Tuesday, April 5, 2011
E is for Everything
D is for Daddy and Dogs
It will be six years ago on June 8 that I lost my beloved daddy.
I remember at first the doctors thought he had severe IBS. I have IBS. I said to my daddy "You don't faint from IBS. You may get a little dizzy sometimes but I've never heard of a person fainting from it." Dad continued to have fainting spells, and he continued to go for more tests. He told me it wasn't cancer. A few weeks later he told me that it is,in fact, cancer-Leukemia. I went silent on thephone and then my voice dropped as I spoke to him on the phone.
At the time dad was living in Arizona. He came to New York to go to the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering for treatment. There it was discovered that on top of the Leukemia dad also had Amyloidosis. Dad almost had a bone marrow transplant there, but for whatever reason he told me they told him they couldn't do it.
Through everything dad never lost his sense of humor. I had visited dad one day at Sloan Kettering. On the movable table that they use to serve him food and drink was a sanitary napkin. I looked at my dad and said "Ok I'll bite. Why is there a sanitary napkin on your table?" He replied ,"I have my period." It was good to have a good laugh.
When there was no more that could really be done dad and my step mom went back to Arizona. Dad was in a hospital there dying. I got the call from my step mom saying to come. I told them I booked a seat on Greyhound. (I don't fly and Amtrak was too expensive). I was terrified of the ride and that he might die before I got there. Once I got there, I saw my dad. We talked. I told him I love him and that he will always be my knight in shining armor. Then something happened that, while I could not control it, I will never forgive myself for. I had the world's worst panic attack. Dad said if you want you can go home. I was shocked that he even thought that. I did. I went home. That was the stupidest thing I've ever done! I should've been there! He's one of my heroes and I should've been there!
On the morning of June 8th, I called daddy at the hospital. I asked him how he was and he replied that he felt like he was going to throw up and that he'll call me back later. That would be the last time I heard my daddy's voice. Dad died of a massive heart attack that the Amyloidosis brought on, not from the Leukemia. The doctors found daddy on the floor.
I still talk to my daddy like he's here. There are pictures in almost every room. In fact in this room, there is a picture of my daddy with Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York, who's son Andrew is now governor. I still cry every now and then and sometimes I have awful flashbacks to the stupid panic attack I had. Dad often appears to me in dreams. I love you so much daddy!!!
I miss the days when I was a kid, and everyone was alive and happy. The only really unhappy part of my childhood was school, but I did get a great education. There was a lot of bullying through high school. At one time in high school, this kid through me against a locker and tried to kiss me. I went to the office. I identified the kid. Originally they weren't going to do much of anything. They didn't listen to my mother. So dad got on the horn and told them this is not acceptable...the kid didn't get expelled, but he did get a week or two of 10th period detention, and boy did he leave me alone after that. There were a lot of times in middle and high school when dad stepped in because little or nothing was being done. I don't know why they wouldn't listen to me the "victim" or my mother, but everytime dad stepped up they listened.
Dad and I used to wake up early on Sunday mornings and go to MacDonald's for a breakfast together. Then we'd go either to Meier's farm or Hick's nursery in the warmer months, or even Channel Home Centers. In front of Channel there used to be a pony ride. I have a pic of dad holding me on the pony. Dad and I used to have a vegetable garden on the side of the house. I miss him so much!
****
Both sides of my family have always loved dogs. So when I was a kid we adopted Lady I, a jet black German Shepard/Collie Mix. We were the closest of friends. There are pictures of us on the couch with her holding me. We did everythign together. Then one day, I was looking outside for something I guess, and I held the door open. I didn't realize Lady was behind me. She ran out the front door and we never found her. I cried for months on end. How could she leave me? I can only hope she found a new family to live with.
At first I didn't want to get another dog. No one could replace Lady. Then daddy and I went to one of the shelters here on Long Island. We asked if they had any German Sheppard/Collie puppies. They had a buttload. The first thing I did was look for a little jet black baby girl. Dad was like are you sure? I said yes. He directed my eyes to the doggie that was eating my shoelaces as the little black dog was trying to get away from me, and did. This other doggie was multicolored (black, white, and tan) and she looked up at me with the cutest puppy eyes and said "Take me home." Okay she didn't really say that, but her eyes said that.
There's a "famous" pic of Lady, me and my daddy in the backyard smiling. I love this pic.
At first it was hard to play with Lady II because I thought in away I was cheating on Lady I. LadyII had a hard time adjusting to our house and our lifestyle. She tore a lot of things up...the couch still has claw marks. (laughing here). Anyway, dad and mom threatened to get rid of Lady and I said "If you get rid of her, you get rid of me too." We had become best friends.
We did everything together. We walked together. We chased each other around the back yard like nutjobs together. We laughed. We cried. We watched TV together (quick aside: Lady hated when I watched dog shows. She thought I thought they were better than her or that I was looking for another dog, even though I explained that I was rooting for her heritage-German Shepards and Collies. Also, when we finally got Animal Planet, the Planets Funniest Animals became a family favorite. Mom, the dog, and I would sit downstairs and watch it together). We played poker together, and some how she always won. I'm not telling you every thing we did together-it would make this blog even longer.
Lady had very bad arthritis in her hips. One summer I had a dream that her mom, a collie (I have no idea who her mom and dad are), said to me "thank-you for taking such good care of my baby." I knew then that I was going to lose my baby dog at some point. The summer went on and we had great times still, even though Lady's health was deteriorating. I loved to massage the doggie and brush her furs. It may have felt great to her, but it felt great to me too. I even massaged her hips. At one point she had a skin tumor removed from her thigh-it was huge! Then she had a severe urinary infection. Then she had trouble getting up. So she went for cortisone shots and was on Rimadyl. I didn't think Lady was going to walk on her own again. We had helped her up manually, meaning mom or I would get behind her and help her up.
On Valentine's day, I had bought her a stuffed heart with Xs and Os on it. She was and still is my furry valentine! She looked so sad at first when I handed her the heart. I said what's wrong Odles? (My dogs were nick named Ladyodles.) Then she smiled. I think she was tickled that I thought of her on Valentine's Day.
Now Lady and I shared the same birthday. The lady at the shelter had said she was born around the 17th or 18th of February. So naturally we chose the 18th. We used to share a plain donut on our birthday. Once we got her a slew of treats and I arranged them in a maze downstairs and she scooped them up and in order too! On her very last birthday, I bought her a doggie bed, which is still in my room. I told her to lay on it and it would relieve some of the pain in her hips and help her get up a little. She was reluctant at first. I had made her all these pillows and she was like wow this one is kind of large. Anyway, one day I came into my room and there was Lady laying on the doggie bed with just her rear on the bed. I said "See, doesn't that help the pain alittle?" She smiled. She had the greatest smile ever!
A few months went by and Lady was having more accidents around thehouse, which I didn't mind cleaning. However, in May of 2003 she did walk again with no help from me. I guess that was a compromise from G-d. I asked for a miracle in curing Lady--well she wasn't cured, but she WALKED! Soon after that Lady's health began to decline. In June, I couldn't even touch her without her being in pain! On June 25th 2003 mom said hey it's time, meaning we had to put her down.
I will never let anyone convince me to do that again. I feel like a murderer. Only G-d decides who lives and dies. This is not the peoples' job!
I had to go to grief counselling for people who lost their pets. Let me tell you-I healed in about a month or so. The reason I healed so quickly was because 1. they gave me ways to deal with the grief and 2. some of those people scared the living daylights out of me. I won't tell you the stories. When dad passed in 2005 I took what I learned in that grief group and applied it. It doesn't mean the pain goes away. I lost three of my best friends. It just means that I can handle it better. And being the spiritual person I am, I talk to them all still and they appear to me in dreams. This helps me a lot.
This blog was the first time I wrote about my Dad's death. I left somethings out. It's still hard to write about, but this is part of healing a little more.
I remember at first the doctors thought he had severe IBS. I have IBS. I said to my daddy "You don't faint from IBS. You may get a little dizzy sometimes but I've never heard of a person fainting from it." Dad continued to have fainting spells, and he continued to go for more tests. He told me it wasn't cancer. A few weeks later he told me that it is,in fact, cancer-Leukemia. I went silent on thephone and then my voice dropped as I spoke to him on the phone.
At the time dad was living in Arizona. He came to New York to go to the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering for treatment. There it was discovered that on top of the Leukemia dad also had Amyloidosis. Dad almost had a bone marrow transplant there, but for whatever reason he told me they told him they couldn't do it.
Through everything dad never lost his sense of humor. I had visited dad one day at Sloan Kettering. On the movable table that they use to serve him food and drink was a sanitary napkin. I looked at my dad and said "Ok I'll bite. Why is there a sanitary napkin on your table?" He replied ,"I have my period." It was good to have a good laugh.
When there was no more that could really be done dad and my step mom went back to Arizona. Dad was in a hospital there dying. I got the call from my step mom saying to come. I told them I booked a seat on Greyhound. (I don't fly and Amtrak was too expensive). I was terrified of the ride and that he might die before I got there. Once I got there, I saw my dad. We talked. I told him I love him and that he will always be my knight in shining armor. Then something happened that, while I could not control it, I will never forgive myself for. I had the world's worst panic attack. Dad said if you want you can go home. I was shocked that he even thought that. I did. I went home. That was the stupidest thing I've ever done! I should've been there! He's one of my heroes and I should've been there!
On the morning of June 8th, I called daddy at the hospital. I asked him how he was and he replied that he felt like he was going to throw up and that he'll call me back later. That would be the last time I heard my daddy's voice. Dad died of a massive heart attack that the Amyloidosis brought on, not from the Leukemia. The doctors found daddy on the floor.
I still talk to my daddy like he's here. There are pictures in almost every room. In fact in this room, there is a picture of my daddy with Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York, who's son Andrew is now governor. I still cry every now and then and sometimes I have awful flashbacks to the stupid panic attack I had. Dad often appears to me in dreams. I love you so much daddy!!!
I miss the days when I was a kid, and everyone was alive and happy. The only really unhappy part of my childhood was school, but I did get a great education. There was a lot of bullying through high school. At one time in high school, this kid through me against a locker and tried to kiss me. I went to the office. I identified the kid. Originally they weren't going to do much of anything. They didn't listen to my mother. So dad got on the horn and told them this is not acceptable...the kid didn't get expelled, but he did get a week or two of 10th period detention, and boy did he leave me alone after that. There were a lot of times in middle and high school when dad stepped in because little or nothing was being done. I don't know why they wouldn't listen to me the "victim" or my mother, but everytime dad stepped up they listened.
Dad and I used to wake up early on Sunday mornings and go to MacDonald's for a breakfast together. Then we'd go either to Meier's farm or Hick's nursery in the warmer months, or even Channel Home Centers. In front of Channel there used to be a pony ride. I have a pic of dad holding me on the pony. Dad and I used to have a vegetable garden on the side of the house. I miss him so much!
****
Both sides of my family have always loved dogs. So when I was a kid we adopted Lady I, a jet black German Shepard/Collie Mix. We were the closest of friends. There are pictures of us on the couch with her holding me. We did everythign together. Then one day, I was looking outside for something I guess, and I held the door open. I didn't realize Lady was behind me. She ran out the front door and we never found her. I cried for months on end. How could she leave me? I can only hope she found a new family to live with.
At first I didn't want to get another dog. No one could replace Lady. Then daddy and I went to one of the shelters here on Long Island. We asked if they had any German Sheppard/Collie puppies. They had a buttload. The first thing I did was look for a little jet black baby girl. Dad was like are you sure? I said yes. He directed my eyes to the doggie that was eating my shoelaces as the little black dog was trying to get away from me, and did. This other doggie was multicolored (black, white, and tan) and she looked up at me with the cutest puppy eyes and said "Take me home." Okay she didn't really say that, but her eyes said that.
There's a "famous" pic of Lady, me and my daddy in the backyard smiling. I love this pic.
At first it was hard to play with Lady II because I thought in away I was cheating on Lady I. LadyII had a hard time adjusting to our house and our lifestyle. She tore a lot of things up...the couch still has claw marks. (laughing here). Anyway, dad and mom threatened to get rid of Lady and I said "If you get rid of her, you get rid of me too." We had become best friends.
We did everything together. We walked together. We chased each other around the back yard like nutjobs together. We laughed. We cried. We watched TV together (quick aside: Lady hated when I watched dog shows. She thought I thought they were better than her or that I was looking for another dog, even though I explained that I was rooting for her heritage-German Shepards and Collies. Also, when we finally got Animal Planet, the Planets Funniest Animals became a family favorite. Mom, the dog, and I would sit downstairs and watch it together). We played poker together, and some how she always won. I'm not telling you every thing we did together-it would make this blog even longer.
Lady had very bad arthritis in her hips. One summer I had a dream that her mom, a collie (I have no idea who her mom and dad are), said to me "thank-you for taking such good care of my baby." I knew then that I was going to lose my baby dog at some point. The summer went on and we had great times still, even though Lady's health was deteriorating. I loved to massage the doggie and brush her furs. It may have felt great to her, but it felt great to me too. I even massaged her hips. At one point she had a skin tumor removed from her thigh-it was huge! Then she had a severe urinary infection. Then she had trouble getting up. So she went for cortisone shots and was on Rimadyl. I didn't think Lady was going to walk on her own again. We had helped her up manually, meaning mom or I would get behind her and help her up.
On Valentine's day, I had bought her a stuffed heart with Xs and Os on it. She was and still is my furry valentine! She looked so sad at first when I handed her the heart. I said what's wrong Odles? (My dogs were nick named Ladyodles.) Then she smiled. I think she was tickled that I thought of her on Valentine's Day.
Now Lady and I shared the same birthday. The lady at the shelter had said she was born around the 17th or 18th of February. So naturally we chose the 18th. We used to share a plain donut on our birthday. Once we got her a slew of treats and I arranged them in a maze downstairs and she scooped them up and in order too! On her very last birthday, I bought her a doggie bed, which is still in my room. I told her to lay on it and it would relieve some of the pain in her hips and help her get up a little. She was reluctant at first. I had made her all these pillows and she was like wow this one is kind of large. Anyway, one day I came into my room and there was Lady laying on the doggie bed with just her rear on the bed. I said "See, doesn't that help the pain alittle?" She smiled. She had the greatest smile ever!
A few months went by and Lady was having more accidents around thehouse, which I didn't mind cleaning. However, in May of 2003 she did walk again with no help from me. I guess that was a compromise from G-d. I asked for a miracle in curing Lady--well she wasn't cured, but she WALKED! Soon after that Lady's health began to decline. In June, I couldn't even touch her without her being in pain! On June 25th 2003 mom said hey it's time, meaning we had to put her down.
I will never let anyone convince me to do that again. I feel like a murderer. Only G-d decides who lives and dies. This is not the peoples' job!
I had to go to grief counselling for people who lost their pets. Let me tell you-I healed in about a month or so. The reason I healed so quickly was because 1. they gave me ways to deal with the grief and 2. some of those people scared the living daylights out of me. I won't tell you the stories. When dad passed in 2005 I took what I learned in that grief group and applied it. It doesn't mean the pain goes away. I lost three of my best friends. It just means that I can handle it better. And being the spiritual person I am, I talk to them all still and they appear to me in dreams. This helps me a lot.
This blog was the first time I wrote about my Dad's death. I left somethings out. It's still hard to write about, but this is part of healing a little more.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
C is for Cookies
An obvious choice for C because I wanted to sing "C is for Cookie. Is good enough for me." I have that album somewhere; a whole Sesame Street album. Yes album, not CD. For those of you not old enough to remember, albums are those round black vinyl things that mom and dad can put on a turntable.
Back to cookies: I remember baking cookies with my grandma. We aren't talkin Pillsbury cookies that you just cut and put on a cookie sheet. No, I am talking "from scratch" cookies. Grandma would pour some flour, eggs, a dash of salt and some sugar into a bowl and get the dough going. Then grandma would roll the dough out on a wooden cutting board. She had all sorts of cookie cutters for all different occasions, but if there was no occasion she had triangles, circles, squares...you name it she had it. I loved putting the cookie cutters into the dough.
I had two favorite types of cookies: chocolate chip- what kid wouldn't love a chocolate chip cookie, with freshly melted chocolate chips. It's like a Hershey's kiss cookie melting in your mouth. The other favorite is poppy seed cookies. I don't know if you can still buy poppy seeds in bags, but grandma used to get them that way. For some reason it was fun just to put the seeds into the dough and roll the dough.
After we baked them, me and Grandpa would devour most of the cookies, but we usually saved one or two for grams and mom. If my cousins were there, of course, they had some. Yes I dunked my chocolate chip cookies in my milk, but for some reason not the poppy ones. I don't know why. If we didn't have milk, which was rare, I had water or apple juice. Cookies are not the same with water or apple juice. They have a different taste, and you can't really dunk them.
Friday, April 1, 2011
B is for Bears
Why bears? Because bears are one of my favorite animals!
I wanted to to bring something to your attention. I don't like the way bears are treated! They are killed for their fur, for food, and for fun. How is it fun leaving a baby bear without their mother? The cub will die without it's mommy unless people step in. This shouldn't have to happen! All animals are put here for a reason. You don't have to like them, but I think you should try to get along with them!
The biggest threats to bears today are other bears and people and climate change.
Different Kinds of Bears:
Pandas - Pandas are mainly found in China. They are on the brink of extinction because of people and because they rarely breed. I believe they are one of the most solitary species of bear. Pandas that are around today include the Giant Panda and Qinling Panda. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/giantpanda/panda.html
Spectacled Bears - Spectacled Bear susually look like a mix of racoon and bear. Spectacled bears are also called Andean bears. They are native to South America. http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/specBear.html
Sun Bear- The Sun Bear is not hairless, bur rather has a thin coating of short fur. They are native to Southeast Asia. There is a very small subspecies native to Borneo called the Borneo Sunbear. They are a tad different looking then the other Sun Bears and are only native to Borneo. http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/
The Sloth Bear - The sloth bear is so named because of his sloth like claws. He is an insectivore, meaning he eats mostly insects.They are found in India and Sri Lanka . These are the only bears who's young ride on their back. http://www.squidoo.com/slothbears
The American Black Bear - This bear lives primarily in the United States and Canada. There are several subspecies of Black Bear. You can find out more in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_americanus
The Brown Bear - The Brown Bear has many subspecies. The largest is the Eurasian Brown Bear. These are the bears you find in Mongolia. Then there is the Alaska Brown Bear, The Kamchatka Brown Bear (or Far Eastern Brown Bear) who you can find at Kamchatka in Russia and Paramushir Island,The Eastern Siberian Brown Bear, The Grizzly Bear (which is found in Western Canada, Alaska, and the Northwestern United States. At one time they existed in the Great Plains (http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Grizzly-Bear.aspx) , The Himalayan Brown Bear (who almost looks like a cross between a dog and a teddy bear)-they are found in Nepal, Pakistan, and Northern India, Ussuri Brown Bear is found in the Russia particularly in the Southern Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Maritime Territor, Ussuri/Amur River Region, in northeastern Heiogjiang, China as well as Hokkaido, Japan, The Kodiak Bear is found in Alaska, The Syrian Brown Bear lives in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the Himalayas, the Pamir-Alai and the Tien Shan mountains-at one time they probably lived in Israel). You can find out more about these brown bears: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_arctos
There is a Grizzly-Polar bear hybrid called the prizzly, pizzly, or grolar bear. I like Prizzly myself. This bear is very rare.
Before I continue, I'd like to mention my bear friend Brutus. Brutus was rescued by Casey Andersen and Ami Otten Testa. Brutus became Casey's best friend, and won the hearts of many many people around the world. He was also Casey's best man at his wedding. He is a Grizzly bear. Huge, but cute, and very loving. Brutus teaches people all about grizzlies at Montana's Grizzly Encounter and on Expedition Grizzly which was put out by the NatGeo Wild.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/content/expedition-grizzly-3909/brutus-and-me/album-01.html <--some pictures of Brutus from baby to bear-hood.
http://www.grizzlyencounter.com/ <--information on the Montana Grizzly Encounter. Please support them! They not only helped Brutus, but a lot of other bears as well.
Polar Bear- Polar Bears live largely in the arctic circle. They are all white and their feet are designed to help them keep traction on the ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_maritimus
Asian Black Bear - This bear has a little white patch on his chest. The rest of him is black. They are found in southern Asia, Korea, northeastern China, the Russian far east, and two islands in Japan. http://a-z-animals.com/animals/asian-black-bear/
Despite what people think, Koalas are technically not bears. They are called bears because of their furry ears. However all bears are mammals. Koalas are marsupials.
For more information on bears :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear (sadly this included a long list of extinct bears too).
I do not like this notion that bears are monsters. They aren't. They are more concerned with themselves then they are with you, and that is not conceit. That is just the way bears are. They are beautiful and majestic creatures! It is RARE for a bear to attack a person, let alone attack a person for no reason. Usual causes for bear attacks are people teasing the animal, they're eating, or they're cubs are around and they are protecting them. Not to mention, sometimes bears have bad days too.
My fascination with bears began when I was little. Mom and dad would show slide shows from when they went to Yellowstone and in them of course were BEARS! I'd shriek in happiness! I still make that same high pitched sound when I see bears anywhere. I have over 200 teddies and still going strong, but one day I would like to meet a trained bear. Who knows maybe one day I'll meet Brutus?
Letter A
A is for April Fool.
Most people I know have tried the 'saran wrap on the toilet seat' to fool many waking and unsuspecting victims. Some have tried the "while you're asleep I shall place your left hand in warm water and watch you piss yourself" gag. If anyone had tried these two on me, they'd not be here now, or at least have a large laundry bill.
When I was a kid I tried the ' mom I failed my test' gag. Of course when I handed her the paper it was always 90% or above.
The single gag I remember most was an email I got from a then friend. It was a weather report stating that there was a Nor'Easter moving up the east coast and was going to hit during the night on that particular night. I also remember that it had been a particularly storm year. So of course I believed him until he wrote back with "April Fools." Of course the irony of it all is that this year a storm is going to hit us. It is sort of like G-d saying "Nanny nanny poo poo. You thought I was done with the snow, but...YOU LOSE." Actually, I don't mind the cold temperatures at all. In fact I prefer them. And no, that is not an April Fools joke.
The Yankees were smart. They decided their opening day would be March 31 instead of April 1. Why is this? I think it's because if they lost they could get on the news after and say "April Fools." Ok that didn't come out half as funny as it sounded in my head.
Are people born on April 1 April Fools or just fools in general? If you are born on this day, I am only joking. Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me. Speaking of April 1 birthdays, here are a few:
1578 William Harvey- English Physician
1732 Franz Josef Haydn- Composer
1802- Hubert Reis- Composer
1809- Nikolai Gogol-Writer
1814- Otto von Bismarck- German Chancellor
1873 - Sergei Vasilevitch Rachmaninov- Composer
1875- Edgar Wallace - Writer
1883- Lon Chaney sr-Actor
1885- Clementine Churchill
1907- Walter Kaufman-Composer
1920- Toshiro Mifune - Writer/Actor
1928- Jane Powell- Actress/Singer
1932- Debbie Reynolds- Actress
1932- Gordon Jump- Actor
1939- Ali McGraw - Actress
1939- Phil Niekro- Baseball player
1939- Rudolph Isley (the Isley Brothers)- Singer
1947- David Eisenhower- President Dwight Eisenhower's Son
1948- Jimmy Cliff- Singer
1952- Annette O'Toole- Actress
I take back all I said about fools.
If you are wondering what I am doing....Today is the start of the April A-Z in the blog world. Every day, except Sunday (poor Sunday. I hug Sunday.), bloggers must write a blog around the letters of the alphabet. Today was A. I look forward to B.
May your April Fool's Day be filled with smiles!
Most people I know have tried the 'saran wrap on the toilet seat' to fool many waking and unsuspecting victims. Some have tried the "while you're asleep I shall place your left hand in warm water and watch you piss yourself" gag. If anyone had tried these two on me, they'd not be here now, or at least have a large laundry bill.
When I was a kid I tried the ' mom I failed my test' gag. Of course when I handed her the paper it was always 90% or above.
The single gag I remember most was an email I got from a then friend. It was a weather report stating that there was a Nor'Easter moving up the east coast and was going to hit during the night on that particular night. I also remember that it had been a particularly storm year. So of course I believed him until he wrote back with "April Fools." Of course the irony of it all is that this year a storm is going to hit us. It is sort of like G-d saying "Nanny nanny poo poo. You thought I was done with the snow, but...YOU LOSE." Actually, I don't mind the cold temperatures at all. In fact I prefer them. And no, that is not an April Fools joke.
The Yankees were smart. They decided their opening day would be March 31 instead of April 1. Why is this? I think it's because if they lost they could get on the news after and say "April Fools." Ok that didn't come out half as funny as it sounded in my head.
Are people born on April 1 April Fools or just fools in general? If you are born on this day, I am only joking. Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me. Speaking of April 1 birthdays, here are a few:
1578 William Harvey- English Physician
1732 Franz Josef Haydn- Composer
1802- Hubert Reis- Composer
1809- Nikolai Gogol-Writer
1814- Otto von Bismarck- German Chancellor
1873 - Sergei Vasilevitch Rachmaninov- Composer
1875- Edgar Wallace - Writer
1883- Lon Chaney sr-Actor
1885- Clementine Churchill
1907- Walter Kaufman-Composer
1920- Toshiro Mifune - Writer/Actor
1928- Jane Powell- Actress/Singer
1932- Debbie Reynolds- Actress
1932- Gordon Jump- Actor
1939- Ali McGraw - Actress
1939- Phil Niekro- Baseball player
1939- Rudolph Isley (the Isley Brothers)- Singer
1947- David Eisenhower- President Dwight Eisenhower's Son
1948- Jimmy Cliff- Singer
1952- Annette O'Toole- Actress
I take back all I said about fools.
If you are wondering what I am doing....Today is the start of the April A-Z in the blog world. Every day, except Sunday (poor Sunday. I hug Sunday.), bloggers must write a blog around the letters of the alphabet. Today was A. I look forward to B.
May your April Fool's Day be filled with smiles!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Rough Draft
I would like to thank fellow Long Island poet, Peter V. Dugan for the title to this poem. Also, I still haven't decided if I am making this poem longer or keeping it as is. As always, tell me what you think. Thank-you in advance. ;)
rough draft
rough draft
sketches in words
paintings and ink
the brain fandangos
and the gears of the mind move in time
while the hand waltzes with the pen
gently gliding across the page
blending in, loose ends fading into the background
the focal point—a single “the”
that winds the entire story around “it,”
draws the reader in
and the eyes wander from word to word,
brush stroke to brush stroke
paying fine attention to detail
and then the fuller picture emerges
Ode to My Allergies
No this is not in true ode form. lol. Quick back story to this poem: I was talking to fellow Long Island Poet, Jay Jii, and I was talking about my allergies. He said I should write a poem about it. So I did. This was the end result.
Ode to My Allergies
Morning breaks and I start coughing
A sign of what's to come
My nose runs the Boston Marathon
No stretching beforehand, it just takes off
Looks back at me, the great Sphinx
And runs further away
Until right before the finish line
It slows down and backs up
Glues itself in place
And causes a traffic jam in my sinuses...
I open my mouth to speak
Only nothing comes out
I haven't a voice
And I admit to some that's a blessing
I clear my throat
I sound like a cat hacking up hairballs
I take a Benedryl, which completely knocks me out..
I wake up and I start coughing again
And then one eye starts to itch
I take a tissue and dab it
Waterfalls emerge from my tear ducts
As if my heart had been broken
Onions look at me and start to cry
Someone asks me “what's wrong?”
To which I reply with a hefty sneeze
And they answer their own question
“Oh it's just your allergies.”
c2011 Lady Samantha
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