My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Book Worms and Writing Cramps

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

It is no secret that I love books and I love to write. I own bookcases filled with hardbacks, paperbacks, and even a few magazines containing articles worth rereading or storing for research purposes. My library shelves have been expanding for decades with books that I have purchased, found, or received as gifts. People may wonder why I keep collecting books, when I rarely have time to read them. My hope is that one day I will proudly tell myself that I have read and learned something from every book I own, and I have owned a thousand or more in my lifetime. Over the years, due to lack of space, I have given away a few hundred books. An action that is more painful than you might imagine. In the meantime I keep buying them, only not as frequently as I used to.

One thing that I enjoy more than reading is writing. I write at every opportunity. Any time and any place. When an idea comes to mind I scribble it on whatever is handy. If I am not tapping out fantasized best sellers on my desktop keyboard, I write in long-hand on lined pads. When I have a light bulb flash inspiration while I am reading, I record notes in the margin of my book. It doesn’t matter where I am — the doctor’s office, the bus terminal, the grocery store, where ever — if I get a blazing idea, I write it down. When I happen to be someplace where there is no paper available, I jot down key thoughts on my hand, and transfer them at the earliest opportunity to a more permanent place. Writing on the hand is a convenient last – and sometimes desperate — result in these times of laptops and tablet computers. Just ask Sarah Palin about hand notes. (Okay, I said that facetiously. But that’s a subject for another day.) As any dedicated writer will tell you, it is essential to seize the moment and record an inspirational thought before it slips away.  

When Potpourri101 was born, I told you that as she grows, I will be writing about anything and everything. Opinionated rants concerning news events and public figures. Or private reflections like this one.

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Another Stroke of Misfortune for Camping

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

Family Radio minister, Harold Camping, the subject of the first post on this blog, suffered another stroke of misfortune last Thursday when he fell ill from a brain attack. The man who inaccurately predicted that Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011 is reportedly recovering from a mild stroke in a California hospital. Not to make light of a serious health condition, some of his followers have to be wondering if the self-proclaimed prophet foresaw the stroke coming. Some are saying that the fact that Camping’s speech was affected by the stroke may be a punishment from God while others ask would a just God punish someone for prophesying a date and hour that only He knows?

After May 21st slipped uneventfully into May 22nd, Camping explained that he had miscalculated the Rapture and now maintains that the world will actually end on October 21st.

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The Long and Short of It

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

Okay, my very first post was much too long. I admit it. I really got carried away.  I tend to get long-winded when juggling words. But, I promise you from now on I will limit my posts to only a few paragraphs.

Is this short enough for you?

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Harold Camping’s Apocalypse

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

Harold Camping is the 89 year old fundamentalist radio preacher who predicted that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Apparently, the wannabe “Almighty” Camping got trumped by a higher power, because the world didn’t end on the day he said it would. There was no fire and brimstone rainstorm and no Rapture, just business as usual – hardships, escalating crime, immorality, war, man-made and natural disasters. The only things raised to high Heaven on Camping’s predicted Judgment Day were the prices of food, gas, and housing; leading many to believe that we are already living in hell on earth. As far as the knuckleheads who quit their jobs, sold their homes, and gave away all of their savings in anticipation of the May 21st Doomsday, well, what can I tell you?  Lawyer up or seek counseling.

The octogenarian founder of the Family Radio station, whose nonprofit organization benefits from numerous donations from supporters, is the leader of a nondenominational Christian ministry that broadcasts out of Oakland, California.  Many of his followers emptied their bank accounts to print huge Judgment Day ads predicting the end of the world on May 21st. Others gave Camping their entire estate. Such was the case of 79 year old Doris Schmitt, who died on May 2nd in her Queens, New York home. Schmitt left $250,000 out of her $300,000 inheritance to Camping’s ministry. “Holy hell!” was probably  her family’s immediate reaction when they  learned about that. Needless to say, they were not pleased.

It is no laughing matter that other tragic events surrounded Camping’s prediction of The End. His false prophecy had deadly consequences for Nastya Zachinova. The parents of the 14 year old girl blame Camping’s apocalyptic fear factor as the reason their daughter committed suicide on May 21st.  

When Camping and his followers awakened on the 22nd to discover no change in the status quo, he admitted (ahem!) that he had – yet again – miscalculated The End. Knowing that people knew he had flubbed previous predictions about when the world would end, he gallantly refused to shift the blame for his latest blunder on Alzheimer or brain freeze. Instead he merely admitted to being “flabbergasted.”   Oh, snap! 

Trying to understand the mentality of people who commit blind loyalty to any individual or organization that leads them over a cliff is as mind-blowing as Sarah Palin’s convoluted explanation of Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride.  

Camping is not the only one who has miscalculated Judgment Day. For centuries, there have been Doomsday prophets — from astrologers to religious leaders to soothsayers — prophesying the end of the world. In the meantime, Camping’s latest blotched prediction made him infamous on YouTube. Many of the videos are humorous, some are just plain silly, but a few had me laughing out loud.  Check out YouTube.

Okay folks, this is . . . The End.

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Stand By Your Weiners

by on ·Political

Some Baby Boomers may recall a few political extramarital affairs and cheating scandals that occurred in the 1960s and 70s, but it was nothing like the tidal wave of congressional bad boys washing ashore today.

In 1968, Tammy Wynette recorded the hit song Stand By Your Man. That popular tune has become an unofficial anthem for the wives (and some late wives) of adulterous politicians. Just to name a few on a list too long to print, there’s Silda and Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth and John Edwards, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Dina Matos and Jim McGreevey, and Marie and Arnold Schwarzenegger. And the newest high profile political couple to win the Hot Dog Award is Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner.  

Last month, when it was disclosed that Weiner – no kin to Oscar Mayer – posted a nude photo on his Twitter page he immediately went into denial and then lawyered-up.

That defensive play is as smooth as a 3-move checkmate and it begs a redundant and somewhat unrelated question, “If the accused maintains innocence, why settle out of court?”

Well, Weiner recently recanted his original story, and the fact that his wife was not at his side during his press conferences was as obvious as John Boehner’s year round tan.

Could it be that the wives of high profile men are growing tired of standing stone-faced beside their mate as he lies and sometimes cries his cheating heart out in front of television cameras? One can’t help but wonder whether the public apologies and display of apparent remorse of these men is to conceal their embarrassment, secure their marriage or protect their political career.

Regardless of whether the prominent husband’s affair is with another woman or with a man, when the media gets wind of the story it spells public humiliation for both spouses. Even as the offended wife stands dutifully by her man’s side at the press conference and appears to put on a brave face for the cameras, chances are that inwardly she is in emotional turmoil, visualizing the downward spiral of her marriage, and trying to remember where she put the Washingtonian’s list of the Top 25 Divorce Lawyers.

There is nothing wrong with a wife having her man’s back. But any woman whose husband has been unfaithful can certainly feel the pain of the wives of Capitol Hill whose husband’s infidelity funded a whispering campaign.

Congressman Weiner’s pregnant wife reportedly said that she plans to continue her marriage. Nevertheless, the fact that she was a no show at her husband’s press conferencebrought enthusiastic high-fives from women who are tired of seeing the string of mistreated wives put on a united front just to help their cheating husbands save face.  Which other women did – or did not – stand by their man?

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