Out on the branches of a thin limb, caught between the holidays and rain, nobody wants to be doing home repairs now, everyone’s focused on buying presents and making their best holiday gravy. “Make a rue,” says my one brother to another on the land line phone at Nana-Mom’s while brother #3 is out of […]
Poetry Corner: Peter Bray “FossilWorks”
My body went down to the FossilWorks, where Advancing Age and Atrophy lurks. It began with my shoulders then went to my knees, climbing each staircase came with no ease. My balance was gone, my walk was erratic, Old Age was calling me like some ghost from the attic. I thought about Tai Chi and […]
Poetry Corner: Peter Bray “November Sun…To Donald Trump”
The November sun was high in the air, you’d almost think summer was there, but you don’t really believe in Science now, do ya? CO2 from dirty fuel melts the glaciers and it’s cruel, but you say it’s all a Hoax, now don’t ya? President-Elect of the USA, Electoral College winner any way, how much […]
Poetry Corner: Peter Bray “After the election…”
After the election, I grieved like a puppy that had lost its tail, heard the acceptance and concession speeches and went on my way to see a customer, scheduled new work and then headed to Nation’s for breakfast. Good luck, World and America, your new boy thinks Global Warming is a hoax, his majority colleagues […]
Poetry Corner: “Colonel Poetry Father” by Peter Bray
They were playing “Mack the Knife” by Louis Armstrong at Starbucks when I got the call from Johanna Ely, our 6th Poet Laureate, 2016-2018: Joel Fallon, our first Benicia Poet Laureate had caught the morning train today to that Big Love Poem in the Sky. We spoke for a bit about our immediate group […]
Poetry Corner: “Repeal of the ‘Two-Carrot Rule'” by Peter Bray
Watching far too much political horse s*** on TV and the Internet lately, my Mental Dream Machine went into orbit last night and came up with this piece In a dramatic compromise between “Feel the Bern” forces and Hillary’s DNC-preferred status, we all learned last night of the proposed “Repeal of the Two Carrot Rule!” […]
Peter Bray: Survival Squirrel…
Not yet 8 a.m. and I’ve already e-mailed crisis help to a friend in Hawaii in need of meditation and a case manager, told a phone caller, “No, I don’t do ceiling leaks,” and another e-mail to a customer, “Yes, I can install your Video Doorbell, I did one in Benicia two weeks ago. I’ll […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Writing this column
BUMMER! I GOT AN EMAIL ON TUESDAY that our community paper editor, Marc Ethier, is moving on. Bummer again! Marc was a bright breeze that I met once or twice after he emailed me six and 3/4ths years ago, just before Christmas 2008, to offer me this column. I apparently had so many letters to […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Three Corvettes
This past week I was asked to speak at the Benicia Literary Arts Group Salon No. 3 at The Upstairs over First Street Cafe in Benicia. The subject for the evening was publishing, as in books, novels, memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, and so forth. I was asked to speak on design and layout and fill in […]
A Cappella Handyman: Websites, etc.
I MADE MY FIRST WEBSITE IN 2002, in a Web design class at Los Medanos Community College with Curtis Corlew in Pittsburg. We used Dreamweaver software but since the cost of the software then was some $300 plus, I did not buy it for home use, but opened a Yahoo account and uploaded my website […]