 The Shaffer Journal
Volume 10 † Issue 4 † April 2004
[Internet Stuff] [Hockey Puck] [Twins of the Dark Star]
[Poetry Corner] [The Dull Stuff] [Guest Articles] [In The Keys]
Kitty Talk
These journals are dedicated to Kitty GreyCat's spirit. She is at RainBow Bridge now along with her human friends, Leo and Doris. We all loved you, Kitty! Click the cat graphic to visit her Memorial page. Kitty born June 6, 1982. Died July 9, 1997. Please use our email form linked below to make suggestions or offer praise. >^..^<  Ebony: I still remember last month, when that bird got out of its cage and flew right into my mouth! Before I could chomp down and taste that bird, the human bean waves madly at me his many arms. I let go of that bird and regret it to this very day. I could have had birdie. >^..^<
Abby: I still remember running for my life. When things go wrong, my tails usually gets stomped on. I don't like tail stomping. Birds come and go, but tails last forever. I rather celebrate my birthday. I is all of seven years now, but that be like 44 in human years. >^..^<
Ebony: Yes, you is older but not wiser. That skeeter bite on your ear turned ugly. You kept scratching and scratching. I nose better than to scratch and scratch, but you didn't nose that at all. I is smarter than use. >^..^<
Abby: I think I is insulted. We got new pet tags cause of you. You always escaping. Since humans don't understand meows, we need pet tags what got telephone number, our name, and address we come from. >^..^<
Ebony: Well, that Tony bean stepped on my tail, and you came running to see what I screeched about! Sews I nose what it feels like to get a tail stepped on. I don't know what you meowing about pet tags for though. >^..^<
Abby: Meow, I scratch doors, while you scratch an old wood block what used to belongs to Kitty GreyCat which use have taken over completely, you have. You finally start scratching doors too though. Now bean is rubbing smelly stuff to keep us from scratching what we are not supposed to scratch. Sews I is the leader of use. >^..^<
Ebony: I think that you are full of catnip from cat bowl. Your brain is fogged with catnip fumes. You don't know a meow about anything important. While I roll in the catnip, you just sit there looking wide-eyed and silly. >^..^<
Abby: Ebony and I like the neighbor's flower bed. We can hide in the plants and observe the birds in secret. We can almost taste the birds. I bet they are great to chomp on, even with lots of birdie feathers and stuff. >^..^<
Ebony: I have a major complaint, I meow. The human bean let our food bowl go empty. We were without food for a whole hour. I liked to starve to death. And Abby meowed and meowed for no reason. I was hungry too. >^..^<
Abby: Yes, you can go on about a bit of nothing, I meow! I hear tell you were not all inside the litter house and messed all over the track pad. You couldn't figure out how to cover up your mess and all. You is funny. >^..^<
Ebony: I do not appreciate you meowing about my private business. I could tell all sorts of tales about you. >^..^<
Abby: I can't think of anything you could meow about me. The human beans pet me and pinch my pretty ears. They like me in their bedroom. I brighten their lives. I even tried on your ugly red harness. You don't have nothing to really complain about. But next month I expect you will meow about an awful lot of awful things. >^..^<
Internet Stuff
Here is the latest DVD films from http://www.NetFlix.com: School of Rock was cute and funny. Good Boy was about the dog having a boy as a pet. Johnny English was a spoof on English spies. Looney Tunes: Back in Action: The Movie brought back all the old Warner Brothers characters. Prince of Tides was an old style romantic movie with an odd twist. Under the Tuscan Sun was a warm, funny romantic movie set in Italy. Mike Meyers starred in The Cat in the Hat film, but the movie was really disappointing. Matchstick Men was about a con with a surprise ending. I have not seen a blockbuster movie in a long time it seems. I am ready though. Websites we noticed recently: I go to http://www.directv.com often to pay my bill and see the television schedule. They have a very useful website. I also use http://www.direcway.com just the same way, except it is for the satellite internet provider. The broadband speed is great, but I still have to use a dial-up connection to upload my website using FrontPage. I check on http://www.mkclt.com often, as I help maintain the Middle Keys Community Land Trust website. I try to pay all my bills online now. It saves a stamp and an envelope. One such website is http://www.shellcreditcard.accountonline.com where I pay my Shell/Texaco bill. I am surprised at the big companies who do not offer this service yet. All of our old Yahoo/GeoCities friends can now be found at http://area52.suddenlaunch.com. The forum is a lot of fun where we talk and play games like the movie game. In The Keys
Well, the truck ate a bunch of money at Andy and Dave's Garage on 20th Street. I found out that there is no Andy in Andy and Dave's Garage. I didn't ask why. They serviced my truck, and I was once again happy. I went to Key West for my VA doctor's appointment. I go back in two months. My fibromyalgia continues to get worse, but that is the nature of the disease. Tony and Rhonda took me to breakfast at the Stuffed Pig. We ate outside. The food was good, and the atmosphere Keysie. The following week we took Tony to the Emergency Room at Fishermen's Hospital. Tony was okay, but for something very simple the hospital wanted thousands of dollars. Luckily, my brother has insurance. What do people do if they have no insurance? Something just doesn't seem right about that situation. Keys Radio Group has been running a Public Service Announcement [PSA] for the Middle Keys Community Land Trust. I have heard the PSA and am impressed at the professionalism of the radio stations. I am really disappointed with all this wind. I haven't been out on my boat very often. I have also had to repair my bilge pump wiring a couple of times. There is something to be said for doing it right the first time. We all went to the Hurricane and heard a great blues band from New York featuring Chris Beard. We got his brand new CD, autographed too. Sandler at Greater Marathon Bay, the company that supposedly owns Gulfstream Trailer Park and Marina, has two people who have played a dangerous game several times with my family and I. The fourth such incident involved Eugene Spano and Jay Pulis. They swerved towards me in a SUV on 37th Street. I reported the incident along with the other three incidents to the Sheriff's Department. Finally, Tony and I spent a pleasant day driving around and visiting Anne's Beach and the end of Coco Plum Drive. Miscellany: Did you know that Florida's state bird is the Mockingbird? The flower is the Orange blossom. The tree is the Sabal Palm. The capital is Tallahassee. Statehood was granted March 3, 1845. Lastly, the Kalypso Gallery features folk art and furniture. This Key West gallery is located at 600 Whitehead Street. They are open daily 10-5. Their telephone number is 305-296-4795. Call the gallery for details. That's all there is for this month! Poetry Corner
“God Made Us Happy” 03.06.04
by L. E. Shaffer © 2004 L. E. Shaffer
March 6, 2004
Life is many things
Life is a mystery
A series of struggles
Life is precious
Living a miracle
That in total add
To this amazing mosaic
Called precious life
Be happy regardless
Of anything. So easy
To say. So hard
To put into practice
As we struggle
Just to take in
Air, the stuff
Of life, why?
We ask ourselves
We are not aware
Do not understand
This life as a gift
We spend ourselves
So quickly to the
End of our days,
Impoverishing soul
And ruining life
That was meant
To be lived
In happier times
God made us happy
Sad is only in passing
Life is meant to be,
Never give it up © 2004 L. E. Shaffer Hockey Puck
The NHL Florida Panthers didn't make the playoffs. They won a bunch of games, but wilted the last set of games. The Stanley Cup Playoffs start very soon, which is always exciting. The NBA playoffs are coming up as well. The Los Angeles Lakers are winning a bunch of games and could be the number one seed. Tiger Woods almost missed a cut at the PGA's Players Championship, but he came back to within six strokes. He can play well one day and badly the next. I was all excited about March madness, but the NCAA basketball St. Joseph's lost and now my interest has lagged. Maybe I will root for the University of Connecticut. The Williams sisters are back in force winning at the WTA. The MLB Florida Marlins have no stadium of their own and most likely never will, but they will be competing for a possible second World Series championship. I hate short tracks at NASCAR, and Bristol is no exception. The NFL Miami Dolphins will be starting their summer program very soon. Guest Articles
Stuff not written by us. As always everything is copyright of the author. Kristine Collie
Marathon High School
Mrs. Loggie’s American Gov’t Class
Benefits for All Who Get Involved
I think it’s possible for the city to help the schools by running a contest each month to reward the student who is most involved in the community. In return for the achievements of the student, the school and the student will get recognized in the newspaper as well as a plaque and a free pizza party for the student and a class of their choice.
For the contest that the city would have, it would be about what students who are most involved in helping the city council. Such as the students can help pass out the flyers and put up signs for the council members during the election times and running errands that the council really doesn’t have time for. Students can also do things to prepare for any events that the city council is involved in. This is actually a remarkable way to get all people involved in helping others, this way the city council gets help and the students and schools get recognized for what they achieve. Students would sign up in advance to work with a council member for a certain day or days and they will do this through the school when the list gets full, then the school would e-mail the list of the students that signed up to the city council.
The contest is also a way for the city council to get in the newspaper for helping out the schools and getting really involved in the schools in their city. Let’s say that Katie signs up to work with Mr. Pinkus on November 23, 2003. Katie would first start by waiting for a response from the Mr. Pinkus to say he was free for that day and she could come and help. Next, Katie would have to show up and do some filing or putting flyers up or something of that nature to get credit. After Katie does the work for that day, Mr. Pinkus would sign a form saying what she did and how long she was there for, sort of like a standard volunteer form. Katie would then turn in the form and receive credit for her help. At the end of the month the schools would tally up and send in the person, let’s just say it’s Katie, who did the best work. Next, someone at the city council office would see who did the most in helping out the council members out of the students that were sent in. The person they choose will then get a plaque with their name, the school’s name and their accomplishment on it, and a pizza party with the class of their choice from their schedule, as well as the student’s picture in the newspaper with the recognition of the student and school as well as the council member that they served with.
The benefits of this contest each month for the council members is that they get volunteer assistance and less work for themselves, not to mention they get free publicity when their protégé wins the contest. The benefits for the students are that they get an inside look at how the city council works and they get to be a part of it as well. The students, of course, also get the volunteer hours and the recognition as a reward. The benefits for the school are to get the honor of being the school that this student came from. The community also benefits from the service of the students, because the students help the council members, they don’t have quite as much as they normally did to worry about, so now they’re more open to listening and taking time to understand what the community is going through. So everybody, from every angle, benefits from the contest and it’s also fun to do.
© 2004 Kristine Collie [last doc used: proposal.doc] Stephen Bass
Marathon High School
Mrs. Loggie’s American Gov’t Class
Student Service Week
In the past, the community has given a lot to the school and its students. Funds and donations are a major portion. Funds help with sports and many other school functions. Sure the donator of the funds gets a picture or a plaque or something like that. But how does that benefit them? My proposal is that we, as the school’s student body, give something back to the community. I propose that for one day each class goes out into the community and volunteers at different non-profit organizations such as the Dolphin Research Center, the Marathon Chamber of Commerce, or the Marathon Bird Shelter. Then another day a different class will do the same thing. It would be called student service week. Each class would take one day off from school to help the community. Then the next class would take a day off. This would give our communities four full days of help.
The students would be doing things like helping out at the Dolphin Research Center, helping to clean it up. Some students would volunteer at the Marathon Visitors Center and would be helping tourists with information about our city and all that it has to offer.
This could be an annual event to keep the school connected to the community and vice versa. It would also provide a valuable service to the organizations throughout the community. The students would be working for four to five hours. The students would participate in an experience that they would never forget. They might even find that it is something that they would like to do later in life. When the students realize what kind of a service they are providing for their community, they might start to volunteer more and more at the organization that they like. They would start to feel pride in their community. The community would appreciate this project; it would help them to have a couple of students volunteer their time with them. I think that this would also have a large effect on the community’s willingness to help students because once they become familiar with the students, they might be willing to serve as mentors.
The community has always liked to help out the school in any way that they can. They do not expect anything in return for their funding or any other service that they provide for the school. By the students giving back to the community it makes those non-profit organizations know that they are appreciated for what they are doing for the school. Student service week would give the organizations a reason to provide funding for the school and sponsorships to the sports programs.
In conclusion, I think that this would be a good project for the school and a big benefit to the students. Give Student Service Week some thought because I think that it would be an excellent way for the students to give back to the community to try to keep the school and the community interacting.
© 2004 Stephen Bass [last doc used: The School Giving Back.doc] Erin McCarthy
Marathon High School
Mrs. Loggie’s American Gov’t Class
What can the schools do for the City of Marathon?
The students at the schools in Marathon can help the city by participating in community service projects such as helping at events to earn community service time and also to benefit the community and the schools themselves. There are many opportunities to help the city and the school as well. For example, the local seafood festivals, the Relay for Life, and the Seven-Mile Bridge run.
The school’s clubs sports teams, and the Pace Program can participate in these events by helping with collecting money, serving food, representing their school or company they work for; raising money for those who might need it the most, for example, those who can’t afford to buy food or medication for themselves or their families.
This can be a benefit for both the school and the city because the school can receive a portion of the profits raised for the school’s use, and the city can benefit from the school with community service and the profits that are raised with the school’s help.
The clubs and teams participate for many different reasons. The clubs and teams at the school want to make new programs that the students are involved in will present the students with opportunities for their future and, also gives the students the experience for a career they might want in the future.
© 2004 Erin McCarthy [last doc used: What can the school do for the City of Marathon.doc] Twins of the Dark Star
Book One Tears from Ao and three poetry collections, Pages of Life, Visions of Life, and Moments of Life are available electronically at http://RunesofAo.com/aobp/. The Runes of Ao project, Book Two The Mountains of Ao novel currently in final edit, Book Three Twins of the Dark Star novel in early stages, and The Book of Kalian Mysticism poetry collection are works in progress. Also a collaboration with K. Young on a novella called Dragon Embers is now published on the fan site known as Runes of Ao.com. The Dull Stuff
All opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine, company, or its advertisers. Inputs, email, suggestions, and letters to this journal are subject to approval by Ebony and Abby. Submittals may be edited for content and length and become the creative property for the one-time nonexclusive publication of: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company
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www.RunesofAo.com/abby/ Publication date: March 28, 2004
Author: L. E. Shaffer
Company: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company &
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