First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

André Duvall, in accompaniment & solo

Last week, I performed with four other musicians in the second annual Peanut Butter & Jelly Concert for the Mid-South Food Bank, which services over thirty counties in West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. We raised several pounds of non-perishable items, as well as a good supplement of cash donations, for the Food Bank. For the majority of the concert, I accompanied three of the performers, including soprano Kallen Esperian. Kallen is dearly loved in Memphis and is sort of our “home town” opera star, having performed in almost all the major opera houses in Europe and toured with Pavarotti many years ago, and we were very fortunate to have her come and support our efforts. I also played some solo works for piano and organ for this concert.

    June’s Mid-South Chess Camp was a success. No injuries were reported, parents and kids gave abundant positive feedback, new friendships were forged, and old friendships strengthened.
    We've been having an incredible amount of rain in the Mid-South. This is one of the wettest, and as a result, mildest, Junes that I remember. On the Fourth of July, the weather felt like May, prompting me to take a trip to Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

The Rogers, in Mississippi

We left Costa Rica at 6:30 a.m. for a month-long stay at my daughter's home in Hernando, Mississippi. We had a long layover in Houston. We arrived at 11:00 a.m., and the flight to Memphis wan't until 4:00 p.m. At 3:30 I saw the dark clouds heading our way. All fights were canceled and the airport closed.
    We were told our fight would leave at 6:00 p.m. At 5:30 we were told we could not get out of Houston until the next day. I found there was a flight leaving for Little Rock in 10 minutes with two sets left. We ran the half-mile to the tram, got off at B, and luckily caught one of those things that give you rides. Once aboard the plane, we were told there was a long line of planes ahead of us and it would be maybe 45 minutes before take-off. Two hours later the plane had to go get gas, because sitting there with the engines running had cost too much fuel. Now we were at the back of the line once more.
    At 10:00 p.m. I rented a car in Little Rock for the two-hour drive to Mississippi. The lady at the car rental informed me there was up to an hour delay on I-40 due to night-time construction. We cut over to HY 70 at Hasen, and arrived at my daughter's house at 12:30 a.m. The next day I received an e-mail from the airline stating that the flight at 3:00 p.m. was full and the next fight out would be at 8:00 that night.
    At least we did make it to Mississippi. Now, days, I lie by the pool with a cold one and curse Houston with each drink.
                                Pura Vida from the Rogers

Tom Lowe, going as it goes

It seems the theme song of June has been the 1962 Dylan song, “Mixed-up Confusion.” For example, I’d planned to put at the head of this entry a photo of a friend reading from her short story in an anthology of Oakland writers, but through some miscommunication she was left off the program.
    Further examples: another friend has spent the month in limbo concerning her status as manager of the apartment building where she’s resided for thirty-two years after the building was sold. Three other friends have had nothing but frustration replacing broken phones.
    Another friend started a Spanish class and, with the course half over, still is trying to get a usable copy of the text (the used one she got from an Amazon vendor is water-damaged and smells too mildewed for her comfort).
    Maria, my home-care worker, had to change jobs after some abusive communication from the client's daughter – now she works for the writer mentioned above, with both individuals satisfied.
    All of this was peripheral to me, but distracting as far getting anything accomplished creatively. And so it goes, as Vonnegut would have it....

Susan C. Price, in considering whether to do or not to do

as previously noted, i have no character. I am not a "person of character." I am generally pleasant, but am very selfish, impatient, and not at all courageous. Now and then, I can be considered a "character" for my weird interests, hobbies, habits...etc.
    Ok, moving on.
    I am considering taking a "Method Writing" course. Now, I recognize that ONLY IN LOS ANGELES would a writing course be called "method" and only in LA would most of the "encomiums" and gushing "reviews" be written by movie actors (who all, it turns out, want to write, when they aren't interested in directing...). Yet the teacher and his approach come highly recommended. And he has responded most sanely and humorously to my e-mails considering taking his workshop. So maybe. And maybe it's just another way to avoid getting myself over to the easel that sits in the corner of the living room.
    Another "only in LA" moment: I mention this writing workshop to a gym pal who is a screen writer. "NO!" he replies strongly. "Just read good stuff and write! The teachers and students will eat you alive in those classes. DONT DO IT!"

The Neumanns, off to a great summer

We had a fabulous June. A week at the beach in North & South Carolina, luckily before Arthur decided to make an appearance.

    Only one weekend on the boat, though a good one. We lead a group from our yacht club in their "small boats" (dinghies and ski boats) to "Wimpy's" for lunch. We're also getting our remodeling project (new master suite) well underway. Summer is off to a great start.

Dawn Burke, off to California

Here in the northwest of Arkansas school has been out for almost a month. So we have been laid back here, kids playing, staying up later, etc. We've had lots of rain for the season but now its starting to get hot. 

    My youngest daughter and I spent the Fourth of July getting ready to take a trip to California, a big thing for us! My daughter has never flown or been farther than 3 hours from home and she is almost 13. So you see it IS a big thing. We are going to see our beloved Aunt Patsy in Oxnard, affectionately known as Antipasto.
    Hope everyone is having a great, safe, and fun summer!

Chuck Smythe, still in service but not dwelling on it

Still helping my wife through multiple injuries. Rather than dwell on that, here are three Colorado photos, mostly due to my hiking buddy Ed Schmahl. [Look forward to additional photos, of flowers, in Wednesday's column, day after tomorrow.]

Lone Eagle Peak, deep in the Indian Peaks Wilderness

Vestal and West Trinity Peaks from the summit of Arrow Peak.
Two beautiful wall climbs deep in the San Juan Mountains

Vestal and Arrow Peaks, Grenadier Range, San Juan Mountains.
Great climbing! Alpine Sunflowers in the foreground.

The Midyetts, off to the desert

My sister is flying to Adelaide today (but it comes earlier here than in North America) and the three of us are driving to a town in the desert called Coober Pedy. It is Australia's most renowned opal mining area. Extremely hot in summer so everyone lives underground. The motel we are staying at is underground.

Opan from Coober Pedy

    I hope I can take pictures that give it justice. I've never been there and don't know what to expect. I do know it's 845 km North of Adelaide, though. That's a little over 500 miles. We plan to be back by the following Saturday night. I'm taking my laptop, but don't know if I'll get service. I know I won't get it 60 feet down in our room.
    ...I'm looking forward to finding out what happens when you flush the pot that far below ground. he he

Jim Rix, on the seventh anniversary of JJ
    Jim is too modest to have said this himself, but today is the seventh anniversary of the publication of his book, Jingle Jangle: The Perfect Crime Turned Inside Out, on 7/7/7. And – guess what? – the book is still in print. If you want a copy, let us know. Buy one for your friend. One place you can get it is from Amazon's book vendor who handles it.
    And I was just wondering whether Jingle Jangle's 77th anniversary would also fall on the day of this column, on 7/7/84.
    So I checked....Nope. July 7 falls on Friday that year. Oh well, we can mention it in the "Fish for Friday" column that year.

Siegfried, nearing the end of treatment
    When Siegfried's mama & papa (my wife and I) returned from Pittsburgh on April 15, we learned from the vet whose kennel Siegfried was boarding at that he had heartworms – despite our having regularly (monthly) administered heartworm preventative capsules. Mosquitoes are the carriers for heartworm parasites, which, in the South, have been building up immunities to the common preventative.
    The first treatment of the current protocol for canine heartworms was a month of oral doses of doxycycline, three times a day. Then, beginning a month after that ended (while we were at Carolina Beach), Siegfried had the first of the three injections designed to kill the live heartworms, which are typically in a dog's lungs and/or heart. Poor Siegfried couldn't go to the beach with us, and we had rented a house specifically that welcomed large pets.
    Today Siegfried is having the second of the injections, and tomorrow he'll have the third and final injection. Then, in a month, his blood will be checked to see if it's all clear of heartworm matter.
    We of course hope it's all clear, because Siegfried NEEDS to get some exercise again. We have been following the vet's advice to "keep Siegfried quiet" and still, so as not to stress his cardiovascular system with those heartworms wiggling around in there. For all of this time, since mid-April, he hasn't been allowed even to go out in the yard alone (where he often runs back and forth in frolic or to stimulate his bowels).

Recording my haircut in May

Morris Dean, under observation
    Maybe 20 or 30 times over the past couple of years, I've had a sensation as though my heart had just skipped a beat or had an irregular one. The episodes seem to have become a bit more frequent in the past month or two, so I recently made an appointment with my primary care physician (whom I interviewed on November 21, 2012).
    She thinks I'm probably having "premature ventricular contractions" (PVCs), which she explained as the body's signalling the heart to beat (usually out of sync with its naturally functioning internal pacemaker). The signals might originate from any number of "disturbances" (having drunk too much caffeine, having gotten too little sleep, having a surge of testosterone, etc.). My PVCs (if that's what they are) occur infrequently and none was revealed in the short EKG done in my doctor's office a week ago today.
    I've another week to wear this monitor, which, I was told, literally records every beat of my heart during that period. If I experience my odd sensation, I'm to press the button on the device to mark when it occurred and write a note in the little diary that came with the monitor. What exactly did I experience? How long did it last? What was I doing at the time. So far, I've pressed the button and made a diary entry only three times (once while I was writing this paragraph – odd how that sometimes happens, isn't it?).

    At least it's something to write about for my "character update."
    Of course, I could also write about how some of the other characters like to interpret that phrase as referring to their characters, rather than simply referring to them colloquially as "interesting persons." But I won't.
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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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