Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

R is for Roger

Roger Ellingham worked in the mail room at the phone company in 1953 when I was hired in. It was Pacific Telephone & Telegraph's home office, the accounting and administrative building on Eighth Avenue (if I remember correctly) in downtown Seattle. Roger had seniority on the mail room crew. I was... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy Little Song

It’s a little song I sing, when I think of you: a simple little ode to spring, of flowers drenched in dew. Such a pretty melody a dancing sunbeam song for that was what you meant to me, on a day so long and oh, so far away, when hope and joy were new It’s just a happy song I sing when I think of... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Q is for quizzing myself

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a name that starts with "Q" and the only think I could come up with was Quinn. There was a girl named Darlene Quinn one grade below mine, her brother graduated a couple years ahead. Didn't know them except to see her in the hallways and maybe in one... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

P is for Patrick

I admit it. It was rude of me to laugh, but he caught me off guard. I’m sorry, he says, after we’d run across China Garden’s parking lot and scrambled into his car, a perfectly maintained gold ’67 Dodge Dart sedan he’d driven for fifteen years. Our take-home boxes are nested on the bench seat... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, June 28, 2013

P is for Pete

Pete K. is a Renaissance man. He taught Anthropology at Seattle Central when I worked there, his classes were always jam-packed, his book orders in early. He was always available by phone, loved his job. I think the word for a man like Pete is "motivated." Or maybe "involved." Way back in the '60s... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

O is for Oops!

I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with someone I know, someone who was a teacher, someone who taught me something, whose name starts with "O." I got nothin.' There was a banned book once, "The Story of O." But it was illegal to buy a copy or have it, and I'm sure if I ever snickered or... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

N is for Nolan

I'm hesitant to talk about Nolan L. It's embarrassing. I mean, he was so awful. His little sister was a classmate, and at Mossyrock High, where everybody knows everything about everybody's business, Carol knew I didn't have a boyfriend. I didn't even have anybody on the string, no senior looking my... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

M is for Mac

Uncle "Mac" was a Pinochle player and he had a collection of Pat and Mike jokes that could keep you laughing all night long. Me and my kid brother and sister loved it when Uncle Mac and Aunt Elsie came to town, because Mama was always happy. She was the best baker in the family: bread, rolls,... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, June 24, 2013

So soon old, so late smart...

My son Guy and I had a free-ranging discussion of writing, the vagaries of weather and the meaning of life last night after a frustrating supper at Red Robin. He and I share the writer's curse. I nag him to get his master's so he can teach. He'd make an excellent writing teacher. (Seems more... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The "Reacher" controversy

Lee Childs writes thrillers about a character named Jack Reacher. His character is a great big guy, 6'5", 220-250 pounds, sandy hair, light eyes, former Army special services military cop. He travels light and keeps moving, buys his clothes at a thrift shop and tosses them rather than spending time... Sign in to see full entry.

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