helen and mick
Another found photo. This one taken by a railyard. In the 1930s maybe.
I know their names, and I know they're marrried, because the back of the photo is inscribed:
signs of life in dania beach
A sign at Publix. So this is what husbands do? Note the requisite local respect paid to misspelling, unless Juan here refers to the-wife-by-the-hour's feathers and not her pipes.
more kids write the darndest things
Actual sentences I have read:
“The mountain glowed purple over the dyke, and she felt a twinge of homesickness.”
“‘It doesn’t hurt,’ I lied, the aesthetic beginning to wear off.”
“It looks like some sort of statute or monument.”
“And at night we would boil up crap legs and dip them in hot melted butter.”
“Your place in God’s internal kingdom.”
“The Count of Monte Crisco.”
“I want to laugh at the cheer insanity of the situation.”
still life with man and tv
Found photo. We also had a TV, a Motorola, with that shape screen. May have been the same model. My great-grandmother, Maude Lucier, gave it to us.
kids write the darndest things
Actual quotes from stories I have read:
“The first thing I found was an elaborate gold silk fabric with gold and copper colored sequence all over it . . .”
“I have been advised to mull over a last meal and chose a religious domination for my preparation and celebration into Hell.”
“. . . past the plastic peeling Wayne’s Coating were piles of crap . . .” (wainscotting) (and I bet there’s a Chester Drawers in that room).
“. . . to sounds of ooh’s and awes from the bonfire . . .”
“. . . it seems God has a lot install for this woman.”
“. . . I found it impossible to eve’s drop on the murmurs and whispers . . .”
“I made eye contact with Jacques right after I saw the grotesquity of what he had just done.”
“The tone of the story was extremely mellow dramatic.”
grafton hill
The Onion features an article about my old neighborhood. Pretty funny. There is no bakery or storefront on the Hill quite so elegant as the one featured in their story, however.
melmac
I found this set of Melmac dishes at an antique store in Southport, NC, a week ago. This is the set of dishes we grew up with. We had a table setting for six. The plates may have resisted breaking and staining, but they did, in fact break and stain. In fact, Wikipedia notes: "During the late 1950s and 1960s melamine tableware became highly fashionable. . . . The tendency of melamine cups and plates to stain and scratch led sales to decline in the late 1960s, however, and eventually the material became largely restricted to the camping and nursery market." Melmac was also the name of the planet where Alf came from, a planet whose motto was "Are you going to finish that sandwich?" Melmac is also the name of a university korfball team in the Netherlands. No one we knew had a dishwasher. Paula and I did the dishes. We fought over who would wash.
found poem
Scott Rothstein and John McCain
(no guilt by association implied)
From the transcript of the deposition of Scott Rothstein via Bob Norman's blog:
Q Let me ask you about Melissa Lewis. Melissa
Lewis was a lawyer in your firm, right?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And at some point you were sleeping with her?
A When she was a student of mine, yes.
Q She was Debra Villegas' best friend, right?
A She was.
Q The same Debra Villegas that would do just
about anything for you if you asked her?
A Yes. We already discussed that.
Q The same Debra Villegas that knew about your
crimes or some of them and who participated in them with
you?
A That's correct.
Q At some point Debra Villegas' best friend and
then your former lover was murdered?
A That's correct. She was.
Q She was murdered because she knew too much,
right?
A Excuse me? Are you attempting to insinuate
that I had something to do with that poor girl's death?
Have you lost your mind?
Q You would deny that?
A I would deny it?
You're disgusting. Everyone knows that I
wasn't involved in it. That's disgusting.
Read the rest here.
no exit
Why I couldn't leave the movie theater last night.
refreshment, light and peace
Found in a used book purchased at Another Story (now closed) in Worcester, Mass. On the other side a picture of the Sacred Heart. It would seem to be a Mass card for Harry Demarest who was born on May 28, 1908 and died in December 9, 1969, in Athol, Mass., "Tool Town."
florida heat wave
Today is the last day to get your free e-copy of Florida Heat, edited by Michael Lister. I've got a story in there, "Iffy." So does James W. Hall, Tom Corcoran and many others.
drinking with blue christmas writers
Here's a video where I talk about Blue Christmas and then do some drinking.
The winning cocktail:
Blue Christmas Cocktail #2
1. Pour 1 1/2 oz of bourbon into shaker.
2. Pour 1 1/2 oz of brandy (we used Cognac) into shaker.
3. Add 1/4 oz of maple syrup into shaker.
4. Add 2 dashes of Bittercube’s Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters into shaker.
5. Add 6 milk ice cubes* into shaker.
6. Shake.
7. Pour into rocks glass with one, large milk cube.
8. Garnish with cinnamon stick.
*Simple. Freeze milk in an ice tray same way you do water. For the one large milk cube, we used this.
--David Gonzalez
