For years I worked downtown at the Main Post Office. I always worked nights, and would be getting off work around seven in the morning, heading for home for some much needed sleep. These were all cookie-cutter days. One day just melted into the next one. And you could never get enough sleep.
****
One morning I was driving home in my crappy old Pinto, and I saw this really nice looking girl on the Burnside Bridge. She was hitch-hiking. She was not wearing shoes, and it was starting to rain. I stopped to give her a lift.
*****
I asked her where she was going.
She told me she was going to a dart bar on Hawthorne named Sewikly's.
Since I lived near there, I offered to drop her off at this bar. Then I drove home and got some sleep.
*****
About a week ago, Dan and I were out late one night, just walking around. We stopped in front of this dart bar, Sewikly's. Through the window I could see a guy and his buddy and his girlfriend playing darts. I don't know anything about darts. I walked in there and talked to these people. Dan was too shy to do this. He spent the next five minutes or so by the curb, watching the cars drive by. I can be such an embarrassment!
*****
These nice people were happy to take a moment to talk to a perfect stranger. They explained to me that the game they were playing was called "Cricket". You show your ID at the bar, and they give you the darts to play with. You keep score on a chalk board. Pretty simple.
*****
I'm going to learn how to play this game. And since for the price of a soda (I do not drink) you can easily spend an hour in there playing darts with your friends, and not spend much.
*****
While I was there, I told these people the story about the hitch-hiking girl from so long ago. The girl with no shoes.
And then I had an "Aha!" moment.
At Sewikly's, I was actually finishing a story that this strange girl had begun some twenty years ago.
Mr. Charming
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Immune System
People with HIV and Cancer patients are saddled with a similar problem: the immune system is compromised. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy get help, through medicine, to help prop up the immune system, while the chemotherapy itself is tearing it down. You tend to get sick from other things (I got shingles because of this) because your defenses are all shot. We should be looking at the foods we eat to give us a better chance at bouncing back.
*****
Right now cherries are in season, and cherries are a wonder food. They are delicious, and they are a low calorie snack. Cherries are one of those rare foods that contain melatonin, a chemical which allows you to sleep. Try eating some cherries about an hour before bed time. I will bet you will sleep better that night.
*****
The other thing about cherries is that they contain chemical compounds that studies have shown to actually reduce the size of tumors, and may actually be killing cancer cells. I don't think you can go wrong eating cherries.
****
I also worry about getting enough vitamins to avoid getting sick. I make home made Snapple, and go through a lot of it every day. Here's what I do:
I take a big pan of water, and boil four tea bags. Three of these are green tea, and usually the fourth is some kind of mint tea, for flavor. I boil these util they turn dark. I pour this mixture into a half gallon container. Then I add some lemon juice for more Vitamin C. I also will toss in an Airborne to cover my other vitamin needs. I add a packet of Lipton's Green Tea to Go to sweeten things up a bit. The Green Tea to go is full of flavinoids, and those are supposed to help fight Cancer. Finally I will take a capsule of Mushroom Extract (Reishi, Shiitake, and Maitake) and open it, pouring the contents into my tea. The Mushroom Extract is designed to help people like me to breathe easier. You can find the Mushroom Extract on Amazon and other places.
****
I will go through two of these half gallon containers a day. That's a whole gallon of liquids, which is pretty good for flushing the toxins out of the system. Meahwhile, I am constantly putting in Vitamins into the body, and anti-oxidants and flavinoids to help fight Cancer. It is not that much work to make, and it is pretty cheap too. Maybe you all will get some ideas from this.
Mr. Charming
*****
Right now cherries are in season, and cherries are a wonder food. They are delicious, and they are a low calorie snack. Cherries are one of those rare foods that contain melatonin, a chemical which allows you to sleep. Try eating some cherries about an hour before bed time. I will bet you will sleep better that night.
*****
The other thing about cherries is that they contain chemical compounds that studies have shown to actually reduce the size of tumors, and may actually be killing cancer cells. I don't think you can go wrong eating cherries.
****
I also worry about getting enough vitamins to avoid getting sick. I make home made Snapple, and go through a lot of it every day. Here's what I do:
I take a big pan of water, and boil four tea bags. Three of these are green tea, and usually the fourth is some kind of mint tea, for flavor. I boil these util they turn dark. I pour this mixture into a half gallon container. Then I add some lemon juice for more Vitamin C. I also will toss in an Airborne to cover my other vitamin needs. I add a packet of Lipton's Green Tea to Go to sweeten things up a bit. The Green Tea to go is full of flavinoids, and those are supposed to help fight Cancer. Finally I will take a capsule of Mushroom Extract (Reishi, Shiitake, and Maitake) and open it, pouring the contents into my tea. The Mushroom Extract is designed to help people like me to breathe easier. You can find the Mushroom Extract on Amazon and other places.
****
I will go through two of these half gallon containers a day. That's a whole gallon of liquids, which is pretty good for flushing the toxins out of the system. Meahwhile, I am constantly putting in Vitamins into the body, and anti-oxidants and flavinoids to help fight Cancer. It is not that much work to make, and it is pretty cheap too. Maybe you all will get some ideas from this.
Mr. Charming
Three Days of the Condor
My friend Mark offered me up a suggestion to watch "Three Days of the Condor" starring Robert Redford. This is an old movie, one by Dino DeLaurentis. It came out in 1975. Here we are 35 years later, and it speaks to us today. I would recommend you rent this movie and see it again, or see it for the first time if you have never seen it. It is really quite good.
*****
This movie is a spy movie. Joe (Robert Redford) stumbles upon a secret that the the CIA does not want to get out. There is an order put out to murder everyone in the office where Joe works.
By a sheer stroke of luck, Joe escapes, and returns to find out that all of his friends are dead.
*****
Joe is no field agent. Joe is a reader. Joe reads everything; comic books, novels, everything, looking for clues that might be hidden in the things he reads. The clues are then written down, and a computer takes the clues and analyzes them. Sometimes this leads to a theory about what is happening in the world.
*****
Joe also reads people and situatons. He is very good at it. He stumbles upon Cathy (Fay Dunaway) and overhears enough to figure that this attractive young woman might be living alone. He kidnaps her at gunpoint, and forces her to take her to her apartment. This was a smart move - he needed a place to go, chosen completely at random. where the people looking to find him and kill him would not know where to look.
*****
Joe overhears a phone conversation that Cathy has with her boyfriend. He again reads her from that, and decides that Cathy is involved with a man that she does not love. Cathy is a photographer, and her place has pictures she has taken on the walls. They are empty things, photos of New York taken probably in November. There are no leaves on any of the trees. He begins to read Cathy from her photos. He decides that she is actually a fragile thing, very private. A romance begins between Joe and Cathy. She begins to trust Joe, even though there is no reason for her to do so. She tries to help him survive his three days out in the Cold.
*****
This movie, which is about the CIA toppling foreign governments in order to secure the oilfields for America, must have been a movie that George W. must have watched with his Dad.
*****
The professional assassin, played my Max von Sydow, sees his job as uncomplicated, peaceful actually. For him, his job was all about precision. For him, there is no right side or wrong side. For him there is only the side that pays.
****
The Max von Sydow character. along with the "cleaning crew" became the standard for a couple of films which came later. The two best ones that come to mind are "Le Femme Nikita" and "The Professional".
Mr. Charming
*****
This movie is a spy movie. Joe (Robert Redford) stumbles upon a secret that the the CIA does not want to get out. There is an order put out to murder everyone in the office where Joe works.
By a sheer stroke of luck, Joe escapes, and returns to find out that all of his friends are dead.
*****
Joe is no field agent. Joe is a reader. Joe reads everything; comic books, novels, everything, looking for clues that might be hidden in the things he reads. The clues are then written down, and a computer takes the clues and analyzes them. Sometimes this leads to a theory about what is happening in the world.
*****
Joe also reads people and situatons. He is very good at it. He stumbles upon Cathy (Fay Dunaway) and overhears enough to figure that this attractive young woman might be living alone. He kidnaps her at gunpoint, and forces her to take her to her apartment. This was a smart move - he needed a place to go, chosen completely at random. where the people looking to find him and kill him would not know where to look.
*****
Joe overhears a phone conversation that Cathy has with her boyfriend. He again reads her from that, and decides that Cathy is involved with a man that she does not love. Cathy is a photographer, and her place has pictures she has taken on the walls. They are empty things, photos of New York taken probably in November. There are no leaves on any of the trees. He begins to read Cathy from her photos. He decides that she is actually a fragile thing, very private. A romance begins between Joe and Cathy. She begins to trust Joe, even though there is no reason for her to do so. She tries to help him survive his three days out in the Cold.
*****
This movie, which is about the CIA toppling foreign governments in order to secure the oilfields for America, must have been a movie that George W. must have watched with his Dad.
*****
The professional assassin, played my Max von Sydow, sees his job as uncomplicated, peaceful actually. For him, his job was all about precision. For him, there is no right side or wrong side. For him there is only the side that pays.
****
The Max von Sydow character. along with the "cleaning crew" became the standard for a couple of films which came later. The two best ones that come to mind are "Le Femme Nikita" and "The Professional".
Mr. Charming
The Hummingbird
Another dear friend of mine from college lives in Los Angeles. He is a professor there, and a mentor to future generations of engineers and technical people. For a poor kid from Michigan, he has done well for himself. And he has helped a lot of young people. He has done a lot of good in the world. I am very proud of him.
*****
Of course to me he will always be Crazy Al, the guy I knew from College. He was one of my good friends back then. He is still a good friend. When I first got sick, Crazy Al took a week off to fly up to Portland to stay with me. I was helpless and in a lot of pain. I can't think of anyone else in the world willing to do such a thing for me. I will always remember this. I am very grateful to have such a friend.
*****
Al is married to a very smart Vietnamese lady named Hoa. Her French is better than mine ever was. She is a good cook, and I think that being around her has taken a certain edge off Crazy Al's personality, which has always had a wild streak to it. I try to go down there and visit once a year.
*****
Al's wife heard this story which I called The Interview. Then she told me the story about the Hummingbird.
*****
It sounds like Al and Hoa have a little hummingbird in their backyard.
One day she noticed this little bird would fly around, and then fall asleep inside a flower.
She thought that that was the neatest thing! I think it's pretty neat, too.
She went to work and told people this story. She felt disappointed when they all said that that was nothing.
Actually, everyone here is perfectly correct.
It all depends how close you are to The Moment.
Mr. Charming
*****
Of course to me he will always be Crazy Al, the guy I knew from College. He was one of my good friends back then. He is still a good friend. When I first got sick, Crazy Al took a week off to fly up to Portland to stay with me. I was helpless and in a lot of pain. I can't think of anyone else in the world willing to do such a thing for me. I will always remember this. I am very grateful to have such a friend.
*****
Al is married to a very smart Vietnamese lady named Hoa. Her French is better than mine ever was. She is a good cook, and I think that being around her has taken a certain edge off Crazy Al's personality, which has always had a wild streak to it. I try to go down there and visit once a year.
*****
Al's wife heard this story which I called The Interview. Then she told me the story about the Hummingbird.
*****
It sounds like Al and Hoa have a little hummingbird in their backyard.
One day she noticed this little bird would fly around, and then fall asleep inside a flower.
She thought that that was the neatest thing! I think it's pretty neat, too.
She went to work and told people this story. She felt disappointed when they all said that that was nothing.
Actually, everyone here is perfectly correct.
It all depends how close you are to The Moment.
Mr. Charming
The Interview
It was the third week of June. Special Ed stopped by the house about 9.30 in the morning. He had wanted to walk around downtown by the waterfront to look at girls, since the day before had been such a fine day to do just that.
But the day in front of us was much cooler than it had been the day before. It was overcast, too, and it looked like a chance of rain. I suggested we just walk around my neighborhood instead, to keep it close to home in case it started raining. Ed agreed with me on this, and we set off.
*****
We only went the distance of a couple of houses when a young woman approached me.
She wanted to know more about the Brooklyn neighborhood. She was doing a report for a web site that featured stories about the different neighborhoods of Portland. The Website is Portlanders.com.
I told her she was in the wrong place.The Brooklyn district was about sixteen blocks away. She was actually in my neighborhood, which is Kennilworth. Then I immediately invited her to join us for coffee, where we might have have a chance to chat. That way I could answer some of her questions. She had questions about everything.
She agreed to join us.
*****
Her name was Brittany. Brittany was from Seattle, and was not all that familiar with Portland. She got this gig writing for Portlanders. com to become a better writer. She told me that she was going to have to learn a lot of stuff if she was going to keep this job writing about the different neighborhoods of Portland.
We all went to a local coffee shop, the Funky Door, and I treated everyone to coffee. Brittany got out her notebook, and her tape machine, and interviewed me and Special Ed.
*****
Over coffee, she interviewed me. She managed to fill up four pages of notes, and her tape machine ran out of tape.I managed to answer her questions, and I supplied her with a few of my own stories to add a bit of color. Special Ed told her about his experience of growing up in the Council Crest neighborhood, and what that was like.
*****
Brittany could not stop grinning. I think I had her charmed pretty good. She was a delight, and I could tell by her questions, she was on her way to becoming a writer, which is what she wanted to do. In my own small way, I wanted to help her to do what she wanted to do.
****
After our coffee, I offered up a short tour of my neighborhood, which is Kennilworth. I commented on all the various architectural styles, and I pointed out unusual trees and plants. I made everything seem as new, fresh, and interesting as possible. Our encounter spanned the course of three hours.
*****
I showed her a Monkey Puzzle tree. These trees look like Monkey tails. There are only a few of these around, and some of them get to be quite tall. Brittany was fascinated by these trees.I also showed her a planting of Paper Bark Maples just up the street from where I live. Thanks to my friend Carl, I found out about these about a year ago. These are unusual too. They are like birch bark, only they are mahogany colored maple trees. They are cool to look at.
****
We walked over to Kennilworth Park, which anchors this neighborhood of mine. It's an old park, and it is a friendly place. I go up there to play some tennis. A lot of the people in the neighborhood go up there to walk their dogs, maybe chat with their neighbors. They have a place for kids to play. It is a good place to come to.
*****
I told Brittany about this friend of mine who is depressed all the time. He is a good looking man in his forties. He works out all the time and is in good shape. He even has a girlfriend.
He always says to me this: "You are dying from Cancer. How come you are not depressed?"
I always tell him the same thing. I tell him to change his mind, which will then change his mood. I have been telling him this for two years now. This amounts to a summation of cognitive behavioral therapy, where in you examine your internal thought process for the lies we constantly tell ourselves ("I am such a failure. Nobody likes me. Life is not interesting.") And so on. You begin to identify these statements as lies, and then you focus on things that are actually true ("I am not that much of a loser. I have a girlfriend. I am in pretty good shape.") And so on.
*****
I always get up at 6am to get ready to do battle in the markets. The first thing I think about is getting something good to eat, which amounts to oatmeal with brown sugar. I chop up a banana and put this on the oatmeal. Then I get some good coffee in me. By 6.30 when the market opens, I am feeling pretty good, and I have a plan for what I want to do that day. A lot of times I am all done by 7.30, and can go back to bed for a little nap. This retirement thing is working out pretty good for me. The last thing that I am thinking about is dying from Cancer, although I acknowledge that fact. But mostly life is a lot of fun now, and there is too much to do to really dwell on it. Life is actually pretty interesting. I am always lining up the next thing to do. I have a lot of people to play with. We always try to discover new things.
*****
When we parted company, Brittany thanked me for all the conversation. I told her to stay interested in life, to ask questions, and to find out about all the little details, like plants and trees and architecture. After all, if life is not interesting, then what's the point?
*****
This was probably pretty good advice for someone just launching an interest in writing. This was also probably pretty good advice for just about anybody else, too.
*****
I will most likely never see her again, this perfect stranger. Yet I think the three of us had a most enjoyable outing. We had some fairly harmless fun, too, which I think is the best kind.
Mr. Charming
But the day in front of us was much cooler than it had been the day before. It was overcast, too, and it looked like a chance of rain. I suggested we just walk around my neighborhood instead, to keep it close to home in case it started raining. Ed agreed with me on this, and we set off.
*****
We only went the distance of a couple of houses when a young woman approached me.
She wanted to know more about the Brooklyn neighborhood. She was doing a report for a web site that featured stories about the different neighborhoods of Portland. The Website is Portlanders.com.
I told her she was in the wrong place.The Brooklyn district was about sixteen blocks away. She was actually in my neighborhood, which is Kennilworth. Then I immediately invited her to join us for coffee, where we might have have a chance to chat. That way I could answer some of her questions. She had questions about everything.
She agreed to join us.
*****
Her name was Brittany. Brittany was from Seattle, and was not all that familiar with Portland. She got this gig writing for Portlanders. com to become a better writer. She told me that she was going to have to learn a lot of stuff if she was going to keep this job writing about the different neighborhoods of Portland.
We all went to a local coffee shop, the Funky Door, and I treated everyone to coffee. Brittany got out her notebook, and her tape machine, and interviewed me and Special Ed.
*****
Over coffee, she interviewed me. She managed to fill up four pages of notes, and her tape machine ran out of tape.I managed to answer her questions, and I supplied her with a few of my own stories to add a bit of color. Special Ed told her about his experience of growing up in the Council Crest neighborhood, and what that was like.
*****
Brittany could not stop grinning. I think I had her charmed pretty good. She was a delight, and I could tell by her questions, she was on her way to becoming a writer, which is what she wanted to do. In my own small way, I wanted to help her to do what she wanted to do.
****
After our coffee, I offered up a short tour of my neighborhood, which is Kennilworth. I commented on all the various architectural styles, and I pointed out unusual trees and plants. I made everything seem as new, fresh, and interesting as possible. Our encounter spanned the course of three hours.
*****
I showed her a Monkey Puzzle tree. These trees look like Monkey tails. There are only a few of these around, and some of them get to be quite tall. Brittany was fascinated by these trees.I also showed her a planting of Paper Bark Maples just up the street from where I live. Thanks to my friend Carl, I found out about these about a year ago. These are unusual too. They are like birch bark, only they are mahogany colored maple trees. They are cool to look at.
****
We walked over to Kennilworth Park, which anchors this neighborhood of mine. It's an old park, and it is a friendly place. I go up there to play some tennis. A lot of the people in the neighborhood go up there to walk their dogs, maybe chat with their neighbors. They have a place for kids to play. It is a good place to come to.
*****
I told Brittany about this friend of mine who is depressed all the time. He is a good looking man in his forties. He works out all the time and is in good shape. He even has a girlfriend.
He always says to me this: "You are dying from Cancer. How come you are not depressed?"
I always tell him the same thing. I tell him to change his mind, which will then change his mood. I have been telling him this for two years now. This amounts to a summation of cognitive behavioral therapy, where in you examine your internal thought process for the lies we constantly tell ourselves ("I am such a failure. Nobody likes me. Life is not interesting.") And so on. You begin to identify these statements as lies, and then you focus on things that are actually true ("I am not that much of a loser. I have a girlfriend. I am in pretty good shape.") And so on.
*****
I always get up at 6am to get ready to do battle in the markets. The first thing I think about is getting something good to eat, which amounts to oatmeal with brown sugar. I chop up a banana and put this on the oatmeal. Then I get some good coffee in me. By 6.30 when the market opens, I am feeling pretty good, and I have a plan for what I want to do that day. A lot of times I am all done by 7.30, and can go back to bed for a little nap. This retirement thing is working out pretty good for me. The last thing that I am thinking about is dying from Cancer, although I acknowledge that fact. But mostly life is a lot of fun now, and there is too much to do to really dwell on it. Life is actually pretty interesting. I am always lining up the next thing to do. I have a lot of people to play with. We always try to discover new things.
*****
When we parted company, Brittany thanked me for all the conversation. I told her to stay interested in life, to ask questions, and to find out about all the little details, like plants and trees and architecture. After all, if life is not interesting, then what's the point?
*****
This was probably pretty good advice for someone just launching an interest in writing. This was also probably pretty good advice for just about anybody else, too.
*****
I will most likely never see her again, this perfect stranger. Yet I think the three of us had a most enjoyable outing. We had some fairly harmless fun, too, which I think is the best kind.
Mr. Charming
Being in the Moment
Towards the end of June I picked up a book that had just been lying around. I started to read it.
The book is called "Meditation and Relaxation" by an Australian psychologist named Bob Sharples. This is somebody that nobody has ever heard of. As it turns out, I think it's a pretty good book.
*****
In this book, Mr. Sharples asks us to focus on our breathing, which is the most natural process there is. Eveything leads back to the breath.
If you are relaxed, and breathing well, you are then allowed to do these inventories.
*****
You are allowed to do an inventory of your physical state. Am I hot, cold, hungry, and am I in pain? You address these things as they come up. You acknowledge the physical condition of your existence. But who you are is more than the sum of your physical ailments and suffering.
Who you are is somthing else entirely.
*****
You continue to focus on your breathing, nice and relaxed. You are very calm. You then begin to do an inventory of your emotional state. How do I feel right now? Am I feeling fear, or anger, or some kind of self-pity because I am sick? You begin to address these emotions, and you begin to understand yourself better.
Who we are is more than the sum of our physical condition and our emotions.
Who we are is something else entirely.
*****
Bob Sharples uses these methods to focus on the moment right in front of us. It is like watching the fireworks down town. You don't want to miss any of it.
The Annoying Wife is a story about the complete opposite of Being in the Moment. She is an example of what you want to avoid doing if you possibly can.
This whole thing is really about spiritual growth. And having Cancer for the last two years has been more a spiritual journey for me than anything else. It has made me grow as a person. I have become very grateful to all the people that have helped me the past two years. I am grateful for the fine doctors, and my wonderful friends, and my Mom and her friends who pray for me every day.
People that I really did not know that well have reached out to me and have tried to help me in the ways that they could. People have really been terrific, and I am thankful for all that has been given to me.
****
Being in the moment has helped me to be more calm, and to understand my self better. I have been getting some insights into who I really am. I have been getting some insights to my ongoing relationships with people, and to the world in general. I though it might be important to write about this, and that is what I have been doing here.
Maybe I can reach out to another person with Cancer and help them a little. It is worth a shot.
*****
"Meditation and Relaxation" by Bob Sharples. I would recommend reading this book.
Mr. Charming
The book is called "Meditation and Relaxation" by an Australian psychologist named Bob Sharples. This is somebody that nobody has ever heard of. As it turns out, I think it's a pretty good book.
*****
In this book, Mr. Sharples asks us to focus on our breathing, which is the most natural process there is. Eveything leads back to the breath.
If you are relaxed, and breathing well, you are then allowed to do these inventories.
*****
You are allowed to do an inventory of your physical state. Am I hot, cold, hungry, and am I in pain? You address these things as they come up. You acknowledge the physical condition of your existence. But who you are is more than the sum of your physical ailments and suffering.
Who you are is somthing else entirely.
*****
You continue to focus on your breathing, nice and relaxed. You are very calm. You then begin to do an inventory of your emotional state. How do I feel right now? Am I feeling fear, or anger, or some kind of self-pity because I am sick? You begin to address these emotions, and you begin to understand yourself better.
Who we are is more than the sum of our physical condition and our emotions.
Who we are is something else entirely.
*****
Bob Sharples uses these methods to focus on the moment right in front of us. It is like watching the fireworks down town. You don't want to miss any of it.
The Annoying Wife is a story about the complete opposite of Being in the Moment. She is an example of what you want to avoid doing if you possibly can.
This whole thing is really about spiritual growth. And having Cancer for the last two years has been more a spiritual journey for me than anything else. It has made me grow as a person. I have become very grateful to all the people that have helped me the past two years. I am grateful for the fine doctors, and my wonderful friends, and my Mom and her friends who pray for me every day.
People that I really did not know that well have reached out to me and have tried to help me in the ways that they could. People have really been terrific, and I am thankful for all that has been given to me.
****
Being in the moment has helped me to be more calm, and to understand my self better. I have been getting some insights into who I really am. I have been getting some insights to my ongoing relationships with people, and to the world in general. I though it might be important to write about this, and that is what I have been doing here.
Maybe I can reach out to another person with Cancer and help them a little. It is worth a shot.
*****
"Meditation and Relaxation" by Bob Sharples. I would recommend reading this book.
Mr. Charming
The Annoying Wife
I'll talk to anybody.
I took Dan and Special Ed downtown this year to see the fireworks for the Fourth of July. We were on the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge. I have been doing this for three years now. I hope to be doing this next year too, but there are no guarantees.
While waiting for the fireworks, I talked to a couple of ladies my age who were sitting in lawn chairs. They were nice enough to chat up a stranger like me. I got to know their names, what they did for a living, and a little about them.
Delores was a nurse at Providence. I had just gotten some radiation there for Cancer. I told her that going there was like going to a little city all on its own. It just goes on and on. She agreed with me.
Her friend Harriet was from N.E. Portland. She trained horses. How often do I get to meet someone who trains horses for a living? We had quite a conversation. Harriet really loves these big animals, and has a way with them. My Mom's step dad trained horses in Austria.
We had something to talk about.
****
In a few minutes a couple showed up on bicycles. I talked to them too, since I ride a bike. They had nice blinky lights attached to their helmets, which I admired. Nobody wants to get hit by a car.
These people were both about my age. The poor guy had a haunted look to him. His wife was an embarrassment. She refused to engage with me on any level whatsoever, even though I was nice enough and standing right next to her talking my nonsense.
I sat next to these people on the curb.
The fireworks were spectacular. You didn't want to miss any of it. It was right in front of us.
*****
The Annoying Wife sat next to me the whole time, and while the sky was abloze with glorious pyrotechnics, she was on her cell phone, thinking about things going on that were miles away.
Who else on the entire planet does that?
Mr. Charming
I took Dan and Special Ed downtown this year to see the fireworks for the Fourth of July. We were on the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge. I have been doing this for three years now. I hope to be doing this next year too, but there are no guarantees.
While waiting for the fireworks, I talked to a couple of ladies my age who were sitting in lawn chairs. They were nice enough to chat up a stranger like me. I got to know their names, what they did for a living, and a little about them.
Delores was a nurse at Providence. I had just gotten some radiation there for Cancer. I told her that going there was like going to a little city all on its own. It just goes on and on. She agreed with me.
Her friend Harriet was from N.E. Portland. She trained horses. How often do I get to meet someone who trains horses for a living? We had quite a conversation. Harriet really loves these big animals, and has a way with them. My Mom's step dad trained horses in Austria.
We had something to talk about.
****
In a few minutes a couple showed up on bicycles. I talked to them too, since I ride a bike. They had nice blinky lights attached to their helmets, which I admired. Nobody wants to get hit by a car.
These people were both about my age. The poor guy had a haunted look to him. His wife was an embarrassment. She refused to engage with me on any level whatsoever, even though I was nice enough and standing right next to her talking my nonsense.
I sat next to these people on the curb.
The fireworks were spectacular. You didn't want to miss any of it. It was right in front of us.
*****
The Annoying Wife sat next to me the whole time, and while the sky was abloze with glorious pyrotechnics, she was on her cell phone, thinking about things going on that were miles away.
Who else on the entire planet does that?
Mr. Charming
The Ural Motorcycle
My friend Mark lives in Soo, Michigan. We both went to college up there when the place was called Lake Superior State College. He still lives there, and is an attorney. Mark is a smart guy.
I could have gone to the University of Michigan. But I didn't have any money, and neither did my folks. I could afford to go to LSSC, which we dubbed the Army Surplus College. They had turned an old Army Barracks into a cheap place where poor kids like me and Mark could earn a degree. It changed our lives.
*****
Recently Mark had to drive all the way down to Chicago to attend his nephew's wedding. Mark has a good eye for the unusual. He spotted a strange looking motorcycle with a side-car attached to it. It turned out to be a Ural, a motorcycle made in Russia.
That's how I found out about the Ural.
*****
I have been interested in and have owned motorcycles since I was a fourteen year old kid. This Ural really captured my attention. I wanted to find out what I could, and pass the information along to you all here. The Ural is really neat.
*****
The Ural is based on the tried and true old BMW design of a horizontally opposed flat twin cylinder four stroke motor that will probably go forever. The size of the motor is a 750 cc.
They offer several models, starting at $10,000 and going up to $15,000, which is about the cost of a nice little Japanese car. Each one of these models comes with a side-car.
They are not fast machines. They top out at a mere 65 mph, good enough for the freeway, and they will go about 30 mpg. They are guaranteed to make you an interesting person.
Every where you go people will ask you about your Ural.
Think of it! If you are a young guy, you can take your girlfriend wih you and go camping. And you can take your dog with you, too! How much fun is that!
If you are an old guy like me, you just might want a comfortable ride around the city. You might take it to the store and get some groceries, and then put them in the side car. It seems practical. Dealerships are springing up all over the country selling these machines.
*****
The other day I was driving down 39th (Cesar Chavez for those of you who insist) and I spotted one being ridden by an older guy all decked out in leathers. I had to pull up along side him to get a better look.
The bike was jet black with a lot of chrome. It was very pretty.
Before we hit the red light on Powell, I pulled in front of him.
I rolled down the window and gave him a big thumbs up.
He noddded to me. He knew that I had got it.
Mr. Charming
I could have gone to the University of Michigan. But I didn't have any money, and neither did my folks. I could afford to go to LSSC, which we dubbed the Army Surplus College. They had turned an old Army Barracks into a cheap place where poor kids like me and Mark could earn a degree. It changed our lives.
*****
Recently Mark had to drive all the way down to Chicago to attend his nephew's wedding. Mark has a good eye for the unusual. He spotted a strange looking motorcycle with a side-car attached to it. It turned out to be a Ural, a motorcycle made in Russia.
That's how I found out about the Ural.
*****
I have been interested in and have owned motorcycles since I was a fourteen year old kid. This Ural really captured my attention. I wanted to find out what I could, and pass the information along to you all here. The Ural is really neat.
*****
The Ural is based on the tried and true old BMW design of a horizontally opposed flat twin cylinder four stroke motor that will probably go forever. The size of the motor is a 750 cc.
They offer several models, starting at $10,000 and going up to $15,000, which is about the cost of a nice little Japanese car. Each one of these models comes with a side-car.
They are not fast machines. They top out at a mere 65 mph, good enough for the freeway, and they will go about 30 mpg. They are guaranteed to make you an interesting person.
Every where you go people will ask you about your Ural.
Think of it! If you are a young guy, you can take your girlfriend wih you and go camping. And you can take your dog with you, too! How much fun is that!
If you are an old guy like me, you just might want a comfortable ride around the city. You might take it to the store and get some groceries, and then put them in the side car. It seems practical. Dealerships are springing up all over the country selling these machines.
*****
The other day I was driving down 39th (Cesar Chavez for those of you who insist) and I spotted one being ridden by an older guy all decked out in leathers. I had to pull up along side him to get a better look.
The bike was jet black with a lot of chrome. It was very pretty.
Before we hit the red light on Powell, I pulled in front of him.
I rolled down the window and gave him a big thumbs up.
He noddded to me. He knew that I had got it.
Mr. Charming
Lindsay and Lebron
About ten days ago I wrote a piece called "Lindsay and Lebron" The day before they had just tossed Lindsay Lohan in jail for ninety days. The day I wrote it, Lebron James was in the news. Everyone was speculating about his future plans. The next day something else would happen, and we would be interested in that, too. The news feeds us empty calories, and we are hungry for more of it. Collectively, we have become a nation of short attention spans. We constantly require that we be entertained. Few have time to really think anymore. We are all too busy to do that.
*****
On the day everyone was talking about LeBron James, another story came out in the news. Scientists had discovered an Aids Vaccine. The Aids Vaccine, once administered, would prevent up to 90% of all new aids cases from ever developing in the entire world. Think of it! All the needless loss of life, all of the suffering being avoided. And of course all of the cost savings for the entire planet. Our health system is under siege everywhere, and it is very expensive. If aids is taken out of the picture, we can then devote our resources for other things that are killing us. Like Cancer and Diabetes.
*****
Anyway, if you really think about it, this Aids Vaccine might even be the most important story of the year. Aids is a blight upon humanity. And even though we thought it impossible until recently to defeat this aids virus, scientists managed to pulled one out of the hat and astound the entire world. Collectively, we had won one. What could be better and more important than that?
Mr. Charming
*****
On the day everyone was talking about LeBron James, another story came out in the news. Scientists had discovered an Aids Vaccine. The Aids Vaccine, once administered, would prevent up to 90% of all new aids cases from ever developing in the entire world. Think of it! All the needless loss of life, all of the suffering being avoided. And of course all of the cost savings for the entire planet. Our health system is under siege everywhere, and it is very expensive. If aids is taken out of the picture, we can then devote our resources for other things that are killing us. Like Cancer and Diabetes.
*****
Anyway, if you really think about it, this Aids Vaccine might even be the most important story of the year. Aids is a blight upon humanity. And even though we thought it impossible until recently to defeat this aids virus, scientists managed to pulled one out of the hat and astound the entire world. Collectively, we had won one. What could be better and more important than that?
Mr. Charming
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