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, April 11, 2023

WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?

First of all, you don't start out with a big cliche such as "It was a dark and stormy night." The cat and mouse theme has been done, and done again. This guy was walking alone on a deserted street when he realized someone was following him... Or, make it even more scary - this girl was waiting in a... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, April 10, 2023

SEEING DOUBLE

A couple days ago I got a friend request from a person on FB who is already on my friends list. Today I got a double notice of someone's birthday, and found she was also on the list twice. I don't know how or when this happened, but I went through the list, checked their timelines and deleted the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, April 9, 2023

John Lennon, Mary Oliver and Ethan Coen

Feeling totally uninspired - no topic I could think of got past my inner censor this lovely Easter morning. So I went to the poetry books on my shelf, the writings of Beatle John Lennon, Inspirational Poet Mary Oliver, and the Audacious Ethan Coen. I particularly love John Lennon's song, "Imagine,"... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, April 8, 2023

SONG LYRICS AND A WAY TO KEEP ON KEEPING ON

"Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end, We'd sing and dance forever and a day. We'd live the life we'd choose, we'd win and never lose, Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days." If you're like me, you didn't realize the first 15 years of this century were going to... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, April 7, 2023

S W A K - Remember when?

When sweethearts wrote to one another - handwritten love letters perhaps on pages torn from their Big Chief tablets - tucked into an envelope and carried to the mailbox - they often wrote "S W A K"* on the back flap after sealing it closed. Kids today won't know this sweet custom. They correspond by... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, April 6, 2023

WHAT RHYMES WITH MANILA?

Camilla. Flotilla. Gorilla.??? I ordinarily avoid paying any attention to the British royals. Not a fan, let's leave it at that. When those wealthy and titled family members throw a snit and air all the royal laundry on the public clothesline, I just flip the channel. I liked Queen Elizabeth. She... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

EXCERPT FROM "WRITE YOUR OWN STORY" GROUP

Topic: Childhood Friends In the days before our family bugged out of rural Kennewick (April 1947) we lived on a two-acre plot of ground. Our house faced the road that ran from Kennewick to Richland, WA and ran parallel to the east-west flowing Columbia River. The land sloped uphill from about 30... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

RADIO DAYS

TV was the new thing in the late '40s, early '50s. It was local broadcasts - no cable at that time, black & white images only, and broadcasts stopped at midnight with the playing of the national anthem. Where we lived then, in a remote village in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, about... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, April 3, 2023

WHEN ACTIVISTS ATTACK!

We've seen a lot of it on the news networks lately: loud, rude activist females who may not have their facts exactly straight, but who nonetheless get loud and aggressive with the powers-that-be. Yesterday's "60 Minutes" interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene - and her confrontational style -... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

A BRIEF LOIS LANE EXPERIENCE

I first met George in a creative writing night class - "grandma goes to college" in 1979 or thereabouts. At the time he was thinking of writing a novel, took the class to pick up some tips. He was in his mid-20s at that time and managing editor of four local weeklies, newspapers that were... Sign in to see full entry.

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