Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. I spent some time on your web site and learned that you worked with Hugh Jackman for his role in Australia. Good work, Greg—well done. It’s a shame they didn’t have you work with Australia’s Leading Lady in the movie. I still shudder when I relive the scene in which she sang to a child—the director must not have been on the set when that scene was shot.

~DeAnn

So glad I checked on you this morning … I must remember how your post invariable elicit a “laugh out loud” … such a great way to start the quiet part of my day!

“That man may know he dwells not on his own.” Milton, from Paradise Lost

There are so many provocative quotes on lonely/lonliness … I like Steinbeck on this topic and also Milton … Maya Angelou. I’ve thought that there is an empty place in our soul that we, to some degree, try to fill with … all kinds of “things” … and I have concluded that that is the place in our vessel intended to “hold” our maker.

Lonely … alone … interesting to think about.

Glad to find you well, and so “Kingful”!

DeAnn

He thought of stopping but thought better of it so he continued down the road. A short time later he noticed an old gray-bearded man sitting on the top rail of a fence by the roadside and busily abusing himself. (I believe that’s called consternation or distribution or something like that).

The traveler stopped his car near the old man and asked, “What in the world is going on here?” The self-abuser said, “What’s what going on?” The traveler said, “I just saw a young man abusing a rabbit, and now I find you doing this. Why are you doing it?”

The old man said, “I’m doing this because I can’t run fast enough to catch a rabbit.”

Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. Apparently great minds obviously flow in similar channels in that we both have resisted movie theaters for twelve years. However, I haven’t really favored movies since they closed all the drive-in theaters. They were great for young people and families with young children. The young people didn’t have to worry about red lights flashing in the dark, and families could roll up the windows and let the children cry and scream themselves to sleep.

When Debra was a toddler we sometimes took in drive-in movies in Montgomery, Alabama in the years 1952 through 1955. Janie would make a pitcher of iced tea and slice up a tomato and we could buy 10 hamburgers for one dollar, believe it or not. They were miniscule in size compared to the giant burgers of today, but were much easier to eat—no pink slime in the meat, and no stuff dripping into one’s lap ever time a bite was taken. The buns were small, and the only addition to the meat was a miniscule spot of mustard or ketchup, and we added the tomato slices.

Oh, those were the good old days!

Larry

Many of the comments on my literary efforts are replete with common errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, capitalization, spacing and paragraphing. Some bloggers routinely correct the errors in such comments. Your cousin Cindy exemplifies that practice. She honestly feels that the process is a teachable moment, and that she is doing the writer a favor by correcting the errors. She does not consider her efforts to be either grading or degrading the writing or the writer. Nor do I, but I do not deign to correct another’s writing—ignore it perhaps, or perhaps call attention to it, but not correct it.

Please accept my heartfelt apology for “grading” your punctuation. I don’t remember grading your grammar but if I did, at any time on any comment, I apologize for that also.

A parable with my concealed promise to never grade your grammar and punctuation:

A minister was invited to have Sunday dinner with a family after services were over. The lady of the house knew that her little boy sometimes used forbidden words, several of which had only four syllables, so she ordered him to stay on the porch and not say a word, not one, while the preacher was there.

When the preacher arrived the kid was sitting on the porch watching his dog, old Rex, scoot across the wooden porch floor on his butt trying to scratch an itch as dogs often do, and the kid said, “Rex, I ain’t gonna say one bad word while the preacher is here, not one word, not even if you get a splinter up your ass a foot long.”

Be well, and please continue communicating,

Mike

And by the way, please don’t grade my grammar and punctuation. I’m just trying to communicate.

I’m getting close to the end of my x-axis, but I’m sorta proud of the height of my y-axis. Actually, my flat-line has given a few blips in the recent past, a few burps if you will, comparable to the patient that flat-lines but regains a few peaks to go with the valleys, and even sometimes keeps giving for a considerable length of time—not always, but sometimes. In truth, I have learned the importance of giving, which of course is the opposite of getting. I keep looking over my shoulder and know now that I was the recipient far more often than I gave.

I just read the above and I noticed that it is some somber ****, so I quit—hey, that rhymes!

Be well,

Mike

Be well,

Mike

I won’t embarrass you by commenting on your blog about your invariable misplacement of commas and periods that follow a word or words encapsulated in quotation marks. Commas and periods that follow such a word or words belong in the sentence within the quotation marks, never outside the word or words that are quoted and identified as quotes. Commas and periods should never be placed outside the quotation marks—they belong within the last quotation mark.

Thanks for the visit and for the comment. I’m pleased that you are returning to my blog, and especially pleased that you are making comments. Yes, I am very proud of Cindy, as I am of all three of my daughters. I’ve always told people that the Dyer family has a lot of talent, but Cindy has all of it. Not really, of course. The rest of us are able to do some things, but nothing to equal Cindy’s many talents.

I trust that none of my writing offends you. I hesitate sometimes in using certain terms, and I search diligently for alternatives that will convey the same message. I never anticipated that a lady of the cloth would frequent my blog, but I’m pleased that you do.

How goes the bridge parties? I hope you and your partner achieve a grand slam in every game (please tell me there is such a term in bridge). If there isn’t, there should be.

If one is still giving a **** then that person is still moving up the left side of the scale, although they may give a **** in some instances but not in others, but the giving of a **** is far more often than the giving a **** is withheld. When one stops giving a **** that person starts moving down, either in one move or in a series of moves because one may give a **** in highly selective incidents and not give a **** in **** for all the others. It therefore follows that the not givings of a **** outweighs the givings of a **** so the downward spiral continues. (There’s appears to be a double entendre in that downward spiral term, but I’m not sure what it is.)

When that person stops giving a **** in **** for absolutely every situation that life confers, they have flatlined just as a hospital patient does, and their actions are about as active as the aforementioned patient’s flatlining. Someone could, of course, after flat-lining on not giving a **** could begin to give a **** in some circumstances and the line would begin to rise up the Give A **** Scale again.

And finally, when one has flat-lined and never gives a **** regardless of the circumstances, then that one might as well consider taking a long walk on a short pier. It happens many times in our country every day and our various media tell us all about it. Sometimes we are told why such walks are taken and the reasons are legion in number, but the truth is that the person no longer gave a **** about anything at all, and that would include life itself. Kinda funny, huh? In many cases when someone is no longer able to give a **** about anything, life becomes a burden, no longer desirable and that person decides to slough it off.

Postscript:

The word **** as used in this context is a noun, the word that receives the action of the verb to give. When we say that we don’t give a **** we are saying that the matter is of no relevance to us. We don’t care whether it affects us personally or some other person or persons, therefore we really don’t give a ****. I’m uncertain as to whom we are refusing to give a **** but I’m sure that there is a target in every instance the term is used.

Now, just one more cogent observation and this tirade will be terminated. In my opinion, if it is reasonable to tell someone I don’t give a **** about something unless it affects me, or if it affects someone or something for which I care, it follows therefore that in that case I should say “Hey, I give a **** about that! I really, really give a ****!

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the comment.

I outdid you in numbers of daughters – my wife gave me three daughters, but so far you have outdone me in numbers of grandchildren – I have four. I envy you and your wife for being on your way to 58 years of a happy marriage, and I hope and pray that those years will just keep piling up. We almost made that 58 mark. We missed our fifty-eighth anniversary by 38 days, and my wife missed her seventy-eighth birthday by thirty-nine days. Born on December 26, 1931 she died on November 18, 2010. We are apart now, but it’s only temporary – we will be eventually reunited.

I wrote about the events of that day, particularly of the evening. If you like, you can find it at the URL below. Just one word of caution: You might consider having a box of tissues nearby. I am inexorably drawn to the posting, and I usually have a crying need (so to speak) for the tissues.

http://thekingoftexas.com/2010/12/04/from-grimace-to-grin-from-pain-to-peace-and-from-earth-to-heaven/

Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. I will happily swap tales of the Far East with you without a trace of boredom, and all will be true – well, most will be true – okay, a few will be true. Kudos to you and your wife for your happy marriage, and my best wishes for your children and grandchildren. Be well.

Mike Dyer- bdcooper@aol.com

Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. I trust that you and yours are well and thriving. Stay safe.

We appreciate your plea for God to help us. We need all the help we can get in order to preserve our nation as it was originally created. Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. Please feel welcome to comment on any of my posts.

Yes, I am a fan of Gahan Wilson’s work, but not a long-time fan. In fact, I just became a fan about an hour ago. Before that I had never heard of him. I was a bit hesitant to Google his name because I wasn’t sure whether your comment was complimentary or critical, mainly because of the name “Nuts,” but I abandoned all caution, tossed my suspicions and did the research, and I intend to spend more time in additional research.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comment. You introduced me to a funny fellow and I am indebted to you for that. I trust that all is well with you and Pete and your respective families.

Take care, and be well—Mike

Note: I am well aware that I am your favorite uncle on your mother’s side of the family—in fact, I am your only remaining uncle on that side, at least the only one remaining in this realm, and you also are bereft of all your maternal aunts. Oh, well—as the French are known to say, telle est la vie!

On King Arthur’s return from his journey, he commanded all the knights to expose themselves to him, and each showed damage to the exposed parts—that is, all except Sir Galahad, and because of the absence of damage he was offered half the kingdom for his fidelity to the king and his queen.

However, that worthy could not respond to the king’s offer. He was speechless, as am I for your response to my panhandling posting.

Trust me—We will consider your suggestions in Our usual royal manner and get back to you with more details. In the meantime We will press on with Our plan to panhandle.

I hope your panhandling works. I know we have the economy to blame for the fact that our own U.S. royalty (such as yourself) has to panhandle for anything. I think another reason is that the common folk are intimidated by the powers-that-be and may have heard “off with her/his head” too often to let down their guard. Perhaps you might find companionship if you would get out and kiss a few babies, shake a few peasant hands, serve soup to the homeless, pet a cat, teach English as a second language, dispense proper grammar to the unwashed, or teach a class to babes in the woods. It certainly couldn’t hurt and the common folk might see you for the gem that you are.

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the comment.

http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/bridges.htm