In Memoriam: Myra

I loved you so much.

You were curious and inquisitive,

Brave and daring,

and so loving.

You followed me everywhere I went,

loyally and lovingly.

You were my My My and I loved you with all my heart.

When I first rescued you and your sister,

you were the one to come say hi first.

You were the one who slept with me that second night,

and forever after.

You were the one to greet me first every night

upon returning home from the day.

You, my beloved, were the one who woke me up,

in the middle of the night,

as you played in the dark,

freely.

I loved you so much,

little My My.

I will miss you in my heart forever.

Catching Up

I’ve been very busy, so let’s catch up!

• I purchased a thoroughbred race horse on Saturday, a 4 year-old brown gelding named Major Danger. I claimed him out of an $8,000 claiming race at Charles Town Races and Slots for my trainer, David Walters. He’ll see the vet this week to make sure he’s in good shape and has the right medication, and then re-training of the horse will begin. With some luck, he’ll be healthy, sound, will train well, and we’ll enter him into his first race under my barn’s silks sometime in the next two or three weeks. I’ll post some pictures when we saddle him in a race for the first time.

• Ed and I had a successful trip to Lenox to claim my dad’s personal effects. We had a lot to do in a very short period of time, and it all went very smoothly.  Along the way, we took U.S. Route 7 through Connecticut’s Litchfield County. As a teenager, I used to visit New Milford almost every weekend to spend time with my Dad. He and his second wife had a weekend house in New Milford.  To the best of my recollection, I hadn’t been to New Milford in 17 years, so driving past it last week was very weird for me. Both my Dad and his second wife have passed, so there was no one to share the memories with.

• While on the trip, my Mom, Ed, and I visited Cassone’s Bakery in Port Chester, NY. I’m pretty sure I ate the most delicious Kaiser Roll I’ve ever tasted. Yummm!

• The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments tomorrow in U.S. v. Stevens, a fascinating 1st Amendment case which I am excited about. In 1999, a new federal law was enacted that, in part, made it illegal to sell pictures or videos depicting animal cruelty. The respondent, Robert Stevens, was arrested and convicted of violating that law when he marketed dog fighting videos. But the Federal Appeals Court for the 3rd Circuit overturned the conviction (en banc!) as a violation of the 1st Amendment’s enumerated right to free speech. This week’s argument pits the under-experienced Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, versus Patricia Millet of Akin Gump (the publishers of SCOTUSblog). Millet should clean her clock, but I’m rooting for the U.S. here. I think it’s perfectly acceptable for the federal government to pass a law that says you cannot sell videos depicting an illegal act. This case isn’t about dog fighting (although I would hope you wouldn’t argue dog fighting is anything but despicable and reprehensible), it’s about free speech. You can read a lot more about U.S. v. Stevens here.

Tonight’s TV Premieres

Here are tonight’s season premieres which I’ll be DVRing:

• FRINGE – FOX – 9pm
• COMMUNITY – NBC – 9:30pm

There Comes a Time …

There comes a time when you do something because it’s just the right thing to do. There comes a time when you do something, and you don’t benefit from it in any way. There comes a time when you have to elevate your game and do something for someone else just because you can.

Brandy is a 3rd grade teacher up in the Edmonton area of Canada. She’s been with her class for about 2 weeks now, is getting to know them well, and is starting to figure out how she can best teach them what they should know in the classroom and in life. I first got to know Brandy when I found her blog. Brandy’s a very entertaining writer, whether it’s delightful stories from the classroom or her blogging about life, love, and beer. Brandy’s way with words brings a smile and a laugh to my face every time she posts.

Brandy could use some help. Like most public school teachers, there are books and supplies she’d like to buy to help teach her class more effectively. Also like most public school teachers, she’s not paid well enough to dip into her own checking account to do this. She would if she could, and probably has (and will) when it’s absolutely necessary. It’s part of what makes her a teacher. She cares. Now, Brandy had a proper upbringing (and she’s Canadian, to boot) so she’d never even think of asking for the help. Nope, too proud for that. So it’s up to us.

If you could take the time to go to Amazon.com, click on the Gift Cards link at the top of the page above the search bar, spend just $5 (or more if you’re feeling generous), and send it to brandyismagic@gmail.com, you would make her day.

And it’s not about Brandy. It’s not at all about Brandy. It’s about the 3rd graders. It’s about helping Brandy help her kids. It’s about realizing there really is mmmagic in the world; it’s in our hearts. It’s about giving just a little bit of yourself — because you care, too.  It’s because there comes a time and the time is now.

Waiting on My Nightstand

I’m quite behind on book reading. I have a number of books piling up on my nightstand waiting to be read. The pile is getting kind of high. Myra climbs the pile, perches on top of it, and lords over the bedroom. So it’s cats-want-to-conquer-it high.

What’s waiting on my nightstand?

• Lawrence Durrell’s “The Alexandria Quartet” – recommended to me by no less than high fantasy author David Eddings. Durrell’s four book magnum opus is beloved by book lovers for it mellifluous prose and grand story telling. Set in Alexandria in World War II, the four books tell a story from four perspectives, gradually advancing the narrative as more and more characters are realized.

• “A Legacy: A Novel” by Sybille Bedford, tells the story of two Jewish families in early 20th century Germany as anti-semitism rises to a fervor. I started this book months ago and enjoyed it, but never finished it.

• Lauren Grodstein is a new contemporary author whose debut novel, “Reproduction is the Flaw of Love“, I discovered while reading a short story of hers at the short story blog FiveChapters.com. The site was giving away signed copies of the book, and they were gracious enough to send me one. According to Amazon.com’s Editorial Review, “Joel Miller spends a Saturday afternoon standing outside the bathroom door of the Brooklyn apartment he shares with his girlfriend as she takes a pregnancy test to determine their fate as parents, and ultimately as a couple. To occupy the time (both Miller’s and our own), Grodstein takes us on a journey through Miller’s 28 years, a trip which starts with his father’s departure and his mother’s madness, continues in a cheap apartment in Queens where he falls in love with a high society girl from Park Avenue, and finally culminates back in the Brooklyn bathroom.”

• Speaking of free books, Gwen Dawson over at Literary License helped me obtain a galley copy of a collection of essays, “Beg, Borrow, Steal” by Michael Greenberg, in which the author illustrates the life of a struggling writer in New York City trying to practice his craft and keep himself fed.

• Umberto Eco’s, “Focault’s Pendulum” sits in my bathroom slowly being read. It’s a wonderful, wonderful book — Eco’s unique style of storytelling and the way he builds a fictional narrative on top of real world scholarship in semiotics is pure intellectual joy to me.

• I took delivery this morning of a new release by Vintage Classics – a hardcover with no dust jacket (a growing trend; finally!). “The Complete Sherlock Holmes” is a collection of all 7 books authored by Sir Conan Doyle, comprising 4 novels and 56 short stories featuring the inhabitants of 221B Baker Street (which I visited on a cold, rainy day in November 2000). There’s a beach front on Grand Cayman crying out for me to lay out on it while enjoying this tome.

• I still haven’t read Brian Urquhart’s biography of Ralph Bunche (“Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey“) or its companion book of Ralph Bunche speeches compiled by Charles Henry (“Ralph J. Bunche: Selected Speeches and Writings“). Soon!

• I’m halfway through a re-read of Alexandre Dumas’s, “The Count of Monte Cristo“, a stupendous adventure novel that I love very much. It’s a huge book, however, and just getting halfway through is an accomplishment.

I need to spend less time on the computer and more time reading. This is such a fantastic list, and I want to finish everything on it!

The books:

Justine (Alexandria Quartet)

Balthazar (Alexandria Quartet)

Mountolive (Alexandria Quartet)

Clea (Alexandria Quartet)

A Legacy: A Novel

Reproduction is the Flaw of Love

Beg, Borrow, Steal

Focault’s Pendulum

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey

Ralph J. Bunche: Selected Speeches and Writings

The Count of Monte Cristo