Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Scofflaws, Outlaws, and the Buzzing in the Blood
I'm reading Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellstrom, Swedish authors, and finding myself immersed in the world of the Polish mafia, executions, prisons, and explosives. And I wonder about the people who find themselves involved in such worlds. When I was growing up, I knew that many of my relatives were scofflaws and viewed authority with disdain and distrust. But what I didn't know was that the people who I thought were on the up-and-up -- straight-as-an-arrow-and-doing-great-thank-you-very-much -- were the actual outlaws. And now I wonder, were their days filled with anxious moments? Did they spend sleepless nights or nights filled with dreams of chase scenes ending badly and prison cells? Was there a constant singing along their spines reminding them of their vulnerability? Or were they so cocksure of their right to other people's money that they never felt that buzzing in their blood? I think I prefer the scofflaws. I know where I stand with them. Their contempt is obvious. They don't live behind a mask of virtue. Me? I'll read about those guys - the scofflaws and the outlaws alike - and be glad that I'm not waiting for my cover to be blown. I will pursue tranquility, but read about chaos. Escapism is a wonderful thing.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Ronald Berry
I buried my favorite cousin yesterday. Ronald Berry was childlike in his glee, mirthful in his relationships. His Deputy Dog laugh - a breathy, face scrunching laugh - infected everyone. He could be exasperating and embarrassing. But all of us Berrys loved him.
As people entered the church, they listened to music from Ronald's 1970s and 1980s band Raincrow. Frank thought we were listening to Lynrd Skynrd; but, no, it was Ronald and his buddies. Many of his band members were there, wearing bandanas tied to their arms in solidarity with their missing vocalist. Sam was there, lookin' good and wearing only one bandana. (In the old days, he tied seven or eight around his leg.)
Beau trudged into the church late, walked directly to the front, opened his guitar case, and then made everyone cry with "Fire and Rain" - "Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone...." My heart broke. Trish sang "Amazing Grace" a capella and filled the church with her beautiful voice and her heartfelt sorrow. And then at the grave side service, Beau sang "Wild Horses." I was reminded of August when Ronald spent the weekend with us. Steve Markley and Gary Due played music on the porch, and we coerced Ronald into singing "Honky Tonk Women." He sang with heart and soul and danced like Mick Jagger.
But the true Ronald shone through. The power point presentation showed him with his kills - turkeys, fish, and lots and lots of deer. The program given to his friends and family members at the door had two deer on the cover. The spray on his casket had a large cross in the center surrounded by natural grasses and plants with deer nestled in its midst.
The Sweeneys were there - Brutus and Hurtus. Tim and Mary. I love those guys.
Randy and Kile were there.
Aunt Wilma was there. I'm not sure she knew what was happening.
Roylene - I worry about her. My dear cousin missing her brother - her sadness was like a shell surrounding her.
So I say goodbye to my big hearted, comedic cousin with the crazy hair who loved to take out his teeth, steal kids' food, wrestle, dance, sing, hunt, drink, be with his family. You will be missed.
As people entered the church, they listened to music from Ronald's 1970s and 1980s band Raincrow. Frank thought we were listening to Lynrd Skynrd; but, no, it was Ronald and his buddies. Many of his band members were there, wearing bandanas tied to their arms in solidarity with their missing vocalist. Sam was there, lookin' good and wearing only one bandana. (In the old days, he tied seven or eight around his leg.)
Beau trudged into the church late, walked directly to the front, opened his guitar case, and then made everyone cry with "Fire and Rain" - "Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone...." My heart broke. Trish sang "Amazing Grace" a capella and filled the church with her beautiful voice and her heartfelt sorrow. And then at the grave side service, Beau sang "Wild Horses." I was reminded of August when Ronald spent the weekend with us. Steve Markley and Gary Due played music on the porch, and we coerced Ronald into singing "Honky Tonk Women." He sang with heart and soul and danced like Mick Jagger.
But the true Ronald shone through. The power point presentation showed him with his kills - turkeys, fish, and lots and lots of deer. The program given to his friends and family members at the door had two deer on the cover. The spray on his casket had a large cross in the center surrounded by natural grasses and plants with deer nestled in its midst.
The Sweeneys were there - Brutus and Hurtus. Tim and Mary. I love those guys.
Randy and Kile were there.
Aunt Wilma was there. I'm not sure she knew what was happening.
Roylene - I worry about her. My dear cousin missing her brother - her sadness was like a shell surrounding her.
So I say goodbye to my big hearted, comedic cousin with the crazy hair who loved to take out his teeth, steal kids' food, wrestle, dance, sing, hunt, drink, be with his family. You will be missed.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
They Hushed
I have been reading some incredible novels recently, but Let the Good World Spin by Colum McCann blew me away. The novel consists of four sections and twelve characters whose lives intersect and intertwine with Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. The towering characters among the twelve are Corrigan and Jazzlyn.
Corrigan is a man who gives. As a young boy, he gives his blankets and shoes to homeless people in Dublin. After his mother's death, he gives all of his father's suits to the destitute people in his neighborhood, and his father finds a whole street full of people wearing his clothes. In New York, he lives in the projects and opens his apartment to the prostitutes who turn tricks close by. They use Corrigan's apartment for the bathroom. That makes for some uncomfortable situations for Corrigan, a monk who has taken a vow of chastity. But Corrigan says, "It's not much. Just a little gesture. A place they can use." Another layer of this complicated character is revealed in his relationship with Adelita. The day after he has sex for the first time, breaking his vows, he dies in a car accident while driving Jazzlyn home after she has been arrested for prostitution and robbery. The one time he takes from another instead of giving, he loses his life.
Jazzlyn is a woman who is taken. As a young girl, Jazz is taken from her mother, Tillie, when she is four. When Jazz returns to her mother, her innocence is taken and she walks in her mother's footsteps. Corrigan tries to give Jazzlyn some hope, promising to give her a castle, but she's seen too much, done too much heroin - she lives in "the house that horse built" - and given up too much of herself to people who use her for their personal pleasure.
The reader learns about Corrigan and Jazzlyn through the ten other characters, but mostly from the people closest to them: Corrigan's brother and Jazzlyn's mother. Even the accident that kills Corrie and Jazz is related by other characters who cause and observe the accident. It reads as a choreographed dance - the nudge, the skid, the slow spin, the contact with the guard rail. The reader watches both characters, all the characters, walk a tightrope. They teeter between helplessly flailing through the air or carefully placing each foot on the wire. I loved Corrigan and pitied Jazzlyn. I cared about these characters. I didn't want the novel to end.
Corrigan is a man who gives. As a young boy, he gives his blankets and shoes to homeless people in Dublin. After his mother's death, he gives all of his father's suits to the destitute people in his neighborhood, and his father finds a whole street full of people wearing his clothes. In New York, he lives in the projects and opens his apartment to the prostitutes who turn tricks close by. They use Corrigan's apartment for the bathroom. That makes for some uncomfortable situations for Corrigan, a monk who has taken a vow of chastity. But Corrigan says, "It's not much. Just a little gesture. A place they can use." Another layer of this complicated character is revealed in his relationship with Adelita. The day after he has sex for the first time, breaking his vows, he dies in a car accident while driving Jazzlyn home after she has been arrested for prostitution and robbery. The one time he takes from another instead of giving, he loses his life.
Jazzlyn is a woman who is taken. As a young girl, Jazz is taken from her mother, Tillie, when she is four. When Jazz returns to her mother, her innocence is taken and she walks in her mother's footsteps. Corrigan tries to give Jazzlyn some hope, promising to give her a castle, but she's seen too much, done too much heroin - she lives in "the house that horse built" - and given up too much of herself to people who use her for their personal pleasure.
The reader learns about Corrigan and Jazzlyn through the ten other characters, but mostly from the people closest to them: Corrigan's brother and Jazzlyn's mother. Even the accident that kills Corrie and Jazz is related by other characters who cause and observe the accident. It reads as a choreographed dance - the nudge, the skid, the slow spin, the contact with the guard rail. The reader watches both characters, all the characters, walk a tightrope. They teeter between helplessly flailing through the air or carefully placing each foot on the wire. I loved Corrigan and pitied Jazzlyn. I cared about these characters. I didn't want the novel to end.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Okay, folks. Last Friday night, Oct. 30, the craziest thing happened at CHS. We had a school dance with a live dj, trance music, black lights, strobes ... the whole bit. The students wanted to do this thing, wanted to call it a rave. Donna Jones and I knew we couldn't call it a rave and have the administrators understand. So we called it a fall dance. Man, did the kids have fun! Just look at all the fun they had. Dontcha just love it?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Frank and Steve Markley played music today at the Democratic rally in West Plains. The music was really for background and ambiance while people inspected the items for sale at the silent auction and shook hands with the local politicians. I listened in my usual somewhat jaded fashion to a young guy from Rolla, Tom Sower, who plans to run against Jo Ann Emerson. I was pleasantly impressed, especially since one of the first issues he mentioned is the low pay for women in this congressional district. He reported that our congressional district has the lowest average salary for women in the entire nation, and he said he wants to change that. All right. If you're interested in seeing a Missourian represent us in Congress, check out his web site at http://www.sowersforcongress.com and see what I mean.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
CHS Library now has audio books. Thanks to Susie Skeen, we now have access to this new format. I'm hoping that students who are reluctant readers will look forward to reading Twilight and The Chronicles of Narnia.
I cataloged new books today; they are now ready to check out. The sci-fi appealed to me. Exodus and Zenith by Julie Bertagna are based on the idea of rising ocean waters that cause people to begin the search for higher ground. A woman discovers that the earth's wealthiest people built cities in the sky. Sounds intriguing.
Imagine you're Homer Collyer. You're blind and dependent on your brother Langley who marks the passage of time by collecting mounds of newspapers, a Model T that he reassembles in your dining room, pianos and piano parts, and typewriters - lots of typewriters. E. L. Doctorow's latest novel Homer and Langley tells the story of the two Collyer brothers who live in their parents' three - story Manhattan brownstone for fifty years after their parents die from the influenza outbreak. They watch the world pass by, peeking between their closed shutters. When I finished this completely satisfying novel, I wanted to learn more about the real Collyer brothers. A New York Press article (http://www.nypress.com/article-293-the-collyer-brothers-of-harlem.html) revealed the story of an ingenius hoarder. In real life, Langley was an engineer who used his knowledge to build a rabbit warren of tunnels in the family home using bales of newspapers.
After the brothers' deaths, crews removed 130 tons of Langley's carefully collected and arranged treasures. The novel gives a fascinating look at two eccentric, truly American personalities. Give it a try - E. L. Doctorow's novel perfectly captures the period.
.
I cataloged new books today; they are now ready to check out. The sci-fi appealed to me. Exodus and Zenith by Julie Bertagna are based on the idea of rising ocean waters that cause people to begin the search for higher ground. A woman discovers that the earth's wealthiest people built cities in the sky. Sounds intriguing.
Imagine you're Homer Collyer. You're blind and dependent on your brother Langley who marks the passage of time by collecting mounds of newspapers, a Model T that he reassembles in your dining room, pianos and piano parts, and typewriters - lots of typewriters. E. L. Doctorow's latest novel Homer and Langley tells the story of the two Collyer brothers who live in their parents' three - story Manhattan brownstone for fifty years after their parents die from the influenza outbreak. They watch the world pass by, peeking between their closed shutters. When I finished this completely satisfying novel, I wanted to learn more about the real Collyer brothers. A New York Press article (http://www.nypress.com/article-293-the-collyer-brothers-of-harlem.html) revealed the story of an ingenius hoarder. In real life, Langley was an engineer who used his knowledge to build a rabbit warren of tunnels in the family home using bales of newspapers.
After the brothers' deaths, crews removed 130 tons of Langley's carefully collected and arranged treasures. The novel gives a fascinating look at two eccentric, truly American personalities. Give it a try - E. L. Doctorow's novel perfectly captures the period.
.
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