Category: writing
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JONI, I HARDLY KNEW YE…Confessions of a Dormant Hippie!
www.youtube.com is my second home…my escape from the madness of life…a retrieval of song lyrics that inform while simultaneously lightening my soul. Interest is revived in continuing to endure the pitfalls of life. Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut swore that music all by itself proves the existence of heaven. Despite such photographic YouTube video-clipped time-warped evidence as
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IN A CIRCLE AROUND MY HOUSE
As I gleefully recall, I honestly believe that Walt Disney’s Cinderella provided my maiden voyage into the wonders of cinema. That event occurred so very many yesterdays ago when American animation would never be surpassed–a uniquely authentic and creative time arguably lost to us in our 21st century. To this moment, whenever our courthouse clock issues forth
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THIS IS THE LIFE: BLOGS & DOGS!
Attorney and former neighbor Earl Tison, whom I desired to adopt the moment I met him, exclaimed frequently, “Susie, if anybody should start a blog, it would be you!” Computer-less at that particular time, I had no concept of precisely what he might be suggesting, as a consequence of myriad moon-light porch chats at his
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WHO WOULDA THUNK IT? BOTH A LITERARY- HISTORIAN & AN OLD FRIEND VISIT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!
Beautiful sunny April afternoons never ought to be spent listening to indoor lectures — while sitting on uncomfortable folding chairs. However, IF some particular orator bears credentials of a Fulbright Scholar, a professorship, a Ph.D, a near Pulitzer prize, a notable recognition from TIME Magazine, and several stunning novels as well as a much loved
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ORIGINAL “SPIN”, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS, & A LIFE LED BATTLING “-ISMS”
Publisher Rick fired off an e-mail to “Homeward Angle” Susie inquiring where I might have gotten to, after this deplorably lengthy “Climate Change” winter of my discontent. My reply lies herein: Incredibly, John Lennon and I have much in common…”all I am saying is give peace a chance!” I’m totally convinced that the aforementioned 60s
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COMPETITIONS, CONTESTS, PIPSQUEAKS & POPPYCOCK
“Great poem, let’s publish it! Sue…Imagine your poem featured on a page by itself within a beautiful coffee-table edition! You are a semi-finalist for a major prize!” Prices for leather-bound editions ranged from $49.95 to $194.00 depending upon how many enhancements such as photographs, bios, and vanity-illustrations might be added? “Society of World Poetry”
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Blue Bell Factory Revisited
Published by the Whitley County Historical Society – Columbia City, Indiana Vol. 25, No. 1 – February 1987 BLUE BELL BUILDING: Important to Area’s Economy – Work Clothing Produced There Many People Remember Blue Bell The daughter of the man some people refer to as “Mr. Blue Bell” in Columbia City has chosen to write
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Carol Baker, Michael Martone, Tari Joyce, Linda Chapman, and a ‘Non-Fiction’ Panel-List
This review on Amazon from writer, pundit, and radio personality Carol Baker means the world to a small-town “girl” named Susie: “The newest addition to my Kindle by friend and soul sister, Susie Sexton. As a writer, I appreciate Susie’s ability to just… think out loud on paper. ♥ “As a weekly columnist, writing on
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“THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS!”
Post & Mail newspaper publisher Rick Kreps accidentally locked himself inside our bathroom 20 years ago. Obviously, we eventually released him with the help of a credit card — or was it a kitchen knife? I forget. After about a half hour of socializing with other guests on our front porch, we all began to
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CATTY-LOGUE (similar to PROLOGUE or PREAMBLE or FOREWORD AS WELL AS BACKWARD & AFTERWORD & EPIC-LOGUE)
On behalf of our crazy cat lady mama named Susie An explanation of her thought process which is a doozy: This girl with a curl in the middle of her furrowed forehead Is verbose, candid, impassioned…veering from sweet to horrid! We “rescued” felines gather ’round her desk like eager muses Perched on paper piles, swivel
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RONALD REAGAN’S JELLY BEANS & MY FAVORITE DENTAL APPOINTMENT EVER
Certainly, I am at that grand advanced age of entitlement! I deserve to savor jelly beans even more than I once did as a kid, so I visit Dr. Jim McConnell and his beautiful assistant Trudy (Sullivan) Deutsch about four extra times between each biannual smile maintenance effort performed by dental hygienist, and proud mother to
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A Love Story…starring Jack and Zelda
“Some people don’t understand why we help animals in need. We don’t understand why they wonder.” – Lucky Dog Rescue Blog “Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can be?” Well, now… that assignment is easy as pie! Most folks who rrrreally know and understand me realize that I
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FUR-EVER FRIENDS
Jo Ellen Adams, authenticated “Daughter of the American Revolution”, belonged to my sister Sarah who patterned herself as a kid after the petite, energetic, plucky little girl who lived in the large, elegant, brick, Civil War Era farm house on the outskirts of town. Sarah’s pal seemed to inhabit the original Disneyland and frolicked daily with
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MY FUNNY VALENTINE…A “Penny Serenade”
Dutifully responding to my shameless suggestion, my son Roy bought me another book! David Denby impressed me terrifically as a guest on the Charlie Rose show, defending movies “the way they were” when author Denby and I both fell loyally, tenaciously in love with the cinematic industry — without reservation. At the height of the
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FILING FOLDERS FULL OF…FRIENDS!
Seriously, where oh where are Ralph Bailey, Gordon and Brian Anspach, Evelyn Stemen, Phil Leininger, Nancy Schwartz, Mary Ann Poffenberger Briggs, Bob Kellogg, Dr. Jules Heritier, Steve Jones and Lucy Langohr Grant? For a while they enjoyed spending some time paper-clipped together in a grouping which facilitated my awareness of their location. Eventually these people
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Rebel…With a Cause
“You are who you are meant to be. Dance as if no one’s watching. Love as if it’s all you know. Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” ~ James Dean Quirky dame that I am, I admit to never swooning over Elvis Presley…with one exception. His rendition of “Battle
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“Dear Old Golden Rule Days…”
“Grandma Louise” Easterday frequently exchanged original poetry with my mom, as the two ladies seated themselves beside one another in the exact same Jackson Street Methodist church pew each Sunday morning. Mother composed her creative verses via a script typewriter, since she held little self-confidence in her usually hasty handwriting, and slipped her compositions inside
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“NOVEL” Ideas Lead to Royal(-ty) Pain
Only fleetingly ever entertaining the idea to author the “great American novel”, which ranked up there with achieving fame as a prima ballerina or opening an exotic animal sanctuary or climbing Mt. Everest, I now find that I pathetically look forward to unremarkable royalty stipends quarterly. No one is more surprised than I. Let’s remember,
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BOO, LEW & NORMA
Milling about within the same household year upon year, voices rise and fall and chatter and go silent and joke and reminisce. Sawing a couch into three parts prompted an ongoing interior design fest. Sawdust and also a unique upholstery-powder, resulting from gigantic rips in a seriously tough durable fabric, both continue to permeate the
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“A STITCH IN TIME…SAVES NINE!”
Bustling about vacuuming, I gingerly avoided three or four disembodied hairballs deposited by two of my best friends ever, Tristan and Isolde, kitties named after legendary star-crossed lovers who cohabited in the Middle Ages. Nice save! I deserved — break-time! I willingly succumbed to Facebook monitoring where I discovered a lively string of conversation which had been prompted
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“Once Upon a December…” and Hello, 2012!
Without one doubt whatsoever the final month of each successive year sends me into an absolute tailspin! December’s always super-special within our family, for several glorious reasons, and outdid itself in 2011! Some new folks entered our lives. Darlene Wright, Teresa Dowell and Nelleen LaFever wrote beautiful letters of appreciation sent to our mailbox. Jerry
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS (and a Tribute) FROM THE OLD TYPE…WRITER
Thanks so much for following these columns, thoughts, and blogs (And joining me in loving both kitty cats and dogs!) How fun and fine it is to remember happy times, Sharing moments of small town life in prose or in rhymes. Memories flood into minds via our willing hearts; One leads to another in sequential
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How Many Roads Must a Person Walk Down?
“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind…” ~ B. Dylan Slap. Spank. WAAAAAAH. Boy? Girl? Free will? Predetermined fate? Conform? Challenge the status quo? Live until you die? Hide yourself
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Variations on Bell Jar
Requisite TELL (it like it is) JAR (At long last sharpening the blade…for spearing and shish kebabbing ping-pong balls.) For fully six years, driven composition Of essays, letters, couplets and some quatrains! I fade away—become an apparition Recording persuasive nostalgic refrains. Audiences both applaud…yet criticize: “Radical nut” from a “faraway planet!” “Keep ‘em coming. Through
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Personal Theories, Houses, Dirty Words, Childbirth, Misjudged Gargoyles, Overrated Angels
Poets Sandburg and Frost never leave my side; Carl is fun and positive and bans all adjectives, while Robert is melancholy and depressed. Whitman sings himself and celebrates himself. Dickinson must have been male…her profundity gives her true gender away – depth disguised inside terse lacy language. Truman Capote, however, reveled in his femininity so
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My Mentor, Little Lulu: A Treatise of Sorts
Katy Keene & K. O. Kelly. Brenda Star & that eye-patched Arrow Collar type guy, answering to Basil St. John. Clark Kent & Lois Lane, Nancy Drew & a girl-friend named George, Eloise & her turtle Skipperdee, Little Iodine & her nuttiness, Nancy & Sluggo, Mutt & Jeff, Archie & Veronica & Betty – “say
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Facing Up to a Missing Link … and My Resultant Veganism
(restricted audiences only) “We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.” ~ Richard Dawkins Bopped on the bean with a Rosetta Stone, I submit my last will and testament. My funeral may not draw crowds, but the tarring, feathering, drawing and quartering on our courthouse lawn may
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Snoopy’s Revelations of Dark & Stormy Days & Nights
Snapping string beans, husking corn, repositioning sprinklers, washing cars, scrubbing dogs, and watering geraniums leisurely fill afternoons assuring that summer’s a fixture as sun-beams dapple lush green lawns. Aromas of newly mown grass blend with exhaust fumes of motorcycles. Flower beds and clay pots offer up every vibrant hue found in rainbows. Outdoorsiness’s charm and
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Look Homeward Angle
Ruth Stanley and I have been friends for 24 years. I met her for the first time when I substituted in the Home Economics Department area at the high school where I incompetently supervised a study hall situation. All these years later, an opportunity to write a newspaper column presents itself. Having written voraciously for
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A Handful of Keys
My souvenir “themed” bracelet, purchased from a Biltmore gift shop. seemed inspired. Each time I clasped the darned thing onto my wrist, I surely might review our recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina, to tour Thomas Wolfe’s boyhood home or the spot where Zelda Fitzgerald burned to death in an asylum, as well as the
Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels 