MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009
Our Holiday get-together last Wednesday was a great little party, and we had way too much food. Bob’s pecan tarts and the salmon & cream cheese spread Gemma brought, made with the salmon Laszlo smoked, stole the show. And there were all sorts of chocolates cookies and nibbles and cheese and crackers, and Tim Horton’s Timbits. The Muse was impressed.
Unfortunately, Anne Berrie and Ann Robertson were both under the weather and unable to join us. Hope both ladies are feeling better.
Margaret read a poem she had written back in the ‘70s when she worked as a copy writer for the Lougheed Mall. It was a takeoff on ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’, but written to include the names of all the stores existing at the Mall at that time. Very well done.
Ron read a short story he had written, “A Christmas Miracle in Walnut Grove”. It told of his tennis association showing up just before Christmas to play tennis at a court that was on its last legs and which flooded regularly. He described all the various non-athletes that showed up to play and then were drowned out by freezing rain. On Christmas Day he felt compelled to visit the court and when he arrived he saw 6 new covered courts and all the players showed up to play. “Santa” was an old drinking buddy, Raymond Chan, who worked for the Christmas department of the Chinese Government monitoring the internet for Santa wishes. He had seen Ron’s blog and brought a new product in response, an instant indoor tennis court. Excellent story for Christmas.
Jim brought a printout from the International Pun Contest and I read them all, to many moans after each one.
Some of us had some wine, some had pop and some had water. Then I read Stuart McLean’s “Christmas with the Turlingtons” from his “Secrets From The Vinyl Café”. I was laughing so hard I found it difficult to keep reading. So if your Christmas is short of your expectations, be sure to read this story and re-evaluate.
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, January 6th, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you all then. In the meantime, all our very best wishes to you and yours for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Lisa and Bryon
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
THE REVIEW
CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Seven of us met on Wednesday, and Anne brought some chocolate brownies for us. She won’t be driving for a few weeks after surgery scheduled for Monday, so we won’t see her again until the New Year. We all wish her a speedy recovery.
Margaret read “Ghost In The Waxworks”, the next chapter in Coffin & Dye. Mr. Fox was concerned about the ghost at the wax museum at the Borough of Whistle. He wanted the it identified. He believed it was the ghost of Lucy Walter, the mistress of Charles II. Dye would only allot a week to identify the ghost. Coffin, afraid of ghosts, bought some whiskey to take with him to the Museum after dinner, where he would do a stakeout to catch the ghost.
Margaret is also in further talks with the publisher interested in her book “Blow Up The Castle”. We are all waiting to hear what transpires.
Danny read four pages talking about the time just before his breakdown. He gave us a lot of detail about group therapy, a social worker, anti-depressants, suicidal thoughts, side-effects of meds, suicidal ideation, erectile dysfunction, Viagra (and the opposite problem), girlfriend excluding him, dreading Christmas alone, and more suicidal thoughts. We were shown how thoughts of suicide were underlying everything else in his life.
Bob rewrote his fan letter to the Boston Red Sox and mailed it. We hope he gets a reply.
And then Bob read to us his account of all the electronics failures he and his wife have been plagued with recently. At various times they lost the use of T.V.s, computers and phones. A nightmare, to be sure. And Bob has yet to finish the story for us.
Anne read “Barbie Goes To The Lake”, an epic poem recounting an episode in her childhood when she took Barbie and Ken outside, and got into mischief with her friend Trish. Very comical.
Margaret and Gemma were both published in the December issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Margaret’s piece listed some well-known Christmas carols and then gave their history and told who wrote them. Gemma’s story, “A Christmas Present”, was about a hospital worker going home late on a snowy Christmas Eve in Montreal, to find her husband and son waiting for her with the gift of a new puppy. Very touching.
In the January issue of Eclectica Magazine, Jim, Anne and I will all be contributing authors. Jim and I have had short stories accepted, and Anne has two poems accepted. This group is doing very well, indeed.
I showed the group the anthology “Below The Canopy” which I received last week. It included my short piece “His Rant”.
Since Holidays are near, I asked the group if they wanted to have a meeting on the 16th or if they wanted to take a break until the New Year. Consensus was that we would have a little Christmas party on Wednesday, December 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I’ll put out some wine, and everybody will bring something to snack on. Bob said he would make some of his pecan tarts. So be sure to join us that night and we will toast The Muse and be merry and jolly. If you have anything with a Christmas or New Year theme to read, bring it along. And I can always read Stuart McLean’s “Dave Cooks The Turkey” to give us a good laugh. Really hope to see you on the 16th.
Lisa
Seven of us met on Wednesday, and Anne brought some chocolate brownies for us. She won’t be driving for a few weeks after surgery scheduled for Monday, so we won’t see her again until the New Year. We all wish her a speedy recovery.
Margaret read “Ghost In The Waxworks”, the next chapter in Coffin & Dye. Mr. Fox was concerned about the ghost at the wax museum at the Borough of Whistle. He wanted the it identified. He believed it was the ghost of Lucy Walter, the mistress of Charles II. Dye would only allot a week to identify the ghost. Coffin, afraid of ghosts, bought some whiskey to take with him to the Museum after dinner, where he would do a stakeout to catch the ghost.
Margaret is also in further talks with the publisher interested in her book “Blow Up The Castle”. We are all waiting to hear what transpires.
Danny read four pages talking about the time just before his breakdown. He gave us a lot of detail about group therapy, a social worker, anti-depressants, suicidal thoughts, side-effects of meds, suicidal ideation, erectile dysfunction, Viagra (and the opposite problem), girlfriend excluding him, dreading Christmas alone, and more suicidal thoughts. We were shown how thoughts of suicide were underlying everything else in his life.
Bob rewrote his fan letter to the Boston Red Sox and mailed it. We hope he gets a reply.
And then Bob read to us his account of all the electronics failures he and his wife have been plagued with recently. At various times they lost the use of T.V.s, computers and phones. A nightmare, to be sure. And Bob has yet to finish the story for us.
Anne read “Barbie Goes To The Lake”, an epic poem recounting an episode in her childhood when she took Barbie and Ken outside, and got into mischief with her friend Trish. Very comical.
Margaret and Gemma were both published in the December issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Margaret’s piece listed some well-known Christmas carols and then gave their history and told who wrote them. Gemma’s story, “A Christmas Present”, was about a hospital worker going home late on a snowy Christmas Eve in Montreal, to find her husband and son waiting for her with the gift of a new puppy. Very touching.
In the January issue of Eclectica Magazine, Jim, Anne and I will all be contributing authors. Jim and I have had short stories accepted, and Anne has two poems accepted. This group is doing very well, indeed.
I showed the group the anthology “Below The Canopy” which I received last week. It included my short piece “His Rant”.
Since Holidays are near, I asked the group if they wanted to have a meeting on the 16th or if they wanted to take a break until the New Year. Consensus was that we would have a little Christmas party on Wednesday, December 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I’ll put out some wine, and everybody will bring something to snack on. Bob said he would make some of his pecan tarts. So be sure to join us that night and we will toast The Muse and be merry and jolly. If you have anything with a Christmas or New Year theme to read, bring it along. And I can always read Stuart McLean’s “Dave Cooks The Turkey” to give us a good laugh. Really hope to see you on the 16th.
Lisa
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