BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
DMITRI BELJAN
Carolyn C. Holland with Dmitri Beljan
DMITRI BELJAN expresses himself artistically in his drawings and improvisations on the keyboard. He likes and has tried the Shakespearian sonnet form, but presently is not writing. He is drawn to the Beanery Writers Group to be with other artists, those whose art is their use of language.
I spoke with Dmitri, 62, on my patio, under trees in my park —Laurel Mountain Boro, to be specific. (to view photos on his Flickr site, click on http://flickr.com/photos/dmitri1946) Like the Boro, with its independent bent that resulted in its secession from Ligonier Township in 1982, Dmitri is not comfortable being confined to arbitrary borders.
His piano and keyboard playing symbolizes his life: he didn’t learn the structure taught in formal lessons. He “follows where (more…)
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
THE WRITING LIFE
To read two stories on the writer’s life, that explains why there has been some interruption in the Beanery Online Literary Magazine posts, click on:
Thank you for being loyal readers. We welcome you to peruse our site, reading stories by specific writers.
Carolyn C. Holland, facilitator of the Beanery Writers Group in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
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…”
—written by Carolyn C. Holland I heard black bears have already been sighted in the Laurel Ridge hills of eastern Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. NOTE: The rules for black bears and grizzly bears are different. Grizzly bears are not found in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The color of black bears, usually shades of black or dark brown, can also be chocolate brown, cinnamon or blonde. Some are actually white. Their snout is long—ears are well-rounded—and eyes are small. A short tail accents (more…)
Jean-Pierre Blanchard’s prominent role in the history of ballooning made him the first true professional aeronaut in a period having many more or (most often) less pure amateurs.
He was born in Les Andelys, Normandy, France, on July 4, 1753. His parents were poor. What he lacked formal education he made up for in creativity. As a youth he displayed a bent for mechanics and an interest in science, inventing a rat trap with a pistol, a velocipede, and later a hydraulic pump system that raised water 400 feet (122 meters) from the Seine River to the Chateau Gaillard. In 1769 he invented a crude bicycle.
In the 1770s his attraction to the problems of flight led to his work on designing heavier-than-air flying machines. His bird-like aerial bicycle (more…)
—written by Carolyn C. Holland
Leap Year. The offering of a gift, a BONUS DAY: Friday, February 29. With it comes the temptation to ask others what they are going to do with their bonus day. A compilation of the results follows.
Leap Year-24 Hours of added rest? Beth Ann questions introspectively. It sounds tempting but that is too easy. To be truthful, I hadn’t thought about what I would do with the additional day until this very moment.
But, now that I do, I recall (more…)
—written by Carolyn C. Holland
My sister, Lee, called me this morning to tell me about the bitter icy weather Buffalo was experiencing, and that they were expecting yet more snow and ice.
Then she asked me if I had said “Happy Birthday” to our mother, Nancy Isabelle Briskay Cornell Lipsius (February 22, 1922 to January 3, 1998). Lee told me she had done so while out in the car this morning.
I hadn’t done so yet, but I had thought about calling Lee and sharing memories with her. We ended the call with my statement that I would call her back, and talk to her over a cup of tea I would drink from a cup decorated with violets. (To continue reading click on A MOTHER’S FINAL RETALIATION )
Living with OCD
Tags: Life, Journal, My Life, Reflections, Thoughts, Latest post, Psychology, People, Diary, Miscellaneous, Misc., Current Events, ?memories, Commentary, This is where I’ve been, Lifestyle, Contemplation, Inspirational, All posts, Lifestream, OCD, Mental health issues, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, National OCD Awareness Week
BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE
LIVING WITH OCD
as told to Carolyn C. Holland by Dmitri Beljan
I was initially going to talk to you at a local café. However when you invited me to sit down, the place I was seated was not cleaned up from the previous guest. Although tolerable to sit there, I found myself uncomfortable and distracted by concerns about the dirty table. It took away from giving you my full attention.
Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to worry about germs. For example, how many times have you ordered a baked potato at a particular fast food place and the waitress who handled your money then squished the potatoes with her fingers and handed it to you? I found myself several times reminding food service personnel that you don’t handle food and money both. I don’t think that’s so bad.
However if this behavior is carried to an extreme—e. g., asking her to clean the table twice—it could be considered a symptom of OCD.
Thus began my interview with Dmitri.
October 12-18, 2009, is National OCD Awareness Week. Dmitri is willing to share his story of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, commonly called OCD. Below he tells of live with OCD.
My genetic makeup predisposed me to OCD. This condition was aggravated by my very religious family and the paranoia of the 1950s Cold War.
When I was a little boy the thoughts that are now called obsessive thoughts were not recognized by me as such, and with the influence of religion, I interpreted it to be that I was possessed by demons.
This scared the hell out of me. I became more concerned about (more…)