Which Reminds Me

Yes, to be or not to be counted amongst the descendants of Alice Tempest (1520-1588) seems to be a question of the moment. Given the distinct possibility that Henry Strickland's parents were Luke Strickland and his wife Delilah Wood, that would sort of clearly make us direct descendants of William (1530-1590), the son of Alice Tempest, who married her second husband Walter Strickland (1516-1569) in 1561. Although nobody really knows how reliable are these various documents, the experts probably know, the DNA talks.

Henry Strickland was my great-grandfather, and he was descended from Matthew Strickland, who had immigrated to America in 1680 and lived and died in the state of Virginia.

Henry Strickland married Ida May, who was not really a Bell, a different story, but anyway, not much is known about her parents who died young, she was raised by her grandmother. 

My grandmother was Methodist, which has some sympathetic connection to the Church of England, although I don't quite see how that works. So, and the point of your question was?

Which Reminds Me

Yes, so you probably get all of your wrong information from that hifalutin artsy ballet dancer, Silly Chainy. So? 

Yes, and who knew back then that she was so political and are not all politicians a deadly boring combination of lowest common denominator trivialities? Spare me. I never was very fond of parties. Sometimes in life you have to go to parties, but mostly I am not fond of parties.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember years ago when we were attending a church at Oakland Park, and at that time a large number of people left, it is called a split, and they went over to Abundant Life, a non-denominational independent church, but I do not remember very much about that. I did not go with them. It was not my thing to go to claim Abundant Life as anything that I would know anything about, so it is hard for me to remember who those people were. I heard that Rosanna was one of those split-offs who went to Abundant Life. But of course you could always ask Michelle for more information. She always seemed to know everything about those people who filed a lawsuit against the church, and she even told me that she had visited them and that they still had the legal paperwork and were obsessing on that topic. I forget who she said that was. I never did keep track of those people. Sometimes if I were to see them at a restaurant, I may or may not recognize them. I really do not remember much about that. It would seem unethical for me to trouble myself about church splits. All local churches have their problems. Enough said about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I can easily see that you have made your point, which is to say that we cannot trust you not to make a huge mess of anything personal that we may have inadvertently entrusted you with. You only care about control. So that is a problem. Needless to say. Obviously.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do hope that, amidst your rageaholic furies, once in a while you may find a moment to contemplate the beautiful scenic landscape of God's handiwork in creation, the stars in the sky and the hills and valleys and so forth, as per the Psalm, and also to reflect on the many strange coincidences that may occur, often beyond our awareness or consciousness, in this life of trials and tribulations.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do think that heaven might be a more pleasant place without certain people there, but anyway, it is not my place to choose, and also, by the time we get to heaven, it might not matter there because anyway it was not about them.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it really is sort of funny, how they give me credit for strategizing in ways that I had never thought of at the time. If only I were that smart, looking back now from the vantage point of hindsight, maybe I could have really inflicted some sort of planned torture, but actually that was not where my head was at the time. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I think there might be a problem with the name of the band, but anyway, this particular song has nothing to do with that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that I thought it very odd, this obsession of yours with winning the lottery. Often you have made jokes about the lottery and betting, and even thought I told you I do not buy lottery tickets, I am starting to think that maybe I should try that, too. But didn't I point out in some article that I wrote that the odds of wining the lottery are similar to being eaten by a shark?

Coincidentally, during the latter half of the 1990s, I was singing with the Florida Philharmonic Choir and Chamber Singers, and our choir director told us that he was a graduate of the choir college that is somehow related to Princeton University in New Jersey. I enjoyed that volunteer experience very much, but anyway, although I have not sung for years now, I did so much enjoy the time that I sang with them.

Yes, I suppose that if you could qualify for admission to that choir college, you could almost write your own ticket, your career would be set for life as a choir director. Still, that would not count as a lottery ticket. That would require some hard work and study. You would have to move to New Jersey and apply there, something that I would never think of doing. But that would be something for you to think of, not me. I am done with music. 

I am done with performing as a sitting duck for your social experiments. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do hope that you are not auditioning for a comic role in a comedy because you obviously have no talent for being funny, especially not in such a context. That flat and abrupt delivery leads to nowhere, especially when pounding on an overdone joke that is already worn to shreds and overdue for the garbage dumpster, so we'll just overlook that you ever said that, given that you don't really matter anyway in the scheme of things.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, isn't that interesting, your bandmate on the B-52s is a Strickland, whereas my grandmother was a Strickland. And are you also being harassed by the Baron's Recusants of Malta? Do you even care whence comes this Recusant vs. Puritan narrative? I might not have noticed that, but now that I am aware of that, even so, I wish to maintain my own distinctive identity apart from the Baron's deviating Sicilian pathways. In other words, I really don't like this way of cutting up America into little pieces, but anyway I don't always get what I want, so I can just leave. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I hear you saying that you are doing Number 2, which means that you will be sitting there on the toilet for up to half an hour, so if I need to do something I will just have to wait. That is what that means. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, what was that Bible verse that I once shared, something about choice of arranging the furniture, and that did not seem to go over well so I forgot what that was. Nobody seems to care about how I would rearrange the furniture.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was a bit awkward, being mistaken for the reporter that I was hired to replace. She seemed to have taken dictation from the activists.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was sad when Steve Richey, my editor at the time, was fired, because he had written a one-word headline in huge letters, "Whitewashed," topping a story about the usual city politics, and the city insiders were complaining about his overly dramatic yellow journalism. There were some nice things about Steve but he let himself get too emotionally wrapped up in the drama of things, or better to say that he talked out of both sides of his mouth. And don't we all, but unfortunately sometimes when you belonged to that cliquey of activists they were getting rid of at the time, any mistake would be enough for their purposes.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that we made a sort of radio program with Dogpatch David, the story line had something to do with Lower Slobovia, which now that I look at that, I see that was a Jewish state in Siberia, a sort of counterpart to Dogpatch. Oh! I did not know at that time that Lower Slobovia was Jewish. I had thought it was a story about haughty arrogant rich people, but apparently there was more to that story than I could imagine. Sorry but I have no special Dogpatch news for Dogpatch Monica. That all belongs to Dogpatch David.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, there you go again, attempting to compel slave labor without compensation, as if I should lift a finger to assist the evil child molesters of Arkansas. Forget you.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember feeling that everything that I would need to say about that has already been said anyway, presumably by others beyond my earshot, so there would be no point to rehash that over and over again. Those who have A Round Tuit, by all means, may go right ahead and do that. I am not sure that I have that. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do not remember myself eve asking for or needing the help of Yukkety-Yuk Larry, that loopy idiot from Chicago. For what do I need the Yukkety-Yuks of Chicago?

Which Reminds Me

Yes, isn't that clever, how someone planted the idea of presidents and elections in various permutations, in a misleading way that gives the impression that I ever cared about what happened to Larry Kraiss. Yuk! Actually not. But in the middle of college one does not have the luxury of verbalizing all of these strangely passing thoughts in someone else's brain. Yes, well aren't you just so proud of yourself, having married the son of the college president, as if I should have noticed your uninteresting appearance in the college yearbook. We were not acquainted.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, and of course it was all the more terrifying and unfortunate that she was standing there, as if the party was all about her and I had no business being there, which I didn't, but anyway, she is likely to say any weird thing to make me feel that much more uncomfortable and embarrassed about being there. So that was all the more awkward.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that is one of the easily understandable and foreseeable difficulties and/or perils of hosting your swanky shindig on the college campus, in a classroom where it is always quite possible that any student wandering nearby, not knowing that anything special was going on there, may suddenly make a righ tor left turn and unexpectedly encounter some persons gathered, all dressed up in fancy clothes for who knows what occasion. I really never understood what that was about.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember hearing that Mark Carpenter was fired, but that happened after I had left and who knows what else happened in relation to that. Why should I bother asking questions when, anyway, Mark was not really such a special friend anyway. Only later was it learned that he was tapping the phones, so that was how he knew what I said on the phone and suddenly appeared at my desk to comment, almost as if he had knowledge of my personal conversations. But sometimes one does not try to verbalize every stray thought that passes through one's head, sorry if that disappoints your expectations of an easy explanation.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was really quite lame, your attempt to match me with Rusty. He was just one of those guys at college and really did not rise beyond the level of mere casual acquaintance, so why would I be getting all of these emails about him so many years later? Haven't we all moved on beyond college and have other things on our minds now than yammering about Rusty and his stage directions and college records? I just have nothing to say about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that some girls on maybe the fifth floor asked me to accompany their act, which was basically a gang of girls singing "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair," which is a song from the musical "South Pacific." So it was just whatever they wanted to do. My opinion was not solicited nor would I care to offer any commentary in such a context. I forget, was Rusty president of that Guild that year? I forget the details of that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember during college that some persons created a student organization, the Musician's Guild, whose main job was to organize the annual student talent show, and for the second year of that, Karen was elected the president of the Guild, so whatever crazy act is staged by the students is ultimately her responsibility, not my problem. The Buck should stop at Karen's desk, not my problem. Needless to say. Obviously.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, how interesting to note that Rosanna Barth (died 1903), the sister of my great-great-grandfather, was married to Henry Shotte (died 1897), and they had eight children: three sons and five daughters. These facts at least may be gleaned from the public record of genealogical research. Beyond that I have no idea who these people are. To me they are simply a list of names and dates on tombstones probably. We never had much contact with Ohio.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I would imagine that I would have told you that I am really not Irish, but you were not listening to me anyway. Those wishing to play Irish ping-pong should look for some other match, not me. But it is difficult to account for how people have varying perceptions based on the stereotypical pictures of their storybook minds. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, when it comes to name jokes, I am completely able to sympathize with the Shott dogs of Ohio, if there be any so dubbed, although the picture from over here, of their mere existence, is not at all clear.

Just because my name sounds like candy, the most seemingly sane and mentally healthy persons will say to me, "Are you sweet? Can I eat you?" as if that were funny, to say the most cruel and cannibalistic thing, especially when I was a small child, in a laughing tone, as if that were a joke. And I suppose that I could verbalize my thought on that subject, but such jokesters really do not deserve so much expenditure of emotional energy on my part. Needless to say. Obviously.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I did like that song, "The Way We Were," in which it is stated that things seemed more simple back then, and sung by Barbra Streisand, it really sticks in your mind how she sang it, not really how I sang it, or would have sung it if I had gone that far. However, I am nothing like the character in the movie, seen outside on the sidewalk carrying picket signs. No, I never do that. I just do not fit the stereotypical B-B role that you are trying to squeeze me into. That was not me. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, how interesting is that! My great-great-grandfather William Barth's sister Rosanna (died 1903) was married to Henry Schotte (died 1907), whereas your mother's maiden name was Schacht. Wow! And how is that a connection? I am not quite seeing your point, not really a top-of-mind subject for discussion. And how would you have even noticed that?

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I recently noticed that some persons seem to be getting all of their wrong information from blithering idiot Buzz. I won't care what race he might be when I eventually file my charges of slander and defamation against him, although I don't know when that would happen, I am not one of those sue-happy people. Needless to say. Obviously. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I think that if you are so familiar with the details of the Webber crimes, that we should all just step aside and let you do all of the possible prison time, because anyway, I do not know anything firsthand about that. It was only later that a little information came trickling out during and after the lawsuit that was filed by the boys, who were paid a settlement. Even so, how would I know what that was all about? I know nothing about that. Maybe if I had gone to the courthouse to read the legal documents, I would have more clues, but I did not do that,. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do not recall myself ever having the slightest connection to Arkansas, cannot imagine what I would need to discuss with those wicked child molesters.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, interesting how you people are such high school socialists, to a ridiculous degree, as if my entire life were defined by the casual acquaintances of happenstance during lunch hour. Actually, we never talked that much and I don't remember anything much about them. I have my tuna sandwich, my piece of cake and a banana and I have the piece of mind not to have to thrust myself upon the unwilling snobs over at another table.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I forget, I cannot even remember who was telling us that they had attended Hillcrest High School in Springfield. I just have no idea what sort of experience that might have been. You only live once, you only get one life and that is all there is.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, isn't that interesting, sounds like all of those Feral Cats have your name on them, so that will be your problem, not my problem. And I had not even noticed that detail until recently, so you Fast Times cats are way out there ahead of me, I am not even anywhere near to recognizing your Feral Cat problem. So I will leave it to Animal Control to figure out what to do with those critters. Obviously. Needless to say. Those Feral Cats certainly do take care of each other.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, we cannot help but wonder, why don't you start at the beginning and explain for us the origins of this obscure, actually sort of lousy "million dollars" joke, that is often seen floating around in various permutations and variations, because actually that is ndddot the real Parable of the Talents, in which it is explained that it really does not matter how many talents you start with, be it 1, 5, 10 or whatever, only to do what you can with what you got, although some of us are not allowed to do anything with what we got so we are perhaps excused, but at least we tried.

Which Reminds Me

 Yes, I vaguely remember, having already told this story before but who's counting, that there was a time when there was an entire colony of feral cats living behind Grandma and Grandpa Calkins' house. They were sort of like calico cats, sort of cute, tri-colored with white, brown and black patches, sometimes you would catch a glimpse of the kittens crawling in and out of the hedges, and it is possible that my grandparents fed them for a while, because they did not go away very quickly, and eventually they had to call animal control to come and take the feral cats away, because they were multiplying rapidly and not getting a clue about going away to find some other place to live. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember how he used to tease me, asking whether the cat had gotten my tongue. Actually not, but this is not something to share on some clueless Trip.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, at least I have learned one thing through all of this, that some people are so desperate to be found "up," they will say anything silly thing, any clueless stab in the dark about the airport, thus proving themselves completely out of touch with my reality. I said No; did you forget that I said No?

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember, Lynda and I were sitting there in our chairs waiting for class to start, and three people were standing over there talking to the teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, and they were talking about something that had happened recently when they were all visiting at Warren's house back home, and they were saying that Warren had bumped into Rose, somehow, and she was standing somewhere, someone had come out of a door, and was standing maybe on or near the stairs, and he had hit her in the — (something unpronounceable, he pauses and does not complete the sentence) — and she was wearing what? It wasn't clear who was standing where. And was that inadvertent or intentional? 

And Mrs. Lawrence, sensing that something embarrassing had happened, and wanting to seem sympathetic, started talking about some crazy Hollywood party she had been at in her youth, and seeing many crazy things happening there, and having drunk too much of something, went outside and vomited. So yes, she understands about these crazy embarrassing things that sometimes happen. 

Yes, how nice of Mrs. Lawrence to want to seem sympathetic, but I am not sure whether everyone would necessarily appreciate her analogy, because anyway, this is supposed to be a Christian college. Crazy things that happen at Hollywood parties are not supposed to happen here. We don't have such crazy parties here. Or do we? Hmmmmm..... Anyway, it was not clear what happened. There might be other parts to that story that I did not hear. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, there you go again, riffing on some movie that I never saw and had no plans to ever see. Only because of a few snippets on Youtube do we have any half a clue as to what you are talking about.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that someone was fearful of a rebooking, which actually is not happening. I am certainly not the bookkeeper in this family. I am only tracing the barely discerniable paths already left by the bookhounds who came before me. 

Having said that, even so, I yet think that, having this review thrust upon me, of the vast forest of world literature, I think that it would only be fair if I could somehow figure out how to monetize this activity, given that it occupies so much of my time and eats up almost all the computer space in my brain cells. It only makes sense that I should somehow find some useful thing to do with all of this literary information. I am just saying. Needless to say. Obviously.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I see that someone may need to say something about the rotten attitude of some egotistical boys, but not me. I probably should just keep my mouth shut and not say anything about the amazing stupidity of some who were inexplicably thought of as genius level, in a previous lifetime perhaps, but not now, although I never said anything about that. Why make waves about that? I have enough problems alreay without that idiot screaming in my ear.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, who was that horrid little brat who was threatening all sorts of Maltese Torture? As if I were ever acquainted with her brother John, much less whatever she said. Just forget about it. Ridiculous. People exhibiting such serious attitude problems are likely to self-destruct without me needing to say something about that. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it is very hard for me to remember, what is this anti-Semitic thing that I forgot to say? You never mentioned being Jewish, so I do not quite understand, what are you saying? Whatever happened to your Christian testimony? All these brown people look the same to me.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, there are some days when my head just feels like a ping pong ball. I enjoy playing ping pong generally speaking, but if my head is requested to serve as the ping pong ball, getting hit from various sides and angles, I must respectfully withdraw from the ping pong match, because I am not even sure what hit me.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I am getting a bit exhausted hearing the internal politics of Sicily-Malta, as if I should care about that. That is your vacation house in Malta, not mine, so throwing me to a pack of garrulous quarrelsome Sicilians proves nothing. Just being a U.S citizen does not automatically correspond to Sicilian, needless to say. Obviously. 

You are the Maltese Falcon so to speak, not me, so do not expect me to pay your Maltese rent or dues. It took me so many years to find the not really a connection. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember the story of when I was 3 or 4 years old, and I am told that I tried to topple my cousin from her seat on the rocking horse, even though I forget this, but they often say that I did that as proof of my being a bully. 

That said, you might actually get more information about family history out of them, because they might remember other things that I actually do not remember if I ever knew anything about that.

Even so, I fail so to see why this should be of any concern to some Italian sports bully in high school who, as far as I can tell, is not acquainted, or at least should not be acquainted with my cousins or aunts or uncles, who are nothing toyou. Why should this dreary sports dog be all riled up against me starting from the first day of high school? Now that I am home in the U.S., why cannot I drop them off in some Italian garbage dumpster? I will not need them for anything. I am not related to them.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that I was only sympathizing with some people who were complaining about the antics of our teacher, but I forget the details of that. It sounds terrible out of the original context now, but at the time it had a different idea, although the pun really does not work, strictly thought about, not worthy of appearing in eternal print certainly. I was not planning to do anything with sports anyway, so why all of this nonsense later? What's the matter, did you think that I was some obsessive sports freak? Sports is not my thing, needless to say. Why waste my time on sports? 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, you really are only dreaming if you think that you are going to attach me permanently to those acquaintances of Brazil. There is almost nothing for me to say about Brazil. Let them tell their own story. I do not think that I can help with that. I would only make a mess of everything if I ever tried to go there.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that for about a year I was rooming with three people in an apartment run by Donna, a special education teacher who thinks that everyone is mentally retarded, forgetting that I am not one of her students, and anyway I found a better place for myself than there, so I am long gone from there and never going to return, so they should just get used to not hearing back from me.

Which Remind Me

You pathetic dagwood juvenile delinquent, how dare you speak to brilliant me that way. You probably owe everything you know to Wilson's Italian garbage dumpster.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember when I had a dog, and you have to be so careful about not leaving them at home alone unrestrained, never knowing when you might come hom to find them chewing on the furniture or something not constructive or helpful.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot quite see why you are complaining so much. You asked for a translator who can go back and forth fairly well in either language. So what else can I translate? That is all I do. I only translate. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, some may be wondering why is there no Deviled Farmer on the menu? Why not throw Deviled Farmer out the window? Spare me their nonsense.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that Mitzi was our dog, a silver poodle, when we lived in Cooper City, but that was back in the 1980s.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, this obsession of yours with the hostages in Iran seems to me very Carteresque, so Carteresque in fact that it is almost as if a Carter's peanut farm crashed into a chocolate bar factory, and now it is raining Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. But I digress. Don't try to get that from me.

Which Reminds Med

Yes, I vaguely remember reading in the newspaper something about hostages being held in the Middle East. That is all there is, just some news reports telling about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, oh, perhaps I did tell someone about the story of the Jewish man who converted to Christianity, and his own mother appeared at church to spit on him and disown him, which is a sad story to be sure, but that is some amazing faith to be able to stand firm in your faith even when the circumstances may not be working out the way you might want them to. You have to be strong about your Christian faith, not one of those namby-pamby half-baked people who are feeling sorry for themselves.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do think that if I had known that she was going to be the devil personified, I could have spared myself some grief and not shared or mentioned some observations of mine which, while true enough from my point of view, were not so important as to be broadcast on the nightly news, because anyway the world is full of errors,  to which I have become more desensitized than I was in my youth, and to put too fine a point on that exaggerates the matter beyond recognition or beyond what it deserves. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I have noticed the gun pointed at my head, but what more can I say to this question about why was Rose Wilson laid to rest. How would I know? Did she not do that to herself without any help from me? We were sitting there listening to her make the announcement, and what are all these imaginary contracts with Lynda Bee? So I get that you will not need me for anything, that much I get. You may find Rose to be a veritable fount of doggie dyke and/or fairy lore, so why are you bothering me? You can always ask Rose to explain what she meant by that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I have noticed that some persons are traveling aboard the ship S.S. Gripsholm, but that was a WWII story. So, good luck with your upcoming Gripsholm book or movie project, whatever that may be. I might like to see that, too, might be an interesting story of heartbreak and broken persons rescued from the Japanese prison camps at the height of WWII. Also, yes, that might even work as part of Sarah Kuglar Sheets' amazing story, if I remember rightly, which I am not sure what I think about. But it seems that it might be a long time yet before the finished book or movie becomes available, if you are only now checking the passenger manifests to see who was on that ship or not. Next you will need to research the Gripsholm and tell their stories.

Of course, that is not our story. Not our ship. There are other ships in the sea and other stories to tell, but do not let me distract from your personal Gripsholm story.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do not think that there are any Communists in my family tree, so I am not feeling any compelling need to discuss the redistribution of wealth with some unknownn strangers in some unnecessary public forum. I am sure that the laws and events of life and politics and fortune will combine in some as yet unknown way to produce the "whatever happens" result without my needing to discuss that with you. 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, so it is very important in this matter for me to live by faith and not by sight. No interference with my faith will be entertained. No performance of "what not to do" is warranted.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember those guys from CFI, they certainly do talk a blue streak, do not know when I would ever get a word in edgewise, and why bother now? I have other sources of info, do not need them for anything. I have YouTube. I have books, the internet, etc. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I may have noticed some interesting cracks in the sidewalk in regards to that, but anyway, there are some things that you might not be able to notice about that, because you are too young and free and unfettered by that, so try not to get too caught up in thorn patches that are really not that important. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it is clear that someone is playing chess over my head, so that it really will not matter whether I am absent and slip out the back door quietly unobserved. Surely the gamesters will carry on their role-playing and not even notice that I am gone.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it is always so insulting to be required to comment on some imaginary conversation of which I am not and never was a primary witness, so cannot say much about that. What is this imaginary conversation that may or may not have taken place between two people of whom I am barely aware, perhaps too busy trying to get my homework done during study hall if that is where it happened, although I do not remember being there at the time to hear that. 

Which is not to say that it never happened, only that if a tree falls in the forest, truly I believe that the sound waves are duly produced in accordance with known scientific principles, even if my eardrums were unfortunately not available to attempt a reproduction of whatever that was about.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I think that you might have more luck interviewing Kathy's best friend, Patty Cruz, who is often seen reading from Kahlil Gibran at study hall. Maybe they could get together with Patty's Uncle Ted and figure out something about that.

Which Reminds Medd

Yes, I do not quite see why I would need to commit suicide to cover for Kathy's high-level Persian connections. I did not know anything about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, at least I was willing to take a swing at vicious horrid Chatty Kathy, unlike some other cowards lurking in the background. I am not going to apologize for that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, strange that you should be talking about land, as if I had ever owned anything to sell.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, and where is the point of the story where I get to wash my hands of the back-stabbing traitorous Jenkins Terd family? That might be an interesting plot point to see. But I have to behave as a mature adult and not act out these dreary fantasies in some deterministic way. I have to overcome that. I have to overcome this Jenkins monster. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot even imagine when the time would come for me to think of kicking that dreary Has-Been Witch all the way home to David's worthless Dogpatch Hole. Who would have ever thunk such a ridiculous thing? Why would I ever say that?

Was she Arab or Jewish? I had not even thought of that, so obviously it was a purely literary matter limited to the use of Literary Club and nothing more.

But you insisted on getting all of your wrong information from those trashy Hollywood Hoes, those of the Farah Faucet Majors persuasion, under cover of Charlie's Angels TV stardom, who are sworn, no matter what, to defend that creepy little pickpocket/hotel cook Longwell of Iowa from his own two-faced traitorous back-stabbing duplicities, of the Mason Jarred variety. 

And when will they ever turn off the Faucet and/or Spicket, cut off the flow or trickle-down of your high-flown Dogpatch doggerel, the Dogpatch ditties of Debbie perhaps, so that we can get on with our lives? But one can only wonder what happened. when no useful facts are available. 

 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, God forbid that I should criticize the flattened storybook characters developed in your stab at fiction, or, oh, was that non-fiction? It was not yet clear to me at that time what a waste of time it is to join literary clubs. I think that after that I switched to girls' choir.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot quite remember what I said during ninth grade literary club, by this time I only remember that high school was such a completely miserable experience, always harassed by those vicious nasty horrid rich girls.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that there are some people who think that they are so clever in shoving some words into my mouth that had never crossed my mind. Who would have thunk such a thing? But even so, cleverness does not qualify them to be my legal representative. If I needed a lawyer, I would hire someone with the proven legal chops to represent my interests, not necessarily theirs.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I really cannot quite see why you have chosen to be so heavily invested in that roach-infested condo, but whatever. It is your money, so do whatever you want with that. Only don't bother me with that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I always enjoyed watching those wartime Looney Tunes cartoons, wherein it is always so funny how they hammer the Nazis continually. Those cartoonists were amazingly good at doing their jobs.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, interesting that you would want to claim the Shanghai point, but whatever. I would imagine that has nothing to do with me. Or perhaps we should be asking why your Shanghai message is not being heard. Huh? Perhaps your Shanghai messenger got Socked-In, or should we say Sobocked-In? That message does not resonate with us, lacking any factual context on which to hang that. I suppose there may be an interesting footnote there to the historical record, but it does not rise to the level of something that I would need to do something about. Besides which, I do not speak Chinese. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I have agreed to evacuate the planet, no need to remind me of that. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, whatever happened to those back-stabbing so-called "friends." Just because their surname was Moore, that does not mean that those Lebanese cockroaches were ever in any way related to my great-great-grandmother, Amanda Fitzallen Moore (1827-1882) of Texas, who can be tracked back to Ireland and Scotland, unlike them.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember hearing the threats and mutterings of Bob, who wants to kill his shorthand secretary because of some who knows what crazy thing she might have said while babysitting his three children, although they never really explain what that was. I doubt that I could help with that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember hearing that someone was making some jokes about Candyland, the board game, but of course that would have absolutely nothing to do with me. I am not sure that we ever owned that particular board game. And also, the spelling would be wrong. There is no "y" in my name, so clearly they are not really talking about me. Those guys may like to clutter their lives with dull and humerless jokes, but that would not be my problem. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do hope that you understand, although I cannot imagine why I would have to verbalize it, that whatever happens, I am not going to bow down and worship that golden statu(t)e that you have built portraying that evil demonic Tinker goddess, "at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music." Needless to say. Obviously. 

Even a broken clock is right twice a day, but I have other considerations on my mind.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember hearing that Hazel, the wife of my mother's uncle, was from Alabama and also that her family in Alabama had ties to the KKK, a topic of hearsay to which I have nothing further to add beyond that mere fact as explained by my mother. It is also said that Hazel had mental health problems.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that someone was suggesting that I go to the Appalachias to try to minster there and reform those cantankerous moonshiners, a suggestion that I mostly ignored because it sounded like a joke fashioned by some Black Irish politician who only wishes that he could dump all poor white people in some Appalachian trash bin.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that during high school, I read the novel "Christie," a work of fiction written by Catherine Marshall, based on stories from maybe it was her mother who was a schoolteacher maybe 100 years ago or more in some village of maybe western Virginia or West Virginia. So for the most part that was a quaint and charming story of life in the backwoods. It is easy to imagine that such places can no longer existed so isolated from modern culture, that such persons were a highly fictionalized picture not worthy of further serious thought, given that actual people in such places would be more akin to prickly pears than anyone worth contacting in real life.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that is weird, how those Appalachian people pretend to know who I am and chatter away as if I should remember something about them. Wendy Who? It is amazing how friendly some people can be with complete strangers.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that way back when david was maybe in 8th grade they were visiting at our house and we had a newly invented thing known as a cassette recorder, and he got the idea that we could make our own radio show or program, similar to those made by his distant cousin of Al Capp contact somehow, I forget the details of that, and he was describing to us some storyline about some incredibly snobbish arrogant people who live in some very cold place where it gets so cold that their noses become ice cubes. Years later I read something about that which better informed myself of something about Siberia, but at the time that we made the tape, we were just ad libbing on whatever he said. I forget many details of that, but anyway it was his idea in the first place. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember the time during college when I was having a dream about failing an exam and I was feeling so depressed and in utter despair, wandering around campus not knowing what to do next, and then I woke up and was still feeling depressed about that for a while, until it suddenly occurred to me that it was only a dream. That never really happened. I was only having a nightmare.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, nice try, but I must reiterate the fact that NO, you may not have my Spelling Bee trophy that I won fair and square in the second grade, which has my name engraved on it, not yours. Needless to say. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, one cannot help but wonder whatever happened to that little brat Cindy Bell. One would think that she might be old enough now to get over herself.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, isn't that strange how John wishes that he were a switched-at-birth Maclellan? But can he prove that his Stewart ancestor was named in a MacLellan lawsuit in the 18th or 19th centuries? And who even knew that he had a Stewart ancestor? And why all those snarky remarks about the dignities of Kirkcudbright? 

Yes, I cannot blame them for not giving the money to John. He would just give everything away to his Mexican people, and the rest of us would just be out of luck, out of the loopd as usual. 

Yes, and coincidentally, everyone thought that Mrs. Lambert, Wanda Lambert's mother, was a nice lady, who sometimes did substitute teaching at the MK school. But if you were to ask me, I would only be able to remember that she seemed to paint a second set of eyebrows above her eyeglasses, a fashion thing that I would not recommend, at least not to persons reading books aloud to children during the story-time after lunch. Whether there were some interesting MacLellan-Lambert connection there would have been way beyond my capacity to note at the time. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I am trying to remember, were you that angry person across the hall who, when I tried to say hello, you almost bit my head off and muttered some sullen threats. OK, fine. You can be sure that I will never try to speak to you ever again in this lifetime. That much you can be sure of.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I think that life would be so much more pleasant if Dogpatch David would learn to keep his big fat mouth shut. As matters stand, we have no choice but to ship him home to his cousin Al Capp, the cartoonist of Dogpatch legend. He explained the connection, but I forget now exactly what that was.   

I personally have no connection whatsoever to Dogpatch David. That was their problem. I leave Dogpatch David to explain himself if that be possible. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that there was a conflict of documents available for determining whether William J. Barth, my great-great-grandfather, was born in Baden or in Saxony (Sachsen), two different locations in Germany. That is not clear, but anyway how does that matter now? We are all Americans now.  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, unlucky me, the way I see it, because it was purely a matter of coincidence that I happened to be sitting within earshot when she unloaded a boatload of stuff, this was during study hall and I was trying to get some homework done, but she was talking to Marion, not to me, so for details of that you would need to cross-examine Marion. Those were some interesting puzzle pieces but I would not have any idea where to put that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, you people really are creative in the area of fictional plotting twists and thrilling suspense. You really ought to write that all down in a novel format so that you can sell that book in the publishing marketplace so that everyone can read that all the way through, because until that happens, I cannot quite see what you are talking about.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I probably should not try to verbalize what any opinion whatsoever, founded on the flimsiest of chimerical evidence, about that possibly imaginary pretender person who goes online by the name of Ronit-Monica Tinker, given that I know almost nothing about her. How would I know anything about that? We never talked. We are not acquainted on that level. I only overheard something. 

But those guys always did like to play pretend. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember at MK school, that verse was mentioned, Isaiah 4:1, in which it is said that at the end of time silly women will be throwing themselves at men for some reason, it was not clear why anyone would want to do that.

Take for example that little kid David who has sent us letters and drawings from the hospital where his appendix is being removed. Why would she want to kiss his pimply face? That changes the chemistry too much for words. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot help but wonder, what is this imaginary contract that I forgot to sign? Why should I be persecuted 40 years for something that never happened? Yes, so you tell me.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, isn't that interesting, how my great-great-grandmother, Rhoda Burrey, was the granddaughter of Jacob Burry (1785-1850) who was born in Switzerland and immigrated to America in about 1818. 

Years ago I was made aware of the Ancestry account of Candace Peebles, who kindly shared her tree with me. Her tree somehow connects to us through the Burreys. It is complicated. I cannot remember their connection off the top of my head, which Burrey, but I will try to find the connection, maybe I will find that again someday. They have all the Barths listed in their family tree thanks to the Burrey connection. I am not sure how the "e" crept in to the name spelling.

And Jacob Burry's son, Jacob Burry (1815-1879) married Mary Ann Carr from Prussia, who, someone was trying to paint a picture of her as a bad girl because there is no information about how she ran away from Prussia, and who was her escort or chaperone during her travels to America. And I have no answers to such questions, only that Rhoda Burrey was one of their 11 children.   

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that is a strange thing to ponder, assuming you can even be made aware of and grasp that concept, because who is ordinarily in the habit of digging around in the 1930 census for strange information on a certain day in 1930, about their 73-year-old widowed great-great-grandmother, maybe, and her odd tenant/boarder surnamed Ashton, born in Ohio, listed as a drayman who does odd jobs.

You would think that his name was Astor, due to a cloud of obfuscating smog emanating from the glitzy snobs of New York, for some unknown reason, but no, the name was only Ashton, Is there anyone in the family who can explain that in a satisfactory way? I for one certainly know nothing about that.       

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I sometimes wonder if that is Anita Stone I hear flitting around on her broomstick. Were there ever any brain cells in her empty head? I never really knew, and there is no time now to backtrack on these useless points. My mother is a great cook, so I will not need her lousy cakes and pies for anything. Your job is to feed the masses. You have no place in my particular situation, so do not bother me with your annoying nonsense.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that during college my sister and I worked a certain job at Vida, in the warehouse, and the system was that we were paid on a piecework basis, so that the faster we worked the larger our paycheck would be. So we organized ourselves to work as efficiently as possible in order to make our paychecks as large as possible within that system. And then David worked with us for two weeks, and there was really no great advantage for us to have a third person to split the paycheck with, and then he sort mocked us and said that he thought it was ridiculous that we worked so hard for such little money, because why should he care, he is a rich kid with probably millions of dollars in his private bank account. He or his dad would mutter something about the system needing to be fixed because he doubtless would prefer making us work just as hard while not having to pay us a dime. That would be a system of advantage for them, but of course from my point of view that would stink. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, you might be surprised what I get your manipulative control freak chatterbox game, a dreary mess if you ask me, but of course you would never ask me. You only want to be in complete control of the interpretation of everything. No one else need  apply. So I would prefer not to be bothered.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it is puzzling to contemplate why anyone should be imagining that I should be called upon to pay for the crimes of that worthless idiot. Why should I trouble myself in regards to his unrepentant crimes of rape and pillage? Let him save himself and repent if he is yet able, but that should not be my direct responsibility. Needless to say.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember hearing online, maybe Bob saying that I was being thrown and/or dumped to David's bucket, because I once worked with him for two weeks, back when he was in high school, and so my presence for a very short time somehow explains why everything went wrong for him, even though I was not aware of all these events and do not know anything about that. So in their view everything is always my fault, no matter what, and obviously, I am not going to be happy about that twisted logic. I think the Bible talks about sin in James 1:12-15, explaining how he has only himself to blame for that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember years ago, hearing something online about David who had originally planned a ministry to Palestinians of the West Bank, but later disqualified himself. He was looking for someone to do take over that mission and to earn the money to do that, but whatever, who knows what that meant. Why should I think that I could pick up the slack where David fell flat on his face? That would not be my problem. 

Which Reminds Me

 Yes, I vaguely remember that during my senior year of high school, my mother somehow, I forget through what connections, helped to facilitate the adoption of a little Salvaoran boy, Jeremy, by a young couple from Washington state who I only met once. I forget. Was the wife's name Jessica? And we left the country shortly after that, and later we heard that they returned to that country with other connections, and adopted a little girl produced by the same woman, illicitly. I have no idea of the personal details of those people. 

I only would consider myself completely insulted if they were to suggest that I had any connection whatever to those people and their illicitly adopted children. I don't understand what that commotion was all about. Certainly, it would be interested to have their empty heads on a platter.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, when I was 10 years old I did not have such clear cut opinions about the witches and goblins of Halloween tradition. We have to be taught later so that we can better understand what not to do.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I was at a party with many girls there, and someone brought a Ouija board, and they were explaining how that works, and how you are supposed to move that widget around the board and it will allegedly spell out a message of some sort, and I said something dismissive of that, not taking that seriously, not seeing how that could ever make any sense. And if I were to spell the word hello, wouldn't that just be me doing that, not some other-worldly spirit? 

And now the demons are angry because I did not take them seriously and apply myself to their instructions. 

But you obviously get all your wrong information from those evil demonic pagan witches who brought their Ouija board to the party.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember the existence of, or at least hearing the name of Rene Parish, who is a woman pastor of a church in California, but if I ever met her personally I cannot quite remember. Was she an SCC or Bethany person? Some of these points all blur together in my mind so many years after the time when someone was trying to make an issue out of her. I cannot quite remember what the point would be of making her the poster child of all women ministers everywhere. It happens that way sometimes that some rare women actually want to do that, but my personality would not fit there. Needless to say. Why should I be required to perform someone else's negatively stereotyped vision of the universe? Who is calling who? I really do not want to be bothered about that.

Which Remins Me

Yes, I do think that it would be lovely to go as a tourist to England, and to visit the lovely city of Bath, to view the many historical sights, the ancient Roman baths, and especially the Jane Austen historical museum. I imagine those would be such lovely things to visit, whenever, maybe someday, or at least I can watch a video on Youtube. 

Yes, what was that rant about Jane Austen and the landed English gentry? I might never achieve such a level of affluence as to bother my head about issues of landed gentry. Certainly rights to an oil well spewing about $100 every six months does nothing to qualify one for a trust fund status of inherited wealth. Needless to say. That will not pay the rent. Needless to say.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, interesting how you Oneness people are all the same person, and you are always chattering away as if I were some other person unknown to me.

 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, there is another point to consider, as to what rating of sizzle should be granted to Marabel Morgan's totaled women's book? It was marketed as a Christian book about marriage relationships, but once you get to that place where she tells that story about the front door, was she telling it on herself or someone else, then it becomes hard to remember what else did that book say anyway? 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I noticed how those guys are very self-promotional in their pufferies, but it would not be appropriate, nor would it be possible for me to go around fixing all their misinformational oddities, of which it is not certain that I would even be able to o that. Sometimes they interpret things differently than I would. As for example, the Christmas gifts party from Mrs. Forrest, which I thought was a bit odd, I said that it was as if we were Keturah being sent away with gifts, but whatever. We dare not argue with such powerful authority figures.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that, years ago at work, in maybe 1992 or 1993, there was an editor, Cathy, who was talking about her side job writing for some publications of no account. I do not understand how she could write the first word of that, whatever it was. Strange to think that someone had to actually sit down at a keyboard and type that stuff. But Cathy moved away, probably to New York and we never heard another word about what happened to her later.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, they certainly are full of the most scintillating gossip, fascinating to listen to these stories that I never heard before, and Herrington explains those things in a certain way that I cannot confirm or deny, I just have no idea. I do not have the same level of access to higher level information of that sort, or at least the official way that it is told by them.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was interesting to learn that Herrington was a huge fan of Harlequin romance novels, and had a collection of such books in her room. She was explaining that these Harlequin romance novels are published in varying levels of steaminess, and she knows how not to buy the more steamy novels by identifying the various ways these books are labeled. So that was interesting to learn more about the formula of such books, wherein about two-thirds of the way through is the most steamy part usually, and you can just open up the book to a place about two-thirds of the way through without even reading the book and find a shockingly steamy passage. So the truth of that fact having been independently verified, there is no reason to continue this dull and uninteresting, tawdry topic of conversation. 

In my younger days I had been a fan of the romance novels of Grace Livingston Hill and Emily Loring, the only such books available to us, and also I once read the romance novel written by Mrs. Hodges, wife of the Foreign Missions Department, so that was interesting, how some of the scenarios are based on real places and people that they know. 

But nowadays it is hard to know what steamy passage you might run across if you simply buy some random novel in a bookstore. I have made that mistake myself, needless to say, so buyer beware.

 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I was confused to hear all of this commotion about some unknown secret lunch money deal. Fine, you can have my lunch money. You can take my tuna sandwich, take my piece of chocolate cake wrapped in Saran wrap, perhaps the Lord will have need of it, I will have dinner at about 6 o'clock anyway back at home so I don't care that much about their personal lunch money project. I would not want to claim any responsibility for cooking up their lunch project, they deserve all the credit for whatever that meant. Needless to say.  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it was quite a miserable experience to room with Cori during college, such a horrible screaming witch, who was issuing a series of orders about my housekeeping duties, as if I were the maid. No, I was not the maid. Nobody was paying my salary to tolerate her spoiled rotten attitude. Why was I going to put up with that garbage any longer?  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, when I was a child I often heard the story of how when I was a baby, a few months old, I was very ill was encephalitis, and the doctor had thought that if I did live I might be a vegetable. However, many people prayed for me and I was healed, and so that never happened. And when I mentioned this to someone it got twisted around into a completely different thing, as if my Aunts would claim the responsibility for my success because they prayed for me as a child. So that became too complicated to have any further meaning. So I am grateful that God healed me, and enough said about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, interesting how those bullies are expecting me to roll over and play the role of ultimate victim. Obviously I am not going to be thrilled about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I noticed something, is that Herrington I hear flittering around on her broomstick? I never realized how stupid they really were until they went backstage and vomited a pack of nonsense. And why should I care about that?

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that there was a guy at our college who left and went to William and Mary College in Virginia. I forget his name. He married I forget who, what's-her-name? And their marriage ceremony was officiated by Lani Fujitsubo who lived down the hall, and had actual ministerial papers. That is probably the only part that I can remember hearing about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that at our college, there was a person whose name was Lisa Goines, and some people were joking that her name sounds like she is "going" somewhere, but that was only a silly name joke that I heard someone mention, I am not saying that I would know where Lisa Goings went.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that someone was talking about some people in California who had defected to Anglicanism, due to the problem of Episcopalian policies, which seems to have put their American patriotism in a bind, because Anglicanism is so very British. 

I was not Episcopalian to start with, so I myself do not feel any urgent or compelling need to go Anglican either, don't know much about that. Maybe I also read about that in a magazine years ago, but the details are not top of mind at the moment. I could ask them to remind me who that was they were talking about, but why bother. It was not that important to me to stay in touch with their gossip lines.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, it does seem a bit puzzling, why should I have to explain my comings and goings to some vicious nasty whiners in New York City. I do not understand. You are nothing. Your name does not appear. Why all this mail from Wisconsin? You are still dead, the last I heard of the Colonel. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that while reading the diaries of great-grandmother, I noticed there was a cryptic comment about me being at that Carlsbad house, and I cannot quite remember now what errand I was there for, only that I can probably count on one hand the times that I was ever there at that house in Carlsbad, so that was a rare event I suppose, and there really was not so much reason as you seem to imagine to paint a huge picture about that. I really do not know much about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do regret having roomed during college with Cori. She had her own TV in the room and would tune in to some late night programs that I really wish I had never heard, that plants little bugs in your brain that don't belong here.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember noticing how Blackie peasant ran way with Redhead's husband, so that only makes you his third wife, so there is no great trophy in store for that stupid achievement of yours, he being your third or was that fourth husband? Well, La-di-ah! 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I remember that it would be risky for me to verbalize what I have noticed about the deal between Blackie and Blondie, wherein Blondie enjoys all of the benefits of being a goddess, worshipped by the little Blackie or Brownie peasants, which I imagine she would enjoy very much. Such a great deal for her, needless to say.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot help but wonder why you think I would want that lousy unpaid volunteer job? Did I ask for that? No, I seem to remember that it was foisted upon me unawares, not what I wanted.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I have notice how certain people who only dye their hair red, tend to be acting out the negative stereotypes associated with that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I think that someone really ought to pay for this willful malicious attempt to turn my entire life into one huge sick joke. Ok, maybe I was not a perfect child, but this gets so ridiculous.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, at these special moments I seem to be full of cryptic comments and I don't even know why I am saying this, perhaps inspired by some magazine article I had read. Oh, is that Elzena Scott's snooping nose I see poking around the corner? Yes, one is never alone in this world. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, what was all that to-do hubbub commotion about Boudica who? That is a story unknown to me.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot imagine when I would ever move to the town of Red Stick. Why bother? Since when do I care to participate in a whiney farce, wherein I would only be pretending to be the power behind the whiney throne, covering for the actual voices of the whiners and complainers, whose agenda is of no interest to me. Lipstick on a pig is the way someone described it. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember that during college, one summer, some people from our college, maybe including the drama team, spent some time in Amsterdam, doing ministry there, and after returning to the U.S. that fall gave a presentation in chapel that was quite memorable, left an impression.. I never got to go to Amsterdam to see that for myself, but Gansky was telling me some things about her experience there and how they ministered in some unmentionable parts of the city of Amsterdam, which is escribed as quite a cesspool of crime and iniquity. Yes, I do not know when I would ever go there.  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I was reminded to mention that years ago, Pastor Rentz mentioned something about my going, maybe, to Baton Rouge, to think about that, and also later Mike Santiago called to ask me to apply for a job there, maybe in their translation department, it was not clear, but I never did that, I felt at that time that the Lord was telling me NOT to go there, so I never actually applied there. They might have had plans for me, but that did not seem to be what I felt that I should do.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember years ago in El Salvador, my Dad, an AG missionary, was a speaker at a youth camp, although not the year that I went, and when my Dad returned from the camp, he was talking about this guy that he had befriended there, who was apparently from a somewhat wealthy family, more wealthy than the average, and this guy had gotten saved at the camp meeting, and later he married some girl he had met there. And when my Dad mentioned this guy's name, I recognized that he was probably an older brother of my high school classmate, Martha, whose locker was next to me due to the alphabetical order of things, so that was interesting, although it would be sort of awkward to try to discuss this topic with Martha because they are a very proud family. I would prefer to live my own life and not be bothered by their mercurial tempers, because anyway I do not know very much about that.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember being in Chinatown and seeing how you can buy a huge chunk of ginger root which is said to be a healthy and natural thing to ingest. Even so, I would prefer to buy any ginger I might need, for gingerbread cookies or whatever else, at the grocery store where it comes in those nifty little spice cans, more convenient for any cooking uses.  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, there may be a time far in the future when your French-fried Sham-pain butts will be hauled up on charges of sex trafficking, but I cannot say when that would happen. Fortunately for you, God is merciful and gracious and slow to anger, patiently waiting for your own repentance to manifest itself eventually.  

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I only vaguely remember that Martha was boasting of how she keeps her money in a Swiss bank account, a very secretive and secure way to put your money out of the country if you so choose, so good luck trying to guess what amount. I really do not remember whether she mentioned any amount. I only remember the part about the Swiss bank account.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember someone pointing out that Becky is now gone, glued by marriage to the Wright family of Houston, which although that may sound Right, is fronted by a huge W (sounds like Double U), and that provides no benefit whatsoever to clueless bystanders such as myself. That may sound like Mickey Mouse territory to some, but actually that may be saying something about British Columbia, or Belize, a Central American country where it is said that English is spoken, because anyway, that is to say,  their Spanish language skills are not very advanced. Even in the English language there are many words in the unabriged dictionary I may not have heard of, so one can easily imagine the same to be true of Spanish, a second language. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was not a very nice thing for you to say about Sandy Nestor, a college classmate who is disabled due to one of those diseases, I forget which one, maybe something like muscular distrophy.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I vaguely remember there was that photo of Sarah Kugler, and beyond that I do not know anything about them personally. I hear that she was married to Daniel Sheets and that they live in Arizona, that is, after they returned from China the Japanese prison camps of World War II. But for details, I would be of no use whatsoever. You could always ask one of my Dad's relatives.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I am not particularly thrilled to be hearing from Rachel's backstage contacts. She was my sister's classmate at nursing school, and she makes big money in the nursing profession, but then she ran off to Chicago and turned wacky. I really do not want to hear about that.

Which Reminds Me

 Yes, I vaguely remember that we were discussing the dictionary definition of the word "slut." And there is a flip side to that, an how can you live with yourself in that flipped out state of mind, but that is your problem, not mine.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I cannot think of anything more depressing and forlorn than to be stuck working in janitorial work, with you for a supervisor, on a level with Antonia, our former maid who was fired after found preparing to leave with a suitcase full of our stuff. Already some things had disappeared, and she would have taken even more if my mother had not fired her.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, amazing how they have the nerve to carry on so about their jobs in janitorial supervision, mostly low-paying jobs, not exactly the most lucrative field even while an unavoidable necessity for big businesses such as Disney and various hotels of the tourism industry, whilst I cannot dare to repeat some of the unspeakable stories that I heard from her. Needless to say. 

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I do not see how those takey-takey people have any place to be lecturing me about something.

Which Remins Me

Yes, I hear that he sold his soul, at ORU, to one of those greedy golddiggers from ORU, who babbles incessantly and stupidly about money and getting the money. 

Huh? We owe our allegiance to the headquarters at Springfield, so whatever they teach those idiots over at ORU is no concern of mine. Needless to say.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, I remember that I had a U.S. passport so for what did I need a VISA card? I am a U.S. citizen so there is nothing illegal about coming home to the USA, whether by jet plane or by car or by boat matters not.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, that was weird, way back when, online, the message was going around, possibly from the Hills brothers, that they were the only official Christians and U.S. citizens during high school, because they had attended the Union Church, which is a church for English-speaking people who are living temporarily in the country. So if I never attended the Union Church (only once with a friend in maybe 5th grade, sort of Episcopalian maybe), I cannot qualify as either a Christian or a U.S. citizen, according to the calculations of the Hills brothers, who have set themselves up as the presidential representatives of the Union Church people. Which does not matter much to me whatever they say over there in their private Union Church Club, I really have no desire to comment on the Union Church and their internal politics. It is just that when they are unsolicitedly trying to intercept my personal arrangements is when they run afoul of what matters to me, because our entire purpose for being there did not involve the Union Church. So if I were to write a book, it would not be about them.