The Hayloft: a 1950s mystery (Book) - 2/7/2024 1:22:16 PM
I admit, when I saw the 1950s mystery designation, I immediately bought it--for less than a dollar I surely got my money's worth...and more! By now you all know that I love books with music as part of the background story...So prepare to spend time with me as you read this review...
The book opens as Gary is isolated with measles and his family are coming back from the funeral for his first cousin, Ralph. Gary is confronted with his not being able to be there, but also with the confusion as to how he could possibly have died the way that he did. He fell off a balcony at his school... Gary didn't believe it and so, this quickly turned into somewhat of a cozy mystery as Gary was determined to find out exactly what happened--he wondered who else had been with Ralph that night and whether he was pushed!
A jukebox in the corner blasted out the Bill Haley and the Comets version of “Rock Around the Clock.” Rock and roll was still new, and some adults saw it as the latest form of teenage depravity. There had been a jukebox in the Atherton cafeteria that took nickels. Sylvia told me this one was free. Ralph had listened to this jukebox...
Gary's home room was in the cafeteria so music was playing quite often and some of the girls even did the Charleston. He laughed wondering how they'd learned those steps!
Gary met Sylvia on his first day at Carter. She was the class president and assigned to show him around the school. But before she came, Gary had been greeted by his new principal, Dr. Graves...
But Dr. Graves, first, spent time talking about Gary's being transferred to Carter, noting that it was at his discretion that he be accepted... And, he then mentioned that Sylvia would be coming in soon and that he needed Gary to work with him secretly. He noted that Sylvia's father had undergone a congressional investigation related to whether he was a communist... Dr. Graves wanted him to watch Sylvia and report back on anything that seemed suspicious...
Now that Ralph was gone, there was only one reason Gary was happy to be at Carter... He had fallen "in love" with the head cheerleader when they played at his old school... Even though she was, of course, dating the football hero here, he couldn't forget about her great beauty... But he got to know her through Sylvia while keeping one of those secrets... In the meantime, Gary began asking questions, and even risked going to a dance, alone, hoping to learn more...
This is a personal favorite for me, with a great mystery and lots of 50s music...Come on over and enjoy my thoughts and listen...
https://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-hayloft-1950s-mystery-and-music-by.html
Rocky Road to Denver (Book) - 1/13/2023 4:17:17 PM
Review by Michael P. Hartnett
Every once and while, a reader comes across a novel that is tremendously likable, one during which the many hours spent with the characters are most pleasant. As it follows a group of walkers from California to Colorado, the Rocky Road to Denver by Alan Cook gives the reader such an experience. The main character, Roger, is grieving the loss of his wife and, with his son’s encouragement, goes off on this journey which promotes Zeus Shoes. What he finds along the way are an assortment of romances, quirky adventures (that include everything from car thefts to small-town scandals to wanderings in the wilderness to a special appearance by Chris Evert), and a transformed identity as a leader.
Setting the novel in 1984, Cook has developed a variety of entertaining characters as Roger’s companions, characters who capture the zeitgeist of the times, including the shifting sexual mores, the fitness crazes, and the emerging empowerment of women, particularly in the workplace. The fluid group dynamics and the challenges of each environment (suburban, desert, mountain, etc.) assure that the pace of the novel is steady and lively. Clever poems and songs run through the Rocky Road to Denver like its own quirky soundtrack. But what really makes this novel sing is the breezy, witty banter throughout, everything from the brutal, yet funny exchanges between the road managers Earl and Ethel to the snappy zingers between the beautiful Susan and the acerbic writer Jennifer. While the characters go through quite an ordeal, the reader gets to experience pure enjoyment of this journey.
Death at Monksrest (Book) - 1/7/2023 5:48:56 AM
I enjoyed reading this novella. In a succinct manner the author weaves the reader through an intriguing mystery. I loved the English setting and the hints of an old legend and curse being involved. As a lover of mystery, I was thrilled to read a story that I had not figured out long before the reveal. I suspected several but not the actual murderer. Well, done Mr. Cook.
Death at Monksrest (Book) - 8/21/2022 1:56:24 PM
Death at Monksrest is the third novel in his series of Elizabeth Reed and Charles Ebersole mysteries. Liz and Charlie are financial investigators in a major financial firm in Los Angeles. They find themselves going a bit beyond mere finances with their adventures.
The story starts out innocently enough, with Charlie taking vacation to walk the British Isles from the South of Wales to the tip of Scotland. Along the way, he plans to stop to see a former college roommate and buddy, Reggie Wheatley lives in an aging, but regal manor house that his family has owned for centuries. But in the 1960s the old aristocrats in England are giving up their lordships largely because their estates are really too expensive to maintain.
When Charlie arrives the manor is in disarray. Emma, Reggie's sister has been murdered. Charlie feels too close to be of any help and reaches out to Liz in LA because the police do not seem to be doing anything about solving the case. When Liz arrives she suspects that the killer may be a part of the extended family and begins learning as much as she can from them. Of course, along the way she finds out about various possible love affairs and intrigues that may or may not have anything to do with the murder.
One of the clues involves a legend of a curse caused by the murder of monks who had stopped at a stream on the property in the 15th century, giving the manor its name, Monksrest. Whether the curse had anything to do with the murder was also a subject of investigation.
The story takes a rather straightforward, easy to read, approach where all of the characters are well defined and easy for the reader to keep in mind on a first name basis. In fact, the story goes directly to the murderer without much deviation except for the twist that always comes.
It has a flavor of many whodunits with multiple suspects in large houses that dates back to Sherlock Holmes.
I will recommend it to those who like a good, easy-to-read and understand murder mystery that they can read in one sitting on their Kindle.
Ronald W. Hull is the author of Hanging by a Thread and 12 other books, short stories and poetry
Death at Monksrest (Book) - 7/11/2022 6:28:59 PM
This is a fun story to read with a somewhat surprise ending. Even though it's a short novella the story and well described setting is well worth the read.
Death at Monksrest (Book) - 2/23/2022 4:24:25 PM
This review by Michael P. Hartnett
In Death at Monksrest, Alan Cook has given the reader a lively, breezy murder mystery, told with impressive concision. But the bigger attraction here is Liz Reid, who has made her presence known previously in Cook’s Charlie and Liz novels. The narrator of this twisted, atmospheric yarn, Liz comes to England for both intrigue and holiday. Resourceful and sharp, Liz is a free spirit in a 1960s when possibilities for liberated woman are only emerging. She follows her instincts, reads signals, and takes risks with style and nerve.
Liz will uncover a lurid tale connected to a medieval curse at the manse of Monksrest, one tied to inheritance, romance, and sordid motives. Her investigation leads to a breathless climax in a memorable setting. With echoes of Agatha Christie, yet updated for a more modern sensibility, Death at Monksrest delivers a fun read, featuring a heroine we are more than happy to follow.
East of the Wall (Book) - 1/22/2022 3:11:29 AM
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East of the Wall (Book) - 10/29/2020 6:56:53 PM
This is the second book in the series involving Charlie Ebersole and Elizabeth Reid, but even if you haven't read "Trust Me if You Dare" the characters are so strongly detailed the book stands alone. In "East of the Wall," another outstanding novel by Alan Cook, our main characters, having been recruited by the CIA, once again find themselves in a dangerous situation. Charlie and Liz, both civilians and not formally trained to be a spy accept a challenge that lands them behind the wall in East Berlin, not a place you want to get stuck in. Having gone to the GDR to investigate the claim of possible weapons of mass destruction, they quickly find they are running from the Stasi, the East German secret police. Along the way, they pick up some help from a tour guide who has become Charlie's new love interest and, Fritz, the cousin of Liz, who's deceased father may have worked on the weapons of mass destruction project. The four end up on the run as they drive (and sleep in) their car all over East Berlin gathering information, attempting to avoid the Stasi and attempting to find a way to get back across the border to freedom. The story has many twist and turns and keeps the reader on the edge of their seats. Along the way, Alan Cook provides the reader with a great bit of a history lesson by taking you back to a period of time where tensions were on edge and life was not pleasant "East of the Wall." Alan Cook has given us another great read with a well-written book full of drama and suspense, but a dash of levity also. I really enjoy his easy writing style and highly recommend you check this one out. A definite 10! I can't wait to see where Charlie and Liz end up next...
Trust Me if You Dare (Book) - 9/6/2020 11:45:58 AM
Sitting at desk all day as a securities analyst is not what Charlie desires to with the rest of his life so after spending a strange weekend in Death Valley he eagerly accepts a position in the fraud division with International Investments in Los Angeles. His new partner, Liz, is ironically someone he met in Death Valley under false pretenses. Although there is a romantic spark between the two of them, they decide to keep their relationship professional. Shortly after settling into their new job they are sent to Buffalo to investigate a possible Ponzi scheme. The trip turns into a debacle that takes them to Fort Lauderdale during Spring break where things go from bad to worse and they end up in Cuba. A series of misfortunes, including abductions, guns, and chases befall them. "Trust Me if You Dare" is a suspense-filled drama with an engaging storyline that keeps the reader on the ege of their seats. I read it in one day, I couldn't put it down. The intriguing writing style of Alan Cook is captivating. Cook writes with an easy-flow that grabs and keeps the readers attention. I really enjoyed "Trust Me if You Dare" and look forward to reading additional books by Alan Cook. In fact, I would love to see Charlie and Liz and their adventures turned into a series (hint, hint). Highly recommend!
East of the Wall (Book) - 6/8/2020 7:47:33 AM
Congrats on your latest. Looks like a winner. I went to Amazon and took a little look "Inside." While it harkens back the Cold War and the Berlin blockade, there was a lot of injury going on east of the Berlin wall in those days. Not only are you providing a good action thriller, you are providing a little history for those who may not have been born by that time.
Loved the poem that kicked it off!
Ron
Fool Me Twice: A Carol Golden Novel (Book) - 12/2/2018 6:43:23 AM
A great title. That's why I dropped by to check it out. Congratulations on six of the series books. A good accomplishment.
Your Move: A Carol Golden Novel (Book) - 5/8/2018 6:14:18 AM
A Mystery of Prodigious Games
Your Move (A Carol Golden Novel) by Alan Cook is clever and intriguing cat-and-mouse mystery where the hunter is often the hunted. A heroine with a rich and slightly sordid past, Carol is brought into murder investigations at Ault Enterprises specifically for her ability to play games and crack puzzles. A mathematician by training and a detective at heart, Carol has to find the connections among victims who work for subsidiaries of Ault, are found in the mountains, and are marked with the titular note: “Your Move.”
Indeed, Carol is the type of investigator who will climb Mount Whitney just to get her hands on a small clue. Against her ingenious target, she is thrown in the obscure mathematical game of Nim, a game that will hurtle her back to amnesic past. Your Move is quite engaging as there are terrific hiking scenes and many interactions of romantic tension between old flames and new men of interest, not only with Carol, but with her beautiful free-spirit sidekick Amy.
As the plot twists and turns, the surprises keep coming. Carol is constantly vulnerable as she doggedly pursues the case. And yet she forges ahead. The climactic scenes at the cabins are quite original for subversive gamesmanship. Simply put, Your Move is loads of crafty fun.
Fool Me Twice: A Carol Golden Novel (Book) - 10/11/2017 6:04:08 PM
This was a short, but enjoyable read. I found the writing somewhat undeveloped at the beginning, but yet the writer was able to capture my attention and keep me reading. The plot was interesting and timely as the elderly as moneyed targets makes daily headlines. There were characters sufficient to produce interest without confusing the plot line excessively. Throughout the story, this reader identified with the private investigator's opinions about the protagonist and the apparent antagonist and was as surprised as she was at how the writer creatively resolved the conflict. A short story, simply written, but enjoyable nonetheless. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Forget to Remember: A Carol Golden Novel (Book) - 2/15/2011 11:21:34 AM
A very intriguing and entertaining mystery, the first I've read by this author, though he has written several books. Alan Cook knows how to engage his readers and keep them guessing.
The plot opens with the discovery by a restaurant kitchen worker of a naked bloody body of a female in a dumpster behind the restaurant. There is a slight pulse and she is transported to the hospital. Once she comes back to consciousness, she has amnesia, no memory of either her past or what happened to her. And so the mystery begins.
Rigo, who found the girl, feels a need to become her protector and feels responsible for taking care of her once she is released from the hospital. Because he lives with his parents, they invite her to stay with them, she has nowhere else to go and no identity. In fact, because she has amnesia and no one has reported a girl missing, no ID was found at the scene, she has become a non-person. This is significant because as a non-person she can not become a "person", not a citizen of anywhere, no fingerprints on file, she can not get proof of birth, driver's licence, can not travel anywhere, and literally has no record of ever existing. This particular subject of the plot made me wonder how many people in the world are "non-persons" for whatever reason.
She decides to go by the name of Carol Golden for the time being. Little by little she comes up with a thought that makes her wonder if it's a memory. Playing a game with Rigo she finds herself thinking in binary and realizes she must have been proficient at math. California doesn't feel right as where she lived, she feels more drawn to the east. I was fascinated with this process in the book. I think Alan Cook was very diligent in dealing with this process. I don't think I found any anachronisms overlooked as hidden memories, that is to say I don't think anything was said or thought of out of context.
A few searches for missing people do not turn up any leads, but a friend of Rigo's family has more connections and ideas and locates a possibility in North Carolina. The lawyer for that case sends Carol papers so she can fly out east. However, the missing girl's grandmother says no, this is not Cynthia. A dead end. But she now has a feeling she was recently in England. Especially when she rents a car and finds herself looking for a standard gear shift on her left, and feels she should be driving on the right. Carol is determined to follow her feelings, and follow them she does. With the papers and money the lawyer has supplied her with, she heads to England.
Memories begin to become more cohesive though the mystery deepens as she struggles with the fact that her attack was not a one-time thing and she is still very much in danger. Will she find out the truth of her identity? Will she find her attacker or worse, will he find her? Or is he stalking her even now.
This book has a lot of interesting detail, the unraveling of the mystery of Carol's identity and the final outcome bring the book to a fast-paced, exciting and surprising conclusion. A well plotted story I really enjoyed.
Honeymoon for Three (Book) - 11/5/2007 6:34:37 PM
HONEYMOON FOR THREE has won a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association. The award recognizes members' works that demonstrate excellence in their field.
Artificial Incident--Part 3 (Short Story) - 4/30/2024 12:51:44 PM
I like this chapter. A lot of action, although I'm not sure about the maneuver the way it was described. I wouldn't have followed the car, because one of the ways that the car might be able to pick up the chase would be to wait by the side of the road and look for Nate to come by again in this remote area with very few roads and places to go.
At the end you seem to indicate that apprehension that the car had already arrived in Indio when the maneuver should have made the car go in a direction other than Indio without any ability to track, but dead reckoning.
Ron
Artificial Incident--Part 1 (Short Story) - 4/29/2024 2:53:46 PM
Sandy seems to be a bit forward and has the kind of responses of someone who knows it all. From what I read and from your title, she may be an android. We'll see as I read further in the coming days.
It's a good story that got me thinking what it would be like to be approached like this. When I was single I was approached a few times by younger ladies who were quite attractive. But as soon as I tried to reciprocate, they evaporated. Perhaps, they feared because of my social status compared with theirs. Something that tends to inhibit.
I believe I learned how to write a limerick in grade school but have forgotten. I always thought that limericks had to be risqué. Until I encountered an author here on AD who writes many limericks that are not, and very few that are. These days if I write a limerick, I violate the rules because I pay no attention to poetry rules when I write my poetry. I'm free from school and teachers with rules… Hurray!
Ron
White Fields (Short Story) - 2/14/2020 4:38:03 AM
A well-written and wonderful story. I'm wondering if Ruth is really the murderer.
White Fields (Short Story) - 2/11/2020 1:08:16 PM
A very well-crafted story. I especially like the idea of the storm and what it blew in. The realism was what I like the best about the story, including the lies that were told and the conclusion.
But, knowing women's intuition… Did Harriet have it right all along? You left me hanging there.
Ron
Bloomers (Short Story) - 2/1/2019 11:20:26 PM
holds reader interest, a tale worth the telling
I like your writing
never stop writing!
m
Bloomers (Short Story) - 1/16/2019 9:31:51 AM
Not only is Ron Wilson a star basketball player, he seems to be quite a sleuth as well… Too much so. He is doing what the professional detective didn't and that is quite disturbing. He also has acquired some techniques that are useful for thievery, but I guess the son of a locksmith in the 1950s could realistically do that. Ron seems almost too good to be true.
If Lisa was under suspicion, I doubt if her and Wilson could get together like that and not come under suspicion as well. Finally, while girlfriends often protected girlfriend/boyfriend relationships in high school, if more than one girl loved the high school jock, there could be some serious acrimony and doubledealing between Lisa and Pearl.
The bloomers and the chocolate chip cookies after school are very familiar to me. Our only coed gym classes were on Fridays during the noon hour, with no roll call, where we had the jack of all trades local radio announcer teach us dancing--close--from his training as an Arthur Murray professional. Loved it! Got to dance with all the best girls… Cheerleaders… Close.
Ron
Bloomers (Short Story) - 1/16/2019 3:43:46 AM
Pearl Adams seems like a real operator.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story which captivated my interest from beginning to end!
First Kiss (Short Story) - 9/11/2017 7:06:55 AM
Enjoyed reading it. The time at school I loved and enjoyed mine but never ever had a chance to kiss a girl in school. Not even on the stage. I used to do many plays , used to direct ,act and write even at school but never wrote something romantic you explained.
A perfect way to describe the beauty of expression
Cheers!
Hot Date (Short Story) - 9/9/2017 9:08:23 AM
The title fits the story perfectly.
Reminded me of some promising dates that turned to incompatibility when I was in California and also of my brief time in Hollywood. In 1967 I took my girlfriend south from San Francisco to Tijuana (she didn't even want to get out of the car) and points between on a long weekend where she insisted on not staying in the same motel room.
I ran out of gas on the freeway and ended up in Hollywood where a German accented man in a Mercedes took me to get gasoline. We went to a premier movie, Grand Prix, at the Pacifica theater and drove by the Grumman theater but didn't walk by or stop. One time after a strong wind storm when I was in Reno, I saw a sign where parts of the title to Gone with the Wind were blown away from the marquee. It was shown in newspapers later.
Later, I bet you regretted not warming up more to her willingness to spoon. I know I did after a couple of encounters like that.
Ron
Hot Date (Short Story) - 9/9/2017 1:05:43 AM
Right--who knew if the fire tainted her evening and prevented her from further bonding with you. On the other hand, there's no combustion without chemistry.
A well-written, smoothly flowing story I enjoyed reading.
Hot Date (Short Story) - 9/8/2017 8:39:09 PM
"Never saw her again " just finished all the thrill. Also you shared the same apartment ,same bed even for sometime. You had to ask for things and who knew you could make more memories than that.
I enjoyed reading it. I believe she must be reading it too ,thinking what you both have missed.
Cheers!
Picture This (Short Story) - 1/21/2017 9:50:55 AM
You sure know how to make a great story from a picture! And it crossed paths with my three years in California and two visits to LA where my girlfriend and I stayed in Venice overnight and saw a world premiere movie at the Pacifica theater just down the street from Grumman's.
My uncle disappeared into California from Wisconsin in 1962 leaving a second wife, five kids, and a failing business behind. He was discovered by a private investigator many years after his death in Boise, Idaho. His girlfriend left many pictures in their house in Boise after her death. I ran into a girl I dated (a castoff of my brother's) in San Francisco. Everyone was headed for California from the cold and snow in those days. I was one of them.
I don't like whodunits, but I like this story.
Ron
Human Touch, A (Short Story) - 6/1/2013 7:35:04 AM
Yes, A Human Touch is in the same vein as my story, Scanned. We think alike on the matter.
I'll have to admit that I couldn't think of a proper way to end the story, so I took a shortcut that some are calling me out on. Perhaps I'll revise the story later to get more action and angst.
I really like the aesthetic thrust of your story––perfection. And the ending is a really neat twist. If I could make a suggestion, I think that talking about voice activation is not necessary. Conversationally, Diane could just say, “Omni View, the weather please.” And Jim could say, “ProTechTo Suit, please disengage.” I think the reader would then understand that everything in this world was voice-activated. BTW––if Jim, “turned off his microphone,” then how could he speak to his suit? I think you meant that he turned off his loudspeaker.
I'm such a poor reader, that I've only been reading short stories in Playboy (some to great dissatisfaction) over the years. I like your style, and if I ever get away from writing so much, I'll read your other stories.
You're right. We both have similar backgrounds and similar taste in fiction. Based on your awards, I would say that I'm not quite up to your speed, yet.
Keep cranking them out…
Ron
Freeway Exit (Short Story) - 9/23/2012 7:21:05 AM
Very enjoyable and interesting write. I like that it is completely dialog.
Donna
Have a Nice Knife (Short Story) - 7/31/2010 1:47:07 AM
interesting read
Good Woman, A (Short Story) - 12/15/2008 7:59:56 AM
wow cool read. i wonder if peg was there for may to. be funny
Murder in Lingerie (Short Story) - 11/20/2008 1:22:23 AM
I loved this.. it's a griping story from beginning to end. Congrats!
Good Woman, A (Short Story) - 11/15/2008 11:42:36 AM
I congratulate you, Alan; a thoroughly enjoyable read with a few very entertaining twists. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Walking Funny (Article) - 2/9/2026 11:56:08 AM
To Alan Cook's readers and friends on AuthorsDen,
This message is to share the sad news that my friend for more than 30 years, Alan Cook, passed away in December of 2025. Please see the link below for his obituary:
https://obituaries.greenhillsla.com/alan-cook
Good speed, Al.
-Dan Lambert
Perils of Male Authors Writing Female Characters (Article) - 2/4/2025 9:16:23 AM
Alan, I have written as both genders and about both genders. It's not hard if you are a real writer. I'm sure your book is a great read.
Dairy and Gluten Problems (Article) - 7/23/2024 7:42:04 AM
I can relate to your bowel problems, Alan! I have a sensitive stomach and need to limit my intake of liquid dairy—too much sugar, starch, and spice! I focus on eating more protein, and that helps fill me up. I also take supplements that help my gut, such as probiotics. I am going for a colostomy this week to get checked and tuned up. Hey, we sometimes take better care of our cars than we care for our bodies. A master artist created our bodies, and the Lord wants us to be in good shape. My wife is a nurse, and she knows that because of the intricate way our bodies work, a master designer made us for a purpose. Stay well, Alan, and let us all learn to be healthier today than yesterday! After all, without good health, all the money in the world is meaningless. Amen
Dairy and Gluten Problems (Article) - 12/16/2023 11:16:06 AM
Alan, I'm so glad that you finally found the sources of your symptoms and have corrected them. It must be a wonderful to go from feeling like you were dying 2012 and now getting better as you age.
I was born in 1942 and experienced some of the same childhood illnesses starting at four when our mother could no longer breast-feed my twin brother and I and we started drinking condensed milk. Humans are not meant to drink cow's milk, but we do. I had many colds, a few ear infections, and even scarlet fever. But Roger and I escaped polio and smallpox with vaccinations as well as the dreaded rheumatic fever that ruined some of our classmates' hearts.
Perhaps it was because we've spent our first two years grubbing in the mud around a farmer's yard, but I didn't have any allergies and finally proved it about 2000 when I had a test of twenty or so of the usual suspects and no allergy to any of them, including poison ivy that my brother had very badly once. But I do have irritations and aversions to things like some spices and perfumes.
But, by the time I was a teenager, I had what I called, an "iron stomach," eating mass quantities of my mother's good cooking and never gaining a pound on my skinny frame until I was around nineteen and started putting on muscle. However, spinal surgery that paralyzed me in December 1963 changed things. I immediately developed neurogenic bowel and bladder. I was always rushiing off to pee in the middle of things and had to accept it, along with accidents and diarrhea in the morning when I had cereal with milk in it. It wasn't until 1975 when a doctor at the West Virginia University Medical Center tested me and determined that I had moderate lactic acid intolerance. I started taking water instead of milk in my cereal and other things and immediately developed constipation in place of diarrhea. But it was better, except for occasional accidents. I never took laxatives or any other medications for it, like everything else, I accepted what the nerve damage in my spinal cord did to my body. When I was 65, I had a chemically induced stress test of my heart and vascular system. Found to be very normal because of my diet and all the exercise it took for me to just get through the day.
Of course, my neurogenic bowel has gotten worse as I have aged. One time during the rage about gluten-free this or that, I went gluten-free for about three months and discovered I had no gluten problems at all, but benefited from the fiber of whole grains that I've always eaten to keep my intestines free from cancer and polyps to this day.
Ron
Walking Funny (Article) - 1/30/2023 9:40:34 AM
We don't generally advertise our books here, but I find your intro very intriguing. A nice premise for a book from a former walker.
I was in my sophomore year of college when John Kennedy declared a need for Americans to be better physically fit. He challenged everyone to do a 50 mile walk. One of our students at my university declared that there would be a group walk to the next city and back, totaling 50 miles.
I was working on my term paper when we saw people walking by our apartment. My roommate told me they were on a 10 mile walk on the Saturday before the big one next week. He said, "I think I'll walk with them."
I was interested, so I got up early, my term paper done the week before, and found out that my twin brother and my roommate had backed out, claiming they hadn't done their term papers.
Eighteen of us started. Men, women and at least one jock. He was a track star but had shin splints after about 3 miles when I passed him and caught up to a girl from New York who liked to "track it" (jog) every once in a while and I had to follow her to catch-up. I had my sandwich lunch from the support car for all of us. Had to stop for major business at a church outhouse but arrived at the endpoint where everybody was eating a big lunch in a restaurant and I had to wait a half hour for her before we started out again, returning.
Ten miles out we caught up with another guy and they both wanted to rest. My legs were tightening up and I couldn't rest, so I left them behind. Five miles out a guy from the local radio station stopped me and interviewed me by the roadside. I arrived after 11 hours walking at the finish a half hour before any of the others. Of the 18 that started, only 11 finished, mostly the women. Failures included new boots and casual shoe causing blisters and muscle cramps.
A walk like between LA and Denver would be a real adventure!
Ron
Perils of Male Authors Writing Female Characters (Article) - 11/16/2022 11:30:53 AM
Writers here seem to write the best when they are the protagonist in their fiction. Better writers can write from the viewpoints of others. I have done that many times. And I believe one time wrote from the viewpoint of a nymphomaniac woman who became a stalker of stars. Don't recall any comments from women objecting to my portrayal.
Writers have told me they have trouble writing in the first person. I find it natural.
I believe you just had a buyer who was just disappointed, thinking your book was about something else. Glad that that book has become a bestseller.
Ron
Perils of Male Authors Writing Female Characters (Article) - 11/15/2022 11:37:05 AM
My first book The Six Loves of Jack Brown I wrote in the first person of six women. When finished with the story, I worried about an old man getting the sound of the women correct, so I invented the preface of the male reporter writing their stories. Several women mentioned after reading, I did capture their voice nicely. For the record, I have known men and women worried about their looks while in the hospital.
My Parents' Courtship (Article) - 10/4/2022 1:45:16 AM
I, too, am a child of the Depression. And I know the highways and byways of Ann Arbor and the "thumb" area of the mighty metropolis known as Harbor Beach well. Still have a few friends there. But enough about me. If Lura is your mom, she was a stunner. But Gerhard looks like he fell off the turnip truck. No offense intended. Most adults from that era look that way to me. All in all, this is a great tale of hardships that were not all that bad, and of an affair of the heart that oozes with love. A beautiful rendition, Alan. Well done.
My Parents' Courtship (Article) - 9/5/2022 12:25:24 PM
What a wonderful story! Warts and all. Covid-19 has given those of us in the 21st century a taste of what it was like, health wise, for everyone back in the Great Depression. Malnutrition contributed much to the lack of strong immune systems without any vaccinations.
The picture is lovely. He is handsome and she is beautiful. Your father doesn't look exhausted. And your mother's dancing dress looks like a well-made wedding gown. You must have worked closely with your mother or your father to give such detail of their courtship.
My parents' courtship was much different. It was a time of war and everything accelerated. Mom wrote her story, all three pages, and entrusted it to me with, "Please don't post it." She left us in February 2020 at 95, so I might just do that, anyway.
She saw my father, one of the CCC guys at a town hall dance when she was 14 and danced with him. But it wasn't until she was in her senior year in high school that she saw him again. Dad signed up to go to war in 1941 but was rejected in Milwaukee for myopia, astigmatism and ruptured eardrums from ear infections and Golden Gloves boxing. With odd jobs, he bought a new 1939 Buick that he couldn't afford to take mom on dates.
Dad left high school in his junior year over an argument with a history teacher. Mom was salutatorian of her small graduating class in a town 5 miles away. She had plans to go to college. The valedictorian, a guy, became a CEO of a large company. Unfortunately, my twin brother and I were discovered just before she graduated high school in May 1942 and the wedding was required.
My brother and I are the first in our entire extended family to go to college. And I'm the only one that has achieved the doctorate. You are indeed lucky to have such accomplished parents. My parents had a great life but struggled with money much of the earlier years.
Ron
I Was the World's Worst Soldier (Article) - 9/4/2022 11:34:13 AM
I can relate to just about everything in your tale right down to the otitus issue in my right ear. But in 1965 my outfit went to Vietnam. I was a smartass, so I aced about every test that was put in front of me.
I had to prove to myself that I was smarter than the teachers who said I was destined to be a failure at everything. I went back to my old high school to tell them so as the graduation speaker. Unfortunately, they were all dead. I just wrote an essay in which I said I would describe our biggest economic problem, and show how to solve it, in one page. Then I succeeded. I guess nobody is interested in actually solving issues.
I Was the World's Worst Soldier (Article) - 8/14/2022 9:54:07 AM
I love your frankness and telling it like it was. No guts and glory, just your experience. Very good stuff. There are so many parallels I would like to relate.
I started college in 1961. There was one older student with a car that bragged about being in either the reserve or the National Guard. Within a month, his division was the first called up from Wisconsin. He was angry but had to go. I never saw him come back to school again.
In 1968, after I had received my Masters degree in engineering from Stanford and had a job, I drove down to Monterey and into Fort Ord to watch the sports car races at Laguna Seca. I believe they are still held there.
In 1941, my father, like you, from ear infections and Golden Gloves (he had cauliflower ears from boxing without ear protection) and myopia with astigmatism, washed out in his physical at Milwaukee and sat out World War II. At the same time, a Marine with the same problems, sent to the Pacific where he wiped out a machine gun nest, received the first Congressional Medal of Honor for the war. Later in life, dad was asked to join the VFW and the American Legion, even though he had never served in the Armed Forces.
With hearing aids, my father functioned well up until his death. But my mother, completely lost her very sharp hearing by the time she died at 95. I am experiencing the same nerve loss and will be probably like her when I die. I have not started using hearing aids yet, but I have to use closed caption for all my viewing or have trouble hearing everything said.
I'm glad you never had to face combat, like me. All the people that I knew we did go and faced combat were forever changed.
Ron
Walking Quotations (Article) - 5/7/2022 1:24:05 PM
That is quite a list of quotes! I only collected quotes while I was doing my dissertation and reading philosophers. Some of them became part of the database I created and some of them were listed in the text, where appropriate. Since then I have not paid much attention to quotes except to read them when others, like you present them, in my reading.
It must have taken you a long time to collect these, unless you did some Internet searching of books of quota in order to acquire them. The two that you did yourself are fine and fit in.
I once walked with 17 others 50 miles for Pres. Kennedy in May 1963. The others were too slow and I had to wait for them at lunch too long, so I trekked on ahead for the last 10 miles completing the walk in 11 hours. I then waited for the next walker to arrive a half-hour later and rode with a photographer out into the night where bicycles with lights were accompanying the stragglers. Interestingly, the women out performed the men on this endurance contest.
Six months later and just before my 21st birthday, I was paralyzed in surgery, but five weeks later was able to walk out of the hospital, never to run again, but walk until 1993 when I could no longer walk without tripping and falling down.
I am curious about, Walking to Denver. Is it a true story of a walk that you took? Or just part of a action novel?
Ron
Free Range Kids (Article) - 4/30/2022 1:35:04 PM
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Although I lived from second grade to the sixth grade in a changing neighborhood that was dangerous, and there were numerous bullies and criminals moving in and out of the neighborhood, I always had my twin brother along to help and the only thing that happened was Roger getting hit by an old pickup driven by an old guy with bad eyesight, brakes, poor reflexes, or a combination of these. Knocked out but survived.
I do believe that in the countryside, kids can be freer to roam. In the city, it is the parent's responsibility, like you did, to give the child guidance about where they will be safe or won't. But by all means, give them a chance to face a little adversity and grow up in the process.
Ron
Free Range Kids (Article) - 4/28/2022 11:47:54 AM
Loved your tale, Andy. It closely parallels my own life. But I take issue with your next to last sentence. You probably meant "life at home is safest today," not considering the nuclear threats coming to us from the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin.
Free Range Kids (Article) - 4/25/2022 1:44:43 PM
I enjoyed this article. Thank you for sharing!!
Love ya!
Jane
Language (Filthy) in Movies and TV (Article) - 3/8/2022 12:10:53 PM
I fully tend to agree with you. The F word probably wasn't even known to the Russian court of Catherine the Great. Using that word in dialogue is actually a form of revising history. But I guess one would have to look into the history of the word to see what it came into use before dismissing it altogether.
I've been watching gangster and other historic shows like Snow Fall, and find day that the F-word and N-word seem to fit the material. We are learning that several presidents had very foul mouths around the White House. But whatever got out on the street was censored.
Ron
Nobody Can Predict the Future (Article) - 10/31/2021 8:47:18 AM
I predict that:
1. Tomorrow the Atlantic Ocean will be...right where it is today.
2. Tomorrow 2 + 2 will equal 4.
3. Sunrise, sunset, and the tides will occur just when scientists say they will.
4. Tomorrow I will still be broke.
Amazon Kindle Publication (Article) - 10/28/2021 1:19:51 PM
tHIS is really good information concerning the use of Kindle! My books are on Kindle and I had to have help to get them on there. Could I please copy this as an at home referecne in case i write any more books?
You sure have wrieen a lot of books . I am not up todate on e books , ect Thanks, MARY GRACE
Nobody Can Predict the Future (Article) - 10/19/2021 12:59:18 PM
But we are much better at it than we ever were, and our computers are getting very good. Of course outrageous predictions are made all the time. Particularly the religious Armageddon that comes and goes with the various cults like the ill-fated Heaven's Gate and many others.
Unfortunately, most of the most successful predictions are those used in marketing to get people to buy more of products they don't need. Some very detrimental, especially when it comes to foods and pharmaceuticals.
I believe you are hinting at the prediction of global warming and the climate repercussions. All of the statistics are reporting toward it being human caused and rapidly approaching, much faster than originally predicted, toward a turning point we all would regret ignoring.
Perhaps you are too old and entrenched in your thinking. Or you may be politically influenced because the hard science on this has been so politicized. But, I've known without any political regard that we'd better get our act together for over 50 years and counting. Thankfully, political will is finally starting to catch up with scientific fact.
Ron
Computers Have Come a Long Way (Article) - 10/10/2021 10:09:36 AM
A great article for those uneducated about the origins of computing. At Marshall University, I had the honor of teaching Introduction to Computers in 1975 to several majors on campus. I recall the criminal justice students had the hardest time, wondering why they were being forced to take this course that didn't have anything to do with policing. ;-)
I was fortunate in 1961 to attend a technically oriented college where we learned the basics of computing from the very beginning. In printing class, for example, I had to set a few lines of text from a California Job Case. With all the letters and symbols to make it print professionally, used for hundreds of years. But very tedious, taking me hours to set all the little pieces in place for a few lines of story. I also carved a block image, that could have been a letter in the alphabet, for block printing like Gutenberg. Both of these were lessons on how far we have come.
They had several linotype machines that were used, perhaps, for over 50 years to create the text for daily newspapers. AD own, Jerry Bolton, was a linotype operator for many years. When I read what he wrote, using Microsoft Word, I can see the skill he had from having to type newspaper articles without error because the fonts were actually cast in lead and any mistakes had to be melted down and re-typed, a wasteful and slow process that would cause you to get fired for not being accurate or too slow the first time first time.
We were fortunate to have, I believe, a 1100 IBM computer at school. The first program we had to write was in binary language, basically, like Morse code, ones and zeros. It was very difficult to do, but that slow computer could handle binary very fast. Much faster than the computer our high school class visited from a major corporation in 1959. As we entered the building, it was very hot. Filled with thousands of vacuum tubes that were all lit up to do calculations for the company. There were people that did nothing except replace those vacuum tubes that were constantly burning out. A simple calculator that came shortly after could do the same task held in your hand or at your school desk.
From binary language, we had to write assembly language which was the next step up. And then, lo and behold, FORTRAN! Opening the powers of that little computer to doing mathematical, practical work. For those of you know and use Excel, Excel is based entirely on FORTRAN.
When I was at Stanford studying for my master's degree, we had several computers, some of quite different architecture, to write programs for. They were developing the IBM 360 time shared computer. It basically could do multiple programs at the same time by taking little bites from each program and then, quickly move on to the next. The next stage was connecting 360s between universities… The start of the Internet.
They were also developing something with power for working with words. The first word processor that was sent off to Northern Illinois University as WYLBUR. I used it for 100 pages of my doctoral dissertation in 1973. Wonderful to use and powerful even at that time.
So, we all should be grateful for the ability to compute on so many levels as we work on our creative endeavors using the power of computing. We are standing on the shoulders of giants. People of vision who have taken us where we never thought we would go. It is mind-boggling where we will go from here.
Ron
Can't We All Get Along? (Article) - 10/6/2021 10:00:31 AM
I got involved in civil rights in college, too. As a freshman, we were all boycotting the favorite lakeside drinking and dancing place because they had prohibited entrance of black football players. Four years later, I drove five handsome Ethiopian students out to that place and they had a great time dancing with coeds.
I have friends from all around the world and have lived in mixed environments ever since college finding that good people are everywhere, including the gay Filipino microbiologist next door and his Mexican partner and the black family across the street that looks out for me whenever I am in need.
It's time we all joined together and get along together to solve our mutual problems when dealing with those who are not helpful and rational but hateful and distrusting.
Ron
Berlin Wall Speeches by Presidents Kennedy and Reagan (Article) - 6/28/2020 9:26:59 AM
I believe that Kennedy's speech was also in reference to the amazing Allied Airlift that kept West Berlin supplied with food and other necessities through years when the Soviet Union completely surrounded the city, actually laying siege like what happened to Leningrad during World War II. If it wasn't for that airlift, there would've been no West Berlin for East Berliners to want to escape to.
Looking forward to more historical fiction from that era from you. With sources of first-hand witnesses disappearing like those from World War II.
Should be a lesson for those Americans who wish to have a wall placed between Mexico and United States instead of spending that money on useful and mutually productive immigration policies. Many Americans have lived in Mexico will and continue to live in Mexico in spite of the violence caused by the United States making certain drugs illegal, again mindful of prohibition and the mobs that it created. If we don't learn from history, we will repeat it.
Ron
Surveillance--then and Now (Article) - 6/19/2020 10:56:17 AM
Only if we allow an authoritarian government. There are certainly some tenancy by the minority to one or two wish for an authoritarian government, but I believe, as a whole, private surveillance in the form of cameras protecting privatee residences and businesses has done wonders when it comes to identifying criminals. Cell phone videos have recently clearly shown the police acting badly, particularly against those of color, at least here in the United States. I see this as only good. Internet scammers abound, using personal information for criminal activity. It takes government like the FBI to locate them and prosecute them.
I seem to recall that J Edgar Hoover remained in his high position as director of the FBI so long because he had dossiers on almost everyone of any importance to him.
Ron
Berlin Wall--A Dangerous Time (Article) - 6/11/2020 9:25:16 AM
A very good description of the GDR and the real purpose of the Berlin Wall. It's been over 50 years now, but we should not forget what that wall did to the German people after they were defeated so roundly at the end of World War II.
I remember the story of driving under the bar. It is one of those enduring stories that seems larger-than-life of the many escapes that East Germans planned and sometimes succeeded in order to get away from the repressive regime they were under only because they lived in the second granted by the treaty to the Soviet Union.
What happened to the Berlin Wall should be a lesson for those of us concerned about building a wall between the United States Southern Border and Mexico.
Ron
Notes on Socialism (Article) - 7/26/2019 10:59:56 PM
Never Stop Writing!!
m
Halloween Limerick (Poetry) - 10/22/2024 5:37:41 PM
I also love limericks. Enjoyed!
Happy Halloween,
Matt 🎃
Clarence High School Alma Mater, Clarence, New York (Poetry) - 2/16/2024 12:04:26 PM
Well, Alan, you got short-changed.
This poem is easily worth $11. Maybe more...
Wait. 1951? That was before they invented money!
Clarence High School Alma Mater, Clarence, New York (Poetry) - 1/21/2024 11:39:15 AM
That was a lot of money in 1951. I hope it endured with the school for some time and I'm glad that you have it among your memories.
I don't have any of the poems I wrote in high school. But they were only a few and to girls I liked. Basically throw aways.
Ron
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 3/20/2023 12:19:34 PM
I do remember that song and I love this poem, Alan.
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 2/3/2023 10:38:58 AM
Creative and cute. The last acrostic I can recall doing was Mothra. With my mother's permission I posted it on Mother's Day. After all monster mothers are loving mothers, too. ;-)
Ron
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 2/2/2023 5:42:25 AM
You covered the alphabet well with adoration.
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 1/31/2023 3:43:45 PM
I do remember the song! Your lyrics are awesome!
Love ya!
Jane
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 1/27/2023 11:35:26 AM
I seem to remember that song. You're very creative finishing it.
Ron
A You're Adorable (Poetry) - 1/26/2023 5:20:57 PM
Delightful... and quite a fine tribute to the one for whom it is destined. Thank you for sharing, Alan. Love, peace, and blessings to you,
Regis. 🙏🌳🐦🐬🌲
Greater Fool Theory (Non fungible tokens) (Poetry) - 10/15/2022 2:57:24 PM
Yes! That is why I heed my father's advice and "use" the system which with he never agreed and neither do, but one has to survive somehow. As well as why I never "play" with what money I have. Love and peace to you, Alan,
Regis. 🙏🐦🦋🐘🌳
Halloween Limerick (Poetry) - 10/14/2022 5:51:55 PM
I love limericks having written so many over the years. Nicely done, Alan. Peace and best wishes to you and Happy Halloween,
Regis. 🍁🦉🎃🍂🧙♀️
Halloween Limerick (Poetry) - 10/14/2022 5:44:23 PM
oh my gosh, i love limericks. as i always say, it is pure genius to make people laugh. thank you.
Halloween Limerick (Poetry) - 10/14/2022 11:48:46 AM
All Irene? Like in the altogether? I had to chuckle.
Ron
California Beaches (Poetry) - 9/3/2022 9:43:20 AM
Wow! Impressive, Alan. Thank you for the tour. 🙏😎
California Beaches (Poetry) - 7/17/2022 8:53:10 AM
You took me there. Great poem, Alan.
California Beaches (Poetry) - 7/17/2022 8:28:06 AM
So many beaches, so little time. I was impressed that so many of those named beaches were names from other parts of the world, like Venice. During my brief three years in California I was attracted to the beaches from finding lonely, hard to get to, beaches in far northern California where I stood in the cold wind and raging surf with only the accompaniment of a frolicking seal and the ever present gulls, girl watching at San Francisco, to a picnic on the beach over the coastal range from Redwood City. To carefree times staying with my cousin at Santa Cruz, taking the 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach, and the beach at Carmel. Finally, an overnight stay at Venice Beach.
I envy you for having the time and energy to walk the entire length of accessible beach when at some points the onrushing California coast affords no beach or ability to walk, anywhere. I come away from this geography lesson with this beautiful line of yours that could be as classic as any of Robert Frost. So I will spread the word…
"So come to the shore of which we boast
and walk with me on the sunset coast."
Ron
California Beaches (Poetry) - 7/15/2022 4:00:49 PM
that was quite a tour and you are such a gracious host taking the reader from site to site, from one dreamy spot to the next. thank you.
America Lives (Poetry) - 5/23/2022 9:59:38 AM
A wake up call, powerful and remember unity plus God equals deliverance!
32 Years (Poetry) - 5/21/2022 1:41:03 PM
Sweet! I am happy for you both. Long marriages are becoming more of a rarity. Love, peace, and best wishes,
Regis. 🙏🌳🌲😎
Wonderland By Night (Poetry) - 4/14/2022 10:43:00 AM
Brother Allen, I am awed by this write, never stop! I can visualize the poem. It seems as though I have already experienced this!
First Date (Poetry) - 3/26/2022 10:47:59 AM
At times, encounters are meant to be, and love ensues. This reminds me of much, including my love in the strawberry patch (yes, in 1964 and the Beatles and all of it) on a hot day in late June. That is the power of words. Love and peace to you, Alan,
Regis. 🙏🌼🌳😎🍁
Legend of Monksrest (Poetry) - 3/26/2022 10:43:34 AM
Most engaging, Alan. I got immersed in your tale which awakened my imagination. Good stories do that. Love and peace to you,
Regis. 🌼🙏🍁
First Date (Poetry) - 2/9/2022 9:36:09 AM
What a wonderful way to begin a relationship. I can see why that date is so on your mind after all of these years. If you were, "computer matched," it was one of the very first of those dating programs, ever. There was one at Stanford in 1966, as I recall, but I didn't enter into it.
I don't remember my first date. But I remember my first date with a girl I totally flipped over. It didn't end well when she didn't like the way I kissed her good night. Nobody ever told me that again, ever.
Ron
Cole Porter Added Lyrics (Poetry) - 2/8/2022 2:11:20 PM
How did I ever miss this chain link of nuggets?
Offering a parody by the master wordsmith of songs is risky business.
Doing it four times is insane. You are crazy good, Alan.
Greater Fool Theory (Non fungible tokens) (Poetry) - 2/8/2022 12:13:18 PM
So true. History has shown that almost everything of value appreciates over time. The fool is the one who doesn't appreciate appreciation, but expects instant results.
We bought Facebook at its much lauded opening at $30 a share. Two weeks later we sold because it was $26 and dropping. Planned to buy back when it was lower in the future. Never bought it back. However, on February 2 at $232 a share, our investment would have, if $100, grown to $773.33. Even after the disastrous 26% drop last week would still leave us with a nice gain of $721.80. Still a nice bundle.
The lesson, invest early on new technology and then be patient and let it grow.
Ron
Greek Mythology--Echo and Narcissus (Poetry) - 2/1/2022 4:11:06 AM
I enjoyed it very much. read it all in one go
you can engage your eader well
keep it op Alan Cook u just rock!!
J K Roseline
Chicks (Poetry) - 1/16/2022 2:17:56 PM
Sounds like you are good at it. I've known some pickup artists in my day. Wasn't one of them. But women who were picked up didn't seem to mind being treated that way--strange.
Ron
Chicks (Poetry) - 1/14/2022 8:18:51 AM
Thanks, Alan. At least you didn't give us the raunchy version.
Global Warming and a Limerick on the Winter of 2021-2022 (Poetry) - 1/11/2022 1:47:52 PM
Well, Alan:
Stormy weather can be a real bear
That can keep you from going somewhere,
But there's usually good news
In the profile views
On TV of the weather girl there!
(She so cute that it's easy to warm up to the Channel 3 weather report!)
Enjoyed this one! It's short, succinct and very chucklesome! Thanks
DREAMS (Poetry) - 11/29/2021 4:43:09 AM
Well, amen to this stellar poem. So true and so sad, we often give up the best things in life for those that will never make us happy.
32 Years (Poetry) - 11/29/2021 4:35:25 AM
What a lovely poem and a beautiful slice of life. Congrats on the long marriage and the obvious love.
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 10/30/2021 3:32:07 AM
SO BEAUTIFUL! You have captured the essence of true love in the wonderful poem! Mary grace
Song on a Thong (Poetry) - 10/30/2021 3:20:58 AM
A humerous play on words!
Screen Door (Poetry) - 10/28/2021 1:30:50 PM
I loved the poem. it took me back todays of my youth when the world was mine to try to conquer. AND " YES, I DID SLAM THE SCREEN DOOR"!
DREAMS (Poetry) - 10/28/2021 1:26:59 PM
CUTE! We all dream dreams. some are fanciful, some are filled happiness , sadness ,or inspiration. Just keep on dreaming DREAMS!
Song on a Thong (Poetry) - 10/27/2021 1:47:34 PM
I don't know how anyone can respond to your Song on a Thong except as a sing-along after K^2 brought his wrecking ball to bear on your dainty subject. Oh well, you probably can't put a thong on a sing-a-long any way you try.
Song on a Thong (Poetry) - 10/25/2021 9:46:47 AM
Truly enduring to the reader who is tired of the dead serious, worry worting brand of poetry practiced by so many. Who doesn't like to be titillated and humored at the same time… Nobody.
While a bit embarrassed when they try them on, the girls probably find that once they hit the beach like they first did in Brazil and the bikini did 50 years ago, they begin to love the attention they got.
Finally, to get off the subject, just a few short years ago, almost nobody shaved. Now almost everyone does, thong or not.
Ron
Song on a Thong (Poetry) - 10/25/2021 8:59:00 AM
Actually, and I am somewhat loathe to point this out, given the appeal and skillful treatment of your subject, this area of...er, interest...was 'covered' rather brilliantly over a hundred years ago by violinist August Wilhelmj in his 1871 arrangement of the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major (BWV 1068), when he naughtily composed his immortal 'Air on a G-String'. [One has to wonder whose G-string (a sympathetic cousin of the modern thong, of course) he was inspired by, naturally.] At that time it was a flesh new approach to the concept, no ifs, and/or butts about it! And then there was that equally famed, traditional Irish melody, 'London derrière' (one can't help but wonder whose IT referred to...). I could go on, but I'll spare you any further off-color cracks (it's actually what the Irish refer to as a 'Craic', you see).
OK. I've had my fun, now. In all seriousness, this is a dandy little gem you've set before us, Alan. Most enjoyable. Well rounded and really peachy! A tome that does full justice to those lovely posterior/inferior (pardon my resorting to medical-anatomical terminology) XX mounds that so attract and entice all true brothers of the XY persuasion! Lets have more 'thung-in-cheekiness' like this one, eh!
Wonderland By Night (Poetry) - 10/23/2021 6:49:20 AM
WONDERFUL IMAGES.The poem has a quality in it that is enchanting.
DREAMS (Poetry) - 7/20/2021 6:04:24 PM
Human beings are famous for making excuses and letting life pass them by.
DREAMS (Poetry) - 7/17/2021 1:19:45 PM
Life is more challenging when you keep yourself busy! Oh, you've got to have variety in life, otherwise, you'd be so boring to yourself and others.
Sandie
DREAMS (Poetry) - 7/17/2021 8:21:58 AM
Ah, the very reason why we have a hard time carrying out our dreams. We seem to be busy with being busy and don't take the time to stop it and be free of that busyness for a while so we can reach our dreams.
Good insight into the human experience.
Ron
DREAMS (Poetry) - 7/16/2021 6:29:55 PM
Rather nice, Alan, and clever too. You've managed to deftly encapsulate the entire sad story of eternally unfulfilled human aspirations and yearnings in these few lines. How often I've read actual accounts of those few brave individuals who have put the constant work and time constraints on the shelf, thrust open the door and sallied forth to courageously pursue their dreams regardless of the outcome. It is, after all, the common thread that links all of us! Bravo! -K2
Screen Door (Poetry) - 7/9/2021 12:10:38 PM
MEMS OF YOUTH ALAN ENJOYED THE JOURNEY- GOOD STORY AND GOOD JOB THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.
Screen Door (Poetry) - 7/8/2021 4:09:32 PM
I remember those precious days and the old screen door. Well penned and much enjoyed, Alan.
Screen Door (Poetry) - 7/7/2021 5:21:47 PM
How I empathise with all you say…it is exactly the same here in the UK…
As kids we played out in the fresh air and sunshine all Summer through…
Now in large open spaces or fields, there are hardly any kids in sight! Just a few dog walkers…
How can we change things? I’m not sure if it’s possible now…
All so very sad…and they don’t have the freedom or the fun that we had…
Diana..
Screen Door (Poetry) - 7/7/2021 3:28:07 PM
A veritable (and amusingly adept) testament to that precious part of life known as childhood and early adolescence, Alan! Ron Hull is certainly right-on-target with his observation that 'Much has changed now' and sadly not all for the best. The whimsy implicit vies here with the most basic inner truths of the early life experience for 'best-of' honors, I think. Most tragic of all, I think, is the fragile sense of innocence that our modern lives have all but banished to shades of vague memory and fond (if somewhat fuzzy) recollections of what it was like to be young and carefree, before the 'soup of adult responsibility' was ladled out to us in triple-proportions! How I wish Seinfeld's figurative 'Soup Nazi' would have instead said (for all of us): "No SOUP FOR YOU!" Aloha, K2
Crossword Crazies (Poetry) - 7/7/2021 2:08:54 PM
I've never been caught up in Crosswords, Alan, but your poetic paean here is most amusing and enjoyable! But then, I'm also a terrible chess player (perhaps worse than Buster Keaton, who eschewed that form of exquisitely tortuous intellectual challenge himself!) and an absolutely abysmal golfer (my scores are lower than the recorded sub-surface dive record in the Mariannas Trench's Challenger Deep!) so despite my best efforts to be perfect, I'm a complete flop! All that said, perhaps a good, swift kick in Will's Shortz would be in order, LoL? Thanks! Aloha nui loa! -K2
Screen Door (Poetry) - 7/7/2021 9:49:28 AM
That "Don't slam the screen door!" Immediately struck me strongly. And all of the rest about heading outdoors and getting down and dirty sweating at tasks only we could conjure up in a day filled with inventive fun.
Only at our house, my mother ran by the clock. We came immediately when called otherwise we would miss lunch or dinner, because she wouldn't wait for us to get there and the food would be cold. Secondly, I don't recall ever complaining about going to bed. If there's something like cajrdplaying that went beyond our bedtime, we were allowed to stay up.
All in all a wonderful poem that describes youth, in general during the middle part of the last century. Unfortunately, much changed now.
Ron
Legend of Monksrest (Poetry) - 6/23/2021 8:21:05 AM
A story poem of a legend of some renown. I guess that's why I am an atheist. To get into arguments over what is in the Bible as though it were a life-and-death matter.
Ron
Wonderland By Night (Poetry) - 7/26/2020 8:48:07 AM
As I listened to a video, it brought back memories of hearing that tune on the radio as a child, so many other classic melodies from the era… Some of which Mom sang beautifully to us.
As I put the words together mentally with the melody, it works. I could almost sing it. Maybe you, or someone you know could put up a YouTube video of singing it.
Ron
Wonderland By Night (Poetry) - 7/25/2020 4:59:05 AM
Wonderful poetic poem about nature! A bounty of love in the air, sea and on the good earth. We are blessed!
Fantasy in White (Poetry) - 4/18/2020 5:45:40 PM
It is nice to have our daydreams or in this case, memories.
Greek Mythology--Atlantis (Poetry) - 3/10/2020 5:58:42 PM
Wow! A beautiful tribute to the long lost city of Atlantis. Is Santorini the long lost city? I don't know. But I'd love to visit. Not by cruise ship or riding their poor donkeys. I'll visit with respect to its past.
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 2/20/2020 12:50:01 AM
What a creative way to show your lady
what she means to you! Bravo!
Greek Mythology--Echo and Narcissus (Poetry) - 3/27/2019 3:46:10 PM
THIS is an exceptionly written piece of poetry, Alan. Of course I was well aware of the story line, but still you composed it in such a clever way that I was completly taken in by your words. Engrossed, I would say. Thank Thank you. Thank you very much
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 3/24/2019 10:20:11 AM
I enjoyed reading and feeling this piece you think very highly of your special other half. You show the significance and importance of relationships, I loved it.
Halloween Horrors (Poetry) - 10/27/2018 8:06:54 PM
If I was a kid and read this, I'd stay home fire or no fire!! 'Enjoyed!!!
Love ya!
Jane
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 8/29/2017 7:34:56 AM
More fertile young men left to create more young men and, therefore, more old man to decide that they wanted to go to war as a better way to die than to suffer in bed or a hospital until the inevitable finally comes.
Short and sweet. “War! What's it good for! Absolutely nothin'!”
Ron
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/29/2017 2:42:56 AM
Beautiful and so sweet, words of true love.
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 8/27/2017 4:51:56 PM
A slower, more sedate war?
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 8/27/2017 3:53:41 PM
Good question! After 9/11 I called my Air Force recruiter and wanted back in after serving 24 years. Give me a good reason to fight for what is right and this older man will take a stand. Many others feel the same way. Amen!
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/23/2017 7:08:15 PM
A wonderful tribute to your better half. Well done Alan!
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/23/2017 6:48:19 PM
enjoyed the read, you bring real perspective to relationships and their importance
m
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/22/2017 9:18:45 AM
What a romantic way to establish a relationship… Wandering the San Diego Zoo.
Ron
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/22/2017 5:16:13 AM
Cool write. Beautiful and sweet words of love.
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/21/2017 3:43:02 PM
great imagery in piece really hit home heart touching
If We Had Never Met (Poetry) - 8/21/2017 3:05:24 PM
This is the sweetest poem. It would look beautiful on a Hallmark card. Your wife is one lucky woman.
Limericks--Lady from France (Poetry) - 8/1/2017 9:33:44 AM
I love the sing-song quality of your poem. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss but for adults. Well done.
Questions of a Whale (Poetry) - 1/31/2017 1:26:55 PM
This is a great piece! They do have a grace that illuminates and puts us to shame - Christine
Questions of a Whale (Poetry) - 1/22/2017 7:43:42 AM
Perhaps whales are not so content as we might think they are from your poem. Perhaps they find the sounds coming from ships to be excruciatingly painful and interrupting their communication with each other over great distances. Perhaps they are not happy with getting tangled in nets and having propellers cut their flesh like knives. Who knows what those massive brains are thinking. That they do not act like us with their flippers, does not make them any less intelligent.
Ron
Questions of a Whale (Poetry) - 1/21/2017 12:44:00 PM
a nice, thought provoking read, well said
Never stop writing
m
Questions of a Whale (Poetry) - 1/21/2017 10:34:34 AM
a beautiful piece in which a human being treads on the whale's neck shamelessly, as he usually does with his characteristic of 'the Head of Nature.' Cheers, alex
Halloween Horrors (Poetry) - 10/11/2016 7:28:09 AM
A good one to scare the children into not going out trick-or-treating.
That little black cat is in my backyard daily stalking all kinds of poor little creatures and birds.
And that putrid breath reached me yesterday when my tenant came up unexpectedly and opened her mouth. ;-)
Ron
Halloween Horrors (Poetry) - 10/10/2016 5:59:18 PM
Oh, I'm pulling the covers over my head tonight.
Michael D.
Limericks--Lady from France (Poetry) - 10/29/2013 1:57:56 AM
Those are brilliant limericks on the ladies from France. Loved them.
Could not help writing this after reading your brilliant ones.
A sweet old lady from France
Was in the middle of a solid romance.
Her dancing shoes she strapped,
But her boyfriend she slapped
When he stepped on her toes in a dance.
Librarian (Poetry) - 5/5/2013 5:24:39 PM
I can readily agree that this poem is "a winner."
It's rich with metaphors and smoothly flows in a revelation of the perfect librarian.
Very enjoyable reading!
Connie
Librarian (Poetry) - 4/27/2013 9:52:30 PM
Wonderful, Alan! Great twists and turns in words and thoughts!
Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
Librarian (Poetry) - 4/27/2013 11:04:32 AM
The librarian is certainly a winner. My niece is a librarian's librarian, and I'm very proud of her.
Ron
Witchcraft (Poetry) - 9/7/2012 3:53:44 PM
VERY NICE!!!!!!!!!!! Liana Margiva
Witchcraft (Poetry) - 8/29/2012 7:15:11 AM
Delightful!
Donna
Witchcraft (Poetry) - 8/27/2012 9:28:46 AM
I do? Whoops! Surely you must be referring to somebody else. And I know, “Don't call me Shirley.”
Ron
Mermaid (Poetry) - 5/1/2012 10:32:54 AM
The mermaid is such an unlikely fantasy, for fish and fair maiden juxtapose quite badly, with one end being made of hard shining scales covered with slime and that distinct fishy smell, and the other with a soft complexion of fair hair and beautiful, but not waterproof, eyes. It is the breathing underwater that is the most unbelievable.
The source of this myth is probably the dream of a drunken or scurvy ridden sailor. Why we are writing romantic poetry about such a grotesque creature is beyond me. Unless we are writing about a Manatee–they are so cute!
Ron
Mermaid (Poetry) - 5/1/2012 2:07:54 AM
We all have our impossible visions/dreams, but they demand acknowledgement...and in this acknowledgement...well 'the ending's yet to tell'....
Enjoyed this alot..
Best wishes, Diana..
Mermaid (Poetry) - 4/30/2012 6:22:15 PM
The rhythm is great and the words are lovely!
Mermaid (Poetry) - 4/30/2012 2:53:52 PM
flawless rhythm and full of appeal!
Poet's Lament (Poetry) - 4/28/2012 10:05:23 AM
Excellent poem about poets and their children (poetry). I believe the ones who call themselves poets and do not read poetry cannot possibly be poets nor counted as such, therefore it cannot be that more people are poets than there are people who read poetry. We are poets because we read not just one poet but many in order to write as a reflection of what we read.
Poet's Lament (Poetry) - 4/24/2012 9:55:15 AM
So true. But there is another group. I get googled all the time from students who are looking for a poem to turn in for class. Or they want me to “explain” a poem for them. Thievery is the highest form of flattery, isn't it?
Ron
Poet's Lament (Poetry) - 4/23/2012 3:44:37 PM
And in the end, who reads what we write, but maybe other poets who may or may not know it...e
Amy Anne Diane (Poetry) - 3/24/2012 12:08:40 PM
Dr. Strangelove, let me out!
Ron
Your Smile (Poetry) - 3/17/2012 3:21:41 PM
This pen is so kewl! It brought a smile that still lingers to my face. Write On!!!
Blessed Be~
)O(
DragonBlue
Corporal Ed Lincoln, 23rd New York (Poetry) - 8/8/2011 9:43:31 PM
How cool to know of your family's history like this. You must be very proud. I enjoyed this story you shared in this poem.
Olympians, The (Poetry) - 7/27/2011 3:57:31 PM
Our souls cry out for heroes, let us follow;
From chains of hate the imprisoned seek release.
Each deity, Athena or Apollo,
Will lead us to a world of love and peace.
Would that it were so, Alan. A fine tribute. Love and peace,
Regis
Cole Porter Added Lyrics (Poetry) - 7/27/2011 3:55:43 PM
Delightfully clever, Alan. I hope she likes it. Thanks for sharing. Love and peace,
Regis
Eyeful (Poetry) - 7/6/2011 9:28:14 AM
Delightful sharing, Alan. Thank you. Love and peace to you,
Regis
Limericks--Lady from France (Poetry) - 6/10/2011 3:12:49 PM
I love limericks. I think these are great... ...and all of my extended family is from France actually. Thanks, Alan. Love and peace to you,
Regis
Limericks--Lady from France (Poetry) - 5/31/2011 8:54:19 AM
An excellent trek into hilarity, Alan. An enjoyable read ... still laughing at the prospect and the mind pictures you've created.
Robert
Your Smile (Poetry) - 5/19/2011 9:58:34 AM
Great poem, Alan. I enjoyed it.
Bob
Limericks--Lady from France (Poetry) - 5/17/2011 5:20:51 PM
a very busy young lady indeed,
this lady from France;
great rhythms, Alan, and totally
in the spirit of the form.
John
Eyeful (Poetry) - 4/18/2011 3:40:39 PM
Truckers have a name for them–they call them, “seat covers.” It's a wonder they stay on the road. Cute write. Always love those eyes-fulls.
Ron
Eyeful (Poetry) - 4/18/2011 6:12:57 AM
Oh my I love this sweet man...well done indeed...stay safe and well..Hugss
Hugs (Poetry) - 4/5/2011 10:46:13 AM
Alan, We all need a hug once in a while! Hugs can heal the heart and bring on happiness! Here is a hug for you! Great poem! Chessly
Berlin Wall (1961-1989) (Poetry) - 3/7/2011 1:40:08 PM
The shattering of that way spelled the doom for many a government.
rege
Risk (Poetry) - 2/17/2011 6:51:08 PM
If you don't compete
you can't be beat.
I'm afraid that most of my competition has left me behind, but I do my best to compete! I truly enjoy our poems.
rege
Holy Summer Day (Poetry) - 2/17/2011 6:48:59 PM
Terrific! Gave me a good laugh!
rege
Topless Lass (Poetry) - 2/17/2011 6:47:08 PM
Great!
Love it.
rege
Old Codger (Poetry) - 2/17/2011 6:45:14 PM
Yes, I think all of this is true
rege
Keep on Truckin' (Poetry) - 2/7/2011 10:07:08 AM
It takes a million well-thought thoughts
To plan your every move,
To visualize your next success
For sure, you are in the right ball park with one million, particularly with a person like me who is a slower thinker.
rege
Old Codger (Poetry) - 7/5/2010 1:52:41 AM
Really good, Alan !
Old Codger (Poetry) - 7/4/2010 3:59:41 PM
interesting read
Risk (Poetry) - 5/28/2010 5:29:20 PM
especially is its all junk mail ...
Ratings (Poetry) - 4/26/2010 3:39:03 PM
how fun to read alan...i love your humor style
Ratings (Poetry) - 4/24/2010 12:32:49 PM
...AND THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST...AND THE FIRST...NO MORE. GREAT WORK OF HUMOR WHICH REFLECTS ON THE ILLS OF 'RATINGS' WHEN VYING FOR THE NUMBER ONE SPOT TO BE NUMERO UNO. I AM SURE THAT THINGS LIKE THIS REALLY DO GO ON IN THE CORPORATE WORLD TODAY...THEY MAY NOT LITERALLY KILL ONE ANOTHER BUT THE 'GAMES' THAT ARE PLAYED TO GET TO THE TOP CAN DESTROY A PERSON EMOTIONALLY AND FINANCIALLY. WELL DONE AND ENJOYED. THANKS FOR SHARING, LOVE, JOYCE * HIS INSPIRATIONS
Ratings (Poetry) - 4/24/2010 8:49:02 AM
Alan,
Adorable! Gave me a laugh for the day. Thanks.
Mary
Your Smile (Poetry) - 3/31/2010 10:12:14 PM
Great. Loved each line of the poetry. I understand how it feels like to experience a sweet smile.
Your Smile (Poetry) - 3/31/2010 9:46:38 AM
Alan, The smile says so much about a person. Lovely write! ~Chessly
Your Smile (Poetry) - 3/31/2010 9:32:58 AM
What a lovely poem. I especially like the ending. Well written and thanks for sharing.
Freedom Goes Softly (Poetry) - 2/20/2010 4:58:31 PM
This is absolutely GREAT...but don't expect too may comments...so many are 'carefulwhattheysay'...scared or unable to... or just plain 'don't wanna be outta the box'...thanks for this reminder to those of us with ears that will hear
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 12/1/2009 4:56:04 AM
There would certainly be a difference in the amount of time it would take to end a war. Us old folks don't have the patience those young'uns have so we'd just have to do the deed and get our butts back home. We have tv to watch and SS to collect. lol
Great thoughts here Alan.
Lisa
Ace (Poetry) - 11/30/2009 1:00:02 PM
Very good. I enjoyed that. clever insight you have!
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 11/30/2009 12:58:52 PM
WELL, For a start, there would be soldiers chatting on about incometax-whats new at the lotty-the price of pile cream-the price of fish and chips-and they don't make guns like they used to.
lol-lol
Great thoughts of you writing a little longer next time please? hurry!
Steve Chering
War--an Epigram (Poetry) - 11/30/2009 8:42:36 AM
There would be peace and belching that's the score. Excellent thought provoking piece.
GOD BLESS
Tony Nerone
Love Thy Neighbor (Poetry) - 11/24/2009 4:12:10 AM
A well written poem.take care and Happy Thanksgiving
Ace (Poetry) - 8/7/2009 1:54:06 PM
YOUR IMAGERY IN THIS WORK IS FANTASTIC...THIS IS VERY WELL DONE. THANKS FOR SHARING AND BLESSINGS. JOYCE * HIS INSPIRATIONS
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 8/6/2009 8:29:26 PM
This is precious. I still love Dr. Seuss.
Sweater Girl (Poetry) - 8/6/2009 3:00:08 AM
I enjoy reading this poem,great piece,take care
EDWIN
Sweater Girl (Poetry) - 8/5/2009 3:50:27 PM
When a guy sees a girl in a nice sweater, he wonders what is underneath. When a guy sees a girl a something else, he wonders what she'd look like in a nice sweater. Some things might be in sight, but they are probably not in reach. Great write.
Sweater Girl (Poetry) - 8/5/2009 3:14:46 PM
WELL WRITTEN...YOUR POINT WELL SUPPORTED WITH A UNIQUE RHYME SCHEME, GREAT PHRASES AND VIVID IMAGERY. DONE WELL. THANKS FOR SHARING AND BLESSINGS. JOYCE * HIS INSPIRATIONS
Mountains (Poetry) - 7/23/2009 11:04:06 AM
A beautifully written poem,take care
EDWIN
Mystery Limericks (Poetry) - 7/20/2009 3:41:11 PM
HOW UNIQUE AND WELL DONE! AGATHA CHRISTIE IS MY FAVORITE. THANKS FOR SHARING AND BLESSINGS. JOYCE * HIS INSPIRATIONS
Ray Bradbury (Poetry) - 6/29/2009 4:54:07 PM
I hadn't read this one of yours, I love it- Ray Bradbury's book on writing is one of the biggest inspirations for why I write, and the film of "Something Wicked This Way Comes," was another huge inspiration for my writing from childhood, so this poem clicks with me big time :)
Mountains (Poetry) - 6/29/2009 4:50:04 PM
Yes, I see what you mean! This is really well-written, Alan, I am so glad you did decide to post it. Yaaay! :) Nature is such an inspiration, isn't it?
Keep on Truckin' (Poetry) - 6/22/2009 10:26:51 AM
You are so correct in this tightly-written little poem. So many people, be it in writing or something else, have lots of excuses why they can't do things, but your poem sets that straight.
Keep on Truckin' (Poetry) - 6/18/2009 5:02:25 PM
Profoundly sound advice...
Be always safe,
Karen
Ray Bradbury (Poetry) - 5/28/2009 11:20:07 PM
I do believe he was ahead of his time....
Be always safe,
Karen
Ray Bradbury (Poetry) - 5/28/2009 6:42:57 PM
Martian Chronicles ( My Favorite),i.e. He Was Is Not That Far (Out) Off The Final Truth...
TRASK
Ace (Poetry) - 4/3/2009 1:53:22 AM
Great poem,I enjoy reading it,excellent work,take care
Edwin
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 3/31/2009 1:25:26 PM
And you can read all about on a train or in a plane and they don't need to be smapled Sam I am (unlike green eggs and yham).
Berlin Wall (1961-1989) (Poetry) - 3/31/2009 1:21:18 PM
Thanks for reminding us of those who braved enormous odds to be free and also for reminding us of wonderful day now almost 20 yers ago.
Ace (Poetry) - 3/31/2009 1:16:23 PM
Thank you for this trip into the mind of a young athlete. I've been a sportswriter for almost 20 years and I still don't completely appreciate what these kids have to go through.
Majorette (Poetry) - 3/11/2009 2:44:24 PM
Cute and very lively...
Be always safe,
Karen
Spaghetti Straps (Poetry) - 3/3/2009 8:39:41 AM
Ah priceless treasures. No matter which name they go by they are always fun.
~W~
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 3/3/2009 8:35:03 AM
Well done. Ted made reading fun for generations of children. But did you know his work was political and always had a message for adults as well?
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?AuthorID=54421&id=235737
Walt
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 3/3/2009 4:00:50 AM
When I was a kid,I used to love reading Dr.Seuss.That was the first time that I was introduced to poetry in terms of his words rhyming.Thank you for this poem as all of us paid homage to Dr.Seuss,take care
Edwin
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 3/2/2009 3:21:53 PM
I grew up with Dr. Suess and the Cat in the Hat Book series. He will be missed, but his works will forever live in the young at heart. Susan
L.A. Lifeguard (Poetry) - 3/1/2009 7:50:26 PM
Exciting! Loved the details that gave life to the scene.
Connie
Screen Door (Poetry) - 3/1/2009 7:46:39 PM
I loved this from the word go; I was hooked by the slamming of the screen door. (I think ours was even green like yours!) You portray carefree youth so vividly, sweat included.
Sometimes I think memories make the world go round.
Connie
Berlin Wall (1961-1989) (Poetry) - 3/1/2009 7:42:01 PM
An amazing, long-prayed-for day! Your commemorative poem is full of life and longing, and then the victory! Thanks for sharing.
Connie
Ode to Dr. Seuss (Poetry) - 3/1/2009 7:16:24 PM
This was fun and brought back memories...and I got to tell you that I envy you to a degree, I would love to walk more though my back would scream in pain and I would be out of breath in a hundred yards, but every now and then I still try...If I had someone to walk with it might be easier, other than my dog who is not very helpful, he stops when I stop...;-) Ed
L.A. Lifeguard (Poetry) - 1/25/2009 11:17:21 PM
Hi Alan
We owe so much to these wonderful volunteers. Thanks for your poem. Cheers! Liz
L.A. Lifeguard (Poetry) - 1/25/2009 7:48:52 PM
Alan,
Just goes to show you a woman can be beautiful and a heroine! Enjoyed your write.
Mary
Screen Door (Poetry) - 1/11/2009 6:47:50 AM
A great poem you have done,very well written,take care
Edwin
Screen Door (Poetry) - 1/10/2009 7:31:14 PM
Well written of past childhood memories! I would love to hear my mama calling me to come in and do my homework..
Carefree writing of simple memories.
Greek Mythology--The Minotaur (Poetry) - 12/20/2008 10:14:36 PM
WOW, now this was some work to pull off, I'm sure, excellent writing...I had to read this because I have written a novella about the Minotaur, but I am weird, I always feel sorry for him :) I enjoy your writings alot.
Olympians, The (Poetry) - 12/20/2008 10:12:21 PM
This is really well-written, tying facts with praise and good rhyme and beat, you made what could have been a boring topic if done wrong, to a beautiful one done right.....and, I love the Athena reference, she has always been my favorite goddess :)
Olympians, The (Poetry) - 12/18/2008 6:43:58 PM
An excellent poem that you wrote.I enjoy reading it.The Olympics is one of the greatest events in sports where everybody from all races,colors,creed and ethnicity come together as one in peace and harmony.take care
Edwin
Greek Mythology--The Minotaur (Poetry) - 11/20/2008 1:42:33 PM
Out of mythology and the ages! Fantasticly mesmerizing piece...
Be always safe,
Karen
