Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Giddy

We all are seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Sometime the vicissitudes of life intrude on that pursuit. But a morose day becomes giddy when God intervenes.
Monday went from "Why me?" to Yippee skippy!
I sent an e-mail to the sports editor of the Arkansas Traveler and he responded for me to write a reminiscence column about the Arkansas-Texas A&M game Dec. 6, 1975.
I scurried to the Microfilm department at the UofA Mullins Library to complete my memories column.
Then I blitzed to the computer lab at the Fayetteville Blair Library to write the column.
Today Matt Watson took my mug shot so hopefully I'll be published again in the Traveler.
Thank God for godsends like Matt!
Through God, anything is possible.
Alas, a good friend Otis found out he needs further surgery in November.
Pray for him. He's a great man!

Monday, September 28, 2009

coping

Whenever adversity strikes, cope don't mope.
I had to reorganize my blogging because of a spammer who whammied friends and tried to solicit money.
So Yahoo wiped me out.
Now I'm back to square one.
Hope all interested followers pick up on this.
I'm coping not moping.
But I'm not a very happy camper.
Thanks to friends I will survive.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Angst

Life angst what it used to be!
That's how I feel.
Like I'm in a Woody Allen movie.
I still haven't figured out the meaning of life.
I still haven't figured out why I'm floundering, sleeping in a tent with a skunk who keeps breaking in and interrupting my sleep and my friends sleep.
Oh, well, I'm just going to keep on keeping on.

Insight

I used to wish I could be on the inside looking out.
When I was sleeping in the backseat of an abandoned car in Bentonville I used to travel to Fayetteville to relish in a free meal on Dickson Street at either the Episcopal Church or Central Methodist.
As I sat alone I wondered what it would be like to know these people as friends.
Alas, now I wonder why I ever wanted to be one of those people who frequent the meals everyday.
I'm tired of the same old humdrum existence.
I'm belaboring the same old stale routine.
I desire change!
The insider's viewpoint ain't what I had hoped it would be.
I'm not clairvoyant.
I'm not possessed by the sixth sense of perception.
I'm enlightened but filled with ennui and angst.
I want to change the world but I need the patience and persistence I used to have when I was homeless alone in Bentonville.
The pastures aren't greener.
But I do have friends now and I'm anxiously awaiting a brighter day for all of my acquaintances.
I don't play the panhandler's game though.
I will never beg with an outstretched hand or hold up a sign saying I need help.
I want to be a part of the cure and not a part of the problem.
So, with God's help and with the help of his messengers we can make a difference in the lifestyles of the impoverished.
Please, lend a helping hand to my compatriots!!!
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for caring.
And most of all thanks for sharing!!!!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

tired

I'm a somnabulist.
That's a sleep walker in plain English.
Actually I'm a faux somnabulist.
This morning at 1 a.m. Pepe LePew's son or daughter (actually I don't know how you identify or correctly categorize a baby skunk) skedaddled across my tent and grazed my body. I didn't panic and bellow out a blood-curdling yell. I just expeditiously exited my tent and bemoaned my ill fate. That's the second time this week the goldarned skunk has awakened me at 1 a.m. He or she, whichever, must have a built in alarm clock set for 1 a.m.
I'm befuddled.
How do I rid myself of this nuisance?
Some say eradicate him with lead poisoning or a gun stuffed inside a towel.
Nope.
I'm no dope.
I've never fired a gun in my life.
I can't call Skunk Busters Unlimited.
I guess the only other alternative is to leave food outside the campgrounds, so he will just feast elsewhere.
Otherwise, I guess I'm doomed to dealing with this nonsense every night. I will pray for rain.
On Oct. 3 a group of caring Christians are planning a pancake breakfast for the homeless. Hopefully we'll be able to feed and clothe some winter warriors.
Further announcements and updates will be posted.
More than likely, we'll solicit invitations and tickets and issue want sheets.

Monday, September 21, 2009

partnership

A unity of purpose and partnership imbued the gathering of the Cobblestone Project Sunday night in the monthly Green Room meeting.
When Mike Rusch queried me about what needed be done I responded that his group could bridge the gap imposed when homeless people lost their links of belonging to a community.
I implored the interested participants and volunteers to initiate a clothing drive to aid in battling the upcoming bout with inclement weather elements.
Mike jumped on that theme and a brainstorming session ensued.
Rick Healy will be enumerating a list of needed items to donate to the less fortunate.
Mike has asked for volunteers to organize their individual assignments. Some will ask for specific donations and then he will devise a central hub for storage of the clothes and other essential weather-related protective items.
Several agencies which have caseworkers can provide a focus on who really needs these winter panaceas.
All in all, everyone working together as a team of dedicated co-workers can reestablish the self-esteem some of us have lost during our trials and tribulations.
I had to scurry away from my campsite this morning at 1 a.m. due to the persistent gnawing of holes in my tent from that pesky pest Pepe LePew, so I forgot my notebook in my tent.
I'm almost afraid to see what damage Pepe may have incurred on my belongings.
I've exhausted Plans A-Z and now must revert to Plan Alpha just like the meteorologists incurred during the most horrendous hurricane season on record, a la Katrina and Rita. Before the tropical storm season a team of meteorologists pre-selects names through the English alphabet. That year they had to start on the Greek alphabet. Here's hoping I don't end up at omega.
I'm not a harmful hating anti-varmint I want to kill you kind of guy. I've never fired a gun and don't plan on doing so just because of a voracious skunk.
But it's tempting.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

sooiecide

Woooo! Pigs! Phooey!
The first quarter of the Georgia-Arkansas game was awesome.
Then when Jerry Franklin got ejected we fell apart.
I received an e-mail message from Curtis Yates about ushering. Alas, I didn't see it until Saturday morning and didn't have access to a telephone.
Shucky darns!
Hopefully I can attain a black pair of shoes and a white shirt by the next home game.
I had a very interesting conversation with a fellow "houseless" person at Seven Hills.
He asked me if I knew the difference between a hobo and a tramp.
A hobo will hold up a sign seeking monetary compensation. But he'll only use the money on himself and no one else and refuses to work.
A tramp will hold up a sign seeking work and will work.
He said he was a tramp.
He plans to go to Sarasota, Fla. and work for a circus or carnival during the winter months when they're fixing their rides and touring Florida.
I hope to apply for a job at the UofA and also usher future Razorback football games.
I also hope to attend the Green Room meeting of Cobblestone Project tonight and write about their projects for the Daily Record.
I probably will go to Bentonville on Tuesday and see if Kent will print my next article.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

zubs

Today has been an awesome day.
My good friend Henry Ho breakfasted at Chick Fil A. He gave me my laundry in a water-proof bag and provided me with a pair of Zubs. I'm going to have to learn how to wear this fashionable do-rag.
Don Imus better not make fun of me like he did the Rutgers women's basketball team.
And, as Henry forewarned, don't wear it into a convenience store. I'm not going to be one of America's Dumbest Criminals.
The skunk, Pepe LePew, is a gnarly nuisance!!
We don't want to have a skunk roast but he's keeping us up at night with his food foraging exhibitions.
Lesson No. 1: Don't leave food in your tent!
Lesson No. 2: Duct tape holes and plug them up with rocks!
Lesson No. 3: Don't attack a skunk or else one will be sprayed!
Lesson No. 4: A Razorback Transit bus driver told me he incurred the wrath of a skunk underneath his house. Or at least his cat did.
So he called a former animal control officer who advised him to use Massengill douche to deodorize and eradicate the overwhelmingly gagging smell.

Friday, September 18, 2009

whew!!

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."
Charles Dickens penned that in "A Tale of Two Cities."
It was the blessed of times. It was the discombolatingest of times.
I quipped that and used a word that probably doesn't exist.
But I've been accused of using words that don't exist but 99.999999 percent of the time the words are in the dictionary.
Once a gentleman (and I use that word politely) sent me a copy of one of my sports articles which he had yellow marked 32 times and said I should read the book "KISS -- the Elements of Style." Keep it simple stupid.
I wrote a rejoinder column and said that my mother used to cut out my columns and pin them up around her bed, so when I returned home for Christmas they would be there adorning her room.
So, I politely wrote I would adhere to the KISS style, Keep It Scintillating Sir!!
I lost my identity last night.
But all of my cards were found in the library computer lab where I'd left them.
Like I told the nice lady at the checkout counter, if you're going to lose something lose it in the library where it will be safe.
All's well that ends well. I don't know who said that but it's how I feel today.
Thanks for reading and responding.
I hope to see the crackerjack charismatic Christians Mike and Rick Sunday at the Green Room meeting. And hopefully Kent will print my article following the meeting. He told me to just write when I attended an important event.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Relief

Thanks to a great friend, Spencer Craft, I'm not going to be a jailbird.
We went to District Court yesterday and he showed the prosecuting attorney his lease on his apartment on Hill Street in which I was arrested for criminal trespassing.
The attorney obliged and said Noli processi.
So I don't have the Hill Street Blues anymore!
But last night when I got back to our campsite one of my camping buddies lambasted me and said all I care about is computers.
So, I'm antisocial today.
I don't know his intentions but it hurt my feelings.
We're all praying today for our good friend Otis who undergoes surgery at the hospital in Springdale.
He's battling bladder cancer and hopefully they'll be able to extract the devious tumor and it won't have spread elsewhere.
Otis is one of the greatest friends a person could have.
Pray for him.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Faux pas

Oops! My slip was showing yesterday!
Gadzooks!
While praising Mike Rusch and Rick Boosey for their awesome food distribution project I committed an infamous faux pas.
Mike and his altruistic band of helpful Christians started an organization entitled the Cobblestone Project. I errantly mislabeled them the Cornerstone Project. My bad!
I'm currently writing about their endeavors and hope to have it published in the very near future. That all rests with Kent Marts, editor extraordinaire of the Benton County Daily Record.
I also probably need to break this down into paragraphs.
The last two nights my campmate Dewayne had the misfortune of being "hazed" by Pepe LePew, our skunkmate who enjoys partying at our expense.
Mike and Rick loaded us up with soup and homemade potato chips. I pulled a fast one on Dewayne and put a bag of those scrumptious Boosey chips in his tent.
Alas, Pepe smelled those delicacies and kept pawing at Dewayne's tent all night long. Once he even jumped on Dewayne's arm.
So Dewayne sought another tent and went to CEO for a voucher.
But he forgot and left a bag of Ramen noodles in his tent which tickled Pepe LePew who crunched and munched on them last night.
What's the next chapter in the saga of the voracious skunk?
At least he hasn't sprayed us with his love juice yet. Or maybe I should rephrase that and call it his I hate to be annoyed juice. So, leave this skunk alone!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

cleanliness

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Thanks to the caring and sharing heart of Henry Ho, one of my blog mentors, I now have a clean slate at the library, i.e. no more fines, and I will have clean clothes due to his friendly laundry service.
Sometimes those drudgery chores, like laundry, translate into luxurious thank you very much for your friendship and good cheer.
Indeed, it was serendipity for me when Henry approached me one Saturday morning and said he wanted to help but didn't know how. The friendship blossomed into a meaningful relationship for both of us.
Henry read some of my articles and encouraged me to blog. Thanks to the computer expertise of Glenn Miller here we are.
I encourage followers to respond with comments, suggestions and other helpful input.
Thanks for reading and thanks for caring and sharing.
Sometimes just one person's heart touches another's heart and the feeling keeps nurturing a friendship between two people from different backgrounds whose lifes intersect in an interpersonal bonding relationship.
I'm blessed and know that someday I'll be able to pass it on in similar fashion.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

homelessness alone

Sadly, today I witnessed a truly homeless man.
There are haves and have-nots amongst the homeless.
Some of us are fortunate to have a tent and some trustworthy camp-mates who aid us in our travails. We are the haves.
Then, there are the have-nots who don't have any friends and sleep wherever their head rests that night.
I saw a man, who shall remain anonymous, asleep on the bench at Lot 56.
He lost his tent and all his belongings during a flash flood. That's at least the second time he's seen his personal sleeping accomodations swept away by a deluge of water.
Now he's destitute.
That's the definitive homeless man who needs help more than anyone else. He can't cope on his own.
He relies on others. And sometimes there's no one to help him, so he just sleeps wherever there's a vacant bench.
I'm bewildered but know how he feels because last year at this time I was sleeping in an abandoned house on Leverett.
Alas, one night I returned and the house had been razed to the ground. All that was left was a pile of bricks.
Crestfallen I went to the Walton Arts Center and slept in the "garden" two nights.
Finally a man befriended me and permitted me to camp out with him.
Again, the only people who can truly help a "homeless" individual is another homeless person who cares and shares his humble surroundings.
More on this later. I'm just still trying to fathom why some are haves and others are have-nots.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

stereotypes

I just read a dynamic expose of the myths of homelessness.
1. Homelessness is not a recession-induced phenomenon.
Income inequality and persistent poverty are silent causes of homelessness since the Reagan years.
2. To end homelessness we need more affordable housing. There is no county in America where a person earning minimum wage can afford the median cost of housing, so being house poor leads to more homeless individuals.
3. We need both sandwiches and solutions. Just feeding the homeless doesn't resolve the main issues like how to extricate one from this predicament.
4. Stereotypes are wrong -- most homeless people fly under the radar.
We can't see it.
Most people stereotypically envision a homeless man as bedraggled, sleeping in a paper box with a bottle of whiskey in his hand or someone panhandling for drugs or cigarettes.
There's families in need sleeping in cars or in tents.
5. Get mad and do something.

VAHope2009

The Veterans Administration plans a Hope 2009 event at the Jefferson School Sept. 17.
No cost services include dental and vision exams, haircuts, legal advice, substance abuse counseling, housing assistance, Social Security services and employment opportunities. Clothing and groceries will be available along with lunch.
Each client will be paired with a volunteer who will stay with them throughout the process.
Sounds like a very worthwhile project.
Yes, there is hope because there are individuals willing to help.
One doesn't have to be a veteran to participate.

Monday, September 7, 2009

laborday

This week unravels a ravenous array of exquisite cuisine and Razorback camaraderie.
On Wednesday I've been invited for fine dining with Nate Allen, sports writer extraordinaire, and Norm DeBriyn, former Razorback baseball coach.
We're pigging out at the Pig and Whistle barbecue.
In 1979 while covering the Razorback baseball team I tabbed them the "Sultans of Swing."
Apropos, while battling the Texas A&M Aggies during a Southwest Conference doubleheader, the song "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits was played over the loudspeaker system at College Station during the break between games.
Inspired perhaps, the Razorbacks rapped out 26 hits to set a school record.
Then, Wednesday night DesaRae Richardson has invited me over to her house for a meal and a shower.
The topic of conversation will be both of our desires to help the homeless.
DesaRae has applied for government funding for a homeless shelter.
More to come soon.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Outskunking a skunk

After being harassed by Pepe LePew I've reviewed my scenarios for deterrence and now plan to plant some garlic around my tent.
A friend said they sprout up very fast and might be the ticket for outskunking the skunk.
Hopefully this will be the springboard for more comfortable sleep because I have nightmares of the skunk inside my tent abode.
I've never been a sound sleeper anyway but the skunk has me with the heebie jeebies.
If anyone has any other quaint or utilitarian suggestions please let me know at either this blog site or by e-mailing me at davidlanier51@yahoo.com.
Thanks.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Pepe LePew

Just another day in paradise!
That's the credo most of us campers invoke to express our facetious satisfaction with our realm of existence.
Alas, critterdom doesn't always agree with that symbolic anthem of welcoming a new day.
Their priorities revolve around feeding their faces and if you have food in your tent, then it's better to receive than give.
I've inherited a family of skunks who've chewed holes in my tent and welcomed themselves inside.
I'm a giving and forgiving altruistic soul, but my patience and perseverance are seriously being tested by Pepe LePew and his kinfolks.
Whenever I seek advice, Max Leichner, a local proprietor swears by moth balls.
His best friend Eddie Johnson even supplied me with a box.
That worked wonders (for a couple of nights) because I heard skunk sneezing.
But the skunks quickly adapted to the smell and now come in whenever they please.
I used duct tape to sew up their chewing, but that still isn't sufficient for the skulking skunks.
This morning I heard some gnawing and voila, Pepe LePew, how do you do?
That's not my idea of a harmonious day in paradise.
So, I ventured forth to Bentonville to meet and greet Kent Marts, editor extraordinaire of the Benton County Daily Record. His hunting persona kicked in and he advised the old fashioned remedy -- a pistol wrapped in a towel.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am (if Pepe is really a female), then that might be the ticket to alleviating my skunk alarm(ing) way to start the day.
But I'm more of an Albert Schweitzerian at heart and can't fathom killing skunks just because they're hungry and desire some satisfaction from my food stamp oriented snacks.
So, readerdom provide me with some relief!

Bonding

Today's topic to consider is bonding.
Whenever adversity strikes whom do you trust?
Some homeless individuals come to the aid of those who they consider to be followers instead of leaders. That creates trust and a bond occurs. Togetherness is better than loneliness.
It's a lot easier to cope with life's adversities whenever teamwork occurs.
I've bonded with a couple of friends and now we're campmates.
We all sleep in separate tents.
One of our rules is whenever approaching the campsite we announce our identity so as not to alarm or create suspicion.
In every avenue of life we bond with others. I've never been married but I suppose happy, loving married couples can vouch for that scenario of bonding.
I'm still trying to figure out how others can access my blog site.