I can blog!?
I don’t believe it. I’m a blogger and I have my own blog. On top of that, it was my step daughter who set the thing up for me. She felt it would help me promote and sell my book Tears and Tales. Now, for years, we absolutely did not get along. The first time her mother and I took her out to dinner to explain we were going to get married, she told me she hated me and I wouldn’t have been her choice for her mother. And that was the high point of our relationship.
I was the proverbial evil stepfather. And here she is doing me this kindness, setting up a blog and trying to help me.
Why? I ask myself that every morning and evening. Why did she want to help me?
Was it the fact that I was so distraught about the poor sales of a really good book that I climbed onto the roof with a rope around my neck?
Was it the fact that I overloaded one of my reloaded bullets and it damn near blew my head off?
Was it the fact that I cried when my dog Spunky ignored me and went for a walk with my step-daughter and her children? (I couldn’t even bribe him to stay.)
I spent twenty-three years convincing myself that she really did hate me and wanted to get rid of me and then she does some nice things like listen to me rap about how unfair the world is… or set up the blog… or try to encourage me to think better of myself. And that good-bye hug? Where did that come from? She really meant that hug. And I could tell she was feeling badly about the way I beat myself over the head about anything that is not absolutely perfect in my life.
I remember one night when I was feeling pretty low… and this enemy… this woman I thought hated me… reaches out and touches my shoulder. Just a light touch to tell me she was there for me. Now I ask you: what kind of enemy is that?
Oh God (oh, is that politically correct or is the Associated Communist Liberty Union going to sue me because I mentioned the G… word?) how could I have judged her so badly?
Even her kids have been affected by all this, calling me Grandpa Russ and making such a fuss over me. I don’t understand that. I never did anything nice for those four year olds… well, maybe I bought them an occasional book or game… a few animal crackers… some M & M’s but I never did anything special for them…and there they go, treating me like grandpa and making goo- goo eyes at me.
And they do these little drawings for me. What is it that they see in me that I don’t see in myself? Well, what do little kids know, anyway?
Well, now that she has set up this blog, brother am I going to tell her a thing or two. I don’t know if it will help me promote Tears and Tales. I don’t know if people will discover my hidden talent of writing. I don’t even know if it will help me think better of myself. I do know it will give me a chance to blog…and for that, I am eternally thankful to my step-daughter, Heather. She won’t listen if I say something nice about her. She doesn’t know how to take a compliment. I don’t know why, either, because she is a first-rate young woman, lots of smarts, and an ideal mother. Come to think of it, she makes a nice friend too. Anyone out there got a step-daughter like that?
But I am not always going to blog about her. I’ve had an interesting life… like the time I was in a local tavern, waiting for my friend to shine enough shoes so he could earn movie money and this drunk comes into the bar and shoots the local gang lord. Nope, you have to buy my first book and make it a success before I can put Street Wise into print. Well… maybe from time to time, I’ll cut some excerpts from the book and add them to my website. But only if you leave a comment so that I know you’re here. Can you do that?
And if you want to know how mean and nasty I can be to my animal friends… visit my website www.krazyduck.com It’s all there in black and white, nothing hidden.
If you want a copy of my newsletter by e-mail or snail mail, just drop me an address of some kind so I can send one… no charge. And keep on bloggin’.
Russell
p.s. You can order Tears and Tales from my website www.krazyduck.com and for a limited time only, we’ll send you as many books as you pay for.
I was the proverbial evil stepfather. And here she is doing me this kindness, setting up a blog and trying to help me.
Why? I ask myself that every morning and evening. Why did she want to help me?
Was it the fact that I was so distraught about the poor sales of a really good book that I climbed onto the roof with a rope around my neck?
Was it the fact that I overloaded one of my reloaded bullets and it damn near blew my head off?
Was it the fact that I cried when my dog Spunky ignored me and went for a walk with my step-daughter and her children? (I couldn’t even bribe him to stay.)
I spent twenty-three years convincing myself that she really did hate me and wanted to get rid of me and then she does some nice things like listen to me rap about how unfair the world is… or set up the blog… or try to encourage me to think better of myself. And that good-bye hug? Where did that come from? She really meant that hug. And I could tell she was feeling badly about the way I beat myself over the head about anything that is not absolutely perfect in my life.
I remember one night when I was feeling pretty low… and this enemy… this woman I thought hated me… reaches out and touches my shoulder. Just a light touch to tell me she was there for me. Now I ask you: what kind of enemy is that?
Oh God (oh, is that politically correct or is the Associated Communist Liberty Union going to sue me because I mentioned the G… word?) how could I have judged her so badly?
Even her kids have been affected by all this, calling me Grandpa Russ and making such a fuss over me. I don’t understand that. I never did anything nice for those four year olds… well, maybe I bought them an occasional book or game… a few animal crackers… some M & M’s but I never did anything special for them…and there they go, treating me like grandpa and making goo- goo eyes at me.
And they do these little drawings for me. What is it that they see in me that I don’t see in myself? Well, what do little kids know, anyway?
Well, now that she has set up this blog, brother am I going to tell her a thing or two. I don’t know if it will help me promote Tears and Tales. I don’t know if people will discover my hidden talent of writing. I don’t even know if it will help me think better of myself. I do know it will give me a chance to blog…and for that, I am eternally thankful to my step-daughter, Heather. She won’t listen if I say something nice about her. She doesn’t know how to take a compliment. I don’t know why, either, because she is a first-rate young woman, lots of smarts, and an ideal mother. Come to think of it, she makes a nice friend too. Anyone out there got a step-daughter like that?
But I am not always going to blog about her. I’ve had an interesting life… like the time I was in a local tavern, waiting for my friend to shine enough shoes so he could earn movie money and this drunk comes into the bar and shoots the local gang lord. Nope, you have to buy my first book and make it a success before I can put Street Wise into print. Well… maybe from time to time, I’ll cut some excerpts from the book and add them to my website. But only if you leave a comment so that I know you’re here. Can you do that?
And if you want to know how mean and nasty I can be to my animal friends… visit my website www.krazyduck.com It’s all there in black and white, nothing hidden.
If you want a copy of my newsletter by e-mail or snail mail, just drop me an address of some kind so I can send one… no charge. And keep on bloggin’.
Russell
p.s. You can order Tears and Tales from my website www.krazyduck.com and for a limited time only, we’ll send you as many books as you pay for.
posted by Russell | 12:38 PM
