LFS: The Storyteller

©2013 by LeeZard NOTE: The following is the preface for a book unwritten. As many of you know, I am hitting the road (in two weeks!) to seek the personal stories of people across America about how they were changed by The Great Recession. I think the changes are significant and all-encompassing. I will be writing the book - and blogging - along the way. --- This book is about a road trip. No, it’s not just another “On the Road” book because this was not just any road trip. I was seeking answers and I needed to talk to Americans across the country to find them. While the Great Recession is in our collective rear-view mirrors, its affects are not. The recovery for many has been slow and, as I suspected when I started my trip, nonexistent for others. What I do know is the recession changed everything. It changed the way governments govern (and pay to deliver their services), the way businesses, large and small, conduct their business and, most ...

Speed! ©By LeeZard What’s the fastest you’ve ever driven? I’m not talking about all the racecar drivers out there (Dale!). I’m asking all of you everyday out-on-the-freeway motorists. For LeeZard, it was 140 scary, exhilarating MPH. Not bragging. It’s just a fact. Because scientists and sociologists study everything , of course there are studies on driving fast.  According to DrDriving.org: "Psychologists who study how we perceive things discovered a type of homeostatic process called level of adaptation. Take the case of speed. The brain records the sensations our body experiences and stores them along a continuum from smaller to greater. The range of speed that we're used to travelling creates a specific level of adaptation. This is the speed your body expects to feel in particular segments of roadways. These sensations are part of your road schema ("Schemas" are slogans or pictures we make-up in our mind about everyday situations as we experience them, ove...

Sometimes, words appear in my head in rhythm and/or rhyme. I'm not sure why; I'm not a big fan of poetry. Go figure. Someone told me a long time ago that a lot of my poems seemed like song lyrics. So, recently, I've been writing with that in mind. I have no musical talent whatsoever but, the following would probably make a good Rock & Roll tune. ©2007 by LeeZard Blue Streak, Blue Streak, I’m ridin’ in the Blue Streak. Flyin’ down the Interstate, Top down, feelin’ great. She’s a low slung mean machine, Drive ‘er fast, keep ‘er clean. Tap the brake, make the scene, Hit the curve, she won’t lean. She was on Ebay, That’s the way you buy today. Low miles, high style, Punch it down, eat the miles. Blue Streak, Blue Streak, I’m ridin’ in the Blue Streak. Flyin’ down the interstate, Top down, feelin’ great. Fat tires, leather seats, Jump on in, have a treat. Ain’t no Beemer, ain’t no ‘Vette, Ain’t no car that’s beat her yet. Never thought I’d own this ride, Ne...