New poem, 4/12/14

The Whoosh

Insert tab A into slot B, turn the key

And whoosh, a vacuum seal breaks,

Releasing the alluring aromas of coffee

Or new tennis balls or similar reeks

Of pleasure, of pain, or played or dared.

Nature abhors a vacuum, an expression

Learned early, like A = π r ².

The whoosh is a cure for depression.

Coincidental characters

Any similarities to events, places, or to persons, living or dead,

Are simply coincidental, the reader is always assured.

Huh? The characters simply emerged from the author’s head,

Fully human? The settings are pure fiction, places never toured

By either the writer or anyone else, the reader is led

To believe. Each character and setting in my head,

Were lodged there by my experiences, then comingled  and melded

Like marvelous scrambled eggs or toasted multi-grained bread,

Appearing on the page as something new (but woven from older threads).

Lexophillies

“Lexophile" is a word used to describe those who have a love for words, such as "you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish", or "to write with a broken pencil is pointless."  A competition to see who can come up with the best lexphillies is held every year in an undisclosed location.  This year's winning submission is posted at the very end. When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate. A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months. When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A. The  batteries were given out free of charge. A  dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail. A will is a dead giveaway. With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress. A boiled egg is hard to beat. When you've seen one shopping Center you've seen a mall. Police were called to a day care Center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest. Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now. A  bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds. The  guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered. He had a photographic memory which was never developed. When she saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she'd  dye. Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it. And the cream of the wretched crop: Those who get too big for their pants will be exposed in the end

Chinese cyberattacks

Where are we vulnerable?

SINGAPORE — In remarks directed at China, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke Saturday of a “growing threat” of cyberattacks against the United States and called on America and its allies to “es­tablish international norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace.” (New York Times, June 1, 2013)

Where are we most vulnerable? Where  I described we’d be three years ago in

THE CHINA-AFRICA PARALLAX: A RYAN AND GILLIAN MYSTERY (sequel of Songs of Sadness, Songs of Love), by Larry K. Andrews. (Action-Thriller. Author ˛House, ISBN 978-1-4520-1765-5) The China-Africa Parallax: A Ryan and Gillian Mystery describes how representatives of China and Africa are conspiring to steal research data from major US universities. They will kill anyone who gets in their way in order to achieve their ultimate goal: China’s economic and military domination of the world. This is a fast-moving mystery with an emphasis on today’s geo-political issues and economics. Ryan Graves and his wife, Gillian Davies, characters introduced in Songs of Sadness, Songs of Love, assume perilous, key roles central to the FBI strategy to thwart the devastating conspiracy.

Thomas Ken

 Ordained in 1662, Thomas Ken successively held the livings of Little Easton in Essex, St. Mary's Church, Brighstone in the Isle of Wight, and East Woodhay in Hampshire; in 1672 he resigned the last of these, and returned to Winchester, being by this time a prebendary of the cathedral, and chaplain to the bishop, as well as a fellow, at Winchester College.

He remained there for several years, acting as curate in one of the lowest districts, preparing his Manual of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Winchester College (first published in 1674), and composing hymns It was at this time that he wrote, primarily for the same body as his prayers, his morning, evening and midnight hymns, the first two of which, beginning "Awake, my soul, and with the sun" and "Glory to Thee, my God, this night," are well known. The latter is often made to begin with the line "All praise to Thee, my God, this night," but in the earlier editions over which Ken had control, the line is as first given. Both of these hymns end with a doxology beginning "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," which is widely sung today by itself, often to the tune Old 100th.