I Had About Given Up

     Somehow, after I finished Sidewalk Sale Across America, I had to have a stuffed raccoon. You see, there is a raccoon in the book, a real raccoon that one of the amateur radio hams saw get hit by a car. The raccoon was taken to an animal shelter to recover.

    Cruising the internet, I found exactly what I was looking for. Sent off the order. Then I found something I was NOT looking for -- a hand-puppet racoon. That order flew off even quicker than the other. Then I waited. And waited. Eventually called the company. Spoke to a lovely lady who explained that many of their delivery orders were still on cargo ships somewhere from across the Pacific. So I waited some more.

    Six months went by. Heard nothing from the company. Accepted the fact that I was never going to have a black-banded raccoon puppet on my hands. Decided against contacting the company to cancel the order, because I was certain I had given the number of a credit card which had been transferred to a different management company, said new company causing numerous problems which had caused me to quit using the card. If the stuffed animal company issued me a credit on the card, I would despair of ever getting the money.

    Last week the letter carrier left a small package on top of my mailbox. Expecting nothing, I was puzzled. But the return address gave me the clue -- my long-awaited raccoon. The plush fur was a bit matted down from being so long in a tight package, but once freed, the fur began to fluff. Fits perfectly on my hand. But now I have another problem . . . I don't speak raccoon.

An Episodic Adventure

     Writing a book has been, for me at least, an episodic adventure. On scraps of paper.. Here and there.

    Joel Goldman, who wrote mysteries, maybe still does. advises to have a dead body on the first page. Then, when you are writing the middle of the book, and you get bogged down, throw in a few more dead bodies. 

    I haven't written mysteries, perhaps because I have a distaste for dead bodies, but I get equally bogged down. What I desperately need is a list of the persona. I had a list. It's somewhere in all the other scraps of notebooks, which all got bundled up into a single pile one night when a possible tornado was approaching and I took all my precious stuff that I could grab and carried down to a basement cabinet.

    Did I write my list of characters on a sheet of blue paper, or was it green? Or coral? No matter. I can find none of those colors anyway. Nor can I find the beginning. Ditto the list of chapters. Ah, me.

Not In The Library

     It's not a banned book, but you will never find it in a library.

    Except the library at Marquette University where Daniel C. Maguire was a Professor of Ethics in the Theology Department when he wrote it twenty years ago.

    I would guess that Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions is out of print, but used copies  are still available through Amazon.

    About nineteen years ago I heard Daniel C. Maguire speak to a Kansas City audience. Among the questions asked at the conclusion of his talk was one about how he continued to hold onto his job at Marquette while promoting a book that appeared to be contrary to traditional Catholic dogma. His reply was to the effect that not all of the professors and the administrators at Marquette were of the same mind.

Presidents In A Row

     I once set myself the goal of reading a book about each United States president in a row. Began, of course, with George Washington: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, (a remarkable individual who at age 14 was carrying out diplomatic missions for the fledgling U.S.).

    Next in line was a book about Andrew Jackson, which was more a book about John Ross, who tried to negotiate on behalf of his fellow Cherokees. Jackson left the presidency a wealthy man, which cannot be said for several other former presidents. That left me at Martin Van Buren. I gave up when I couldn't find a book about Van Buren.

    Seems I'm back at it again, but not necessarily in order. Just finished Growing Up Biden, Joe, the only president whose political campaigns were run by a sister, Valerie Biden Owens. Biden's approval ratings are plummeting, but he continues to do what he has always done -- advocate for women.

    On my way this afternoon to the library to pick up Worst. President. Ever., by Robert Strauss. And on my waiting list is A Secret Life: The Sex, Lies, and Scandals of President ???????  Should be enlightening.A Secret Life, Book

Everyone's Doing It

     Seems that everyone is writing a book. It's so easy these days.

    Even if they have to hire a ghost.

    It's not true that everyone's got a book in them: give writing back to the writers, writes Stephanie Merritt in the Guardian.

    Well, I guess I can stay in the game -- I'm a recognized as a journalist. At least I hold a membership in SPJ -- The Society of Professional Journalists. But Stephanie has given me a good idea. With the next book I publish, I will also try to get an article in the Guardian. Wish me success.

You Never Get to the End of a Learning Curve

 Getting back to blogposting is like starting all over again. Maybe part of it is I have a poor memory.

(Circuit overload is what it would be called by someone who is no longer in my life.)

I could never convince the SenCom group to have a class on blogs, nor have I ever found a book that was much help. Alas, maybe I will be driven to the internet for help.

I'm going to publish this -- the preview option never worked for me.