Great short Bonus Show for all our loyal podcast fans. This week a tremendous comedy team shares comedy and music...it's "Mack & Jamie" , stars of TV's "Comedy Break"; sharing loads of musical humor. Enjoy!
Background Conservationist and author Gerald Durrell and Lee McGeorge first met in 1977 ; two years later they were married. By the time Durrell died in 1995 they had travelled the world together on numerous conservation expeditions and co-written two books: A Practical Guide for the Amateur Naturalist , and Durrell in Russia. In 1978 , a year after they first met , Gerald Durrell wrote a love letter to his future wife. Letter No. 028 July 31st , 1978 Gerald Durrell , a respected conservationist wrote a love letter to his future wife , and then one of his students taking her PhD at Duke University , Lee McGeorge. ~ My darling McGeorge , You said that things seemed clearer when they were written down. Well , herewith is a very boring letter in which I will try and put everything down so that you may read and re-read it in horror at your folly in getting involved with me. Deep breath. To begin with I love you with a depth and passion that I have felt for no one else in this life and if it astonishes you it astonishes me as well. Not I hasten to say , because you are not worth loving. Far from it. It ’ s just that , first of all , I swore I would not get involved with another woman. Secondly , I have never had such a feeling before and it is almost frightening. Thirdly , I would never have thought it possible that another human being could occupy my waking ( and sleeping ) thoughts to the exclusion of almost everything else. Fourthly , I never thought that — even if one was in love — one could get so completely besotted with another person , so that a minute away from them felt like a thousand years. Fifthly , I never hoped , aspired , dreamed that one could find everything one wanted in a person. I was not such an idiot as to believe this was possible. Yet in you I have found everything I want: you are beautiful , gay , giving , gentle , idiotically and deliciously feminine , sexy , wonderfully intelligent and wonderfully silly as well. I want nothing else in this life than to be with you , to listen and watch you ( your beautiful voice , your beauty ), to argue with you , to laugh with you , to show you things and share things with you , to explore your magnificent mind , to explore your wonderful body , to help you , protect you , serve you , and bash you on the head when I think you are wrong… not to put too fine a point on it I consider that I am the only man outside mythology to have found the crock of gold at the rainbow ’ s end. But — having said all that — let us consider things in detail. Don ’ t let this become public but… well , I have one or two faults. Minor ones , I hasten to say. For example , I am inclined to be overbearing. I do it for the best possible motives ( all tyrants say that ) but I do tend ( without thinking ) to tread people underfoot. You must tell me when I am doing it to you , my sweet , because it can be a very bad thing in a marriage. Right. Second blemish. This , actually , is not so much a blemish of character as a blemish of circumstance. Darling I want you to be you in your own right , and I will do everything I can to help you in this. But you must take into consideration that I am also me in my own right and that I have a headstart on you… what I am trying to say is that you must not feel offended if you are sometimes treated simply as my wife. Always remember that what you lose on the swings , you gain on the roundabouts. But I am an established ‘ creature ’ in the world , and so — on occasions — you will have to live in my shadow. Nothing gives me less pleasure than this but it is a fact of life to be faced. Third ( and very important and nasty ) blemish: jealousy. I don ’ t think you know what jealousy is ( thank God ) in the real sense of the word. I know you have felt jealousy over Lincoln ’ s wife and child but this is what I call normal jealousy , and this — to my regret — is not what I ’ ve got. What I have got is a black moster that can pervert my good sense , my good humour and any goodness that I have in my make-up. It is really a Jekyll and Hyde situation… my Hyde is stronger than my good sense and defeats me , hard though I try. As I told you , I have always known that this lurks within me , but I couldn ’ t control it , and my monster slumbered and nothing happened to awake it. Then I met you and I felt my monster stir and become half awake when you told me of Lincoln and others you have known , and with your letter my monster came out of its lair , black , irrational , bigoted , stupid , evil , malevolent. You will never know how terribly corrosive jealousy is ; it is a physical pain as though you had swallowed acid or red hot coals. It is the most terrible of feelings. But you can ’ t help it — at least I can ’ t , and God knows I ’ ve tried. I don ’ t want any ex-boyfriends sitting in church when I marry you. On our wedding day , I want nothing but happiness , for both you and me , and I know I won ’ t be happy if there is a church full of your ex-conquests. When I marry you I will have no past , only a future: I don ’ t want to drag my past into our future and I don ’ t want you to do it , either. Remember I am jealous of you because I love you. You are never jealous of something you don ’ t care about. OK , enough about jealousy. Now , let me tell you something… I have seen a thousand sunsets and sunrises , on land where it floods forest and mountains with honey-coloured light , at sea where it rises and sets like a blood orange in a multi-coloured nest of cloud , slipping in and out of the vast ocean. I have seen a thousand moons: harvest moons like gold coins , winter moons as white as ice chips , new moons like baby swans ’ feathers. I have seen seas as smooth as if painted , coloured like shot silk or blue as a kingfisher or transparent as glass or black and crumpled with foam , moving ponderously and murderously. I have felt winds straight from the South Pole , bleak and wailing like a lost child ; winds as tender and warm as a lover ’ s breath ; winds that carried the astringent smell of salt and the death of seaweeds ; winds that carried the moist rich smell of a forest floor , the smell of a million flowers. Fierce winds that churned and moved the sea like yeast , or winds that made the waters lap at the shore like a kitten. I have known silence: the cold , earthy silence at the bottom of a newly dug well ; the implacable stony silence of a deep cave ; the hot , drugged midday silence when everything is hypnotized and stilled into silence by the eye of the sun ; the silence when great music ends. I have heard summer cicadas cry so that the sound seems stitched into your bones. I have heard tree frogs in an orchestration as complicated as Bach singing in a forest lit by a million emerald fireflies. I have heard the Keas calling over grey glaciers that groaned to themselves like old people as they inched their way to the sea. I have heard the hoarse street vendor cries of the mating Fur seals as they sang to their sleek golden wives , the crisp staccato admonishment of the Rattlesnake , the cobweb squeak of the Bat and the belling roar of the Red deer knee-deep in purple heather. I have heard Wolves baying at a winter ’ s moon , Red Howlers making the forest vibrate with their roaring cries. I have heard the squeak , purr and grunt of a hundred multi-coloured reef fishes. I have seen hummingbirds flashing like opals round a tree of scarlet blooms , humming like a top. I have seen flying fish , skittering like quicksilver across the blue waves , drawing silver lines on the surface with their tails. I have seen Spoonbills flying home to roost like a scarlet banner across the sky. I have seen Whales , black as tar , cushioned on a cornflower blue sea , creating a Versailles of fountain with their breath. I have watched butterflies emerge and sit , trembling , while the sun irons their wings smooth. I have watched Tigers , like flames , mating in the long grass. I have been dive-bombed by an angry Raven , black and glossy as the Devil ’ s hoof. I have lain in water warm as milk , soft as silk , while around me played a host of Dolphins. I have met a thousand animals and seen a thousand wonderful things… but – All this I did without you. This was my loss. All this I want to do with you. This will be my gain. All this I would gladly have forgone for the sake of one minute of your company , for your laugh , your voice , your eyes , hair , lips , body , and above all for your sweet , ever surprising mind which is an enchanting quarry in which it is my privilege to delve.…
Richard Feynman was one of the most influential physicists of his generation and in 1965, he and two colleagues were awarded the Nobel Prize. In June of 1945, his 25-year-old wife and high-school sweetheart, Arline, passed away after succumbing to tuberculosis. 16 months later, Richard wrote his late wife a love letter and sealed it in an envelope. It remained unopened until after his death in 1988. Transcript October 17, 1946 D’Arline, I adore you, sweetheart. I know how much you like to hear that—but I don’t only write it because you like it—I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you. It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you—almost two years but I know you’ll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic; and I thought there was no sense to writing. But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past. I want to tell you I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you. I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead—but I still want to comfort and take care of you—and I want you to love me and care for me. I want to have problems to discuss with you—I want to do little projects with you. I never thought until just now that we can do that. What should we do. We started to learn to make clothes together—or learn Chinese—or getting a movie projector. Can’t I do something now? No. I am alone without you and you were the “idea-woman” and general instigator of all our wild adventures. When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed. You needn’t have worried. Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much. And now it is clearly even more true—you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else—but I want you to stand there. You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive. I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don’t want to be in my way. I’ll bet you are surprised that I don’t even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years. But you can’t help it, darling, nor can I—I don’t understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don’t want to remain alone—but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes. You only are left to me. You are real. My darling wife, I do adore you. I love my wife. My wife is dead. Rich. PS Please excuse my not mailing this—but I don’t know your new address.…
November 5 , 2006 Dear Xavier High School , and Ms. Lockwood , and Messrs Perin , McFeely , Batten , Maurer and Congiusta: I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer ( 84 ) in his sunset years. I don ’ t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana. What I had to say to you , moreover , would not take long , to wit: Practice any art , music , singing , dancing , acting , drawing , painting , sculpting , poetry , fiction , essays , reportage , no matter how well or badly , not to get money and fame , but to experience becoming , to find out what ’ s inside you , to make your soul grow. Seriously! I mean starting right now , do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood , and give it to her. Dance home after school , and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you ’ re Count Dracula. Here ’ s an assignment for tonight , and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don ’ t do it: Write a six line poem , about anything , but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don ’ t tell anybody what you ’ re doing. Don ’ t show it or recite it to anybody , not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever , or Ms. Lockwood. OK? Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces , and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming , learned a lot more about what ’ s inside you , and you have made your soul grow. God bless you all! Kurt Vonnegut…
Dear Dave, This is in memory of an anniversary — the anniversary of October 27th, 1943, when I first heard you singing in North Africa. That song brings memories of the happiest times I’ve ever known. Memories of a GI show troop — curtains made from barrage balloons — spotlights made from cocoa cans — rehearsals that ran late into the evenings — and a handsome boy with a wonderful tenor voice. Opening night at a theatre in Canastel — perhaps a bit too much muscatel, and someone who understood. Exciting days playing in the beautiful and stately Municipal Opera House in Oran — a misunderstanding — an understanding in the wings just before opening chorus. Drinks at “Coq d’or” — dinner at the “Auberge” — a ring and promise given. The show 1st Armoured — muscatel, scotch, wine — someone who had to be carried from the truck and put to bed in his tent. A night of pouring rain and two very soaked GIs beneath a solitary tree on an African plain. A borrowed French convertible — a warm sulphur spring, the cool Mediterranean, and a picnic of “rations” and hot cokes. Two lieutenants who were smart enough to know the score, but not smart enough to realize that we wanted to be alone. A screwball piano player — competition — miserable days and lonely nights. The cold, windy night we crawled through the window of a GI theatre and fell asleep on a cot backstage, locked in each other’s arms — the shock when we awoke and realized that miraculously we hadn’t been discovered. A fast drive to a cliff above the sea — pictures taken, and a stop amid the purple grapes and cool leaves of a vineyard. The happiness when told we were going home — and the misery when we learned that we would not be going together. Fond goodbyes on a secluded beach beneath the star-studded velvet of an African night, and the tears that would not be stopped as I stood atop the sea-wall and watched your convoy disappear over the horizon. We vowed we’d be together again “back home,” but fate knew better — you never got there. And so, Dave, I hope that whereever you are these memories are as precious to you as they are to me. Goodnight, sleep well my love. Brian Keith…
Dear Eva , It will be almost a month since you wrote to me and you have possibly forgotten your state of mind ( I doubt it though ) . You seem the same as always , and being you , hate every minute of it. Don ’ t! Learn to say “ Fuck You ” to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking , worrying , looking over your shoulder wondering , doubting , fearing , hurting , hoping for some easy way out , struggling , grasping , confusing , itchin , scratching , mumbling , bumbling , grumbling , humbling , stumbling , numbling , rumbling , gambling , tumbling , scumbling , scrambling , hitching , hatching , bitching , moaning , groaning , honing , boning , horse-shitting , hair-splitting , nit-picking , piss-trickling , nose sticking , ass-gouging , eyeball-poking , finger-pointing , alleyway-sneaking , long waiting , small stepping , evil-eyeing , back-scratching , searching , perching , besmirching , grinding , grinding , grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO! From your description , and from what I know of your previous work and you [ sic ] ability ; the work you are doing sounds very good “ Drawing-clean-clear but crazy like machines , larger and bolder… real nonsense. ” That sounds fine , wonderful – real nonsense. Do more. More nonsensical , more crazy , more machines , more breasts , penises , cunts , whatever – make them abound with nonsense. Try and tickle something inside you , your “ weird humor. ” You belong in the most secret part of you. Don ’ t worry about cool , make your own uncool. Make your own , your own world. If you fear , make it work for you – draw & paint your fear and anxiety. And stop worrying about big , deep things such as “ to decide on a purpose and way of life , a consistant [ sic ] approach to even some impossible end or even an imagined end ” You must practice being stupid , dumb , unthinking , empty. Then you will be able to DO! I have much confidence in you and even though you are tormenting yourself , the work you do is very good. Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT. And don ’ t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form , idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be. But if life would be easier for you if you stopped working – then stop. Don ’ t punish yourself. However , I think that it is so deeply engrained in you that it would be easier to DO! It seems I do understand your attitude somewhat , anyway , because I go through a similar process every so often. I have an “ Agonizing Reappraisal ” of my work and change everything as much as possible = and hate everything I ’ ve done , and try to do something entirely different and better. Maybe that kind of process is necessary to me , pushing me on and on. The feeling that I can do better than that shit I just did. Maybe you need your agony to accomplish what you do. And maybe it goads you on to do better. But it is very painful I know. It would be better if you had the confidence just to do the stuff and not even think about it. Can ’ t you leave the “ world ” and “ ART ” alone and also quit fondling your ego. I know that you ( or anyone ) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty you [ sic ] mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that ’ s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I ’ m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don ’ t have to justify your work – not even to yourself. Well , you know I admire your work greatly and can ’ t understand why you are so bothered by it. But you can see the next ones and I can ’ t. You also must believe in your ability. I think you do. So try the most outrageous things you can – shock yourself. You have at your power the ability to do anything. I would like to see your work and will have to be content to wait until Aug or Sept. I have seen photos of some of Tom ’ s new things at Lucy ’ s. They are impressive – especially the ones with the more rigorous form: the simpler ones. I guess he ’ ll send some more later on. Let me know how the shows are going and that kind of stuff. My work had changed since you left and it is much better. I will be having a show May 4 -9 at the Daniels Gallery 17 E 64yh St ( where Emmerich was ), I wish you could be there. Much love to you both. Sol…
A Memory of Youth - William Butler Yeats The moments passed as at a play; I had the wisdom love brings forth; I had my share of mother-wit, And yet for all that I could say, And though I had her praise for it, A cloud blown from the cut-throat North Suddenly hid Love's moon away. Believing every word I said, I praised her body and her mind Till pride had made her eyes grow bright, And pleasure made her cheeks grow red, And vanity her footfall light, Yet we, for all that praise, could find Nothing but darkness overhead. We sat as silent as a stone, We knew, though she'd not said a word, That even the best of love must die, And had been savagely undone Were it not that Love upon the cry Of a most ridiculous little bird Tore from the clouds his marvellous moon.…
There once lived a salt merchant. He had a monkey for his assistance. Every morning, he would load a sack of salt on the donkey and go to the nearby town to sell it. On the way, they had to walk across a pond. One day, while crossing the pond, the donkey thought,"Ooh! This load is so heavy that I become exhausted very soon. I wish I could get some of this load taken off my back." Just then the donkey tripped and fell into the water. Fortunately, the donkey was not hurt. But the sack of salt on the donkey’s back fell into the water. Both the donkey and the salt became wet. Some of the salt in the sack got dissolved, making the load on the donkey lighter. The donkey felt very happy about the reduction in the weight of the sack of salt on its back. The merchant did his best to help the donkey to get up and they carried on their journey. From that day, it became a regular practice for the donkey to slip and fall in the pond whenever they crossed the pond to the market. This would dissolve some salt in the sack thus reducing the weight and relieving the donkey of some load. The merchant was not aware of the donkey’s cunningness. This continued for a few days. One day, the merchant noticed the donkey deliberately slipping and landing with the sack into the water. “Oh! So this is the way I am losing my salt everyday" he thought. He decided to teach the donkey a lesson. Next morning, instead of loading a sack of salt, the merchant loaded a sack of cotton on the donkey’s back. As usual they had decided to reach the market by crossing the same pond. While crossing the same pond, the donkey, as usual, slipped and fell into the pond, hoping that after some time the weight of the sack would go reduced. As usual, both the donkey and the cotton would become wet. But this time, when he got up, the load on his back seemed heavier. “Ooh! The Load seems to have gotten heavier," thought the donkey. The donkey was astonished at what had taken place against the usual result. The merchant looked at the donkey and said, “Dear friend, I saw you fall into the water of the pond deliberately every day with the malicious intention of reducing the weight of the salt. So, I loaded a sack of cotton today. Cotton when wet gets more weight and becomes heavier. Now you will have to carry it to the town." The poor donkey had learnt his lesson.…
Five Minutes Imagine sitting herein a wooden chair with Chinese soft somethings under your ass, leaning on agreen laminated particle board twice processed table. You’ve been here for awhile. You’re miserable because you hate your job. You wait for the accenteddrawl of the guest social media marketing specialist from Tuscaloosa to endlike a root canal. You wait for his mouth to seal like two slices on a grilledcheese sandwich. You wait for the grizzly meat speckled jaws of Hell to open upbeneath the floor and swallow all these lifeless marketing representatives,including yourself. If only God showed mercy. Imagine you’re aguy. Imagine there is a pretty girl watching this same thing in this same room.Long high heeled legs, blue jeans, and a nice enough shirt to pass for businesscasual among a bunch of old overweight men. Nobody questioned the blue jeans.Between the smile, the eyes, and the laugh she could have worn a poncho andnobody would have blinked. The laugh sealed it. A laugh like a woman about tosprout her hidden wings and fly home. She giggled a lot inthe theater but we had a good time. We quit our jobs and moved into a bananapeel yellow Winnebago. We drove and lived for a long time in big places. AMidwest town enveloped us. We started a business, Wreckords and More. Ourdaughter was beautiful. She looked like Audrey Hepburn at ten years old. “Shotgun,” her dadsaid to me with a grin in a white tuxedo. I chuckled because that’s whatmarried men do. I remember our daughter trying on her mom’s jeans and likingthem because they were retro. She went to an expensive college with lots ofbrick buildings. We moved to the coast in a white cottage with a blue door. Ipainted the door before we unloaded the truck. It smeared on my shirt when wemoved the couch in. We started a new business. All You Can Read, a usedbookstore. We had beautiful chairs. Beautiful dark wicker chairs. Her legs barebeneath a polka dot skirt. Veined the way black streaks run through whitemarble statues of goddesses. She hands me a glass of water with half a lemonslice floating on top and smiles. Stop imagining. Thepresentation is over. We stand. We walk down the stairs. “Excuse me,” I say,“Would you like to see a movie?…
A Powerful Story A man and a young teenage boy checked into a hotel and were shown to their room. The receptionist noted the quiet manner of the guests and the pale appearance of the boy. Later, the man and boy ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. The staff again noticed that the two guests were very quiet and that the boy seemed disinterested in his food. After eating, the boy went to his room and the man went to ask the receptionist to see the manager. The receptionist initially asked if there was a problem with the service or the room, and offered to fix things, but the man said that there was no problem of the sort and repeated his request. When the manager appeared, he took him aside and explained that he was spending the night in the hotel with his fourteen-year-old son, who was seriously ill, probably terminally so. The boy was very soon to undergo therapy, which would cause him to lose his hair. They had come to the hotel to have a break together and also because the boy planned to shave his head, that night, rather than feel that the illness was beating him. The father said that he would be shaving his own head too, in support of his son. He asked that staff be respectful when the two of them came to breakfast with their shaved heads. The manager assured the father that he would inform all staff and that they would behave appropriately. The following morning the father and son entered the restaurant for breakfast. There they saw the four male restaurant staff attending to their duties, perfectly normally, all with shaved heads. No matter what business you are in, you can help people and you can make a difference. Please take a moment to like and share this message.…
Three Simple Rules Once there was a rich man in Thailand. His name was Chulong. He was a very rich man. Yet he wanted more riches, more money. One day he was walking in his garden. He saw a strange bird in a bush. It was very small. But it had very beautiful and colorful features. Its voice was also very sweet. Chulong had never seen such a bird in his life. He slowly went near the bush unseen. He caught the bird. Now the bird began to speak. “Why have you caught me?" the bird asked. “I want to make money. I can sell you for a big amount," replied Chulong. “But you are already rich. Why do you want more?" asked the bird. “Because I want to become richer and richer," replied Chulong. “But do not dream of making money through me!" said the bird. It further added, “You can not sell me. Nobody will buy me, because, in imprisonment, I lose my beauty and my sweet voice." Then it slowly turned into a black bird. The beautiful features were now looking like the feathers of a crow. Chulong hopes of making money were shattered. He said angrily, “I will kill you, and I will eat your meat." “Eat me! I am so small. You will not get any meat out of me," replied the bird. Chulong could not answer. The bird then suggested, “Well set me free. In return I shall teach you three simple but useful rules." “What is the use of the rules? I want only money," said Chulong. He was irritated. “But these rules can profit you greatly," added the bird. “Profit me! Really? Then I shall set you free. But how can I trust you? You may fly away," said Chulong. “I give you my word. And I always keep my word," said the bird. Chulong wanted to take a chance. He released the bird. It flew up at once. Then it sat on the branch of a tree. Its color started changing. It became beautiful again. Chulong asked, “Now teach me the rules." “Certainly," said the bird. Then it added, “The first rule is Never Believe everything others say. The second rule is Never be sad about something you do not have. The third rule is Never throw away what you have in your hand." “You silly bird," shouted Chulong. And he added, “These three rules are known to every one. You have cheated me." But the bird said, “Chulong, just sit down for a while. Think about all your actions of today. You had me in your hands, but you threw me away (released me). You believed all that I said. And you are sad about not having me. The rules are simple. But you never followed them. Now do you see the value of the rules?" so saying the bird flew away and disappeared from his sight.…
Once upon a time a farmer, Gopi, lived in a village. He had few acres of land. One hot afternoon, the poor farmer was digging his field. All of a sudden, his spade hit something. Then he continued his digging. “It is a big metal pot," said Gopi. It was big enough to boil rice for more than hundred people. “It does not seem to be of any use to me. I will dig deeper. May be I will find something else," thought Gopi. He continued to dig. After he had dug for a long time, Gopi felt tired. “It is of no use. There is nothing in this field" he thought. Then at once, he threw the spade into the pot in frustration and sat under a tree to take rest for a while. After a while, when he got up to leave, he could not believe his eyes. There were one hundred spades in the pot. “This is a magical pot. I will put this mango inside the pot and see what happens," Gopi thought. Then Gopi put a mango into the pot. To his astonishment, he found one hundred mangoes in the pot. Gopi carried the pot to his home and kept in a secret place so that no one would become aware of it. After that, he put many things in that and everything became hundred folds. With that pot, he became a rich man. The King came to know of the pot and its whereabouts. The King was curious to know about it and he was a greedy King. “I want to find out the secret of the magical pot. If it is valuable, it should be in the King treasury," the King thought. Then at once, the King ordered his men to bring the farmer and his pot. When the magic pot was brought to the King’s chamber, he did not know what to do. The King thought, “Let me see what is there inside this pot which makes this pot so magical?" He peered inside. Inadvertently, he slipped and fell inside the pot. When he climbed out of the magic pot, he was shocked to find that there were one hundred Kings. All the kings then started to climb the throne. They fought among themselves and died. The magic pot lay in the King’s treasury. “The foolish King took away the magic pot from me out of curiosity and eventually he died. This magic pot has killed the King himself," said the farmer and he to be safe left the magic pot at the treasury of the King itself.…
My Best Friend is a Book "My best friends are books." It's the sort of thing a lonely person might have on a t-shirt. For me it's true. My best friend is a book. Before she was a book my best friend was my wife. She was smart and funny and energetic and beautiful until she became ill. Then she was weak and fragile and listless and dying. One day there was a pamphlet on the table in her hospital room. The front said, "Preserve your loved one after death in a very special book." I assumed it was some sort of scrapbook maybe. Like a baby book for an adult full of pictures and facts and quotes that you provide. A layout and printing company. Nothing more. But I was wrong. As I read the brochure it talked about a device that would be attached to the patient's chest, just over her heart. At the moment of her death it would collect her soul. The company would then transfer the soul to a book, which would be delivered in 4-6 weeks after my loved one's passing. I complained to the nurse about someone leaving joke literature in patient rooms. She assured me that wasn't a joke. Her voice cracked a bit when she said she wished it had been an option when her mom died. I did some research. The company had great Yelp reviews. Even better than the pizza place that we thought was perfect but was always having its rating pulled down by the occasional 2 star review because "It took a long time to get our food." It's made to order pizza, people. It's not going to be instantaneous. Even with glowing reviews and the word of the nurse the book thing seemed like a scam, but as the weeks went on and my wife became more and more frail I got desperate for any hope of holding on to her. I stuck the apparatus on her chest with some special tape. I asked the doctor if that would be a problem. I thought he'd laugh at me, but he was completely serious when he told me those things are getting pretty common. The day my wife died I wasn't even thinking about the little thing on her heart that was supposed to capture her soul for the sake of a book until the nurse handed it to me. I almost didn't call to have it picked up. With my wife now gone a book seemed trivial. They called me. When they came they asked if I wanted a hard copy book or an electronic one. I said electronic. My phone is always with me. If this book turned out to be all that was promised it seemed like something I would want to always have with me too. I was warned that I would only get one book. That no additional copies could ever be made. I was barely listening, just staring at the little thing that had been on my wife's heart, wondering what could be inside it, wondering what sort of book this would be. When I got the book about the month later I started casually browsing but that quickly turned to intense reading. I read her every moment I could. You know how when you read a really great book the characters start to feel real, almost like you know them, like what you are reading is really happening? The book is like that but more intense because I do know the character. She is my wife and reading this book that is not quite fiction, not quite fact is like watching her. Like being with her. The book brought my wife back to life. That was five years ago and now I see my folly. I'm on my third phone since then. I can move the book from phone to phone, but there are no technical updates. Each new phone, each updated operating system puts the book at risk. It is already getting glitchy. It locks up or the screen goes dark. It takes longer and longer to open. One of these days the book will no longer be readable. One of these days the spinning hourglass will just keep spinning. One of these days my wife, my best friend, will die again. - Kim Z Dale…
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