Night Train

There is a train whistle moaning, eager, echoing across the Grand, amplified by heavy air of a rain soaked night. The dent in the sofa, a catapult to unanswered journeys I am yet to make.

Social Story

This was my graduation gift to Louise, belatedly posted here.

The story of Thelma and Louise

Louise was a girl from Florida who moved to NH so that she could play in the snow.

Louise loves numbers and music and solitude and order.

Louise shared her love of numbers and music and solitude and order with some Lost Boys who needed her help.
Louise loved her job and did it very well. She went early every day and played her music and took pictures and spread her order everywhere she went, but she was lonely.

One day, Thelma came to work with Louise and the Lost Boys.

Thelma was a girl from Canada who moved to NH so that she could play in the ocean.

Thelma loved words and music and art and freedom and came to help the Lost Boys with Louise.
Thelma loved her job and did it very well. She stayed late and drew pictures and wrote stories and spread her optimism everywhere she went. Louise wasn’t lonely any more.

Some times, Thelma and Louise rolled Twinkies, and fought Lions, tigers and bears, and laughed all day long. Sometimes they cried.
Every night when it was time to go home, they said “See you in a few minutes”

Eventually, it was hard to love their jobs, but they still loved each other….
The day Louise left, Thelma went in the bathroom and cried and cried and cried. Louise told her it would be just fine.

So Thelma and Louise went to school at night, just for the pleasure of each other’s company (and sometimes to use their superfluous brains).

Thelma and Louise loved to learn and loved to learn together. They did their homework and shared their love and helped knuckleheads along the way. Thelma melted down about the numbers and Louise fretted about the words, but together they could reach the stars.

Eventually they had to graduate. About that, they were both happy and sad, because it meant they wouldn’t see each other as much.
Thelma forced Louise to go to the parties because it made their graduation more real. About this, Louise was both happy and annoyed.

Some people graduate with caps and gowns. Some people graduate with hoods. Some people graduate with both caps and hoods. Louise wondered why.
Thelma told her it was okay to have both.


Some people graduate Suma Cum Laude. Some people graduate Magna Cum Laude.
Some people get awards. They didn’t get any and Thelma wondered why.
Louise said they knew they deserved them, and that was more than okay.

So Thelma and Louise received their degrees and did their respective jobs.

One day they hope that they can change the world together again.


The beginning…
XoX
Thelma

I have decided...

Who needs mojo when you've got moxie?

Hangin’ with Gwynnie

Once a week or so Gwyneth Paltrow sends me an E-mail.

She has a new web site called GOOP. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around the name yet, but the long and short of it is that she send little tips out for things to do cook and make. Call it lifestyle tips from the anti Martha. If you were ever curious about what “Uber expensie” ( that was for you Hassan!) boutique hotel to book while you are in Paris, Gwyneth has rushed to the rescue with recommendations from her own and fortunate friends travels. These days she is hanging out in the kitchen with celeb chef Mario Battali and various other unexpected characters.

It would be easy to look up our noses at Gwyneth and her blessed life style. But let’s face it, how many celebrities are staying out of the tabloids and attempting to lead productive and fulfilling lives while suffering the burden of never having to worry about money again? Far too many are marinating in their own fabulous vapidity or working their way around the United Nations child collecting. Nevertheless, rich people deserve our compassion, too. I applaud Gwyneth for sharing parts of herself that are creative and useful.

I am feeling particularly close to Gwyneth this week because….Three years ago, my car was rear ended by two cars and I have had pain in my neck ever since. So yesterday I tried Acupuncture for the first time. Wow. I had a needle placed in my “third eye” and various other places, but the most impressive thing that happened was the cupping. This is an Eastern treatment method that uses suction to increase localized circulation to help with pain and muscle strain. Evidence left are large polka dots that resemble hickeys all over my back. Nice. The process was fascinating and I am anxious to feel some relief after a series of treatments. Apparently I have a lot of fire and stress. Hmmm.

An interesting side note is that I used to be called to do child abuse investigations at day care centers that had Vietnamese children whose grandmothers had done cupping or coining to draw out toxins and other negative things when they were sick. I remember trying to explain this cultural practice to daycare providers and how they were so aghast. That thought kept going through my mind as I lay there voluntarily having my petechia imploded and I thinking about how we all benefit from a poke in the third eye once in a while. Maybe it will improve our vision.

Random

1)The most fabulous thing anyone has ever said about your eyes?

I have a giant smile. No one notices my eyes.

2) What's on your keychain?

I still have the first key chain that I bought after getting my license too many years ago to say. The Key chain is a pewter cherub peeking out from a heart, so worn that the pert naked bottom has receded into the soft metal, barely recognizable and getting more decent every day.

3)How do you like your coffee?

This is the story of my first cup of coffee ever in London… (Yep. That one.)

Plumes of steam expelled explosively from the loins of the iron caterpillar as they grumble to a stop on the well worn path. I contemplate our debarkation, approach a stall and attempt to interpret the foreign names of unfamiliar beverage, letters embellished well beyond recognition of beans and milk.He turns with the ultimate product of his creativity and salutes me.

“Bella!”.

I Cradle the warm paper vessel, and commit this moment to memory, a secret ingredient that will morph the future flavor of each cup that I imbibe.

Oh, and it was a cappuccino.

4)What drink would he make for you? A Russellrita (raspberry margarita). I love tequila.

5) Do you dream? Yes. They are all here to read.

6)What do you have for Saturday morning breakfast?

Bagel and lox.

Now it's your turn. Go ahead.

A Literary Affair

Worship at the altar of words
Live the diphthongs and digraphs transmuted
Becoming sensation, memory, tears
Lounge in the sweet ruffled bed of terminology
Lexile lover stroke paragraphs
Into the dreams fingers transcribe

What is Success?

Here is what to put on my epitaph;


To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patchor a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson