Susie Duncan Sexton's Blog, page 20
January 14, 2014
Latest Old Type Writer: TWO FOR THE ROAD --a Pre-Submitted Dual Eulogy
New "Old Type Writer" column on Jennifer Zartman Romano's "Talk of the Town." This piece is entitled "Two for the Road - a Pre-Submitted Dual Eulogy" in which I salute a cat who has made a remarkable difference in my life, weaving song lyrics and poetry and a reference or two to Ms. Audrey Hepburn.
You can read the column at www.talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewriter - and if you see some words in red in the text (some with the word "preview" following), those are links to video clips and other fun discoveries to enhance your reading experience! Enjoy!
TWO FOR THE ROAD --a Pre-Submitted Dual Eulogy
"If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two for the road, we'll travel down the years, collecting precious memories, selecting souvenirs, and living life the way we please. In the summertime the sun will shine, in winter we will drink summer wine, and any day that you are mine, will be a lovely day. As long as love still wears a smile, I know that we'll be two for the road, and that's a long long while." (-songwriters Henry Mancini & Henry Nicola)
"The trouble with a kitten is that…eventually it becomes a…cat!" wrote snide poet Ogden Nash.
I, likewise, resent catty folks whom I cross the street to avoid, with a sprinter-type determined dash.
Copycats "protect" themselves with copyrights' (© © ©) band aids - - post theft, pirating creativity to earn cash?
"Curiosity killed the cat" or so 'tis said; knowledge's not wicked, but nosiness produces trash!
(HOWEVER,)
I have spent sixteen Christmases with the finest "prince" of my dreams
Who's held me together whenever I fall apart at the seams,
He's grown shaggy, deaf, lumpy, slender of build, sneezing as he dreams.
His latest vet bill describes him as "unkempt"? (YET) "No brushing ," he screams!
T. S. Eliot praised "Old Deuteronomy" who lived "many lives in succession" in 1939's "Old Possum's Book (of Practical Cats)" :
"The cars and the lorries run over the kerb
And the villagers put up a notice ROAD CLOSED--
So that nothing untoward may chance to disturb
Deuteronomy's rest when he feels so disposed."
Ms. Golightly, nouveau-sophisticate, Tiffany's hillbilly, spoke more directly: "I'm like 'Cat' here, a no-name slob…I'm not Holly. I'm not Lula Mae, either. We just took up one day by the river. I'll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead. It's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear. You mustn't give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do the stronger they get, until they're strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky… We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other." (-Truman Capote)
This past holiday two new Audrey Hepburn dolls provided thrills --
"Sabrina", "Princess Ann" nestled in my scrawny arms! Fashion frills!
Thanks to a sensitive caring son, what I needed 'stead of pills.
(He'll get the girls back when he reads one of my 25 cent wills!)
"The days dwindle down to a precious few…September …November…" (-K. Weill, M. Anderson)
Neighbor boy David screeching out a garage band tune -- remember?
Balmy June festive night…only I seemed to see dusty kitten
Smack in middle of bricked alley-way -- licking one white mitten.
(This Kipling "Cat" who "Walked by Himself" ….)
Neighbor girl Jeanne located a butterfly net -- we coaxed. Lured.
"Cat" teased for three days…traffic whizzed…I won. Inside. Bath time. "Cat" purred.
Wild one…few doc visits…rugged! Variety? Heinz "Russian Blue"
"Kitty scar" chin to sternum, both green eyes ever quivering -- true. (TRUE!)
My best friend and I, without effort, formed a mystical bond fast.
"Golden Compass"? Each other… reader Andria confirmed -- at last. (- Philip Pullman, 1995)
I laugh, he trills…I weep, he soothes…I fret, fear, mourn. He calms…we thrive.
Exact same age we two in 2011, but he leapt ahead (twice five).
Nothing perfect... wonderful...unblemished… divine…lasts forever…
When compasses evaporate, WE'LL disappear as ties sever.
"Moon River , wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way…
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting, round the bend
My Huckleberry Friend, Moon River, and me." (-Johnny Mercer)
________________________
thanks for these comments!
Betty Bob Buckley: "Lovely words in memory of a beautiful friend! Thanks for sharing, Roy. I would love to meet your Mother one day. I identify with her spirit...we are already friends, I feel."
Elizabeth Lean: "one beautiful soul xxxx ♥"
Judy Nelson: "Wonderful! Thanks!"
Mary Shaull: "I finished Susie's latest book. I so identified with the childhood years. I should copy some photos and send to her, as some are almost identical to hers. I would love to have lived next door to her, so she'd encourage me to fly with her."
Andria Riley Anderson?: "My name is in it! Woot!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
You can read the column at www.talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewriter - and if you see some words in red in the text (some with the word "preview" following), those are links to video clips and other fun discoveries to enhance your reading experience! Enjoy!
TWO FOR THE ROAD --a Pre-Submitted Dual Eulogy
"If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two for the road, we'll travel down the years, collecting precious memories, selecting souvenirs, and living life the way we please. In the summertime the sun will shine, in winter we will drink summer wine, and any day that you are mine, will be a lovely day. As long as love still wears a smile, I know that we'll be two for the road, and that's a long long while." (-songwriters Henry Mancini & Henry Nicola)
"The trouble with a kitten is that…eventually it becomes a…cat!" wrote snide poet Ogden Nash.
I, likewise, resent catty folks whom I cross the street to avoid, with a sprinter-type determined dash.
Copycats "protect" themselves with copyrights' (© © ©) band aids - - post theft, pirating creativity to earn cash?
"Curiosity killed the cat" or so 'tis said; knowledge's not wicked, but nosiness produces trash!
(HOWEVER,)
I have spent sixteen Christmases with the finest "prince" of my dreams
Who's held me together whenever I fall apart at the seams,
He's grown shaggy, deaf, lumpy, slender of build, sneezing as he dreams.
His latest vet bill describes him as "unkempt"? (YET) "No brushing ," he screams!
T. S. Eliot praised "Old Deuteronomy" who lived "many lives in succession" in 1939's "Old Possum's Book (of Practical Cats)" :
"The cars and the lorries run over the kerb
And the villagers put up a notice ROAD CLOSED--
So that nothing untoward may chance to disturb
Deuteronomy's rest when he feels so disposed."
Ms. Golightly, nouveau-sophisticate, Tiffany's hillbilly, spoke more directly: "I'm like 'Cat' here, a no-name slob…I'm not Holly. I'm not Lula Mae, either. We just took up one day by the river. I'll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead. It's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear. You mustn't give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do the stronger they get, until they're strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky… We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other." (-Truman Capote)
This past holiday two new Audrey Hepburn dolls provided thrills --
"Sabrina", "Princess Ann" nestled in my scrawny arms! Fashion frills!
Thanks to a sensitive caring son, what I needed 'stead of pills.
(He'll get the girls back when he reads one of my 25 cent wills!)
"The days dwindle down to a precious few…September …November…" (-K. Weill, M. Anderson)
Neighbor boy David screeching out a garage band tune -- remember?
Balmy June festive night…only I seemed to see dusty kitten
Smack in middle of bricked alley-way -- licking one white mitten.
(This Kipling "Cat" who "Walked by Himself" ….)
Neighbor girl Jeanne located a butterfly net -- we coaxed. Lured.
"Cat" teased for three days…traffic whizzed…I won. Inside. Bath time. "Cat" purred.
Wild one…few doc visits…rugged! Variety? Heinz "Russian Blue"
"Kitty scar" chin to sternum, both green eyes ever quivering -- true. (TRUE!)
My best friend and I, without effort, formed a mystical bond fast.
"Golden Compass"? Each other… reader Andria confirmed -- at last. (- Philip Pullman, 1995)
I laugh, he trills…I weep, he soothes…I fret, fear, mourn. He calms…we thrive.
Exact same age we two in 2011, but he leapt ahead (twice five).
Nothing perfect... wonderful...unblemished… divine…lasts forever…
When compasses evaporate, WE'LL disappear as ties sever.
"Moon River , wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way…
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting, round the bend
My Huckleberry Friend, Moon River, and me." (-Johnny Mercer)
________________________
thanks for these comments!
Betty Bob Buckley: "Lovely words in memory of a beautiful friend! Thanks for sharing, Roy. I would love to meet your Mother one day. I identify with her spirit...we are already friends, I feel."
Elizabeth Lean: "one beautiful soul xxxx ♥"
Judy Nelson: "Wonderful! Thanks!"
Mary Shaull: "I finished Susie's latest book. I so identified with the childhood years. I should copy some photos and send to her, as some are almost identical to hers. I would love to have lived next door to her, so she'd encourage me to fly with her."
Andria Riley Anderson?: "My name is in it! Woot!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
January 1, 2014
Homeward Angle: Stop taking photos of sandwiches - Betty Buckley’s “Ah, Men!”
Special guest star! This month I’m turning my column over to my boy Roy – A.K.A. “Inky.” The Post & Mail’s prodigal son returns!
As a holiday treat, Roy took his ma and pa to the bright lights, big city of Indianapolis to see and hear the divine Betty Buckley perform at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club. His write-up follows … and be sure to check out Roy’s blog at www.reelroyreviews.com where he reviews movies, theatre, music, and any other crazy stuff that strikes his fancy…
Facebook is a funny thing. Such a powerful tool that could do so much to create positive social change is being used for rather mundane, likely superficial, arguably dumb things: bragging about new homes, taking photos of sandwiches, complaining about Lady Gaga.
I love (not) the people who opine about “declining morals of society” and then post photos of themselves doing body shots at a Jimmy Buffett concert. Accountability? Yeah, apparently only when it’s a one-way street headed to Sarah Palin-ville.
And then there are the friends (and sometime relatives) who bloviate about how some people have “too many friends” and “how could you know all of those people” and “aren’t you afraid of identity theft…cause you want to waaaaaaatch.” I don’t know what motivates this last string of comments: jealousy, annoyance, small-picture thinking, or the fact that the more friends one has the harder it is to stalk all their comings and goings on the social network.
So why am I on this annoyingly self-serving high horse? Perhaps I’m full of myself because I had the privilege of meeting a Tony Award-winning performer I’ve long-admired. I was listening to her CDs in college when my fraternity brothers were blasting Bob Marley and Pearl Jam on the front lawn.
What does this have to do with Facebook? Well, said performer has very smartly leveraged the communication platform to connect with generations of fans in an authentic and direct way, without the meddling intermediary of a PR agent. I was beyond geeked a few years back when we “friended” one another in cyberspace and struck up conversations over the intervening months about politics, movies, and animals.
Who is this tech-savvy celebrity? Betty Buckley.
Betty Buckley is known to some musical theatre neophytes as “Abby” on Eight is Enough or as Sissy Spacek’s sympathetic (slap notwithstanding) gym teacher in Carrie. To some adventurous cinephiles, Buckley is remembered for her character turns in Tender Mercies, Frantic, or The Happening. And for millennials who subsist on a steady diet of the CW and ABCFamily, they would have seen Buckley pop up on brother Norman Buckley’s saucily fun Pretty Little Liars. (Norman and mom Betty Bob are fantastic Facebookers as well!)
But for us theatre nuts, Ms. Buckley will always be known for her knockout performances in such classic musicals as 1776, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Cats, and Sunset Boulevard among many others. And for her series of jazz-infused, confessional cabaret recordings over the past 20+ years.
One of her latest cabaret offerings – recording as well as live performance – is a show called “Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway!” The nifty conceit of the show is Buckley’s fulfillment of a lifelong desire to perform all the great Broadway anthems written expressly for men.
Given our Facebook connection with Ms. Buckley, there was no way we would miss seeing her perform in Indianapolis’ most splendid room: The Cabaret at The Columbia Club, a surprisingly intimate yet Eloise-esque marble-floored, velvet-curtained, lost-moment-in-time hall with a ceiling-to-floor window overlooking the twinkling lights of Monument Circle.
You must catch this show if it comes anywhere near your community. It’s not often you get to hear a legend in person, let alone one as relatable as Buckley. Her between-song patter is a hoot: for example, as a kid, she desperately wanted to be a “Jet” in her local community’s production of West Side Story, and these anecdotes offer the perfect context for her song choices.
And, oh, what song choices! Many of my personal favorites – from The Fantasticks‘ rallying “I Can See It” to Guys and Dolls’ elegiac “More I Cannot Wish You” – are featured. The Sweeney Todd medley effortlessly marries “Not While I’m Around,” “Johanna,” and “My Friends,” capturing the melodiously tragic arc of Sondheim’s best show in a perfect seven-minute bon-bon.
Accompanist and arranger Christian Jacob helps Buckley transform the bombast of The Pajama Game's signature tune “Hey There” into a haunting, undulating meditation on regret, loneliness, and heartache. But the show’s highlight is a ten-minute Spike Jones-meets-Mel Brooks riff on My Fair Lady’s “Hymn to Him” in which Buckley runs through nearly every noteworthy male role in the musical theatre canon and winkingly expounds on how much better her take on said roles would be.
We have admired and appreciated Ms. Buckley’s talent throughout her career; we are grateful to live in an age where technology allows us to appreciate the person as well as the performer, an age that can inspire thought and expression and compassion and kindness … if people will let it … and stop taking photos of their d*mn sandwiches.
neat feedback!
Christine Greenwald: "Nice write-up! Betty Buckley is a true star and real performer."
Tina Braid: "Pretty awesome, Roy!"
Mary Maday: "Wonderful. Good job, Roy!"
Maureen Mansfield: "Well done!"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "Thanks, Roy; doing a great job. Susie, you're doing an awesome job too. Love you both."
Paula Rivera-Kerr: "Love this! Particularly love your conversational use of the following words: bloviate, cinephile and bombast! You don't need an intermediary PR agent because you have essentially become one on your own. BTW, I like taking pics of sandwiches, thankyouverymuch!"
Beth Kennedy: "great choice, Susie! you know how to pick your writers!"
Betty Buckley: "Thank you, Roy. Lovely. So nice seeing you guys in Indy. Wishing you and Susie a most wonderful 2014!
Mary Shaull: "Ah! Nice, Roy. 'More I cannot wish you.' brings me to tears, for some reason. I think it's the velvet I can bring you -- pretty velvet..... Am I right? So tender. Nice tribute to Betty Buckley and good shots of you all. Thanks for brightening a lousy, blizzardy, horrendously cold day. I do not like winter."
Lucy Grant: "Roy, thanks again for sending. When you get my note you'll find I was somewhat prescient...you writing that is...would love to hear more. I adore Betty Buckley. We were lucky enough to hear/see her in 'Cats' and your column brought back great memories of that experience but frankly, it's been years since we've followed her. Hope the show comes to Durham as we do have the fourth largest ticket selling venue in the U.S.....hard to believe but true....so just maybe."
Betty Bob Buckley: "Enjoyed reading your column! It's fun to follow your writings."
Mary Maday: "Love it! Shared it!"
Bob Kellogg: "Good job, Roy!"
M. Ford: "Loved the piece, although I will admit my tie was Eight is Enough, which likely says a lot about my lack of musical theatre knowledge. The good news is I do not subscribe to facebook still, so you do not have to see photos of my lunch. Who needs FB when e-mail will work? My breakfast is attached for your viewing pleasure (or sympathy). Happy new year!"
Angie Choe: "Loved the article – just got a chance to read it. What wrong with Bob Marley and Pearl Jam LOL! Totally agree about the Facebook thing. Anyway…looks like you all enjoyed seeing Betty Buckley."
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I have always liked Susie's columns and her books. With Susie, there is always more to like every article."
Jean Armstrong: "Roy, you have some big shoes to fill. Good Luck!!!! All the best to Susie in your next adventure...."
Ramona Zachary: "Love this Roy, and Susie ! I saw Betty at the Briar Street Theatre in Chicago, 1993, in A.R.Gurney's THE FOURTH WALL. George Segal was her hubby. She's delightful."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
As a holiday treat, Roy took his ma and pa to the bright lights, big city of Indianapolis to see and hear the divine Betty Buckley perform at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club. His write-up follows … and be sure to check out Roy’s blog at www.reelroyreviews.com where he reviews movies, theatre, music, and any other crazy stuff that strikes his fancy…
Facebook is a funny thing. Such a powerful tool that could do so much to create positive social change is being used for rather mundane, likely superficial, arguably dumb things: bragging about new homes, taking photos of sandwiches, complaining about Lady Gaga.
I love (not) the people who opine about “declining morals of society” and then post photos of themselves doing body shots at a Jimmy Buffett concert. Accountability? Yeah, apparently only when it’s a one-way street headed to Sarah Palin-ville.
And then there are the friends (and sometime relatives) who bloviate about how some people have “too many friends” and “how could you know all of those people” and “aren’t you afraid of identity theft…cause you want to waaaaaaatch.” I don’t know what motivates this last string of comments: jealousy, annoyance, small-picture thinking, or the fact that the more friends one has the harder it is to stalk all their comings and goings on the social network.
So why am I on this annoyingly self-serving high horse? Perhaps I’m full of myself because I had the privilege of meeting a Tony Award-winning performer I’ve long-admired. I was listening to her CDs in college when my fraternity brothers were blasting Bob Marley and Pearl Jam on the front lawn.
What does this have to do with Facebook? Well, said performer has very smartly leveraged the communication platform to connect with generations of fans in an authentic and direct way, without the meddling intermediary of a PR agent. I was beyond geeked a few years back when we “friended” one another in cyberspace and struck up conversations over the intervening months about politics, movies, and animals.
Who is this tech-savvy celebrity? Betty Buckley.
Betty Buckley is known to some musical theatre neophytes as “Abby” on Eight is Enough or as Sissy Spacek’s sympathetic (slap notwithstanding) gym teacher in Carrie. To some adventurous cinephiles, Buckley is remembered for her character turns in Tender Mercies, Frantic, or The Happening. And for millennials who subsist on a steady diet of the CW and ABCFamily, they would have seen Buckley pop up on brother Norman Buckley’s saucily fun Pretty Little Liars. (Norman and mom Betty Bob are fantastic Facebookers as well!)
But for us theatre nuts, Ms. Buckley will always be known for her knockout performances in such classic musicals as 1776, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Cats, and Sunset Boulevard among many others. And for her series of jazz-infused, confessional cabaret recordings over the past 20+ years.
One of her latest cabaret offerings – recording as well as live performance – is a show called “Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway!” The nifty conceit of the show is Buckley’s fulfillment of a lifelong desire to perform all the great Broadway anthems written expressly for men.
Given our Facebook connection with Ms. Buckley, there was no way we would miss seeing her perform in Indianapolis’ most splendid room: The Cabaret at The Columbia Club, a surprisingly intimate yet Eloise-esque marble-floored, velvet-curtained, lost-moment-in-time hall with a ceiling-to-floor window overlooking the twinkling lights of Monument Circle.
You must catch this show if it comes anywhere near your community. It’s not often you get to hear a legend in person, let alone one as relatable as Buckley. Her between-song patter is a hoot: for example, as a kid, she desperately wanted to be a “Jet” in her local community’s production of West Side Story, and these anecdotes offer the perfect context for her song choices.
And, oh, what song choices! Many of my personal favorites – from The Fantasticks‘ rallying “I Can See It” to Guys and Dolls’ elegiac “More I Cannot Wish You” – are featured. The Sweeney Todd medley effortlessly marries “Not While I’m Around,” “Johanna,” and “My Friends,” capturing the melodiously tragic arc of Sondheim’s best show in a perfect seven-minute bon-bon.
Accompanist and arranger Christian Jacob helps Buckley transform the bombast of The Pajama Game's signature tune “Hey There” into a haunting, undulating meditation on regret, loneliness, and heartache. But the show’s highlight is a ten-minute Spike Jones-meets-Mel Brooks riff on My Fair Lady’s “Hymn to Him” in which Buckley runs through nearly every noteworthy male role in the musical theatre canon and winkingly expounds on how much better her take on said roles would be.
We have admired and appreciated Ms. Buckley’s talent throughout her career; we are grateful to live in an age where technology allows us to appreciate the person as well as the performer, an age that can inspire thought and expression and compassion and kindness … if people will let it … and stop taking photos of their d*mn sandwiches.
neat feedback!
Christine Greenwald: "Nice write-up! Betty Buckley is a true star and real performer."
Tina Braid: "Pretty awesome, Roy!"
Mary Maday: "Wonderful. Good job, Roy!"
Maureen Mansfield: "Well done!"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "Thanks, Roy; doing a great job. Susie, you're doing an awesome job too. Love you both."
Paula Rivera-Kerr: "Love this! Particularly love your conversational use of the following words: bloviate, cinephile and bombast! You don't need an intermediary PR agent because you have essentially become one on your own. BTW, I like taking pics of sandwiches, thankyouverymuch!"
Beth Kennedy: "great choice, Susie! you know how to pick your writers!"
Betty Buckley: "Thank you, Roy. Lovely. So nice seeing you guys in Indy. Wishing you and Susie a most wonderful 2014!
Mary Shaull: "Ah! Nice, Roy. 'More I cannot wish you.' brings me to tears, for some reason. I think it's the velvet I can bring you -- pretty velvet..... Am I right? So tender. Nice tribute to Betty Buckley and good shots of you all. Thanks for brightening a lousy, blizzardy, horrendously cold day. I do not like winter."
Lucy Grant: "Roy, thanks again for sending. When you get my note you'll find I was somewhat prescient...you writing that is...would love to hear more. I adore Betty Buckley. We were lucky enough to hear/see her in 'Cats' and your column brought back great memories of that experience but frankly, it's been years since we've followed her. Hope the show comes to Durham as we do have the fourth largest ticket selling venue in the U.S.....hard to believe but true....so just maybe."
Betty Bob Buckley: "Enjoyed reading your column! It's fun to follow your writings."
Mary Maday: "Love it! Shared it!"
Bob Kellogg: "Good job, Roy!"
M. Ford: "Loved the piece, although I will admit my tie was Eight is Enough, which likely says a lot about my lack of musical theatre knowledge. The good news is I do not subscribe to facebook still, so you do not have to see photos of my lunch. Who needs FB when e-mail will work? My breakfast is attached for your viewing pleasure (or sympathy). Happy new year!"
Angie Choe: "Loved the article – just got a chance to read it. What wrong with Bob Marley and Pearl Jam LOL! Totally agree about the Facebook thing. Anyway…looks like you all enjoyed seeing Betty Buckley."
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I have always liked Susie's columns and her books. With Susie, there is always more to like every article."
Jean Armstrong: "Roy, you have some big shoes to fill. Good Luck!!!! All the best to Susie in your next adventure...."
Ramona Zachary: "Love this Roy, and Susie ! I saw Betty at the Briar Street Theatre in Chicago, 1993, in A.R.Gurney's THE FOURTH WALL. George Segal was her hubby. She's delightful."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
December 20, 2013
if I were a stray ....
barack, what is your problem? start caring about animals...arghhh. I voted for him...but his record on animals stinks...however, not one of the politicians care about animals...no room in their hearts for anyone but the koch brothers types and themselves. so sick of the lot of them...the LOT of them.
I want to like Cuomo...googled him because I love his chutzpah ... and saw that he has some wacky personal baggage...but I still like his spunk. would he make a great prez...I think he might be a possibility? barack IS missing a spine...I kept hoping he would grow one? hasn't yet...
__________________________
if I were a stray...I would NOT want to be in NC... gassing, gassing, gassing.
this is a horror...I have read articles saying that IF you save a dog from the life of straying you may not be doing them any favors IF you dump the animal in a kill "shelter"...the belief being they have more chances on their own ... and might even find an owner...I am curious as to how for instance IF someone finds a kitten and dumps a kitten at the shelter that person qualifies as a good Samaritan? are people so self-centered they cannot be bothered with a kitten? guess it depends upon whether that kitten is in definite harm's way in horrid weather or heavy traffic...people just baffle me...BAFFLE! why not raise that kitten yourself? duh?
my nephew opined this very thing to me years ago...and now I believe he was correct. If YOU yourself cannot open your heart and your arms to a stray, let it be? arghhh. "shelter" sounds like a good word, however "animal control" as part of a shelter's name sounds ominous...like animals are considered pests to busy self-involved landscaping humans and need to be dissolved into pet food and fertilizer...just puzzled by the whole twisty mess. spins and twists to justify KILLING? cannot program...never will be able to program human rationalizations for "not being bothered or put out of their way" to stop and care and get muddy...and experience the bond like no other...the bond of caring enough to take a chance on a suffering soul right before your eyes. scratching my head...
these poor souls can run up a tab at the hands of humans who have them in captivity...it is so ironic...either pay up...or bang! seems a little profit-motivated?
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
I want to like Cuomo...googled him because I love his chutzpah ... and saw that he has some wacky personal baggage...but I still like his spunk. would he make a great prez...I think he might be a possibility? barack IS missing a spine...I kept hoping he would grow one? hasn't yet...
__________________________
if I were a stray...I would NOT want to be in NC... gassing, gassing, gassing.
this is a horror...I have read articles saying that IF you save a dog from the life of straying you may not be doing them any favors IF you dump the animal in a kill "shelter"...the belief being they have more chances on their own ... and might even find an owner...I am curious as to how for instance IF someone finds a kitten and dumps a kitten at the shelter that person qualifies as a good Samaritan? are people so self-centered they cannot be bothered with a kitten? guess it depends upon whether that kitten is in definite harm's way in horrid weather or heavy traffic...people just baffle me...BAFFLE! why not raise that kitten yourself? duh?
my nephew opined this very thing to me years ago...and now I believe he was correct. If YOU yourself cannot open your heart and your arms to a stray, let it be? arghhh. "shelter" sounds like a good word, however "animal control" as part of a shelter's name sounds ominous...like animals are considered pests to busy self-involved landscaping humans and need to be dissolved into pet food and fertilizer...just puzzled by the whole twisty mess. spins and twists to justify KILLING? cannot program...never will be able to program human rationalizations for "not being bothered or put out of their way" to stop and care and get muddy...and experience the bond like no other...the bond of caring enough to take a chance on a suffering soul right before your eyes. scratching my head...
these poor souls can run up a tab at the hands of humans who have them in captivity...it is so ironic...either pay up...or bang! seems a little profit-motivated?
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
December 18, 2013
welcome to circus world!
YES...WE PROMISE! evolution means humans are getting brighter and more inclusive and more peaceful...it's the politicians who think only of themselves! and the people benefitting from corporate greed. otherwise the rest of us are kind and normal and forward thinking! right?
HOWEVER, click here to read rationalizations ... in Indiana! again. from botched education to lucrative faux religion to speciesism, sexism, racism, corporate greed. unhealthful to consume meat ... this is the NRA at work ... this is big money from many special interests at work ... if we care about the poor, we feed them...pay for their groceries --share the wealth -- invite some folks to dinner...stop the pomposity about food stamps... deer herds can be controlled through birth control...totally available... deer can be tubercular ... this state must stop bragging of red-neck status. we are better than this.
these spins are lucrative for far too many people who actually promote burgeoning deer populations so that this tragedy can occur repeatedly as a ridiculously one-sided self-indulgent "sport"...resulting in manipulative PROFIT FOR THE FEW...blood money. why is the media so gung ho on this issue? advertising revenue...money, money, money. watch for deer during "hunting" season when these targeted animals are flushed onto the ridiculously heavily trafficked highways. this "sport" causes accidents. this is profiteering at its barbaric worst. this is a crock! stay home occasionally. remember to give a damn about humane treatment of all living beings...absolutely all. stop teaching children that murder is a "sport"... we are all paying a horrid price for this twisted mania. welcome to a very red state. red with blood.
meat causes cancers, heart attacks, diabetes I & II, Parkinson's...we do no favors to feed meat to the poor. yeah, brucellosis...bovine brucellosis? and then we shall all come down with it...because the "sportsmen" pretended with all their fancy store-bought weaponry and treehouses and fashionable costumes and junk that they saved our cars from dents and our poor people -- about whom they do not give truly one $%#@ -- from starvation...BS!
unbelievable propaganda...why? not to mention the introduction of youth to the rampant killing culture we witness on a regular basis. ...I am so distressed with the media...I am surely not alone. they appear to be beholden to the folks with the most money. wow. how tragic for all of us....and animals particularly. we are all becoming victims. incredible yet so sadly "human" rather than "humane" - the lessons being taught to our youth are frightening. I am just got that newspapers are so desperate to stay alive that they have gotten on board with this horror. just out for advertising bucks...and will answer to the big daddies who hand out the most cash...actually pretty frightening stuff. yellow journalism and sensationalism, welcome to circus world! hopefully people can still communicate on the "social" network (on which folks behave like prostitutes the biggest percentage of the time).
I am not wanting to live anywhere in the world at this point...disgusted with the human race...good grief!
kids taught to kill...kids taught to blow wads of cash on weaponry and hunting gear and little costumes and all the hoopla (not to mention hideous video games).....what in the world is going on....did sarah palin do THAT much damage to delicate, IFFY brain cells across America? wow...what power she must have...people, including men and kids, imitating sarah? is this a really bad dream?
I am figuring the adults did the murder and the kid is supposed to smile for the photo op? have seen the same "poses" here...hurts human "feelings" to say one word like "WHY?" hurts their "feelings"...those tough posing killers? ironic! how about the wounds inflicted on another living being...encouraging children? wow?
click here for a fabulous article by gary hart...he calls all of this wild wild west crap a PLAGUE...he is correct...of biblical proportions...what am I failing to grasp about this insanity? people...some people...have lost their minds...have become mentally ill enough to "carry"! madness. too much Matt Dillon and Wagon Train evidently which are oddly the silliest nonsense I ever saw.
did some marketer set the “palin movement” (jesus! hunting! guns! cute glasses! hair in a topknot! too many kids!) into action for some sinister reason...if it weren't so all invasively tragic it would be funny...America is doomed unless people start speaking up...we'll be fine if good people become less reticent to offend the dunderheads with guns! NUTS!
we need A NEW TYPE OF CHEERLEADER...always wanted to be one of those flips... just only kind of the opposite of those fluffheads we all had to endure in (ugh) high school? we have got more important stuff to yell...L-O-V-E! C-A-R-E! ( I bet we spell better than your typical pom-pom brigade, too?)
paging Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor...WE'RE BAD...YEAH, WE'RE BAD! (GOOD FOR US!) whatever movie that was?
I have been rediscovering my life lately...I have been writing stuff so long that I forgot how sweet real life can be...I love to do my own thing...always have...and I am returning to that mode come hell or high water...YAY...RAH! great to tell it like it is...and if these messages make somebody wee wee and tsk tsk tsk that is just too doggone bad...it's fun to shout it out and not play-act...I love "genuine"...we can make some changes for the good...proud of that FACT!
yes, let’s get real! for example, north carolina, land of my roots, only gasses animals...many at a time...then adds the puppies and kittens to the pile of cadavers and pulls the lever again...I have written to a childhood friend who is a legislator there to stop this barbarism...but the veterinarian who also manufactures and sells (by demonstrating) the gas chambers also is a tarheel legislator. conflict of INTEREST? I have never heard one peep from frank iler the fellow I wrote extensively to about this ongoing tragedy. the bodies are then sold to be rendered into pet food? and fertilizer. live shelter animals are sold for experimentation. folks in that state whom I share bloodlines with also turn a blind eye and deaf ear to this sad situation and seem not to contact their legislators. but they do love attending church picnics to enjoy beer and hog roasts. if I have missed one who cares, I am sorry. too bad, I am so shy, right? well, LIFE should matter to all of us...and churches should be first in line to turn this horror around. a-men.
...I attended sunday school, bible school, sang in the choir...and at a pretty young age figured out what church homes are about...and it broke my eager young heart...but thank GOD for that early education. churches better evolve in order to pay the mortgages on their big fancy buildings...better let people in...not shut people out. like...duh? and I need to be re-charmed...like eve with that apple...I believe in truths in real time not bibbidi bobbidi boo...cannot believe that adults move about spouting figurative mythology as if it was ever meant to be literal...also, historians have tried to point out exactly when the good book was written but folks like myths and tall tales...I still say it is a simplistic form of social networking...gotta be seen with the right crowd to stay on the track to personal revenues...certain of that actually. I believe, I believe...tinkerbell is real...now do I get the job?
now tomorrow I shall have to hide from the thugs whom I just described...and they know who they are! drama! bad drama...but soap opera drama nevertheless...I live in the heartland hotbed of murdering animals and spouting bible verses and sleeping around and grabbing the gold ring...totally berzerko bizarre. and what will be fun is if in the long run god is not such a forgiving person up in the sky after all...and one cannot boogie down and often and still get through the pearly gates cuz god looked the other way whenever that boogeying happened...and baby it did...I have been shocked by the wildness which has morphed into "bible verses for each day of the week"?
unreal...c'mon, people, we all knew each other when? just saying.
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
HOWEVER, click here to read rationalizations ... in Indiana! again. from botched education to lucrative faux religion to speciesism, sexism, racism, corporate greed. unhealthful to consume meat ... this is the NRA at work ... this is big money from many special interests at work ... if we care about the poor, we feed them...pay for their groceries --share the wealth -- invite some folks to dinner...stop the pomposity about food stamps... deer herds can be controlled through birth control...totally available... deer can be tubercular ... this state must stop bragging of red-neck status. we are better than this.
these spins are lucrative for far too many people who actually promote burgeoning deer populations so that this tragedy can occur repeatedly as a ridiculously one-sided self-indulgent "sport"...resulting in manipulative PROFIT FOR THE FEW...blood money. why is the media so gung ho on this issue? advertising revenue...money, money, money. watch for deer during "hunting" season when these targeted animals are flushed onto the ridiculously heavily trafficked highways. this "sport" causes accidents. this is profiteering at its barbaric worst. this is a crock! stay home occasionally. remember to give a damn about humane treatment of all living beings...absolutely all. stop teaching children that murder is a "sport"... we are all paying a horrid price for this twisted mania. welcome to a very red state. red with blood.
meat causes cancers, heart attacks, diabetes I & II, Parkinson's...we do no favors to feed meat to the poor. yeah, brucellosis...bovine brucellosis? and then we shall all come down with it...because the "sportsmen" pretended with all their fancy store-bought weaponry and treehouses and fashionable costumes and junk that they saved our cars from dents and our poor people -- about whom they do not give truly one $%#@ -- from starvation...BS!
unbelievable propaganda...why? not to mention the introduction of youth to the rampant killing culture we witness on a regular basis. ...I am so distressed with the media...I am surely not alone. they appear to be beholden to the folks with the most money. wow. how tragic for all of us....and animals particularly. we are all becoming victims. incredible yet so sadly "human" rather than "humane" - the lessons being taught to our youth are frightening. I am just got that newspapers are so desperate to stay alive that they have gotten on board with this horror. just out for advertising bucks...and will answer to the big daddies who hand out the most cash...actually pretty frightening stuff. yellow journalism and sensationalism, welcome to circus world! hopefully people can still communicate on the "social" network (on which folks behave like prostitutes the biggest percentage of the time).
I am not wanting to live anywhere in the world at this point...disgusted with the human race...good grief!
kids taught to kill...kids taught to blow wads of cash on weaponry and hunting gear and little costumes and all the hoopla (not to mention hideous video games).....what in the world is going on....did sarah palin do THAT much damage to delicate, IFFY brain cells across America? wow...what power she must have...people, including men and kids, imitating sarah? is this a really bad dream?
I am figuring the adults did the murder and the kid is supposed to smile for the photo op? have seen the same "poses" here...hurts human "feelings" to say one word like "WHY?" hurts their "feelings"...those tough posing killers? ironic! how about the wounds inflicted on another living being...encouraging children? wow?
click here for a fabulous article by gary hart...he calls all of this wild wild west crap a PLAGUE...he is correct...of biblical proportions...what am I failing to grasp about this insanity? people...some people...have lost their minds...have become mentally ill enough to "carry"! madness. too much Matt Dillon and Wagon Train evidently which are oddly the silliest nonsense I ever saw.
did some marketer set the “palin movement” (jesus! hunting! guns! cute glasses! hair in a topknot! too many kids!) into action for some sinister reason...if it weren't so all invasively tragic it would be funny...America is doomed unless people start speaking up...we'll be fine if good people become less reticent to offend the dunderheads with guns! NUTS!
we need A NEW TYPE OF CHEERLEADER...always wanted to be one of those flips... just only kind of the opposite of those fluffheads we all had to endure in (ugh) high school? we have got more important stuff to yell...L-O-V-E! C-A-R-E! ( I bet we spell better than your typical pom-pom brigade, too?)
paging Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor...WE'RE BAD...YEAH, WE'RE BAD! (GOOD FOR US!) whatever movie that was?
I have been rediscovering my life lately...I have been writing stuff so long that I forgot how sweet real life can be...I love to do my own thing...always have...and I am returning to that mode come hell or high water...YAY...RAH! great to tell it like it is...and if these messages make somebody wee wee and tsk tsk tsk that is just too doggone bad...it's fun to shout it out and not play-act...I love "genuine"...we can make some changes for the good...proud of that FACT!
yes, let’s get real! for example, north carolina, land of my roots, only gasses animals...many at a time...then adds the puppies and kittens to the pile of cadavers and pulls the lever again...I have written to a childhood friend who is a legislator there to stop this barbarism...but the veterinarian who also manufactures and sells (by demonstrating) the gas chambers also is a tarheel legislator. conflict of INTEREST? I have never heard one peep from frank iler the fellow I wrote extensively to about this ongoing tragedy. the bodies are then sold to be rendered into pet food? and fertilizer. live shelter animals are sold for experimentation. folks in that state whom I share bloodlines with also turn a blind eye and deaf ear to this sad situation and seem not to contact their legislators. but they do love attending church picnics to enjoy beer and hog roasts. if I have missed one who cares, I am sorry. too bad, I am so shy, right? well, LIFE should matter to all of us...and churches should be first in line to turn this horror around. a-men.
...I attended sunday school, bible school, sang in the choir...and at a pretty young age figured out what church homes are about...and it broke my eager young heart...but thank GOD for that early education. churches better evolve in order to pay the mortgages on their big fancy buildings...better let people in...not shut people out. like...duh? and I need to be re-charmed...like eve with that apple...I believe in truths in real time not bibbidi bobbidi boo...cannot believe that adults move about spouting figurative mythology as if it was ever meant to be literal...also, historians have tried to point out exactly when the good book was written but folks like myths and tall tales...I still say it is a simplistic form of social networking...gotta be seen with the right crowd to stay on the track to personal revenues...certain of that actually. I believe, I believe...tinkerbell is real...now do I get the job?
now tomorrow I shall have to hide from the thugs whom I just described...and they know who they are! drama! bad drama...but soap opera drama nevertheless...I live in the heartland hotbed of murdering animals and spouting bible verses and sleeping around and grabbing the gold ring...totally berzerko bizarre. and what will be fun is if in the long run god is not such a forgiving person up in the sky after all...and one cannot boogie down and often and still get through the pearly gates cuz god looked the other way whenever that boogeying happened...and baby it did...I have been shocked by the wildness which has morphed into "bible verses for each day of the week"?
unreal...c'mon, people, we all knew each other when? just saying.
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
December 5, 2013
Latest Homeward Angle column: A FEW APOLOGIES, SOME SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
We got married in…a… December
Colder than we care to remember!
(Apologies to Nancy Sinatra and Lee Greenwood and Johnny Cash and June Carter!)
[View the scanned print version here...]
First, a brief backstory highlighting a "Happy 45th Anniversary to Don Sexton" -- BTW --whom I married on December 28th, 1968. My mom hexed me with a spell that my own holiday seasons would always ever after be so overloaded and overbooked with hectic celebrations that I would be beholden to her for bothering with nuptials at the noteworthily busiest time of the year! Guess what? Our son Roy got born on our fourth anniversary in 1972. Thus, the conclusion of the "hap..happiest time of the year" (apologies to Andy Williams) blows our collective gaskets! We consider our sleigh half-full…actually to overflowing! Ho! Ho! Ho?????
My medical affliction and I spent April 2013 through November 2013 attempting to follow "that lucky old sun that's got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day" according to unique singer Frankie Laine who snarled out just such a tune during my childhood. I grew up prowling around our fenced backyard whether in autumn, winter, summer or spring. Badminton, croquet, wimpy versions of gymnastics, hole-digging to shout clear through the globe to Chinese people on the other side, impromptu softball, sandbox sitting, and skipping through sprinklers! Little did I realize that at my advanced age, I'd revisit my youthful past and enjoy scooting a hammock about all day long to bask under a quirkily quickly moving patch of sunlight. "Psoriasis, go away!" And it sorta did? Global Warming's toxicity is my personal diagnosis for this bizarre affliction…and Global Warming will heal it, too, if only I can successfully harness "Old Sol's" piercing rays.
Birds trilled, twittered and warbled, as I became a latter-day version of "Snow White", gliding about Disney-Dream-Ville, alternatively seeking a deep orange glowing tan for a change of pace. Snow Boehner, maybe? Several beguiling bikinis I had purchased, just for my escapade, caught Don's startled attention, until I forgot and turned sideways, resembling Jackie Gleason. I consistently backed away from "my mister" when he proffered fast food and Coca Colas at noon to "do lunch with me", an aging Brigitte Bardot with a sagging derriere. Oh, I know plenty of local folks who frolic within their own in-ground or above-ground pools or boast of fun to be had at "home away from home" lake cottages (ta ta!), but I received no invitations to explore my inventively hypothesized treatment theory seaside at their elegant, small-town estates. Our community's "convenient to all neighborhood kids" Burnworth Pool inexplicably seems soon to be history, and nine million tax-payer dollars later to replace it with a well-paid consultant's suggested opulent pricey-resort-type lay-out, one only can dream of, seems highly unlikely. Thus, my "groom" bought his "bride"(Ha!) a kiddie pool from Aldi's…nothing but the finest…22 bucks!
Both Copernicus and also Galileo Galilei entered into my thoughts as I lugged that cumbersome sling of a cot hither thither and yon from pillar to post seeking the merest dappling of sunlight, nature's healer, as the summer progressed then waned. Maple trees purchased when I was a junior high kid are now so overgrown that the canopied effect overtakes the sky, and shade happens every two seconds. I damn those behemoths, yet, like a crooning Clint Eastwood, I also "Talk to the Trees"! I lapse into a reverie that I am Tom Hanks in "Cast Away" and daydream, hallucinate, and desire my own volley ball to name "Wilson " to bond with, even though my two dogs, Jack and Gaby, do enjoy chasing an assortment of ragged tennis balls which I pitch to them as well as left-over air-borne friendly fries (BURGER KING, I LOVE YOU!) from my earlier lunch dates.
Temptations to reenact Cecil B. DeMille's blockbuster "The Greatest Show on Earth", circa 1952, which I attended in North Carolina with my little girl cousins after we dropped by a dime store to purchase our paper doll sets of "Chuck" Heston, Betty Hutton, Lyle Bettger, Gloria Grahame, mysterious clown and mercy killing doctor Jimmy Stewart, his little dog "Popcorn", and CORNEL WILDE (Anybody recall his star-turn in "The Naked Prey"?)…arrived at the forefront. How's that? As I napped on my trampoline style hammock, appearing to have fallen into a trapeze artist's safety net, a vengeful bumble bee stung me on my already crimson-speckled, debilitated right hand. I fantasized that the end part of my forelimb, containing 27 bones, would become wrinkled, crippled, and hideously deformed like Cornel Wilde's did when he insisted upon "flying without a net" and subsequently took a tumble mutilating himself possibly forever. Shirtless, he bitterly strutted about in tights, throughout the rest of the film, hiding his scarred affliction beneath an impossibly silly, silky, satin Technicolor green cape! Not to mention "the Sultan's Favorite" Gloria Grahame whose pouty movie star face became nearly obliterated by her jealous, vindictive lover Bettger insisting that she seductively slide beneath the poised humongous foot of his multi-tonned, cooperative, trained elephant! Drama! Whoops, I almost forgot the spectacular train wreck featuring all of the circus performers and animals on board tragically scattered to kingdom come.
And as scantily as I was (barely) dressed all summer, I also identified with Hollywood's "Golden Boy" William Holden when he co-starred in the "Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) while generally wearing nothing but a Speedo. (Trivia time--Bill was such a hairy fellow that his entire amazing physique required shaving every morning of shooting, per Tinseltown's Hays Code--of Censorship!) I reviewed my days as a youngster chopping my way through the peripheral shrubbery bordering neighbor boy Johnny Lillich's yard -- (also littered with out-of-season upside down canoes) -- pretending that I might locate Sir Alec Guinness while whistling Mitch Miller's version of the redundant "Colonel Bogey March"! Johnny's parents never inquired as to why I trespassed on their premises…not once! Instead, I behaved like the ancient adult I am and read books between bouts of tugging my hunter's pup-tent hammock all around the yard to catch some medicinal rays. Trips to tanning booths would be much easier to tell the truth! Pick your poison?
Far be it from me to wish that "all your Christmases be white" because in 1962 a popular local high school band director, who innovatively concocted a small jazz ensemble and invited me to participate as THE girl singer, hysterically lambasted me in front of my teenage peers for forgetting the words to "White Christmas" -- a melody which I now detest and which will forever remain absent from my repertoire of favorites. Besides, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen own that sucker by now! I am, instead, praying for sunny days clear through to spring so that I can sunbathe my little heart out and no longer resemble a teenager with a serious case of acne "all over my little body"! (Apologies to Jonathan Winters!) Wherever (and whenever) there's a Wedding Anniversary, New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Palm Sunday…IF there's a smidgen of sunshine, I'll be there…(Apologies to Henry Fonda as "Okie" Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath"! Google John Steinbeck's classic, and you'll completely understand!)
"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost always makes me…Psoriasis-free!" (Apologies to John Denver!)
neat comments!
Helen Cochrane: "Love Susie and Don's wedding picture. You know Krisan got married in that wedding dress as well. Happy days."
Diann Trice: "OMG, I just laughed so loud that I am sure my neighboring cubicles thought something was wrong with me. I thought you looked like your mom until I saw the wedding picture………you have the best of both of your parents. Happy Anniversary to them. I feel like I know them personally."
Amber Lang: "Love the photos! Thanks for sharing!"
James Dean Gallery: "Thanks for posting this, Roy! and 'Hi' Susie...!"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "Thank you, Roy. Happy anniversary to Susie and Don you both have done well 45 years that is a lifetime and you both are still going strong together. Happy Holidays to three of my favorite people. God bless you all this season and many more to come. Love ya."
Elizabeth Lean: "Happy anniversary - you still have 3 years to catch me up - lol"
Rebecca Biber: "This year I've been hired to play a wedding on December 28. Will be thinking of the Sextons, in many ways, as I tickle the nuptial ivories!"
Shannon Wright: "Susie, you always have a way with words. And you crack me up!"
Kim Elizabeth Johnson: "Best wishes on your anniversary! You were a lovely bride!"
Susan Alcott Jardine: "Happy Anniversary, Susie & Don."
Elizabeth Lean: "such a lovely photo and couple Happy anniversary xxx"
Mary Maday: "Savored every word. Love good reading. Also enjoyed the pics...All those who 'liked' this should order the books. They are from 'our era' and expertly written. You will love them."
Shannon Basner: "Wishing you a very Happy Anniversary!!!!"
Nancy Hartman: "Really enjoy reading this; wishing you both a very Blessed Happy Holidays. Love you both!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
Colder than we care to remember!
(Apologies to Nancy Sinatra and Lee Greenwood and Johnny Cash and June Carter!)
[View the scanned print version here...]
First, a brief backstory highlighting a "Happy 45th Anniversary to Don Sexton" -- BTW --whom I married on December 28th, 1968. My mom hexed me with a spell that my own holiday seasons would always ever after be so overloaded and overbooked with hectic celebrations that I would be beholden to her for bothering with nuptials at the noteworthily busiest time of the year! Guess what? Our son Roy got born on our fourth anniversary in 1972. Thus, the conclusion of the "hap..happiest time of the year" (apologies to Andy Williams) blows our collective gaskets! We consider our sleigh half-full…actually to overflowing! Ho! Ho! Ho?????
My medical affliction and I spent April 2013 through November 2013 attempting to follow "that lucky old sun that's got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day" according to unique singer Frankie Laine who snarled out just such a tune during my childhood. I grew up prowling around our fenced backyard whether in autumn, winter, summer or spring. Badminton, croquet, wimpy versions of gymnastics, hole-digging to shout clear through the globe to Chinese people on the other side, impromptu softball, sandbox sitting, and skipping through sprinklers! Little did I realize that at my advanced age, I'd revisit my youthful past and enjoy scooting a hammock about all day long to bask under a quirkily quickly moving patch of sunlight. "Psoriasis, go away!" And it sorta did? Global Warming's toxicity is my personal diagnosis for this bizarre affliction…and Global Warming will heal it, too, if only I can successfully harness "Old Sol's" piercing rays.
Birds trilled, twittered and warbled, as I became a latter-day version of "Snow White", gliding about Disney-Dream-Ville, alternatively seeking a deep orange glowing tan for a change of pace. Snow Boehner, maybe? Several beguiling bikinis I had purchased, just for my escapade, caught Don's startled attention, until I forgot and turned sideways, resembling Jackie Gleason. I consistently backed away from "my mister" when he proffered fast food and Coca Colas at noon to "do lunch with me", an aging Brigitte Bardot with a sagging derriere. Oh, I know plenty of local folks who frolic within their own in-ground or above-ground pools or boast of fun to be had at "home away from home" lake cottages (ta ta!), but I received no invitations to explore my inventively hypothesized treatment theory seaside at their elegant, small-town estates. Our community's "convenient to all neighborhood kids" Burnworth Pool inexplicably seems soon to be history, and nine million tax-payer dollars later to replace it with a well-paid consultant's suggested opulent pricey-resort-type lay-out, one only can dream of, seems highly unlikely. Thus, my "groom" bought his "bride"(Ha!) a kiddie pool from Aldi's…nothing but the finest…22 bucks!
Both Copernicus and also Galileo Galilei entered into my thoughts as I lugged that cumbersome sling of a cot hither thither and yon from pillar to post seeking the merest dappling of sunlight, nature's healer, as the summer progressed then waned. Maple trees purchased when I was a junior high kid are now so overgrown that the canopied effect overtakes the sky, and shade happens every two seconds. I damn those behemoths, yet, like a crooning Clint Eastwood, I also "Talk to the Trees"! I lapse into a reverie that I am Tom Hanks in "Cast Away" and daydream, hallucinate, and desire my own volley ball to name "Wilson " to bond with, even though my two dogs, Jack and Gaby, do enjoy chasing an assortment of ragged tennis balls which I pitch to them as well as left-over air-borne friendly fries (BURGER KING, I LOVE YOU!) from my earlier lunch dates.
Temptations to reenact Cecil B. DeMille's blockbuster "The Greatest Show on Earth", circa 1952, which I attended in North Carolina with my little girl cousins after we dropped by a dime store to purchase our paper doll sets of "Chuck" Heston, Betty Hutton, Lyle Bettger, Gloria Grahame, mysterious clown and mercy killing doctor Jimmy Stewart, his little dog "Popcorn", and CORNEL WILDE (Anybody recall his star-turn in "The Naked Prey"?)…arrived at the forefront. How's that? As I napped on my trampoline style hammock, appearing to have fallen into a trapeze artist's safety net, a vengeful bumble bee stung me on my already crimson-speckled, debilitated right hand. I fantasized that the end part of my forelimb, containing 27 bones, would become wrinkled, crippled, and hideously deformed like Cornel Wilde's did when he insisted upon "flying without a net" and subsequently took a tumble mutilating himself possibly forever. Shirtless, he bitterly strutted about in tights, throughout the rest of the film, hiding his scarred affliction beneath an impossibly silly, silky, satin Technicolor green cape! Not to mention "the Sultan's Favorite" Gloria Grahame whose pouty movie star face became nearly obliterated by her jealous, vindictive lover Bettger insisting that she seductively slide beneath the poised humongous foot of his multi-tonned, cooperative, trained elephant! Drama! Whoops, I almost forgot the spectacular train wreck featuring all of the circus performers and animals on board tragically scattered to kingdom come.
And as scantily as I was (barely) dressed all summer, I also identified with Hollywood's "Golden Boy" William Holden when he co-starred in the "Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) while generally wearing nothing but a Speedo. (Trivia time--Bill was such a hairy fellow that his entire amazing physique required shaving every morning of shooting, per Tinseltown's Hays Code--of Censorship!) I reviewed my days as a youngster chopping my way through the peripheral shrubbery bordering neighbor boy Johnny Lillich's yard -- (also littered with out-of-season upside down canoes) -- pretending that I might locate Sir Alec Guinness while whistling Mitch Miller's version of the redundant "Colonel Bogey March"! Johnny's parents never inquired as to why I trespassed on their premises…not once! Instead, I behaved like the ancient adult I am and read books between bouts of tugging my hunter's pup-tent hammock all around the yard to catch some medicinal rays. Trips to tanning booths would be much easier to tell the truth! Pick your poison?
Far be it from me to wish that "all your Christmases be white" because in 1962 a popular local high school band director, who innovatively concocted a small jazz ensemble and invited me to participate as THE girl singer, hysterically lambasted me in front of my teenage peers for forgetting the words to "White Christmas" -- a melody which I now detest and which will forever remain absent from my repertoire of favorites. Besides, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen own that sucker by now! I am, instead, praying for sunny days clear through to spring so that I can sunbathe my little heart out and no longer resemble a teenager with a serious case of acne "all over my little body"! (Apologies to Jonathan Winters!) Wherever (and whenever) there's a Wedding Anniversary, New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Palm Sunday…IF there's a smidgen of sunshine, I'll be there…(Apologies to Henry Fonda as "Okie" Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath"! Google John Steinbeck's classic, and you'll completely understand!)
"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely. Sunshine almost always makes me…Psoriasis-free!" (Apologies to John Denver!)
neat comments!
Helen Cochrane: "Love Susie and Don's wedding picture. You know Krisan got married in that wedding dress as well. Happy days."
Diann Trice: "OMG, I just laughed so loud that I am sure my neighboring cubicles thought something was wrong with me. I thought you looked like your mom until I saw the wedding picture………you have the best of both of your parents. Happy Anniversary to them. I feel like I know them personally."
Amber Lang: "Love the photos! Thanks for sharing!"
James Dean Gallery: "Thanks for posting this, Roy! and 'Hi' Susie...!"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "Thank you, Roy. Happy anniversary to Susie and Don you both have done well 45 years that is a lifetime and you both are still going strong together. Happy Holidays to three of my favorite people. God bless you all this season and many more to come. Love ya."
Elizabeth Lean: "Happy anniversary - you still have 3 years to catch me up - lol"
Rebecca Biber: "This year I've been hired to play a wedding on December 28. Will be thinking of the Sextons, in many ways, as I tickle the nuptial ivories!"
Shannon Wright: "Susie, you always have a way with words. And you crack me up!"
Kim Elizabeth Johnson: "Best wishes on your anniversary! You were a lovely bride!"
Susan Alcott Jardine: "Happy Anniversary, Susie & Don."
Elizabeth Lean: "such a lovely photo and couple Happy anniversary xxx"
Mary Maday: "Savored every word. Love good reading. Also enjoyed the pics...All those who 'liked' this should order the books. They are from 'our era' and expertly written. You will love them."
Shannon Basner: "Wishing you a very Happy Anniversary!!!!"
Nancy Hartman: "Really enjoy reading this; wishing you both a very Blessed Happy Holidays. Love you both!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
December 3, 2013
golly! I am dead serious.
In response to this New Yorker article - click here - on pig-farming in my home state (and China?!?)...just down the road from where we live ...
this article is beautifully written...i read it loud to some folks tonight...I believe this intelligent writer thinks that these people here in Indiana are not only greedy but also quite nuts and depraved -- through a jaunty style of informative writing. a great piece! her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
the man/owner in this article, who must be one of the most conflicted veterinarians ever to grace the planet, grew up with another fellow we know? albion is a tiny town, yet none of us know where their sprawling estate actually is? is that not totally weird?
after the honeymoon, the Chinese will leave these hoosiers high and dry one of these days now that the Chinese students are being taught HOW TO IMPREGNATE AND VICTIMIZE PIGS AND PIGLETS for yuppie food and medical experimentation. then they can sell us pricey, germy, plague inducing ham sandwiches.
and two more that you MUST read/view - here and here.
I have real difficulty waiting for evolution to smarten people up and to stop all of the destruction and mean-ness. I think (KNOW) we are on the correct track to alert those who may have not been paying any attention...the fewer stacks of cadavers of any variety the better -- in real time!
neat to know people who truly care...and who are not afraid to state their concern for this barbarism...i have parted ways with some just plain ornery folks who love to debate the topic of murder? I kiss them good-bye sometimes after years and sometimes others within a split second. murder is not a debate topic...it is wrong and horrid. no such thing as a "little murder" now and then.
my son Roy is the kindest soul and he tries to teach me when to shut up...never works though! I love those angels who put their wings around others in real time!
I am getting really picky about the topic of animal welfare and rights. I constantly judge how valuable and helpful the information is and whether humans have the guts to tell it like it is - and to listen to how it is as well - while also demonstrating their genuine concern, by facing facts and caring more about the urgency of the situation ... than they do about themselves.
infighting is a trip...it seems to go with the territory...but it turns me OFF! even worse is apathy...the zombie approach drives me UP A WALLLLLLLLLLL! and it is everywhere. the "walking self-centered dead" are a waste of precious time...unless they convert and start DOING SOMETHING NOW!
we'll see if any more of my FB "friends" on my pages STAY friends with me. hey, it's my method of seeing who cares and who doesn't. time is of the essence, so I lose a few but I gain EVEN BETTER FRIENDS OF ANIMALS who'll be proactive and genuine and accomplish the move forward inch by inch starting yesterday!
I really needed a boost these past few weeks...guess what? HERE IT IS...and the campaign to appreciate and protect and save the lives of the sentient beings of all stripes continues. my mom said to me once, "Love never gives up!" and that is what this is...LOVE IN ACTION. I LOVE you humans who have good hearts... yep...
I wish we could all go to Washington and make those "politicians" listen up and get to work on what really ails this nation...which has its roots in this very topic.
I have spoken up alone for years...and became quite shy and reticent and intimidated over and over. I believe in individuality...but with all of us individuals together at one time and either in one place or scattered...well, there is strength in numbers.
be one of us... the animal kingdom needs you and needs all of us all of the time. if we get this sadness controlled, the entire universe will fall into place. animal welfare is the key!!!
I am thinking that my animal-loving friends should write columns and books...my goodness! their beliefs and thoughts and actions are incredible. I so wish that newspapers and television and radio (hey, and churches?) would encourage and allow and promote this kind of dialogue we are reading here. it takes bravery to be kind, a FACT which always strikes me as ironic!
kindness should come naturally, but one has to fight prejudices and swaggering and bullying just to state the obvious that NICE is preferable to MEAN? I am impressed beyond measure. thanks to friends like Arlene Steinberg, Mary Maday, Shannon Wright, Naida Austin, Beverley Holden, Carissa Serino, Shannon Basner, and Julie Jo (all part of a wonderful chat session on our Squawk Back facebook group page last night) and so many other animal advocate friends I have for restoring my faith in humanity...I struggle with that daily...I had begun to doubt that people can be wonderful.
golly! I am dead serious. even though I sound like gomer right now? golly!
thanks for these comments!
Carissa Serino: "you guys are awesome!"
Mary Maday: "Thank you, Susie! We are all so grateful to 'know' you as well."
Beverley Holden: "awesome as ever!"
Valerie Parent: "very well written blog!"
Naida Austin: "Wow!!! The writing was wonderful and you hit the nail on the head time and time, again! Thank you for gracing us with your creative talent, Susie! It is good to know we're on the same page."
Janice Burdick: "What a time machine I just went through!! This could be the same living room I grew up in!! That's our old TV and fireplace!! Wow!!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
this article is beautifully written...i read it loud to some folks tonight...I believe this intelligent writer thinks that these people here in Indiana are not only greedy but also quite nuts and depraved -- through a jaunty style of informative writing. a great piece! her tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
the man/owner in this article, who must be one of the most conflicted veterinarians ever to grace the planet, grew up with another fellow we know? albion is a tiny town, yet none of us know where their sprawling estate actually is? is that not totally weird?
after the honeymoon, the Chinese will leave these hoosiers high and dry one of these days now that the Chinese students are being taught HOW TO IMPREGNATE AND VICTIMIZE PIGS AND PIGLETS for yuppie food and medical experimentation. then they can sell us pricey, germy, plague inducing ham sandwiches.
and two more that you MUST read/view - here and here.
I have real difficulty waiting for evolution to smarten people up and to stop all of the destruction and mean-ness. I think (KNOW) we are on the correct track to alert those who may have not been paying any attention...the fewer stacks of cadavers of any variety the better -- in real time!
neat to know people who truly care...and who are not afraid to state their concern for this barbarism...i have parted ways with some just plain ornery folks who love to debate the topic of murder? I kiss them good-bye sometimes after years and sometimes others within a split second. murder is not a debate topic...it is wrong and horrid. no such thing as a "little murder" now and then.
my son Roy is the kindest soul and he tries to teach me when to shut up...never works though! I love those angels who put their wings around others in real time!
I am getting really picky about the topic of animal welfare and rights. I constantly judge how valuable and helpful the information is and whether humans have the guts to tell it like it is - and to listen to how it is as well - while also demonstrating their genuine concern, by facing facts and caring more about the urgency of the situation ... than they do about themselves.
infighting is a trip...it seems to go with the territory...but it turns me OFF! even worse is apathy...the zombie approach drives me UP A WALLLLLLLLLLL! and it is everywhere. the "walking self-centered dead" are a waste of precious time...unless they convert and start DOING SOMETHING NOW!
we'll see if any more of my FB "friends" on my pages STAY friends with me. hey, it's my method of seeing who cares and who doesn't. time is of the essence, so I lose a few but I gain EVEN BETTER FRIENDS OF ANIMALS who'll be proactive and genuine and accomplish the move forward inch by inch starting yesterday!
I really needed a boost these past few weeks...guess what? HERE IT IS...and the campaign to appreciate and protect and save the lives of the sentient beings of all stripes continues. my mom said to me once, "Love never gives up!" and that is what this is...LOVE IN ACTION. I LOVE you humans who have good hearts... yep...
I wish we could all go to Washington and make those "politicians" listen up and get to work on what really ails this nation...which has its roots in this very topic.
I have spoken up alone for years...and became quite shy and reticent and intimidated over and over. I believe in individuality...but with all of us individuals together at one time and either in one place or scattered...well, there is strength in numbers.
be one of us... the animal kingdom needs you and needs all of us all of the time. if we get this sadness controlled, the entire universe will fall into place. animal welfare is the key!!!
I am thinking that my animal-loving friends should write columns and books...my goodness! their beliefs and thoughts and actions are incredible. I so wish that newspapers and television and radio (hey, and churches?) would encourage and allow and promote this kind of dialogue we are reading here. it takes bravery to be kind, a FACT which always strikes me as ironic!
kindness should come naturally, but one has to fight prejudices and swaggering and bullying just to state the obvious that NICE is preferable to MEAN? I am impressed beyond measure. thanks to friends like Arlene Steinberg, Mary Maday, Shannon Wright, Naida Austin, Beverley Holden, Carissa Serino, Shannon Basner, and Julie Jo (all part of a wonderful chat session on our Squawk Back facebook group page last night) and so many other animal advocate friends I have for restoring my faith in humanity...I struggle with that daily...I had begun to doubt that people can be wonderful.
golly! I am dead serious. even though I sound like gomer right now? golly!
thanks for these comments!
Carissa Serino: "you guys are awesome!"
Mary Maday: "Thank you, Susie! We are all so grateful to 'know' you as well."
Beverley Holden: "awesome as ever!"
Valerie Parent: "very well written blog!"
Naida Austin: "Wow!!! The writing was wonderful and you hit the nail on the head time and time, again! Thank you for gracing us with your creative talent, Susie! It is good to know we're on the same page."
Janice Burdick: "What a time machine I just went through!! This could be the same living room I grew up in!! That's our old TV and fireplace!! Wow!!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
November 27, 2013
a gentle and necessary war
I KNOW the true joy of Facebook is our finding each other and speaking up for proper treatment of all who live. Using our voices to say and to write what must happen YESTERDAY... we have to make up for all the damage and the hurt and destruction.
much work to be done. through words and actions and consistency of message!
apologies to the natural world are long overdue. my heart breaks every day since I let this knowledge into my soul. making up for lost time I am. and I shall never stop! what great humans I have met who believe in what is correct and kind!
you know I cannot believe the folks who say "I saw a mangy puppy the other day" or "a matted kitten" or a "maimed cat" and "I thought of YOU"?????...I have to say under my breath "and YOU didn't reach out yourself to help the orphan?"
I am just got by lack of compassion and commitment to somebody or some being right in front of a person who does NOTHING? we have done so much and always shall...we never stop with the meds and the shots and the bowls and the unconditional love which is a circle...we love...they love...we care...the animals care.
the list of zombies we have encountered among the human race boggles the mind.
loving those outside one's self must start to become a way of life...stop to care and to help in real time. I hope what we do catches on. this is war...a gentle and necessary war...much to be accomplished!
postscript
thanks to my son Roy for helping me with a wonderful project entitled SQUAWK BACK (see Facebook link at end of this blog entry)...one of our significant contributions to the UNIVERSE and to all sentient beings and to the noble human beings who appreciate our environment and all of its inhabitants.
we are all in this together.
courageous brave hearts are the kindest hearts of all...for some reason, we must stand up for the beauty of the animal kingdom each nano-second...and we all do...we SQUAWK BACK hopefully in a language most open-hearted, intelligent persons understand and act upon.
three cheers for that group and all of the fantastic people there! I am quite thankful for kind human beings who are at one with all who live, sentient beings included of course! HAPPY THANKSGIVING...eat broccoli!
post...postscript...
I do not find this "sparing/pardoning" of the turkey business amusing? anybody else? it is not a joke. it is sad. thanksgiving has lost all meaning. it is about consumption...conspicuous consumption. sorry to say...
I recall the contrivance called "sarah palin" mindlessly engaged in a photo op while immediately behind her turkeys were being slaughtered. wow, the damage that woman (or bimbo) did...never realized americans could be so shallow. the up side is that this embarrassing phase of American politics also won many recruits who have brains and sensitivity and keen judgment who helped to avert the disaster of electing her.
one of the worst decisions John McCain ever made.
just wishing nobody had ever manipulated her rise to political stardom in the first place, so that too many vacuous females think it is "cute" to kill animals. a turkey has far more sense than that recruited hot dame foisted on the american voting public by the good ole boys' club. the conservative answer to Hillary? no, it is the mind of Hillary that almost got elected, not her gender one way or the other. a bleaker development than I ever imagined at that time was happening before our eyes.
I hope one day we heal from the nonsense. we can only hope people are allowed to vote in the next crucial election...I am even becoming concerned about the interim local elections...the money thrown into these contests is becoming a horror movie. a koch brother sponsored ad in our local paper? in a town of 7,000 people...multiply that ad by who knows how many hometown papers happy to receive the cash.
don wants me to google AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY to see why they are paying for a huge ad telling us for whom to vote locally...this early? the phrase "americans for prosperity" sounds pretty ominous and entitled and conjures up in one's clear-thinking mind the upper 1% who really need to pack up their bags of tricks and let America breathe...ALL of America...not just a few fat cats ready to jump ...through lucrative hoops to line their own pockets.
please, let us find some local Democrats to oppose those who are willingly sponsored by big money pirates only interested in making MORE big money for themselves through their heavily financed and sponsored hand-maidens. wake up, voters...stop letting money buy our votes. especially on the local level...let us offer these legislative positions to real people who are not puppets. who knows? maybe our ground roots efforts will inspire others and our country can be strong again...bottom to top!
ALL WE NEED TO KNOW...WISE UP, INDIANA...LOOK FOR THESE ADS IN YOUR LOCAL PAPERS...KOCH IS BUYING US OFF. TIME FOR NEW LEGISLATORS. HOLY CRAP!
anybody interested in running for senator from our area, who will represent all of us as an honest Republican without the financial support of a Koch brother? go for it...otherwise, any local Democrats who might run for that office? still time to enter the race...last date to file is the first week in February.
don just went pale when he saw the koch brothers' ad in our newspaper this evening. this is dismaying. readers of small or large newspapers should be aware and laugh these ads off and vote properly...I would admire a Republican who refused their romantic advances and their cash...not to be believed...and Monsanto pulled the same stunt last week. we already wondered about our local candidate whose heart seems hardened by these connections. for some reason I felt he held some promise...not now.
too much of this world is in the toilet...too many zombies have their heads up their asses. thankful? hardly.
________________________
Enjoy this video from the recent Allen County Public Library Authors Fair featuring yours truly as well as Mark Carboni, Blake Sebring, and Ralph Garcia - the panel topic is non-fiction writing from these authors who specialize in culture, food, sports, and heritage respectively. Great fun!
Watch at this link: http://afw.pegcentral.com/player.php?...
Also, picked up by BroadwayWorld: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks...
neat comments!
Saviana Golinschi: "WISH TO LIVE THAT BLESSED DAY WHEN HUMANITY WILL STOP ALL KINDS OF ANIMAL ABUSE. THAT DAY WHEN WE WILL REALISE THAT GOD GAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD TO MAKE IT BLOOM NOT TO DESTROY IT. OH, I WILL NEVER STOP SPEAKING MY MIND AND MAKING MY VOICE HEARD."
Beth Kennedy: "A lovely quote from Susie!"
Mary Maday: "I read 'Secrets...' - brought back a lot of memories. Have told friends to buy the set because I 'ain't' lending mine. Will start the other one soon....Like the lady who did the review --- I also adored James Dean -- in all movies - have them all and have two hardbacks re Himself with lots of pics. I remember buying a red jacket like his to wear with my jeans. Will let you know when I read 'More Secrets...'. I loved every chapter in the one I read and agree with everything you wrote so I no longer feel 'alone' in this world."
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I just finished your book More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels. I couldn't put it down....I loved every word of it. I started it last night (or should I say this morning) when I finally got finished my cleaning from dinner and my guests. But I didn't stop until I got to the last page. It was wonderful ...I haven't got a copy of your first book yet because the library had a copy and I read it through them. I like your Jimmy Dean chapter and you are so very right....I still watch his three movies over and over again...out of all of them, I think Giant is my favorite."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
much work to be done. through words and actions and consistency of message!
apologies to the natural world are long overdue. my heart breaks every day since I let this knowledge into my soul. making up for lost time I am. and I shall never stop! what great humans I have met who believe in what is correct and kind!
you know I cannot believe the folks who say "I saw a mangy puppy the other day" or "a matted kitten" or a "maimed cat" and "I thought of YOU"?????...I have to say under my breath "and YOU didn't reach out yourself to help the orphan?"
I am just got by lack of compassion and commitment to somebody or some being right in front of a person who does NOTHING? we have done so much and always shall...we never stop with the meds and the shots and the bowls and the unconditional love which is a circle...we love...they love...we care...the animals care.
the list of zombies we have encountered among the human race boggles the mind.
loving those outside one's self must start to become a way of life...stop to care and to help in real time. I hope what we do catches on. this is war...a gentle and necessary war...much to be accomplished!
postscript
thanks to my son Roy for helping me with a wonderful project entitled SQUAWK BACK (see Facebook link at end of this blog entry)...one of our significant contributions to the UNIVERSE and to all sentient beings and to the noble human beings who appreciate our environment and all of its inhabitants.
we are all in this together.
courageous brave hearts are the kindest hearts of all...for some reason, we must stand up for the beauty of the animal kingdom each nano-second...and we all do...we SQUAWK BACK hopefully in a language most open-hearted, intelligent persons understand and act upon.
three cheers for that group and all of the fantastic people there! I am quite thankful for kind human beings who are at one with all who live, sentient beings included of course! HAPPY THANKSGIVING...eat broccoli!
post...postscript...
I do not find this "sparing/pardoning" of the turkey business amusing? anybody else? it is not a joke. it is sad. thanksgiving has lost all meaning. it is about consumption...conspicuous consumption. sorry to say...
I recall the contrivance called "sarah palin" mindlessly engaged in a photo op while immediately behind her turkeys were being slaughtered. wow, the damage that woman (or bimbo) did...never realized americans could be so shallow. the up side is that this embarrassing phase of American politics also won many recruits who have brains and sensitivity and keen judgment who helped to avert the disaster of electing her.
one of the worst decisions John McCain ever made.
just wishing nobody had ever manipulated her rise to political stardom in the first place, so that too many vacuous females think it is "cute" to kill animals. a turkey has far more sense than that recruited hot dame foisted on the american voting public by the good ole boys' club. the conservative answer to Hillary? no, it is the mind of Hillary that almost got elected, not her gender one way or the other. a bleaker development than I ever imagined at that time was happening before our eyes.
I hope one day we heal from the nonsense. we can only hope people are allowed to vote in the next crucial election...I am even becoming concerned about the interim local elections...the money thrown into these contests is becoming a horror movie. a koch brother sponsored ad in our local paper? in a town of 7,000 people...multiply that ad by who knows how many hometown papers happy to receive the cash.
don wants me to google AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY to see why they are paying for a huge ad telling us for whom to vote locally...this early? the phrase "americans for prosperity" sounds pretty ominous and entitled and conjures up in one's clear-thinking mind the upper 1% who really need to pack up their bags of tricks and let America breathe...ALL of America...not just a few fat cats ready to jump ...through lucrative hoops to line their own pockets.
please, let us find some local Democrats to oppose those who are willingly sponsored by big money pirates only interested in making MORE big money for themselves through their heavily financed and sponsored hand-maidens. wake up, voters...stop letting money buy our votes. especially on the local level...let us offer these legislative positions to real people who are not puppets. who knows? maybe our ground roots efforts will inspire others and our country can be strong again...bottom to top!
ALL WE NEED TO KNOW...WISE UP, INDIANA...LOOK FOR THESE ADS IN YOUR LOCAL PAPERS...KOCH IS BUYING US OFF. TIME FOR NEW LEGISLATORS. HOLY CRAP!
anybody interested in running for senator from our area, who will represent all of us as an honest Republican without the financial support of a Koch brother? go for it...otherwise, any local Democrats who might run for that office? still time to enter the race...last date to file is the first week in February.
don just went pale when he saw the koch brothers' ad in our newspaper this evening. this is dismaying. readers of small or large newspapers should be aware and laugh these ads off and vote properly...I would admire a Republican who refused their romantic advances and their cash...not to be believed...and Monsanto pulled the same stunt last week. we already wondered about our local candidate whose heart seems hardened by these connections. for some reason I felt he held some promise...not now.
too much of this world is in the toilet...too many zombies have their heads up their asses. thankful? hardly.
________________________
Enjoy this video from the recent Allen County Public Library Authors Fair featuring yours truly as well as Mark Carboni, Blake Sebring, and Ralph Garcia - the panel topic is non-fiction writing from these authors who specialize in culture, food, sports, and heritage respectively. Great fun!
Watch at this link: http://afw.pegcentral.com/player.php?...
Also, picked up by BroadwayWorld: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks...
neat comments!
Saviana Golinschi: "WISH TO LIVE THAT BLESSED DAY WHEN HUMANITY WILL STOP ALL KINDS OF ANIMAL ABUSE. THAT DAY WHEN WE WILL REALISE THAT GOD GAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD TO MAKE IT BLOOM NOT TO DESTROY IT. OH, I WILL NEVER STOP SPEAKING MY MIND AND MAKING MY VOICE HEARD."
Beth Kennedy: "A lovely quote from Susie!"
Mary Maday: "I read 'Secrets...' - brought back a lot of memories. Have told friends to buy the set because I 'ain't' lending mine. Will start the other one soon....Like the lady who did the review --- I also adored James Dean -- in all movies - have them all and have two hardbacks re Himself with lots of pics. I remember buying a red jacket like his to wear with my jeans. Will let you know when I read 'More Secrets...'. I loved every chapter in the one I read and agree with everything you wrote so I no longer feel 'alone' in this world."
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I just finished your book More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels. I couldn't put it down....I loved every word of it. I started it last night (or should I say this morning) when I finally got finished my cleaning from dinner and my guests. But I didn't stop until I got to the last page. It was wonderful ...I haven't got a copy of your first book yet because the library had a copy and I read it through them. I like your Jimmy Dean chapter and you are so very right....I still watch his three movies over and over again...out of all of them, I think Giant is my favorite."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or Won't
November 26, 2013
Culture and food and sports and heritage...oh my!
Enjoy this video from the recent Allen County Public Library Authors Fair featuring yours truly as well as Mark Carboni, Blake Sebring, and Ralph Garcia - the panel topic is non-fiction writing from these authors who specialize in culture, food, sports, and heritage respectively. Great fun!
Watch at this link: http://afw.pegcentral.com/player.php?...
And read about the event in my recent column on the topic:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
loving these comments!
Carole Craft: "Roy, Thanks so very much for sending this. I am so proud of you and Susie. You are both extremely talented."
Angie Choe: "Very nice! You can see how proud she is of you, Roy! Also it best summed up what you wrote about her second book – I think it was nicely worded."
Helen Cochrane: "It was good to see Susie and to hear her speak! Thank you for sharing!"
Neil Simon: "Look forward to seeing it!"
Diann Trice: "Roy, it was good seeing Mark and your mom, as always I enjoy the things you send; please keep them up."
Linda Chapman: "This is fun to see. Thanks for sending the link."
Tari Joyce: "I was like 'ME'? Mention me!!! Oh, I love seeing Susie!! Thanks, Roy!!!"
Betty Bob Buckley: "Enjoyed hearing about Susie Sexton's books."
Shelley Forsythe: "'My son got me on Facebook' is the understatement of the century. I can’t wait to meet your mom. She seems like a hoot."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
Watch at this link: http://afw.pegcentral.com/player.php?...
And read about the event in my recent column on the topic:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
loving these comments!
Carole Craft: "Roy, Thanks so very much for sending this. I am so proud of you and Susie. You are both extremely talented."
Angie Choe: "Very nice! You can see how proud she is of you, Roy! Also it best summed up what you wrote about her second book – I think it was nicely worded."
Helen Cochrane: "It was good to see Susie and to hear her speak! Thank you for sharing!"
Neil Simon: "Look forward to seeing it!"
Diann Trice: "Roy, it was good seeing Mark and your mom, as always I enjoy the things you send; please keep them up."
Linda Chapman: "This is fun to see. Thanks for sending the link."
Tari Joyce: "I was like 'ME'? Mention me!!! Oh, I love seeing Susie!! Thanks, Roy!!!"
Betty Bob Buckley: "Enjoyed hearing about Susie Sexton's books."
Shelley Forsythe: "'My son got me on Facebook' is the understatement of the century. I can’t wait to meet your mom. She seems like a hoot."
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
November 14, 2013
Latest Old Type Writer: Carol Baker, Michael Martone, Tari Joyce, Linda Chapman, and a 'Non-Fiction' Panel-List
My latest "Old Type Writer" column on Jennifer Zartman Romano's popular newsblog "Talk of the Town."
http://talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewriter
This column - "Carol Baker, Michael Martone, Tari Joyce, Linda Chapman, and a 'Non-Fiction' Panel-List" - details my adventures at last week's author fair at the Allen County Public Library.
View video here.
Read here ... http://talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewri...
Here's an excerpt: "Having recently participated in Allen County Public Library's 2013 Author Fair, I am recuperating at home nursing my aching, swollen tootsies and reconfiguring my cardboard boxes of paperback books including version I, 2011's 'Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart & Sassy Small-town Girl' (although at this advanced age, I am far removed from 'girl'hood!). A Grand Central Station atmosphere overwhelms my happy but exhausted recollection of that sunny Saturday afternoon -- folks ranging from toddlers to senior citizens strolled by, stopped to chat or to purchase autographed copies, or simply lingered awhile to enthusiastically enjoy the festivities. A good time was had by all!"
I have been keeping a busy schedule with the recent release of my newest book, "More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles & Overrated Angels." I will be among the large group of local authors participating in a book signing event this Sunday, November 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Whitley County Historical Museum in Columbia City.
postscript...
Think about helping OUT a shelter pet --
An instant, true, dear best friend you can bet!
Vow to make two lives happier and fun --
Yours and the "orphan's"--you will both have won! ♥!!!
neat comments...
Colin Lively: "isn't this internet age amazing!! without it, we would never have been connected...and Tari Joyce, whom I met about 15 or more years ago here in NYC ... and now she lives near Susie... through Facebook I reconnected with Tari, the likelihood of ever reconnecting would be a very slim chance... and now Susie and Tari are friends.. what a wonderful world!!"
Neil Simon: "Are you all related to the Energizer bunny? She is amazing!"
Jan Tansel: "Love Susie's writings ... reading them just like sitting across a table with an endless cup of coffee. So very FUN to read and ponder."
Valerie Parent: "I saved the link! Love this stuff!"
Tari Joyce: "ALWAYS A FUN FILLED TIME WITH SUSIE & DON!!! What an interesting event; really enjoyed sitting with Susie and hearing her speak in the panel, also listening to Michael Martone... One of the Most enjoyable experiences I've had here in FT WAYNE!!! Thanks to my Author Buddy!!"
Linda Chapman: "Roy sent me your column where you talk about the Fair. Wow! 'Adorable and brilliant.'"
Bev Sexton: "You do have a way with words, Susie!"
Mary Shaull: "Love the photos! Susie, you look wonderful! Happy and fit. How do you do it? Glad you had fun with Good People. We need more of those. XXX"
Pat Heinbaugh: "Never knew Michael Martone, but did have the privilege of knowing his awesome Mom, Patty Martone....when I was working as a teacher aide at Larwill, we got to go to a seminar she did.....Excellent and fun at the same time....Miss Susie, you must remember we are NEVER removed from 'girlhood'.....just move to a 'little more mature' girlhood....Ok....now, don't forget this....as well as: Growing old is a must, growing UP is optional....."
Nancy Hartman: "Love your picture; you both look so happy."
Diann Trice: "How funny is this; in the part where your mother talks about the four microphone questions, I know Mark Carboni. He calls me his Patti LaBelle; he is such a sweetie."
Mark Carboni: "Thank you so much for the friend request. Your mom made the entire day for me. She is a treat!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
http://talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewriter
This column - "Carol Baker, Michael Martone, Tari Joyce, Linda Chapman, and a 'Non-Fiction' Panel-List" - details my adventures at last week's author fair at the Allen County Public Library.
View video here.
Read here ... http://talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewri...
Here's an excerpt: "Having recently participated in Allen County Public Library's 2013 Author Fair, I am recuperating at home nursing my aching, swollen tootsies and reconfiguring my cardboard boxes of paperback books including version I, 2011's 'Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Stories from a Smart & Sassy Small-town Girl' (although at this advanced age, I am far removed from 'girl'hood!). A Grand Central Station atmosphere overwhelms my happy but exhausted recollection of that sunny Saturday afternoon -- folks ranging from toddlers to senior citizens strolled by, stopped to chat or to purchase autographed copies, or simply lingered awhile to enthusiastically enjoy the festivities. A good time was had by all!"
I have been keeping a busy schedule with the recent release of my newest book, "More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles & Overrated Angels." I will be among the large group of local authors participating in a book signing event this Sunday, November 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Whitley County Historical Museum in Columbia City.
postscript...
Think about helping OUT a shelter pet --
An instant, true, dear best friend you can bet!
Vow to make two lives happier and fun --
Yours and the "orphan's"--you will both have won! ♥!!!
neat comments...
Colin Lively: "isn't this internet age amazing!! without it, we would never have been connected...and Tari Joyce, whom I met about 15 or more years ago here in NYC ... and now she lives near Susie... through Facebook I reconnected with Tari, the likelihood of ever reconnecting would be a very slim chance... and now Susie and Tari are friends.. what a wonderful world!!"
Neil Simon: "Are you all related to the Energizer bunny? She is amazing!"
Jan Tansel: "Love Susie's writings ... reading them just like sitting across a table with an endless cup of coffee. So very FUN to read and ponder."
Valerie Parent: "I saved the link! Love this stuff!"
Tari Joyce: "ALWAYS A FUN FILLED TIME WITH SUSIE & DON!!! What an interesting event; really enjoyed sitting with Susie and hearing her speak in the panel, also listening to Michael Martone... One of the Most enjoyable experiences I've had here in FT WAYNE!!! Thanks to my Author Buddy!!"
Linda Chapman: "Roy sent me your column where you talk about the Fair. Wow! 'Adorable and brilliant.'"
Bev Sexton: "You do have a way with words, Susie!"
Mary Shaull: "Love the photos! Susie, you look wonderful! Happy and fit. How do you do it? Glad you had fun with Good People. We need more of those. XXX"
Pat Heinbaugh: "Never knew Michael Martone, but did have the privilege of knowing his awesome Mom, Patty Martone....when I was working as a teacher aide at Larwill, we got to go to a seminar she did.....Excellent and fun at the same time....Miss Susie, you must remember we are NEVER removed from 'girlhood'.....just move to a 'little more mature' girlhood....Ok....now, don't forget this....as well as: Growing old is a must, growing UP is optional....."
Nancy Hartman: "Love your picture; you both look so happy."
Diann Trice: "How funny is this; in the part where your mother talks about the four microphone questions, I know Mark Carboni. He calls me his Patti LaBelle; he is such a sweetie."
Mark Carboni: "Thank you so much for the friend request. Your mom made the entire day for me. She is a treat!!"
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
November 6, 2013
Homeward Angle: "LET IT NEVER BE FORGOT…" *
My "rite of passage" from age 12 to nearly seventy
Boasts inclusion of a collection labeled "Kennedy"…
Magazines: LIFE, LOOK, NEWSWEEK, TIME, SATURDAY EVENING POST…
My mammoth old trunk filled with ghost after valorous ghost!
Bookshelves lined with biographies of Profiles in Courage
Starting with Honey Fitz -- a patriotic entourage!
Dawning upon me a young handsome Senator named "Jack";
His mother Rose and father Joe; siblings who had his back!
Touch football, PT 109, and just " Why England Slept"--
Memories and souvenirs lovingly browsed through and kept!
Moveable feast travelling from kid's bedroom to attics
Then apartments and basements and dens while Father Time ticks…
Hints of mildew. Yellowing. Frayed edges, yet quite intact --
Throughout the years, amassing updates I've researched and tracked.
A Commander-in-Chief, brilliant, brave, a "real time" hero --
Vibrant, credible, rugged Irish roots, calm and mellow.
By his side stood his equal…independent Jacqueline --
Role model like no other -- listened to as well as seen.
("Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years", I'd view one day,
Revived thoughts of snooping through my sister's closet -- at play!
Photographs, gowns, tweed jackets, jodhpurs, weathered riding boots,
Hand-written correspondence, sunglasses, pearls with smart suits!)
Studied high school French and bouffanted my thick, brown tresses,
Bought a pill box hat or two and sleeveless A-line dresses,
Played a lead part in our senior play in mid-November,
Welcomed an infant niece -- Kelly Diane -- I remember.
November 22, 1963
News anchor Walter Cronkite informed our stunned Civics class
This exceptional era into history must pass.
November 25, 1963
A tiny child bravely saluting. Lone riderless steed.
"Ask what you can do for your country…" The re-planted seed.
*~ Title from "Camelot", lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, 1960
More here - "Dear JFK": https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
love this feedback!
Helen Cochrane: "I love this chapter and I feel like I have read it before....I have just read Susie's chapter on Roy and Edna's Sept 18 wedding. I was in the cycle of every seven years and I was seven and later Shirley, Sarah and Susie were seven years apart. I feel I have read this chapter before and it is certainly timely with all the JFK and Jacqueline's articles appearing. I'm grateful to you for remembering me--Roy and Edna were so special to me all my life."
Barb Nicholson: "I remember this day oh so well. I remember I couldn’t believe a president was assassinated in my lifetime. I remember thinking that was something that took place in the olden days of Abraham Lincoln and others....And now in this day and age, with murders in the homes, schools, workplaces, on the streets, in the cities and all over the country I wonder if the younger generation would even bat an eye if a leader of our country were to be assassinated in their lifetime!"
Diann Trice: "Wow, that is all I can say wow. So your grandmother got a letter from Jackie……priceless memories."
Carole Craft: "Susie, you have done well! I am anxious to read this book. The first book was great."
Steve Bowser: "Always a good subject to reminisce."
Kandy Kay Scaramuzzo: "How cool is that?"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I love this tribute to JFK; he was always my hero, and so was Lincoln."
Carol Baker: "The newest addition to my Kindle by friend and soul sister, Susie Sexton. As a writer, I appreciate Susie's ability to just... think out loud on paper. ♥ ... As I read the book, I realize that we have totally different writing styles. I have the ability to make people laugh, to make them cry, to bring them into the story as an active observer. What I've never been able to do, as Susie does effortlessly, is to write with the ease of an old friend over coffee, evoking memories of my own early childhood, my youth, young adulthood and ultimately, coming to terms with an aging body. Susie, you can move from topic to topic through time and weave the stories like a familiar old song. When one writes about topics of politics and social justice, as I do, it's with a constant level of angst. One day, I must try a Susie Sexton exercise of becoming a story-teller... never too late to stretch my writing chops. You inspire me to write more - and to write better. That's what I was talking about - your ability to think out loud on paper."
Tari Joyce: "Dear Susie has inspired me, to even be more aware, even when I thought I was just that; she has the right way to Rally People to notice and react ...to make a difference, no matter how small, it's something in the direction of progress ...... Ms. Motivation International She Is !! <3 Susie !!!!!!!"
_________________
More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels
New book Misunderstood Gargoyles & Overrated Angels was just released on October 31, 2013! Read an excerpt from the book and order your copy today at www.open-bks.com and www.susieduncansexton.com.
I will be appearing in Fort Wayne, Indiana on November 9 as part of the Allen County Public Library's 2013 Author Fair from noon to 4 pm. More info can be found at http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/. I will also present at an author event on November 17 at 2 pm at the Whitley County Historical Museum in Columbia City, Indiana: http://www.whitleymuseum.com/.
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
Boasts inclusion of a collection labeled "Kennedy"…
Magazines: LIFE, LOOK, NEWSWEEK, TIME, SATURDAY EVENING POST…
My mammoth old trunk filled with ghost after valorous ghost!
Bookshelves lined with biographies of Profiles in Courage
Starting with Honey Fitz -- a patriotic entourage!
Dawning upon me a young handsome Senator named "Jack";
His mother Rose and father Joe; siblings who had his back!
Touch football, PT 109, and just " Why England Slept"--
Memories and souvenirs lovingly browsed through and kept!
Moveable feast travelling from kid's bedroom to attics
Then apartments and basements and dens while Father Time ticks…
Hints of mildew. Yellowing. Frayed edges, yet quite intact --
Throughout the years, amassing updates I've researched and tracked.
A Commander-in-Chief, brilliant, brave, a "real time" hero --
Vibrant, credible, rugged Irish roots, calm and mellow.
By his side stood his equal…independent Jacqueline --
Role model like no other -- listened to as well as seen.
("Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years", I'd view one day,
Revived thoughts of snooping through my sister's closet -- at play!
Photographs, gowns, tweed jackets, jodhpurs, weathered riding boots,
Hand-written correspondence, sunglasses, pearls with smart suits!)
Studied high school French and bouffanted my thick, brown tresses,
Bought a pill box hat or two and sleeveless A-line dresses,
Played a lead part in our senior play in mid-November,
Welcomed an infant niece -- Kelly Diane -- I remember.
November 22, 1963
News anchor Walter Cronkite informed our stunned Civics class
This exceptional era into history must pass.
November 25, 1963
A tiny child bravely saluting. Lone riderless steed.
"Ask what you can do for your country…" The re-planted seed.
*~ Title from "Camelot", lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, 1960
More here - "Dear JFK": https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
love this feedback!
Helen Cochrane: "I love this chapter and I feel like I have read it before....I have just read Susie's chapter on Roy and Edna's Sept 18 wedding. I was in the cycle of every seven years and I was seven and later Shirley, Sarah and Susie were seven years apart. I feel I have read this chapter before and it is certainly timely with all the JFK and Jacqueline's articles appearing. I'm grateful to you for remembering me--Roy and Edna were so special to me all my life."
Barb Nicholson: "I remember this day oh so well. I remember I couldn’t believe a president was assassinated in my lifetime. I remember thinking that was something that took place in the olden days of Abraham Lincoln and others....And now in this day and age, with murders in the homes, schools, workplaces, on the streets, in the cities and all over the country I wonder if the younger generation would even bat an eye if a leader of our country were to be assassinated in their lifetime!"
Diann Trice: "Wow, that is all I can say wow. So your grandmother got a letter from Jackie……priceless memories."
Carole Craft: "Susie, you have done well! I am anxious to read this book. The first book was great."
Steve Bowser: "Always a good subject to reminisce."
Kandy Kay Scaramuzzo: "How cool is that?"
Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "I love this tribute to JFK; he was always my hero, and so was Lincoln."
Carol Baker: "The newest addition to my Kindle by friend and soul sister, Susie Sexton. As a writer, I appreciate Susie's ability to just... think out loud on paper. ♥ ... As I read the book, I realize that we have totally different writing styles. I have the ability to make people laugh, to make them cry, to bring them into the story as an active observer. What I've never been able to do, as Susie does effortlessly, is to write with the ease of an old friend over coffee, evoking memories of my own early childhood, my youth, young adulthood and ultimately, coming to terms with an aging body. Susie, you can move from topic to topic through time and weave the stories like a familiar old song. When one writes about topics of politics and social justice, as I do, it's with a constant level of angst. One day, I must try a Susie Sexton exercise of becoming a story-teller... never too late to stretch my writing chops. You inspire me to write more - and to write better. That's what I was talking about - your ability to think out loud on paper."
Tari Joyce: "Dear Susie has inspired me, to even be more aware, even when I thought I was just that; she has the right way to Rally People to notice and react ...to make a difference, no matter how small, it's something in the direction of progress ...... Ms. Motivation International She Is !! <3 Susie !!!!!!!"
_________________
More Secrets of an Old Typewriter: Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels
New book Misunderstood Gargoyles & Overrated Angels was just released on October 31, 2013! Read an excerpt from the book and order your copy today at www.open-bks.com and www.susieduncansexton.com.
Order the paperback on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/More-Secrets-Ol...
Read more: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwbooks...
View YouTube video of me reading from the new book here.
I will be appearing in Fort Wayne, Indiana on November 9 as part of the Allen County Public Library's 2013 Author Fair from noon to 4 pm. More info can be found at http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/. I will also present at an author event on November 17 at 2 pm at the Whitley County Historical Museum in Columbia City, Indiana: http://www.whitleymuseum.com/.
________________________
Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter and its new follow-up Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels - print and ebook versions of both are available (click the title to order from publisher Open Books' website). Also available in both formats at Amazon.com, or download from iTunes
Meet other like-minded souls at my facebook fan page
Visit my author website at www.susieduncansexton.com
Join a great group of animal advocates Squawk Back: Helping animals when others can't ... Or won't
