Memoir by Kristian Wood

 

Flight

“Here’s some gum. Be sure to chew this so your ears pop.”

I remembered my father’s words as I sat with my back pressed against the seat during take-off. I chewed my gum relentlessly, but it didn’t help. I figured out a formula which was to yawn every five minutes, or whenever I felt an increase in pressure. By the end of the trip my mouth was so dry not only from the yawning, but also from the refusal to drink anything the flight attendant offered. Ten years later, and I still do them both. The only way I could peer out of the window was through my peripherals. I refused to turn my head, but I felt other passengers’ eyes glaring past my face through the small porthole, and watched the city become smaller and smaller. Seattle was just as beautiful up close as it was thousands of miles in the air. We were still ascending. I was motionless until the plane leveled out. The clouds encompassed the 747.

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Epic poetry from David Cicerone

 

HISTORY
REPEATS
ITSELF
IN
PARADISE


For Alex Duplain

* * * * * * *


‘Solo y herido, así me dejas,
Sabiendo que mañana irás
con otro al altar’

DAVID CICERONE
DCSK—002

There is a place in life for faith but that place is not in the mind
Security is whatever you get when you’ve outrun your memories,
& redemption only comes when you’ve been damned by what you can’t live down—
But the voice of conscience is as hard to hear as it is to kill
Love is whatever it takes to outlive your regrets,
& when the soul’s as timeless as its absence the heart’s as good as the last place it left

For in Cartagena I was threatened with my head by gangland pawns whose barked commands to pay in blood or money sounded rehearsed enough for the Norwegians and I to bolt to the ocean in full confidence that there was no real menace, only for their leader to ambush our hovel with a pistol three days later demanding hundreds of thousands in ransom for an associate of ours his boys had plucked off the street and held bound and gagged in a minivan which us ashen-faced rubes tried to collect from sympathetic friends but in the end had no other choice than to pony up ourselves
And in Medellín as twisted revenge for the student-anarchist crackdown our taxi driver played slalom with the riot shields at a speed fit to ignite terror in anyone
And in Bogotá the coffee farmer dressed his kneecaps and left elbow in a balm thick enough to conceal the freshly inked smiley-faces, having delayed the forearm winking frown until the morrow because he “just couldn’t get four tattoos in a single day from a one-eyed mechanic”
And in Villa de Leyva I fought through grimy boulevards, thatched-roof shanties and identically dressed families of seventeen just to scratch myself raw from bedbugs and take in animated custody battles between the owner of the flophouse and her most unfortunate favorite mistake

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Essay from Christopher Bernard

 

Panamanian Golden Frog, from the Daily Dank

Panamanian Golden Frog, from the Daily Dank

 

Zero Carbon & the Great Extinction

By Christopher Bernard

It was Sam who got me thinking, one day, after I read a book about how mankind was causing the greatest extinction of species on earth in 65 million years. Sam’s my dog, a black Labrador with deep, sad eyes. It was what I saw in those eyes that changed my mind – actually, it changed my whole life. My name is Johnny José Brennan, and I live in Davenport, Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River.
I read the book over one of my few weekends away from the office. As I read, I often shook my head in alarm and amazement. I’d followed reports on global warming and humanity’s other devastating effects on other living creatures over the years, and fully accepted these were serious issues, but I’d had no idea about this; I’d believed it was mostly a question of rising oceans and more violent hurricanes and unstable weather that would have an effect a couple of generations down the road. But this was a different order of magnitude altogether.

I vaguely remembered my Uncle Jésus (on my Mexican mother’s side) railing against what he called “ecocide” when I was little, and something he had called, with a melodramatic flourish, “the coming holocaust of the species.” My dad, an Irishman with family still in Donegal, had claimed global warming was all made up by liberals, that environmentalism was just a way for Big Science to get grants from Washington and take more of people’s rights away; he and his brother-in-law had had many a memorable shout-’n’-out (angry shouts followed by even angrier, if possible, slamming of doors) while I was growing up, so I dismissed both of them, my father’s conspiracy theories and my crazy uncle’s rants about “species collapse.” But now I wasn’t so sure.

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Cristina Deptula on Dr. Daniela Kaufer’s talk on the neuroscience of stress at Berkeley’s Pyramid Alehouse

 

Most everyone can relate to being stressed out. But, how does stress actually affect us and our brains? A recent talk gave an in-depth look at the neuroscience involved with various types of stress. And, while this may not convince everyone’s employer to let them take the day off and head to the beach, the research will likely lead to better understanding of and therapy for stress-related conditions.

Dr. Daniela Kaufer, a UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology, gave a lecture April 3rd at Berkeley’s Pyramid Alehouse. She discussed the dangers that certain types of stress pose to the brain and suggested some mechanisms behind this and new directions for treatment.

Dramatic piece from DanaLynne Johnson

 

*Toy Law*

1 How was I supposed to know there was a law. The Bad Samaritan law? Whose bright idea was that? He should be here in this cell: not me. He beat his wife: not me. He endangered his own child: not me. All I did was listen. All I did was…all I did was witness a crime. I didn’t do anything. … Victoria? … Are you okay, Victoria? … Is Genesis okay? … I heard her crying: I heard her, Victoria. I wanted to pick her up. I wanted to…

2 Door’s open! I’ll be right there! I just got out of the shower! Did you bring Henry Weinhart? The game’s on ESPN! Damn! … Hey, can you turn up the volume? I can’t hear it in here! … Victoria? What did he accuse you of this time? … Did you burn his dinner? … Forget to do his laundry? You didn’t iron his shirts? … Hey, can you turn it up? I still can’t hear anything? … Come on, Victoria. Strike back. Matt?—I think that your name—didn’t anyone tell you that you don’t hit a girl? We don’t hit women. … Damn! … There’s my wallet … Did someone forget that bit of information? Where were you when that lesson was being learned by everybody else? … You must have thought they said trains when they passed out brains. … Damn you! Victoria? Hang in there. … Hey! Get me a glass and some ice! Thanks!

3 I didn’t hear anything? did you? … Are you sure? No, I didn’t hear anything. Where did you put the remote? … Hamm! That hits the spot! … Which game is this? The Lakers-Celtics game should be up in about ten minutes. … I didn’t hear anything. … Victoria? Genesis? … God damn you, Matt. … Nothing. I didn’t say anything.

4 I’m not a bad person. I pay my bills. I pay my taxes. I keep to myself. Most of the time, anyway. I want to throw something. But everything’s nailed down. Damn! … Someone came by an hour ago. … I don’t need a public defender: I didn’t do anything wrong! Fuck! I never laid a hand on him. I never even spoke to him. … Make me! Come on,: make me shut up! Fuck you! I’m fucking innocent!

5 Victoria’s here? Where’s Genesis? I’ll have to ask her. … I wish I could wash my face at least. Shave, maybe. Don’t want to look like Matt.

6 What the hell was she mad about? I didn’t do anything. I did not do any thing, Victoria. How can I be guilty of doing nothing? People do it every day. … I feel like in a cage. I’m in a cage, and the zoo visitors are all staring at me. I think they should experience life from this side. … God, you look awful, Victoria. Why did you come, anyway? Shouldn’t you wait until the marks fade? Shouldn’t you cover up your bruises? Makeup: you should wear makeup? Shouldn’t you? I think you should. Hey, do you know who won the game? … What are you so mad at? … Shouldn’t You take it out on Matt? He’s the one who putt those marks on your face, on your arms? … He didn’t touch Genesis, did he? … Thank God.

7 Hey! Did you put the beer in the fridge? I’ve got the pretzels. … What do you mean? … You called the police? On me? … Here. Here’s your beer! Get out!

 

Poetry from Neila Mezynski

 

Boys and Men Men

– Sharp, quiet fast. Lickety loose. Do get it. Windblown . Please.

– Surly, red-belly man. Defend his lack of care. Plenty of not that. Smirk skirt, issue. Roadblock.

– Henpeck blind by both. Comfortable tune out. Don’t raise voice, get slammed. Don’t care really. One track mind. Quality.

– Don’t think. Keep them demon at bay. Sit now oh driven one. Disposal. Blast off tumbleweed. Care too much.

– Don’t need help, any. Please.

– Sick and red beard round shoulder hump back waist. Suspender. Need no new diet now. Got it all figured out. Stuck.

– Red face high ego might. Mostly insecure specially when the ground is ripped from under. Them too. Showboat left. Snooty snoot.

– Don’t say much except okay. Efficient. Sexy. Chocolate.

– Big belly baby. gotta ? now? later? Lamppost.

– Shaking finger big quick brain. Hard to keep up with that fast. Anything for a friend. Gold.

Neila Mezynski

 

 

Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope

 

summerjusticecover

Summer Justice is a short story by Michelle Carithers. It is the story of Audrey Taylor who comes from a dysfunctional family in a run-down neighborhood. She wants to escape the shootings and drug-infested neighborhood, where she grew up in a home with an alcoholic father and a mother that has supported her family for years. Her siblings all became successful except one brother who got caught up in crime. She found a room to rent with an elderly woman 500 miles away. She arrives one week early because she is about to start classes and start a job in the college bookstore. When she arrives at Ms. June Baker’s house, the elderly lady says she will think it over and let her know in a week. Audrey’s car barely made it there and won’t make it back. Audrey tells Ms. June that they had agreed the room was hers. Then Ms. June tells her she didn’t realize Audrey was black. Ms. June lives in a ‘white’ neighborhood.

Henry, Ms. June’s neighbor, accepts Audrey as a neighbor and friend after she moves into the room. Ms. June tells Audrey that her husband was murdered in a home invasion robbery. Audrey’s brother has been arrested and has been linked to home invasion robberies and murder. Summer Justice touches on the subject of prejudice in many cultures. I am rating Summer Justice five stars. I recommend Summer Justice for older teens to adult. I know that you will enjoy Summer Justice as much as I have.

pearlmdcover

Wow!! This novel is absolutely FANTASTIC!! Definitely 5 stars and 2 thumbs up! I absolutely loved it and hope there will be a book 2. It is about Dr. Pearl Stern, one of the few women doctors in the 1800’s.

Pearl started out working with Dr. Stone in his medical practice. After Dr. Stone dies, she tries to buy the practice from his widow. However, his widow is a mean, jealous and vengeful woman. She is also very rich and has an extreme amount of influence in the Missouri town they live in and in the state of Missouri. When a woman who is pregnant and has lost a vast amount of blood is brought in by her family without the knowledge of the woman’s husband, Pearl delivers the baby and stabilizes the woman. Since the woman has lost such a vast amount of blood, she advises she be kept there. The woman’s family takes her home where she and the baby soon die. The husband blames Pearl and tells the widow Stone, who hates Pearl and has delusions that Pearl
was after her husband when he was alive. The Widow Stone then bribes Mr. Singleton with a great deal of cash to slander Pearl and have her thrown in prison.

Pearl leaves Missouri having no knowledge what the Widow Stone is going to do. She arrives in Asheville, NC and sets up practice. While there, she becomes friends with the Sheriff.

Pearl is a very progressive doctor. Not only is she a woman physician, but she will medically treat anyone who needs to be treated regardless of race or social standing. She also hires an African-American woman at first, just to help with the cleaning of the office. Loomey, her helper soon proves her worth and Dr. Stern soon promotes her to be her assistant. After Pearl heals one of the officers who were shot, she gains some of the respect she deserves. Then the widow Stone obtains a governor’s warrant for Pearl’s arrest and she is extradited back to Missouri.

Chief Harkins takes her to Missouri and helps clear up the lies that
led to the warrant. I highly recommend Pearl, MD. If you want a book with suspense, drama, humor and romance and that will keep your interest, Pearl, MD is the book. Happy Reading!!