sharing something with everybody here

[Chris Cook]

Hi, all. I don't o if this is appropriate for this server,
or if the moderators will mind it. If they do, I will do it
just this once. I want to share something I wrote on here
about myself, my family and other things. I had this
journal made into copies with pictures and sold to people
last October at a gallery here in Los Angeles where I had a
lot of my crafts sold, and I made a wad of money from the
sales.
MY GREATEST AND MOST ENJOYABLE
INTERESTS


BY Christopher Ronald COOK
Copyright 2001 By Christopher
RONALD COOK



A WAY WITH CERAMICS AND OTHER HOBBIES


I collect many animal models and figurines, shells and
coins. I have them all arranged in bookcases very different
sizes in the front part of my apartment. To the right of
the door there is a six-by-five foot bookcase with all sorts
of land and river animals o it. It has animals from all
continents, including North and South America, Africa, Asia,
Australia, Europe and Antarctica. To the right of this
bookcase is a narrower one with prehistoric and mythical
creatures.. On the very top is an assortment of storybook
characters, like Disney characters, Doctor Dolittle and all
his animal friends, characters from "The Wizard Of Oz", and
Harry Potter things. Below that is a shelf with cartoon and
comic characters, including Dino from "The Flintstones", and
characters from an old and forgotten program "The New Zoo
Review". I also have Garfield the cat, and Godzilla, the
monster lizard of Japan. Below them are all sorts of
mythical creatures, and at the very bottom are prehistoric
animals. to the right which this bookcase is another
bookcase the same high as the first one, but not so wide,
with various sea animals and shells in it. On top of this
bookcase is a board eight feet long and two feet wide, with
still more sea animals on it. Cannot of the animals are
made of clay, some of wood, some of stone, some of glass,
some of metal, a few of papier mache, and some are stuffed.
In the sea animal bookcase I have clam shells, mussel
shells, cowrie shells, limpet shells, snail shells, scallop
shells, conch shells, pieces of coral, sand dollars
starfish, and even a few dried out fish. To the right of
this bookcase is a single shelf with a large black plastic
display case with coins in it. I have coins from England,
Spain, France, Canada, Greece, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico
and elsewhere. I about have sixteen large bronze coins with
pictures of various presidents on them. Many of these
things were given to me by friends and family members, and I
bought many of them and made many too. I have some boats
and ships among the sea animals on the board on top of the
bookcase containing the others.
I made scenery to set up with the animals. I made many
trees, bushes, fields of grass, bodies of water, a desert
scene for desert animals, a snow scene for polar animals, a
beach scene for the sea animals, and a dragon cave. and
bodies of water for water animals. Some of the trees are
completely made of paper, and some are partly paper, and
partly parts of bushes. Some of the bushes are made of
clay. The fields of grass are made of green paper, and the
bodies of water are made of blue paper with Saran wrap over
them. The snow is partly white typing paper, and partly
cotton balls. The desert scene is used sheets of braille
paper, and so is the beach in back. in front
of the beach is saran wrap over the board, which is painted
blue. I also made sea plants out of clay for the sea
animals. There are cactus plants that I bought from Pet Co
in Pasadena, and water plans for the water animals, some of
which I bought from that store, and some of which I made.
There are also two forest plants I bought from the pet
store. I bought many polished rocks from Michael's Crafts,
and laid them out with the trees and plants. I have two
boxes out on my balcony on a round table with fake plants in
them, and some of them have flowers. I made the dragon cave
out of brown paper with black paper in back of it. I also
have a blue screen hanging down in front of the sea animals
in the bookcase to make them look as though they are
underwater. I have a row of people sitting in back on the
beach in chairs under palm trees, and to the left of the
beach scene is a jetty made mostly of clay rocks, and partly
of a large bronze rock bank with five dolphins on it. On
the right side of the beach scene are pier pilings, some of
them with sea birds on them, and on the left in back is the
image of a small corner store. Behind the people are a
bunch of palm trees, and behind them is a painted scene of a
wooded area, and paper images of a car and trailer and
camper. There is also an antique car made of bronze, and an
antique airplane made of steel, both of them parked on the
beach, and the airplane is a music box, while the car is a
bank. Figures of an old man, a boy and a dog are near the
car. There are many small sea birds hanging by floral wire
over the beach scene to make them look as though they are
flying. I made barbecue pits out of empty olive cans, and
also a water faucet out of some sculptey clay.
In addition to the things I've collected, I also have a
train layout, complete with train, cars, airplanes, people
figurines, buildings, trees, boats, and many other things.
In front of this layout is a two lane street made of
cardboard and paper, with streetlights on both sides of it,
and street flares at one end. Behind the street is a track
with a streetcar on it, and behind that is another track
with a cable car. Behind the is one side of the railroad
track with the train on it. The track goes in an oval shape
around most of the layout. There is also a small toll booth
behind the cable car track on the left sine of the layout.
Behind the railroad track are a row of buildings, including
a crossing gate tower, a Mc'donald's restaurant, a train
station, a fire station, a police station, and a water
tower. Beside the train station is a loading zone. Behind
the buildings is another two-lane street with crossing gates
on each end, and also railroad crossing sings, and traffic
lights, and streetlights on each side. Behind the street is
another row of buildings, which are a bank, an airport, a
church and another crossing gate tower. Behind that is the
other side of the track, and behind that more track for the
cable car. Behind this track is a bay with many boats and
one sea plane on it. To the Left of the layout are four
houses, with yards and fences. They all have small water
faucets in back made of air dry clay and garden hoses made
of rubber bands One yard has a birdhouse in it, one has a
dog house and one has a swimming pool, and all of them have
trees.. To the right of the layout is another shorter
two-lane street. On one side of it is a corner store and a
Baskin-Robin's's Ice cream. On the right of the street
there is a post office, a hospital, a schoolhouse with a
library and dining hall, and in the back right-hand corner
is a chevron gas station with a sign and gas pump, and a
barber shop. Behind the gas station is a landing with
fishermen and a sailor on it. Most of the buildings are
made of paper, except the church, which is mostly wood with
a metal roof, the airport which is plastic, and the fire
station and police station, which are cardboard. The fire
station has a can on it to serve as a storage tower. I
found the church in my kitchen, and bought the airport from
Toys R. Us in Los Angeles, which is where I bought the
train, some of the cars, some of the boats, and one
two-rotor transport helicopter. The train is a western
train with five cars. The towers are made of clay. I
worked on them at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles. I
made all of the streetlights, the streets and sidewalks,
some signs to set up, and even a small phone booth to put
alongside the gas station. The signs and the phone booth
are clay. I bought some cars at Target, and made some.
Most of the streetlights are made of plastic magnetic rods
and metal balls, and some of them are made of rolls of paper
with marbles on top to serve as bulbs. I painted the top
parts with glowing luminescent paint. It doesn't shine very
brightly, but it's the best I can do. I made some of the
people too, and bought some from Whistle Store in Pasadena.
Hanging above on the ceiling are some air and spacecraft.
There are a space shuttle, a space capsule, a rocket ship, a
blimp, a gray sail plane and a hot air balloon. Most of
them are made of paper, except for the space shuttle, which
I bought from the Museum of Science, and the sail plane,
which I bought from Michael's. The rocket is made partly of
paper and partly of aluminum cans, and the blimp too. I
used a snow cone cup for the topmost part of the rocket.
The balloon is made partly of a red rubber ball, and partly
of paper for the ropes and partly of a small cup for the
basket. I made some of the trees behind and beside the
buildings.
I work with clay and make many things and sell them for
money. I make mostly animals and people. I've been to
various ceramic classes at places like "The California
School for the Blind in Fremont, California,, Contra Costa
College in San Pablo, California, Humboldt State University
Arcata, California, Ventura College in Ventura, California,
Gallaudet University, the Lighthouse for the Blind in San
Francisco, the Braille Institute in Santa Barbara, the
Braille Institute in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles City
College. Some classes I enjoyed more than others. I've
worked with different kinds of clay, such as kiln clay,
sculptey clay, oven bake clay, and air dry clay. Kiln clay
is fired at an extremely high temperature in a kiln.
Sculptey clay is baked in an oven at 275 dg. for twenty
minutes. Oven backed clay is baked at 350 dg. for an hour.
Air dry clay is not baked at all. When it comes to working
with kiln clay, an artist must beware of air bubbles,
wetness and thickness. Those things can cause explosions.
So sometimes it's best to smack the clay against something
hard before working with it, and don't fire it before it's
completely dry.
I think I should share some funny experiences with some
things I made out of clay in the past and sold and donated
to people. One time Kathleen Anderson, a woman who worked
as a cooking and cleaning teacher at the Living Skills
Center in San Pablo, asked me to make her a porcupine for
her husband. I read that porcupines are basically stupid
animals, but they know how to defend themselves. It's not
true that they throw their quills, as some people have
believed. When threatened by enemies they simply turn
around and lash out with their tails, which also have
quills, and sick the quills in their enemies. The quills
break off and stick in the enemy's skin. Making a porcupine
is no easy task, as I have to make the quills one by one and
stick them on to the animal, as I make in a sitting position
so the quills lie on each other, and on a pad of clay so
that it can be moved without breaking the quills off, but it
can be done. Kathleen told me that her husband was
sometimes nicknamed the porcupine can have was bristly.
Once long ago I made a blue three-headed dragon out of
clay and gave it to a girlfriend of my oldest sister, who
was Chinese, as a Christmas gift. When I had made it, a man
an Humboldt State University remarked that it would most a
lot of money to keep a three-headed beast as a pet. You
would have to buy food for all three mouths, although it had
only one stomach.
Once while living in my old Oxnard home, I made a variety
of scary things for Halloween out of sculptey clay.
Including were a ghost, a vampire, a green witch, a pumpkin,
a black cat, a Frankenstein monster and a bat. When I had
them set up in a wood and glass cabinet I made at the
California School for the Blind in a shop class, a homeroom
teacher I had remarked that they reminded him of a horror
movie about a German scientist who had a cabinet with weird
things in it, and they sometimes came out of it. I said I
said he didn't think the things I made would come out of
this cabinet. He said he hoped not because some of them
looked scary.
Once I made a variety of dogs out of clay. I made all
dogs I remember seeing, and when I was done with that, I
stopped making dogs and made a variety of pigs. I made pigs
of different colors, and one wild bar with tusks. It seems
that I had changed in making things from dogging to hogging.
Once Patty Williams, the director of the Living Skills
Center, was interested in buying a female red kangaroo I
made at the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco with
two babies in her pouch. When it was done she said it was
like her in a way. It was a mother with two kids, and she
was one too.
Once Denise Vancil, a teacher who taught cooking at the
Living Skills Center, asked me to make her a snail for a
friend of hers who was French. French people have been
known to eat snails and other strange things for food. I
made it for her and she bought it. She said she planned to
tell this friend of hers that he could have the snail, but
couldn't eat it.
Once I made a Santa Claus out of some sculptey clay, and
sold him to a lady counselor at the California School for
the Blind, who worked in the girls' dormitory. Before I did
so, the same homeroom teacher I mentioned remarking that
Santa Claus was probably fond of beer because of his bulk.
Once I made ten Indian figures at Ventura College: a
chief, a medicine man, three braves and five squaws. I made
the medicine man and one of the squaws sitting down on
rocks, and the other Indians standing up or sitting down
cross-legged. A pen-pal in New Mexico, who died long ago,
jokingly asked me what I was to do with all those squaws.
She said if I talked things over with the chief, he might
take them off my hands.
Once I made a centaur out of clay, which is a creature in
Greek myths half man and half horse. I sold him to a young
Englishwoman named Jemima Perry, who had once worked at the
Ventura Century bookstore, but had to retire due to a bad
accident she had. She said centaurs kind of gave her the
creeps. They looked weird to her, but she liked the one I
made and bought it.
In the past I had made superheroes out of clay, like
Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder-Woman, Spider-Man, and
Captain Marvel. I had also made some television characters
like Snoopy, Speed Buggy, the talking car, and Godzilla.
Once I made a three-inch high Mickey Mouse too. I had made
some monsters too, like Dracula, Frankenstein, the wolfman
and the mummy. Usually I make them for Halloween.
Years ago I made many things at Ventura College to sell
and make money to buy a computer. This took some time and
effort, but I managed to work it out and got myself a
Toshiba laptop computer and a screen power braille display
to go with it. I had used it for some years, but now no
longer have it. With help from the Department of
Rehabilitation in Pasadena, I bought a Braille Note
Computer, and sent the old Laptop back to Ed Elrod, a fellow
in Ventura who had helped me get it. I like my Braille Note
a lot more than my old computer. It can do some things the
old thing couldn't do, like tell time and dates, send and
receive e-mail messages, and stuff. It takes up less space
on my desk than my old computer did, and it's very portable.
It can run for some time without its A. C. adaptor. I use
it for e-mails, printing documents and stuff. It also has a
book reader program with some books in it.
If you wonder how I became deaf and blind, my blindness
was caused by retina infections, and my deafness was caused
by something called VOIGHT-Koyanagi-Haradi Syndrome, which
is rare and unheard of by many people. It was at age 13
that my hearing began to fail me, and at age 14 that I began
to lose sight. By the time I was 16 I had no sight at all
and very little hearing. I make some things by using
memories of what I saw when I had good sight. My sight,
although good in some ways, was not exactly normal. I could
never read print, and had to read braille from Kindergarten
up.
It's much fun to work with clay and make things. I plan
to always continue to be an artist.
Author's note: I made some changes in the miniature town.
I moved the water in front of it and made fronts and backs
of buildings. I made a hospital and moved the
Baskin-Robin's's Ice Cream and barber shop to the right of
it. To the right of them is a three story apartment
building and a four story hotel and in front of them are
several houses with yards and trees in them. I removed the
battery train. It no longer worked very well and kept
getting caught on the track. I replaced it with a smaller
train that's made mostly of clay and has a plastic key chain
locomotive and a metal pencil sharpener caboose. It doesn't
run, and I keep in front of the town. I also made changes
in the beach scene. I removed all the clay rocks that were
used for a jetty and replaced them with a paper wall. I
made images of campers and a car and trailer out of
construction paper, and I have a pickup truck made of some
soft stuff and a clay trailer behind it. They campers and
the car and trailer are behind the people figures under the
palm trees, and behind them all is a scene of trees and a
blue sky on newspapers on the wall.





ROMANTIC DREAMS

I used to have some dreams about beautiful young women. I
made models of them out of clay. I think I will mention
them as they are. First I had a dream about a handsome
young Roman guy named Esulus on the island of Crete. He was
five feet six inches high, and had bushy black hair, brown
eyes and olive complexion. It was said was an oracle the
King Minos of Crete would become an enemy of the Romans.
The young Roman decided that he would have to leave, and he
took a beautiful young Cretan maiden named Egenia along with
him whom he was in love with. She was very slender and
about five feet four inches and had waist-length black hair,
dark blue eyes and pale complexion. We went to some shore
where a boat was awaiting. The oracle said it would be
there. We had some difficulties. In those days most Greek
Roman and Cretan women went barefoot, while the men and boys
were in sandals. Egenia hurt her feet on some rocks in the
sand. We were almost caught by Talos, a large man of brass,
who circled the island. We found the boat in the end. I
did the rowing. Once Egenia put her feet out over the side
of the boat, but a warning from Nereus, the old man of the
sea, about sharks and mischievous nymphs put an end to that.
In the end she Esulus lay in the bottom of the boat and
caressed and hugged each other. Later on after that dream,
I dreamed about a very beautiful Greek maiden named Arilia.
Like the Cretan maiden she was very slender and had
waist-length hair and wore a short-skirted dress and went
barefoot. However her hair was blonde rather than black,
and her eyes were hazel and her skin was a tannish pink.
She was a little shorter than the Cretan girl: only about
five feet two in inches. When I met her we went for a swim
in a lake. Some river nymphs were around there and they
watched us. The girl swam in circles, turned somersaults
and stood on her hands in the water with her feet sticking
out of it. Once the nymphs splashed us. After the swim we
sat on the bank and she laid her head on my shoulder.
Another time I dreamed that Egenia and Arilia both met each
other at a picnic table in some park-like setting with a
white stone wall nearby. They communicated with each other
in whispers, gestured with their hands, and every once in a
while giggled. Arilia saw me and held her hand over mine.
Later on I dreamed that she and I was on a double raft lying
on our backs on a river. While we were floating I started
caressing her stomach. She started laughing like crazy. It
tickled so much. Later on I dreamed that she and I were
hemmed in on some beach, and had a hard time trying to find
our way out. There were hedges here and there. In the end
Neptune the sea god, found us and helped us out. I had one
dream that she and I were hugging each other, and I told her
how cute she was. She was cute. All her pale hair, bright
eyes and small hands and feet made her that. That also
included her peaches and cream complexion. Once I dreamed
that Esulus, Eg-ia and Arilia (((were all standing together
and glad to see me again. Esulus warmly shook my hand,
Egenia held it one of hers with a soft look in her eyes, and
Arilia gave me two kisses on the corders of my mouth.
Later I dreamed that Esulus and Egenia were dancing together
in some hall while a harpist was playing a harp. It looked
to me as though he couldn't dance as gracefully as she
could. She was moving her bare feet rather nimbly so as not
to have them tread upon by his sandals. Arilia found me and
we sat on a bench together, and she laid her head on my
shoulder.
Later on I dreamed that i was sitting at an outdoor table
with Egenia next to me and Arilia across from me. They were
talking to each other in low voices and gesturing and once
in a while giggling. Arilia saw me and laid her hand palm
down on one of mine. It pleased me to see these two living
dolls getting acquainted with each other. Not far off in
the distance about twenty feet away, ow saw a white stone
wall about twelve feet high and going on and on so that I
couldn't see where it began and ended. I guessed that it
was an outer wall of Rome, where we all were. I read in
Greek mythology that ancient cities had stone walls around
them with iron gates, which were open in the daytime and
closed at night.
Later on I dreamed that I was walking through a field with
Egenia and Arilia and Arilia suddenly sprained her ankle and
fell. I saw her ankle, which was all swollen and purple.
Egenia and I picked her up carried her for some time. We
laid her in a boat that we found in some lake. She lay down
with her head on Egenia's lap. She had the presence of mind
to draw her legs in so that when I stepped into the boat I
didn't step on her bare feet.
One time I dreamed that Arilia and i were sitting at a an
outdoor table and a one man with red hair was across from
us. She told him how dear thought I was stroking my cheek
as she said so. She mentioned how I helped her out when she
was injured.
One time I dreamed that Arilia and I were hugging each
other and I told her how cute she was. She was too, with
her long pale hail, bright hazel eyes and peachy complexion
and slender hands and feet.
Later on I dreamed that Egenia and I were sitting together
in some banquet hall on at a table across from each other.
I said to her "Hi, honey. Good to see you again," and
patted left her cheek. She seemed taken aback by my
affection, but not embarrassed. I would never deliberately
embarrass a female in public.
One time I dreamed that Esulus and Egenia were dancing
together at some banquet hall while some man played on a
lyre. It looked to me as if he couldn't dance as gracefully
as she could. She was moving her bare feet rather nimbly so
as not to have them stepped on by his thick sandals. Arilia
found me and we sat on a stone bench near the entrance and
she leaned on me with her head on my shoulder.
I had a dream at one time that Arilia and I were lost on
some beach and there were hedges here and there. Neptune,
the god of the sea found us and helped us out.
Once I dreamed that Arilia and i were lying together on a
double raft on a lake. As we lay and floated together and
started to caress her stomach. She began laughing like
crazy. It tickled quite a bit.
Once I dreamed that I had Arilia sitting on my lap with
her back to me and her small feet resting on mine, and I
stroked her cheeks several times. Later on I dreamed that i
had her sitting in my lap and I played with her hair.
Once I dreamed that I was in the house where Esulus and
Egenia lived together. He wasn't home. She had me sit at a
table and fixed me a glass of fruit juice.
Once I dreamed that Arilia and I was sitting together on a
stone bench and I tickled her on the back of one of her bare
legs. It made her squeal.
Once I dreamed that I met Arilia's sister. Her name was
Erodice. She was like Arilia in some ways, but had long
silver blonde hair.
Once I dreamed that Arilia and i were sitting together on
some grass, and for some reason she sat down behind me with
her legs on each side of me and her arms around my
shoulders. That was strange. It seemed that she had me
where she wanted me.
Once I dreamed that Egenia was wearing silver bracelets on
her wrists, and she showed them to me. She said Esulus gave
them to her. She noticed a watch I was wearing, and admired
it. It was gold.
She said it was the color of things owned by Apollo the sun
god. She didn't ask why I only wore one. I would have told
her it wasn't the stile to wear two.
Once I dreamed that Arilia was driving a chariot and I
rode with her and she let me drive it for some time.
I had a dream at one time that Arilia and I were sitting
together at an outdoor table, and the Roman fellow and
Cretan girl were across from us. Arilia had her head on my
shoulder and I had my arm around her. I also had a dream
that Esulus and Egenia, Arilia and I were all sitting
together at a table, and the Greek girl played footsie with
me. I felt her bare foot rubbing up against mine.
Once I dreamed that Arilia and I were in a wooded area and
she stepped in some animal hole and almost got hurt. Some
centaurs, creatures half man and half horse, passed by, but
didn't notice us.
Not all the dreams i had about work women were pleasant.
Once I dreamed that Esulus and another guy had a fight over
Egenia, and he got cut on one cheek. He went home.
Later on I dreamed that a black centaur tried to carry off
Arilia to rape her, but he didn't succeed. I fended him off
with a knife. He threw Arilia down and she passed out. It
was a time before she came to.
Once I dreamed that I was in the banquet hall and sitting at
a table with Eg-ia across from me. I reached out and held
one of her hands and gazed into her dark blue eyes. Arilia
came in the sat down with us, and I took one of her hands
and gazed into her bright hazel eyes.
Later I dreamed that Esulus, Arilia Egenia and i were in a
field and a chimera appeared. A chimera in Greek mythology
was a monster with the head of a lion, the body of goat and
the tail of a snake. He could breathe fire. He was one of
and fiercest creatures on Earth. We had to run and hide.
Later on I dreamed that Esulus, Egenia and I were going
through a field and a man in a chariot came and offered us a
ride. Arilia said what a beautiful day it was. I remarked
tI knew of two beautiful young things and I was walking
between them. I took Arilia's arm one one of mine and
Egenia's arm under my other one, and told Esulus to take her
other arm under his. So we went on together like that. A
man in a chariot came and offered to give us a ride. We
went with him. We were on our way to Athens.
Besides these dreams, I also had some about American women
in modern times. Once I dreamed that I was riding in a blue
station wagon with a young Texas girl. She was five and a
half feet tall and rather heavy and had long thick
brownish-blonde hair, dark brown eyes and deep tan
complexion. Her name was Shelley Christie, but I never knew
her last name. Her father drove the car. She was dressed
in a navy blue bathing suit, and she told me that she
planned to do some swimming before she went back home. I
guess I could have been in Texas with them. We were sitting
on long seats on each side of the car facing each other. As
we rode along in the car she raised her bare feet from the
floor and propped them in my lap, and asked for a foot
massage. I gave her one. Her feet were wonderfully soft
and the soles were slightly fat. I didn't touch those
spots, thinking they might have been very ticklish, and she
might not have wanted that. I must have kept it up for
about five or more minutes until she had enough and and
lowered her feet back down. She got up from the seat she
was on and came over and lay down on my seat with her head
in my lap, and I smelled perfume coming from it. Then she
sat up and against me with her head on my shoulder and I
stroked her cheek. She said it kind of tickled. She was so
pretty I thought she kind of needed some caressing. Later I
dreamed that I was riding in the car with her with my head
in her lap, and later I dreamed I was riding in it with her
head in my lap.
Once I dreamed that I met some young woman who was camping
out in a wooded area. She, like the Texas girl, was rather
heavy and had long blonde hair that hung halfway down her
back. Her hair was a lighter shade. . Although I couldn't
see her feet under the robe, I could tell by the prints she
left in the soft earth that she was barefoot. We went into
this van she was camping in, and she removed the robe and
showed that she was dressed in a yellow short-sleeved shirt
and short pants. I asked if I could examine her feet. They
were rather hard and the soles were a trifle rough. That
showed that she had gone barefoot much of the time outdoors.
Once years ago when I was able to see and hear I saw a
teenage girl in a Jack-In-The-Box restaurant in Ventura. I
had dinner there with my whole family. The girl and a young
woman came in and stood near our table. I judged that they
were mother and daughter. They were both together and had
the same hair and complexion color. The girl was tall and
slim and had shoulder-length brown hair. They were both
bare-legged and dressed in shorts and short-sleeved shirts,
but the funny thing about it was that the woman was in shoes
while the girl was barefoot. Just as we were leaving my
grandfather warned me to watch out for her toes. I was
nearest to her and I had shoes on. She giggled at my
grandfather's warning, but didn't say anything. It rather
surprised me to see anybody going barefoot in a public
fast-food restaurant. Many public places don't allow it.
It can be unsafe and in some cases even dangerous. She
didn't seem self-conscious about it. I had a dream that she
and the girl were in the restaurant, and I reached down and
drew a finger along the outer edge of her right foot, which
was nearest to me.
Later on I dreamed that I was riding a bus with a couple
of people, a man and a woman. The woman had short blonde
hair and was tall and skinny and wore a yellow hat, a
short-sleeved blue shirt and a pair of short green pants.
As the bus went on she raised her bare feet from the floor
and propped them on the seat I was sitting on. The man
laughed. Then we changed seats, and she raised her feet
from the floor and set them on the seat where they had been.
The man laughed again. I don't know what he thought was
funny, either what we were doing or the sight of her bare
feet on the bus. I don't know what made me do it, but I
started stroking the soles of her feet. She didn't seem to
mind. It was as though she either had no feeling in them,
or she enjoyed what I was doing to them. Whether I was
giving her a foot massage or showing her affection, that was
a funny way to do either. I never heard of anybody going
barefoot on transit buses, and I doubt if it's allowed. It
can be unsafe.
Once I dreamed about some people in my apartment and girl
sitting in a seat across from me. She was dressed in a
short-sleeved shirt and shorts. She was barefoot and raised
her feet from the floor and propped them in my chair on each
side of me.
I made images of the people I dreamed about out of clay
and have them in a beach scene on a board on top of a
bookcase with sea animals in it, and also on the board..
They are in chairs under a row of palm trees in a harbor
scene on top of the sea animal display in the kitchen. . I
made the Roman fellow and the Cretan girl sitting together
on a double chair holding hands, and myself and the Greek
girl sitting together in another small beach chair holding
hands, and her about to get her head on my shoulder. I made
the Texas girl, restaurant girl and bus lady in lounge
chairs, and the mountain lady in a desk chair. I also made
the girl in my apartment, who was sitting in a high back
chair. They are under a row of palm trees, and it looks as
if they are camping and picnicking on a beach. I suppose
the ones about Arilia and Egenia might have been trying to
tell me how it felt to have a girlfriend. They, and shelley
CHRISTINE as well, were three of the loveliest, sweetest
females I ever dreamed of meeting.


dreams ABOUT MYTHICAL THINGS

When I was 20 years old, and several years older, I
sometimes had dreams about meeting creatures I read in fairy
tales. I once had a dream when I was 20 that I was almost
attacked a brown ogre that was lurking in my oldest sister's
bedroom, which was only separated from mine by a wall
partition. The ogre (I thought that was the right word, for
he was far from human), was dark brown, hairy and unclothed.
He had black piercing eyes, long pointed ears and a huge
leering mouth. He came out after me. I heard something
running up the stairs, and there appeared a unicorn between
the size of a pony and a horse. When he saw what was
happening, happening his head and charged, running his horn
into the ogre's mid-section. The dream ended there.
Once I had a dream that I met a Chinese boy god, and two
dragons, one with wings and the other with two hats. They
made no move to attack me, but watched me all the day. It
so happens I have two dragons in a collection of animals
that look like those I just mentioned. They were given to
me for my twentieth birthday, and from Hong Kong.

I had several dreams about mermaids I dreamed that one
saved me in a flooded school. She had long dark green hair,
and was accompanied by dolphins. I also dreamed about other
mermaids with long golden hair. They did their best to
protect me from harm. I have mermaids in the collection
too, as well as unicorns.
Once I dreamed about playing hide and seek with a
leprechaun. He kept appearing and disappearing in the
house, and was such a tricky character. I collect holiday
decorations, including those for Saint Patrick's Day, and I
have two leprechauns among them. Several times I dreamed
about going swimming with yell-haired mermaids, and once I
dreamed that I met one in an aquarium place. She was in a
huge aquarium with many glass barriers, and invited me in.
I got in by passing through the glass;, which somehow seemed
to disappear. We went around in the water for some time,
and saw a giant man-of-war. We had to keep well away from
its long tentacles, for they were extremely dangerous. The
tentacles of a man-of-war are poisonous enough to kill human
swimmers. Once I had a very strange dream about meeting
three mermaids in a long building on a pier over the ocean.
The entrance of this building was made easily so boats could
park near it. First I met one tall blonde mermaid sitting
at a desk with a telephone on it in front of her and her
talking on it. Then I met another shorter one with long red
hair sitting at a table with a computer and using it. She
asked me what I wanted there, and I said I was interested in
renting a boat. She summoned another mermaid, a slightly
shorter one than her, with long black hair. She told me
where to find a boat and would help me find it. They
weren't naked from the waste up as mermaids were in fairy
tales, but wore blouses. I don't pretend to know how they
could have walked on their fish tails, unless they weren't
really real mermaids, but ordinary women dressed up like
them. Then again, even if their tails were fake and their
legs were inside them, I don't know how they could have
gotten around on them Those are just about all the dreams I
can remember about fantasy creatures.




FAMILY AND PETS

I am a deaf-blind resident of Los Angeles California, living
at Highland Park apartments. I used to be able to see and
hear in my childhood, but became deaf and blind in my
mid-teens. I have a strong interest in animals. I have
been interested in them ever since I was a child. I have
visited zoos, and aquarium places, like Sea World, the
Monterey Beach Aquariums, the long Beach Aquariums, and
other places. My favorite animals are canines and felines.



I am from a large family, which is unfortunately
scattered. My parents are divorced. This was because my
father was terribly overbearing. He could be very selfish,
irrational and stubborn. So my I more lives in Olympia,
Washington with my oldest sister Carrie, her husband Roger,
and their two children Bryce and Danielle. My youngest
sister Kim lives in Newberry Park with her husband Michael,
and their two sons Jordan and Joey. My brother Casey, who
is the youngest in the family, lives in Glendale with his
wife Kathy. My father still lives in Ventura County where
we all left him after the divorce occurred, and we don't see
or hear from him. He has kept all to himself.

Having sisters who have kids, that makes me an uncle with
three nephews and one niece.
I have two nephews by the name of Jordan and Joseph live in
Newberry Park, CA with their parents, and another nephew
named Bryce and his sister Danielle live in Olympia, WA with
their parents. Bryce and Danielle and their mother Carrie
have many pets. Included are three retriever dogs named
Katie, Max and Bailey, five cats named Jonjon, Sassy,
Timber, Tigger and Snowball, two guinea pigs named Chester
and Bruiser, two rabbits named Spotty and Coconut, a white
mouse named Annabelle, a hamster named Noel, five birds, a
pair of river turtles named Ben and Jerry, an Australian
bearded dragon lizard named Godzilla, and four tanks of
fish. There had once been five, but one tank had been
removed due to a problem in it.
The cats were very funny. Jonjon is an orange tabby cat,
Sassy is a small cat of the same breed and color, snowball
is a white tabby cat, Timber is a large black Angora cat,
and tigger is a tigger cat. Whenever they want attention
they pace around and brush against people. Sassy is
particularly friendly, and if she gets no attention, she
usually clowns around on the floor and plays rough until she
gets it. She is practically the only cat who doesn't mind
being picked up and cuddled. The other cats, all of them
males, don't enjoy it, but they all enjoy being petted.
Timber loves to play with fake mice. He carries them around
in his mouth, jumps on furniture with them and drops them
and urges someone to play along with him. Sometimes the
cats bite when they want attention, and they are only
playing, but sometimes some of them do it too hard.
Max was a young male golden retriever and quite wild. He
is hardly ever let into the house. Katie is a black
Labrador retriever, and Bailey is a Polish white retriever.
They are far gentler than Max, and they get attention by
coming up and looking at people. Very sad to say, the
previous year, Max, Katie and
sassy all died. Katie was the oldest pet.
The birds were parakeets and finches. The fish are betas,
goldfish, guppies and South American tropical fish. Most of
these pets are kept in the house. The dogs are kept out in
the backyard about half the time, and the cats, part of the
time, in the garage. The rabbits are kept in a hutch out in
the yard and safe from the dogs. The guinea pigs, mouse,
hamster, birds and turtles are kept in the family room. The
lizard is kept up in Bryce's bedroom, because he is his pet.
Some of the fish are kept in the kitchen and some in the
living room. They got a new cat named Porch, who was a
tabby like most of the others, and a new dog named Jackson,
who was the same kind as Max, Bailey and Junior.
At the house of my nephews Jordan and Joey they only had a
dog named Jake. Like Max, he is a young golden retriever
and quite playful. Unlike Max, he is not hyperactive, but
quite gentle, although giving to jumping and licking. Both
of them like to play with balls.
To be frank, dogs and cats are my favorite domestic
animals, as they are more sociable to humans than most other
kinds of pets. Some animals are very skittish, and some are
very sour-tempered and prefer to be left alone. I have
always been an animal enthusiast, and my oldest sister and
her son and daughter are too.
GRANDPARENTS

I had maternal grandparents, who are, sadly, deceased.
They formerly lived in Pomona, but in 1974, moved to Ventura
and lived in the trailer park. There was this clubhouse in
their neighborhood with a swimming pool and a large lake
with ducks and fish swimming in it. Once when I was a kid
my grandfather took me to this lake and we threw some bread
down to the ducks and fish. At that time I could see and
hear. Sometimes the ducks got the bread, and sometimes the
fish got it. I couldn't very well see the fish, but I could
hear them splashing around and see the bread disappear when
they ate it. My grandparents sometimes joining us on trips
to the Los Angeles Zoo and the San Diego Zoo and Sea World.
Also, I had gone to San Francisco with them, and my brother
Casey, who is also deaf and hard-of-hearing, and we had
visited the Golden Gate Park Museum and Aquariums there. It
was a real great place with many fascinating things to
watch.
UNEXPECTED ANIMAL VISITORS

One time in April of 2009, some pigeons made nests out on
my patio underneath a table with boxes of fake plants on it.
They stayed for a while after hatching eggs in them, and
when the babies grew up they all left. I was glad of that,
because they didn't exactly belong on my patio deck, and the
spot they used was for humans, not birds. I regard them as
rather silly birds. Pastor Jim Hansen, the manager of our
apartment, held me responsible for this problem, because I
once left a lint of bird food out in a shallow box. He said
that gave them the idea that they had a new home to move to.
I hoped it would be ages before they came again.

SOME DOGS I ONCE KNEW

My grandparents once had two dogs named Charley and Angel.
Charley was a cockapoo, and Angel was a lahasa apso. When
they lived together, they were very funny dogs. Charley was
much older than Angel, and he was quite attached to me.
Whenever I went to visit my grandparents, he always wanted
to join me on furniture. He would jump on a chair or couch,
and lie down in my lap or beside me. He learned how to roll
over. Angel liked to tease him when she was a puppy by
chasing him around, wrestling with him, and other stuff.
She learned how to retrieve. My grandparents had given her
a stuffed rabbit, whose eyes they had worked out, for fear
that she might swallow them. She would jump on the couch
with the rabbit in her mouth, and I would take it and throw
it down, and she would go after it and bring it back. Both
dogs passed away years ago. Charley lived for 13 years, and
by the time he was that old, he was much too weak to jump on
furniture. Eventually, he died. Angel went to sleep once
and never awoke.
SOME PETS OF MY OWN

I had acquired some pet fish of my own, which I keep in
the kitchen. There is a two and a half gallon glass
rectangular bowl with guppies in it, and two two-gallon
plastic round fish bowls with betas and goldfish in them.
Betas cannot be put in with each other, because male ones
fight with each other for the females too. It's also not
wise to put betas in with fish their own size and smaller.
I had tried keeping betas and guppies together in bowls and
tanks, but the guppies kept disappearing, which made me
conclude that the betas must have been eating them. So I no
longed do that. Also, you can't overload a tank with too
many fish. Only one inch of fish per gallon of water can be
kept. Too many of them will make too much body waste and
absorb too much water, which won't allow them to survive.
My oldest sister in Washington had betas and guppies, but no
one could get a picture of them. They were much too small,
so I added pictures of my own. Having pets can be fun.
The family got new pets, including a couple of gerbils, a
couple of rats and a bullfrog. The rats were kept in a cage
and the bullfrog was kept in a metal bowl of water. They
were kept until they died. Also, the rabbits, guinea pigs,
mouse, hamster and lizard all passed away. Jake, the dog at
my youngest sister's house, also died. Eventually they got
a new dog named Junior and a smaller female one named Jenny.
They also got a new tank of fish.
Music Albums
MUSIC DISPLAY

MUSIC DISPLAY

This display contains over 250 cd albums and over 33 music
tapes. Many of these albums are rock and roll and many are
country western. It also has one boom box cd player, one
cassette recorder, one walkman tape player and one digital
book player, one pair of earphones.
List of cd and ct albums
Note: the abbreviation ct means cassette tape.
cd albums
Abba one single cd album
Air Supply one single cd album

America one single cd album
AM Gold six single cd albums of songs from 1960 to 1975
Bill Anderson five single cd albums
Lynn Anderson one single cd album
Andrews sisters one single cd album
Glenny Arbroth one double cd album
Louis Armstrong one single cd album
The Association one single cd album
The Beach Boys one single cd album

the Beatles one quintuple cd album
the BEE Gees one double cd album

Big Mountain one single cd album
Boston one single cd album
Jackson Brown one single cd album
Michael Bu5 one single cd album.
Jimmy Buffet one triple album
Glen Campbell one single cad album
The Carpenters one quadruple cd album
Mariah Carrey one single cd album
Johnny Cash one double cd album
cd mon one single cd album
Celine one single cd album
Harry Chapin one single cd album
Ray Charles one single cd album
Kenny Chesney one single cd album
Chris Christophersen one single cd album
Eric Clapton one single cd album and triple cd album
Roy Clarke one single cd album
Kelly Clarkson one single cd album
Classic Country Songs one single alum two double albums and
two single albums
Nat King Cole one single album and one double album
The Commodores one single cd album
Rita Coolidge one single cd album
Alice Cooper one single cd album
Country USA eight single cd albums
Jim Croce one single cd album
Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young one single cd album
Burtton Cummings one single cd album
ingram Dan and John Ford Coley one single cd album
Sammy Davis Jr. one single cd album
John Denver two single cd albums and one double cd album.
Neil Diamond two double cd albums
Divas one single cd album
Doobie brothers one single cd album

Bob Dylan two single cd albums

The Eagles one single cd album and one double cd album
Earth Wind and Fire one single cd album
Melissa Eldridge one single cd album
The Everley brothers one single cd album
The Fifth Dimension one single cd album
Wayne Fonata one Single cd album
Foreigner two single cd albums
Forever Played one single cd album
The Four Seasons one single cd album
Connie Frances one single cd album
Aretha Franklin one single cd album
Crystal Gale one single cd album
Bobby Goldsborough one single cd album
Grease one single cd album
Great Country Love Songs one single cd album
Andy Griffith one single cd album
Merle Haggard five single cd albums
Darrel Hall and John Oats one single cd album

Tom T. Hall two single cd albums
George Harrison one single cd album
Heart one triple cd album
Heart-shaped World one single cd album
Heat Wave one single cd album
Doctor Hook one single cd album
Johnny Horton one single cd album
Whitney Houston one single cd album
Burl Ives one single cd album
Sonny James one single cd album
The Jackson Five one single cd album
Michael Jackson one single cd album
Stonewall Jackson one single cd album
The Jefferson Starship one single cd album
Waylon Jennings one single cd album
Jewel one single cd album
Billy Joel one single cd album
Elton John one double cd album and one single cd album
George Jones one double cd album and one triple cd album
Tom Jones one single cd album
Juke Box Gems two single cd albums
KANSAS one single cd album
K. C. and the Sunshine Band one single cd album
Carole King one double cd album
The Kingston Trio one single cd album
Kiss one single cd album
John Lennon one single cd album
Gordon Lightfoot one single cd album
Loretta Lynn one single cd album
Fleetwood Mac one single cd album
The Mamas And the Papas one single cd album
Barry Manilow one single cd album
Dean Martin one single cd album
The Master's College Band one single cd album
Johnny Mathis one single cd album

C. W. Mc'call one single cd album
Tim Mc'graw one single cd album Don Mc'lean one double album
George Michael one single cd album
Jodi Miller one single cd album
Roger Miller one single cd album
Steve Miller one single cd albums
Ronnie Milsap two single cd albums
Monkees one single cd album

Anne Murray one single album one double and one triple cd
album
Ricky Nelson one single cd album
Willie Nelson one double cd album
Tina Nice one single cd album
Now one single cd album
Olivia Newton-John one single cd album and one double cd
album
Kenny Nolan one single cd album
The Osmonds one single cd album
Buck Owens one single cd album Parson's project one single
cd album
Alan Parsons Project one single cd album
Dolly Parton three single cd albums
Richard Pennigan (Little Richard) one single cd album
Police one single cd album
Elvis Presley three double albums
Pretty Woman one single cd album
Ray Price one single cd album
Charlie Pride one double cd album
Queen one single cd album
Real Live Woman one single cd album
The Real seventies one triple cd album
Otis Redding one single cd album
Helen Reddy one single cd album
Jerry Reed one single cd album
Jim Reeves two single cd albums
Charlie Rich one single cd album
Lionel Ritchie one single cd album
Marty Robins one single cd album
Rock Around the Clock one single cd album
Kenny Rogers one triple album, one single album and one
double album
The Rolling Stones two single cd albums
Linda Ronstant two single cd albums
Diana Ross and the Supremes one single cd album
Rose Royce one single cd album
Melanie Safkaschekery one single cd album
Santana one single cd album
Leo Sayer one single cd album
Bob Seger one single cd album
Seal Hits one single cd album
Pete Seger one single cd album
Carly Simon one single cd album
Paul Simon one double cd album
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel two single cd albums
Frank Sinatra one double cd album
Boz Skags one single cd album
Sound of Music one single cd album
Britney Spears one single cd album
The Spinners one single cd album
Dusty Springfield one single album
Ray Stevens one single cd album
Rod Stewart one single cd album
Barbara Streissand two single cd albums
Sugar Ray one single cd album
Donna Summers one single cd album
Taylor Swift two single cd
albums
James Taylor one single cd album
The Temptations one single cd album
B. J. Thomas one double cd album
Three Dog Night one single cd album
Mel Tillis one triple cd album
Time In A Bottle one single cd album
Toto one single cd album
Tanya Tucker one single cd album
Tina Turner one single cd album
Conway Twitty one single cd album
Ultimate Oldies one triple cd album
Keith Urban one single cd album
Andy Williams one single cd album
Hank Williams one double cd album
Maurice Williams one single cd album
Stevie Wonder one triple cd album
Tammy Wynette one single cd album
Peter, Paul and Mary one single cd album
Neil Young one single cd album
ct albums
the Beach Boys two ct album
David Bowie one ct album
Glen Campbell one ct album
The Captain and Tennille one ct album (On other side of same
tape with Glen Campbell album.)
Chicago one ct album
Judy Collins one ct album
Jim Croce and Don Mc'lean one ct album
John Denver one ct album
Bobby Goldsborough one cd album
The Fix Phantoms one ct album
Darrel Hall and John Oats one ct album
Dr. Hook one ct album
The Hooters And Sting one cd album
Billy Joel one ct album
Elton John one ct album
Elvis Presley one ct album
Linda Ronstant two ct albums
Rod Stewart one ct album
Holiday cd albums
Easter
He Is Alive one single cd album
Halloween
The Monster Mash one single cd album

Christmas
The Beach Boys one single cd album
Tony Bennet Christmas one single cd album
The Best of Christmas one single cd album
Big Band Christmas one double cd album
Michael Buble one single cd album
Caribbean Christmas one single cd album
Christmas Favorites four different single cd albums
Christmas In The Air one single cd album
Christmas Music one single cd albums
Christmas songs one single cd album
Country Christmas Songs one single cd album
Bing Crosby's Christmas songs one double cd album and one
single cd album
John Denver's Christmas one single cd album
Casey Kasum's Christmas album one double cd album
Thomas Kinkaid one triple cd album
Ilina Menzel one single cd album
Anne Murray one single cd album
Elvis Presley's Christmas album one single cd album
Rat Pack Christmas one single cd album
Lionel Ritchie's Christmas album one single cd album
Rock Around The Christmas Tree one single cd album
Silent Night one single cd album
Sound of the Seasons two single cd album
George Straight one single cd album
Andy Williams one single cd album
Christmas ct albums
Balto Christmas one ct album
Carols of Christ one ct album
Christmas Festival one ct album
December Voices one ct album
First Day Of Christmas one ct album
Jingle Bells one ct album
Joy to The World one ct album
Juds and Alabama Christmas one ct album
Norman Rockwell's CHRISTMAS one ct album
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton one ct album
Street Carols one ct album
Veterans Christmas one ct album
Roger Williams one ct album
Total Number of cd albums
259
total number of tapes: 33






POEMS of the REAL And
Imagination

THE HOUSEHOLD MENAGERIE

Welcome to the household menagerie,
Where there are quite a bunch of things to see.
There are three dogs who love much play,
And you can play with them any time and any day.
There are five sweet and funny cats who love to get
attention,
There are three orange ones, one black one and one white one
to mention.
There are two guinea pigs kept in separate cages,
Just in case they don't get along and fight in rages.
And there are two rabbits in the backyard in a hutch,
And they don't mind being held and are friendly so much.
There are a pair of gerbils in a may be considered who may
be cute,
But who knows if compared to hamsters and mice if their
smartness is astute.
There are five birds in a house-shaped cage on a stand,
So they can be kept safe from the cats which them they may
demand.
There are two river turtles in a cage in the living room.
Water turtles are very quiet and very active, you can
assume.
And there is a big bullfrog in the laundry room sink.
That may be a strange place to keep him, so you think.
On top of these their are four tanks of fish,
And each in kept in a place as the owners wish.
So whether or not you are married with kids and a spouse
Keeping many pets can be lots of fun in your own house.
Perhaps all of the above is more than people need.
And anybody would wonder how all of them they can feed.
But they do it somehow and quite all the same.
And this poem is literally true; no playing any games.
Birdhouses
Birdhouses can be of any shape and quite fancy,
And no bird can look at it and get antsy.
For birds don't understand human ways,
But will move into any kind of birdhouse any day.
You can keep a birdhouse wherever you please,
Either on a pole or up in trees.
They might not do well on a wall or fence,
Setting them on a narrow thing makes no sense
You can get one that may lack color
Or paint one any color other.
Setting them up depending on how may be rather hard
But once they are set up, they look good in a yard.
Give the birds plenty of time to move in,
And when they do, raising young they will begin.
Remember to always keep them high above the ground
Where no pesky dogs cats prowl around.
Bad Situations
When there is a glitch
Don't make a pitch
Don't jump in a ditch
Or say "Son of a bitch!"
Don't go throwing fits,
Don's or make bad hits
Even if it's
really the pits
Just take it easy.
And you can see.
Some problems work out
Whatever may come about.
Enchanted Hills Camp
Enchanted Hills Camp was a fine place to be.
Over there they had wonderful things to see.
Like a fish pond where you could row a boat.
And have fun on it while it stayed afloat.
They also had horses that were fun to ride,
And all of the staff working there were great and on the
good side.
They had arrangements of ropes for the blind to get around
Hanging only about three feet above the ground.
They had some old fashion cabins's there made mostly of
wood.
And the food there served there were really go good.
So Enchanted Hills Camp was a place I would recommend.
And you should cay there until the sessions are at an end.
TRAFFIC SIGNS and Lights
Signs and lights are important for you to know,

When you drive on the streets where to go
And what to do when it come to a place
Where you should stop and let other people cross in front at
their pace
The stop sign lets you know when you should
Stop and let people pass by in front, and it does real good.
And a yield sign is about the same in use
And for passing by this signs for anything, there is no
excuse.
Take notice of these signs and know when to stop.
Or you will get in big trouble with a traffic cop
Square road exit signs are put up here and there,
So that they'll let you know when to enter a road and leave
it anywhere.
And one-way street signs which look like an arrow.
Are just as useful, although pretty narrow.
Don't pass a one-way sign the wrong way,
Or a really bad accident can make it your last day.
And the x-shaped railroad crossing sign with it's electric
bell,
Is useful in its own way just as well.
If it starts ringing, don't pass it by,
Or a collision with a train can be a real good-bye.
And yellow road division signs, which look like a square on
a corner,
Are set up between railroad tracks and highways in good
order.
Street lights are quite necessary with their white light,
For guiding drivers there when they drive at night.
And traffic lights are quite something to use too.
For they work the same as signs just right for you.
Street signs with names are important to let you know,
Exactly which streets where you wish to go.
So keep in mind how important lights people signs are
When nowadays you do your driving safely in your car.

THE NIXI IN the NATURAL Pool

There was a young nixi living in a pool in a retired place.
A nixi, if you don't know, is a water sprite with much
beauty and grace.
She was accompanied frogs, toads, turtles and various fish,
And daily she liked to play with them whenever she had her
wish.
She sometimes saw men on the surface of the water and doing
water sports
And she thought of taking one for a husband if he was really
the right sort
But she mostly didn't try asking a fellow for marriage as
she was shy
But even so, she might try to lure a man to her in a way
that was sly.
When she swam around in the pool she let her golden hair
stream behind her,
And if she wanted some man to come to her for company, she
made it easy for him to find her.
With her beautiful looks, she could really entice any man.
We could only hope someday she would have her marriage plan.
THE DELIGHT OF HAVING HOBBIES
THE CRAFT DISPLAY
I had many clay projects that I made without a mold,
The number is so big that it's more the case can hold.
So I have some of them on top all the way across,
And with no dishonest people nearby, they are safe and of no
loss.
I have coins from foreign countries on God's green Earth.
Some of them are very value and some are tokens and of no
worth.
They rest in the case which rests on a box,
As as I keep my door locked, no need for a cabinet with
locks.
So come and view them, but don't think They are things to
spend.
I will keep them all and all in the real end.
THE Craft DISPLAY
I have in my closet and living room a real big craft
display,
And it's all of models and figures made of different kinds
of clay.
Some are in the closet, and some are on two shelves,
And they are things I made in the kitchen myself.
They are things I made, but don't plan to keep,
But hope to make into money someday, and some of them are
quite cheap.
So, hope to get visitors to look at this display,
And also hope that somehow I can sell more of them away.
Cooksville
Welcome to Cooksville town
A place neither up nor down,
But built on a counter rather than on a shelf
And made the creature himself.
Some of the building are paper and some are clay
They really make one marvelous display.
And there are vehicles as far as you can see,
On the land, in the sky and in the sea.
This is a miniature town that you can only view.
You cannot enter it, but seeing it would impress you.
THE GIGANTIC ANIMAL DISPLAY
Visitors, Observe the gigantic animal display,
I, the owner, set it up in mow own way.
Creatures are in groups according to where they are found
They look better like that than mixed up all around.
It's 208.5 square feet of wildlife space.
Set up all the way across the front of my place.
There are land animals and also animals of the sea.
And who put all of them here? Why, no one but me.
This is the world of artificial wildlife,
Not being real, these animals have no strife.
For they are only differently made models and figurines.
And all surrounded by handmade and natural scenes.
THE HOLIDAY YARD
Welcome to the handmade table holiday yard.
Making the whole thing was rather hard.
But I got it on two coffee tables
And to make it there I was well able.
It's green paper, cardboard on edges and wires and skewers
in front.
Making it was sure quite a time taking stunt.
I thought the holiday decorations should be in in a scene
And with trees in the back of it, it looks pretty keen.
And in the middle is a box covered with vines,
Which is for holiday flowers of different kinds
So, come and view it folks, It's really something to see.
Made was no the creative artist yours truly, me.
THE ECOLOGICAL GARDEN
I have an ecological garden out on my patio deck,
And what a display it is, and I made it, by heck.
I set it up one summer on two tables
It took much work, be to do it I was well able.
There are fake plants all over in front back and sides,
And little critters among them, where they may seem to hide.
And in the middle is a fake fish pond of clear cellophane,
And it's quite out of reach and safe from wind and rain.
And some of the cellophane is in front to save little things
from a blow,
That I feared would send them off the deck edge and down
below.
So if you could see it, you would hardly believe your eyes,
It's approximately 18.75 square feet; what a size!
Little water creatures are swimming around in the pond,
And way in the back are pinwheels are pinwheels, the plants
just beyond.
There are little reptiles and bugs under the plants as well,
And how it looks for people to see is really something swell
A LOT OF READING
I do a lot of reading every single day.
It a good way to pass the time away
I am very much particular about what I read
A lot of strong language, sexual stuff and violence are
things I don't need.
I get order forms from a library in my home town,
And if any book sounds do I mark the name down.
I send the forms back to the library and wait for them to
come.
And after finishing them I must return them where they are
from.
MUSIC cd and tape collection.
I have a vast music cd and tape collection.
And if you could see it, you would hardly believe the
selection.
These many music cd albums and tapes I just love to play,
I do that while having home meals and doing craft work every
day.
My favorite kinds of music are country and rock and roll.
And I play them daily in the mid day and evening on the
whole.
MY NEPHEW's PET LIZARD
Godzilla, my nephews lizard, was an awesome pet
The first one of his kind I had never before met.
As time went on he grew rather vast
And, except for catching live pray, he didn't move fast.
One time a cat scared him and he turned almost black.
And for some time his eating food, he had quite a lack.
Poor Godzilla died a few months ago.
And that put my nephew in quite a bit of woe.
But someday in the future he will get a new pet
And it will be a new land turtle, but when I know not yet.
If he gets a young one, it may outlive him,
And it will be in the same cage old Godzilla lived in.
General Hobbies
Hobbies of any sort can certainly and surely; a lot of fun.
You can collect and own whatever there is under the sun.
Collecting shells can be something that's attractively
grand,
And you can keep them where you wish with a quantity of
sand.
And you can add rocks to them that you might also collect.
That could go along with the shells for a very cool effect.
Collecting animal models can be a lot of fun too.
You can have enough set up for a vast menagerie or zoo.
Collecting music albums of different sorts can be fun to
your ears.
And collecting coins from different countries is an
attractive thing to see,
And having coins of different sorts can be an attractive
thing to see,
Putting them in a show case and near it are good places for
them to be.
Reading books of different sorts can keep you very busy.
And if you just read at your own good pace, you won't be
dizzy.
It can be much fun to make whatever you come up with out of
clay.
AND once you get started you can take your time working
away.
Having a miniature town to show can be fun too.
You can have people observe it when they come to visit with
you.
Having holiday decorations to use your home can be fun,
And you can collect and show off any kind under the sun.
There is no need to collect or make things at a fast rate.
Having hobbies of any sort and kind is just plain great!
The Great and Good Ship Highland
Ahoy! Welcome aboard The Highland, a great and fabulous
ship,
And when you are on board here, you'll be taken on a great
trip.
On this great, good and fabulous huge ship you'll get to
meet
Captain Crafter who commands a great and trusty fleet.
On board this ship, which is eight-hundred feet in length
You can exercise much by walking around for good and healthy
strength.
There is a museum on this ship, and bless the great Lord,
You can see a lot of things while you're on board.
It has animals from all over the word for you all to see
And there is a great and grand town as well on this ship not
thought of to be.
The town's name is Cooksville, and although not one of great
fame
It was thought of and made by this creative captain who
created it's name.
He reads a lot of books and you'll see them in boxes there.
Often he prefers to read inside his living room not to be
disturbed by rushing air.
He also likes to decorate for his birthday and Christian
holidays.
And he does it in the living room mostly in his own certain
ways.
There is a coin and currency display in a box and showcase
And the captain had it set up in his living room as a fine
place.
Captain Crafter is an artist and one creative and
imaginative guy
And he has a craft shop on board where you can get what you
want to buy.
He also likes rock and country music and has tape and cd
albums of a great deal
And enjoys playing music while doing craft work and having
meals.
His galley is very picturesque with photographs and
postcards here and there.
YOU can view them on a visit with him either standing or in
some chairs.
He has mobiles in the window that are great things for
passengers to view
When you're on board this awesome ship, there are displays
and things all around you.
So come on board The Highland, and what a good deal of fun!
You'll be kept seeing, if not all, a whole lot of things
under the sun.
DIETING

You should be starting dieting; don't be a pig!
It's not to go to have a stomach that's overly big.
So stay away from foots with high fat,
And sugar and salt; don't forget that.
Keep track of your weight by a scale.
Follow your diet rules and not fail.
Seriously, and frankly when a diet, to start
You must think about not straining your heart.
You should see a dietician for things to know,
For carrying too much weight can make you slow.
Bad foods can really alter your really, truly shape.
So too much weight as something you should try to escape
A regurgitating toilet in a house made a floor crack up.
Because it was carelessly used by a guy who was clumsy pup.
He was afraid to tell his mother and sister for fear they
would have a fit,
But in the end he had to tell them for they would soon find
out about it.
Oh, his sister got upset, and she and mom had to clean up
the mess.
And the floor couldn't but fixed, but had replaced, oh yes!
He swore he would no longer use that toilet from that time
on.
For he could not watch the number of toilet paper to be
gone.
Backyard Swimming Pool
It's fun to have a backyard swimming pool.
On hot days it keeps you good and cool.
And if you have a certain kind of toy,
That can really add to swimming joy.
Having a backyard pool can be fun,
And once in it, swimming has just begun.
So on hot days take a good swim
It's great exercise from every physical limb.
THE STARS, THE Moon AND THE Sun

See the Stars the moon and the sun in the sky,
They are miles and miles up high
Far about the earth's atmosphere,
But with a a telescope you can see them here.
To see them real close you must take a trip
And do it in a spaceship
In the sky they shine so bright
And give off much light.
But the starts are the real ones that give off light
And how they shine in the sky at night.
For an astronomer if one wants to be.
They are really quite a sight to see.
CAVE Dwellers

Cave dwellers were people of the old past
And their intelligence was quite vast,
They didn't need strength to kill the prey
But did some real thinking on how to slay
And their thinking led to making weapons using to kill
And they used these weapons with right good skill
You shouldn't put them down because they were primitive ones
The clubs and spears for killing were as good as guns
They killed animals and wore the skin
Whenever the coldness came to settle in,
And they ate animal meat whenever they wished,
A certain kind of animal steak was their real dish.
Oh, they may be primitive in a time in the past,
But when they made things they needed they could learn fast.
They have now died out, but are still remembered today
By modern people who learn of them by studying away.


DRAGONS
Dragons of any country were really awesome creatures
And they had horns, claws spikes and quite a few other
features.
Usually they were covered all over with scales.
And the scales were on them from their heads to their tails.
Dragons of europe were said to be all bad,
But in the Orient, goodness were what dragons were said to
have had.
Bad dragons deserve no more than a real good slay,
But good ones should be honored by so day by day.
The bad ones, for no reason, did nothing but ill,
But good ones should be respected by people who will.
So don't consider dragons always having a bad reputation
They are not considered that in every sort of nation.
Disneyland

Disneyland is a place where you have much fun.
You pick any ride you want and are on the run.
There are characters to see here and there,
And there are ideas of different sorts everywhere.
There are also shops where you can buy what you wish,
And restaurants that serve any kind of dish.
It's good to have a ticket that you must pay,
And Disneyland will really make it your day.
I chose to be a pure person rather than one profane,
Using strong language often when mad is a pain.
And someone doing it in the wrong time and place
Can really prove a social disgrace.
I find much profanity not good to use,
It can be to some people like an emotion bruise
So people who use it so much are real dopes.
And should have their mouths washed out with soap.
The College of the Canyons
Angels
This poem is based on some real people I met at our
apartments on North Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, and they
were from the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita and
were at the Braille Institute as interns.
At the Braille institute of America, I've met lovely young
things,
From the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita and they've
had some little flings.
They are eleven lovely young ladies and four fine young men
Whom I've met at BIA and here at home every now and then.
Two lovely young ladies and three of the fine young men took
me out to eat,
At fast-foot restaurants near my home, and that was so
sweet!
I met two of them with the initials K. S. and F.. A.
At this college last March and they made it my day.
I was there for the spring festival with my many works of
art.
And I made much money from the sales that was the best of a
good start.
Two young ladies with a name beginning with A. and one
beginning with J.
Stayed with me during the sales for a good deal of the day.
One young man took me to Hobby Lobby, and we looked in the
place around
For certain things I thought they had for sale, but were not
to be found.
They had these things for sale, but they were for a time
gone.
And I had to go to Michael's Crafts and over there continue
the search on.
I still see some of these young people at BIA on some
Fridays.
And I very much enjoy their company there, and they really
make it my days.
Some of them may move on to other places, which may be
rather sad,
But I should be thankful for all their time that I had.
The Ballad Of Captain Crafter
Ahoy there, ladies and gentleman Captain Crafter is the
name,
And basically and generally collecting and making things is
my game.
Welcome aboard the good ship Highland,
Which can take you inn a trip to any island.
This ship is a modern museum cruiser,
And I am it's own proud and gifted user.
This ship is one very great fabulous one that ever sailed
the sea,
And when you're on beard, there will be exhibits you never
thought there would be. On board there are animals here
there and everywhere,
And they are kept in their own place in open air.
And there is a coin and currency display,
With coins from different countries made in each different
way.
THERE is also Cooksville, a miniature town to see,
And it's unique and unlike any town where one can be.
And there is a music display with many songs by singers and
groups galore.
Any time you want to listen to it, you can hear more and
more.
And there is a holiday garden and two walls for holiday
decorations
The garden is such an attractive thing you can look with
admiration.
There are many mobiles in the galley window exposed to the
daylight sun,
And when you see them where you are you may think they look
fun.
There are pictures all over the cupboard doors, and they
make quite a scene.
If you could see it all, you would think it's so keen!
So come on board the Highland and enjoy all the great fun.
Seeing all these exhibits will certainly keep you on the
run!




FUNNY BUSINESS
I thought I might share all this funny stuff here. We used
to have a swimming pool here, but it broke down long ago and
was never replaced. It wasn't the kind that's dug in the
ground made of cement and with a deck around it. First we
had a metal and plastic one, but it broke down. Then we had
a large inflatable one, but it broke down too. Joan Hansen
the wife of Pastor Jim Hansen, said we can't have another
one unless it's like the first one I described. It's a law,
she said. Well, in the past we went to the house (a family
named Kenney, who were friends of the Hansens, and they let
us use a swimming pool they had on their yard, sometimes
when they weren't home. One time when we were there, I was
changing into my swim suit in the downstairs bathroom, and
unintentionally slammed the bathroom door. Pastor Hansen
told me to be careful about that. I made quite a noise when
I did that. Of course, I can't wear my implant in water, as
that would ruin it, and without it I'm literally deaf as a
doorknob, unable to hear anything. As it was, he told me
not to be a bull. That reminded me of the Zodiac. I
studied about that when I was fifteen. The second sign in
it is a bull, but it's not my sign. Mine is the ram. Well,
I might be better off as a ram anyway. Bulls are more
bad-tempered, violent, formidable and destructive. I read
something interesting about bullfighting in a book some
years ago. Some people say that bulls will attack anything
that's red, which is why bullfighters, who are also called
matadors, use red capes, but that's not true. Bulls are
color blind. It might make a different if they use a white
cape or a color close to it. White, I read, is no color.
Some educated matadors are aware of this fat that bulls
can't see colors. Bullfighting is very brutal and merciless
matadors are supposed to kill the bulls. They use swords in
doing so. Anyway, there are worse things than bulls. I
could have been a hippo. Or a rhino. Or a rogue elephant.
Or a sperm whale. Hippos and rhinos are known for having
very bad tempers and they can be very clumsy and dangerous,
and they wreck things when mad. A rogue elephant is what
they call one with a very bad disposition. These elephants
don't travel in hers, but go by themselves, and they reek
havoc. As for sperm whales, 1 Read that they can be mean
and sometimes attack ships by ramming heads into the hulls
and sinking them for no evident reason. No one knows why.
If I could turn into a hippo or a rhino, no one would have
wanted to join me in the Kenneys' pool. If I could turn
into an elephant, I could have fun squirting people with
water! I read that they sometimes do that to each other for
fun, and they also squirt themselves when they get dirty and
want to wash. If people got dirty around there, I could
give them shower baths. If I could turn into a whale, I
would have been too big to go into the pool and too heaLy to
move. Some whales are really colossal. I read about how
they sometimes get washed up on beaches, and that's fatally
bad for them. If they're not moved back into the water
immediately they'll die. Their skin will crack and rot off.
I think dolphins, which are said to be one of the smartest
animals on Earth, also get washed up on beaches. This kind
of reminds me of something I once saw on tv when I was a
kid. You may not remember them or have never heard of them,
but there were these programs for kids called THE KROFT
SUPERSTARS, made by Sid and Marty Kroft. They included as
listed below:
H. R. Puffinstuff
THE BUGGALOOS
LIDSVILLE
SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS
THE LAND OF THE LOST
FAR OUT SPACE NUTS
THE LOST SAUCER
There was this program that showed cartoons that were to
be planned for channel four, and two sea monsters from
SIGMUND AND THE SEA Monsters were threatening some people.
The people turned against them and chased them out. A woman
found this man in some room and asked him, "Ho, excuse me,
sir. Did you see a couple of sea monsters running past
here." This guy was dressed in a black and white striped
shirt like the kind a sports referee wears. He said, "Sea
monsters? Naw, I wouldn't like to see them ugly things.
They look like a rhinoceros with a hotfoot." Off screen a
whole crowd of people started laughing. That was hilarious.




UNPREDICTABLE ANIMALS


Christopher R. Cook

Through the years of my life I've had all sorts of
unpredictable experiences with animals and also some
mishaps. In 1985 we had a dog, our first golden retriever,
those name was Buckwheat. We called him Bucky for short.
He was quite spoiled in part ways. He got attention much of
the time by backing up recliners and banging his backside
against them until someone petted him. He loved to play
with tennis balls, bath towels and just about anything he
could get hold of. Once I came from the kitchen with a
large brownie in one hand, and Bucky saw me with it and
started banging. I knew dogs were not supposed to eat junk
food, as it could be unhealthy for them, but he wouldn't
stop begging unless I gave him some. I was heading for a
recliner and he followed me all the way there. So I had to
split it with him. He wouldn't give me any peace unless I
gave him a piece. Fortunately, he didn't beg for me. he
gave me a few licks as if to say, "Thank you" and left. We
got a red retriever named Pookey, and she sometimes teased
Bucky as a puppy, but no longer did so when she grew up.
She was very mischievous and loved to throw herself on
people whenever she wanted attention. She also chewed up
whatever she found and sometimes urinated on the floor. At
about the same time, we had a female manx cat named Katie
and a female black cat named Timber, both of which came from
the Humane Society. My oldest sister Carrie got them. They
both grew up and Katie became pregnant and had kittens.
First she had three, then four and then five. Most of the
kittens were donated, except for two, a male named Tommy and
a female one named Delta. Delta was very spoiled and got
quite attached to me. Often when I was in a recliner she
would come along and climb into my lap and lie down in it.
Sometimes she did some head-butting, and when I put her down
and went around the house she would tag after me. Tommy was
rather timid. Sometimes Delta enjoyed teasing him. Once
when I held her in my lap and Tommy was on the couch near by
she got off me and went over to him and caught hold of him
and bit his left ear. I pulled her off him, and he tried to
bite her back, but she was out of his reach. I thought they
were going to have a fracas on the couch, and I didn't want
to see that. When Pookey grew up, she became pregnant and
had nine puppies. Later on she had nine more. We had to
donate most of them, except for one, which we kept and named
Buster. When he drew up re somehow outgrew Bucky. Sadly,
Bucky died in the end. Pookey was eventually donated. We
lost Delta. She simply disappeared and was never seen
again. As time went on so did Katie. We had a little
female alley cat named Gimpy, whom we found. She had a
broken front leg. It was never the same. Like Delta, she
was very much attached to me and insisted upon lying in my
lap while I was on recliners. She liked to rub with her
head and purred a lot. Timer also disappeared. She was
often not friendly, and growled a lot when held. We lost
Gimpy in the end too. Like the other, she just disappeared.
Only Tommy remained. We moved from Ventura to Oxnard. I
liked Ventura better. It was nearer to the beach, where 1
Always like to have fun, and it had the county fair there
and neat shell stores. We took Buster along, and at first
not Tommy, but in the end we did. He didn't seem to like
the new house, though. He stayed out front much of the
time. We also had another young golden retriever named
Keaton, who liked to jump on people, and had the bad habit
of chewing things. He was young and untrained. Buster, I
regret to say, met a bad end. He was hit by a car near are
house, and had to be put down. It was very sad. He was
still a young dog. Keaton was donated, and we got two new
dogs, a yellow retriever named Tetris, who was a a guide dog
for my brother Casey, who like me, is blind, and a little
golden retriever puppy named Sailor. Of course, being a
puppy, Sailor was mischievous. He chewed up whatever he
found on the floor, he brought rocks in from the backyard
and left them on the floor and he destroyed plants out in
the backyard and left parts of them on the floor. Tetris,
on the other hand, was older and specially trained, so he
was no handful. As a puppy, Sailor hated to be left alone.
Whenever he was in any place, he made terrible fusses.
After I was at this place called the Living Skills Center
in San Pablo, I moved back with my mother and grandmother in
the Ventura Marina trailer park. My parents got divorced,
because my father was overbearing. Always was. We had a
rag doll cat named Princess around there. Her name was
Princess, and she was good-natured, but a bit shy. She
fussed at times. I can well remember a time when I got up
one morning the the television set was on in my grandparents
bedroom. Before I go on, I should state that my grandfather
died before my parents divorced. He passed away at age 81
of lung cancer. Princess was out near the laundry room
meowing practically like crazy, and I wondered as I made my
way through the bedroom what she was carrying on about. I
found the inner door of the laundry room closed and opened
it to see if the outer door, which led to the backyard was
closed. My mother didn't want Princess out while she was
gone, for fear that she would wander off into the
neighborhood and possibly not return. Cats and dogs
sometimes do that. When I opened this door, Princess ran in
there and up to the outer door. Then I got the idea. She
wanted some outdoor freedom. Well, she was not to have it.
In this trailer park there were no fences around the
backyards. The whole place was surrounded by a high brick
wall, and there was no gate at the entrance way. That would
have given her the advantage to escape, if she had the mind
to. I had some mishaps with her. Once when i was wandered
in my grandparents' bedroom she got in my way and got her
forepaws stepped on. Later on she was lying in a chair near
the phone and I came by and sat on her before I noticed her.
At first I thought she was a bundle of clothes or be sofa
cushion until she started squirming. She had the bad habit
of urinating on a wool rub in the bathroom by the den room.
My mother had to remove the rub in the end, but one day
Princess went in there and urinated on the floor where the
rug had been. So I had to keep the door closed. I regret
to say that she came to a bad end a few years after we moved
from Ventura. My mother moved to Olympia, WA and lived with
my oldest sister and her family there. They used to live
near the Pacific Northwest Forest where wild beasts lived.
Princess got where she shouldn't have been and was devour
was fierce and evidently hungry cougar. I knew it was the
nature of wild predatory beasts; to eat other animals, and
that great cat was only reacting to his instincts, but even
so I thought Princess's fate was cruel and undeserved. A
few years after that occurred they moved to another place
farther from the forest.
Before I continue, I should say that through the years we
had all sorts of creature besides dogs and cats: rabbits,
guinea pigs, mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, ducks, chickens,
parakeets, small snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and fish.
We even had unusual things like land crabs and crayfish. We
didn't buy the crayfish from pet stores. I don't think they
sell them there. We got them from a park in Oxnard called
Bubbling Springs Park. A stream was there, and there were
many crayfish. We tried to keep a few of them in a large
aquarium near the front door of our house, but they fought
and killed each other. They like to fight like lobsters and
shrimps. Sometimes after they molted their shells they ate
each other.
Before I moved to the Living Skills center we had a river
turtle in a afore-mentioned large aquarium, which was set up
in my bedroom. He was a fascinating pet, but in some ways
mischievous. First he kept eating some small goldfish in
the tank with him, and my mother had to buy new ones. Seal
times he escaped from his tank and had to be hunted for.
Once he did that on Labor Day morning while I was alone at
home and my parents were gone. I had to hunt for him
myself. I found him down under this cabinet on wheels in
the corner of my bedroom and plopped him back in his tank
where he belonged. We had tank decorations set up in the
aquarium. There was a large ceramic castle, a small ceramic
dragon figurine and some other things. The trouble was he
kept knocking them down. One time his filter broke down and
would no longer work. It was never replaced. He was moved
out in the backyard because he had to hibernate, and I the
end he escaped from the yard and was never seen again. He
simply couldn't or wouldn't stay put.
I had crazy experiences with some dogs and cats that
belonged to my sister Carrie and her husband., Roger. I can
remember a time when Timber, a male black angora cat that my
brother-in-law required as a pet, followed me around the
house wanting my attention. He even found me in the largest
bathroom where I was showering. While getting dressed, I
happened to look down, and there he was lying on the floor
watching me. He liked to play with fake mice and little
pompoms. He could be rather persuasive when he wanted
someone to play along with him. Once when I was in the
family room Jonjon, a large orange tabby cat, got the idea
to harass me. He kept rubbing on me, hoping for some
petting. When I gave it to him, he gave me a few hard
bites. I couldn't stop him by telling him off, and so had
to eject him from the living room. Tigger, a tiger cat, and
Sassy, a small orange tabby cat, also liked to bite. Sassy
liked to play rough like a kitten at times. A white tabby
cat named Snowball was rather overactive and sometimes hard
to settle down. In addition to these pets, they had three
dogs, a female golden black Labrador retriever named Katie,
a male golden retriever named Max and a female white
retriever named Bailey. Bailey was from Poland. They were
half-grown puppies when Carrie and Roger accepted them as
pets. They also had other creatures like rabbits, guinea
pigs, birds, two river turtles, one mouse, one hamster one
lizard and some fish. As time went on two of the guinea
pigs, two rabbits the mouse, the hamster and the lizard all
died. Once they had a couple of rats and one large
bullfrog, but they also died. They had the guinea pigs
replaced and the rabbits too. I had more crazy times with
the cats. Once when I had a headache and had to take pills,
I tried to rest on a couch in the living room, but couldn't
for long. Snowball decidedly wanted my attention. I was
lying on a couch in the living room with one hand on the
edge of it. He came over and jumped up and rubbed his
muzzle on it. I got up and caught him and took him into the
family room. I said that this guy came along and woke me
up. I had a little hard time holding him because he kept
moving his forepaws up and down. I set him down on the
floor and went to the table for breakfast, but he wanted
more of my company. So he followed me to the table and
jumped on it and prowled and pocked around. After a while
he left. Timber sometimes got my attention by jumping on
the table and resting on it. Sassy was the only cat who
seemed to work up the nerve to get in laps. One time when I
was on a couch in the living room she came along and jumped
on my lap and lay there. I plopped her down on the floor,
but she jumped back on. I set her on the couch alongside
me, but she just came back and climbed back on. She was
determined to stay where she wanted to be. Once after I
showered in the bathroom she came in there and distracted me
by rubbing on my ankles. I had to give her some petting to
settle her. She lay down while I resumed getting dressed.
I picked her up and carried her all the way downstairs.
Once when I had Tigger in the living room with me he almost
bit me, but I didn't let him. Once when I was in there near
the air hockey game, Jonjon came along and jumped on the air
hockey table. He was so big and heavy that when he landed
on the table he jarred it. I picked him up and carried him
around for a while. He usually didn't enjoy being held.
After a while I let him go. I took care not to let him bite
me. I sometimes sat out with the dogs and played with them
for a while. They loved to play with tennis balls and
stuffed animals. Max was often rowdy and liked to
roughhouse whenever possible. Jonjon was the only cat who
didn't seem to enjoy being held. The other cats didn't mind
it.
In the past I had had neighbor's pets act toward me as if
they wanted a bosom friendship with me. One time my mother
and I went to the apartment of a woman who owned a little
Lahasaspo puppy named Bear. When she opened the door, Bear
came with her. While sitting in a recliner at the place,
the puppy decided to keep me company. I was reading a book
and he came and jumped up against my legs. He wanted to get
in my lap, but was too little to jump. So I had to pick him
up and set him there. He jumped for my face, intending to
give me some licks, bi had to hold him down. His mistress
called him away, and he jumped down on the floor. After a
minute or two he came back. Again I had to pick him up and
set him in my lap. He just sat there and looked up at me.
Then we had to leave.
My grandparents once had a male cockapoo named Charley and
a female lahasaspo named Angel. We gave Charley to them,
and a friend of their gave Angel to them. I knew them both
ever since they were puppies. We once owned Charley's
mother. Her name was Muffin. We didn't have her for long.
She had belonged to some other people, but after we got a
new dog named Patty, she ran away from us and returned to
her original owners. Charley had the bad habits of chewing
up whatever he found on the floor and swiping food. He and
Angel also twisted around and chewed on the hips. Charley
learned how to roll over. Angel learned how to retrieve a
toy rabbit she was given. They always wanted to join me on
furniture whenever I was there. Angel sometimes jumped on a
couch with the rabbit in her mouth and I would tale it from
her and throw it down. She would go down after it and bring
it back. They were kept at the grandparents house until
they both died. Charley was older and so went first. It
was sad,. They were neat dogs.
My mother was formerly acquainted with a family named
Lavery who owned a dog named Wylie. He was a young border
collie. Sometimes we had to dog sit him at my grandparents.
He could be a rascal at times. He chewed up whatever he
found on the floor and swiped food. Sometimes when the
house doors were open he would run out and off into the
neighborhood Sometimes we took him to the Ventura Marina
beach, and he messed around with the sand digging it up and
throwing it behind him. Sometimes we got hit by it. Once
we took him on a boat ride that we went on out on the
Ventura Bay. I got to drive the boat part of the time.
There were some seals out there and Wylie spent some time
barking at them. Later on I asked my mother whether he was
trying to communicate with them sociably or telling them
off. She said he was afraid of them. I'll never forget a
time when we spent the night at the Laverys' house after I
spent a Christmas vacation in Washington. Wylie was so glad
to see me again that he wanted to go to bed with me. I was
on a small chair with a square thing in front of it. He lay
down by me and started giving me a series of licks. Someone
called him off. He came back after a while and almost got
me in the stomach with one paw. Nearly knocked the wind out
of me. He could be a bit rough without meaning to be.
Once when I was about 11 years old I was at my
grandparents' house in Ventura in their backyard where they
had a garden. My oldest sister Carrie sometimes caught
lizards and frogs and gave them to the grandparents to help
get rid of pesky insects by eating them. Once one of
the frogs strayed into the house of a couple who lived to
the right of my grandparents' house and the man had to go in
and get him back out. I think the frog was frightened when
he found himself in their house. It was a good thing the
husband got him back out. or he might have been stuck in
the for good, or stepped on. I saw the frog myself. He was
hardly bigger than a mouse. Later on Carrie got a tree frog
and gave him to them. I geld the jar he was in. Sometimes
he jumped out and the water stuck to the glass. He was kind
of cute for a frog. My grandmother didn't mind frogs and
lizards, but she didn't care for toads. Besides insects, my
grandparents had trouble with jack rabbits coming and eating
their vegetables. They had a cockapoo named Charley that
they got from us in 1977, but oddly enough, although he
would chase cats, he didn't dine chase jack rabbits. There
were also gophers, red squirrels and opossums around the
trailer park, but I learned that the number of them
decreased when more people there took on dogs and cats. A
neighbor living a few houses away from my grandparents had a
big black female cockapoo named Penny and a big black and
white female alley cat named Andy. Sometimes the two
animals had fun chasing each other for play. Candy
sometimes killed gophers and brought them to her owners and
once she brought a rabbit to them.
One time at Camp Bloomfield in 19782 I was at a nature
activity, and had a crazy experience with a small goat. I
had him on a rope and had a hard
that handling him. He kept running here and there and
pulling on the rope. Once when he was brought near me I
tried to pet him but he left moving around so much, it was
very difficult.
goats can be so unpredictably stubborn.
I had been to petting zoos in the past. Once at age 18 I
was at one at Magic Mountain. I fed some sheep there. I
tried to pets goats but they seemed to want to have noshing
to do with me. They kept lowering their heads and running
off.
Later once I visited a petting zoo at some place in
Oregon. There were a variety of hoofed animals there,
including a pony, an antelope, a zebra, a small llama, a
small deer, some sheep, some goats, and a baby donkey. The
zebra nuzzled my arm. I was rather surprised that a zebra
would do that. I was told they can be ornery. They bite
and kick, but this one seemed glad to meet me. I was licked
by the antelope, pecked by a pheasant and nipped by a goose.
I didn't really want to touch the goose, for he kept making
a loud honking sound and didn't sound friendly, but Carrie
kept urging me to do so. He gave me a nip on the arm, but
it didn't hurt. They had some emus there too. An emu is a
large ostrich-like bird of Australia. They're not as large
as ostriches. Like them, they can't fly and kick in self
defense. We tried to touch them, but at first they kept
running away. We finally touched one that was lying down.
They have long thin feathers was a little cat in the petting
zoo, and I got to hold him for a while. They also had some
wild fierce things that you could not touch. There was a
cougar, a black bear, a few lions, a tiger, a red fox, an
Arctic fox, a raccoon and a monkey. They were all looking
smart except the bear. Carrie said he was looking dumb.
The cougar was also looking famished. He was slavering at
the mouth. I learned that Arctic foxes are usually pure
white in the winter, but turn gun-metal gray in the summer.
One time I was at a petting zoo at the San Diego zoo. I
saw a huge black-faced sheep there. I was told they can be
ornery; territorial, but this one was quite tame and didn't
mind me touching him. He simply stayed put and didn't move.
He was about a meter tall. Never had I seen such a big one.
Once I went to Sea World with my mother and youngest
sister Kim, who was at a college in that city. They had a
kind of petting zoo there with some dolphins and a pilot
whale calf swimming around in a pool. Will: could feed fish
to them. I was rather nervous about feeding the young
whale, for I heard that pilot whales, which are toothed
whales, have real teeth. I wasn't nipped by him.
I remember a time when I was at Enchanted Hills Camp in
Napa. I liked that camp. It was just the place for the
deaf-blind. They had an arrangement # ropes so that campers
could get around the place on their own. Once when I was
feeling along one of these ropes I came to this corral. A
horse was standing near the fence with his head sticking out
over it, I overtook him when I came. Sometimes when I came
near there, horses would turn away, but this one stayed put,
so I could touch him for a while. I saw a goose and two
small dogs there. I only held the goose for a while. One
of the dogs was a dachshund and the other was a French
poodle. The poodle seemed rather scared.
Once I went to a petting zoo at the Ventura County Fair.
They had several animals: a llama some goats, some sheep, a
cow, a miniature horse and a small pig. The horse was only
a cubit (half a yard), high, and the pig was only about ten
inches high. The llama was about five feet high, and
therefore the tallest of them all. Later on I was there at
this zoo and a goat came over and began licking my hand,
while another one came from the other direction and kept
jumping and pawing at me. They can be pretty crazy
sometimes. I saw an Australian wallaby there. He was lying
on one side with his tail cured up and his head upraised and
watching me as I petted him. I learned that, unlike their
larger kangaroo relatives, the wallabies don't stand
upright, but on all fours. The female's pouch opens at the
bottom rather than at the top.
When I and my siblings were kids my father was sometimes
contemptuous of cats. He sometimes complained bitterly
about them jumping on the table and coming after food,
knocking things down and messing up the floor. He made a
ground rule that we were to have only one cat around the
promises. Just one and no more. I suppose it never
occurred to him that any kind of pets can get into mischief.
Dogs can, and so can rodents, birds, reptiles, etc, etc.
Depending on the way they are, it hardly makes a difference.
That's all of the experiences that I can share here.
Animals have their funny ways.


WHERE I GET IDEAS TO
MAKE THINGS

I just thought I might share a bit more about where I get
ideas to make things. Previously, I mentioned that I got
the idea to make a ship's steering console for my living
room from wooden and metal climbing towers in parks. I made
a ship's steering wheel out of papier mache, and I used a
stuffed paper towel roll for the steering column. This
console has dials of different sorts, a radar scanner, a
chronometer, a compass and a clock, and I added a computer,
radio and tv monitor so it could look like that of a modern
ship. It's under my living room window on top of the air
conditioner. Some people have seen it.
In the past at the Braille Institute I once had a tile
picture class. Once I made a picture of a yellow submarine
underwater with a bunch of sea creatures of various
descriptions around it. I got the idea from the Beatles'
old hit, YELLOW Submarine, which I have on cd. I also made
a picture of a fire-breathing green dragon on a seashore
near a cave with a palm tree by it. That was based on Peter
Yarrow's song PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON, which I also have on
cd. I made a hot air balloon picture up in the sky with
clouds. I still have it, but I sold the other two
afore-mentioned pictures. This one was based on the Fifth
Dimension's song UP, UP AND AWAY. So you can see that I was
and still am a music addict, in spite of my severe hearing
problem,, and I got the ideas from very old songs.
Most recently I painted a picture of a sunset with all
different colors and mixed it with glowing paint to make it
look real. Then I made a picture of an undersea scene with
fish in it. This scene wasn't based on anything, but I got
the idea for the sunset from a real one I saw when I was
ten. It was while in this blue mustang in the parking lot
in front of a Safeway store in Oxnard where I and my
siblings grew up. It looked like a mixed up rainbow on a
dark sky. I plan to send both scenes to this lady in New
York who is an artist with plaster.
I made a jet plane out of an empty double-sized Coke can
and some unused braille paper. It's a four-engine jumbo jet
and I painted it mostly silver with gray windows and
windshield. I hung it over my miniature town called
Cooksville. I thought of the old song LEAVING ON A JET
PLANE which was originally sung by Peter, Paul and Mary, and
later on by John Denver.
Once I made two comical animals that I had a dream about
when I was a kid. In this dream I was in my grandfather's
den room in their new house in Ventura and there were these
two funny animals, a green and yellow turtle with black
spots and a white snail with a pink shell. The turtle was
male and the snail was female. They were about the size of
terrier dogs and were able to speak humanly. I guess they
must have been puppets. I made them out of clay and called
them Tommy Turtle and Sally Snail. I have them on a shelf
with some cartoon and chic animals.
More than once I made a ceramic slab project depicting a
mermaid on a rock or a pier piling accompanied by a seal on
her right side and a dolphin on her left side, while she sat
back patting their heads. I had a thing like that displayed
at the Braille Institute. They used to put large art
projects on display in the lobby of the Sight Center there,
but no longer do so now. I got the idea from some stories I
read about mermaids, particularly one adult science fiction
one called THE MERMAID IN THE Swimming POOL by Douglas
Wallop. This was about a 47 year old man named Frank
Coleman, who had a wife, son and daughter. One night a
young mermaid named Mona appeared in his swimming pool and
took him on journeys in her own magical world. At one point
she played fetch with a porpoise. She threw a stick of
driftwood out, the the porpoise went after and it retrieved
it. Sometimes when I made these projects, I added tiny
starfish or sea turtles to them. Besides this project, I
also had another large slab project displayed in the lobby
of four circus performers on a rectangular slab. They were
a clown holding a ball, a chimpanzee in clothing, a kangaroo
on a wooden box with its hind feet up and out in front, and
a girl the long hair and in a short-sleeved short-skirted
dress. It was supposed to look as if they were playing ball
with each other. I sold the circus project to a lady, who
was a student there, but I had no desire to sell the sea
animal project. I still have it.
Descriptions OF DISPLAYS in MY APARTMENT
I recently worked on this paper scene with an American
flag on it, a Dodger flag above the American one and a
Dodger poster above the Dodger flag. Formerly, this scene
was in my kitchen on the right-hand side of the cupboard,
and down below it I made a scene of a baseball field with a
chain link fence around it. I had it there for a long time,
but then transferred it from the kitchen into the living
room, and after taping it to the living room closet, I put a
quantity of blue-painted sheets of braille paper around and
above the flags and the poster to resemble a sky scene. So
now it looked like a picture of a baseball field with a
fence, and these flags and the poster above. I rather got
the idea from Dodger Stadium, where I got the Dodger flag
and the poster. I got the American flag from Michael's
Crafts some years ago. Working on it was hard work, but I
managed to accomplish it. I have been to Dodger Stadium in
the past. Once Dee Grubb, one of our current staff members
at Commissions On Compassion, where I currently live, took
me and Pastor Jim Hansen's sons Jim Jr and Jeremy and Bob
Hultslander's two youngsters Nate and Naomi to Dodger
Stadium, and there we visited the gift shop where I got the
flag and poster, and one stuffed elephant in a sitting
position, which I put in my first animal display. I am not
exactly a sports fan, but I rather enjoy being at the ball
game just to be out in the open. It has been a long time
since we last went! there. The ticket costs have gone up.
in the place where this scene used to be, I made an undersea
scene out of pastel blue paper that I bought from Office
Depot, and I made small sea animals out of lightweight model
magic clay and hung them on the paper. That was to be in
connection to the sea animal display.
I thought I might put in the time to describe eight
displays I have in my apartment in the front rooms. I will
do so one by one.
The Global Wildlife Display. This display is in a
bookcase six feet high and five feet wide, and with six
levels. It's so named because it has animals of all ports
from all of the continents: North America, South America,
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Antarctica. I might even
have some creatures from certain islands.
The Mythology and Prehistory Display. This display is a
bookcase next to the first one. It's about six and a half
feet high and two and a half feet wide. It has five levels,
but I added a sixth one, which is a board on a plastic box
on its side with the top in front and open. Most of the
things in this display are make-believe. The things on the
bottommost shelf are prehistoric.
The Coin And Currency Display. This display is in a
showcase inside a large plastic box on its side on another
box with the top in front and the lid on top of it. The
showcase is a large plastic one. Many of the coins in it
are from foreign countries and very valuable, while some are
only tokens and worth nothing.
Cooksville. This display is a miniature town on the
kitchen counter between the living room and kitchen. It has
a sea channel in front with a landing, streets;, buildings,
all sorts of vehicles, including some aerial ones high
above, and a railroad.
The Marine Wildlife Display. This display is two
bookcases in the kitchen with a two by eight board on top.
There are all sorts of sea animals from top to bottom. The
board has a harbor scene on it called Christ Harbor, named
after Jesus Christ. There is an ocean floor at the bottom
with shells, rocks and sea plants. There are two fake
aquariums on the fourth and fifth levels of this display
that turn on when a power strip, which they are plugged into
together, is switched on.
The Music Display. This display is a two-level coffee
table with a dinner tray table in front, a set of four
bookshelves and one big plastic box. On the tables are a
lot of cds and some tapes. On The first level are some of
the cds, on second is a cassette tape recorder and walkman
tape player, and on the third level are a boom box player
and digital book player in cases. On the fourth level is
the box, and in it are two cardboard boxes with a set of
earphones and some other things. I have a six-page record
list of music albums hanging in front of it.
The Holiday Garden. This display is on two coffee tables
and made of green paper on the bottom to resemble grass, and
surrounded by cardboard, wood and packaging tape. It is for
holiday table decorations. There are a variety of
artificial plants in back of it.
The Craft Display. This display is an immovable bookcase
behind the couch and a closet beside it, and it contains
handmade crafts, some clay and some papier mache, and some
reed baskets all for sale. Unlike the afore-mentioned
bookcases, this one cannot be moved.
MY LIFE HISTORY

I was born in Los angeles, CA # in 1964. At age 4 I and my
family moved to Oxnard in southern California. My oldest
sister Carrie was born before the move. Then came my
youngest sister Kim and my brother Casey. We all grew up in
Oxnard. I daresay that, although I was used to living in
Oxnard much of my life, it was a boring city with nothing
interesting about it: no zoo, no museum, no amusement park,
and not even a beach. I had been different schools I was at
Fred Williams school for about seven years from Kindergarten
through fifth grade. After that I was at Elmer O. Green
Junior High for three years from sixth grade through eighth
grade. Afterward I was sent to the California School for
the Blind in Berkeley in 1979. A year later that school
moved to Fremont. I was often not happy about being there
because in the first place it was a residential school for
the blind and so far away from home that I could only go
there for at least three holidays, Thanksgiving and
Christmas, and Easter, and for the summer. Also, some of
the students who went there had abnormal behavior problems
and were hard to cope and live with. Some of the staff
there were hardly better than the students. Some were
domineering and forceful, and some were outrageously blunt
when they criticized. Life in the boys dormitory was not
always pleasant or peaceful, as some of the students were
violent, unpredictable and aggressive, while others were
simply meddlesome and tampered with things that they should
have left alone. Some of the counselors did not very well
respect students, rights, wishes or needs. Sometimes they
took liberties and interfered with things. Some of the
teachers and aids were very inept and didn't know the proper
teaching techniques. I was never at a regular high school,
which sometimes grieved me. The blind school was not a high
school or anything like one, but more like an institution.
It wasn't even like a middle school. My brother Casey had
to go there too, and I don't think he liked it any more than
I did. I graduated in 1985, and was heartily glad of it, as
there were some things I was fed up with, and some people
whom I disliked and wanted no more to do with.
Before I went to the blind school I used to be able to see
and hear well, but my sight wasn't exactly normal. i could
only see with my left eye. My right eye was almost useless.
I could never read print, but had to learn braille from
Kindergarten up. It was the same with Casey, my brother.
He had to learn it too. It was at age 13 that my hearing
began to fail me and the older I got the more I lost. My
sight began to fail me at age 14, and I lost it all at age
16, and by that time I was 80 percent deaf.
A few months after leaving the blind school, I was at the
Living Skills Center in San Pablo, CA which was a training
center for the visually handicapped. There I took a
ceramics class at Contra Costa College. After leaving the
Skills Center I went to the Helen Keller National Center in
Sands Point, NY. I got along fine there and learned much.
Two things that bothered me about the place, however, was
that they admitted severely retarded people, as CSB did, and
they were hard to cope with. Some of the staff there
foolishly expected too much and took it for granted that all
deaf-blind people were alike and had the same skills tried a
communication method called print on palm, which did not
work with me. It rather annoyed me to see them doing that,
because they did not ask about it, and when I said it would
not work, they refused to listen. I was only there for
seven months, and then left.
About a year after leaving HKNC I went to this place in
Camarillo that was a job area. It involved unwinding
computer reels, assembling shower curtain rods, assembling
key chains and all that. I didn't much like the key chain
job because of some messy stuff. I was only there for a few
months and then quit. This was before I was fitted with my
cochlear implant. The surgery was done in 1988. I liked my
implant far better than I did ear and body hearing aids I
wore with long cords and two batteries each.
I went to Humboldt state University in Eureka, where my
oldest sister Carrie lived with some friends of hers. There
I had a class with swimming and one with ceramics. I made a
large variety of things there. I had become an artist with
clay at CSB when I was 16. I was only at this place for a
few months, and then moved back to Oxnard. For about two
years I was out of school, but then entered Ventura College
where I had a computer class, ceramics class, sign language
class, sociology class and fitness class.
At one time in 1990 I went to Gallaudet University in
Washington D. C. and there I had a variety of classes
including one ceramic know, but could not very well make
what I wanted to make.. I had to make what the teacher said
to make. I had American History, Public Speaking, College
Study Skills, Communication Arts, and Sculpture. The
Sculpture class was more disappointing than the ceramics one
because it didn't involve working with clay, and it did
involve the use of sharp tools, which I didn't feel safe
about. So I dropped it. I was only at Gallaudet for one
year, and then was sent home because of a lost tuition
check.
I returned to Ventura College and too the mentioned varied
classes. Things went smoothly for some time, but then
grievous things began to happen. First my maternal
grandfather passed away at age 81. Then my parents got
divorced. My father was a very overbearing parent, and that
led to the termination of his marriage to my mother. Not
long after that happened my mother decided to drag me out
and away from his house and back to the Living Skills
Center. This dejected me for some time because it meant
having to move away from some newfound friends I met at
college who seemed to care an awful lot about me, but there
was no way around that. It was all my mother's idea. Most
of the staff at LSC were different from the ones who were
there before. There we were to learn how to cook and clean,
do our own laundry, handle checking accounts, and get around
town. I had trouble off and on handling my own checking
accT. I tended to be extravagant with money and I
unintentionally made overdrafts in the bank and bounced too
many checks. This got the bank fed up, and they permanently
closed my account. Aside from these difficulties, I did
make some friends there, and I took a ceramics class at the
San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind, which I liked better
than the one at Contra Costa. That college one was rather
disappointing because I couldn't very well make what I
wanted to make. Not so at the Lighthouse for the Blind. I
was allowed to do as I pleased with the clay. Of course,
traveling to and from there meant having to go on BART, a
subway service, but it was the best way. Students could
only stay at Lsc for one year, and then had to leave. I
went to live with my oldest sister and her husband and two
small children for some time after that. They lived in
Olympia, WA. After a few months of living there I again
returned to Ventura and Ventura College. I didn't however,
move back in with my father. I had no desire to do so,
because he did irrational things that I strongly disliked.
For several years I lived in Ventura with my mother and
grandmother and continued to take classes at college. I
could no longer take ceramics there, so had to take a class
with that at the Santa Barbara Braille Institute.
Eventually, however, my mother got tired of having to take
care of my grandmother, although she was her mother, and
wanted more freedom to do as she wanted and needed to do.
Also, my grandmother became cranky and difficult and
demanded that we remove all our things from her house. So
once again we had to move. My grandmother moved to. Where
she moved to I never learned. She passed away in 2001 at
age 86.
I moved in 1999 back to Los Angeles and lived at
Commissions on Compassion in Highland Park apartments, owned
and run by Pastor Jim Hansen and his wife Joan. I got
settled down there. I got acquainted with all of the staff
and some of the tenants. Off and on we went on fun trips.
I began to take classes at the Braille Institute in the
city. I had one ceramics class for two years, a sign
language class, and
some other classes.
Currently I have a
papier mache class
and a fitness class.
For some time I was
at Los Angeles City
College, which was
across from the
Braille Institute.
I had a ceramics
class there, but it
was not as good as
the one at the
Braille Institute.
I also had a
computer class where
I learned about
email. Currently, I
am still at the
Braille Institute
and enjoying my
classes there. That
is all I can write
about my personal
history.
What I like to Have and Do for Pleasure

I mentioned in my first article all of my hobbies. I
became a book reader at age 10. I had to learn braille from
Kindergarten up, as I could never read print. I read many
classics and other kinds of works by various authors. I
became a ceramic sculptor at age 16. At first some of my
works weren't very good, but as time went on much practice
improved that. I made many animals, people and things. I
became a shell collector when I was 9, and it's hard to say
why I like things from the sea. I can only say I consider
them fascinating. I became a coin collector at age 12, and
I liked the shiny attractiveness of coins and their shapes.
I became an animal collector at age 18. It took some to
build that collection. I had been a wildlife admirer ever
since my minor childhood. I became a holiday decoration
collector at age 19, and I've always been a traditional
adult. I wasn't like that in my childhood, but am now. I
became a music album collector at age 38. I always enjoyed
listening to music on records, tapes and the radio. Rock
and roll and country western were my favorite kinds. So
that is all I can relate about my hearts greatest and
dearest delights.
SALES At AN ART Gallery IN 2018

Christopher R. Cook

Last October in 2018 I have a lot of my handmade crafts,
some of which I made at the Braille Institute of America,
and some at home, set up in a gallery owned by Mis Laura
Peters in Los Angeles. Two ladies named Alexa Meade and
Lilia George, both of him I met at the Braille Institute and
who have taken me out to places, got me into three art shows
at the gallery. Most of my crafts were taken there. Before
the shows, Lilia sometimes took me to her house where we
first worked on a large model of a Dodger Stadium with
people, a grandstand, a concession stand, a scoreboard, a
field with bases, and quite a bit. It was at the gallery,
but never bought. Lilia sometimes took me out to
restaurants for breakfast and lunch, and to Michael's
Crafts, where I shop very often for things, and another
store called Acts, where I bought other things. Once we
tried to work on a large dragon that was made mostly of
model magic clay and partly of styrofoam for the body, and
paper for the wings. I made it myself and got it together.
I had to cover the clay parts, which were the head, legs and
tail, with green paper as the clay was inclined to crack.
Unfortunately, we had no time to finish it before the shows
began, so it never got to be at the gallery. The first show
was especially active. My mother, my youngest sister Kim, a
girl friend of my mothers, Mike Serrano, Judy Seid, Lindsay
Cork and Hannah Hansen were all there. Mike, Judy, Lindsay
and Hannah all lived at Commissions on Compassion in
Highland Park apartments where I moved to in 1999. Also,
Beth Koenig from Orange County was there, and some students
from BIA including Shanell Hubbard and Beth Bachenheimer. I
met Beth B. in this mimed media class sponsored and run by
Simone Montemurno, who was also at the show. Lilia's second
husband Jason and her only-child son Captain were also at
the show. I took my u-2 braille sense along and played many
songs on it through an external speaker. Loren Lagoo, a
volunteer working at BIA, was also there and so were some
friends of his. A lot of things were sold and I made a
little more than $300.00. I had a lunch of taco salad and a
hot dog and stuff for dinner there. There were two more of
these shows. Noah Haytin, a teacher who taught an
independent art studies class at BIA in the same room where
the mixed media class was, was at the third and last show.
He and Simone bought some of my crafts. I had more money to
make yet. I also sold some things at BIA. You can be sure
the sales made me a rich man. I spent quite a bit of cash
on things I wanted at Michael's, Walmart and other places.
The last time Lilia came to visit me it was in December of
the previous year. We went out to lunch somewhere and then
to Acts. Last January in 2019 I learned from Alexa that
Laura died of a brain aneurism. She and Lilia were both
upset about the death. Also, very sadly, Lilia became oddly
distant and unresponsive to my emails. I only heard from
her twice in 2019, and she said she had health problems, and
in her last email that she was self-involved. She never
thanked me for any nice things I sent her in the mail. So I
got discouraged and decided not to contact her anymore, but
I finally heard from her on Independence day. As I got to
know her I had fond feelings for her. Alexa still remained
in touch with me by email. She was not very chatty, but she
was more responsive than Lilia.
Long after the art shows I continued to sell work, some of
it at the Braille Institute and some at home. Some visitors
did buy some crafts. I sold the large dragon model to Patti
Verdi, Lindsay's aunt for $20.00, although it was $16.00. I
also sold some things to Julia Tcharfas, who worked at the
autry Museum, and some to a friend of hers named Todd Lerew,
who worked at the BIA library. I also sold some to Nina Gaw
and her friend Janet, who worked at BIA as volunteers in a
basket class, where I made multicolored reed baskets of
different sizes and shapes. I sold the baskets too. At one
time I had several tile pictures, most of which I sold to
people in other places and at the gallery. I also made and
sold papier mache things. Selling art projects can have its
advantages. I sold more things at a boutique at the Braille
Institute for $50 last December. They have this boutique on
an annual basis in November or December. I also sold some
things at spring festivals at the College of the Canyons in
Santa Clarita, and sometimes at GLAD in Eagle Rock, which is
near where I lived.
It can be so wonderful to be an artist who sells your work
to people who love it. Keeping up the good work can make
one a rich one at that. Comments From New
Acquaintances
An Interview With Chris Cook
This was done by Alexa Meade, a young volunteer I met in
room f-12 class at the Braille Institute of America, where I
was working with papier mache. She helped me out at some
art shows. She had a bunch of questions, me. Some of them
were rather tricky, but I answered as honestly as I could.
Alexa: What was it like to lose your sight and hearing?
Chris: I felt that losing hearing was harder to cope with
than losing sight. It made communication difficult, and it
also made it hard for me to hear music the way I could when
I was a mere boy. That sometimes got me so depressed that I
had crying jags about it, and it sometimes went on for
several weeks. As for my sight, I can only say that the
most frustrating thing about that is that I can no longer
see colors. I had to give up both radio and television now
that I can no longer understand what people say on both.
Alexa: Why did it happen?
Chris: Some people have asked me that question before, and
at first I didn't know, but then I learned that the
blindness was caused by a serious retina infection called
chronic uvitist. Sometimes when I could see my eyes hurt
badly, and I had to be hospitalized. I had to have my right
eye altogether removed at age 13, and the cataract removed
from my left eye at age 14, as it sometimes hurt badly. The
deafness was caused by VoightKoyanagi-haradi Syndrome, which
is very rare and unheard of by many people. My brother
Casey, who is eight years younger than I am, has had the
same problems. We both felt that deafness was harder to
cope with than blindness.
Alexa: How old were you?
Chris: I was 13 when my hearing began to fail me and 14
when I first started to go blind. My brother, although not
included in this, was 8 when he lost his sight and 15 when
his hearing got worse, rather like me. I mean at age 15, it
got so that I had a lot of trouble under/anding speech.
It is curious that a man without sight and hearing is a
prolific visual artist. Alexa: Is it hard to make art?
Chris: At first, it did seem rather hard when I wanted to
be a ceramic artist at age 16, but much practice and time
improved that. Some people have asked me how long it took
to make something, and I said it depended on the size of the
project. About my blindness, when I make something, I
simply form it by hand, and paint it afterward, or glaze it
if it's kiln clay. I used memory to make it. As I can't
see colors had (ask sighted people to help me label paints
and color pens in braille.
Alexa: Did you ever think you would become an artist?
Chris: Actually, I never did think so as a minor child,
but I did want to become one when I was 16, and I started
with kiln clay. Sometimes I also worked with oven clay and
bread dough, but I gave bread dough up long ago. I like
clay better.
Alexa: What is your favorite thing you've ever made?
Chris: I can only say that animals are my favorite things,
especially dogs, cats, sea animals and mythical ones. I've
always been fond of dogs and cats. I've had a strong
interest in wildlife ever since I was a minor child. You
mentioned the blue three-headed dragon I made and gave to my
oldest sister's girl friend. I've made dragons on and off,
and they are based on fantasy stories that I've read.
Alexa: Tell me about your home which you dubbed The
Miniature Apartment Museum.
Chris: I have all these four bookcases set in a row in
front of the front wall with two in the living room and two
more in the kitchen, and a kitchen counter between the two
rooms. They are about 208.5 square feet of wildlife. The
animals in the first bookcase are categorized according to
where they are found on Earth. I made scenery to go with
them. The fields of grass are green paper, and the bodies
of water are blue paper. At first for a long time I had
cellophane on them, but it stuck up in many places, and I
removed it and simply put clear packaging tape on the front
edges of the shelves that they are on. Some of the trees
are made entirely of paper and some are made partly of paper
partly out parts of bushes. The desert scene is made of
unused sheets of braille paper, and so is the beach behind
the harbor scene on top of the sea animal display in the
kitchen. The snow scene is partly white paper and partly
cotton balls. Some of the plants are artificial ones ti
bought from Michael's Crafts, and some are made of kiln
clay. I hung cellophane in front of the two bookcases in
the kitchen to make all of the sea creatures look as if they
are underwater in the ocean. I made some of the air and
space crafts hanging over the miniature town, which I call
Cooksville. The rocket, blimp and jet plane are made partly
of soda cans and partly of paper. I used a snow cone cup
for the topmost part of the rocket. Some of the airplanes
and helicopters are made of clay. The balloon is a rubber
ball with paper ropes and a small plastic cup for the
basket. The missiles are plastic pool toys, and the small
satellites are made of clay. I put glowing paint on them.
Most of the buildings in the town are made of paper and some
of cardboard. I bought the airport from Toys R Us here in
Los Angeles, and my mom gave me the Church. In back of the
living room I have another bookcase with a lot of music
albums, many ofs and many people of them cds. I play music
on a boom box cd player, a digital book player, and an old
fashion cassette recorder. I have this craft display where
I keep my handmade crafts. It's an immovable bookcase
behind the couch next to the living room closet. I also
have this paper, cardboard and foam board arrangement on the
two coffee tables that I made with artificial plants in
back. I use it for holiday table decorations, and I hang
wall ones on both sides of the patio door and some on the
front door.
Alexa: Tell me about the essays in your journal.
Chris: I first wrote about my hobbies, then dreams I had
about beautiful young women and mythical creatures, then my
family, pets we had, funny stuff about old tv shows I had
watched as a child, where I got ideas to make things, and
schools and colleges I had been to in the past. I think
hobbies and family are quite important. I stated that the
dreams I had about the Cretan girl, the Greek girl and the
Texas girl seemed to be telling me how it felt to have a
girlfriend, whom at present I don't have. All of the young
women I dreamed about were great good lookers, but the first
three were three of the most glamorous and endearing of
them. I mentioned that all of them were barefoot and
dressed in outfits that exposed their arms and left. I
can't explain why they appeared like that, but it sure gave
them a sexy appearance. It was odd that in most of the
dreams about American ones I wanted to caress their feet. I
had read much Greek mythology in my teens and enjoyed it,
and that could have caused the dreams about the Cretan and
Greek girls. I never dreamed about southern girls. The
Texas girl in the blue car was a western one. It was
awesome to dream about mythical creatures, most of them good
and a few bad. I read many fantasy stories, and I have the
talent to make them.
Alexa: Have you here had people bully, ridicule or
discriminate you about your disabilities.
Chris: Some of the counselors in the boys' dormitory at
CSB were very demanding, inconsiderate and callous, and
inclined to treat students rough. I was, unfortunately,
among them. They were absolutely not very sensitive people.
About people who ridicule, I can't say I like them. In
fact, I am very contemptuous of them. It's never nice to
ridicule other people, and there is no excuse for it. I had
that happen to me on the part of some teachers and aids at
the California School for the Blind. My mother tried to
cover up for them, but I disregarded her comments. Not only
did they belittle me, but they sometimes accused me of
untrue things. Once at a store called King Norman's KINGDOM
of Crafts and Toys, I was ridiculed by a female clerk about
my deafness. She asked an insulting question about it when
a mobility teacher explained it to her. Eventually, I no
longer went to that store. Once I was shopping at Toys R.
Us in Ventura for Christmas gifts for my three nephew and
one niece, and was turned down (the clerks. They claimed
that they couldn't take the responsibility to help me there.
A Scat Access driver took me to Kay Bee's but they didn't
have what I wanted, si had her take me back to Toys R. Us,
and this time they accepted me. Later on I called the
manager and told him what had happened. It was only to make
sure that wouldn't happen again. Also, there were times at
Best Buy and Walmart when men I met started to lead me back
out the doors after I showed them my teletouch and asked
them to use it. Sometimes at Walmart people just left me
without a word. The last time I shopped at Pasadena Target
I had a very, very hard time trying to get attention. Once
on the first floor I got lost and couldn't get attention. I
found an ascending escalator and mounted it, and let it take
me up to the second floor. Then I had a hard time trying to
get attention there for going out to the top level parking
lot. After that, I decided not to shop there anymore and to
turn to Walmart.
Alexa: How do you have conversations with other people?
Chris: Mostly I have people who don't o how to sign use my
teletouch, which is this small metal mechanical
typewriter-like device with typewriter keys for sighted
people, and braillewriter keys for blind people. The
braillewriter keys are at the bottom. People write and I
read in braille on the other side. Some people,
unfortunately, can't type very well, and some can't type at
all. I can empathize with them, but there were some rare
times when I met people who took a negative attitude toward
it, and I felt scorn for them. They rudely complained about
it.
Alexa: Where do you get ideas to make things?
Chris: I got some ideas from books I read, and some from
dreams I had, and some from things I saw when I was a kid.
I enjoyed science fiction and fantasy and mythology stories
so much.
Alexa: How do you know when someone is knocking on the
door?
Chris: I can hear a knock with my implant. My apartment
has fans in all of the rooms, and when someone presses the
doorbell button, all of them go off. Sometimes I don't feel
them because I have Honeywell fans working to keep my
apartment cool.
Alexa: How can you use a computer without being able to
see the screen.
Chris: I used braille computers with tactile braille
displays so I can read braille like in a braille book. They
don't have monitors.
If things get difficult or frustrating, what do you do to
cope?
If this has to do with my disabilities, I just try hard to
accept them and live with them. Some people in the past
treated me rough, but they are in the past and I do feel
glad to be rid of them. Sometimes at BIA I had trouble with
people leading me where I didn't want or need to go without
trying to communicate with me, and not trying to communicate
with me that would work right. Some tried to palm-print to
me, which I can't read. I was never trained for that
method, and just because some deaf-blind people can read it
doesn't mean they all can.
Alexa: If there was magical surgery could there be any way
to restore your sight and hearing?
Chris: I find that very strange, and I don't believe in
magic. There is no possible way to get my sight and hearing
back. I was fitted with an implant in 1988, and it does
help in some ways, but it's not like getting all my hearing
back. I can identify many sounds, but can't very well
understand speech. I should add that I sometimes had
trouble with people not understanding what I said when I
spoke them. Sometimes they asked me to repeat myself, and
sometimes they misinterpreted some things for things I
didn't mean to say.
Note: I hadn't thought of telling Alexa before these three
art shows here in Los Angeles began in October. There was
another frustration about being blind, and it was not being
able to recognize other people. In the past I had
frustrating times at the California School for the Blind
with obnoxious students bothering me, and doing stupid
things, and I couldn't tell on them because I didn't know
who they were. At Camp Bloomfield in Malibu I met people
who thought it was fun to play guess who games with me. At
first I overlooked that, but then got fed up with it and
wanted it stopped. There is no excuse for playing guess who
games for the blind and deaf-blind, and it's really no
different from an imposition on them and their disabilities.
It has been many years since anybody has done that.
THE WORLD OF Chris Cook
This was written by Abby Alhamad, a young woman from
Kuwait, who once visited me at my apartment with her friend
Loren Lagoo.
August 2nd or 34 2011 I met Chris Cook through my good
friend Loren Lagoo who took me to his home. At the time I
was recovering from a loss, yet I was meeting someone unlike
anyone I had ever met before Owe spoke through his teletouch
about the element of fragrance, and to my surprise, he told
me he had no one favorite scent. I fell in love with his
work. Loren bought me a beautiful white and gold ceramic
unicorn which is in my display case to this day..
May 4th 2018, Loren invited me to his class at the Braille
Institute Of America. I reconnected with Chris. I realize
that owe have so much in common, and I admired his
almost-encyclopedic knowledge of his interests in the many
subjects. I immediately found him to be interesting because
of he was interested. He is heart, mind, spirit and
skillfulness.
As a scholar of art history and an artist myself myself, I
see the artwork of Chris Cook. With Postures of the
""unknowandged"" words" his work brings myth to life, and
points light upon animals and our unimaginable bond and
relationship to them, there is acknowledged of fairies in
his work, it is luminous if they are not depicted, the
essence of the unbelievable is there, it is there for the
holder.
The true artist resides in the realm of knowing platonic
love, only. It is creativity that is love. It is the thing
that swells with spirituality and the searching for the
higher entity for God. I asked Chris in May if his
precession of creating was linked or belonged to a spiritual
practice or experience, and he said "yes".
Speaking of my art making process, it is a frenzied
spiritual journey, there is an element of the angel being
present in the procession. The silent intermediary between
the sublime mortal and the great deity (or unknown) is
crucial in true art and craft making, the artist may be
totally unaware of this. I attribute this spiritual quality
to the work of Chris Cook.
To the average spectator, Chris's work might look
"interesting" ', "ok", "cool", or even "childlike", but when
I see the work I am transformed. I I am no longer afraid,
anxious alone or even gendered, just eyes with tactile
fingers and a swirling spirit communicating with an object.
The light world of observation is descended in my experience
with Chris. I see and feel so much, beyond the shapes and
colors. His work asked for touch of caresses and
spirituality. I touch his work I feel it around, I look for
fingerprints, I get to know it through sensation. It is a
severely different experience from other art that can never
be touched; only observed. That is where I find Chris Cook.
Love,
Abby.

THE END