Amanda McKittrick Ros

I fall behind in my magazine reading; you can only spend so much time in the "reading room" without causing a stir. I just finished my Smithsonian, June 2009 edition. The Last page (known in the magazine as: The Last Page) has cuteness and warmth one page stories and commentary - a printed blog one might say. This particular article is talking about the worst author in history. Irish writer Amanda McKittrick Ros - apparently she is worth seeking out to read. I imagine if word gets out, there will be a Ros Festival on some college campus.



The article said that CS Lewis & JRR Tolkien held competitions to see who could read her work aloud longest while keeping a straight face. Here are a couple of bits: she refers to eyes as "globes of glare," legs as "bony supports," pants as a "southern necessary," and sweat as "globules of liquid lava."



Forgot to mention, the article is writen by Miles Corwin who teaches literary journalism at Univ Calif Irvine.



Looks to me that you should find her works to read:

1st novel Irene Iddesleigh (Mark Twain considered it as "one of the greatest unintentionally humorous novels of all time."

Last novel: Helen Huddleson


there is a biography called O Rare Amanda! published in 1954 and an anthology of her most memorable passages is in -- Thine in Storm and Calm 1988


with that I close to begin the Smithsonian, July 2009 edition
mtz

Malcolm Arnold

short little thing.
The wife and I are signed up for Netflix. We don't always order the newer films. When it arrives, we have a movie night in the living room: her away from quilting & I away from this computer machine.

Tonight we watched a 1954 movie called HOBSON'S CHOICE. It was cute & worthless as many movies are - Charles Laughton did a really good job as the father/drunk/etc.

But what got my attention was the music. It was by Malcolm Arnold. If you are a band guy, you know Malcolm Arnold. And this was typical Arnold music. I would watch the movie again to hear some of the songs. Now how old was Arnold in 1954? m

Hike plus

Just put this on facebook - will be curious how the reponses go:

Heard this on the radio & I had never thought about it - if someone from the Negro Race is an African-American, if they move to France (or England or Russia), what would they be called? Just call me a transplanted Okie-Texian-American.

Today started fairly slow. The wife & I took the three older dogs on a mile walk down the road and back. As we hike neighbor dogs fall in line and trek with us. Sue and Abby got into a fight. I did my best to break it up. Abby had a bleeding ear. We escorted Abby back to her home - keeping Sue at bay (so to speak). Fritz led our charge most of the trip. He has this boy thing about leading - and marking. Good dog. All 3 are napping as I type. good dogs.

from the NEWS

short & from the paper.
I wonder before I start why this won't let me make new paragraps when I click the compose tab...guess, because

Dallas Paper this day...surely you have all heard about the 22 yr old guy who enrolled in Permian H.S. so he could play basketball and helped them get into the playoffs. He told them that he was a homeless Haiti refugee and a Sophomore. The coach even kept him in his h ome at times...there are more details but you can find those. The newspaper implied that they didn't understand why he did this. To me it is obvious - not even considering that he now arrested for making out with a 15 year old girl in the school.

guys name was Guerdwich Montimer - he had taken the name Jerry Joseph. So many questions: like h.s. transcripts - TX requires students have social sec #s... and more.

#2 didja read about the girl, Nancy Salas, who faked her own kidnapping to avoid telling her parents that she had dropped out of Univ. Calif @ L.A. (would that be UCLA?) T W O Y E A R S ago. This is one dump broad. Her father is unemployed and her mom cleans houses for a living.

Friday night bliss

1. ) Ever notice that certain things only happen on weekends or Friday night? This may be a bit blase' to you, the repeating of this premise, but I state it anyway. Examples you ask? When was the last time your dog got sick? The Weekend. When was the last time you received a letter from the IRS or (for me) Social Security Administration? The Weekend [ must wait till Monday to call ]. When was the last time your car quit while driving on the freeway in a strange town? When was the last time you needed a plumber or electrician or - well by now, you are getting my drift. In the comment section below, you can list your own examples.

2. ) My brother Jim - actual brother, not a religious title - dropped by Thursday night. I may have mention his parttime gig before - works for DUAT. This is a company that provides preflight info to pilots FOR FREE. I don't know if anyone can go to their website or not, never tried. DUAT has great weather stuffs. The Govt. pays Duat each time a pilot uses the system, & it is free to pilots. Anyhoo, the bro visits airports and explains the system to pilots and airport types plus he gives little workshops for pilot groups & fraternities helping them get extra ground school hours, etc.
The airport at Gilmer, north of Tyler, is having a fly-in and Airsho today and Jim has set up a booth explaining the DUAT thing. Airports enjoy mmiissppeelliinngg "Air show" for special events. Yesterday I rode with him to Gilmer to finalize the plans...nice outing...gives my wife some quiet time with me gone. Gilmer airport is interesting and has a small museum. I don't know if it is a must-see for you sophisticated types, but I found it interesting.

3. We ate lunch in Tyler at a fried fish type buffet - pretty good. Jim ate Lizards and Givers while I finished off some catfish. A bit pricey - but all in all okay. The crowd inside was not wearing tuxes. They had a sheet cake cut in little 1" x 2" shapes. Jim pointed out that someone had taken only a 1/2 piece of that cake...bet it was a sheeee and sheeee said, "I just wanted a little taste."
Unrelated thought: an email forward which got me in the most trouble was: "Why do women have itty bitty feet? So they can stand closer to the kitchen sink !"

4. Continuing. When we got home about 6 p.m., my wife said there was an alarm going off in the attic. Actually she called when I was almost home. That didn't make me tense at all. I have this little battery powered alarm in the drip pan under the hot water heater which beeps loudly if touched by any water.
Let's review.
It is Friday, after 6 p.m., I am on the road, the wife calls - and water is collecting in the drip pan under the water heater. What is your first thought?
Got home. Petted the dogs. Took a BRB. Took my dogs to the Dog Pit for their BRB. Searched our filing cabinet for water heater instructions. Climbed the attic stairs, dried the alarm - piercing beep man piercing - and looked. Water was collecting on top of the heater around the hot water outlet pipe ... a puddle if you wish. A trickle eased down the side of the heater into the drip pan setting off the alarm.
Now what would you do? Thass right. I did nothing. Turned off the light and came down out of the attic to think. I do my best thinking when I am NOT in the middle of an attic, flashlight in hand.
This morn, I rechecked & no water is apparent. Hmmm? Condensation? Devil doing his dirty work? Heater plotting to blow a gasket next weekend? Still thinking. Suggestions other than "run for your life" will be appreciated.
Little side bar here. When I lived in Pflugerville, we had the bottom come out of a water heater and flood the house. Where was I? I was on a bus with a hundred kids heading for Disney world on a 4+ day band trip. State Farm took care of us. House repainted, new carpet throughout, new water heater, so forth. That was fun for my temporarily single spouse.

5. Let's make this the last thing. I read in the paper this week that Playboy's next issue comes with a pair of 3D glasses and a 3D centerfold. I'm thinkin' this subject is best left without comment. I do suggest that a copy be bought and put away - still in its protective cover of course - as a milestone in publishing history. You can leave it to your great grand children as a financial legacy. Now, where did I put those glasses? Mtz

Snake Dog strikes again

This will be short.
question #1: why will the machine allow me to make paragraphs now but not yesterday?

Daughter Christine has come to visit. She arrived with her 3 dogs in tow (Olie,Wesley & Butty)
Olie showed up at her house everyday for a week - she took it back everyday - finally she asked the owners if she could just keep the dog. They said sure. Its name was originally Mohammed Ali after the fighter Cassius Clay. It was changed to Ollie or Olie & the dog never noticed the spelling. Wesley and Butty (I say Buddy - but he doesn't complain) were pound rescue dogs. My daughter has a heart in the right place.

So Christine showed up and we were giving her [ and her 3 dogs + my 5 ] a tour of the backyard: our tree damage, our new maple trees, various patches of grass - when Christine noticed that my little Greta jumped back a foot ---- See previous Snake Dog blug ---- "Jump back" means there is an issue. Before I could get there, Liesl had moved away and was running to the porch and little Oscar gave out a cry.

We started looking around her when Greta grabbed a 6-8" Baby copperhead and slung it around. You recognize the babies because the tip of their tails are lime green. The snake went into the leaves, limping I would suppose, & we got Greta back outta da way while the wife brought me a shovel. We dug around in the leaves and found the varmit.

To quote Alice in Wonderland: "OFF WITH ITS HEAD!" I cut that little beggars head clean off. Then I picked it up by the tail and showed it to every dog trying to scare them all with a loud noise as they took a smell. It worked on most; but not on Greta the Snake Dog. She went after that dead snake like it was fresh ground hamburger. That dog is a snake hater. (again see previous blog). The dead snake went over the fence into the neighbor's yard - let Sue & Heidi find it.

Later we surveyed the damaged. Liesl was laying on the back porch with her own stone. Her nose was starting to swell. We couldn't find bite marks but she was quite quiet. My wife called the Vet (another stone would be: dogs only get sick on Sat afternoon or on Sunday when the Vet is gone) Eventually after 2 calls, the answering machine found the Vet who called. Benedryl (this is one of those words I never want to learn to spell). Hamburger and one pill for our 18 lb dog. Chomp, one bite, burger & pill gone. She is resting.

About 5 min later it dawned on me that Oscar was not running and playing - not his normal behavior. I found him. His nose is swollen up and there is a bloody spot on the nose. More drugs and burger. Oscar is sleeping it off on the couch with his favorite ball between his paws.

I don't know if there is anything else to be done. We will watch them and hope for the best. If all is fine, those two dogs will have learned a great lesson about snakes. Greta on the other hand is still on the hunt.

It is nice to have Christine here. Other kids will be down in a couple of weeks.

GO MOTHER'S DAY !!!

red vs. white

Some days it just doesn't pay to do good. Just now I went into the laudry room where we have a small refrig left over from my office days. I keep soft drinks and stuff. Do to my "condition," which I have not discussed herewithin before, I get to eat a snack at night. I have to limit my carb intake at these times; yet, I must have some carbs. I don't know why, but this machine will not allow me to make paragraphs...sorry it make get harder to read. So, in my effort to be good with the carbs, I took out a 6 pack of V8 Spicy cans wrapped in plastic. As I removed the 2nd can, it flew to the floor landing upside down & yes, V8 juice enveloped the white laundry room. Normally I might say that bright red looks good against a white background. But, not in this case. I grabbed int inverted can as fast as I could. A puddle of red oozed under the door. Along came Fritz (my black & tan dachsie) - as I worked on the splashes, he cleaned up the floor. That boy likes Spicy V8. I do too; not on the wall & washing machine though. This would be a V8 stone.

flaw in blogging

not a gem stone:

another flaw in the blog system: I enjoy making fun, but I must be careful. Let's assume that I have an acquaintance named -- BOB -- And Bob has some annoying habit (take your choice) - clicking his false teeth - saying "Y'know" - bragging about his daughter (when we all know her past) - drinks beer but talks champagne - likes Mayonaise - I mean, you just pick something, it doesn't matter. So, my friend Bob has this flaw.

If I were writing an email to my family, I would make fun of Bob liberally. My family would nod knowingly and we would move on. But, if I put this same bit on a blog, Bob might read it. Then, I would be embarrassed - for him and me. It hurts to hold my tongue (fingers).

It is suggested that I change the names to protect the innocent. That way Bob could become Wilbur. Now if Bob would die, it might become easier.

I'm fixin to post some old stones about things that happened in my teaching - jerk administrators, stupid students, parents who.... I have some of the best students, administrators and parents over the years. Others really had problems or were just plain slow.

minor bit: I had a parent once working in a concession stand. She iced down soft drinks. At the end of the night she started throwing away all unsold cans of drinks. She explained that when a can coke goes into ice and warms back up, all the carbonation is lost. I told her that it was an old wife's tale and stored the drinks for later. Now, that is not a major bit - it was just something that came to mind.

Thass enough = y'all take care now

CSO Rides again

Tonight the Corsicana Swing Orchestra (a 16 piece big band-swing etc from days of yore with great vocalist Brenda Ballew ) is playing for a wedding reception and dance in Tyler. I don't expect to get rich. Just playing the trumpet in front of people is pretty much fun nuff.

This is a fun & competant group. If you get rich hire the band to play for you. Thursday night we are playing a concert at Richland H.S. - That is Richland south of Corsicana, not the Richland in the DFW area. They are having some type of jazz competition or playoff (beats me) & we are playing in the night concert. I think our final song for the night is In The Mood. Yessirreee Bob, we groove.

y'all come see, y'hear?