Monthly Archives: August 2015
Q(uiet) T(ime) M(usings) for 8/31/15: THE HAPPY WARRIOR
My eyes suddenly popped open in the way we all wake from time to time. Something had been occupying my subconscious that bubbled closer and closer to my mind’s surface until. . . here’s where you moisten your lips, form them to begin to say the letter ‘m’, and suddenly blow out. POP. I’m guessing it was the … Continue reading
Saturday QTMs, 8/29/15:
Getting in is always easier than getting out. Always. Car. Argument. Wild carnival ride. Someone else’s discussion. Trouble. Much easier to get in than out. I drive a 1996 Mustang SVT Cobra convertible, as often with the top down as weather permits. We’ve been known to put jackets on and leave the windows up, warm … Continue reading
QTMs for 8/28/15: THE TEST
Good writers recognize great stories, no matter who wrote them. Read and absorb this one. THE TEST John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t–the … Continue reading
QTMs for 8/25/15: OH, YES, YOU ARE. *
“I don’t mean that much to anybody. Outside my immediate family, no one knows or cares who I am. Not even all of them do. Very little I’ve tried to do with my life has improved anyone else’s. I could quietly disappear and other than irritation that things weren’t getting done it would make no difference. In … Continue reading
QTMs for 8/24/15: IT’S ‘EM JOY-NABBERS!
“What are you yammering about now?” “Joah-nabbuhs!” “Sit down; have some coffee. Joy. Nabbers. . .” ” ‘Preciate it.” He took a healthy swig. “Yeah! You know, them people who’re so miserable theirselves they can’t seem to let a fella enjoy a thing in his life ‘thout doin’ their level best ta RUIN it for ‘im. Them kind … Continue reading
2nd Cup PSA: CELL PH0NE FLASHLIGHTS REVEAL MORE THAN YOU KNOW
All these nifty ‘free’ apps available to us all on our smartphones? The ‘free’ part doesn’t only apply to you, the consumer. I’ve seen this information prior to this. If part of the ‘automatic app’ package on your phone is one of those cool, bright flashlights you need to watch this. Please make the time. Then, … Continue reading
QTMs for 8/21/15: FEELINGS IS FICKLE THINGS
I woke up with a song of praise jogging through my mind, bouncing off my ribs, echoing in my heart and just in general jiggling my innards. Well, what’s left of them: “EV’RY PRAISE—- EV’RY PRAISE IS TO OUR GOD!” Yeah, I know. Me, too. All it needs is for me to see the lyrics, … Continue reading
WELCOME BACK: REMEMBER THE SWEATHOGS
Mrs. Olsen… Mrs. Draper… Mrs. Castric… Mrs. Stratton… Mrs. Trapp… Mr. Nielsen… (Grades 7-9 are intentionally blurred and names have been changed to protect the gladiators who dared set foot in any of our classrooms in vain attempts to teach us anything.) High school? Where to start? Misters Smith, Torris, Strutz, Sheeley, Frazier, Ingum . … Continue reading
#20: GIVE MORE. ALWAYS.
If you give freely, there will always be more. . . . You are going to have to give and give and give, or there’s no reason for you to be writing. You have to give from the deepest part of yourself, and you are going to have to go on giving, and the giving … Continue reading
QTMs for 8/17/15: IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR POV
You and I seek second opinions for the same reason cops interview as many witnesses as they can find. We don’t see things as they actually are, but more nearly as we are. “What’d you see? Well, I saw a blue . . . “Are you certain?” Oh, absolutely. “What’d you see? I saw a … Continue reading