August 2010
26 posts
August 31, 2010
THE CURRENT OF DREAMING
When I was in my 50s and at the height of my political life, I began to have a reoccurring dream that was so disturbing, I sometimes awoke with tears in my eyes. The dream revolved around a pet — a cat or a dog or many cats and dogs — which I had abandoned only to find the animal(s) staring at me with hollow, accusing eyes. Each time my guilt was profound and...
August 30, 2010
CURIOUS ABOUT VOLDEMORT II
I take my 94 year-old mother to lunch once a week. She likes to mix with people of different ages. The local Mall is a good place for that so we sometimes stop for a hot fudge sundae and to do a little people watching. Last week she was swirling her chocolate into her ice cream when she leaned across to me to confess she was troubled about the place where she lived. “You...
August 27, 2010
LIFE AS A VOYEUR
I saw a photograph the other day of Grace Kelly when she was attending a premier of “Rear Window,” the Alfred Hitchcock film (1954) in which she co-starred with James Stewart. Anyone who has yet to see the film should remedy the omission as soon as possible. Call me opinionated, but no one today makes a suspense film like Alfred Hitchcock. I miss his glossy, tension...
August 26, 2010
AN OLD DOG HOWLS
It’s almost a month away, but I can feel autumn in the air. Mostly the reminder comes in the form of magazines chock full of information about sending youngsters back to school. Advertisers are busy too. I guess they’re hoping for an uptick in sales as parents think about backpacks and lunch pails and new outfits for their children.
I haven’t been to school in a long time, not...
August 25, 2010
A TEACHER CALLED HUMOR
I love James Thurber. “My Life and Hard Times” is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. In fact, Heart Land is set in Ohio as a subtle tribute to the author.
I’ve read Thurber’s book several times and still can’t get through the pages without doubling over with laughter. Knowing what comes next does nothing to dull my appreciation. If anything, it enhances...
August 24, 2010
ALLEGORIES OF GOOD AND EVIL
A few years ago, I wrote an allegory. I don’t mean to appear immodest, but it’s one of the most satisfying pieces of writing I’ve have ever done. Unfortunately, I found no market for it. Allegory, a moral tale told with symbols, has gone out of style. Too bad, because the art form still has a place in the 21st Century.
Because we live in a complex world, we can’t ...
August 23, 2010
THE ONLY SECURITY OF ALL IS A FREE PRESS
- Thomas Jefferson
Last Friday, I received an early phone call from a former student I taught while I lived in what’s now called Zimbabwe. Today she’s 62 years-old and runs a travel agency out of South Africa. She’d like to sell the business and retire but the economy is bad so she carries on. I get e-mails from her with articles from the local press...
August 20, 2010
WRITERS OF MISINFORMATION
For the most part, advertising is misinformation I don’t need, though occasionally, it has its amusement value.
Ellen DeGeneres, actress and TV talk show host, has recently become the advertising face for Cover Girl cosmetics. She’s part of a campaign for a new product, “Simply Ageless.” It’s promoted as providing “the 3-minute facelift effect.”
I really don’t know what...
August 19, 2010
THE FOUNTAIN PEN IS AS MIGHTY AS THE COMPUTER
When I was in elementary school and brought homework with me on weekend visits with my father, my stepmother knew how to coax me into doing it. She was raised in Wisconsin, the oldest daughter of thirteen children and knew plenty about raising a youngster. On a Saturdays, I’d rather play than do school work so she allowed me to use her special...
For Panchomanyeti & Exogenesis
Hi Panchomanyeti,
Just found your reblog to me on a blog that belongs to Exogenesis. I’m not clear how all this works. Mostly I type and my PR guy does the set up. I’ll ask him to explain why your remarks to me came via Exogenesis or maybe Exogenesis is another site of yours. Okay, I admit it. I’m confused. An old dog can learn new tricks but s-s-slow-l-ly.
Heart Land is...
August 18, 2010
THE SOUND OF SILENCE
Wise men have written that if one attains enlightenment, the need for words falls away. What exists is perfect silence.
I don’t know if the statement is true and I do know my level is enlightenment is about the thickness of a sheet of paper, but as I grow older, I’m becoming addicted to silence. My ear doctor says I could do with a hearing aid. I feel I can do without it....
August 17, 2010
WRITERS AND INSECTS HAVE MUCH IN COMMON
For the past two years, few honey bees visited my garden; but this season they are back. I’ve always had bumble bees. It’s hard to miss them with their large furry bodies and black and yellow stripes. The honey bees, being smaller and less colorful, aren’t as eye-catching but this summer I see them everywhere and their presence makes me happy. It’s not...
August 16, 2010
WHO KNEW? BLOGS ARE GOOD FOR YOU
Last Thursday I went with a friend to see ”Inception,” a film that explores dream- like states as an extension of reality. He said the movie was good, but I suspect he wanted to go because of the popcorn. Once his container is empty, he usually falls asleep. He never snores, I’m happy to say.
During “Inception,” however, a film about sleep, he stayed awake. One...
for Panchomanyeti
Thanks for the recent thumbs up, Panchomayeti. I’m beginning to see that you have a taste for whimsy. Me too, obviously.
August 13, 2010
IDEAS ARE MORE RELIABLE THAN BIRDS
As I write, I’ve just finished lunch. I eat around 2 p.m. when I don’t meet a friend. It’s usually my main meal of the day. At night I settle for something light, not in terms of calories, I mean light terms of the number of dishes to wash. In the evening, I slow down like an old fashioned, hand wound watch. The less I have to do, the less I stagger around like a...
August 12, 2010
THE COMPASSIONATE HEART
I had lunch with a friend recently. We meet periodically to catch up. He leads a busy life and so I treasure our times together.
Five years before, he made a mistake that betrayed people dear to him.Each time we meet, he tells me how hard he’s working to make amends and I believe him. In my opinion, he’s doing a good job.
As we sat together in a little Greek café, he seemed...
BOOK TALK ON THE AIR
Hi everyone,
I recorded a half hour interview with Ed Goldberg on July 29 for his program “Between the Covers” on KBOO-FM community radio. We talk about my novels Heart Land and Gothic Spring. Ed’s remarks were insightful. You might enjoy them.
http://kboo.fm/node/23070
August 11, 2010
WILL ROGERS SHOULD HAVE MET A LIBRARIAN
I confess I never read “Winnie the Pooh” until I was an adult. But I did read “Now We are Six” by Milne when I was about eight or nine. I was in elementary school and I remember the librarian, a woman who looked like the actress Claire Bloom, put the book in my hands.
To be honest, we didn’t have books at home. If I was read to...
August 10, 2010
THE TRUTH OF FICTION
I’ve just finished reading a novel by Richard Clarke, his first, called The Scorpion’s Gate. Normally he writes non-fiction. His best seller, Against All Enemies, deals with his experiences in the Middle East while he served in military and national security positions under three presidents. Since retiring, he’s provided commentaries on network television and writes a column...
August 9, 2010
THE ORIGAMI OF LIFE
I was amazed. I admit it. I’d never paid much attention to the art of origami before, but after seeing the film “Between the Folds,” I experienced a revelation.
Of course, I’d seen women at the Japanese Garden fold birds or flowers from a single sheet of paper. The craft was interesting but not compelling. “Between the Folds,” brought a different level of appreciation. I...
August 6, 2010
WHAT ALAN FUNT AND CANDID CAMERA SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT ME
In the 1950’s I loved a television program called “Candid Camera,” moderated by Alan Funt. The premise was to put people in whacky situations to see how they behaved. One of my favorite skits involved a talking mail box. When a person opened the letter slot, a microphone inside would ask questions like, “Did you remember to put a stamp on the...
August 5, 2010
LIVING WITH THE MASTERS
Sometimes when I go to the movies, I emerge from the theater feeling like one of the characters. I did this with Norma Ray. In real life, I was as a union organizer at the time, so by identifying with Sally Field’s character I felt ennobled by my work. But I suspect I’m not alone in these fantasies. When I was young, my mother and I went to see Gone with the Wind. For a...
August 4, 2010
WINNIE THE POOH AND BETTY LOU
I began the week by repairing a rag doll. The cloth was so old and rotted I couldn’t stitch the tear. I had to find a square of cloth to prevent the stuffing from falling out. The doll had been given to me when I was five. I remember the occasion because I was in tears at the time. The day was Monday, laundry day, which meant I was tied to a wash line. My only freedom...
August 3, 2010
MY MOTHER’S ODYSSEY
My mother is 94-years old and when I took her to lunch last week, she announced she’d decided to write a short story. She told me what it was about, an adaptation of an event in her life she thought worth preserving. She’d listened to a radio interview I’d done recently for my books, Heart Land and Gothic Spring, and got inspired. I was flattered because throughout my life she...
Panchomanyeti
Hi Panchomanyeti,
Want to welcome you as a follower. Don’t hesitate to chime in. Love to hear your thoughts.
Caroline
August 2, 2010
HOOKS, ANGLES AND AGENTS, OH MY!
For those of you who might be curious about the book I bought a while back by a writer I didn’t know (See: “One Grain of Sand at a Time,” Blog for Tuesday, July 20), I have my verdict. I regret I can’t recommend it though I don’t consider my experiment a waste. The narrative was well written and the plot interesting, but I didn’t believe one of the central...
