StanleyWheeler

Here we are. The new year stretches like an immense scroll of blank paper before us, clean and untouched, disappearing into the ether, awaiting the ink and smudges of our daily struggle. The past year stretches out behind us, bearing the print of our thoughts and actions, stained with spills, strikethroughs, blackouts, tears (and tears), rips, beautiful prose, memories (good and bad), pages upon which we would dwell fondly in our thoughts, and pages we would like to forget. Each day is really such spot upon the great scroll of life; we just give it special significance with the turn of the new year.  The new year is full of promise; we will be better than we have been; we will improve. January begins pregnant with hope and resolution. Before February, most of the hope and all of the resolution expire, stillborn in the face of winter's grim and frigid reality, and our recognition that we would rather embrace our weaknesses than fearlessly forge them into strengths.  We imag...

I attended another girls' basketball game--two in fact, the JV and the varsity. Once again, the JV game proved to be the more exciting of the two. The game was in the second quarter when we arrived. The home team trailed 20-9. Things looked grim. Shortly after sitting down, we realized that most of the folks around us were supporters of the visiting team. I wasn't worried; they were well-behaved. Besides, I'm well-trained in the manly arts of dodging, diving, and running away. But seriously, my whole body is a weapon...and just as effective as the body of the fictional deputy who originally said that.  The girls on the home team eventually scraped a game plan together; they completely dominated the rest of the game, making up the deficit and winning by about five points. It was quite inspirational for the home crowd. The most remarkable part of the evening was the prelude to the varsity game. There is a time at these events when the divisions of teams and towns fall a...

Combat! Season 1 Episode 7: "Escape to Nowhere" Once upon a time there was a lieutenant. Something very bad happened. We don’t know what the very bad thing was. We only see that he is in a village littered with dead American soldiers. The lieutenant is face down in front of a cart; he has had a very bad day.  He raises his head and calls for the captain; the lieutenant is our friend Hanley. There is no movement or sound from the body of the captain. Instead, a wolf pack lopes in to town, as wolf packs do. Hanley is very frightened; he puts his head back down; he plays dead (but is he grateful? And will he survive? He seems to have more than just a “Touch of Grey” (but I think that’s just dirt in his hair). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOaXTg3nAuY (one of the few Dead songs that I recognize)). It doesn’t look like Hanley will get by. The wolves begin looting the bodies. One of the wolves brings Hanley around with a well-placed fang. Cut to the o...

We had escaped unscathed through Customs, or so we thought. We followed the path that left Customs. It led us between a wall or barrier, and a huge luggage claim area. At the end of the path was Gandalf. He had cleverly concealed his true identity with an official uniform of some sort. He sat at a lofty desk as if it were some regal tribunal.  Before the incognito Gandalf stood an older couple. They both seemed quite tall, or maybe we just seemed small. He asked them if they had any luggage. They said that they did, but that it was not with them. He said, "You shall not pass!" Or words to that effect.  The tall ones responded that their luggage was being transferred to the domestic flight, and they did not need to get their luggage. He said, "Without your luggage, you shall not fly, you fools!" They said the airline had told them that they would not have to pick up their luggage from the international flight; it would be transferred automatically. H...

A humorous observation occurred to me this afternoon. Thinking of it made me smile. I knew that I would have to include it with my post tonight. I would...if I could remember it. Trust me. It was very funny.  The other thing that made me laugh recently was watching To Have and Have Not when Lauren Bacall's character Slim says, "I'll don't think I'll ever be angry again at anything you say." I think the smile we see from Bogey's character Harry is genuine, not mere acting. Her mockery of the other pretty woman in the movie is very good. I laughed out loud. I will have more to say about that very enjoyable movie at a later day. For now, I liked it. I was reminded not only of Casa Blanca , but also of  The Maltese Falcon , and Beat the Devil . Some corrections to Justice in Season have finally been posted to Amazon. There were a number of minor-but-annoying errors in the book, including one in the very first paragraph. What was the cause of such ...

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 a.m. We planned to be at the airport by 7:00 a.m. I received a notification before the chickens (or us either for that matter) were up, that the flight from Paris to San Francisco would be delayed... A little later, another notification...and then another...and then another...Anyway, the flight wasn't leaving until sometime in the afternoon. So, we no longer had to hurry. Instead we got to the airport, where we learned the flight wouldn't leave until even later. We spent 5 hours at the airport waiting for the flight. I think my wife took this picture at the airport. When the time to board our flight finally did arrive, my wife and I were pulled from the line and grilled about our backgrounds, jobs, purpose of our trip, etc. I thought there were several other individuals who appeared more deserving of a hasty interrogation...but we were the lucky ones.  I don't know if our answers mattered, or if the procedure was jus...

I'm continuing my slow enjoyment of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . This chapter is best savored slowly. Twain explains the triumphs and sorrows of a boy. I suspect he remembered much of this from his own childhood...with appropriate embellishment. I'm sure that I appreciate his description much more now than I did when I was a kid. We get to see Tom as a martyr, or when he believes himself to be a martyr. Chapter 3 follows Tom's immediate success in the field of graft and corruption (completing the whitewash job). He presents himself to Polly. As one might suspect, she is skeptical...and very surprised. She is so surprised at his successful completion of the task that she gives him a choice apple, and a lecture on the added value of a treat earned through virtuous effort. Tom steals a doughnut as Polly ends the lecture. As he makes his escape, Tom pelts Sid with a hail of dirt clods for getting him in trouble the night before. He is off. We have a final triumph to w...

We left the Louvre, but I wasn't sure about our next move. One part of me wanted to find a nice restaurant in Paris where my last remaining wad of euros might be exchanged for a delicious dinner and memorable evening with my bride. I explained my dilemma. She didn't want to find a restaurant. We took the public transit back to the hotel. We arrived in a blustery storm --if that's not the name of an automobile, it should be. The tempest-- which is a car name -- lashed us with the wet and windy fury of a thousand scourges.  We made out way via the bureaucratic elevator back to our room. We had a brief rest, and perused the area for restaurants; it looked like we would have to take a taxi. The storm had ceased, but there didn't seem to be anything other than hotel restaurants within walking distance. We both agreed that we didn't want to eat at our hotel again. The rather bad experience associated with the meal from the previous evening stuck in our memories like...