Monday, August 28, 2017

Photobomb!

There's a cow pasture right on the edge of town; actually within the city limits. Twice a year, usually, sandhill cranes stop by there for a couple of days during their annual migrations. This year has been a little different. Very few showed up in the spring and sporadically rather than in a large group. I've seen as many as maybe 100 at a time other years. The fall migration seemed to be going the same way. I'd seen them overhead but not on the ground. Then yesterday on a whim I put the camera in the truck and went to look. Sure enough, maybe a dozen working their ways around the pasture and for a time close to the road. There was good cover
Do you think it's safe?
between me and them so I could get right next to the fence without spooking them. All set up and ready to shoot and what happens? Photobomb. Thanks, cow.
They did allow me a few nice ones too. I call this one "The Lookout."
More stories about Alaska birds

Monday, August 21, 2017

Disaster house revisited

It took some yellow machinery, here demolishing a storage shed, to attack the yard.
     
The tops of those cabinets
were covered with liquor
bottles.


The lighting makes the floor look pretty good, but actually it
is filthy and will take a lot of work, but we think saveable.

The professionals have come and gone. They cleared out 18 truckloads of trash from the house and yard in two and a half days. Plus the 1-800-Got-Junk people came in under their estimate, saving my friend something like $1,600.
     A lot remains to do, mostly cleaning and getting rid of the odor that permeates the   house. The walls have to be scrubbed, a bunch of small holes spackled and a couple of big ones in the drywall patched. Then we start painting. All of the carpeting has to be torn out and replaced.
     Most of the doors have some damage and several will have to be replaced. We think the electrical problem has been taken care of but there might be a plumbing problem and we haven't tested the furnace yet.
The yard after all the trash had been removed.
     The point is while the trash is gone, it's still a big job and it's going to either take a long time or cost a lot of money.
     Stay tuned, we might just have a big cleaning and painting party one of these weekends.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

2 Marines took first Korean conflict to a whole new level

Epic latrine
      While a real and a wannabe dictator hurl childish, but nuclear, taunts at each other these days, a friend who was there recalled an event that took the first Korean conflict down to a human level.  After all who better to describe war instead of the people at the podiums than a grunt who was there getting shot at and digging holes? My friend Joe May posted this on facebook Aug. 11. You see, he was a kid Marine on the 38th Parallel when the cease-fire was signed ending the last "war" with North Korea, July 27, 1953. His recollection of that episode puts a human face on that situation along with putting a human butt on it as well.

By Joe May
Used by permission
Copyright © Joe May
     This outhouse sits/sat atop a hill almost exactly on the 38th parallel, the dividing line between North and South Korea. It's/was located on the DMZ south of Panmunjom, the place where the armistice that ended hostilities was signed. Part of my regiment, the 1st Marines, was camped there awaiting a home bound troop ship
     Bored, antsy, and untethered, a buddy and I got into some alcohol fueled trouble, were hauled before the Colonel, and rather than chance a court martial accepted an alternative “hard” duty assignment ... to dig a much needed outhouse. Five feet by five feet by thirty five feet deep ... took thirty days ... exactly the length of the punishment detail and the arrival of our ship. It turned out to reputedly be the deepest outhouse in all Korea.
     We took turns up and down, Ski and me, one of us at the bottom of the hole with a short-handled pick and shovel, the other on top with a rope and bucket to haul up the rocks and dirt ... from sun-up until sundown ... every day ... all day. We actually hit water at 35 feet. The result was the finest outhouse in the 1st Marine Division sector, if not the entire United Nations Forces group (Aussies, Kiwis, Turks, French Foreign Legion, UK (Limey), Canadians, et al).
     Our original altercation was over a drunken dispute with the company commander over "democracy & freedom." We were supposedly in a quarantined position with a prohibition against alcohol. Buddy and I got our hands on a couple cases of beer from a motor pool outfit in the rear, and on a nice sunny day got roaring drunk and had the misfortune to be sitting in the middle of a rice paddy road when the Captain came along in his jeep. He asked us to move  and we refused (we were really smashed).  Needless to say, he and his driver took our rifles away from us and "locked" us up in a tent (can you believe that) overnight and hauled us to regiment in the morning. Colonel gave us a choice of a pro-forma summary court martial for "gross" insubordination or 30 days off the record hard labor with nothing going into our record. Ski already had 2 Summaries on his record and stood to end up in Leavenworth or somewhere like it with one more. We took the 30 and thanked the Colonel. I think he was smiling when we left his tent.
   The upside was that the division commander got wind of it, and because hostilities had ended, decided to lift the alcohol ban. A few days later the entire division was given a 2-can per day beer ration. For a few days Skoloski and May were heroes to the entire 1st Marine Division. After the ration went into effect the company supply grunt would bring a can for each of us up the hill to the dig every afternoon. The hauler guy on top would let a can down in the bucket to the digger guy at the bottom. We were literal heroes within the company. 
     Ski was nearly at his discharge date and to complete the 30 day work detail .... last night when we finished work I poured buckets of water over him for a clean-up. A jeep was waiting and took him to the airstrip where he caught a lift  to Seoul and the main air base where he caught a cargo flight to Hawaii and a commercial flight to San Francisco where his discharge was waiting for him when he landed. I had a month to wait for a regular troop movement with a ship. 
     Ski enlisted as a private and was discharged a private after four years of service ... with Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His proudest moment was receipt of a handwritten letter from the Regimental Commander stating that he, the Colonel, would personally like to see Pvt. Skolosky promoted to Private First Class upon discharge “in recognition of valor in combat," however, Pvt. Skolosky's “disciplinary record," regrettably,  prevented any possibility of that ... he said. We opened some beers.
     I had one letter from Ski when he got back to the States....said he had his feet up on a  beer case with a  pretty girl opening cans for him. These things sometimes have happy endings.
     Whether our outhouse is still standing is unknowable, but if it is, I fear it may become a casualty of President Trump's ongoing dither with Kim Jong Un. It lays heavy on my mind tonight.
     Unheard from in years, my digging partner, Pvt. Skoloski, above or below ground in Upper Darby, PA, probably shares that same apprehension. We can only hope.
     Ski was my hero .... in the fullest tradition of Chesty Puller ... loyal as they come and profane to a fault.

     Semper Fi old friend, wherever you are, and don't worry about our outhouse. It's history either way.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Hang on chillins for a wild ride on a playlist



August 4, 2017
Music can mean many things to many people, some of it and them not so pretty. Take, for instance singing in the shower, alone in a moving car or in this case a lonely old Alaskan sitting at his computer with a glass of wine and a pizza in the oven on a Friday night. A lot of it occurs right where it belongs and heard only by the hopeful musician. If it should go public what we need to keep in mind is it's the thought that counts, and the effort. If the performance isn't perfect, at least some credit should be given for the attempt. This first offering is a case in point. Consider 65,000 people singing "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Bohemian Rhapsody at a Green Day concert in England.


A couple of months ago, Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers died. A friend told me she expected a southern rock playlist. At the time I could only think of the brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Since then I have found a few more and I am going to mix them in tonight. First up a a traditional southern song with a rock twist. One I couldn't help singing as a teenager. The Fendermen. "Mule Skinner Blues." There are some other versions and I will put at least one up later. 


Let's get this one out of the way early. Star Wars medley played on stringed instruments with light sabres.





All right, that's done. I know drum solos can get tedious, unless you like the new Energizer Bunny commercial, so I will be judicious. In the last playlist I featured an 11-year-old singer who was awesome. A 14-year-old in the background was largely ignored despite her amazing drumming. Here she is now and maybe a couple more later, Sina covering "Smoke on theWater," Deep Purple.






Sorry, I couldn't resist trying this: 



Another southern rocker with an absolutely genuine deep southern song. Have I ever gotten very far without mentioning Leon Russell? Barely recognizable as a young man, doing Jambalaya. Get this, I once won a 45 of Jambalaya for spelling the word correctly in a contest on The Hound's radio show on WKBW in Buffalo, New York. From the Zanzibar, man.



George Lorenz Biography
HOUNDDOGLORENZ.COM

 It's too bad the bio didn't put his opening in. With background music that paused so he could give his spiel it went something like this: First a howl, then he would say "The Hound's around" then more music, then "I'm rockin' on record, dad," more music, then "from the Zanzibar, man." That's all I remember. The Zanzibar was a dance club in the center of Buffalo's African-American neighborhood. One thing it is important to note is that very early on during the birth years of rock music, The Hound promoted black musicians before they were being played regularly on other stations. Those included Frankie Lyman, "Little" Stevie Wonder and Little Richard.



Going softer now. I've written on these playlists before about Steven Stills and Judy Collins. Here they are in a duet after all the fireworks. "Someday Soon," with Graham Nash.







How about another southern song? A more country version of "Mule Skinner Blues" with Pete Seeger and Ramblin' Jack Elliot.Sometimes you have to listen to these songs the way they were meant originally.






Here's sort of an introduction to the drummer Sina. The timing is cool. It's also fun to scroll down the YouTube window and read her own comments about what she is doing. This is an aside. A few years ago I came across a 16-year-old drummer who, like Sina, employed two base drums. Her sets were so energetic she needed help walking off the stage afterward because her legs were cramping. Whitesnakes' "Here I Go Again."



Let's go back in time a ways. Do you think Elvis was the first person to record this? Big Mama Thornton "Hound Dog."








--> 

Heading south again with the Allman Brothers from their album Hot L'Anta. Light one up if you have one.










How about a comedy break. Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick "Blowin' In The Wind."











Here's another hard rock band from the southland. Hold onto your seats. Black Oak Arkansas "Jim Dandy."







Here's a last one from Sina, for tonight anyway. I just figured out that's her father playing the guitar in this video. "Wipe Out"from the Surfaris.
Leaves you breathless just watching. The photo is from her website: 





We aren't going to leave southern rock tonight without hearing from these guys. Lynyrd Skynyrd, with their classic "Freebird." Then watch out for a hard right turn. Incidentally their name comes from a basketball coach named Leonard Skinner who told band members their hair was too long.


Making that right turn now. A dear friend of mine and I have joked about the inappropriate crushes we have on people, celebrities mostly. Many of mine are female singers who have shown up on these playlists.  But despite the number of female singers I have featured, I have left out an important one, not because I don't like her but because I am not familiar with her music despite the fact she is the biggest-selling woman singer over the past 20-some years and often has a song at the top of the charts. She has had 18 number one hits and wrote 17 of those herself. A friend on Twitter is a big fan and considers herself one of the lambs, a name for Mariah Carey's most devoted followers. Sometimes I have gotten a little tired of all her tweets about the singer but I tolerate them for the friendship. Frankly I have never listened much and I probably know more about her personal life from the tabloid press than I do about her music. Then, the other night I came across her cover of one of my favorite songs and I liked it. So, let's try it here. Mariah Carey with Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is."




As usual I like the original version better, but that's just me and doesn't take anything away from the way she performs it. She did a beautiful job with the song. Here's the original Foreigner version. Make your own choice.







Then I explored a little more and I came across another cover Mariah did and I like that one too. 
Mariah Carey,"Without You."









Many people have covered that song and she does it beautifully, but my favorite and a cover, also, is Harry Nilssen's version.


Now for a little history. Usually but not always we like the original version of a song. I mean who with one exception from Joe Cocker can cover the Beatles? This one is the exception. Badfinger was a band that George Harrison promoted originally. Two members of the band wrote "Without You," but then differences led to the band's breakup and later both of the authors, Pete Ham and Tom Evans, eventually committed suicide. Their song lives on in the voices of others. This is the Badfinger version. The backup music and the guitar don't quite make up for their clipped performance of the song.  Badfinger, "Without You."


At this point I realized we need some more music from Mariah Carey. But what? So, at a loss, I asked my Twitter friend what her favorite song was that wasn't a cover. Boy, did I get an earful over that one. I mean, all I had heard so far were those two covers, but I knew she had written so much of her own music and that was explained to me very clearly. I told my friend what I was doing and she asked me if I was becoming one of Mariah's lambs. I asked if I would have to give up my Lil' Monster badge. She said I could be both. I asked her to tell me her favorite original Mariah song. This is it:"Make It Happen."




And, this is her song "One Sweet Day," the longest-running No. 1 hit in US chart history.








One more thing about Mariah Carey. She has a five-octave range and beyond. She can hit what is called the whistler register. You have to hear it to believe it. She not only hits that off-the-chart note but can maneuver within that range. And, no, I do not have an inappropriate crush on her. Yet!  Here are some examples of her whistle register.









Almost midnight and I guess maybe it's time to bring this one to an end. A song lingers in my mind.Foreigner takes some grief for some sappy songs but the hell with that. This last song got me through a whole winter of a tough breakup so many years ago. (Search Key Largo on the main blog). It got kind of embarrassing because I was working on a newspaper copy desk at the time and out of the blue one night I blurted out a line from this song before I realized it was out loud. Foreigner, "Waiting for a Girl Like You."


More playlists and music articles

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

One path to life on the street

This is going to take some explaining. First all this is fiction, keep that in mind. Secondly it is written in instant-messaging format keeping all the inherent typos, misspellings and syntax intact. That is to preserve the story in a way it occurred. I know that makes it difficult to read, but in the long run it helps understand the two people involved. This is a small part of a much longer project. 
At the time of this conversation she is living in a group home for vulnerable women so at least we don’t have to decipher the language she uses when she’s high. She ran away from an abusive home when she was 16 and ended up on the street working occasionally as a prostitute to support a meth addiction. I am posting this because in the past week I have been posting about another friend who’s dealing with this kind of world as she had to have renters evicted from a property she owned, people much like the young woman on one side of this conversation. 
In the eviction process we saw some insight into a young man’s relationship or non relationship with his father, an insight that raised more questions than it answered. But, the question most frequently asked was "How can people live like this?" This conversation describes how the runaway woman I know described her original home life and what eventually pushed her out and led her into a situation similar to the one we are dealing with in the eviction.

Bet Cee: i think my parents were just young
Bet Cee: and poor
Bet Cee: and hot tempereed
Bet Cee: and didn't necesarily like each other
Bet Cee: or me
whaleman11: a recipe for disaster.
Bet Cee: lol right
whaleman11: how old were they when you were born?
Bet Cee: 21 and 22 i think...
Bet Cee: babies
whaleman11: for sure
whaleman11: i think it takes people longer to grow up than it did 100 years ago
Bet Cee: i think youre very right
whaleman11: but are still expected to be mature at that age
Bet Cee: ive spent a lot of time thinking about it
Bet Cee: and i thnk youre right
Bet Cee: not everyone does well forced into a situation they dont wnt to be in
whaleman11: yes that too
whaleman11: was it sort of an accidental pregnancy or do you know?
Bet Cee: totallly accidental
whaleman11: probably didn't help the situation any
whaleman11: but people have to accept the responsibility of their actions
Bet Cee: ya..
Bet Cee: how do you feel about abortion?
whaleman11: like a lot of  things, i can see both sides of the argument.  I can also see that it is a woman's choice and none of government's business
Bet Cee: i think its a womans choice too
whaleman11: while i can see the life argument, i can also see times when abortion is the best choice
Bet Cee: and i thikn i would have been an excellent abortion candidate
whaleman11: that's a sad thing tohave to say
Bet Cee: no...not really sad
Bet Cee: true I could literally look my Dad in the face and tell him Ishould have been an abortion … he would tell me I'm right
whaleman11: still the feeling of not being wanted
Bet Cee: haha i wasnt
Bet Cee: i dont mean like...i dont deserve life
Bet Cee: i mean more...
whaleman11: and that might have affected your whole life
Bet Cee: if you think about it objetively
whaleman11: yes i see what you are saying
Bet Cee: right
Bet Cee: im all for womans choice
whaleman11: as it should be
Bet Cee: anyway..i was just wondering
whaleman11: how i felt about it?
Bet Cee: ya
whaleman11: how i feel about it, is if it ever came up in my life i would  think about it long and hard as I did in the past and hope we both came to the same conclusion, knowing if we didn't it would be her vhoice
whaleman11: choice
whaleman11: and certainly anyone else's is their issue not mine
Bet Cee: cool
whaleman11: got that settled?
Bet Cee: ya
whaleman11: i am glad hyou parents didn't get one
whaleman11: did your father ever molest you?
whaleman11: i think you told me once he didn't but i forget
Bet Cee: woah
Bet Cee: no
whaleman11: glad to hear that
Bet Cee: me 2
whaleman11: yes you for sure more than me
whaleman11: i think i told you once on here about afriend whose father began raping her at the age of 9
Bet Cee: ya..
Bet Cee: how is she doing?
whaleman11: i don't know
whaleman11: haven't heard from her since early fall
whaleman11: she had just come out of rehab  and was living with her son and girlfriend
Bet Cee: sounds like shes doing well then
whaleman11: well considering the silence, i hope so
whaleman11: i hope she hasn't relapsed
Bet Cee: ill hope the best for her too
whaleman11: good
whaleman11: it's funnyu
whaleman11: i won't hear from her for months
whaleman11: and one day i will have these strong feelings and thoughts abouther
whaleman11: and she contacts me within a week
Bet Cee: haha thats pretty cool
whaleman11: some kind of connection
Bet Cee: i love people like that
whaleman11: me too
Bet Cee: do you think that because my father didnt molest me that it wasnt that bad and i should have stuck it out?
whaleman11: i don't know enough to make that judgment
whaleman11: nor would i
whaleman11: what matters is how you perceived what was going on
whaleman11: and iff he was cruel and beating you,  you had good enough reason without adding molestation onto it
Bet Cee: k..
whaleman11: does that sound right ot you?
Bet Cee: wut
whaleman11: what i just said
Bet Cee: ya its fine
whaleman11: anyway
whaleman11: i am sure your reasons were good
whaleman11: or at least justified
Bet Cee: kk
Bet Cee: im not sure NOW that leaving was good
Bet Cee: but i was very sure then that leaving was good
whaleman11: on that list of basic truths on my blog there is one that says
whaleman11: all decisions are based on unsufficient data
whaleman11: sometimes you jsut have to do what feels right at the time
whaleman11: i think if you hadn'r run, you might be better off today
whaleman11: but can't we be sure
whaleman11: do you think it was possible he could really have hurt you?
Bet Cee: no doubt yes
whaleman11: did you ever have to get treatment, go to the hospital?
Bet Cee: i told you
Bet Cee: he broke his knuckles punchning the door
Bet Cee: next to my face
whaleman11: yeah
whaleman11: did he ever hit yhou like that?
Bet Cee: yes
Bet Cee: i dont care how drunk you get
Bet Cee: your stillresponsbile for your own actions
whaleman11: yes you are
whaleman11: and a lot of this hapened when he was drunk?
whaleman11: did yo ever go to the hospital?
Bet Cee: i think he was an alcholoic
Bet Cee: but he never went to meetings or anything...
Bet Cee: thats just like my ownopinin
Bet Cee: no
whaleman11: yeah  i get it,   no to hospital?
Bet Cee: well
Bet Cee: i should rephrase
whaleman11: how about your mother, did she drink with him?
Bet Cee: not for injuries that 'happened in the home'
whaleman11: for what then?
Bet Cee: it was like 'oh you hurt yourself in basketball and we didnt go until later that night'
whaleman11: ok now confused
whaleman11: he hurt you but they blamed it on basketball?
Bet Cee: no..
Bet Cee: so if you go to the hospital
Bet Cee: they ALWAYS ask what happened
whaleman11: yes
Bet Cee: so i was never there for an inury that happnee din the home
Bet Cee: it was always something that happened earlier
Bet Cee: like basketball game
whaleman11: oh
whaleman11: still not sure what you are saying
Bet Cee: ugh nvm
Bet Cee: no my  mom didnt drink
whaleman11: but she didn't defend you?
Bet Cee: my parents
Bet Cee: were
Bet Cee: are
Bet Cee: ?
Bet Cee: can i say are?
Bet Cee: im gonna say are
Bet Cee: my parents are under some delusion
Bet Cee: that they have to protect and back each other up on everything
Bet Cee: or they are being like...
Bet Cee: unfaithful
whaleman11: oh   so that make you the common enemy
Bet Cee: so..
Bet Cee: EXACTLY!
Bet Cee: fucking exactly
Bet Cee: and what else it does
whaleman11: ugh
Bet Cee: is if mom tried to liike...say..'well honey..it will be ok, let it go this time'
Bet Cee: then hed say that i was turning my mom against him
Bet Cee: and then things just got worse
Bet Cee: it was fucked up
whaleman11: i can see it
whaleman11: and how often would something like that happen
Bet Cee: it was ALWAYS tense
Bet Cee: but like my dad losing it?
Bet Cee: all weekend
Bet Cee: and maybe once or twice on the weekday
whaleman11: what would be a happy time at home for you?
Bet Cee: hanging out with grandparents OUTSIDE of my house
Bet Cee: that was fucking fantastic
Bet Cee: they were awesome
Bet Cee: probobly because grandkids can do no wrong
Bet Cee: they were cool
Bet Cee: they had hobbies
Bet Cee: and we went and did like activities
whaleman11: are these your mothers or father's parents?
Bet Cee: both...but my dads set was cooliest
whaleman11: were they aware of what was going on?
Bet Cee: but like...
Bet Cee: howd it go..
Bet Cee: hmm..
Bet Cee: can you know without actually knowing?
Bet Cee: that kinda thing
Bet Cee: i thikn they knew my dad drank
whaleman11: yes   or knowing and not wanting to know
Bet Cee: i think they knew he had a short temper
Bet Cee: they just didnt put it all togehter
Bet Cee: right but then..
Bet Cee: im trying to remember like the order
Bet Cee: things at home got worse...
Bet Cee: uncle my dads best friend...committed suicide
Bet Cee: grandpa died...
Bet Cee: things at home got worse
Bet Cee: boyfriend and i broke up
Bet Cee: i left
whaleman11: i am jsut shakingmy head here
whaleman11: it seems like somebody could have stopped it
Bet Cee: my dad needed help
Bet Cee: but no one saw it i guess
whaleman11: well you needed help too
Bet Cee: you know what i mean...
Bet Cee: he was hurting
Bet Cee: and i dont think he knew how to handle it
Bet Cee: and things just keep getting harder
whaleman11: for him and for you
Bet Cee: and my mom too i gues
Bet Cee: although..
Bet Cee: out of everyone
Bet Cee: i hat her
Bet Cee: not him
Bet Cee: i hate her
Bet Cee: she should have seen what was going on
Bet Cee: and she should have gotten involved
Bet Cee: and she should have gotten him help
Bet Cee: and she should have protected me
whaleman11: i can see that
Bet Cee: instead
Bet Cee: she turned the other way
Bet Cee: and helped him beat the shit out of me
Bet Cee: fuck her
Bet Cee: selfish woman
whaleman11: or afraid
Bet Cee: they fought bad too
Bet Cee: thats the fucked up part
Bet Cee: ugh...
Bet Cee: its complicated
Bet Cee: she wasnt afraid of him
Bet Cee: she was afraid to lose him
whaleman11: yea itis never simple
whaleman11: is she pretty?  thin? heavy? tall ? short?
Bet Cee: i think she used to be pretty
Bet Cee: but shes heavy
Bet Cee: and tall
whaleman11: just curious
whaleman11: what about your dad,   big man?
Bet Cee: like strong
Bet Cee: not like fat
whaleman11: but a big guy?
Bet Cee: ya
whaleman11: reason i ask is it seems a lot of men who beat up women are little guys
Bet Cee: interesting....
Bet Cee: i got it
whaleman11: it just sounds like an intolerable situation
whaleman11: with no way out
Bet Cee: so i made a way out
whaleman11: without much planning
whaleman11: but you did get away from it
Bet Cee: errr
whaleman11: and i bet to them it was all your fault
Bet Cee: right
Bet Cee: i duno...
Bet Cee: like yes
Bet Cee: but i duno how much of it was my fault and how much of it wasnt
whaleman11: some days I just want to put my arms around you and protect you
whaleman11: ok now here is something to think about and mybe why the psychologist is digging
whaleman11: at the age this was happneeing maybe you did agitate some of it
whaleman11: but from birth your parents created the atmospher in which it all grew
whaleman11: their failures as parents earlier led to greater failures later but later, you could see it and at times reblel
whaleman11: and when you gorw up in a home like that, you have no way of knowing itis not nromal
whaleman11: the way it is everywhere
Bet Cee: ya...
Bet Cee: i could tolerate it until my uncle deied
whaleman11: and that's when it  really got worse?
Bet Cee: ya
whaleman11: how long was that before you took off
Bet Cee: maybe like little more than 6 months
whaleman11: ohhh taht soon
whaleman11: i pictured a year or two
Bet Cee: omg no
whaleman11: and you were a junior in high school
whaleman11: ?
Bet Cee: ya
Bet Cee: i just think too many things happened to fast
whaleman11: sounds like it
whaleman11: iwould like to talk sometime about that first night or two
Bet Cee: when i left?
whaleman11: yes
Bet Cee: lol ok
Bet Cee: parents...cant live with them and cant live withoutt hem
whaleman11: lol for sure
Bet Cee: and there isnt much to say about the first few nights
whaleman11: well like where did you stay? what did you eat, how didyou get out of town, did youleave right a way
Bet Cee: did i say too much?
Bet Cee: you got quiet
Bet Cee: that makes me nervous...
whaleman11: did you have a destination
whaleman11: lol don't let it   you stop and think sometimes too
Bet Cee: k...
Bet Cee: what r u thinking about
whaleman11: but we can talk about this some other time
whaleman11: don't let my silence make you nervous
whaleman11: sometimes you go quiet while you think too
whaleman11: making more sense?
Bet Cee: ya
whaleman11: ok good
whaleman11: and sorry  hunger isovertaking me
whaleman11: not to mention yawns
Bet Cee: oh no!
Bet Cee: its too early
Bet Cee: i am putting you to sleep!
Bet Cee: lol thats terrible
Bet Cee: its like i put you through family videos
Bet Cee: lol
Bet Cee: and now you have to politely smile
whaleman11: haha if i see ONE more brthday cake i am going too scream
Bet Cee: birthdday cake?
whaleman11: in the videos
Bet Cee: k...
whaleman11: supposed to be funny
whaleman11: guess it wasn't
whaleman11: i tried
Bet Cee: you are so good
Bet Cee: lol
Bet Cee: dinner time?
whaleman11: what the heck makes you say tht?
whaleman11: good not dinner
Bet Cee: lol
Bet Cee: youre just a good guy
Bet Cee: thats all
whaleman11: thank you
whaleman11: haven't been called that much in my life
Bet Cee: really?
whaleman11: really
Bet Cee: well...you are
whaleman11: thank you
whaleman11: again
Bet Cee: i like talking to you
whaleman11: i enjoy it too Betsy
Bet Cee: you make me feel safe
whaleman11: i want to do that and i want to maky you feel loved too
Bet Cee: that makes me uncomfy
whaleman11: more than that, I want you to BE safe
Bet Cee: but we can talk about that anothertime
Bet Cee: im safe here...
whaleman11: yes you are
whaleman11: iand i have felt so good about that all year
whaleman11: i don't have to leave you at night and wonder if you will be there in the morning
Bet Cee: hahah ur probobly the first person who has ever wondered about that
Bet Cee: and ya its pretty cool to not have to spend all dayworrying where im gonna be that night

-->

Best headlines ever

Naked pair fed LSD gummy worm to dog

Owners of a Noah's Ark replica file a lawsuit over rain damage

In Southcentral Alaska earthquake, damage originated in the ground, engineers say

A headline that could only be written in Alaska: At state cross country, Glacier Bears and Grizzlies sweep, Lynx repeat, Wolverines make history — and a black bear crosses the trail

Man kills self before shooting wife and daughter

Alabama governor candidate caught in lesbian sperm donation scandal

Sister hits moose on way to visit sister who hit moose.

Man caught driving stolen car filled with radioactive uranium, rattlesnake, whiskey

Man loses his testicles after attempting to smoke weed through a SCUBA tank

Church Mutual Insurance won't cover Church's flood damage because it's 'an act of God'

Homicide victims rarely talk to police

Meerkat Expert Attacked Monkey Handler Over Love Affair with Llama Keeper

GOP congressman opposes gun control because gay marriage leads to bestiality

Owner of killer bear chokes to death on sex toy

Support for legalizing pot hits all-time high

Give me all your money or my penguin will explode

How zombie worms have sex in whale bones

Crocodile steals zoo worker's lawn mower

Woman shot by oven while trying to cook waffles

Nude beach blowjob jet ski fight leads to wife's death

Woman stabs husband with squirrel for not buying beer Christmas Eve

GOPer files complaint against Democrat for telling the truth about Big Lie social posts

Man shot dead on Syracuse Street for 2nd time in 2 days

Alaska woman punches bear in face, saves dog

Johnny Rotten suffers flea bite on his penis after rescuing squirrel

Memorable quotations

The best way to know you are having an adventure is when you wish you were home talking about it." — a mechanic on the Alaska State Ferry System. Or as in my own case planning how I will be writing it on this blog.

"You can't promote principled anti-corruption without pissing off corrupt people." — George Kent

"If only the British had held on to the airports, the whole thing might have gone differently for us." — Mick Jagger

"You can do anything as long as you don't scare the horses." — a mother's favorite saying recalled by a friend

A poem is an egg with a horse inside” — anonymous fourth grader

“My children will likely turn my picture to the wall but what the hell, you only get old once." — Joe May

“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” — Ernest Hemingway

When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth. Kurt Vonnegut

“If you wrote something for which someone sent you a cheque, if you cashed the cheque and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”Stephen King

The thing about ignorance is, you don't have to remain ignorant. — me again"

"It was like the aftermath of an orgasm with the wrong partner." – David Lagercrants “The Girl in the Spider’s Web.”

Why worry about dying, you aren't going to live to regret it.

Never debate with someone who gets ink by the barrel" — George Hayes, former Alaska Attorney General who died recently

My dear Mr. Frost: two roads never diverge in a yellow wood. Three roads meet there. — @Shakespeare on Twitter

Normal is how somebody else thinks you should act.

"The mark of a great shiphandler is never getting into situations that require great shiphandling," Adm. Ernest King, USN

Me: Does the restaurant have cute waitresses?

My friend Gail: All waitresses are cute when you're hungry.

I'm not a writer, but sometimes I push around words to see what happens. – Scott Berry

I realized today how many of my stories start out "years ago." What's next? Once upon a time?"

“The rivers of Alaska are strewn with the bones of men who made but one mistake” - Fred McGarry, a Nushagak Trapper

Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stared at walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing. – Meg Chittenden

A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity. – Franz Kafka

We are all immortal until the one day we are not. – me again

If the muse is late, start without her – Peter S. Beagle

Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain Actually you could do the same thing with the word "really" as in "really cold."

If you are looking for an experience that will temper your vanity, this is it. There's no one to impress when you're alone on the trap line. – Michael Carey quoting his father's journal

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. – Benjamin Franklin

It’s nervous work. The state you need to write in is the state that others are paying large sums of money to get rid of. – Shirley Hazzard

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence -- Bertrand Russell

You know that I always just wanted to have a small ship to take stuff from a place that had a lot of that stuff to a place that did not have a lot of that stuff and so prosper.—Jackie Faber, “The Wake of the Lorelei Lee”

If you attack the arguer instead of the argument, you lose both

If an insurance company won’t pay for damages caused by an “act of God,” shouldn’t it then have to prove the existence of God? – I said that

I used to think getting old was about vanity—but actually it’s about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial. – Eugene O’Neill

German General to Swiss General: “You have only 500,000 men in your army; what would you do if I invaded with 1 million men?”

Swiss General: “Well, I suppose every one of my soldiers would need to fire twice.”

Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.—Gloria Steinem

Exceed your bandwidth—sign on the wall of the maintenance shop at the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

One thing I do know, if you keep at it, you usually wind up getting something done.—Patricia Monaghan

Do you want to know what kind of person makes the best reporter? I’ll tell you. A borderline sociopath. Someone smart, inquisitive, stubborn, disorganized, chaotic, and in a perpetual state of simmering rage at the failings of the world.—Brett Arends

It is a very simple mind that only knows how to spell a word one way.—Andrew Jackson

3:30 is too late or too early to do anything—Rene Descartes

Everything is okay when it’s 50-below as long as everything is okay. – an Alaskan in Tom Walker’s “The Seventymile Kid”

You can have your own opinion but you can’t have your own science.—commenter arguing on a story about polar bears and global warming

He looks at three ex wives as a good start—TV police drama

Talkeetna: A friendly little drinking town with a climbing problem.—a handmade bumper sticker

“You’re either into the wall or into the show”—Marco Andretti on giving it all to qualify last at the 2011 Indy 500

Makeup is not for the faint of heart—the makeup guerrilla

“I’m going to relax in a very adult manner.”—Danica Patrick after sweating it out and qualifying half an hour before Andretti

“Asking Congress to come back is like asking a mugger to come back because he forgot your wallet.”—a roundtable participant on Fox of all places

As Republicans go further back in the conception process to define when life actually begins, I am beginning to think the eventual definition will be life begins in the beer I was drinking when I met her.—me again

Hunting is a “critical element for the long-term conservation of wood bison.”—a state department of Fish and Game official explaining why the state would not go along with a federal plan to reintroduce wood bison in Alaska because the agreement did not specifically allow hunting

Each day do something that won’t compute – anon

I can’t belive I still have to protest this shit – a sign carriend by an elderly woman at an Occupy demonstration

Life should be a little nuts or else it’s just a bunch of Thursdays strung together—Kevin Costner as Beau Burroughs in “Rumor has it”

You’re just a wanker whipping up fear —Irish President Michael D. Higgins to a tea party radio announcer

Being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are—Michelle Obama

Sports malaprops

Naked pair fed LSD gummy worm to dog

Owners of a Noah's Ark replica file a lawsuit over rain damage

In Southcentral Alaska earthquake, damage originated in the ground, engineers say

A headline that could only be written in Alaska: At state cross country, Glacier Bears and Grizzlies sweep, Lynx repeat, Wolverines make history — and a black bear crosses the trail

Man kills self before shooting wife and daughter

Alabama governor candidate caught in lesbian sperm donation scandal

Sister hits moose on way to visit sister who hit moose.

Man caught driving stolen car filled with radioactive uranium, rattlesnake, whiskey

Man loses his testicles after attempting to smoke weed through a SCUBA tank

Church Mutual Insurance won't cover Church's flood damage because it's 'an act of God'

Homicide victims rarely talk to police

Meerkat Expert Attacked Monkey Handler Over Love Affair with Llama Keeper

GOP congressman opposes gun control because gay marriage leads to bestiality

Owner of killer bear chokes to death on sex toy

Support for legalizing pot hits all-time high

Give me all your money or my penguin will explode

How zombie worms have sex in whale bones

Crocodile steals zoo worker's lawn mower

Woman shot by oven while trying to cook waffles

Nude beach blowjob jet ski fight leads to wife's death

Woman stabs husband with squirrel for not buying beer Christmas Eve

GOPer files complaint against Democrat for telling the truth about Big Lie social posts

Man shot dead on Syracuse Street for 2nd time in 2 days

Alaska woman punches bear in face, saves dog

Johnny Rotten suffers flea bite on his penis after rescuing squirrel