BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
FAITH THROWN OVERBOARD
PHILIP LETIZIA
Many people who hear the word faith feel the bitter cold rush of uneasiness creep up their spine. How can so many people be sure about things? they ask. How can they claim to have a better grasp on all of this than I do?
Faith is certainty to many. Unwavering. Commitment. Belief in something no one can see, and no one can feel. How can you be sure?
Those who believe, those who hold tight to faith or a certainty in things not quite understood, still have room for uncertainty, for doubt, and for questions. Yes, the uncertainty is still there. The lie we’ve bought and sold, the lie told to those of us who are less certain, the lie that we can never be allowed to see, is (more…)
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
THE REMINDER
JOE STIERHEIM
I have a basket of pinecones sitting on top of my file cabinet. The collection began through no particular intention of mine. One day shortly after I moved into my rooming unit, I was walking along the steppingstones that lead from the lot where I park my car when I noticed them. They and their brothers lay beneath the lone pine that grows there, exposed on the sparse grass of winter. Lying with them were the remains of cones from previous seasons—faded, broken, gnawed upon, some flattened underfoot and ground into the earth.
I picked up one that recently dropped, its unspoiled pattern of interlocked scales resembling plate armor, smooth and uniformly colored a glistening tan. I pictured what it would look like in a month or two if left
(more…)
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
WHAT ARE THOSE NUMBERS IN MY CAMERA VIEWFINDER?
Thinking photographically for those with limited camera knowledge.
THE PHOTODOCTOR (aka Mr. Wizard)
This article was written by THE PHOTODOCTOR after he spent an afternoon assisting me in learning the basics of the new Canon 40D camera I purchased just days prior to leaving for extended travel along the New England coastline. The Photodoctor considers me the most technologically challenged but artistically able photographer he knows (I think I have the description correct, however, it is the essence of his statement about me). Thus, he wrote the following post to assist me and any other photographers who need help). Carolyn C. Holland
The first thing camera owners need to learn is that the seemly random numbers in the viewfinder mean something: all combined, the Aperture, Shutter Speed, Film Speed (ISO) and the Given Light Source make up the Exposure Value. All of these are adapted and controlled by a “Thinking Photographer.”
Now, forget all you have learned before. Pull the curtain back. Ask Mr. Wizard for an explanation of these terms and how they interact.
Photographers are given a light source, eg. where our subject is standing. If the subject is in a sunlit area, you can shoot the subject as is, or you can (more…)
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
LEGS UP
KATHLEEN CLARK
Cocoa, my Chocolate Lab, sniffed suspiciously at the inert object, then playfully nudged it with her paw. Her persistent yaps caused me to look out the kitchen window.
“What the heck?” I wiped my hands on my jeans, let the screen door bang, and went to investigate. What appeared to be pieces of (more…)
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
AFTER THE SCOTTISH GAMES AT LIGONIER
JOSEPH F. STIERHEIM
Shadows deepen,
dark beneath the trees.
The day is over,
the bands gone.
Campers and autos
and people on foot;
gone.
Flashes of red and green and
yellow and blue of tartans;
gone.
Shouting; laughter;
joy of challenge;
victor and vanquished;
gone.
Still, in the glen,
the sound of the pipes.
ADDITIONAL READING:
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
JOHN BARELY ESCAPES NYC on SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Carolyn C. Holland
LMB resident John was working in one of the twin towers in New York City the morning of September 11, 2001. His story will be posted in the LMBoroLMPark Newsletter in three parts. To view photo illustrations taken by John, click on:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmborolmpark
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine
On September 11, 2001, John was in New York City working as a freelance sound recordist/video engineer. He had many clients in downtown New York, where he found most of his jobs. He also worked in Philadelphia and other places, but the New York work was most challenging.
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
FLIGHT 93 CRASH SITE MEMORIAL
Below is a description of the Flight 93 Crash Site Memorial as it has been up to this date. It is now changing due to the plans for an official memorial to be constructed on the site.
A small parking lot on the left side of Skyline Drive, Stoneybrook Township, has four Portapotties. Beyond them, on a distant hill, under high voltage lines spanning open fields, two obsolete cranes stretch skyward.
A parking area on the right roadside abuts the Flight 93 Temporary Memorial site.
Restrictions, enforced by the Somerset County Sheriffs Deputies, are posted: “No solicitation, concessions, brochures or advertisements; No installation of structure, permanent or otherwise; No planting of flowers, trees or shrubs; No loitering or overnight parking.”
A sign on a gray hut donated by the Assateague Island National Seashore requests Please do not write on this shelter or on any other surfaces at the temporary memorial. You may record your thoughts in our visitor’s book or on the blank cards provided.
Nonetheless, guardrails carry messages: Thank you for protecting us…GOD BLESS AMERICA; UNITED WE STAND; playwright Larry Myers “Utopia Rescheduled” God’s Crossward Puzzlement, Theater for (illegible) City, Plays about 9/11…and stickers—Schuylkill Haven Borough Police Department; a yellow ribbon asking visitors
“Support Our Troops…”
The facilitator of the Beanery Online Literary Magazine is taking “time out” for a vacation and writing/genealogy research trip. My husband and I headed to New England by way of Philadelphia. I will continue posting on this site as I can (I have prepared several items ahead of time). However, my journaling will be on my personal writing site, www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com and filed in the 2008 NEW ENGLAND category (in folders on right side).
Today, I posted The Briefs of out Travel Thus Far… on my site. click there to read it (this computer doesn’t allow me to cut and paste, so I cannot post the exact link yet—when I can I will—but click on the website above to get there).
Hope to post some regular items soon!
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
ELATION, DESPAIR AND A SUGAR RUSH
CAROLYN
Since this is a WRITING site, I hope that Beanery Members and visitors will join me in submitting comments on writing. We welcome posts on interesting facets of all genres of writing. Email submissions to beaneryblog@yahoo.com with the word “SUBMISSIONS” in the subject line.
A newspaper article on an author last-named Buckley, first name in lost part of the article, writes of novel authorship: …in a novel, you get to (more…)
PLEASE GIVE THAT MAN A QUARTER!
Tags: Commentary, Daily life, Diary, Entitlement, Journal, Journaling, Latest Posts, Life, Lifestyle, Opinion, Parking fines, The Privileged, Thoughts
PLEASE GIVE THAT MAN A QUARTER!
Peggy Jo