Rainmaker (Book) - 11/26/2020 12:03:59 PM
Congratulations on what appears to be an addition of Part 2 to your wonderful book. From what I read of the excerpt, it's right up to date with what's happening today. Good job!
Ron
Counting Coup (Book) - 7/6/2016 5:43:23 AM
Congratulations on your latest book, a continuation of The Commander and the Chief series.
I love the way you have woven Native American language, history and physics into your character's names and the plot. From the opening, the book certainly seems to be action-packed with Nova, your heroine taking center stage with their exploits.
Ron
Gospel according to X (twitter) (Short Story) - 5/7/2025 2:43:25 PM
I guess that's why I never got into Twitter or any of the other social media except AD because I hate to follow blindly anyone… just benefit from the best of them and ignore the worst if I can.
Very creative and quite a piece of work! I admire your ability with something like this.
Ron
Halloween 1984 - Out of this World (Short Story) - 10/15/2024 1:19:32 PM
Your novel is a wonderful episode in "That's the Way It Was, 1984, Halloween." I like all the videos you have planted to reinforce your themes in the novel.
What is so inter although it's 1984, forty years ago, it is so telling for today's upcoming Halloween and closely followed the election.
We just sent Star Wars technology to Israel to ward off ballistic missiles. But big brother is here and influencing the tradition of Halloween.
Another great article and hopefully it will land you sales on your wonderful novel.
Ron
1984 Olympics (Short Story) - 9/11/2024 12:02:43 PM
Love the way you have incorporated history into your books. Brings back many memories for me. A very colorful group of characters.
Sam reminds me of Samantha, a brilliant architectural student at the University of Houston who worked one summer for me as an energy intern. One of her projects at U of H was a habitat for Mars. She drew a great caricature of me while bored in my staff meeting.
S*T*S always reminds me of my high school genius friend, Doug, who was the head of the group of Air Force sky watchers at an undisclosed Colorado location. He got the red phone call from the White House at least twice and had to call the ICBMs off. In 1984, he was working for the Air Force shuttle program at the Manned Spacecraft Center. He retired at 20 years, a major, concerned about the safety of the Shuttle just before the Challenger disaster.
Doug will be driving from Colorado and his 16 inch telescope and other hobbies to attend our 62nd high school reunion this weekend in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Only my twin brother Roger and he are attending driving from any distance. Wish I could be there to talk to him again..
In 1978, I got to see the Sphinx, the 3 large pyramids at Giza and descend under the stepped pyramid at Saqqara to the broken esophagus by an old guy who hit us up for cigarettes. The scene of frenzied digging these days uncovering much more about the first pyramid and other tombs in the area.
When I brought Alex Haley to campus in 1984 for a fundraiser. A woman on our committee brought Suzette Charles. She sang Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head so well it sent shivers down my spine. She carried out the rest of the Vanessa Williams's reign. The picture I have of them both signed by Alex and Suzette has disappeared. Probably with my ex-wife.
Ron
Shakespeare in Rainmaker Park (Short Story) - 5/15/2024 11:47:24 AM
Regardless of who William Shakespeare was and whether or not he wrote all of those wonderful plays and poems, his words are now part of the English language as you indicated in so many ways. While I detested reading some of his works in school, like Macbeth, so dated and macabre, I've grown to appreciate the contributions of Shakespeare, more.
I didn't have the time today to view all of those videos you have provided. But I have one remembrance that I'd like to share, only doing lighting for college theater productions.
When I was in college, I had the opportunity to go see Hamlet performed in a small Minneapolis church in a rather small room with risers so that everyone had a good view of the stage. What I took away from that play was its program. A red velvet 8.5 x 11 cover with Hamlet in gold calligraphy. Inside covered the various acts with descriptions in calligraphy. I may still have that program among my mementos that I haven't seen for many years now.
I'm glad that I know that "All the world's a stage," and since 1997 like you, I have had a website on that stage where my books, travels, videos and poems are housed with millions of views from all over the world.
Your very creative stories and articles here bring attention to your books and how you make you so much of our history, so well.
Ron
Great Expectations (21st Century London) (Short Story) - 3/22/2024 1:46:26 PM
Every time I read one of your chapters, I'm amazed at your creativity, right down to your choice of names like some 007 novel.
I remember reading Great Expectations a long time ago, but had forgotten the story.
Ron
Christmas Party at the STC (Short Story) - 12/8/2023 3:09:42 PM
I can see the irony in this chapter. Lots of creativity expressed in this little peek. If I have time I will read more.
I remember that 1984 was the year everyone feared that big brother had arrived. I guess we all had to wait a little longer before he came, just like predicted. Good fiction is like that, predictive.
About that time, my high school friend and genius, Douglas W Boucher, was the lead major in charge of a group of Air Force trackers of everything that moved in space and in the air. He answered the red phone more than once and assured the president's men that the communists had not sent ballistic missiles our way.
You have reminded me to try to reach him because Doug hasn't sent me any pictures from his 6 inch telescope in recent years. And he may be, like his unpublished memoir, Watching at the Edge of the Universe.
I remember the guys complaining about a young Berkeley engineer who had been hired in 1967. "We don't know what to do when she starts crying in meetings."
And then the courageous director of architecture, much later, about 1993, who told the vice president and CFO of our university that he, "Shouldn't be using such language in our staff meetings!" She was right, he had a potty mouth.
Ron
October Surprise on Halloween (Short Story) - 12/7/2023 3:52:10 AM
Thanks, Ronald for stopping by and commenting.
I don't have videos in my book. But I have linked them/embedded them in blogs.
The Commander and Chief is set all over the world: Montana, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Washington D.C., England, London, the Middle East.
October Surprise on Halloween (Short Story) - 10/1/2023 10:46:47 AM
If there were I prize for a Halloween entry this year, I think this chapter might take it. What a wonderful array of costumed characters. Two lines that tickled me were: "Don't give a hoot." and "What costume?"
I always thought that The Commander and the Chief was set in the United States, so I was surprised that this was a celebration United Kingdom.
I just learned that Henry VIII was a very fit and vigorous guy until a jousting episode where he received a serious injury resulting in him becoming overweight, probably impotent and took it out on his wives for not having a male heir.
I don't have time to watch those videos. But did you put the links in your published books?
Ron
The Great Depression - 1929 - 1945 (Short Story) - 11/3/2014 5:35:23 AM
The Great Depression actually began in 1925 when speculators crashed the Florida land boom (again) and was set up by farm subsidies for Canadian wheat which made family farms debt-ridden and finally bankrupt. The world never really recovered from WWI. Excellent slice of "way-back-when" we used to feed ourselves.
World War 2: memories of North Africa (Short Story) - 6/14/2014 8:45:30 AM
Thank you for recognizing this diary's significance and for adding it to the volumes of our wars. I was a toddler then, absorbed in the horrific hubub of ships, planes and soldiers gathering in Tampa for that invasion.
World War 2: memories of North Africa (Short Story) - 6/6/2014 7:44:52 AM
Very interesting and detailed. I guess he got too busy with the affairs of life and never finished this wonderful account of his war experience. It's hard for me to imagine North Africa cold and wet, but then I spent a very cold night waiting for our plane in the Cairo airport in January. The days were warm and dry. We had no rain for four days in Egypt. It looked like it never rained and the only water came from the Nile.
It seems strange that we had to fight the French to make African landfall. I seem to recall seeing that there was massive loss of life when the French fleet was destroyed. I am very glad you're able to publish what you found. I would love to read your mother-in-law's stories as well and may get to it later. If you check the comment I made this morning on Mark Lichterman's story I recounted briefly, the experience of my three uncles in World War II, one still living at 95.
Ron
The Great Depression - 1929 - 1945 (Short Story) - 5/1/2012 3:43:23 PM
Good story. My father lived through the Depression and often spoke of it. As bad as it was in the north, it was far worse in the south. The southern 'good ol boys' took to the woods and hunted game. A few had boats and they took to the water, often bringing home a sizable catch of the day. The gathering of oysters and mussels helped too. The rivers and lakes weren't poluted then. It was tough times, but tough people made it through.
Memories of Japan (Short Story) - 5/1/2012 3:33:37 PM
I've never made it to the orient, but your account makes me want to go. Well done.
Memories of Japan (Short Story) - 6/9/2010 11:55:05 AM
Thank you for sharing this most interesting account, Susan. Love and best wishes to you,
Regis
Memories of Japan (Short Story) - 8/12/2009 6:55:03 AM
This is so fascinating Susan. I read your Mother-in-law's precious excerpts and quickly became engrossed. I hope she keeps writing. Hugs, J'nia
Cherry Blossoms (Short Story) - 8/1/2009 10:49:06 AM
A beautiful memory captured in writing.
Cherry Blossoms (Short Story) - 5/24/2009 7:35:12 AM
Wow! What a story. Fortunately we are loaded with them here. Yummy blossoms which last for weeks. Glad you finally saw them. Cheers, J'nia
The Great Depression - 1929 - 1945 (Short Story) - 1/29/2009 1:35:42 PM
Susan~!
Could probably include the Bush years as-well . . . nicely penned!!
Hugs,
Lance
The Great Depression - 1929 - 1945 (Short Story) - 1/29/2009 6:35:27 AM
Great story, Susan; well done!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D
America 250: Benjamin Franklin (Article) - 6/19/2026 3:17:23 PM
Thank you for reminding the readers of what a defining man Benjamin Franklin was in the formation of United States of America.
Through many encounters with him throughout my life I remembered him most for his unique scientific experiments and his attempt, particularly to teach farmers, what it took to have a prosperous farm using science to help.
I'm not fond of Prager University, the fake, ultra conservative propaganda mill, but that, rather elementary level description of who Benjamin Franklin was is certainly appropriate for young people today you don't get a chance to get any depth of history in school.
Ron
PS. I remember how naughty he was. That part of history organizations like Prager wish to remove. I want it available to show how people like Franklin were also very human.
Jane's Buns Mystery: The Missing Ingredients (Article) - 3/9/2026 11:30:53 AM
I'm glad you're cooking up new novels. And I like the idea of ordinary people. My novels are mostly about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. More so in my short stories.
But I can't write mystery. I have no desire to have some twisted result that comes from hidden clues along the way. Or for the abnormal twists of plot and obscene violence I've seen in movies since I rarely read books. But I'm glad that you are because I know yours will be impeccable and very entertaining.
Ron
Christmas 1776 (Article) - 12/14/2025 2:01:14 PM
Yes, that was a very pivotal time in our fledgling attempt at trying to pull together an army to fight the British who hired the Hessians to do their dirty work for them. If the French had not come to our aid as well, the outcome of the war may have been the same, but taken much longer.
I just watched Ken Burns's 12 hour, The American Revolution. Gave me a whole new perspective of that war and the sacrifice that settlers made by rejecting their loyalty to the king. Quite a few myths were dealt with, too.
Ron
JFK and America in England (Article) - 11/26/2025 10:19:17 AM
Another bit of history that I didn't know. I learn something every day. And you are one of my sources. Queen Elizabeth II was a fine example of a working queen benefiting her country. I'm not sure that her son, Charles, can feel her shoes.
Unfortunately, our country is harkening back to more brutal times. We have already seen Cape Kennedy returned to Cape Canaveral and more recently, our would be king viciously putting his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
I drove home from my junior year in college early that fateful Friday afternoon and must've heard it on the radio because I always had it tuned to an AM station listening to the latest pop tunes with intermittent news reports. And I must have seen it on television several times over that weekend. But I have forgotten it completely. I don't know why.
My first memory was waiting in the hospital for my spinal surgery watching TV in the lounge and shooting pool. Only to see, live, Jack Ruby shooting Oswald as though I were there.
Ron
You are the audience (Article) - 11/5/2025 11:27:01 AM
So right you are. If it weren't for my writing and stimulating my muse, fired by my dreams, my retirement in a wheelchair would be very lonely and boring.
I encourage almost everyone that I meet to write their story and any other stories they might have in mind. Why anyone would want to prevent a story from being written, is beyond me. Some fear hurting others.
Unfortunately, some of the people with severe disabilities that I've met, want to tell their story but don't know how to get started doing it. For example, one fellow, before he died wrote his story on one page. Another, asked me every time we met to write his story for him and I had no way of getting it from him to write. At that time he had a webpage they told his story quite well.
Thank you for the article reaffirming the old adage… "If you put your light under a lampshade, it may never be seen."
Ron
Bring Them In! (Article) - 7/31/2025 9:35:55 AM
Congratulations. When I think of all of the mega churches and the way that so many shysters use religion to draw naïve souls into their cults of personality. Houston Baptist University here in Houston just changed its name to Houston Christian University to get more paying students.
I remember visiting New Vrindaban in West Virginia about 1977 and observed young naïve people called into a community of giving up all of their worldly things to the guru from India who benefited while they chanted to Hare Krishna for hours at a time.
They were very proud to point out that they had some young sons and daughters of industrial CEOs. That money came in handy to build a marble temple to their god on earth.
Ron
Snow White Trailer Trash Talk (Article) - 5/14/2025 2:40:05 PM
It's been a long time since I watched an animated movie by Disney. I'll always remember the original like Pinocchio and Bambi. I never want to see them again because it probably would remove some of that memory magic.
My sister seems to be tuned into the hinterlands better than I am. I really wouldn't know what trailer trash are thinking these days, only what I see on Saturday Night Live and they are still quite sophisticated in their parodies and pans.
It's good to see you holding up the end of movies for us.
Ron
Psalms, Proverbs, and the Pale Blue Dot (Article) - 11/21/2024 11:40:58 AM
Very nice, Susan. I would just add Isaiah 55, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways yours ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, are my ways above your ways.” The distance to the heavens was unfathomable to the ancients. And today, it still is.
Generation Gap (Article) - 3/12/2024 12:00:49 PM
Thank you for this rapid-fire rendition of the generations. I had been thinking a lot about how the current generation (Alpha) would deal with my sci-fi novel set in 2032. But I made the circumstances hard enough, that much of the world this new generation knows is gone and must start over with a very determined and positive viewpoint. Chaos is not an option.
So I have molded my characters into responsible, energetic pioneers with lots of resources for the taking, but a time and place where material things pale against creating survival for the long run and repopulation.
Ron
Pow Wow (Article) - 9/25/2023 12:04:45 PM
It's good to see that you are still writing and your imagination is overflowing in this latest novel in the series.
Every fall in my hometown, Marshfield, in the northern most part of Wood County, the county with the most Indians (not called Native American in that time) but never seen on our streets, we heard about the Pow Wow in Pittsville. Where anyone could go and savor everything Indian especially the crafts and produce like Indian popcorn, watch the colorful dances, horse riding, archery and knife throwing. Unfortunately, my twin brother and I never went to those festivities.
In 1971, while returning from California to Wisconsin. In Alberta, I picked up an old Indian hitchhiking with a paper bag near Medicine Hat. I believe he was Blackfoot and the paper bag contained his lunch for the day at what he called, "The Indian doin's up ahead." When I dropped him, off he invited me to join him, but I declined because I had a long way to go that day. What I saw was a rodeo getting started.
Ron
The Starry Night (Article) - 7/2/2023 11:14:44 AM
I have been fortunate to watch either a movie or documentary about Vincent van Gogh's life a few years ago. If he was only alive today to see how people valued his work he couldn't even sell in his lifetime.
I have been listening to old artists every night for the last few months. I had thought that Vincent was the work of Elton John, remembering Don McLean for his classic, American Pie. After listing to American Pie one night, automatically, the next song was Vincent. Making me realize the genius of Don McLean. And how he was able to write and perform such fabulous songs that reach everyone so deeply.
Ron
2 Boleyn Sisters - 2 Queen Elizabeths (Article) - 5/2/2023 9:12:30 AM
Very interesting. The Boleyn seem to have been more ambitious than their father. The two queens, Elizabeth, certainly have had a major influence on English history. Although Queen Victoria seems to be remembered more. Especially with those of us in the United States thinking about the Victorian era here where there was great prosperity for robber barons taking all of the resources that were so readily available from our land.
Ron
Breaking Bad meets Star Trek and Pies (Article) - 4/1/2023 12:40:50 PM
Breaking Bad was arguably one of the best stories I ever viewed. But I don't remember that episode. And I thank you for the animated version because with my hearing the way it is I have to have closed caption to follow banter like that.
I left Star Trek behind after the first generation. Metal starships are 20/21st century ideas that won't work. And spaceships don't make any sound in space. Arthur C Clarke got that right back in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
That image of pi on a cake my mother could've done on a pumpkin pie. You reminded me of my algebra class in 1961 where my teacher, a genius out of the University of Wisconsin, using our newly acquired IBM 1620 (?) computer printed pi on a strip that he strung up and down the halls and over the doors out to about as far as one could go in those days… a good idea of infinity.
I wrote about Warren Z Watson here… https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=67580&authorid=3918 I also added his obituary that tells what kind of man he really was.
Ron
I, Claudius vs the Senate (Article) - 2/13/2023 11:43:04 AM
I'm always amazed with your articles sharing your knowledge of topics that are not normally available like this 1937 novel made into film.
In all of the great Roman movies that I've seen, the predominance of male actors always seem to come out of the British theater with strong British accents, playing the precursor to Italians, Romans. However, I also realize that for time, Romans occupied the British Isles and left their mark on British culture and politics just like they have left their mark on the politics of United States of America.
Ron
Hiraeth (Article) - 1/8/2023 2:36:54 PM
I always enjoy your articles and learn from them. With this article I have learned a new word and have a better understanding of why people always look backward as a better time in their lives.
While I enjoy the past I had, I'm always looking forward to the next thing that is happening. It's just my inquisitive nature, I guess. And an optimistic one that 2023 will be much better than 2022 with its economic woes and Covid hangover.
Ron
Mikhail Gorbachev (Article) - 10/4/2022 11:39:56 AM
A good way to promote your novel and show that Gorbachev, by far, was the greatest leader of the Soviet Union by dissolving it.
When Reagan was elected, I was offered a job at Lockheed-Marietta to oversee "zero defects" a concept I considered statistically impossible as a certified quality assurance engineer with a good understanding of what a defect is. Also, the day after the election I interviewed with the guy in the back of Jimmy Carter's canoe. He had in mind to hire me for his environmental firm until Carter lost to Reagan and his lucrative contracts would end.
My high school genius friend actually, as an Air Force Major commanded a space tracking system and answered the red phone more than once to stop the White House from reacting to a rumor of missiles being launched toward the United States. He wrote about it in his autobiography, Watching at the Edge of Infinity, but refused to publish it after I helped edit the book. He lives in Colorado with his 6 inch telescope. But lately we haven't been in touch and I'm afraid he may be in ill health.
Ron
86,400 (Article) - 7/11/2022 10:04:55 AM
I do some of it, but thanks for the time lesson. I've been to Mission Control a couple of times, but don't recall the clock. Just continually amazed. Like when I found out that a black woman mathematician from West Virginia University, was adept at correcting flaws in computer-generated calculations for the trip to the moon in Hidden Figures.
I got rather adept at land calculations. Deciphering actors and leagues and coming up with figures like $10,000 per square inch. Isn't that ridiculous? The whole Manhattan Island purchased for the equivalent of $24 in beads and trinkets. Isn't that ridiculous?
Ron
1984 (Article) - 6/1/2022 7:36:24 AM
Great intro to your book. Probably the greatest television ad of all time. Some might blame Apple and its competitors for creating Big Brother in this century, a bit later than originally projected, but here, nonetheless.
I didn't get an Apple SE into my office until 1987. Our computer center director dropped one off and my overly ambitious assistant who was foisted on me because no one else wanted her around in spite of her intelligence told me, "I know how to use it, I sold computers for Apple."
For about a year, she struggled making spreadsheets for me in Excel. And then, while having a bout with pneumonia, went to the University president claiming she wanted to be his consultant with all the information that she and I had. I got in deep trouble and she didn't come back to work. She had showed me how to use the SE at all. But I turned it on and started figuring out how easy it was to use and started writing memos in MS Word, much better spreadsheets in Excel, and with a copy of PowerPoint that a buddy of mine gave me by chance when I visited him in North Carolina, I started making presentations that were the envy of everyone at the University, wondering how I did them.
Even when the University bought cheaper PCs, I stayed with Apple until I retired. My only fault was not buying as much stock as I could, being terribly in debt those years.
Ron
God's Pronouns (Article) - 3/7/2022 2:22:03 PM
Interesting read, considering that I recently wrote a poem as a simple fun bit of wordplay that tended to get serious when it comes to insulting people with the words we use.
But I don't find myself having to worry about using all the various gods' proper names or their pronouns, given respect as though they are proper nouns and making sure they are all masculine going back to when he-men ruled the women and children with an iron fist because they were stronger and more brutal.
The reason I don't find myself worrying about whether I'm using the right pronoun is I don't write religious propaganda as an atheist and very comfortable not spreading the word or faith.
Ron
Gettysburg Address (Article) - 11/24/2021 1:39:49 PM
I have written many proposals to do good things, but never could I think of the words that Lincoln did, while he was on the train to Gettysburg on a piece of paper with no time for lengthy scrutiny or rewrites. The man who taught himself to read with the Bible in front of the fireplace became a creative lawyer, great joke teller, and writer of many great speeches from his extensive vocabulary and straightforward style of writing.
I drove through Gettysburg once, but was on my way in a hurry to somewhere else, and didn't stop to explore the national monument. Probably should have. May we never, ever go to war over misplaced ideals again! Lincoln shut the country straight with those opening words of equality and following them up two years later with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Ron
Gettysburg Address (Article) - 11/17/2021 11:26:25 AM
One of the most inspirational speeches ever. Thank you, Susan, for sharing. And so timely.
Best regards,
Paul
STC (Article) - 8/30/2021 10:04:09 AM
Congratulations on your latest novel. The first thing that struck me was that Challenger was in orbit with its women cargo. So unfortunate. I recall interviewing with Lockheed and with an environmental engineer and Jimmy Carter buddy on the other end of the canoe. The day after the election was an untimely time to have a job interview. The engineer took me to an exclusive club for lunch and then told me with Jimmy gone, so would go his government contracts.
On the elevator going into Lockheed's Marietta, Georgia bunker with fellow applicants who were ecstatic about Reagan winning, I learned that I would be in charge of making sure that planes built there had "zero defects" (the buzzword at the time that could not be met) like Challenger. I was also to produce a newsletter emphasizing quality with a young black lady they had hired to do it. When I tried to bargain with them over my job offer from Houston, they wouldn't and I'm glad I didn't become their mouthpiece for continual war. They had an order for 30 C-130 Hercules from a country called, Iraq. The rest is history.
My high school genius friend went through college on ROTC and joined the Air Force. His initial aspiration was to be an astrophysicist. He ended up using a special camera, first on Sand Island in the Pacific tracking satellites and space junk, and then, in New Zealand. He returned to the States as the Supervisor of the then, Air Force satellite tracking center (STC?) In Colorado. During his time there, he got a call on the red phone, twice. Both times averting a nuclear strike because the intelligence the Joint Chiefs got was wrong and there was no missile launch. He didn't tell me whether there were women on his team.
In 1981, he was reassigned to Houston when I arrived here, working on the Air Force, relatively unknown, space shuttle program. He quit when he saw what was happening with the quality of the space shuttle operation, expecting a failure and retired at 20 years, a major. It's all in his autobiography which he so far, has refused to publish. Real history that I believe your book is probably very accurately based upon.
Good luck and happy sales to you!
Ron
The Critic (Article) - 6/28/2021 7:57:48 AM
you are so right on! With positive thoughts we can create masterpieces and with negative vibes..we can and will create even better masterpieces! Your words are again right on!
The Critic (Article) - 5/27/2021 9:59:03 AM
Thank you for laying out so clearly what criticism is and what it does. I admire you greatly not only for your achievements in the field of physics, one of my favorite fields of study, but your insightful articles that teach us so much about the world we live in, like this one.
As a professor, I naturally fell into being a critic. Hopefully that my comments written in purple ink on the sidelines were of a constructive nature, guiding the student in the right direction.
I have felt the stigma of being considered unworthy most of my life after a childhood where the sky and beyond was clearly possible. So I've had to strive, over and over, to prove my worth in whatever endeavor I chose to do. Inherently a leader, encourager and includer of those left aside, I was often not given leadership that I deserved and earned.
Why I feel it's important to comment on authors here. Without comment, sometimes merely just, "saying something nice or nothing at all," the writer may not know what course he or she is on. Careful nudging in the right direction can have a great rewards. Unfortunately, sometimes comments can be considered criticism either by misunderstanding or attitude.
Ron
What a Country! (Article) - 4/16/2021 1:41:19 PM
You really have a way of educating us with your articles I'd not heard of Yaakov Smirnov before this fine article once again, showing that we are a melting pot of immigrants coming from all over the world to the promise of our heart and not our exclusion and insider inclusion.
When I started work in telecommunication after my master's degree I was assigned to work for a Berkeley engineer and systems quality control who was interested in reliability and other mathematical solutions to problems of everyday production and product life. He introduced me to a few studies that we tried.
He invited me to a talk he was going to give. Uneasy about speaking to an audience, he always opened was something humorous. This talk was on the Gorky Smirnov test (I have forgotten the actual name, so Gorky is just from my imagination)
As Terry opened the discussion he announced, "This test was developed either by two Russians or by one Russian with a strong drink." I briefly heard the audience chuckle before Terry got into the more dry parts of the mathematics.
Ron
The Event that Sam Built (Poetry) - 4/15/2024 12:20:28 PM
I had forgotten The House That Jack Built. That was a wonderful video of the whole change poem. Immediately brought to mind A Partridge in a Pear Tree.
From what I read, you must've had intimate knowledge of Mission Control at the Manned (not Womaned) Spacecraft Center. I recall visiting Mission Control when I first came to Houston to the Annual Meeting of AAAS. It was all business then.
And from my experience with women engineers, architects and project managers, there was a lot of resentment and some harassment of the women who were brave enough to enter what was considered a man's world.
When I visited with my brother and his wife about 2008, the Center had become a place of kiddy fun with very little science. Division Mission control one had to join a special tour.
Your chain poem of the Event That Sam Built, is very creative and very in tune with your character in your novel. Bravo!
Ron
Seeking (Poetry) - 5/5/2021 1:50:56 PM
This is wonderful! You share the search for the One who is always there. It is as though we share in the beauty of creation with our Creator. What a gift! Corrine Ardoin
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 9/13/2019 12:14:56 PM
I love this. Your poem reminds me of my brother who was here for too short a time.
Lamenting the Good Ol' Days (Poetry) - 4/16/2018 1:29:13 PM
My favorite worry is about what could have been. Try to wipe my mind of 'could have's,' but this phrase always haunt me. I'll use your idea of thinking of today as a possible 'could have' and make the most of it.
Wind (Poetry) - 3/24/2018 7:50:34 PM
A refreshing poem. I can feel the wind on my face as I read it.
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 3/21/2018 4:42:58 PM
This poem holds an excellent message for young people who are told to push and shove their way to the top. The top can be a lonely place.
Turning Point (Poetry) - 2/1/2018 6:30:02 PM
A turning can be frightening but also full of surprises.
Frozen Time (Poetry) - 1/13/2018 8:04:09 PM
Our memories are locked away, frozen forever in our hearts and souls. I love your poem.
Seeking (Poetry) - 12/13/2017 1:29:43 PM
I love this poem. It sings to me.
Seeking (Poetry) - 4/16/2017 4:18:24 PM
Enjoyed reading your poem about this search and the satisfaction finally found,Susan. What a tremendous message conveyed so briefly. You cut right to the chase with this one! Enjoyed!
Zach
Frozen Time (Poetry) - 3/26/2013 8:56:07 PM
Our memories shape our souls. Wow! Thoughtful poetic thoughts...
Peace, love and Easter Blessings,
John Michael Domino
Seeking (Poetry) - 12/29/2012 11:24:15 AM
Sometimes, the answers are never out there but within. Beautiful poem.
Lamenting the Good Ol' Days (Poetry) - 9/22/2012 9:35:02 AM
Substance to make one reflect, Susan. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Night and Day (Poetry) - 5/11/2012 6:28:01 AM
the simplicity of Night And Day is powerful and especially that last stanza... well done Susan
~Z.B.McClure
Seeking (Poetry) - 10/29/2011 1:38:07 PM
This reads like a prayer and stands as a testimonial of your faith, Susan. Thank you. Love and blessings,
Regis
Seeking (Poetry) - 10/18/2011 5:56:18 AM
What a thrilling poem, Susan! I missed it in July, but was very encouraged by your words today.
Sincerely,
Connie
On Mortality (Poetry) - 11/4/2010 4:02:15 AM
Time passes by so quickly, we must hold on to those memories. May God bless you every day of your life.
Daniel
Turning Point (Poetry) - 10/11/2010 11:21:39 AM
Your poem is very relevant today. I can feel the pendulum of layoffs swinging closer to my head, but your poem gives me hope. When one door slams closed, maybe a new adventure, new life awaits through another.
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 6/5/2010 8:42:19 AM
There are those that will step over whomever to reach their dream, but once that dream is fulfilled and faded, what are they left with? Too many bridges have been burned behind them, and nobody will be looking to give them another chance.
Out West Again! (Poetry) - 4/28/2010 4:21:02 PM
I was born and raised on the prairies of northern Alberta so I can relate to what you have expressed via your verses here, Susan. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Success (Poetry) - 12/25/2009 4:20:48 PM
Yes! Trust in the wisdom from above; from the true and living God. Advise and direction that originates with the creature is deceptive. Trust Christ. Excellent words from a faithful guide.
~Z.B.McClure
Success (Poetry) - 12/4/2009 2:14:00 PM
Look above for your direction
To the star in the sky
And don't be afraid to fail
And be not afraid to try!
I appreciate your advice, Susan. It provides a recipe for success. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Wind (Poetry) - 11/22/2009 2:12:48 PM
Indeed, Susan; my sentiments exactly. I have always felt a spiritual "presence" in the wind. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Out West Again! (Poetry) - 11/19/2009 5:57:18 PM
This poem draws the reader in, beckoning Westward. It sounds majestic! In this part of PA, hills and mountains interrupt the sweep of the sky, so we are not likely to enjoy a view like yours.
Nicely done!
Connie
On Mortality (Poetry) - 10/30/2009 10:37:46 AM
I love these snappy small verses / They are brisk and tell the tale in its entirety without all the trappings / Te recall those days long past is but a whisper in the wind . . . Loved it . . .
Frozen Time (Poetry) - 10/30/2009 10:35:36 AM
This gives me pause for reflection, Susan. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Lamenting the Good Ol' Days (Poetry) - 9/4/2009 7:23:38 PM
A gentle poem to nudge us all to be grateful for today. I am guilty of this...spending so much time in the future and yesterday, that I miss the blessing of today. Thanks for sharing this one Susan.
Frozen Time (Poetry) - 8/15/2009 10:01:01 AM
Memories do define us, and forever will they remain frozen in the hands of time. Beautifully written.
Night Watch (Poetry) - 8/2/2009 12:46:09 PM
You have very effectively recalled and shared the mood of this experience via your verses, Susan. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Snow (Poetry) - 8/1/2009 11:34:02 AM
Winter is so beautiful, and snow seems like perfection. But everything has a flaw, and with winter, it lies within its cold touch. Great poem.
On Mortality (Poetry) - 8/1/2009 10:42:18 AM
I love the flow to your words. Moments do fly by so fast, but they also linger somewhere deep.
Feelings (Poetry) - 7/13/2009 9:10:55 AM
A most apt and timely write, Susan; as applicable now as ever. I do like the way you end on a metaphorical hopeful note. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Feelings (Poetry) - 7/5/2009 6:35:59 PM
Very touching poetry.
JMD
Night Watch (Poetry) - 6/7/2009 11:23:41 AM
Beautifully written. :)
Feelings (Poetry) - 5/1/2009 10:19:35 AM
I like this poem for many reasons, but especially two-
the way you remind us that the world is not presently functioning as it was originally designed to, and also the realistic hope that the day will arrive for certain, when it will. We all need hope,and "Feelings" offers that. Superb write!
~ from a fellow human and poet, Zach
On Mortality (Poetry) - 4/3/2009 6:29:20 PM
"A shadow that only the mind can see." This is so true. Today's reality becomes blurred tomorrow as the realities of a new day obscure the truths of the past. Photos and journal entries are our effort, perhaps, to hold on to the moments that flee so quickly from our grasp. Well done, Susan.
Night and Day (Poetry) - 3/29/2009 7:03:48 PM
I do appreciate your philosophical point of view, Susan. Thank you for sharing it. Love and best wishes,
Regis
On Mortality (Poetry) - 3/25/2009 8:38:48 PM
You have captured the feeling perfectly. B r a v a !! xOx 'Pea' xOx
On Mortality (Poetry) - 3/12/2009 3:30:11 PM
A good reflection on whatever that has happened in the past stays in the past, and shall not return!! Wonderful write, Susan!!!
Sandie Angel :o)
On Mortality (Poetry) - 2/27/2009 8:45:52 PM
Hello Susan,
There is much wisdom in the brevity of your poem. "Hold to a moment..."
if only we could. Thanks for this, I loved reading it to my brother.
Cynthia
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 2/23/2009 2:01:21 PM
Right on. The praises of man eventually echo their final refrain. But the heart, it remains to everlasting. Thank you for this. Blessings, J'nia
On Mortality (Poetry) - 2/23/2009 1:58:47 PM
Time, that illusive shadow we cling to, that construct which informs us of our reality. Excellently penned. Blessings, J'nia
On Mortality (Poetry) - 2/7/2009 9:55:48 PM
Can't grab what's flown by. I dig your philosophical perspective, Susan. Thank you. Love and best wishes to you,
Regis
On Mortality (Poetry) - 2/2/2009 12:18:02 PM
Fantastic writing Susan!
On Mortality (Poetry) - 1/29/2009 12:02:33 PM
So lovely and so beautifully written...I forget more and more each day Susan and these write help me to remember...thank you for you touching and lifting write. Love and hugs, Bonnie
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 1/23/2009 10:38:29 AM
a thoughtful expression of the cycle of change creation continues to spin through! You say profound things so precisely.
-Zach keep using your talent for the glory of God!
Night Watch (Poetry) - 1/23/2009 10:33:15 AM
this is a beautiful write that takes you there. Love the lines about the sleeping creatures and the way the moon promises.
thanks,
Zach
Snow (Poetry) - 1/23/2009 10:12:10 AM
Liked the way you evoked the many shades and hues of this stuff called snow, and also the analogy between humans and snow. Yes, someday the Ultimate Spring will arrive. Great poem!
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 1/23/2009 10:07:52 AM
Wow! I have seen this and that last line "yet it is the HEART that lives forever" powerfully expresses a truth all humans need to heed!
I really enjoy reading your poetry Susan
~Zach
On Mortality (Poetry) - 1/23/2009 10:00:48 AM
I just relish the fresh way you have put down timeless truth,Susan! :)
You have captured, so well, the idea of how fleeting each moment is.
~Zach
Night and Day (Poetry) - 1/5/2009 2:44:24 PM
I truly enjoyed Day and Night. Wonderful.
J-me
On Mortality (Poetry) - 12/28/2008 9:51:06 PM
You can't get a tighter poem than this, rhyme, beat, form and meaning all on time.
On Mortality (Poetry) - 12/28/2008 11:54:06 AM
A very wise and timely poem!
Happy New Year!
Eileen
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 12/24/2008 11:46:30 AM
This is very true in a lot of working environments. Thank you, Susan. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Snow (Poetry) - 12/24/2008 11:45:09 AM
A most apt and timely write which I find symbolically meaningful. Thank you, Susan. Love and best wishes,
Regis
Snow (Poetry) - 12/18/2008 5:16:14 AM
Nice to discover you and read you as well. "Snow" is a fantastic poem of how feel and interact with seasons and nature as a whole. Love the gentle flow of the poem. Thanks for sharing
Night and Day (Poetry) - 12/15/2008 3:24:22 PM
Amen dear Susan.....This is brilliant in it's simple yet profound wisdom......We humans need to boil down the scary parts of life into such compact morsels of truth......Well done my friend!
Peace,
Bill :-)
Snow (Poetry) - 12/11/2008 11:35:31 AM
Hello Susan,
Clevery conceived and prosed - Bravo on this write!!
Best wishes,
Lance
Snow (Poetry) - 12/7/2008 3:16:22 AM
This is a beautiful poem,I enjoy it very much
Edwin
Snow (Poetry) - 12/6/2008 10:55:37 PM
Dust is woven
Crocheted to snow
And robes the world
From heaven, below
That is a fantastic image and stanza in this delightfully chilly poem :)
Snow (Poetry) - 12/4/2008 2:38:59 PM
Awwwww, how beautifully descriptive with just the right touch of imagination...
Be always safe,
Karen
Snow (Poetry) - 12/4/2008 9:52:10 AM
Susan,
Beautiful poem and imagery. It is a shame that snow does get a bit tainted from pollution though.
Mary
Wind (Poetry) - 11/28/2008 1:12:37 PM
How beautiful and poignant dear Susan......A great description as only a poet can portray.......
:-)
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 11/21/2008 6:19:18 AM
Glad I am not in the working world no more. I try to get along with all who live in my apartment building. No gossip about others do I wish to share in. I give each a chance for friendship and see the best in others and not the worst. Sometimes that brings me needed peace of mind too.
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 11/21/2008 5:54:09 AM
An excellent poem.Office politics are such a pain,take care
Edwin
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 11/20/2008 3:01:34 PM
The number one thing I always made a point to stay away from, nice writing....
Be always safe,
Karen
Vain Glory (Poetry) - 11/20/2008 11:19:50 AM
Office politics can be very stressful, and misery is the one who has to work in the middle of two who are at wars with one another.
I had the experience of working amongst such individuals, and it was really hard to stay on neutral ground. They each want to pull you to side with them.
And some are big bullies with loud voices, they bullied their ways to the top paying little attention to who they step on.
Such is life!...and we have to see and work with these people in most of our waking hours.
Sandie Angel :o)
Feelings (Poetry) - 11/5/2008 4:11:59 PM
Wow this is powerful, like the analogy of labour pains..Yep, know that situation, and the world is very much in 2nd stage labour IMHO...
Love this and great to meet you.
:) Hugzzz Ch'erie
Night and Day (Poetry) - 10/23/2008 5:02:06 PM
Sage observation as the soul is what God implanted in us and what he died for.
Night and Day (Poetry) - 10/16/2008 2:29:37 PM
Wow, the workings of the universe....
Be always safe,
Karen
Night and Day (Poetry) - 10/16/2008 11:54:48 AM
A very good poem,I enjoy reading it,I like the flow of it,take care
Edwin
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/11/2008 10:17:20 AM
This is a very bautiful write. I really love
the optimism in this piece.
Harold M. Nash
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/6/2008 8:14:38 PM
Expressed so well and authentically. Thanks for sharing it. (What a beautiful ocean in the background of your bio-pic! The Pacific, of course.)
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/5/2008 7:47:34 PM
excellent write Susan
great to be reading you again
I am trying my best now to hang around longer
to read & write
Love & peace
William
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 5:20:28 PM
Hello Susan,
You are right. Falling down on our face makes us look up to God.
We all learn valuable lessons from hardships, it' the sandpaper God uses to make us "smooth" and teachable. I like this poem very much.
Smiles,
Cynthia
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 4:03:01 PM
Very nice. I look forward to those new hopes and dreams.
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 3:15:26 PM
Oh you are so right and have captured the moment well. Yes, all things seem to have a way of cycling so hold on and be patient...
Be always safe,
Karen
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 2:17:55 PM
This is a very good poem,I especially like the ending of it.In a world fill with negativity and uncertainty,there is still light at the end of the tunnel.It may not be a big light,but a little light can make a difference.take good care of yourself
Edwin
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 11:49:28 AM
I hope that from all this corruption, greed, hate, and planet abuse --there will be birthed a better, more caring and supportive humanity.
Great poem!
Feelings (Poetry) - 10/2/2008 10:06:23 AM
Susan,
Excellent poem. I thinks reminds us, there is always hope.
Mary
Wind (Poetry) - 10/1/2008 9:19:20 PM
This is indeed a beautiful poem!
It is a tribute to GOD.
Until this day, no man can control or even explain the wind.
God's mystery still lies within.
John Michael
Night Watch (Poetry) - 9/28/2008 8:53:20 PM
A beautiful nature write
love the still of the night
As you try to figure out
the sounds comming from the unknown
Love & peace be with you
William
Night Watch (Poetry) - 9/25/2008 3:25:24 PM
Filled with visions of beauty and a sense of transitional peace...
Be always safe,
Karen
Night Watch (Poetry) - 9/25/2008 8:54:48 AM
Nice I like It, Take care
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/23/2008 11:20:39 AM
ashes to ashes. the cycle repeats. -- Jeff
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/22/2008 12:28:53 PM
Interesting poem, and what one thinks of for autumnal days.
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/19/2008 5:14:14 PM
Hello Susan,
This is so "alive" and the transitions so flowing like slides in a projector. Thoughts are what make us - "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." The "dust" part is where all of us will end, and
used in the final lines, it's just perfect.
Cynthia
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/18/2008 8:45:56 PM
Philosophical rendering well expressed...
Be always safe,
Karen
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/18/2008 6:44:05 PM
Interesting thoughts in this abstract, philosophical poem.
I like the way you used the cliche of dust to come back to
the beginning of life.
Axilea
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/18/2008 11:49:06 AM
It's so true, life is a circle. Everything will start dying in the fall, be like death in the winter, life in the spring and summer, and it starts all over again. Beautiful words to describe this ongoing cycle.
Mary
Metamorphosis (Poetry) - 9/18/2008 8:59:43 AM
Susan, great writing and I love the philosophical intentions.
Cheers,
Dan
Success (Poetry) - 9/15/2008 12:10:47 AM
Hello Susan,
Wonderful lines in rhyme, verse, and content - masterfully woven in heartwarming style. Perfect closing line: "And don't be afraid to fail...and be not afraid to try!"
Cynthia
Success (Poetry) - 9/11/2008 5:07:24 PM
Wise thoughts to share and even when one falls, get back up and try again, never give up...
Be always safe,
Karen
Success (Poetry) - 9/11/2008 9:49:25 AM
Susan,
Wisdom is these words! I believe the only failure is not trying at all.
Many blessings,
~Linda
Out West Again! (Poetry) - 9/8/2008 8:34:05 PM
The reader can feel your ethusiasm in this and it makes you smile along with you :) Michelle
Seeking (Poetry) - 9/7/2008 8:04:12 PM
Your poem provides us the reality of life. In faith we learn our fate. We do not need to find the meaning of life anywhere, it has been with us since the time we saw the first light. And I can see that you found it already.
Enjoy life to the fullest.
AOUIE
Turning Point (Poetry) - 9/7/2008 2:01:15 PM
I have been very fortunate never to have experienced this, Susan. I do appreciate the tone of your verses and I like the way the poem ends on a hopeful note. Thank you. Love and best wishes,
Regis
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 9/7/2008 1:59:49 PM
This is a fine tribute, Susan. Thank you for sharing it. Love and blessings to you,
Regis
Out West Again! (Poetry) - 9/4/2008 7:59:01 PM
Ah, the west coast has much to be proud of all the pristine beauty that unfolds leaves one breathless. Yet, there are many placed throughout this country that has remained untouched, each with its own individual beauty.....
Be always safe,
Karen
Out West Again! (Poetry) - 9/4/2008 4:31:44 PM
I love the open plains of the west and those star filled skies at night.
Lamenting the Good Ol' Days (Poetry) - 8/28/2008 7:31:01 PM
A sort of meloncholy walk down all the could have beens and yet has such a soothing, sweet overtone....
Be always safe,
Karen
Lamenting the Good Ol' Days (Poetry) - 8/28/2008 2:35:40 PM
Montana sounds beautiful, someday I hope to see some part or parcel of it...I have a friend, who I haven't spoken to in quite sometime, residing in Livingston...As for the poem, we always seem to want something different than what it is, don't we? At least that is what I got out of this write...Ed & Rufuz (w00f)
[welcome to the Den]
Frozen Time (Poetry) - 8/26/2008 6:16:32 PM
I Like this piece Susan
Thanks for sharing
Love & peace be with you
William
Seeking (Poetry) - 8/24/2008 9:10:53 PM
Susan,
I bought and read your new book, Sam at the Crossroads, where this poem is found. She said that, knowing I am interested in the geology of the northwest, I would find some interesting information in your book.
She was correct. I recognize the region you describe in the book and did find that aspect of the book most interesting, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the story as well. You have an interesting character in Sam and I enjoyed meeting her and sharing her "adventures". Thanks for the good read. I look forward to your next publications.
David Rogers
St Maries ID
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/20/2008 11:33:47 PM
Hello Susan,
Like an open door, this poem reveals a lot more to see than what was left behind. Like Abraham, sometimes God lets us leave Ur and Haran, to have our "turning points" with Him, and to give us greater assignments.
Blessings to you,
Cynthia
Wind (Poetry) - 8/20/2008 11:28:25 PM
Hello Susan,
How volatile and moving this poem is, as fleeting as the wind! A good point for those who do not believe God exists.
Cynthia
Wind (Poetry) - 8/14/2008 6:49:18 PM
Beautiful poem. It takes you along with it like the wind it describes. Well done.
Seeking (Poetry) - 8/14/2008 2:34:41 AM
Good Morning Susan
Your Poem Embraces The Reader With God's Eternal Love
Very Lovely
Much Love & Peace To You
Embraced ~ Embrassé
Vickie
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/11/2008 8:32:57 PM
An excellent piece Susan
Thanks for sharing
peace be with you
William
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/7/2008 4:43:59 PM
All the good-bye's and all the new hello's seem to work hand in hand. Sometime things happen for a reason and soon the reason is revealed. Yes, there are many crossroads, or turning points as you say, but it is always how we choose to react that makes the difference. Nice writing...
Be always safe,
Karen
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/6/2008 11:46:59 AM
Hey SK.I know that things will be better for you and this new page that you are turning will be fill with happiness.Take care of yourself.I enjoy reading the poem
Edwin
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/6/2008 10:09:59 AM
Some things do work out for the best.
Turning Point (Poetry) - 8/6/2008 7:22:14 AM
Been there several times but things always got better and I went on living pretty good. Good write though.
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 8/4/2008 1:23:29 PM
This is a great tribute to a man of God who touched so many hearts while he was on earth.
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 8/2/2008 9:27:52 AM
Good spiritual remembrance giving us all something to think about here.
Seeking (Poetry) - 8/2/2008 9:26:56 AM
Great that you found the peace God gives to all who seek him. This is a great write, so sentimental to me.
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 7/31/2008 1:43:17 PM
A very special, blessed man of God who led his flock valiantly for the better part of twenty five years and miss him tremendously I do. Thank you for your heartfelt, inspirational words....
Be always safe,
Karen
Seeking (Poetry) - 7/31/2008 11:01:36 AM
Beautifully written... finding Him within is to find peace... Blessings, Janice
Seeking (Poetry) - 7/31/2008 8:49:31 AM
A spiritual and inspirational poem about finding true inner peace with truths that are within ourselves.I enjoy reading it.take care
Edwin
The Shooting Star (Poetry) - 7/31/2008 8:47:50 AM
Hi Susan,seeing the pope is an amazing experience and I'm glad you had such a wonderful and spiritual time.Thank you for sharing your experiences.He is a sight to see.Take care
Edwin
Seeking (Poetry) - 7/24/2008 11:41:49 AM
A most worthy write of inner truth, honesty and spirituality....
Be always safe,
Karen
