No One Talks Like That Anymore

Joel Cairo: “You always have a very smooth explanation ready.”Sam Spade: “What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?” Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon No one talks like that anymore. Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon took Amercia by surprise and the movie was a box office smash. The Sam Spade character…

Too Damn Cold

Oz, the author of this blog, was going to take the two dogs, Lucy and Desi, on a road trip to distant Bushong, Kansas, with a stop along the way at Americus, a small town without the hustle and bustle, a self-described “Great Place to Live.” But, it was too damn cold. Nine degrees, which…

Am I Seeing Clearly

AM I SEEING CLEARLY? ACTING GENEROUSLY? ACCEPTING WHAT I CAN’T CHANGE? The Stoic’s Daily Prompt, February 22, 2022 “I can see clearly now; the rain has gone. I can see all obstacles in my way.” I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash, 1972. Trivial note. It is Twosday, February 22, 2022, a once-in-a-lifetime date that…

Where do birds go?

The snow it blows And how the wind does howl The snow is such a pretty thing The poet says And, in his mind, he is thinking Somewhere faraway on a mountainside A bear still sleeps as his hunger grows Here the poet’s dogs growl To be put outside on such a day It’s cold,…

Why Write?

Asked why does he write? Oz, the author of this interminable blog, answers quiptically, “Why not?” Or to quote the twice married Kurt Vonnegut who waited 47 years for universal recognition and financial success (Slaughterhouse-Five, 1969, the popular science fiction saga was written almost a quarter century after World War II and was based on…

Bitter Temps

It gets darn cold when the sun goes down,And the sun goes down mighty quick.There’s a hole in the roof so the snow comes inAnd the door to the cabin is only half shut.Outside it’s bitter cold, And the wind comes whistling through.The last log’s in the fireplace.And the candle is burnt to the quick.So…

Focus

Focus — verb, intransitive. 1 : to concentrate one’s attention and effort on a single need. 2 : to adjust one’s eye or a camera to a particular range. At first, newborn babies cannot focus on anything but mom. Lovers only have eyes for each other. An old man rarely stays put. A good bicycle…

Grammar Matters

In school, my grammar wasn’t so good, but I meant well. And my spelling was worse. I tried to comfort my English teacher, and sent her a sweet card, but she cried even more. “They’re, Their, There!” I soothingly said. My grandmother was a school teacher, so is my sister. They taught me that grammar…

Until I write it down

I swear, if I read the same poem one hundred times, a hundred times it is always something new. Like a poem, a walk in the woods is a pleasure in all kinds of weather. Different pleasure, for sure. Seasons change, the trees grow taller, walnuts and Osage Apples litter the ground, the Autumn leaves…

English Lit Jokes

Pity the poor English lit major, not born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth, who has to look for a job. In the meantime, while looking, one can write blog, like Oz, the author of this one, who is currently not looking… But writing. The past, the present, and the future walked into a…