From the desk of Jim Reed

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

Spree Magazine for 1959

USSR Magazine for 6^th World Youth Festival

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly for April 29, 1876

Wilbert. HANGAR FLYING WITH GRANDPA

Skir. LEO THE LAST

Two French language books

SONG OF THE SOUTH film

Two old Girl Scout manuals

Novels by Robin Cook & Colleen McCullough & Clive Cussler & Sandra Brown

Dalai Lama. HOW TO SEE YOURSELF

Salinger. RAISE HIGH THE ROOFBEAMS

Gibran. A TEAR AND A SMILE

One PRINCESS lapel pin

One huge MARILYN MONROE Chanel #5 poster

4 old Peanuts cartoon collections

AESOP’S FABLES

UNCLE REMUS (1901 edition)

GIVE THE LADY WHAT SHE WANTS

2 old medical books

3 old 1960’s Life Magazines

Pease. THE TATTOOED MAN

Anderson. YEAR BOOK OF UDC

Latham. COLOR OF LOST ROOMS (autographed)

Christie DESTINATION UNKNOWN, DEATH IN THE AIR

Armstrong. BATTLE FOR GOD

One bunch of old matchbook covers

A couple of old stocks & bonds

One golf book

One southern novel

Four issue of the McLuhan Dew-Line Magazine, 1969 & 1970

Ledgin. DIAGNOSING JEFFERSON

PITMAN’S SHORTHAND

LITTLE BOOK SHAKESPEARE’S AS YOU LIKE IT

HOLDEN. DIARY OF AN EDWARDIAN LADY

Grahame-Smith. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE WITH ZOMBIES

Sir Walter Scott. POETRY (1838)

Squires. Horse of a Different cOLOR

Sootun. HORSES

P. T BARNUM

LET’S GO TO THE CIRCUS

VICTORIAN PAPER DOLLS FROM HARPER’S BAZAAR MAGAZINE

James Lee Burke. Two novels

TWICE THE WORK OF FREE LABOR

Lobby card: THE DEAD ONE

DON’T BE A TATTLER grammar school sign

One old letter

Collins. FENG SHUI

50 YEARS OF LIFE MAGAZINE

Assorted collage items (one stack)

One bowling guy figurine

Stevens. MUFFIN

Windham. ALABAMA ONE BIG FRONT PORCH

DEAR BESS (Truman)

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA 3-volume facsimile set

CD. THE EAGLES

Faure. One old SCORE

Analog Magazine (1960’s issue)

Woolf. THREE GUINEAS

Colonel John Glenn moon-landing LP recording

Leonard. TONTO WOMAN

TECUMSEH

Sebold. LOVELY BONES

OFF THE BEATEN PATH (Alabama)

Shellaberger. PRINCE OF FOXES

France. REVOLT OF THE ANGELS

THE HELMET OF NAVARRE

Nicholas Carter. A TANGLE CASE & THE CLOAK

OF GUILT (turn-of-century Dime Novels)

Daily. CLASSIC TREASURY OF AESOP’S FABLES

Ellis. JACKAL MAN

Martin. OBJECT OF BEAUTY

Gardner. CASE OF THE GILDED LILY

One Birmingham phone directory

MAXIMS OF NAPOLEON

RECOVERY OF BLACK PRESENCE

FAMOUS NEGRO ATHLETES

CREATION AND TIME

PUT ME IN COACH

Four-volume leatherbound set of Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting books

LITERARY OUTLAW

LANGUAGE AND MATERIALISM

PSYCHO LINGUISTICS

250 WAYS TO SHOOT ‘EM

SIMPLE JEWISH COOKERY

Biggers. SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE

E. Phillips Oppenheim. One novel

MUIRHEAD’S SOUTHERN SPAIN & PORTUGAL

One stack of ephemera—book parts, grammar school alphabet, prints, etc.

Laing. KNOTS

BONES (graphic novel)

SEMINOLES

JESUS HIS LIFE AND TIMES

HOPI

CHRIST’S IMAGE

BECOMING JIMI HENDRIX

JANIS JOPLIN

Henry Drummond. ADDRESSES

Lewis. THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW

One metal world globe

Two old postcards

Burroughs. 4 JOHN CARTER OF MARS titles

JENNY KAMURA

DAY THEY CAME TO ARREST THE BOOK

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

BUDWEISER clock

Five old key chains

One California Raisin figurine

CARTOONS OF COBEAN

Verne. MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

Photography Magazine for 1963

BOOK OF QUESTIONS

MEN’S HEALTH

O’Rell. FRENCHMAN IN AMERICA (1891)

ART OF CALLIGRAPHY

FENG SHUI

One old Flapper book mark

Finney. TIME AND AGAIN

Sesame Street LP recording

Jack Higgins. 2 novels

Two old key chains

GRAVEYARD OF THE ATLANTIC

Greig. CLOUDS ABOVE

Larry McMurtry. Three novels

Joel Chandler Harris. Two collections (1900)

Caesar. THE GALLIC WARS

Doyle. COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES

Lewis. SCREWTAPE LETTERS

MACHIAVELLI

Orwell. 1984

Original CAMP MACDOWELL pennant

Sylvester the Cat drinking tumbler

YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON

MAMBO KINGS

John Banville. THE SEA

Joyce. FINNEGAN’S WAKE

BOSWELL

PHRENOLOGY

Stanton. SEX

NEVER EAT ALONE

Heinlein. MOON IS A HARSH

Rimbaud. POESIES

TUDOR ENGLAND

No use trying to hide the fact that I am sports-challenged.

Yep, I am one of those geeky-nerdy types whose DNA does not include the Sports Gene.

There’s nothing intriguing or challenging about watching folks compete with one another while adoring fans oust their frustrations by egging on favored athletes and denigrating Those Others.

Of course, there might be ways to induce me to attend or watch sporting events, but they are unlikely to occur.

For instance:

I would love to see a football game that does not allow passing or kicking. Athletes would have to win the hard way, by holding onto an oddly-shaped bladder and running like heck till they score or are flattened.

I would gladly attend a basketball game that only allowed players under five-foot-two to play. That would be an exciting contest!

I’ll be the first ticket-purchaser to a baseball game where no-one is allowed to spit, chew or scratch. The tension on the field would be intense.

I would watch any ice-skating competition so long as commentators and judges are banned. That way, I can enjoy the competitors for the grace and skill of their performances, bereft of all snarky criticisms and asides and gradings.

Viewing a golf tournament would be awesome if the rules were updated so that each hole had to be played in under ten minutes. Let’s let those players work hard and fast! Get it over with so I can change to the bikini-babe volleyball channel (Actually, the only sport I ever enjoyed watching—got to see one on cable years ago. I don’t know who won.)

And so on.

What sports would you like to see created just for you?

Can’t wait to hear

(c) Jim Reed 2011 A.D.

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

 

 The latest issue of Birmingham Arts Journal!

http://birminghamartsjournal.com/

 In the new issue, you’ll find works by:

 

Tom Dameron

Jesse Lindsay

Harry Moore

Maria Coble

Dustin Junkert

Grimmy

Ben Thompson

Laurie A. Skelton

Joel Fry

Margaret Hutton

Eric Johnson

Allen Johnson Jr.

Marie Ebner Eschenbach

Devin Murphy

Lana Fuller

Nathan Gower

Phillip LaMoreaux Sr.

H.G. Wells

Irene Latham

Richelle Putnam

Mark Steudel

Katya Plaia

Allen Berry

Kathleen Lynch

Joshua Michael Stewart

Jerri Beck

Tom Gordon

Betty Spence

Paula Friedman

Kathy Lumsden

Jacob Martin

Sarah Allen

Allen Mendenhall

Marcia Mouron

Jim Reed

Listen (or read below):  http://www.jimreedbooks.com/mp3/letflythepuppies.mp3 

“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.”  –Picasso

Are writers and most artists and artisans the last Alone creators on earth?

We ply our trades and avocations one-on-one: author to page, artist to canvas, craftsperson to tool…and most of us cannot pull off the act of creation in committee.

Gathering together to build something useful often ends in compromise or chaos or half-realized results.

Some Creators are fully aware of their Aloneness and embrace it. Others equate Aloneness with Loneliness.  I suspect that those who know how to create alone are never lonely.

When Lonely creeps into the act of creation, creativity tends to begin a slow death. The creator becomes more aware of loneliness than the act of creation itself. Thus begins self-consciousness, and as Ray Bradbury says, “Self-consciousness is the enemy of all creativity.”

This subject of Aloneness versus Loneliness is a prickly one. As awareness of Loneliness grows, the creative person can suffer, can become not only negatively self-critical, but, worse, critical of others. At that point a Creative can become a Critic, thus abandoning or diminishing the time spent on personal creativity.

I’ve seen it happen dozens of times, and I don’t know what to do about it.

Each creator must wend the way through a personal journey…if persistent or lucky, light at the end of the tunnel may ensue. I hope this happens, because, believe me, I’ve been there too many times.

Fortunately, I’ve learned that it’s a lot more fun to embrace solitude as the creator’s best friend. Each time Loneliness tries to embrace me, I shout it away, “I’m already committed to Aloneness, thank you, so hie thee hence.”

Let fly the puppies of creation.

It saves funds set aside for Zantac

(c) 2012 by Jim Reed

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

A TRIP TO THE YARD

Four black history titles

One old key chain

Neal. ROAD TO FOXVILLE

LITTLE BOOK OF FRENCH COOKERY

Hill. SKIPJACKS OF THE CHESAPEAKE

Voltaire. CANDIDE

Vonnegut. One novel

Dante. THE INFERNO

Heller. CATCH 22

.Hemingway. 3 novels

Sturgeon. THE DREAMING JEWELS

Sturgeon. MORE THAN HUMAN

Balzac. PERE GORIOT

WORKS OF BALZAC

Stone. LUST FOR LIFE

ANGELA’S ASHES

Hemingway. FIFTH COLUMN

Two Garfield cartoon collections

Small. CORNER-STONES OF FAITH

Ellis. SHINING SKULL

Scott. LADY OF THE LAKE small, with plaid binding

HOLY BIBLE leatherette binding

Four old clothing patterns

Bristol. MAGIC OF BELIEVING

THE TIME TRAP

OPRAH WINFREY 20^TH ANNIVERSARY CD COLLECTION

Wells. THE TIME MACHINE

MR. BEAR SQUASH YOU ALL FLAT

Vowell. TAKE THE CANNOLI

Cervantes. DON QUIXOTE

Malamud. THE NATURAL

Yonge. BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS

Velikovsky. WORLDS IN COLLISION

Springer. INTRA MUROS

Forlorn. RIVERS OF LIFE

IT’S LIKE THIS, CAT

Two old railroad magazines

One CD recording

HISTORY OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE IN AMERICA volume 4

Erle Stanley Gardner. Two mysteries

Five old song books (Gilbert & Sullivan, etc.)

2 CD recordings

Two prints: COLORED ONLY sign & black workwoman illustration

Two copies MIRACLE IN BIRMINGHAM

Tryon. ALL THAT GLITTERS

INFLUENCE HOW TO EXERT IT

SHERLOCK HOLMES small leatherbound edition

One old dress pattern

Three 1950’s Walt Disney health posters

THE AMENITIES OF BOOK-COLLECTING (autographed)

George Lucas. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (novel)

2 flapper book marks

1 old pocket mirror

3 music CDs

BOOK OF LIFE SYSTEM BIBLE STUDY (KJV)

Hand. WALKING MOON

Clarke. TALES FROM THE WHITE HART

Clement. Natives of space

Aldiss. GALAXIES LIKE GRAINS OF SAND

Brackett. REAVERS OF SKAITH, HOUNDS OF SKAITH, GINGER STAR

Dick. OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8

Wyndam. MIDWICH CUCKOOS, INFINITE MOMENTS

A.A. Fair. KEPT WOMEN CAN’T QUIT, SOME SLIPS DON’T SHOW

Ballard DROWNED WORLD

Simak ENCHANTED PILGRIMAGE

TOBY TYLER

CIRCUS BOY

Ringling Brothers old circus program book

IRON CURTAIN OVER AMERICA

Behrman. THE SECOND MAN

Audio. ZEN AND THE ART OF ARCHERY

CATHOLIC CULTURE IN ALABAMA

BEOWULF

Milton. PARADISE LOST

H.P. LOVECRAFT

Windsor. FROM BABYLON TO TIMBUKTU

Bailey. RECOVERY OF BLACK PRESENCE

PILOTS’ RADIO HANDBOOK

THE WISDOM OF EAGLES

Movie poster: THE DEADLY ORGAN (psychedelic, man!)

THE 1838 MORMON WAR IN MISSOURI

Astounding Science Fiction Magazine (3 issues from 1946)

Silverstein. LAFCADIO

ITALIANS FROM BISACQUINO TO BIRMINGHAM

A STROLL DOWN COBB LANE

Philip Jose Farmer. TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES

Leguin. THE BEGINNING PLACE

FAR SIDE cartoon collection

Three lapel pins

ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE SONG IN HIS HEART (miniature book)

HUCKLEBERRY AND THE CHRISTMAS SLEIGH (as in Hound)

Koontz. MR. MURDER

Two “sayings” cards

LAST TRAIN TO ALCATRAZ

HUMAN HARVEST

BODIES OF EVIDENCE

Kahlil Gibran. FRIENDSHIP

Balzac. EUGENIE GRANDET

Walter Mosley. One novel

Agatha Christie. 6 novels

UPANISHADEN

LEBENDIGE LITERATUR

Foote. CIVIL WAR

Capote. GRASS HARP

Covington. SALVATION ON SAND MOUNTAIN

Agatha Christie. One novel

HIGH SCHOL CONFIDENTIAL

Earrings, old costume

One life-sized HANS SOLO stand-up

Guide to AYURVEDA

3 Celtic books

One audio cassette

Gann. FATE IS THE HUNTER

SOUTHERN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

GUNSHIPS

MUSEO NAZIONALE ROMANO

STRAVINSKYS SYMPHONIE DE PSAUMES

LA ATLANTIDA

GREECE AND ROME

SPAIN

TALL BOOK OF NURSERY RHYMES

3 Agatha Christie novels

Joseph Wambaugh. One novel

L’Amour. THE SACKETTS

WHAT A PARTY!

Goodrich. KING ARTHUR

ROBIN HOOD

FUNNIEST VERSES OF OGDEN NASH

Five volumes of CIVIL WAR books

Old cookbook

Rick Bragg. Two books

SECRET

SHANTUNG COMPOUND

Two old cookbooks

Nick Carter. MILLIONS AT STAKE

Paris Match Magazine. 3 issues from 1954, 65

Proskauer. HOW’D JA DO THAT?

Four old costume trading cards

Shades Valley High School 1962 yearbook

Grizzard. FEAR OF FLYING

One Birmingham souvenir pin

Three old flapper book marks

WORLD OF DICK AND JANE

Three book marks

One humorous illustration

Old school sign: BE FRIENDLY NOT RUDE

Lord Houghton. LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOHN KEATS

Two eggs with prizes

Reed. DAD’S TWEED COAT (autographed)

One shoulder military patch

One wooden treasure chest full of costume jewelry

DESCARTES PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS

PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

One piece of costume jewelry

BIG BK OF PAINTING NATURE IN OIL

HELEN VAN WYK’S FAVORITE COLOR RECIPES

ENERGIZE YOUR PAINTINGS WITH COLOR

IMPRESSIONISM

THE COLOR BOOK

TREES FLOWERS AND FOLIAGE

ENRICH YOUR PAINTINGS WITH TEXTURE

A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES

THE DARWIN AWARDS

Three children’s books

One wooden slat

Herge. Five TINTIN books

Nancy Drew

DVD films: MATRIX RELOADED & UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION

CALVIN & HOBBES collection

Loring. GAY COURAGE

One old rubber stamp

Twain. CONNECTICUT YANKEE

ROBIN HOOD

One old LP recording

Montaigne. One French & one English edition

Reed. DAD’S TWEED COAT (autographed)

PASTELS

Read below or listen here: http://www.jimreedbooks.com/mp3/hidinginplainsight.mp3

Ever notice that what is in plain sight, directly in the line of view, is mostly discounted or ignored?

We writers and literary types often use our primary energies to record the tiny things that slip away from just about everybody else. This means that we are far more directionless that the average high-achievers. We focus on the trickling data that will fade away if not documented, afraid that not enough attention is being paid.

We recognize that Activities of Daily Living can get in the way of actual observation and appreciation.

It’s just too complicated and abstract to explain, so I’ll give you a few examples from my Red Clay Diary…things I notice but are of no importance to anyone else.

Friday, 7:30pm, Dodiyo’s Restaurant: Liz and I are enjoying each other’s company on our 34th wedding anniversary date. In the partially-curtained private dining area a few feet away, a young woman has her back to me so that I have no idea whether she has a face. But her flowing brown hair ebbs and flows  across her neck in a universally unconscious manner, throwing the light from high ceiling bulbs back at me.

Saturday, 1pm, Reed Books/The Museum of Fond Memories: A young customer is on her knees before the lower-shelved collection of new and original Nancy Drew mysteries. She is so excited to find them that she sees nothing else. Her focus is total and her joy is palpable. She leaves happy and satisfied with two Nancy books.

Tuesday, 11am, Reed Books: Antiques dealer John Nixon delivers my latest purchase, a genuine, real-life old-fashioned telephone switchboard complete with photograph of Lily Tomlin sitting before it, ringie-ding-dinging it. The chaos of moving dozens of items aside to accommodate the instrument causes some customers amusement, others consternation. Some smile, one leaves in a huff, probably feeling ignored. My thrill of acquisition has cost me one customer, gained me another. Can’t please everybody…

Sunday, 2pm, Aldis on Green Springs Highway: I’m pulling a shopping cart from its parking lot queue, veering around several women who are chatting and trying in turn to veer around me. We’re trying not to run into each other. One laughs, says, “Looks like we’re dancing!” I laugh and say, “OK–I’m ready!” We both appreciate the moment and go our separate ways. 

Sunday, High Noon: I’m standing on the street in the drizzle, holding a faltering red Dollar Tree umbrella while a Triple-A service guy tries to diagnose my dead battery. He pronounces it a disabled Lazarus, I marvel at how he can process my American Express card on the spot, remove and replace the battery and drive away as my momentary hero, all within a matter of minutes. I appreciate his dedication and wonder whether customers at my shop ever appreciate my work ethic. Why should they?

Friday, 7:30pm, Dodiyo’s: Liz and I decide to toss our imaginary Bucket List and replace it with a Chuck-It List, things we’ve enjoyed but now need to pass on to others. We don’t get very far, since we have so much amazing stuff. Guess the kids will have to decide what to do with it after…

Sunday, near 5pm: Can’t keep the words and images and ideas from dribbling onto the keyboard. The act of writing in my Red Clay Diary—writing anything in my Red Clay Diary—is a puzzle and a pleasure. Hope you find thrills in something simple today, too

(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

I learned the other day that my driver’s license had expired. Note that I did not receive a notice that my driver’s license is due to expire soon. I learned that only late notices are issued.
 
“Why would that be?” I ask my friend B.J. “They could just send me a note three weeks before expiration instead of three weeks after—you think?”
 
“Why would they do that?” says B.J. “If they tell you you’re delinquent, they get to assess a penalty on top of the license fee. It’s called revenue-generation.”
 
I don’t argue with B.J., since I can imagine no other other reason. I have to admit it is clever—and, of course, evil.
 
That’s why I find myself standing here in a Butler Building-type structure in Sumiton, Alabama, about to receive my pain-free driver’s license.
 
The day before, I had gone to the Jefferson County cathedral of licensing to obtain my renewal, only to find a long, long line of people ahead of me, some of whom had been waiting a long, long time. Denial is always my first defense, so I walked past the extended queue to speak to anyone who could tell me that this wasn’t really the license line.
 
“Yes, this side of the hall is driver’s licenses,” a very pleasant employee tells me, “And this other side is everything else having to do with licenses and the like,” she said. I said, “This is wild—is there a better time to come?” She smiled and reported that the situation is the same every day. “People start lining up at five a.m., even though we don’t open the doors till eight,” she reports.
 
I turn and beging the hall-long trek to the end of the line.
 
“Hey, Jim!” a familiar voice beckons. I look at the middle of the “other” line and see my friend Ben Elliott standing there, grinning his usual sardonic grin. “Are you trapped here?” I ask. “Yep,” Ben says. “It’s the way of the world.”
 
We chat and giggle at the outrageousness of it all. Ben is resigned to his certain fate, but I decide to just leave the building.
 
Being an optimist, I had parked at a half-hour meter.
 
So, next day, here I am in tiny Sumiton, northwest of Birmingham, grateful that Liz suggested I pay for my license in another, less disorganized county.
 
It actually works! A pleasant drive to this village, a chat with the librarian and a patron, a meandering path to the Butler Building, and I’m only third in line! Life is good.
 
Ms. Ash is the sole officer who processes licenses and apparently runs everything else: answers the phone, takes the ID photos, does the paperwork and wrangles the crowds—yep, she’s prepared for crowd control, herding the three of us as if we were fifty people. “Take a number…stand right there till that chair is empty…now, take the yellow chair after that…now, read this chart.”
 
We have a nice conversation, she does her duty, and I’m out of there in minutes, feeling smug but sorry about the long gray lines back in Birmingham.
 
The round-trip voyage to Sumiton gives me time to plan my next civic action. The campaign to have Birmingham annexed is all in my head, but with a little help from you, it could become reality
 
(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed
http://www.jimreedbooks.com

 

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

BALCONY PEOPLE (3 copies)

Wyatt. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A LITTLE MAN

RIDDLE OF DR. MUDD

THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT

ALIAS (Lincoln conspiracy book)

1953: Program for Wylam (Alabama) Masonic Lodge # 492 DAVE MOXLEY’S

VARIETY SHOW

Bumper sticker JESUS IS COMING LOOK BUSY

AMERICAN COWBOY

AMERICAN WEST

WYOMING FRONTIER STATE

TIME TO STAND

EYE-DEEP IN HELL

Mauldin. UP FRONT

MILITARY PRIMER

TALE OF THE HEIKE

Six horror & sci-fi novels

One old ARABIAN NIGHTS volume

The Duchess. MOLLY BAWN

National Geographic Magazine for June 1961

One police cruiser medal car

GOLF coffee table book

SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME

Faulkner. AS I LAY DYING

KISSING IN MANHATTAN

Milton. PARADISE LOST

Kingsley. WATER BABIES

Haunted Love romance comic book

Stevenson. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

Monarch Notes: WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Bulwer Lytton. A STRANGE STORY

Bronte. JANE EYRE

Barker. THE BRONTES

CINDERELLA (century-old book)

Mitchell. GONE WITH THE WIND

ARCHANGEL (novel)

One old French cinema book

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS STORY BOOK

Jung. MEMORIES DREAMS REFLECTIONS

SPACE 1999 comic book

George R.R. Martin. One novel

Herbert. DUNE

Weber. THE SHIVA OPTION

Tartt. SECRET HISTORY

McAuliffe. WHAT A PARTY!

BEYOND THE BLONDE

MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER

FLORAMA LADIES’ AUXILIARY AND SEWING CIRCLE

Oates. WE WERE THE MULVALNEYS

Keene. NANCY DREW novels

Bronte. TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL

Eliot. MILL ON THE FLOSS

Paine. RIGHTS OF MAN

One flapper book mark

Sunset Magazine. CAMELLIAS

SPURGEON’S DAILY TREASURES

Edgar Allan Poe. Three books

Three LP recordings. Walt Disney, Ed Sullivan, etc.

THORNDIKE-BARNHART DICTIONRY

NEW WORLD DICTIONARY

Longfellow. HIAWATHA

SONG OF ROLAND

Higgins. SOLO

Dali. DIARY OF A GENIUS

WALTZ. INTIMATE KISSES

Harris. DEFINITELY DEAD

2 LP ALBUMS

Seawell. FRANCEZKA

Nancy Drew novel

Star Wars book

One old key chain

DAS HILFLOSE EUROPA

SHERMAN

GERMAN POETRY

RAILROADS OF THE CONFEDERACY

LINCOLN FINDS A GENERAL

Twain. ROUGHING IT

Kafka. Two books

Ursula K. LeGuin. 2 books

GUIDE MUSEO DEL PRADO

MAZEPPA old print

Benson. MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS

Geras. ITHAKA

One hand-made Peruvian cloth hanging thingy

EDITH WHARTON

Henry James. One novel

Murchie. 7 MYSTERIES OF LIFE

STYLISTS ON STYLE

Mirabelle Magazine. Five 1991 issues

GENTLE DYNAMITER

ROOT AND BRANCH

TEAMSTER REBELLION

COLD WAR AGAINST LABOR

UNFOLDING DRAMA

MIRACLE IN BIRMINGHAM

REPORTERS’ HANDBOOK

Limbaugh. THE WAY THINGS OUGHT TO BE

1981 Supplement to the Birmingham News re: Paul “Bear” Bryant

ART OF VAN GOGH

POSTER: RETURN OF THE TIME MACHINE

MR. BEAR SQUASH YOU ALL FLAT

Reed. DAD’S TWEED COAT (autographed)

One Christmas LIBRARY book

One old KEY CHAIN

One Reed Family XMAS CARD

UNCLE ARTHUR’S BEDTIME STORIES

SHORTHAND

Kingsley. WESTWARD HO! Illustrated by WYETH

INV TO SOCIO

CHARIOTS OF THE GODS

2 spanish language books

Roosevelt. One bio

Sigmund Freud. One book by

One law book

TEXAS TRAVEL HANDBOOK (1950’s)

COME RETRIBUTION (Civil War)

Christie. CURTAIN

Little Golden Book. WE LIKE TO DO THINGS

PEER GYNT

ESSENTAL LENNY BRUCE

Lofting. VOYAGE OF DR. DOOLITTLE

Keene. SECRET OF THE FORGOTTEN CITY

L’Engle. ACCEPTABLE TIME

Little Golden Book. POKEY LITTLE PUPPY

Brautigan. REVENGE OF THE LAWN

WIND IN THE WILLOWS

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

PINOCCHIO

ROBINSON CRUSOE

One large shotgun shell display

BATMAN film poster

King. DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER & GREEN MILE

One HARDY BOYS book

DEERSLAYER

3 CLIFFS NOTES

Rice. WITCHING HOUR

SHERLOCK HOLMES

LUCIFER’S HAMMER

GOD IS MY CO-WORKER

ATLAS SHRUGGED

Walton. COMPLEAT ANGLER

CATCH AND RELEASE

One old Army yearbook 1970’s

Three military aviation book

One old flapper book mark

Mead. COMING OF AGE IN SAMOA

PSYCHOLOGY OF READING

Golding. LORD OF THE FLIES (5 copies)

ATATURK

5^TH BOOK OF CHESS

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

EMILY’S BOOK OF STRANGE

BEFORE BARBED WIRE

GREAT AMERICAN WEST

BOYS’ LIFE BOOK OF OUTER SPACE STORIES

2 old prints

Four old Girl Scout books

Jimmy Carter. VIRTUES OF AGING

Rinehart. One novel

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

One American history book

Stack of books on humor, history, military, biography

One VIVA VULCAN poster (Birmingham)

OUTLINES OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY (1856)

One handmade symbol (nails and wire)

Bumper sticker. JESUS IS COMING/LOOK BUSY

Three enormous opera LP albums

THE CUMBERLAND

FIGHTING BACK IN APPALACHIA

One old brass horn

TO KILL A

MY LITTLE GREEN STORY BOOK

SUGAR BABIES theatre program with Mickey Rooney & Ann Miller

WATCH FOR ME ON THE MOUNTAIN

PRIMARY COLORS

Charney. SENSEI

Turow. LAWS OF OUR FATHERS

MAN OF THE HOUSE

Simon. TIME FOR TRUTH

Orson Bean. TOO MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH

It’s morning on the Eve of Christmas, 2011 A.D.

The last two weeks have been very busy at the Museum of Fond Memories, so I’m happy that the shop doesn’t open till 11 a.m. Since Liz is up and out , I’m alone to determine how to spend a much-needed quiet morning. The usual breakfast haunts are either crowded or closed, so I take my New York Times and head for McDonald’s, hoping for an isolated table and a few moments of meditative non-work activity.

The stressed employees humor me with my order—scrambled eggs, grits, two tomato slices, sausage and biscuit, with iced tea on the side. A rare chance to gorge—after all, it’s Christmas Eve, isn’t it?

While I’m just settling my brain for a long winter’s fast-breaker, a couple arrives at the next table, she with Santa hat and earphones, he with strained countenance and long gazes through the window. She doesn’t notice his inattentiveness, nor does she recognize my solitude. “I’m dreamin’ of a white Christmas,” she sings loudly, boogie-ing her body to the earplug sounds, blissfully unaware that there is anybody but herself in the establishment. She continues singing out-of-tune parts of other carols while her partner and I try to concentrate on our own tiny universes. The speaker system at McDonald’s is blasting other Christmas-related tunes, so my mind has to delegate two sets of simultaneous lyrics to their respective hiding places while I attempt to focus on the Times.

Later, on the way to the car, I begin to appreciate the girl’s annoying joy and realize I could use a little less grouch and a bit more Christmas boogie myself.

“Hey, what church are you from?” a shouted question careens over my left shoulder just as I’m trying to pile into the automobile. I have to twist around to see who’s there. A large wrinkled smiling face is staring at me and repeats the question, “Hey, what church are you from?” My first reaction is that I’m being panhandled, so I slam the door. Then, realizing I’m being testy, I lower the window to reply—suddenly realizing that the street man has assumed I’m some sort of clergy because of the black shirt, trousers and jacket I’m wearing, probably contrasted with my white Santa beard.

I don’t try to look like something special, this is just the way I am.

“No church,” I reply. Then, my fast mouth getting ahead of my thought processes, I add, “I’ve got a long night ahead of me, delivering toys.”

He looks startled and backs away, as if he suddenly believes me.

I drive to work and begin to focus on my shop and my customers.

Does Street Man think he’s just encountered some sort of Santa Claus?

Does Book Man think he’s just crossed paths with a needy soul who thought for a moment he might find peaceful words?

How many more opprotunities might I miss this day? Or did I do exactly the right thing?

How will I ever know?

I hope you have many good and mysterious encounters this and every week in this Land of Perpetual Post-Christmas

(c) 2011 A.D. by Jim Reed

http://www.jimreedbooks.com

Read below or listen here: http://www.jimreedbooks.com/mp3/WritersWrite.mp3 

As the images of storms past hover and sink deeply into our minds, many of us tend to rearrange our memories and allow them to fade.

This is unacceptable behavior.

The only plea a teller of true tales can make that is worth making is: Please don’t let this happen. Write down/record each detail of your experience, whether you were in the eye or whether you escaped physically untouched. Fact is, we were all touched, deeply and irrevocably.

What matters now is to work these events through the template of a muse, so that some degree of peace and closure and perspective can occur.

You are your own book, whether you know it or not, and now is the time to transcribe your life, to come to terms with the preamble, duration and aftermath of what you have lived.

The most important thing: Each non-storm day in a writer’s life is worthy of examination, too. Storms are easy to remember. Slippery moments of significance can fall to the ground and roll under something, out of sight, out of memory.

Don’t let that happen. Attention must be paid

(c) 2011 A.D. by Jim Reed

http://www.jimreedbooks.com