Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Box by Matthew Chambers


This is a new book. The Box by Matthew Chambers. Short stories and other forms of story telling. As in quotations. I was going to put in a form with info about a character and call it a story. But I didn't. Though I did use the idea in another book called The Death of Lou Grant. I lived in Belgium for 4 years and Matthew Chambers is loosely based on some people I thought about while I lived there.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Natasha Rising


This is another piece devoted to my youngest daughter. She is beautiful and strong. And just beginning to blossom.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Monday, December 20, 2010

This landscape has no meaning


This landscape has no meaning. And outside of a sunami you would have trouble imposing a meaning on it. And yet...

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The sad stairs of Joanna Park


This is a girl I fell in love with. Briefly. She married and had twin boys. Years later another one of my exes also had twins... Weird.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Natasha's Train of Thought



My youngest daughter is the thinker of the family. She is also the most pragmatic. Certainly one of the wonderful people I have met on this particular planet.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

military folly


During the build up of forces to face Russia's Czar at the Crimea in 1854 cholera broke out in the army. 'When the British sailed from Varna on September 7, men aboard the more than six hundred transports were dying right and left of the disease. At night the bodies were tied with weights and dumped overboard, but, because the weights were too light, the bodies rose again as gases expanded in them, and the troopships were followed by the ghastly spectacle of corpses, kept upright by the weights, bobbing along with just their heads and shoulders out of the water.' (page 195, Great Rivals in History, by Joseph Cummins)

Victor Genova


One of the most important business figures in Canadian life. He was the first man to see the possibilities of 3D radio. What some call surround sound. He also pioneered the notion of relics. His idea was that people going to a funeral should be able to take a souvenir home with them. A great man. But very misunderstood. If you meet him on the street, give him a pat on the back. He needs encouragement.

Monday, December 6, 2010

C sik pop


Getting sea sick and getting drunk have a lot in common. The difference is that, after your hangover, you always drink again.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Reality


There is this peculiar quality of reality. You go along thinking that you're living your life. When something happens. And you realize that you've been asleep all the time.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Daughter Leaving

Katie is going to visit relatives in Belgium. And no doubt have a great time. I envy her. She just picks up and leaves. Her mother's daughter. What a gal.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

What! Shatner!


I don't know why I called this piece what I called it. But we all have shadows. And I might have one in my head. An MRI will tell the story.