Tuesday, September 26, 2006

And they're off

How can I convey the humor of an old and bent over grey haired husband and wife, she in a printed cotton dress and green sweatpants and taller than he, each hunched over a walker yet vibrant and energetic- He yells, Where are we going? from behind; she calls back, Follow me! and off they go, speeding in their own way down the corridor, one tailing the other.
Would that, could that, be me and a long-loved spouse some day?

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Ode to the NJDMV

There once was a child of four
Tossing a fit on the DMV floor
Mom grimaced and sighed
Silently counted to five

My sympathies lay
With the child in tears
His wailing and kicking
Assailing our ears

I'd have been there myself
If I weren't twenty seven
Dear God move this line!
I invoked to the heavens

Then to my right
A Suit hit the floor
Screaming into his briefcase
Down went one more

Ladies in dresses
Kicking and cranky
The Blue Hair beside me
Bitching into her hanky


The cashier was frenzied
The child dumbfounded
He counted to five
Then yelled, You're all grounded!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Generation X (cellent!)

Things to be unknown by our grandchildren:

1)mercurochrome
2)mercury thermometers
3)the Twin Towers
4)carry on luggage
5)television station sign-off signal;
and sitting in front of the television early in the morning,watching the technicolor vertical bars, waiting for television stations to come back on.
6)Bob Barker
7)Johnny Carson
8)cassette deck
9)walkman
10)station wagons
11)...and 'riding in the way-way back.
and your sweaty thighs sticking to the vinyl bench seats in the summer.
12)roller rinks-and roller-skating birthday parties.
13)hand written letters; S.W.A.K.
14)missing a phone call if you were out
14)typewriters
15)...and typing or writing out school papers before correction tape and white out;
ergo, ripping up the page and starting over if you made a mistake- even if you were on the last line
16)owning your first complete set of encyclopedias
17)the importance of the no. 2 pencil
18)knobs on the TV for vertical hold, color, and contrast
19)playground structures made of metal and cemented into macadam
20)Tang with breakfast
21)playing the original Atari when it was brand new- and Pong was cool.
22)buying something new on a 33rpm- or borrowing mom and dad's 45's
23)getting up to change the channel
24)waiting for the theater movie to come on television
25)dialing the operator for assistance
26)asking the operator for an address and getting it
27)flash cubes
28)at the airport meeting/leaving someone directly at the gates
29)chicken pox as a childhood given-Do you have a pock scar, too?
30)Your turn!!!



Can you think of anything else? Something from your generation?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Karen's Confessions

1)I jump on the bed in hotel rooms. There's a reason kids do it- it's fun!
2)I double dip at Continental breakfasts- I figure at 90-100 per night they can afford to feed me a second frozen bagel and cup of coffee.
3)I also make or strip my hotel bed in the morning and gather all my used towels in the tub! and pilfer all the samples. (but none of the linens or toilet paper!)
4)I empty the rest of the bread basket into my napkins to take home (except at fancy places)- it's getting thrown out anyway!
5)I recycle my foil and ziploc bags until they have holes.
6)I've literally clotheslined people (Jay!) with drying laundry strung at my height across the kitchen.
7)I fell ass over teakettle down hardwood stairs onto ceramic tile when I was six knocking myself out cold and gained a concussion-
to this I attribute all lacking mental capacities ;)
(I was in sock feet cradling marshmallows in a napkin instead of hanging onto the railing)
8)I talk to myself everywhere- yep, even in public places. It's increasing with age.
9)I try to get away with mouthing the Happy Birthday song so no one will be tortured by my singing.
10)In desparate times, I've eaten bittersweet baking chocolate- and almost liked it.
11)While sleeping I somehow pull the topsheet to the right, and the quilt to the left- I even them up in the morning and wake the next day to find them pulled opposite directions again.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Not alone

That morning I flipped through the radio as usual on my short 8AM drive into work.
I stopped at 95.5- Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful.
Smoke spreading through the sky from a nearby woods fire seemed appropos.
Within a mile the tears started, and it was comforting to be certain there were other people crying for the very same day.
By the time I arrived at work I was a little weak, nerves jangled. Not alone there either.
Through the day we talked of 09/11/01, and of how we were feeling that 09/11/06; spoke with each other, with the patients.
People sported little flags, stars and stripes shirts, ensembles in pieces of red, white,and blue.
There was talk of loved ones lost that day, of where we were, of how we first reacted, of how on 09/11/06 we watched the news, listened to the radio, thought about it all and cried.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

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N.G.B.

just little memories, the rain falling down, how I miss you sometimes,
wonder what happened to our bed
our home so warm your face against mine never lie in those arms again and i miss you so sometimes
we're gone it's gone our home so warm your hand in mine and I miss you so sometimes
someone else's pain makes mine so fresh today your voice your love your skin against mine and I miss you so tonight.

every new season that comes brings fresh memories
the things we had, the things we did, those we never will
one day more with you or take back what I did, Iwould

Monday, September 04, 2006

Just make the coffee

So it is back to the work place tomorrow! Spoiled by this third day of a weekend, looking forward to the next short work week! Which will be Thanksgiving, for me.
I hope you all (how far is that really from Y'all?) enjoyed your weekend, long or short. This is the first Labor Day I've had off as holiday since 1993. (and I am thankful.)
Another summer come to a close- it's bittersweet here. We are lucky for the tourism money we receive- our state is so financially corrupt (okay, not just financially) we need all the help we can get! It is also nice watching those who don't have daily access to an ocean shore enjoy ours.
All the same, here on the coast September and October are some of our favorite months- the beach weather is still lovely but the badge mandate has gone, as have the crowds. We have our parking spaces back, traffic is lighter, lines are shorter, gas prices are lower.
Some tranquility returns.

How to mold an Emmy from Wonder Bread

My girlfriend (one of the two I met that first esteem-crushing month of belittleing high school) informed me last night, as I walked along so innocently beside her enjoying the evening's beach air, that we have a 15 year class reunion being planned for next summer.
I said, (wailed), "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!"
Or maybe I just thought that.

One year. To get married, adopt two kids, buy a house, lose 10 lbs, become a professional body builder, finish my BS, and get a face lift and breast enhancement.
Holy crap, it's gonna be a busy year!

I told her to make me go- meaning, drag my kicking and screaming self all the way there and push me through the doors.
After all, the last time I saw these people we were nigh on 18- I'm hepped to see the bitches turned fat and greasy, the mean guys have supremely bratty children and marriage bellies.
And cavort with the rest of the people the aforementioned made cry.

Well, a little.

Truly it's a bit frightening and a little exciting to imagine finding out what everyone has done, how life has gone. Who has grey hair and kids- wait, the kids come first, then the grey hair, right?
What a time warp this might be.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Ease on down the road

Phew! I think I have again successfully evacuated my head of unwanted contents-can't promise nothing important went out with the trash.
After encouraging myself, supportive words from friends, a long and very pensive walk, I think I am back out of the ex-fiance quicksand.
Treading carefully away... . To a safe place to skip.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Saner than I sound

P.S. Do I sound yet unstable in the previous Nathaniel post? I hope not, cause I'm actually standing on strong legs again.
Here-
Did you ever have a very bad wound? One that hurt terribly every day for a long time.
Eventually it heals to the point that days and weeks go by without you remembering it's there.
Then one day you walk to the bathroom in the dark and don't see the wall in your way and WHACK! You smack the crap out of that nearly healed wound and GOSHDARNIT SONS of HUCKLEBERRIES does it smart.
So you dance about a little holding it and shed a few tears; then you put some salve and a band aid on it from the first aid kit that's been in the cabinet all along- and you go back to bed.

That's what it was like before, during, and after talking the other day to the man I almost married.
And now I'm going back to bed!

I've a task for you...

I love hearing "how we met stories". I also love to hear "how we got engaged" stories. I like them all.
So tell me if you will...
How did you meet your spouse/significant other?
How is it you got engaged?