Archive for November, 2009
Pork’s Popsicles
The blow surprised him. Pork flew backwards against his ice cream cart landing painfully near the large spoked wheel. His upper lip ached as blood trickled from his nose. Huddled around him stood a half dozen high school football players. Huge and grimy with blackened eyes and scraped knees, they were surprised that the [...]
Black Friday Myths & Madness
Today is Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving in the United States officially begins the retail holiday season. Kathy and I are caring for grandson, Jaymeson, while his parents grapple for savings at 4 AM. According to the New York Times, they will be joined by 134 million shoppers. Black Friday shopping sometimes feels like [...]
Death of the Ugly Duckling
Yesterday, the plan for General Motors to sell its struggling Saab Division to Koenigsegg, a small Swedish car producer, ended. Despite support by GM’s biggest stockholder, the US Government, and minority interests by the Chinese, the two parties failed to reach a deal. It is likely Saab will be shut down. Death comes to [...]
The Count
My calendar contains a red circle – December 21. There are 16 business days before the big date. I never planned to count them, but the question was repeatedly asked, “How many more days?” What do they mean by days? You don’t count weekends, holidays, vacation days, furloughs or operational shutdowns. Just count the number [...]
Along the Road to Bacchus
The bus rambled through the arid country side. Tanks, artillery and other weapons-filled vehicles – all pointing east – lined each side of the road. Helmeted soldiers clustered in small groups and shared smokes. Syrian flags flapped every half mile. What was the Syrian army doing in Lebanon? Why were their guns pointed at their [...]
The Empress of Del Mar
Peering through the camera, Scott whirled his zoom lens, sneaking by the cactus until his client, the Empress of Del Mar, came into focus. Her highness didn’t look up, but continued studying the script, neatly printed on three-by-five cards. A short hike behind her, down a winding path, shadows from the salmon colored cliffs pierced [...]
Drowning in the Sea of Tranquility
There is water on the moon! According to NASA spokesperson, Anthony Colaprete, “Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find a little bit, we found significant amounts.” You may recall in October NASA drove two rockets into the moon: one to generate dust and one to analyze it. The dust was a [...]
101 Observations of an Overhead Projector
“It has a red ‘on’ button.” “The ‘off’ button is also red.” ” On’ & off were the same button.” “The projection lens is round . . ..” This was science. The Gemini Program was blasting pairs of astronauts into orbit. Exciting technologies, like transistors and Tang Orange Drink, were being developed. [...]
Rouge – The Brand
The red lipstick promotes passion, courage . . . sexual impulses. The wink personalizes her to each individual soul in the audience. Oh that smile! Those sparkling teeth could sell lipstick in addition to hope. Meet our rouge from the Bearing Sea, Sarah Palin – The Brand! Sarah surprised pundits by resigning her governorship. Didn’t [...]
A Flower
My sister is painting a gift for me. It’s a flower. She’s a beginner, not that it matters. My flower will be a masterpiece. Chris lives hours away. I imagine her working at the easel. She probably keeps her eye close to the canvas. An illness called Lupus hampers her vision, often blinding an [...]
