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A Little Bit from Elaine
Elaine Carlson will provide weekly columns to the Beat.
By Elaine Carlson
Recently I had a good time at the library. I am glad they opened up after having been closed for so long.
Before leaving I went by their Free Shelf. They had a hundred books there --- I am not one of those people who would prefer a hand count to an estimate. What I thought was nice was that they also had a large stack of magazines people can take home without paying anything.
The first magazine I saw was Woman's World March 15, 2021. On the cover there is the claim that a study done by Yale Diabetics Centers which concluded, "You could lose 36 pounds every month."
Well, the people at Yale should know what they are talking about. But just think – people who lose "36 lbs every month" in ten months would lose 360 lbs. How many people could really do that?
The article sets out a Plant Based Diet that excludes sugar, flour and oils. And suggests that for the best results people should eat 16 ounces of vegetables before breakfast. "Then enjoy unlimited fruit, whole grains/starch, and additional 16 oz of veggies throughout the day." There is no word about what people should have for breakfast. Maybe for that meal three oranges, some of that "unlimited fruit," would be a good choice.
But A Few Tales of the Well Known
By Elaine Carlson
The other day on YouTube I watched Orson Welles (5-6-1915 to 10-10-1985) on the “Dick Cavett Show” talking about his movie “Citizen Kane.”
Dick Cavett (b 11-19-1936) asked Welles if he had seen the movie. Welles said he started to watch it at the premiere but “snuck out” near the beginning. He said he saw it “thousands of times in the cutting” but never after its release.
Cavett asked him if it was true that Hearst wanted to destroy the film. Wells said yes. He also said an attempt had been made to frame him --- not by Hearst but by a person who wanted to please Hearst.
He was in a nightclub when a policeman came in to speak to him. The cop said “don't go to your room tonight.” And explained that someone put a minor into his hotel room and the cops were there waiting to arrest him. He said, “I could have gone to jail.”
Patricia Hearst (b 2-20-1954) said while she was traveling with her kidnappers, William and Emily Harris, they went to see “Citizen Kane.” She refused to go with them. (“Every Secret Thing,” by Patricia Campbell Hearst and Alvin Moscow. Doubleday November 1, 1981).
By Elaine Carlson
"Her name is Saint Bernard."
"She is a beautiful cat."
"We named her before we knew what she was," he said. "We thought of that name because she was a rescue pet."
He went on to say that she had been abandoned at Cooks Point and they took her home after a camping trip. And then they already had a cat named Rainbow but she died.
I hope I don't have to be here all day listening to him talk about his pets. The only things I knew about him was that his name is David Olsen and that he told a friend of a person I used to work for that he needed a live in baby sitter.
"How long are you going to need me?"
"Maybe a month."
By Elaine Carlson
At least I have electricity. At least I have Clara and Brad. Clara is my cat and yes I named her after the dancer in the Nutcracker. And Brad is my husband. I kept repeating the good things I have after I was hit with a few misfortunes.
My first problem was that my computer mouse was dead. It took me a few minutes to register that it was not working. So what did I do? I started to swear. How would anyone anywhere be able to respond to an emergency without saying a few bad words? And not having the use of a reliable mouse is certainly an emergency.
In a few minutes I went to boil some water. And what the hell – when I open the microwave there was no light or noise and the turntable tray was not rotating. I look around the kitchen and see that the time is not displayed on my radio. So now do I have to deal with the fact that both my microwave and clock radio don't work? I guess so.
I knew that putting on a happy face and uttering curses were not effective ways to respond to a crisis. I decide to attempt to cope in a more mature fashion.
By Elaine Carlson
Who thinks James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton is a critically-acclaimed movie?
Lily Price does. She created the list "From State to State: 50 Iconic Movies Set In Each State." She said she chose the best "50 critically-acclaimed movies." Her pick for California was "Terminator 2" The actor turned politician went back to acting after leaving his government job and in his role as Terminator races "through the 'Golden State' to prevent a nuclear apocalypse."
Her selection for New Mexico is "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." (1967) "This iconic movie is known as one of the best spaghetti westerns --- a movie set in the west but filmed in Europe to save money, in this case in Spain by Italian director Sergio Leone" and starring Clint Eastwood.
It is set during the Civil War in the New Mexico Campaign of 1862. To her "this western encapsulates the rough and tumble west with all the shootouts and tough attitudes, while accelerating a young Eastwood to stardom."
By Elaine Carlson
"Yeah Gawds, What do I have here?" I said to myself one Saturday morning.
What I had was a pile of dead insects. That is what I saw after I woke up and went into the kitchen. And it was a big heaping pile. There were also some living insects scampering around the edges. And others were inside the pile weaving around the dead bodies.
Afterwards I was wishing I had counted them. I first thought there must have been two hundred. Or at least a hundred. Finally I decided a good ballpark estimate was 70.
By Elaine Carlson
"Life is all about balance," Sandy Fussell said. "Since I have only one leg, I understand that well."
I am sure I understand what Fussell meant. I have both of my legs but one doesn't work very well from a serious injury I had almost fifty years ago. And because of that physical disability I often have difficulty maintaining my balance.
I need a leg brace and a cane (or a walker) to be able to get around. About a month ago I started to have problems with my brace. The alignment was off and I worried it could fall apart anytime. So I called up the orthopedic shop and they told me when to go in.
Ten days ago my husband drove me to Las Cruces for that appointment. The person I saw said the best thing would be to clone the brace. I had never heard of cloning a brace. Always before the first step in the process was a cast of the foot was made. I thought hell I am a modern person and I will go for cloning this time.
A Short Story by Elaine Carlson
She was pretty sure this was the house. The dispatcher told her they didn't have much information but to get there as quickly as she could. She went up to the front door and knocked. Pretty soon a skinny girl came to the door. She guessed she was in the third grade.
"Hello. I came to see Janet Mason."
The little girl stared at her before saying, "Ms. Mason doesn't want any visitors."
"I came to help her," she said. "Is she going to have a baby?"
"Do you know how to deliver a baby?"
She had often been questioned about her qualifications before but never by such a young child.
