The tally says 2001 pieces of writing, though that may not be the full extent. Don't forget the novel BBU and Shoplife and The Essays and Plays, to name but 3 of my 16 books. And there are bits and pieces not transferred from old sites.
Time moves on, and I've had the invite to the annual Flu jab, so this year really has been so fast, but at least the sun has returned before the Autumn curtain falls. As I speak my shoulder kicks off so I have to slap on the pain killer before I SCREAM all over the page.
So some things change, others sadly remain, buy shares in MOVELAT that's my share tip.
So carry on reading and I'll be back later with something new
BUT here's M12 to keep you going.
The Birthday CardFeb 6, '10 5:58 PM
for everyone
The Birthday Card.
Well we forgot to get a card for my sister. But our two small daughters both love marking things. So the 2 of them each came up with 2 designs which they put on 2 cards. One was a rainbow and happy birthday to Aunty written several times on the card. With half the card covered in kisses. And in best handwriting the card was signed by our 6 year old, the smaller one in the photo. We managed to find an envelope amongst our stash of other greetings cards, even though we had not got an aunty one. Then the other daughter appeared, she's the really arty and crafty girl. Her card for her aunty was neatly drawn and shaded in and very well produced. Who needs moonpig when you have a daughter with over 400 crayons and felts at her disposal. Our daughters win hands down, The 2nd card was bigger, luckily my 2nd daughter had previous borrowed some envelopes from my stash of envelops. So her card was all ready now. Luckily for me I had already sealed the 1st card, there is always rivalry between them as to who is the best at making cards. So if anybody wants a pair of great card designers them do get in touch
0 Comments
Dunkin Donuts and Me 1999Feb 2, '10 3:22 PM
for everyone
Dunkin Donuts and Me 1999
I wrote a short piece about Dunkin Donuts, or rather set there. I found it the other day, today is its 11th Birthday so to speak. So I gave it to my 8 year old to read, that's her in blue in the photo. I read it again myself. So much time and tide has passed these 11 years. I'm married for starters. It's funny watching my 8 year old react as she reads. I think of myself as a precocious reader 40 years ago. I hope when she's older and maybe a grandma herself she'll think back and remember her dad and the stories he told and the stories he wrote. I always try and fill her mind with memories so that she in turn will have stories to share with her own children or nephews and nieces or maybe the kids in her class.WE never know our future but if we can pass on a little love and laughter then we have achieved something with our lives.
the photo is of my mum's birthplace in Cromane County Kerry
2 Feb 2010 12:14:02
0 Comments
A Child's Love Jan 27, '10 4:59 PM
for everyone
How can I discribe a child's love? I can speak of myself when I was a child which from the Birth Certificate was a long time ago. Though some may say I'm still a child, others, such as women, all women, say that men never grow up and are always children.
I can remember when I was 10 and I used to sit on the top step of the stairs and we'd have a "social", me and my mum. I'd tell her all we'd done at school and what had happened, all in quiet a large amount of detail.Then my mum would kiss me goodnight and give me a gentle pat sending me off to bed. There was so much love in my mum, lots and lots, for all her big family, lots of prayer too. I always got an extra ice cream from my dad when we were on holiday in Wales, we seemed to go to Abergele all the time. My dad discovered hamburgers for the 1st and tried 1 then another then another, in the end he had 6, such wonderful memories. I seemed to remember a castle nearby, playing golf with my closest brother, we had 1 club and 1 putter each, this was before Tiger Woods existed. Our parents loved us and we loved them, this was before the Modern Family was invented too. Nobody hated their parents then, nobody dreamed of the Wii and hating your parents because they would not buy you one. Tv was 2 channels and in black and white, everything was black and white, you loved your folks and they loved you.
Now 40 or so years later I'm married and I have two small girls of my own. My Chinese/Irish girls who love me. Having a family when you thought you may not ever marry, and then having 2 beautiful girls, this is very humbling and does make me thank God. The important thing is to make sure when they look in the mirror they don't fall in love with their reflection. Its what's inside that matters I always tell them. And you know what? Even at their young age they know that beauty fades and is worthless. A nice smile and a big big heart is what matters, the reflection that you see in the mirror is worthless. Mind you I always tell everybody that I fell in love with my wife because she made me laugh. Nobody believes me, but there are 2 people who know I'm telling it as it is, my 2 daughters know it. I bought a book of Poetry today, from the cheap book shop. There are lots of of illustrations in it, 300 famous poems, including a Children's poetry section. My biggest daughter loves to draw and she is good, so the idea is to appeal to her eyes and to her ears. It worked, she wanted to take the book to bed with her. I said no as I'm old fashioned and think books should be preserved, not bend and creased, especially if read in bed. However as I write this I think I should have let her. So tomorrow I will allow her to take it to her room. However her smaller sister does love to write on anything and everything. Perhaps I should write a poem about that.
Girls like to be tucked in at night and you have to tell them a story or say prayers with them. Then 10 mins later they'll come down because they want a drink of milk, and another kiss goodnight. And could I possibly come upstairs and tuck them in again. Then 20mins later they need another drink, so they come down again. Later on, the girls reappear because they need the bathroom, well did have all those drinks. Finally carrying more drinks they disappear up the stairs. This is our Pantomime, a pantomime of Love. I think of my dead parents and I know how they would laugh. And my girls are only here because my dad survived his big heart attack, Hugs and Kisses is what little girls give. I love you 20 is what my small daughter once said, 20 is a big number, so I'm loved that much. I hope everybody reading this is loved 20 too!
2 Comments
As Valentine's Day is just around the corner here's a Valentine PoemJan 20, '10 5:55 PM
for everyone
Michael Casey email michaelgcasey@hotmail.com
You're Never Alone When You Are in Love ©
By
Michael Casey
Love is being together , Love is a smile , a Look , A Touch
Or Just A Sigh , Not really knowing why you chose one another .
Yet Together Till You Die
Love is a Kiss soft and gentle on the cheek which warms your
heart and makes you glad you chose one another .
A Kiss can lead to more but I'll leave Passion locked Safely
behind a bedroom door
Passion spent you'll not give up each not even for Lent .
You'll just lie in warm embrace and remember you forgot to say
grace .
Whispers and Promises are made , plans for the future and if
she put her hair this way , Do you think it would suit her ?
Then giggles and more embraces , Till the Night is over and with
a dig in the ribs you make him move over .
Then your oneness complete , you have to put up with his cold feet !
But when you are apart your hearts are still one , Thought half is
absent you are still one .
His socks under the bed , and after what you said .
His "toys" scattered about , and the clout you'll give when he
returns and the warmth of your body he yearns .
His cold feet to chill you after he thrills you , are absent yet the
thought makes you smile , at least you have the comfort for a while.
His grins and leers , which makes you smile at least you'll have
peace for a while .
But his heart is still with you , the love is always there - as
bright as your fair hair .
Close your eyes and he is still there , Remember the embrace as he
played his fingers across your face .
Let your dreams go and remember the whispers in your ear , warm
kisses on your shoulder before he gets bolder . The warmth of love
that soars through your blood .
Dream long , Dream deep , your Man toils while you sleep , though
you are apart you are still together whatever the weather , for you
are never apart for he is locked in your heart .
Though sometimes he can be trying , there's Never any need of crying
for your love is Undying.
Always remember he fills your heart even when you are apart
End
p.s. look what poetry did to me.....
0 Comments
Reading BooksJan 19, '10 7:25 AM
for everyone
When I was at school the teacher would say "Can you all open your desks and get out your reading books." we'd slam open and slam shut the desks and all begin to read. One by one we'd be called up to the front of the class and sit at the teachers desk and we'd be heard reading. I can remember in the lower class the book we started on. It was Book Nought, Kitty and Rover and the pictures were all in a kind of purple. A few years later I was on Book Five and this was about the Sleeping Beauty, the last story was that one. Book Six was next, this had the William Tell story in it. Up in the high mountains was the opening. But I could not pronounce HIGH, I said HIG, not HIGH. So I was put back one book. All for one word. The next year I was in Mr Gallagher's class and I was afraid of him. Mr Gallagher looked a bit like the Irish actor Milo O'Shea, if any of you saw Barbarella with Jane Fonda then you will remember Milo O'Shea in that playing the organ. So it was because I was so afraid of Milo O'Shea, sorry I mean Mr Gallagher that my Life changed. I read books to stay out of his way. It worked, I kind of grew a brain at fast speed. Which in turned meant that 3 years later I got in to Grammar school.
At the moment I am encouraging my smallest one to read, I hear her read all the time as does my wife. It can be funny because If there is a new word then my wife will explain what the new word is, in Chinese and then explain what it is in English. Kids guess what is happening so you have to make sure you get them to read what the words on the page are. Though we all know that our brain fills in the spaces, so you have to stop and slow down and make sure that children read what is on the page and not guess. There is a thing you can get on the Internet, its a paragraph and there are lots of mistakes in it. But if you give it to somebody they will read it perfectly, why? Because your brain fills in the spaces. As for reading its just getting the child involved and encouraging them, sometimes with bribes and sometimes with punishments such as no tv and Disney. My bigger daughter is all grown up, she is on Library Books as we used to call them. In a couple of years time I'll get her to read my books, and I hope it won't be a punishment for her. At the moment she is working her way through Roahl Doal and we also watch films which are based on his books. He really was a great writer.
You can curl up with a book just as you can curl up with a radio on a long Winters Night, the gift of reading is such a great thing. I can remember my mother teaching me to read from a cartoon in a newspaper, it was the Phantom, as well as Chipper the cartoon dog. I remember my old History teacher recommending the Don Camillo books, they are about a Catholic priest and a Communist Lord Mayor in a mythical village on the river Po. Very much cartoon figures but a great read. Sadly you cannot get them in English translation and Santa did not bring them to me this Christmas.
As for today's books, you have huge best sellers which were ghost written, my golden goals by some footballer. I did it my way, by some tv celebrity who has just won a reality tv show. Or the A to Z of sex by some pop star groupie. These kind of books will sell 2 million copies and end up on the coffee table of your local hairdressers or beauty parlour. As for me I read the Daily Telegraph on the Internet, or I listen to radio 4, not forgetting the good documentaries you can find on the BBC or some of the commercial stations. I also practice my writing here. If I want junk to read then I'll go and have a haircut.
0 Comments
The Dead and The LivingJan 16, '10 10:00 AM
for everyone
The Dead and The Living (c)
by
Michael Casey
I first saw a deceased when I was nine years old ,my father said not
to worry as the dead are the same as the living , only the laughter
has left them , the sparkle has gone from their eyes , the worry has
been lifted from their shoulders , and their voice has vanished to
eternity .
In paradise the sparkle will return for it is the twinkle of the
stars , the laughter will return too for it is the morning breeze and
the turning tides are their sides shaking with laughter .
I treat the deceased with the same courtesy as I give to the living ,
though I find the deceased are always more polite . My father also
had a few words to say about the living .
He said that the living are only the caretakers of the soul , yet
they think their existence is everything , that they know everything
because they experience many things with their senses .
What the living don't acknowledge is that their time is short and
when I lay their bodies to rest then their souls continue without
them , without their strong , without their weak , without their
beautiful or even ugly temporary form , to where I cannot say , only
that it is a better place .
Percy the undertaker placed the lid on the coffin ,the soul was free
THE BEGINNING
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Traffic and Bubble BathJan 13, '10 5:25 PM
for everyone
I watched the film Traffic today, I recorded it the other night and left it on our machine, so today I watched it. Everything was understated, it was directed by Steve Sondoberg, I hope I got that right the credits were rolling fast. I was impressed by the good Mexican cop who risked his life so much, he was a very good actor. Michael Douglas also gave a very good performance. His daughter slipped into drugs from being a very rich kid who was bored, in the end she was a hooker to pay for her habit. Very seedy. The style of the film also made in more interesting. How many awards it won I don't know. I could Google and find out but I'm sure the film buffs reading this will tell me. In the end Michael Douglas realised that his grand job was worth nothing compared to the love of his daughter and his wife for that matter. Family is everything.
Bubble bath is so nice, perhaps some may call me a girl for saying this but it is true. A good old soak in the bath is great, especially with the radio for company. Being like a Hippo for half an hour or until the water is no longer hot IS great. You do come out all wrinkly a lot like a prune but it is great. I know in USA its showers but I think a soak is always nicer. My wife likes sauna, then a shower or a bath when she comes back from the sauna at the bottom of our street. My old uncle Dan in Boston loved the public sauna too back in 1980 I was taken there when I was on holiday. But back to bubble bath, it is a kind of church. Why do I say church, before you have cartoons in your mind let me explain. You are at your most relaxed when you are lying there in a warm environment with nice aromas around you. Its a kind of womb, and if you put your ears under the water then things sound how the outside world sounds to an unborn baby. In the bath or should I say tub, in the bath you can relax and all the day's problems can dissolve. You are probably closer to your god too, no outside events crowding your time and mind, I'd bet too that people pray more while they are all alone in the bathroom. You are all alone and there are no barriers, you are literally naked before God. No expensive suits and designer jewelry, you cannot be pompous and powerful when you are naked and looking like a prune and covered in bubbles. Inventors probably get their best ideas when they are in a bath. Don't let us forget Archimedes in his bath either.
But why am I linking Traffic and Bubble Bath? Drugs kill and corrupt. Bubble bath turns us back into kids and cleans us. Our minds, our imagination are our greatest gift. We may be thrown into jail but we still have our minds. We may be doing a job we hate, but our minds are free. Drugs are just a passing high. But if you have your mind, your imagination then you have something to play with which is more powerful than any drug. An imagination is even more powerful than Nuclear Weapons. And man's imagination can bring an end to nuclear weapons.
Perhaps its in our baths covered in bubbles and hot water that we know just how great Peace is and how Peace and NOT drugs should be shared around. So starting one person at a time we can influence Life on Earth.
p.s. while I was cleaning the car park of CPNEC that's when the idea for Tears For A Butcher
came to me. Imagination is our greatest gift.
0 Comments
Extended ChristmasJan 11, '10 8:13 AM
for everyone
We have a lot of snow in England at the moment, some even say its the worst Winter in 30 years.The Infant school opened only to shut down on the first day at Midday. The Junior school over the road stayed open, they did let you take the kids home if you had a sibling at the Infant school. Both schools are at the top of the hill, literally on the brow of the hill, with the soup bowl woods just behind the Junior school. I decided it was safer to walk than drive the car, so JJ stayed while I walked the kids up the hill. I kept on saying "remember this", as we listened to the sound of the snow crushing under our feet. I got them to observe the snow as we walked to school, the pretty natural "pictures" they could see and how they could draw them in the future. I encouraged them to observe the shapes, I want them to have memories for the future. When they have children and grandchildren they can tell them about the big winter of 2009/2010, just how pretty it all looked. They may even remember me. After school we went through the woods ,the snow looked great behind the school as I showed the girls. There must have been 150 people all enjoying the snow and maybe 15 people with sledges, any of you film fans out there will remember "Rosebud" and citizen Kane, so I needn't say any more. For me though it was an opportunity to plant seeds in my kids imagination, joy and love and snow. Today and the weekend we missed another load of snow but there may be more tomorrow. In fact it was noticably milder and the snow in the back garden wasn't rock solid, it had melted enough to make a snowman. So I started a snowman for my girls and when they get back from school together we can finish it off. These simple pleasures are what makes family, so I hope wherever you are reading this you do the same for your own family.
0 Comments
Junk Mail and how to destroy it and all of their computersJan 7, '10 6:09 PM
for everyone
I don't know about you but junk mail is a total bore. I think I'm world famous now, why? I get 20 a day, sometimes more. Sometimes for fun I reply and give them rubbish information. You always get the story that they are dying of cancer and they want to leave you all their money. Or the subject line is "from the desk of barrister James Pooh" and other such gems. I saw on tv news how in one place in Africa there were a line of computers and a teacher at the front who had written the fake story on the blackboard and they were all typing it out. Junk emails also come from China too and all corners of the globe. HOTMAIL ALERT please send us all your info or lose your hotmail. Phshing scams galore, and I click them out of existance. If I had Captain Kirk's technology then I'd vapourise them. If only Bill Gates would let me hit return and them send a magnetic pulse in an email so I could wipe their computers, and far far worse. I'm sure everybody who reads this is agreeing with me. Oh don't forget the 1,000,000,000 I've just won according to the junk email, just send my details and then they'll ask for a 100 to cover expenses and then they'll post a check for 1,000,000,000. And yes I just to attention when its from the desk of barrister James Pooh. And don't let us forget they are believers, DECIEVERS and crooks and liars that is what they really are. With each email address that is zapped they get an even more improbable new address. I still think Bill Gates should let me send a zapping email that wipes their hard drive. But he's too busy trying his new Google phone. Hey Bill can you just put that down for as second and help me with this email. However somewhere in the wide world somebody who has English as a 2nd language may end up reading this and think Bill Gates is sitting on the chair next to me sobering up after stealing all my beer from the fridge, and then I'll end up will 200 junk emails a day. But as we all know today is Thursday 7th Jan and every Thursday that is also the 7th Bill goes bowling with the President, not the USA President, but with the President of the Michael Casey appreciation society and they read all my stories from my site www.michaelgcasey.multiply.com
AND IF YOU BELIEVE ANY OF THIS THEN YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES, or you are still reading from a Blackboard........
0 Comments
Diary or Blog or am I just ranting today help me Richard E GrantJan 4, '10 5:47 PM
for everyone
I was just watching the tv when I stumbled over a programme hosted by Richard E Grant the actor. It was all about diaries. So it set me thinking. Is a blog a diary? I think it is in today's world. As kids we all found our big sister's diary and read through it before trying to put it back in exactly the same place. If we were really cruel then we'd write in it. As I think of it I remember the name of the boy who first had a crush on my sister. Thats a 40 year old memory thats just came sailing back. Do we remember the people and places in diaries? For family things I do seem to have total recall. The rest of the family don't seem to remember, in some ways I had a very good childhood. The Love my parents had for us all shines through. Though I wouldn't really like to share or expose all of our family life. These reality programmes do go too far in my opinion. Its usually broken/drunken/crazed people who want the limelight the 15minutes of fame. Me, I say lock them in a dark cellar and leave them there, very much what the Simpsons would do. I did actually see the Simpsons movie today so perhaps they have given me that notion. Real people doing real things instead of grasping people who want fame for fame's sake. Perhaps Religion has died so much, certainly over here
in UK, that Fame and being on TV is the closest spiritual reality some people can find. I say this as a believer, so it really does sadden me. There's a though for the philosophers out there who may be reading this. Tonight on the tv news a young man helped save a family from a fire, he went back into the flames twice in order to save his neighbour's children. Now he is somebody I'd like to applaud, NOT hyperventalating dyed hair people who've spent too much time under a sun lamp. Thankfully we have the final series of Big Brother on tv, I imagine none of them will have hear of George Orwell and 1984, me I read the book in grammar school. But I do realise that blogs are rants as well, I just proved it to myself. Though I must say that when you can connect to people then it is worthwhile, for its the things we share that make us all family, whether you read this in UK, USA or somewhere in Asia
0 Comments
Horror Story and other stuffJan 2, '10 6:17 PM
for everyone
I asked my daughter for an idea then I'd write a story, just as we all used to do when we were kids in school. She said "Pain" as I hurt my back again recently and it took 2 weeks to heal. But I decide to write about Horror instead. As I speak the kids are in bed, either that our they are staying in their room and drawing. Drawing is big in our house. My wife is very good and can ever do calligography in Chinese symbols. My own brother can also draw well, so I'm pleased its being passed down the generations. Me, I'm just rubbish.
What about horror? Well you meet somebody and then they turn out different to what you expected, so that in a way is a horror story. As for real horror films, or suspense films they tend to be polarised. You have the buckets of blood ones, which I cannot really watch. Or the suspense ones, with the creek on the stairs. I think the creek on the stairs ones are better, buckets of blood ones tend to be just that, all buckets of blood and no plot. I saw the Lost Boys recently on TCM it was funny and had a good plot and did not rely on too much blood. My wife hides behind her hands when the suspense ones are on. It was film that brought us together, watching films, and yes we are a kind of Adams Family, when my young daughters friends arrive I say "welcome to the adams family" , sharing a good film does break down barriers.
Japanese films are good too, the cartoons that are so well drawn, we saw one this afternoon it had even won an oscar, best of all it was on BBC so there were no adverts to ruin the film. Its still funny when we see an old film and its the first time my wife has seen it in English, or without Chinese subtitles. But then I watch Chung Ying Fat in some things and I'm raving about it. My wife just gives me a potted history of all the stars and who is married to who. So films are our joy, so don't switch off the lights I'm going to bed now and I'll make lots of noise as I go up the scared, just to frighten away any ghosts that may be there.
0 Comments
2010 New Years ResolutionsDec 30, '09 3:25 PM
for everyone
1. Win the lottery, why , well why not. I have a list of things that need doing.
A. The tv is going blue and losing picture, I have tried the satelite box, I've adjusted the dish outside, I've reseated the cables, I've even changed the tv settings too. Its been a great set but after 16years I think I need a new Toshiba will be needed. Once you have kids its a whole new world of tv and the number of hours its on is trebled compared to just me when I was single.
B. The central heating boiler, this is now 17years old, and will be 18 at Easter. I have religiously maintained it but finally the company have refused to cover it. In England now all new boilers must be the condensing version. Apparantly new boilers are 95% efficient whereas my old one is 65% efficient. If I could cheat a new old style boiler is 800 but the new ones without any reserve of water are 2000 or 3200 in dollars.I don't know if they are cheaper here or over there where you guys live.
C. When I moved in I had new carpet fitted everywhere, this room is very new looking but the living room carpet could do with being replaced. Traffic in the shape of children and prams means your carpet takes a beating.
D. This computer has had a hammering so after 7 years its time to replace it. The keyboard we did replace. We recycled an old new style keyboard. One of those curvy ones with the alphabet split in half.
E. My bed, the frame need replacing, it was new when I moved in but now it creaks, I am heavy though, so it has lasted well.
F. There are other things I'd like to do around the house, such as a new cooker for the kitchen, this is my 2nd one since I've moved in but another new one would be good.
G. Premium Bonds, these are a kind of lottery ticket with the government, but what is good about them is that you can get your steak back.I've had a ten pound steak for over 30years. I've never won a penny. However ever month I could win a million, and there are other prizes too. So I haven't claimed my 10 quid back.
I do the uk lottery every now and then, I waste 1 pound on a ticket and when I lose I wish I'd bought a bottle of Dr Pepper instead. So there you have it my list of resolutions which I'll do as soon as I win the lottery. There are lots of things needed for the house, though IF I was lucky enough to win big, I'd just walk away from the house without looking back, now a new house that would be great.
p.s. www.rightmove.co.uk is a housing site if you enter birmingham then you can see our houses over here, and one thing you'll notice straight away is that UK homes are very dear compared to USA. Goodnight Everybody as the Waltons used to say. Michael
1 Comment
Found OUT----LET SANTA LIVEDec 28, '09 5:04 PM
for everyone
My daughter was using the computer to do a project on cats. This is good because at 8 she knows how to search and gather information. Though I do tell her to read books as well. Not to forget that Wikipedia is NOT perfect and should NOT be used as the sole source of information.The Internet is full of rubbish and rubbish leading to yet more rubbish. Anyways she was pleased to do her project and get a list of breeds of cats. I told her that our cat Jean lived over 20years, so a cat can be a great friend and company. My small daughter also knows how to use the computer, BBC CBeebies is her favourite site as it lets her play games and so on, its very educational. So I am pleased that both of my girls know how to use technology. I was a computer operator back in 1978, in those days a computer was as large as a washing machine and vibrated as much. There were magnetic tapes too, which you had to cut back a few hundred feet and put new silver markers on, when they got old and worn. Not forgetting to clean the tape heads, the cleaning fluid used to make the tips of my fingers go white. We even had to clean the air conditioning filters, these were a yard square and about 2 inches thick. They were absolutely filthy, so they bought us short lab coats to wear when we cleaned. Totally inadaquate, but those were the days. Finally we moved with the times and had 2 gig of space on our new pcs, thats about 11years ago. Now I noticed an ad for a computer that advertised 1 teraquat of space which is 1000gig, I think. This one I'm using is old and when I have the money I shall replace it. It has only 80gig, such is the pace of technology, If Bill Gates is reading this feel free to send me a nice PC. But going back to my Title, Found Out, my daughter decided to have a read of my latest post, and what did she find. It was daddy and not Santa who had put buttons on the snowman at 2.30 am after Midnight Mass, so I improvised and explained somebody must have edited my post just as Wikipedia is edited for the worse at times. I showed her the suspects from those who have visited my site, so forgive me readers if I put the blame on you. The alternative is to make two young girls NOT believe is Santa. Mind you, you could all be like me and DO BELIEVE IN SANTA.
Cheerio to all the usual suspects
0 Comments
Midnight Mass and all things SantaDec 25, '09 7:11 AM
for everyone
Well we had a little bit of snow and it was still there in the morning.So the girls made a snowman. One made the body and the other made the head. I just supervised and took photos so we could send them to Grandma in Shanghai. I used to make snowmen myself till I was about 30. We had two gardens so it was great. I can even remember having a big snowball fight with my brother in the 60s, now I'm closer to 60 than the 1960s. My brother had a wall the length of one end of the garden and I had a hollowed out 1/2 snowman to hide behind, This was after we had the new garden fence, bulldogs used to come up the rear entry and snap at us. I still hate and fear bullgogs.
Anyways after my daughters had finished the snowman I took 30 photos on the digital camera and sent them to grandma in Shanghai and to their cousins 9 miles down the road, where we will be sharing Christmas dinner. Such technology would have been beyond belief in the 60s.
Last night was Christmas Eve so I got a lift to Midnight Mass with my sister, we picked up Mrs D on the way, Mrs D was our mum's best friend, Mrs D is 86 now, 87 in the new year, We sat together while my sister joined the choir. I had forgotten how pretty our old church is. Saint Patricks Dudley Rd, With the massive Dudley Road Hospital opposite. It was 3000 staff and the main corridor is 1Km or over 1/2 a mile long. It was there that my dad cheated death 13years ago, its all in Padre Pio and Me. I said hello to the altar boys, they could not believe I was an altar boy there 40 years ago. So Mass was held the candles were everywhere on the altar, we all had one in our hands too. The church was full, I tried not to burn the girl in front of me, she had long long hair. After Mass we took Mrs D home, then I could have/should have shared a coffee with my sister but I had other business to attend to. Secret Santa Business. My girls had left a mug of milk and some biscuits out for santa. So I had to eat them, then I wrote in red crayon S & R xxx on the plate, I also left some coins and I shook a few crumbs of cereals on the plate. Then I had to go outside, it was after 2am by then. So I made red buttons out of cardboard and stuck them to our snowman. Then by 2.30am I got into bed.
This morning, Christmas Morning I had to explain things. Santa and Rudolf had visited and Rudolf was so hungry he's stolen my cereals. The coins were to pay for the cereals he'd eaten, afterwards Rudolf had thought the snowman would look better with red buttons on, so Rudolf had made them. I think my girls believed me, but they were a bit suspicious. Maybe this year will be the last year they believe. Me, I will always believe, because thats what Christmas is all about. So Happy Christmas Everybody, I have dinner waiting for me at my brothers house.
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How did you spend the last 10years 2000to2009 end of 1st decade of 21st Century?Dec 22, '09 5:15 PM
for everyone
Well, the newspapers are all talking about the end of the 1st decade of the 21st Century. So I'll tell you all what I've been up to. I was engaged and decided to go to Shanghai to meet my future wife's family in 2000. I was vetted by the one uncle in Shanghai who then told another uncle in Maimi. He hides nothing was the comment. My girl came back to me and later on we married. The day of the wedding was a very full day. We got married and the sister of somebody I was working with was the registrar. We had afamily get together at my sisters house. Then we went to my house. Later on we went to McDonalds to meet my old schoolfriend. MY wife and DrBigD PhD wrote chemical equations on a napkin. Then we went to a 25th reunion for my old grammar school. The joke was I had been Shanghaied. The next year my mother in law came over to help out when we had our 1st child. So marriage and parenthood. My wife also passed her driving test and we got a car. I was working at a 4star hotel next, 3 years of very hard work but fun. Employee of the Year, well almost.Another child another girl. Both are blessings especially when in 1999 I had passed a landmark birthday and then marriage and kids. If you say your prayers then God does listen. The mother in law came over again when the 2nd child was born. Kids are the best thing in the world. When they are potty trained THAT is a great event too. Watching them learn to walk is great too. I used to give my brother's kids lots of stuff. So when I had kids myself my brother gave me all the stuff back. Books galore, I'm sure our dead mother must be smiling.
I also self published my book this past decade, it did not work out, so I still dream of being discovered. The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker is a good title.This decade my hair has got whiter and whiter, I just tell everybody its a sign of wisdom.
Our house has got smaller and smaller, from just me to 3 girls taking over my bathroom and then the rest of the house. So I dream of having a bigger house, IF only I could win the lottery.
Thats all for tonight, I hope everybody out there has a good Christmas
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I'm forever blowing bubblesDec 20, '09 3:26 PM
for everyone
Well the school holidays are here, this means the kids are on holiday and my teaching family are on holidays too. My brother arrived with his Hungarian wife, we are nothing if not cosmopolitan in our family. They had Christmas gifts for the girls, my sister in law is very good at crafts so she made two fuffy pink scarfs for ther girls. My sister and another brother also got scalfs. What do you think I got? I got a freshly prepared salad and a bottle of low calorie sauce. Obviously I tore the cling film from the top and started to eat it, food is food after all. They were also telling me to lose a bit of weight.My brother had been put on a diet by his Hungarian wife, this obviously made him hungry, but he's lost 15kilos or 2 stones which is 28pounds to those of you in North America.Before his diet he was the same weight as me. So now that I have a mixing bowl to make salad in I may try a few salads. Like most men I think a meal is not a meal without meat and or bread. So now thanks to my unique Christmas present the weight will just drop off. Getting a new job may help too.
My smallest was blowing bubbles all over the house as I started today's piece, so thats where the title came from. Though I must admit I enjoy blowing bubbles too. Its so innocent and fun and brings out the child in anybody, just blowing a few bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air. I also have to get our smallest to read her reading books everyday of the holidays too. This morning the pair of them were upstair in a bedroom trying out the watercolours their uncleand aunt had brought. Finally when they were finished the youngest came down with technicolour green fingers, it was too much temptation, nail varnish they don't have but paints they do. It was like meeting the swamp monster. I laughed, we tend to laugh a lot, small children do that, and I thank God for it.
WE had our first real bit of snow last night, JJ had taken the girls with her to a friends house. So when they came back they were high, snow is like alcohol for kids, same as being dizzy thats childrens alcohol too. I told them I had made a snowman in the garden only the squirrels had stolen it.I put the yard light on to show them, but yes I must be right because the snowman had vanished, the squirrels are thieves, yes really.
WE are discussing what to leave out for Santa, a carrot for Rudolph and milk and biscuits for Santa.If things go to plan I'll be home at 1.30am after Midnight Mass, it would be a nice snack for me too. So I'll end on that note, leave something for Santa,
Merry Christmas from a snowy Birmingham Michael
Tags: 1st ten chapters
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Its The End Of The World As We Know It? No Lets Laugh Instead.Dec 17, '09 6:44 PM
for everyone
Its The End Of The World As We Know It? No Lets Laugh Instead.
If you read the headlines its the end of the world soon. Climate change will kill us all. Dan Brown will no doubt be writing another badly written epic blaming the Vatican again. There's not enough places left to paint more Pope's portraits and the Incas said 2012 was the end of the world. So lets all cry and head for the hills as the ice caps melt and try to drown us all.
Pray, Hope and Don't Worry is what I say. Padre Pio's advice and personal motto. Santa is flying around looking for our house, we will write "Land Here" in the snow IF we get enough snow here in Birmingham. My sister has lost her voice, for years we us to shout "shut up" at her, but to be honest she is a great choir singer. But Santa won't be able to hear her so she may miss out on presents, so being the good brother I shall be singing Falsetto and mimicing her voice, I'll even stand outside her house on Christmas Eve just to make sure Santa calls. I'm sure brothers worldwide would do the same. My big daughter may sneak out with me to attend her first Midnight Mass, I used to be an altar boy for 8 years and reader for 5, it was always fun at Christmas. The lighted candles, the smell of insense, the hiccups from the drunks, the nurses who came from the hugh Dudley Rd hospital opposite. Seeing old schoolfriends who you hadn't seen for 20 or more years. The walk home on the cracking ice, the occasional slip and holding onto my brother as we walked home, brothers one.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is made up of love and laughter. SO I for one refuse to give in to all this doom and gloom. WE are all better than this, and together things will improved. Actions speak louder than handing over dollars,pounds or RMB, and if I'm wrong nobody will ever have ice with their drinks, because the icecaps will have melted.
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Climate Change - Think Small For Big ResultsDec 15, '09 6:30 PM
for everyone
I've watched a bit of the Denmark Climate Change Circus. Grand Gestures here there and everywhere. The bottom line as ever is money. India and China will NOT give up their Industrial Revolutions. Nor Brazil. Their people have a very low standard of living, 100s of millions deserve clean water and a basic home to live in. Back in the 1960s I can remember just how great it was to finally get an indoor toilet, here in Birmingham England. Then colour tv, and a land line phone years later. So I for one understand the hopes and aspirations of all of these people in the 3rd world and other such places.
Transfering technology is a big thing and nobody wants to do it for free,least of all USA, France and even UK. But it WILL have to be done. Arnie is right too in saying the cities and states shouldn't wait for their governments, they should do it for themselves. We have a big recycycling bin and I'm amazed by the fact that 80% of our rubbish can be recycled, I could never have believed it until our local council started the service. So just think IF that could be replicated worldwide, yes I know the difficulties BUT just think about it. Think.
Green savings such as insulation and solar cells can provide work, and we all need work and it will help the environment. BUT I wouldn't be writing blank cheques to 3rd world countries. There is so much corruption and mismanagement. Aid has to come from the ground up, NEVER top down, otherwise it just ends at the bottom of a mountain in a Swiss bank vault. Think small too, NO big ideas. We should be planting trees all over the world, we should have fish farms everywhere too. Save the fish species before they disappear. If you go on google earth and look at Birmingham England you see all the trees in the back gardens, its pretty and hopefully its good for the environment. Every local council can help all over the world, Arnie was right about that. Keep it local then something can be done, leave it to BIG Politicians then we are all ----&*()*&*. Green ideas can make changes to the world, it just depends on getting people onside. The Long March in China started with the 1st step, Neil Armstrong's one small step one giant leap for Mankind, started with Nasa taking small small steps. We all have to stop being selfish, then although we are in the gutter we can reach for the stars.
Tags: green world
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Luck of the drawDec 15, '09 11:32 AM
for everyone
I got out of the bath on Friday and guess what? I hurt my back. Such a simple thing that resulted in a lot of pain. My wife wanted to grab a Chinese specialist and get him to manipulate my back there and then. I just elected to send her for the pain relief spray from the pharmacist. Its 3quid or 4.5dollars and stinks to high heaven, like a mens locker room. I knew after a few days of pain and stiffness I'dbe better again. Its Tuesday now and I'm still a bit stiff though I can move fast, I had to as I burnt my toast, because I left it while I was on the computer.
My biggest daughter will be singing in the songs from Oliver on the last day of the school term so my back is good enough to attend. I didn't leave the house for a few days as I moved like a 900 year old man, or a baby with a full nappy, you can pick your favourite metaphor. As I speak the wife has just parked outside so our kids will tell me what they have been up to. As for me I stumbled over a new Internet radio service so I've thrown my hat into the ring for that. It could be lots of fun and a good experience If I get past the 100s of much younger people who throw their hats into the ring. I also stumbled over a couple of nice regular jobs so I've sent my CV off for those.
I also got a Christmas card off my last uncle, when I was a kid I had uncles galore, like apples on a tree, aunties too. Now he is the last one, the very last one. You know when you are the older generation when you only have one last uncle. I still feel 20, its the birth certificate thats old, a bit Dorien Grey, but I do have a young wife and small children SO that DOES make me young, as for my white hair, thats a sign of wisdom, and who am I to disagree with my mum. As I talk my girls are comparing how many Xmas cards they've got, the designs and everything, my oldest is jealous because the smallest got the most cards. All the display space in the house is gone now. Next year I'll have to put a string up to display them all. http://www.media-kube.com is the internet radio I've applied for, if you click on music you can hear a sample, I've dipped in while talking to you all, its kind of chilling IF thats the right term, I do have very catholic tastes so that'll all today, and before I forget a Very Merry Christmas to One and All, where ever you are, and you are all over the world judging the stats. Michael
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Shanghai File Sharing in ChinaDec 13, '09 7:17 AM
for everyone
I was reading in the Daily Telegraph about file File Sharing in China and I have tripped over Osun.org so I wondered what would happen if I put Shanghai File Sharing in China as a blog title and with it in the body of text. You see one piece keeps on jumping to the top of a google search SO what IF Shanghai File Sharing in China was there would it overtake other items.
But if I suddenly have a load of Chinese interest then I can say that my writing is a very easy read, and at the moment its a free download. WHEN and IF I find a real publisher THEN I hope to make my fortune. All they have to do is click,read,laugh. I can also confirm that The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker will be followed by Tears For A Butcher in that book there will be a Shanghai Billionaire and his Playboy son, so its worth the 1,350,000,000 Chinese people have a good laugh,so they'll be ready when I finish the follow up comedy novel. There is of course Essays and Plays my other book that can be devoured too.
Here's my advert in bad Chinese, I used a computer to translate
www.michaelgcasey.multiply.com 屠户贝克和承办人是喜剧戏曲关于商店街道在老伪造和唱歌铁砧互联用笑声修造和修造的短篇小说。这味道韦恩购买每遗弃客栈并且他的妻子是怀孕与孪生, 事不能更坏, 墨菲夫人走向抢救以贷款, 并且建造者运作为没什么的2 套孪生, 上帝看得下来和帮助, 韦恩发现一个暗藏的地窖在地窖, 它充分之下40year 老威士忌酒左从战争WWII, 客栈是地方黑市交易商留下一切的地方。韦恩和家庭被保存。承办人有仇隙与交通监狱长为投入那里违规停车罚单在他的hearse.On 方式' 爵士乐葬礼, 玩具熊称帕特里克, 狗称有他自己的头脑的长毛的Amjit 。承办人的儿子留下事务并且Percy 困惑不解, 他的儿子回归以一个败家子儿子主张给饶恕, "父亲原谅我, 我现在知道计算机不是为我, 那里是没有爱在计算机里, 但在我们的事务有爱和慈心。承办人设法敲诈拆毁商店街道他们全都居住的一位弯的建造者。和平被恢复因此承办人成为竞选代理为建造者和采取他在所有休养所游览中, 以便建造者结束进入议会议院。推托赌赛马为业者微笑的保罗有赌注在竞选和赢取1million 磅。承办人是愤怒的直到她听见微笑的保罗有一条路对大马士革经验并且给了所有金钱帮助之外他的中国朋友的中国餐馆业。如此微笑的保罗成为荣誉的人, 和得到一个惊人女朋友在途中, 因为中国人必须尊敬他。文字是滑稽和舌头在面颊, 如果一些读者看见它正ma 和pa 书然后好, 但如果他们跨步他们看见我柔和地嘲笑在我的字符。譬如大Sid 是象一年在圣诞老人附近的屠户。面包师设法有爱生活的帕特里克但所有街道知道他的每移动。他的母亲被解除当他最后遇见正确的女孩, 贞女, 结果是人唯一的女儿在之前保存面包店许多岁月, 对帕特里克的妈咪它上帝奇迹和意愿。圣经传送带人, 简单的诚实的伙计将爱书, 和原谅帕特里克的愚蠢因为, 哎呀他是一个好男孩。纽约人和加利福尼亚将爱太因为他们将嘲笑传说的对方, 屠户贝克并且承办人是为大家, 并且在翻译它将找到更大的观众。我预言15million 销售在美国单独。我完成以一首诗从Percy 承办人迈克尔・Ge 死者和生存(c) 由迈克尔・我第一次看见逝者的Casey 当我九岁,my 父亲说不担心因为死者同生存一样是, 只有笑声留下他们, 闪闪发光去从他们的眼睛, 忧虑被举了从他们的肩膀, 并且他们的声音消失了对永恒。在闪闪发光将返回为它的天堂是星的闪光, 笑声将返回太为它是早晨微风并且转动的浪潮是他们的边震动以笑声。我对待逝者以和一样我给生活的礼貌, 虽然我发现逝者总更加礼貌。我的父亲并且有几个词说关于生活。他说, 生活是唯一灵魂的保管财物者, 他们认为他们的存在是一切, 他们知道一切因为他们体验许多事以他们的感觉。什么生活不承认是, 他们的时间是短的并且当我放置他们的身体然后休息他们的灵魂继续没有他们, 没有他们强, 没有他们微弱, 没有在哪里我无法说的他们美好甚至丑恶的临时形式, 对, 只有那它是一个更好的地方。承办人安置盒盖在棺材的Percy, 灵魂是自由的起点 Thats 全部, 现在给予我一个条件
www.michaelgcasey.multiply.com 买书在 或亚马孙 并且在google 书查寻。
p.s.hello from birmingham england where i am hobbling about as i hurt my back two days ago, 3rd time i've done it in 2 years. i once wrote about it in a piece called crawling like a worm in the dirt its funny and can be found on my site. my book is an easy read, if you don't like one chapter then just wait of the next or just dive in at chapter 7 and then go back to the start. Or just read my play Knocking and then try the novel The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker. Sorry I don't know your language, my kids speak Chinese with my wife but after 10 years I've still not learnt it. That's about it, enjoy my site if you have the time. i'M NOT CLEVER ENOUGH TO HAVE A NICE SITE, MINE'S MORE LIKE A CAR PARK FOR MY WRITING. Cheerio from a chilly Birmingham England
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