One time in the 90s I went to a publishing conference at which I
met a couple who worked at the same publisher. They went on and on about how
great their jobs were, and wasn't that what it was all about?
Bloomington IL 61701 February 23, 2020 Ambient ambiance: In the 50s and real sunny right in the virtual middle of the winter I was walking up the nearest moraine right through the nearby alley when I spotted a feller in a long coat doing something or other - smokin', I reckon - and also talkin' to someone hidden from my view behind a utility pole of some sort. The feller spotted me about the same time I spotted him, and we both narrowed our eyes in the manner of Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," or so I imagined. But only for a moment - a quick moment, or a mini-moment. Well, it was real quick, as we both realized there was no reason to get excited. Behind the utility pole sat a woman all bundled up in a long coat and scarf and whatnot and smoking a cigarette hard, but I heard her coughing before I actually saw her. She was coughin' to beat the band, like she had bronchitis, so when I saw her, I said, "Huh...
BNormal, Illinois April 12, 2020 After a few weeks of sheltering in place and having no incentive to work on academic manuscripts, all I wanted to do was stay at home and work on manuscripts so as to catch up on everything I missed. However, my sister and I, who are siblings and thus have complete immunity to each other’s cooties, had planned on a traditional Easter dinner, so traditional Easter dinner it was. At first things were a bit edgy because Peggy was very much out of sorts since she hadn’t been able to teach her music and band classes for middle-school kids. But then we got to opening the wine prior to dinner, and somehow that made the cheese and crackers a mighty fine experience. By the time we were into the second bottle, I stopped worrying about the manuscript and enjoyed dinner, and then we got to playing music and asking Alexa for more Apple Music of our choice. I asked for The Spinners’ “Working My Way Back to You, Babe” and things became downright marvel...
Monona County, Iowa 1995 The guy was wearing blue jeans, an army jacket, and a baseball cap. He took off his cap to reveal close-cropped graying hair. His face was lean and muscular, and his eyes were bright. “Do you want me to strap in?” he asked as I buckled my seatbelt. I said yes, and as he hunted for the belt, he said, “Never use ‘em myself. I was in the paratroopers in the war, and I don’t like to use ‘em. If I’m on a plane, I want to sit in the back and not wear a seatbelt. If something happens, I want to get out of there fast. Ya know, they can’t force you to use one. Most plane accidents take place on landing or taking off, so what I do, I just go up to the first-class section.” “You mean on a commercial airliner?” I asked, noting that he had put the shoulder strap over the wrong shoulder. “Yeah,” he said, and then adjusted the strap after I pointed out the correct position. The guy then started rapping about how he was going to Fargo, North Dakota, to join...
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