LFS: The Storyteller

This piece was written about Seattle highways - home to some of the worst drivers in America. If you don't live and drive here, please indulge me. You may still recognize some of these folks from your neighborhood. © 2008 by LeeZard I don’t drive like everyone else around here. Even though I’ve lived in the Seattle area for 34 years, I still retain some of my old New York City cabbie habits. It’s not that I drive aggressively. I prefer to call my driving style “assertively defensive.” I try to anticipate what everyone around me will do. I constantly check my side and rearview mirrors. I watch the front wheels on other vehicles; they will tell you what’s going to happen a split second ahead of time. The front wheels move or turn before the rest of the vehicle. As such, I try to keep my vehicle in a constant envelope of safety so I can navigate around and through whatever – or whoever – tries to keep me from my appointed rounds. Aggressive drivers act out of anger. (Which r...

©2008 by LeeZard You know how a chicken’s body will run around for a while after you cut its head off? That’s Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign today. I am a Hillary delegate to my county and legislative district caucuses but let’s face reality; it’s over. She’s lost 11 in a row to Senator Barack Obama and her campaign is in disarray. No, it is in full panic. Even if the New York senator ekes out victories in Texas and Ohio, it is unlikely that her wins will be big enough to stop what has become the Obama freight train. So, for the good of her party – and our nation – Hillary Clinton should withdraw from the race and throw her support behind Barack Obama. Let the political pundits and pollsters – the ones who blew it from the start – analyze what went wrong in Hillaryville. The fact is they need look no farther than Bill the pit-bull in South Carolina. One New York Times columnist called it Hillary’s “Waterloo.” That’s where the campaign’s carcass is buried. I prefer to look at t...

©2008 By LeeZard Not that I’m losing any sleep over these but, I wonder: * Why do people insist on driving 55-60 MPH in the left freeway (PASSING) lane? * Why are potato chips so deadly when they taste so great? * Why aren’t more people questioning John McCain about his “100 years war” comment vis a vis Iraq? * Why can’t we pay our teachers at least as much as we pay journeyman carpenters? * Who did put the bop in the bop-shoo-bop-shoo-bop? * Along those same lines, why do fools fall in love? * Whatever happened to the search for Osama Bin Laden? * Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways? * Are voters lying to pollsters about their support for Barack Obama because they’re afraid to reveal their bigotry? * Re: Kosovo’s declaration of independence, are they done dividing up the old Yugoslavia? * Which reminds me, did Tito finally die? * Which reminds me, what’s a used Yugo with low mileage worth (OK, so the miles are low ‘cause the thing never ran)? * Why is my stockbroke...

©2008 by LeeZard Two flowers in the desert, Buried in the sand. Two lonely ships at sea, Nowhere near the land. The flowers barely nourished, Managed to survive. The ships, tho’ tossed by storm, Sailed on with the tide. For years the flowers slept, Apart and all alone. The ships sailed separately, No ports to call them home. One day a gentle wind, Blew away the sand. One day a pure white bird, Led the ships to land. Underneath new sunlight, The flowers bloomed and grew. With their ships in port, Wives found their love anew. And, now the flowers drink, The raindrops from the sky, Then they see each other, They’ve always been nearby.

©2008 by LeeZard Here’s a media ethics question: where is the line between news and the invasion of privacy? We all know the cliché about local TV news, “if it bleeds it leads.” But, the issue goes beyond the tube; all branches of the news media trade in personal tragedy, big and small. Murder and mayhem are relatively cheap and easy to cover. Additionally, they appeal to our societal hunger for gossip, which means ratings and readers. Granted, big tragedies – commercial plane crashes, train wrecks, earthquakes, major weather events and the like – are news. What troubles me is when those in the news business go overboard in attempts to “humanize” these major stories or, when they make someone’s individual tragedy – a hit-and-run-accident, an assault or some other crime – “news.” Let me give you a couple of examples – one from my earliest days in broadcasting at a three-station radio network on Long Island and the other from my last posting as a reporter in the late 1990's for KIRO ...

When things get a little crazy, I go to the beach. It calms me. Let's go to the beach! ©2008 by LeeZard To watch the sun, Rise out of the ocean, We awoke before dawn, And stumbled to the beach. We came with a bottle of wine, To toast the new day, A blanket to cover the sand, And a sleeping bag for warmth. We were four new friends, Ready to greet the morning. A gentle blue light, Creeps over the horizon, Darkness retreating in its path. The moon and morning star linger, To join us, To watch the sun, Rise out of the ocean. Our eyes focus east, As orange and pink rays, Dance in the sky. Sunlight frames the clouds, As daytime, Moves closer to the beach. The ocean stirs, From its nighttime rest, As Sandpipers Begin to scurry about Little white, busy birds, Skittering one way then another. A lone seagull, Swoops down to the water, Seeking an early breakfast. It is peaceful, Quiet. The four of us together Alone in our thoughts. A golden edge of sun, Peers over the clouds, Slowly, steadi...

I love this essay - absolutely one of my favorite pieces. I first wrote it in 1992. Every once in awhile I go back and update "the list," most recently this week. ©1995 by LeeZard Most Americans don’t realize it but there’s a lot more to Oklahoma than tornadoes, oil wells, cattle and amber waves of grain. From the eerie white salt flats in the panhandle to its dramatic tall grass prairie, endless wheat fields and rolling green hills, the Sooner State is unique not only for its violent weather and physical qualities but also for its remarkable people. From 1991-1994, I made almost 100 business trips to America’s “Tornado Alley” to help the U.S. Department Of Energy establish a ten year multi-million dollar global warming research program. One of my tasks was to explain the project to people near our central research facility in rural Grant County, Oklahoma, just south of the Kansas State line. Sitting in cafes, general stores and ranch houses of many new found friends, I lea...