StanleyWheeler

  It seems to me that I've heard it said that attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal. There may be some truth to that, but I think there's more to it than that. Go ahead. Ask me what makes me think that. I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you. I had an ordeal yesterday. It was supposed to be an adventure, but an ordeal cut short the adventure. The wounds are still red. It started when I asked Rubicon Jones (obviously a pseudonym) about a good place to fish. He gave me a location and warned me that it was about an hour and half away. I decided that wasn't too far, and riding the motorcycle (an ADVENTURE bike) to go fishing would make a fun outing--the first of what would prove to be a series of bad decisions. You may not be aware of the fact that a prior fishing companion, sometimes referred to as Big Dog, gave me a new fishing pole when I left for Byzantium--he was that excited to see me go. I needed to try out the new pole, and fishing season is w...

   We traveled back to the homestead on the other side of the state. Les Freres Corses were expecting me. They had dice. They had plans. After the writing (I finished the motorcycle travel story and got it to my team), mowing, weeding, watering, eating, and watching The Lego Movie , we got down to business.    Behold the business. It took a little while to decide on a time period. One chose western, another chose medieval. The western figures were not on site, so we went medieval, sort of. With some orcs, men of Gondor, a white wizard, and some Star Trek figures and sets, we began. Oh, and there was the symbiote. With a body of red wax and legs of black plastic, it had a short move but was powerful in combat; if it struck a blow in combat the recipient had to make a roll against a new symbiote sprouting from his blood.  McCoy, Scotty, Chekov, and a redshirt had been chased through a portal by klingons or other would-be assailants. They arrived in this land of or...

  Did you ever notice that there are no major federal holidays in August in the United States? I'm talking about the kind of holidays recognized by employers, courts, banks, and the post office. There are probably scads of days during the month that have been glommed onto by various particular interests as special days like International Vampire Bat Day or National Pecan Pie Day. The whole month may have been co-opted as Foot Fungus Awareness Month or something like that; I never pay attention to those.  There must be a slew of local and state fairs during the month to celebrate local identity and accomplishments by gorging on grease and sugar at the midway food booths and regurgitating it as an offering to friends and strangers on the tilt-a-whirl.  Has August been reserved for local events?  The whole nation of France seems to be on vacation in August--for the entire month--yet we have no major holiday for the month. Why is that? The important dates in August that ...