Susie Duncan Sexton's Blog, page 30

when we love life we love it all...no compartmentalizing

thanks to good friend Cynthia DeVoe for these marvelous quotes:

"Life is life - whether in a cat or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage." ~ Sri Aurobindo

"Animals, like humans, suffer emotionally. We must strive to cause them neither physical pain nor emotional anguish." ~ EXODUS 34:26

...some of the photos of unwanted animals I see on facebook look like paintings from the middle ages...or the DARK AGES...what a tragedy ... which seems to be going unnoticed by way too many. what can we do? i feel like we are talking to brick walls...incredible. people are either in denial or fiddling with their own navels...i say that and then remember how many of us never stop actively working WITH animals and saving animals from afar...a huge bunch of us do that. and nobody nor nothing can make us stop doing what is correct...this is not a matter of opinion....this is a fact...some of us care and some don't...and those who don't give a damn really care about nothing no matter what they say...all life matters...in whatever form...and when we love life we love it all...no compartmentalizing. grrrrrrr. flattery , compromise, whatever it takes...wishing we could get everybody on board...tiring often to care so much in the face of such nasty apathy. thanks for all that you do and for your talents!!!!!! ♥!!

…and then there is north carolina. i have been saying this for so long...so much religion in that state...i know because my roots are there...and quite a bit of stubborn responses re animal welfare...i hear "but people matter more than animals"...really? my heart can hold love for all living beings...i do not pick and choose according to political or religious loyalties. caring is caring, right? thank for "getting" what life is all about! i have written officials there several times...only one fellow replied but he justified the mass killings and the sale of live animals for research purposes...but at least he responded to my concerns...oddly...but responded.

cynthia wrote on facebook last night: “I'm not religious, per se, although I was raised Catholic. It has always bothered me how people use the ‘...and God gave man dominion over the animals...’ to justify their mistreatment of them. I thought, this can't be right. And it's not. You just have to look harder and most people don't care enough to do that. It's easy to abuse, torture and kill animals, as much as it pains me to say that, but it's the truth. We are a very sorry species, very sorry, indeed….Present company excepted, of course!!!♥”

cynthia is just wonderful! i like to interpret that dominion thingie like this...therefore with our supposed larger brains we are destined to revere and nurture animals and to learn from them...and to be protective and appreciative. so that's my interpretation -- and we should all be aware that the bible is open to interpretation and is not always to be taken literally but as a manual for dealing with human behavior? shakespeare offers us the same type of material BTW as did the greeks and the chinese and etc....as does the living of one's life. landmines are everywhere and so is great love/caring...one never knows where or when or why either, i.e. evil landmines or noble love, will pop up. but i know this...killing is evil and not a good thing...and either a person allows that it is okay to kill or a person says NO, it is NOT okay to kill. …. then THOU SHALT NOT KILL! a-men again ;D (NOKILL for sandwich meat or for convenience or for cash or from vengeance or for experimentation or for any reason whatsoever.)

oh, my god...my animal rescue friends do great work! what glorious beings...and so many of us work 'round the clock to remind folks to save these lives...to spare these lives...to appreciate these wonderful beings...starting with Ants all the way to Zebras -- A to Z! ...all of LIFE really does matter! THOU SHALT NOT KILL! perfect advice which we must start NOW to follow at last! a-men!

stunning....sometimes i literally fall off my little caned chair when i view the beautiful animals on my monitor as posted in my facebook newsfeed...so many just blow me away...how can human beings kill beauty...beyond my comprehension...animals are art...they are always gorgeous...always...always. and so fascinating...i detest the thuggishness of this world...and it IS 2012...time to appreciate each other and all the wonder surrounding ourselves...wow, nothing finer than that! ♥!!!

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LOVE this reaction to the above entry on a neat new facebook group called "Co-Creation Group...Together We Can Make A Difference"...

Debbie Reek: "Okay! Now that we're doin' the 'thank you' bit - thank you to ROY for bringing Susie Duncan Sexton's blog to all of our attention. Amazing woman who's able to communicate what I'm unable (lack of writing skills, shall we say!) You too, Roy, are a diamond in the rough. Talk about a slow pick-up on the obvious here. Susie any relation?"

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Episode ten of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard on The Colin Lively Show

The thrilling (albeit zany) weekly radio serial careens toward its conclusion, with only three episodes left!

Catch me and fellow author Danny Kemp (author of The Desolate Garden), entertainer and radio personality Judy Stadt, free-spirited Joshua Plant, and our incomparable host Colin on the Colin Lively Show! Listen at this link.

Colin writes: "Nora is so in love. Madly in love with Moe Willis. Moe Willis only wanted to cut her kudzu for some loose change. Or did he? Seems that the Evil Betty Ruay may be in cahoots with Moe. The last time a man double crossed Nora Redmond, there was nothing to be found, except a finger with a ring on it. No way to know whose finger it was, but some suspicion was cast on Nora. Nora has stopped taking her lamictal, and is a perfect markswoman. There is a Saturday Night Special in her Louis IV night stand. And she has stopped taking her lamictal. This week’s wild roller coaster ride continues with Episode 10 of our 13-week series. As we build toward a crashing climax, listeners from all over the world have gone simply mad for Sheepshead Bay Boulevard. Olivia Newton-James of the Sydney Spy writes, 'SHEEPSHEAD BAY BOULEVARD IS LIKE NOTHING I HAVE EVER HEARD. IT IS TOO MUCH TO EVEN TRY TO EXPLAIN.'"

Also on the show: "Kayla Zerby, vice president of Morris + King Company and a digitally-active and technically-savvy public relations professional...[will] be talking...about how the different communication mediums are frustrating to all of us. Kids today don’t like to write with their hands. And they don’t like to talk on the phone. Older people don’t like E-vites."

If you’ve missed any of the episodes, you MUST listen to the archives and get caught up.
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some thoughts from a full night of facebooking...

...time to be educating our youth that caring is not unmanly...that peaceful coexistence is not uncool...this is serious stuff. amazing that this is not an outrage to more people. time to step in and step up and educate...this is just plain mean and cruel and what many, many of us regard as a sin. no question about it.

...i am one of those suckers who is always poor from vet bills....for some reason i am allergic to money in any form whatsoever...i fly by the seat of my...pants! persuasion is my only weapon of choice. but i am lousy at generating funds from self-centered people...i'll do anything i can..i can always learn. NOKILL is totally possible...if we could have the funds those in control receive for rendering carcasses into fertilizers and unwholesome pet food and sales of live shelter animals to experimental labs and the profits garnered from the sale of gassing machines and redirect that cash into NOKILL, that would be a hearty/hardy start.

i wish i could write what i really feel and think, which i do in my blog...but we live in an incestuous, shrinking world of redneck, hunting-obsessed, crazy, small-minded zealots...i am torn up in my soul every day...just so glad though that i am speaking up for what that is worth. i'll get you some meaningful friends lined up. you are a very best freind to me because you love animals...i admit IF humans genuinely care and do something TO SAVE THESE PRECIOUS LIVES then I LOVE THOSE KINDA FOLKS!!!!!

...i am like a really wholesome jack kerouac! ...just being a realist. cannot believe some of the dear souls on facebook though. just wishing i knew a few more great folks in real life! ;D

And thanks to June Wilson for this: "It is awesome to have you on our side, Susie Sexton!" Thanks, June!

And Tressa Marie: "Another great blog from amazing Susie! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! ♥ She is so very right that the education of our youths to show love, care, concern, compassion and respect for all living beings, is vital to changing the future for our animal friends. It starts with what we teach and show!" Thank you, wonderful Tressa!


hey, kids, what can we say?
care, and don't look away.
adopt an orphan soon,
who'll bark a happy tune!
also, how' bout a cat?
to that, i'll tip my hat! =^..^= ♥!

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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 choose nature. we can learn from Her!

hey, i love you people -- and thanks for sharing dreams, jokes, souls, kind words, deep thoughts, and ANIMAL PHOTOGRAPHS...LIFE HAPPENS HERE! ♥!!!!! we do good stuff...yep~! the present is our present (gift)...we never look away...we stop to help in real time. you folks inspire me daily! our time is never wasted. ♥!!!!

...i would much rather be right here doing this sharing of shelter photographs and animal news than nearly anything i can think of...however, i wish the tragic situations would disappear...but there is no way that can happen if people do not network and inform and advocate...and that is very positive. we are correct to do so. this aspect of facebook and social media is hopeful and inclusive of all who live and should we succeed in some way, the benefits are enormous.

...a friend suggested to me that i am in pain...bet your bippy i am in pain because i cannot look away...many of us look tragedies in the face, experience pain, and do something about it...with very little discussion, we network and we write and we share. second by second. something positive that can be done. we are doing just that. yay, us! YES...♥ ♥

nature should take its course cuz the advice of humans generally is misinformed, lazy, and blow-offish...nature is kind more often than not...mercurial in a wholesome way. nature generally minds its own business? ;D i choose nature. we can learn from Her!

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"So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out; and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping, and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what's going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty." ~ Jack Kerouac


...now some can refer to that as a run-on sentence...OR just read through it and try to comprehend the fabulous message from this genius. it ain't necessarily easy but very worth the time spent thinking about something quite important.

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From wonderful Tressa Marie: "This blog is wonderful and I love what it says. Always much respect to Suie for all that she does for our animal friends! Awesome, amazing lady! ♥" Thanks, Tressa!

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Episode nine of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard on The Colin Lively Show

Catch me and fellow author Danny Kemp (author of The Desolate Garden), entertainer and radio personality Judy Stadt, and our incomparable host Colin on the Colin Lively Show! Listen at this link.

Colin writes: "What is going on in that bedroom where Nora Redmond remains sequestered with her stuffed ferrets and Moe Willis. Can Doctor Schaudenfreude be able to talk some sense into Norma? Should Max call the policewoman, Mother?...I am very worried that Nora will attempt murder again on the evil Betty Ruay, especially if Betty or Mugsy Balone catch wind of her new line of body slimmers called SKANKS, which could make Nora as wealthy as Sara Berkley.. as the whole world awaits the latest in the pulse raising and teeth grinding mini-series, SHEEPSHEAD BAY BOULEVARD, episode 9."

Colin adds: "Bud 'Hoot' Gibson of the Calgary Roundup Daily Squawk writes, 'a star is born. Susie Sexton, as Nora Redmond, embodies the most thrilling character in radio since Ernestine Wade as Sapphire'. No wrangler could keep me away from the Colin Lively Show when Sheepshead Bay Boulevard is on the air."

And a great conversation of Jack Kerouac and his seminal classic "On the Road." Colin writes, "how could we have known this would be considered one of the greatest works of literature? the embodiment of the Beat Generation. the world changers. the great songs."

If you’ve missed any of the episodes, you MUST listen to the archives and get caught up.
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loving this feedback from my facebook pals on my writing and other animal-related topics...

Cynthia DeVoe: "Well, I do think we know there are many with us, dear Susie; without people like you, who started this group [see Squawk Back] we wouldn't know how to help. I know you helped open my eyes with this group; yes, some things I didn't want to know, but I know how to help in some way.♥"

Moo Prince: "Bless you Susie, you are a sweet angel with a big heart. I love you too. I am here for you. ♥...Always, all you have to do is ask. You are as real , true caring & a loving friend to all the animal & GOOD humans that I have ever known. I am blessed & so very proud to have you as a friend. This comes from my heart. You are one of a kind sweetie. You can be proud of that. Hold your precious head up high. Thanks for all you do & for always being there for all know matter what. I love you & so very proud of you, Moo ♥"

Jennifer Mazur: "Ya know, it's true that hearing the words hamburger, beef, pork, bacon, etc. leads one to think of the items as only food as opposed to being an actual animal. I know as a kid that's how I thought. It's just another way to deceive. If more people were required to see the ways of an actual slaughterhouse, I believe there would definitely be more vegetarians today. But then it comes down to relying on the people to actually care. That's where all the selfishness comes into play. Too many people claim that as long as it tastes good to them, makes them happy and satisfied, they really don't care who or what had to suffer to make it happen. It's a sad sad selfish world! Thank you Susie, I will look into watching it [the film Bold Native]! Looks very interesting!"
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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Dedicated to my good, kind, gracious friend Paul Clifford Schrade...

[inspired by a heartfelt post about Facebook that was written by my good, kind, gracious friend Paul Clifford Schrade...]

oh, how i agree about the trivial aspects of the "social" network...as i have never been a "social" animal! ;D

your poetic offerings have boosted my morale more than you know, paul...and your animal advocacy keeps me in the battle to recognize the holocaust perpetrated upon sentient beings each nano-second that the rest of us go on living our own lives. i cannot tolerate the apathy...so when this (most important tragedy in this world) issue evokes deep response from the "PAULS" among us, i nearly sob with happiness.

i cannot live without paul who is a BOLD NATIVE...(watch the movie and get on board and end the destruction of our environment and its innocent and beautiful inhabitants).

paul, you are not only fabulous, you have fabulous fans here! you have been my support system, sir, when others post photographs of their toenail polish or sandals or casseroles being served for supper -- containing bacon and beef and ham.

too much of the time FACEBOOK IS HIGH SCHOOL and i detested high school...i live for those times when people connect about helping and acknowledging and accepting one another and support all who live to survive the self-centered madness so many of us cannot abide. what great folks have registered their appreciation for you...

yep, supporting each other in real time instead of waiting for that "RIP/rainbow bridge duct tape" phrase means we have got it right. often, i chalk some of the dead-headedism up to AGE-ISM... funny, my husband shouts at me THAT I BEHAVE LIKE A TWELVE YEAR OLD (NICE, HUH?) yet in the jungle of facebook and restaurants and wherever i go, i feel like eyeballs roll and sighs happen and "i'd really rather talk to somebody else" proliferates?

so how can a person be 12 years old and yet too old to matter and both at the same time i ask? ;D

life can be a pain in the ass. not only on facebook but also venturing into the live jungle of humanity. people are the same all over...facebook allowed me to meet some great ones though. thanks, i needed that, facebook! ;D

...i have been disillusioned and disappointed and shocked at some people and their lack of giving a damn OR a compliment ONCE in awhile...maybe THEY are social misfits? yeah, that's the ticket... ;D

deleting can be fun...and when i myself get deleted i always consider the source and their lack of good taste! wheeeeeeee.

(and it does take a hell of a long time to paint toenails and photograph oneself doing so and try to impress people with stories of shopping and traveling...INSTEAD OF PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ANIMAL HOLOCAUST and getting up from the monitor and adopting a homeless pet or two which are most generally my repetitive posts because there are bajillions of homeless pets and farm animals about to be slaughtered for the very coolest and most awesome recipes...my two cents!)

i ain't one of the crowd...why i enjoy facebook i'll never know...but i do NOT enjoy the bubbleheads. ;D

bubble heads ARE bobble heads...only in disguise!

postscript...

...people like paul can be found in facebook land which means that this invention of the "social" network has more plusses than minuses. angels among us...right on these monitors...and determined angels at that. our Earth and its voyagers whom we know about in real time greatly matter and we must care about each other and all sentient beings without fail. knock down the obstacles and keep advocating for what is correct.

and i love this blog even if i am the only one to read it... sweet voices interested in inclusiveness are the very best...they are heaven-like and inspirational and problem-solving which is why we exist...to better this place...to advance toward total goodness and appreciation for each other as we are...it ain't easy but is worth it...the struggle is difficult but the goal is worth every bit of pain we endure.

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

thank you for the lives you save...and the hearts you calm

i am sad part of every day and have become a different person since learning to cherish all living beings...

and to be as brave as i can for their rights to live...but i do cry daily...i used to look away...now i look at social media posts that a rugged cowboy would wince at and more importantly i look to the future when people never give up our insistence upon an end to all of these deaths at the hands of human beings who should know better...

...i am sad when people lack compassion/comprehension as to the suffering of others, whether human or animal...

...beyond imagining...this is no longer the DARK AGES nor a primitive "society" i should hope. disgusting and horrid. such ignorance should not be tolerated by anybody anywhere at anytime. shameful. must be stopped.

i don't often post the sad scenes, but if we can recruit those who have never paused to consider what we are trying to avoid, i.e. killing by whatever method, then (these realities pass my view when i least expect it, too) posting probably helps to end this practice...but i always consider not posting...so very many posts i have seen that i have not shared.

...frequently i cannot suffer through even the sad pix...so what must the reality be like for innocent animals who are incarcerated and waiting to die and have done nothing wrong and are so frightened and rightfully so. we must change this horrid system of killing no matter what method is used.

...i have such appreciation for the thoughtfulness and genuine concern of those animal lovers working toward a solution - a solution for this epidemic which we stare at each day and for the bewilderment we experience as we attempt to do the best we can.

i saved the life of a beauty of a dog ten years ago...she died in July. i sense her presence this very second. her name was zelda and i plucked her from euthanasia a decade ago...in five more minutes she would have been gone...instead i walked her home to this house and loved her so. we are correct to care as profoundly as we do.

thank you to those tireless animal advocates for all the work that you do and the lives that you save and the hearts that you calm...

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Episode eight of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard on The Colin Lively Show

Catch me and fellow author Danny Kemp (author of The Desolate Garden), entertainer and radio personality Judy Stadt, and our incomparable host Colin on the Colin Lively Show - listen at this link.

Colin writes: "This show is full of summer fun. We have another exciting installment of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard, week eight already! Colin, joined by Judy Stadt, Susie Sexton and The Kemps, bring us live radio theatre. If you’ve missed any of the episodes, you MUST listen to the archives and get caught up. Summer Movies- What are your favorites so far? The subject matter runs from...Magic Mike to Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter. I don’t remember that in my history lessons. There’s the usual sequel-mania, Spiderman, MIB III, Batman. Storybooks on steroids-Snow White and the Huntsmen. Coming up in a few weeks, two movies that hopefully will be good: Sparkle, Whitney Houston’s last work, and Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones."

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loving this feedback...

Thanks for the following kind words I received on yesterday's Homeward Angle column "NOVEL Ideas Lead to Royal(-ty) Pain." Read by clicking here:

Tressa Marie: "Thanks so much, Roy! As always, your Mom is just amazing!!... I love and feel honored when your Mom mentions me in her blogs!! So very nice and like I said, I am honored!! Much respect and gratitude to your Mom for all she does each day for our animal friends! Just an amazing woman! An inspiration to many! Thanks so much for sharing this with me, Roy ! Please give your wonderful Mom my warmest regards, respect and hugs!"

Terrie Holden: "Hi, thank you, great article as always xxx"

From Kat Kelly-Heinzelman: "Thank you, Susie - great article - love to read your stuff. Thanks, Roy, for tagging me in this article. Love you both. ♥"

From Paul Clifford Schrade: "Many thanks! Being with such distinguished people. Illuminating article!"

From Danny Kemp: "What a lovely thing to share!"

From Vicki Floren Blanche: "great article..very much proud of you.....and i sure need some writing lessons..my my......you have such rich vocabulary and your content is always 120% ...yes up there...i enjoy reading...yours truly......me...xoxo"

From Carol Bowman-Henderson: "Your mother is wonderful, and so are you, Roy ♥ I shared on my wall - God bless ♥"

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Thought you all might enjoy this piece! Wonderful op-ed piece by She Loves Me's very own "Ladislav Sipos" Brent Stansfield! All about the experience coming back to the theatre after a 20-plus-year sabbatical, and how fortunate for the Penny Seats that he decided to make his return with them! If you haven't had a chance to see Brent in this show, he is a fun/funny delight...here is an excerpt (read the rest at the link):

"This summer I am acting for the first time in 23 years and it has taught me something important about myself. Acting used to be stressful and scary: most things are stressful and scary in high school. But theater was the stressful, scary activity I chose. My school required us to engage in an athletic activity each term but allowed participation in a play instead. Most kids chose sports but I preferred theater because while both involved insecurity and fear, theater mixed these with serious themes: passion, character, soul, motivation. I remember motivation being particularly important. We thought a lot about motivation."

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Latest Homeward Angle column: NOVEL Ideas Lead to Royal(-ty) Pain

[View the scanned article by clicking here.]

Only fleetingly ever entertaining the idea to author the "great American novel", which ranked up there with achieving fame as a prima ballerina or opening an exotic animal sanctuary or climbing Mt. Everest, I now find that I pathetically look forward to unremarkable royalty stipends quarterly. No one is more surprised than I. Let's remember, though, that pop-artist-sociopath Andy Warhol promised that all schmucks everywhere would achieve 15 minutes of fame, sooner rather than later. Thus, I sadly consider that my achievement's already considerably watered down within Andy's once prescient context. Demeaned again…

Singers, revolutionaries, reality show show-offs, bloggers, critics, yellow journalists, prayer warriors, various activists, family focus folks, protesters, tweeters, armchair psychoanalysts, opportunistic politicians, and athletes (from peewee league to professional) over-populate the earth and crave recognition with accompanying cash results. "Show me the money!" And, thanks to Facebook postings and Letters to Editors, casual conversation -- one on one and face to face -- is on the wane while grand-standing proliferates. Look at us all! So much to say…and so little time. And even less quality information.

Earnestly promoting Hillary Clinton in 2008 (Please, tell me that she did NOT amass wealth while trading in "beef" commodities? Is that just Republican propaganda?), I submitted truly "progressive-thinking" logic to a multitude of newspaper editors and would have relished morphing into a political PUNdit, just a shade more solemn than Stephen Colbert. Instead, I delved into "nostalgic" trips to a not so long ago past, the glorious 50s and 60s, sans an abundance of candidness, sexual "allusions of grandeur" or naming of names unless in an adulatory mode. Super-heroes, wizards, paranormal situations, mythological concepts or a heavy reliance upon quoting scripture, or the capitalization of pronouns such as "He", "His, or "Him" also got ruled out as other millions of writers perfunctorily handle those topics. I decided to return to the yesteryear of hippies, lipstick, flower power, Disney, Howdy Doody, Ike, JFK, birth control pills, the Golden Age of Television, space exploration, and "Hi Ho, Steverino/Madison Avenue".

Similarly to scantily-clad Lana Turner perching upon a drugstore stool and finding her platinum-blonde-headed kittenish self "surprisingly" discovered in a surreal land of orange sunrises/sunsets and certifiable nuts, somebody incredibly "Greek to me" virtually grasped the high neck of my flannel nightgown as I inventively devised one status following another on the "social network" late into each night and into the early morning light. This Facebook ghost bearing gifts made me an offer I could not refuse. "Write more stuff, and I'll be your editor!" At first, I envisioned a Trojan Horse gliding across my screen -- then I succumbed breathlessly, yet confidently, to flattery.

An anthology of reflections from a past era got born, entitled "SECRETS OF AN OLD TYPEWRITER: Stories from a Smart and Sassy Small-town Girl". (My original title -- "Misjudged Gargoyles & Overrated Angels" -- seemed pointedly, appropriately provocative for our Harry Potter-cavorting-with-vampires saturated intellectual and cultural climate…but what do I know?)

Ironically, a former cab-driver/cop, now a famous writer across the pond, recently shared with me several of his publication-horror-stories involving an unusual "apostrophe controversy", yet his popular book, a murder mystery, is soon to be adapted into a movie. I matched him with an inventory of my own author-afflictions which plague what otherwise might have qualified as one fun "Walter Mitty"-ish ride spent signing actual physical books at retail outlets across the nation, appearing on the Letterman show, replying to Charlie Rose's probing questioning, and bantering with Jon Stewart. As far as I am aware, no attempts -- by Tarantino, Spielberg, nor Scorsese -- to access my "contact info" have occurred. Perhaps notifications from film directors fall into that category of "the check's in the mail"!

Although occasionally a handful of folks insist that I should "keep 'em coming" referring to columns I offer monthly, mostly I try to read "something" positive into blank stares I encounter while out and about mixing it up with the public. One astute reviewer DID compare me to fellow Hoosier Kurt VonneGUT -- I DO have guts! Another reader likened my style to that of a science fiction novelist, the late "Ray Brad Berry" (Translation? Ray Bradbury!) who wrote "Fried Green -- Dandelions"? (A little confusion between "Tomatoes" and "Wine"! ) Amateur critics run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. I compensate through development of thick skin to coordinate with my thick waist.

Should you, or any of your connections, wish to read me, check out www.susieduncansexton.com where my personalized history of the world, part I, can be downloaded onto your kindle, your computer, your iPad, your whatever. IF I sell enough eBooks, I'll rush out to become more worldly, tantalizing, mysterious, scandalous and possibly finance an exotic animal sanctuary at last. Perhaps, I'll offer another Tall Tale-Tail-Tell-All…with a spine, a slick cover, and numbered paper pages. I'll locate a vanity press which will provide precious illustrations of pudgy baby giraffes, gorillas, alligators, wallabies, elephants, gazelles, monkeys, lemurs, zebras, and ocelots. PLEASE buy "My Coloring Book" immediately upon its release to Wal-Marts, Targets, Meijers and… ALL of the drugstores in America! I surmised that one day I'd land exactly where starlet Lana Turner once held court (legendary Schwab's OR The Top Hat Café?)…comfortably situated upon my very own padded -- (bar)stool! More likely, seek me out at a card table NEAR YOU where I'll happily supply my autograph via the flourishing stroke of a big fat waxy crayon!

"Susie Duncan Sexton colors in the chiaroscuro of the American experience." ~ David Ross, my handsome editor who inhabits the island of Corfu and knows plenty of huge, fancy, lovely words!

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Episode seven of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard on The Colin Lively Show

Catch me and fellow author Danny Kemp on the Colin Lively Show - listen at this link.

Colin writes: "Now sit back and enjoy today's stirring episode of Sheepshead Bay Boulevard where we find Nora and Moe Willis sequestered is Nora’s private quarters. Oh, by the way, any similarity at all to movies, actors, and characters you may have seen in the past, such as Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Joe Gillis, Norma Desmond, creepy Beverly Hills mansion, or a fallen movie goddess is purely coincidental...Lunt and Fontanne. Rhett and Scarlett. Larry, Curly, and Moe. . . They are nothing compared to our ensemble cast!....Susie is the consummate star! Leaves Lauren Bacall in the dust."

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Other musings...

last night, i posted a status where i borrowed some excellent words from a lady on a string of a young euthanized dog...i do not want to engage in the posting of the many many tragedies but how do we get the great apathetic middle zone of humans to stop and care and help to stop all the crassness and brutality occurring every every second? we have to face the nightmarish facts.

...stunned sometimes by the lack of compassion among my fellow humans for the animal kingdom but upon review those folks were always totally self-involved...i have reversed that process and i have walked away from those in my life and on facebook who do not and WILL not ever give a damn...we obviously never had one thing in common and i would rather include people who care.

occasionally also when somebody is just "part way" interested in animal welfare, i kiss those folks good-bye, too.

killing is always wrong...not just "sometimes" evil. or when somebody gets all control freakish and forgets how sweet animals are and how much they need us to check our egos at the door.

to those reading this and understanding, we are of the same mind...and we are in our right minds! the stories i could share about the thugs i have met. not to be believed. and the nay-sayers...all they do is contemplate the fuzz in their own navels!

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...but then I get feedback like this, and it makes it all worthwhile...

From Kat Kelly-Heinzelman in reference to my Congressman Marlin Stutzman letters:

"You need to run for this man's place...you care not only for the human rights but the animals rights and it is about time we had someone who does and who will stand up for the animals who have no one else. Love you my dear friend and thank you for being the way you are. Right on about the rights of animals and their rights to be safe and sound just like all of us....So great to have you as a friend. I love reading your blogs. I'm learning something new all the time. Thank you for sharing your writings with all the rest of us. Hugs and much <3 Kat "

Thank YOU, Kat, for your kindness and compassion at every turn!

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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

Latest Old Type Writer: Boo, Lew, and Norma

Here is Jennifer Zartman Romano's description of my latest "Old Type Writer" column on Talk of the Town (www.talkofthetownwc.com/oldtypewriter):

"Columnist Susie Duncan Sexton pines for a 'home away from home' writing studio to pen her works in 'Boo, Lew, and Norma' her latest installment of Old Type Writer. Column includes a vintage photo of Susie's Uncle 'Mac' Clifford Duncan, when he was just a lad and who is today 92 years of age, and a link to check out the Colin Lively radio show in which Susie portrays Nora Redmond in 'Sheepshead Bay Boulevard.'"

Here is a quote: "I've composed two nostalgia columns per month -- for a total of three hectic years -- upon a couple of now deceased, discarded computers and searched high and low for old photographs to scan either lovingly or in panic-mode…and only live in the present when I appear on a radio show which is broadcast from Myrtle Beach by way of New York."

Read the rest at this link.

And don't forget - The Penny Seats production of She Loves Me opens in Ann Arbor's West Park this Thursday at 7 pm - www.pennyseats.org

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Read about movies and nostalgia, animal issues and sociopolitical concerns all discussed in my book Secrets of an Old Typewriter - print and ebook versions available. Also available in both formats at Amazon.com

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