When I started writing, it was as a favor for a friend.  This friend had contracted with a publisher of english as a second language school books.  She had committed to write some 400 short anedotal stories that were to be used to help students learn english.
I came into the picture when my friend ran dry of stories at about 200.  She contacted all of her friends to help out and I thought what-the-heck, I'd give it a try.  So, I wrote a few and sent them to her and she loved them.  With a little incouragement I wrote a few more. Turns out, she had been submitting the stories as they were produced to the publisher and they had accepted all of mine.  I think I wrote 30 of them before I got the idea that I could acually write a real story, maybe even a novel.

to be continued

In a somewhat remote and smallish town, near the western side of mid Florida, with the early morning temperature already at 97 and the humidity at 93, James C. Bracket, known to his few friends as JB, sat on the front steps of his run down trailer and said to his scruffy little black dog sitting next to him, “What in God’s name has happened to my life, Penny?  As a kid, we called people like me trailer trash. Christ, I’m almost sixty two and one step away from being homeless”.

Sitting there, reflecting on all that had happened over the last year, JB thought to himself, everything considered, I guess it could be worse.  Hell, I could already be homeless and on the street.  So what if I’m living in a trailer, it’s not that bad.  I’m still able to work.  All I have to do is find a job, keep up with my bills and put together a little savings to work my way out of this mess.   

Just one year before, JB had seemed to be on top of the world.  His credit had been excellent with a middle score of 810.  He had a beautiful, nicely furnished home, in a gated, golf course community in Las Vegas. He had a fancy yellow sports car and a big silver SUV.  A good part of his income was cash.  He had a knack for landscaping and interior design along with the ability to do a lot of the actual physical work as well.  He had a pretty good repeat business and almost all of his new business was by referral. 

The economy was booming.  Real estate sales were at an all time high.  Home appreciation in Las Vegas was running at around 18 to 20 percent a year. 

When he had moved to Vegas two years earlier, just before buying his house, JB was taken to a loan broker by his real estate agent for prequalification.  He was nervous, concerned that his mostly cash business wouldn’t show up well in his credit check.  He knew his credit was okay, but since his divorce the year before he didn’t have the money for a traditional down payment.

No more than 15 minutes into the interview, the loan broker looked back from his computer screen and said, “Mr. Bracket, based on your stated income and with no down payment, you qualify for a 100 percent ARM loan of up to one million dollars.”

Literally stunned, looking over to his real estate agent twice, JB was able to respond only after going over in his head several times what the loan officer had just said, “Are you saying, that with no money down I can buy any house I want that cost up to one million dollars?”.

The broker, with an amused little grin on his face said, “That is exactly what I’m saying.”  

Looking back now, JB was sure, that had been the defining moment for the series of events that led to him being in his present circumstances.  He remembered thinking that if he stayed with his original plan to buy a house in the $150,000 range he could expect appreciation to be around $30,000 in the first year.  After the unexpected news from the loan broker, he had decided to step up to a $400,000 house.  After all, using the same appreciation rate, he’d have appreciation in the $80,000 range. 

Penny put her paw on JB’s leg; he looked down at the adoring brown eyes staring up at him and said, “Penny, I now realize it was nothing but pure greed that made me buy such an expensive house.  If I had stuck with my original plan we might still be okay”. 

Penny cocked her head to one side and perked up her ears.  It was as if she was not just listening but making a comment as well, “Don’t worry dad, everything will be alright”.

 

Getting confused by marketing and advertising campaignes along with the expectations of societie's values over the giving of material objects as symbols of our love is common and understandable.  It is not surprising then that we loose the essence of such events as birthdays, anniversaries and Valentines Day.  We often stake our own self esteem on whether we are loved for giving a pretty card or big box of chocolates or a necklace.  If gifts are given out of obligation or guilt instead of love or well wishes, the giver is setting themselves up for the disappointment that may come from insincere intentions.  I am not suggesting that gifts should not be given, but more that whenever a gift is given it should be with a real feeling of love or caring.  The things that money can buy like diamonds, cars, clothes and all other material possessions are not what real love is about.  Real love is way more expensive than any stuff.  You will have to pay dearly for real love with the most expensive and costly of all things, commitment, steadfastness, unselfishness, understanding, truthfulness, loyalty, forgivingness and just plain being more concerned about the other person’s feelings than your own.
Latif        

A while back, while attending a meeting at a client’s office that I had been doing business with for at least fifteen years, a gorgeous and seductive female put the moves on me right in front of my client. At least that was what her owner, my client, explained to me after the incident. It seems that “Dancer” a forty seven year old South American parrot, that I had been saying “hello” and “goodbye” to at my occasional meetings at this client’s office over all those years, decided to spread her vibrant blue wings to a fully extended position while pressing her bright yellow breast feathers against the bars of her cage and making ear piercing squawking noises. Having my attention, along with everyone else within earshot, she began backing up on her perch and bowed her dazzling green head as low as she could, showing her most sincere submissive posture to me. Not being at all schooled in parrot love signals or parrot manners, I mistook her actions as being aggressive and thought she wanted to attack me. Thinking my client would be terribly offended that her parrot hated me, I turned around ready to offer my most humble apologies only to find my client grinning from ear to ear. She then explained that Dancer was smitten with me and that if I was interested in her, I should spread my wings and bow to her as well.
Latif     

At some point in your life it is important to have figured out what makes life good for you.  It stands to reason then that the earlier in life that realization takes place, the longer you have to enjoy it.  It does not matter what makes life good for you.  It only matters that you find out.  If you can incorporate a career with what makes life good, great!  If not, then at least carve out the time to actively pursue your given area of interest or involvement.  I can say this to you because I have reached an age where I am experiencing some remorse over choices I have made over the years.  I have worked a lifetime in a profession that brings little satisfaction on its own accord other than monetary reward.  I got confused thinking that my happiness was always just around the corner.  So I never discovered, let alone cultivated the part of my life that makes life good for me.  Interestingly enough, just passing along to you this hard earned bit of experience is making me feel very good.  Maybe it’s not too late…maybe writing is what makes life good for me.

Latif   

You can go through your whole life being focused solely on what seems important to you.  As the years slip by it may never really occur to you that there is an end to this life.  Later when that thought does come into your mind, and trust me, it will come; you will probably ask yourself, what have I done of any consequence?    Will anybody remember me when I am gone?  I say those are not really the important questions to ask yourself.  What really matters is have you lived your life according to your own beliefs and convictions.  Have you been true to yourself?  Whose life have you made better just by being here?  Examine the actions of your life.  If you do not approve of the way you are living, change the way you live to be in accordance with your own true nature.  If you don’t know what your true nature is, then find out.  Look at what you have done in your life that makes you feel satisfied and then duplicate and expand on those types of actions.  You may have heard of the old adage that says; “You only go around once in this life”.  Well, I don’t know if you go around once or multiple times until you get it right.  What I do know is, you are here now and you owe it to yourself to make the best of it. 
Latif      

Have you ever had a best friend?  One that stays with you no matter what!  I have.  She’s never been cross or angry at me.  She always sticks by me even when I’m in a bad mood.  If I come home from work all tired out she always greets me with enthusiasm and warmth which never fails to make me feel better.  She is always ready for whatever I want to do.  If it’s going for a walk, she’s ready.  If it’s a drive through the mountains, she’s ready.  Even if I just want to sit on the couch reading a book or watching a good movie, she’s ready.  She listens to everything I have to say no matter how droll or boring it might be.  I can’t think of one time that she didn’t like what I fixed to eat.  In fact when I think back across my entire life, I have never had such loyalty, friendship, camaraderie, sincerity and love all given to me with total unrestrained commitment.  Perhaps you may be curious to know my best friend’s name?  It’s Phoebe!  She is about eleven years old, has black hair (with a little grey) and brown eyes.  That might seem young to you unless you multiply her age by seven.  If you haven’t guessed by now…Phoebe is my dog.
Latif

 

 

 

Last night, well, really early this morning about 4:30am, I woke up having had a weird and scary dream about people being chased down and hung for no reason whatsoever. It had been very vivid and my heart was still racing from the experience. My neck muscles and upper back were tense and I could not shake the images from my mind. Still being tired and not wanting to get out of my warm bed I knew if I immediately went back to sleep the dream would more than likely start right back up again where it had left off. About the only way to avoid that was to get up, go to the bathroom and maybe have a small glass of juice before going back to bed. Returning to my bedroom and before getting back in bed I pulled the curtain back from the window just enough to peak out. It was still quite dark out but the light from the moon was just enough for me to see a sight that freaked me out so bad that I backed away from the window almost falling over my desk chair. What I had seen was a body hanging from the second story window of the house directly across the street from me. It took a few moments for me to get up enough nerve to look again. Turns out it was just the neighbor surfer dude’s wet suit hanging out to dry.
Latif 

Early in our country's history, at local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts,' hence the term...

                     

                       "minding your P's and Q's"

As a kid growing up in the cold Ohio winters, when it really got cold I often heard the expresion; "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".  The picture that always popped into my head was that of a small brass monkey in a cringing posture. But, I could never quite picture the obvious results.  Why not his tail or even his hands falling off, that I could picture.  Man was I wrong...here is the origin of the saying;

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon.  However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?  The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally,

 "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

 

 
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