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PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE ... remember him? ... said he was strolling through a mall recently ... and noticed how shoppers (he was thankful the mall wasn’t too crowded with them at the time) were so like drivers.
“So many of them went whizzing around me like I was standing still,” he said. The Prof admits that he isn’t a power walker, but he does keep moving ... most of the time.
He says he also noticed that when he encountered three or four abreast ... headed straight toward him ... not one of them yielded an inch. He says he learned long ago that it’s best just to step aside ... and avoid a head-on collision.
“Some of the shoppers whip around me ... turn directly into my path ... and into a shop about half a step ahead of where I am. Couldn’t they wait just half a second ... until I’ve cleared the doorway ... and then go in?”
“Oh, and when they come out,” he observes, “they look neither to the right nor left ... but come barreling out with their double armload of purchases. I try to avoid colliding with them, too.”
“Then, no doubt, they get into their high-powered vehicles and go roaring off to play bumper-cars for real.”
-S&G-
THE PROFESSOR says this experience set him to thinking about preparing a pop quiz for shoppers/drivers.
(I don’t think he plans to give the quiz to everybody ... and I’m sure it’s an optional test for those who take it ... with the admonition to keep in mind that the second part of this blog’s title is “Giggles”)
The professor’s quiz ... and the questions aren’t given any particular weighting ... there’s really no pass/fail grading involved. Most questions, you may notice, require only a yes or no answer. (And remember, these are HIS impertinent questions, not MINE):
1. ___ Can you read?
2. ___ Do you know the meaning of the word S-T-O-P?
3. ___ Do you consider it just another four-letter word?
4. ___ Do you know the meaning of SPEED (as it relates to those activities taking place on streets and highways ... maybe even country roads, too)?
5. ___ Do you know the meaning of LIMIT?
6. ___ Do you consider it to have an optional meaning?
7. ___ Can you put two words together ... say from Nos. 4 and 5, for example ... and explain the resultant meaning without resorting to a bunch of legal jargon?
8. ___ Did you know your vehicle has devices for indicating your intentions ... rather than what you just did (like when changing lanes)?
9. ___ Do you know where those devices are?
10. ___ Have you ever used them?
11. ___ Would you like to learn how to use them?
12. ___ Have you ever yielded the right-of-way to another driver ... besides the driver of a semi- or other humongous vehicle?
And now for the serious part:
13. ___ Do you know how many thousands ... that’s right, thousands ... we kill on our highways each year?
14. ___ Do you really think you won’t be one of them?
-S&G-
NOTE FROM LOREE (Kansas) ... “loved the poem (last week’s “Autumn Crossing”) ... reminded me of why I hate thinking about moving out of the country and into town. Still, I know each day that passes brings that particular day one day closer!
“In town they DETEST those colorful leaves ... to the point that the city fathers INSIST that those all be picked up ... every last one of them. Surely much of the joy of their beauty is suddenly lost when one has to man a rake, drag huge plastic bags all over the place, and try to pick up all of the culprits.
“Each person who pulls leaf duty waits for just the right day for the chore. No too hot (sweat isn’t becoming!) ... absolutely no wind. In Kansas that in itself is a chore ... finding just the right day.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S QUOTE - “I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.” - Zsa Zsa Gabor (courtesy of WALT, Ohio)
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM - My reaction, at the time the event occurred, went from puzzlement ... to surprise ... to that pleasant feeling you get when somebody does a good turn for you ... and doesn't want, in fact, would refuse, anything in return.
Oh, I suppose my neighbor was grateful for the small favors we did him and his family when they had a house fire shortly after moving in. But he didn't owe us anything for our help, either. That's what neighbors do for each other.
He was grateful then ... and I was certainly grateful for all that shoveling he was doing for me. I had been waiting out the storm, dreading the task that confronted me. Then, suddenly, there he was, the good neighbor.
If I were to go ahead with this, I'd probably become preachy ... so, I'll just say that this one was originally published in The Christian Science Monitor:
THE GOOD DEED
All day the snow
has come sifting down,
obscuring objects
in our shaken globe,
and I'm standing
staring out the window
when I see the shape
of a person who's
obviously been driven
wild by the storm,
who pauses and turns
into someone I know
... my neighbor,
shoveling my walk.
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog
... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
MONDAY afterthoughts ...
LOREE (Kansas) has won the coveted Magical, Mystical, Mythical GOLD STAR for being the first to respond to the current installment of S&G. It was almost as though she was waiting to pounce ... for there she was, at daybreak Saturday morning with a comment, proving once again that you have to get up pretty early to get ahead of Loree.
Her observation regarding crowds in the malls: "One is at high risk of two things ... being knocked down and trampled by uncaring shoppers, or contracting the H1N1 virus ... each enough of a deterrent to keep me home!"
Thursday was such a beautiful day ... cloudy, windy, raining ... yes, all that ... but it wasn’t freezing rain, and the only swirling snow we saw had been in the forecast the night before.
So we hopped into The Little Red Car and headed out on the longest journey I’ve taken ... by car, with me at the wheel ... in years.
We drove all the way to Indianapolis, taking care to take the back roads all the way ... and some even farther back than that.
Little Red seemed to enjoy the trip ... especially those parts where we went slowly through small towns ... taking care to observe all the rules of the road, as though we were being watched carefully by someone in one of those specially marked ... or unmarked ... cars, of which there seemed to be more of an abundance than usual.
The journey ... and it was a journey, believe me ... took a little over three hours, thanks, in part, to my navigation system (all in my head ... none of this fancy GPS stuff for me).
I had done some map study a few days before ... had it all, as I said, in my head (tons of unused memory in there) ... and things went pretty well ... slowly, but pretty well ... until we were almost there.
I turned off on the correct street, though it looked like an alley with parking on one side, mind you ... and I didn’t know it would only go a block in our direction before ending abruptly.
As we sat at the STOP sign studying our options, we noted that our street resumed a few hundred feet to our RIGHT. The street we had to cross to get to it, however, was a one-way street to our LEFT.
So we took the scenic route ... finally got back to OUR street ... enjoyed it until ... about two blocks later ... it ended again.
I had no idea where I was then ... so I turned left ... again ... and drove on, as though I knew exactly where I was.
Then, quite suddenly, I discovered I had stumbled ... er, steered ... back onto OUR street ... now a lovely four-lane thoroughfare on which traffic was proceeding in a very orderly fashion ... with the usual one or two exceptions, of course.
To make a long story short, we arrived at our destination on the same day that we set out ... much to everyone’s surprise ... enjoyed the traditional humongous meal ... conversations ... the joy of watching the children playing together.
I even managed to sneak away, find an unoccupied upstairs bed, and spend half an hour or so in deep meditation while the festivities continued below.
The trip home? Oh, we took the Interstate all the way home ... took about a couple of hours, instead of three. I felt Little Red was relaxed now, rested after that long, arduous drive over, and seemed to be enjoying sharing the highway with all those other, much bigger vehicles which went sizzling past in a cloud of spray.
Me? I wasn’t nearly as relaxed as Little Red seemed to be. I thought someone was going to have to pry my hands loose from the steering wheel when we got home ... but I managed that with almost no assistance at all.
And today (Friday)? Oh, I’m getting some feeling back in my fingers, and I expect ... in a few days or so ... to have them all straightened out again ... and flexing ... or almost so.
-S&G-
TODAY’S QUOTE - “Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” - Victor Borge (courtesy of WALT, Ohio)
-S&G-
“I FOUND OUT one thing yesterday,” writes LOREE, Kansas ... “After delivering the meals on wheels with my brother-in-law, we drove back to Winfield and went to the Co-Op, where I bought enough chicken feed to run me until NEXT year!”
How much did you buy, Loree?
“ ... I bought 800 pounds ... which equates to sixteen 50-pound sacks. I was able to match, sack for sack, my brother-in-law’s efforts, and still had energy, air, and was raring to go. Why, I could have unloaded ALL of it myself, had he not insisted on helping me.”
At this point, folks, it helps to know that Loree has a Pacemaker ... and is ... “feeling better than I have felt for over two months. It is a great feeling, once again, to want to WORK!”
But FIFTY pounds? It hasn’t been very long since I was struggling to unload a FORTY-pound bag of something (might even have been just THIRTY) from the trunk of my car. And where was Professor Squigglee when I needed him? Hiding in the library, probably.
-S&G-
NOTE from HELEN, Florida ... enduring a slow and painful recovery from major fractures ... includes a photo of a house that’s really decked out for Christmas ... has all kinds of lights and figures ... probably has appropriate music going. And next door there’s a smaller house with a single set of lights which spells out “DITTO.”
-S&G-
NOTE from CATHY, Illinois ... mentions that she won a turkey on a radio program, for naming 10 tunes that the host played ... all of them “Golden Oldies.”
Oh, how I envy someone who can do that ... I have trouble coming up with the title when I hear ONE tune that sounds familiar. I can’t imagine coming up with TEN!
-S&G-
NOTE from JOHN, Florida ... says he’s looking forward to next February 4, when he will be 90 ... because that figure looks more impressive in a newspaper item than a mere 89.
Hey, let’s all celebrate that milestone, John ... then shoot for the perfect 100.
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM - Autumn is one of my favorite seasons ... largely because I tire of blazing hot weather ... thank you very much ... and start looking forward to cooler nights ... good sleeping weather ... the fall colors, which I always enjoy ... the sight of leaves sifting gently to the earth ... the sounds and the feel of them as I go kicking through on my daily walk.
This poem was written on a bus, of all places. We were humming along northward, somewhere in Ohio.
The highway seemed to be an endless ribbon unspooling toward us ... but there on both sides ... oh, there was something to watch! The autumn trees were at their absolute peak, as though they were expecting us ... expecting "company."
And there we were.
I was struck by how the colors seemed to be parting, then closing behind us ... something like the parting of the Red Sea in those old movies.
Naturally, I dug out a scrap of paper and began writing ... and here's the result:
AUTUMN CROSSING
A sea of color
rages ahead,
parting for us
with the soft
hum of miles
falling away,
gently washing
back into place,
cloaking all
traces of our
safe crossing.
© 1997
(Originally published in The American Scholar)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
I had a doctor’s appointment Friday moning.
Don’t worry. I wasn’t sick. Just routine. One of those pit stops I make regularly before I get back out there in the human race.
I don’t know about you, but my appointment always includes a blood pressure check. Bad news. Traffic is always so bad ... people tailgating me ... passing me in school zones where the speed limit lights are flashing ... cutting in front of me with inches to spare ... then suddenly hitting their brakes and making a right turn into a fast food place.
I don’t have to put the cuff on to know that my blood pressure is up ... way up ... by the time I hop out of Little Red and go hot-footing into my favorite doctor’s office.
But this Friday morning? I don’t know what was different about it, except I made it all the way to the vicinity of the doctor’s office without having a run-in with somebody ... oh, there were a couple of close calls (there always are, right?) ... but I arrived as calm as a cucumber.
I was making that last turn into the parking lot in front of the medical facilities ... and a few other commercial ventures.
I really hadn’t noticed a vehicle turning ahead of me, but there it was as I turned in ... and it was stopping in a Fire Lane (no parking there, right?) ... and it was parking.
Just as I started to go around, the driver’s side door opened in my path.
I hit the brakes ... and Little Red responded like a pro, thank goodness, for the driver ... who obviously hadn’t looked before opening his door ... or hopping out ... hopped out in my path, smiled in my direction and strode off.
I think I needn’t say what my blood pressure reading was minutes later.
-S&G-
LIFE, writes LOREE (Kansas), at least for the adult years, is a combination of three major things ... with a lot of subdivisions:
“We spend our time in 'panic mode' ... ‘blast off’ ... and once in a while, 'cruise control.'
“Blast off consists of when we hit the floor running, thanks to an alarm clock.
“Panic mode was when that same clock kept telling us that we couldn't possibly get kids ready for school, beds made, lunches packed, and make it to our own job on time, looking unruffled and fresh as a daisy.
“Cruise control was on those rare days when everything clicked, fell together, and nothing went wrong.
“Those days were so rare, that now I can barely remember ANY of those, at all!
“Somehow, I spent my last five years of working, alternating between counting the days off on a calendar as the countdown to retirement progressed, and mistakenly thinking that when that day arrived, it would resolve the panic mode, and do away with the blast off. And cruise control would be all that was needed!
“How naive can one foolish person be, and make it to MY age? Well, I'm living proof that we never get far from the 'roots' we grew during our working years!
“I still blast off on days when I have a doctor's appointment, or have to pay the bills ... panic mode is when I look at the calendar and see that it is REALLY Monday, when I would have sworn it was only Saturday.
“Cruise control? Forget it or scratch it ... either way, it is as rare now, as it was seven or eight years ago!”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: I've often said that I can't rhyme worth a dime ... but here I go again.
I keep trying. For me it's something like trying to leap over a high picket fence ... uphill ... and on a slippery slope, at that. I have trouble maintaining any kind of a rhyme scheme while trying to tell a story ... if, indeed, I have a story to tell.
I keep promising that I won't, but I do ... keep trying, that is. It's simply the challenge, I guess.
The result? Today's poem ... a double-edged blunt blade, if you will ... a poem about the difficulty ... at least the difficulty I have ... with keeping promises, especially to myself ... and it's a poem in rhyme:
PROMISES
I begin my year
With high resolve,
But my plans, I fear,
Start to dissolve
As the new wears off
The leaf I've turned
And the flames flare off
Bridges I've burned.
(originally published in Mature Living)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
We all react if someone yells “FIRE!” ... right? We stop what we’re doing ... we look around ... decide which way to run ... either to lend a hand ... or to save our own hides.
Equally galvanizing ... for me, at least ... is the quietly spoken phrase: “Company’s coming.”
I know exactly what that means ... and what I must do. I start shifting those teetering stacks of things in the study ... tidy up my portion(s) of the basement ...
But mostly I’ve learned just to stay out of the way while Phyllis attends to the details ... occasionally, perhaps, pointing out some other way in which I might help.
-S&G-
LOREE (Kansas) recently got word that company was coming in her direction ... in the form of a couple of e-mail friends who, after corresponding for a few years, decided they had to make the pilgrimage to meet their poet friend.
“Of course, that threw me into high-level panic mode,” Loree says. (Having known Loree myself ... via e-mail, for a few years ... I know that she was kidding about “panic” ... I see it more like moving into high gear).
Fortunately, Loree continues, “My daughter bought me a lighter weight vacuum sweeper for my birthday, which just happened to be two days before the company arrived.” (Belated Happy Birthday, Loree).
And ... “this sweeper has no need for those hard-to-install paper bags. Nosiree, Bob! It had this spotlessly clean canister in it” ... none of those mysterious clangs and bangs as things are sucked into a hidden paper bag ... everything is going to be in full view.
“Well, we get the sweeper in my big living room ... it’s plugged in and I’m ready to ROLL! But there ensues a tug-of-war ... with my daughter saying, ‘Let ME do it!’ and me hanging on ... I WANT to try this out!”
“The back and forth is short,” Loree reports, since her daughter is in much better physical shape than she is.
The scene shifts as Loree concedes and leaves the room ... then, in short order, hears her daughter saying, “Oh, MY GAWD!”
Loree quickly returns ... finds her daughter pointing to the canister ... and, nope, she hadn’t sucked Loree’s “Psycho Dog” into the canister ... but there is a white swirling mass in the canister, which had filled in record time.
“Good suction, evidently,” Loree observed.
“Do you realize what that is in there?” her daughter responded. At that point she shut off the machine ... and they emptied the canister ... of DOG HAIR!
Evidently it’s from her daughter’s canine friend, Sammi, who comes and goes now, but, as a puppy a few years ago, developed a taste for sleeping inside at night at Loree’s ...
None of the just scooped-up hair had been visible to anyone ... but it appears that not one hair escaped the vacuum ... beneath the sofa and loveseat cushions, along the baseboards ... and the dark depths of the carpet.
“The carpet feels like it HASN’T felt in years,” Loree reports, adding that she got to try out her present after her daughter went home ... “and I have to admit it has a lot more zip and grip than the old (now retired) Hoover.”
-S&G-
SPEAKING OF FEAR ... that’s the best way to describe the reaction I got from Professor Squigglee when I showed him how Loree’s e-mail concluded.
“In fact,” Loree said, “I was wondering what might happen if I put on that wand attachment and stood close to Professor Squigglee. It would probably suck that thing on top of his head (no, not his eyeglasses) off at ten yards. Whatcha think?”
Well, I think I just saw Professor Squigglee slipping out of the room.
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM ... It may not be the perfect match ... or even a good match ... for Loree’s account of her introduction to that new vacuum ... but it came to mind ... mainly a reminder of my own reaction to those motivating words: “Company’s coming.”
HOT PURSUIT
I go tramping
the echoing stairs
of this old house
pursuing things
forgotten here,
remembered there,
getting exercise
enough for two.
(originally published in Capper's)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
Would you believe that this was another of those weeks when nothing ... absolutely nothing ... happened here?
Well, it was ... unless, of course, I wasn’t paying attention and missed everything. Guess I’ll just have to wait for the security tapes to be played again.
Meanwhile, I’ll be brief ... with this one exception: An exchange of thoughts between Professor Squigglee and me ... unusual, because ... as you may already know ... some people think that he and I are the same person (based, I assume, on our never being seen in the same room together ... or talking to each other).
Rest assured, the following did take place ... though I’m not at liberty to say precisely where or when it occurred ...
-S&G-
I think I startled Professor Squigglee when I nudged him (his interlude of deep meditation had descended to the snoring stage, and I felt I had to get his attention).
“What ... what? Are we there yet?” he said, while fumbling around, trying to find his glasses ... which, as it turned out, were resting on his forehead ... high forehead, that is.
“Yes, we’re there,” I replied. “It’s Friday evening ... and I’m sure throngs of people are setting their alarms for early Saturday morning so they’ll be among the first to discover what we have to say in this installment of S&G.”
“S&G?”
“Yes, you know ... Squiggles and ... “
“I know ... I know ... Squiggles and Giggles. How could I forget? I was just a bit startled that it had come up so suddenly.”
“It always does.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it does seem to. Well, at the moment I don’t have anything to contribute.”
“Nothing?”
“Oh, we might remind everybody to do their homework. One of these days there will be a test, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“Oh, yes. There’s always a test lurking down the line. That’s why I keep urging everyone to pay attention ... even when they’re nodding off ... especially when they’re nodding off in the middle of one of your poems.”
“Are you kidding? Who would do that?”
“I’m not going to mention any names ... even though I’ve made little checkmarks beside some of them. I have to admit, too, that my own eyelids have gotten heavy a couple of times.”
“I thought that was a sign of deep thought.”
“You could say that ... but it wouldn’t be true.”
“Well, Professor ... I guess it’s up to me, if YOU don’t have anything to say. As a matter of fact, I don’t have anything either. Are you sure ... ?”
“Oh, you might ... on my behalf ... suggest that members of the class ... when and if they show up ... address their questions directly to me, rather than talking among themselves in hopes of stumbling onto the correct answers for some of life’s riddles.”
“Okay, I’ll ... “
“Oh, and please remind them ... no snapping of their fingers in an effort to get my attention. I HATE that!”
“No snapping ... right. By the way, when do you expect them to show up again?”
“Any day now, I suppose. I’m a patient person. I can wait. Now, may I just leave a wake-up call?”
“Right, Professor. Right.”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: In keeping with my promise to be brief, I’ve selected a short poem to share today.
I’ve written a lot of those. Oh, have I ever. Has something to do with writer’s cramp ... or writer’s block ... or maybe attention span. But that’s another story.
Briefly speaking, though, I see now that it might have been just a line or two longer ... in order to incorporate the chorus of leaf blowers (which are providing background music as I write this) ... and then I could have mentioned the dreaded snow blowers.
Did I really say I was going to be brief?
The poem? Here ‘tis:
AFTER SUMMER
Comes autumn,
when the mighty
chorus of mowers
ceases singing,
an intermission
too soon followed
by a chorale
of snow blowers.
(originally published in Capper’s)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
A funny thing happened on the way to the vending machine.
It was such a beautiful day that we had decided to take our walk outdoors at one of our favorite places, a local university which has the distinction of having a first-class series of tunnels for going all across campus ... indoors ... in case of bad weather.
But we were OUTDOORS, just strolling along, enjoying the weekend quiet and the array of autumn leaves.
The sun was shining. No call for ducking indoors to escape rain on this day. In fact, I was glad my glasses have the ability to darken, effectively turning into sunglasses when I need that.
It was a bit cool, though ... cool enough that a hot drink from one of the vending machines was enticing.
No problem. We were near a building that had a battery of such machines (I have an impeccable memory for such things). We ducked inside and headed down one of the corridors.
Then I spotted a side corridor which would save us a few steps and get us to that hot drink much earlier.
Natural leader that I am, I was in front ... by maybe half a step ... looking ahead to the lighted doorway way up ahead which, I recalled, was not far removed from the target of our mission.
We went down three steps and were making good progress along the darkened corridor. Oh, I forgot to mention that my glasses had not adjusted yet from being outdoors - and the corridor seemed really dark to me.
No problem. My memory, remember? I had been down this corridor before.
But I had forgotten that we had to go down another set of three steps, then advance, go up a set of three steps, then up another set, before we had arrived safely to the other side.
I took a step ... having forgotten the configuration of that particular corridor ... and it was like stepping into a well ... more like stepping off a cliff.
My right foot thudded on the edge of one of the lower steps and I don’t think my left foot touched anything until I hit bottom ... after banging my head against the wall and skinning my right hand in three places.
It felt something like doing a cartwheel ... and landing on my head, I imagine.
Phyllis was understandably shocked by my sudden tumbling and crumpling on the floor, and was immediately ... safely ... beside me, checking for injuries and offering help.
My assessment: Bruises, but no broken bones. How lucky could I get?
The vending machines, you say? Oh, we found them right where I remembered their being ... but the chairs I remembered weren’t there.
Plan B: We went carefully ... hand-in-hand this time ... through one of the tunnels to another building where there were machines ... AND chairs ... AND tables.
It was my turn to buy, so I fished for coins and inserted them ... and when I heard my change plink down, I retrieved it ... PLUS some 30 cents that someone else had forgotten to retrieve.
How lucky COULD I get?
And funny? It’s a lot funnier now than it was the day it happened.
-S&G-
TODAY’S QUOTE: “I’m becoming so-o-o organized! You know, a place for everything ... and everything in its place. I’m making progress on that part (still a few miles to go) ... but I’m having a little trouble remembering where those places are that I’ve put things.” - Professor Squigglee
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: I know, I should throw it away ... at the very least, not wear it in public.
But I can't bear to give it up. It's my hat. We've been together so long, through so many things. It's like a part of me. And there it sits, "like a cabbage leaf on my head."
The poem began, as many poems do, while I was out walking, this time with Phyllis.
Actually, we encountered two young girls, strolling in the other direction. Strangers, but I probably smiled and spoke.
One of them smiled and said something in reply, but I didn't catch what it was.
After we had walked far enough that I thought we were out of earshot of the two, I asked Phyllis: "What did she say?"
"Cool hat," she replied.
"Cool hat?"
"That's right. Cool hat," she assured me.
That's when I had the impulse to toss my hat in the air and do a few dance steps right there. Who says I'm not in touch with the younger generation?
The poem:
COOL HAT
It has been
wind-stripped,
limb-grabbed,
lost and found,
rumpled, crumpled,
laundered until
it cries for mercy,
and it sits like
a cabbage leaf
on my head.
But then she,
a young girl about
half my height,
flashes a smile,
says, "Cool hat!"
and for a moment,
just a heartbeat,
a quickened stride,
I feel like
tossing my hat
in the air
and dancing.
(orignally published in Capper's)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2009
testing. Testing explainer (!)
(Stanback) Stand back. Clear the room(.) (T)his is an experiment and I have no idea how it will turn out.
I’m (getting) kidding. It is an experiment and I really don’t have any idea how it will turn out. But, rather than clearing the room, I would prefer that you move in ... (plus) close to the screen.
I can see already this is not going to be easy. Please! (explainer) (place) Please! Don’t be frightened.
While I do not recommend that you try this at home, merely watching is not likely to inflict substantial harm. Oh, there may be some brain damage, but that’s always the risk of reading S. and G., otherwise known as Squiggles and Giggles.
(That may explain.) No, let me explain.
The experiment I mentioned (in all this) involves writing this installment of Squiggles without touching the keyboard.
And you thought I’d been doing that all along. Right (question mark).
Actually, my grasp of (you can skip this part ... the scientists for an science out out on on science on how well my grasp of) the science of communication had not progressed that far until recently.
I had been writing (the) Squiggles the old-fashioned way. You know, (what back) the(y) hunt and peck method. Over the years I had gone from a single-finger hunt and peck system and had virtually conquered the (y put finger to finger a W0) two-finger method, which had doubled my productivity.
-S&G-
Are you listening (question)? I have to resist the impulse to ask that because I’m sitting here talking... and it just seems natural that somebody should be listening.
Are you listening?
This experiment involves software, of course. Doesn’t everything these days? Installing that was no problem. There was a slight problem, however, (space) when I clamped on the equipment ... that is, an earpiece and a mouthpiece, both attached to a fairly long cord. After a rather long struggle, I managed to accomplish that.
Then, when I got up to walk away from my computer, I forgot to take off this combination (hit) headpiece. I got as far away as the (card) cord would allow, and then (it’s really) it threw me to the floor.
(So and end. And end. And. Space. And each in the. And end. And end. And. In. Space. And and. And and and and and. And)
End of Lesson One.
-S&G-
The whole thing is premised on (the) voice recognition. That is, I simply sit here in front of the screen, talking. Don’t ask me how, but the device ... sometimes (space) ... understands what I’m saying. (T)he words ... and some punctuation ... appear on the screen.
This all came to me recently as a birthday present ... and it promises to be a gift that lasts and lasts and lasts.
I’m still learning the ropes.
And who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? I have no idea. Do you (question) ?
Please bear with me while I try to regain my grip on the trailing edge of technology. Just when I feel I’m about to catch up, something new comes along. And here I am being thrown to the floor again, because I’ve forgotten to take off the (hit) headpiece.
-S&G-
Sspeaking of mistakes or just plain old clumsiness, my apologies to (already that’s at all oh are easy easy) LOREE (Kansas) ... a regular longtime contributor to the conversations that go on here.
She responded promptly, as she generally does, to last week’s installment. I appreciated (your kind words) her kind words, and said I planned to use some of them before this week’s installment.
The idea, of course, was to try to keep the conversation going between these weekly postings.
But, as is so often the case, good intentions (but) got lost in the shuffle, and by (quote) “shuffle” I’m not referring to my walking style.
I’m sorry, (Laurie) Loree. (I) I’ll try to do better in the future. I really will.
Meanwhile, here are some of those words from (Laurie) LOREE:
“I think I've figured out why we (you and myself) are 'artists'...with words, or whatever. It's because we are dreamers ... big TIME dreamers! We don't do anything without throwing ourselves into it ... give it our best shot, not to mention any additional nudging we can manage.
“Like your wonderful description of your own, personalized, made all-by-yourself trading cards, or whatever you decide to call them. And I was thinking along the very same lines you were....Bob will make a FORTUNE!
“I had that dream once...when I published my book....and sold about 1,000 copies of it, scattered around the entire width and breadth of our country, not to mention some sent to Australia, the UK, etc. I had visions of being famous (or maybe notorious would better describe it?), but suddenly, the 'market dried up....made me wonder if 1,000 people were the only ones left in the world?
“However, I console myself, by saying, 'You all just wait....for I am the 'Grandma Moses' of poetry writers, except that you all won't realize it, until I am long gone!'”
-S&G-
TODAY’S POEM: "Writing a poem is as simple as pouring a cup of coffee ... "
Oh, do read on.
Before we're finished, I will have led you down the winding garden path with still another poem about writing. As always, my usual disclaimer: I write about writing, not because I'm expert, but because the process intrigues me so.
As you will see, as you work your way through the poem, I don't think writing a poem ... or writing anything for public consumption, for that matter ... is really a simple matter. Nor need it be so very complicated that only a select few may do it.
But the end product, I think, should give the appearance of having been done with ease ... not flippantly or shallow, but done with a certain polish about it which may intrigue the reader, without getting in the way of the poem itself.
It should appear to have been easily, naturally written, and none of the hard labor of producing it need show through.
What I'm saying in the poem, I guess, is that a poem should come to the reader with the ease one experiences in simply pouring a cup of coffee.
I hope you'll have a sip ... hope you enjoy it.
IT'S SO SIMPLE
Writing a poem is as simple as pouring
a cup of coffee. First, though, you plant
a seed, wait for the sprout, nurture it,
then transplant the seedling, let it mature,
hope that frost doesn't kill the buds,
let the bees pollinate blossoms, wait
for the beans to mature, pick the beans,
dry them, haul them, roast them, transport
them again, package them, grind them,
add water, let them leap as they
percolate and you keep an eye on the clock.
Then you simply pour, sit back and enjoy.
(originally published in ByLine magazine)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
Oh, and if you’d like to see what’s up with my other ... DAILY blog ... here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
Afterthoughts ...
SATURDAY - Sorry about all the gibberish in this week's posting (even more than usual, right?). I wanted to see how this voice recognition thing would work ... and I wanted you to see the results. Not a pretty sight, of course, but interesting ... interesting ...
SUNDAY - Note from LOREE (Kansas): "So, like any other common, ordinary mad scientist, you just had to risk all of our lives by using that new-fangled contraption! I'm surprised we all lived through it, let alone yourself, with your mouth open and that thing eagerly snatching every word that came out! ... Putting the rest of us at high risk was a bit inconsiderate (but then) I thought, well, if he goes, he wants us ALL to go, so he won't be alone!"
You got it, Loree. (insert mad scientist's evil laugh here).
MONDAY - Note from LOREE (regarding the poem): "I never thought of a poem and perking coffee, hot and steaming, as being relevant to each other. Now that is intriguing! Reading it really got me into it!"
Oh, they do have a lot in common, Loree. In fact, when I'm writing a poem I have to be careful not to slurp!
Loree also admits that she's written a couple of poems about writing poems, too. As a matter of fact, here's a link to one now:
http://www.poetrybyloree.com/312.html
TUESDAY - Am I still using that voice recognition gizmo to make these additions to S&G? I'm no gonna say.
WEDNESDAY - Recent note from Loree (Kansas): "This evening I am chilly (ate some ice cream, so maybe that did it), also sort of sneezing. I don't need to get the flu on top of my other problems ... had my flu shot, but not the H1N1, and it sounds like us old fogies are out of luck anyway ... at least you won't have to wash your hands after reading this e-mail ... "
I'll say ah- ... ah- ... ah-CHOO! to that, Loree ...
THURSDAY - A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from a poetry-loving friend, inviting me to sit in with a group on Thursday, September 19 ... SEPTEMBER? I didn't even check my calendar to see if I had had a conflict ... I probably had. SEPTEMBER?
FRIDAY - Already? Can it be? My gosh! I'd better get busy on the next installment of S&G ...
© 2009
