famous investors who died broke- part 5- fini
fiction
edward w pritchard
Now that we have examined the three stages of American risk taking represented by the gambler, the stock speculator, and the entrepreneur, perhaps our pundit, mentioned at the beginning of the story will now break his silence and a make a comment on which is the most appropriate field of endeavor for Americans to enter to reinvent themselves. The word pundit is from the Hindu, there pandit, a very wise person,
The pundit might site Hindu philosophy and observe that life is lived in stages. Beginning with the student and ending with the ascetic. All our three examples, Charles Deville Wells, Jessie Livermore and William Durant seemed to lead full lives, at times blessed and maybe cursed at the end. Perhaps that is all that can be wished on someone. They lived life to the fullest took great risks and accepted their eventual fate come what may.
What should we Americans now do with our debts, legacy of the latest boom/bust cycle, that is holding us from reinventing ourselves, finding new cheese or moving on to the next stage of our lives. It's a philosophical choice with no right answer. Should we be like the musicians Vivaldi and Mozart live well and die buried in an unmarked grave. Or should we follow the middle way, like most of us do, and avoid risk, stay at a long time job, receive the pension, take the sure thing, over insure ourselves so that we have that coveted comfortable retirement.
Many Americans will be facing a personal debt crisis as we stay mired in a deflationary economy over the next few years a legacy of fifty years of inflation and expansion in the American economy. The debt from the long boom is due. America has been on interest only with mortgages and credit cards and student loans but the entire bill is due soon.
How will we approach the new normal.
Monday, August 30, 2010
famous investors who died broke- part 4
famous investors who died broke- part 4
fiction
edward w pritchard
other people's money- the entrepreneur- Billie Durant
As General Motors went so went America in the 1950's, but in 1908 General Motors was struggling to survive, competing with the indomitable Ford Motors, and needed a savior; for the bankers were ready to pull the plug and that was before the days of government socialism for business.
William Durant was a man of extreme optimism and vision. Born into a troubled home, he sold fire insurance, cigars and patent medicine as a young man. In 1886 he bought a carriage making factory and in 1904 he acquired and reorganized troubled Buick motors. By 1908 Buick motors was bleeding cash so Durant borrowed and borrowed and reorganized Buick as General Motors.
Durant said he saw 1 hundred million Americans driving one day. The bankers only saw a company with close to one hundred million of debt in 1910. By 1915 the bankers won and William Durant was booted out of General Motors. Within a year following a proxy fight he was President of General Motors again. By 1920 powerful New York bank JP Morgan once and for all forced out the free spending Durant.
During the heady 1920's the promoter Billie Durant successfully raised over 80 million to promote Durant Motors. Unfortunately few cars actually were built or sold. Instead the money was invested in the market by Durant and company and in early 1929 the company had approximately 1 billion dollars in highly leverage assets and Durant personally was worth an estimated one hundred million. In January 1929 [ten months before the market crash] Durant stepped down as head of Durant Motors and announced that he, "the dream maker" wanted to devote more time to personal interests.
In 1936 Durant declared bankruptcy, the fortune was gone in the aftermath of the crash. In 1939 he opened a bowling alley in Flint, Michigan. His health and appearance declined throughout the 1940's and he died in 1947 as an old man of very modest means.
fiction
edward w pritchard
other people's money- the entrepreneur- Billie Durant
As General Motors went so went America in the 1950's, but in 1908 General Motors was struggling to survive, competing with the indomitable Ford Motors, and needed a savior; for the bankers were ready to pull the plug and that was before the days of government socialism for business.
William Durant was a man of extreme optimism and vision. Born into a troubled home, he sold fire insurance, cigars and patent medicine as a young man. In 1886 he bought a carriage making factory and in 1904 he acquired and reorganized troubled Buick motors. By 1908 Buick motors was bleeding cash so Durant borrowed and borrowed and reorganized Buick as General Motors.
Durant said he saw 1 hundred million Americans driving one day. The bankers only saw a company with close to one hundred million of debt in 1910. By 1915 the bankers won and William Durant was booted out of General Motors. Within a year following a proxy fight he was President of General Motors again. By 1920 powerful New York bank JP Morgan once and for all forced out the free spending Durant.
During the heady 1920's the promoter Billie Durant successfully raised over 80 million to promote Durant Motors. Unfortunately few cars actually were built or sold. Instead the money was invested in the market by Durant and company and in early 1929 the company had approximately 1 billion dollars in highly leverage assets and Durant personally was worth an estimated one hundred million. In January 1929 [ten months before the market crash] Durant stepped down as head of Durant Motors and announced that he, "the dream maker" wanted to devote more time to personal interests.
In 1936 Durant declared bankruptcy, the fortune was gone in the aftermath of the crash. In 1939 he opened a bowling alley in Flint, Michigan. His health and appearance declined throughout the 1940's and he died in 1947 as an old man of very modest means.
famous investors who died broke-part 3
famous investors who died broke-part 3
fiction
edward w pritchard
Jessie Livermore, the boy genius stock investors suicide note, written in 1940 read in part:
" Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can’t carry on any longer. This is the only way out.
Jessie Livermore - Dead at 63, broke he thought, although the one time farm boy who ran away at 15 to escape the poverty and drudgery of farm life, had 100 million dollars in 1929 and successfully called the October crash.
Livermore worked hard as a fifteen year old run away and taught himself stock speculation and was known as the boy plunger. Several times he made and lost a fortune, divorced his first wife, maybe in part because she wouldn't pawn the jewels he had bought her to stake him after a run of bad luck. He made and lost several fortunes in his 63 years, being worth close to one half billion dollars[ current dollars] in 1929 he filed bankruptcy in 1934. Other than the bankruptcy, Livermore was perhaps, the most successful speculator of all times. Dead at age 63, although he thought he was broke, at least by his standards, he left an estate of five million, money that he had set up earlier in untouchable trusts. However the mansions around the world, limousines and yachts were long gone.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Jessie Livermore, the boy genius stock investors suicide note, written in 1940 read in part:
" Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can’t carry on any longer. This is the only way out.
Jessie Livermore - Dead at 63, broke he thought, although the one time farm boy who ran away at 15 to escape the poverty and drudgery of farm life, had 100 million dollars in 1929 and successfully called the October crash.
Livermore worked hard as a fifteen year old run away and taught himself stock speculation and was known as the boy plunger. Several times he made and lost a fortune, divorced his first wife, maybe in part because she wouldn't pawn the jewels he had bought her to stake him after a run of bad luck. He made and lost several fortunes in his 63 years, being worth close to one half billion dollars[ current dollars] in 1929 he filed bankruptcy in 1934. Other than the bankruptcy, Livermore was perhaps, the most successful speculator of all times. Dead at age 63, although he thought he was broke, at least by his standards, he left an estate of five million, money that he had set up earlier in untouchable trusts. However the mansions around the world, limousines and yachts were long gone.
famous investors who died broke-part 2
famous investors who died broke-part 2
fiction
edward w pritchard
Dame fortune smiled on the gambler Charles Deville Wells, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo. Small time grifter who spent lavishly but always endowed with high hopes, British born Wells for a brief time was the toast of France. He came to the casino fortified with investor money he had bilked from others by promoting his singing jump rope but instead used the money at the roulette table as he often did. However, on this trip in 1891, luck indeed smiled on him. Five times in a row Wells bet on number 5 and that number hit each times. He turned the bilked 5,000 pounds into a million francs. Then a few months later he won big again. No one could figure out his system. Was the casino in on it to promote breaking the bank, literally throwing a shroud across the roulette table until the house could raise the money to pay him. Perhaps the roulette wheel itself was faulty, although the house routinely interchanged the wheels among the various machines. A dishonest employee? The French are known for their skeptical nature, surely they thought to check into his secrets. In any event Wells had his fame, beautiful women winked at him and a famous song was written about him. [The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo-1892]. On his last trip to Monte Carlo Wells system whatever it was failed and he went broke. Over the next thirty years of his life Wells spent several years in jail for stock fraud and eventually died down and out in Paris in 1926. But oh what a ride he had back in the 1890's when he sailed into Monte Carlo that second time in a yacht with a beautiful woman and the whole town wanting to be his friend. As for dieing broke- C'est la Vie, mon cheri
end part 2
fiction
edward w pritchard
Dame fortune smiled on the gambler Charles Deville Wells, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo. Small time grifter who spent lavishly but always endowed with high hopes, British born Wells for a brief time was the toast of France. He came to the casino fortified with investor money he had bilked from others by promoting his singing jump rope but instead used the money at the roulette table as he often did. However, on this trip in 1891, luck indeed smiled on him. Five times in a row Wells bet on number 5 and that number hit each times. He turned the bilked 5,000 pounds into a million francs. Then a few months later he won big again. No one could figure out his system. Was the casino in on it to promote breaking the bank, literally throwing a shroud across the roulette table until the house could raise the money to pay him. Perhaps the roulette wheel itself was faulty, although the house routinely interchanged the wheels among the various machines. A dishonest employee? The French are known for their skeptical nature, surely they thought to check into his secrets. In any event Wells had his fame, beautiful women winked at him and a famous song was written about him. [The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo-1892]. On his last trip to Monte Carlo Wells system whatever it was failed and he went broke. Over the next thirty years of his life Wells spent several years in jail for stock fraud and eventually died down and out in Paris in 1926. But oh what a ride he had back in the 1890's when he sailed into Monte Carlo that second time in a yacht with a beautiful woman and the whole town wanting to be his friend. As for dieing broke- C'est la Vie, mon cheri
end part 2
Sunday, August 29, 2010
famous investors who died broke
famous investors who died broke
fiction
edward w pritchard
Who moved our cheese we asked. Go find some more said the pundit.
But what about the debt we still owe on the cheese America asked? The pundit was wisely silent.
How can we reinvent ourselves and look for new cheese when we owe banks, credit card companies and the government for student loans and taxes?
We need to look at the fields of opportunity and strike out again.
To the gambler nothing succeeds like success and as long as the roulette wheel is spinning and he has a bet down the gambler is optimistic.
end part 1
fiction
edward w pritchard
Who moved our cheese we asked. Go find some more said the pundit.
But what about the debt we still owe on the cheese America asked? The pundit was wisely silent.
How can we reinvent ourselves and look for new cheese when we owe banks, credit card companies and the government for student loans and taxes?
We need to look at the fields of opportunity and strike out again.
To the gambler nothing succeeds like success and as long as the roulette wheel is spinning and he has a bet down the gambler is optimistic.
end part 1
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Recycling
Recycling
fiction
edward w pritchard
Here in the future we are very environmentally conscious. That's why I am taking my brother Few to be recycled. It's not the money.
Few died last night.
Green movement or not I will not pay the transport fee. In it's obsession with taxation my township has imposed a transport fee on bringing bodies in for recycling. At the recycling center, right next to the canister for broken glass and old papers is a chemical reducer to return a body to it's original elements.
I just put my brother Few in the backseat of the car and we are just pulling into the recycle facility. All of the containers are green except the chemical reducer which is a very soft shade of blue. Like moonlight after a storm at sea.
I think i will hire the minister, on duty over there in the trailer, to perform a brief service. Few was my Brother after all.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Here in the future we are very environmentally conscious. That's why I am taking my brother Few to be recycled. It's not the money.
Few died last night.
Green movement or not I will not pay the transport fee. In it's obsession with taxation my township has imposed a transport fee on bringing bodies in for recycling. At the recycling center, right next to the canister for broken glass and old papers is a chemical reducer to return a body to it's original elements.
I just put my brother Few in the backseat of the car and we are just pulling into the recycle facility. All of the containers are green except the chemical reducer which is a very soft shade of blue. Like moonlight after a storm at sea.
I think i will hire the minister, on duty over there in the trailer, to perform a brief service. Few was my Brother after all.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Lily and friends
Lily and friends
fiction
edward w pritchard
Lily and friends then will be cartoon characters but with a twist. The show will emphasize the feminine element in nature. Lily of course is a water lily and can move about the small river her and her friends live in. Using their ingenuity and teamwork they defeat and foil the catfish who want to eat them and their arch enemies the frogs. Sometimes turtles and fish join with them to battle the frogs.
Water lilies will be especially intuitive. While they will have no super powers they will be capable of sudden rapid movement and can spend long times under water.
Mostly Lily the chief water lily will spend her time in contemplation, under the warm sun or at night under a bright moon, she will think and be. Sometime each season the lilies will bloom and a beautiful flower will emerge.
Please contact the undersigned to enable Lily and friends to inhabit network TV this fall. We will make the audiences of all ages forget spongebob.
end
Lancy Urchens
agent
fiction
edward w pritchard
Lily and friends then will be cartoon characters but with a twist. The show will emphasize the feminine element in nature. Lily of course is a water lily and can move about the small river her and her friends live in. Using their ingenuity and teamwork they defeat and foil the catfish who want to eat them and their arch enemies the frogs. Sometimes turtles and fish join with them to battle the frogs.
Water lilies will be especially intuitive. While they will have no super powers they will be capable of sudden rapid movement and can spend long times under water.
Mostly Lily the chief water lily will spend her time in contemplation, under the warm sun or at night under a bright moon, she will think and be. Sometime each season the lilies will bloom and a beautiful flower will emerge.
Please contact the undersigned to enable Lily and friends to inhabit network TV this fall. We will make the audiences of all ages forget spongebob.
end
Lancy Urchens
agent
Injured Buddhist
Injured Buddhist
fiction
edward w pritchard
An injured Buddhist man was brought into the urgent care center in rural Vermont. The urgent care is pretty much the only medical facility in that part of the State and it's a long drive from there to a big city hospital, so the couple who found the injured old man on the side of the road brought him to the urgent care outside of Stowe, Vermont. The couple were vacationing and after they dropped off the old Nepalese man, and found out he had no insurance, the young upscale couple paid three hundred dollar bills toward his care and then returned to Stowe and the rest of their annual vacation.
Doctor Bill Watson was the MD in charge when they brought the old man in, but he didn't attend to the elderly Buddhist because it was during business hours and the Doctor accordingly was following the stock market on his computer. The care of the injured man fell upon the resident on duty, Lisa Owens, third year resident.
Lisa gave the groggy man a complete checkup and when he awoke in a heavy accent he told her he had been hit by a backing car in a parking lot at a grocery store thirty miles outside of Waterbury. During the examination the old man told her he was a Buddhist and had never been to a Doctor before but had decided to walk to an herbalist he knew after the car accident; and must have blacked out on the road. He was sixty eight years old and had a lot of bruises but nothing seemed broken.X-rays were ordered and would be done on premises. Lisa Owens would need to take the x rays and then read them herself because of the situation with Doctor Watson that was discussed earlier in the story.
Once it was determined that nothing was broken the old man insisted that he be sat up so he could meditate. He explained to Lisa that for him or anyone to begin to heal his " big mind" must become calm and that could best be done by meditation. He told her that he would still be in pain if he meditated in the right posture but if he got into the moment, and addressed the pain and his injury, he would be on the road to recovery. Over her objections he asked her politely to help him sit up, despite his pain, which proved difficult for he was immobile and Lisa was in a wheelchair.
Once she got the old man sitting upright Lisa consulted with Doctor Watson. The old man refused medication and Dr. Watson concurred no further intervention partially in reference to the fact that the three hundred dollar retainer had been already used up.
Lisa got involved with other patients and emergencies in the small clinic and when she returned to the old Buddhist man his friend the herbalist had arrived and had given him some herbal medicines and convinced the old man to take some strong prescription pain medication which Dr. Watson had prescribed and had had a nurse bring to the old man. When Lisa walked in the Buddhist was now sitting in a lotus position and meditating while his friend the herbalist read a magazine nearby.
The old Buddhist explained to Lisa as she examined him again, for he wanted to leave soon, that just sitting in the lotus position and mediating was the proper thing for him to do right here and now, and being in the right posture was necessary for him to have the proper state of mind. That state of mind that existed to the old man now in the right posture was the proper state and the man was enlightened despite his pain.
When the old man was leaving he bowed to Dr. Lisa Owens and she shyly asked a question. What would the right posture be for her in a wheelchair if she wished to meditate? The Old Buddhist man promised to think on the matter and get back with her soon.
fiction
edward w pritchard
An injured Buddhist man was brought into the urgent care center in rural Vermont. The urgent care is pretty much the only medical facility in that part of the State and it's a long drive from there to a big city hospital, so the couple who found the injured old man on the side of the road brought him to the urgent care outside of Stowe, Vermont. The couple were vacationing and after they dropped off the old Nepalese man, and found out he had no insurance, the young upscale couple paid three hundred dollar bills toward his care and then returned to Stowe and the rest of their annual vacation.
Doctor Bill Watson was the MD in charge when they brought the old man in, but he didn't attend to the elderly Buddhist because it was during business hours and the Doctor accordingly was following the stock market on his computer. The care of the injured man fell upon the resident on duty, Lisa Owens, third year resident.
Lisa gave the groggy man a complete checkup and when he awoke in a heavy accent he told her he had been hit by a backing car in a parking lot at a grocery store thirty miles outside of Waterbury. During the examination the old man told her he was a Buddhist and had never been to a Doctor before but had decided to walk to an herbalist he knew after the car accident; and must have blacked out on the road. He was sixty eight years old and had a lot of bruises but nothing seemed broken.X-rays were ordered and would be done on premises. Lisa Owens would need to take the x rays and then read them herself because of the situation with Doctor Watson that was discussed earlier in the story.
Once it was determined that nothing was broken the old man insisted that he be sat up so he could meditate. He explained to Lisa that for him or anyone to begin to heal his " big mind" must become calm and that could best be done by meditation. He told her that he would still be in pain if he meditated in the right posture but if he got into the moment, and addressed the pain and his injury, he would be on the road to recovery. Over her objections he asked her politely to help him sit up, despite his pain, which proved difficult for he was immobile and Lisa was in a wheelchair.
Once she got the old man sitting upright Lisa consulted with Doctor Watson. The old man refused medication and Dr. Watson concurred no further intervention partially in reference to the fact that the three hundred dollar retainer had been already used up.
Lisa got involved with other patients and emergencies in the small clinic and when she returned to the old Buddhist man his friend the herbalist had arrived and had given him some herbal medicines and convinced the old man to take some strong prescription pain medication which Dr. Watson had prescribed and had had a nurse bring to the old man. When Lisa walked in the Buddhist was now sitting in a lotus position and meditating while his friend the herbalist read a magazine nearby.
The old Buddhist explained to Lisa as she examined him again, for he wanted to leave soon, that just sitting in the lotus position and mediating was the proper thing for him to do right here and now, and being in the right posture was necessary for him to have the proper state of mind. That state of mind that existed to the old man now in the right posture was the proper state and the man was enlightened despite his pain.
When the old man was leaving he bowed to Dr. Lisa Owens and she shyly asked a question. What would the right posture be for her in a wheelchair if she wished to meditate? The Old Buddhist man promised to think on the matter and get back with her soon.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
a few good friends
a few good friends
fiction
edward w pritchard
A few good friends if you are lucky. You are always on their A list whatever your current measure of status or whatever fate your fortune unfolds. Never political and never guarded a good friend smiles to see you and is sad to see you leave.
fiction
edward w pritchard
A few good friends if you are lucky. You are always on their A list whatever your current measure of status or whatever fate your fortune unfolds. Never political and never guarded a good friend smiles to see you and is sad to see you leave.
My Cousin Chubby
My Cousin Chubby
fiction
edward w pritchard
My Cousin Chubby acted irrationally when he got the appraisal of Uncle Taul's post card collection back from the auctioneer.
Thirty eight dollars as a memento, no commercial value, a quaint remembrance of a time bygone.
I heard Chubby sat back by the fire and one at a time burned off all the post cards, records of Uncle Taul's travels and adventures, one at time while he drank a couple of quarts of Miller Lite beer.
fiction
edward w pritchard
My Cousin Chubby acted irrationally when he got the appraisal of Uncle Taul's post card collection back from the auctioneer.
Thirty eight dollars as a memento, no commercial value, a quaint remembrance of a time bygone.
I heard Chubby sat back by the fire and one at a time burned off all the post cards, records of Uncle Taul's travels and adventures, one at time while he drank a couple of quarts of Miller Lite beer.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saint Joe, Ohio
Saint Joe, Ohio
fiction
edward w pritchard
Saint Joe, Ohio is too small to be a town or even a village and the land area isn't large enough to be a township. There are no restaurants or gas stations and very few businesses out there; it's just is a small farm community with a few horse barns and a lot of nice country folks. The only thing extraordinary in Saint Joe is the Catholic Church which is exquisite, not ostentatious but holy and inviting and it serves as a small private school taught by a few nuns who live there; and there is a dignified pastoral cemetery behind that looks like it should be in Boston. Several of the graves have people who were born in the eighteenth century. Below the hill leading to the cemetery there is a small grotto, a man made cave, with an altar, candles burning year round even in rain and snow, and twenty or more chairs for outside worship or private prayer.
I use to drive home past that church often, going the back way, and although I was then an atheist I would stop at the grotto when trouble struck, but actually just a few times. I always left a few coins in the box at the cave and if I ever went into the Church, such as when I went to the annual fair; I left money in the poor box. I was doing quite well financially but I was very poor spiritually in those days for I had a stressful life and some serious problems.
Although I wasn't a Catholic I found solace there and once when some one close to me was in turmoil, I prayed at the cave for the first and only time in my life, and made a deal of sorts with God that he later held me to after his side of the bargain miraculously came to pass. I still do not believe in God all that much and I am often skeptical and obstreperous but its comforting to me to see the continuity and order represented by the Catholic church and I always defend the church from its critics and skeptics. There are many remarkable people associated with that small church and the church is a beacon to the surrounding community and its reassuring to me to know that the Church reaches out throughout the world.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Saint Joe, Ohio is too small to be a town or even a village and the land area isn't large enough to be a township. There are no restaurants or gas stations and very few businesses out there; it's just is a small farm community with a few horse barns and a lot of nice country folks. The only thing extraordinary in Saint Joe is the Catholic Church which is exquisite, not ostentatious but holy and inviting and it serves as a small private school taught by a few nuns who live there; and there is a dignified pastoral cemetery behind that looks like it should be in Boston. Several of the graves have people who were born in the eighteenth century. Below the hill leading to the cemetery there is a small grotto, a man made cave, with an altar, candles burning year round even in rain and snow, and twenty or more chairs for outside worship or private prayer.
I use to drive home past that church often, going the back way, and although I was then an atheist I would stop at the grotto when trouble struck, but actually just a few times. I always left a few coins in the box at the cave and if I ever went into the Church, such as when I went to the annual fair; I left money in the poor box. I was doing quite well financially but I was very poor spiritually in those days for I had a stressful life and some serious problems.
Although I wasn't a Catholic I found solace there and once when some one close to me was in turmoil, I prayed at the cave for the first and only time in my life, and made a deal of sorts with God that he later held me to after his side of the bargain miraculously came to pass. I still do not believe in God all that much and I am often skeptical and obstreperous but its comforting to me to see the continuity and order represented by the Catholic church and I always defend the church from its critics and skeptics. There are many remarkable people associated with that small church and the church is a beacon to the surrounding community and its reassuring to me to know that the Church reaches out throughout the world.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
sudden change
sudden change
fiction
edward w pritchard
Middle aged people will wait and wait for growth in the economy to come back. They are the patient ones, afraid of change, bills are due, children must be attended to, husband and wife with their backs to the wall holding off the world.
Old people don't have anything to wait for. They live in the past and are happy if they get a good meal, a glass of wine if they are of that type, and if anyone asks them their opinion or invites them to look at the local Lake on Sunday.
Young people don't want to hear about deflation, high structural unemployment or house prices stalling; they are angry and want their share and then some now. They won't wait forever, they will bring about sudden change.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Middle aged people will wait and wait for growth in the economy to come back. They are the patient ones, afraid of change, bills are due, children must be attended to, husband and wife with their backs to the wall holding off the world.
Old people don't have anything to wait for. They live in the past and are happy if they get a good meal, a glass of wine if they are of that type, and if anyone asks them their opinion or invites them to look at the local Lake on Sunday.
Young people don't want to hear about deflation, high structural unemployment or house prices stalling; they are angry and want their share and then some now. They won't wait forever, they will bring about sudden change.
Monday, August 23, 2010
comfort food and health
comfort food and health
fiction
edward w pritchard
Needing a job in college I worked as an orderly in the burn ward at the Children's hospital a very intense job. Being inexperienced, I was the unskilled laborer in a very talented and committed group of Doctors and nurses. Eventually the stress and sadness of the job of treating badly burned children got to me and I left suddenly.
Before I did however I had one important duty that I liked. Most of the patients were needing hydration and being children they were allowed and encouraged to have as many Popsicles as they wanted. It was good for morale and relieved the boredom of laying around in pain for them. It took a lot of patience and time for the staff to bring the Popsicles for it interrupted other important work and in time If I was around I did most of it. It was a duty I enjoyed, go to the refrigerator and bring a Popsicle to a very sick kid. On a team everybody helps out as they can.
[note we always served Popsicles [brand name] by Unilever]
fiction
edward w pritchard
Needing a job in college I worked as an orderly in the burn ward at the Children's hospital a very intense job. Being inexperienced, I was the unskilled laborer in a very talented and committed group of Doctors and nurses. Eventually the stress and sadness of the job of treating badly burned children got to me and I left suddenly.
Before I did however I had one important duty that I liked. Most of the patients were needing hydration and being children they were allowed and encouraged to have as many Popsicles as they wanted. It was good for morale and relieved the boredom of laying around in pain for them. It took a lot of patience and time for the staff to bring the Popsicles for it interrupted other important work and in time If I was around I did most of it. It was a duty I enjoyed, go to the refrigerator and bring a Popsicle to a very sick kid. On a team everybody helps out as they can.
[note we always served Popsicles [brand name] by Unilever]
an anti vampire tale
an anti vampire tale
fiction
edward w pritchard
Dr Sutz was a psychiatrist and he never saw one of his clients turn into a vampire but he carefully followed the protocol just in case. Two small white pills in increasing doses and a few minutes every other week of counseling. Usually some time after age 20 to 28 depending on the patient the symptoms went away on their own and only reoccurred in times of extreme stress or loss.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Dr Sutz was a psychiatrist and he never saw one of his clients turn into a vampire but he carefully followed the protocol just in case. Two small white pills in increasing doses and a few minutes every other week of counseling. Usually some time after age 20 to 28 depending on the patient the symptoms went away on their own and only reoccurred in times of extreme stress or loss.
children
children
fiction
edward w pritchard
Children know such things and the measure of a man or woman is to see how their grown children react to them at first meeting after an absence. The man or woman's brother, cousin, boss, old friend or ex-partner's reaction that's different but a child's conveyance of respect and admiration is revealing and poignant.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Children know such things and the measure of a man or woman is to see how their grown children react to them at first meeting after an absence. The man or woman's brother, cousin, boss, old friend or ex-partner's reaction that's different but a child's conveyance of respect and admiration is revealing and poignant.
teachers in public school
teachers in public school
fiction
edward w pritchard
Teachers in the public school sometimes complain about their jobs or working conditions but about two weeks before the first day back most go over to Wal Mart and slowly fill up the bottom of the cart with colored pencils and folders and maps about the trade routes to India for when they meet our children when school starts again. They pay with the coins they saved each day last year from lunch change kept in a jar on their desk that's the remainder of the money left over after the various charity drives have been attended to.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Teachers in the public school sometimes complain about their jobs or working conditions but about two weeks before the first day back most go over to Wal Mart and slowly fill up the bottom of the cart with colored pencils and folders and maps about the trade routes to India for when they meet our children when school starts again. They pay with the coins they saved each day last year from lunch change kept in a jar on their desk that's the remainder of the money left over after the various charity drives have been attended to.
Angie and Nate
Angie and Nate
fiction
edward w pritchard
Bills are due on the first of the month but on the third the social security checks came in and Angie and Nate drove together down to the casino to save expenses on gas.
Nate was Angie's husbands friend but her husband had been dead for six years now and she didn't get out much and then one day out of the blue Nate had invited her to the casino and she had went and continued to go over the objections of her daughters.
They didn't say much on the long drive down but on the way back they talked up a storm of roses about which slot machine was paying out or cold streaks of luck or what kind of sandwich they had eaten for they didn't spend much time together down at the casino.
end
fiction
edward w pritchard
Bills are due on the first of the month but on the third the social security checks came in and Angie and Nate drove together down to the casino to save expenses on gas.
Nate was Angie's husbands friend but her husband had been dead for six years now and she didn't get out much and then one day out of the blue Nate had invited her to the casino and she had went and continued to go over the objections of her daughters.
They didn't say much on the long drive down but on the way back they talked up a storm of roses about which slot machine was paying out or cold streaks of luck or what kind of sandwich they had eaten for they didn't spend much time together down at the casino.
end
The Ghost Ship
The Ghost Ship
fiction
edward w pritchard
The ghost ship of memory drifts in to the harbor under the cover of the frigid fog late at night between very early in the morning and moors near the jagged rocks until I stir from my slumbers and try as I might to stay anchored in the present remember too many things from the frozen hell of the cold craggy waves of my life.
fiction
edward w pritchard
The ghost ship of memory drifts in to the harbor under the cover of the frigid fog late at night between very early in the morning and moors near the jagged rocks until I stir from my slumbers and try as I might to stay anchored in the present remember too many things from the frozen hell of the cold craggy waves of my life.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
a what if-from a beatles fan
a what if-from a beatles fan
fiction
edward w pritchard
a Beatles fan
Here's the brief scenario presenting itself to a young man of about 18 in 1961.
A young man was fortunate enough perhaps as a result of the direct advice of his Father to land a job at the local wire factory, and its a job that can lead to a manger trainee program of sorts and is a bona fide opportunity to the good life.
Previously the young man had been playing music in Hamburg Germany and has just returned to his hometown in England. Music is the man's passion and is exciting and challenging to the young man. Additionally as a small time musicians the young man's income from music is irregular and undependable. While in Hamburg the environment is less than desirable at times although electrifying and romantic in a bohemian way. Sometimes bad associations and dangerous habits could leave even the iron willed young man exhausted and called into question with himself the legitimacy of a life on the road.
It is the young man's first day on the job at the wire factory and his mates, musicians from the Hamburg trip who he has played in a group with for three or four years come to see him at the wire plant. Everyone has been laying low for a few weeks after the Hamburg trip and one of the friends was in fact deported from Hamburg and there is some question about where the band will go from here. Of course the mates want to start to practice again and the founder of the band is anxious and focused to get on with their music career of which the young man is an integral part.
The young man, Paul Mc Cartney, left the wire plant, jumped the fence, either literally or figuratively, helped to market and promote the band, and went on to be the most successful popular musician of all times.
What if - What would you advise the young man to do---to stay at the promising job at the wire plant, thereby avoiding bad associations and making music a hobby like it was for his Father who the young man listened to and respected,---or take the long shot chance and rejoin the band, the Beatles, which was not officially dissolved after the Germany trip but which would never be the same without him if he was to stay at the wire plant.
this is a work of fiction in admiration to the Beatles inspired by real life events but with some poetic license
fiction
edward w pritchard
a Beatles fan
Here's the brief scenario presenting itself to a young man of about 18 in 1961.
A young man was fortunate enough perhaps as a result of the direct advice of his Father to land a job at the local wire factory, and its a job that can lead to a manger trainee program of sorts and is a bona fide opportunity to the good life.
Previously the young man had been playing music in Hamburg Germany and has just returned to his hometown in England. Music is the man's passion and is exciting and challenging to the young man. Additionally as a small time musicians the young man's income from music is irregular and undependable. While in Hamburg the environment is less than desirable at times although electrifying and romantic in a bohemian way. Sometimes bad associations and dangerous habits could leave even the iron willed young man exhausted and called into question with himself the legitimacy of a life on the road.
It is the young man's first day on the job at the wire factory and his mates, musicians from the Hamburg trip who he has played in a group with for three or four years come to see him at the wire plant. Everyone has been laying low for a few weeks after the Hamburg trip and one of the friends was in fact deported from Hamburg and there is some question about where the band will go from here. Of course the mates want to start to practice again and the founder of the band is anxious and focused to get on with their music career of which the young man is an integral part.
The young man, Paul Mc Cartney, left the wire plant, jumped the fence, either literally or figuratively, helped to market and promote the band, and went on to be the most successful popular musician of all times.
What if - What would you advise the young man to do---to stay at the promising job at the wire plant, thereby avoiding bad associations and making music a hobby like it was for his Father who the young man listened to and respected,---or take the long shot chance and rejoin the band, the Beatles, which was not officially dissolved after the Germany trip but which would never be the same without him if he was to stay at the wire plant.
this is a work of fiction in admiration to the Beatles inspired by real life events but with some poetic license
highway patrol officer
highway patrol officer
fiction
edward w pritchard
my father beat me quickly in anger when i was a boy for i was disrespectful and defiant
my teacher chastised me at length when i was a student for i was skeptical and provocative
my employer removed me as a young man for i was disdainful and arrogant
my lover dismissed as an adult for i was self centered and envious
my son criticized me as an old man for i was aloof and goalless
the highway patrol officer stopped me for a burned out headlight and he was polite and kindly for i was a dutiful citizen
fiction
edward w pritchard
my father beat me quickly in anger when i was a boy for i was disrespectful and defiant
my teacher chastised me at length when i was a student for i was skeptical and provocative
my employer removed me as a young man for i was disdainful and arrogant
my lover dismissed as an adult for i was self centered and envious
my son criticized me as an old man for i was aloof and goalless
the highway patrol officer stopped me for a burned out headlight and he was polite and kindly for i was a dutiful citizen
characterization
characterization
fiction
edward w pritchard
Pop had five brothers and two sons, me the bad one and Jack the good one. In those days it was permitted to discipline children but not outright hit them, especially by a non parent so they use to cuff me around at family gatherings. If I would be where the men were when I was seven or eight uncle Jake might cuff me if I made one of my cousins cry. Cuffing meant squeezing my hand very hard by Uncle Jake who had lost two fingers in a saw accident or hitting me on the outside of my arm and shoulder if uncle Ray did it, or Uncle At grabbing my elbow in a special way he learned in the army. I was a mean little cuss and would roll and let my body go slack and I never let on that whatever they did hurt me. Eventually my dad would get upset with me and grab me and shake me and then the men would go back to talking about how many miles a gallon their cars got on the trip to grandmas here for thanksgiving or more important the shortest direct route and I would go into the kitchen where the women were cooking.
Most of my aunts didn't approve much of me for I was a terror and wasn't particularly polite or respectful and besides they wanted to get away from the men in their lives for a few minutes back in the old kitchen where they grew up. When Aunt Ruthie would start to talk my Mom would always shoo me out of there because Ruthie always told a lot of stories with innuendo about the men down at the mill and would often measure out things with her hands when telling stories about good looking men.
I was taking western culture 1 at Kent State University when I got the word that my brother Jack had been killed in Vietnam and that Friday night I went over to the Crazy Horse and drank shots until I passed out. They called my dad to get me and when I woke up I was laying on the bed at his house and he was sleeping on the floor near me. When he knew I was awake he said he was sorry that he hadn't cuffed Jack more about when he was a boy to toughen him up and I got out of the bed and put my arm across him even though my head was spinning badly.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Pop had five brothers and two sons, me the bad one and Jack the good one. In those days it was permitted to discipline children but not outright hit them, especially by a non parent so they use to cuff me around at family gatherings. If I would be where the men were when I was seven or eight uncle Jake might cuff me if I made one of my cousins cry. Cuffing meant squeezing my hand very hard by Uncle Jake who had lost two fingers in a saw accident or hitting me on the outside of my arm and shoulder if uncle Ray did it, or Uncle At grabbing my elbow in a special way he learned in the army. I was a mean little cuss and would roll and let my body go slack and I never let on that whatever they did hurt me. Eventually my dad would get upset with me and grab me and shake me and then the men would go back to talking about how many miles a gallon their cars got on the trip to grandmas here for thanksgiving or more important the shortest direct route and I would go into the kitchen where the women were cooking.
Most of my aunts didn't approve much of me for I was a terror and wasn't particularly polite or respectful and besides they wanted to get away from the men in their lives for a few minutes back in the old kitchen where they grew up. When Aunt Ruthie would start to talk my Mom would always shoo me out of there because Ruthie always told a lot of stories with innuendo about the men down at the mill and would often measure out things with her hands when telling stories about good looking men.
I was taking western culture 1 at Kent State University when I got the word that my brother Jack had been killed in Vietnam and that Friday night I went over to the Crazy Horse and drank shots until I passed out. They called my dad to get me and when I woke up I was laying on the bed at his house and he was sleeping on the floor near me. When he knew I was awake he said he was sorry that he hadn't cuffed Jack more about when he was a boy to toughen him up and I got out of the bed and put my arm across him even though my head was spinning badly.
Friday, August 20, 2010
always a lady
always a lady
fiction
edward w pritchard
Julie is always a lady though if she wished she could walk into the party strutting like any harlot walking away from a satisfied customer
julie's always a lady and waits until the babies are asleep to entertain the after dinner guests but if she wanted to she could sing and sway like a teenage singer entertaining as a diva, while the baby cried
julie dresses modestly as a lady for church or social but if she wanted to she could cause scandal and chaos among the elders by wearing tight clothing straining to move with her lithe shapely body
julie is always a lady and her eyes are on me when i talk with her or walk with her but if she wanted to she could attract attention like the small town beauty at the annual harvest fair
julie's always a lady and she drops whatever she is doing to take my call but if she wanted me to i would stay on hold for half an hour to talk with her
julie's always a lady and her passion is in step with mine but if she wanted to she could seduce and simmer like a June bride on her wedding night
julie is always a lady
fiction
edward w pritchard
Julie is always a lady though if she wished she could walk into the party strutting like any harlot walking away from a satisfied customer
julie's always a lady and waits until the babies are asleep to entertain the after dinner guests but if she wanted to she could sing and sway like a teenage singer entertaining as a diva, while the baby cried
julie dresses modestly as a lady for church or social but if she wanted to she could cause scandal and chaos among the elders by wearing tight clothing straining to move with her lithe shapely body
julie is always a lady and her eyes are on me when i talk with her or walk with her but if she wanted to she could attract attention like the small town beauty at the annual harvest fair
julie's always a lady and she drops whatever she is doing to take my call but if she wanted me to i would stay on hold for half an hour to talk with her
julie's always a lady and her passion is in step with mine but if she wanted to she could seduce and simmer like a June bride on her wedding night
julie is always a lady
the show must go on
the show must go on
for Paul Burke SR. recently deceased
fiction
edward w pritchard
when i first lost my youth I sighed for my vanished beauty
later after I lost my youth I mourned my forgone vitality and strength
now that my youth is gone I am a shadow of myself
when at first i lost myself I revisited my childhood many times in my mind
later when i lost myself i cried over lost friends
now when i am no longer myself i amble alone along the river and feel the sunshine on my tired arms
when i first journeyed far from home to find myself i carried a walking stick and beat and beat at the ground
later when i journeyed far off alone i dropped my walking stick and picked flowers for the memory of lost friends
now when i walk far off alone i raise my walking stick to the sun with both hands and am at peace with myself
when i first was at peace with myself i told my grandchildren many many stories of my childhood
when i second was at peace i walked along the river and thought of lost friends and my lost self
now that i am at peace i sit with my grandchildren and listen to the stories they tell me of many things of their childhoods
[ in the style of the honorable patrul rinpoche]
for Paul Burke SR. recently deceased
fiction
edward w pritchard
when i first lost my youth I sighed for my vanished beauty
later after I lost my youth I mourned my forgone vitality and strength
now that my youth is gone I am a shadow of myself
when at first i lost myself I revisited my childhood many times in my mind
later when i lost myself i cried over lost friends
now when i am no longer myself i amble alone along the river and feel the sunshine on my tired arms
when i first journeyed far from home to find myself i carried a walking stick and beat and beat at the ground
later when i journeyed far off alone i dropped my walking stick and picked flowers for the memory of lost friends
now when i walk far off alone i raise my walking stick to the sun with both hands and am at peace with myself
when i first was at peace with myself i told my grandchildren many many stories of my childhood
when i second was at peace i walked along the river and thought of lost friends and my lost self
now that i am at peace i sit with my grandchildren and listen to the stories they tell me of many things of their childhoods
[ in the style of the honorable patrul rinpoche]
Thursday, August 19, 2010
ten things we suffer with-critique
ten things we suffer with-critique
fiction
edward w pritchard
zen master comments on students state of mind
go back a few posts and see original first, without critique if you wish
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
ten things we suffer with-[suffering is to extended life] note zen masters comments in [ ].
polonius speaks
fiction
edward w pritchard
a woman at least once, should be entitled to turn heads-[ agreed]
too stay young is against all the odds-[ to understand time is to see its flow in both directions simultaneously]
to have somewhere to go is all that matters sometimes [ go or stay its all the same]
to fit in involves being and not becoming [always dualism with you, throw out the Hegel]
we are all alone-[whatever you experience is generated from your own mind]
unrequited love isn't sustainable [independent but dependent]]
the final solution was once a goal of a group of doers-[ just keep your mind on your breathing]
don't try to fake it until you make it, public opinion is over valued-[ observe things, don't control them]
education is not a panacea,[emptiness is difficult to experience]
good food at times, and good books occasionally, and even after you know the score it's ok to take a few wooden nickles, ie don't mistrust everybody in advance [ just do something]
thank you for the comments zen master
with reference to the writing of shunryu suzuki-soto school -
Posted by edward pritchard at 7:15 PM
Labels: polonius speaks [ speak your hard thoughts without equivocation]
0 comments
fiction
edward w pritchard
zen master comments on students state of mind
go back a few posts and see original first, without critique if you wish
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
ten things we suffer with-[suffering is to extended life] note zen masters comments in [ ].
polonius speaks
fiction
edward w pritchard
a woman at least once, should be entitled to turn heads-[ agreed]
too stay young is against all the odds-[ to understand time is to see its flow in both directions simultaneously]
to have somewhere to go is all that matters sometimes [ go or stay its all the same]
to fit in involves being and not becoming [always dualism with you, throw out the Hegel]
we are all alone-[whatever you experience is generated from your own mind]
unrequited love isn't sustainable [independent but dependent]]
the final solution was once a goal of a group of doers-[ just keep your mind on your breathing]
don't try to fake it until you make it, public opinion is over valued-[ observe things, don't control them]
education is not a panacea,[emptiness is difficult to experience]
good food at times, and good books occasionally, and even after you know the score it's ok to take a few wooden nickles, ie don't mistrust everybody in advance [ just do something]
thank you for the comments zen master
with reference to the writing of shunryu suzuki-soto school -
Posted by edward pritchard at 7:15 PM
Labels: polonius speaks [ speak your hard thoughts without equivocation]
0 comments
islamic art
islamic art
fiction
edward w pritchard
Islamic art is sensational. Sublime but understandable by the common man.
There would be less intolerance to Muslims in our Country if Islamic art was viewed by more of us.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Islamic art is sensational. Sublime but understandable by the common man.
There would be less intolerance to Muslims in our Country if Islamic art was viewed by more of us.
Capitalist wanabe
Capitalist wanabe
fiction
edward w pritchard
I took classes once in philosophy from citizen Chou now our section leader here on the farm in Marxist China. I asked my section leader citizen Chou humbly to reclassify my aged Grand Father a capitalist. Citizen Chou refused my request, a bourgeois is a bourgeois.
My Grandfather must not put on airs.
fiction
edward w pritchard
I took classes once in philosophy from citizen Chou now our section leader here on the farm in Marxist China. I asked my section leader citizen Chou humbly to reclassify my aged Grand Father a capitalist. Citizen Chou refused my request, a bourgeois is a bourgeois.
My Grandfather must not put on airs.
In God's image
In God's image
fiction
edward w pritchard
In God's image I am created they say. So he is like me in some ways.
I hope God has a good laugh when he watches scientists explain string theory and other such things. Probably not, he is more tolerant of others delusions than us.
fiction
edward w pritchard
In God's image I am created they say. So he is like me in some ways.
I hope God has a good laugh when he watches scientists explain string theory and other such things. Probably not, he is more tolerant of others delusions than us.
After Warren died-part 1
After Warren died
fiction
edward w pritchard
After Warren died, the kindly billionaire, he left the bulk of his fortune to promote and venerate the image of the elderly in western society. It had a lot of unintended consequences.
end part 1
fiction
edward w pritchard
After Warren died, the kindly billionaire, he left the bulk of his fortune to promote and venerate the image of the elderly in western society. It had a lot of unintended consequences.
end part 1
only one thing that everyone in the world agrees on
only one thing that everyone in the world agrees on
fiction
edward w pritchard
Only one thing that everyone in the world agrees on- That is no one wants to hear about their Mother's sexual ventures before they were conceived because its a shuddering experience to confront your possible non existence. Dad, that's gets a little creepy quickly, but it only takes a few minutes and all, and you know that's how men are. But Mom, don't tell me , don't discuss. I don't want to think it through but its possible someone else would exist and there would be no me.
That's why even loquacious philosophers don't discuss conception and that's the only thing everybody in the whole world can agree on.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Only one thing that everyone in the world agrees on- That is no one wants to hear about their Mother's sexual ventures before they were conceived because its a shuddering experience to confront your possible non existence. Dad, that's gets a little creepy quickly, but it only takes a few minutes and all, and you know that's how men are. But Mom, don't tell me , don't discuss. I don't want to think it through but its possible someone else would exist and there would be no me.
That's why even loquacious philosophers don't discuss conception and that's the only thing everybody in the whole world can agree on.
your seat is waiting
your seat is waiting
fiction
edward w pritchard
Your seat is waiting. Broadway. See a show. Anticipation. The experience of a life time.
Better, the London theater. Half price ticket day of show. An American actress startling us that she can really act, -Streetcar or Shakespeare
Can't go now -pop some real popcorn with lots of butter and watch a real movie,
those people could act not just entertain or just look good.
enjoy
fiction
edward w pritchard
Your seat is waiting. Broadway. See a show. Anticipation. The experience of a life time.
Better, the London theater. Half price ticket day of show. An American actress startling us that she can really act, -Streetcar or Shakespeare
Can't go now -pop some real popcorn with lots of butter and watch a real movie,
those people could act not just entertain or just look good.
enjoy
coin flip
coin flip
fiction
edward w pritchard
It could have been heads. 50/50 odds. Why does it happen. We must deal with things what ever the outcome.
Obviously I lost the flip so I am arresting nine people skinny dipping in Raneer Lake just North of town. It what we policemen do. Enforce the rules.
It's just I can't get the image of those naked 75 year olders out of my mind. Six woman and three men from over at the new commune for the elderly.
I am in very good shape at 30. I run and workout with weights. Cary my girl is so so built. Before I ravished her regularly. Now a week after the skinny dipping incident things aren't working right with my equipment and even Cary can't get me going.
50/50 odds, why?
fiction
edward w pritchard
It could have been heads. 50/50 odds. Why does it happen. We must deal with things what ever the outcome.
Obviously I lost the flip so I am arresting nine people skinny dipping in Raneer Lake just North of town. It what we policemen do. Enforce the rules.
It's just I can't get the image of those naked 75 year olders out of my mind. Six woman and three men from over at the new commune for the elderly.
I am in very good shape at 30. I run and workout with weights. Cary my girl is so so built. Before I ravished her regularly. Now a week after the skinny dipping incident things aren't working right with my equipment and even Cary can't get me going.
50/50 odds, why?
preview-The New York Banker
The New York Banker
fiction
edward w pritchard
He was the symbol, poster boy really that someone knew what was going on. Control and expertise were possible in finance, even amidst the ruthless facade of imposed social Darwinism.
end preview
next
what happens when no one can make or admit a mistake
or
the banker confronts the noumenal
fiction
edward w pritchard
He was the symbol, poster boy really that someone knew what was going on. Control and expertise were possible in finance, even amidst the ruthless facade of imposed social Darwinism.
end preview
next
what happens when no one can make or admit a mistake
or
the banker confronts the noumenal
preview-the couple
preview-the couple
fiction
edward w pritchard
Most people, even if they are not married, have someone who functions as their partner, and when I worked as a night manager at a hotel I met an interesting such couple.
He wore white shoes, gold jewelry, expensive clothes and drove a bloated American car. Polite and refined he was the consummate salesman; always on, a little too charming, sometimes, and attentive to the names and peculiarities of those about him; even those of us who worked at the hotel. He stayed extended stay at the hotel and kept odd hours coming in often at 5AM, glib and fresh, and then tipping with twenty dollar bills, real money in those days. He was very popular with the hotel staff and he insisted that we all call him by his first name although he was nearly sixty, and he called us all by our first names as well which he always remembered. I was the only employee who he called Mr. and then my last name, although he did often call me green shoes, implying that I was like a New York stock broker, a little stuffy for a nineteen year old but he trusted me and often gave me little jobs to do of a confidential and furtive nature.
Primarily the jobs consisted of helping to pass the appropriate message to his in town girl friends, of which there were many, since he was generous with his money. Beautiful each, but past their prime and aging in our small unimportant city. He was undependable
end preview
fiction
edward w pritchard
Most people, even if they are not married, have someone who functions as their partner, and when I worked as a night manager at a hotel I met an interesting such couple.
He wore white shoes, gold jewelry, expensive clothes and drove a bloated American car. Polite and refined he was the consummate salesman; always on, a little too charming, sometimes, and attentive to the names and peculiarities of those about him; even those of us who worked at the hotel. He stayed extended stay at the hotel and kept odd hours coming in often at 5AM, glib and fresh, and then tipping with twenty dollar bills, real money in those days. He was very popular with the hotel staff and he insisted that we all call him by his first name although he was nearly sixty, and he called us all by our first names as well which he always remembered. I was the only employee who he called Mr. and then my last name, although he did often call me green shoes, implying that I was like a New York stock broker, a little stuffy for a nineteen year old but he trusted me and often gave me little jobs to do of a confidential and furtive nature.
Primarily the jobs consisted of helping to pass the appropriate message to his in town girl friends, of which there were many, since he was generous with his money. Beautiful each, but past their prime and aging in our small unimportant city. He was undependable
end preview
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
preview coming stories-caesar
preview coming stories-Caesar
fiction
edward w pritchard
Caesar had always done two or three times more work than anyone else and was as usual doing four things at once. On the night before his death ...
end part 1-preview
fiction
edward w pritchard
Caesar had always done two or three times more work than anyone else and was as usual doing four things at once. On the night before his death ...
end part 1-preview
he wanted to insure control after his death
he wanted to insure control after his death
fiction
edward w pritchard
He wanted to insure control even after his death so the millionaire stipulated in his will that all the clocks he donated and built must keep time perfectly simultaneously for a ninety day period after his death for the institution to receive the balance of his fortune,
Rather than hire engineers to work on the clocks the decision makers at the institution hired lawyers to attack the terms of the bequest.
end
fiction
edward w pritchard
He wanted to insure control even after his death so the millionaire stipulated in his will that all the clocks he donated and built must keep time perfectly simultaneously for a ninety day period after his death for the institution to receive the balance of his fortune,
Rather than hire engineers to work on the clocks the decision makers at the institution hired lawyers to attack the terms of the bequest.
end
ten things we suffer with
ten things we suffer with
polonius speaks
fiction
edward w pritchard
a woman at least once, should be entitled to turn heads
too stay young is against all the odds
to have somewhere to go is all that matters sometimes
to fit in involves being and not becoming
we are all alone-
unrequited love isn't sustainable
the final solution was once a goal of a group of doers
don't try to fake it until you make it, public opinion is over valued
education is not a panacea,
good food at times, and good books occasionally, and even after you know the score it's ok to take a few wooden nickles, ie don't mistrust everybody in advance
polonius speaks
fiction
edward w pritchard
a woman at least once, should be entitled to turn heads
too stay young is against all the odds
to have somewhere to go is all that matters sometimes
to fit in involves being and not becoming
we are all alone-
unrequited love isn't sustainable
the final solution was once a goal of a group of doers
don't try to fake it until you make it, public opinion is over valued
education is not a panacea,
good food at times, and good books occasionally, and even after you know the score it's ok to take a few wooden nickles, ie don't mistrust everybody in advance
maya, nothing is real
maya, nothing is real
fiction
edward w pritchard
Things are not indeed what they seem. Common sense has been shown lacking, although it takes some contemplation to realize why. If contemplation is not your thing time will eventually suffice. By all means pay your bills on time and watch your cholesterol but things are not what they seem.
end
fiction
edward w pritchard
Things are not indeed what they seem. Common sense has been shown lacking, although it takes some contemplation to realize why. If contemplation is not your thing time will eventually suffice. By all means pay your bills on time and watch your cholesterol but things are not what they seem.
end
new job
new job
fiction
edward w pritchard
It's about the worse job a college graduate could do. I just got it out of college and my Mother cried when I told her, Dad, said, glad to have me start paying back my loans; that it was a start.
I am with the damnatio memoriae unit here in Pittsburgh. It is not a government agency, but private sector, contracted from the department of aging. When a citizen is disgraced because of treason, usually failure to pay debts, our group confiscates property and destroys all records of that individual. Name, records, images,[in the case of the wealthy], and we insure that perpetuity forgets this criminal. Of course if the individual is still alive after the sentence we dispatch them.
Today we went to an old man's house. He met us politely at the door and four of us quickly went through his possessions and after about an hour the only thing left to do to remove the physical evidence of his ever had existed was documents and public records which will be gone tomorrow; for I have been approved overtime to finish erasing his memory on line tonight. Since I am the only young woman on our team, the guys I work with didn't want me around when they dispatched the old guy. That's how I got to leave early and was assigned the on line project for overtime.
We are all going to meet for a beer later tonight. It's not all that bad of a job really.
end
fiction
edward w pritchard
It's about the worse job a college graduate could do. I just got it out of college and my Mother cried when I told her, Dad, said, glad to have me start paying back my loans; that it was a start.
I am with the damnatio memoriae unit here in Pittsburgh. It is not a government agency, but private sector, contracted from the department of aging. When a citizen is disgraced because of treason, usually failure to pay debts, our group confiscates property and destroys all records of that individual. Name, records, images,[in the case of the wealthy], and we insure that perpetuity forgets this criminal. Of course if the individual is still alive after the sentence we dispatch them.
Today we went to an old man's house. He met us politely at the door and four of us quickly went through his possessions and after about an hour the only thing left to do to remove the physical evidence of his ever had existed was documents and public records which will be gone tomorrow; for I have been approved overtime to finish erasing his memory on line tonight. Since I am the only young woman on our team, the guys I work with didn't want me around when they dispatched the old guy. That's how I got to leave early and was assigned the on line project for overtime.
We are all going to meet for a beer later tonight. It's not all that bad of a job really.
end
family vacation at the hotel pool
family vacation at the hotel pool
fiction
edward w pritchard
The Father was trying to listen to the 13 year old daughter patiently explain the book she was reading about Plato's Timaeus and the Mother, still a beauty, watched disapprovingly; for the daughter should be playing in the water and attracting some young male admirers. The Father an engineer, highly intelligent, can not exactly follow what the daughter was explaining but he is proud of her and sees a missing part of himself displayed by her, intellectual curiosity.
The girl was excited and is talking about Plato's cosmology. The girl has not yet lost her childhood faith in her religion and is fascinated by the ideas of Plato in the Timaeus and wants to compare them to her accepted creation explanation.
At length, the Mother who has lost a little of her instinctual love for her only daughter, but is anxious for her to be accepted this year at junior high school begins to speak to her daughter.
"Julie that blond boy on the diving board is quite good looking isn't he?"
Julie, the girl, catching on quickly lays down her book and unwraps the towel from around herself, eases into the pool and swims toward the diving area.
The Father takes a brief look at his daughter who is developing quickly and remembers why he didn't want his only daughter to buy a two piece bathing suit earlier this Summer.
fiction
edward w pritchard
The Father was trying to listen to the 13 year old daughter patiently explain the book she was reading about Plato's Timaeus and the Mother, still a beauty, watched disapprovingly; for the daughter should be playing in the water and attracting some young male admirers. The Father an engineer, highly intelligent, can not exactly follow what the daughter was explaining but he is proud of her and sees a missing part of himself displayed by her, intellectual curiosity.
The girl was excited and is talking about Plato's cosmology. The girl has not yet lost her childhood faith in her religion and is fascinated by the ideas of Plato in the Timaeus and wants to compare them to her accepted creation explanation.
At length, the Mother who has lost a little of her instinctual love for her only daughter, but is anxious for her to be accepted this year at junior high school begins to speak to her daughter.
"Julie that blond boy on the diving board is quite good looking isn't he?"
Julie, the girl, catching on quickly lays down her book and unwraps the towel from around herself, eases into the pool and swims toward the diving area.
The Father takes a brief look at his daughter who is developing quickly and remembers why he didn't want his only daughter to buy a two piece bathing suit earlier this Summer.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Meaning only conveyed, cannot be stated
Meaning only conveyed, cannot be stated
fiction
edward w pritchard
290 trillion light years from anywhere
there is a cosmic lake, not water or matter but remnants of mind,
energy, remaining after the rest is gone
each square on the surface is unique
different but the same, in various shades of orange
part of a potential ultimate whole
and each mind, one day will journey there, to that cosmic lake of energy
and will become one square on the surface of that potential larger whole square
and each mind, one of 200 billion
will, when all the original 200 billion are joined into a complete larger whole cell
then that one new larger whole cell made of the previous 200 billion
will become the first cell on a larger lake of energy
and someday the new one billion larger cells will join
each different shades of orange
and a complete ultimate mind will emerge
and began to move back across the 290 trillion light years
back home where they started from
and shall be more than will
end
fiction
edward w pritchard
290 trillion light years from anywhere
there is a cosmic lake, not water or matter but remnants of mind,
energy, remaining after the rest is gone
each square on the surface is unique
different but the same, in various shades of orange
part of a potential ultimate whole
and each mind, one day will journey there, to that cosmic lake of energy
and will become one square on the surface of that potential larger whole square
and each mind, one of 200 billion
will, when all the original 200 billion are joined into a complete larger whole cell
then that one new larger whole cell made of the previous 200 billion
will become the first cell on a larger lake of energy
and someday the new one billion larger cells will join
each different shades of orange
and a complete ultimate mind will emerge
and began to move back across the 290 trillion light years
back home where they started from
and shall be more than will
end
maneuvers in Kent Ohio
maneuvers in Kent Ohio
fiction
edward w pritchard
August 30, 2013 the US army, navy seals and the marines sealed off the City of Kent, Ohio at 9AM and didn't allow any of the citizens to move about. The military made no efforts to be civil or explain, only expediently going about their duties and goals for the day. Roads were blocked, the express way was closed and my Grand daughter and I were detained as were thousands of others. Local police and fire were not notified before hand and were in fact detained by the military, as was the city manager, counsel and numerous prominent business leaders and faculty at Kent State University.
The military personnel were not fat, polite, comical or helpful. Soldiers were well armed and came from far away from an unfamiliar part of America, perhaps Idaho. Within moments the entire city of Kent was occupied and business, commerce and everyday life was interrupted. Local radio, television and newspaper and Internet from nearby Akron, Cleveland and other places was blocked and in a matter of minutes no news or information was allowed into or out of Kent.
Over two hundred green military buses held detainees, of which I and my grand daughter were two of many and large green military helicopters patrolled the air over all of Portage County, where Kent is located. Individual soldiers wore infectious disease retarding masks and vests and randomly checked residents for various viruses.
Human soldiers were assisted by two to three hundred overhead flying drones of various sizes and various levels of technological sophistication. Although drones did not fire on any citizens of Kent they did address miscreants at times with vocal beeps and assorted warnings sounds to assist human soldiers with crowd control.
After about an hour, once the point was properly made the military immediately disappeared, without explanation or apology and the citizens were able to resume normal movement about their homeland. Four years later in Congressional hearings on the matter it was a point of pride with the military that professional soldiers and drones were able to secure an entire town without one civilian death and comparison was made to the May 4, 1970 shootings in which a semi professional home guard [Ohio National Guard] shot and killed four unarmed students in a campus demonstration.
fiction
edward w pritchard
August 30, 2013 the US army, navy seals and the marines sealed off the City of Kent, Ohio at 9AM and didn't allow any of the citizens to move about. The military made no efforts to be civil or explain, only expediently going about their duties and goals for the day. Roads were blocked, the express way was closed and my Grand daughter and I were detained as were thousands of others. Local police and fire were not notified before hand and were in fact detained by the military, as was the city manager, counsel and numerous prominent business leaders and faculty at Kent State University.
The military personnel were not fat, polite, comical or helpful. Soldiers were well armed and came from far away from an unfamiliar part of America, perhaps Idaho. Within moments the entire city of Kent was occupied and business, commerce and everyday life was interrupted. Local radio, television and newspaper and Internet from nearby Akron, Cleveland and other places was blocked and in a matter of minutes no news or information was allowed into or out of Kent.
Over two hundred green military buses held detainees, of which I and my grand daughter were two of many and large green military helicopters patrolled the air over all of Portage County, where Kent is located. Individual soldiers wore infectious disease retarding masks and vests and randomly checked residents for various viruses.
Human soldiers were assisted by two to three hundred overhead flying drones of various sizes and various levels of technological sophistication. Although drones did not fire on any citizens of Kent they did address miscreants at times with vocal beeps and assorted warnings sounds to assist human soldiers with crowd control.
After about an hour, once the point was properly made the military immediately disappeared, without explanation or apology and the citizens were able to resume normal movement about their homeland. Four years later in Congressional hearings on the matter it was a point of pride with the military that professional soldiers and drones were able to secure an entire town without one civilian death and comparison was made to the May 4, 1970 shootings in which a semi professional home guard [Ohio National Guard] shot and killed four unarmed students in a campus demonstration.
Germaine Greer and Authur Schopenhaur
Germaine Greer and Author Schopenhauer
fiction
edward w pritchard
Authur Schopenhauer was a misogynist but a major western philosopher. After his Father died he inherited and devoted his life to philosophy taking up the quest to answer Hume and continue and refine the groundbreaking work of Immanuel Kant. Schopenhauer, a bitter man, attacked in writing his contemporaries Hegel, Schelling and even his former professor Fichte. Schopenhauer's attacks on these three men, all three career academics working in State run Universities in a semi police state; were vicious and vindictive and among the most invective ad hominem attacks in all of written scholarly history.
Schopenhauer came to hate his Mother who ran a salon, an intellectual "club" for sophisticates of her day. As a young man Schopenhauer left his Mother and never spoke with her again. Later he wrote "On Women" a vicious attack against what he calls the second sex. Calling women undersized,narrow shouldered, broad hipped, and short legged; Schopenhauer criticizes all women, up to his time [written 1851], as having no sense of justice and strangely, and what seems to perturbs him most, talking in theaters [ untimely and inappropriately].
Germaine Greer wrote the "Female Eunuch" a million seller and has been a feminist and celebrity most of her adult life. She writes well, is an excellent researcher, and has an original position on many of the issues of the times. However, at least according to urban mythology, in Wikipedia, Professor Lisa Jardine, recalled the first time she met Greer, at a formal dinner in college:
The principal called us to order for the speeches. As a hush descended, one person continued to speak, too engrossed in her conversation to notice, her strong Australian accent reverberating around the room...{ authors note- Greer is Australian]
Newsflash at least once Germaine Greer the feminist spoke out of turn in "theaters"
Schopenhauer was right at least in part. However, there have been many allegations that Schopenhauer may have liked "boys, and if alive to judge Greer, he wouldn't notice [ unlike this author notices] that Germnaine Greer is quite good looking and Greer's theater talking may be forgivable for that reason alone. Ms Greer might just chuckle about the whole issue, concerning her and Schopenhauer, because she also seems to like young boys, having published on the subject-see "The Beautiful Boy' Greer-2003.
In summary Schopenhauer although brilliant wrote a vindictive attack against women in " On Women" lumping all individuals together. Greer also a very controversial figure, treats the subject of human sexuality more lightly, and even when raking the male clan over the coals so to speak, seems to keep a sense of humor and to recognize individual differences in culture are a factor in the war between the sexes. Lastly as an aside although the author does find Ms. Greer attractive, he is not one of the stalkers, sworn by restraining order to stay away from her.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Authur Schopenhauer was a misogynist but a major western philosopher. After his Father died he inherited and devoted his life to philosophy taking up the quest to answer Hume and continue and refine the groundbreaking work of Immanuel Kant. Schopenhauer, a bitter man, attacked in writing his contemporaries Hegel, Schelling and even his former professor Fichte. Schopenhauer's attacks on these three men, all three career academics working in State run Universities in a semi police state; were vicious and vindictive and among the most invective ad hominem attacks in all of written scholarly history.
Schopenhauer came to hate his Mother who ran a salon, an intellectual "club" for sophisticates of her day. As a young man Schopenhauer left his Mother and never spoke with her again. Later he wrote "On Women" a vicious attack against what he calls the second sex. Calling women undersized,narrow shouldered, broad hipped, and short legged; Schopenhauer criticizes all women, up to his time [written 1851], as having no sense of justice and strangely, and what seems to perturbs him most, talking in theaters [ untimely and inappropriately].
Germaine Greer wrote the "Female Eunuch" a million seller and has been a feminist and celebrity most of her adult life. She writes well, is an excellent researcher, and has an original position on many of the issues of the times. However, at least according to urban mythology, in Wikipedia, Professor Lisa Jardine, recalled the first time she met Greer, at a formal dinner in college:
The principal called us to order for the speeches. As a hush descended, one person continued to speak, too engrossed in her conversation to notice, her strong Australian accent reverberating around the room...{ authors note- Greer is Australian]
Newsflash at least once Germaine Greer the feminist spoke out of turn in "theaters"
Schopenhauer was right at least in part. However, there have been many allegations that Schopenhauer may have liked "boys, and if alive to judge Greer, he wouldn't notice [ unlike this author notices] that Germnaine Greer is quite good looking and Greer's theater talking may be forgivable for that reason alone. Ms Greer might just chuckle about the whole issue, concerning her and Schopenhauer, because she also seems to like young boys, having published on the subject-see "The Beautiful Boy' Greer-2003.
In summary Schopenhauer although brilliant wrote a vindictive attack against women in " On Women" lumping all individuals together. Greer also a very controversial figure, treats the subject of human sexuality more lightly, and even when raking the male clan over the coals so to speak, seems to keep a sense of humor and to recognize individual differences in culture are a factor in the war between the sexes. Lastly as an aside although the author does find Ms. Greer attractive, he is not one of the stalkers, sworn by restraining order to stay away from her.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
good will shakespeare or very bad will
good will Shakespeare or very bad will
fiction
edward w pritchard
It must have been difficult for Will Shakespeare presumably the wittiest writer of all time to be kind to his enemies, turn the other cheek, and move forward and not humiliate or annihilate with words those who injured him. As the king of the one liners he could have enjoyed jousting with his pen and not let bygones be bygones and not just walk away from his friends and others transgressions against him.
Alas unlike Will we must be civil, stick to our cynicism and passive aggressiveness and walk though our back be stuck full of swords; and leave those in peace who don't get mad but even, and us not follow their example.
fiction
edward w pritchard
It must have been difficult for Will Shakespeare presumably the wittiest writer of all time to be kind to his enemies, turn the other cheek, and move forward and not humiliate or annihilate with words those who injured him. As the king of the one liners he could have enjoyed jousting with his pen and not let bygones be bygones and not just walk away from his friends and others transgressions against him.
Alas unlike Will we must be civil, stick to our cynicism and passive aggressiveness and walk though our back be stuck full of swords; and leave those in peace who don't get mad but even, and us not follow their example.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
america's not great britain-chelsea clinton's wedding
america's not great britain--chelsea clinton's wedding
fiction
edward w pritchard
Since the Mayflower days America's been struggling to live up to the pomp and cultural heritage of Great Britain. While we look across our noses at their fascination with royalty and we favorably compare Harvard and Princeton with Oxford and Cambridge; in truth we American's secretly envy and are in a little awe of the British cultural Heritage. True Faulkner and Melville were great writers but English words flow from Britain's great writers seemingly effortlessly, Tennyson, Shakespeare and a slew of others will overwhelm the American reader with routine flashes of divine inspiration cutting,inserting, and refining English words to define our cultures peculiarities.
Now I see the American marketing industry, of which we are the undisputed best in the world, now and before, is trying to present the wedding of Ex-President Clinton's daughter as a Princess Diana type tale and romance.
The Clinton's seem like the family down the street to me. With all due respect their melodrama is all too familiar and if I were to meet the Mr. or Mrs at the gym while I would nod respectfully they wouldn't seem all that different than me and my neighbors. More intelligent maybe but both human all to human.
I am curious to see if the American marketing machine pulls this off and is able to day by day promote Chelsey Clinton's wedding as a fabled romance.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Since the Mayflower days America's been struggling to live up to the pomp and cultural heritage of Great Britain. While we look across our noses at their fascination with royalty and we favorably compare Harvard and Princeton with Oxford and Cambridge; in truth we American's secretly envy and are in a little awe of the British cultural Heritage. True Faulkner and Melville were great writers but English words flow from Britain's great writers seemingly effortlessly, Tennyson, Shakespeare and a slew of others will overwhelm the American reader with routine flashes of divine inspiration cutting,inserting, and refining English words to define our cultures peculiarities.
Now I see the American marketing industry, of which we are the undisputed best in the world, now and before, is trying to present the wedding of Ex-President Clinton's daughter as a Princess Diana type tale and romance.
The Clinton's seem like the family down the street to me. With all due respect their melodrama is all too familiar and if I were to meet the Mr. or Mrs at the gym while I would nod respectfully they wouldn't seem all that different than me and my neighbors. More intelligent maybe but both human all to human.
I am curious to see if the American marketing machine pulls this off and is able to day by day promote Chelsey Clinton's wedding as a fabled romance.
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