An Unhappy Story?

An Unhappy Frozen Yogurt Story

by WBTR Member Ron Glaser

 

This story does not have a happy ending.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, my wife Beth and I were driving back from Richmond, Virginia to Haymarket, Virginia. a two-hour drive, when we decided to stop by her Mother’s house on the way home to take care of some things her Mother (88 years old) asked us to do.  The clock had fallen off the wall after a cleaning lady dusted it too hard and the date and time needed resetting before hanging the clock back up.  The refrigerator door had a lot of moisture on it and needed checking.  The toilet was not completely flushing.   And a red warning light had suddenly appeared on the Toyota Camry her Mother still occasionally drove.

This was all going to take some time and I was going to be a little tired to start tackling these jobs after driving two hours.  I needed some energy to fortify myself.  So I started a conversation:

Ron:  “How about if we stop at Zingas and get some frozen yogurt before we go to your Mother’s?”

Beth:  “With all that traffic on route 29?  No.”

Ron:    “There shouldn’t be that much traffic.  It’ll be going the other direction.”

Beth:  There’s always traffic on 29.

Ron:   So it will take us a little longer.

Beth:  “You really don’t need yogurt.”

Ron:  “Yes I do!”

Beth:  “All that sugar is not that great for you.”

Ron:  “I’ll just get something simple.  A little vanilla and chocolate, and a little hot fudge sauce.  I don’t’ even need toppings.  Maybe just a few Oreos.”

Beth:  “You don’t need it.”

Ron:  “I know I don’t NEED it.  No one NEEDS frozen yogurt.”

Beth:  (Silence)

Ron:  “You know, if I had a heart attack right now, and died, you would really regret that you didn’t let me get the frozen yogurt.”

Beth:  “I think I would just regret the heart attack.”

Just then, as we were coming to a stoplight in Warrenton, Virginia,  we saw fire trucks and police cars about a block away facing us with their lights flashing. There must have been a big accident. 

Ron:  “I bet all those trucks and police cars are going for frozen yogurt.”

Beth:  “You are a sick puppy!”

Ron:  “We need to take a detour.”

So we did.  This added another ten minutes onto our trip.

Ron:  “After I check the clock, refrigerator and toilet, I’m going to have to take the car for a test ride to see if I can figure out what’s happening with that dashboard light.”

Beth:  “A test drive?  What, to get yogurt?  No.”

Ron:  “You know, this story is not going to have a happy ending cause I’m not getting frozen yogurt today.  I am going to write a story about this and it will have a sad ending.  People don’t like sad endings.”

I did not get my frozen yogurt that day.  I told you this story would not have a happy ending.

 

Tomorrow is the day to learn how to market your book!

Don't forget!

Tomorrow, September 8, 2012, is the day of the Write by the Rails “How to Market Your Book” panel discussion.  The event will take place 12:30 to 2 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 9325 West Street in Manassas, VA. The event is free and open to the public.

Panelists will include Bristow husband and wife team Thomas Earl “Tee” Morris and Phillipa “Pip” Ballantine, Bristow resident Carol Covin, Lake Ridge resident Nancy Kyme, and Manassas resident Ross Murphy.

Dan Verner, “Biscuit City” blogger, will serve as master of ceremonies.

Participants will leave with a free handout of marketing tips by Claudia LeFeve, Manassas author. Books by other local writers will be available for purchase.

Much thanks to Leigh Giza, workshop coordinator, and all the other WBtR members who are making this happen.

Write by the Rails is working to raise the profile of the local literary community and explore ways to nurture, cultivate and help that community grow. Writers, published or unpublished, who are affiliated with Manassas, Manassas Park or Prince William County, are encouraged to join.

For more information, call 703-361-6941, or email writebytherails@gmail.com.

Letter from Poet Laureate Sofia Starnes: Call for Submissions

My name is Sofia Starnes. I was recently appointed Poet Laureate of Virginia, and I would like to tell you about a project I have just initiated. I hope you will assist me in spreading the word.

This project, titled The Nearest Poem Anthology, is aimed at creating a lasting testament to the immediacy of poetry and its relevance to everyday life. My guiding premise is simple: we all have a poem with our name on it—not literally, and not a poem we've written, but a poem that seems addressed to us with unique immediacy, as if the poet had been thinking of us when he or she wrote the poem. When we find such a poem, we enter into a dialogue that is both intimate and lasting. We've found "our poem", a poem we'd like to keep near us.

The anthology, to be published after my tenure as poet laureate, will contain fifty to a hundred poems, all of them submitted by Virginians (with an emphasis on non-poets), accompanied by a personal explanation on why a particular poem is their "nearest" poem. The compelling nature of this brief essay will play an important role in my selection. I will endeavor to obtain reprint permissions for the poems, but if those are unavailable, excerpts will be published instead, as is legally allowed, in support of each essay.

So, at this point, I would like to put out a Call for Submissions, to readers of poetry, whether they write poetry or not. The wider the readership, the richer the anthology will be. Would you be able to assist me in this endeavor? Or could you advise me on an effective way to reach the many users of our libraries? I would be most grateful.

If you'd like to know more about this project, I would be delighted to talk to you about it. My number is 757-220-8595. Also, a complete description of The Nearest Poem Anthology, as well as guidelines for submission, appears on my website www.sofiamstarnes.com, and I have designed a brochure that can be downloaded from the site.

Thank you for any help you might provide in getting this project off the ground. I am eager to use my tenure as Poet Laureate to encourage poetry and to celebrate its readers, without whom a poem would never be fulfilled.

All good things,

Sofia

Sofia M. Starnes

Poet Laureate of Virginia

www.sofiamstarnes.com

smstarnes@cox.net

thenearestpoem@cox.net

The Nearest Poem Anthology

Hell is Being a Republican in Virginia--A Literary Discussion

The Manassas Museum
9101 Prince William Street
Manassas, Virginia 20110


News Release
Date: August 30, 2012
Contact:
Lisa Sievel-Otten
703-257-8285
lotten@ci.manassas.va.us

___________________________________________________

Hell is Being a Republican in Virginia: The Postwar Relationship Between John Singleton Mosby and Ulysses S. Grant

A Book Talk with Author David Goetz

Sunday, September 9, 2 p.m.

As 150th commemorations of the battles of Manassas or Bull Run conclude, one local author’s new book looks ahead to the political aftermath of the Civil War.
David Goetz, a well-known historian and Civil War tour guide who wrote Hell is Being a Republican in Virginia: The Postwar Relationship Between John Singleton Mosby and Ulysses S. Grant, will talk about his work during a free Book Talk at The Manassas Museum on Sunday, September 9 at 2 p.m.

The book tells the story of two unlikely allies who, at war’s end, put down their weapons and sought peace between the North and the South. Their 13-year post-war relationship, fueled by a mutual desire for peace and reconciliation, began when John Singleton Mosby, a Confederate hero, and Ulysses S. Grant, a Union hero and future President, built trust between themselves before moving on to the larger task of helping heal the nation.

In the book, Goetz also details Mosby’s role as a guerrilla chieftain in Virginia during the Civil War, the lives of both men during the early Reconstruction years, and what became of Mosby after Grant’s death in 1885 to his own in 1916.

“It is my fervent desire that you, dear reader, will also seek peace and reconciliation in your life and that our leaders will find ways to reconcile between themselves and follow the example of Grant and Mosby in healing our nation today and in the future,” Goetz writes.

Goetz, who has a professional background in public relations, sales and marketing, owns Mosby’s Confederacy Tours, is descended from the family of a Civil War chaplain, and is active in area Civil War associations. He is a U.S. Army veteran, and lives in Warrenton.

Hell is Being a Republican in Virginia: The Postwar Relationship Between John Singleton Mosby and Ulysses S. Grant is available at Echoes, The Manassas Museum Store. The September 9 Book Talk is free.