Saturday, February 20, 2016

= 20

 
Here are two of my favorite photographs. They were taken a couple of decades ago in black & white with a 35mm Nikon F3 for print publication as well as for memory purposes. The upper one was shot during an "island hopping" excursion in a canoe along the length of the south shore of Lake Superior. I am on a cliff on an island. It was (still is, I suppose) about fifty feet to the water below. A few minutes after the photo was taken, I jumped off the ledge .... into about fifty feet of pristine, icy cold water. It was a cold day, too, but the sun was wonderfully warm and the brandy was delightfully delicious. The lower one was taken at an overnight camp while canoeing the length of the Minnesota River. It was nearly sunset on a wretchedly hot day, and I was contemplating whether to eat or to swim. I swam. I am nostalgic for many places and many people these days -- but, also eager to find a few new memories. I used both of these photos to accompany posts in 2009 and, when I noticed someone had visited the posts a few days ago, I decided to publish them one more time in case a few "purists" still exist. The reason they are so technically dismal, by the way, is because they are photos of framed photos behind glass .... but, you do not mind my laziness, right ??

A verse from the poem
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
by Robert Frost 1916

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Still walking away .... how about you, Renee ??

So many aspects of life are interpretations which may or may not be reality. We see a smile from across the proverbial room, and wonder what it means. We hear / see three bands play the same song, each giving it a sound of its own. We walk down a street, confident and immortal, until the street disappears -- and we, along with it.

Under those circumstances and such a scenario, here we have a third version of, "Walk Away Renee," this one by Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Really, really cool, baby .... it reminds me of singing a few bars closed as late night became early morning. I frequently get hooked on a song and cannot break away from it without listening to it for a thousand times or more, to include every variation of it I can find ....

Time and again: I am having a hard time with this .... this being the blog. I had planned on closing it on Tuesday, the sixteenth, but here it lingers beyond that date. Remember, I am superstitious. Some steps in life take deliberation. One thought which frequently rolls through my mind is to wonder why, what if, how come? These thoughts are common to many, and often they involve questions which can never be answered satisfactorily.

My "wonderments" go so far as to question why, once upon a time, I stepped to the right instead of to the left and, simply because of that, remain alive today .... events like that have happened to me on at least five occasions which immediately come to mind .... but, now I am ranging into six-drink talk.

A young lady .... actually, she was quite a woman -- age twenty-five, three daughters, married twice, divorced one and one-half times -- once told me that I fell in love too easily. I probably have mentioned this before. She was right, I guess, and it sends me back to the half-thought / half-belief that I never have experienced actual love. Oooouuuuffff .... dialectic thought can ruin a guy. Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders and their patron saint, Karl Marx, are living proof of that.

Still more bits of repetition: I have mentioned before -- again, more than once -- that I believe I had experienced everything there was to experience in life -- in one form or another, to one degree or another -- by the time I was age twenty-five. Since then, life has been repetition. My blog often is repetitious, which is another reason it is necessary to slip away and allow it to either fade away or find a new form in which to exist. I do not think people are meant to spend a lifetime in the same place doing the same thing -- yet, so many do just that.

Incidentally, I have used Robert Frost's poem before, too, and probably will again in various places at various times. I am beginning to realize that the number of things I think truly are wonderful and absolutely incredible, like Frost's poem, are growing fewer rather than becoming greater.

Just one more time: It has been assumed that Neanderthal (homo sapiens) and modern man (homo sapiens sapiens) began interbreeding about 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Based on "material" found in Siberia, it appears that number will be pushed back to just over 100,000 years ago.

It simply crushes me, smashes me, overpowers me utterly when I try to comprehend the enormity of the lives and the lives and the lives that have been lived during that span of time and to capture it all within the confines of some manner of conceptual reality, much less quantify it against the conceit each of us has when we believe we actually are .... well .... you fill in the blanks .... and, this is not even to attempt to include the countless lives during millions of years when there existed those long-ago-vanished hominid "creatures" which came before us. As I am fond of saying, the anonymous writer of Ecclesiastes had it right, no doubt ....

By the way, the twenty-second is the target cutoff date now. And, to close this post on a note of common sense, indisputable wisdom and irrefutable logic:

Words spoken by Alice
in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) 1865

"Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is .... oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!"


30 comments:

Anita said...

Ohh my dear what some nice snapshoots of you!I can imagine its a easy thing too fall in love with that guy!xxx

I see you are on the blogs now and then.Am happy you are not gone forever.

About love.I think it is overated.I mean..Here..in Norway..Most people marry because of two incomes(Well they was in love for sure at the beginning)and live happy ever after..(with lovers hobbies ect ect)

Some of us choose to live alone.Like me.So I think love can be found in many other things and people..

About Snorre.Thats a big book!!Wow!!I have only come toThe battle of Stiklestad.Yet I read another book as well.VEra Hendriksens trilogy about høvdingedatter Sigrid Toresdatter and her life It is a dramatic and epic tale about the bloody birth of the Kingdom of Norway.


Iam not soo much to blog as well.I dont know why.As you..I use the life foure to other things.More important.(But i have booked and paid summer vacations to my loved island Where..The Bitter lemons of Cypruz took place..Remember?Lawrence Durell and his place up in the mountains at Kyrenia.)

Well i have to go now.Iam glad you are all well.I send much hugs from Alexander and me(He do great at school and is now preparing for his driver license)

All good things to you!

Anita

Kaya said...

Hey, Fram and Anita,

Glad to see that we all chatting again!

I am glad that you continue to write, Fram. You mentioned about the repetitions but life repeats itself every day and in almost every moment and it isn't concerned about it. Nature repeats itself also and doesn't worry about it. If you look deeper in the essence of repetition there is some meaning in it. Repetition gives us comfort and sense of stability may be.

I have never listened to Walk Away Renee by Southside Johny. Listening right now and like it:)

Your pictures are taken from the heart and they are very nice. Fram, how did it feel having at that time black and white 35 Nikon F3. Was it difficult to shoot only with 35 mm lens?

Love... I believe in it but I think right now differently about it. You have to LOVE someone ( it might be even your dog or cat), you have to take care of this someone unconditionally. This may help you to understand that you are not a center of universe, that you also deserve to be loved as everybody else. No more and no less. But you also have to remember that nobody owns you anything. Just thoughts about love in general.

I agree with you that people weren't meant to spend a lifetime in the same place, doing the same things over and over again. Some have courage and break their routine but most of us never do it because it gives us the sense of security. I would like to go on the ROAD and see many different places in America, I even would like for a while to live on the road, stay in the small towns, meet different people but I know that it would never happen. Do what I can with what I have and try to be happy about it.

Well, see you guys later. Fram, just write. You are a good man, we all know it. The rest I already told you in my previous comment; don't want to repeat myself:)

Take care and write your great posts!

A Cuban In London said...

This post could have been entitled "Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Man". :-) I'm sure James Joyce would have liked that. Mind you, I have not read the novel yet.

Loved this post. It had the right amount of "nostalgie" (I like using the French term better).

Greetings from London.

Fram Actual said...

No, Anita, I never will forget Lawrence Durrell, although I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I did not finish reading "Bitter Lemons."

I seldom use the word brilliant except in terms of sunlight, but that is the first word which enters my mind when thinking of Durrell's tetralogy, "The Alexandria Quartet," and, most particularly, of "Mountolive." I did my master's on Ernest Hemingway, but I made a dent in the mindset of a few professors by arguing the symbolism found within "Mountolive" in contradiction to orthodox interpretations. Whoooops .... is my mood serious at the moment or what?

As for old Snorre, I admire him greatly, but I am not sure I would have liked him. I have read his "Heimskringla" four times and segments of it many more times. I am unfamiliar with Vera Henriksen, but I did a bit a research today and I will look for some of her work.

To offer an abstract remark regarding my own view of the unification of Norway back then, I think I would have been among those who lost their head on the sandbar at Horundarfjord, and I never would have accepted the "new religion." As one priest was told by one of the "old corps" Vikings of that era, "I believe in the strength of my own right arm." Whoooops .... there I go again.

You will have to tell me when you will be in Cyprus. You never know when I might wander along down the same sandy beach. I really, really do want to stand in a Crusader castle and to absorb the atmosphere there .... and, to sense the ghosts.

You are a sweetie, Anita, and that is a special word to me. I will be locking up my blog in a few days, but I will try to fix it so you have access. You, I trust. If I add anything to the blog, I will open it up for a few days on those occasions, but otherwise it will be locked. By having access, you can go there anytime if you are curious.

I am pleased that Alexander is doing well. One of my "descendants," a bit older than Alexander, just received his master's degree in civil / environmental engineering and will be making his first trip to Europe with a few buddies in March before beginning his first career-type job in Colorado.

About love (to use your entry words): I know you have a temper, Anita, but I know you would be easy to love and to appreciate. I have enjoyed learning about you though the blogs the past few years, and I admire you in many ways. If you were a gem, you would be a diamond.

Fram Actual said...

I suppose when I think of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Kaya, I think more in terms of entertainment and "let's party" than I do in the sense of the band's music. Actually, I know little about the history of the group other than that Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen are fans, and that it has not been unusual for them to perform with the band ever since the "early days" right on up until now.

My photographic history goes back to when I was five years old, broke into my "piggy bank" and took out enough money to buy a camera and a roll of film. I still have the photographs taken during that adventure. Before then, I had been using my mother's camera, so I am not exactly certain how old I was when I began wandering around with a camera in my hand. Incidentally, anyone who thinks "selfies" are a recent phenomenon, I have some on that first roll which I took of myself and my best buddy as we strolled the streets in a snowstorm .... hardly a new or innovative concept.

More specifically to your question, my newspaper work usually included carrying a camera whenever I left the office, even when I was accompanied by a "real" photographer, and the cameras usually were 35mm and most photography was black & white. I also have used Rolleiflexes, which I seem to recall you mentioning in a post, and the Speed Graphic variations for both portrait work and aerial photography. I guess that is more than enough about my photographic background. By the way, both photos in this post were taken by a canoe buddy who is a professional photographer.

Well, I guess my feelings / thoughts regarding love are well enough known so I will not repeat them again. When I write about love, obviously I am writing about romantic love. Possibly, I hope for too much.

More and more people are beginning to make major moves a few times during their lives, to have two or three careers rather than just one and to have two or three "partners" rather than just one. I think there are some of us who actually are born that way -- nomadic remnants, so to speak -- while others do it from necessity.

It is interesting that you mention going "on the road" in your comment. Earlier today, I was thinking about doing just that .... buying a large camper and spending a few months roaming the roads this year. I have done it in the past, my favorite jaunt lasting a few months in 2004. I called it my "battlefield tour," and it ranged through several states from Canada to Texas, primarily going to battlefield sites from the Indian Wars and locations of pioneer trails and frontier army posts. I went by automobile, and spent most nights sleeping on the ground. There were many fascinating experiences during that trip.

I am going to close the door for a while on my blog, but as I mentioned to Anita, I will try to fix it so you have access. I will open it up for a few days on those occasions when I actually post something new, but otherwise it will be locked. By having access, you can go there anytime if you are curious.

Thank you, Kaya. I am happy you came and pleased you wrote a comment for me.

Fram Actual said...

Actually, CiL, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," were the first words of James Joyce that I ever read. It remains my favorite. I have it within the reach of my arm at this very moment. I read a few pages periodically to recall the sense of it and to bolster my perspective of absolute literature. I would suggest you put it at the top of your reading list.

I think I might have better entitled my post, "Repetitious thoughts from a restless mind in the middle of the night."

Thank you, CiL. As always, I am happy to find you have been to visit me and have written a comment for me.

Anita said...

Wow!!You really are closing your blog???!!I think its a bit sad..but Iam very happy to know some of us still can go there..

Must say i am a bit schocked..all those nice words!I really dont know what to say..No one has said so nice words to me before..Diamond!Wow!!

I will tell you when leaving to Cypruz.

You have surprised me now Fram..I think i must have a cup of coffe and think it all over:)))


Anita


Psst..If you read this Kaya..Thank you very much for beeing here and thank you for nice words.I am very happy about that

Fram Actual said...

Well, Anita .... you know to begin with that I am not shy about what I write on my blog concerning anyone or anything and, especially since we have known each other for a number of years, I certainly am not afraid to write what I think about you:

You are attractive, you are intelligent, you have a solid career and you work hard at it. And, I especially admire you for being an excellent mother. You might recall that I grew up without a father in my life, and I gradually have come to understand what a difficult task such a situation often is for both mother and son. You and Alexander both appear to be excelling at the mission.

So, I hope you are not too shocked by my words. And, I hope you understand me well enough by this time to know I do not say nice things simply to be nice; I say things because I mean them.

When I lock my blog, it will not be gone, merely out of sight most of the time. I expect I will add things to it now and then and, when I do, I will unlock it for a few days.

All right .... I hope your coming week will be pleasant and interesting and beneficial, Anita. Take care, and see you here and there ....

A Cuban In London said...

I tell you now what you did with your second comment: you challenged me. And there's nothing I love more than a challenge.

On Europe, the European Union and Britain's position towards the EU (three very, very different things), I have a very strong opinion. But... an important, I am an immigrant, a foreigner, a person born abroad and that brings with it advantages (oh, to be an outsider now is quite nice) and disadvantages (lack of perspective and insider's knowledge).

I do have an opinion which I will post in due course, once I organise my thoughts. There is nothing worse than being opinionated (I am) without knowing at least a bit of what one is being opinionated about. Currently we have David and Boris enacting that scene in Skin Deep with the glowing condoms in the dark. Probably one of my favourite comic scenes ever.

Greetings from London.

Fram Actual said...

I know little about the European Union in a relational sense to security and economic and judicial matters, for instance, but I am well-versed regarding historical relationships within Europe, so I am surprised with its continued existence. In the United States, I am a proponent of states' rights vs. the power of a central government, so, logically, my position would be the same if I lived in a country which has membership in the EU. I used to say that I need to be more cosmopolitan .... well, I finally have accepted that being mostly parochial is just fine for my view of the world.

I will look forward to reading your thoughts and positions about England's continued membership in the EU. No rush, CiL .... I am curious, but I am patient ....

By the way, I was not familiar with the film, "Skin Deep," and had to do a bit of research. I am more into gun play, fast car, murder mystery and science fiction flicks ....

Smareis said...

Olá Fram!

Hoje a paisagem muito bonita por aqui. Realmente é uma linda fotografia. Deve ter muitas memórias tuas nessa foto. Eu particularmente adoro fotografia preta e branca. Esse lugar da fotografia deve ser muito bonito Fram, parece cenário de filme com esse barco na beira do rio esse bosque. Tem que estar com sol pra valer o cenário. É muito gostoso reviver momentos passados que foram importantes na época. Até a música combinou com o cenário. Embora a melodia seja triste. Deve ser muito gostoso nadar num rio como esse, ouvir o som da natureza, mas não com frio e nem com mosquitos (sorrindo).

Então Fram, sobre fechar o blog. Não sei qual o motivo, mais acho que dar um tempo nas postagens talvez te faça pensar e mudar de ideia. Eu já estou vários meses sem atualizar meu blog, e já pensei na possibilidade também. Mais quando abro meu blog sinto saudades de tudo e sempre mudo de ideia. Não gosto de escrever apenas por escrever, gosto de escrever o que a alma e o coração falam... Por isso quando estou sem inspiração dou um tempo pra mim. Mais acho que já é hora de voltar. Acho que sim. (Sorrindo).

Então Fram desculpa pela ausência dos comentários. Voltarei!
Um sorriso brasileirinho pra você.
Até Mais ver Fram!

Anita said...

Fram.-Thanx alot for your nice words..Ok you know me..Soon as any body say something nice..i escape..afraid may be.I dont know..
My email is AnitaGrinde@hotmail.com

I will write to you to be sure you got it

I will miss your post..Its something about them..Movies, Music ,History..Love ,Sadness ,Where to go,,Whats life about any way..All those earth questions.I hope you will continue!
Ok.Iam resting after a long day.Hope you are fine and that all is well with your loved ones

See you very soon!

Anita

Anita said...

Beautiful music!love it very much!

xxx

Fram Actual said...

You are right, Smareis. I do have many good memories of canoe trips at places such as those shown in these two photographs, and it is enjoyable to recall them. Life, for me, though, always has been in ever-changing stages and sequences. I assume it is that way for many people, although most I know seem to live very routine lives in which their stages remain pretty much in a straight line and usually are pretty much uneventful. Between hunting and camping and canoeing in very pristine and remote wilderness areas, I think I have experienced things fewer and fewer people do today due to the rapid advances of civilization.

One of my favorite examples is that only a generation or two ago, traveling to the North Pole was a life and death challenge. Now, today, anyone with a bit of money can charter a plane to fly over it and, if the conditions are right, land there and eat lunch -- or, even parachute down and enjoy a cigar and a glass of Benedictine while awaiting pickup.

Canoeing on a suburban lake or hiking along a suburban walking trail is hardly an adventure and, too often today, the serenity and the thrill of a wilderness experience both often are ruined by roaring snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and, worst of all, personal watercraft.

I guess I am beginning to give a sermon again.

As for my place on the sea of blogs, maybe I will return on a regular basis and maybe I will move along to another stage of life and sequence of activities. I do not like the idea of locking up my blog, but I also do not like the idea of leaving it open and unattended.

I will be keeping one eye on things, though, and if you resume posting, Smareis, I will see it and I will be there reading what you write and leaving a comment.

As for this moment in time, Smareis, I am glad you found your way back to my blog and especially happy you wrote a comment for me. Thank you, and I am sure our paths will cross here and there, now and then.

Fram Actual said...

Yes, and again, you know me, too, Anita. I think we are good friends, but one of my flaws is failing to say nice things about people who I like and who I think are nice often enough.

My own nature is to be serious, and I spend so much time writing observations in a serious vein about the way things are in the world around me that I seldom stop to tell people when they are doing good work or good things. Anyway, now I hope you realize I think you are cool and neat and nice, and I enjoy your company.

As for my blog, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, it either will be there or it will not. I really am not sure what to do with it, which is why I am sort of placing it in the background while I decide if I want to continue it or let it go completely. I also still have not ruled out ending this one and beginning a new one which would be different from the "current model." So, we shall see what develops .... and, thank you, Anita, for caring and for your complimentary words about my blog.

Yes, Anita, all is well for me on my side of the ocean, and I hope all is well for you and your side.

Fram Actual said...

P.S. I almost forgot the music, Anita ....

Johnny cannot sing like he once could, but the band is playing in Minneapolis at the Dakota Jazz Club in a couple of weeks and, barring the unforeseen, I plan on attending one of the shows. Johnny & the Jukes are part of the original Jersey sound, part of rock history .... and, I love history ....

Also appearing soon at the Dakota will be Rickie Lee Jones and one of my dream girls (in a musical sense), Lisa Fischer, who did the absolute very, very, very best rendition of "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones when she performed it with Mick Jagger .... no one ever could match Mick and Lisa performing that song ....

Now, Anita, you know how I spend my money .... other than for guns, books and brandy ....

Anita said...

Yes she has a very good voice Lisa Fischer♥

I know you love music very much♥..and you have a good taste too!


I see you often (in dreams)Caring for your guns, cleaning them!

Hope all is well now and that you are happy with how things are going..

Here the sun is shining and all is well

looking forward to your next post♥

Thank you very much for the nice words at my place

Anita

Fram Actual said...

Hmmmm .... dreams .... dreams of me cleaning guns .... not dreams of me shooting them ??

That is interesting, Anita, and a bit puzzling. Living where I now live -- tucked away, hidden away, in a very, very quiet suburban neighborhood, I do not shoot my firearms very often which means they do not require much time spent cleaning them. But, that does not stop me from fondling them and playing with them and dry-firing a few of them with laser devices.

When I lived at my Sanctuary / Refuge (Do you recall me writing about my house on the hilltop where I could see for miles and miles and miles ??), I usually did a bit of shooting four or five days a week when the weather cooperated -- and, often even when it did not. I had two "regular" firing ranges there and a combat pistol course through woodlands. And, it was not unusual for me to step out onto the balcony in the mornings and there to drink coffee, eat toast, smoke a few cigarettes (before I quit) and fire a few magazines of ammunition at odds and ends in the front yard.

My snow almost has disappeared during the past week, and I have seen the sun a few times. Those things make the world an easier place to live in every regard after so many months of winter.

I am not sure I will have another post for a while. I cannot quite make up my mind, but I think I will close my blog this weekend. Sooner or later, I actually will do it.

So, I hope work goes well for you and I hope life is being good to you. Thank you, Anita, for your visit and your words.

Kelly said...

Hi Fram :-)
Your invitation took me back in time, as did the pictures of you. They brought back memories and made me smile. You have a way of bringing smiles to me face and, in past times, tears to my eyes. Your post is lovely, as always. This is kinda "Classic Fram" to my mind :-) I have always loved the way you speak, your voice...
Love the music too.
You left me a lovely comment back at Bowie and I never got back to respond. I do apologize for my delay. My life has been so very full and honestly, it is nice to simply slow down a moment and say hi :-)
So Hey There, Hello Again :-) Stay sweet, sort of...lol
xo Fram,
Kelly :-)

Fram Actual said...

You are one of the "Originals" in the sense of my "blog life," Kelly, so I do hope we will not drift beyond contact. I am glad you arrived here.

I saw a Great White rising out of the water on television a few days ago, and my first thought was that I hope you still do most of your swimming in a pool rather than in the deep blue Pacific Ocean. My second thought was to wonder how many times one of those "cuties" had its eye on me somewhere in the waters off San Diego and La Jolla and San Clemente Island. I recall reading somewhere that San Clemente (the island, not the Richard Nixon hangout .... hmmmm) is a popular gathering spot for the "Great White Community."

Actually, when I think of you my first thought always is of you swimming and next is of you with your children and sisters and mother. I could (and still can) picture such gatherings very clearly in my mind.

You see? Nostalgia, even as it exists within the blogs, has been too much a part of my life lately, but it is far ranging and recognized in a sense of, ok, I have done this, seen that, been that -- so, what should be next, what is something really, really different, something not part of my past for me to do now? As I keep on repeating ad infinitum, life is for experiment and experience, so while it is enjoyable to reflect on past memories, now is the time to add them up (like Alice in Wonderland) and to find another realm and/or persona to roam in and search in and discover in ....

I am on the road for a few days right now, and have to get some sleep. As much as I hate it, there are rare occasions I must be up early in the morning. (That lifestyle is for farmers.)

Thank you, for your sweet words and happy recollections, Kelly. Incidentally, one of my protégés (in a manner of speaking) lives in New York City now, has been spending a lot of time in Paris and a variety of other more exotic locales the past year, and even has done some business with a fellow named Dauriac. The world, indeed, is a place of uncanny twists and turns, and one never knows who might be sitting on the barstool next to you.

Take care and stay out of mischief, Kelly, and do not be too busy to think of me now and then.

Anita said...

Hello Fram!!sorry to late for the politic post up ahead!you know I am working very much 100% now..So its not soo much time left for social things

About Trumph..I think he looks scary..But something about his thinking do interest me..Such of taking care of its own country..Obama is a stand up comedian in our opinion..what has he done to America?I think nothing..Its other men behind him which tells him what to do..and also its great o have a black man as a president..for the outlook view..I saw a program here the other day..The struggle for white commander ship in America!!Wow..Those Black Panthers and KKK scare the shit of me!!I understand they are voting for Trumph!(KKK)A gang of( to me)crazy people!!

It will be interesting what way it will go!

About you and taking care of guns..I have not dreamed about you lately..I think you are busy with work or something else..
So KellY says you got a nice voice??Thats nice!Should like to hear you speak once in a while

I think how we speaks says alot of us..


Yes it is sad your sanctuary is gone..What a nice place..Like a dream!

You have done some changes on your blog I see.Looks good!

Ok see you Fram!Dont know when I publish something(But then again every time I say so..I do publish hahah)

Much hugs!

xxx

Anita

Fram Actual said...

I had blocked comments on that post from the beginning, Anita, so you were not late.

Yes, I think you are correct with your views regarding the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers. Both groups were created from warped minds and philosophies.

The danger from Donald Trump is that he is a pure capitalist (a spoiled brat who was determined to be the richest kid on the block), and he has no other foundation. If he has anything other than superficial beliefs in political systems, philosophies or religions, they are not evident. He is an empty suit.

Oddly, our present "leader," Barack Obama, is different in the sense that he is driven by a deeply-held political ideology in the form of socialism. It is clear he also lacks common sense and wisdom (which are different from intelligence), and I am not the only one who believes he is a bit psychotic in the sense of being delusional. Anyway .... his policies create real danger and insecurity both at home and aboard.

Kelly was referring to my speaking voice in terms of the way I write -- the way I say things in the form of words and sentences. Beyond the choice of words, I write the way I want, blending so-called correct grammar with newspaper style book techniques and the way I talk when I speak through my lips. But, to clarify further, Kelly and I did talk on the telephone a few times way, way back in 2009. Uffff .... that does seem like a long time ago.

By the way, I have had a bad cold and sore throat four days now, so if you actually heard me speak, my voice would sound sort of different.

Yes, I have been busy, too. I was gone from home three days last week and will be four days (or more) this week. Last week, I drove in the worst ground blizzard I have been in since leaving the Dakota plains. This week, the weather promises to be more spring-like.

Incidentally, my intent had been to leave the blog open for twenty-four hours and then to close it again -- but, it seems the blog will be open more like forty-eight hours before it "goes to sleep again."

So, work = money, and I guess everything is all right for both of us in that sense. I hope life is treating you well in all other regards, Anita. Take care, and see you here and there ....

Anita said...

I see its a bit more difficult to go to your blog now..But heyjoo!!you are still here :))))

hope you are better from your cold..here in my place theres a puking sickness going on.(Noro Virus).hahahha,,both patiens and doctors, nurses are going down..hahah..Me not!!

Thanx for nice reply on my place!!Its always lovely to hear from you

Hope spring soon is on its way for you:))

Much hugs!

Fram Actual said...

Remember, it was not my intent to leave my blog entirely at this moment, Anita. It is locked for now for the most part, accessible only to a very few individuals, of which you are one. If and when I post something, I will open it up again, but only for a day or two before I lock the door again. That is the way it will be for a time.

It has not been a pleasant week for me in terms of my cold, but I am afflicted by illness so infrequently that I cannot complain too much. I allowed myself to become chilled last Wednesday evening, and, I think, that is what set off the cold. It is beginning to fade, but is stubborn about releasing its grip on me. I hope you avoid both a cold and the flu. Working in a hospital exposes an individual to many illnesses, so take care.

March is the third snowiest month in Minnesota, but, so far, we have escaped with only a trace here and an inch or two there. A few more weeks and we should be safe from winter for another year.

I just watched a debate between the two contenders to become the Democratic Party candidate for the presidency: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Here we have a habitual liar (Clinton) and a certifiable nut case (Sanders). Between lack of quality candidates among the Democrat and the Republican contenders, the people of the United States have a really serious problem.

I will be back at home again either Thursday evening or Friday afternoon ....

Take care, Anita, and thank you, for your appearance here once again. I like your company.

Anita said...

yes I think America has a serious problem about the candidates..i just watched on the news whats happening in both Chicago and somewhere else..ohh boy!!I cant belive America has soo much incompitent canidates.Its very sad..

Hope you are better now form your cold..
Here i have a vacation(Easter)that will last for 3 weeks from now..but its a grey weather so we will stay at home

Iam found of museums and othere antic places..love to shop old things..So that I will do
Well see you soon Fram

its seven in the morning(Could not sleep)and i will have a walk to see the deers that are visiting around our blocks

Have a nice sunday Fram!

Anita

Fram Actual said...

Daylight Savings Time began for me early Sunday morning, and I feel a bit disoriented. It is illogical that it should be that way, given the erratic hours I keep, but it always is that way -- every autumn, every spring.

Hi there, Anita. Yes, American politics are beyond strange this year. But, then again, as I keep writing, the election of a leftist megalomaniac like Barack Obama set the stage for him to be followed by another megalomaniac who is somewhat the opposite and who is at some other juncture of the struggle for dominance. As always: Thesis + Antithesis = (in the future, hopefully) Synthesis.

I was home at about noon on Friday, and have been doing nothing but allow my mind to drift here and there since then. My cold still lingers, as do gray skies (for the most part), but soon my cold will be gone and, if not the gray skies, at least snow will vanish for the next several months. I think I will go car shopping as soon as the weather stays nice. I have been driving the same ones for about five years, and need some sort of change.

I hope you will have an enjoyable vacation. Even without the opportunity to travel this time, I am certain there are many interesting places yet to see and things yet to do in Bergen which will keep you from becoming bored. I have no immediate plans for now, but I think my son will arrive for a few days around Easter weekend.

So, here we are again. Thank you, Anita, for your visit and your note. Take care and stay safe and see you later ....

Anita said...

you write soo good Fram.Actually is like reading a book.

So next presdident may be will be Hillary or Bernie?
We think Obama has not done a world job as my son says..He is much into american politics..


Sorry I write so much to you..Its surely boring but i just want to say hello! :))

I have bought a ring from the viking dynasty from the year 12oo(copy of course)silver and amethyst.Found in a viking grave at Ribe Denmark.Very nice .Also bougt a "brakteater" gold medal jewelery (around my neck)from the year 600.Beautiful.From Sorte Muld Bornholm.


Hope it goes well with your visit of your son.I think he is alot like you.Brave tall and handsome.


Wish you all good things and see you soon!

Anita

Fram Actual said...

Well, thank you, Anita. I appreciate your words about my writing. It is nothing special, but, combined with other abilities, it has been good enough in a variety of forms for me to earn a living with when I have wanted to pursue such an existence.

Eight months remain until the election, so it is far too early for even an educated guess regarding who will become the next president of the United States. I am not so sure something strange and unique will not occur between now and then, and it may be someone not even in the race right now who will be elected. There is a chance Hillary Clinton will be indicted on federal charges centering around improper security precautions when she was secretary of state, and the Democratic Party might draft someone like Vice President Joe Biden or current Secretary of State John Kerry to replace her at the nomination convention.

It is complicated business. On the surface, Biden is a clown, but he is an intelligent man with good experience. On the surface, Kerry seems to be an intelligent individual, but intellectually he is a fool and an idiot. Actually, I think a Republican will be the next president, probably, unfortunately, Donald Trump.

Alexander is correct in his analysis of Barack Obama. History will not be kind to him.

No, you do not write to me too much.

I have four Thor's hammers, three of silver and one of bronze. One of those made of silver was molded in sand and created entirely with hand tools. The bronze one, I wear frequently. Two of them I have had for more than twenty years. I would like to have a gold one, but I never have run across one. I have a wrist ring of pewter made in Scotland, of all places, that I bought about ten years ago. Your Viking jewelry sounds neat and nice. I am superstitious, and have a tendency to think of these objects of mine as powerful charms which are part of my lineage.

My son is more like his mother than like me, in every manner, except for his love and fascination for firearms.

I am glad you came to visit me again, Anita. Thank you ....

Anita said...

Of course I visit you!!Thank you for beeing so kind to accept me:)

Wow so you have much Viking stuff and jewelery!Thats nice!

Well may be I will get you one in gold from the museum.We got soo much from the graves .I wear mine every day.Think they give me good luck and health.

Hehhehe love for firearms(your son) !!Thats great!!

I love them too but here ,we do not use them..Even not the police have guns..

About the post up ..It did not come to my blog before now..way down..So sure you do not want us to read all of your things,,and thats allright.

Now.Iam into old history stuff movies from The Bible.Kingdom and Empire, the story after ..The Romans,Ceasar and so on..

Not much to say,,but thank you for visiting me

I be home with the dog :))xoxox

Wish you great Easter Holidays Fram

Fram Actual said...

Most of the jewelry I have has sort of a specific meaning to each piece, such as the Thor's hammers. I see them as ancestral, and they tie me to my origins. I like coin jewelry very much, too, with dates which have some significance for me. My favorite is an 1876 dime, which I wear most of the time and which I dip into the waters of lakes and rivers wherever I go as a symbolic gesture of being part of their journeys.

I am not sure you realize, Anita, but there are some people who are free to come and to go in my blog whenever they wish, one of whom is you. All you have to do for access is to be signed in. But, most of the time the blog now is closed to the general public. How long it will be that way, I have not yet decided.

My Easter plans might be upset by Mother Nature. A snowstorm is expected across this region on Wednesday and Thursday, which probably will mean any visit by my son will be delayed at best or cancelled altogether at worst. The calendar might read Spring, but FramWinter is not over until the end of March and, even then, it is not unusual to have snowstorms well into April in this neck of the woods.

It appears your dog has joined the household on a permanent basis. I hope, someday, I will have another dog -- or two, or three, or .... well, a few. There were five dogs in my household when I was at my Sanctuary / Refuge, and there were many winter days when I would take them on about a two-mile walk through the woods to the mailbox. It is a good, happy memory. Uffff .... you have me daydreaming now, but, with a bit of luck and a little work, the past can come back again as the future.

I hope your Easter will be pleasant, Anita, and that no snowstorms will interrupt your Spring. Take care, and remember to take your puppy for a few walks .... be seeing you, Anita ....

Something special ....