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- Go to The Dog Boy of Ziggi Zaggi Lane
Mom and our maid, Joanna had their peanut butter gang, they called them.
Little tiny kids who came by daily for sandwiches. I never knew. She never saw my Dog Boy. We all did what we could down there, unbeknownst to each other.
posted by
benzinha
on April 5, 2004 at 10:10 PM
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decshak, I could sure use the $100....maybe, I'll try that.
Your wonderful comments lift me up and help me fly.....
posted by
benzinha
on March 25, 2004 at 2:40 PM
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Your writing touches us all.
Thanks for sharing. And your presence on Blogit is rather miraculous, too. We all need to get connected with the world's realities and I don't see anyone's writing that's better than yours for connecting us. This story reminds me of a book by Doris Lessing. You could easily get $100 or more for it if you simply submit it to
Reader's Digest. I don't know what their going rate is, but I'm sure they'd give it to you.
posted by
WindTapper
on March 25, 2004 at 12:54 PM
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Temple, must be published??!?! From your lips to God's ears. I do have a
doctorate in Life Experience, as do all older people, can't help it, lived long enough to learn. And the fun IS in the details, like you say.
You and Wiley can read and comment anytime. Thanks for reading and commenting.
posted by
benzinha
on March 24, 2004 at 11:27 AM
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hyperion, I know that your life has AMAZING subject matter, too.
The writing about it is the choosing of which details to present, how to present them and the drawing in of the reader.
An anarchist has so much subject matter and your childhood, just one memorable day could be an entire post or many posts!! Why not do that highschool homework assignment, My Most Memorable Character.....?Or, How I Spent My Summer Vacation of '85??
posted by
benzinha
on March 24, 2004 at 3:54 AM
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What a facinating life you have had.
Life experience, big or small, plot point or detail, is the best form of education on ourselves, others, and the human condition there is. You, my dear, must have a doctorate degree. I love the way you bring me right there, into the details. You know how I love those! It is a heartbreaking situation, all over the world. The fact that we walk along either not knowing or not caring, or maybe not knowing what to do, is heartbreaking. I agree with Wiley on this. You must be published. It's your gift. Your mission. String together a collection of what you have and publish a book of essays. Think of what you could do. People would be inspired to write, to read, to look at sitations like the one with Dog Boy. There is a reason you witnessed it, and a reason you are so very talented in expressing it.
posted by
Temple
on March 23, 2004 at 9:27 PM
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Rio sounds so rich with life...
I like your writing and it helps that it has AMAZING subject matter. I would love to go to Rio. Someday, yes we should talk about politics...(in responce to a comment on my blog)
posted by
Hyperion
on March 23, 2004 at 9:09 PM
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beachbelle, I wish that I had more time to write. Maybe I write a new
story next week. I've been forming one inside my head all week......thanks for reading this again. You sure do drink a lot of tea.....careful on those kidneys, or that kidney, how many do you have? You must have to run to the potty a lot....!!! I know that I would have to.
posted by
benzinha
on March 23, 2004 at 2:12 PM
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Benzinha
I recall this story from the first telling here. I had to wait a couple of days to have my tea ready so I could sit and read. You are a story-teller with a gift.
posted by
beachbelle
on March 23, 2004 at 2:00 AM
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maj, and don't forget Africa. All the war and strife the orphans
there have, the same challenges, only they are worse off as the adults have made them into cold blooded killers before the age of fourteen and what career and home life opportunities will they have? Like the little kids in Cambodia who were forced to kill their own relatives to avoid their own deaths; they are shattered humans before they even hit puberty.
If only there were more of a focus on this by the U.N. rather than trying to decide upon less pressing issues, I think. Kiss your babies for me.
posted by
benzinha
on March 23, 2004 at 1:39 AM
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jemmie, it is heart ripping, the indifference of adults in some countries.
Most, if any work to salvage these children is done by churches and saints. About ten years after I left Rio and the movie Pixote came out, there were over 30 million estimated street orphans running loose and wild and dying in Brasil. AND, it is just one country of many countries which suffer from this lack of help for its babies.
posted by
benzinha
on March 23, 2004 at 1:30 AM
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Dearest, most darling Wiley, what wonderful words from you!
I have never been praised so highly and am deeply touched. I only wonder what I should write about if I ever wrote to publish. I try to think of stories which would form a novel and can't. Maybe I should just string all of these together into some grouping of short stories and try that. But, I know that I won't.
Your writing is not drivel or I would not take the time to read it and write about it. You touch people, too and have made some of us here love you madly. Openess and honesty go a long way. Thank you for your words.
posted by
benzinha
on March 23, 2004 at 1:26 AM
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As Chrissy Hines and the Pretenders said,
in the "bloody third world", that "the children are part of the scenery".
This cannot be a truly new phenomenon. India has it too, i the urban areas. I know that Europe had this sort of problem after WWII, but that the adults and the churches (especially the Catholic church) stepped in and took care of the orphans. Latin America seems to have adopted extermination as the solution.
Too many kids, not enough money and 'way too much dope and alcohol.
posted by
majroj
on March 22, 2004 at 6:36 PM
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Angry or Sad?
I don't know whether to be angry at the crimes or feel sad for the gangs who had no other option but to commit crimes.
"Dog Boy" tore my heart to shreds, but the 5-year olds smoking and drinking crushed what was left.
I, too, hope they are alive somewhere. No one deserves a life that harsh.
posted by
Jemmie211
on March 22, 2004 at 11:11 AM
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benzinha,
Thank you for that story. No, that is not nearly enough, love, thank you for every story.
With an abundance of candour, I must tell you that when I see a blog from you, I approach it as I would a Hemingway Story, like "The Old Man and The Sea," or W.O.Mitchell with his "Who Has Seen The wind".
For me you have that same capacity to describe violence without making the words violent, as could Hemingway. There is no doubt about it that those children lived violent lives and some died violently, yet you are able to make me see and live the peace in your story.
Surely you will publish your work one day, why Benzinha, it is almost a duty. This is Michaelangelo or Van Gogh work, this is art which you are holding in trust in your head.
I do not know if I am expressing myself to you well enough, but just let me say that I would far, far rather read your work than to write my drivel. God Bless You.
posted by
WileyJohn
on March 22, 2004 at 7:14 AM
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