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A Visit to a Vast Wasteland

Posted on August 3, 2009August 4, 2009 by Dot

I watch television a lot. I use it as white noise for reading the paper, working puzzles, cleaning house, folding laundry. When I see something interesting or unusual, something I want to remember, I jot it down in a little notebook on the end table.  Here are some tidbits:

In the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much, the eight-year-old boy playing Doris Day’s son sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles “Que Sera, Sera.”  Most of us can hardly produce a noise that way, but he whistles a song … on pitch, yet.

On the game show, 1 vs. 100, the question was: how many six packs would it take to have ’99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall?’  The contestant pondered and said, “Well, I don’t drink beer…”  Yes, she was blond.

Some words of wisdom from As Time Goes By, a Britcom on PBS, Lionel tells the women in his life, “Say what you want to say to the person you want to say it to.”  What sage advice!

And on Judging Amy, someone observed, “Everybody loves a strong person because they never ask for anything.” (I didn’t note if it was Amy or her very wise mother.)

In a short Film The Support Group on PBS, came a twist on a growing cliche about denial: “The Euphrates is not just a river in Mesopotamia.” 

And of course commercials appear in my note-taking. A disclaimer for a perscription drug, “If you’re allergic to Astepro, don’t take it.”  Well, duh.

A man dressed in a white coat tells us, “I recommend Breath Rx not only to my patients but to everyone I know.”  That’s how to win friends, all right.

A commercial for a behavior management technique is rather long but never really tells us much about how it works. The salesperson boasts, “Turn your child’s attitude around in one minute or less.”  Now, as someone who has parented for many years, I want to know: What IS it?  A baseball bat? Thumb screws? 

Yes, I watch television a lot, mostly old movies. And the new season of Monk starts Friday, August 7.

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My Fifteen

Posted on July 31, 2009October 9, 2009 by Dot

I was tagged on Facebook to list 15 books I’ve read that will always stick with me – the first 15 I thought of in no more than 15 minutes.  This was fun. Later, I’ll probably think of others that should be included.  Many of these I have read more than once, most I plan to read again. One day I’ll elaborate on my choices. Here’s the list in no particular order.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

2. Flag Full of Stars – Don Robertson

3. Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman – Anne Ortlund

4. Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini

6. Gifts of the Spirit – Kenneth C. Kinghorn

7. Jewel – Brett Lott

8. Me & Emma – Elizabeth Flock

9. Writing for the Soul – Jerry Jenkins

10. Meeting God at Every Turn – Catherine Marshall

11. Bridge to the Sun – Gwen Tarasaki

12. Black and Blue – Anna Quindlen

13. Light on Snow – Anita Shreve

14. Saving Graces – Elizabeth Edwards

15. Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott

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Standing in Line at the Post Office

Posted on July 25, 2009July 25, 2009 by Dot

As a writer, I have always wondered why editors and publishers say “Do not send registered or certified mail.” How else can I be sure my valuable words arrive safely? One magazine even declared, “Certified mail will be refused.” I got the message, but I still wondered. This week I found out.

I am Contest Chair for an upcoming conference sponsored by White County Creative Writers (see more about this at www.whitecountycreativewriters.org) and Tuesday, among the large brown envelopes in my mailbox, I received a slip of paper informing me that I had a certified letter I could pick up at the post office on Wednesday.

I couldn’t take care of this before or after work because the PO keeps the same schedule as I do.  I had to use my lunch hour.

At the post office, I stood in line behind folks with the usual transactions: Buying a money order, choosing just the right stamps to match one’s personality, picking up mail after vacation to Disney World where they had a wonderful time (have I mentioned I live in a small town?). The young woman directly in front of me put a package on the counter.

“Is there anything fragile, breakable, yada, yada, potentially hazardous?”

“I don’tknow. My boss just told me to mail this package.”

“Well, someone has to answer that question.”

We all stood for a few seconds, contemplating the dilemma. The young woman whipped out a cell phone and got the necessary information from her boss. 

My turn. I signed and printed my name twice, wrote my address on the scanner, and retrieved the precious envelope.

Let me mention here that the writer paid $6.66 to get the entries 100 miles across Arkansas in one day. But it actually took two days, since I wasn’t at home the first day. Another writer spent $3.75 on Priority Mail to guarantee next day delivery stuck in my screen door rather than the safety of my mailbox. Most manuscripts cost less than $2.00 by regular mail and arrived in one day.

Seriously, folks. Regular mail. Then, for a small fee you can get delivery confirmation online.

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Where Are You, Troy Donahue?

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Dot

I’ve been around for a while and I’ve decided that what the world needs now is for folks to be more like Troy Donahue.

Troy was in the movies in the 50s and 60s and he always played a young man who suffered when society or circumstances forced him to make wrong choices.

But the good thing about Troy Donahue was that he always told us how he felt. “I am very angry.” “I am so sad.” “Gee, this makes me happy.” Telling us his feelings was a good thing, because otherwise, given Troy’s acting ability, it would have been difficult to know.

So I’m thinking, life would be much simpler if people would just tell me how they feel. It would relieve me of the responsibility of trying to figure it out. I wouldn’t have to work so hard to be sensitive. How helpful if folks said: “I’m uncomfortable.” “I feel threatened.” “I love you.”  Maybe then I wouldn’t do or say the wrong thing.  Push when I should hold off. Leave when I really should stay.

How different things could have been if he were a little more like Troy Donahue.

(One-minute monologue –  Center on the Square audition)

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Dance With the One Who Brung You

Posted on July 19, 2009July 20, 2009 by Dot

The saying above is an old Texas expression about loyalty. It means stick to the strategies that brought success in the first place.  Something I wish the cable networks would do.

As cable and dish have made more and more channels available to us, we’ve watched new networks debut with a promise to bring programming of interest to a specific population, only to change a few years later to chase another demographic.  It’s one thing when USA, TNT, TBS or WGN decides to do this, but when the name of the network implies one thing and the programs reflect something different … well … that borders on fraud. 

If we watch the Biography Channel, which spun off from a popular show on A&E, we might see “Murder She Wrote.” Whose biography is that? It’s a story about Jessica Fletcher and her unfortunate friends. Being an acquaintance of the famous mystery writer means two things. First, someone you know will be murdered, and second, someone you know is the murderer.

And A&E, which stands for Arts and Entertainment and promised high quality programing from the entertainment and art world, is another good example. A better name now would be the crime/drug rehab channel.  Bravo is also a network that changed its focus. It tends to repeat the same movie or syndicated drama several times throughout the evening. This may be a staffing issue. Set the feed on automatic pilot and clock out.

MTV (Music Television) was to bring pop videos to its young audience. Now they are featuring a reality show – “Sixteen and Pregnant.”  The Learning Channel (aka the Jon and Kate Channel) has decided to teach us all about people who are differently challenged, i.e. “The 650 Pound Virgin,” “Conjoined Twins,” “The World’s Tallest Children,” and “Little People.”

AMC – American Movie Classics, seems to have redefined what constitutes a classic, and their pledge to show movies commercial-free went down the tubes a few years ago.  Oxygen, touted as a channel about issues important to women, now features overweight females trying to dance and “America’s Next Top Model,” programs that appear to me to be exploitive.  WE – Womens’ Entertainment, broadcasts hours and hours of “Bridezilla”, showing women in their worst light.

I feel I’ve just scratched the surface here. You could add more, and I invite you to vent your dissatisfaction/disillusionment with the fare offered on cable/dish.

Oh, one more thing. Be sure to screen the commercials when your children are in the room. The show may be rated G but you could still find yourself explaining to your child what Bob is so danged happy about.

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Dot Hatfield

Dot Hatfield

Dot Hatfield is a member of the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame and a Certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church. She is the author of 7 books.

Dot’s Books

  • Worth the Candle
  • Did Anyone Read My Story?
  • An Ordinary Day
  • R.I.P. Emma Lou Briggs
  • To Find a Home
  • The Last To Know
  • Every Day a New Day

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