June 29: Mother's Birthday, Classic Saint Marty, New Cartoon

We are celebrating my mother's birthday this afternoon.  She is 83 years young.  I'm sitting at her dining room table, keeping her company, as I type this post.  My mother is a wonderful woman.  Raised nine kids.  Helped run my father's plumbing business.  Taught me that it doesn't matter whether you fail or succeed, as long as you always do your best.






My mother's memory isn't the best anymore.  She repeats herself a lot.  Her eyesight is failing due to macular degeneration.  She has to wear hearing aids.  Books, always one of the joys of her life, are simply impossible for her to enjoy now.  She can still sing.  Tells great stories about growing up with her sisters in Detroit.  And, above all, she loves her kids and grandkids more than anything.

Today, I celebrate a truly great woman.

Today's Classic Saint Marty comes from two years ago.

June 29, 2012:  Stream of Consciousness, Hiccups

I really don't have anything new to say right now.  Therefore, I will just let my mind go where it wants to go, follow the butterfly, and trust in God to get me where I need to be.  This process may be difficult, since the editor for Blogger seems to work in fits and starts today.  I can be typing away, and suddenly the entire system grinds to a halt. A little blue circle of death appears for almost a full minute.  Thus, my stream of consciousness writing will have to take a break, and there may be a few hiccups.  Like the one I just experienced.  I will make a deal with you.  Every time my computer hiccups, when it comes back, I will type the word "hiccup," which will explain any great cognitive leaps that may occur.  I will try to keep my fingers moving on the keyboard as fast as possible.

I hiccup My hiccup My wife and daughter are going to see the movie Brave this afternoon.  My son and I will be going stag for a few hours.  We may take  hiccup We may take a walk, although the temperature is supposed to be in the ninety-degree range.  I like being out in weather like that, but it may not be too good for a three-year-old toddler who likes to run a lot.  Perhaps I'll just strap him into the running stroller and go for a run.  Yes, I'm crazy.  I like hot weather running.  I like to sweat.  I like the sun and the humidity.  It makes me feel like I've actually worked hard.

Tonight, my wife and I are entertaining a notary who's coming to our house to have us sign the final documents on our mortgage refinance.  I'll be so glad to get that out of the way.  I'm hoping it won't take more than a half hour.  For some reason, signing my name on so many pieces of paper in succession makes me a little nervous.  I have this fear that I hiccup

I really want to see the hiccup I really want to see Brave as well,  but we couldn't get a babysitter for this afternoon.  Plus, we really couldn't afford a babysitter.  My wife and I drew straws, and I lost.  I figure if the movie is any good, my daughter will want to see it again.

I am coming hiccup This may be the end of this post.  I'm getting a little frustrated with the pauses today.  I wish I had something more substantial to talk about.  I have no new poem.  Yet.  I will be on a writing panel discussion on Sunday evening as part of the 2012 U. P. Book Tour.  I'm sort of looking forward to that, although I'm sort of terrified at the same time.  I believe Linda Nemec Foster is going to be on the panel with me, and that's a little intimidating.  We'll see if I can hold my own or if I just sit there, stuttering and saying things like, "Me like poetry lots I do."  That hiccup

Saint Marty has hiccup Saint hiccup Saint Marty hiccup Oh, screw it.

Confessions of Saint Marty