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

Thursday, July 12, 2012

This 'n that

Heard from my daughter, who's safely back in Tampa after her 5 days in crazytown. She left a message on my phone during the five minutes it took to go haul the garbage & recycling bins back to their spot next to the garage. She's playing catch-up for the class she missed, recovering from the stress... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:14 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What Mama Said

Mom had a lot of colorful sayings... "Colder than a well-digger's ankle," (clean version) or "Hotter than the hinges on the gate to hell." Whenever she talked about things we now call stupid human tricks, she'd say so and so had to have been "numb from the butt both ways." It's not like the three of... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:42 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

About yesterday

One reason I post stuff on writing / writers is that it interests me and seems to draw comments from others who read and enjoy the same. Another is to distract myself from thinking about my trubbles. Long drawn out health issues among older people are so damn boring to other people - we can feel... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:02 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, July 9, 2012

A Death in Salkum - post mortem

If you recall, Iris had been a widow when she came to work for our guy Cal. You may not have noticed Iris' first husband had no name. He had a name in the original, but then I decided he didn't deserve one. In my mind her Christian fanatic husband was a warped soul with a serious sadistic streak,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:51 AM | add or view comments (9) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, July 8, 2012

A Death in Salkum - conclusion

At the time Riley Moore found Cal Walker’s body, unmarried couples didn’t live together, at least not without causing gossip. If single folks wanted to shack up for a night or two they’d find a No-tell Motel in the next county and it was nobody’s business. Many a man who found himself “batching it”... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:41 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, July 7, 2012

A Death in Salkum, part 1

It was Riley Moore, a logging truck driver, who found the body. Riley’s truck was in low gear. He was leaning over the steering wheel, unconsciously pushing the laboring engine up the last hundred yards to the crest of the Silver Creek grade. A few seconds more and he’d be on the level, another... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 3:12 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, July 6, 2012

New Story? Are you ready for fiction?

I spent a pleasant hour or two yesterday fine-tuning a story I'd originally written years ago. I was on a Salkum kick, fictionalizing true stories about that town where I spent my high school years. It still has the same number of residents as it did then, around 250 -- (approx. 80 families).... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 3:49 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Radio Days - Songs by the Sons of the Pioneers

"Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" sung in four-part harmony to a guitar accompaniment brought familiar scenes to mind. Until the end of sixth grade we lived in a house that fronted a busy two-lane highway just at the Y between Richland and Kennewick in Washington State. At that time Richland was a bedroom... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:27 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

When, in the course of human events...

These, of course are the first few words of the Declaration of Independence. As usual, they read the document on NPR this morning, a moving document well worth hearing again. We had to memorize parts of it in school, back in the olden days before Google and the WWW. As the speakers took up their... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 8:34 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

What Kurt Said

"Go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:05 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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