Monday, Oct. 29, 2001
“In my younger days I had a penpal named LeShandy. He was a boy roughly the same
age and lived in a faraway place I had never heard of called Iceland.
Sometimes he would mention, to my surprise, that Iceland was very, very green.
And he had been to Greenland once and it was covered with ice. He asked his
father why this was the case and his father had told him that the Vikings once
plundered both Iceland and Greenland.
They had gone to Greenland and found it unpleasant, rough terrain. They went to
Iceland next and liked it very much, like that little bear with the just-right
porridge and all. They didn’t want anybody to take the place they wanted to
live, so they called the green land Iceland and the ice land Greenland.
I told LeShandy his dad was a liar and he had made the entire story up because
he didn’t know why. LeShandy got very angry and never wrote me back, either
that or he lost my address or died or something.
I’ve never had a penpal since, unless you count that little girl from El
Salvador that I sent all that pocket change to. I can’t remember her name but I
know she needed a lot of innoculations and ate her weight in grain every week,
the squat little pig.”
“Penpal”
Milestones
the commune's scratch 'n sniff look at last year's office potluck
Opportunities
Pants a Capitalist
Free Virus Baggies
Take a Kitten, Please
the commune book selections
the commune's Bear in Rearview
the commune's Big Book of Duke
Faces of the commune
the commune 100: Leaders and Revolutionaries
the commune 100: Traitors and Noodledicks
FAQ Shwartz |
Site Map's Somewhere in the Glovebox |
Search In Vain |
Contract Ick
Privacy Police |
Terms of Gary Busey |
Reprints & Persimmons |
Press Eject Now
"Penny Candy"
In my childhood there was a penny-candy store on the corner, run by a rail-thin
immigrant who was constantly in jail when the country was at war.
"Darby"
Uncle Trey had a dog that we all liked a lot, a dog by the name of Darby. He was a
small white dog with wiry hair, I think he was a Jack Russell terrier.
"Vase"
Mom had this vase given to her in Great Aunt Mable's will and she loved it
dearly. It sat on a wooden table in front of our picture window. I think it was from
Japan.
"Mr. Dingle"
I remember in my youth, I had made a mask out of rubber bands and construction
paper. It was a beautiful thing, glittering with sparkles I had glued around the eye
holes.