Personal Evolution (Haiku)

 

To where did they go?

Finished, or not, they move on.

A present is passed.

Life's situations

Are presents, with which we deal.

They overlap.

They are Boolean

Worked simultaneously.

Complete, we move on.

What's in Your Pocket? (Haiku)

 

This is the new thing.

The old thing is outdated.

This is the new thing.

The product cycle.

The challenge of marketing.

How long will it take?

The churn is required

Or the ho hum would win.

Commodities rule.

Passe' is no fun.

A message from marketers,

Must have the latest.

The News (Haiku)

 

Just give me the facts,

But you give your conclusions,

And probably false.

They are opinions,  

And are only opinions.

Perhaps based on facts.

Gossip, a disguise,

Opinion but without facts.

Is much reported.

Miscellaneous (Haiku)

 

At first there was this

And then there came along that

Now the other thing.

Success (Haiku)

 

Success is simple

Seeing what needs to be done

And then doing it

Truth (Haiku)

When stumbled upon

Truth like a shiny penny

Picked up and valued

 

Peekaboo Breasts (Haiku)

 

Once bared completely

The illusion is over

You have lost the game

And Now the End Is Here (Haiku)

 

It's not self-pity

In fact, it's like being dead

Possessions are gone

Thought to have meaning

Turned out to be meaningless

Accumulations

Dead but not buried

Fighting to remain alive

Winning the battle

The Game of Life (Haiku)

 

We play beat the clock

Every day, all our lives

And win in the ninth

Journaling (Haiku)

 

The secret is out

It's not what's being written

But it's the writing

My Older Sister Barbara

Her husband called yesterday.  She died at about 6 PM in Gainesville GA.  She'd requested to be let be, i.e., not go back into the hospital, and let come what may.  She was 85 years old.

Those of us she left behind are grieving the loss of a dear person, a wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, and good friend.  She helped so many sort things out when they felt troubled.  She, like her parents, was of superior intelligence.  Able to keep her head when all around her were losing theirs.

She had a sharp wit as well.  One time, when I boasted to my parents, and her, at the dinner table, that I'd learned a tune on the clarinet and played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for them, she said it was really nice except for the middle part; between the first note and the last.

Our lives were intertwined from my birth.  My mother asked her what she would name her little brother.  She said Johnny Boy and so I was.  She named me!  

We had conflicts, as all siblings do, as we were growing up.  In retrospect, I remember it do with her assuming she could boss me around since she was a little older.  That all went away before we were twenty.

We shared a bedroom until we were teenagers.  My mother and father had vociferous arguments about his business, we would be upstairs in our beds, and I could hear her crying and she would not be consoled.  

Those arguments affected both of us.  I didn't cry but the experience of them stayed with me, undetected, for a long time.  Then I dealt with it.  I think she, too, dealt with the carry-over, either with or without help.

Her major project at the house, in which we were raised, was the finishing out of the front room of the basement.  She designed and carried it out without a lot of help, and it was well done.

When Laboure' HS for girls was merged with St. Andreas HS for boys in St. Louis, she met Joe.  He was a senior, she a junior at the time.  They were attracted to each other and were married in June of 1957 just after he graduated from St. Louis University.  They were still married yesterday, more than 65 years.  Now death has parted them.

She had three daughters, all successful and independent women.  One granddaughter, also successful.  The family moved to the Atlanta environs in, or about, 1964 for him to pursue his career.  It also gave them freedom from the yoke of their parents who expected them to "be there."  They continued to live in Georgia and now the remainder of the family is there too.

Barbara went to work out of high school for Ruberoid, a roofing materials manufacturer in St. Louis.  She was working there when they got married but she and Joe relocated to Kansas City for a short time then came back to St. Louis.  She was a stay-at-home mom from then on.

We were good friends as adults.  We never disagreed vocally with each other because we never argued, never told one another what was going on inside.  I think she was a lot more intuitive than I, a bit more sensitive.  

A few years ago, she began to have trouble with Parkinson's disease and the tremors that often go with it.  She had a brain implant that resolved them and was doing just fine.  Then slowly she started to have trouble with oxygen absorption and that is to which she finally succumbed.

There will be a memorial service in October.  I think she was a practicing Roman Catholic.

So, I bid farewell to my only sibling, sadly but reconciled that this is what she wanted.

Novelty (Haiku)

 

We throw it away

When the novelty wears off

Whatever it is

True for some people

True for almost anything

Including cities

Cause and Effect (Haiku)

 

Pay's involved in it

We're either paying or paid

Otherwise nothing

Especially true

When the novelty wears off

Of any venture

Character Sketch for Todd Roddick in Murder Behind the Curtain by Ann Watterman

 

“Mature actor and horror film veteran, costumed as such.”

Todd Roddick is 80 years old.   He has been acting since he was a teenager, attended what became the Youth Performing Arts School and attended college at UofL where he graduated with an MFA.

His “career” never really took off, however, and he appeared in New York on soap operas in supporting roles for about twenty years.  Then he was recognized by a casting director as being ideal for a role in “The Dark Side” and appeared as the lead monster for another twenty years in episodes that were broadcast after The Late Show on Friday nights.  In all, he appeared in more than 30 episodes.  Vincent Price was his ideal.

It was during this period that a fan base developed and he was in moderate demand for personal appearances, especially at Comic con and similar trade expos.  Sadly, even this ride came to an end about ten years ago.

It was at this time that he caught the attention of the casting director for Slasher Films.  He was hired by them as a central character for a series of films based on a paranormal/monster story line that retold crimes with that sort of twist.

He realizes that his career has not been all that successful but is satisfied that he did the best he could under the circumstances.  Those of being less than a heroic, romantic lead and more of a side-kick type of character.

His career and lifestyle are compatible.  He is an ego-centric hypochondriac who self-medicates to ease his imaginary ailments.  Some of his medications are borderline illegal without prescription and tend to send him on flights of fancy that, putting it kindly, make him interesting.  In fact, those close to him are quite fed-up with his behavior.  

Undaunted by the disapproval of those around him, he continues as he has.  It is a mixture of bravado, inflated ego, and insensitivity, or better, disregard for those near him.  He is not mean, simply self-absorbed.  He would never do anything to hurt another emotionally or physically.  He doesn’t have enough of a connection to anyone for that.  

The Struggle (Haiku)

 

The battle continues

Between the haves and have nots

Whatever it is

Let me have some, now

No, be it wealth or knowledge

I'm afraid of you

Or afraid of it

It being what you will do

When you have, not I

Yet there is enough

For us both to have plenty

If only you could see

In Any Performance (Haiku)

 

Improving secret

No after shot dialogue

You can't change it then

The time for the "word"

Is before taking the shot

Then quiet inside

It will work in golf

It will also work in life

Practice, don't regret

Spamalot (Haiku)

Look on the bright side 

Attitude doesn't change facts 

But opens the mind 

It's just a flesh wound 

All right, we'll call it a draw 

Come back here and fight 

I am not dead yet 

So I may as well be wed 

Cos I'm not yet dead 

I am all alone 

There's no one here but me 

Ignoring Patsy 

A discarded bush 

It proves to be the answer 

To changing the mood

The play commences

There's a wedding at the end

A royal wedding

The Ways of Men and Women (Haiku)

 

A place to put it

Continually seeking

Sometimes finding it

The place however

Always evaluating

May just allow it

Or not

Incompatible C's (Haiku)

 

Allow not the critic

To kill creativity

Ex- or Internal

Breakthrough (Haiku)

A conundrum solved

God is a collective noun

Now it all makes sense

The Little Bird (Haiku)

 

So, I asked of him

Do you know you are pretty?

He said, "Yes, I do.

"I know the others

We are birds of a feather

We stick together.

"I see the others

And in being one with them

How I look, I know."

Striving (Haiku)

 

I am what I am

Not what I was before now

Not what I will be

La Philosophie a Moi (Haiku)

I am subjective

I reason, think, and conclude

Take it or leave it

Motivation (Haiku)

 

He does what he does

He doesn't even know why

Many opinions

Asking anyone

You will get different answers

All somewhat correct

No one knows for sure

So many phantoms at work

Past, Present, and Future

Flowers and Bees (Haiku)

So there are flowers 

Advertising a reward

Take my pollen, please?

Then there are the bees

Flitting about the garden

Look what we have here

All Hail Mr. Murphy (Haiku)

 If it can, it will.

If you want it to, it won't.

One of Murphy's Laws

Character Sketch of Mr. Justice Wainwright

Mr. Justice Wainwright, Judge in the trial of Leonard Vole for the murder of Emily French on October 14.

That is the title to which I am referred in court and written articles.  My first name is John but it is never mentioned in proceedings.  I was born in London on Christmas eve in the year 1900.  My family was part of the upper classes of England, we lived in a flat in the fashionable West end and I attended all the right schools to allow for a career in the Law. 

I graduated from University of Cambridge Law at the University of Cambridge in 1924.  I began my law career at one of the larger firms in London as a clerk and eventually worked my way forward, choosing to be a barrister.  After 10 years as a barrister, I was appointed to the bench by the Queen and I have been in the position of Mr. Justice since that appointment when I was 46 years of age.

My reputation as a Mr. Justice is quite good.  I am regarded as fair and impartial to any and all who come before me.  I subscribe to the innocent until proven guilty philosophy.  I am also aware that barristers “coach” and otherwise prepare their witnesses for giving evidence. Personally, I have a family to whom I am devoted.  My two children are well on their way to being well-established members of society.  My wife, Mildred, of more than 25 years has been supportive of the demands of society.

There was an incident, about eight years ago, when I was infatuated with another woman on my staff.  She was young, impressionable, blonde, and willing.  I soon, however, saw the error of my ways and ended it.  There are scant few who know about this and I’ve never had to broach the subject with Mildred.

As one can imagine, the community of practitioners of the law in London is rather small.  There is a professional familiarity among all who are in the courtroom including the clerks, ushers, stenographers, wardens, and even the police inspectors who appear as witnesses from time to time.  Myers and Robarts are quite familiar to me, not only from frequent appearances in my court but also from social interaction throughout the years.

This particular case has received a disproportionate amount of publicity.  This may be due to the heinous nature of the crime and the fact that there is not a whole lot of other news at the moment.  I’ve seen the press and feel that they have found the prisoner guilty even before the trial.

Aside from the press, I know nothing about this case.  I also am aware that the press doesn’t always get it right.  I’ve seen the witness list and I am surprised to see that the wife of the prisoner is on the list for the prosecution.  This is most extraordinary and I anticipate more surprises as the trial moves along.

I will see the witnesses, most of whom for the first time, when the trial opens in the morning.  Meanwhile, I have some correspondence with which to deal.