Black and White World (Copy of original)

02/24/2017 by Pat Shiplett 4 Comments

The photographs helped her make sense of the world she was born into — up to a point.Even when she was very young, the girl liked to spend time with the photos her mother kept. They were organized chronologically in albums.

It made the child feel safe knowing there were people in her life. Most of them smiled for the camera except for a few from the Midwest who hide their teeth. There were several pages showing people holding a newborn she didn’t recognize. You know who it was.

The girl could see that faces changed as people got older, a surprising number of them looked better. She came to realize that there was life before she was born but it hadn’t occurred to her that life would continue when she was gone. That would come later.

The albums were brought out when friends and relatives came to visit. The girl would listen to the who, what, when, where and how. She took exception if someone got something wrong.

The photographs helped the girl make sense of the world she was born into — up to a point.

One day when she and her father were sitting on the couch, going through a shoebox of black-and-white snapshots her grandmother had bequeathed them, the girl turned to him and asked what year it was when the world changed from black-and-white to color.

Were her grandparents were still alive when people stopped being gray? And was it a big deal? And did the kids get a day off from school to celebrate?

Trump, Putin’s puppet

02/24/2017 by Pat Shiplett 7 Comments

Vladimir Putin doesn’t come cheap.

If he helps you get elected it’s because he wants you to lift sanctions and turn a blind eye to aggression against Ukraine.

He’ll expect you go on TV with Bill O’Reilly and say that being a killer doesn’t make him a bad guy. (He loved it when you declared our country is murderous in the same way he is.)

If Vladimir Putin helps you get elected, he’ll demand compound interest. And this is one debt you won’t wiggle out of by going bankrupt.

Donald Trump insists that he didn’t have contact with Vladimir Putin. But U.S. intelligence has conclusive evidence of extensive contact between key players in his campaign and Russian intelligence. Trump tax returns could clear things up.

American children are taught a morality tale about a puppet who becomes human after he learns to tell the truth.

Now we seem to be watching that story play out in reserve — but this time the human being turns into a puppet.

Tony Runaways (2024)

08/22/2024 by Pat Shiplett 4 Comments

Out Among HumansWhen the boys found a car with keys, they stopped to consider the pros and cons of Grand Theft Larceny.

As soon as she realized her middle boy was missing, she started calling around. It was a relief to learn that two of his friends were also nowhere to be found.

America still held a Tom Sawyer view of boyhood. For better or worse, they didn’t think to put pictures of children on milk cartoons.

The three ran away because the parents of one them was in his face about something. The other two went along for the ride. Who would notice, really? School wouldn’t start until after Labor Day.

None of the boys had seen an ocean so they decided on California. There would definitely, absolutely, be an ocean there. They didn’t have a map but one of them was sure west was that way.

When the boys found a car with keys, they stopped to consider the pros and cons of Grand Theft Larceny. Miraculously, they decided against it. None of them had a license anyway.

They spent one night sleeping in a rusted tractor-trailer cab in a junkyard. One of them remembers the cold. They survived on snacks from filling stations and country stores. They did not steal.

The runaways had gone about 50 miles and were approaching Versailles State Park when a friendly older man stopped to gave them a ride. They were in luck. He happened to be going their way.

It wasn’t long until he pulled up to a small-town police station and told the boys he was an off-duty officer of the law. He got on the phone and told their parents the kids were here and they were safe and they seemed like nice-enough young men and you don’t need to be too hard on them.

She sent her oldest son to bring them home. He liked to drive his Mercury and she gave him gas money. None of the boys’ parents bothered to go along. There was silence on the way home.

“Your dad and I were worried sick.” his mother told him.

In return for his solemn promise never to run away again she pulled a baking sheet out of the oven. Drop Sugar Cookies — his favorite — soft, not browned. He hated when they got the slightest bit crispy on the edges. She had made them just right and he told her they were good.

Drop-Sugar Cookies For Runaways
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs
¾ cup sour milk
1 tbsp baking soda in the milk
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp vanilla
¾ tbsp salt
5 cups flour
Cream sugar and shortening. Beat until light/fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonful. Bake at 375º until they look right and not a second longer.

Tony Runaways (Copy of original) (Copy of original)

02/23/2017 by Pat Shiplett 3 Comments

When the boys found a car with keys, they stopped to consider the pros and cons of Grand Theft Larceny.

As soon as she realized her middle boy was missing, she started calling around. It was a relief to learn that two of his friends were also nowhere to be found.

America still held a Tom Sawyer view of boyhood. For better or worse, they didn’t think to put pictures of children on milk cartoons.

The three ran away because the parents of one them was in his face about something. The other two went along for the ride. Who would notice, really? And school wouldn’t start until after Labor Day.

They weren’t but 14 years old, we think — details are a bit sketchy.

None of the boys had seen an ocean so they decided on California. There would definitely, absolutely, be an ocean there. They didn’t have a map but one of them was sure west was that way.

When the boys found a car with keys, they stopped to consider the pros and cons of Grand Theft Larceny. Miraculously, they decided against it. None of them had a license anyway.

They spent one night sleeping in a rusted tractor-trailer cab in a junkyard. One of them remembers the cold. They survived on snacks from filling stations and country stores. They did not steal.

The runaways had gone about 50 miles and were approaching Versailles State Park when a friendly older man pulled over to gave them a ride. They were in luck. He happened to be going their way.

It wasn’t long until he pulled up to a small-town police station and told the boys he was an off-duty officer of the law. He got on the phone and told their parents the kids were here and they were safe and they seemed like nice-enough young men and you don’t need to be too hard on them.

She sent her oldest son to bring them home. He liked to drive his Mercury and she gave him gas money. None of the boys’ parents bothered to go along. There was silence on the way home.

“Your dad and I were worried sick.” his mother told him.

In return for his solemn promise never to run away again she pulled a baking sheet out of the oven. Drop Sugar Cookies — his favorite — soft, not browned. He hated when they got the slightest bit crispy on the edges. She had made them just right and he told her they were good.

Drop-Sugar Cookies For Runaways
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs
¾ cup sour milk
1 tbsp baking soda in the milk
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp vanilla
¾ tbsp salt
5 cups flour
Cream sugar and shortening. Beat until light/fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonful. Bake at 375º until they look right and not a second longer.

Ghetto Kids Baggy Pants (Copy of original)

02/21/2017 by Pat Shiplett 3 Comments

Just Your Average 68-Year-Old College Freshman

There are kids here who spent years rushing home from high school before the evenings turned dangerous. Parents got home too late for schoolwork. They’ve never been to Awards Night.

They look through a fence built around them and wonder if life on the other side is only for kids richer and luckier than them.

Community colleges provide acetylene and oxygen, and when students get the mixture just right, they burn through metal. Tuition is relatively inexpensive by 4-year college standards. With hard work and luck, they’ll finally transfer to a university. They’ll need those goggles every step of the way.