would probably notice anyway.

May your quills be sharp and your inkpots be full.

Teekay 7-8-2001 21:18

Hallee - Congrats on the puppies. :) It's sad about the ones that didn't make it though. :(

I heard about a dalmatian (true story, not making this up) who had nine puppies and the couple thought that was all and went to bed. In the morning there were nine more puppies. It's the most puppies ever born to a single dog. And all survived. :)

Allein Allein's World 7-8-2001 18:26

test

7-8-2001 16:46

Heather - I saw 'Pay it forward' I thought it was very good. Then how can you go wrong with Kevin Spacey (he is so adorable)!

Take care you.

Rachel

Rachel 7-8-2001 15:07

Okay - there were 11. Now there are 10, and I think in a little while there will be 9. (One isn't doing so well). Whew. Hope that's it. I'm off to sleep while I can before Kaylee wakes up at any minute.

Hallee 7-8-2001 6:33

Heather - I am visiting Cassandra in August so hopefully I'll bring the book home with me. After I read it, I'll send it on to you (provided you e-mail me the address to send it to otherwise, I won't be able to send it).

Allein Allein's World 7-8-2001 2:19

Has anyone seen the movie, "Pay It Forward"?

The writing is quite brilliant! The acting is as good as the writing, in my humble thumbless opinion. (ie: as opposed to whatever those thumbs up or down people might have given it)

*flashing bulbs in varied colours*

It also takes place in Las Vegas.

Hallee: Happy birthday to the puppies!

Jack: I'll be thinking of you, too, on the 13th especially.

Anyone wishing to read Tina's 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams?
Highly recommended. You won't be able to set it down!
Also, if you wish I can send the sequel at the same time;
'The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul'.

Cassandra - Please send on Howard's book! It's too wonderful a treasure to not return! (Sorry, I just wouldn't want to see the book get lost forever)

I still have 'Ender's Game' of Christi's, and 'Midworld' of Howard's. If no one else would like to be thoroughly enlightened by these gifts in paperback binding, I'll return them to their owners, who no doubt miss them!

Email me your snail mail if you want one of these lovelies to arrive in your mailbox soon!

Mark - got it! THANK YOU!

Heather 7-8-2001 1:55

I will not produce foibles on purpose for your amusement!

I will not procure foibles on porpoise for your amusement!

I wiol nut proceed...

Heather 7-8-2001 1:19

Teekay,

In reference to your comment: "You'll notice that 'thou shalt not marry your chicken' or 'thou shalt not eat your
neighbours leg' isn't included in the commandments? Well, it's for the very simple reason that that is not normal."

It is apparent that you have not been spending time in my neighborhood, lately.

GS

gariess 7-8-2001 1:18

Viv,

I refer to your post containing the following: "I was looking at heated toilet seats and trying to find one that was 'duel' voltage."

Now, I am sure you would have written "dual" voltage, if you had taken the chance to consider it. I know next to nothing about electrified toilet seats, but I would guess that "duel voltage" is something that one would more likely find in a Jedi light saber than in anything made for use in the modern bathroom. A toilet seat that is wired for dueling gives rise to the silliest images one could imagine. "Take that, D’Artagnan," he said with a mighty thrust of his epee. "Dear me, please excuse the smell. Sacre bleu, I believe there has been the short circuit."

For the rest of you, this is the kind of thing that has been sadly missing from the NB for so long. I had just recently complained about the lack of prompting I get from you dear folks, and look what I see. I do believe I will enjoy reading Viv’s posts. That is, I will until you lot have taken her in hand and ruined her with your incessant correcting and reshaping. How you have hindered my fun in recent time, I can hardly contemplate.

GS

gariess 7-8-2001 1:04

MARY: We're adding puppies to the pack now. Five so far...I'll update in the morning. zzzzzzzzzHallee

Hallee 7-8-2001 0:33

Oh, Mark, I guess Teekay is right, but you know that is a wonderful opening line, I think I would keep it all the same. Whoever it was that said "there is a bit of larceny in all of us" was right.

Jerry Ericsson 7-8-2001 0:15

Ah the wonders of the hayfield. Many many years ago, my uncle Marvin died. Nothing spectacular about that, everyone dies when his/her time comes. (OK, I did it, used the dreaded liberal his/her, does that make anyone feel better?) But when he died, his poor wife (an absolutely wonderful lady, salt of the earth) couldn't fulfill his haying contracts with the neighbors. The equipment sat there, and to be honest, his wonderful wife did try that first year, she tried so very hard, but one day while she was trying, her fingers got caught between the belt of the bailer and the fly wheel, and that was the end of those fingers. Dad had a heart as big as his head, and volunteered to take over the contracts, for a cut of the pay of course, as he had to give up his job as a gas station manager (A job he hated and gave up gladly.) Now haying can be done by one man, I guess but it is much easier for two, and I being almost grown (Well I was over six feet tall, and weighed in at 175) dad put me to work as his assistant. As his assistant, I helped maintain the equipment, move the vehicles, and during the bailing operation I rode the stone boat making small stacks of the square bails, as they came out the rear of the bailer. If I recall the formula was four on the bottom, then three, then two and one on the top made a bail pyramid, then the small stack was slid off the stone boat using a five foot long solid steel pointed round bar. For this work, I received one cent per bail, dad got ten and Marvin's lovely widow got twelve cents for the usage of the machine. There was a counter on the bailer that told us how many bails we produced from any given field. For me, it was a wonderful time, just being with dad when he was sober and working, sharing the work, I think I was closer to dad that summer then ever. When we were taking breaks, he told me tales of his youth, not those drunken slobering tales that he spun when he was smashed, but touching tales of he and his five brothers growing up in the early days of the last century, with no mother to care for them, being passed from his father's brothers, each brother living in a different house, with a different family. Of the cruelty of those brothers, being beaten for the smallest infraction. I learned why he drank, not that I condoned it, but I think had I been raised the way he was I would probably be an alcoholic myself. He showed me the pits on his legs and back where his uncle Adolph wiped him with a black snake whip for taking an orange without permission. Then it happened, about the third or fourth week that we were haying, I came down with that dreaded allergy hay fever, and had to quit. Dad understood, he could see that it was effecting me horribly, my eyes were swollen shut, I sneezed all the time. Dad found another worker to fill in until he finished the contracts, then went back to work at that gas station on the hill. I used to go up there and help him after school when I could, but it just wasn't the same. Oh we were still close I guess and he still told me his tales, but it just wasn't the same. Dad was a farmer at heart, and when he sold the farm, I think he lost a bit of his heart with it. Somehow, life was never the same after that summer, and when the company that dad was running the gas station for told him to drop prices below his already cut rate of .29/9 cents per gallon to try and put a new cut rate station on the highway out of business, dad refused and quit, the company closed that gas station, and it never reopened. The fellow with the station on the highway was so grateful that he gave dad a job at his station, and they became great friends, dad worked there until his bronchitis became so bad he could no longer work. (I think a lot of that came from his heavy smoking and drinking.) Well it appears I ramble on, and am taking up way too much space on this wonderful notebook. I do have the first part of a story prepared for **P** when it reopens, hope to finish the first draft this coming week, and may have it ready by Wednesday or Thursday, depending on how things go. That camping trip did me wonders, my writing is back on track again, and things are coming much quicker then they have been these past few months. Think I had a partial writers block for awhile there.

Jack I will be thinking of you on the 13th.

Jerry Ericsson 7-8-2001 0:04

TEEKAY,
That is the deepest thinking I have heard in a long time. You're right. If being a thief wasn't normal, there wouldn't be need for commandmants and laws against it.

Amazing how such simple things never occur to me.
Gone for sure now.

Rosemary again 7-7-2001 23:31

Hello there,

Hi Rachel, thanks for the hug. Everybody needs a good hug now and then.

TEEKAY,
I guess I wasn't really thinking about giving the story away on the notebook, I'm sure everyone here has already read it. :^) I meant in general when anyone new reads it. My sister read it and said she wants that house. We've been having a lot of repair men around lately.

This evening we went to a local farmer and bought 77 bales of hay. Borrowed a flatbed trailer, a hitch for my little Dodge Dakota, (Sister's van is broken again.) and headed for the field. Luckly someone came by wanting to know if there was hay for sale, (we had bought the whole field) and offered to help us load the trailer for 4 bales. Then the owner came out and between the four of us, it only took about 45 minutes. I know this doesn't sound like much to you macho persons out there, but the temp. today ran about 98 degrees and even though it was cooler at 7:30 in the evening I half-way expected not to live through the whole thing. We'll only need about 30 more bales for the year.

Enough of my trials and tribulations,
Bye bye

Rosemary 7-7-2001 23:27

**Teekay**

MARK: I was thinking about your 'it's not normal to be a thief' comment and shoot me now and put me out of my misery, but I've actually been thinking about it and I have decided that it's perfectly normal to be a thief and that's why the ten comandments were made.
Just like 'thou shalt not commit adultery' and 'honour thy mother and thy father' and 'though shalt not covet thy neighbours wife'.
You see all these things come perfectly natural to the human race and for this very reason that is why religion warns against them.
You'll notice that 'thou shalt not marry your chicken' or 'thou shalt not eat your neighbours leg' isn't included in the commandments? Well, it's for the very simple reason that that is not normal.

See what thinking does.
Sad isn't it?

Teekay 7-7-2001 22:44

**Teekay**

ROSEMARY: No way man. I didn't give anything away. I think what you did with the end was very clever. Never saw it coming and I don't think anybody else would with what I wrote either.
BTW: Bloody cats. You should know that they never do what you want them to. Should've tried it with a dog hahahaha.

RACHEL: I'm led to believe that there is a certain amount of comfort in 'normalcy' after all, almost everbody's doing it. But then you seem to write all the time and probably don't suffer from those horrible non writing spells like I seem to get fairly regularly.
I don't wish normalcy for everybody, just for myself and then only sometimes. :-)

Gotta go, it's Sunday and I have to go to church.

Not really.
I mean it is Sunday, but I don't have to get ready for church.

I'm already ready.

No I'm not.

Only joking,

I'm not going to church.

Church comes to our house every Sunday, it's great, I don't have to do anything except prepare some jatz and dip and put a clean tablecloth on the table for the priest.

Yup! Normal. Why would I want to be normal?

And that was a little peek into a corner of my mind. Hope I didn't scare anybody. :-D

Teekay 7-7-2001 22:33

Viv - I was wondering, I jotted down the words to a song in Japanese and I'm having a hard time translating it even with a dictionary - could you or someone you know possibly look over it and help me out. I'm doing this as a favor to a friend. Please. :) I didn't know your e-mail but if you want I could e-mail the song to you to listen to as well -I'm not even sure I wrote it down right - I had trouble understanding them. Thanx.

Allein Allein's World 7-7-2001 20:32

Hi Jack,
Went looking for the notebook and found your note. I'm glad for the absence in a way. I'm stuck doing exams and grading this week and teaching Juku. So there won't be the time or energy to put a coherent thought on the notebook.
This coordinates well because it's a little like waiting for vacation to unwrap that treat. I'll enjoy seeing what you've created.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we are all thinking of you and wishing you well as you move toward Friday the 13th. Please take good care of yourself, and remember that you've created a place of peace and rest for many in this notebook. A special blessing for doing that!

Heather: I've been feeling a little down on myself because I'm a bit weird. Thanks for the humorous picker upper. Saw myself in many of those descriptions! I had my daughter's birthday party. What did she get, 5 different journals from 5 different people. She disappeared from the party and when I went to find her, she was in her room writing happily. Poor kid, and she states firmly that she's never going to be a writer...too weird.

Viv 7-7-2001 18:03

Hi Deb:
The "boys" who rape the girls in Okinawa certainly aren't doing the American's any favors. It helps that the little girl was drunk and misbehaving herself. I think the pervasive feeling here was "well, if you set yourself up by getting drunk in a soldier's bar what do you expect?"

Still, there was outrage. Think how we'd feel if a member of the Japanese military raped a woman in our country. I think it's the combination of race (I am not exactly using the right word because is American a race?) and military that really make it a horrifying act.

The Japanese acted wisely in changing the Status of Forces Agreement Law. They have made it so if a military person or someone connected to the military commits a crime in Japan, he/she, is liable under Japanese law. The Geneva convention will intervene to see that the prison conditions are similar to that of the home country, but the sentence will be the Japanese decision. The Japanese have the death penalty but don't use it in a sloppy manner. They take a long time deciding and use it carefully and quietly. I'm sure under the Geneva convention that some care would be taken as to the application of that punishment.

HOWEVER, before getting complacent and thinking, "Well, I'll never commit a crime", I consider that a traffic accident with a fatality is considered a crime here. If I hurt or kill someone with my car I have committed an offense just as punishable. There is prejudice and a feeling that American's have been running rampant over here. I could get very hurt by this. When I think about this, I drive very very slowly and carefully. It's so easy to hit someone because the roads are very narrow and children play and walk in the roads...no sidewalks.

This new twist to the law makes me afraid. The Japanese have had Enough of American misbehavior. I hope I can avoid being a nail that sticks up. I don't want to get pounded.

Tina: I kept thinking why I said that about killer cold. I was out trying to do my bargain shopping for winter. (I was looking at heated toilet seats and trying to find one that was duel voltage so I could bring it back to the States if I move this year. These babies aren't cheap. It suddenly occured to me that bathrooms are heated in the States...so is the entire house. Canada too. The stuff you just forget! I guess that pretty well explains why I sure don't want to live in negative degree weather...get stuck to the seat.) Check out the website in my earlier post and you really get an idea of where I live.

Viv 7-7-2001 17:50

I think I started the 'normalcy' stuff with my line, "It's not normal being a thief." A simple truth there. On the great bell-curve of life, thieves fall into a region outside statistical normalcy, as do writers, sculptors, painters, and other artsy types.

I think it's a great opening line, much better than "Do you come here often?" I like it so much I think I'll wear it for a while. I'll wear it on my head, over my shoulder, in my pants, I'll wear it in all the usual places writerly-type people normally wear their stuff.

More later. Gotta go to hardware store. I'll wear my line under something so the cashiers don't get upset.

Mark 7-7-2001 17:00

Rosemary - Good morning (smiles and hugs).

Rachel 7-7-2001 11:09

Normal? What the hell is that and why would I want to be it?
Ciao, ciao for now :o)

Rachel 7-7-2001 11:08

Morning normal writers,

TEEKAY,
I printed out your suggestions. When I started the story, I thought the ghost was going to be a cat. The house took over the story. I'm going to add more details to the house, but try not to take all the surprise out of it.

JERRY,
You tell the greatest stories. They say the best writers are excellent story tellers. I can't even get most jokes right. Usually I get the first couple of lines out, skip the middle, then the punch line doesn't make any sense.

VISUAl,
small poodle creeping up on busy chicken and goosing her in the back end.

The above caused a lot of screeching and running in all directions. Bye,

Rosemary 7-7-2001 10:33

Well, that was an enlightening peek, Teekay. I understand what it is to desire for 'normalcy', if indeed normalcy is possible for artists. There are degrees of normalcy, as I have been told.

Here is a test to see if you are 100% normal. Choose the most likely out of the answers listed for each question:

1.) When you get out of bed in the morning/afternoon/whenever; do you:

a) Stretch, wiggle your toes, check the clock and scream, "For God's sake who ate the batteries? I'm late!"

b) Check to see if your head is still on

c) Check to see if your body's still on

d) Roll over and pretend your alarm clock is a large predatory insect that deserves to be smashed into small slivers of black plastic and wires

e) Rub your eyes, sit up slowly, shuffle into some bedraggled slippers and moan about the coffee pot not refilling itself.

f) Get out of bed? What ever for?

2.) Do you:

a) Have upholstery burn on the back of your thighs from sitting for long hours at the computer in only a T-shirt and socks?

b) Know where you keep your telephone?

c) Go to the mailbox fully dressed?

d) Actually take 'dry clean only' clothes to the dry cleaners?

e) Respond when someone calls you by your real first name?

3.) When you have an interesting idea, do you:

a) Tackle everyone and kick them out of your way on the thirty yard dash to a desk? (Even at parent-teacher meetings?)

b) Discuss it with someone who might stay awake until you stop talking?

c) Leave yourself messages on your answering machine if you run out of paper?

d) Nod and hum to yourself that it would be pickles and yoga if you woke up and could remember what you were awake about?

e) Write it on toilet paper if you happen to be on the throne when the idea strikes?

f) Bring it up at the meeting, handing out nifty bold-face typed pages breaking your idea down into logical steps?

4.) If your hands were both lopped off in a tragic petting zoo accident, would you:

a) learn how to gesture with your face and legs?

b) rig up a keyboard for voice recognition software?

c) On the failure of b), would you rig up an extremely complex tongue depressor system to hit the keys?

d) Learn to type with your toes and eat with your face?

e) Watch dramatic movies and blow your nose on the carpet?

5.) If your work got into print the first thing you would do is:

a) Huh? How did my grocery list get in the Times?

b) Jump up and down on your chair, hit your head on the ceiling, the concussion causing you to soil yourself. You wipe your butt with your article, muttering "Ha! And a ha ha ha!".

c) Burn down the neighbour's house. Hey, you can afford the court cases now, and what did they ever do for your career? Besides, the house obstructed your view of the nickel factory, all those jerks in prison got published before you did.

d) Get in the car, crank the stereo, pull hosery over your face and kidnap your spouse from work. Celebration time!

e) Shave your head, don bells on every toe, and hang out at the airport handing out copies of your work. Autograph them 'The New Llama', and offer to press a flower into each copy.

f) Shout a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ADD UP YOUR SCORE...

1.) a 2, b 2, c 3, d 4, e 1, f 5.

2.) a 4, b 5, c 2, d 1, e 3.

3.) a 4, b 2, c 3, d 5, e 4, f 1.

4.) a 1, b 3, c 4, d 5, e 2.

5.) a 2, b 4, c 3, d 2, e 5, f 1.

If your score was between 5 and 10:

You shine your shoes, eat food and drink liquids. You show up for work. You complain occasionally when the dog shows more affection for the telephone pole than he does you.
Get over it. You're somewhat normal. Whatever that is.

If your score was between 11 and 17:

Start mowing the lawn in a plaid pattern. That will give you the appearance of normalcy for at least the week your in-laws are in town. Just don't let them in the house. They might figure out what the peanut butter is really for, and that will be the first of several nasty surprises. Consult your doctor if your in-laws still like you.

If your score is between 18 and 23:

Metres, not yards. Something big up your sleeve but you're naked.
Read everything you've ever written backwards, and it will still sound ingenius. Give your spouse an apple.

If your score is between 23 and 39:

You can't add and don't start now. Good. Breathe. This is something you want to keep doing. The world needs you. Feed it armpit jewels and long-winded recourses. Snivel. Take time to chew the stems. Fart. There's no one in the room anyhow. You're a loner, a writing lunatic, and the walls aren't green, they're off-white and bouncy, just a little bit. SURPRISE! All your writer friends live down the hall. And you're normal (for a freak).

Well, if it's no good I'll think of a better questionnaire.*shrug*

Where did it come from anyway?

Heather 7-7-2001 1:55

**Teekay**

ROSEMARY: I just finished reading 'Home Sweet Home' and I really like the concept. In my opinion though, I think you should give us more detail and atmosphere regarding the house, show us the dust, the cobwebs, the smeary windows, let us feel the chill within the walls and the neglect it feels. Do that from the very beginning because it's the house that's the focus of the story. You don't need to go into heaps of detail about the twins because they're just there to show up the house, so instead of spending all that effort on the twins spend it on the house instead,
that way the ending will have much more impact because we've come to know the house so well.
:-)

Teekay 7-7-2001 1:08

**Teekay**

Hi all,

RANDALL: What a hoot! I almost choked on my popcorn for laughing.

ROSEMARY: I also missed you guys in my absence. I thought about you all everyday and kept intending to pop in, but my heart wasn't fully in it and it really is soooo cold in here. Not at the moment though, I've opened up all the doors to let some heat in.
And yes, the relief of writing again - and wanting to, is a truly wonderful feeling.

Many are the times I've wanted to be one of those 'normal' people who are content to work and shop and eat and drink and knit and garden etc etc. 'Normal' people who don't have that incessant nagging thought that unless they write their life has a great big hole in it.

*sigh*

Of course when I am writing things are swell and I feel at peace with myself, but when I'm not writing and don't want to write, well, it's a really horrible feeling. That's when I want to be 'normal' people.

And that's today's peek into a corner of my soul. Hope it didn't hurt anyone's eyes.

Teekay 7-7-2001 0:43

Mark - did you grow up here in Lemmon, and did you used to ride around with Kenny, Denny and me?

Well maybe not, but Kenny and Denny were my buddies, and together we used to make raids on the Country Club, you see Denny was small, very small for our age of 16, Kenny and I were big, very big for our ages. Well we would drive around half the night, waiting for the country club (Read private golf course clubhouse) would be empty, then Kenny and I would pull that Air Conditioner that they had right over the top of the door out, and boost Denny up to the opening. He would crawl through that opening, and within munites, push cases of beer and fifth's of whiskey out to us. We never got too greedy, so as to bring the interest of the local police down on us, after all my brother-in-law was on the three man force, and he would probably tell my dad. One night several weeks after we began our inventory reduction raids, I decided against going with the boys, and instead began to ride around with another of my buddies. That night, we became acquainted with my girlfriends best friend, who I subsequently wed. Kenny and Denny though decided that it would be a good night to pull a much bigger raid on the country club. They picked up Kenny's cousin John and headed out to the country club. That night they got real greedy and instead of a case of beer and a couple of fifth's of whiskey they took cases of Scotch whiskey, not the cheep stuff but the good stuff that was sure to be missed, and a couple of quarts of beer. We ran into them that night, and they slipped me a fifth of scotch, we headed out to the country and disposed of it properly along with our ladies, the boys were getting bolder and bolder, and took to dragging main street, and tipping those fifths of Scotch when they saw friends comming up main on the other side of the street. They didn't notice my brother-in-law was checking doors on main, and saw the tip. Well it was just a matter of munites and the brother-in-law had the boys, cases of scotch and all. I was so gratefull to my new found girl that I married her, after all she kept me out of jail.

Kenny and Denny who were my age spent the next three months going to school during the day, and to jail at night, John who was 18 was made the offer by the Judge: Go to Jail or go to Vietnam. John chose Nam, and while he made it home again, he spent the next seventeen years in the gutters, a hopeless drunk. The other two learned their lessons well and went on to be good citizens, and overall respected in the town.

Jerry Ericsson 7-7-2001 0:09

**Mark**

RANDALL -- wonderful story.

Here are a few thoughts I didn't know what else to do with:

It's not normal, being a thief. Yet, there I was in the storeroom picking up a couple of free six-packs for the night. Vinny's side door had a broken window. He secured that hole with a piece of plywood and four finishing nails. I discovered by accident that I could punch the plywood window and it would swing in but not fall off. Cool.

Several evenings I hit the plywood, jumped into the window, rolled forward on the storeroom floor, and let the wooden window slip back into place. The nails in the wood quietly found their way right back into their original holes. Going out was almost as easy, but I had to carry a six-pack or two rather quietly and go out through a wooden flap that closed on my back. The gymnastics of getting out were easy, really, but the mental gymnastics were a problem. Still are.

I know I was bothered by my conscience several times, yet somehow managed to stifle that little voice with excuses about Vinny's poor inventory practices or how I needed it more than he did. I did the deed and I drank the beer, but I still know there was a problem there. I think it was freedom. Too much freedom.

Pure freedom is a state without goals. With no goals, all choices are equally valid. As soon as a goal is established then some choices become inescapable and some choices undesirable. It's not normal being a thief, but my lack of goals gave me such freedom of choice that I went through the window. There was only one goal: get drunk, get drunk now.

Since that time I have established a few long-range goals. Vinny's window is no longer a valid choice and I no longer have the wide-ranging freedom I had then. It was too much of a good thing.

Mark 7-6-2001 23:55

Randall

TGIF!

Recycling is big these days so I'll try to slip this one by you. I wrote this for my cousin Arlene, after her brother, Jerry, died 2 years ago. (Hospital killed him, and now the lawyers have it.) She was interested in my memories of Jerry and I wrote several articles for her. And yes, Henderson is my last name. But don't tell anyone! :-)

***Hi Arlene:

Were you in the crowd of cousins that barely escaped death so many years ago? If your memory fails, it may be that the event is blocked. Like an event so stressful the brain moves to cover a traumatic influence from wrecking one's life. Sometime in 1957 or 1958, who really knows, Mama Henderson had a clan of grandchildren in residence and was spinning tall tales on a summer afternoon. We were sitting in the grass behind her house at Salt Creek as she rocked on the porch in her "sitting" chair. Mama Henderson was an expert teller of tales, remind me to relate how the ghost calvary spoiled a Sunday afternoon picnic when she was a young girl.

Her subject, Wolves and consequences and how they once roamed the nearby Salt Creek Hills killing cattle and sheep. Among the throng of enthralled listeners were Jerry, Darrell, Sharon, Linda Kay, Guy, Gary Gene and others I cannot remember. (Jerry was the oldest and as we found out had a rogue heart.) With hands in her lap, rocking in her chair, Mama Henderson said Wolves were always on the lookout for wayward children who didn't obey their parents. Whether this was a grandmother morality lesson or a scientific fact is still in doubt as far as I am concerned.

We were cautioned not to wander TOO far from the house but things being what they are...soon the cousin clan were far up in Papa Henderson's tree and brush covered pasture. It was very brushy then, briars and cactus and oak trees, waist high weeds. As we paused to look for arrowheads it became apparent, within a millisecond that something was dreadfully amiss...indeed there was a horrifying HOWLING off to one side.

The panic was immediate and irreversible. (Like my Fruit of the Looms!) Acceleration from standing start to full throttle was instantaneous. No human on the planet could match a Henderson clan child when fear is the issue and life on the line. I have a memory of Gary Gene screaming "WOLF, WOLF!!!" as if I couldn't make the association leap between howl and wolf on my own!

Sharon and Linda Kay were shrieking and crying. "We're going to die!!"

Guy was hitting me in the back shouting "RUN, RUN, WOLF, WOLF!!!!" Panic fed upon panic and the rout was on!

It was the worst sort of mindless panic. A dozen screaming kids with the same thought on each mind...a hideous renegade wolf leaping into the crowd, scattering cousin and kin with fang and claw. We fled for home arrow straight, through brush worse than Cambodia, parted briar thickets effortlessly, leaped massive cactus patches as wild horses in full stride. Home was a half-mile away and a rabid wolf only feet behind! It was human evolution out in the open, the slowest one dies. The fastest gets the other's toys! Bottom of the food chain! We failed to negotiate one obstacle though and tumbled, as one, head first into a small ravine that traversed the pasture, regained our footing in seconds and streamed homeward in full blown retreat.

If General Custer and his 7'th Calvary troopers could have matched our maneuvers that day, they would have escaped the Valley of the Little Big Horn with only a bad fright. I remember a solitary jack rabbit running with us for a few seconds, but quickly left behind choking, stumbling in the dust. Indeed the pillar of dust was likely visible from miles away. Someone should research the event to see if the Earth's temperature dropped afterward. No doubt turkey buzzards sailed high overhead puzzled at the ruckus below, but sure a feast was imminent. Barbed wire fences we so laboriously crawled through earlier were cleared with room to spare. In all likelihood the 4 minute mile was broken that afternoon by screaming, blonde-headed children with legs only inches long wearing short britches and sandals.

We streaked into Mama Henderson's back yard, leaped upon the porch, collided at the screen door, fell down, jumped up, jerked it open, hung up in the door way, fought free with teeth and knees and elbows, and headed for true childhood sanctuary. Under the bed. Sharon tripped me and I failed to achieve a secure position. (I still believe it was deliberate!) Sitting on the floor, I peered out the window, wanting to see the MONSTER before I died a horrible, bloody death. Instead I saw a round bodied, chubby faced boy, with a crewcut, flattop casually stroll into the yard. His eyes were beaming, tears streaked his red cheeks and he was laughing hysterically. Jerry "Wolf" Henderson entered the house and walked into the kitchen for a soda pop.

You know, I'll bet that rascal is still laughing!

See Ya!

Randall "Still Scared" Henderson***

Thanks for letting me post this my friends. Have a good weekend.

Randall

Randall 7-6-2001 22:19

Hmm a police chief and a piolt, makes for an interesting pair. I guess when she get's mad and tells him to take a flying __k he really can.

Hey, high speed internet has come to town, and cheep to - the ISP called today to ask if I would like to upgrade to 128K ADSL for only $81.00 per month with a modest situp fee of only $60.00. Sad part is I am considering it.

Sorry to hear of the medical problems Jack, take it easy and remember tomorow is another day, and many MANY times tormorow is a better day, then there are those days . . .

Typewriter huh, well I remember when they had those things, in fact I used to have one. I think we gave it to some little kids who walked by our yard sale about ten years ago when it didn't sell. I think I would take one though should they ever take away my computer, as I used to be rather good with one of those things. It might take a few days to get accustom to the touch method again, and if it were a manual, well all the better that's what I learned on in High School back in the late 60's. Those old brown Remington Rand office machines, oh they typed so much better then the other ones in the typing room, I used to rush to class to see if I could get to one before they were all taken and I would be stuck with maybe an UNDERWOOD or some such monster. They did have two electric IBM's but we were not allowed to use them, they were for advanced typests only.

Howard, thanks, I wondered what would come after the tetrabyte, in fact you cleared up what in fact a tetrabyte was. Now I know.

Jerry Ericsson 7-6-2001 22:06

Rhoda - I use software called NERO burning ROMS, catchy name that. Anyhow it is very easy to use, simply install the software, run it, and it will talk you all the way through. It makes several different kinds of CD's the plain jane one piece of software on one CD, then the multi-session CD's where you can write some now, and some later, then there are the CDRW's where you can write erase and write again. It also does music CD's from a variety of sources and types of music files. Do a search for the software, you can find a place to download a free demo and how and where to purchase it. I also have CD Creator 4, both shareware and full version, I do use it from time to time when I have a yearn for nostalgia, as I used to when I first got my burner, until my boy showed me NERO. There a few things that each will do that the other will not, but I personally like NERO best, just because of it's ease of use and it's care - less solution to anti-virus software. (Cd creator 4 killed a bunch of my blanks before I discovered it had conflicts with my anti-virus) If I remember right, the shareware version of NERO works for almost all the full version does, just nags you from time to time to buy the full version. Most burners come with a CD that has the lite version of one of the big CD burning software's products that works fine for most CD burning needs, so check with the stuff that came with the burner, if you have it.

Jerry Ericsson 7-6-2001 21:46

Viv:

Are the Japenese starting to hate Americans? I'm getting worried about all these boys behaving bably and making us look bad.

Debra 7-6-2001 20:57

That didn't say what I wanted it to say. The Web page I told you about is under the LINK sign. Click on it and you can see where I live.

Viv 7-6-2001 20:22

Tina:
I'm excited! I found a web page that shows you some pictures. Zama City gives it out but it's for the entire Kanagawa area. I'm also sorry to say I didn't know there were cities, because if you ask anyone here, it's ken and shi...well, it doesn't translate exactly. I'll send you my address and you'll see. They started using city now so I guess it is city, but there aren't exactly city limits that you or I could see.
Click on the website and you get a clear view of the areas around me. This is a lot cleaned up, but it's a good view of where I live and work. September-October are the best months to come.

Jack I'm going to learn two things this summer. How to set up my own web page and how to make this computer say a single phrase over and over. I may be bugging you for information. I need to know these skills.

Viv Link 7-6-2001 20:21

*Rosemary*
Back again,

TINA,
I checked out Vernon's web site. Looks beautiful. With that great big lake right there, why are they doing water restrictions?

For my shortie, I recycled one I did a while back. The one about loneliness. I wrote the original shortie for the notebook, then my class wanted a shortie with three characters in it. So, I added two people. Then, for our South Side Meeting, I needed a story from the villan's point of view. A little more rewriting and wallah. The final result is what I am going to offer for this week's shortie.

THE BAD GUY

Hank pulled Koko up and looked back over his shoulder. Josiah and Sarah galloped on, thoughts only for themselves. The horses beat a path through the dry grass that gave their position away. Ahead loomed desert and mountains. If they could make it to the rocks at the bottom of that closest mountain, the tracks would disappear. No one would be able to find them. With any luck, the wind would cover all sign of their crossing the sand ahead.

He squinted. No sign of the trackers, but that didn't mean they weren't there. He kicked Koko in the ribs. The big brown horse broke into a lope. It's just you and me now." He watched the pair ahead pull away. "We can't depend on them, and there's no going back." He sighed. "It sure seemed like a good idea at the time." He urged Koko to greater speed but the distance between him and his companions didn't change. "Josiah had it all planned out. One last big score; we'd be set for life. I could give Cindy anything she wanted. We could move to California where it's green and rich." Koko shook his head. It seemed to be sympathy to his rider, but it was really to rid his nostrils of desert dust. "That dammed teller had to show off for his lady friend. The stupidity of that idiot left six men dead."

He urged Koko towards the left, away from the tracks of Josiah and Sarah. "We'll go off on our own, Koko, maybe the possee will follow their tracks, there's more of them."

Thoughts of his home, wife, children; they had to be pushed to the back of his mind. There were two marshals, a sheriff and about twenty town folk after them. Because of one fool's actions, he could never return home.
---------------THE END

TINA and VIV,
great fun in the chat room. We'll have to do it again sometime.
Bye now.

Rosemary 7-6-2001 18:15

Gee, I keep forgetting to include things.

Teekay - thank you! I'm glad you liked '13'. I think for sanity's sake I had to put some humour into it. After all, I do still have to work there and walk past 'ooh corner'.
Or should that be 'Boo corner'?

Heather 7-6-2001 14:02

Tina - have fun!

Viv - glad to know that you do get some time to check emails and that you're planning to show some 'type A's' the Mr. Bill tape. I hope they crack a few smiles at least!

Heather 7-6-2001 14:00

Horizontal rain -- hmmm. I don't recall too much of that around here, but we did have hail two days ago; flattened a lot of farmer's fields and dented some cars. Yesterday we had about a minute of hail-rain, (ie: some splatter was water, some not) and then it disappeared.

I wonder how much the weather affects us in our writing, as well as where we live. A lot of the time my stories take place in Ontario, sometimes it's 'generic city', and I describe nothing acutely specific; sometimes I pick a city I've visited but not lived in for the name, but for the more indepth description, I usually use some building or setting I know well. But does someone from England or Seattle for that matter - do you tend to write that it's raining all the time?

If anyone has the chance to see '8 1/2 women' do so just for the character interplay; the dialogue, the strangeness; but mostly the dialogue! I didn't get to see the whole film, but from what I did see it was unusually well written.

Perhaps my question about weather comes from reading 'The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul', by Douglas Adams. I found out after Tina so gracefully sent me the first Dirk Gently book that my husband's had both of them packed away in a box all this time! That means we have everything Adams ever published but for the HHGTHG transcripts before it became a novel. (I have yet to find that, but if I find it, it's mine). He writes about a lot of soggy skies and tepid rainfall... but again, he was English and lived there.

CHRISTI! Did you have a blast at your sister's? Hope so!

Must run outside now with my son. He's decided that the sandbox needs a new crop of vehicles and stunt ramps.

Heather 7-6-2001 13:57

Hi all!

Jerry, so glad you weren't blown away! Every year seems to have one of those trips, where the weather doesn't cooperate. Should be smooth sailing for you from here on out!

Viv and Rosemary, I included the link to my town. Had fun chatting!

Off to pack. Going to see my mom tomorrow, won't be back until Wednesday. I'll check in later if I have time.

Tina Vernon 7-6-2001 13:10

WEll we made it back safe and sound. I think we need new legislation so we can sue the weatherman for missing a forecast that one is depending on. You may recall that when I left I said weatherman says mid 80's no chance of thunderstorm?

Well we were there for 4 hours before the first tornado WARNING for our campground. Thankfully it missed us, and the weather did cooperate for the next 24 hours, then yesterday the wind came up 25-30 MPH and stayed there all day, last night it got worse, much worse. Tents were blowing down the road, thunder was so lound that your ears rang following each clap, the rain was horizontal.

Overll we had an absolutly WONDERFUL time.

I took along an old free textbook on fiction that I picked up at the free table in college, and read many short stories, the one that stuck to me was Kafka's The Metamorphasis. What a great story, and like good food, it sticks to your ribs, and inhabits your dreams.

Well must view what has been going on since I left.

Hi to all, hope you had a great 4th of July if you live in the States.

Jerry Ericsson 7-6-2001 12:54

Hi,
Lots of people on line. It's almost one o'clock in the morning. Why aren't we in bed? I'm going in the chat room for a minute or two. Anyone still there want to join me?

Viv 7-6-2001 12:03

**Rosemary*
Morning all,

Speaking of USA culture, Monday the 9th is National Blond Day. I am officially extending it to blonds of all countries and cultures. All persons other than blond should do something nice for a blond friend or acquaintance. Hopefully they will notice it.

TINA,
Good. Those kind of mistakes are easy to make and a good reason to have critique groups. A friend had the heroine escape bareback from the bad men. Later, the horse threw her and ran away. Along comes the group of good guys and the horse is running toward them, stirrups flapping. I asked her where he stopped and got a saddle.

TEEKAY,
It's a relief to be writing again, isn't it? Hopefully it means you will be stopping in more often. We miss you.

Later all,

Rosemary 7-6-2001 11:51

Viv,

My apologies, I did not mean that it was you who said there is no American culture. I adressed you in a prior paragraph on a seperate matter, and mistakenly went on to my rant. I don't even know who it was who said that, and I don't intend to search back to find out, because I don't really care. My response was directed toward everyone in general for the reinforcement of the believers, and the edification of the otherwise.

GS

Gariess 7-6-2001 11:47

Gariess: Gee, where'd I ever say I doubted there was an American culture? Probably after viewing our 4th of July festival where my daughter bought herself a nice plate of Yakisoba and the kid next to me was eating Yakitori and the Japanese flag was flying up there next to the American flag. Well, it was a 4th of July fest...even if it was on the 30th of June. The best part was one of the kids in my class got really mad at her sister and wouldn't let her wear her Yukata (summer kimono) to the fest because it wasn't American...and she was mad since she saw other Japanese girls wearing their Yukata's.

Some things don't translate too well over here.

Viv 7-6-2001 11:29

**Teekay**

HEATHER: I've just read 'The Legendary Thirteen' and thought it was wonderful. You really brought the place to life and I love the touches of humour you sprinkled throughout.
Jolly well done girly,
and now,
another :-)

Teekay 7-6-2001 3:36

Viv,

I refer you to your recent post in which you stated the following: "I guess rug eating is like smoking in the dog world." Speaking as one who has smoked in the dog world at times, I suspect it is nothing like rug eating. Still, I can not challenge your point on the basis that I have ever eaten a rug.

On another matter, and in response to the doubt recently expressed that there is an American culture, I think too much was made over the confusion that we have with ourselves as a nation and the continent. The USA is a great republic, but it doesn’t make a very convenient name for a people. Usians has been tried in the NB and quite frankly it would have been a failure anywhere. Yes, we too easily usurp the ground that our neighbors occupy when we call ourselves Americans, but I do believe that could have been avoided had we named our nation something more verbally pliant. I do not consider it a conceit to have named ourselves so, but it has left us with a single cumbersome choice for the sake of accuracy.

That being said, I will offer a just a few of hundreds of possible suggestions to those who think we have no culture.

Quickly off the top of my head:

George Gershwin
Dodge City
Amelia Airheart
Jack London
John Wayne
Woody Guthrie
The Emmys
Louis Armstrong
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Mount Rushmore
Pontiac GTO
Rhapsody In Blue
Hoover Dam
The Flying Fortress
The Tonys
Geronimo
The Spirit of Saint Louis
The New York Public Library
Gone With The Wind
Aaron Copeland
Alexander Bell
Frank Lloyd Wright
MGM
Mustang, the car (early models)
Mustang, the horse
Academy Awards
The Boston Symphony Orchestra, which, at Boston Symphony Hall, presented the first performance of the Tshaikowsky Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, the same composition the Texan, Van Cliburn, performed to win The Tshaikowsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War (you had to be there, it was a while ago.)

Except for the Mustang and the premiere of the Tshaikowsky concerto just about every example I mentioned refers to the 20th century. I didn’t include such things as The Continental Congress, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, The Civil War and Lewis and Clark.

I have no doubt that others could mention more numerous and more pertinent examples, but it seems to me there must be a culture in there somewhere, or more accurately, everywhere since a culture consists of everything, the art, the industry, the history, the wars, the politics, everything that represents a people, what they have done and been, and what they value as their own.

It may seem like a long time, but as a nation we are quite young. A culture takes a long time to develop. We have one indeed, and it will continue to develop beyond our time.

Later,

GS

gariess 7-6-2001 1:26

**Mary**

Hi all! Just a quick check-in to say hi and make sure I don't get to behind on the posts.

HOWARD, that sounds scrumptious.

VIV: When I lived in North Carolina we had little lizards like that. You are right, they are a dime a dozen. On the hottest days, they would curl up inside the strike plates in the door frames and when I shut the door they would pop. Lizard guts...yuk. I had to keep close watch for them. My cat used to love to chase them around the deck. The worst had to be how they would hide underneath the sliding glass door, in the track, and when I would open or close the door they would...they would...well, they would lubricate that slider pretty well. Ewwww. ;-)

My work here is done.

Giddyup

Mary 7-6-2001 0:50

Not to worry Rosemary, I knew that you were defending my honour! Yes, Mark, I know the difference. I was being sarcastic. ;-) That poor horse goes from being a stallion to a gelding and back, simply because it's one of those minor points that I haven't kept track of. That's why I'm so grateful to you and everyone else who's read my story, to catch my goofs and typos!

Tried to come up with something for shortie night, but my brain bombed out on me. Nothing worthwhile has graced my page. (sigh)

So I'll quote another favourite R.L. Stevenson poem. (last time, promise!)

TO ANY READER

As from the house your mother sees
You playing round the garden trees,
So you may see, if you will look
Through the windows of this book,
Another child, far, far away,
And in another garden, play.
But do not think you can at all,
By knocking on the window, call
That child to hear. He intent
Is all on his play-business bent.
He does not hear; he will not look,
Nor yet be lured out of this book.
For, long ago, the truth to say,
He has grown up and gone away,
And it is but a child of air
That lingers in the garden there.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tina 7-6-2001 0:44

**Teekay**

Well drat and bahooeey. The workbook is down and I was going to read another P**. I'll have to see if it's still in my memory.

I've finally started writing again and the relief is great. I so hate it when the dry spell comes along. Not dry as in I don't have anything to write about, but that I just don't want to write. It always feels like it'll last forever which wouldn't really be a problem, only that's where my dream house by the sea is coming from.

VIV: Thanks for the thought. I'll take the little lizard cum gorgeous man to the great barrier reef and I'll keep him securely by my side and if any sharks or other nasties come up to me, I'll push him in their way and flee.
The GBR is gorgeous, once, in the time before I was married and a mummy I holidayed on Green Island and spent my days eatiing seafood and snorkelling on the reef. Bliss.
Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmooriiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeesssssssssssss (to be sung like Barbara Striesand does it)

MEL: Live spiders and dirty tissues huh? Guess there's just no reward for being away too long. Might as well stay and play.
BTW, would you have to quaranteen the spiders?
Or the tissues even?

Okay, am going to work on my P** story and hopefully by the time JACK has the new workbook up it'll be completely complete.

Be well all.

Teekay 7-6-2001 0:28

**Mark**
And now for a blatant plug -- Sun Star Office -- Get it.

Why? Well, lemmee tell yuh. I can print a book, all laid out in sections, four pages on a sheet of paper (two per side). I took a Word document, opened it in Star word processor, formatted it and printed it out so I can read it just like a paperback. I'm talking about a 170 page document here. I wanted to do that with some professional software I brought home from work, and I couldn't do the layout or print a book unless I had a PostScript printer (that's a $100 add-on to my laser jet).

Star Office is free if you download it from the 'net and $40.00 if you order it on CD with printed documentation.

Now -- why the hoopla over being able to print front and back, page numbered, headered and titled, like a paperback publisher? It gives me the separation I need to see my work as 'a book to read' rather than 'my work.' In college I wrote on everything: napkins, notebooks, pizza boxes, giftwrap, anything handy when the muse struck. I could rewrite much of it later by hand and still not get detached. Only when I typed it for presentation did I get the sense of my writing as an object to be criticized, shaped, sculpted, and polished. These days I write on the PC. Very little gives me the detachment that this print-like-a-book trick does.

If you are using an inkjet printer, then printing your stuff out is expensive, this allows you to get greater density per page.

Mark 7-5-2001 23:01

You thought, perhaps, that I was kidding about the clafouti? Try this one sometime - Mel, the cherries are ready at Hector...

There are many variations of this recipe which supposedly originated in the Limousin region of France. You can substitute raspberries, apples, peaches, plums or just about any ripe fruit for the cherries, though cherries are the traditional fruit for this recipe and tradition also states that you leave the pits in to add flavor. If you do leave the pits in, make sure you warn your guests!

Ingredients

4 tsp. unsalted butter
1 cup (8 fl oz/350ml) milk
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60ml) heavy cream
2/3 cup (3 1/2 oz/105g) all purpose flour, sifted
3 eggs
1/4 cup (2 oz/60g) sugar
1 T. vanilla extract or kirsch
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups (1 lb./500g) stemmed cherries, sweet or tart, pitted if desired
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F/180*C. Using 1 T. of the butter grease a 9 or 10 inch round baking dish. In a bowl, combine the milk, cream, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat until frothy, about 5 minutes.

Pour enough of the batter into the prepared baking dish to cover the bottom with a layer about 1/4 inch (6mm)deep. Put the dish in the preheated oven for 2 minutes, then remove. Add a layer of cherries to the dish, covering as much of the area as possible. Pour the remaining batter over the cherries carefully. Add the rest of the butter, in bits over the top of the cherry/batter. Return to oven and bake until puffed and brown, about 30-35 minutes.

Dust the top with powdered sugar and serve warm.

howard 7-5-2001 22:40

Hi all,
TINA,
I reread my comment earlier and it might be misunderstood. I meant with the amount of research on horses you do, there had to be a different reason for your errors.(it was a favorable comment.) I should use smiley faces more often, but I keep hopeing to be clear enough without them.

CHRISTI,
the news said your weather is about 115 degrees. Even with a low humidity, that's hot. Keep cool.

For Jack's party, I can't come, but I will send a carton of stuffed Jalapenos.

HEATHER,
I've finished a very short ghost story for *P* when it comes back up. By then, I'll be able to have someone edit it for me.

Bye,

Rosemary 7-5-2001 21:28

Jack - Hang in there (smiles and hugs).

Rachel 7-5-2001 20:34

Mel - it's still a vanity press and from what I can gather only prints on demand. Authors should not have to buy their own book.

Heather 7-5-2001 20:34

Hi Jack! We're all lined up at your house carrying our goodies! Sounds like there's all kinds of great food, although the names are somewhat strange...panda paws ice cream and cherry tofutui? Oh dear, he's not answering his doorbell~, now what?

I think it's time for a picnic on Jack's doorstep! That ice cream is melting. Sure hope he gets back in time for the picnic.

Jack, I'm not making fun of you so please don't feel hurt if you read this post. I'm making fun so your troubles might seem a little lighter. You are carrying a pretty heavy load. There is nothing more unsettling than family problems. I hope your Friday the 13 brings closure.

Anyone who could create a site like this is special. Take good care of yourself.

Heather: I sneak read your e-mail yesterday during class. It was nice. I need to do some of those things. It's the end of term, tempers are frayed, it's too hot, and we begin finals in a week. I'm completely discombubalated. I need to clean my work area and see if I can find a table. That's where I'll start today. I still haven't gotten Mr. Bill to the post office. I write the day I send him off~! I'm going to show him to the class on the last day. Bunch of type A's in that class! They need a little humor.

Teekay: You need a present? Hummm, new challenge! Let's look around for some Teekay gifts. I think I'm going to send you a magical lizard. He's about an inch long, and a pretty blue black color. If you drop water on him he turns into a handsome life guard. Take him scuba diving in the Barrier Reef. If he gets eaten by a shark you don't have to worry...lizards like him are a dime a dozen. I think it'd be nice to see if all that stuff really is under the water in the Barrier Reef.

Viv 7-5-2001 18:44

This just came in with a group of similar, and I coulen't resist posting it...
-
A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room, when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery. When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that read, "Keep off the grass." Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said "Sorry, had to mow the lawn."

howard 7-5-2001 12:47

Howdy all,
MEL,
I just love your posts. Friendly, humorous, informational and you talk to ME. The ducks are just fine. there are so many of them and they all look alike so we can't tell if anyone is missing. (That's a good thing.)

MARK,
Your info. has solved my problem. (re. Word templates) As soon as I find the little book with the ID info. I'm going to replace that file.
BTW, I find it difficult to believe that TINA doesn't know about horsy information in general and geldings in particular.

VISUAL,
Big fat brown toad sitting in the birdbath, waiting for me to get him down, again.

Bye

Rosemary 7-5-2001 12:08

TINA -- A gelding is a male that's been castrated.

Mark 7-5-2001 11:05

*Tina*

Mornin!

Mel, the library is usually great about resigning material, but not when someone else requests the book. Then I have to give it back (grudgingly) and get on the list again. Given the length of LOTR, I'll probably do the same thing with it. The request list is LONG for that book.

Books I loved as a child? hmmm

The first title I remember loving was 'All the Pretty Horses'. I don't know the author. In grade 1 I loved 'A Child's Garden of Verses' by Robert Louis Stevenson. I brought it to school for sharing one day, and the teacher didn't believe that I could read it, so I read my favourite poem out loud.

When the bright lamp is carried in,
The sunless hours again begin;
O'er all without, in field and lane,
The haunted night returns again.

Now we behold the embers flee
About the firelit hearth; and see
Our faces painted as we pass,
Like pictures, on the window-glass.

Must we to bed indeed? Well then,
Let us arise and go like men,
And face with an undaunted tread
The long black passage up to bed.

(from Northwest Passage)
R. L. Stevenson

That set me off. I couldn't resist the magic of his words, and it led me to the books of Narnia, and Oz, Anne of Green Gables, and everything by Laura Wilder. Then in highschool I found Terry Brooks and Robert Aspirin and Steven King and Stephen Lawhead, and anything considered a classic - The Chrysalids was a favourite - and everything science fiction/fantasy. I didn't read books, I devoured them. In grade 9 I bought a book called 'The Truth Trap' by
Frances A. Miller that gave me a whole new perspective on being a teenager, and being responsible for my actions. I still love that book. I wish that I could read as much now as I did then. Just not enought time!

Time to get ready for work. See y'all!

Tina 7-5-2001 11:00

Viv:

Yeah it can be bad for their health if you know what I mean.

Debra 7-5-2001 10:07

^^Mel^^

Good Morning, Never-Landers!(or from wherever you hail) :-) I like this work-two-days-have a day(holiday) off-work-two-more-days-have a weekend off-thing. :-) Picnicked with relatives two hours from here, came home and took the kids to a local fireworks show...a nice day and evening. Now back to the grindstone.

ROSEMARY: What cute little duckies! A Kodak moment, for sure. :-) Hope you and your horses survived the noisy fireworks okay, poor horses - must sound like gunshots to them or, at the least, very scary, loud and sudden noises.

TAYLOR: :-) to cheer your mood until the pc arrives. Hang in there with the typewriter! Some people don't have a pc OR a typewriter, so consider yourself lucky! :-)

HEATHER, HOWARD and other poets: Received!! The International Library of Poetry's VINES OF VICTORY anthology!!! My son's poem included (pg.152). A handsome volume, nice forward, six poems to a page, and a statement that all authors retain all rights to their poems, etc. I was impressed!!! And relieved, after worry that the whole book might be a scam or thrown together haphazardly. It looks like a job well done, after all.

MARY: Your neighbors (the Police Chief and the pilot) sound like great references for a couple story characters. :-) You could even include yourself as a 1st person POV narrator. Might be fun!

JACK: Don't EVER give up ice cream. Especially "Panda Paws!" :-) Yum!!

MARK: Hope you had a nice W.A. :-) Did you take the wife out for dinner and a movie, perchance? Or a quiet evening together at home...I think wives appreciate ANYthing, large or small, that you do for them - it's the thought that counts (not having to cook a meal helps too.) :-)

VIV: Enjoyed your nice, relaxing post. :-) I'll bring Jack some Sylvester & Tweetie coloring books and crayons (the fat ones), a half-gallon of Panda Paws ice cream, and a box of Kleenex! :-)

TEEKAY! Careful what you wish for...Presents? After a month's absence from the NB? You might get spiders (still alive) from Tina's garden or used Kleenexes from Jack (ewww!) or even someone's kitty vomit...(um, anything is mailable, right?) You'd best stay REGULAR at the NB, girl! :-) (Glad to see you back!)

TINA: I'd send you a spider to cheer you up, but as you know, I'm--uh, er, allergic or something to them, so all you get is a bug-less (((HUG))) and a :-). And you mean to tell me the library couldn't--excusez moi--Wouldn't renew your book? Ohh, what scumbags (I can say that 'cuz I'm a fellow librarian who appreciates the value of policies AND the human ability to BEND or BREAK them when needed!). LOTR!--YES! :-) I want to re-read it before the movie in December arrives. As for HIERO, he'll be ready to come your way SOON! :-) Sterling Lanier is an amazing writer - what an adventure! It's a hard-to-put-down read, only interrupted by my usual distractions of life, e.g. family, work, sleep, etc., otherwise I would've finished it already - but in the last few days I've read more pages than usual - even not falling asleep on the commuter bus so I can join Hiero in his travels. I'm learning a LOT from Lanier's inspiring writing style. I'll let you know when I'm done (maybe by next week at the latest, at the rate I'm going).

HEY EVERYBODY! Have a terrific day, filled with, I hope, inspired, on-fire, writing moments (hours, preferably!!). And what books, pray tell, attracted you in your childhood? I'd go to the library and zoom to the fantasy section, mostly Andre Norton's stuff - I loved perusing the covers and feeling the anticipation of discovering great adventures inside them...Okay! I was a weird, shy kid! I learned to chew my food slowly and enjoy every morsel!

Might not get a shorty in this week - the muse is being haughty again and sidestepping my clutching fingers...sigh.

Mel 7-5-2001 9:01

HOWARD: "Ahhh...Ahhh...Ahhh...Clafouti!!"

Bless you, here's a tissue.

HEATHER: Good idea, as long as I get to be the one that says, "Stick 'em up!"

That was bad.

Mary 7-5-2001 2:39

*Tina*

Viv, put me down for strawberry salad! The local berries are perfect right now! Yay!

Laura, I haven't forgotten. I just haven't been near a computer much lately. I seem to have caught the doldrums that have made a circuit around here lately.

Finally finished reading 'Odyssey'. The library wanted it back when I was half-way through, and I had to wait to get it again. The nerve they have! Now I'm well into 'Lord of the Rings'. Wonderful and amasing book. Tolkien deserves every bit of praise ever heaped on him.

Mel, do count me in for 'Heiro's Journey'! I'll send you my snail mail when you're done with it.

Mark, I received your crit. Thanks! I really can't believe just how many silly (read STUPID) little mistakes are still in there! That horse can't decide if it's male or not! (sigh)

Time to go, maybe catch some zzzz's, but only if Randall turns down that music! ;-D

TTFN

Tina 7-5-2001 2:13

**Teekay**

ummmmm
hewo.

Before you get mad at me I want you to know that I've been away a while this time because I've been very creative.

Yes indeedy I have. I've gotten dressed up in some really voluminous hippy dresses and burnt candles and incense and walked around saying umm, quite a lot
and
I thought if this really good excuse to tell you about why I've been away. I've been totally, brilliantly creative
unfortunately
I haven't written a thing.
Not one thing.
Not even a shopping list.

However I'm now reading Thomo and Hawk, again by Bryce Courtney who is a wonderful writer. I wonder if he ever did a writing course or went to uni?
Hmmm. let us ponder.

Next time I abscond I'm staying away for a month or so, and I expect some phone calls.
And presents would be nice to :-D

Seeyers.

Teekay 7-5-2001 2:04

VIV - What am I bringing? Well, we picked sweet cherries today, so how about a fresh cherry clafouti?

howard 7-5-2001 1:45

Thanks, Mark and Jack.

Yes, I have the software. I believe I copy my files now.

Rhoda 7-5-2001 0:17

Yes that was me

Jack 7-4-2001 23:24

p.s. Rhoda. I use something called Roxio CD Creator 5. You should have gotten something like a freeware with your CDRW, probably CD Creator 4 and all kinds of literature suggesting that you upgrade. The good news is that is works quite well. The bad news is that is $99. I used an earlier version when it was being marketed by Adaptec and had nothing but trouble. But this works fine, especially on Windows 2000. Others might be able to chime in with possible alternatives. Hope you get it working.

Roxio 7-4-2001 23:22

Well the cold is finally breaking up, but I have just barely gotting things done on the Westercon details. http://www.wester56.org . So, I have downloaded and stored all the current Workbook files and put up place holders until I get a chance to get things worked out this coming week. The final location will be http://www.webwitch.com/workbook/ and it will either have you enter your information and then give you the opportunity to select your own login and password or it will be a situation where it will generate it. I am still working those details out. In either case, it will be an automatic process and should be relatively painless. I am hoping to also set up procedures for hints to your password and other issues. We will see and it will be sometime next week after I get back from Portland.

We did get some good news in our collective family. Part of our family who have been suing over copyright infringement have won. They finally settled out of court. Will not go into details, but feels like after a whole spate of it is only going to get worse, this seems like we have hit bottom and started back up. I will keep you posted. I will have all of four days to get this thing running when I do get back since I will be flying out on Friday and, yes, it will be the Thirteenth, to go to the memorial service for my cousin. Take care everyone and thanks for all the healing energies. I really do feel better.

Definitely looking forward to watching the fireworks on our big screen television in HDTV. Take care everyone and Happy Fourth of July to everybody who hails from the US. For the rest, look on and shake your head in smiling bewilderment. I fully expect as last year to hear the sound of gun fire and fireworks all afternoon and this evening. SIGH. I hope to have an internet connection in Portland so I may peek in here on occasion.

Jack Beslanwitch New Writers Workbook Page when it gets done 7-4-2001 23:17

RHODA -- You need cdrw software

Mark 7-4-2001 17:07

The best nations are born in July.

Belated Happy Canada day and Happy fourth of July.

Does anyone know how to write on a writable CD? I have tried to do so, but I cannot get it to work. Do you do the same thing you would do when putting stuff on a floppy? I have a CD-RW drive, or so my manual says. Of course there are no instuctions. All I no, I have tried to load stuff on one and can't. I keep getting a message saying access denied.

Rhoda 7-4-2001 14:16

Otrivin

Heather 7-4-2001 13:43

Rachel - :) I just talked my parents into buying a copy of Shadows, so now they'll have one and I'll have one.

Happy fourth of July all!! :)

Allein Allein's World 7-4-2001 13:40

Chicken Rice Soup

Mark 7-4-2001 13:25

Take it easy, Jack.

GS

Gariess 7-4-2001 11:39

Hey everyone, notebook challenge.
List what you are bringing to Jack's get well pajama party.

Howard, what are you bringing?

Need some stuff here folks. We have to get Jack back on his feet. Tina? Heather? Halley? Where's Teekay, haven't seen her around for awhile. Hey, Teekay, answer, whatever Teekay brings, you can be sure it won't be dull.

I'll bring some miso soup!

Viv again 7-4-2001 11:25

Dear Jack,
So you are an ice cream addict too. My husband and I are hooked as well. We don't reach for the booze when stressed, but we race for the ice cream. All I have to say is really bad day, and my husband will joyfully pick up a carton of ice cream on his way home from work. I think I like vanilla best because you can top it or mix anything into it and make it a different bowl of ice cream any time.

I hope you are soon well. Stress has a way of making a person's immune system run away and hide. The best cure, pamper yourself. As Hugh Prather said, "If you are sick, you are sick. You didn't choose to get sick so you are not guilty. Just sit back and make it as pleasant as possible until you get well again." Hear that? Go get another bowl of ice cream and enjoy it slowly while reading your favorite book. Life will go on.

If the notebook doesn't change immediately, well we all seem to be enjoying ourselves immensely on what we have here. Change is nice but it doesn't have to happen right away. We'll wait around and if the job gets done eventually, that's good enough. So relax, take your time and get well for us. That's enough! We like you and we like the notebook.

Have some peace and quiet! Enjoy. Can you go for a walk in the sun on the beach? That would probably feel pretty good (if there is any sun there). If not, a nice bowl of soup (I hate chicken soup so how about some vegetable or some miso soup). Gee, this sounds so nice I think I'll just bring my family and we'll all do all these things together. We could use a break too. Heather? Rachael, Howard? You want to join Jack and my family. Party is at Jack's House. We'll all just join him and have a nice quiet day! Move over Jack...here we all come!

Debra: My dog is a rug eater too! She's also a slob. So is my daughter, her owner. (A slob not a rug eater). The little mutt not only eats her dinner on the rug bit by bit, she also tends to eat the rug if you don't watch closely. She's gone through two rugs in the last couple of years. I guess rug eating is like smoking in the dog world.

Hallee, nice colors! Happy 4th to you as well.

Viv 7-4-2001 11:17

*Mark*

Did we have a hiccup in the NB yesterday? Well, anyway, today is Independence Day in the USA and my wedding anniversary. I remembered the Anniversary, so I avoided _those_ fireworks.

Mark 7-4-2001 10:16

cool...it worked

7-4-2001 8:25

I'm going to try this - let's see:

Happy 4th of July
all us Yankees!!

Hallee 7-4-2001 8:24

p.s.

Also, I will archive any of the Workbook entries, especially the Phantasm and pass them along to the originator of that particular project. When I get things started again, I suggest that Phantasm be started fresh using the Tree Form methodology, but that may be my lack of brain cells working together. I am off and away. But you knew that.

7-4-2001 7:44

Hello all: I am down with a cold and just resurrecting enough to deal with my preparations for Westercon. But the Workbook has to take back seat. Given that Halcyon goes under on July 7th, I will put things aside and close the Workbook until I can get things put together when I get back from Westercon. That is given I do not get enough time to finish up lasts minute details. I apologize if this inconveniences people. Also, there are probably fifteen requests for logins and passwords that I have put in hiatus until I can get this working. Rest assurred I will make it absolute priority as soon as I get back from Portland. If anybody is actually going to the con stop by the Westercon 56 table and say hello and let me know you are from the Notebook.

As far as copies of Shadows being received. That is great. I am going to make a point of showing off my pride and joy in my first published work albeit in collaboration with Allein, Americo and Rachel. At any rate, back to bed and box of kleenex. This does seem to be the year for my immune system to go to hell in a hand basket. Of course, it might have something to do with stress. Hmmm, I can think of at least six life changing stressors taking place in the last eight months, ala deaths, job loss, book publications, getting ready to run a 2000 person convention and a few others. I guess it is time to start exercising and making sure I eat more or less something bordering on a reasonable diet. Now if I could just give up ice cream. You scream. I scream. We all scream for .... er. well, I think the cold is effecting some brain cells. Ciao.

Jack Beslanwitch 7-4-2001 7:36

JERRY - You asked about a terabyte -
kilo- k 1000^1 1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024
mega- M 1000^2 1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576
giga- G 1000^3 1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
tera- T 1000^4 1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
peta- 1000^5 1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
exa- 1000^6 1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
zetta- 1000^7 1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
yotta- 1000^8 1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

I knew this would come in handy someday... :-)

howard 7-4-2001 7:33

Just wanted to remind everyone that you are all appreciated and respected and admired. CHEERS!

Heather 7-4-2001 4:59

Mary: You can PLAY Chief of Police, and your husband can PLAY pilot, if you know what I mean, nudge nudge.
I don't think your life is boring, Mary - au contraire~!

I think my life is quite exciting, intellectually and otherwise. (*disclaimer*...I didn't say ALWAYS)
My job isn't exciting now that the ghost is gone, unless you count break-time chats. I hold the lowliest of lowlies as my paying job. I could use the lesson on humility. My job is also good because doing it requires little real thought, but therefore allows me to think about whatever I wish to while performing the physical work.

Now wait a minute - that job is a sliver in the pie of my day. My life has a lot of intellectually stimulating hours spent writing, drawing, engrossed in other books, having intimate conversations with my husband, son, daughter, and closest friends; as well as time spent communicating with you, my NB friends. I have devoted years already to the lonely passion of writing, as have most of you! It's not that terribly surprising to me that, though few of us at the NB have met face-to-face, there are meaningful and thoughtful conversations going on here a lot of the time. We do know each other, and more about one another than an aquaintance would. Did I mention lately how much this forum means? Thank you JACK. :o)

...The rest of me spends the non-intellectual activities thinking about when I can next have the time to be working on mind-driven work. My hands even start to feel 'mouse' and 'keyboard' withdrawal.

But back to conversations, and/or thoughts I had earlier tonight at work:

Our words reveal our selves. Words are not cheap. In fact, many times it has been the spoken word or the written that has been costly; paid for in blood, tears, lost relationships. From misunderstandings, many hardships arise. The easiest, cheapest words are, inversely, the most expensive; the kind of words you toss over your shoulder in an instant of sheer fury. Carefully chosen words hold power. Whether these words are harmful or not, this power still changes things. Power moves things about. Power sets love into white-blue flames.

My life also has other, very stimulating time-periods as well, but I hate to go to all that bother remembering what they are.

I read a very interesting thing in the opening of a novel I started today (and finished) - 'The Long Drive Home', by Stan Rogal. It's published by Insomniac Press, a publisher from Toronto that I am interested in submitting my novel to, when it is completed. I liked Rogal's novel; the writing is excellent; story is as well. Some neat twists along the 'highway'. In the front, not really a preface, are two quotes.
The first is about characters and conversation:

"The aesthetic of omission, of implying what is not explicitly stated, is an essential feature of Hawks's narrative mastery. Beneath the generic surfaces of his narratives lie complex tensions between the characters' verbal facades and their unverbalized feelings. In both the comedies and adventure films, Hawks's characters tend not to talk about their feelings overtly - first, because words can be easily and hollowly manipulated; second, because Hawks's characters attempt to protect themselves, either with silence or with torrents of chatter, not wanting to make the costly emotional mistake of investing their trust in someone unworthy of it."

``````````````````````````````````````````````

--'The Movies: a short history, by Gerald Mast and Bruce F. Kawin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't include the second quote (same source) in the above segment because I forgot most of it after having read the whole book and then leaving for work. And because it's not as interesting.

Have a wonderful, writing-filled time.

Heather 7-4-2001 4:55

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY USA!!

JERRY: Something about my snake-skin bikini neighbor you might find interesting: She is the Chief of Police in the neighboring town to our south.

Now all you guys, picture Miss snake-skin bikini in a police uniform, armed and dangerous and in complete control. Her husband is a pilot, talk about a sexy, exciting couple. Wonder what their household is like. I bet my husband and I look dreadfully boring to them. Hmmmm.

Mary 7-4-2001 2:04

Hi all :o)

Jack & Allein - Today I received the additional author copies from Publish America. I will forward them to you tomorrow.

Take care all.

Rachel 7-4-2001 1:44

Hi gang just felt like dropping in now, been in a bit of a 'mood'
GOOD NEWS THOUGH!

Next week I get my very own computer YIPPEEE!!

My dad use to remind me alot of Norm from cheers, just in looks and pretty laid back

Still writing on...using typewriter at moment...HEADACHE CITY!
Au revoir for now

taylor 7-4-2001 1:26

Howard:

Job well done! Am I talking about clearing up the cud mystery or grossing me out again.

Even I don't know.

Debra 7-3-2001 15:51

Cud is the common name for RUMEN (RUMIN). It's food brought back up from a cow's first stomach (they have two) and chewed again. Ruminants are designed this way.

howard 7-3-2001 15:37

Can someone else please explain what cud is? I won't be hungry for lunch if I do!

Well, I wasn't depressed myself - just spent a lot of energy while listening and cheering up friends who were depressed. I also wasn't feeling well yesterday afternoon - feverish. For me to be in a funk, well, let's just say it's highly unusual.

I would have thrown out the VCR too!

Hmmm. Lunch isn't looking so swell after all. Howard, how can you eat a taco salad after these stories? Yikes.
Well, don't blame us if your salad 'returns' later on, in your slipper.

Heather 7-3-2001 15:14

Jerry:

I can tell you right now, my dog isn't sharing.

What is a cow's cud?

Debra 7-3-2001 14:23

No one in the world could ever look like my father or my mother. They were simply the most beautiful people in all the gallaxies. At least for me!

Allain Delon looked like A*, at least he would like to look like Allain Delon (when the French actor was younger).

I look like myself. We are all very beautiful.

And Jack is the most handsome man in Seattle if he gives us a blank page. This is one is becoming rather slow.

Jon 7-3-2001 13:43

My dad looks very much like Elton John.

Rachel 7-3-2001 13:09

Well the camper is all packed and loaded, weatherman says highs in the mid 80's lows in the mid 50's so sounds like wonderful camping weather, and no thunderstorms in sight.

I think one of the reasons I associate dad with Lee Marvin in that movie is that he did ride the rails during the depression, jumping on freight cars and riding to the west coast for picking season, then back to the Dakota's to help his dad on the farm, I grew up hearing tales of his adventures in the box cars, the nasty rail road bulls (detectives) who would just as soon knock your brains out and throw you under the train as it went down the tracks as look at you. His stories matched so well with that movie.

I have heard of cases where a cow lost it's cud and died from the loss, I guess the flu could be deadly to cows.

Renn our little terrier picks up his dried dog food and carries it in his mouth from the kitchen to the living room where we are then drops a mouth full and eats them one by one. Sometimes it seems he is offering to share, as he will come right in front of my feet and drop a couple of bits.

Jerry Ericsson 7-3-2001 12:59

MMM - lunchtime! I get into the notebook to catch up. See all the v*m*t posts, the hairball/mole side dish, look at my taco salad (direct from the huge taco bar in the cafeteria) and DIG IN! :-)
i hope this brown stuff is refried beans...

howard 7-3-2001 12:17

My father was a combination of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. God, what an awful childhood I had.

GS

gariess 7-3-2001 11:52

**Rosemary**
Morning all,

HALLEE,
Let's see,..my weather from a couple of days ago should be your weather today and tomorrow. We've been having a cool snap lately, low 90's. There have been showers in the area, but none of them reached us. The weather man said something about a front coming to us from Louisanna which would be backwards so let's just hope you have a great holiday. BTW, you haven't mentioned in a while, do you still have to move again??? <:+]

Our horses don't like fireworks and we spend a good bit of the fourth watching them pacing back and forth and sweating heavly. I always worry that one of them will panic and run through the fence.

HOWARD,
Good luck with your shoulder. Just concentrate on the fact that it will feel so much better later.

RANDALL,
That was one super well told story. I loved it. Could visualize every moment.

MARK,
Luckly, I don't think cows can vomit....But, what is cud except vomit? never seen one spit it out though.

Cute visual-----Teenage ducks standing under the bucket that a horse is eating out of, staring at horse's mouth waiting for crumbs to fall.

Rosemary 7-3-2001 11:24

MARY: You mean my umbrella isn't going to work? Oh dear. Now that you mention it, I can see where people might think you look like Helen Hunt or Jodie Foster - nose, eyes, shape of your face--yes, yes. Both are very complimentary comparisons, in my opinion. :-) Not familiar with the Molly-chick. I would've thrown out the VCR too - yechh! ;-/

DEBRA: Looking like Valerie B. can be a complimentary thing too. :-) My hubby liked her looks in the TV sitcom "One Day At A Time" (I think that was the name of the show).

My dad, if you really stretch your imagination, looks like a taller, older version of Stan Laurel of Laurel & Hardy fame. (Dad's more talkative though and can "crack" jokes any day) :-)

Mel 7-3-2001 10:52

My father looks like

Dick Van Pattern.

He is the father from Eight is Enough.

That show is the model for the new show, Seventh Heaven.

By the way, when are those babies going to age?

I mean really!!!!!!!!!

Debra 7-3-2001 10:39

Mary:

What is it with animals! My dog Peprika has to eat on the rug. We put his food all the way in the kitchen and he runs gets a bite and runs back to the rug to eat it.

Don't get it. Don't like it either.

He's a sloppy eater.

Debra 7-3-2001 10:35

Mary:

I know what you mean. I've been told that I look like Valerie Bertenalli and Jeanne Garofallo. Both of them look nothing alike and I don't see it either.

So.............

You're in good company.

Debra 7-3-2001 10:33

Morning everyone!!

Been super busy helping friends move and paint. Playing travel agent for another friend. I did just get a chance to catch up on all the posts.

On cat vomit: My worst cat vomit episode was when my favorite kitty kitty, Snowball, killed and devoured a little black mole. She came into the house that night, sat on the entertainment center and puked it up into the top-loading VCR. The mixture of her white hairball and the black protruding limbs of the minced mole was just way too much for me. I threw the VCR away without ever having touched that mess. Ewwww.

HOWARD: Hang in there, hon.

MEL: I don't think Mark is worried about cow vomit, he is worried about the whole darn cow! ;-)

My father looks and act exactly like Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee). No accent.

Depending on the way I wear my hair, I get three different opinions of celebrities that I resemble.(I don't see it myself but...) Jody Foster, Helen Hunt or Molly Holly (WWF). Now, I don't know how that works because those three women look nothing alike at all. Not even close. I was in Wal~Mart once and two little boys (10 or 11yrs old) were in the toy department looking at action figures. I had to walk right past them to get to the Matchbox(c) cars and I heard them say, "Hey man, I think that's Crash Holly's cousin, Molly." I had to laugh.

JERRY: You could have had Rabbit Fricasee.

SHORTIE NIGHT THEME: YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY/CELEBRATION

Mary 7-3-2001 9:27

*MEL*

G'Mornin' Gang! Nightmares be gone; friends are here. :-) Thank God for you, friends!

HOWARD: Eww! In your slipper?! Our cat has been peuking on the headrest of the couch, on the rugs, in open windowsills...(hairball remedies don't seem to be working). How come cats are so clean about everything else but couldn't care less where the hairball vomit ends up?! I look forward to more adventures in Hiero's world. :-) When is your shoulder surgery going to be? My prayers are with you for a smooth and speedy recovery! (((HUGS))) :-)

HEATHER! ((HUGS))) for you and your friends! Life's too short;distract yourselves from depression and do something you all enjoy together--try a water fight. Pillows work well too. Even reading Randall's posts! Heh heh - hope you're all feeling cheerier today. :-)

JERRY: Ohh, poor widdle wabbit... Hey! Happy Camping! :-)
Eat a Robinson Crusoe for me.

MARK: Ohh no!! Cow vomit (or worse) would be absolutely horrendous! I'm putting up my umbrella. (Heh heh!)

RANDALL: HEE HEE HAH HAH AHAAH HAAH! (*Giggles, grins, Still LAUGHING...*) You're SO funny! :-)

Y'all have a great day and write some great lines! :-)

Mel 7-3-2001 8:14

JERRY: Harrison Ford in Patriot Games looked so much like my dad that it freaked me out to watch the movie. There were angles of his face at times that I swear he was actually my dad. He's always kind of looked like Ford, but I guess the military haircut just kind of brought it all forward.

HEATHER: You feeling better? It's rare to see you so down. As for me looking like someone...I get compared a lot to Brooke Shields, but I think it's just the eyes. Somehow we have the same shape of eyes.

ROSEMARY: How's the weather looking for us for the 4th? (smile & hugs)

RHODA: Meant to tell you I added you to my prayer list. Not having a home church is so hard.

Went to see Pam & Lauren yesterday. I kept trying to picture an infant with Downs - but she's absolutely beautiful. There was very little in her face that would give it away. I guess the look of it progresses with age. Kaylee's dying to see her, but her heart condition gives her a low immune system, so we have to wait until Kaylee's sniffles disappear completely.

Okay - off to write. **waving**

Hallee 7-3-2001 5:30

Oh, and Howard? Remind yourself NOT to help anyone move ever again. I can not and will not imagine what it must have been like to be steamrolled by a rampant refridgerator.
NOT NICE.

Personal bodily injuries make for interesting conversation, though, don't they? Your grandchildren will never say you're boring!

Randall, I'll let you know if I can hear your music up here in Ontario. You might want to turn it up a little, as it's pretty mild here right now at 3 am.

Heather 7-3-2001 2:48

A name: Chevy Chase. He reminds me of my Dad. Shorten Chevy's 6'4" frame to 6'1", add a little more beer to the stomach region, a lot more sawdust, and a little less enthusiasm for Christmas lights, and you have my dad. Oh, and minus the cleft in the chin.

And you wonder why I have the 'Griswold' kind of mishaps and accidents around here? I haven't greased up a wok and slid down any snowy inclines like a Kamikaze lately, but that doesn't mean I've never done so, nor will again! Almost broke my tailbone doing something similarly stupid, so I tend to like solid-bottomed sledding instruments rather than 18-wheeler inner tubes. Call me a softie for a different sort of damage.
Come to think of it, our neighbours haven't had any ice shards come flying through their windows for at least a few months, and the cat is still alive. I also haven't been seen scouting the beach for drug dealers, or giving false names at tennis clubs. But my Dad did drive his yacht into some rocks a while ago. You'd think the rocks would learn and move out of the harbour.

Speaking of famous people, or those who look like a famous person, there is a man who is a member of our Dojo who is the spitting image of Harrison Ford. Go Harry.

I can't say I look like anyone famous. Not exactly, and probably not remotely, either; though I have been told I could be a distant cousin of Sarah MacLachlan. Yeah, but I missed out on the vocal cords. Piano I can do.

Feeling a little more like sharing thoughts tonight. Almost took a pulley system to get me up from the couch earlier tonight. My energy bottomed out. It was all the cheering up I did this weekend. So, my husband did a pretty sweet job of zapping me back into my usual boundless energy by cooking dinner, rubbing my back, and cracking jokes. (Not all at the same time) *sigh*

Jerry: All in all a pleasant day? You beheaded a rabbit and ate steak? I'm not sure I'd be hungry!
My mother found a baby rabbit that had been half-eaten by a cat or something a few years ago, and she nearly had a fit. Grossed her right out because at first all she noticed was a little bunny rump in the grass. Then she noticed entrails, which eventually led to the head, a little ways off in the bushes. No forearms were ever found ...YUCK!
She also had to kill a mole with a shovel once. It had been caught in the mole trap but hadn't been killed, and when my mom checked the trap she realized that it was too injured to set free (across the road in the fields) so she had to whack it with her shovel until it died. It didn't die as fast as she was hoping.

Sorry! This is getting out of hand.

Randall: July 1st is Canada's birthday. England wasn't 'born' on the same day, so they don't celebrate Canada Day as far as I know. They do, of course, celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday on May 24.
If you've heard 'May two-four' mentioned, it is synonymous for 'a case of 24 beer', commonly called a 'two-four' around these parts. Yeeeehhhhhhhhooooo! (Slightly modified shreik from the U.S.)

Good night to all, and happy Tuesday. Even happier writing!

Heather 7-3-2001 2:42

Fellow on TV just said "in my mind Jack Lemon was my dad." Now I wouldn't say he was mine, he was one fine actor, this Lemon fellow, but he was nothing like my dad. No, if I were to compare any actor to my dad, based on his acting personalities, it would have to be Lee Marvin, in Emperor of the North Pole. In that movie, he looked so much like dad that I thought for a second he was, but then I remembered Dad was dead, couldn't have been up there on that screen. And his voice, so much like dad's that it was eery.

Anyone else have an actor that would be like dad?

Jerry Ericsson 7-3-2001 1:06

Oh and did you see the news about Napster - the music sharing site is down while it installs special anti-copyright violation software. Meanwhile back at Limwire, things are still up and running, likewise all the other Napster not-wannabe's. Funny how Napster got all the publicity, yet in the end, music sharing is still as popular as ever, just using different software. There are many more programs out there doing the same, gnotella and the gnotella based spin offs seem to be the most popular, I went up and looked at what was available, the little counter at the bottom listed that there are 17 tetrabites of music available for downloads. Now I don't know for sure what the hell a tetrabite is, but I know it must be a bunch of gigabites.

Jack, ever heard of software called marauder, or it's successor Teleport pro? This is one mean piece of code, it can go to any site (so their readme says) and download the entire site, giffs and all. They say it is for "Browsing off line) and I guess it would be good for our friends who need to do this because of online costs, but I can see where it could lead to theft of sites, theft of HTML code and so forth. I guess this was always possible, but this thing makes it much easier. Just for kicks, I downloaded the trial version and used it on the notebook. It took down not only the notebook but all the links inside the notebook including my site, and all my stories, Alien's site and all her drawings, your site, and someone's personal photo album, oh and that site I posted the link to about the Holocost. Lots of stuff, and in such a short time, it was amazing.

Jerry Ericsson 7-3-2001 0:47

Tina:

You are slacking off, you said last week that you would finish my post and get me a reply, but I haven't herd hide nor hair of you. (Looks for Tina) Hmmm...Tina?....Tina?...

Laura 7-3-2001 0:16

For weeks the wife has been after me, "There is that damn rabbit again, can't you get a pellet rifle and get rid of it?" she would shout, as she shook her fist at that wraskely wabbit. Well I did it, most unintentionally, in fact I felt a bit guilty but things have a way of happening. I sat on my ridding mower, intent on having a nice manicured lawn for the 4th, after all we would be gone camping over the holliday. Well I hit the key and the engine spun to life, then I shoved the blade clutch into gear, and there was a CLUNK, followed by the comforting whirr of the blades as they spun clipping grass and whatever happened to be hidding in it. As I put the mower in gear, something round came from under and like a small tennis ball, bounced twice and landed near the garage door. I made a round, and as I came back to where I was parked, there lay the broken headless corps of that little cotten tail bunny. It will raid her garden no more. A little searching in the grass and I discovered the head. I stopped the machine and carried the mangled mess over to the garbage can.

Yes, I felt a bit guilty, but then all I did was rid the neighborhood of a little grey menace.

Ah yes and the wife was pleased with my good fortune. To celebrate we ate steak and a garden salad, then followed the meal with a tall glass of lemonaide. All in all it was a plesant day.

Jerry Ericsson 7-3-2001 0:14

Mark:

heeeeheeeeeheeeee! Keep me posted!

Howard:

Oiy that was disturbing. I think the next time I move I'll just leave everything and buy new.

Debra 7-2-2001 23:49

MARK - Keep looking up! :-) How's the BP? Down, I hope!
-
DEB - Dunno for sure what happened to my shoulder. Pitched a lot of softball, and some baseball, when I was younger. Maybe it was the time I was helping my sister move, from an upstairs apartment, and a rope broke while I was on the stairs under the refrigerator. I sort of went with it, and cushioned its fall against the wall on the lower landing. Had to pick it up by myself, 'cause there wasn't room for anyone to get in there to help. Still dream about that once in a while. Got my shoulder, neck, and head pretty good that time - left a rather large hole in the plaster wall. Yeah, that might have been it. :-) Thank God it wasn't the piano! The ramp broke when we moved that (another time), but that only got my foot and ankle.
Several years ago some people in Vestal were moving an old upright piano, and it fell off the truck and crushed one of the guys. Killed him. Ya never know.
A few days ago some vandals near here dislodged a 300 pound manhole cover, and it fell into the hole beneath it. Not long after, a girl (teenager) fell backwards into it (about 12 feet deep) and ripped up her back pretty badly.
So I don't feel like I've got it too bad. :-)

howard 7-2-2001 22:53

Randall

Hello everybody!

Happy birthday to Canada!

Ah, the 4'th of July. Do the English celebrate the 4'th of July in Britain? I've always wondered ‘bout that :-) (BIG GRIN) Are there solemn observances at King George's resting plot? (REAL BIG GRIN)
A local deputy sheriff was waiting for me when I got off work at 5:00 today. He was casually leaning against the hood of a dirty 4 door Sheriff's Office patrol sedan, sucking on a toothpick and holding a 6 cell police flashlight. Uh oh, I gulped, fear racing into my soul turning my feet into rabbit feet. Deputy Dewright. Perhaps he was waiting for someone else?
Nope.
"Well, good afternoon Randall. And how was your day?"
Dewright's voice has been equaled to the hiss of air leaving a casket as the lid closes. His temper as short as a rattlesnake with an abscessed fang. Easily the most feared law enforcement officer in this part of the Lone Star state he is the male equivalent of a Cape Buffalo in size and mentality. When in doubt charge the bastards! Toss and stomp and gore!
I gulped. "Just fine sir. Is there a problem? Perhaps my driving as I delivered in town today."
He sighed, removed the terminator sunglasses, cleaning them with a red bandana. "No Randall, you're driving is no worse than the other idiots in town. Judge Jailemall wanted me to find out exactly what you're plans were for the 4'th. Where you will be and who you will be with. It is election year and, well, you know how politicans are."
"Well I......"
He adjusted the sunglasses, and removed his Stetson, wiping sweat out with the red bandana. "Randall, Judge Jailemall and I were greatly upset with your actions last July...."
"Hey, it was all in fun, I...."
I halted as the dreaded flashlight rose slightly and tapped the hood. THE flashlight was widely recognized in this part of Texas. It was a motivator par excellence, the attitude adjustment, the ultimate solution to many midnight civil problems. In a hot Texas sun I noted several dents in the shiny black case. It was hard not to wonder who or what caused them.
He smiled and motioned me forward. "You understand our problem don't you?"
I nodded, my eyes locked on THE flashlight as it slowly tapped on the hood. This was a special flashlight, it was functional even in broad daylight. If the 1963 Dallas PD had Dewright and his flashlight there would have been little mystery regarding Oswald. His reputation would have had Oswald blabbing within seconds. Perhaps even the Secret Service would have owned up. If Dewright had led the police detachment that afternoon Jack Ruby would have dropped the pistol and scurried back to his seedy bar for a stiff shot of cheap booze.
"Yes Sir."
"Well good, see, your friends and neighbors don't wish another repeat of your celebration last year. They like to sleep in on the 4'th. How many shots did you fire with that shotgun in your backyard?"
"8 times sir, but I fired into the air...."
"Yes of course you did, about dawn wasn't it?" He smiled briefly, his black eyes as empty as a cobras.
"Uh, about 5:30 in the morning sir."
"And the stereo came on about then, right?"
I nodded, my stress level about to peak out.
"The first song was Sousa's, STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER wasn't it?"
"No sir, Bruce Springsteen's, BORN IN THE USA was actually first Mr Dewright, that is if you discount reveille...."
The flashlight tapped the car curtly. My heart rate doubled in an instant.
"Uh, sorry sir, I meant Deputy Dewright."
"Now Randall," he placed his arm over my shoulder. "I like Sousa, and I like Springsteen but not at 300 watt levels with speakers 5 feet tall and woofers the size of basketballs. We're not going to play music at 6 in the morning that loud again. Are we?"
"No sir" I mumbled.
"I can"t hear you," he whispered.
I sprang to attention. "SIR, NO SIR!"
"And we're not going to fire any guns, in the air or otherwise, at daylight are we?"
"SIR, NO SIR!"
"And we're not going to hold reveille on the south side of town this year, are we?"
"SIR, NO SIR!
"And who are we voting for this fall?
"Our favorite judge sir."
"I thought so." He smiled and patted me on the back with a calloused hand. "You know, we like you, the judge and I. Come over to the Sheriff's Office some time after the 4'th and I'll give you your shotgun and stereo back."

I tell you my writing friends, it's hard to get respect in this town. Now....where did I put that CD I purchased last week with military marching music..........?

Randall

Randall 7-2-2001 22:47

*Mark*

DEBRA -- I hope HOWARD's cat vomit has nothing to do with his vomit post ... I posted a cow right after that.

Mark 7-2-2001 22:15

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PROSTAR PROSTAR 7-2-2001 21:29

Cat vomit is one of Life's tests on our sense of humour, just as cleaning up a dead squirrel that you didn't find for a few months out behind the shed is a test of courage.

Que serra serra[sic].

Heather 7-2-2001 20:47

Howard:

You don't think that the cat vomit could be bad karma for the international vomit story you shared with us last week do you?

As far as the knife part, maybe you will feel better when you are done. What could have happened to make so much wrong up in that shoulder of yours?

Debra 7-2-2001 19:32

"All these people have already forgotten that the Holy Ghost once flew over Mafra"

Jose Saramago, "Baltasar & Blimunda"

(That's my comment about the Jon McIntyre affair-- ain't I a queen?)

Pussy 7-2-2001 18:45

Howard - going under the knife huh. Well enjoy the dreams while your under the influence they usually are quite colorfull, sometimes almost worth the pain when you wake up screaming for morphine. I think I would get rid of the cat though.

Well we are off on a camping jaunt over the 4th, will be good to get out of town again, even if it is just thirteen miles south. Thirteen miles could just as well be thriteen hundred, as we are cut off from the phone, the television, the computer, and all the other modern conviences that make our life easier and our nerves ever more jagged.

Will try and check in tomorow morning before we are off, as the wife has to go in to work a couple of hours around 11:00 AM, so we won't be pulling out till the afternoon. The waether sound great, a cooling spell will be on us during the camp, so we won't be having to try that air conditioner on the top of the camper. I have been wanting to try the dang thing, but the weather just won't cooperate. It is one of those swamp coolers, different from the real air conditioner that was atop our other camper. I probably should have pulled that one and moved it over before I sold the old one but my back just wouldn't allow it and I hate asking others to do such work.

Jerry Ericsson 7-2-2001 18:22

Howard - I thought that was the purpose of slippers: So you don't step in cat puke.

Heather 7-2-2001 18:05

Greetings/Condolences...

Not in the mood for expanding on that. Holiday today. Canada's birthday. Fireworks amazing last night, glow bracelets to show for it. Still glowing.

Have several friends in depression at the moment - energy waning. Think my blood sugar is also in short supply.
Might feel more like posting later, but wanted to at least stop by and let everyone know I've kept up with the post-reading.

This is not exactly the mood to write greeting cards or soon to be famous quips.

John McIntyre is indeed the combined pen name for our famous four.
Something to be very proud of.

Maybe I'm just feeling wind-whipped.

Heather 7-2-2001 18:04

I knew this wasn't gonna be my day when I awoke this morning, stepped into my slippers, and found that the cat had barfed into the heel of my right slipper. I have no idea what I did to deserve that.
-
I spoke to the surgeon this morning, and he said I definitely do need surgery on my shoulder to repair the tear in the rotator cuff, and to remove bone spurs and fragments that are generally making life interesting. He said something is broken in there also, and causing some pain. Yes. Yes it is. O my yes. I quit the pain killers, though - all they do is make me stupid.

nevermind.

howard 7-2-2001 15:37

BTW I'm waiting to see the reviews before I shell out money for a copy of S. Actually, I should be able to save $$$$ and search the workbook archives. God, am I cheap.

GS

7-2-2001 14:16

Tanksalot for clearing up the enigma of John McIntyre. Although I suspect that, as usual, Jon, that fur-faced little rascal, knows a shirtload more than he is letting on.

I remember John Mcintyre, the character actor, very well. I believe he was in that Rawhide series. My first wife had a sister-in-law whose father was John McIntyre, and he was a good look-alike for the actor. I guess using a pen name from a well known person makes a good smoke screen for throwing people off the trail. I'll remember that if I ever need to use one. Someday we may publish another collaborative under the name of Bobby Valentine or Oscar Madison.

They'll never catch any of us getting famous. Just let them try.

GS

Gariess 7-2-2001 14:12

Rosemary - I found the publisher.

Magoo - John McIntyre is the name we used to represent the writers of S*. All four one and one for all (grin/wink)

Ciao bayyyyyyyybeeeeees!

Rachel 7-2-2001 13:55

In my opinion, John (Jon?) McIntyre is Laura Croft. Just an opinion of course.

And whose the skeleton I found on the Moon? (Best kept secret in the gallaxy).

Jon (not McIntyre) 7-2-2001 13:31

John McIntyre is the pen name for all four of us, though I don't know who chose it or why (I'm assuming it's either Americo or Rachel).

My copy still hasn't arrived yet. :(

Allein Allein's World 7-2-2001 13:04

MEL - Glad you're enjoying "Heiro's Journey." I'll send the second one along shortly. You'll like that one even more - especially Solitaire, and the Children of the Wind.

howard 7-2-2001 12:37

John Mcintyre aka Trapper John was one of the characters in the M*A*S*H movie, and in the early TV series - played by Wayne Rogers. The character was reprised in the TV series "Trapper John MD" played by one of the guys from the "Bonanza" series.
-
There was a nice tribute to Chet Atkins on "Morning Edition" this morning. It's just not going to be the same without him around.

howard 7-2-2001 12:34

**Rosemary** Morning all,
MARK,
Thank you, I think. :-} I read your post and even understood most of it. I installed the entire MSWord program from an official CD. Not a copy, so something else happened. (Does that file belong to MS Office or to Windows?)

I did install the templates after the program because I didn't realize the first installation didn't include everything. I probably should just forget the whole thing because I just got it to help a friend (yes...you know who you are) who refuses to switch to WordPerfect, which I use, and could help with. Maybe I won't need any of the templates---but they did look interesting.

Jack,
Unless you are having trouble with it, I vote to leave the Workbook password setup the same. Not really looking forward to new passwords.

GS,
The John McIntyre(sp?) I have heard of was an old time Western Actor. Think he was on Rawhide with Clint E. By the way, did Rachel or Americo or Jack or Who get S** published? Whichever one did it should know the answer.

Better go, we're having trouble with the well and waiting for the repair person. Well people are very independent and you really have to grovel to get them to take large amounts of your money. Better not be late.
Bye,

Rosemary 7-2-2001 10:41

**Mel**

Hi, guys and gals! Another weekend passes in a blitz of family activity, at the expense of writing time...sigh. At least I didn't smash any more fingers in windows!

HEATHER: Thanks. I did love those little turtles. :-) I also enjoyed the smell of my grandfather's pipe tobacco, not the smoke, mind you, but the hearty, rich flavor of the scent. :-) Thanks for resurrecting my question on writing views.

My writing view varies. Rarely ahead of the family in the race to use the pc, I don't usually mind as the view at the pc is paneled basement walls, in the corner, not inspiring. I usually spread out the writing mss. and notes on the diningroom table, facing the full-length window-doors to the deck. Beyond the deck (which is falling apart and needs to be ball-and-chained) is the side of our garage, also uninspiring, but sometimes I can hear birdsong from nearby treetops and see a bit of sky, so those things inspire me. If the diningroom becomes cluttered with noisy kids, I sometimes write a bit from our kitchen porch, which overlooks our front lawn, hedges recently removed as they were way overgrown and a mess; there remains a small pine tree and a large maple tree before gaze leaves our lawn and encounters the neighbors' yards and the T-intersection of neighborhood streets at our corner. Any bit of nature I'll treasure to inspire me - when there is none, I close my eyes and view my childhood back field, horse pasture, and surrounding wildlife. Ahh, THAT is always inspiring!

RANDALL: condolences on your knee (and your fingers!). Hope you're feeling better each day. :-) You ARE staying off the knee, right? re: MAPS - very inspiring views too. :-) But, um, you covered a WINDOW with one? The window view must be pretty bad... (I love the West too, 'tho I'm stuck in the East... :-/ ...sigh...)

HALLEE: A cousin of mine has Down's. He's 40 now, still lives at home with parents, loves to color and do handcrafts, and play video games and bowl... He has a great sense of humor and is one of the sweetest, gentlest people I've ever known. I think what has made all the difference for him were patient parents who kept him at home with them and gave him a lot of love.

JERRY: Druid, huh? Hmm, I'll have to remember that one next time the JW's come knocking on MY door... :-)

MARY: Loved your list of why women love men - so true! :-)

RHODA: An attic nook with a water view? Ahh, sweet envy here! AND a backyard lake? Oh, your views must be so inspiring! :-)

KITTY! :-) Glad you're still lurking. You should visit the NB more often; your posts are always inspiring. :-) And no, sigh, I look nothing like "Bo-Peep" or Wolfie's heart-throb (but that WAS me stomping, heh! heh!) As for good reads, ANYTIME of year is good for a great adventure - sf&f, or romance, for me! Right now, I'm enthralled hook-line-and sinker by a book I've borrowed from Howard - HIERO'S JOURNEY by Sterling Lanier. Altho' published in 1973, it's set 5,000 years into the future on the North American continent and is SO entertaining! :-) (Thanks again, HOWARD!) I'll pass it on after I'm done, of course. I think Tina's waiting for it...

VIV: All your writing views sound neat. :-)

RAMON: Hi! Not much time to write? I resemble that remark! ...Getting up earlier worked for a few days. I need to restart that and make it stick. Making time for writing does wonders for my ego - every time! :-)

ROSEMARY: Nice writing view too. I love to watch horses in the field - something contenting about them. As a kid on long trips, I used to watch out the car window and imagine I was riding a horse, racing alongside the car--what a rush! :-)

LITTER! Were you struck by lightning?! Or just a shockwave? Whoa! How scary!!

GARIESS: I think John McIntyre is just the joint pen-name for the SHADOWS** authors; only ALLEIN, AMERICO, JACK, and RACHEL know for sure!

JACK: May the FORCE be with you, especially this week! :-)

Happy Birthday, all you lucky Canadians! :-) And ina coupla more days, Happy Birthday to all my fellow U.S. Americans! :-) If I slighted anyone, it wasn't intentional; I'm not familiar with holidays all over the world unless my calendar informs me. A HAPPY DAY TO EVERYONE! WRITE Something and lift your spirit today! :-)

Mel 7-2-2001 10:20

Rosemary: Thanks for the tip. I just thought my username and password stopped working because I hadn't used them for so long.

I have now managed to get into the workbook and it has thoroughly depressed me. Don't get me wrong the suff I have seen on there is great, its just I don't have the time to go through them and give critiques(which I did on one or two occasions months ago and throughly loved it). Don't have time to write much either.

Enough moaning.

Gareiss: I have heard the name John McIntyre but I can't think from where. If I get a memory flash I'll let you know.

Take Care Guys.

Ramon 7-2-2001 8:26

Gariess:

I wasn't sure either. Apparently John Mctrye is one name to say the collection of names who contributed to the book. I don't know if he is real or not.

I don't like to say too much when I don't know what I'm talking about.

Debra 7-2-2001 8:15

Hello everyone: Just to let you know. I am still working on getting the new Workbook going. I am stumbling on getting the new login and password systems functioning. Stay tuned and hopefully I will have it working. Worse case scenario I will get the actual tree form message board script functioning and use the same system for login and password before I leave for Westercon 54.

This is flat out turning into a comedy of errors. I am finishing up a Con Zine, flyers and trying to get ready for the parties we will be having in Portland. However, in the past week, our event coordinators had an unforseen crisis in their family that will preclude them from going and the elected chair that will take over the con should we win the vote has come down with walking pneumonia. Translation, I will be taking on a heavy load of everything. I will be heading down on Thursday. Wish me well, send energies and hope like hell I do not come down with something, have an accident or otherwise run afoul of whatever strokes of strange circumstances that are raining down on our collective existence. Whatever Gods are visiting all of this on us are laughing themselves silly. On top of that after all of this over, we get to fly out to the memorial for my cousin on Friday the thirteenth. I will not even try to go into that one. Ciao.

Jack Westercon 56 Bid 7-2-2001 5:50

I will ask this question daily until someone answers it. Who is John McIntyre and what is his connection to Shadows?

GS

gariess 7-2-2001 2:31

Litter, You have my deepest sympathy, I almost did the same, only Windows ME Pulled my irons from the fire. Strange that lightning thing, just two nights ago, we had a horrible electrical storm here. It came at around 3:00 AM. In all those killer storm TV programs they always tell you that if you feel your hair standing on end in such a storm to hit the ground as you may be struck. Well my hair did that same exact thing, several times. Since I was already in bed, laying down I didn't think I would gain anything by rolling onto the floor, and I guess I was safe enough as I never felt a shock of any sort, there was however some very sharp very close strikes. Nothing to hurt us anyhow. Sorry to hear you got that pain in the brain, but as long as you turned out all right then all is not lost. Welcome back anyhow.

Jerry Ericsson 7-1-2001 22:25

*Mark*

ROSEMARY -- OLEAUT32.DLL is an automation tool built into quite a few "Visual Basic" applicatons. DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library.

MSWord uses "Visual Basic for Applications" (a Visual Basic subset) to run many of its template features. As Microsoft programs get updated, they frequently keep the same library names, though the contents change. This makes systems people mutter antisocial words.

Your computer message that the system needs a newer dll can happen in one of two ways:

MSWord and the templates came from two different sources and the templates are really newer, needing newer libraries. Or,
You installed a program that works on the older libraries, and *it* overwrote new files as it laid down its own. This is incredibly common

You can uninstall MSWord, reinstall with all templates and find your answer. If you still get the error, then your Word disk is a bad copy (probably pirated but made to look original). If the templates all work, then the Word disk is good and some other program was responsible for overwriting OLEAUT32. In this case you may find another program acting flaky as it looks for OLEAUT32 and gets a new, unexpected instruction. There are no error messages that say "Require An Older Version of DLL."

Mark 7-1-2001 22:23

Hi All!

Just spent the three most frustrating days of my recent life. Had to format and reinstall everything as of Thursday night. Now, four-and-a-half Gigs of files and info later and a whole heap of preferences and formats to reset, I am alive and verging on being well…

Lots of catching up to do including last three days of the notebook, but I did notice that Hop is back – Welcome back from your sojourn.

Strangest thing, though – last Thursday night we had the worst thunder and lightening that we have had for some time. Nothing strange in that, but there was a very bright flash with 400 hundred yards of my house and I felt a sharp pain right through the middle of my head at the same time as the flash. Only lasted a second or two but I have never felt that before… I have a surge protector on the PC but it didn’t stop the electricity temporarily going out – ionising radiation from the lightening bolt and all that!

Now I’m gonna see what everybody has been talking about and try thinning out the 200 or so emails that await my attention.

Ciao for now,

Litter

Litter 7-1-2001 20:16

Randall - yep, wish I had laminated that old map of the U.S. but it is long gone. I don't know why they did it, but every time the folks moved the left most of our stuff in the old house. Anything that they didn't think would fit in the new place was just left there. That was what happened to my map. That old habit ended up costing us more then we ever expected. You see when we moved from the second farm (the haunted one) to a small apartment in town, the folks left all our "good" furniture, that stuff that once belonged to the ancestors who brought it lovingly over from Sweden and Germany at the old farm. Well some youngn's from town decided to go farm wrecking and hit on that old place. They shot holes in all the mirrors on the lovely dressers highboys and mom's three mirrored vanity. What a shame. They also shot all the windows out of the place, even shot the roof taking shingles off. Dad's old favorite tube radio that ran off a big old battery was sticking out one pane of glass. Well Dad never being one to waste anything decided that he had a glass cutter and that plate glass mirror in the vanity still had a nice piece left on the bottom half (the center mirror was full length. So he took that glass cutter and began working on the separation. Well about half way through the top broke off and came slamming down, striking him right on the bridge of his nose. Cut the hell out of his nose, but the bone stopped it. Knocked him plum out, and scared the living hell out of me, as it I was there helping him. When he came to, he took another swig on his pint of Calverts and finished the clean up job. Took his snot rag and cleaned most of the blood off the glass and took it home. I have no idea what ever happened to what was left though. Oh we reported this to the Sheriff, who investigated. Turned out to have been several of my cousins who got drunk and did all the damage. Dad, who had a great sense of family, told the sheriff to just drop it, and refused to take any money from his brothers to cover the damage. Guess we just should have moved the stuff in. When the folks moved into a smaller house once, they left this old China cabinet up in the old house filled with antique glassware. Well this fellow from down south was passing through town, and ran into a friend of the folks. They sent him to their place, and he gave them a hundred bucks for the whole shebang. Boy was I mad when they told me about it. I was in the Army at the time, but I knew that stuff was worth a hell of a lot more money then that, it was one of those old antique ones with the curved glass and such and looked just like new, never been scratched or anything. I guess they figured they got it when they bought the house, that is it was there when we moved in, the former owner just left it sit when they moved, so they didn't have a lot invested in it.

Oh about laminating maps, we used to go to K-Mart and pick up that clear shelf-liner to use for such things, works great, just take the paper off one side then lay it over the table, put the map on one side, then carefully put it on the other side as it lay on the table, leaving about a half inch border. I know what you mean about the map thing, I used to get National Geographic magazine, and kept all the maps that came with it, quite a collection over the years, still have most of them in a file cabinet, I dig them out when there is a war going on, one that the US gets involved in, and try to keep track of where the battles are and so forth. A throw back to my eight years with Uncle Sugar.

Just got back from Mom's dinner and pinochle. Just like clockwork you know can't miss that pinochle.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 7-1-2001 18:03

RAMON,
I tried the Workbook and the passwords are still working. Maybe you typed one in wrong?

Rosemary Again 7-1-2001 16:53

A nice calm Sunday to all,

The view from my computer is over my right shoulder. It's a big window, about 48X24. We put a lattice up over it with jasmine creeping up it. This is to keep the morning sun from glaring on the computer screen and to keep the heat out.

There is about a half-acre of pasture/w/horses, a road, a railroad track and then trees screening whatever is behind that. On a really exciting day, I can watch the train smack a vehicle. (the lady only had a cut on her forehead. Unusual, they generally die.) Actually in the five years that I have lived here, off and on, this has only happened once. Here. Down the road there have been quite a few deaths. Those mishaps are usually at night. The lady's accident here was in the middle of the day. I'm not going to make any judgements about that, it'd probably backfire on me.

I loaded all the templates for MSWord and was trying them out and it said "OLEAUT32.DLL--program needs a newer version. Does anyone know why it's doing that? Its disk was in the drawer. Now some of the templates work, some don't but all give me that message.

I'm really itchy now because I tangled with a bull nettle while using the weedeater. Think I'll go put something on it.
bye

Rosemary 7-1-2001 16:50

Randall

OOPS!

That should read "Printed literature... not "Printer literature." I have several swollen fingers today. Well, glad you asked why.

I was crawling across the dance floor last night, trying to get another beer...and some cedar chopper stepped on my fingers. Whatta dolt!

Randall

Randall 7-1-2001 15:49

Hi Jerry

I mean, this site is vacant! Only a couple of posts since last night? Weird. :-) Everyone gone to the moon!!!!!!! Or has everyone been mooned?

I am a map freak, ah, that is related to the west. I have dozens of National Forest maps, mostly Colorado and Utah though, BLM resource maps are also available, as local Topo maps that detail down to the square inch. There is an office supply store in town that laminates most anything and charge peanuts...I believe the 4 x 4 cost 3 bucks or so. They have done the 4 x 4 map I wrote about and all of my state maps. A rolled up lamimated map stores easily, wears little. Especially traveling, a laminated map will not blow up in your face as you zip along, trying to figure out "Where the hell are we?" This alone will cause family members some relief. And in my world adds a certain beauty to an otherwise drab object.

The Wyoming state map is the MOST colorful, historically detailed map I have. It is a work of art, suitable for framing. Lamination will bring out the beauty in maps... When traveling out of state I gather newspapers, pamplets, any free handout (Randall's Key word: FREE) and maps, town, county, district, garage sales...whatever. It all boils down to INFO. Printer literature is/are excellent sources of research to be read when on the throne. My favorite position for in depth research, plotting and scheming.

:-)

Okay, so, I know it's boring to some. But if Moses had a laminated map of the Sinai he wouldn't have wandered so long. And this puts the kabash on the ridiculious comment that some women love to quote. "Well what would you expect from a man! All he had to do was stop and ask directions....."

:-)

Jerry, look up the TERRA SERVER site sometime. When I feel the yen to do a little armchair traveling I do so...albeit from a satellite, but travel is travel.

See ya and keep your powder dry. The red coats are coming!

Randall

Randall 7-1-2001 15:39

Well Well Well. I stop visiting for a few months and look what happens: To the creators of Shadows in a Dream: I shall be looking it for this one in the local bookshops, failing that I'll order it on-line.

It looks like I've been away far too long because I can't get into the workbook anymore on my username and password. Still never mind. Hopefully things will settle down at work and i'll be able to focus on my writing again. The weather is great, I am moving in some interesting circles and finding inspiration in all sorts of things. the other day I heard Tupac Shakur, the rapper who was shot a few years ago say "Wehave to take up arms and fight, not with guns but fight to open our minds." How true.

Must dash will visit again.

Ramon

Ramon 7-1-2001 15:39

All the music is going away -- last month John Hartford, now Chet Atkins. It's like a part of me went with them. Thank you God, for loaning them to us for this short time.

howard 7-1-2001 13:05

The view.

Hmmm, technically speaking, none. If I open the blind I could have a lavish glimpse of my neighbour with the ugly yard (is this a theme here? Murphy's Law?) But it stays drawn. My spider plant hangs in the corner, garnering what little light it can through the closed blinds. Straight over my computer is a poster of the Earth, a satelite view with all the clouds left in, instead of 'computer enhanced' without weather. There's a storm off the coast of Mexico, and clear weather over my little corner of BC! Actually, every wall is covered with posters and prints, some of space but mostly park posters I buy whenever I go to a national-type park. I have Carmanah, Tatsenshini, Clayoquot, Redwood, and Yosemite (haven't been there but the picture is gorgeous). Also, lots of space pictures, and some of airplanes, and my fledgling collection of pictures of authors who inspire me. Add in some overflowing bookshelves and a few candles, and that's the view.
Viv, how I envy you your laptop! Every now and then I check them out, think about taking one to the park, or the cafe, or my backyard. That would be dreamy.

Hey, it's July 1st now! Happy Birthday fellow Canucks!

TTFN

Tina 7-1-2001 3:42

Randall, wow does that bring back memories. The map thing I mean. When I was but a young pup, we lived in a house with now electricity, no running water, and wood/coal cook and heating stoves. The folks were poor folks, real poor folks. My cloths were all hand-me downs (from cousins, not my two sisters!). Well they used to sell those bags of Planters Peanuts, you remember the kind, and the bags said "Save this Bag for valuable prizes!" Well I saved and saved those bags, every time we went to town, I would take that quarter that dad gave each of us for spending money and head right for the Ben Franklin store, where I could buy four bags of peanuts, and still get 4 cents back. Finally when I got enough of those bags, I went to mother and pointed out that there was a wall map for only fifteen bags, and I had fifteen of them. So off went the bags and a letter from mom (I had yet to go to school, so I couldn't write it) and about a month of running out to the mail box that sat beside the road about a hundred and fifty yards from the house, I had it. Well mom looked it over, and left it laying on the kitchen table (It nearly covered the table, it was so big) and when dad came in from the field, he looked it over, then took it in the living room and taped it right to the east wall. I can still remember sitting on the easy chair memorizing the States and where their borders joined, by the time I started school I knew all my states. Well just to screw with my mind they went and added another, then another. Oh well the map still looked real good hanging there. I haven't thought about that for many many years. Funny how that works.

Same thing happened when Loren came over the other day, I was writing here about the girl who stomped on my injured digit, but could not remember her name. Well Loren was talking about something interlay different, but mentioned her name, and it clicked, Elizabeth, who could forget a name like that for the meanest ugliest girl in the whole sixth grade. Well I guess I could.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 7-1-2001 0:11

I thought I would have a lot to say tonight. I don't know what I was thinking. Sometimes you people provoke me to witticism, but apparently not today. I used to be able to count on a few grammatical mishaps, perhaps a misplaced modifier or a malapropism. Often, some things would simply jump off the page and a response would be irresistible. I think you folks have become too skilled. One contributor in particular was priceless, but alas, you lot have dried up that source with your relentless edifications, suggestions and instructions.

I hope to shoot a roll of Cape Cod photos to post up and have the processor make a floppy disk. I have done this for eBay sales, so I should be able to manage. Maybe you can help me get them posted, so you can see them from the NB.

I find I can carry a nice Minolta SRT101 that I picked up from eBay in one of the bags on my Honda 600cc VLX. That way I can get off the road without having to get a car out of the way. It enables me to shoot in places I would not ordinarily be able to. A lot of places on the Cape are rather cramped.

I looked at the cover of Shadows… at the publisher’s site. Who is John McIntyre? Is that the real name of one of the Nbers? I thought I knew something about S, but now I’m curious.

Nest time,

GS

gariess 6-30-2001 23:27

RANDALL

Good evening friends

The view from my writing computer:

A 4 foot x 4 foot map of the Colorado Plateau, Rivers and Drainage. Laminated and stapled to a LARGE 5 foot by 5 fool piece of cardboard I salvaged from friends at a local auto body repair shop. (The flip side has "This End Up, Bozo" and "Caution: Body Parts Inside, Dipstick." Must be a pretty tough neighborhood!) I wanted to have the map framed but the best price quote I could garner was just below the price of a new Chevy Corvette, with all options and a hefty bonus for the sales person. The picture framing folk in my town are used to me dragging the most outrageous documents and pictures in and asking for a quote. The owners wife entered the showroom, noted her 3 employees and "guess who?" standing on the map corners admiring the thing. She groaned, did a 180 and back into the office. Anyway, after being rudely dispatched from the picture framing joint, I returned home and was busily attaching my map to our living room wall, (read, nailing). It would be next to the TV and my plans included a large light carefully placed over the thing so my beer drinking friends and I could map our next foray westward ho!! My wife, an ill-tempered, nosy, short fused, outspoken person at best, happened to stroll along about then.

"NO! NOT NO, BUT HELL NO!!!"

Women, Huh? And she also mentioned, between pointed references to my ancestry, gene count and IQ, "Over my dead body!" and "A cold day in hell!" and something about the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre." Discretion being the better part of valor (she was having trouble starting the chain saw in the garage)....I retreated, rather hurriedly, with my treasured map held sideways to clear the bedroom door and entered my writing sanctuary. So it now blocks a window in the middle bedroom, that is my "writing room." Well, you may not feel the need to put your finger on Paradox Valley or track the "River of Souls" but I do.
:-)

The adjoining wall is cover with maps of the Inner-Mountain states. Carefully aligned to reflect the each state and proper position related too. At a glance this wall allows me to locate nearly any location east of California and west of Oklahoma, south of Canada and north of Mexico. As you may discern I love the west. And that's putting it mildly.

I am carefully following a story out west about a plaque of locusts which have invaded parts of Utah. It's quite a problem and as usual politics is the name of the game. "Your fault..." "No, your fault..." For those of you familiar with Mormons in historical Utah, an earlier plague of locusts were thwarted by seagulls, soooooooo the sea gull is now the state bird. It is rumored that Brigham Young was heard to mumble. "Hell of a place to make a living..." However, in my opinion, the sea gulls are not committing this time and waiting to see the latest polling data.

Like I said...politics.

Gotta go. I promised my friends in Utah I would send them a dozen fly swatters and a case of insecticide. Surely that simple statement was no reason to slam the receiver down in my ear.

Randall

Randall 6-30-2001 22:12

The view from my writing room is varied because it has many windows. I have a little lap top computer. I haul it around in a green backpack. It's not a great solution, but it has to do because I use a Dell laptop, and it's made to be portable...sorta'. It's portable if you have a car, but not when you are standing on a train, or running for a bus.

When I feel like I'll bust because I must write, I stuff my computer in my backpack, and just take off. Sometimes I go two stops up to the library in Sagami Ono. Then my view is of a big city park outside the library. Sometimes I go to Mr. Donuts. I can go to the Mr. Donuts in Hon Atsugi and watch the shoppers walking around while I sit and type. Then I can go to the Hon Atsugi library which has a neat view of the train station. I like watching the trains pull in and out of the station.

I can also go clear to Enoshima Island, hike up to the top of the hill, and sit in the restaurant that overlooks the ocean. The woman there is nice and lets me bring my dog inside on a rainy day.

Sometimes I just stay home in bed and type. The cat crawls under my right elbow and enjoys the warmth of the computer. He purrs, I tap and the trees outside the window sway.

When I'm feeling frustrated,tired and antisocial. I admit, I sit in front of the tv and type. Mostly I do that with the sound turned off. I don't understand Japanese all that well, but I like to watch old Samuri movies and write at the same time.

I'm glad I have a lap top. My home office is nice, but the invasions that happen every time I sit in there are awfully frustrating. My little daughter loves to talk to me, and I don't want to say, "Be quiet! Go away! I'm writing." Her words will suddenly stop one day and it will no longer be happy for her to talk to me as freely as she does now. It's a short treasure, so I only sit in my office to do school work. That's when I really want her to talk to me anyway because it's rather tedious writing or just grading. It's nice to have her around right now.

I've compromised and I'm happy. My writing room has many windows!

Viv 6-30-2001 11:56

Hey all! Just popping by for a quick catch up read--hahahaha!, as if that were possible at the Notebook. Summer is short and sweet here. The demands of family and garden are immediate. Happily most of the green things have been plunked into the earth and I've only an acre or two of lawn left to mow (Don't laugh. I cancelled the lawn service because I find I can do a lot of plotting and thinking while trudging up and down, round and round. I think sweat and hard work is very conducive to the creative process). As to family... the budgkins will disperse during the first week of July, one for mandatory summer school and one to visit my parents and Ted is busy with golf and flying. Which means I have most of July to please myself. So carpe diem--or should I declare carpe "monthum?" (what is the latin word for month? Americo? Allein? Some where around here there is a latin dictionary).

Question to the excellent collaborators of "Shadows"... Is the book available through Amazon.com yet or only through the publisher? I'm starting to organize my semi-annual amazon.com order (coincides with trips made to the South, saving on delivery time and charges) and thought it would be most convenient if I can put my order for "Shadows" through them. Otherwise through the publisher I will go.

Mel: Did I read you inquiring after the lost members of the flock? Was that MY name I saw? I'm here, I'm here! Why did the image of Mel "the Bo-Peep" librarian pop into my head? And is that you stomping rythmically, leading the crowd with "we will, we will shear you!?" No, wait! That's you being chased by wolfie... Okay, I'll stop. My visits to the Notebook are sporadic, but I'm not letting YEARS go by between posts (a concious decision). So, if I have been absent awhile and you'd like to touch base, please feel free to e-mail me. I do check my e-mail everyday.

Now that July is fast approaching, it's time to cobble together a Notebook summer reading list. What would you recommend for reading on these hot sweltering summer months--and for those who are experiencing the flip side of the weather down under, what's your cosy recommendation? I always look to see if Carolyn Hart (Death on Demand mystery series set on a small island off the coast of Suoth Carolina), Dianne Day (Fremont Jones, san Francisco at the turn of the century mystery series) Margaret Maron (Judge Deborah Knott mystery series set in my homestate, N.C, with lots of beach scenes) Maureen Tan ( Run, Jane, Run and A.KA. Jane fledgling series), Connie Willis (sci-fi), or Mary McMaster Bujold (sci-fi, the Vorkosigan series) have a new book out for the summer. I will be tackling "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" which was highly recommended and I can recommend "Women With Options" as funny, light, and informative.

Have to go. Master Jack is anxious for me to play Axis and Allies with him. He claims that he has won the war in the first roll of the dice. Let's see if I have a wily maneouver or two…

Kitty 6-30-2001 11:24

The view from my computer room? There is none, except for the roof window, through which I can see only a bit of sky and a lot of maple tree branches. We moved the computers upstairs to an unused bedroom when we decided to take Bryce in with us, and now that he's gone back to the nursing home we don't feel like relocating it again. It's still not finished in here, though -- but there's more room for the bookshelves I want to build, so we'll leave it here for now.

HEATER -- Are you one of the "33poets whose artistry will be recorded professionally as part of a new poetry collection 'The Sound of Poetry'?" I just got a letter from Poetry.Com - For $59.95 ($20 off the reg price) I can get a CD with my poem recorded against a background of baroque music in a new collection. wow.

We have a friend who has Downs Syndrome - MaryAnn is 40 this year, and is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She goes to our church, and everyone just loves her. She's been a real blessing to all of us.

howard 6-30-2001 9:20

Correction:

http://www.publishamerica.com

6-30-2001 9:13

Howard,

I'll translate it literally: "Please inform which action must I take in relation to the users listed below." No need to review the list. BTW: I enjoyed your translation of the Portuguese poem inserted in S*, as you will see if you ever read the book.

Incidentally, I would be delighted if I could offer a copy of S* to each of the Notebookers, or at least to offer one for circulation. Unfortunately the Author's Code states that "Books shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent." On the other hand, even if I would not mind to go to jail (I think it would be a lovely experience...), it happens that I was given only 1 copy! Anyone interested (and everyone should, as you cannot miss a masterpiece...) can purchase the book on http://www. publishamerica.com if you do not mind using your credit card.

Rhoda, Mel, Ben and all those that referred to the topic "writers as friends":

Besides the sentimental connections, I was also thinking of friends as indispensable to survive in the book-business. Writing is just a small part of being an Author. This involves a huge amount of social activities, some cultural, most of them just marketing. Even the best agent in the world cannot do everything to promote a book. Nowadays an Author must be prepared to sell his fish, even if it stinks... Having friends in the book-business (and this involves critics, universities, newspapers, TV, cinema) is absolutely indispensable, though painful and sad to have to admit it.

Don't get discouraged. It's sometimes funny to have to sleep with your best friend's wife... (I know nothing about husbands...)

Heather, high blood pressure could never kill Mark, you scary girl...

PS. Too many posts to read. Sorry if I missed something.

Americo 6-30-2001 9:03

Amazing post, Rhoda! Sorry I missed you in the chatroom!
I ran into a few difficulties as to whether or not to rip down my garage sale signs, like Mary did. I just finished putting them up with the kids, when it started raining.

Parallel worlds there are.
I hope you can still have your sale, Mary!

Viv - another amazing post. You have shed a lot of light on raising a child with Down's. Thank you.

Heather 6-30-2001 2:40

I particularly like when a man puts his forehead up to mine and rubs noses with me, and asks me what I'm thinking.

And I wiill absolutely not say something like, "I was just wondering if the windows need cleaning?"

Not on your life.

Heather 6-30-2001 2:32

***Rhoda***

HEATHER,

Thank you for the compliment. I tried the chat room at 12:30 CDT and missed you. You are probably on Eastern time.

The view from my computer desk. Usually I use the computer in our attic room. There is window there that looks out onto the lot across our front window. There are trees there and a little brook. Someday they will sell the vacant lot across the street and we won't be able to see those trees any longer, but I will enjoy the view while I have it. I also have a computer in our den which sits by the window overlooking our back yard. There I can look out over the small lake in our back yard. With the lights reflecting upon it, it is quite lovely at night. During the day I can look across it and see the golfers on the golf course.

AMERICO,

About a week ago you asked about writer friends. All I can say is that if not for some of my close writer friends, I might not be writing. Especially helpful are those I can trust to read and critique my work. I know about three or four individuals like that.

There are also friends who might not have much to do with my projects or work, but they inspire me because they are encountering the same pressures and have an appreciation of what a writer endures, how a writer thinks, and how a writer is unique from other artists. The Notebook is espacially helpful in that respect.

The most difficult and destructive influences I have had to endure are a few published authors (I haven't run into this type on the Notebook) who are very negative and who consider the writing profession a select club. I have met a few of them at conferences and have read some of their thoughts in the Romance Writers of America newsletter. These are the people who will look straight at you and tell you that if you do not write your books a certain way, you will never get published. Luckily this type of person has been rare in my experience. Most published authors are kind, helpful and extremely supportive.

I think that a writer should never distance himself or herself from other writers. There should always be someone who is there to hear your ideas and help bounce them around with you. On the other hand, when you help another writer brainstorm his or her ideas, it gets your creative juices flowing and helps you. I would also recommend that every writer know a professional who is published and who has been in the business awhile. I am very blessed to have met several published authors who have helped and supported me along the way. Such people provide perspective and mentoring, but best of all their good habits have a way of rubbing off on you.

I miss Farmington, New Mexico and the writing friends I have made there. If it were not for the Internet and the Notebook and my ability to communicate with old Farmington friends and friends I have met at writer's conferences, I don't know what I would do. Here in Tulsa I have been a bit lax and haven't seriously sought out a writer's group (big mistake, and I hope to rectify that soon).

HALLEE,

My prayers are with Holli, Pam, and Pam's baby and with their families. Pam does have a tough situation, but I will pray that she encounters the joys and the perspective that friends of ours with Down's syndrome kids have developed over time. We are Southern Baptists also, and we are still looking for a church. I ask your prayers for us that we will find a church that is as supportive as yours appears to be. It is so difficult not having a home church, and I am getting a bit discouraged.

Rhoda 6-30-2001 2:27

**Mary**

I was going through major Notebook withdrawal; I haven't been able to get online today until now. Just finished reading all the posts. You guys have been busy.

HEATHER: I would be more than happy to post a few pages or an album for you. Send on those pictures. :-)

I am pretty sure it is illegal to render a praying mantis' head from its torso. They are an endangered species, aren't they? Maybe just in danger of being endangered? Hehe.

We are having a yard sale tomorrow too! My neighbor (Yes, the pink snake-skin bikini neighbor) and I decided to try to pull one off this summer. So far we are having bad luck. We decided to hang our signs around town tonight so we don't have to do it in the morning; two hours later we were running around town taking them back down because of a huge thunderstorm that snuck up on us. Strange men offer to help with the funniest things...like our delicate hands aren't strong enough to pull poster board off of staples. And why did their muscles flex so big as they pulled? It wasn't that tough. ;-) Gotta love men, they are so adorable when they do that stuff.

Other good reasons women love men:

1)Love to catch them making shampoo mohawks in the shower.

2)If you are cold, they give you their jacket even though they reminded you four times before you left the house to make sure you brought your own.

3)They sneak up behind you and give great big bear hugs.

4)The way they look when they are playing with children.

And the number 5 reason women love men (drrrrum rollll)

5)The way their white t-shirt sticks to their chest when they are all sweaty.

Sighs. I gotta go. ;-)

I have completely forgotten all the other comments I meant to make so I guess they will have to wait til tomorrow. Night night.

Mary 6-30-2001 0:45

Well the ice cream was great! The computer still lives, if computers do indeed live, but it has a horrible identity crisis. I knew my choices were to reformat and loose all my carefully guarded software, much of which I don't have backed up or even installable, or to upgrade. It had Win 98 and IE 5.0. I figured well if I upgrade and it still doesn't work then I can reformat. I installed Windows ME, and it still crashed, even worse. I upgraded to IE 5.5 and it got worse. I read all the warnings at Microsoft's home page, then installed IE 6.) BETA. IT WORKED!!! My computer came back to life and is behaving itself nicely. Now the only problem is that there is no more DOS, I will mourn for a few days this great loss, yet my writing machine still has win 98 with underlying DOS so should I ever get lonely for the C:> prompt, I can find it there.

The view from my desk - well I don't write at a desk, I write from my recliner in the living room. Looking straight ahead is my 27 inch TV in a nice cabinet, but just to the right is a very large old fashion picture window, one of those that is about eight feet wide, five feet high, and has normal windows on either side, so we can open them for fresh air. Just outside the window is a hedge I maintain, of growing juniper of some sort, just at the edge of the hedge are my bird feeders - three of them now for summer feeding, it grows to six in the winter when my feathered friends need more to eat. Beyond that my well maintained lawn. Across the street is a rental home. For the first few years we lived here, it belonged to the Jehovah Witnesses, but they recently sold it. The JW's made fine neighbors, always quiet, always pleasant, always afraid of me. Fear, based on their first contact. I think I mentioned this before, but I will repeat my self a bit.

You see, this nice young black lady JW came to my door one day, I had seen her around, and waved to her when we got out of the car, that sort of thing, but this day she was on her mission. She rang the bell, and when I answered, there she stood, dressed in her Sunday-GO-To-meeting cloths. She backed up just a bit to avoid Renn and his snapping teeth, seems he didn't like being disturbed. Gently I pushed him back inside the screen door with my cane, and stood outside the door. First she introduced herself, and identified her church, and mission. All fine with me, then she got down to brass tacks. "What religion are you?" She asked smiling her nicest smile. "Druid." I replied.

"Druid?" She asked, "I have never heard of that religion."

"We worship nature," I explained, "In fact," I continued, "You are standing on my god the grass, SACRALIDGE!" I screamed at her, pointing down to the grass that was crushed beneath her shiny black pumps.

She slowly backed off, to the drive way, then turned, (I think I heard a sob) and rushed back across the street to her church home.

I was never bothered by the JW's again.

Anyhow I think the word got around and soon the house was occupied by a nice young lady who worked at the Nursing Home with my wife. Later she moved out, following our cold winter, explaining that the house was a "cold house". Now cold houses are common in this area, built before the cost of heating fuel became a prime concern with the budget, and were built with little or no insulation. She explained that her heating bill in the winter was over $400.00 per month. (Our little home was just over two hundred). Anyhow the house remained empty, and we enjoyed the peace and tranquility, then they came.

They being a young couple with a huge yellow dog. First they had a small car, then a small car and a big pickup, then a small car, a big pickup and a fantastic speed boat. Then a cab-over pop-up pickup camper appeared in their front yard. Now a motor-home sits along side the house, in addition to an old red pickup, and a fancy sports car. I am wondering just where these young folks get their money. Maybe drugs, na not out of the house anyhow but driving is becoming a chore now with all the outfits they have parked on the street. I think there are like five or six young folks living there, and they do have money to burn.

Oh looked what I did, started out talking about my view. This is getting ridiculous, best shut up and get back to my writing.

Hi to everyone.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-30-2001 0:14

Hallee: Keep visiting your friend with the Down's Syndrome Baby even after you are sure she's ok. It takes awhile to become isolated, and isolated you do become when your child is "different". By one year of age when her baby is markedly different, she will feel very alone. When the other mothers discuss toilet training move over by her side and talk about something else.

My friend had a son with Downs Syndrome who was 12 before he was toilet trained. It depends on the average intelligence, but your friend has a tough mothering job ahead of her. These children can be difficult. They go through the terrible two's sometimes at five or six years old. They outgrow the "tough ages" as slowly as they enter them. Sex is a real problem when they become adolescent. It's never easy to be a mother but imagine toilet training for about 5 years, and trying to educate a person with a child's understanding and all the equipment about sex. It's lonely work. My friend told me.

Rhoda: I definitely agree with you about the medical schools. I think the process of turning people into doctors warps them somehow. Perhaps it's the pressure or too much special treatment once they arrive. As a rule I've found doctors to be selfish center-stage types who think they are "gifted" with great intellect. The best doctors I've found are those who say, "You know your body pretty well, what do YOU think helps?" They listen then add a bit of needed and useful knowledge

Viv 6-29-2001 23:17

Okay - anyone who's around the NB at 22:00 hours, jump into the chatroom and talk ta me.

Christi - have a super trip!

Hallee - glad to hear some good news. I've worked with children with Down's Syndrome, and they are wonderful, angelic people. I taught many kids to swim, and I was a camp counsellor for a few years, too. I had children with Down's in my care fairly often, since I always had such a rapport with just about everyone.
Guess writing wasn't one of those things my mother expected for me to 'do' for a 'living'. She always knew I was such a 'people person', so pictured me as a teacher, or an occupation like that. But being a people person gives me a lot of story fodder. I'm just a pretend loner, at night, in front of my monitor.

A while ago someone asked what the view was like from our desks. I have an interesting view without even looking past my desk! My desk is situated in the corner of my livingroom, with windows surrounding it. There are three large front windows, almost floor to ceiling, and then another, even larger window that wraps around the corner to the side wall. I keep that blind shut most of the time - someone put that stupid 'bathroom window etching' clear mactac crap all over the storm window. NO amount of peeling, picking or cursing will get it to come off. It won't matter for long - these windows don't open so we've ordered replacement windows to be installed (with opening panels) in a few weeks. The kitchen has the same 'wrap around the corner' windows - one of the features that I just loved about this house when we came to the open house.
We had all but the front windows replaced when we moved in, and I thought these ones would be fine. They're in better shape than the other ones were, but it's just awful not being able to open them. THe only ventilation we have in the livingroom is from the opening window in the kitchen, and the front door.
It is a breathtaking view, though. My new front garden that curves along under all the windows, wrapping around the side to match. The lawn, which I've re-seeded, and two huge maples. The maples are like a cute old married couple. They have their upper branches entwined, and from down the street it looks like one tree with two trunks!
Very cool.
The house across the street is the only drawback, but the desk faces the side window anyway. The house across from us needs some lawn help and the front steps should be banned from use. Weed city over there, which also peeves me; I spend a lot of time keeping my luscious lawn green and weed free, and they're breeding dandelions as if on purpose. I wouldn't be shocked if I caught them blowing dandelion fluff in our direction. Not that I dislike the people themselves - it's just lack of care for the exterior of the home, which is puzzling: The guy works at our local home improvement centre! HA HA HA FREE LUMBER! FREE CEMENT! Look out Hoffas of the world.

Wow, I'm babbling. HAve to go and prepare for our garage sale tomorrow. Ho hum.

Heather 6-29-2001 20:19

Rhoda - by the way, I enjoyed seeing your photos of the Trek convention. Love the colour of your hair! You're cute!! :o) (No wink wink stuff, I'm not that 'way')

Teekay! Are you around?

I'm going to go into the chat a little later - when it's about 10 pm EST it's about 2 pm where you are.
See if you can join me in chat then!

It's just about 8 pm now.
We'll see what time pops up on the bottom of this post!

Heather 6-29-2001 19:56

HOWARD,
I don't think that's the problem (if I understood it). I can copy and paste everywhere in computer world except in HTML fields. I can even copy from the Notebook. I'm sure I set something wrong when loading Compuserve but they say there is no setting like that. At one time something asked me if I wanted html or text. I didn't know what html was then so text sounded safe. But, I don't remember who belonged to the setting. I have about another year on my contract with them, then there out of here. (A friend says we have DRS syndrome. 'don't remember s***.')

Thanks anyway,

Rosemary 6-29-2001 19:03

My wife has been bugging me to start up our aquarium again, and now you've got me thinking seriously about it. We've always had a variety - the zebra danios, neons, and her favorite - the kuhli loaches. Never thought she'd like those, 'cause they look a lot like little snakes. A guy down the road has koi in an outside pool (he brings them in for the winter) and inside he has a total of about 1000 gallons of fresh and salt water tanks.

howard 6-29-2001 17:17

JERRY,

I have to agree with your assessment. Yes, the HMO's have brought all this on. But consider the fact that these organizations are for-profit companies. If they do not make their profits they cannot provide heath care. They have to pay their nurses and doctors and staff while at the same time providing increasingly broader services to their clients. Incidently, the Senate did vote yesterday that employers cannot be sued unless they directly determine the treatment an employee can or cannot get.

I suppose we cannot go back to the old days, but I really feel that insurance companies are one of the reason we are in this mess right now. The whole set-up of the heath care delivery system is greviously flawed because those that recieve the benefits do not directly pay for them, but go through a middleman. That system in itself limits accountablity.

Heath care is rationed. If you live in Canada or in Great Britain, the government rations it for you. If you live in the United States and belong to an HMO, the HMO rations it. If your system is entirely free market, finances ration it. I think medicine is bringing forth some amazing treatments and cures to so many diseases like diabetes and cancer. At the same time, no one can keep up the needed supplies of immunizations, i.e. the flu vaccine or anthrax for military personel. Also everyone wants the state of the art new treatments that are very costly--costly because the research that went into developing that new treatment was expensive and has to be paid off. Somehow you need a balance between market forces and govenmental help to be sure that research can continue and that those who need heath-care can get it.

But in heath-care as well as in other areas of our lives, let us not allow the lawyers dominate. There are other ways to hold people accountable. Money from law suits helps to compensate, but it does not bring people back from the dead or insure a safer system. Though many doctors who should get sued do, there are so many other doctors who get sued for things beyond their control. My solution is get rid of people who are incompetent. Very few dangerous doctors are ever completely stopped from practicing. The doctors organizations do not police themselves. A doctor who loses his license in one state can just get up and go to another and create the same havoc there.

Also, open up the med schools to more people. Every year good students with B averages are turned away from medical school because of the small numbers medical schools can accomodate. Then on the other hand, we cannot get enough doctors so we import them from all over the world. I saw so many worthy pre-meds rejected when I was in graduate school. If I thought the patient's bill of rights would solve these inadequacies and problems I would be all for it. I just think there are other and better ways to go about improving the heath care system that few people will not consider.

I had better get back to writing. If I were now doing what I should be doing, I would not have the time to sit on here and save the American health care system. I can't fix health care, but I can write a book and potentially sell it.

Rhoda 6-29-2001 16:44

RANDALL

Good afternoon!

He said, "Push. Push Hard!"

I did and groaned.

He said. "Okay, on your stomach. Now lift your legs...and push against my hand."

I did and groaned. "Hurts Doc. Back of the knee."

"Okay, you have seem to have some damage in your right knee. It seems to be mild or else the nurses would be here by now."

He sat at a small table and began writing as he talked. "Go home, get horizontal, elevate the knee with a pillow or something. No sitting, on the couch or bed...but horizontal. Bathroom trips only, and have food brought to you."

~~~~~~~~~~

This alone, the food thing, is hysterical and indicates doctors from India do have a sense of humor. In our home everyone eats on a different schedule. And getting someone away from the computer, TV, video game, playing with the dog, sunbathing, or "Dad, gotta go to town for a minute. Be right back!" for food is as impossible as me writing the Great American Novel. Ain't gonna happen. I firmly believe I will die alone, in bed, surrounded by my family, except they will be either sleeping, watching TV or playing a video game.

"Mom. There are some funky looking dudes in dads bedroom. Both have horns and tails and are dressed in red long johns."

"Really," my wife says turning the page of her magazine. "Probably some of his hoodlum friends out on a lark. Do we have any donuts left, the ones you hid from dad?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"No work?" I asked the big Indian doctor, sweat beading up on my forehead Then the sentence of doom descended upon me. Something I always dreaded.

He grinned, "Home rest Randall. No work this week. I'll give you a note for NAPA and a prescription. Go home."

(Sigh)

I hate to be at home ill...especially trapped with "Bed rest." I didn't used to be that way. Would call in sick when I was 20 at the drop of a hat (or beer bottle). An old boss at TX DOT ran a computer check on sick leave usage, related to days of the week. He called me into his office one afternoon.

"Randall, I can depend upon tou any day of the week...except Monday and Friday. On Friday you are getting drunk with your buddies and Monday you have a hangover."

Maybe this is a maturity problem, the dislike related to staying at home. I have a solid 38 years on my social security account. Perhaps I fear the end of life is in sight and feel I need as much activity as possible to forestall the event? Don't like staying at home? Feel trapped? Brainwashed into the WORK IS GOOD FOR YOU program?

Wait! I smell donuts!!!!!

Gotta sign off and hobble away!!!!

Randall

Randall 6-29-2001 15:53

Well, Howard, I said, "Um, Hailey? Feel like a trip to the pet store? Your fish went for a swim down the drain. I'm sorry!"

They were zebra daniels. Very quick little fish.

Heather 6-29-2001 14:55

"Um, Squiggy, Mitch and Myrtle have all gone swimming--out to sea. Er, would you like an ice cream cone now?" (Hold up, Jerry! We're all comin' too!)

Mel 6-29-2001 14:47

HEATHER -- How do you explain to a kid that you've just flushed poor Squiggy the goldfish down the crapper?
:-(

howard 6-29-2001 14:43

AMERICO - Just received this request at work. I think it's Portugese: "Favor informarem que acao devo tomar em relacao aos seus usuarios abaixo listados." I think it says something like "Please review this list of userids and let me know what to do with them..." correct?

howard 6-29-2001 14:40

Ever wanted to kill an inanimant thing? How about your computer, ever wanted to kill it? Well I just about beat the damn thing to death with my cane this morning. Like I said, we were having cable trouble, then the internet went down last night, well it came back up this morning, as did the cable, for awhile anyhow. But my stupid computer kept dumping me from the internet, like every two or three minutes. Ever had that happen? Well the screach of the modem redialing and screaching and redialing ... So not to let my anger flow in unconstructive ways, I simply took the cover off the machine and tore it to bits. It is back to gather now, and seems to be behaving. I have no idea what the hell happened to it, but it is much better now. If it does this again, I think I will fire the motherboard and install a new one, maybe one of those with, oh say an one GIG processor, with maybe 512 meg of ram. Ah for pipe dreams, if I do it, my income will maybe allow me to get a new socket 7 mmotherboard and put all my old junk in it. Maybe I will just let it be, and buy an ice cream cone.

THATS IT, I need an ice cream cone. See you all later, I am off to the Sugar Shack.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-29-2001 14:33

By the way, Mel - cute shortie! Oh, poor turtles. Hmmmm. TMNT, huh?
I did the same thing with fish, changing their water in the sink (forgot to put the plug in). The only thing was that they were my daughter's fish - not mine. *oh nooooo!*

Heather 6-29-2001 14:32

Top of a lovely Friday afternoon to everyone. Please ignore my sweat; if it drips onto the keyboard, just ignore the 9384-3Q94($#%*_ FRAZZLE.

Can one get a shock from a keyboard? I haven't spilled any coffee into it yet, so I guess it's just one of those things I'll probably find out LATER.

Probably when I'm right about to write the final, closing sentence of my novel!

HAHAHAHAH

(knock on as many different types of wood as you can find, quick!)

Yes, thanks Mel. I won't blow smoke in anyone's face! It was a half-decent-smelling cigar, kept in the freezer so it was nice and fresh. BUT, I do understand that icky feeling when walking into a room where there have been cigars burning. It doesn't bother me if I'M smoking one, though.

Mary - perhaps this weekend I'll scan in some new photos, if you wouldn't mind posting a few photo pages for me?
I've got a few cutie pictures. Even one of my chameleon when he was a teensie little baby. Same green colour of that mantis I saw years ago at the pool! I have some really nice shots of my kids to post, and *groan* I could post one of me. My husband is camera-shy to the highest degree - any photos of him I get are from sneaking up on him! Not always the best pic. But, my husband looks much like my son, with dark hair. Oh, and of course, facial hair and the beginnings of crow's feet! (Laugh lines - my favourite term for wrinkles)
When I get crow's feet I'll just call them CRONE's feet.
Ha ha ha ha ha!

My birth mother and the women in her family all age very slowly. Christine (my birth mother) is now 44 years old, and looks like she just turned 30. Her mother is even more stunning - she's in her late 60's and I swear she looks 30 as well. My great grandmother on their side lived to be 104. The men on that side don't usually live half so long. Her husband died at 54 (and he was a few years older than his wife), and my birth grandfather lived to be about 55. When Mark mentioned his high blood pressure, I was reminded of the men in the family on my birth mother's side. They all had high blood pressure and died of heart attacks. Not a way I'd wish to go, personally. Last time I had a blood shakedown for a physical (ick, hate them) I had cholesterol that was looking close to the high end. HOW? My eating habits are very healthy. I guess I have been sitting in this darned chair too often for too long - need more exercise.

I also need more air conditioning if I am going to get more exercise! I am not good with heat. I wilt like a plucked Trillium. (If anyone has ever picked a Trillium, it wilts in about three minutes after being picked). I picked one once before I realized what it was! Boy, I was truly disappointed that it didn't make it to a vase before it keeled over.

I'm rambling and taking up space. Pardon me for being selfish. *smack*

Heather 6-29-2001 14:27

**Mel**

Hey there, writing fanatics! (a fondly greeting) :-)

GARIESS: Your short story gave me the shivers... :-{ Poor Franny... I hate to ask, was this based on a childood memory of yours? If so, poor you... (((HUGS))) if you need 'em. If not, save 'em for a rainy day when Fred runs out of whiskey, heh heh!

JERRY: Ah. Forms...a pet peeve of mine too. Tax forms, insurance forms, forms to complete to let "them" know you haven't changed any pertinent information but you have to give the info to them all again anyway so they can update their files...sheesh! How about census forms? Yes, I'm a person. I live HERE. That's all they need to know!!!

TINA: Um...rattlesnake eggs? Oh-ah, GARIESS! Have fred bring over the whiskey! QUICK!! (Just in case.) And Tina, I, um, think I'll take a raincheck on "the black widow up close." On second thought, keep the raincheck, too!! I'll wave to ya from the street. :-) Uh, we can still go biking 'round the 'burbs...when you're done working, right? :-) We had a DISCOVERY ZONE near us for awhile, very popular for birthday parties - shoes off when you come through the door, then all the kids went nuts climbing, sliding, crawling through tubes, etc, till pizza time. The place was hot, noisy, smelly (from perspiring little bodies and no shoes, I reckon) but the kids loved it.

VIV: Ohh, what a horrible waste of a chocolate bar, not even to be able to smell that rich, deep cocoa while you're eating it...ooh, gross, Viv!! (I'm not putting that line in MY novel; YOU can use it.) :-) Loved your shortie!

HOP! :-) Hope your insomnia has been treated properly and you're now back on a normal sleep schedule. It's so difficult to do anything when you're sleep-deprived. Re: "American culture" - a term I avoid: firstly, because "America" consists of North, Central, and South America - several countries, you see. The U.S. Americans, to which "culture" I belong, really have no culture; everyone is determined to be so "individual" with their "freedom" that we haven't got a decent "culture" of any sort...Our sad state of affairs. But we celebrate the MANY cultures, still, from all over the world, that have become part of the "American Culture" due to immigration to the U.S. over the years. To a degree, many cultures in one country are okay, but mostly, I think we're not allowing our cultures to truly mix and become ONE NATION. Personally, I feel that Native American culture--the one our ancestors so arrogantly crushed when they invaded this beautiful; land--should be THE "American culture," if ever there could be just ONE culture here.

HOWARD: Pearl B. -- hee hee! :-)

RHODA: Gold Rush CA. - "Cool!" :-) I like that period of history, crazy as it must have been... "GOLD in the hills? Fred! Stock up the whiskey- we're a-goin' pannin'!"

CHRISTI: Enjoy your trip! :-)

JESSICA: Hi! :-)

HEATHER: 31,000 words?! WOW!!! Keep up the great work! :-) Just don't blow your cigar smoke in my direction, thank you very much! I can't smell any passing chocolate bars if you do... :-)

Oops. Forgot to submit my shortie - here 'tis, real short (for me, anyway!):

BIRTHDAY IN A BOWL

Beth awoke with sunlight dancing on her face. Today was extra special: her fourth birthday! She sprang out of bed and hurried downstairs. She wondered what surprises might greet her today.

No one else was up yet, but she wandered into the kitchen. There! She gasped excitedly and ran over to the breakfast table. A round fishbowl sat there, with a birthday bow tied around its top. And through the glass she could see...two cute little green turtles! All her own!

"Happy birthday, honey," her mom appeared behind her and got Beth's first hug.

"Whatcha gonna name 'em?" Her dad received Beth's second hug.

"Um...Mitch and Myrtle Turtle!" Beth's eyes gleamed with happiness.

"Okay. Now you have to take care of them every day - feed them, and change the water to keep it fresh for them."

"I will, Mom."

Beth loved to take her turtles from the bowl and hold them in her hand, watching them crawl slowly across her palms. Then she would carefully replace them in their fishbowl home and feed them as her parents had shown her. She was glad she was a big girlnow and could take care of her pets.

All too soon it seemed time to change the water in the fishbowl. Beth carefully carried the bowl to the bathroom, her eyes on Mitch and Myrtle, making sure they didn't get jostled too much in the journey. Then ever so gently, she tipped the bowl to let the old, dirty water run into the toilet. Almost done now, and then she'd give her turtles some fresh water to--oh! Oh no! Faster than she could blink, the turtles had slid--plop! plop!--into the toilet with the water--and right down the drain beyond her sight.

Stunned, mortified, Beth felt the hot tears sliding down her cheeks. Her turtle friends were gone.

When Beth grew up and had a family of her own, her little sons liked to play with action figures called "Ninja Turtles." If fantasies could become real, perhaps little Mitch and Myrtle Turtle of her childhood had slid into the very sewer where the mysterious magical goo had turned four ordinary turtles into the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Maybe....nahhh! Beth still watches too many movies.

Mel 6-29-2001 13:10

ROSEMARY - Make sure you're clicking on the right "COPY" button. I know with my WORD and DESKTOP settings there will be at times two window headers showing, and I've more than once clicked on the wrong one, and wondered where my stuff went. WORD is pretty good, but I do like some of the features in WP (like the watermark, f'rinstance).

howard 6-29-2001 12:53

JERRY wrote "those are employers who care for their workers" Sounds like my son-in-law's new employer. THeir coverage (effective from day 1 on the job) is fully paid, covers the whole family, and even includes up to $130/year for health club dues or $65/year towards health-related home gym equipment. This is not you average employer, or your average HMO. Actually it's not an HMO either.

MARK - I'm glad they caught the BP in time to avoid serious problems! been to too many hospitals (and funerals) lately, and don't want to lose another friend!

howard 6-29-2001 12:48

Morning all,

Well, I installed MS Word this morning, (promised WordPerfect it was my favorite) copied a short story, tried to paste it into the Short Story section. Nothing! So--now I know for sure it has to be either CompuServe or Windows 98. CS says it's not them but they're sending an updated version anyway. sometime. I haven't been patient enough to contact Microsoft yet.

While I was in the Short Story section, I read Jessica's dragon story. Excellent. A little gory in sections (I get misty about animals more than people) but a real page turner. I can see room for a few small edits but overall it's good.

HOP,
Tell us about the asylum. Sounds interesting and should fit right into the HMO discussions. Also, welcome back. You've been gone for quite a while

CHRISTI,
Thanks :->> Hope you like my story. It seems to need a certain amount of clarifying(?). a number of people have missed the point and no one except one friend noticed a play on a famous actor's name.

GARIESS,
Fine story. Was hard (emotionally) to read the first time. I'm going to have to come back another time to go through the rewrite.

We have a number of different kinds and sizes of preying mantis in this area of Texas, but what is really scary though harmless (they say) are the 'walking sticks' They have a long stick like body and skinny scratchy leggs. They can be as much as 6 inches long and they just stand there and look at you. Thinking.

Due to the duck and chicken infestation, we seldom see either of those beasties on our property.

BTW, I'm sure those hissing ducks are ducks because we have seven geese. Those mean birds hiss some, but mostly they scream at us. very noisy birds. they bite!

Got to go now.

Rosemary 6-29-2001 12:46

Viv,

Thank you for reading the story and for your thoughts.

GS

gariess 6-29-2001 12:36

Rhoda - Ok, now let me play the devils advocate. If I sue the HMO, and the Federal Government says I can only get, oh say fifty thousand punitive damages, then the HMO knows that it is safe to keep me from having a necessary procedure that costs anything over fifth thousand dollars, it would be cost effective for them to do that. They would do it not just with me, but with anyone who they feel it would be cost effective, knowing that only one out of one hundred who they turn down will sue. It isn't just the trial lawyers will be losers should that legislation pass, it will be the public at large. I agree that you shouldn't be able to sue your employer over the insurance he buys, after all insurance is a fringe BENEFIT, not a right, but I can't agree with a cap on punitive damages, unless it is very high, say fifty million or so. The Fed has to send a message to the HMO's and Insurance companies that they best do what they are paid for, they must fulfill their contractual obligations and furnish those who they insure with proper medical care, not that their number crunchers say in necessary, but what the treating physician says is necessary.

I guess overall, I don't think there should have to be legislation to cover this, but the HMO's have brought this on, not the politicians, or the lobyists. Like they used to tell us in business law, a contract is a contract. The problem is that employers now look not at the contractual coverage, but at the cost. To keep costs down the HMO's must cut back on that they pay out, so they can offer the employer the best deal. I know there are employers out there who do look at the coverage, those are employers who care for their workers. A new problem that has emerged lately, caused by this whole HMO thing is normal insurance companies are converting to HMO status, much like Mr. Jeffers, without asking their customers what they desire. Such has happened here recently with Blue Cross Blue Shield. They simply mailed notice to all their insured that they were now an HMO.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-29-2001 11:30

Gariess,
Your shortie was fantastic. It pulled me along and I was suprised by the ending! Great work!

Mark,
How lucky we were that you had a smart doctor and someone to catch on it wasn't just a sinus headache.
Very scary story and something I now know to watch for. My husband has high blood pressure sometimes.
Thank you very much for sharing that.

Barnabas: TMy dragon isn't quite ready to make her debute! Thanks for the interest though.

Heather: The preying mantis' here are green in the early summer and brown in the fall. Usually
our really big ones are brown. Ours are huge but they do bite and you have to be careful.
I let my husband pick them up, but I kind of like them.

Jessica: Neat! From the dragon's perspective. I like the viewpoint. Nice descriptions.
I just did a first read through. I'll look closer in the morning on Sunday. If I don't finish,
I will look again and try for Tuesday. Hey everyone, I don't remember Jessica, but that could just
be my problem with remembering things. Lately I've been loosing full cups of coffee! I'm
also doing a dragon story but it's definitely a completely different tale! Dragons are like
bears...they inspire stories.

Viv 6-29-2001 9:44

Thank you, everyone, for all of your thoughts and prayers. Good news about Lauren. The pediatric cardiologist said he doesn't have to do anything about the heart condition for a year, and they originally told Pam that she couldn't take her home for about 10 days because of her lung development. But, they told her yesterday that
she could bring her home today as long as they can get the jaundice (sp?) under control. Such an answer to prayer - and thank you again.

Pam and Rick (her husband) are both thrilled with Lauren. They decided that if God felt they could handle it, then obviously they could.

Holli is home - and chipper. I snuck away from church for a little while last night after my vbs class was over and Kaylee still had an hour to go. We had a nice, though short, visit - I provide her with comic relief, she says. (One wonders if that's a compliment or not - haha)

TINA: Yes - it's called Discovery Zone - it's like a huge McDonalds playland - all sorts of slides and tubes and ropes to climb - with little rooms sectioned off where you can have birthday parties and such. Or, there's Chucky Cheese pizza place - similar, with games (all sorts of video cames and skill games) - you win tickets with the skill games and cash them in for prizes.

HOP: A normal romance has a relationship that involves two people - and all of the conflict, etc., that happens until they end up happily ever after. It usually has a love scene or two, sexual tension, etc. A Christian romance involves three people, the man - the woman - and God. God is an integral part of their life. Also, if you have a love scene, IF you do, it's very low key and only after marriage - and you tone the sexual tension down quite a bit, and focus more on the warmth of love.

GARIESS: I know - but it was to a point I didn't have any other choice, even though I knew that my decision would just accentuate her condition. I'm very sad for her, and also mourn the loss of a good friend. I hope she gets better.

Okay - that's it - back to lurking. (Hi, everyone, by the way.)

Hallee 6-29-2001 7:10

I know, I always do this. Here is the corrected version.

FRANNY

A long time ago in early June five boys climbed into a small boat and pushed off to row across the river to the opposite shore. They were boisterous boys. The oldest was barely fifteen. Their plan was to cross the inlet and play on the dry mud flats on the far shore at Brayton’s point.

Franny was thirteen, the best little infielder they had. Ronny was fourteen and also a fair ball player, but there were too few of them this late afternoon for baseball. Frank, the originator of the watery excursion was the oldest at fifteen and appointed himself captain of the craft. The brothers clowned and cavorted, ignoring Frank’s attempt to establish order, and Ronny rowed with the stubby oars as the tide carried them along.

Ronny turned the boat into the channel where the water was choppy, a ten minute row in this tide would see them across to the mud flats. In the meantime the brothers made the kind of hilarity that kids do at their age. Fart jokes and other irreverent references to bodily functions were a big
favorite among the group. Frank seized the occasion to splash water on Ronny’s shirt and Ronny retaliated with a gentle slap of an oar. Threats of castration and watery
abandonment were tossed about freely as the day lengthened and the boat moved swiftly in the tide.

The choppy water slapped at the sides and the boat began to take on water a little at a time. The two younger brothers exhorted each other hilariously in spite of Frank’s
unconvincing commands. The tide was more in charge of the course of the boat than anyone in it, and as Ronny rowed vigorously the water continued to swamp them. At a
point when the far shore was getting close and with scarcely an inch of freeboard left, further steerage was impossible.

Frank and his brothers agreed that with the shore about thirty yards away they may as well let the boat float to ground on its own and swim the rest of the way. In a few yards the tallest of them would be able to stand. Franny wasn’t too keen on this idea, but with only seconds to act he was in the water with the rest. It was then that he began to panic. Ronny had started to swim with the others when Franny yelled out that he couldn’t swim. Taken by surprise, Ronny called to Frank to help him with Franny. Frank yelled back that he had to get his brothers in safely and exhorted Ronny to do his best.

Ronny was a fair swimmer and he felt he could get Franny the few yards to safety. The first thought that occurred to Ronny was to extend an oar to him and let Franny hang
on while he pulled him to shore. This only served to give Franny something to pull himself along, and he grabbed Ronny around the shoulders. It was no good. The boy was too difficult to manage. He pulled Ronny below the water at each attempt with the oar. Ronny struggled to hold him up, but they were making no progress toward the shore. After drifting along in the tide for a short while Ronny was exhausted with the effort of struggling with Franny.

Ronny, at last, convinced Franny to climb onto the overturned boat and stay with it till it drifted to shore. It would only take a few minutes in the incoming tide for the boat to come ashore and he tried to convince Franny that he would be okay. The thought seemed to calm him and he climbed onto the boat with a strong effort by Ronny to
hoist him up. He felt the greatest relief at seeing Franny hugging the bottom of the boat, and after making him agree to stay atop the boat he swam to shore.

In scarcely a minute he was on the beach with Frank and the younger kids. All the mirth that had gripped them earlier was gone. When they turned their attention back to the water, they could not see the boat. It was a moment that changed Ronny’s life forever. The most chilling and awesome feeling he would ever know overcame him as the four of them called Franny’s name into the relentlessly darkening gloom. No answer ever came.

The boat was picked up the following morning when the dry clothes were returned to the farmhouse where the boys had reported their awful story to the rest of their world,
a world from which they wanted desperately what comfort they could find.

It was never decided that the decision to leave Franny with the boat was the right one. There were countless and varying accounts by people of Franny’s swimming skills. Some claimed he could have made the distance easily as it was no greater than they had seen him do often. Others held that Franny couldn’t swim a stroke. It was a bitter fact for Ronny that such an athletically inclined boy in his environment hadn’t mastered swimming. His remorse and doubt were relentless.

The townspeople were not inclined to press the matter and it was declared an accident, a tragedy over which no action would be taken. Franny’s lifeless body was recovered late on the following day. It seemed to Ronny that the body would come home to be a symbol of his failure. An object of ceremony and a tangible condemnation, it would lie in a casket and everyone could look upon it and see the fruit of folly and the currency of guilt. It was to be a long summer.

* * *

The old man doesn’t live on Gardner’s Neck any more. In the fifty years that followed, he made occasional trips to that same shore in early June. He felt the certainty that this
would be his last as he squeezed a spray of nitro into his mouth and trudged among the large rocks along the inlet.

The visit was not for the purpose of contemplating what might have been. That had ended long ago. He thought about the way things had been when life was so uncomplicated. How there was nothing to worry about but when you were going to hit one over the fence in that small ball field. Would Freddy Lapointe get his brothers car on a Friday night so they could go to Bristol for pizza and chat up girls from a different town? How perfect it all was, that subteen utopia wherein the answers to everything would be found when the questions came up. It had all ended the night Franny drowned. The penalty to be paid was that they had to stop believing the myth and move on. They had to accept that things weren’t fixed in their favor any more, and responsibility for their actions would be something they would need to take a hand in from now on. That a happy ending to everything in their lives was not guaranteed, and that sometimes bad stuff was going to happen.

The maples on the Neck were still as glorious as he remembered. The early flowers were in bloom. June was as splendid as it ever was. The farm on Brayton’s point has long since been sacrificed in favor of a large Electric Plant, but Ron can still see the spot on the far shore where he and the others had come aground on that terrible night all those years ago.

In the twighlight, in his solitude, The old man
listened for the sound of young voices in the darkening distance across the eternal water.

GS

gariess 6-29-2001 4:24

Not really going yet.

Got a really good up-close look at the biggest mantis I'd ever seen just before I blew her 30 feet horizontally~!

Most that I've ever seen were of a more 'brownish' colour, and only about 2 inches in height. If you hold up your hand, from tip of your middle finger to the wrist, well - it was still a fraction taller. 'Her' head was about the size of a small egg! WILD. Actually, what did creep me out the most was the ability to move its head on that wire-thin neck. UGH! I wouldn't mind feeding it crickets - I catch crickets with tweezers all the time to feed my chameleon. He's a hog and eats about 15 big fat ones a day.

:o) Poor Jiminy.

Heather 6-29-2001 2:40

Hi Jessica, I remember you. I'll have a look tomorrow some time. Glad to see you popping back in.

Praying Mantis. Their heads have that 'Communion' look to them - you know, like the cover of the book.
I was teaching a swimming class (of about 8 kids, shallow end) and they were all lined up against the ledge of the pool, facing me, a little way out into the pool. We were doing some 'bobbing'. A sadistic kind of teaching tool where the kids have to put their hands on their heads and duck under the water and get their ears under and everything...
As the kids were bobbing away, I saw the most gigantic, hideously green insect STANDING behind one of my kids' heads, on the edge of the deck. It stood about 6 or 7 inches high, and its head moved, following the kids' movements. I nearly screamed, but covered my mouth just in time. "Okay, kids, that's enough bobbing. Let's swim over here to Debbie's class - quickly now! - and she'll watch you for a minute, right Debbie?"
I hopped out of the pool (far away from small green intruder with mean-ass looking pincers) and grabbed the hose. I nearly split that insect in half blowing it off the deck and out the patio doors, fireman style!
I was fascinated with the praying mantis, but not too keen on it grappling with one of my students! It had been standing within inches of us for who knows how long.

Really going now.
ta ta! (tap tap, cigar)

Heather 6-29-2001 2:35

I don't know, Gariess, how short are your shorts?

Hop - If you don't answer posts from two months ago there might be a little less confusion in the NB when you mention something out of context. Logan? To the wolves? Reference, please. Does not compute. Actually, a lot of your post does not compute. Perhaps it's the cultural thought gradient, or some such cablooie. GRAVITY is merely a force that can pull one object toward another. It is a physical force. Time is not. The other aspect you're looking for is 'SPACE'. Meaning dimension (as in three dimensional) - or 'volume', or think of it like this:
Time=NOW
Space=HERE

Space, in the above sense, is not a physical 'force' either. It is merely a mass, a density, or lack thereof. A stage, for the little 3-D people to dance upon.

Maybe I'm just not catching onto your cryptic drifts, Barnabas, and maybe it's just the beer I'm drinking and the stogie I'm smoking in celebration!

Yes, that's right! I'm celebrating 31,000 words tonight.

Oooh, wine-tipped. Pblllthaw! When you tear off the end-bit in your teeth sometimes the wet of your lip gathers tobacco later on. Gorgeous!

Tina - as you may well have guessed, I've been an official tomboy for as long as I've played with hotwheels. That's like, forever, dude.
Loved the piece about your Grandfather. Stories such as yours are harder to write than they appear, even.

A lot of awesome stories tonight.

Here's a little um, well, a little moment:

"...and as you can see by the illustration--"
"Pssst!"
"Uh, there are several common shapes for this type of clay vessel. This is the classic..."
"Pssst!"
"Is there a question?"
"Yes. When are you going to notice that your shirt's mis-buttoned?"
Lump found in throat. The classic lump, but not in its regular, grainy format. This one's super-dry: the unswallowable. "Oh, right about now."
My shirt was mis-buttoned to reveal a few spaces. I was displaying the valley where some of those lovely clay numbers might one day be discovered.

'night.

Heather 6-29-2001 2:22

i posted here some last summer, and got some realy good advice, but i didn't feel right posting again without putting in a few words in the notebook. I feel that just saying "i posted something, look at it." would be rude, since you probibly don't remember who i am. But i have posted a short story and would like some help editing it. Thank you
~Jessica

Jessica 6-29-2001 2:06

TINA: We have a couple places like that around here. One of them is totally awesome. I will send you an email about it tomorrow. I would do it right now, but it is 2am and I wouldn't do it justice.

Long live air conditioners.

Back to read shorties in the morning. AND post my own, ;-)

Mary 6-29-2001 1:59

*Tina*

Wow, I almost couldn't load the posting page. Wierd.

Oh Viv! Keep one for a few days, and feed it. They’re a voracious bug. They’re the only bug that can turn it’s neck, and it’s a most unsettling feeling to be watched by a praying mantis!
Nice shortie. Reminds me of my grandma’s house, where the bed smelled funny. Not bad, just funny. She makes awesome pancakes.

Oops. Gariess, I meant Mastercard. I really did. Had a brain burp though.
The most annoying thing about the ‘binocular mask’ is that, if you really tried to do that with a pair of binoculars, you’d have a horrible view, if anything focussed right at all, and the sides would be all blacked out. I sell binoculars, and I’m always having to correct people on how to use them.
Your shortie is so poignant, and sad. Hope it’s fiction.

Christi, have a good visit!

Here’s a question for anyone here with young kids – preschool to about 8 years old. Where you live, is there any kind of indoor playground that you can take young kids to? Not like a community centre, or a daycare, but a business where you pay a small fee and you take your kid(s) in, and you stay and supervise them? Maybe with playground toys, tables of games and hands on toys and books, and a snack bar? Where you can do birthday parties, or family outings, or just go on rainy/cold/yucky days to spend some quality time with your kids? I’m doing a bit of research here, not for a story but for a real business. E-mail me if you don’t want to use up NB space.

Now the dishes are calling. (sigh)
TTFN

Tina 6-29-2001 0:56

Christi:

Pearl Bailey is a wonderful black singer.

Debra 6-29-2001 0:36

**Christi**

Hi peeps! Well, some good news on my end finally. I'm going to see my newly married little sister in her new town on Saturday! Yipee! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. I didn't know if I'd be able to go until today, and ... yipee!!!!!!!! I won't be back until late on Tuesday, so I'll see y'all on Wednesday. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Mel, Yeah, I think you're right. Actually I thought maybe I could get away with it because I saved her lines 'til the end. Not sure how I'll fix it.

Howard! Succeeds!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA! Gasp! Beakless bird!
Okay, the last one I don't get. Probably it's a requirment that I know who Pearl Bailey is, which I don't. Poop.

Rosemary, Thank you so much! I'm heading over right now to read yours. How embarrassing that I didn't notice the new shorties. And by the way, when you're gone, you ARE missed!

Maaaaaaan, I guess it pays to advertise! ;) Thanks, Heather, a whole heapload! But I'd say you were the one who's the utmost in enthusiasm. Grin.

TEEKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm glad you're back, matey! I've been jumping in and out lately too, so don't you feel guilty in the least.
And oh wow, thank you! Man, I love your compliments. Puffs me out about a mile. :)

Hallee, Prayers and hugs for you and your friends. I have no words to express how awful I feel for them. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Jack, Can't wait for Fran's input. Hi, Fran, if you're out there! I feel like we've spoken before, Jack's said such nice things about you. Welcome!

Tina, What a beautiful shortie. Thank you for sharing your memories of your Grandfather.

Wow, Viv, that was vivid and lovely!

Gariess, Your shortie was incredibly sad. It's fiction, right? I hope? It would kill me if it wasn't. In any case it was very well done!

Hop, I hope everything is okay. I'm glad to see you posting here again. Welcome back.

Mark, My gosh, you scared me to death! Thank you for posting that, I'm tearing up from the openness of your post. Actually at the openness of so many here. Thanks everyone. It makes me happy to know you. Giant bear {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} to you, Mark, and to everyone.

See you guys on Wednesday. Be good to yourselves.

Christi 6-29-2001 0:23

Howard

I was going to finish off my day without a smile. NOw I won't have to.

Pearl Bailey heeeeeheeeeeheeeee ahhaahaaahaa

Thanks I needed that.

Pearl Bailey

haaahaa

Oh okay I feel better.

Debra 6-29-2001 0:07

***Rhoda (Not a straggler)***

MEL,

I am currently working on a novel about gold rush California. I am still into the first chapter. I had five written, but decided to start it over.

JERRY,

The way the press describes it, the Patient's Bill of Rights bill sounds great. Who isn't in support of greater accountablity for the HMO's? It is the other things involved that make it unacceptable to those of conservative tastes. As it stands, if you get bad care from your HMO you will have the right to sue the employer who provides it for you. That is not right. Furthermore it will encourage many smaller employers to drop coverage altogether. Also there is no cap on the ammounts you can sue for. If everyone can sue than there will be billions and billions of dollars out of the system and unavaliable for healthcare. HMO's will have to cut back on health care.

Personally, I would say, get rid of the bloody insurance companies. The system of using a go-between from the provider to yourself is part of what is costing the system. Back when I was a kid, we had no insurance, only major medical, and going to the doctor for a sinus or ear infection was not a bank breaking proposal then. The other bad part is law suits. Already law suits have increased the cost of medicine for everyone. Also consider that the American Association of Trial Lawyers have put a lot of money and effort into this bill. They will be the big winners out of all this.

TEEKAY,

Take your time. Just glad you are OK and back among us.

HOP,

Good to see you again.

I agree about celebrities being role models. Unfortunately Hollywood is not a place known for its high ethics--an old screenwriter friend of mine had much to say about that. I agree with you; to not honor your word or a contract is terrible and dishonorable. But I have no way of knowing if Kate Mulgrew had a good excuse or not. Because of that I have to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that there really was a family emergency.

No one thinks the Japanese inherently bad for Pearl Harbor. The action was not honorable, but that was many years ago under a different government and in a different time. Once the Japanese were fairly beaten, they had nothing to atone for. There is not a nation on the face of the earth who has inherently good people or inherently bad people. People are motivated by the values they are taught and by the pressures and stresses they experience. Given the right circumstances the US or any other nation could embrace a Hitler. Such events and situations should make us all diligent and careful in our judgments. It should humble us. I believe the best insurance against such outrages is every person's individual sense of right and wrong and conscience. When individual morality and strength of character break down then a nation is vulnerable to great evil. No matter what system of government a nation has and no matter how inherently fair it is, it can always be perverted. It is not the laws on the books which protect us from evil. Those are only a reflection of our values. It is the laws within our hearts that are our ultimate protection.

The bomb saved several million Japanese lives as well as 1,000,000 American lives. That is the estimated count of casulties for an American invasion of Japan. Before the surrender, Japanese civilians and servicemen alike would die before being captured by Americans. Japan had every opportunity to surrender. Still it was a horrible thing to have to do, dropping those bombs, and the United States will always bear the blame for being the first nation to do that. Hopefully we will be the last, though I doubt it.

Got to go. I hear thunder outside.

Rhoda 6-28-2001 23:52

Okay, I wasn't gonna, but now I gotta...

I know this guy - his father is black and his mother is Japanese. Every year on December 7th he gets the urge to attack Pearl Bailey.

howard 6-28-2001 23:30

**Mark**

TEEKAY -- You had bulbs in your shorts? Well, "welcome back" is the important part.

GS -- nice story

HEATHER -- well done

HALLEE -- Thoughts and prayers

My shorty -- I slightly modified an email I sent this afternoon --

From: Mark Lenihan
To: All Employees
Cc:

Subject: AdvantEdge
Sent: 6/28/01 1:17 PM
Importance: Normal
OK you guys. I've seen some materials on the AdvantEdge program, but don't recall any testimonials. I have one.

Yesterday for AdvantEdge testing I got cholesterol and blood pressure checked. The woman who checked my BP said, "Wow! That's awful." I could see Kim at the counter look my way. I thought, "Wonderful. Not only does this dimwit give me news I don't want to deal with, she announces it to this whole end of the building." She had me sit aside for five minutes and we tested it again after I'd had a chance to rest. It was higher. I really don't do well with this stuff. She asked if I had been having headaches. "Yes. Sinus." No. Blood pressure.

She told me to go right home, call the doctor, and get in right away. I got a haircut, some breakfast, and shopped for my wife. By the time I got home I was ready to start dealing with it. Called the doctor, appointment tomorrow morning (today as I write this).

Same thing in the doctor's office. Still high, but reduced a bit from yesterday. He reinforced my fear that blood pressure high enough to give me headaches could burst a blood vessel there and cause a stroke. Gee, thanks. {sigh} I dropped my prescription off at the pharmacy on the way in to work and will start on it tomorrow morning.

It's premature to say that AdvantEdge testing saved my life, but it's pretty certain that the testing headed off a stroke.

Mark

Mark 6-28-2001 22:42

Gotta wonder about that story I have been working on, the one about the solar flares. Today - while sitting here reading the notebook, the cable TV just went - no sputter, no nothing, just snow and rushing sound on the speakers - then my internet connection went bonkers, started redialing every so often all by itself - it is getting strange, and to top it off, the weather is GREAT! I think it is my muse playing tricks on me, trying to get me outside. I think I will give in.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-28-2001 21:54

Hello everyone. Its me. After a long study break and sleepless nights then a week long stay Viewood "social rehabilitation centre," or in lay-man's terms, the asylum. I'm finally back and putting my life back together again. The doctors are finally letting me resume contact with the outside world.

It's the holidays now so I can probably drop in more often.

Oh great I missed the big WWII debate. Argghhhhh! Noooooooo...

Pearl Harbour. BIG DEAL. Like there hasn't been a movie about America in WWII What about Nagasaki? What about South east Asia? Pearl harbour was only the tiniest tip of the iceberg. Someone should do a movie on Korea when the Japanese colonised it or WWII when America was not doing anything.

No harbour is spelt with a "u." I don't care what you think there is a "u." It's just like colour, there's a "u." Don't "American spelling" me.

Sorry about the American shooting but "America in the World Wars" always gets me riled up.

Taylor
From what I read in the history books, Japan bombing Pearl harbour was a big mistake because it forced America into the war. I wonder if it really was good strategy. It was a pre-emptive strike but considering the snails pace of American troops maybe they didn't think it through enough, as far as I know, this could have done two things, scared Americans away or caused them to retaliate. They were taking a gamble and it didn't pay off.

Is it heroic to die for your country? The answer for kamikaze pilots is YES!

I might like to say that Japan after WWII became the ally of the US against the Soviets and have a very strong anti-war movement ever since then, their constitution even forbids them to have an army and until maybe five years ago even thinking about changing that part of the constitution was considered radical and was a huge social offense. So maybe the Japanese aren't too bad after all or at least they are trying to atone for their crimes.

Ben
Oh yeah. Legitimising war makes it alright. Maybe, for example few would say peace enforcement sanctioned by the UN was wrong but still...

I've always gone by gut feeling when it comes to names. This includes the name of my book and the name of my characters. I usually come up with a preliminary name but after a while the "real" name will come to me.

Jerry
No one wins in war. We should feel sorry for all involved. No more or less. As for whether the US might have done it, just remember that the current US was founded by taking land by force as Randall quickly pointed out. Was bombing a city full of non-combatants really righteous? There are stories of friendly Japanese soldiers helping POW just not many we know of.

Randall
That reminds me, one of the reasons amongst many that Japan embarked on colonialism which lead to WWII was because it saw that the colonial powers like Britain Russia etc were all getting a piece of the action and they themselves were low on resources thanks to industrialisation. Oh....the after effects of colonialism....

Okay, time is not sideways as you see it. Because if a planet was 90 degrees from Earth it isn't really 90 degrees from Earth. Why because if you orientate your zero point to another place then that degree changes. Right? I think what you mean is if the other planet was rotating on the other side of the side on the same path that Earth is taking around the side. In that case, time for that planet does not move sideways because the planet could only be rotating in our direction anyway. Also, do planets with opposite spin go backward in time relative to us? I don't think so otherwise they'd be giving off anti-gravity since time and gravity are linked.
Now, what Mr Hawkins is trying to say is that we mustn't think of time as a line but having a spatial component as well or a component completely different. What this component is is probably being hotly debated and worked out. Maybe its what you call gravity.
Black holes punch hole in time and space but only because of the huge gravitational forces. You have to remember that time space manipulation is only done when gravity is either very strong or constantly applied (which might explain why we are constantly traveling forward in time, of course time is relative which means forward is only forward because we call it forward and recognise it as forward). What I do know is that Black holes do not let you travel into the past, rather when you experience the massive gravity, time slows down for you so when you return you find that you are still relatively young while everyone else is old.

There is a book called "The Other side of time", its a romance story about a girl named Anna Sophie Lockwood who falls from the 20th century to the 19th and falls in love with a boy named Strat. I've read the book and was just reading the sequel to the book a few weeks ago which is why I still remember all the characters.

Teekay
Tropical islands always get me started about Singapore. I mean it has everything you wanted. Mangoes, bananas, lobsters, plenty of electricity, phone lines (fibre optics if you want to pay) and Internet Providers.

Well, the site is a prototype only. Hopefully with the holidays now I can bug the webmaster into doing more.

Jack
You're under a lot of pressure I see from not only the family crisis but work too. I'm amazed at your strength. Some people just won't stop will they?

Viv
As a representative of the Mystical sentient creatures Union (Don't ask why I'm a member, very long story that started off when I saved what I thought was a statue...) I'm afraid we will have to liberate that poor dragon.

Heather
I don't know, leaving Logan to the wolves isn't the right way to go about this in my opinion.

As for writing.
"Hear! Hear!" he toasts downing another glass with milk.

SusanS
I can't say much but I do know that if a friend of mine (who say is like a brother to me) was in trouble and going into a bad crowd I would be deeply worried and very concerned and voice my concerns and keep trying to bring that friend back because friends stick by friends in thick or thin no matter what. If you abandon a friend simply because circumstances are bad then you are not really a friend are you? Of course, if you truly think there is nothing else you can do maybe it is best to walk away, which is the point I think Heather was working along on.

Debra
Besides killing young for resources animals have been known to kill other infants so that their own DNA will pass on to other generations and not those of others. Of course killing their own varies from species to species. Some will kill infants usually while others only if resources are low.

Hayden
Heath Othello Peterson. There I said it. It's sort of strange but if you look at the initials they spell H.O.P. . Hmmmm..... are you pulling my leg somewhere or is this just a coincidence (facial expressions just don't travel across the net)?

Anyway, congratulations!

Hallee
Now, tell me, what's the difference between a Christian romance and a normal romance?

Richard
So let me get this straight, you became a Christian (or a more serious one) during Feburary?

Litter
Speaking of government conspiracies the Singapore government has or at least in the past had a file on me. It wasn't a government conspiracy or cover-up however. See I was part of an education programme and every now and then they discussed each pupils progress in a big meeting with all of the teachers. Obviously they would have kept minutes and a folder for each student. Who knows what was in those reports about me? Maybe projections of what I could become? This education programme was top notch and they were pouring a lot of money into it, a lot so it probably seemed like a good idea to the government to ensure these future "assets" be trained properly.

I must also mention that my recurring nightmare is school.

Allein
Try using FTP commander. Its a free ware FTP programme I'm using and its fairly easy to use.

Rachel
Part 1 is the only one I'm actually letting people read right now. I'm still working on part 2 so you can't read the rest of my story even though I would like to share it.

I just noticed Richard spelt your name wrong with an "a" like I use too. Makes me wonder if that's because we use British spelling.

Rhoda
I think that stars should be role models for people. After all they have fame and usually fortune and people "see" them every week. I understand that they are busy but I would rather they go to a few publicity events and turn up on everyone they promise to show on then to promise to go to many but turn up for some. Its the principal see. Better to be proven reliable than reliably unreliable.

Baxter
Good to see you. Now, I'm getting annoyed by your "please take no offense." In fact, if you don't stop soon I'm going to be offended at your "please take no offense." You have to realise you can disagree with someone without offending someone.

Brandie
Hello.

Sharon Hanson

Hello. Will you be staying?

Lena
Hello. I see you've been here before. Welcome back. Are you going to stay or not?

Star fish lovers
One of the common questions about starfish is how is it possible that the primitive starfish can regenerate lost limbs while humans the supposedly more complex human can not. Here's the answer.
Starfish cells are so primitive and unspecialised/undifferentiated that their cells can still retain their regenerative abilities. Once you become more complex however, the organisms tend to lose their regenerative abilities because its difficult for a specialised cell to return back to being unspecialised, at least in animals anyway.

Time magazine did an article on the US and Mexico and here are a few the published replies (does TIME hold the copyrights for these?)

"I have no problem with immigrant coming to America. They must do two things however: enter legally, and learn to speak English. I want to preserve the culture of the US."

"The US may be the first country in history to turn itself over voluntarily to another race, language and culture."

"Would somebody please check with the American people before deciding we're all going to be speaking Spanish and wearing sarapes?"

While being controversial and me being to ignorant to say much about this issue I do know that preservation of culture is one of the weakest replies of the issue because:
a) the US is a country of migrants and colonised people.
b) culture is what people make it, will someone please define American culture? Of course the next question once you have defined American culture we must next ask the question are you conforming to it and is it really "American"?
c) if it is voluntary as said above then can we say it is bad? After all involuntary surrendering of language and culture is bad for example like colonists did on the other hand adoption or other cultures isn't necessarily bad for example the adoption of democracy by various countries.
d) Mexicans don't speak Spanish originally. The Spanish speak Spanish. So, if it weren't for the Spaniards colonising Mexico they wouldn't be speaking Spanish would they? So you can blame Spanish speaking not on the Mexicans but on the now long dead Spanish colonists.

Server costs.
It costs $15 a month unlimited for 48K speed (that's New Zealand dollars by the way and 48K is the usual speed) or if you use less than 10 hours its free. Also local calls are free which means you don't get a phone bill. Anybody want to retire in NZ?

Aliens
Since I missed it here goes:
People always think the aliens are from outer space but I know better. No, this isn't a cheesy beginning for a X-file rip-off nor is it the start of a documentary revealing that the government has been hiding the fact that we are the ones from outer space brought to earth by aliens. The aliens are around us because they are whomever we label as aliens. The guy with the funny accent, the refugee girl, they're all aliens because we name them so. But they don't have to be but it depends on us extending the hands of friendship. We shouldn't be worrying about those from outer space, but those whom we create.

Rules
Here's one "Don't break a rule without good reason."

Barnabas "Hop" 6-28-2001 21:26

Tina,

Yes, that is known as the "binocular mask" in the business. It's one of my long time favorites, and it has been around for years. Much longer than Visa cards, which actually don't have the intersecting circles, that's MasterCard.

Anyhow, here's a shortie. Shortie for me. Maybe not so shortie for you. Anyhow, I wrote it in my shorts. I don't know how short it's supposed to be.

FRANNY

A long time ago in early June five boys climbed into a small boat and pushed off to row across the river to the opposite shore. They were boisterous boys. The oldest was barely fifteen. Their plan was to cross the inlet and play on the dry mud flats on the far shore at Brayton’s point.

Franny was thirteen, the best little infielder they had. Ronny was fourteen and also a fair ball player, but there were too few of them this late afternoon for baseball. Frank, the originator of the watery excursion was the oldest at fifteen and appointed himself captain of the craft. He ordered his two younger brothers about as they made jokes, and Ronny rowed with the stubby oars as the tide carried them along.

Ronny turned the boat into the channel where the water was choppy, a ten minute row in this tide would see them across to the mud flats. In the meantime Ernie and Roy cavorted in spite of Frank’s commands to settle down. They made the kind of hilarity that kids do at their age. Fart jokes and other references to bodily function were a big favorite among the group. Frank seized the occasion to splash water on Ronny’s shirt and Ronny retaliated with a gentle slap of an oar. Threats of castration and watery abandonment were tossed about freely as the day lengthened and the boat moved swiftly in the tide.

The choppy water slapped at the sides and the boat began to take on water a little at a time. The two younger brothers exhorted each other hilariously in spite of Frank’s unconvincing commands. The tide was more in charge of the course of the boat than anyone in it, and as Ronny rowed vigorously the water continued to swamp them. At a point when the far shore was getting close and with scarcely an inch of freeboard left, further steerage was impossible.

Frank and his brothers agreed that with the shore about thirty yards away they may as well let the boat float to ground on its own and swim the rest of the way. In a few yards the tallest of them would be able to stand. Franny wasn’t too keen on this idea, but with only seconds to act he was in the water with the rest. It was then that he began to panic. Ronny had started to swim with the others when Franny yelled out that he couldn’t swim. Taken by surprise, Ronny called to Frank to help him with Franny. Frank yelled back that he had to get his brothers in safely and exhorted Ronny to do his best.

Ronny was a fair swimmer and he felt he could get Franny the few yards to safety. The first thought that occurred to Ronny was to extend an oar to him and let Franny hang on while he pulled him to shore. This only served to give Franny something to pull himself along, and he grabbed Ronny around the shoulders. It was no good. The boy was too difficult to manage. He pulled Ronny below the water at each attempt with the oar. Ronny struggled to hold him up, but they were making no progress toward the shore. After drifting along in the tide for a short while Ronny was exhausted with the effort of struggling with the Franny.

Ronny, at last, convinced Franny to climb onto the overturned boat and stay with it till it drifted to shore. It would only take a few minutes in the incoming tide for the boat to come ashore and he tried to convince Franny that he would be okay. The thought seemed to calm him and he climbed onto the boat with a strong effort by Ronny to hoist him up. He felt the greatest relief at seeing Franny hugging the bottom of the boat, and after making him agree to stay atop the boat he swam to shore.

In scarcely a minute he was on the beach with Frank and the younger kids. All the mirth that had gripped them earlier was gone. When they turned their attention back to the water, they could not see the boat. It was a moment that changed Ronny’s life forever. The most chilling and awesome feeling he would ever know overcame him as the four of them called Franny’s name into the relentlessly darkening gloom. No answer ever came.

The boat was picked up the following morning when the dry clothes were returned to the farmhouse where the boys had reported their awful story to the rest of their world, a world from which they wanted desperately what comfort they could find.

It was never decided that the decision to leave Franny with the boat was the right one. There were countless and varying accounts by people of Franny’s swimming skill. Some claimed he could have made the distance easily as it was no greater than they had seen him do often. Others held that Franny couldn’t swim a stroke. It was a bitter fact for Ronny that such an athletically inclined boy in his environment hadn’t mastered swimming. His remorse and doubt were relentless.

The townspeople were not inclined to press the matter and it was declared a tragedy over which no action would be taken. Franny’s lifeless body was recovered late on the following day. It seemed to Ronny that the body would come home to be a symbol of his failure. An object of ceremony and a tangible condemnation, it would lie in a casket and everyone could look upon it and see the fruit of folly and the currency of guilt. It was to be a long summer.

* * *

The old man doesn’t live on Gardner’s neck any more. In the fifty years that followed, he made occasional trips to that same shore in early June. He felt the certainty that this would be his last as he squeezed a spray of nitro into his mouth and trudged among the large rocks along the inlet.

The maples on the neck were still as glorious as he remembered. The early flowers were in bloom. June was as splendid as it ever was. In the twighlight, in his solitude, he listened for the sound of young voices in the darkening distance across the eternal water.

GS

gariess 6-28-2001 21:13

Ignore that Dear Tina. The first thing that caught my eye was her post on those preying mantis' I started to say something and it sort of ended up coming later. Oh well. Typical Friday. Brain is on weekend schedule.

Viv 6-28-2001 20:52

Dear Tina,
Gee, I missed gross out day. No fair! I was working. I've played gross out catch up all morning. There were some good ones there but Heather that prolapsed uterus and Howard's butt scabs really took the cake.

Here's one for you all. " I'm so used to cleaning up vomit, I can eat a chocolate bar while I do it!"

I heard that at a mother's playgroup during flu season! Now that's a line that ought to be in a novel. (Five novels come out all with the same line....different characters!)

Tina: You sound like you'd fit in our family. Bugs are well accepted here. The bigger the better...all except for roaches. We get big preying mantis' too in the fall. I like to catch them as well and keep them in our bug box. I only keep them for the day so I never got to feed one a beetle or cricket. If we still get to live here past August, I'll try it out. I'm waiting to hear the first calls of the cicedeas. Not out yet. It seems too quiet for the heat.

Childhood memories huh, Let's see....

I'm spending the night at grandma's house. It's not bad, but it smells funny and the food is soft. Nothing has any crunch at dinner. The carrots are cut into slivers and the meat is mushy meatloaf. I add ketchup, but it stings my stomach. I push back the plate and slide down.

"It's bath and then bed time. I'll read you the story of Maximillian the mouse," my grandmother says rising to take my plate from the table. "Are you sure you've eaten enough?"

I look at the funny window above the sink. It's set high in the wall above the sink and I can still see the sunlight dancing between the swaying leaves of the tree next door., "It's not dark out." I protest.

"It's bedtime." It's firm. That is the way of it. I end up in the crib.

I'm not a baby. I'm too big for the crib but it still fits. It's actually not bad. You can hang upside down from the bars by your knees. It stretches your belly stiff and makes your face feel funny. I hang a long time watching the night shadows come to fill the room.

Viv 6-28-2001 20:48

Thanks Mary. I bawled.

Gariess, I could SO get started on things they do in movies that bug me! Like when they show a shot through binoculars and they do the 'Visa' card overlapped circles. Wrong! Or when couples wake up in the morning, turn over and do the long drawn out kiss thing. Have they never heard of morning breath? Yuck.

Mel, I can see that I'd have fun with you if you came in my store ;-) hehehe I could show you the black widow, and the rattlesnake eggs... oh what fun!

Off to dinner with the in-laws. Happy shortie night!
TTFN

Tina 6-28-2001 19:54

Ok, no I don't want to sue the employer, but then who would? I don't know I haven't read the bill so I shouldn't comment on it. Just what I have gleaned off the different news stories. Maybe I will get a copy of the bill and see for myself.

I think I am loosing all I learned in college, got a form to fill out today and couldn't make heads or tails of the dang thing. It was a federal form not really written in legaleese, just written in stupideese and without the stupideese instructions. Did the best I could and covered the rest in a loooong cover letter.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-28-2001 19:36

MARY & HEATHER -- Answer you both soon. Major PC/Internet probs today and I'm way behind. Nor shortie either :o(

Later

Litter 6-28-2001 19:11

***Rhoda(the Conservative to keep Jerry on track)***

Jerry,

I do understand your feelings. But should your employer be sued too?

Rhoda 6-28-2001 16:48

I couldn’t understand, it made no sense to me. But my mom cried and cried, and dad held her. I understand now.

TINA: My heart broke for you when I read that line. Big hugs. That story had to be hard to write.

Mary 6-28-2001 15:39

Jack Lemmon. What a loss.

Mary 6-28-2001 15:29

Hallee,

That is such a disturbing thing to read. I refer to your secretary, her depression and having to fire her. Clearly, she can not benefit from staying at work in such a state, so firing her was a necessary step, even though it must have been strenuous. Still, I can’t help but feel sympathy for someone so troubled.

Teekay,

You are a devil. Are you sure you don’t live in Tasmania?
Besides, you can’t use my excuse, I was photographing wildlife in five states. United states, that is.

Mel,

I’m glad someone responded to my "really stupid movie cliché." I still think the whole thing is ridiculous. I pack a camper for a road trip and I don’t have room for an extra roll of film. These cowboys ride out on a horse through five hundred miles of the Southwestern desert and they carry twenty bottles of whiskey apiece. Forget water and food, etc. Just load up guns, ammunition and let’s see, what else? Oh, yes, the whiskey bottles. I’ll take twenty. How many can you carry, Fred?

Jerry,

It’s okay, buddy. This is an open and democratic forum. We welcome gross material and R… L… fans.

I think I’ll try a shortie, now.

Later,

GS

GS

Gariess 6-28-2001 14:11

HOWARD: You quack me up! :-) I haven't heard that one in a long time! It took me a minute...

JERRY: Howard's okay. Say the duck joke OUT LOUD to yourself a few times, slowly, reflecting the punctuation. :-)

HOWARD: I almost called Teekay last night too! I learned there's a 12-hour difference between her phone and ours (for future reference!)

TINA: Actually, I knew you must've been a tomboy. I'm not envious but I am in awe! Anyone who can watch spiders crawl around their gardens and enjoy watching a praying mantis feed without getting the shudders (*ughh!*) earns my instant respect. :-) It's a good thing to keep your inner child alive; you'll stay young all your life. I just can't do that for myself with spiders and other "bugs" - but someone's gotta love the bugs, I guess; I'm just so glad it doesn't have to be me!! :-] Your shortie touched my heart; I too have memories of a grandpa on his farm (orchards, minnows, strawberries...). Every time I hear a crow, I remember instantly my grandpa's farm and pond. :-)

Mel 6-28-2001 13:30

Howard, you ok old buddy?

Teekay - welcome home, we were worried, thought maybe you went to the outback with that crocodile hunter fellow hunting the worlds most venomous snakes, or the Russians dropped a space lab on your head.

I feel my conservatism slipping into moderation. BUT, I did find a way to listen to Rush on the computer, maybe there is still hope for me. It is that health care patients rights stuff, we have been having a real hard time getting our HMO to take care of the wife, first they send us here, then there, jump through this hoop, now this one. I want the RIGHT to SUE the bastards. Now I don't want to be able to sue her boss, hell he didn't have anything to do with the HMO, except he furnished it. But I think we should be able to sue them if they withhold treatment when treatment is needed.

Guess this isn't the place to be complaining about HMO's but since they took away my themestream I have no place else to spout off!

Sorry about that, oh and that dead baby thing, I shouldn't have put that in here, it doesn't belong in such a form.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-28-2001 12:58

ABCD ducks?
LMNO ducks!
OSAR2 ducks!

howard 6-28-2001 12:26

Viv,

If you are talking about my Alcaris story should be soon, and I'm glad you enjoy my galactic hippies...I should be putting up a new post soon with the rewrite of the beginning.

laura 6-28-2001 12:04

*Tina*

Hi all!

Rosemary and Teekay and Sasquatch, glad you’ve all come back :-)

Hallee, my prayers are in there for you. (((HUGS))) all around. And YOU sound like you need to take a ‘personal’ day, just to catch your breath and recharge. Be well.

Sasquatch, you do what you always do. Just by being here you bring fun and a fresh breath to the NB! Tonight’s shortie topic seems like a natural for you, what with your Yeti racial memory. :-)

Mel, I was a boy in my last life? News to me!
Actually, I was a proper tom-boy as a child. Played with spiders and snakes, raised frogs, even had a skateboard (although I was really bad at it). Over the years I’ve managed to keep my inner child alive and well. She’s responsible for my fascination with things like praying mantises and snakes and airplanes and martial arts.

Okay, my shortie is ready to go. Be warned, Sappy Shortie Ahead!

Hay and Horses

Every time I smell hay and horses, I think of my grandfather.

John McFadyen. I remember him only as an older man, with a grizzly grey beard always needing a shave, and warm and cuddly as a teddy bear. I didn’t know him when he was young and spry, and I didn’t know him in the prime of his life. I knew him at the end, and that’s how he lives in my heart.

For the first six years of my life, I visited the family farm with my family at every opportunity. In the summer, no matter the month, there were always peas to pick in the garden. Grandpa made sure of that. Picking peas with grandpa became a family tradition, a treat for the youngest grandchildren. Two pods for the bucket, one shared between he and I.

As all prairie farmers do, he woke before dawn to begin the day’s work. He tended cattle and horses, pigs and goats, grew alfalfa and wheat and rye and corn. With so much to do in a day, I wonder now that he had any time to spend with us, but he did. We’d go see the piggies, and ride bareback on Pepsi, the shetland pony. That pony was a nasty old thing, but never misbehaved when grandpa was around. And we’d pick peas before dinner, because peas were grandpa’s favourite.

After dinner, grandpa would push his chair back from the table, fetch his wetstone and oil, and sharpen his knife. That knife always hung from his belt, and to me it seemed the biggest knife I’d ever seen. He honed it quickly, surely, with movements I could barely follow, and I’d watch in awe. Sometimes it seemed scary, and then I’d play shy. Somehow, to my five-year-old mind, the man who held that knife couldn’t be quite the same man who shared his pea patch with me.

I’d just turned six when the phone call came. I couldn’t understand, it made no sense to me. But my mom cried and cried, and dad held her. I understand now.

We drove to the farm, and all my aunts and uncles and cousins were there. Six-year-olds find fun in any circumstance, and the gathering was a chance to play with cousins and kittens and pigs. Old people came, people I’d never met, but my parents told me that they were aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers of my grandpa. They wore black and they talked and some cried. But I was six, and I didn’t understand.

Until the next summer. The farm was there, full of horses and pigs and cats and cows. But there was no pea patch, no grandpa with rough grey whiskers and a warm hug.

I knew John McFadyen for the last five years of his life, and that’s how he lives in my heart.

© Tina Chambers 2001

Tina 6-28-2001 11:11

Hallee - I will be praying for both of your friends, your secratary and you. ((HUGS))

Allein Allein's World 6-28-2001 10:26

ROSEMARY -- Hissing and Honking? Sounds more like geese, or a couple of second cousins on my mother's side...

TEEKAY !!! Welcome back! I almost called you on the phone last night, but couldn't figure out what time it was down there.

SASQUATCH -- good to see you, too! What are you digging up?

howard 6-28-2001 10:05

MARY,
I'll bet Japan's method will work because this area (South Central Texas)has been having a lot of trouble with grasshoppers, but I haven't seen one around here in a long time.

Got to go. The last short story class of the series is this morning. I'm going to miss it.

Welcome back TEEKAY. Glad you are all right. Not nice to scare Notebookers.
Bye

Rosemary 6-28-2001 10:02

MEL: I would if I could...but I can't so I'm not. :) (Thank you)

Hallee 6-28-2001 9:20

^^MEL^^

"Hail! Hail! The gang's all here..." Well, not all, but more of 'em! YEA! :-) Still looking for BANKY, EDDIE, HOP, KITTY, SHERWOOD, SUSAN, TRUDY and ???...

RHODA: :-) So glad you're not a "straggler" - must've been a day or two I didn't see your name here. What are you writing right now, anyhoo?

ROSEMARY: Ducks and chicks... What a pleasantly busy little brood you have. :-) I hope they haven't seen the movie "BABE" or the duck WILL think he's a rooster or something!!

SASQUATCH: We humans call you sometimes just to hear your great Yeti wisdom regarding any turn of leafy season or other small details of our world that maybe we're taking for granted. We know a few words from you will reawaken us to the importance of little things, like digging up enough food for a meal. :-) Have a pleasant day!

TEEKAY: Welcome back!! :-) We don't want you to freeze in your computer room; just don't go away again for a week without warning us first!!! And I would like to see you try to knit while drunk--could be most entertaining! :-)

GARIESS: Whiskey was also medicinal for snake bites, gunshot wounds...and if you headed to a "desert island" wouldn't you want your favorite drink with you? Me, I like lemonade on a hot day, but that makes me thirstier too...must be human nature (i.e. human dumbness!). And, BTW, ever seen the comedian Gallagher? He's always asking questions like your grapenuts question, e.g. how come we park in driveways and drive on parkways? :-) I'm glad English is my first language and that I don't have to learn it as a second! How confusing our words can be!! (Right, VIV? Your students must know!)

HEATHER: :-) Enthusiasm...the key to happiness, to success in any endeavor... Sometimes though, I have to succeed (no, HOWARD, not sucking seeds!) to find happiness and then be enthusiastic...it's often hard to do things in the other order! Re: nursing... You have wonderful compassion, Heather, and your personal contributions to nursing are priceless! It's too bad that nursing cutbacks are happening all over, just when science and medicine are helping us all to live longer and the need for quality nursing is becoming even more crucial...sigh. Another area we need to reverse in our human society.

JACK: Good luck with all your current projects and hopes! :-)

HALLEE: Am praying for Holli and Jenna, Pam and Lauren...Now does your being part of this girlfriend trio mean you're next in line to add another member to your family? :-) (Just teasing ya!) And yes, I AM progressing on your critique!... If I can just get that little time-gnome to stop turning the day's pages so quickly...

Back later (I think) with my shortie... Enjoy the day/eve!

Mel 6-28-2001 8:44

Too tired to write much tonight. The heat just started up here full force. Do you all know how nice it is to just sit here and read the wonderful stories? Congratulations to all of us!

Laura, do we get another chapter soon? Has anyone been following Laura's postings in the workbook? They are fun.
I haven't seen her around lately. Laura, you out there?

Viv 6-28-2001 8:32

Hi all.

In my little circle of friends, there are three of us. Holli, Pam, and myself. We were all pregnant at the same time, all had girls, our husbands all turned 30 within 3 weeks of each other, and we're all in the same Sunday School class. These two women are the best friends I've probably ever had.

I've told you about Holli - she's the one who is 25 weeks pregnant with Jenna. She's been trying to go into labor now for 4 weeks and has been on bed rest since the first set of contractions and spotting. It's to the point now that she's being put in and out of the hospital, because the oral medication isn't stopping the contractions anymore.
(As of last night - she was home - but she said she felt like she was about to start spotting again.)

Pam had a baby girl yesterday...Lauren. She carried her to term, had a simple labor, and delivered a 6'-14oz little girl who has Down's syndrome and heart problems. Because of the Down's, her lungs aren't fully developed and she's in pediatric icu.

If you pray, please do so for both of these women (and their husbands -haha). We have a wonderful church, and Holli was joking last week that she has enough caseroles in her freezer to feed them until Lauren gets out of college (we are Southern Baptists, after all), so there's a massive support out there - but I just wanted to get them on as many prayer chains as possible.

I may be lurking on and off for a little while. Between Pam and Holli - then I had to fire my secretary yesterday - she's been suffering through some severe depression for 4 or 5 months, and I tried to put it off as long as I could. It just got too bad, because she stopped being able to function on even a basic level (after staring at the coffee pot for 10 mins., she finally asked me how to turn it on), and my office is too busy to handle it. She is (well, was) a good friend, and I tried to explain to her that she just couldn't physically/emotionally/mentally handle it all anymore, but I'm afraid it was a terrible scene.

It's been a rough little bit here - but I wanted to come out of lurk to tell you all about Holli and Pam.

::back to lurking::

Hallee 6-28-2001 5:03

Hello Everyone and especially Americo: I will be setting a goodly block of time aside tomorrow to get the new Workbook functioning. The main stumbling block has been getting the secure login working in such a way so their is more secure site. Wish me luck and a few prayers to finagle, murphy and other patron saints of computers and computer operators everywhere. And, yes, the new project looks very interesting and I feel suitably inspired to provide definite and ongoing content for it. I will be out of site at times over the next several weeks as I am either diving, trying to push the Westercon 56 bid or trying to get everything squared away here. Also, god a call today from one of the places I am listed and there may be jobs available yet in the Computer industry. We can only hope.

Also, I think I may almost have Fran convinced to write her review of Shadows. So, perhaps look for that in the next day or two.

Jack Beslanwitch SeaTac Westercon 56 Bid 6-28-2001 4:28

**Teekay**

CHRISTI: BRAVO!!!!! I just read your P** story and loved it to bits!
Absolutely wonderful. It was so easy to read. My eyes just chased the words across the page.

And tomorrow - another.

Teekay 6-28-2001 3:17

**Teekay**

Okay, I confess, I skimmed.

I had intended to read them all properly, but by that time you all would have totally forgotten about me.

BTW it's extrememly gratifying to have you all miss me and whenever I'm feeling down in the dumps I'm going to go away from the NB for a week or so just so's I can feel really wanted when I get back.

I have no good excuse (or bad for that matter) for being away so i;'m just going to borrow the one GARRIES used. If you want to know what it is you'll have to back track a bit.

MARY: CONGRATULATIONS!!! Although you're probably all cynical about it now :-). Old hat and all...

Re; the why is my writing important question.
Well, I'm not terribly sure it is. I certainly don't think it's going to change lives.
I guess it's just something I need to do, that or become a drunk, or knit or something.

My P** story is done, yet not done. It needs to be written some other way to be effective. Will get to work on that soon (I hope.)

The novel....well, let's not speak of that just now shall we. It's lurking at the back of my brain pestering me to bits, but I just need a bit of time to rejuvinate and get my writing hand back into the swing of things.

RHODA: I'm sooooo sorry I'm taking so long with those chapters. I can't print them out and this office is as cold as a maggot.
I think the same thing happened last winter, so must know all my excuses by now.

Oh yes. Can't get a copy of 'Shadows in a Dream'. Who would think in this day of technological advances that the bookshop wouldn't be able to get a book sent from overseas?

I'm reading 'The Potato Factory' by Bryce Courtenay at the moment. It's fantastic. I have to ration out the chapters in order to get things done.

I think that's it.
Still heading for the P** page.

Teekay 6-28-2001 3:03

TEEKAY: Whew. I was really starting to get worried. If I weren't just so darn relieved that you are here, I would give you the what for about worrying us to death. ;-)

Mary 6-28-2001 1:32

**Teekay**

Hi you guys.

Sorry, I've only just turned on the computer in...I don't know how long really, a week?

Here is my short post to let you know I'm fine, just really lazy.

Now, I've got a whole heap of catching up to do. ~gulp~

Teekay 6-28-2001 1:26

ROSEMARY: I think that Japan is using ducks in an attempt to control the locust problem they are having. They are just dumping big boxes of ducklings into the infested fields. You ought to see those little beaks go. Russia is using more chemically based solutions. High five to the Japanese (if it works).

Mary 6-28-2001 1:04

Mel,
The ducks are all over the place. It's messy but we have very few bugs. If they would just eat fire ants and fleas, I would cover the place with them. Did I mention they are quackless ducks? They hiss. If you scare them really badly, they'll honk. Some are white and some are black and white. The males get pretty big, about 15 pounds. When they're that big, they can't fly. The females are smaller and can fly when they want to. We have one baby duck in a cage with about 10 baby chickens. I'm not sure if we are going to wind up with a duck that thinks he's a chicken, but we do have a bunch of baby chicks that like to wade in the water bowl.

Has anyone noticed the big dust cloud from Africa that was mentioned on the weather reports? It has settled on south Texas and my sister and I are having terrible sinus problems. We haven't decided if we are allergic to elephants or lions. :P

Heather,
With the nursing experience and the writing gift, you could whip out a really great batch of stories revolving around your experience.

Night all

Rosemary 6-28-2001 0:02

Gariess - thanks. Yes, it isn't much to ask for, is it? But what they don't ask for is what they really want - someone with whom to spend the time.

whoops. Heather again 6-27-2001 23:25

Howard -- by the way, I didn't say it earlier, but your riddle was tops!

:o)

TEEKAY!

I bet her server got disconnected. I hope it wasn't anything more serious. I'm feeling dyslexic right now so I'm going to stop writing and editing and all of that and repose on the couch until I fall asleep!

Nytol,
XO

Heather 6-27-2001 23:24

Gariess:

You know I find I don't mind old age as much as I thought I would. I can suck the enjoyment out of the least little thing.

Just sitting and having my morning coffee is a thrill for me.

So maybe squimish is really evolving. I wasn't upset at Jerry. I took it they way he meant as sort of gross/funny. That's because it was Jerry. If someone else I knew was uncaring had said it then..........

Still I stand by resist, resist.

Younowhattamean jelly bean!!!!!!!!!

Debra 6-27-2001 22:24

You know, I still don’t get this lump in the throat and string thing, but after reading the posts I don’t think I want anyone to explain it to me.

Debra, I agree with your request, resist by all means. I must be getting too squeemish in my old age.

I don’t know if worry is infectious, but I do hope we hear from Teekay soon. I just want her to be okay, even if she doesn’t want to be here.

So, Heather, again. You surely know how to tell sad stories. I think it was nice that you gave the music tape and the movie to the home. It seems so little to ask for, a few songs and a movie.

Later,
GS

gariess 6-27-2001 22:08

I enjoyed working with a lot of the people - it was the people that kept me from leaving before the nursing cutbacks in Ontario. I was a private nurse, and after the cutbacks I ended up doing jobs that weren't supposed to be mine, and I was very upset with how few staff there were to take care of so many. I stuck it out until a few more people were hired, and then wrote my resignation.

I loved being there for people. There was one woman, who hated everyone but me. Every staff member seemed to hate her right back, except of course, myself. She'd had a stroke and her house and all her pets were taken from her and sold by her family. She was angry. She was also near blind. I took her every day to play on the piano - a love she and I shared. I helped her learn the notes again. She needed practice because her one hand was very weak from the stroke, but piano is a therapy most wouldn't think of.
She and I became close. I'd come and see her, take her for her bath, take her for walks and for coffee on my own time. She refused to let the other staff help her with her bathing. I'd see her in the dining room, and she'd just be so happy to see me it made me almost cry that I couldn't sit at her table. I had to sit with the person who was in my care at that time (who was a hateful and spiteful person). I worked with the woman who'd had the stroke for two hours a day (five days a week) for almost a year until one day I came into work and the boss told me that one of my new 'charges' wanted me all to herself. This lady hated the lady who'd had the stroke, and was doing this on purpose. She had about ten million dollars to her name so of course the boss favoured her heavily - something else I cringed about. The 10-mil lady didn't have any relatives, so the boss hoped she'd leave him her money. Anyhow, I had to break the news. Or at least I thought I did. When I went to my friend's room she was already in tears. I promised I'd come and see her after I got off work from the other lady's place. I did; just about every single shift I'd spend a half hour there, usually doing things she wouldn't let the other nurses do. About four months later I resigned, but I told my friend I'd keep visiting her, but not as often. Nearly ripped my heart out, that did. I also promised her that if Disney ever re-released the Lady and the Tramp, I'd buy her a copy. My friend had next to no income, and this had been her favourite movie of all time. Even though she couldn't see well, she could listen to it. Disney released the movie not more than two months after my promise. I hadn't been to see my friend in a week. I wrapped up the movie, and put a giant bright purple bow on it - her favourite colour. When I came in the front doors and was about to sign in as a visitor, I got the news from one of my ex-coworkers. My friend had had another stroke, and had died on the way to the hospital two days earlier. I gave the movie to the retirement home anyway, thinking that others would love that movie and it could be played on the house VCR. I didn't cry until I walked out of the building.

Another woman I cared for had MS. She would wake up every morning looking for her husband, who had died years earlier. This woman had been a school principal, in the days when they were always men. She was such a brave woman. It was hard to take care of her, having to watch she didn't choke with every bite, watching her flesh dwindle away because she could barely eat. She mourned her husband daily. She fought MS, but it was catching up, and she was uncomfortable all the time. One day I said to her, "If you want to join him [her husband] it's okay now. You can let go. You don't have to fight any more." A week later I came in on my shift to work for her and I walked in to find her room empty. I was happy for her, but missed her company more than I knew I would.

Working with elderly people is rewarding in unexpected ways. I met a man once, who had both legs amputated due to diabetes, and he used to dance with me on his prosthetic legs! He loved the blues, especially Bessie Smith, but only had one tape of blues music. I made him a few compilation tapes and he just loved that! We called him crazy legs because he refused to use braces or a wheelchair even if he was tired and in pain. He would dance down the halls! A funny kind of straight-kneed jig, but a jig nonetheless.
I don't miss the grody parts of nursing, though. You can bet five monkeys and a pan-fried hunk of liver it's true.

Heather 6-27-2001 20:47

TEEKAY!!!

Where are you? If you are lurking, please eek out one little post to let us know you are alright.

Rhoda 6-27-2001 18:56

Jerry:

Resist, resist.

Debra 6-27-2001 18:44

OH, I heard on the news this morning that a lady took her three kids out to the garage, got in the car and started it. When they found them they were all four dead. Some are speculating it is connected somehow with the deal in Huston, you know she heard about it and decided it looked like a way out. I don't recall where it was exactly, I think Georgia or Alabama.

Jerry 6-27-2001 18:13

Heather, I know that, you know I have this sister-in-law that likes to go visit those in the homes, then she tells them "you can go now, it's OK to die, we are ready for it" I think that's pushing things a bit, but I guess sometimes they need to hear that. Usually when she does that it is when they are in lots of pain, and hanging on and on.

My wife has worked in homes now for nearly twenty years, and she is very well liked by all the residents, and staff. That must mean she is very good at what she does. When she was working int he office residents would wander over to her office and visit with her. It got so bad they had to move her back to an office not accessable by the residents. Not that she minded, she enjoys the old folks very much but she just wasn't getting her work done. She worked as an aide until she injured her knee, now she has been working all around, where ever they need a fill, except on the floor, as her knee isn't well enough for that yet. She is looking forward to the day she can return to the floor, I hope some day she can. There must be something special about working there, I guess I just can't see it. It was always a downer for me to have to go to the home and take a police report, or even to see the wife when she was working, as I would meet up with all the old folks that I knew before they went in the home, and they always wanted me to stay and visit with them, I know it must be hell to be locked up in one of those places, especially when your mind isn't all it once was either.

Jerry 6-27-2001 18:11

Oops - I mean 3 in Deep South?

Heather 6-27-2001 17:57

Jerry - what do you mean, 3 in Houston?

Heather 6-27-2001 17:57

Um, what I meant was that uh, you know - pubic hairs sometimes act as dental floss....

okay, now it's time to go again!

By the way, who posted vampire's tea bag? EEK!
Wouldn't want to... never mind.

Heather 6-27-2001 17:56

Aw heck, I'll do it anyhow, despite the 5 dead in Huston and 3 dead in the Deep South this morning.

What's grosser then a pile of dead babbies?

A live one at the bottem eating his way to the top!

Sorry about that, I just couldn't resist.

Jerry 6-27-2001 17:56

yuk! thats beyound groddy!

6-27-2001 17:54

String thing,
Tampax????

6-27-2001 17:46

String thing - Vampires Teabag perhaps?

6-27-2001 17:34

HEATHER: Now I get the calculator thing. I still don't get the string thing. Apparently I have been doing something wrong for years if your tactful explanation is correct. (Winks) I am usually not this dense.

HOWARD: Succeeds. Hehe, you clever boy.

Mary 6-27-2001 16:12

Warning! Post below this one is terribly uncouth!
I forgot to say a whole slew of things...

Litter and Mary - might need a passage or two of Gaelic for my novel... would either of you be able to do a translation for me (in about a week?)

Christi - you are the utmost in enthusiasm, and it's catchy!
Mel - you too!

Viv - sorry to hear about Hana's wrist. Ouch. I hope she's feeling better. Give her a gentle hug for me (and blessings are coming your way!)
And I'm SOOOOO GLAD Mr. Bill arrived! YAHOOO!

Mary - forgot to say thanks for offering to give me a hand with the photo album! I have to go back and check out yours.

Howard - I pray everything will go perfectly, and that you're in better health than you imagined. Blessings heaped on you. (But gently)

Hi Sasquatch! Glad to see you here.

Jerry - I wasn't grossed out - no apology needed. I think my mind has grown accustomed to grody things from my relatively short nursing career. Sometimes I really want to go back, instead of cleaning offices, and work in a retirement/nursing home again, but you're right. It's depressing, and sometimes you do wonder if it was the visit that decided it for the person being visiied. Were they just waiting for a visitor so they would feel that they'd seen everyone and said their goodbyes? Well, that's not usually so. Nursing homes have a lot of 'goings'. Many times people in a nursing home pass away because they don't want to be there any more. (I mean Earth!) Their time has come to a close.

Christi - by the way, I read 'Death Is A Redhead' and I like it very much!

Rosemary - I read your P* story too, and I like it a lot! The only thing I'm wondering about is the significance of the teeth at the end. What did that have to do with the house...? (Don't want to give it away!)

Both of the latest stories in P* are very good - recommended for your reading pleasure!

Americo - SS*** sounds very exciting! Can't wait until it opens!

I have three books that are all waiting to be passed on to anyone looking for an incredible read!
I have: Ender's Game, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and Midworld. ALL ARE EXCELLENT!

Drop me an email with your snail mail addy and I'll pop one or all into the mail for anyone wanting to read them.

TEEKAAAYYYY! I do hope it wasn't a server arrest.

I'm sure I'll think of other things to say once I've posted.
Ah, time to head over to the couch and take two tylenol. Head about to cave in.

Heather 6-27-2001 14:56

Okay, now that you have stopped being manic I can get back to what I was going to say...

Okay, now that I can't remember what I was going to say, I'll go back to really stupid movie cliche's. What's the deal with those westerns where these guys who are riding through the hot desert have all these whiskey bottles? Really, now. Here are a bunch of fools who are going out into the worst dehydrating conditions on earth with very limited storage space, and they manage to bring along 40 gallons each of whiskey in quart bottles. The first thing they do when they are really hot and dry is stop and pull out a whiskey bottle and chug down booze like it was weak tea (which is what the prop men put in the bottles.)

Explain this to me, and while you're at it, tell me why there are no grapes and no nuts in a box of grapenuts.

GS

gariess 6-27-2001 14:41

Mark and Mary - Sorry I was so vague. By calculator, I meant my siblings and parents. They are all left-brain dependants; mathematicians, engineers, scientists. I'm the artist. (Hence - four calculators and one quietly wild calligraphy pen) I also posted that before Mark's horny post appeared, so had to go back and reply! Yeah. I said horny!
Mary - about the lump in the throat and the string in the teeth, I'm guessing it's a reference to uh, well - felacio? Maybe I should hope NOT. And it figures I'd think it was something to do with...
*ulp*

Now I have to go and rinse out my mind. Add bleach, detergent and softener. Go!
Trying to get the grey out of grey matter.

Heather 6-27-2001 14:40

hello humans persons i sasquatch am digging up things to eat and i heard you call. what can this poor Yeti do for you? i must go.

sasquatch 6-27-2001 13:41

That's it, HOWARD. I'm putting you in the front line of the search party for the missing NB-ers. If your corny jokes don't give 'em a rise to the forefront, we're all in trouble!

TEEKAY! Help!! Howard's witty block is out of control!!! What do we do?!What do we do??!! :-/

Hey, ROSEMARY! :-) How are the ducks??

Mel 6-27-2001 13:21

HOWRAD,
I sat there and stared at your post until I figured out a beakless bird would have to suck up his seeds. HeHeHeHaHaHa.

Rosemary--again 6-27-2001 13:16

Morning all, (still morning for twenty minutes here.)
((The post and reading took so long, it's not morning anymore now.))

CHRISTI,
It's really great to see you posting again. I've missed you. I just read your story in P** and it was excellent. I loved the humanity you gave to "Death". (now you have to read mine, right above yours). I didn't find your story silly or funny, in fact I think there were a few really good messages in there if you want to think about it. How easy it is to say you wouldn't want to live through something until push comes to shove.
--I definitely agree with you about the writers thin and thick skin thing.
-- Hopefully, Teekay pulled a Heather and forgot to pay her server. Keep at her. Maybe we need to get Phone numbers from each other for emergencies. I get 100 minutes long-distance a month free. I wonder if that would include Australia?

MEL,
Thanks for missing me. That seldom happens around here.

MARY,
I love a good pun and 'wrapped up The Mummy' was a brain tickler.

Stuff to do, places to go, got to boogy.

Rosemary 6-27-2001 13:12

Nothing succeeds like a beakless bird.

please help me...

howard 6-27-2001 12:55

HOWARD: I laughed. It works! :-)

Mel 6-27-2001 9:52

I think I'm gonna go with "blinked."

Didja hear about the voyeur who blinked at the peek of his career?

howard 6-27-2001 9:48

^^MEL^^

FL--fllll--fli---darn page is stickingggg---uhh! There. Another day gone. New day here. Time for breakfast! says the little Book-Of-Time gnome, salivating at the thought of wrapping his tongue around a praying mantis recently fed. And he waddles off towards Tina's house.

G'Mornin' Writers, Friends and Lurkers! :-)

MARY: Razors and alcohol! Yeowch! You won the gross-out game. HOWARD came in second as he spoiled yesterday's lunch.

BEN: Good luck with the "blue Jew!" :-)

HOWARD: um...did the voyeur "see double" at the peek of his career? Hmm, no, I'll keep thinking... Meanwhile, don't let the MRI/other tests scare you - it's better to KNOW and get whatever is wrong treated so that SOONer you'll be feeling better again. Prayers and (((HUGS))) for you...

LAURA: Sorry; the NB is so busy, it's all I can handle and all I need right now (although your Muse Kickers are intriguing...) :-)

JERRY: re: the nursing home thing... I think statistics might show that most people in nursing homes don't live that long, generally--don't feel personally responsible. Death is also the end of their suffering; death - a blessing in disguise. My mom suffered a few strokes - she's been in a nursing home for five years now, can't walk or talk much; my dad (88) visits her every day - I feel that is the ONLY factor keeping her alive this long, his presence and his helping her to eat lunch every day. I feel torn to visit or not to visit; two hours away, I can remember how she used to be. Visiting her and seeing her helpless tears me up. But the visit can be a good thing for her, if not for me, I guess. So go visit those lonely people tied to their wheelchairs or sickbeds - it can't do them any harm and might just make their otherwise gloomy day a little brighter. (Hope I'm listening to myself...?!!)

TINA: The praying mantis feeding was GROSS! Natural, I'm sure, but GROSS! I avoid videos of wild animals catching their prey, etc. *Shudder!* I'm not into be-headings and limb torture, human or animal. I bet you can watch "Starship Troopers" or "Braveheart" or Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" without twitching an eyelash! Or the "Jurassic Park" movies...yes, my family has made me watch all these. I think they like to see me get grossed out! It's that suspension of reality-thing as I watch them and get sucked into the story. Sheesh! Give me (little bitty house-variety) spiders anytime instead of body mutilations! Yuck!! Have a nice day, my friend. :-)

VIV: I meant to mention my condolences for your daughter...May she heal speedily!

MARK: A spoon? So gross, you boys! (Tina was a boy in her last life, I think.) The cow? ha ha ha oh dear, the poor thing ha ha hee hee! How much like a WB cartoon or the episode of "WKRP" where they "gave away" Thanksgiving turkeys - from a plane - before knowing turkeys couldn't fly... :-< :->

GARIESS: Next time, post your thoughts BEFORE you read gross posts. :-) We're here for ya - try again!

CHRISTI: "Death Is A Redhead" - :-) I liked your perspective and your treatment of the almost-dead guy and his choice to return to life, in spite of facing hardships to come. Watch POV, though; switching between your two characters can be tricky. I think it's more dramatic ( a good thing) than you thought. It was a nice little story.

Okay, saddle up the search party. We're goin' after the regulars who used to ride in here--well, regularly. Got your torches? (for light in dark places) Food and drink? (go easy on the Limburger and the Red Eye Whiskey) Witty Block Blockers? (Yep. We got th' gross jokes and the blonde jokes and the dead baby jokes all handy-by) Um, lessee- whut else do we need? Magnets to draw 'em back here? How about ropes to tie them muses down? Come on, now, help me out here - Christi and Heather, I see you in yore saddles already...who else is a-goin'? We're out to find and BRING BACK: TEEKAY, KITTY, HOP, BANKY, EDDIE, SASQUATCH, SHERWOOD, SUSAN, TRUDY, um, who else??? How about the stragglers? Are you with us or are we lookin' for you too: RANDALL, RHODA, RICHARD, ROSEMARY, TAYLOR,VIV...??!! Come on back (and/or more frequently) - you're MISSED!!!!!!!

Y'all go have a great writing day. I has spokened! (a bit of Mamie Yokum in me, I reckon.)

Mel 6-27-2001 9:37

Heather,

"Saints and Sinners" (SS***, three stars) will welcome stories about sins and virtues. Everyone knows/knew a particularly lazy, lusty, gluttonous... person. Or people having a prominent virtue (mine being patience...). But is it always easy to distinguish between a quality and a defect? Great sinners and great saints share at least one thing in common: they tend to be more interesting people than the run-of-the-mill citizen. That makes them wonderful characters.

It's about them that everyone is invited to write, hopefully developing in the process his/her analytical skills, humour and English. The project will also try to develop the critic spirit of those wishing to collaborate. Anyone (Jon, Pussy and Sasquatch included) may write his/her impressions about the stories posted in the adequate place of the renewed Workbook, when Jack opens it. A project about the living and the dead-- the next great achievement of this excellent community of writers... and friends.

Americo 6-27-2001 6:57

HEATHER: Here is the album link. There is navigation on the site to move you from one picture to the next, or you can click directly on the thumbnails to skip to which page you want to see. It's really pretty cool, I can't believe how easy it was.

Mary photo album 6-27-2001 2:58

HEATHER: Just caught your question about the web pages. I used Microsoft Picture It! to make the page, then I posted it to an online web hosting account that I have at Yahoo!. I also have Trellix, but I have never used it. I can make web pages or multi-paged sites. I linked here to just the page with the children's pictures, but I have a whole family album online. I will come back in a few to link to the album so you can see how it works. I can make one for you if you like, it would save you having to buy the software. Let me know, :-) (took me ten minutes to make the album)

Mary my kids 6-27-2001 2:54

GARY: LOL, sorry about the blade thing. Still, I think Howard's butt-scab has got me beat. Holy Shnikies.

I haven't laughed this hard with you guys in a long while. Feels good.

LITTER: Sent you an email, a long boring one, in retrospect.

TEEKAY: You are freaking us out girlie...hope everything is all right. I wrapped up the mummy story. Get it? Wrapped up...nevermind. I can't even get the calculator thing.

Mary 6-27-2001 2:28

Ok, feeling exceptionally blonde right now.

I don't get the calculator stuff. I just don't get it. I am going to go read it again.

I don't get the string stuck in the teeth either. What did the poor fella swaller? Lump in throat...string in teeth. Ummmm...his shoe? That's not very gross so that can't be it.

Scratching my head...

Mary 6-27-2001 2:19

Sigh

Christi 6-27-2001 2:01

Okay, my funny bone's busted. You guys went and made me laugh too hard and too long and that's that. Now when I whack my elbow I won't taste that nice zing screaming all the way up into my brain. :)
With all these jokes and stories I feel like I'm home again. Hail to the Notebook! Hail to the patrons of the Notebook! Hail to the Webmaster of the NB! Hale-Bopp! Whoa that was bad.

Viv, Your poor daughter. Hope she's feeling better!

Howard, Hang in there. Will you let us know how it turns out?

Thank you, Rachel. I'm glad I got through it too. Whew.

Mark, :P Gawrsh. I'm kicking at the ground with a goofy grin on my face. Thanks.

Americo, I never really had writer friends until I came here (except for my family), but you're right. It's an absolute necessity for me now. When I drop out of the NB's sight my writing suffers. Coming here fuels me and fires me up.

Mary, The kids are as adorable as ever! And you are as funny as ever.

Jerry, Thank you so much for sharing the story of your wife's PPD. It really made me feel better to know it. There is a real sense of guilt involved with PPD, even though you know it's not your fault, you can't help being mad at yourself for not being able to snap out of it. Anyway, thanks. It was really helpful.

Heather, Teekay hasn't answered my emails either. I'll just keep sendin' 'em until she answers me. That's me, Ima Stauker!

TEEEEEEEEEEEEKAY! I'm sending out a search party if I don't see your signature stylings soon! Please. We're not talking about murder anymore, I swear!

G.S., COME BAAAAACK! I hate it when someone doesn't tell me something they intended to say.

NOW, would somebody plllllllleeeeeeeease check out my newest story in the old ghostie haunt? (Needy writer, needy writer.) I'm dying to see what you think. It's really silly, so only read it if you want a laugh. Gulp. But what if you don't laugh ... won't my face be red. Okay, DON'T read it! AAGH! (Banging my head on my keyboard) Why must writers be born with such a thin skin when writing requires a thick one?

Good eve, ladies and gents. See you on the flip-side.

Christi 6-27-2001 2:00

Mark - Hi you (smiles).

Rachel

6-27-2001 1:21

What gets into you people? I must be in the worst possible frame of mind to hear gross-out things and where do I go? The NB, where else can I hear about...

Mary,

You are the worst. I can't contemplate razor blade images. I have to shut off those comercials when they show a woman shaving her legs. I know it's me, but I hate that.

Anyway, I can't post what I wanted to, you people have totally squelched my spirit, so I will save it for later.

Later,

GS

gariess 6-27-2001 0:54

*Tina*
Mark, I'm still chuckling. A cow. Poor fishermen, probably thought they HAD gone nutso. Still chuckling, picturing their faces. And the cow's face. Poor cow.

About 'Freeborn' (just to avoid confusion with Jack and Rachel and Allein and Americo's 'Shadow', I'll stop refering to mine as Shadow.) Go ahead and let other's read it, if they want, and scrawl all over it too. The more input the better! That's a pretty big hunk to print off, I kinda feel bad. If I send you any more of it in the future (hint hint wink wink) I'll print it off myself and send you a copy. For now, I'll look forward to your notes!

Talking about wringer washers has set my brain to thinking about the wonderful gadgets at my grandparent's house, back when I was wee. The treadle sewing machine, the butter churner and manual ice cream machine (wow was that good ice cream!), the farm tools and old barn and the water pump that still works to this day. I used to watch grandpa milk the cows, by hand. He kept clydesdale draft horses, originally to work the fields but later for competition. Each night, he'd hone his big knife on the wetstone, and I'd watch him, fascinated. Grandma would turn out these huge meals, at lunch! I can't imagine having to prepare that much food, every day. And she preserved and canned the products of her huge garden, and her garden was immaculate. I miss them both.

Now that I've waxed sentimental... back to 'Freeborn'!

Tina 6-27-2001 0:47

Sorry about those gross jokes, sometimes I read something here and just have to join in, then I get carried away. No, I won't do the gross dead babby thing, that's just too gross. Had a wonderful visit with my boyhood friend, the one I was talking about earlier. He just came home to visit his mother who is in the nursing home where my wife works, when she can work.

You know I never really thought about it until today when I had to explain to him why I didn't go up and program his mom's phone so she could call him, I have a sort of phobia about nursing homes. It seems that when I begin visiting folks up at one of those places, it isn't long until they die. Maybe I am the grim reaper in disguise or something, but it happend several times now in the recent past. I now have a uncle and aunt who reside at the same home, and I have never been to see them, I think for just that reason. It happened with my wife's aunt, went to visit her about three times, and puff, she was gone. Our old neighbor from across the street when we lived here years ago. He was in the home, we dropped down to visit him, two days later he was gone puff. Just a coincidance probably, but scary none-the less, then I think that I may one day be up there myself, in the not all that distant future...

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-27-2001 0:18

**Mark**
Hi, all. TINA, I've finally started reading. Shadow is a fine work. I can't stand so much all at once on the monitor, so I printed it into a booklet. I'll mail my notes back to you in an envelope. Do you mind if someone else looks at the booklet?

CHRISTI -- You make me smile just being here.

DEBRA -- What kind of mood was that? heh heh heh .. You'd like to see more of it wouldn't you?

HEATHER -- Holy Hannah. What the heck was that stuff? I'm logical and you have a calculator. Glad you laughed. So did I. Most of that had me laughing right out loud, I had to get it written to see if it would carry over.

HALLEE -- Is that guy now driving a Yugo?

HOWARD -- You remind me of the Japanese fishermen who were pulled from the sea clinging to floating wreckage. The Japanese Coast Guard tried to ask them what happened. Several wouldn't talk at all and the three who did insisted that a cow fell out of the sky and crashed right through their boat. The men were held for observation.
Several days later, unrelated sources disclosed that a training Russian transport plane had flown over the Sea of Japan. The crew had stolen a cow from near their Siberian landing field and gotten it into the cargo hold, thinking to take it back home for sale and good steaks. But the cow took fright on take-off and during flight she paced and kicked and generally upset the plane's balance. The cargo crew hated to do it, but over the open sea they opened the cargo doors and forced the cow out.

MARY -- Wish I had a spoon

RHODA, MEL, JERRY, GARY, VIV, AMERICO, LITTER, RICHARD -- Hi all.

Any one I missed? scan, scan RACHEL -- !! -- HIYA, kid.

Mark 6-26-2001 23:16

Okay, where can I get a copy or two of The Book? I definitely want one for my library!
Sorry my mind has been on other things for a while - I feel like I've been wading through jello - had another MRI, now waiting for the results. Looks like more surgery, and it's really been getting me down. I'll know more on Monday, but dunno if I really want to hear it. So far the doc thinks it may be a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder, but there may also be more damage in my neck - one or more of the bone grafts may have failed.

JERRY -- that's definitely gross enough for me - you win.

Help me with a new joke/pun - thought this one up this afternoon. At least I think it's original - never heard it before. Olny lacks the right word(s) to fill the blank.

Didja hear about the voyeur who ________ at the peek of his career?

howard 6-26-2001 23:15

Last fall I kept a praying mantis at work, in a nice big cage. We had to feed her every day, at least one cricket and sometimes two. She would hang on a twig, watching the cricket move around, twisting her head and big eyes to follow every movement. And when the cricket came too close... WHAM she'd have it in her spiked legs. She didn't kill them, no, she just started eating. Usually she ate into the back of the cricket's head, holding the body while the cricket struggled hopelessly. Crickets have no brain, not really, so it could take awhile for the mantis to eat far enough to actually kill the cricket, and she wasn't neat. Cricket goo everywhere. Oh it was an excellent way to gross out kids and adults alike :-D
(This is not a cruel event, it is completely natural. Watch a mantis in the wild if you don't believe me. A mantis will only eat live prey.)

Hey Laura, I went and checked out your site awhile ago. Looks good - I think I left a note in your guestbook, didn't I? Can't remember. I didn't join in because I usually spend too much time here in the NB as it is. Just don't have time to bounce between two! I read the first bit of your rewrite in the WB, but haven't finished yet. Looks like you made quite a few changes this time.

Viv, (((HUGS))) for you and your daughter. Sign her cast for me!

Dang it I just did it again! Tried to boil my kettle dry. Good thing it was very full. sigh. It's so easy to get involved and distracted here!

Off to 'Shadow'. Yay I have time to write tonight!
TTFN

Tina 6-26-2001 22:49

Jack - My copy hasn't come through yet, hopefully it'll get here soon. :)

Allein Allein's World 6-26-2001 22:09

I am a little busy at the moment getting ready for a presentation I have to give tomorrow night. However, Fran has not ready any of it, including my parts. So, she is completely engrossed and reading steadily away. I will let her make her own review when she is ready to do so and if she is willing to join us on the Notebook. Take care everyone. I look forward to reading it cover to cover on a somewhat slower bases. I did a skim with the pdf, but this is much much much better. Take care.

Jack Beslanwitch HTML SIG 6-26-2001 20:48

***Rachel***

Jack! I'm so happy that you got your copies. I know what you are saying about the excited little kid (grins). It is a pretty special feeling. Ahhhh! I'm going to hug you! Look out! It's a monster, bear hug (((((((((:oD))))))))))

6-26-2001 19:56

Oh, Jack, I'm really delighted that you got your copies at last! Hey, don't read just your part. You are also in other scenes... (And so is Fran). I think that Howard will also like and understand that I was always a great friend of his. As for Rhoda, well, I think she will also like. And so will everybody, except perhaps Jon, whose collaboration had to be rejected for being "too good for us just mortals" (but I hear that he is changing his mind...)

Lena,
I was so happy to hear your voice on the NB. And I haven't forgotten that you were my first choice as co-editor (unfortunately you vanished)...

Americo 6-26-2001 19:31

Having said that, I did used to be a medical photographer...

Litter 6-26-2001 19:20

*Treamsgal*

Hi Peeps!

MARY -- Where did you hear about Wemyss Caves? Or did you find them on a map? As it happens the caves are only 10-12 miles from where I live. Feel free to send me anything you need checked out. I try and remember to see if I can find any touristy stuff about the caves when I’m next in town. As for the Gaelic -- best of luck. I have been trying to get started on my own Gaelic course but my motives are a tad different -- I just want to ensure I do my bit for preserving the language, not that there are many Gaels living locally…

I seem to be sinking in a swamp of dead-head mail from all the conspiracy lists that I am on. They seem to be becoming more bizarre with time -- something I didn’t think that was possible.

Bit of a strange day here so I will not prolong this. Going outside to look for UFOs. Okay, Mars then.

As for gross -- don't think I can top Jerry.

As an old friend of mine used to say: “I’m saying nothing, thinking plenty, and making no mess…”

Litter 6-26-2001 19:17

This is a fanfic page that I run with the help of a friend of mine. please, if you like fanfic of any kind, or you just want an interesting story, come see...when we get a little farther you will see that it is a Choose your own adventure book...

laura MCQOFH... 6-26-2001 18:07

Well, PublishAmerica finally came through and I finally have two spanking new copies of Shadows in my hot little hands. It really does give me a thrill to turn over one of the copies and read my name on the back cover and turn to the parts of the book that I wrote. My little boy is peeking out from under the psychological covers and giggling with delight. I turn to him as he tries to sneak and tell him very gently to go back to bed. He giggles back at me and winks. Oh, well, he's part of me, too. Take care all.

Jack Beslanwitch 6-26-2001 17:54

Gross jokes, yep we used to tell them - like waking up with a lump in your throat and a string caught in your teeth. Or, when your granma kisses you and gives you toung! Oh and then there was when you throw your shorts against the wall and they stick! Yep there were lots more, but I forget, old age you know....

Jerry Ericsson me 6-26-2001 17:35

Howard:

Don't look now, but it appears that you've started.

Debra 6-26-2001 16:55

I just updated my site, please come and see...if you want to post please join...I'd love to have you there...

PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?

Laura Laura's Writer's Lounge 6-26-2001 16:35

Howard, that WAS gross. Not much icks me (or irks me for that matter) but there have been a few things on the blue of the moon that do. ASS SCABS?
One of them was a prolapsed uterus. That's when the whole organ comes falling down, turns inside out and hangs there, wondering what on earth to do besides turn black and rot.
Have to keep it covered with cream if no attempts to return the organ to where it belonged works. In this case, nothing worked in twenty years. Strange how heavy it was to pick up and slather with cream on the underside. VERY WEIRD. But the patient refused to have it removed. I guess the patient wanted to know what it might be like to be a man. Well, a guy 'without equipment'. She could have asked Hallee's ex!

Jerry - x-wife was replaced in spell check with 'swine'? Oh my! Try it with an 'e' and see if it gets left alone. Ex, I mean.

Great wringer washer stories! I've only seen the water extraction machine at an old laundromat. It spins like the engines of a jet! Sounds like it too. Hate to think about having anything caught in that. Sayonara, protruberance.

Heather 6-26-2001 16:12

TEEKAY? TeeeeeKaaaayyy! Where are you?
Calling Teekay!

I'm worried. Teekay hasn't posted in a week and isn't answering emails. Hope all is well with you, Tania.

Saints and Sinners - is that the title of the new project, Americo? Are we to begin dreaming up stories now? How about a day in the life. Ha ha ha. Oh, but I'm still an innocent. Sure. There must be some speck left or else I'd not be able to find simple joy in the petals of a daisy, or in running my toes through fresh green grass.

Hallee: Poor guy. Wonder if he was able to reattach...

Heather 6-26-2001 16:02

MARY -- Gross? The kids at college used to play "let's gross out the old fart in the cafeteria." They were sitting at a table next to me one lunch hour, playing their game, and I wasn't paying much attention. Then I looked at my hand and asked if any of them had a nail file or clipper. One of the girls obliged, and I proceeded to clean out one fingernail. As I handed them back, I shook my head and thanked her, and said "You know how when you reach down your shorts and scratch your butt, and one of those little scabs gets caught under your fingernail...?" I think those clippers are still laying on the floor where she dropped them, and I never heard another "gross-out" attempt after that!
Don't even get me started on gross jokes.

howard 6-26-2001 15:56

**Rachel**

Ben - You have lots of writer friends. A NB full of them;o)

Americo - I think it is very important for a writer to have other writer friends. There are things about writing that only another writer would seem to be able to understand.

Later :o)

6-26-2001 15:42

AMERICO: Can a writer survive without any friends in the literary milieu? I have.

None of my friends are writers, per se. There are those who say they are, but they haven't written anything in such a long time, they doubt if they ever will. They say they have no time, which of course is the wrong way to approach it. But I pretty well live my writer's existence in a solitary vein, and to be quite honest, it grows on you. It would be nice if I could belong to a writer's group out here where I could get some one-on-one feedback, but shift work and life get in the way more than I want to admit. I can't always get away from my responsibilities when I want to.

I finished my story about the painter. Totally different from what I had first planned. Made him half Jewish, gave him a Blue Star, and sent him in a boxcar to Buchenwald Concentration camp. I didn't kill him though. I leave that up to the reader to decide if he will die or not. But it is the train ride where the greatest change comes over him. He leaves Paris thinking he will be going to a place where he will still be able to paint, and on the way witnesses a mass murder, violence as much as violation of everything he believes in. He comes to the death camp a different man, not quite as naive as the man who left. I'm entering it in the Missouri Review Fiction contest, which limited me to 25 pages. I brought in at 21. I think it's pretty good. I'll find out if it is or not if it actually wins, places, or shows.

The secret about entering contests I was once told by an agent at the writer's conference out here, is to enter them as soon as you can, as opposed to waiting until the deadline. And the reason? The editors choose as many early stories as they can because they're afraid they might not come across that little gem they're looking for as the deadline approaches.

BAXTER: The importance of my writing? To me, it is all there is. It is the most important thing in my life as far as my own self is concerned, if that makes any sense to anyone. It takes precedence over food, sleep, and even sex sometimes (because I tell her I'll be up as soon as I finish this page, and by that time, naturally, she's fallen asleep and won't wake up for nothing--not even me!) It's not that it's more important than family and friends, it's just...different. It's my way of proving to myself that I can actually do it--for myself. I was never an underachiever in school, but I was never an overachiever either. I didn't go to university, because I was just an average student, and didn't have the grades. I didn't think they'd be able to teach me anything I couldn't find out for myself anyway. Now, of course, I wish I had gone for some courses. When I sit and write, I'm writing to please me, to show myself I can. And when something gets accepted, something I've worked on and re-worked, and honed down to where I feel it might be salable, I feel a great sense of self worth, and pride--the accomplishment of having achieved. Too bad it's only happened the one time...

Gotta go now. Found the start of an old story about a man going through his midlife crisis. Had one and a half pages and it struck me as not bad. Now I've got three and a half pages and it still looks, not bad. It's a time filler while I come up with another one. I'm gonna make it short, 6000 words, and have it out by next week I think. Don't think I'll be writing tonight though. Stayed up till four last night and had to get the wife up at seven. She had one beer too many with her girlfriend last night and wouldn't get up to turn off the radio alarm clock this morning. Why is it when she drinks, I have to suffer? It must be love, I don't know what else to call it.

Ben 6-26-2001 15:00

The last couple of days this place has reminded me of all those jokes you tell back and forth when you are kids to try and gross each other out.

1)"What's grosser than gross?"

"Sliding down a 30 foot razor blade into a pool of alcohol."

2)"What's grosser than gross?"

"Jumping from three stories up onto a bicycle with no seat."

Hehe. Great big gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts....

Mary 6-26-2001 14:24

Howard:

Those words will be with me forever. HAPPY?

Debra 6-26-2001 12:48

HOWARD!!!!Ughhhh!!!! Puleeze!!! I'm trying to eat my lunch!!! :-/

Mel 6-26-2001 12:44

VIV - Worst case of "projectile vomiting" I ever saw was flying over France in 1965 in a deHavilland Otter. That's a 9 passenger army air corps plane.
I was headed for Maison Forte to support a field exercise, and the guy in the seat ahead of me was on his way Home. But he had partied a bit too much the night before, and couldn't handle the turbulence as we crossed the mountains between Germany and France (big hills, anyway). He started filling barf bags, and handing them back over his shoulder to me. I handed them to the crew chief, who opened the hatch and chucked them out. Several of them. Right over a small French village. Hope nobody was looking up! Them bags were full.

howard 6-26-2001 12:42

MARY: HAHAHAHAHAHA *wink*

Hallee 6-26-2001 12:40

RHODA: COOL! Boy, JS looks older than I remember. But still a star! :-)

JERRY, MARY: Speaking of old, heh heh, well, you guys remember better than me (I'm only four years younger than Jerry so I can say that!). My mom must've had a wringer washer too but I don't remember specifics. Maybe between the time Jerry was born and I was born four years later, that's when progress happened. (Just knock me the side of the head for lame humor - must be the pinkie bandage is too tight.) Mary, what a fun memory! :-)

Mel 6-26-2001 12:39

Boy, that little piece of washer-history sure brought back memories for me. I guess that nowadays people worry about taking big vacations and long trips with their families to make up for time they didn't spend together on an every day basis. It doesn't matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together. I can still feel my brother's hand holding mine as we stomped up and down in those buckets. And the way we laughed. Hardly even seemed like a job. Boy, my mom really knew what she was doing.

Mary 6-26-2001 12:28

Chuckling...we had the cleanest feet in town.

Mary 6-26-2001 12:20

Wringer washers: My mother had one that sounds just like the one you are speaking of, Jerry. It was considered the height of luxury at the time because prior to my dad's lugging home of the wringer, my mother would line up three ten gallon buckets on the back porch. Into the first one went sudsy water and my youngest brother. Into the second one went clean water and my second youngest brother. Into the last one went more clean water and myself. My mother would put a shirt in the first bucket and let my brother stomp it, much like pressing grapes. It would get lifted, hand-wrung and added to the middle bucket of clean water where it would get stomped by my second brother. Meanwhile the next article was added to the first bucket and it was so assembly lined until the final piece of clothing was wrung out of my bucket at the end and hung on the line. My mother still says they don't make washers like they used to.

Mary 6-26-2001 12:14

HALLEE: LMAO, but one has to ask, is that WHY he is an ex-boyfriend? Hahahahaha..just kidding.

Mary 6-26-2001 12:06

MEL,

This one should work. The other picture is with Alice Kruge, the Borg queen.

Rhoda Dinner with Stars 6-26-2001 11:50

My link worked on Netscape but did not work on Internet Explorer.

I guess I will have to put my picture on a web-page.

Rhoda 6-26-2001 11:42

MEL,

That link below does work.

Rhoda 6-26-2001 11:28

What Link??!!

Try again.

Rhoda Judson Scott 6-26-2001 11:27

MEL

Try this link for my picture of Judson Scott.

Rhoda 6-26-2001 11:25

I am going to try to put my photo with Judson Scott here. It has never worked before, but I will try once more.

http://www.angelfire.com/nm/goldenpen/Kahnskid.jpg">

Rhoda 6-26-2001 11:19

Hmmm a tit in a wringer? I do remember that saying, hell I remember when mom used to use one of those old Maytag washing machines with the top wringer. Had a small gas engine at the bottom to run the whole thing, with a kick petal to start it. A small flex-hose lead the exhaust outside through the entry door. We had to carry buckets of water from the windmill to the house, where we poured it into a large copper boiler, that was set atop the old wood burning cook stove. When the water boiled, we would take the dipper from the water pail (used for drinking water) and ladle it into the bucket again, then carry it out from the kitchen to the entry and pour it into the washing machine. For soap, mom would take a knife and shave slivers off the home-made lye soap. The machine also had a hose so when the water needed to be changed she could just take the hose down and drop it out the door, so the water could run out. Rinsing was done in a wash tub, then the cloths were sent through the wringer to get most of the water out, then to a basket and out side to the cloths line to dry. I remember the day dad brought home that old used Maytag, mom was so very happy that she didn't have to use the scrub board anymore. Just in case the machine wouldn't start though, the scrub board still hung in the entry. Dad picked up used maytag engines (well they called them motors, but that wasn't the right term) so there were several of them out in the garage both for parts or to replace one should the one on the machine quit. When we moved to town, we took some of the spares along, I don't know why because dad picked up an electric wringer washer to use instead, but one day I took one of those little Maytag motors, and fitted it to an old bike frame I found at the dump and put tires on it. Didn't work all that well and I didn't have a clutch so I rigged a pulley on a lever and a belt that had a lot of flex to it. Well I started the motor, but it didn't have enough poop to start the bike going forward, so I started kicking with my legs, eventually I got it moving, and the little engine had enough power to keep me moving. I rode it around the block a couple of times but the pulley kept slipping off and eventually I gave up. My neighbor saw me going though and he thought it was great. He came over and traded me a home made single shot .22 pistol for the dang conglomeration. Now I didn't know that it was illegal to cut off a rifle and make a pistol out of it, and I used that little (not really little, the barrel must have been ten inches long) for about a year before I traded it off. Any that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Incidently I saw that pistol again when I went to work on the PD, it was in the evidence lock-up, a fellow took a shot at my sister and her friend a couple months before I started on the PD, and when they searched his house the came up with that old pistol too. Guess things like that keep popping up. Well they cut that old pistol in half with a cutting torch after the guy's trial as it was an illegal weapon. Oh the reason he was shooting at my sister and friend, was that the friend was his almost x-wife and the divorce just wasn't going all that well, as the fellow was one of those ass holes who like to dominate, and beat his wife.

Oh odd thing, the spell checker highlighted x-wife and offerd to replace it with swine? Must have been written by a bitter man.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-26-2001 11:11

I have to come out of lurk for just a minute. You guys are too hysterical to leave for long.

MARK: You are brilliant! hahahaha (Conan drives a big '79 Ford bubba truck *grin*)

GARIESS: Better to close an open window naked than to be a man, be naked, and close an open window with a fan running that didn't have the guard on it. (Yep - happened to an ex-boyfriend - they heard him screaming two barracks over).

Hallee 6-26-2001 9:58

Just a quick post.
Seems like we're all having a week of digit disasters! We had one of our own last night. My daughter broke her wrist. She took on a dog sitting job for a large dog. She was out walking the dogs, her own and the job-dog and they both took off after a tanoki (racoon). She was pulled over and dragged. I hadn't thought of the dangers of letting her walk a dog that is heavier than she is. She got the strap of the leash caught around her wrist.

Had to find the Japanese emergency clinic, and ended up getting lost and almost checking her into an old folks home! Oh dear! I think I saw Ima behind the desk. She was all too pleased to admit my daughter until a nurse came.

The biggest problem with this dog sitting besides the fact that Hana is smaller than the dog, is that the dog is named Hana also. I call one and get two!

This is the most beautiful dog you have ever seen. She is well behaved and was crushed that she'd caused harm. It was a an accident. I didn't have enough sense to realize that she needs a little help walking both animals. With just one she'd have had a fighting chance but her little dog got underfoot at the same time. Now I'm a little scared too because this beautiful golden retriever who is so kind outweighs me as well. Still, she is being sooooo very careful now that I'm sure we've all learned our lesson. We're lucky to have her.

But there is nothing scarier than a busted kid who keeps throwing up out the window as you drive around narrow roads trying to find the hospital. (My daughter vomited on a man who was walking down the side of the road....the streets are that narrow) We were not a proud example for America last night! Poor old guy!

Heather: I have Mr. Bill all taped. I'll find a strong box and attempt a return flight for poor Mr. Bill. I keep hearing this little voice saying....Oh nooooooo!
Because of the violence involved in the tape, I'm going to treat the kids to a dinner at our house, work it into the conversation and then show one episode to them and watch their reaction. At least I can't get zinged for showing it in class. We're doing our class picnic and I'll work American fads into the conversation, then give them a glimpse. If the reception is good, I'll do it in class. If they get really quiet, I'll say something like...well, do you have violent cartoons? (Yes!) Hopefully they will have a good sense of humor!

Viv 6-26-2001 9:30

Gariess:

First of all it was Jerry. He had an ingrown nail.

Also, I read your procedure for ingrown nails. You know what, that sounds like it just might work.

When you have an urge to slip into a pair of four inch sandels you just can't wait to make an appointment. You gotta get in there and make that nail nice nice!

Debra 6-26-2001 9:20

**MEL**

And the little gnome who guards the Book Of Time rips off another page...

G'mornin' Everyone! Sun here, 'tho pleasant now may become gruesome later... Write while there's a pleasant breeze between your ears... (no offense intended; there's usually a large wind buffeting back and forth between my lobes!)

MARY: Your children are adorable!! :-) Extra (((((HUGS))))) today for them!

RHODA: You talked to JUDSON SCOTT?! Ohh--green, drooling eyes here. :-) I thought JS did a great job as Kahn's son, not to mention the brief series of PHOENIX. Wish he'd do more stuff!

AMERICO: I was going to say my earliest writing days as a preteen were without writing friends--but I remembered my sister and brother formed a writing club with me one summer and we supported each other. And then there was a writing cousin of mine with whom I often got together. But in the Between times, it seemed like I was writing all alone, most of my years. And then I found THIS group. :-) I have never had so many writing friends at once! It is sheer joy to me. Daily inspiration! People who understand the high's and low's and confusions of the writing life. I love hearing from EVERY ONE OF YOU! :-) Thanks to ALL for sharing, day after day, time without end.

HEATHER: My pinkie is healing speedily; thanks for the boo-boo kiss. :-) It doesn't hurt too much now, except when I knock it against a doorway or something. The Tetanus shot I had to have for the pinkie injury hurts as much or more! Dumb shots.

GARIESS: NO ONE is touching our big fat window again, clothed or otherwise! :-) And I apologize for the gory thread on the NB of late. I think my squished pinkie story started it off! :-/

Meanwhile, I hate to suggest it, but some recent posts here could combine to make a very funny story, e.g. Mary's neighbor walks by in her snakeskin bikini, just as Randall, Mark, and Gariess are repairing a window for Mel and... well, your imaginations can fill in the rest, I'm sure! (Geez, look what you guys have done to my muse, got her all twitterpated, and she doesn't need any more bad influences to knock her offtrack!! I just got her back ontrack, sort of...and I refuse to write further episodes like this one! I write clean, wholesome stuff... with a little help from my friends, heh heh!)

Have a good day, y'all! :-) Write GOOD stuff!!!

Mel 6-26-2001 8:59

We will heretofore return to our regular scheduled programming.

Anonymous - heh heh 6-26-2001 3:51

Better flat toe talk than the news clips of the previous week!

Heather 6-26-2001 3:48

just a note of the wierd...

Every time I use the 'back' arrow to refresh this page, I'm bumped back to June 5. Any computer people know why?

I'm having sympathy pains, everyone! Toes, fingers, and all other vulnerable protuberances are cringing at the possibilities!

See y'all!

Tina 6-26-2001 1:47

I hereby accept responsibility for the following uncredited post.

GS

gariess 6-26-2001 0:53

Hey, you guys,

I have no more to say about the Texas woman. I will say that the response from the maternal view point is remarkable.

Melanie,

That thing about your finger. One more good reason for men not to close windows while naked. In fact, since I read that I can’t remember the other good reasons.

Mary,

Those old washing machine wringers were worse than file cabinets. At least according to that old analogy.

Debra,

Here is your cure for ingrown toenails:

"The best way to get them gone is to take alcohol, a really flat steak knife, strong glasses, to see with, a bright sunny spot and come clippers."

I see, now, that Howard, with his lightning grasp of the obvious, has pre-empted the following alternative procedure, but I am going to let it stand, anyway. I recommend drinking the alcohol first and then going to bed. When you wake up, see if you can remember what in hell the steak knife, glasses and clippers are doing on the floor in the bright sunny spot coming through the window. Next, make an appointment with the foot surgeon.
**gariess**

You know what? I just can’t read any more of these toe stories. How in hell did you people get so gory all of a sudden?

Later,

GS

6-26-2001 0:49

Ok, lets see; my current ride is a 1991 Chevy Silverado 4X4 extended cab. Yes the toenail fell off after being stomped by the yet unnamed young lady, who I am sure I called very unkind names for the rest of that school year.

An elbowed nipple, my god that must have been a real pain.

Post partum - I guess the wife suffered from that, she reminded me of it when we were talking about this case. I should have remembered it well, it was the worst few weeks of my life. She took pills, and our son, who was two at the time brought her note out to me, as I was elbow deep in the carburetor of our old Buick. I was horrified, but had enough sense to carry her to the car, and rush her to the hospital where she spend several weeks in the psycho ward, and we attended counseling. After making sure she was OK, I flew the kids home from Texas to Lemmon, where mom took care of them for us, until we got it together. Yes, our daughter was so very young then, just a few months old. Anyhow, it all worked out in the end. And we did live happily ever after.

Gee, I lost my train of thought after writing that, so I guess I won't answer any more, or participate in what I forgot to mention in this post which was indeed designed to participate in all the fine threads forming up and down this our favorite notebook.

Now this is getting about anoying, the top of my browser keeps rearanging itself, and I had to look all over for my Hot Lingo spell checker icon!

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-26-2001 0:27

Heather:

I covered my mouth reading most of your post. Wow!

Mark:

Same goes to you. What kind of mood are you in tonight?

Mary:

I meant to say this, your kids are darling. Your daughter looks just like you.

YOu're lucky. In a family picture I look like a stranger who jumped into the picture.

Debra 6-25-2001 23:39

miniskirt walking by of own accord

... 6-25-2001 23:28

MARK! I haven't had that much fun reading a post in a while!

*Still chuckling and trying to type*

My husband rides an American Classic motorcycle with the loudest pipes and all the chrome you can possibly find places for on a motorcycle. It's red and black. Yeah - BIG TANK. Almost a Fat Boy. He also drove a big extended cab truck when we first met. Penismobiles. Both of 'em. I took it as a sign! (Do loud pipes mean... never mind)

And I was right, too.

Now, on the topic of breast deflation where there are NO implants: One night after a wild, sweaty string of orgasms, my husband rolled over and up onto his elbow to face me, as he wanted to continue the conversation thread that had started the whole fireworks display.
His face went from 'about to say something' to 'Oh, God, what's wrong!?' I couldn't say anything. My mouth was agape...

...His elbow (and all of his weight) was on my nipple!

OUCH.

Heather 6-25-2001 23:25

Rachel! Absolutely! Excellent reason and of utmost importance!

Baxter - you did mean MY question, right? Ha ha ha Just checking to see if you were READING... :o> *innocent shrug with eyes rolled up and to the side*

Mark - you are certainly a logic-based human. Like that a lot. My childhood home: Four calculators and one quietly wild calligraphy pen. Oh, don't think calligraphy pens don't have logic. They do (I do) but it's not always a conventional kind. I see events that assemble themselves and each logically leads to the next - some call that coincedence. Call it a wide-angled lens view of happenstance, though I know; perhaps I should say I'm more of a Minolta or Mamiya than a pen. But I like to get under the surface. But pens and cameras have, in the artist's hand, an uncanny ability to dig beneath surfaces. Calculators, however, can see the pilings, the foundations, the pillars, the roof, and then the whole structure. (Weird sounding house!) They see what makes the whole and how it comes to be. But can a calculator see nuance? Perhaps they can. And the four members of my family that resemble calculators ARE much more than they appear.
If this whole blurb finds logic that you deem lost, just pretend I never said a thing! Forgive me, I'm rambling with a little less sleep in me than advised.

A really ugly looking insect just fell from the top of my monitor. Excuse me while I catch it with my tweezers and feed it to the chameleon...

ZzztthhWAP! Quick dinner, still wiggling. A sort of blue-rare beetle. MMMMMMmmm.

Perhaps I should save my speal on logic for a time when I can think, no? I'm tired. Still.
It was the sun's beating. Stayed in the park and soaked up 32 degree weather until it ran from the bottom of my shirt. Whew! Came home and decided to give the garden AND the kids a sprinkle.

MARY - beautiful kids! OH! Just darlings! They look a lot like their mom. :oD
BTW, how'dya do that? I have a scanner. I have no idea where to go to find a page like that to put up pics. Is it hosted by your ISP?
My ISP is hosted by computer nerds who find it best to stay away from film. Not that I think they're hideous. It's just the lunch on their shirts.

MEL - ohhhh OW! Double OW! *another smooch for your poor pinkie*

RHODA - Well said! Hearty Agreement HERE!

THE TOE PEOPLE :-) Howard - did the exact same thing when I was a lifeguard and swimming instructor in my teens. Was taking a bunch of 6 year old kids out of the hot tub at the end of a swim class, and the bubbles were on in the hot tub so I couldn't see the step. (I was last up the stairs) Caught the step with my toenail and, well, it was ripped right up. Almost straight up. Blood all over the pool deck. Really hard time ushering the kids to their awaiting parents without keeling over in horror and pain! The nail turned an odd shade of green (mostly pool chemicals and this disgusting 'spray-on bandage in a neon shade' my mom bought to protect my toe from getting wet...) later the toenail fell off and it was really neat to see the new one grow back. It grew out, but the end wasn't straight across. It was shaped like a semi-circle, almost clear, and really soft and rounded at the edges....)
To this day, I have problems with that toenail because I must have damaged the cuticle or something. The toenail grew in a little raised, and over the years it has never gone down. Similar to the fingernail I slammed into my Dad's truck door - and it was locked. My parents had gone into the University to set up for my mother's pottery show. I yelled but nobody heard me, (And I was keyless) so I had to rip my finger out of the door, taking the nail off with it.

EWW! I think I've had enough TOE TALK! (And fingernail talk)

And this post may just reach 'Notebook hall of fame' for longest, most boring and the most sickening all in the same entry. Ah, what the heck, I'll click enter. SORRY!

Heather 6-25-2001 23:13

I saw in one of today's posts about HEATHER and a twisted boob. ooooooo. There's a big problem. I scanned post after post looking for salacious details. I found nothing. But just thinking about it made me erect my own big problem. Yes, I admit such thoughts. I'm old enough to know better, old enough to have some self-control, and I'll still turn my head at a miniskirt while driving.

Speaking of which, for a long time the world of cars has been a masculine world. Men equated their automotive equipment with their 'other' equipment. Generally speaking, more power is better than less power. These days I see lots of young women driving large SUVs and large pick-up trucks. I guess Freud was right. It is penis envy.

Let me assure the young women, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. Take my resume back 25 years and you'll find me driving an 18-wheeler for Aero Mayflower.
ooooooh, do you drive that big truck?
Yes, m'am.
However, a year later I was only in control of a 14-wheeler. Ten years after that I drove a 6-wheel truck for a local garden center. Now, professionally, I drive a keyboard. I sigh when I say this, but as the years have gone by I have gracefully accepted my decreases in equipment size and power.

Some of my acquaintances have been less graceful. For his 49th birthday, one of my former employers bought a red convertible Corvette, the ultimate American penismobile. My present employer bought a Porsche Carrera last month. This month he takes lessons in how to use it.

Off the job, I kept getting bigger vehicles. When I moved here from Texas, I drove a full-size Dodge pickup and my wife drove the Lincoln. Right now, to my chagrin, I have a Toyota truck, though it *is* an extra cab model. Oh, and I might add I've proven that it hauls much more than its rated half-ton.

If someone dropped a blank check on me and said I could fill it out for any amount as long as it all went to buy a vehicle, I'd buy either a Hummer or a Mack Tractor. Let's face it, both of those vehicles say the same thing, "OK, I'm here until the job is done."

At the end of the day when I go home and find my wife clutching the doorframe, I don't want to hear her ask how quickly I can get into and out of her parking lot. I want to hear "Gimme all 18 wheels you big trucker."

mark 6-25-2001 22:48

Gaia - Hello. I don't think I have said hello to you yet. I used to be so good at saying hello to people. Now I'm rotten at it :o) So, hello!

Litter - Nice to read yah again.

Christi - I'm so glad that your baby blues went away. They sound awful. I have had friends suffer from post partem. I am glad that you are back. I missed you (smiles and hugs).

Richard - You illustrated your view very well. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for not going on a personal attack. That was very cool.

Mary - Thank you also for writing about this in such a level way. I like that I was able to say something that doesn't run along the exact same lines as everyone and I wasn't incinerated. Weee ha!

I also would like to give you a hug. I have talked to people about the woman. I know people here don't want to really talk about this, so if you are reading this post and you don't want to hear about it, then stop reading now.

Okay, I wanted to say that I also wonder why it is that people who do bad things to children seem to be able to have so, so many of them. I work with abused children. I have worked with and around them for years. I see them taken away, then the parents just have more and do the same things to the next batch. The ones before are destroyed. Their lives are upside down, inside out and as a rule, a total mess. Then, you will find some wonderful couple, whose only dream is to have a child together. They will not be able to, or they will have one and something will happen to the baby. It just makes me shake my head and wonder at the way of life.

Be good to yourself Mary. Okay?

Hallee - I think that we should be happy that we don't understand. If we really understood, we would be at risk of experiencing these things first hand.

Heather - Okay, I see what you are saying (smiles). How about this; because I love it. All things that I love are important to me.

Lena - Glad you got the e-mail. Thanks for the congratulations. It's nice to see you posting. I would be happy to give an autograph. Enjoy the book.

Rachel 6-25-2001 22:19

**Rosemary**
Evening Writers all,
JERRY and all ingrown nail persons,
My husband had ingrown toe nails and told me that once you got the doctor to heal them up, you must always cut the nail straight across and then cut a V in the middle. That was his method of preventing the corners growing in. I also don't think it always comes from injury. Sometimes it is just because of the way the toe is shaped, the shoes you wear or just because.

I lost my big toe nail while wearing boots. While I was holding my horse on a lead and talking to a neighbor, the mare stepped on the end of my boot and did a periotte (really!) I was at the neighbor's house. I smiled grimly after I got her off my foot, and led her home. I knew that if I took the boot off, I wouldn't be able to get it back on. Come to think of it, it wasn't funny then and not especially funny now.

I don't actually understand why so many are condeming the justice system when we have no idea of what is going to happen with that woman in Houston.
There were a few side issues that I felt were odd. 1. Why would the wife of an engeneer at NASA have to ask for a court appointed lawyer? (I know she has someone else now, [he probably offered for the publicity for himself,] but at first she did plead poverty and asked for free representation.) 2. How much did religion enter into the problems she was having? Why else would anyone have five babies (singely) in seven years even after an attempted suicide after the fourth one? I mentioned religion because of the babies' names. They were all out of the Bible.
I do agree with a few posts that said the husband should have done more. I wonder if it was her choice to have so many babies all together like that.

You're all right. We've gone on and on about that case and need to quit. But, I've been busy and haven't posted in a while.

PS--Has anyone had a chance to read either on of the stories I posted?????
Would love to hear from any and all. I don't think our email address shows up so I'll put mine here--rcalien7@cs.com
Bye,

Rosemary 6-25-2001 21:57

Oh and on the toenail thing, maybe I misstated the condition, the nail is grown in on both sides, curled into the toe. Anyhow, I am going to leave it up to the Medico's since I have an appointment with them anyhow, after all it is free to Vets, so why not use it.

Jerry 6-25-2001 21:35

JACK, just for the heck of it, I loaded up that American Indian Web Talkster, v3.0 and it works just fine to, must be Netscape, doesn't surprise me, since AOL took over, it seems to have gone a bit downhill.

Jerry 6-25-2001 21:32

Jack, not a problem for me, I usually use IE 6.0 which works fine, just thought I would let you know in case there are those who surf in with Netscape and have the same problem. I think I have Opera laying around on a disk somewhere, may give that a try just for the heck of it.

Jerry Ericsson 6-25-2001 21:26

Jerry: Re the Netscape 6 issue. My suggestion is that you make sure you have Netscape 6.01 I am using it just now without a problem. 6.0 is very buggy. Point of fact, AOL released it long before it was ready. Even 6.01 has some problems with it. Sorry you had difficulty. I would say Opera is another option, but I cannot even get it to run on my system. Still a tad bit overwhelmed with other duties or I would be getting to the Workbook. Try to get it finished before the end of the week. Take care everyone.

Jack Beslanwitch 6-25-2001 21:10

Howard:

Actually that sounds like a great idea. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of any hair brain scheme I cooked up to wear sandels.

Just for the record, I have perfected this procedure now. I'm the queen of both of my feet, not just the nails.

Debra 6-25-2001 21:06

"Lena Disconnected" looks like some cyber-chickie teenage pop name. How disconcerting.

Lena 6-25-2001 20:59

Ayeee!

*jumps on the collective notebook, esp. the Proud Authors*

I just read Rachel's e-mail, and I have been giddy ever since. I am so extremely, very proud of all of you -- just WOW. Congratulations, you guys, on getting Shadows published. I am going to order my copy sometime this week and I absolutely cannot wait to read it.

*grins, shyly* ...any chance for autographs...?

It's been a while since I've stopped by here, but I did want to say that I still think of you as my little family, floating off in cyperspace, and how very, very proud and happy it makes me to hear that you got Shadows published.

Congratulations, all!

*reels off happily into the sunset, and bangs her head on the painted backdrop*
-Lena

Lena Disconnected 6-25-2001 20:56

That was a good post, Rhoda.

And now for something completely different. Can a writer survive without friends in the literary milieu? I doubt it. And, however, who likes writers as friends? I certainly don't like them very much. They tend to be egotist and think they are better than me, which, as you know, is absurd.

Another completely different thing is that Jon sent me a message from the Moon asking me what an ingrown nail is and if he can be the king of that. I'm thinking of telling him to take it up with Debra... Or pehaps I'll just ignore that incredible cat.

Americo 6-25-2001 20:36

DEBRA -- No, no hacking. Nada. As a matter of fact if you're a diabetic (as I am) it's a job best left to professionals. There's too much danger of an infection that can really get out of control and become a life(or limb)-threatening situation.

howard 6-25-2001 19:36

***Rhoda ***

HEATHER,

Amen, Sister! Let us leave that Houston tragedy to the criminal justice system. To me that is a great relief. I ran that situation over and over in my head until I got absolutely depressed (really!). I consider how many days we have discussed that one, and honestly one of the reasons I haven't posted much lately is that I don't want to talk about it any more or even think about it. I can only conclude that this case has hit such a cord because it boggles all of our pat ideas about justice and law and order. I have no answers. I am more than happy to let a jury decide and to let the criminal justice system do its job.

And yes, I am praying for what little is left of that family.

TAYLOR,

Bless your heart. I remember what it was to be young and a bit rash. I might have made such statements at your age, but however much you might not like it, even the accused has rights. If it were not so, the government or the society would be dragged down to the level of the criminals or anti social types it seeks to discipline. That is why the United States Constitution and those of every other civilized country has laws against cruel and unusual punishment and torture and such. Look at the countries such as Saudi Arabia where justice is swift and severe. The problems with such places, you will find that some people get more justice than others. Read the book PRINCESS (author's last name is Sassoon) for an eye-opening look at that.

I hope and pray that those two guys in Britain do not murder again. What a horrible thing! Think about what you are saying, Taylor. I do not believe for a minute that those boys are rehabilitated, but I hope they never hurt another soul. Someone made a big mistake in that case, but I hope that God is merciful. I think a far better thing would have been for the individuals who made that decision--those people who really believe these guys have been rehabilitated and deserve another chance--to take those guys into their own homes and let these boys babysit these officials' own kids.

RICHARD,

I know just what you mean. I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior at the age of eleven and life was never the same again. I cannot begin to tell how good He is or has been to me, though I have often tried. I am happy for you. And just think: the best is yet to come!

I have a couple of pictures from my "Dinner with the Stars." I will put them up on my web-site perhaps this evening. All the proceeds of that dinner went to charity. It was a lot of fun and Frank and I are glad we went, but there were not many stars. Most of them for whatever reason did not show up, including the lady who was supposed to provide the entertainment. The only major draw who came was Adam West (aka Batman). I was hoping to see James Doohan, but he wasn't there. I talked to Alice Kruge (the Borg Queen) who is a beautiful and talented lady. I also had a few words with the tall blond haired guy (the one with the head band) who died in Kahn's arms in STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KAHN. He told me that Kahn was his dad, though it was never stated in the movie.

Rhoda 6-25-2001 19:17

Howard:

That sounded like it really hurt. Geez. I think I smell a story for funny, not so funny at the times, accidents.

Nope, actually it's dinner. Gotta go................

:)

Debra 6-25-2001 18:17

Howard:

There is no hacking in what I was talking about. It's precision cutting. No hacking. None.

Jerry no hacking:

Got that?

Debra 6-25-2001 17:53

DEBRA - They don't have to be strong glasses -- just sturdy enough to hold the alcohol (bourbon, presumeably) until you get zonked enough to start hacking away.
Ingrown toenails are caused by improper trimming. Thick toenails are caused by fungus buildup under the nail.
A couple of years ago I went down cellar for some canned peaches, and my foot hung up on the next-to-bottom step, just enough to unbalance me. In trying to keep from landing across the room I forced my foot down, and the big toe came down first, right on the concrete floor. Big time ouch! I hobbled around for about a week, and then popped the nail clean off. Instant relief!

Howard 6-25-2001 17:36

Jerry:

It doesn't matter where the first cut is. It only matters that the clippers cut the nail somewhere and not the tissue.

As you move along the part that has decided to grow down into the toe, you can cut whatever part of the nail you are able to lift upward. At some point you will feel better and become a pro. Once that happens you will be the king of your toe nails.

Debra 6-25-2001 17:04

Had new pictures taken of the children.

Mary my children 6-25-2001 17:04

Jerry:

Did I mention that part of, but not all of the reason, for the flat knife is you need to slip it under your nail slide it towards the in grown part and the slightly turn it upwards towards the sky to lift the nial so the clippers can get at it?

Well you do.

Debra 6-25-2001 16:23

LITTER: I learned how to say your name in Scots Gaelic today. I stumble over my own a bit, but yours is easy. I can also say a few phrases. The easiest is, "What's your name?"

Dé'n t-ainm a th'ort? (It sounds just like "Tea and ham on a horsht) OK, not exactly...but that's how I remember it.

I started trying to learn a little Gaelic because I need it for that story, but I am so fascinated by it I can't stop. :-)

Anyone else here know any Gaelic?

Mary 6-25-2001 15:32

Mary:

You win! Boy that sounds like it hurt.

Jerry

In grown toenails are caused by banging them on a door way when you go threw too fast. I have them too. The best way to get them gone is to take alcohol, a really flat steak knife, strong glasses, to see with, a bright sunny spot and come clippers.

Wait a minute I'm not done.

You have to dip the knife in the alcohol, we don't want nail fungus. Then slip it into the nail from the edge, working from the middle to the right. Don't stick the knife into the toe. Just slip it under close to the top of the nail. When you have some of the nail visible cut it with the clippers. You have to do little of sections at a time. You can't get it all at once. Don't worry if you can't get the absolute farthest edge first. Soon you will be an expert. Just make sure you don't try to cut the nail without the knife under as a guard. When you get in there you don't want to cut the toe. The pain is caused by the nail hitting the tissue. Once the nail is out the tissue stops hurting.

Do that now!

Debra 6-25-2001 15:25

Mel, I can only hope. You know try as I may, I simply can not think of her name. Guess it isn't important. Been trying the wife to unpack my high school annals, but she says "just as soon as you build me a book case!" Oh woe is me.

Jerry Ericsson 6-25-2001 14:36

You guys keep posting as I'm posting! Sheesh! How's a person supposed to keep up?!!

JERRY: I count that as your childhood stupid accident for shorty night, if Mary agrees - but tell us, did the ugly girl go deaf from your scream??! :-]

Mel 6-25-2001 14:24

Well, I guess for shortie night there are two choices of topic:

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

OR

STUPID ACCIDENTS THAT WEREN'T FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT TURNED OUT ALRIGHT SO IT'S OK TO LAUGH

Mary 6-25-2001 14:24

DEBRA, MARY: Yeowchy condolences to both of you!! Thanks for your warnings. :-) Too bad I didn't hear 'em before I did that stupid thing Sunday morning! :-/

So, MARY, which shortie night topic is it going to be? Childhood stuff or stupid stuff (hmm, could be one and the same - in fact, I've got just the story...)

Mel 6-25-2001 14:20

Hahaha...I am having way to much fun at the Notebook today.

JERRY: Your poor wiggly piggly. :-)

Mary 6-25-2001 14:17

Mel - Sorry to hear about the digit injury. Did something like that myself when I was but a pup. It was the first house we lived in with running water, and I thought it was GREAT. I showered every day, sometimes twice a day if it was hot. Well one day after a quick shower, I hurried to dress for school. Well had my pants and shirt on, but needed to go get my shoes and socks, so I yanked that bathroom door open, right over my big toe. What pain, I screamed but managed to get the thing open again, and all was well, or so I thought. About mid-day in school, the pressure began to grow, by the time I got home, the whole toenail was black., I showed it to dad and mom, they looked and made some excuse for not taking me to the Doctor, something like we can't afford it. Dad told me to take a needle and poke a hole in the back of the nail to relieve the pain, so I started. Went pretty well to, managed to get the hole all the way through, and the blood came oozing out. I kept picking at the hole, and squeezing that toe until most of the blood came out, and the pain seemed to dissipate. A couple of days later, in 6th grade music class, the teacher had us pair off to dance to Stoudal'a Pumpa she played on the piano. Well I got paired off with the meanest ugliest girl in the whole sixth grade (both rooms!). About midway through the dance she stomped right down on my poor big toe. The scream I let go of could be heard on all three stories of the grade school, it echoed through the hallways, into the rooms, even the bell atop the building began to vibrate into a false ring. Mrs. Smith was not impressed with my vocalization, but I was allowed to sit out the rest of the dance. About a week later the nail fell off. Things were tender for awhile, and I learned a valuable lesson; watch were the bottom of that damn door goes and get your toes the hell out of the way. Oh and never dance with a girl you don't like, it could be hazardous to your health. Oh, when she found out about my poor toe, she laughed so hard she nearly fell over.

Oh and my big toe - well I have suffered with an ingrown toenail ever since, I will see one of the VA Doctors about it at my next appointment.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-25-2001 14:14

CHRISTI: Thanks for kissing my boo-boo. :-) I guess I only know why my writing is important in terms of my personal perspective. If it will be important to anyone else remains to be seen. But, wait a minute, now, a brief flicker of deeper understanding may be fighting its way to the surface of my groggy mind...Not only, why is my writing important, but--WHAT IS IT, ABOUT my writing or IN my writing, that makes my writing important? Is that your question, HEATHER? I think I see a slightly different twist here...Hmm, I'm still not sure if my answer is much different. My message? I want to say that true love needs to be grasped tightly with open, trusting hands. I want to say that the gift of life--one life for each of us--is fleeting and begs each of us to give it our best shot in everything that really matters to us. So, why is what I write important? It is a reminder to readers not to take life for granted...?!? Hmm, maybe I still haven't answered your question, HEATHER...or have I?

Mel 6-25-2001 14:11

Mary, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Ouch!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh gads, my sides ... they hurt!

Christi 6-25-2001 14:08

Maybe I should change the shortie night topic to "Stupid accidents that weren't funny at the time, but turned out alright, so it's ok to laugh" Huh? I am sure that we would all have plenty to write about. People can do some really stupid stuff.

6-25-2001 14:05

DEBRA: Twisted? I accidentally slammed mine in a file cabinet drawer one time. I was afraid to look.

Have you ever wanted to scream, but couldn't because there was a whole crowd of people standing behind you and you didn't want to make an already horrible situation worse by embarrassing yourself? Well that pretty much describes the file cabinet incident. Quit laughing, it's not funny. Oh, alright...it's funny.

My husband says he doesn't know how women walk around with those things.

Mary 6-25-2001 14:03

MEL: Ouch. Even I flinched when I realized what was going to happen. I was thinking..."Mel! Move your hand, the window is coming down!" Like when you are watching a movie and the camera angle is from over the bad guy's shoulder, he is holding a bat and walking up on someone from behind and you just want to call out and warn the victim. Yikes.

My father in law was carrying a loaded paper sack into the house one day when the bottom dropped out and unleashed a whole magnum of white zinfandel onto his great toe. I think that stream of obscenities is still floating over Lake Erie somewhere. The ER had to drill a hole through his toenail to drain the blood from beneath it. I have never seen a grown man sweat like that. Of course, now it is a good source of laughs, but at the time: Holy Shnikies.

Mary 6-25-2001 13:53

**Christi**

Actually, Mel, I think Baxter is correct on this one. The reasons you stated were why your writing is important to YOU, not why it is important. I think these are two different things. All depends on the nuance, I guess. :)
Here's a kiss for your poor little piggy. *smack!*

As for me, I hope that my writing IS important for some reason or another one day. Right now I feel I'm building my talents--learning from my mistakes, and hopefully getting better each time. My writing is important because it speaks of the human condition, which remains as much a mystery and is as fascinating to me today as the day I was born. How's that for now? :) *cheeky grin*

Christi 6-25-2001 13:37

Heather, did I miss that question? It seems that many think I did, and if I did, I guess it is because I didn't pay enough attention. At times I am guilty of that - it is a well known fact in my family. Seems my mind works on several levels at the same time, maybe because it had to when I was on the PD, but when that happens, I seem to get the gist of a question and answer that in instead of the whole thing. I should work on that.

Why is my writing important to me? I guess I sort of feel that what I write has the ability to live on after I am gone. Published or not, my family will have my notebook full of all the tales I have written, (Well most of them anyhow).

Debra - I couldn't agree with you more, the husband should have seen it coming after all, he watched as she wallowed in depression after the forth child, he should have known it was going to happen. I don't know the whole of her illness, but I do know that with many, who are depressed they seem to come out of it just before they kill themselves. This I have learned by investigating suicides. It seems that when they have decided what they are going to do, the pressures of making that decision goes away, and they appear cheerful to those around them. Maybe that is what happened here, but reading the articles about it, it doesn't appear to be the case.

I do like the idea of insane but guilty. This was brought about by the Hinkly case where he shot then President Reagan, and got off on an insanity plea. One has to wonder at our courts though, first they swing way liberal, then way conservative. We have been in the conservative swing now for about fifteen years, so I guess it may be time for it to swing the other way. Who knows, maybe this too is a good thing but often I wonder where the judge's head was when he makes his ruling. I got a good dose of reality when I worked as a paralegal law clerk for a district judge during my internship. I saw how such rulings are made on that level at least, and it was interesting. With my conservative ideals, I found one case involving a drunk driver who killed two innocent people where I was forced to recommend a ruling that may well let him off. You see the police really screwed up on the investigation. Now years of police experience couldn't justify not throwing out the tainted evidence. It was a sort of awakening as to the real world. Often the public screams injustice when criminals get off on technical ruling, but without those technicalities, we would not be the free nation that we are. Those technicalities are in place to protect the innocent, even if it means at times that a guilty man walks. In cases like that, express you anger not at the court, but at the officer who, while knowing the proper procedure, bypasses it because it takes too much time, or the officer disagrees with the law.

Jerry Ericsson Stories 6-25-2001 13:31

Mel:

By the way, sorry to hear about your finger. I did that a few months back. The pain. It's awful.

There's only one thing to do, pay attention. That's waht I was told. I am believe me.

Debra 6-25-2001 13:08

BAXTER: Heather's question--why is our writing important--can be often answered with the same answers for why we write. Why I write: as a personal outlet for stress and to provide a literary escape for other people. Why is my writing important? Because it relieves me of stress and I feel that people, in our overstressed world, need a literary escape. The two questions are wrapped around each other. (Sorry, HEATHER, if I'm missing a deeper perspective on your question.)

Mel 6-25-2001 12:56

Heather:

I've experienced many a twisted boob or two, believe me. I think they call that a natural job hazard.

No whatcha mean!!!!!!!! I do I do.

Debra 6-25-2001 12:47

Hi - check out the following for info re today's Supreme Court decision on copyright for E-copies:
-
http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/25/scotus.copyright.ap/index.html
-
Interesting!

howard 6-25-2001 12:34

It's funny that we all write but we seem to skip over what we read without paying as close attention.
I think that's the main reason that typographical errors are made and go unnoticed. It's also the reason so many people answered a question that hadn't been asked. The question was about the importance of our writing, or our art, but not about why we write. I noticed, and maybe everyone did, but when it came down to loading the comment page and writing down our answers, we forgot the actual question. Now I forget what I was going to say.
Just my observation on this, don't anyone get offended by it. --Baxter

Baxter 6-25-2001 12:27

**MEL**

Good morning/evening/timeless voids to all you, my fellow writers out there! :-)

Well, I had an interesting morning yesterday...two hours before my son's graduation party, I was cleaning (yes, still - I'm an active member of the Procrastinator's Club, y'know). Our diningroom window is extra wide and very heavy and has no ropes to hold it, so I was holding it up with my left hand and cleaning the sill with my right, trying to decide if I wanted to leave the window open or...the window decided for me. Down it came, too heavy for my one hand to hold, and it caught my right pinkie finger in the slam, pinched between the window and the sill. YEEEOWWWWWCHY! And a few words I can't repeat here...um...well, couldn't lift that window with only one hand, so I yelled for help...of course, my family was strung all over the place - two outside, one upstairs, one in another room, one downstairs sleeping...they all came running! :-) I'm loved! My 13-yr-old arrived first and said "What do I do? What do I do?" And I managed to grit my teeth long enough to say "Push up the window!" Soon, my poor widdle piddy was free. My husband, who'd been doing the "what-if's" as he ran in from outdoors, was in worse shape than me and said, "I'm taking you to the hospital!" And I said, "I think I'm okay, I don't think it's broken--" My husband repeats, "I'm taking you to the hospital!" And, looking at my squashed, bruised little finger, I said, "Okay." VERY lucky I was - NO FRACTURE! I could hardly believe it! Let's hear it for fingernails-yea!!!