Best wishes to all for a very happy April.
You may recall that the March newsletter began with the report of a rare (and fortunately very small) earthquake. We’ll start the April epistle with a totally different but equally as unusual and fascinating experience. When Nita and I came down for breakfast last week, we found we had company on our patio. A large fox was also enjoying breakfast – perhaps peanuts, fruit, seeds, and berries of some kind from a platform bird feeder that sits on the low wall that surrounds the patio. The fox was not intimidated and stayed for several minutes, although we were visible through the large glass doors. Nita took several very good pictures which quickly made the rounds of our neighborhood. The cat also took special interest. She is rarely quiet. This time, though, after an initial low growl, she was totally silent, staring through the glass door like a bird dog pointing out prey. Unlike most mornings she was not at all interested in wandering around outside close to the house for a few minutes. We have received no further visits since that one – although that’s the first thing we check every morning.
A bit of writing news: as mentioned in the reminder note for this month’s update, for no good reason, (I was left unattended for a short time – that almost always creates problems) I’ve been fiddling with something different – sort of a hybrid humorous brief short story interspersed with ridiculous three- or four-lines verses, all with outlandish titles. We’ll see what happens. I sent three or four in to prospective publishers just to sample the waters. As is the case most times, it will likely be three/six/nine months before I get a return response. I suspect that the “hybrid” nature of the piece will cause it to swim upstream. Most publishers feel more comfortable and find it easier to market works that are “pure” narrative stories or poetry.
At the risk of repeating parts of the reminder note, here is a sample of Pomes that Reely Rime: Profound , Short (Virile) Verses – Not like that Wussy, Touchy-Feely Stuff You Get at Poetry Readings.
A Discourse on Popular Taste and Violence in Intercollegiate Athletics
The crowd at Mammoth Stadium sat warmly captivated
By the rolling head of the quarterback
Who had been sacked and decapitated
At present there are 107 of these “pomes” – all with the same incredibly poignant language and piercing insights. 😊
The ‘author,’ Brittlehorn Skipwell (B.S.) Wormburp has an ambiguous and somewhat checkered past, (in addition to delusions of grandeur). He claims that the “pomes” are a new form of poetry, created in response to the abundance of unrhymed poetry prevalent in today’s publications. The first “pomes” attract a cult following and a subsequent “test the waters” tour provokes rioting at several locations. Other problems abound as well. Then – just as his magnum opus is released -- Wormburp disappears, perhaps a step ahead of creditors and the law. Though rumors abound, he has not been heard of since, although clues persist regarding his whereabouts and suggest that he may intend to resume his writing at some point in the future. As I said, we’ll see what happens.
In the reminder note, I mentioned two books that some readers may find interesting. The books are Nuclear War and Presidents at War.
Nuclear War is an interesting, very sobering look at nuclear combat. It is sobering for many reasons: descriptions of how truly catastrophic such a war would be, how compressed the decision times are, how easily events can be misinterpreted leading towards a “use them or lose them” quandary for decision makers who have very little time to sort things out. President Reagan mentioned a space of about six minutes to reach a decision. Few decision-makers have any “practice” or understanding of the circumstances and consequences. All of them should read Nuclear War.
The book traces a launch of one land- based weapon (multiple warheads) by North Korea against the targets in the U.S – Pentagon, White House, underground headquarters such as that at Strategic Air Command, Cheyenne Mountain, etc. What follows explains rather well the events that perhaps inexorably draw other nations into the war. For example, part of the U.S. retaliation against North Korea requires some missiles to overfly parts of Russian airspace. In the absence of adequate communication, the Russians assume these dozens of missiles are aimed at them and respond accordingly. Eventually, plausible circumstances – deaths from fallout in nearby nations, overflights of missiles, etc., draw other alliances and nuclear powers into the conflict. Essentially, in little more than an hour much of the world as we know it would cease to exist, much of it for decades, if not millennia, to come.
I considered including a brief summary to illustrate the scope of the devastation the war would cause. But, after re-reading a portion of it, I decided against it. It would profane too much of the glory of an otherwise beautiful spring day.
Presidents of War is also a very informative book. Assuming I can remember to do so, I’ll save some comments on it until next time. Interestingly, only one President, Thomas Jefferson, backed away from a potential conflict where American rights were questioned. All the rest engaged our country in war; one, James Polk, actively incited it. The lessons from each in terms of communications, interpretations of events, ambiguous circumstances, preparations, etc., have lessons for the present day.
A TRULY AWFUL PUN
Better to have loved and lost a short person
than never to have loved a tall.
FROM 1,911 BEST THINGS ANYBODY EVER SAID
Alimony is like buying oats for a dead horse. (Arthur Baer)
Have a great April, everyone. Baseball is here again, so I am pretty sure things will get better.
Best wishes, always
Tom
You may recall that the March newsletter began with the report of a rare (and fortunately very small) earthquake. We’ll start the April epistle with a totally different but equally as unusual and fascinating experience. When Nita and I came down for breakfast last week, we found we had company on our patio. A large fox was also enjoying breakfast – perhaps peanuts, fruit, seeds, and berries of some kind from a platform bird feeder that sits on the low wall that surrounds the patio. The fox was not intimidated and stayed for several minutes, although we were visible through the large glass doors. Nita took several very good pictures which quickly made the rounds of our neighborhood. The cat also took special interest. She is rarely quiet. This time, though, after an initial low growl, she was totally silent, staring through the glass door like a bird dog pointing out prey. Unlike most mornings she was not at all interested in wandering around outside close to the house for a few minutes. We have received no further visits since that one – although that’s the first thing we check every morning.
A bit of writing news: as mentioned in the reminder note for this month’s update, for no good reason, (I was left unattended for a short time – that almost always creates problems) I’ve been fiddling with something different – sort of a hybrid humorous brief short story interspersed with ridiculous three- or four-lines verses, all with outlandish titles. We’ll see what happens. I sent three or four in to prospective publishers just to sample the waters. As is the case most times, it will likely be three/six/nine months before I get a return response. I suspect that the “hybrid” nature of the piece will cause it to swim upstream. Most publishers feel more comfortable and find it easier to market works that are “pure” narrative stories or poetry.
At the risk of repeating parts of the reminder note, here is a sample of Pomes that Reely Rime: Profound , Short (Virile) Verses – Not like that Wussy, Touchy-Feely Stuff You Get at Poetry Readings.
A Discourse on Popular Taste and Violence in Intercollegiate Athletics
The crowd at Mammoth Stadium sat warmly captivated
By the rolling head of the quarterback
Who had been sacked and decapitated
At present there are 107 of these “pomes” – all with the same incredibly poignant language and piercing insights. 😊
The ‘author,’ Brittlehorn Skipwell (B.S.) Wormburp has an ambiguous and somewhat checkered past, (in addition to delusions of grandeur). He claims that the “pomes” are a new form of poetry, created in response to the abundance of unrhymed poetry prevalent in today’s publications. The first “pomes” attract a cult following and a subsequent “test the waters” tour provokes rioting at several locations. Other problems abound as well. Then – just as his magnum opus is released -- Wormburp disappears, perhaps a step ahead of creditors and the law. Though rumors abound, he has not been heard of since, although clues persist regarding his whereabouts and suggest that he may intend to resume his writing at some point in the future. As I said, we’ll see what happens.
In the reminder note, I mentioned two books that some readers may find interesting. The books are Nuclear War and Presidents at War.
Nuclear War is an interesting, very sobering look at nuclear combat. It is sobering for many reasons: descriptions of how truly catastrophic such a war would be, how compressed the decision times are, how easily events can be misinterpreted leading towards a “use them or lose them” quandary for decision makers who have very little time to sort things out. President Reagan mentioned a space of about six minutes to reach a decision. Few decision-makers have any “practice” or understanding of the circumstances and consequences. All of them should read Nuclear War.
The book traces a launch of one land- based weapon (multiple warheads) by North Korea against the targets in the U.S – Pentagon, White House, underground headquarters such as that at Strategic Air Command, Cheyenne Mountain, etc. What follows explains rather well the events that perhaps inexorably draw other nations into the war. For example, part of the U.S. retaliation against North Korea requires some missiles to overfly parts of Russian airspace. In the absence of adequate communication, the Russians assume these dozens of missiles are aimed at them and respond accordingly. Eventually, plausible circumstances – deaths from fallout in nearby nations, overflights of missiles, etc., draw other alliances and nuclear powers into the conflict. Essentially, in little more than an hour much of the world as we know it would cease to exist, much of it for decades, if not millennia, to come.
I considered including a brief summary to illustrate the scope of the devastation the war would cause. But, after re-reading a portion of it, I decided against it. It would profane too much of the glory of an otherwise beautiful spring day.
Presidents of War is also a very informative book. Assuming I can remember to do so, I’ll save some comments on it until next time. Interestingly, only one President, Thomas Jefferson, backed away from a potential conflict where American rights were questioned. All the rest engaged our country in war; one, James Polk, actively incited it. The lessons from each in terms of communications, interpretations of events, ambiguous circumstances, preparations, etc., have lessons for the present day.
A TRULY AWFUL PUN
Better to have loved and lost a short person
than never to have loved a tall.
FROM 1,911 BEST THINGS ANYBODY EVER SAID
Alimony is like buying oats for a dead horse. (Arthur Baer)
Have a great April, everyone. Baseball is here again, so I am pretty sure things will get better.
Best wishes, always
Tom
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