Tuesday, March 31, 2015

So long, March .... bye-bye, Winter .... unfinished original & four addendums



FramWinter begins November 1 and ends March 31. Snow and cold might yet torment us for a while longer, but they cannot last. I will also say happy birthday today to Benny and to Bud, who managed to arrive just before March departed. The music, I would think, is self-evident .... I might change it .... I could not decide with what "music to end March by" .... but, perhaps, the selection is an omen and may be appropriate since the Rolling Stones will be in town on June 3. (Yes, really. Can you believe it?) Actually, this is an unfinished post, but I put it up anyway because I like to note the end of my birth month and I ran out of time .... hmmmm .... out of time. I might add more to this post. I have thought of publishing something like this, and then just adding new thoughts to it periodically -- a never-ending post, so to speak.

Scene II, Act I / "A Wife for a Month" by John Fletcher 1624

"I would chuse March, for I would come in like a Lion ....
But you'd go out like a Lamb when you went to hanging."

Lassiter / "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey 1912
"I reckon you will. An' I'll never ask you. I'm a man of strange beliefs an' ways of thinkin', an' I seem to see into the future an' feel things hard to explain. The trail I've been followin' for so many years was twisted en' tangled, but it's straightenin' out now ...."

Addendum No. 01 / April 4, 2015: Never an ending ??
I just might try this for a while .... a never-ending post, I mean.

It will be an interesting end of May / beginning of June for me. On May 26, I will be taking former wife No. 2 to the Mayo Clinic for a follow-up medical appointment; on May 28, I will be an observer at an event about twelve hours flight time from home; on June 3, I will be attending the Rolling Stones concert back home .... I just purchased four tickets .... rock 'n' roll, baby ....

I have decided to open this post up for comments, at least temporarily, since it is "temporarily never-ending." What is life without experimentation? Although I prefer the past in many ways, like it or not life is learning about the present ....

Addendum No. 02 / April 7, 2015: The story of books

Wolf Larsen / "The Sea-Wolf" by Jack London 1904
"Wolf Larsen answered with an indescribable air of sadness .... 'My mistake was in ever opening the books.'"

Among my earliest memories are of my mother reading to me. Then, she taught me to read. It was the only area in which I excelled when I entered school.

I was eleven when I approached the librarian to check out four or five books from the "adult section" of the local public library. There was nothing left in the "children's section" either unread by me or of interest to me. The librarian telephoned my mother, who said it was fine for me to have them, and I left the building on my way to an entirely new world of reading material.

It was just a few weeks later, my self-confidence at new heights, a clerk at a local bookstore asked me who was reading the books I was buying. I replied that I was reading them. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. The books were not salacious in any way, simply, rather, it would seem, unusual reading for boys: Biographies on men like Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin; studies on space and undersea exploration, and on archaeological discoveries; novels by prominent literary writers: James Joyce, Norman Mailer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Henry Miller; philosophy from Bertrand Russell.
That was the beginning. Having had a pair of dynamic English teachers in terms of reading throughout my six years of junior and senior high school fueled the fire and opened still broader vistas. Having had a professor in college who often read poetry in class with emotion and a Virginia accent and another who enjoyed reading passages in Old and Middle English sent me deeper into classic poetry and into understanding the evolution of language.
The pattern never changed, only the number of books I consumed any given year. During peak periods, I was reading up to about one-hundred-fifty a year. I no longer read voraciously, but I always am working on something.
I live alone, so I usually am reading a book while I am eating .... most of the food I eat is cold by the time I finish it.
I live alone, so I usually fall asleep at night with a book next to me.
I live alone, so I usually ....
Addendum No. 03 / April 10, 2015: Newspaper work
Ernest Hemingway / Letter to Charles Fenton 1952
"In newspaper work you have to learn to forget every day what happened the day before .... I was working on a newspaper and so I cannot remember as I should .... newspaper work is valuable up until a point that it forcibly begins to destroy your memory. A writer must leave it before that point. But he will always have scars from it."
 
Those who wander by here on occasion probably know that I have been an on-again / off-again journalist. The last time I actually was gainfully employed practicing it (regular hours / regular paycheck) was May 2009 .... although I still occasionally indulge, both formally and informally. Anyway .... I have been thinking about stories / interviews I wish I would have the opportunity to do. Here are a couple, in no particular order.
Hearing Patti Smith singing, "Be My Baby," in one of my recent posts brought back thoughts of Ronnie Specter. I would so love to be able to talk with her about her experiences in the world of music and her days with Phil Specter. She must be a walking encyclopedia regarding many of the key elements in the history of rock 'n' roll. After the interview, I would like to take her out to dinner.
I had a brief association with the rodeo circuit when I was young, and I would like to sit down with a few of these fellows -- the last of the real cowboys -- and hear them talk about the things they have done and seen. I have had one-on-one sessions with professional football and baseball players. I have not interviewed any "major league" athletes from other sports, but I think rodeo guys might be the realest of the real among any and all professional athletes.
War, contrary to the opinion of some, is not my obsession or something I idealize, but over time I have interviewed a number of extraordinary warriors. I would like to talk with more of them and compare notes and hear their individual stories. At the top of my list right now is Robert O'Neill, the SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden. In actuality, though, I would rather interview him twenty years from now when the event has entered the realm of history and he has had ample time to reflect upon it and to live with it in a personal sense.
Just to mention a male member of the rock 'n' roll ensemble from the past generation (or two), I would pick Ritchie Blackmore to interview because, in my opinion, he is the best of the guitar men, among the quietest publicly and, actually, comes off as being sort of weird.
I will keep this list to five individuals or types for now, and I suppose I am obligated to mention a politician. I have had some memorable moments with a few, some American and some not, including two sitting presidents and one sitting vice president -- none of whom are alive today. I cannot think of one American politician living today I really would especially care to sit in the same room with to interview -- but, to spread our wings and stretch our horizons, I would love to have a long talk with Vladimir Putin. In terms of politicians among us today, he probably is the realest of the real and, most certainly, the most interesting, the most dangerous, the most historically and nationalistically driven.
Pausing for a moment and thinking a bit more, I would love to reminisce with Fidel Castro, too. Yes, I might even prefer to talk with him even more than with Putin. Castro is history; Putin still is making it, so he can wait.
I suppose I should not mention this, but I will. The best interviews come when a bottle or two of liquor is part of the paraphernalia in the room. That is when words like trust, honor and simpatico become part of the process and the interview turns into a conversation and a true learning experience. I have had a couple of "adventures" such as that, and, selfish man that I am, getting to see inside someone is more important to me than a newspaper story few will ever read.
By the way, Fenton was a biographer, and I think Hemingway remembered everything about his newspaper days very well .... he just did not want to share those memories with Fenton.

Addendum No. 04 / April 13, 2015: Memory of a girl & a dance
Keith Reid & Gary Brooker / "A Whiter Shade of Pale" 1967
"That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, 'There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.'"
I remember a girl and sometimes think of her.
I was working at my first job as a newspaper reporter. She was seventeen and, would you believe, I was interviewing her because she was a high school super star? She was the best woman athlete, the top scholar, active in many extra-curricular programs and very attractive. She was about to graduate as No. 1 in her class, had college plans and seemed to be on her way to a bright future.
I remember the same girl about a year later.

I noticed her at an after-hours bar on the outside of city limits. I was waiting for "my love" of the moment, a divorced mother of three who was twenty-five and said she had gotten pregnant the "first time" she "had done it." I will not go into the details of our romance, but I will mention her ex-husband had hit her one night in my presence at a bar, and, as the expression goes, I proceeded to "wipe up the floor" with him. The ex-husband's father, a local political figure and office holder, later threatened to "destroy" me. You might imagine how I reacted to that:
"Thank you, sir, but neither you nor your son matter to me in the slightest. I suggest you keep it that way," said I, with my best smirk on my lips. So ended that conversation and any problems with son or father.
Back on point: I was bored while waiting for my girlfriend, so I approached the former high school super star and her boyfriend. I knew him mostly by reputation. I had heard that she had gotten deeply involved with alcohol and drugs through her boyfriend, who openly abused her. I spoke with her for a few minutes while he was engaged in a game of pool, then asked her if she wanted to dance. She did.
She seemed distracted and disoriented while we were dancing, but when I asked her if she was going to a well-advertised party the next night she slipped out of her daze instantaneously. She stopped our dance, looked into my eyes with near-glaring intensity and replied, "Are you? I'll go if you will."
She knew me in the sense of who I was and what I did. Her eyes had gone from vacant to deeply penetrating. One of her hands was literally clutching my shirt like it was a lifeline to safety. It was clear what she was asking and what she was offering. She was desperate to leave the life she had fallen into -- the centerpiece of which revolved round drugs -- and was asking me to take her from her boyfriend, even offering herself for the chance to escape. Her boyfriend approached and tried to cut in on our dance. I told him to get himself a beer and tell the bartender to put it on my tab. He snickered and left.
I told her that my girlfriend had plans for us the next night, which did not include the party. She sighed, we danced through the same song a second and then a third time, and that was that. I never saw her again.
Cutting to the chase: My girlfriend and I broke up a few weeks later when I moved on to another job and another town. This girlfriend was one of three women other than my two former wives with whom I had a serious relationship. (Seem like too many / too few ??) To be honest, the fact that she had three children with two of them already in school frightened me more than a little, but I was very emotionally attached to her for a while.
When recalling that era in my life, the girl I remember most is not my divorcee girlfriend, but, rather, the one-time high school super star. I never have been able to get her out of my mind -- her face and her eyes and her voice. It makes me shudder thinking about it at times. I played the same song three times on a jukebox. That is all the longer we were together -- fifteen or twenty minutes -- dancing, but I remember how she wore her hair, what she was wearing, even her shoes. I see her listless at first, then her entire being awaken when I mentioned the party. She was a beautiful girl, absolutely, and very intelligent and very talented; I would have said yes to the party had I not been involved with another woman.
It is possible this young lady made it out of a dismal existence on her own. I never heard and I never will know, but I cannot help from wondering if I might have been able to assist her to escape from it if only I had gone to that party. I have been unable to forget that she sought my help and I did not give it.
Then, there is the song we danced to .... when I hear it now my mind drifts and I will close my eyes and I still am dancing with her. There are times I question if I walked away from something even more .... even, maybe, from the end of a rainbow. Why else does the memory linger so strongly, so distinctly? But, mostly, it bothers me and almost haunts me in a sense that I did not try to help her.

15 comments:

Smareis said...

O frio ainda esta atormentando você. Esta na hora de chegar o calor por ai Fram. Ai quando o calor chegar você vai querer a neve. É sempre assim!

Eu acho Rolling Stones uma banda muito boa. Mas a música que mais gosto deles é "ANGIE". Que legal poder assisti uma apresentação deles, deve ser muito bom. Então você vai assisti a apresentação da banda?

Desejo que na consulta de sua ex-mulher tudo esteja bem e as noticias seja só de alegria.
Observar o final do mês do nascimento ainda não tinha pensado nisso. Isso é uma boa ideia.

Sempre é bom deixar um post em aberto para que possa fazer algumas mudanças: retirar ou acrescentar pensamentos novos na postagem. Sempre que escrevo meus post, estou acrescentando ou retirando algo dele mesmo que já tenha sido publicado...
Sempre aparece ideia nova que a gente gostaria de colocar.

Sobre passado: Passado sempre a gente tem coisas boas pra recordar, parece que tudo que é bom ficou no passado, mais o presente é o tempo em que precisamos viver, não podemos fugir dele. Não existe passado nem futuro, o que isso é apenas o momento presente.

Uma ótima semana Fram!
Um punhado de sorriso!
P.S: Amanhã publicar qualquer coisa no blog.

Fram Actual said...

A person acclimates to climate .... hmmmm. I handled heat and humidity well until I lived by Lake Superior, Smareis. It took me two or three winters to adjust to the cold and dampness there, but, since moving away, I never have been able to re-adjust to heat and humidity. For me and winter, I think it has become more a mental matter of no longer wishing to endure it.

Yes, barring the unforeseen, I will be attending the Rolling Stones concert in June in Minneapolis. It will be in an outdoor stadium, so I hope the weather cooperates. I have been to this stadium a few times. It generally seats 50,000, but can be expanded to 80,000, so it will be sort of crowded, I am sure. The top ticket prices are over $3,500 .... mine are not in that league, although I would wager this is the last tour for these guys and is worth the money in a sense.

I might try adding items to this post until the end of April. It could be pretty long by then. The problem is my mood .... I am not much in the mood for posting, but my mind keeps churning and my fingers keep typing. Anyway, we shall see what happens as the month progresses.

As for the past, it seems every month brings out some unique memories. As I mentioned to you, this is the month that my mother had to enter a nursing home (now called care centers), which was the beginning of her end and which led to me moving to the Twin Cities to be close to her. And, this is the month former wife No. 2 and I met, and she has been experiencing medical problems which trouble me. Those two women are on my mind a great deal these days, in terms both of the past and the present. But, you are right, it is the present we must live in and concentrate upon.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend and will have a beneficial week, Smareis. Thank you .... for coming, for writing your thoughts and for bringing a touch of sunshine to me in the form of your smile.

Fram Actual said...

P.S. More about the Rolling Stones. Sweets for the sweet, Smareis. Angie is a sweet song. It "fits" you. The Stones never have been among my favorite bands, but some of their songs are .... "Gimme Shelter" with Lisa Fischer singing opposite Mick Jagger probably is my favorite. It is a performance pinnacle, I think.

And, reflecting a bit more since I wrote my earlier comment to you, in terms of music and legend and experiencing life to its fullest, going to see the Rolling Stones at this point in the band's career is worth every dollar in your pocket if you are on your own and do not have a family to support. What other moment in rock 'n' roll history can match it?

Thanks, again, Smareis, for coming to visit me.

Smareis said...

Fram obrigada pelo comentário la na postagem, como sempre especial... Fiz um comentário gigante sobre sua resposta ao meu comentário aqui, mais ao enviar a pagina desatualizou e foi perda total no meu comentário. Como não salvei perdi. sorrindo aqui.
Como já estar muito tarde, e a coruja da noite precisa dormir, volto depois e faço outro comentário.

Envio sorrisos da madrugada.

Uma ótima semana!

Fram Actual said...

It is late for me and even later for you, Smareis, so I hope you will leave today behind and depart for the realm of Wynken, Blynken and Nod. (Do you know them?) Anyway, sleep well this night.

I spoke to my son on the telephone earlier for an hour, and finally "chased" him off to bed. He is beginning to take after me. Last night I was up virtually all night, and he seemed to be in the mood to do the same thing tonight.

Write when the Muses come to you. Until then, thank you for coming to see me this evening and for your greeting. I will look forward to your morning smiles.

Smareis said...

Parece que você adormeceu lendo um livro o Fram...

Estava aqui lendo e pensando sobre o preço que é uma apresentação dos Rolling Stones. Acho muito caro, eu não pagaria porque até então não sou fã deles, apenas gosto de uma das músicas, mais acho que a Banda é muito boa, até porque se não fosse boa, não fazia sucesso até hoje. Mick Jagger precisa fazer muitas apresentações porque com sete filhos pra pagar pensão não é brincadeira, inclusive o mais novo é filho de uma brasileira que teve um “caso” com Jagger quando eles fizeram turnê há 15 anos aqui no Brasil, mesmo sabendo que ele era casado. Na época falaram muito do modo que ela se comportou para arrumar um herdeiro Jagger . Não se pode negar que o adolescente tem a cara dele, e a pensão gorda que ele paga para o menino dá pra levar uma vida de luxo. Ela ficou conhecida até hoje por ter saído com Jagger, mesmo casando com um brasileiro e tendo mais outro filho. Tem pessoas que pela fama, e o poder faz qualquer coisa. Dizem que Jagger hospeda na casa do filho quando vem ao Brasil para vê-lo.
Depois que você assistiu a apresentação em junho dos Rolling Stones escreve uma postagem pra dizer como foi. Desejo que os exames de sua ex-mulher dê tudo certo na volta da consulta que ela irá realizar.
" Wynken, Blynken e Nod "é um poema popular para crianças escrito pelo escritor e poeta norte-americano Eugene Field e publicados em 9 de março de 1889.
Então eu parti a noite pra esse Reino encantado do Wynken, Blynken e Nod me diverti tanto por lá que voltei com uma torção no joelho kkkk.
Três crianças que brincavam e flutuantes entre as estrelas. As três crianças sonolentas navegar em seu sapato-boat; eles tenda brevemente em uma nuvem, em seguida, ter vários problemas com suas linhas de pesca (um aterra um peixe da estrela-like, que acaba de se contorcer em suas calças). Uma estrela conecta duas linhas com isca de cana-de-doces juntos. As estrelas provocar o bebê enquanto ele está pendurado ao mar. Um cometa vem através; eles pegá-lo em uma rede, e reboca-los descontroladamente até que pousar em outra nuvem, onde são atiradas por tempestades, acabou quebrando seu mastro e enviá-los de volta à terra (e sua cama, onde vemos que eles são realmente um jovem menino, que sonha que é todos os três).
Que legal você te falado com seu filho a noite. Você vai acabar virando uma coruja da noite.
Sobre a música que toca no um blog é um cantor muito bom aqui do Brasil o DJAVAN. Ótimo Interprete, já fez muito sucesso.

Desejo uma ótima semana!
Um punhado de sorriso lá do mundo encantado dos Wynken, Blynken e Nod

Fram Actual said...

The ticket prices I mentioned are the high end, with the low end around $200. Most of the high-end tickets are bought by major corporations for public relations projects/efforts, while the rest of us, who simply like the music, have to settle for considerably less. Still, it is amazing how many people will drop several thousand dollars for a "night out" which includes concert, hotel, assorted meals and other entertainment.

I never have paid much attention to the private lives of entertainment types except in a journalistic sense, and I do recall when Mick Jagger was in the headlines for some of his "flings" and/or marriages, including the one with the Brazilian model. I guess having a child with a rock star is one way to ensure a regular income.

I suppose I could write a post in the form of a review after the concert. I will think about it. Reviews are hard work because the reviewer has to concentrate on a number of elements all at the same time instead of just relaxing and enjoying the show. But, I will think about it.

Your version/adventure in the realm of Wynken, Blynken and Nod is more exciting and interesting than the original story, I think. You have quite an imagination, Smareis. I usually fly off to Neverland myself, where I can battle pirates and flirt with Wendy, but sometimes I get lost on the way among all those millions of stars and find myself drifting in the "beautiful sea" alongside Wynken, Blynken and Nod.

I always have been more of a night owl than an early bird, for some of the same reasons you are: It is quite and you have the world to yourself. I would say my typical bedtime is between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m., although it is not unusual for me to stay up until 3:00 a.m. (as I did last night) or even until 4:00 a.m. Basically, I go to bed when I am tired, and have always been that way in civilian life. Not to change the subject too drastically, but I have always had an "active" dream life, and more and more of my dreams are becoming episodic -- continuing in sequence for a few nights, I mean; and dreams that are different, but which take place in the same two or three locations; and even dreams within dreams. I have read a number of books about dream life and I enjoy discussing it with others, but I do not think most people are interested in comparing notes in this regard. I think dreams frighten many people.

I am glad you found your way back and visited me for a while longer, Smareis. I return your wish for a great week and thank you for your smiles sent to me from the enchanted land of Wynken, Blynken and Nod. Perhaps, I will see you there on my way to Neverland.

Smareis said...

Acho bem caro os bilhetes pra assisti uma apresentação dos Rollin Stones. Na moeda brasileira sairia mais o menos uns Cr$ 614 Reais, quase que o preço de um salário mínimo no Brasil.
Para mim é um valor altíssimo, acho que até pagaria se fosse pra ver outras bandas de rock que gosto.
Eu também não leio muito sobre vida de artista, acontece que a mídia fala muito a respeito desses tipos de relacionamento de artista e mostra na TV. Aqui no Brasil tem canal de TV que mostra só fofoca e vida de celebridade.
Gostou da minha versão do Wynken, Blynken e Nod. Tua versão também é bem interessante, e cheia de aventura.
Voar para Neverland, lutar com piratas e flertar com Wendy, depois se perder no caminho, e ficar a deriva num belo mar ao lado Wynken, Blynken e Nod, acho que daria uma história bem interessante.
Fram, eu sempre fui coruja da noite, mais ultimamente estou a dormir bem mais cedo, lá pela 01h00min ou 02h00min. Eu passei a dormir tarde devido à preocupação que eu tinha com meu filho quando ele era pequeno, era internação, medicação nos horário certo, foram anos assim, e depois fui acostumando a dormir só pela madrugada, e a gente acaba acostumando e depois ficou difícil voltar ao horário normal. Mais quando estou meio cansada durmo mais cedo.
Deve ser bem legal esses livros sobre a vida de sonhos, eu ainda não li um livro exclusivamente que aborda o tema sonhos. (mas gostaria de ler). Eu acho que sonhar não assusta, acho que a pessoas tem é medo de sonhar, até porque depois se decepciona com o próprio sonho. Isso acontece muito das pessoas sonhar com algo, e mais tarde o sonho se transforma num pesadelo. Tem sonhos que é bom até ficar guardada numa caixinha a sete chaves.
Tem sonhos que só mesmo em Neverland.
Sorrisos e um ótimo fim de semana!

Aguardo a próxima atualização.

Smareis said...

Essa postagem anda mesmo crescendo, a cada dia tem algo interessante, passei por aqui ontem e não percebi outra continuação, parece bem animado na escrita. Vou voltar depois e ler com mais calma e precisão. São tantos fatos que não da pra falar de todos ao mesmo tempo.

Aqui no Brasil o jornalismo é uma profissão bem concorrida, só que muitas emissoras de TV dispensam os profissionais de mais experiências para colocar outros mais novos, devidos ter costa quente, melhor aparência, e influência no meio. Eu acho uma concorrência desonesta para quem é profissional com formação e vontade de exercer a profissão. Acho interessante poder escrever para um jornal, só que às vezes as ideias muitas das vezes não coincidem com as ideias do chefe, e ai nem dá pra publicar o que realmente o jornalista pretende. Acho que muitas entrevistas são interessantes e fica na história. O jornalista sempre procura um furo de reportagem, principalmente de fatos importante, pessoas famosas, fatos e tragédias, e quando consegue a reportagem fica famoso e na história. Creio que você já deve ter conseguido muitas entrevista que gostou de fazer e muitas que você não conseguiu, mais ainda sonha em entrevistar pessoas famosas e curiosas que não conseguiu... Entrevistar o grande Fidel Castro, e tanto outros deve ser muito interessante e isso deixa qualquer um na história. Lia uma matéria que o Presidente Barack Obama, é mais popular em Cuba do que o seu homólogo cubano, Raul Castro, e o seu irmão Fidel Castro. Acho que entrevistar o seu Presidente deve ser um de seus sonhos.

Eu tenho notado essa semana que minha bandeja de seguidores do blog não aparece, andei em outros blogs e vi o mesmo problema. Aqui no seu blog seus seguidores estão visíveis. Acho que o problema deve estar aqui no Brasil, porque as maiorias dos estão com os mesmo problemas.

Gostei muito da postagem, embora precise ler tudo de novo são muitos pormenores que você acrescentou. Estou lendo pelo celular, mais tarde leio com mais calma.

Sorrisos e ótimo dia.

Snowbrush said...

I don’t like it that you close comments because to close comments is to close dialogue, and I can’t even imagine doing that. Anyway, I liked the music quite well, and also the quotations. I had wondered, actually, if you were familiar with Jack London, so am pleased that you appear to be. I well recall his view that a person can either write or they can’t, so getting together with other writers to hone one’s craft is a weakness. On this, I would agree.

I’ve never read Hemingway except for “The Old Man and the Sea,” which I very much enjoyed. If I conclude that a writer is petty, mean-spirited, unethical, or otherwise contemptible, I don’t read his or her works, and such is my opinion of Hemingway. Ken Kesey lived—and died—just outside of town here, and although he had the well-deserved reputation (locally, at least) of being an arrogant and uncouth asshole when he was alive, he’s now coming to be celebrated. I’ll never read him though because I hold to the previous opinion…. Loren Eiseley might be a writer you would enjoy.

Fram Actual said...

You are my shadow today, Smareis. I look around and you are here. I saw your comment when it arrived last night, and then found still another one when I got up this morning. You are everywhere !!

I also found a snow-covered lawn when I got up this morning. In fact, it still was snowing. But, the snow stopped falling, the air warmed and the sun appeared -- now, it is as though the snow never existed.

I was working on a project most of last night, so I was a genuine night owl for the third time in four days. In many ways, it is nice to have an irregular lifestyle -- to sleep and to eat when the mood comes and not worry about the time. It also is a bad habit to get into, because order and routine are what give life stability and purpose.

I did go through a period where dreams, dream interpretation and various elements/aspects regarding sleep interested me a great deal. I had a friend who monitored overnight patients in a sleep disorder clinic, and occasionally would spend a night with her watching assorted monitors measuring sleep patterns in a patient. It probably was a bit unethical, but her work was lonely for her and I thought it was fascinating.

As for Neverland, I have a tendency to believe it is real, and it sometimes seems to be just one star away from me.

Yes, the post has been growing. I do not think for much longer, though. One more item, probably .... possibly, two more.

There has been a significant difference between newspaper journalism, radio journalism and television journalism. With the advent of computers and the internet, there now is still another "type" of journalism to complicate matters even more. Because there are differences in the types of media, there also are differences among the types of individuals who choose the specific media in which they wish to practice journalism. I will not go into this in detail, but I always have considered newspaper types to be the truest journalists and television types to be more interested in self-promotion and entertainment than in real news. So-called blog journalism is infested more by propagandists and political hacks than by legitimate journalists.

As for me, I have had good times and bad times in journalism, and indulged in occasional illegitimate journalism. I have been both a reporter and an editor; being a reporter is more fun, being an editor pays better. I have concentrated in various areas at different times: The arts (books/films/music); the outdoors (hunting/fishing); sports; general news reporting; investigative reporting; political reporting. I once went to cover a forest fire, and ended up helping to fight it for three days. I have interviewed countless individuals, a few of them famous, most of them simply interesting. I could go on and on.

My list in this post was like an imaginary list of presents I want for Christmas. It was the product of a wandering mind, of me thinking what I would like to do if I should return to newspaper work. But, that will never happen because it is part of my history and I do not wish it to be part of my future.

As always, thank you, Smareis. Thank you, for coming to visit me at my blog and for writing your thoughts about my words. I look forward to our next "meeting." In the meanwhile, take care and have a fine evening.

Fram Actual said...

I sometimes say there is a reason for everything I do. I could as well say nothing I do has a reason for it. Both statements could be accurate because I am a moody fellow and a chameleon both by genetic mishap and contemplative design.

Anyway, Snowbrush, in terms of comments I think there is no right way or wrong way to treat them in terms of these blogs. Some people never allow for them at all. I allow for them probably ninety percent of the time. As I have written on a few occasions, what I write here is for myself. If others read what I have written, all the better. And, if those who read also write a comment, better still. But, for one reason or another, sometimes I am not in the mood for comments.

The name of neither writer you suggested is familiar to me. Like most high school and/or college boys, I read "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, but the entire counter-culture movement of the Sixties, the Seventies and the Whenever were a bore to me. Reading "On the Road" was sort of a mandatory boyhood obligation, I guess, just as were reading "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding and "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. Having been introduced to a writer or a genre does not mean you wish to get to know them well. This has been the long way of saying that I might have come across Ken Kesey's name in the past in the context of Kerouac or Neal Cassady or Allen Ginsberg, but his writing and life style were nothing that would have interested me past or present.

Loren Eiseley, on the other hand, might be a name I will remember and I might look a bit further into his work.

"Petty, mean-spirited, unethical, or otherwise contemptible" .... hmmmm. Well, that describes more than a few men I have known, including myself at times. Most of those men, including myself, are not nearly so talented as was Ernest Hemingway. And, among those men, I excuse Hemingway and myself for any and all of our bad behavior. I know what you mean, though. I never have watched Kesey's film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," because I detest Jack Nicholson.

Thank you, Snowbrush, for coming by and for writing your thoughts here. I appreciate it.

Snowbrush said...

The role in which I most like Nicholson is his part in Easy Rider. If you haven't seen it, I implore you to do so. If it's any comfort, he's not in it for very long, but he dominates it when he is. Please, please, please, see that movie. It as much as anything is what inspired me to leave Mississippi because I recognized the Southerners in the movie as being the Southerners I lived among, and I realized I couldn't stand it any longer.

Fram Actual said...

Sorry, Snowbrush, but I am not a masochist. I tried watching a few films years ago in which Jack Nicholson had a role, and decided then enough was enough. There are a few other actors I have a similar view toward, and a few politicians. It is not like I ignore them without having had a "taste" of them, but, rather, have taken a bite or two from the apple and found it too sour to continue until the end.

It has nothing to do with talent, simply style and mannerisms.

Actually, when I think of it, I cannot recall ever having watched an entire movie with Peter Fonda in it, either, although in his case I simply think he is a bore and not at all talented. "Easy Rider" has two strikes against it for me.

I have spent time in and around Miami, which is not like the "real south," but also in and around Knoxville, which is, so I know what you mean in a general sense, if not to the actual degree.

Snowbrush said...

I would agree about Fonda.

Knoxville the real South? I don't know about that. When my grandfather moved to south Mississippi from the Chattanooga area, he was met with suspicion for being a mountain man. I don't think there is any one real South. As you pointed out, Miami isn't like most of the South, and my section of English/Protestant Mississippi was worlds apart from French/Catholic Louisiana just fifty miles away. Still, it's nearly all ultraconservative and reactionary.

Something special ....