Flannery O’Connor warned me today—she grabbed me by the shoulders and with those piercing green eyes she said with fierce passion: do not abandon the story; do not abandon the mystery.
I love story. I believe with all my heart the story will save you. Will save the world. I believe that the source of power in story is its ability to engender empathy. It is empathy that connects us, protects us, enables us to love and accept those who are unlike us but with whom we can identify at the most basic level—our need to be loved, fed, protected. Our desire to love, nurture, protect. This is also the ultimate mystery—who we are and why we do what we do. This is character and plot, pure and simple.
I also love kids. Now THAT is a mystery. I like the power of discovery, the openness most kids have in exploring the world... But the harsh irony is that I spend all day banging my head against the walls of formal education where it is my duty to teach the tools of analysis. “We murder to dissect” has rung in my ears since I was in high school myself and wondered why the teacher was teaching a great poet like Wordsworth who basically undermined everything she was teaching. Now I do the same.
Because I have to teach the minutia of analysis and how to speak authoritatively of the author’s purpose, the structure of the story, the intent of meaning through an element, the textual properties and means of explication, I feel I have pounded the flavor out of the meat of mystery and pleasure and joy and true power of a novel—to alter and change us, sometimes without our conscious collusion.
Most of the year I languish under the desire and critical need to write, to create story, and summarily fail. Most summers I dig and dig, struggle against the solid, stony ground of my imagination until once again I strike gold...or oil...or clear flowing waters of story... But I seem to lose ground every year, find I am farther and farther away from finishing worthy stories, worthy novels, A worthy novel, to hand to a stranger and be read.
I don’t know why. It is a puzzling mystery. But I want to write. I want to learn how to tell a story. A story with meaning. I want to give to “someone” what I have loved in receiving great novels, great film, great short stories, great poetry.
I tend to blame my job for being stifled and barren. Oddly, pathetically, I feel I have made a sort of secret deal with my ancestors...I have not borne children, therefore (or because) I will bear stories. And yet I have not done so. Not really. Not right now. Not for a long time.
Even this...this...emotional dribble...is a violation of all that is story. I am emoting and telling...not creating a story with pathos or empathy. I am merely emoting.
I walked very fast today my 40 minute walk around the circle and I took Flannery O’Connor’s collection of essays with me and I read as I walked. The humidity is so heavy and there were few walkers which I never realized before how much I prefer not having to pass others on the walk. Sad isn’t it? Anyway, got back and showered. As I washed my face I was suddenly overcome with sadness thinking (didn’t even realize it—surprised me) about a particular student who is so very, very intelligent and is in so much trouble. He has two more weeks of probation...he has four felonies. He’s 16 years old. His record will be expunged when he is 24. Yet he has already established a habit of breaking the law. It truly blows my mind that he is living that life. I love this kid—he is bright and deeply insightful. He picks up on subtleties in literature and poetry that even the majority of my IB students miss. I know that this kind of sensitivity and high intelligence often gravitates toward the flames of self destruction but I don’t understand exactly why and I certainly don’t know how to stop it—only he can stop it. But how can I help?
And I cried at all of this thought that didn’t have words until now. This kid who is the youngest of three boys, three years apart. His oldest brother is the scholar and the favored one whom his father loves—this boy feels that so keenly, I can see it ooze from every pore as he smiles calmly in the telling of it. His brother, the one in the middle, 19 years old, he whispers, is transgender, doesn’t feel like he’s in the right body. This draws a lot of pain and confusion from his father. He is a great disappointment. Of himself he says that he is the greatest disappointment of his father. Whatever crimes he has committed...time he has done in jail...whatever it is, he feels he has deeply hurt and alienated his father.
Whenever I grow despondent about the writer’s block, the energy drain, the distance my stories keep from me, a friend of mine tells me that I am doing far more important work teaching and engaging with these kids. But...I feel that I have betrayed a gift...a particular trust...I am not living up to my potential, not fulfilling my calling to write. I am failing at the purpose of my life—this is how I feel, this is a deep and passionate conviction. No excuses. I am a story teller. I must tell the story. But every day I fail.
I don’t know how to fight this dragon. I don’t even know which thing is the dragon... Is the dragon the failure to write, or is the dragon the feeling that I am failing.
Underneath all of this and perpetually is the haunting of my Japanese American friend. Twenty years ago, this friend who spent his childhood in the Japanese internment camps in California, mentioned his gift and love of writing. I asked him why he wasn’t writing, except within the context of his ministry. He said he had to make a choice and because of his experience in the camp he chose to follow the calling of Christ to minister to those who are victims of a system that beats them down and keeps them down. He felt it was more honorable to give his life to others rather than to his writing talent which he considered to be a selfish indulgence.
I disagreed. And I told him so. I’m sure he smiled at my impertinent youth and delusion.
The reality is I must work, earn a living, where I have a reciprocated feeding of the soul—I find this in teaching. Writing (as a career) is too unpredictable, too precarious, too insecure, too risky.... So I cannot give up a stable income on the way way off chance that my God-given gift and talent, the promise I made to my ancestors, might fail...might become cursed in the face of the more noble and higher calling of teaching. Ironically it already feels it is cursed, as if in teaching I am squandering my opportunity, desire, need, gift.
It’s not that I want to give up teaching; it’s that I want also to devote my life to the craft of writing. To find a way to truly inspire the love and joy in the mystery of the story...I want to cultivate that curiosity and I want to nurture my own muse and engender in me that ability to write the story even as I teach others how to find meaning in other people’s stories.
But deep down I fear it is a serving of two masters...unless I can find a way of recognizing it is simply a single coin with two sides...
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Staying Present (flash fiction . . . well, mostly non fiction, really)
She shook her head at the sight. Even the kid riding the bicycle is texting. Fatal car accidents on the rise because fools think they can text and drive. She threw her stuff in the trunk and got behind the wheel. Errands to run.
Look at that. People can’t even take a walk without rolling through a song list or reading an iphone. Even Wendy plays games on her phone when she’s just walking across campus. What is wrong with people? She’s in and out of the grocery store in less than a half hour, only two people chatting on a cell as they shop. She’s called her mom before to double check a brand name but this lady was gossiping about somebody. Pushing a cart! In the cereal aisle! Seriously? In the grocery store? Slowing everyone else down!
Short drive home she noticed several drivers on the phone. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the temptation—that’s why her cell was normally in the trunk. But walkers? Or waiting for someone, anyone, even a doctor, you people can’t just enjoy your own surroundings? Be where you are? Pay attention and find peace in the moment? She often had imaginary conversations with the world. Be aware and be connected—why are you people so bent on escape...from everything?
Being aware of your surroundings is the first lesson of Buddhist meditation. It is also at the core of Christianity to see someone in need and respond to it, see past the initial appearance with intuitive and reflective depth. It takes practice. In meditation, even as you are detaching from all cares, you are to remain aware and the master who carries the bamboo stick knows when you are present and when you have allowed your mind to become distracted. A slap on the back of the head with a bamboo stick will bring you back into the present.
She was aware of her short comings. Knew her flaws and imperfections. But this? She would never text, much less text and drive. And when she walked she enjoyed looking at and seeing the nature around her. She might read upon awaiting a doctor or appointment, but she always had that feeler out, aware of her surroundings and the others in the room. Though in a different story the focus might be on her restraint from grabbing a noisy digital game from some prepubescent and hurling it across the room. Children need to learn to interact with other people—even adults, and especially at a meal. But back to the story at hand.... The point is even if she were reading a book or thumbing through a magazine, she could still be polite with someone in her vicinity. One thing she knew for sure, she was in the moment. Paying attention. People have even commented on how street-smart she is. She made it a concerted point to be present.
Took in her groceries and then headed for the front door to go back to the street for the mail. Probably two days since she got the mail. Bills only came maybe three times a month and otherwise it was trash, so she didn’t always get the mail. She froze at the sight. The front door was unlocked. Damn. Sometimes it happens.
Next morning she put everything in the trunk, car keys in hand but no office keys. She searched the house twice—once on the surface, the second time into the seams of the sofa, in the silverware drawer. Where in this world...I had them yesterday to get into the room...played with them in my pocket on the way to the time clock. Didn’t I? She searched the car twice in between searching the house. Could have dropped under the front seat...under the passenger seat. In the trunk—maybe came off her finger as she chucked everything back there? Maybe I left them in the media center when Sandra and I were looking at that stuff on her computer. Even considered perhaps they fell out of her pocket at the grocery store.
Not in the media center. She began to tremble a little bit at the thought. No keys. Could be anywhere. How could she lose them. For real. She decided she’d call the grocery store in an hour when it opened.
She put down her things outside her door, having walked with a friend who was chatting about some things going on in her life. As they stood talking, across the hall the admin. assist. came out dangling the keys from her fingers. “Custodian found them in your door handle after you left and gave them to me. I told him I’d get them to you this morning.”
Some bamboo sticks are heavier than others. They make a loud hollow noise when they hit the back of your head.
Look at that. People can’t even take a walk without rolling through a song list or reading an iphone. Even Wendy plays games on her phone when she’s just walking across campus. What is wrong with people? She’s in and out of the grocery store in less than a half hour, only two people chatting on a cell as they shop. She’s called her mom before to double check a brand name but this lady was gossiping about somebody. Pushing a cart! In the cereal aisle! Seriously? In the grocery store? Slowing everyone else down!
Short drive home she noticed several drivers on the phone. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the temptation—that’s why her cell was normally in the trunk. But walkers? Or waiting for someone, anyone, even a doctor, you people can’t just enjoy your own surroundings? Be where you are? Pay attention and find peace in the moment? She often had imaginary conversations with the world. Be aware and be connected—why are you people so bent on escape...from everything?
Being aware of your surroundings is the first lesson of Buddhist meditation. It is also at the core of Christianity to see someone in need and respond to it, see past the initial appearance with intuitive and reflective depth. It takes practice. In meditation, even as you are detaching from all cares, you are to remain aware and the master who carries the bamboo stick knows when you are present and when you have allowed your mind to become distracted. A slap on the back of the head with a bamboo stick will bring you back into the present.
She was aware of her short comings. Knew her flaws and imperfections. But this? She would never text, much less text and drive. And when she walked she enjoyed looking at and seeing the nature around her. She might read upon awaiting a doctor or appointment, but she always had that feeler out, aware of her surroundings and the others in the room. Though in a different story the focus might be on her restraint from grabbing a noisy digital game from some prepubescent and hurling it across the room. Children need to learn to interact with other people—even adults, and especially at a meal. But back to the story at hand.... The point is even if she were reading a book or thumbing through a magazine, she could still be polite with someone in her vicinity. One thing she knew for sure, she was in the moment. Paying attention. People have even commented on how street-smart she is. She made it a concerted point to be present.
Took in her groceries and then headed for the front door to go back to the street for the mail. Probably two days since she got the mail. Bills only came maybe three times a month and otherwise it was trash, so she didn’t always get the mail. She froze at the sight. The front door was unlocked. Damn. Sometimes it happens.
Next morning she put everything in the trunk, car keys in hand but no office keys. She searched the house twice—once on the surface, the second time into the seams of the sofa, in the silverware drawer. Where in this world...I had them yesterday to get into the room...played with them in my pocket on the way to the time clock. Didn’t I? She searched the car twice in between searching the house. Could have dropped under the front seat...under the passenger seat. In the trunk—maybe came off her finger as she chucked everything back there? Maybe I left them in the media center when Sandra and I were looking at that stuff on her computer. Even considered perhaps they fell out of her pocket at the grocery store.
Not in the media center. She began to tremble a little bit at the thought. No keys. Could be anywhere. How could she lose them. For real. She decided she’d call the grocery store in an hour when it opened.
She put down her things outside her door, having walked with a friend who was chatting about some things going on in her life. As they stood talking, across the hall the admin. assist. came out dangling the keys from her fingers. “Custodian found them in your door handle after you left and gave them to me. I told him I’d get them to you this morning.”
Some bamboo sticks are heavier than others. They make a loud hollow noise when they hit the back of your head.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
my FINAL trip to WALMART. EVER
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THAT PLACE????
Mr. Sam Walton is no doubt spinning in his grave.
I went later than usual because I awoke later and debated whether to go but decided I really could not run out of toilet paper. So I left here about 6:15 this morning with a kind of “bet” to be back by 7.
No hand baskets. I searched... A floor manager asked what I was looking for and then replied that there was only one in the store because people steal them. WHY? I overreacted. She said she heard a lady say they are great for garden tools. But the basket doesn’t belong to her!!! I suggested they set up a thing like the airport—put in your money to rent it and then get your money back when you return it that way if they don’t put it back at least they’ve bought it. She thought maybe selling baskets like that for garden tools. Later I thought they could make the baskets out of stuff that the alarm system will go off when they try to steal them—and why aren’t cashiers taking them at the register?
Then I shopped. Got my stuff in good time even though I was greatly slowed down by a push basket and spent too much wasted time looking for a mother’s day card and a sympathy card and I know better than to try to look for something meaningful in that place.
Oh yeah and then I remembered that WALMART in their stupidity have taken away all cashiers except ONE so that the four “self checkouts” are the ONLY way to check out. Of the four, one was not working and one was crashing with a customer and the cashier did not have a CLUE how to make it work and there was no one else around. Meanwhile the other two registers each had a guy with a basket FULL and I mean bulging on top full of groceries. People are AMAZINGLY SLOW at this job!!!! A cashier develops a rhythm and near-intuitive interaction with the scanner but these people do NOT (including me, I admit) have that rhythm AT ALL. And I was behind three other people with modest amounts of products to check out. A guy came up behind me who helped save me—he was a calming presence and poor guy was only buying a bouquet of roses. I should have let him go in front of me but honestly, it never crossed my mind—I am usually the very consummate kind person in stores and stuff. But I was seeing nothing today in that store but RED.
THIS is wholly unacceptable. And I heard the woman say to the customer loud enough for everyone to hear that she was the only cashier until 7. I looked at my phone—it was 7:00. I was there till nearly 7:30 and not another cash register opened while i was there--- to check out my ---- SIXTY DOLLARS???? SIXTY???? That was twice what I had expected so obviously even though I did buy vitamins, the prices of their groceries are going up too. And of course by the time I got to the register to check stuff out I was seething and trying so hard to calm down that nothing worked. Items didn’t swipe, I plunked in the wrong number for the apples. I didn’t always put the item into the bag properly. I knew I had to get out of there soon or let out a blood curdling scream. And then because I put in the wrong apple number, the cashier had to come over and check it all out before I was "released."
I am fairly certain that this system allows for a great deal of theft—if people can walk out with the handbaskets with impunity they certainly can syphon items back into their basket without running them through that blasted register with theoretically four going at once with only one cashier in attendance.
WALMART—YOU HAVE CUCKOLDED YOURSELVES. I’m not going back. It is NOT worth the “savings” if there are any anymore, and it is not worth the distance and the time and the rising of my blood pressure. It is now 8:00 in the morning and I am livid!!!! on a SUNDAY! On a day OFF!
I must now back away from the computer slowly and retreat to the kitchen for very strong earl grey, hot and some bacon and eggs to calm me down.
OH WAIT—I forgot to gripe about the EGGS that were broken and only one that had good ones in of the acceptable two weeks date on them...I forgot to mention how difficult it was to find things and then the little stockers were just pulling up the absolute front item—about three per brand. Really?
But my favorite moment, when I first arrived and headed for the vitamins and dental floss...I was in that aisle looking for the biotin when I heard loud high voices of silly teenaged girls and I just rolled my eyes. Then they walked by but not close together, first one and then the other. My first impression was they were dressed up as vampires for Halloween but it’s April...so I skipped only a slight beat with that thought adjustment and then the teacher in me called to them inside my own head that they shouldn’t be out in public dressed like prostitutes and then I realized that they ARE PROSTITUTES. LOUD and young prostitutes. Probably 18 to 20. I didn’t get a CLOSE look at them...just a passing one—TWICE. But as I had to follow them at one point, every single person in the store, male or female and of all ages, walked past, turned and watched them for a minute. Just like they wanted them to. And yeah I don’t even need to describe their very tight too short skimpy dress on one and painted on shiny red pants down to the ankles of the other, both with very high heeled pumps and they walked in them like I do in my birks—by that I mean only with the same level of comfort, obviously they swish when they walk and I don’t—and they had very big boobs—or at least the first one I saw did—with ruffles that framed the cleavage, and teased hair and red red red lipstick and tiny clip handbags. I mean they were the stereotype. One’s hair was teased, the other’s was straight. Now as jarring as that was at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, it is not necessarily part of the reason I’ll never go back to Walmart so I’m glad I didn’t think of it until after my rant. In fact they might have actually been the highlight of the trip and possible reason to return—character research.... Naaaah...
Mr. Sam Walton is no doubt spinning in his grave.
I went later than usual because I awoke later and debated whether to go but decided I really could not run out of toilet paper. So I left here about 6:15 this morning with a kind of “bet” to be back by 7.
No hand baskets. I searched... A floor manager asked what I was looking for and then replied that there was only one in the store because people steal them. WHY? I overreacted. She said she heard a lady say they are great for garden tools. But the basket doesn’t belong to her!!! I suggested they set up a thing like the airport—put in your money to rent it and then get your money back when you return it that way if they don’t put it back at least they’ve bought it. She thought maybe selling baskets like that for garden tools. Later I thought they could make the baskets out of stuff that the alarm system will go off when they try to steal them—and why aren’t cashiers taking them at the register?
Then I shopped. Got my stuff in good time even though I was greatly slowed down by a push basket and spent too much wasted time looking for a mother’s day card and a sympathy card and I know better than to try to look for something meaningful in that place.
Oh yeah and then I remembered that WALMART in their stupidity have taken away all cashiers except ONE so that the four “self checkouts” are the ONLY way to check out. Of the four, one was not working and one was crashing with a customer and the cashier did not have a CLUE how to make it work and there was no one else around. Meanwhile the other two registers each had a guy with a basket FULL and I mean bulging on top full of groceries. People are AMAZINGLY SLOW at this job!!!! A cashier develops a rhythm and near-intuitive interaction with the scanner but these people do NOT (including me, I admit) have that rhythm AT ALL. And I was behind three other people with modest amounts of products to check out. A guy came up behind me who helped save me—he was a calming presence and poor guy was only buying a bouquet of roses. I should have let him go in front of me but honestly, it never crossed my mind—I am usually the very consummate kind person in stores and stuff. But I was seeing nothing today in that store but RED.
THIS is wholly unacceptable. And I heard the woman say to the customer loud enough for everyone to hear that she was the only cashier until 7. I looked at my phone—it was 7:00. I was there till nearly 7:30 and not another cash register opened while i was there--- to check out my ---- SIXTY DOLLARS???? SIXTY???? That was twice what I had expected so obviously even though I did buy vitamins, the prices of their groceries are going up too. And of course by the time I got to the register to check stuff out I was seething and trying so hard to calm down that nothing worked. Items didn’t swipe, I plunked in the wrong number for the apples. I didn’t always put the item into the bag properly. I knew I had to get out of there soon or let out a blood curdling scream. And then because I put in the wrong apple number, the cashier had to come over and check it all out before I was "released."
I am fairly certain that this system allows for a great deal of theft—if people can walk out with the handbaskets with impunity they certainly can syphon items back into their basket without running them through that blasted register with theoretically four going at once with only one cashier in attendance.
WALMART—YOU HAVE CUCKOLDED YOURSELVES. I’m not going back. It is NOT worth the “savings” if there are any anymore, and it is not worth the distance and the time and the rising of my blood pressure. It is now 8:00 in the morning and I am livid!!!! on a SUNDAY! On a day OFF!
I must now back away from the computer slowly and retreat to the kitchen for very strong earl grey, hot and some bacon and eggs to calm me down.
OH WAIT—I forgot to gripe about the EGGS that were broken and only one that had good ones in of the acceptable two weeks date on them...I forgot to mention how difficult it was to find things and then the little stockers were just pulling up the absolute front item—about three per brand. Really?
But my favorite moment, when I first arrived and headed for the vitamins and dental floss...I was in that aisle looking for the biotin when I heard loud high voices of silly teenaged girls and I just rolled my eyes. Then they walked by but not close together, first one and then the other. My first impression was they were dressed up as vampires for Halloween but it’s April...so I skipped only a slight beat with that thought adjustment and then the teacher in me called to them inside my own head that they shouldn’t be out in public dressed like prostitutes and then I realized that they ARE PROSTITUTES. LOUD and young prostitutes. Probably 18 to 20. I didn’t get a CLOSE look at them...just a passing one—TWICE. But as I had to follow them at one point, every single person in the store, male or female and of all ages, walked past, turned and watched them for a minute. Just like they wanted them to. And yeah I don’t even need to describe their very tight too short skimpy dress on one and painted on shiny red pants down to the ankles of the other, both with very high heeled pumps and they walked in them like I do in my birks—by that I mean only with the same level of comfort, obviously they swish when they walk and I don’t—and they had very big boobs—or at least the first one I saw did—with ruffles that framed the cleavage, and teased hair and red red red lipstick and tiny clip handbags. I mean they were the stereotype. One’s hair was teased, the other’s was straight. Now as jarring as that was at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, it is not necessarily part of the reason I’ll never go back to Walmart so I’m glad I didn’t think of it until after my rant. In fact they might have actually been the highlight of the trip and possible reason to return—character research.... Naaaah...
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Growing Light in the Garden
Early morning in the hours before dawn
I sit safely on the inside of the screened in porch
and listen to the inky black darkness
to the gurgling frogs and wonder if they are frogs
or maybe it’s the little lizards teasing one another
with soft higher pitched trickling giggles
while it’s still cool and gentle and calm.
My tiny ancient desk lamp blinds
these tiny ancient flying creatures
that seem to pester only until dawn.
They hop and sit on the white paper of my manuscript,
scatter across the white tile
and flop a few times before dying.
The rising of the sun announces their final death
to the singing of mocking birds and cardinals.
And yet I don’t know who they are,
these tiny, delicate, whimsical,
dainty flyfairies.
They come only in April and gasp for the light that kills them.
Harmless,
but before I realize it,
they stick to the bottoms
of my feet and track the house
in the stretch of time
I move about in the silent darkness.
Then as the sun hammers out the pervading darkness
I watch the clouds take shape to the distant sound of the turnpike
like perpetual man-made thunder.
It isn’t pleasant,
but it is constant
with an occasional blast
of a motorcycle
or heavy metal truck.
But in my visual vicinity
I am in a tranquil garden and
the gurgling of the amphibians quiets
while the songs of individual birds rise.
A family of hungry chicks shrill whistles nearby
waiting for their breakfast.
The oak and pine and palm stand still,
like a held breath,
cuing full resting stillness of the hibiscus,
oleander, dragon bamboo, bougainvillea,
walking lilies, fading amaryllis, orchids,
boston ferns, purple showers,
a buddha belly and other exotic plants that populate
my tiny courtyard space...
Until the fullness of dawn seems to launch
frenetic squirrels spinning up and
down the oaks’ trunks and limbs,
their toenails shredding and scratching the bark
sounds like my cousins on the Carolina farm
chasing each other on the golden pebbles of the car path
through the field,
our tennyshoes chewing the gravel,
our giggles gurgling out into the vast quiet of the past
to travel into the future
and linger
vibrant
here
in the present garden
of squirrels and giggling, chirping frogs
and lingering clouds
and dying insects
and growing light.
I sit safely on the inside of the screened in porch
and listen to the inky black darkness
to the gurgling frogs and wonder if they are frogs
or maybe it’s the little lizards teasing one another
with soft higher pitched trickling giggles
while it’s still cool and gentle and calm.
My tiny ancient desk lamp blinds
these tiny ancient flying creatures
that seem to pester only until dawn.
They hop and sit on the white paper of my manuscript,
scatter across the white tile
and flop a few times before dying.
The rising of the sun announces their final death
to the singing of mocking birds and cardinals.
And yet I don’t know who they are,
these tiny, delicate, whimsical,
dainty flyfairies.
They come only in April and gasp for the light that kills them.
Harmless,
but before I realize it,
they stick to the bottoms
of my feet and track the house
in the stretch of time
I move about in the silent darkness.
Then as the sun hammers out the pervading darkness
I watch the clouds take shape to the distant sound of the turnpike
like perpetual man-made thunder.
It isn’t pleasant,
but it is constant
with an occasional blast
of a motorcycle
or heavy metal truck.
But in my visual vicinity
I am in a tranquil garden and
the gurgling of the amphibians quiets
while the songs of individual birds rise.
A family of hungry chicks shrill whistles nearby
waiting for their breakfast.
The oak and pine and palm stand still,
like a held breath,
cuing full resting stillness of the hibiscus,
oleander, dragon bamboo, bougainvillea,
walking lilies, fading amaryllis, orchids,
boston ferns, purple showers,
a buddha belly and other exotic plants that populate
my tiny courtyard space...
Until the fullness of dawn seems to launch
frenetic squirrels spinning up and
down the oaks’ trunks and limbs,
their toenails shredding and scratching the bark
sounds like my cousins on the Carolina farm
chasing each other on the golden pebbles of the car path
through the field,
our tennyshoes chewing the gravel,
our giggles gurgling out into the vast quiet of the past
to travel into the future
and linger
vibrant
here
in the present garden
of squirrels and giggling, chirping frogs
and lingering clouds
and dying insects
and growing light.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Losing car keys at the ACT (flash non fiction)
The room is half full of students ready to take the ACTs. The process of checking in all the students is going very slowly as we have about a hundred and fifty expected today. My count is 25. One student is called Dalton—he’s tall and filled out like healthy senior guys get. He has a friendly, sincere smile that frames a truckload of metal braces. In fact, he’s the youngest of five boys who hauntingly look identical. His seat number puts him in the front row and he fidgets for three or four minutes and finally says to me, as I’m standing in the doorway chatting with my neighbor teacher as we await the students who trickle in, “Ms Ballard, I can’t find my car keys.”
“That’s bad.”
He nods.
“Maybe they’ve fallen in the hallway or out front on your way in from the car. Can’t let you out to look, though. Once everyone is checked in up front, I’ll ask Ms Marcus if she’d be willing to take a look outside for you.”
He nods again. “Last time I lost my keys, I found them in the car with the engine running while I was in McDonalds.” It’s that priceless impish yet innocent and charming grin with all the metal that probably keeps him alive at home.
Twenty minutes later the rest of the testing students have filled my room and I watch down the hall another five minutes or so until all the students testing elsewhere are in and call to Ms Marcus to tell her about the keys and that Dalton drives a red Prius.
“Sure, no problem,” she began with her fabulous edge of sarcasm, a sense of humor that stays in tact even in the midst of her patience being tried and stretched. “I’ll look, since that’s what I’m here for, to go look for some kid’s car keys he left only God knows where.” She walked away toward the front door.
“He thinks he might have left them in the ignition. With the car running,” I call after her.
A girl in the back of another row says, “Wait, are you talking about a car out there now? What color is your car?”
“It’s a red Prius”
“Oh yeah, it’s out there. Engine’s still running.”
The class busted out laughing. Dalton shook his head.
“I parked next to it and looked over and there was nobody there. I was wondering what happened to the driver.”
The kid next to him says, “Yeah, how can you do that? How can you just not know your keys are still in the ignition? I mean, you got out of the car and the engine’s still running?”
Dalton shrugs his shoulders. “Somebody asked me for help and so I jumped out of the car to help him. Never thought of it again.”
Did I mention Dalton is the youngest of five brothers, all exactly like that?
“That’s bad.”
He nods.
“Maybe they’ve fallen in the hallway or out front on your way in from the car. Can’t let you out to look, though. Once everyone is checked in up front, I’ll ask Ms Marcus if she’d be willing to take a look outside for you.”
He nods again. “Last time I lost my keys, I found them in the car with the engine running while I was in McDonalds.” It’s that priceless impish yet innocent and charming grin with all the metal that probably keeps him alive at home.
Twenty minutes later the rest of the testing students have filled my room and I watch down the hall another five minutes or so until all the students testing elsewhere are in and call to Ms Marcus to tell her about the keys and that Dalton drives a red Prius.
“Sure, no problem,” she began with her fabulous edge of sarcasm, a sense of humor that stays in tact even in the midst of her patience being tried and stretched. “I’ll look, since that’s what I’m here for, to go look for some kid’s car keys he left only God knows where.” She walked away toward the front door.
“He thinks he might have left them in the ignition. With the car running,” I call after her.
A girl in the back of another row says, “Wait, are you talking about a car out there now? What color is your car?”
“It’s a red Prius”
“Oh yeah, it’s out there. Engine’s still running.”
The class busted out laughing. Dalton shook his head.
“I parked next to it and looked over and there was nobody there. I was wondering what happened to the driver.”
The kid next to him says, “Yeah, how can you do that? How can you just not know your keys are still in the ignition? I mean, you got out of the car and the engine’s still running?”
Dalton shrugs his shoulders. “Somebody asked me for help and so I jumped out of the car to help him. Never thought of it again.”
Did I mention Dalton is the youngest of five brothers, all exactly like that?
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Margaret Thatcher RIP April 8, 2013
How in the world did I miss the passing of Margaret Thatcher??????
This might just be the cosmic reprimand for listening to "Pillars of the Earth" every time I'm in the car instead of to NPR at least every other time...
I will spend the day (which by the time "you" get this, will be tomorrow since I have yet to discover how to post when I want to post and not when this blogger wants to post, which is about 10:15 p.m. EST) after working until 1:00 reading about her and revisiting her contribution to the world. She was a great lady---whether you agree with her politics or not, you have to give her credit for being great. As lame as that sentence is, if she'd been a man... i can't even finish that sentence either.
Just cannot believe that no one in my daily monotonous world mentioned it at all...anywhere. I found out because I finished reading "Escape from Camp 14" and was surfing on what might have developed there and saw a headline that suggested because the book is so good, U.S. govt. officials and U.N. officials are beginning to press China and collectively press Kim Jong Un about the camps, the camps (especially 14) are reinforcing their security...and as I was scrolling through that I saw a comment about Thatcher's passing...
Will look it up more later but now I have to go proctor tests...
Since it's happening I have to add...here it is Saturday morning, 6:40 a.m. and I am beginning to hear a SAW?????? I seriously hope whoever is awakened by that across the way will RAIL COMPLAINTS... why can't they make stuff like that quiet? I know, I'm on the wrong planet for quiet.
This might just be the cosmic reprimand for listening to "Pillars of the Earth" every time I'm in the car instead of to NPR at least every other time...
I will spend the day (which by the time "you" get this, will be tomorrow since I have yet to discover how to post when I want to post and not when this blogger wants to post, which is about 10:15 p.m. EST) after working until 1:00 reading about her and revisiting her contribution to the world. She was a great lady---whether you agree with her politics or not, you have to give her credit for being great. As lame as that sentence is, if she'd been a man... i can't even finish that sentence either.
Just cannot believe that no one in my daily monotonous world mentioned it at all...anywhere. I found out because I finished reading "Escape from Camp 14" and was surfing on what might have developed there and saw a headline that suggested because the book is so good, U.S. govt. officials and U.N. officials are beginning to press China and collectively press Kim Jong Un about the camps, the camps (especially 14) are reinforcing their security...and as I was scrolling through that I saw a comment about Thatcher's passing...
Will look it up more later but now I have to go proctor tests...
Since it's happening I have to add...here it is Saturday morning, 6:40 a.m. and I am beginning to hear a SAW?????? I seriously hope whoever is awakened by that across the way will RAIL COMPLAINTS... why can't they make stuff like that quiet? I know, I'm on the wrong planet for quiet.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
040613 today’s playdate with comcast
(hang in there, it gets better...if you get tired of reading the goofy sitcom, skip down to the bottom)
Jermaine: Hello Kim, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Jermaine. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Kim : My Issue: i sent my payment in by U.S. mail (paying three other bills as well that day) on March 26...called Tuesday April 2 because it hadn't cleared. Woman i spoke with said billing offices were closed good friday and holy monday so maybe that's w
Jermaine: We are proud of our Customer Guarantee, which includes being here for you, 24/7! You have reached the right person, and I would be glad to assist you with your Billing concern today.
Jermaine: I understand that you have inquiry if the payment sent has already posted on the account.
Jermaine: I will be more than happy to help you on checking this for you today, Kim.
Jermaine: I will exhaust all options to assist you today and I assure you that we would be able to come up with a resolution together on this chat by providing you with the information you need.
Jermaine: Let me go ahead and access the account so that I can assist you further.
Kim : okay...i just am getting really nervous with having sent my bill on the 3.26.13 and it's not processed yet and today is 4.6.13.... so i REALLY want to know whether the location in jensen beach is open today for me to run to the bank and cancel that check then run to the office and pay over the counter...but i can't find it
Kim : find them online i mean
Kim : to find out what their hours are today
Jermaine: Oh, let me verify, you would like to check the office hours for Jensen beach local office, correct?
Kim : all the other bills is sent on that date were cleared---two by 3.28!!! and one by 4.2
Kim : ye
Kim : yep
Jermaine: No problem.
Jermaine: I will check on the payment history on the account for you
Jermaine: May I also please have the last 4 digits of the SSN to ensure the security of your account?
Kim : xxxx
Jermaine: Thank you so much for providing the information.Please give me a minute or two to pull up your account.
Kim : and also tell me what the last notation is on it from the last time i called...please?
Jermaine: While waiting, you can check out Comcast.net. Comcast.net is a one stop personalizable website for up-to-the-minute information on news, weather, finance, sports, entertainment, travel and more. To learn about these and other great Comcast features for Video, High Speed and Digital Voice visit www.comcast.net
Kim : and when i tried to call in a little bit ago the recording came on with high volume of people calling ... the billing office! ... i presume i'm not the only one with this question? is there a reason the processing isn't happening?
Kim : hello?
Jermaine: Thanks for waiting, Kim.
Jermaine: I have accessed the account.
Jermaine: May I know how much is the payment that was sent last 03/26/13 so that I can assist you further?
Kim : 59 something...isn't that on the account?
Kim : whatever the amount due reads...i think...59.41...?
Jermaine: I am now checking if that payment has reflected, Kim.
Jermaine: I have checked the account, however, there is no payment that has reflected for the payment that has been sent last 03/26/13.
Kim : i know that. that's why i'm "calling"!!
Kim : i want to know the times jensen beach location is open so i can go pay it by hand after i cancel the check that's lost somewhere... am i the only one whose payment is lost at the moment?
Jermaine: Oh, no problem.
Jermaine: Let me check that local office information.
Jermaine: I have now the list of the local offices in your area.
Kim : ok
Jermaine: You may view the local office hours on this link: 005E87104ADB0B4A944E5DE8C06BCB5C5012BF99C6BCDBA978989121B1987F771CBC3F73233D23A4BA1FDEB249C3061E961A314D1B09F2B86CA4FD674CB086DF2CF139B8F03F974CCB147483E59F367DC59049E15571E72D499F4916882EA2EB452C5D1C7A5BB3BE918F925A27605071B9C97C20E1EBBC8C3D39B8325B77B0702B8CA2F3EF74D4BF6BA" target="_blank">https://www.comcast.com/paymentCenters/FindPaymentCenters.cspx?eqs=F8598CAA29BA0CC062A3FCE52A1EE904638FDF433D1B36E834494F31B165A91505DFAB4B433C9A0A247F784394B871863A1F5DD1F2D715BC8C2852972005E87104ADB0B4A944E5DE8C06BCB5C5012BF99C6BCDBA978989121B1987F771CBC3F73233D23A4BA1FDEB249C3061E961A314D1B09F2B86CA4FD674CB086DF2CF139B8F03F974CCB147483E59F367DC59049E15571E72D499F4916882EA2EB452C5D1C7A5BB3BE918F925A27605071B9C97C20E1EBBC8C3D39B8325B77B0702B8CA2F3EF74D4BF6BA
Jermaine: As I have checked, local offices hours is from Monday-Friday: 8:00am-6:00pm.
Kim : okay. so what are the chance that the check would be there and clear in the next...48 or 72 hours? where are you located?
Jermaine: If the payment sent is a check, let me set expectation that it will take 5-7 business days for it to be posted on the account.
Jermaine: Is there anything else I can assist you with further, I'll be more than happy to help you with any other concerns you may have.
Kim : 5-7 business days sooooo...means sending on the 26th with a friday-monday four day weekend, that's seven days so far, right? and please confirm that there will be no late charges until....what date? because i in good faith (and lots of headaches and trouble right now tracking and tracking...) will be exceedingly unhappy if i incur a late charge at this point in my "relationship" with comcast. does my "notes" section indicate that i called on 4.2.13?
Jermaine: As I have checked here, there is no late fee that has been added and reflected on the account.
Kim : 1) at what point would there be? and 2) do you see where i called on 4.2.13?
Jermaine: And I can also see here that you have contacted last 04/02/13 and inquired if the payment has been posted, however, no payment has been posted yet at that date.
Jermaine: A late fee is assessed for all balances not paid beyond the billing date.
Kim : okay. thank you. you mean the NEXT billing date...?
Jermaine: Yes, that is correct.
Jermaine: As for the check payment, what I can recommend is contact the bank where the check is associated with to find out if that payment went through on their system.
Jermaine: You are most welcome!
Jermaine: Is there any thing else that I can help you with today?
Kim : it has not. and when i look online at my comcast acct., it's still showing that i owe it. it's very frustrating. because i have paid it! no i don't think you can at this point. thanks for the info on the jensen beach location
Type Here:Analyst is typing.
I am glad I have resolved your inquiry today.
Jermaine: We have outlined no additional steps as everything has been accounted for, and I can assure you the appropriate steps have been taken today so you can definitely consider this issue resolved.
Jermaine: It's been my pleasure to have assisted you and resolved your billing concern.I am happy you contacted Comcast today.Have a great day and take care, Kim !
Jermaine: If you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us through Live Chat (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Comcast also offers great FAQ and Help forums located at www.Comcast.net to help you solve many issues on your own. You can also reach us through our Hotline 1-800-9346489 or 1-800-XFINITY. Thank you for contacting Comcast! We appreciate your business!
Kim : i did check with the bank...but it isn't cleared...i check there first and t hen comcast and then the bank and then comcast and then the bank and then comcast...sure would like to know where that check is and why it's taking comcast so long to process it.
Kim : see you later.
Then there’s the survey...I pretty much skipped down to the last question that I have “very highly” been involved in trying and trying and trying to deal with an issue and wrote this in the comment section:
customer guarantee thing...got to #3 and decided to skip down to this. i always find the reps friendly...but sometimes i get conflicting information. i had an altercation with comcast for five months SOLELY because there were too many cooks in the kitchen led by someone in the philippines who didn't know what he was doing and that was perpetuated with every subsequent call (at least once a week) for five months. five. finally, i think his name was napoleon? resolved it--i think. and your survey does not address this issue. the issue of actually fixing it as opposed to saying it's fixed. ALSO when a rep says they'll do something and then they say they can't really prove it (by sending or printing a receipt, etc.) it's annoying then to be asked if it's resolved in a survey especially when it's a week or so later that the crashing blow surprise is that it isn't or that a NEW stupidity has been somehow added or redirected or...completed on top of whatever the original issue was... in the last five months---whether online chat, on the phone or even in person at the jensen beach location, only ONE PERSON finally fixed the issue (napoleon?). BUT THEN the very next billing cycle, i YAY saw that it was for the correct amount!!! but when i sent in my payment...two weeks ago...it still has not cleared. it's exceedingly frustrating to spend more time dealing with what could be so simple as paying a bill than i spend with my best friend. by the way, the visiting technician in the midst of all this...in january?..., was AWESOME. but your people on the phone...and over the counter, seem to keep hitting the wrong buttons on my account... i just don't understand. i love the product--xfinity...but comcast the company? not so much. now i have to drive over to the bank to cancel a check and then drive on monday, after a long day at work, in horrendous rush hour traffic, to stand in that horrific line of unhappy people just to pay a bill that i have already paid once. so...what exactly IS the customer service guarantee?
I should have added (but I only now thought of it): is it the guarantee that we will indeed need a lot of customer service?
Update: this very day, after all that (which of course includes the call I made last Tuesday) the mail came and in it an envelope from comcast. In it was (and I am ANGRY that my camera is dead!!!) my check made out to them stapled to a form letter that said it was being returned to me because it was damaged by the postal delivery folks in GA!!!! Seriously? It didn’t look like the kind of damage that would preclude PAYING MY BILL so now I’m out fifty cents because of the post office? Because of comcast? LISTEN UP COMCAST, if you cared even a pinky toe’s worth for your customers, you’d’ve applied that payment or at the very least you’d’ve made a note in the file so instead of me calling a hundred times the FIRST time the rep could say, it says here the payment was damaged and is being sent back to you. THAT seems so easy. And do not tell me that the world doesn’t work that way because I KNOW it doesn’t...and comcast is to customer service what an IED is to peace and love.
Jermaine: Hello Kim, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Jermaine. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Kim : My Issue: i sent my payment in by U.S. mail (paying three other bills as well that day) on March 26...called Tuesday April 2 because it hadn't cleared. Woman i spoke with said billing offices were closed good friday and holy monday so maybe that's w
Jermaine: We are proud of our Customer Guarantee, which includes being here for you, 24/7! You have reached the right person, and I would be glad to assist you with your Billing concern today.
Jermaine: I understand that you have inquiry if the payment sent has already posted on the account.
Jermaine: I will be more than happy to help you on checking this for you today, Kim.
Jermaine: I will exhaust all options to assist you today and I assure you that we would be able to come up with a resolution together on this chat by providing you with the information you need.
Jermaine: Let me go ahead and access the account so that I can assist you further.
Kim : okay...i just am getting really nervous with having sent my bill on the 3.26.13 and it's not processed yet and today is 4.6.13.... so i REALLY want to know whether the location in jensen beach is open today for me to run to the bank and cancel that check then run to the office and pay over the counter...but i can't find it
Kim : find them online i mean
Kim : to find out what their hours are today
Jermaine: Oh, let me verify, you would like to check the office hours for Jensen beach local office, correct?
Kim : all the other bills is sent on that date were cleared---two by 3.28!!! and one by 4.2
Kim : ye
Kim : yep
Jermaine: No problem.
Jermaine: I will check on the payment history on the account for you
Jermaine: May I also please have the last 4 digits of the SSN to ensure the security of your account?
Kim : xxxx
Jermaine: Thank you so much for providing the information.Please give me a minute or two to pull up your account.
Kim : and also tell me what the last notation is on it from the last time i called...please?
Jermaine: While waiting, you can check out Comcast.net. Comcast.net is a one stop personalizable website for up-to-the-minute information on news, weather, finance, sports, entertainment, travel and more. To learn about these and other great Comcast features for Video, High Speed and Digital Voice visit www.comcast.net
Kim : and when i tried to call in a little bit ago the recording came on with high volume of people calling ... the billing office! ... i presume i'm not the only one with this question? is there a reason the processing isn't happening?
Kim : hello?
Jermaine: Thanks for waiting, Kim.
Jermaine: I have accessed the account.
Jermaine: May I know how much is the payment that was sent last 03/26/13 so that I can assist you further?
Kim : 59 something...isn't that on the account?
Kim : whatever the amount due reads...i think...59.41...?
Jermaine: I am now checking if that payment has reflected, Kim.
Jermaine: I have checked the account, however, there is no payment that has reflected for the payment that has been sent last 03/26/13.
Kim : i know that. that's why i'm "calling"!!
Kim : i want to know the times jensen beach location is open so i can go pay it by hand after i cancel the check that's lost somewhere... am i the only one whose payment is lost at the moment?
Jermaine: Oh, no problem.
Jermaine: Let me check that local office information.
Jermaine: I have now the list of the local offices in your area.
Kim : ok
Jermaine: You may view the local office hours on this link: 005E87104ADB0B4A944E5DE8C06BCB5C5012BF99C6BCDBA978989121B1987F771CBC3F73233D23A4BA1FDEB249C3061E961A314D1B09F2B86CA4FD674CB086DF2CF139B8F03F974CCB147483E59F367DC59049E15571E72D499F4916882EA2EB452C5D1C7A5BB3BE918F925A27605071B9C97C20E1EBBC8C3D39B8325B77B0702B8CA2F3EF74D4BF6BA" target="_blank">https://www.comcast.com/paymentCenters/FindPaymentCenters.cspx?eqs=F8598CAA29BA0CC062A3FCE52A1EE904638FDF433D1B36E834494F31B165A91505DFAB4B433C9A0A247F784394B871863A1F5DD1F2D715BC8C2852972005E87104ADB0B4A944E5DE8C06BCB5C5012BF99C6BCDBA978989121B1987F771CBC3F73233D23A4BA1FDEB249C3061E961A314D1B09F2B86CA4FD674CB086DF2CF139B8F03F974CCB147483E59F367DC59049E15571E72D499F4916882EA2EB452C5D1C7A5BB3BE918F925A27605071B9C97C20E1EBBC8C3D39B8325B77B0702B8CA2F3EF74D4BF6BA
Jermaine: As I have checked, local offices hours is from Monday-Friday: 8:00am-6:00pm.
Kim : okay. so what are the chance that the check would be there and clear in the next...48 or 72 hours? where are you located?
Jermaine: If the payment sent is a check, let me set expectation that it will take 5-7 business days for it to be posted on the account.
Jermaine: Is there anything else I can assist you with further, I'll be more than happy to help you with any other concerns you may have.
Kim : 5-7 business days sooooo...means sending on the 26th with a friday-monday four day weekend, that's seven days so far, right? and please confirm that there will be no late charges until....what date? because i in good faith (and lots of headaches and trouble right now tracking and tracking...) will be exceedingly unhappy if i incur a late charge at this point in my "relationship" with comcast. does my "notes" section indicate that i called on 4.2.13?
Jermaine: As I have checked here, there is no late fee that has been added and reflected on the account.
Kim : 1) at what point would there be? and 2) do you see where i called on 4.2.13?
Jermaine: And I can also see here that you have contacted last 04/02/13 and inquired if the payment has been posted, however, no payment has been posted yet at that date.
Jermaine: A late fee is assessed for all balances not paid beyond the billing date.
Kim : okay. thank you. you mean the NEXT billing date...?
Jermaine: Yes, that is correct.
Jermaine: As for the check payment, what I can recommend is contact the bank where the check is associated with to find out if that payment went through on their system.
Jermaine: You are most welcome!
Jermaine: Is there any thing else that I can help you with today?
Kim : it has not. and when i look online at my comcast acct., it's still showing that i owe it. it's very frustrating. because i have paid it! no i don't think you can at this point. thanks for the info on the jensen beach location
Type Here:Analyst is typing.
I am glad I have resolved your inquiry today.
Jermaine: We have outlined no additional steps as everything has been accounted for, and I can assure you the appropriate steps have been taken today so you can definitely consider this issue resolved.
Jermaine: It's been my pleasure to have assisted you and resolved your billing concern.I am happy you contacted Comcast today.Have a great day and take care, Kim !
Jermaine: If you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us through Live Chat (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Comcast also offers great FAQ and Help forums located at www.Comcast.net to help you solve many issues on your own. You can also reach us through our Hotline 1-800-9346489 or 1-800-XFINITY. Thank you for contacting Comcast! We appreciate your business!
Kim : i did check with the bank...but it isn't cleared...i check there first and t hen comcast and then the bank and then comcast and then the bank and then comcast...sure would like to know where that check is and why it's taking comcast so long to process it.
Kim : see you later.
Then there’s the survey...I pretty much skipped down to the last question that I have “very highly” been involved in trying and trying and trying to deal with an issue and wrote this in the comment section:
customer guarantee thing...got to #3 and decided to skip down to this. i always find the reps friendly...but sometimes i get conflicting information. i had an altercation with comcast for five months SOLELY because there were too many cooks in the kitchen led by someone in the philippines who didn't know what he was doing and that was perpetuated with every subsequent call (at least once a week) for five months. five. finally, i think his name was napoleon? resolved it--i think. and your survey does not address this issue. the issue of actually fixing it as opposed to saying it's fixed. ALSO when a rep says they'll do something and then they say they can't really prove it (by sending or printing a receipt, etc.) it's annoying then to be asked if it's resolved in a survey especially when it's a week or so later that the crashing blow surprise is that it isn't or that a NEW stupidity has been somehow added or redirected or...completed on top of whatever the original issue was... in the last five months---whether online chat, on the phone or even in person at the jensen beach location, only ONE PERSON finally fixed the issue (napoleon?). BUT THEN the very next billing cycle, i YAY saw that it was for the correct amount!!! but when i sent in my payment...two weeks ago...it still has not cleared. it's exceedingly frustrating to spend more time dealing with what could be so simple as paying a bill than i spend with my best friend. by the way, the visiting technician in the midst of all this...in january?..., was AWESOME. but your people on the phone...and over the counter, seem to keep hitting the wrong buttons on my account... i just don't understand. i love the product--xfinity...but comcast the company? not so much. now i have to drive over to the bank to cancel a check and then drive on monday, after a long day at work, in horrendous rush hour traffic, to stand in that horrific line of unhappy people just to pay a bill that i have already paid once. so...what exactly IS the customer service guarantee?
I should have added (but I only now thought of it): is it the guarantee that we will indeed need a lot of customer service?
Update: this very day, after all that (which of course includes the call I made last Tuesday) the mail came and in it an envelope from comcast. In it was (and I am ANGRY that my camera is dead!!!) my check made out to them stapled to a form letter that said it was being returned to me because it was damaged by the postal delivery folks in GA!!!! Seriously? It didn’t look like the kind of damage that would preclude PAYING MY BILL so now I’m out fifty cents because of the post office? Because of comcast? LISTEN UP COMCAST, if you cared even a pinky toe’s worth for your customers, you’d’ve applied that payment or at the very least you’d’ve made a note in the file so instead of me calling a hundred times the FIRST time the rep could say, it says here the payment was damaged and is being sent back to you. THAT seems so easy. And do not tell me that the world doesn’t work that way because I KNOW it doesn’t...and comcast is to customer service what an IED is to peace and love.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
ebook more expensive than the print!
I think I read that right... Do you see what I see? I thought the whole revolution of ebooks was that it would cost the consumer so much less without the print middle-man...what does this mean?
-
And Here's The Kicker
Retail: $17.99Your price: $12.10You save: $5.89 (33%) -
And Here's The Kicker eBook
$19.99 -
Humor Writing Kit (eBook Bundle)
$37.98 -
Humor Writing Kit (Paperback Bundle)
Retail: $35.98Your price: $21.59You save: $14.39 (40%)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Sneak Previews...RIP Roger Ebert! 1942-2013 (and Gene Siskel 1946-1999)
Siskel and Ebert taught me foundational approaches to appreciating films. Bottom line, did you enjoy the movie? With a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, they were critics who discussed the movies from a primary passion for the story form itself.
Ebert especially was a fave--I just loved how approachable his love of movies was and his sensible insights. His critical writing got to the heart but from different perspectives. Firm authority and he had extensive credentials, but there wasn't any arrogance so many critics suffer from.
I don't have a lot to say or anything unique or insightful...just sorry to see his story end at only 70.
One show I remember particularly was a review of one of the upteen sequels to Halloween and they were reviewing the film somewhat with attitude and then at the end they wrapped up the review (wish i could remember exactly---i'm sure the episode can be found out there in youtube somewhere) by pleading and begging with the audience NOT to go see it so that MAYBE they would STOP making such HORRIBLY boring and cliche sequels...it was hilarious, actually.
Sneak Previews was THE BEST film review show...i watched it even after Siskel died and whoever it was filled in...but it wasn't the same as Siskel and Ebert. But Ebert was the main man.
Ebert especially was a fave--I just loved how approachable his love of movies was and his sensible insights. His critical writing got to the heart but from different perspectives. Firm authority and he had extensive credentials, but there wasn't any arrogance so many critics suffer from.
I don't have a lot to say or anything unique or insightful...just sorry to see his story end at only 70.
One show I remember particularly was a review of one of the upteen sequels to Halloween and they were reviewing the film somewhat with attitude and then at the end they wrapped up the review (wish i could remember exactly---i'm sure the episode can be found out there in youtube somewhere) by pleading and begging with the audience NOT to go see it so that MAYBE they would STOP making such HORRIBLY boring and cliche sequels...it was hilarious, actually.
Sneak Previews was THE BEST film review show...i watched it even after Siskel died and whoever it was filled in...but it wasn't the same as Siskel and Ebert. But Ebert was the main man.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Happy Birthday Maya Angelou!!! 85 April 4
What a poet! What a magnificent woman!
Check out "And Still I Rise"--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0
Check out "And Still I Rise"--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0
National Geographic---love that magazine!
Monday, April 1, was the last day of spring break. My NatGeo came in that morning's mail and it was heavenly to sit out on the back patio and just absorb it. Seems I put these wonderful mags to the side and then have trouble ever getting back to them and reading them but I love them. My father loves them, too, and so I have kept up his subscription as a primary birthday present.
One of my favorite students who I recently learned (but not from her) was dis-located by Katrina and had recently moved into this area came up to me after class giddy with excitement waving the April NatGeo--same one I had just read Monday. For a brief second I thought it was a particular story--then I realized it was the magazine itself! She turned 17 last week and her aunt gave her a subscription to NatGeo and she was so excited because her very first issue had just come in the mail yesterday!
How refreshing and hopeful to have a student this age and this day excited about something so amazing and worthwhile as this magazine! Especially after another class today---who the vast majority watch reality tv--the likes of "Cat Fishing" and "Duck Dynasty"--talked me into watching an episode of DD. I cannot watch Cat Fishing. I tried several weeks ago when they mentioned it. But today I promised I would watch one episode of Duck Dynasty, and I just now did. It was THE single most boring 21 minutes of my entire life. Seriously? These kids' lives are so boring and superficial that they spend their time watching other people's boring lives? That was so discouraging. Made the excitement over the NatGeo that much more fabulous and worth celebrating!
I am tempted to digress to sheer disgust that A&E has wholly turned to shallow and superficial "E" and left "A" far far far behind. What is their problem? They want to make money. What is wrong with a society and civilization that watches that stuff? To the point of profit and perpetuation? But I do digress. Feel free to share your opinion---especially if you know of A&E shows that are heavy on the A...
One of my favorite students who I recently learned (but not from her) was dis-located by Katrina and had recently moved into this area came up to me after class giddy with excitement waving the April NatGeo--same one I had just read Monday. For a brief second I thought it was a particular story--then I realized it was the magazine itself! She turned 17 last week and her aunt gave her a subscription to NatGeo and she was so excited because her very first issue had just come in the mail yesterday!
How refreshing and hopeful to have a student this age and this day excited about something so amazing and worthwhile as this magazine! Especially after another class today---who the vast majority watch reality tv--the likes of "Cat Fishing" and "Duck Dynasty"--talked me into watching an episode of DD. I cannot watch Cat Fishing. I tried several weeks ago when they mentioned it. But today I promised I would watch one episode of Duck Dynasty, and I just now did. It was THE single most boring 21 minutes of my entire life. Seriously? These kids' lives are so boring and superficial that they spend their time watching other people's boring lives? That was so discouraging. Made the excitement over the NatGeo that much more fabulous and worth celebrating!
I am tempted to digress to sheer disgust that A&E has wholly turned to shallow and superficial "E" and left "A" far far far behind. What is their problem? They want to make money. What is wrong with a society and civilization that watches that stuff? To the point of profit and perpetuation? But I do digress. Feel free to share your opinion---especially if you know of A&E shows that are heavy on the A...
Monday, April 1, 2013
Berlin...North Korea..."In the Garden of Beasts"..."Escape from Camp 14"
Two days ago finished reading “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson. Really good book. Great angle to watch the unfolding of about four years in the mid ‘30s from the social scene in Berlin—particularly the society of foreigners—particularly the American ambassador and his family. It’s well written, has a great pace, extremely readable and I was taken with seeing how people viewed Hitler at the time. Uncanny.
While I was at my folks’ place for Easter I was telling Mama about it and she kept saying, “That’s what we’re doing now with North Korea! We keep expecting things to blow over. Or we figure the kid is crazy and surely no one will let him get away with this!” Clearly history is repeating itself, she and I believe. It’s scary really. The U.S. was timid in the ‘30s and look what happened. How many people died—and I’m not just talking the concentration camps. But there’s the night of the long knives where around 250 people were killed simply because they were beginning to balk at Hitler’s unmitigated terror and force of will with impunity. That was June 30, 1934. U.S. newspapers printed the story. It was common knowledge—yet we did nothing. Studying it in school I know I wondered why we didn’t do anything—why Germans didn’t do anything...and people there at the time kept saying things along the lines of being sure the German people would rise up and not stand for any more of this. But the German people were terrified—even leaders as high up as von Papen were terrified of Hitler’s power. And the German people were hungry and largely unemployed. Hitler promised as well as threatened and they did what they thought was best for survival at the time. But foreign governments do not have my same defense.
Especially now that North Korea seems to be behaving similarly. I am now reading “Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden (published 2012) about Shin Dong-hyuk, first person born in a work camp (Kaechon) in North Korea to successfully escape. He is the same age as Kim Jong Eun. Because this rampant torture and deadly force with impunity is happening now, and is now becoming common knowledge, and we have known for decades that the ruling Kims are cruel and crazy and unpredictable, I would say the problem now is worse than Hitler’s regime. In the NK work camps, people are being born and raised in order to fill work detail and apparently fulfill their bloodthirsty inclinations and are worked to death, literally. There is no knowledge of the outside world. There is no access from the outside world. And there is no economic benefit from polarizing the issue. No celebrity represents the problem.
What can we do? I wonder what it would take to overthrow that regime and rehabilitate hundreds of thousands impacted...what kind of society would it become to have all those people loosed at once... No sense of morality or equal justice. No sense of compassion or love. I’m only just now in chapter 3 of the life this boy led in the camps and how he escaped. I confess I am afraid to listen to international news as things develop in that part of the world. I confess I feel despair and hopelessness that anything can be done. Nor do I have any idea of what could be done. But I believe world leaders have a responsibility to gather and take serious, wise, calculated steps to change things for the better simply because it is the right thing to do.
There are organizations on the front line I think... Amnesty international. North Korea Freedom Coalition. Liberty in North Korea.
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/asia/north-korea-stories-from-the-forgotten-prisons/
http://www.nkfreedom.org/
http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/
http://www.youtube.com/linkglobal
While I was at my folks’ place for Easter I was telling Mama about it and she kept saying, “That’s what we’re doing now with North Korea! We keep expecting things to blow over. Or we figure the kid is crazy and surely no one will let him get away with this!” Clearly history is repeating itself, she and I believe. It’s scary really. The U.S. was timid in the ‘30s and look what happened. How many people died—and I’m not just talking the concentration camps. But there’s the night of the long knives where around 250 people were killed simply because they were beginning to balk at Hitler’s unmitigated terror and force of will with impunity. That was June 30, 1934. U.S. newspapers printed the story. It was common knowledge—yet we did nothing. Studying it in school I know I wondered why we didn’t do anything—why Germans didn’t do anything...and people there at the time kept saying things along the lines of being sure the German people would rise up and not stand for any more of this. But the German people were terrified—even leaders as high up as von Papen were terrified of Hitler’s power. And the German people were hungry and largely unemployed. Hitler promised as well as threatened and they did what they thought was best for survival at the time. But foreign governments do not have my same defense.
Especially now that North Korea seems to be behaving similarly. I am now reading “Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden (published 2012) about Shin Dong-hyuk, first person born in a work camp (Kaechon) in North Korea to successfully escape. He is the same age as Kim Jong Eun. Because this rampant torture and deadly force with impunity is happening now, and is now becoming common knowledge, and we have known for decades that the ruling Kims are cruel and crazy and unpredictable, I would say the problem now is worse than Hitler’s regime. In the NK work camps, people are being born and raised in order to fill work detail and apparently fulfill their bloodthirsty inclinations and are worked to death, literally. There is no knowledge of the outside world. There is no access from the outside world. And there is no economic benefit from polarizing the issue. No celebrity represents the problem.
What can we do? I wonder what it would take to overthrow that regime and rehabilitate hundreds of thousands impacted...what kind of society would it become to have all those people loosed at once... No sense of morality or equal justice. No sense of compassion or love. I’m only just now in chapter 3 of the life this boy led in the camps and how he escaped. I confess I am afraid to listen to international news as things develop in that part of the world. I confess I feel despair and hopelessness that anything can be done. Nor do I have any idea of what could be done. But I believe world leaders have a responsibility to gather and take serious, wise, calculated steps to change things for the better simply because it is the right thing to do.
There are organizations on the front line I think... Amnesty international. North Korea Freedom Coalition. Liberty in North Korea.
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/asia/north-korea-stories-from-the-forgotten-prisons/
http://www.nkfreedom.org/
http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/
http://www.youtube.com/linkglobal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)