Just My Personal Opinion, Of Course...

Cabin in Summer... You know, when I moved into my log cabin, I had to make many adjustments after living in a city condo... Most I enjoyed, like creating some "spaces or as some people call them rooms" in my yard... But being without any gas in a cabin that was created to use gas acquired through a ROW on the property, which included free gas to the residence, has become a major problem... Not for basic living...no, but for being able to routinely live by some type of schedule... So please forgive my lack of attention to emails requesting reviews...Before the gas shutoff, I was slowly catching up with the email while still producing approximately 20 reviews each month... But I haven't looked at my email for days. As a reminder, I did put up a notice on my blog that I will not be accepting new requests until September 1st (and maybe longer) due to the increasing number of requests I'm getting - I have at least 300 pending emails to be answered...) Some wi...

Walter Mosley at the 2007 Brooklyn Book Festival. The photographer dedicates this photograph to Debbie Ramos, sister of Jeffpw. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Really and Truly, I woke up this morning and my bedside clock read 3:53 , you know, the name of the Urban Fiction book by Nocomus Columbus that I just reviewed here! I don't know whether I specifically put in my review that all the murders in that book happened then... No, I didn't murder anybody...thinking about it? Well, nobody can stop a thought fleeting across your brain, right? And, besides, how could I murder an entire corporation--yes, that one, who left me almost homeless... http://notesfromhollyst.blogspot.com/2013/01/ how-to-make-homemade-cinnamon-tea.html The saddest thing about Columbia Gas leaving me...gasless, is that I haven't had a good cut of tea since last week! And anybody who follows my blogs know that I sit down with a good cup of tea when I read, especially in the morning. So, my re...

Natural gas production by countries (Romania in red) in cubic meters per year (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) English: Warning against digging up the Columbia Natural Gas pipe in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When you are a retired employee, burnt out, but still of sound mind...most of the time... sometimes the world, at its worst, needs to be talked about... Some of you know that I formerly was Associate Director of Facilities Planning and Management at West Virginia University . One of the things that my staff handled was land management . Robert Merow, an intelligent, highly competent man handled all the contracts for us for rights of way... I knew what he did, although I very rarely had to do anything unless I had to sign something as the director... So last year, when I got a letter from Columbia Gas that they were taking their equipment from my land, of course I immediately exclaimed that that could not happen. Although I did not "own" the...

Immobilized by fear and rope.   Wrist bound to wrist, foot bound to foot, sweating like a pig, even though the room’s not the least bit balmy.   Cool and dry like a fall evening in southern Arizona.   Sweat rolls down the forehead forming into beads before drip, drip, dripping to the floor.   Coalescing into a coagulation of dirt and sodium and chloride and water and whatever else perspiration is made up of.   Miniscule puddles.   Tiny transitory ecosystems.   Little salty souls, lightly corrupted, slightly corrupted, both foul and sweet, waiting for their ascent into the heavens, ready at any moment to be reunited with their creator.   Normally he sweats like this when sitting in the sauna after a gun-blasting work-out.   There was no workout today though, just the darkness.   His mouth is stuffed full of Subway sandwich wrapping paper, sealed shut by duct tape.   He can tell it’s from Subway because he’s eaten there a million...

Jonathan (Photo credit: climbnh2003 ) Neglected But Undefeated: The Life of a Boy Who   Never Knew A Mother's Love By Jonathan Anthony Burkett I'm assuming that one of the boys on the cover of this book is Jonathan, plus his loving grandparents...I wonder what would have happened to Jonathan if he had never come to America... Would he ever have been abused? I don't think so, because he had love from his grandparents, his friends and relatives. Would he ever have become a Christian? I think so... But would he have become a writer? I'm not sure... One of the social issues I have never been able to make a firm decision on was abortion. My inner turmoil has always been that I would rather see it legalized then to see that unwanted child abused... I still don't have an answer for myself, especially after reading Jonathan's biography. Jonathan was a child of rape. His mother never loved him, beating him continuously, often calling him by the nam...