Writing is My Drink: A writers story of Finding Her Voice (and a Guide to How You Can Too) by Theo Pauline Nestor

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg



A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

Liars’ Club by Mary Karr

Confessions of a Latter-Day Virgin by Nicole Hardy

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Searching for John Hughes by Jason Diamond

Falling into Place by Hattie Kauffman

I used to listen to Shortwave radio when I lived in West Germany. I didn’t know it was called Shortwave until much later. I got interested in Shortwave decades later, bought an analog receiver, didn’t like it, took it back and got a digital receiver and a book called Passport to World Band radio that was just like a giant TV guide, but for the entire world. I set up an aluminum foil antenna around the top of one of my rooms and began listening to 30 watt stations in Red China and some of those same programs I used to listen to like the BBC, German stations, and Russian stations. That was fun for a while, but I thought I would like to go deeper so I looked into Ham Radio. I bought some old test prep guides from Radio Shack, the question pool was still good, but the books were being surplused so I got a deal. I got into trouble at work so I had some time off. I picked up the Novice/Technician book and read it through. I then went back and marked all of the correct answers so that I would only ever read the questions and right answers again. I read the questions/right answers at least a dozen times and I asked my girlfriend to read me the answers and see if I could remember the questions. I found out where the Ham testing was done in North Everett, went there early one Saturday with a pocket full of cash and passed the Novice and Technician tests with no mistakes. I was a newly minted Ham Radio Operator! I rushed back to Radio Shack and purchased my first 2 meter handheld radio and eagerly waited for my license to be issued. Two months later I sat for a 5 word-per-minute Morse Code test and upgraded to Tech-Plus.

Something is wrong with my WordPress blog. Any hints would be appreciated, but I will start looking for another platform to hang my words. I believe something is wrong with WordPress, maybe it’s just me.

I really like watching Brat Pack movies. Movies like: The Outsiders, Class, Sixteen Candles, Oxford Blues, The Breakfast Club, St Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, Blue City, About Last Night, Wisdom, Fresh Horses, and Betsy’s Wedding. There are many other movies with similar coming-of-age themes that starred only one core Brat Pack actor with one or more close contributors.