The Poet

I was listening to "A Prairie Home Companion" today and they had a poet on there named Billy Collins. In fact he's not just a poet, he was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. (The Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.) Anyway, he read a poem of his that I really liked, so I thought I'd post it for you here.


I Go Back To The House For A Book
Billy Collins

I turn around on the gravel
and go back to the house for a book,
something to read at the doctor's office,
and while I am inside, running the finger
of inquisition along a shelf,
another me that did not bother
to go back to the house for a book
heads out on his own,
rolls down the driveway,
and swings left toward town,
a ghost in his ghost car,
another knot in the string of time,
a good three minutes ahead of me-
a spacing that will now continue
for the rest of my life.


Sometimes I think I see him
a few people in front of me on a line
or getting up from a table
to leave the restaurant just before I do,
slipping into his coat on the way out the door.
But there is no catching him,
no way to slow him down
and put us back in synch,
unless one day he decides to go back
to the house for something,
but I cannot imagine
for the life of me what that might be.


He is out there always before me,
blazing my trail, invisible scout,
hound that pulls me along,
shade I am doomed to follow,
my perfect double,
only bumped an inch into the future,
and not nearly as well-versed as I
in the love poems of Ovid-
I who went back to the house
that fateful winter morning and got the book.

The Wanted

Have you seen this show? I came across it last week by accident and I DID NOT want to watch it, but I couldn't turn it off. It was so addicting.

So this show is about a group of people who work together to hunt down people known to be part of terrorist organizations or movements.

The group includes journalist, Adam Ciralsky(Middle); a counterterrorism expert, Roger Carstens (left); a former Navy SEAL, Scott Tyler (Right); and former U.S. intelligence official David Crane. (not pictured)

The interesting thing to me is that they really follow the law. They meet with government officials to find out what needs to be done to apprehend these people and to get them tried in a court of law to face the charges against them.

I think that a little bit of the show is a put on just to make it a little more thrilling and entertaining for the television audience, but it's the subject and the substance that really makes it interesting.

The fact that there are so many different known terrorist living out there and living it up is unbelievable and it's nice to see that there are a few people trying to make a difference in our world. I'm hooked.

Ever wonder why Cuba lets the US have a military base there?

Well, you may not have, but I always did. And I found the answer thanks for Mental Floss. Thought I'd share with you.

The short answer is that the United States got a really great lease on Guantanamo Bay. In 1903, Cuba signed a treaty agreeing to lease the harbor to the American government for $2,000 in gold coins annually. The treaty indicated that the United States could only use the 45-square-mile area as a naval base and that Cuban trading ships could pass freely through it. In 1934, the countries renegotiated the lease, but this time with fine print stipulating that the agreement could only be terminated through mutual consent from both countries. That’s the kicker. Because as long as the United States wants to keep the base, it remains in American hands. Needless to say, Fidel Castro is pretty irritated by the arrangement. In protest, he hasn’t cashed an American rent check since 1959.

Star Trek, Dr. McCoy

Well, I am not a "Trekkie" by any means, in fact I've never liked the the Star Trek series much at all. But a friend of mine asked me to go to the new movie today and I went reluctantly because she goes to places with me all of the time and does the things I want to do. Well, I have to say I was very surprised, but I actually enjoyed this show. And now I have a new crush. The guy who played Dr. McCoy was SO hot. His name is Karl Urban. Yum.

What is this blog going to be about?

Well, I'll tell you, it's going to be about this and that and other things. Guess you'll just have to wait and see.