Tag Archives: Dr. Stacey Patton

All the Secrets…

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I hope you are all sitting down, as I have a bit of shocking news to tell you. I received a book in the mail the other day. See, I told you…/snort/  Anyhow, the book is All The Secrets Of The World a novel by Steve Almond. I checked the label several times, it was addressed to me, from a bookstore. I figured it was from housemate Dan so trashed the mailer. The problem? When I thanked him for it, he had no recollection of ordering it.

Did any of you think of me and send it? I really haven’t a clue who to thank. One of the larger secrets of my world! Hmm, did I receive a notice to order a free book and this is it? It’s a hardback, $28.00, pretty pricey for a freeby, eh?

Telemarketers

I subscribe to a daily poem from Rattle magazine as well as A Poem A Day from Poets.org. I’m seldom disappointed, but today’s (4 July) from Rattle I’ve got to share. I’m pretty sure it’s copyrighted and I can’t post the whole of it, so I’m giving you the link. It’s short. It’s humorous. Please, read it! “Telemarketer” by Brett Garcia Myhren. Isn’t that the bestest ever comeback to a telemarketer? 

Referrals

I also subscribe to a few blogs/newsletters, some are free, some I pay for. Three are:

Newsletter of Carla Ra, a scientist by day, a science-fiction writer by night. She’s a brainiac with a marvelous sense of humor. Check her out. Join her mailing list and join her Bot Family. Great fun. Carla Ra at https://www.authorcarlara.com Free

Dr. Stacey Patton. She has both free and pay. I pay. She is an African American professor of media, journalism, film & communication at Howard University. I don’t know where she gets all the energy to teach, write, speak, etc. Sometimes her newsletters are angry with cause, sometimes, she makes me cry, and sometimes she makes me laugh. Always, I learn something. And her Sunday sermons are marvelous. For the first time in years, I look forward to going to church, her church. Today’s newsletter is “Forget the Founders. Celebrate the Enslaved Black People Who Escaped on the 4th of July.” It’s a powerful piece. Read it and learn some history! Stretch your mind. It’s good for you! She’s on Substack.

And, of course, I subscribe to Sherman Alexie, also on Substack. I pay, but he also has a free subscription.  I get poetry, essays, short fiction, opinion, audio, and video, and yes, some recent history of life as an Indian in modern America. His poem, “The Book of Samuel” is one of those poems. It’s free, so I can share.

Please Consider

I have written before about the Iraqi bakery/grocery store/restaurant next door to me, Somer’s Bakery. Now I want to write about the family operated store or restaurant or bakery near where you live. If you’re too busy to shop there because the Big Store you go to has everything, or better prices, or is more convenient, please consider the Mom n Pop in your neighborhood. Not for all your needs, but for some. If you are lucky enough that the owners are from another country and sell things you’ve never seen or tried, consider trying. Support them. 

Somer’s is my bread store, my pickle store, my date store, my eggplant and pickled cabbage store and my homemade and fresh baklava store. Also my baba ghanoush lunch restaurant. But now it will probably me my ex store come January. Gas has gone up, shipping has gone up, people aren’t buying as much, he can’t afford to stock product and throw it away when it expires. And they’re from a different country.

Did I tell you that’s where I buy my bread. Pita bread. Do you know why I buy it there? I’ll tell you, it’s the ingredients—flour, water, yeast, salt. Period. Not only can I pronounce all the ingredients, I can spell them. And remember them. And the taste and texture is so much better than grocery store bread.

Is he competition for the Big Store across the street? No, he’s too small and carries things they’ve never heard of. Oh, did I mention the cheeses? sigh….

So, if you have a Mom n Pop near you, support them. Get to know them. And if they came to America from a different place, try their foods. Tell your friends. Help in a small way for someone to reach the so-called American Dream. A taste bud once introduced to a new experience will never settle for boring again! /snort/  

Latest email from Cousin Jimmy

“I just read this post to Substack. I believe it needs to go viral.”

Well, I just read it, too, and totally agree with him. A well thought-out article and well worth the couple of minutes to read and longer to cogitate.

The Epstein Class: What Jeffrey Epstein revealed about wealth, immunity, and institutional failure. by Eli Goldstein at Eli’s Substack

.https://libertylens1.substack.com/p/the-epstein-class-what-jeffrey-epstein?r=4nb43&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Addendum:

Goodest morning, y’all. It is Sunday, 5 July. The Brave Dog snuggled most of the night, thereby keeping me safe from those nasty exploding things outside. And I’ve already been to church this morning—still in my jammies no less!—and I invite you to come sit in the pew with me, there’s always room for my friends. The doors are open, and the message is strong! Dr. Rev. Staceypants is Preachin’

“Death is a reminder to live fully.” —Ram Dass

Remember, 
I love you, 
I appreciate you, 
and I give you a fantastically wonderful week 
so take it and run;-)

Auntie Lenora

Preach it, Rev. Staceypants!

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Good morning! It is cold out (30F), and dark (6:30am), and I’ve already spent a couple of hours on poetry. My computer is playing soft, ambient music, Sammy the Bravest Dog, has been out and is now back on the bed, sleeping. Sometimes, he truly acts more like a cat than a dog, but I’ve promised not to tell his union representative 😉 After all, I did ask for a cat, and got him.

I am setting a new morning habit. I now get up, turn on my computer, and put four items on my playlist. This mornings were two of Ilia Malinan skating, one mildly political (the National Opera has pulled out of The Kennedy Center Memorial), and finishing with the hours long ambient music. I am also trying to limit my news, especially political news to two days a week—Mondays and Thursdays.

Why those two days, you may be wondering? Well, it’s easy. Those are the two mornings Countdown with Keith Olbermann is on. I admit, if I see something from David Reddish, I do tend to watch it, because a) he’s cute and b) he usually has some good snark to make me laugh.

I also watch not political news, and news not laden with American Politics. you know, fun stuff like Ukrainian winning, wars, revolutions, cats, volcanoes, Don Kim upcycling old jeans into designer bags, Quilt Like an Artist, and AI stories which don’t mean to be funny but I can’t help LOLOLOLing, because they are.

I am trying to get back to writing on a regular basis, and don’t need/want all the distractions of YouTube. Well, yes, I want them, but then I don’t write. Squirrel!! And as you may have gathered, writing is hard work.

I have resigned from my volunteer work, which was not an easy decision. I miss helping people, but let’s be honest, at my age, I ain’t as young as I used to was! At least that’s what my body keeps telling me;-) That, and it’s time to act my age—where’s the fun in that?

I also need to get back to reading. Yes, I spent a year reading very little. It’s so much easier to listen to the mindless AI stories. Incidentally, the SF/F ones, especially HFY are pretty entertaining. IF you like SF/F, give them a try. But, please, I beg of you, do not leave any comments or clicks on them. Don’t help them get better or make it harder for a human writer.

Speaking of AI, a friend sent me an interesting article on X, Footprints in the Sand: The House You Thought Was Emptyby @iruletheworldmo. Or maybe @iruletheworldmo just reposted it? I don’t know, but it is an interesting, and somewhat disconcerting if not downright scary, article on AI. My cousin pointed out to me that Yuval Noah Harari has been writing articles about this for some time. Anyhow, as my friend said when he sent it, it could be written by AI for all he knows. If you can’t open it, and want to read it, please let me know.

Oh, if you haven’t yet discovered Dr. Stacey Patton, you’re in for a treat. Especially her Sunday Sermons! Yes indeedy, this old Atheist is back in the pews yellin’ Amen! and Preach it Rev Staceypants! and anything else appropriate. I think it takes a modicum of courage to read Dr. Stacey’s columns, etc., because she is not dainty, diplomatic, or quiet. She yells it as she sees it and that’s got to be hard on some readers, especially those raised white and privileged. Google her. Check her out. She’s my kinda person!!!

I’ve now read this morning’s sermon, and finished this piece. It is now 7:30am, and the cold (31F) outside my window is black and white, in another 30 minutes or so, it will be in freezing color, but it’s o’cast, and no true sunlight, yet.

And here is my photo of the week. I took it out of my office window of an afternoon a few days ago. Those are Canada Geese in the sky, coming in for a landing.

Have a Marvelous Week, remember to be grateful you’re still looking down at the grass. Remember the words of our Dalai Lama that pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. And tell someone you love them this day.