Thirteen Slices of Life
1. I find myself going to my own blog just to look at photos of my new grandson.
2. While in the hospital visiting my son, daughter-in-law, and their new baby, I saw an old clip on the hospital TV of Anita Bryant getting hit in the face with a pie. When I got home, I googled pie-throwing to learn more about its history. It began as slapstick shtick in silent movies and later became a way to make a political statement. I know Anita was out to lunch, but pie all over her face?
3. What would you do if someone threw a pie in your face? Anita prayed for the pie thrower, Thomas Friedman walked off stage, Ralph Nader threw it back, and Ann Coulter (successfully) ran away.
4. Some people have no taste and will use others misfortune to make a joke. I’ve seen some comments on the internet recently suggesting that Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor might have been responsible for his endorsement of Barack Obama. Kennedy (whose grandparents once owned a home in Hull, Massachusetts, where I grew up) has said that he endorsed Obama because Obama inspires him and reminds him of another time in history and someone else who inspired others, his brother JFK. Kennedy also said this about Obama as president: I believe we will move beyond the politics of fear and personal destruction and unite our country with the politics of common purpose.
5. I hope he lives to see it.
6. This is the poem I posted yesterday: A muse infused … pot full of tea … must be why Buddha … is smiling. And this is how Edgar Allen Poe would edit the same poem: A muse infused pot full of agony; even in the GALLOWS! In a swoon– fables I saw!
7. Lewis Carroll: A muse infused pot full of tea must be called an egg. You sha’n’t be beheaded! Get your own poems edited by Poe, Carroll, Mark Twain, Hunter Thomas, and even God and Dr. Seuss HERE.
8. Virginia Senator Jim Webb is also a novelist. He said this about being writer to Terry Gross in a recent NPR interview: I’m principally a writer. The process of writing is the same analytical process that I use in making decisions in the Senate … I’m able to take some of these complex issues and deal with them the same way you do as a writer, which is, you think about them, you interview people, you take your time in terms of coming to a conclusion, but then when you write it down you know you have to live with it. I basically am, in my persona, a writer, someone who likes to think deeply and go on the record as clearly as I can.
9. He also said this about his stint in the Naval Academy where he minored in Literature: I started reading the people that I thought were the greats, people like Steinbeck, Hemmingway, Faulkner. One of the things that really jumped out at me was how few of them had a formal education. If you were going to go out and get a PHD in literature, you become an expert on a theme or a person, but if you’re going to create, if you’re going to write you have to go out and live.
10. And he can write. During the interview he read this opening paragraph from his 1978 novel, Fields of Fire, about a character named Snake who was about to roll a heroin addict: There he went again. Smack man came unfocused in the middle of a word. The unformed syllable of dribble of bubbly spit along his chin and leaned forward that sudden rush of ecstasy so slow and deep it put him out. His knees bent a little and he stood there motionless, styled-out in a violet suit and turquoise high heeled shoes. He had the wave and his hair was so perfectly frozen in place that he seemed a mimic sculpture of himself, standing there all still with scag. The whole interview was good. Listen HERE.
11. Joe and I once thought of opening a shop on the Blue Ridge Parkway, selling baked goods and renting bikes. We’d call it “The Bikery.”
12. Pie goes good with tea but not if the pie’s in the sky or in the face.
13. Have you met Patry at Simply Wait? She’s a wonderful writer who bakes blueberry pies for her muse.
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13’s are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
#134
May 22nd, 2008 9:46 am
Hi Colleen,
I’m with you on the Ted Kennedy comments. What is wrong with people? Where is the empathy? What also gets me with Obama is that one of the arguments against him is that he is an intellectual snob, and is too smart to have anything in common with most Americans. Is that the kind of culture we really want to be? Afraid of intelligence?
By the way, congratulations on becoming a Grandmother! Your grandchild is gorgeous!
May 22nd, 2008 9:50 am
I loved the pie in the face shtick SO much that my friends were going to throw a pie in MY face at school one day. Which…I probably wouldn’t have found too funny, but it’s hard to remember way back then. In any case, I skipped school that day and only found out later what they had planned.
Re Teddy: I hope he lives to see it, too.
In Bedford, MA, there was a bakery called Debra Ann’s, and it was located along the Minute Man Bike Path. I miss that place!
May 22nd, 2008 10:06 am
I think I would laugh and eat some of the cake and throw the rest back, but you never know yourself in such a situation.
May 22nd, 2008 10:18 am
I would just hope the pie didn’t go up my nose!
I can’t stand it when people make jokes by using other’s misfortunes. And being one that believes in karma and what comes around goes around, I wouldn’t risk it even if I didn’t think it was cruel.
May 22nd, 2008 10:20 am
I was really impressed with Jim Webb’s intelligence and independence and was thinking he’d make a great president too. Teddy may be affluent but he’s also of big heart Irish stock and real fighter for the underdog, as his brothers were. There’s a reason why so many love him and he’s said to be maybe the best legislator in the Senate, often crossing party lines to get the job done.
I’d like to think I would have a sense of humor if I got a pie in the face, but I think I’m too sensitive. Watching the videos of Bryant and others getting politically pied looked so humiliating. I felt so bad for them.
May 22nd, 2008 10:33 am
I’m glad to have lived in an era of Tip O’Neil and Teddy Kennedy. These imperfect, courgeous men gave their lives to the service of others. Sometimes I wonder if that type of person has just disappeared, faded like a blossom in the fall. All that’s left seem to be the critical and the frightened.
(Yes, they served themselves as well – but don’t we all? Even Mother Theresa talked about her selfish interests.)
May 22nd, 2008 11:17 am
Another great one!!!! xo
May 22nd, 2008 11:53 am
I haven’t read any of Jim Webb’s work but it is on my list. Thanks for the referral.
May 22nd, 2008 12:32 pm
I like what you have to say about Sen. Kennedy. And I do hope basic human decency sway our way with the next presidential election.
It’s always nice to read the words of a proud and happy grandma, too!
May 22nd, 2008 2:37 pm
I love Pie so I’ll take it in the face or anywhere- I disagree heartily with your Mass. friend on O, I love Patry who inspires me a lot !! other takes on your poem – WILD JOCUALRITY ..OPEN THAT SHOP!!
May 22nd, 2008 2:58 pm
I don’t understand people…Ted Kennedy (whether you like his politics or not) is an icon. He is the 2nd longest serving senator at this time. He deserves the respect that comes with serving his country for all these years!
I was so angry at the local tv station who started broadcasting the minute the news came out and kept on and on and on – they practically had him in his grave and a successor picked. I was sitting there thinking what is up with you people…
I hope he lives longer than anyone ever expected … and that he gets to see the dream of a united United States happen.
My personal feeling is that Obama is the JFK of this time…
May 22nd, 2008 3:12 pm
It’s entries like line #12 that tie your TTs all together and make them so much fun to read. 😉
May 22nd, 2008 6:16 pm
i went looking for more pics of the grandson via the link but only found comments. then later i noticed there were no links as usual when you refer to other posts, etc. is blogger messed up or is the link code not right?
in any event, i am ready to see more pics of that baby! so post us some, please! :))
May 22nd, 2008 6:20 pm
Oh, I think you have to scroll up to the photos. They are ones I already posted, so you could also scroll down to a few days ago. I put the link up for people who might have missed that post. I’m hoping to get some of him with his eyes open soon.
May 22nd, 2008 7:22 pm
Blueberry Pie is my favorite. Ice-cold, not heated, with real whipped cream. 🙂
Barrack would be my first choice if he wasn’t a religious man who hasn’t really supported the gay community (until recently). Too little, too late. I’m tired of homophobic men running the country.
Because of that, he’s my second choice. And 1st or 2nd choice is fine by me.
~S 🙂
May 22nd, 2008 8:51 pm
Did you see Ellen Degeneres questioning McCain on gay marriage today? She got her point across. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/22/politics/main4118103.shtml
May 22nd, 2008 9:59 pm
A very interesting TT this week! Congratulations on your grandson’s arrival! I don’t have any pictures like that, but I also find myself looking up favorite photos on my blog sometimes. Wasn’t familiar with Senator Jim Webb, but he sounds like a most interesting character.
May 23rd, 2008 10:27 am
Ellen excellent points – whatever happens politically , it will be an improvement- The cartoonists are starting to have a field day with worst president ever jokes. Dave Lettermans great moments in political speeches says it for me !!
May 23rd, 2008 5:54 pm
Like the Shannonizer. I’ll have to give that a a run thru.
May 24th, 2008 7:51 am
I’d like to hope that I’d laugh and eat some of the pie, should it ever happen to me.
May 24th, 2008 10:42 am
Hey, I’ve missed you and your 13’s! I am reading a book entitled Buddhism without Beliefs, written by Stephen Batchelor. I recommend it. I made my blog private but haven’t gotten around to mailing invitations but you will be on the list. May has been a whirlwind of activity.
Oh, I have decided in my next life I will live next door to you.
Susan
May 24th, 2008 11:40 am
great to hear from you, neighbor. I’m testing this from an iPod. First time.
May 25th, 2008 9:48 pm
Oh my God, a grandson!!! And an incredibly beautiful one, too! I’m so thrilled for you and for your whole family.
Thanks for including me in your tea and pie and grandson train of thought…