Shaken, stirred, or whatever

I have never had a martini in my life. Never even tasted one. But last night I had a dream in which I drank a martini in a classic martini glass, and it was the most delicious drink that ever passed my lips. It was one of those five second dreams that comes out of nowhere without even a trace of relevance. The glass may have been handed to me, although I don't remember there being other people in the dream. For all I know, it may have been floating around in the air for me to grab. I drank the martini down in one gulp and was strangely overcome with the savoriness of the cocktail. That seemed to be the entire focus of the dream, as if this was some important moment of erudition in my life – the recognition and acceptance of what I have been missing all these years. At the bottom of the glass was a single green olive. At this moment in the dream, as the olive rolled into my mouth from the upturned glass, my attention switched from the surprise of loving this unfamiliar concoction of vodka and vermouth to the anticipation of the familiar briny taste to follow. But just before I could bite down on the olive, the dream ended and I woke up. Shortly thereafter, I sat down to a bowl of Cheerios and milk that tasted, well, just plain strange.

More than just Pooh

At the bookstore I spotted a book by A. A. Milne called "The Sunny Side." Milne, of course, is best known for his Winnie-the-Pooh stories. But before he wrote Pooh, he wrote humorous stories and poems for the British magazine Punch. First published in 1921, "The Sunny Side" is a compilation of Milne's favorite writings from Punch, or at least those that he thought an American audience would appreciate. What first caught my eye with this book was the subtitle on the dustcover, which reads "Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-ups." Now there's a grin! I opened the book and read the blurb on the inner sleeve. Then I read the opening lines from several of the stories in the book. The more I learned about A. A. Milne's humorous side, the more I liked his style, and the more I saw similarities between this book and the book I would like to compile of my own stories and poems. Putting aside debate as to whether or not I qualify as a proper grown-up, I purchased "The Sunny Side" and took it home. I'm about half way through. The stories are a bit dated, but quaint and creative. I suppose this is the best you can hope for with a book of humor pushing 90 years old. "Well, isn't that quaint." I wonder if that was what Milne was getting at when he mentions in the introduction that "The Sunny Side" will be the last of this sort of book. The reason, he says, is that "this sort of writing depends largely on the irresponsibility and high spirits of youth for its success, and I want to stop before...the high spirits become mechanical and the irresponsibility a trick." Really?! Let's see, in 1921 when Milne wrote those words, he would have been 39 years old. Too old to write humor? But just the right stage of life to start writing children stories about a bear named Winnie-the-Pooh? Go figure.

Welcome to the new Peeling Wallpaper

I used to write Peeling Wallpaper here, but starting today it will reside here at Blogger. Same name. Different look. A bit simpler. I'm thinking of not having any images - just my thoughts, my words. We'll see how long that lasts. With luck I'll blog a bit more than I have in recent months. I've been busy as hell. That hasn't changed, but my resolve to get back to writing has. Here's a short poem of mine that sums it up nicely, I think.

I lost my way.
Then I found it.
Then I lost it again.
Only to find it once more.
Then I had lunch.
Then I lost it.
Bad tuna fish.