I'm the executor of my dad's will; therefore I had to find the 'executor's file'.. while looking I came across one entitled 'Robert' - full of old crap like school reports and letters I'd written my parents over decades... at the top of the file was a poem I wrote sometime in the 70's when a young man.
This is it:
GOZO IN JULY - by Robert J. Court
There was a time When all life was like this - The sun shone Everywhere; Metallic blue skies, Flies buzzed And the donkeys flicked their tails. Tied to a grey stone wall The sun's shadow, an oasis In the burning light.
Down, Down the arid valley Lay the bay - The tepid waters Slushed gently, Gurgled amongst the hard, sharp rocks. A man fished patiently In vain. The fish had fled to deeper, cooler Waters.
I hope you like it...... I think it encapsulated how I felt about the island in the heat of summer when 'time stood still'
I teach mathematics too.......... very evil Mathematics!
My Mathematics is so evil, that when they get home they stun their parents with questions that always have the same answer -
>
>
>
'666'
And let's face it.....not that many kids can count to 666!
'Mummmmmmmmmmm - what's 333 x 2?'
'Mummmmm - if there were 34 cookies in the jar and I ate one and multiplied the number left by two and then by ten and then added six......... what's the answer?'
'Mummmmmmmmmmm - can I have $666 pocket money?......... I need to buy a soul mate, and a new cookie jar. I broke the old one over my last soul mate's head and he's dead!'
I had no idea what it was all about. You have to remember that smoky comes from out of deepest, darkest Africa. They have huge stinging insects and animals out there that like to suck your blood and gnaw on your bones. Have you ever seen a hyena at a 'kill'? - nasty critters! Vultures flying overhead mean that some nice fluffy innocent creature has dropped dead. It is a cruel continent.
All you have to do is imagine that smoky is a cross between a hyena and a vulture and then you'd find her behaviour really quite pleasant under the circumstances. She'll love me for posting this - she has a quirky sense of humour.....there again I could have offended her, and then I'd be sad.
I am sorry I posted anything that was none of my business; I didn't realise there was a 'history' to the insults flying around.
We are all sensitive human beings. I apologise if I have offended anybody myself....... I have no idea what has been going on but all I know is that smoky doesn't go out of her way to offend people in general and normally only makes 'barbed' comments to her friends.
Life does go on........ I hope we can all be friends. Now the Irish - I can't hate the Irish - as my eldest son's mother is Irish!
I knew a great guy via the internet who taught deaf kids; he was so dedicated that he actually instigated a change in legislation to change how they were assessed in exams... that's dedication for you!
I have no idea what you have against me but you seem to like shouting at me in capital letters - if you have a bone to pick with me please do so by private email.... this is not the place to get offensive!
Humour isn't something that is universally appreciated - most people find smoky amusing but you can't please all the people all the time; I have no idea of the lady's formal academic qualifications but I am sure she is very qualified in the school of life.
We have to be very careful on CS not to upset each other - you could have succeeded by the use of emotive words such as 'inane' and 'juvenile'.
I upset people sometimes - it's easy to accidentally send the wrong message........ and what is funny to one person can, indeed, appear 'inane' or 'juvenile' or even worse to another - please take into account that we have a wide mix of people here and one has to be sometimes slightly controversial to add a little 'sparkle' to be entertaining (and some people really do like a little fun if it's not offensive).
Anyway, I know that smoky is a good person and that's all that matters to me - ok?
I think you're a special person - you deserve an audience with the Pope......if you want one I'll give the vatican a ring and arrange things; after all he's German and I know powerful people in Germany who must be obeyed!
How the devil are you? Looking forward to going back to sunny Austria?
It's so dang HOT here in Gozo - if you're bored you could come over and look after my mum for a few days while I go and visit my other two better halves (we are both Geminis and all four of us get on really well together!)
Thank you very much - however I'd much prefer to be liked than told I'm intelligent.......I still have the arrogance to believe I am intelligent even if I'm not a nice man...... to be told I'm a decent man would mean far more to me than being told I'm intelligent when I already know that being intelligent is true!
I know you are a seasoned traveller, but you only need three or four or five or six things:
1.) A current valid passport (preferably with at least six months left by the end of your intended journey)
2.) Your ticket(s)
3.) A reliable means of getting to the airport
4.) Access to spending money
5.) Loose fitting comfortable clothes
6.) The ability to relax and chill out (as travelling is nolonger such fun as it used to be, and the journey can be a real pain in the bum so it can be quite an ordeal unless you can sleep 90% of the journey!)
I agree......... some things are beyond our ken though - like God and women...... there appears to be no rhyme nor reason, so we men just have to relax, chill out and 'let it happen'!
It is a FACT that men are better at some things than women.
It is also a FACT that women are better than men at other things - e.g. since when have men been any good at breast-feeding?
Men and women COMPLIMENT each other - thus a man and a woman make a better team than the sum of the two individuals... even if they don't really understand each other and only tolerate each other's company for evolutionary/biological reasons.
Women survive better on their own than men (in my humble opinion) - we men get a lot more out of a relationship with a woman than vice versa.
Women are just so capable.
We men are only really happy when we have a woman who can tell us what to do - and we are very, very pleased when 'she' tells us we can go 'out to play' safe in the knowledge that she'll have a nice meal waiting for us when we get back from playing golf, walking the dog, discussing serious stuff down the pub etc.
Women are wonderful - thank you God for providing them to look after us poor pathetic men!
Hey - I've suffered depression most of my adult life (but didn't know it was in any way a clinical illness or a socially acceptable form of 'circumstantial depression' until a few years ago).
The worst thing you can do is allow yourself to think about it....... find something to do so that those thoughts quit haunting your every breathing moment.
You may have feelings of guilt or feel less of a human being than other people - just ignore these feelings by doing something - anything!
Try and make a list of things to do. Include loads of easy things however trivial they may seem. Cross off the things you've done - even if it's just having had a shave or washing the dishes! You'll feel good that you've done something instead of just feeling sorry for yourself.
Do your best to take away the 'I' from the situation. Depression is avery selfish illness (sorry if reading this then makes you even more depressed) - try and do things for other people - this will not only take away the thoughts you have the time to linger over but shall also make you feel better.
'The fear of pain (and failure) is greater than the possibility of success'
(that's a quote I just made up).
What prevents us getting what we really want in life is the fear of failure........... we should think of the pain we cause ourselves by NOT striving to acheive certain goals - there is no need to be afraid!
The great American dream was based on the ability of ordinary men and women to try and maybe fail and try and maybe fail and keep on trying until their individual dreams became reality.
This dream for many Americans seems more and more elusive.
Let's hope that Americans can soon once again believe in their 'Great American Dream' - but that this time it becomes a 'Great World Dream' where people all over the world can have the individual opportunities to aspire to do great things.
OK - I guess I WAS very proud to have done ok academically...... I was very proud at the time to have the top dissertation world-wide in Managerial Cybernetics in 1994 - but it didn't make me a better person.
I guess now I'm far more proud to have been of a little help to my father; although it broke my heart seeing him take two steps forward then three steps back in a gradual, remorseless, journey to his grave.
The elder brother of my last wife had to bring up his grandchildren when his son's wife died (the son could not cope) - then one of these kids, a girl, got married and had a child and then she got a very nasty fast acting cancer and she died (in her 20's) - and he and his wife had to look after this GREAT grandchild while their grandson worked to try and support himself financially....... that was/is just so very heartbreaking.
rusty_knight Forum Posts (6,840)
RE: Meet up
fervid or fetid?over-fetid = very hungry vultures..... yum! yum!