MEMO : 12.31.03 : [CAREFUL]
Careful what you wish for! The Cowboys are in the playoffs, and most likely will make their exit Saturday night. I guess if I want a "Super Bowl," I'd better break out the party stuff this weekend because this is the closest we'll get this year.
Careful what resolutions you make! Because you're gonna end up breaking them anyway, right? And then you have to deal with the guilt.
So for me I hereby resolve:
To eat more chocolate.
Read more novels.
See more movies.
Write more scripts.
(Note to self: Buy chocolate for "Faux Super Bowl party this weekend.)
Happy, happy, everybody!!"
MEMO : 12.20.03 : [DEEP BREATH]
Okay, at the beginning of the season I said (and meant it), "If we only win two games, if we beat the Redskins twice, I'll be satisfied!"
Prior to last Sunday I said (and meant it), "I don't care if we don't make the playoffs, if only we beat the Redskins again -- this time in D.C. -- I'll be happy!"
How does "27 - zip" sound? Zero. Nada. Zilch. No points. Nyet.
We massacred 'em.
And even though I meant it -- both times --
Is it too late to say, "Okay, now if only we make the playoffs...."
Your "ever-raising-the-bar" Pooks
MEMO : 12.03.03 : [MISS WHAT FOR]
Calvin Coolidge called her, "America's best girl."
When things got really bad, the wind, the rain, the riptides, the jellyfish and sharks -- her father called to her to quit, and she answered with only two words: "What for?"
The tugboats that accompanied her played peppy music over and over on the gramaphone and she sang along until her father told her she might be better off to conserve her energy.
He needn't have bothered. She shattered the previous record (a record set by a guy) by over two hours, and became only the sixth human and the first woman to swim the English Channel. (Okay, what should have been a 21-mile swim ended being more like 35, because of those currents, but who's counting?)
Keep correcting your course, sing along to the music, and when somebody tells you it's time to quit simply ask, "What for?"
I kinda like that.
Gertrude Ederle 1905 - 2003
ESPN: Ederle's swim was pride of Roaring '20s
MEMO : 11.17.03 : [WEEKEND REPORT]
So, I got a new Honda Element for my birthday. Biggest birthday present I've ever gotten!
My Element is more fun to drive than a food fight.
A sound system made for 20-something guys.
Did I mention it's so ugly it's cute?
I love my new Element!
Now about that Cowboys game.
Okay, they lost. They're now 7-3.
New car, Cowboys lose.
I can live with that. it.
MEMO : 11.02.03 : [AFRAID TO SAY IT]
I just haven't wanted to talk about it.
The Cowboys kept winning, and the more they won, the more I didn't want to talk about it.
Then they lost to Tampa Bay, and I didn't want to talk about it.
But today, they defeated the hated Washington Redskins.
Okay, it was an awful game.
It was a win.
It was disgraceful.
It was a win.
Did I mention it was so ugly even its own mother wouldn't have wanted to claim it?
But -- it was a win.
And, I'm happy to talk about it. Dallas
Cowboys: 21
Washington Redskins: 14
Yee-ha.
MEMO : 09.28.03 : [MAKE 'EM LAUGH]
"In a brief statement, the family said that among O'Connor's last words was the following quip: 'I'd like to thank the Academy for my lifetime achievement award that I will eventually get.' "
Now that's an exit line.
Donald O'Connor 1925-2003
MEMO : 09.15.03 : [WOW OH WOW!]
So the Cowboys aren't good enough for Monday Night Football any more? ABC hasn't wanted them for two years?
Cowboys: 35
Giants: 32
Bite me, ABC.
MEMO : 09.11.03 : [730 DAYS LATER]
I wish I could write something meaningful or coherent about my feelings this morning as I heard the children's choir sing The Star Spangled Banner, as I hear children's voices read the names of the dead, as I see images of family members mourning, holding up photos of their lost loved ones, weeping, comforting each other.
All I can do is pray for their peace of mind, their peace of heart, our peace on earth.
May light perpetual shine upon them.
MEMO : 08.29.03 : [WHO CARES?]
DALLAS COWBOYS : 52
OAKLAND RAIDERS : 13
It's pre-season, it doesn't count, who cares?
I got to see touchdowns. And more touchdowns. And even MORE touchdowns.
Heck, for a minute there, I thought I was watching Super Bowl XXVII again.
There may not be much to cheer about in the regular season, so today?
I care. Woo-hoo! We beat the Oakland Raiders!
MEMO : 08.26.03 : [FAKING IT]
I know it's fake.
I don't want to know how fake it is.
I want to see Indiana Jones clinging to the undercarriage of a Nazi truck, not a stunt man faking it.
I want to see Middle-Earth as magical, not technical sleight of hand.
I want DVD special features to show deleted scenes, and to hear directors and writers talk about creative choices made, not reveal detailed techno-secrets of how to fake it.
I want to believe Clark Gable carried Vivien Leigh up those blood-red stairs, not find out it was body doubles who were stronger/lighter.
I want to believe a tornado swept across the flat, gray plains of Kansas, not find out it was a stocking.
I want to believe ET flew across the face of the moon. I want movies to be magic.
But looking at all those "making of" tv specials and DVD extras, I guess I'm the only one.
Spoil-sports.
MEMO : 08.20.03 : [HEAVY LABOR]
I cleaned the living room today. That means I picked up all the books and papers and stuff around my reading/working chair. I cleaned off all the surfaces and dusted. I actually folded the clothes (well, except for the ones I moved into the den to fold later, ahem).
It took me almost a whole hour.
I think that's enough housework for August.
Whew!
MEMO : 08.14.03 : [STATE OF D'NILE]
Yes, folks, it's official. On June 24 the Health Department stealthily collected mosquitos in my block, and now, eight weeks later, are finallly notifying me that they have West Nile. Poor little skeeters. Bless their wee little hearts.
And ever since I read that, I've been itching.
What is it you take for this, anyway? Gin? Or tonic?
Oh, I remember now. Margaritas, straight up, no salt.
The things I do to stay healthy.
MEMO : 08.07.03 : [IF]
If I had a more controversial website, I would post the following comment from an Anglican list-sibling:
"I think we have focused on homosexuality as a cop out issue. People on both sides can feel virtuous about their position. They can feel like they are Doing Good for Christendom while engaging in what is essentially only a debate.
" Meanwhile, busyness about sex allows one to ignore major social issues with a good conscience. Such as failing to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, tend to the widows and orphans, visit the prisoners so that they do not despair and make disciples of all nations.
"Attending to those issues is hard work, whereas arguing about sex is titillating debate.
"I'd like to see the ECUSA get off this boring subject and get on with the Gospel."
--Gloriamarie Amalfitano
But since I don't, be looking for a Cowboy memo in the next day or so. <g>
MEMO : 07.30.03 : [FOR THE MEMORIES]
I've read a lot of them over the past few days, but for some reason this one touched me in a special way:
"I was stationed at Camp Casey, Korea, in 1968 at a time when most people in the world had forgotten about Korea and those stationed there, except our families and friends.
"We couldn't get parts for our vehicles and office supplies (the JAG shop ran out of typewriter ribbons and paper and we had to have Army friends in the states rob their supply rooms for us) -- they had all been sent to Nam.
"The PX ran out of toiletries and just about everything else.
"It was cold as all get out.
"And here came Bob Hope with an outdoor show, musicians and pretty girls and wisecracks tailored to where we were.
"Bob Hope hadn't forgotten us."
-- David
Bullock
(Washington Redskins Fan,
but nobody's perfect).
MEMO : 07.27.03 : [GO LANCE!]
Five times straight. Let's make it ten.
"President Bush called Armstrong to congratulate him shortly after his victory, as did Postmaster General John Potter."
I just love that.
Go Lance! Go team USA! Go United States Post Office!
(Pooks/proud daughter of a USPS letter carrier)
MEMO : 07.04.03 : [INDEPENDENCE]
July 4 is problematical for me.
I love the Star Spangled Banner, Stars and Stripes Forever and fireworks.
I hate heat. I hate mosquitos.
I live in Texas.
My hatred of heat and itchy bites usually wins out over any patriotic stirrings, and rather than picnic, I hang out inside where it's cool.
Today I think I'll be drinking a cuppa PG Tips with scones and strawberrie preserves, pondering whether I'd rather still be a Brit since I'd have that dishy King William to look forward to....
And end the day with "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," and "1776," my very favorite ways to spend Independence Day, after all.
Have a great July 4th, wherever you are!
MEMO : 06.29.03 : [THE LATE GREAT]
May light perpetual shine upon her; the heavens have one more star, and this one breaks my heart.
Katharine Hepburn
May 12, 1907 to June 29, 2003
MEMO : 06.28.03 : [CLASSICAL]
I love, love, love it when I turn on the radio and there it is, the 1812 Overture, complete with howitzers and all the church bells in Moscow.
If I were in charge of such things, my life would be labeled:
"Soundtrack by Tchaikovsky."
MEMO : 06.23.03 : [QUOTE FOR THE DAY]
"If God
is dead, he laughed himself to death."
Justin Playfair,
a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes in
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
-- James Goldman
MEMO : 06.20.03 : [DECISIONS, DECISIONS]
So I ordered Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from amazon.co.uk, because I'm a purist and refuse to pay my good money to American publishers who do silly things like change "Philosopher's Stone" to "Sorceror's Stone" because the American public won't buy a book with "philosopher" in the title.
And now I'm sitting waiting an extra five or six days for my copy to come via Royal Mail, so I can read it, while others will be reading at 12:01 tonight, or thereabouts.
Do I join the frenzy at midnight tonight and buy an American copy, too, and donate it to a library later?
Or do I act like a grownup and wait for the UK edition because it's only a book, for pete's sake....
(You realize if they'd done this properly, it would be delivered by owl and I'd have it tomorrow morning no matter where in the world I lived, don't you? Harrumph.)
MEMO : 05.12.03 : [OFFSEASON IS A SEASON]
What do I think of Bill Parcells?
I think he's fabulous, dahling, fabulous.
The first Cowboy coach since Tom Landry [God rest his soul] to wear a whistle; how retro is that?
And innovative? Rookies don't get stars on their helmets, folks. Their helmets are plain silver-grey until they earn their star. How cool is that?
Who cares who we have at quarterback and running back when we have Bill Parcells?
(How loyal is that?)
MEMO : 05.08.03 : [OAKLAND, NOT RAIDERS]
So last year I decided to root for the Raiders so I could root for a winning team at the same time I was still rooting for the Cowboys. This worked really well because the Raiders never played the Cowboys so I was never conflicted. This worked not so well because the Raiders got to the Super Bowl and choked. Ooops.
But today I'm not talking about the Raiders.
I'm talking about the Oakland Public Library, which seems to have hit some hard times. And in one majorly cool move, somebody has set up wish lists for the library on amazon.com. Wish lists so that anybody (that means, maybe even you) can buy a children's book or Christina Aguilera CD or cook book or anything from their wish lists and have it shipped straight to the library.
So do a good deed. Buy a book for a library. It's easy; it's cheap; it's painless; you'll feel good and I'll be proud of you.
This info came to you through me, but I got it from Pamie, a cool Texas chick who is currently pursuing Hollywood dreams in LA.
MEMO : 04.24.03 : [SHOO]
Something is driving me crazy. I have moved back into my office and am sitting at my desk, with my front window visible from the edge of my vision. I like it that way -- I like being able to see out. But we have an American flag on the porch, and the wind blows it, and I keep thinking there is somebody on my porch looking in at me.
An evil right-wing Republican spying in at me as I work on subversive leftwing Hollywood propaganda.
Go away evil peeping person. I am writing.
Now, shoo.
*No evil right wing Republicans were injured in the writing of this memo. Nor were they invited in for tea.
MEMO : 04.21.03 : [ALLELUIA]
I think I may have told y'all about giving up caffeine in my lattes for Lent, and about going in and ordering a latte for Sam one day, a half-caff venti latte, and the kid behind the counter saying, "I don't THINK so! You're not breaking Lent in THIS Starbuck's!"
Well, this morning I walked in and he was behind the counter, and he gave me a long look and said, "Caffeine?"
Me: "Yes!"
Him: "Welcome back to the world of the awake!"
Me: "Alleluia, alleluia!"
It's an odd liturgy, but so very Starbuck's.
MEMO : 04.19.03 : [HAPPY EASTER]
You know, the one thing you don't expect your priest to say to you on Easter is, "Oh, hi! I buried a screenwriter last week!"
"Uhm, is this supposed to be good news?"
"Well, I thought of you!"
"Thank you." I think.
MEMO : 04.05.03 : [BASKETBALL? YES, BASKETBALL]
I notice that several of the Dallas Morning News reporters are expecting Texas to lose today, and NONE of them expect Texas to win the National Championship tomorrow.
Yes, it's true I haven't watched a single one of their games, I never watch college basketball, rarely watch any basketball for that matter, and I only found out TJ Ford was 5'10" this morning.
But I do know how to be loyal to my team, dadgummit.
Texas will win. You saw it here first (evidently nobody in Dallas saw it anywhere, ahem).
MEMO : 01.30.03 : [MORE SUPER MEMORIES]
Super Bowl VI (Cowboys first Super Bowl win) and those wacky reporters are still trying to get Duane Thomas to talk.
Reporter: "Duane, uh, you do things with speed but you never really hurry a lot like the great Jim Brown.... Uh, you never hurry into a hole, you take your time, make a spin, yet you still outrun people. Are you that fast, are you quick, would you say?"
Duane Thomas: "Evidently." (ask a stupid question....)
(sorry about the raiders, truly I am, sigh).
MEMO : 01.26.03 : [REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PAST]
Perhaps I should have started these a week ago, maybe two. But I didn't get wistful for the past until today, so I will indulge myself.
First Rule of Pooks: It isn't a Super Bowl unless the Cowboys are in it.
Bearing that in mind, the first of my "favorite Super Bowl quotations."
Frustrated reporter to Duane Thomas (1970, the Cowboys' first appearance and first loss in the Super Bowl): "Don't you realize this is the ultimate game?"
Duane Thomas to reporter: "If it's the ultimate game, why do they play it again next year?"
Ba-da-bing!
(And since they play the game whether I approve or not, go Raiders!).
MEMO : 01.12.03 : [SO THERE]
I knew it was going to snow today. I knew big fat flakes were going to come down in Dallas, and it would continue for hours.
This is why I haven't taken my Christmas tree down yet. So I could plug in the lights and open the front curtains and watch the snow fly with my Christmas lights twinkling.
It's so beautiful. I planned it this way.
(Oh hush.)
MEMO : 01.01.03 : [NOTE TO SELF]
The time to buy blackeyed peas for luck is not at 2:00 p.m. on New Year's Day.
Because the store will be sold out. No dried beans, no canned beans, no frozen beans.
Everybody got lucky but me.
(Okay, I found some frozen in my freezer so all is well, but whew, close call.)
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