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Laramie Boyd
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Big Time Petty Behavior - Bitching and Harping
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Point of View
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Lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii
"One of the (few) great advantages of growing old is that you can read a detective story again, only a couple of weeks after
you first read it, without any notion of which character was the villain." - Ron Cruger
"Fidel Castro, commenting on the U.S. Republican
presidential primary: 'The greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been.' Note to Fidel: Dear Mr. Castro, the Republican
primary may be harmful, and also divisive, but for real idiocy and constant ignorance please check your own actions in Cuba.And another
thing - Butt out!" - Jack Potter
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it, 'If the U.S. and Europe can't keep good jobs at home,
they risk becoming 'just a nice place to take a vacation." - Biff Carlyle
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Ron Cruger writes of departed old friends
Full Circle
For thirty years he drank two to three dozen cans of beer a day. He would get
a large cooler, fill it with ice and beer and place it on the floor in the back seat of his car and drive and drink. He would stop
to do his only job of the past twenty years – shoplifting.
He got into fist fights, gambled, swore consistently, preyed on women and was not above lying or manipulating acquaintances, mostly to get cash to support his vices.
His mother was a lifelong alcoholic. He never laid eyes on his father.
The California court authorities hunted him for defying an order to pay child support. He evaded the authorities for five years by running from state to state, lying and scheming from one con to another. He married either six or seven women during the five years (he couldn’t remember the exact total). Finally, the law enforcement officials found Dick during one of his return visits to California and arrested him for failure to pay child support to his two children from an early marriage. He served two years of a five year sentence. During his prison term he claimed to have become a “born again Christian.” From the day he was released Dick never again spoke of any faith or religion.
Once, I was having breakfast with Dick (his real name) in a Honolulu restaurant when a waitress approached a table near ours.
He got into fist fights, gambled, swore consistently, preyed on women and was not above lying or manipulating acquaintances, mostly to get cash to support his vices.
His mother was a lifelong alcoholic. He never laid eyes on his father.
The California court authorities hunted him for defying an order to pay child support. He evaded the authorities for five years by running from state to state, lying and scheming from one con to another. He married either six or seven women during the five years (he couldn’t remember the exact total). Finally, the law enforcement officials found Dick during one of his return visits to California and arrested him for failure to pay child support to his two children from an early marriage. He served two years of a five year sentence. During his prison term he claimed to have become a “born again Christian.” From the day he was released Dick never again spoke of any faith or religion.
Once, I was having breakfast with Dick (his real name) in a Honolulu restaurant when a waitress approached a table near ours.
Don't wait!
My best friend Don’s father died in his 60th year. His father was driving a
pick- up truck when he suffered a massive heart attack and became unconscious, causing the truck to leave the road and ram into a
tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Don was in his 60th year as he sat at home on his comfortable couch. He was enjoying some guacamole dip and potato chips, followed by swigs of his favorite Dr. Pepper.
After a half hour of snacking Don felt what he self-diagnosed as indigestion. He took one last swig of his Dr. Pepper, leaned back and waited for the indigestion to go away. A few minutes passed, but the distress remained and even worsened. His wife came in the room, took one look at Don and suggested they get in the car and drive to the emergency hospital. Don said, “Let’s wait a while, I’ll take some Maalox – it’ll go away.” It didn’t go away - it got worse, so Don agreed to be driven to the hospital. Outside, in the parking lot adjacent to the hospital’s emergency room, Don’s indigestion lessened. He turned to his wife and said, “I’m feeling a lot better, the Maalox worked.”
His worried wife appealed to him, “Don, let’s just go in and see a doctor, then you won’t have to worry about anything.” Don replied, “Just drive around for a while and if it doesn’t get better soon I’ll see the doctor.” So they drove around for a while.
Don was in his 60th year as he sat at home on his comfortable couch. He was enjoying some guacamole dip and potato chips, followed by swigs of his favorite Dr. Pepper.
After a half hour of snacking Don felt what he self-diagnosed as indigestion. He took one last swig of his Dr. Pepper, leaned back and waited for the indigestion to go away. A few minutes passed, but the distress remained and even worsened. His wife came in the room, took one look at Don and suggested they get in the car and drive to the emergency hospital. Don said, “Let’s wait a while, I’ll take some Maalox – it’ll go away.” It didn’t go away - it got worse, so Don agreed to be driven to the hospital. Outside, in the parking lot adjacent to the hospital’s emergency room, Don’s indigestion lessened. He turned to his wife and said, “I’m feeling a lot better, the Maalox worked.”
His worried wife appealed to him, “Don, let’s just go in and see a doctor, then you won’t have to worry about anything.” Don replied, “Just drive around for a while and if it doesn’t get better soon I’ll see the doctor.” So they drove around for a while.
The strange demise of Warren T.
The telephone call came at 10 a.m. on March 10, 1997. I’ll always remember
the time and date. The caller introduced himself as a friend of Warren T. He asked me if I was the fellow that went to school with
Warren. I told him that I was. There was a brief moment of silence and then the voice said, “I have some bad news for you, Warren
is dead.”
My relationship with Warren stretched back almost 50-years. We met on the parks and playgrounds of Inglewood, California. I was playing baseball, football and basketball in all the junior leagues. Warren was a writer, first for his junior high school paper, then for our high school newspaper. He tried to be athletic, but he just didn’t have the coordination, the ability. So, instead of playing he wrote about athletes and their games.
I never knew much about Warren’s family. I went to the apartment where he and his mother lived. My feeling, even back then, was that she drank. In all the years that Warren and I were friends I only saw his mother twice. Warren never talked about anyone else in his family. No siblings, no father.
Warren spent a lot of time at my house. I think my mother, father and grandmother adopted him in a way. All through high school Warren worked for the school newspaper, “The Sentinel.” By his sophomore year he became sports editor.
My relationship with Warren stretched back almost 50-years. We met on the parks and playgrounds of Inglewood, California. I was playing baseball, football and basketball in all the junior leagues. Warren was a writer, first for his junior high school paper, then for our high school newspaper. He tried to be athletic, but he just didn’t have the coordination, the ability. So, instead of playing he wrote about athletes and their games.
I never knew much about Warren’s family. I went to the apartment where he and his mother lived. My feeling, even back then, was that she drank. In all the years that Warren and I were friends I only saw his mother twice. Warren never talked about anyone else in his family. No siblings, no father.
Warren spent a lot of time at my house. I think my mother, father and grandmother adopted him in a way. All through high school Warren worked for the school newspaper, “The Sentinel.” By his sophomore year he became sports editor.
Makawao (
Bitching!
Harping!
Antagonistic!
Harping!
Antagonistic!
The ongoing self-destructive road show called the Republican Debates are giving all of us a clear insight into what our nation has become.
We are divided and becoming more and more divided with each debate, press release and unpleasant, hateful
and odious television commercial.
Politics has always been a dirty game. Nothing new here, it’s just that the game has been ratcheted up so many notches that the mere mention of a liberal to a conservative causes deep animosity and increased pulse rates. Mentioning conservative values to a liberal causes toes to curl in their shoes and fists to tighten.
The competition has gone beyond reasonable. The animosity between those who claim to be conservatives and those leaning towards the liberal side has grown to a bitter divide and the hostilities have entered our national psyche.
The bitterness has reached a point where millions of Americans have – or are losing faith in their elected officials or those wanting to hold office.
Compounding America’s fading faith in politicians is the belief by many that our representatives in Washington are merely lackeys to the interests of big business. Appearances would indicate that the largest companies exist in a world different than ours. The very large companies operate in a space that is apart from local interests and the problems of their American neighbors. They hold the power of small countries.
Politics has always been a dirty game. Nothing new here, it’s just that the game has been ratcheted up so many notches that the mere mention of a liberal to a conservative causes deep animosity and increased pulse rates. Mentioning conservative values to a liberal causes toes to curl in their shoes and fists to tighten.
The competition has gone beyond reasonable. The animosity between those who claim to be conservatives and those leaning towards the liberal side has grown to a bitter divide and the hostilities have entered our national psyche.
The bitterness has reached a point where millions of Americans have – or are losing faith in their elected officials or those wanting to hold office.
Compounding America’s fading faith in politicians is the belief by many that our representatives in Washington are merely lackeys to the interests of big business. Appearances would indicate that the largest companies exist in a world different than ours. The very large companies operate in a space that is apart from local interests and the problems of their American neighbors. They hold the power of small countries.
But perhaps the most negative and penetrating result of the inability
of the Democrats and Republicans to co-exist for the benefit of our grand union is the doubting, cynical frame of mind it has imbued
in Americans of all persuasions.
With increasing frequency conservatives and liberal citizens are becoming
dismayed at the incessant quibbling and verbal warfare displayed by those whom we've voted.
In the newspaper "The Desert Sun" in Palm Springs , California , there was an article I read with interest
about a writer's memories of time spent with Walter Annenberg, the famous philanthropist. The author, William Edelen, told of how
he met Mr. Annenberg, and how the two of them spent quality time together on many different occasions and how Mr. Annenberg became
his patron. The thing that I found disturbing about the article was the opinions and behavior of the two men during these meetings
that dealt with what Mr. Annenberg called "religious literacy."
Mr. Edelen quipped that he and Mr. Annenberg would often enjoy "laughter and jokes about the religious and political quacks, phonies and hypocrites."
Mr. Edelen quipped that he and Mr. Annenberg would often enjoy "laughter and jokes about the religious and political quacks, phonies and hypocrites."
This column previously ran on The Spectator
This column previously ran on The Spectator
This column previously ran on The Spectator