My Tears...

...land smack on the last few pages

Of a fine book

On this eve of the new year

The Art Of Racing In The Rain

A novel by Garth Stein

Man... I am a sucker

For a good dog book!

Avatar The Movie!

An extraordinary film

An extraordinary experience

In IMAX

In 3D

Daughter Sam and I

Saw it this evening

All the classic elements

Of a great movie

I walked out of the theater

And proclaimed to her...

"I could turn around...

Go right back in to see it again!"

Taken... By The Wind... By The Wave

This I write:

Spring and leaves grow

To capture the sun

And nurture the tree's trunk

Autumn and the winds take

Leaves to the ground

Weakest first

Wind makes way

For the leaves of spring

And live begins anew

When it is time for me to fall

I hope to look up and see you

Lingering

Stronger than others

Selfish I know.

And this written by another: Epilogue (Author Unknown)

With twig in hand

I wrote in the sand,

"Darling I Love Thee!"

Then a wave from the ocean grey

Washed my token of love away.

Frail twig

Tender letter

Cruel, cruel wave

Ah, but then I would pluck from the forest

The tallest tree

Dip its tip in the molten Vesuvius

And write across the sky

In flaming letters,

"DARLING I LOVE THEE!!"

And I would like to see any damn wave wash that away...

Tenderness

For those you love

For soldiers past

A rhapsody on Taps

Here is the beautiful rendition in very good resolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyEL3NJSHIk

Here are the words (Author Unknown):

My love you go away
it's so sad and you know that
What useless days
I will live by thinking of you
I'll give my life to have you always
close to me
Like a voice that by now
I know already,
this silence will speak to you of me
nothing could change
even if I must wait

Like a voice that by now
I know already
this silence will speak to you of me
My love, you go away ,
but you'll return again
Good night my love
I'll see you in my dreams
Good night to you
who are distant

Clues

1.) ___ is the sum of Euler's totient function for the first fourteen integers.

It is also a dodecagonal number and a centered triangular number.

2.) Send me a postcard, drop me a line,

Stating point of view

Indicate precisely what you mean to say

Yours sincerely, wasting away

3.) Is the photo

19th Street Red

Pal of 42 years

Julieann flies in to New Orleans to meet me

I am taking a break from work in Baton Rouge

We are going to spend the weekend tearing up the French Quarter

At least between the hours of 8am and 10pm

In deference to my aging bones

Not hers

The rented Hot. Rod. Lincoln. is camped in valet.

We're going to be hoofing it

And riding streetcars for the weekend

First afternoon we cruise the Quarter

Down Bourbon Street, around Jackson Square

Then back among the shops on Royal

We pass an antique shop

I notice a framed set of old buttons

And think of pal; poet and writer Annie K

She collects those things for some strange reason...

Maybe like I collect Harley Dealership pins

At the suggestion of lifetime friend and brother Paul

We hit Pat O'Brien's and split a hurricane

Those suckers are huge after all!

That night the Commanders Palace for a famous dinner

Where the world's benchmark

For customer service was set

Next morning on the streetcar

Up St. Charles past the mansions

Headed for Audubon Park

On the SRO streetcar

We are distracted by conversations

About the day's PoBoy Festival on Oak street

So we stuck with the streetcar past the park to the party - sure is nice to move without a set agenda sometimes...

We cruise the street and crowd

Wonderful smells of all kinds of barbecue and such

The occasional street musician plus bands with stages at each end

We come upon 19th Street Red

Playing a ZZ Top-like, funk southern jam

I whip out the iPhone for a film clip

I posted it later on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mogHLMe60WU

I also buy his album

Good stuff

You can find more of Red on YouTube if you like

40 of the most famous restaurants

Are represented that day

39 1/2 are owned by the famous Brennan family I believe

That evening back on the Quarter

We have a great dinner at Mr. B's (another Brennan place)

Julieann sits at a corner seat commemorated as twice used by Ronald Reagen

I am permitted to gawk at her.

We hit the Quarter again briefly

Loving the live music and friendly people

Through open doors everywhere

Out the next day... visit too short

Appetites whetted (sensory, gastronomical and all them there things)

We vow to return

When we are younger... so we can party harder.

You Cannot Win

If you do not

Roll the dice.