To heck with “Toys for Tots!” Instead think “Toys for Tottlers!” Because tottlers (seniors who walk unsteadily and just tottle along for whatever the reason) are much needier than kids. Their friends have all died or are so out of it that they may as well be ornaments dangling on a tree. So the tottler frequently faces Christmas alone. Don’t buy a teddy bear and put it in some box at a church. Buy a carton of lubricated c...

I performed many different odd jobs when I was a teen and into my early twenties. I mowed lawns at five different homes including my own. Several people also asked me to paint and redo their kitchens and bathrooms. The result of all this painting helped me become a home handyman when I got married. The first apartment we moved into needed a lot of refurbishing. Rooms needed stripping of wallpaper. Windows needed re-glazin...

My most vivid memory of my evening with Prancer is not his admission that he was a murderer. Though unnerving it was consistent with his obvious paranoia. The most vivid memories are of what happened when I committed the faux pas of offering Prancer chopsticks with his General Tso’s chicken. Prancer was volatile. He could be aggressive one moment, but gentle and submissive the next. How I wound up eating Chinese food with...

I'm sitting at my computerA story I want to writeAll I need are the wordsTo make it come out right. Just an idea or a thoughtTo write the next great bookThe computer screen is blankGiving me a dirty look. The words are there I knowJust where, I can not tellThey're deep inside of meNot at this time, Oh swell. I try to think of a lineTo get me started todayDo all writers face thisOr am I only this way? I type in an ideaThen...

When I was young, I spent a lot of time in the back seat of my cousin's car alone. She had a boyfriend, but he did not drive and she never liked to drive alone. As a result, I went on many dates with my cousin and her boyfriend. She was five years older than I was and I was her favorite cousin. At the time, I was having fun going out to the drive-in, bowling and other places. I never realized what a third wheel was until...

Everywhere I look...Women all aroundEach perfect in their own way,They barely touch the ground.Sexy waitresses in blackAsk "what can I do for you?"Now if I answered that...I'd wind up black-and-blue.The cutie at the store...Likes my jokes and hairOh, the things I'd do to herAnd her perky derrière.Two goth girls at Wal-MartWith green in one's short hairOh, be still my beating heart...Her skirt's as light as air.This brunet...

This is a true story. This all takes place in a small rural town in Indiana in 1950. I was about three and half years old at the time. But first, I must give you some background to explain why my mother said what she did. My mom and dad had just moved into a two-bedroom house shortly before my birth. The reason they moved was this house had recently had indoor plumbing installed. Older houses back then did not have a desi...

While talking with a new acquaintance, this came up in the conversation. She told me, "ahh but my dear didn't you know that broken things hold the most beauty in the world, it is our imperfections that make us who we are, me yes I search for love, life, and I see beauty in everything around me. Even myself, took me a long time to see that my dear." My reply was, "Glad that you have found beauty in everything including you...

What is this crap I put myself through? Falling in love with pics that aren’t you. Damn little things, maybe 2 x 2? What the hell am I supposed to do? Beautiful face with long wavy hair. Eyes that say come here if you dare. All I can do is sit here and stare. I’m so weak, this just isn’t fair! Led to slaughter just like a lamb. I think I’m safe.. then wham! Bam! They lure me in from so many lands. They never seem to be fr...

The Eucalyptus trees in California. Living in Northern California is a nice thing most of the time. It seems to be a very different state when compared to Southern California and the Sacramento area. People here live a laid-back life and are more liberal. One thing that used to upset me when I first lived here in 1967 was the plethora of Eucalyptus trees. They smell nice and are tall, but the sap, leaves and bark are a nu...

 « Oh My! The Phenom of Facebook, George Takei This blogging business has made me a lot more aware of certain things, such as the fact that the music industry is, collectively, a big schoolyard bully, blustering about and threatening us with swirlies in order to extort the lunch money of lowly writers by way of its absurd "Mother May I?" approach to quoting even a few words of lyrics. Now, I'm not talking about actual dis...

Most all of us remember the first time we got behind the steering wheel of an automobile. For some it was the scariest time of our lives, for others the most exciting. We lived through it though and now we never think of those first days. I thought about those days just recently when chatting with my oldest daughter. She will be 40 next year and she contemplated her mortality a few times, as her older daughter became a te...

Dear Richardson,Has been a bit since my last write, of sweet and kindness is you. I cannot even begin to thank you (picture me giving you an eye roll as I write this) for sending that musical card to Aunty Mildred for Mothers Day! She carries it around with her in that bottomless pit of a purse of hers, and whips it out when least expected — doing a show and tell to all who visit, proudly telling who sent it .... I do hop...

"Welcome to parents participation training.” The debonair young man holding the microphone had a big, toothy grin. "Many of you will be first-time parent participants in this area's various summer youth league competitions. Your appearance here demonstrates how, as concerned parents, you have realized the importance of displaying appropriate conduct while your child is participating as an athlete. "To start today's sessio...

Dreamcatcher, Larry, wrote a story last month ‘I’m Arnold Palmer’ which reminded me of a joke; Jesus and Moses were playing golf one day. They approached a par three hole where the green was located on an island in a large pond. The green was accessed by a long pathway from the left side of the green to the shore. It was a fairly long shot from the tee to the green across the pond. Needless to say, a lot of golf balls wer...