Pre-Pandemic: New Smyrna Beach

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Pam had her family from Iowa visit back in July of 2019. Her family had never seen the ocean so we took a trip to New Smyrna Beach. Cars could drive and park on the beach which is a little unnerving because you have to keep your guard up to avoid being run over. We had a nice pop up tent we had found which kept us from getting sun burnt.

Pam’s nephew and niece loved being out in the surf. At first her nephew was a bit nervous since he doesn’t have many options to swim but once he mastered bobbing up and down over the waves, he was like a fish in water. I stayed out in the surf most of the day as well. Pam’s parents never left the tent, preferring to watch for potential danger.

Pam and I have not returned to the beach since the pandemic began. I am working all day every day on Pandemic related painting. I am usually trying to finish my write up right before dinner. Pam has been working from home and she does get out in the sun as often as she can. She will put a blanket in the back yard grass and work on her computer as she soaks up the sun. She has figured out that a wicker basket makes a good sun shield so she can see her screen.

I am writing this on Memorial Day. Dr. Deborah Birx a White House health advisor said people can enjoy the outdoors as long as they remain mindful of the need to stay socially distant. Birx said a lot of Americans are carrying the coronavirus and don’t know it. Epidemiologists warn cases will spike as people increasingly get around. As the nation approached 100,000 dead from the virus, President Donald Trump is golfing.

100,000 Shoes

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I am writing this on Memorial Day. The death toll for Covid-19 is about to surpass 100,000 and Donald Trump was seen golfing on Saturday May 23, and Sunday May 24, at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia in the midst of the pandemic. According to CNN, Trump visited Trump-owned golf courses 92 times between becoming president in January 2017 and January 3, 2018. Trump’s last golf outing was on March 8, 2020 when he visited the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He wouldn’t dare golf there now, since Palm Beach has been a hot spot for the Covid-19 virus. As of Memorial day there were 16,522 cases of the virus in Miami Dade County with 614 death. By comparison Laudon County Virginia has 1195 cases of Covid-19 and 30 deaths, which is a far safer bet for the president who refuses to wear a face mask.

I began to wonder, how do you visualize 100000 lives lost? 100,000 people with dreams and aspirations. The New York Times listed 1000 obits of people lost to the virus on it’s front page. It is a sobering reminder of loss that the president would rather we did not remember as he rushes to get the economy back up and running at any cost.

If one shoe were added to a pile on a golf course for every American lost, how big would that mountain of shoes become? I remembered seeing a mountain of shoes of victims of the holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. In the Holocaust about 11 million lives were lost to man’s inhumanity to man. Today lives are being lost to indifference and incompetence. Besides golfing, Trump also fired off angry and hateful tweets. I have stopped paying attention to those rants.

Researchers at Columbia University this week estimated about 36,000 lives in the United States could have been saved from the Covid-19 had social distancing and other restrictions been put in place earlier in March. The researchers determined that if the measures had begun two weeks earlier, then 82.7% of deaths and 84% of infections — or about 53,990 deaths and 960,937 cases, could have been prevented nationwide. The study has not yet undergone the typical scientific peer review process, and all models are merely estimates, subject to change with new information.

The former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Rick Bright said, “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities …Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.”

According to CNN, a leading infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota estimates that there could be as many as 800,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States over the next 18 months. To date only about 3% of the population has been tested for the virus. Meaning the economy is being opened up blindly. Anyone you meet could be asymptomatic and spread the disease.

It amazes me that so many seem to be rushing out to gather in large groups this holiday weekend because Trump said the worst is behind us. As an artist I can not keep up with so many cases of absolute stupidity.

Punslingers livened up SAK after the Holidays.

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Punslinges is a game show for word nerds held at SAK Comedy Lab (29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida). Diana Rodriguez Portillo the theater operations manager at SAK Comedy Lab arranged to get me in to do a sketch. The audience was full of poets who I recognized from other poetry readings around town. The two hosts were soon to be married, and the coup seated in front of m snuggled during the show. 

Character and personality see just as important as slinging just the right puns. On the back wall of the stage, was a plastic gun which was the prize for the best punslinger. A pun is defined as a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the
fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. After the first few bouts the audience quickly warmed up with groans and laughter.

The next rodeo of Punslingers will be on Memorial Day, Monday May 30th!  Punslingers is a comedy game show where contestants come up with puns
to win the favor of the audience through laughs (and groans)! The
winners walk away with the title of Champion Punslinger and a mystery
prize!

Lovers of poetry, wordplay, Shakespeare, and
good-old-fashion ‘dad jokes’ will love it! Strap on your best western
clothes, saddle up, and be part of history at Orlando Punslingers!

Questions / Comments?
shammers@gmail.com or call (317) 426-6372

TICKETS: can be purchased at the door, or reserved online: *TICKET LINK COMING SOON*
TIME: Sign-Ups start at 7:00, show is at 7:30 so get there early!
PLACE: SAK Comedy Lab 29 S. Orange Ave. Orlando
PARKING: Bring your ticket from the Plaza Parking Garage and have it validated to bring the cost down to $4!

Loves First Kiss.

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Rusty Pliers returned to Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Fl) to read a short story entitled “Love’s First Kiss” at an open mic night.  I worked with Rusty Pliers back when Disney Feature Animation created films the old school way with millions of drawings done by hand. A small army of artists were required to make the films. I’m fascinated at how the many talented artists re-invented themselves after animated films turned to computers rather than drawings. Rusty Pliers took up the pen an started writing. At the first reading he explained the his alias Rusty Pliers came from a sideline career as a porn star. There were some rusty pliers on the set and they were used in ways that are probably better left unsaid.

This second reading on Memorial Day was much softer and innocent, recalling his first love in high school. She loved horses and although he considered horses to be monstrous beasts, he told her that he adored horses to get close to her in the barn. Their first kiss was tender and sweet and it stirred feelings below the belt that he didn’t expect. It was abruptly cut short by the girl’s father however. The young pair drifted apart and never rekindled that moment.

Another author told a story that resonated for Memorial Day. She had a career in the military and was good at he job. She got married and was starting he new life. Her husband was in the military as well, and they were not always stationed together. Life was good, but then she got news that changed everything. She had Multiple Sclerosis and this would take away her mobility. She eventually got medical disability. She moved and open boxes lay everywhere. She didn’t know what to do with the rest of her life.

What made he story so compelling is that she would occasionally stop reading and just relate her story from memory. The point of her story was that although her life was upended she needed to find a way to restore order. She started with a task that many overlook. She began organizing her spice rack in her apartment filled with unopened boxes. She cried as she worked, but with that one task done she could move on to the next. She was a brave veteran who had found a way to reinvent her life after all the structure and discipline of the military and she wouldn’t let MS define her life. Clearly as a writer she had rediscovered a way to let her spirit sour.