Memoirs @ MindSay

Still here. Still dying.
The world is finally turning again, the frigid cold piercing the world like a needle, following the grooves of the roads to make a cacophonous symphony of leaves crunching and cars honking and humanity slowly deteriorating into nothingness so profound that I can do nothing but sit and watch and wait. I'm feeling poetic today. I feel... I feel, first of all, which is something that hasn't happened in a while.
I question these memoirs. If that's what this has become. I question the validity of it, the purpose, the reason behind it all... But I'm not going to stop writing. By no means can I abandon this course of action.
Still here. Still dying.

Just struggling with time.

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added three police officers who have written their memoirs as cops.

 

Bernard Loughran joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1947. After riding with senior officers for four months (basic police training) he was assigned to walking beats. After three years of walking alone he was assigned a patrol car and again usually patrolled alone. He volunteered for motorcycle duty in 1954 but an accident in 1955 ended that assignment. He returned to patrolling in a patrol car. In 1960 he became a sergeant and supervised a patrol squad. In 1970 he was assigned to a support unit and in 1983 retired after 36 years of service.

 

According to the description of Brass Buttons: A Policeman’s Log, “Bernie Loughran never expected police work would be interesting. He expected long dreary hours confined in a patrol car or repetitive hours on monotonous walking beats. He thought his primary function would be issuing tickets for parking and moving violations but instead every day hummed with excitement. The highlights he wished to remember he noted in a personal diary. These experiences are his but every police officer has similar stories to tell. Brass Buttons revels the job is actually chock-full of excitement and all a person needs to be a good policeman is common sense and self-confidence”

 

Thomas Grubb, a thirty-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, co-authored an autobiography with his nephew, Allan Cole.  According to the book description, “Christmas, 1953: While the rest of Philadelphia sings "Jingle Bells," Tom Grubb gets his first taste of a cop's life. Before he cashes his first paycheck he encounters: A man gutted by a knife-wielding mugger; A fighting-mad mental case intent on destroying a hospital emergency room; The hushed-up shooting death of an undercover cop. That first week is nothing compared to what lies ahead during the next thirty years. A Cop's Life is the remarkable story of a truly remarkable man.”

 

Recruited from the Central Intelligence Agency, Duff Lueder began his law enforcement career with the Washington DC Police Department in 1972.  Later, he joined the Wexford County Sheriff’s Office (Michigan). In 1982 he became a certified Police K-9 handler and six months later became a certified Handler/Trainer and opened his new Dog Obedience Training Center.  He is a graduate and certified Handler/Trainer from; Rudy Drexler’s  School for Dogs (Elkhart, Indiana). Duff Lueder’s certification as a Handler/Trainer includes: K-9 Obedience, Man-Tracking, Narcotics Detection, Image training, Building Search, Crowd Control and Explosives Detection. 

 

Since his retirement in 1992, he has continued to train dogs for people of all walks of life and further develop the Kinepal Training and Behavior Modification Program. He has a BA in Sociology and an MS in Animal Sciences.  He is the author of Canine Reflections: Memoirs of a Police K-9 Handler/Behaviorist Trainer and the co-author of Dusty, Here.

 

According to the book description of Canine Reflections, “this book is a personal, candid journey with the author that begins with a dog he briefly knew in his youth that belonged to an Uncle; to when he became a new Police K-9 Handler having never had a dog of his own before; through his evolution to becoming a Behaviorist Dog Trainer and “Dog Whisperer” that today helps dog owners learn.”

 

Police-writers.com also separately lists civilian police employees, as well as federal and international police officers who have authored books.  The most recent civilian addition is Anthony J. Rzucidlo, an Eagle Scout and former member of the Dearborn Heights Police Explorer Post. After graduating high school, he worked for the Dearborn Heights Police Department as a clerk and dispatcher, for 13 months. Currently, he is employed by the Ford Motor Company as a supervisor in their corporate security/fire department.  His book is Emergency Management - Mobile Command & Response Vehicles: A photographic review of emergency units.

 

Police-Writers.com now hosts 432 police officers (representing 190 police departments) and their 912 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.

• Last night  for the second night in a row I was knocked out by 11:00! It was great. Poor Environgirl called me about three times and though I heard the phone, the power of Morpheus' embrace was too strong.  Finally I gruffly answered the phone and she was shocked. "I can't believe that you're actually asleep!" she exclaimed.  Heck, I couldn't believe it either. I totally believe that dreamcatcher is working! LOL! When I woke up this morning I was still groggy. I asked my husband to make some coffee and he made a pot strong enough to strip paint! It was even to strong for severe a caffeine addict like me.  I told him that he could no longer deny his Cajun heritage. The last time I drank coffee that strong I was in Lake Charles, Louisiana. (My husband is from Port Arthur, TX which is about 28 miles from Louisiana)

 

•  I realize my summer vacation is coming to a close.  I am very reluctant to return to work. This year will be different because I will also be going back to school to get my masters.  As soon as I leave work, I will be headed toward the campus. God give me the strength to make it through!

 

• I've decided to write and post some personal memoirs on my blog.  I feel I want to do this before the school year starts. I'll try to have the first installment up later today or tomorrow.

 

• On a kinda creepy note, I've been listening to my subliminal weight loss CD again.  I had it before and it worked great, but I lost it on a trip so I had to buy another one.  I played it last night to help me fall asleep (it has the sound of the ocean waves and a whale's song in the background) and right when I got into that state of relaxation when you're sure your going to fall asleep I heard talking.  I was pissed because I just knew my husband had the t.v. up too loud. I was going to let him have it until I realized the television was turned off.  I kept hearing something that sounded like someone talking. I finally realized it was coming from my computer speakers -- the same speakers emitting the sounds from my CD.  I was actually hearing the subliminal suggestions!  How often does that happen?  Sandyquill , do you know? Does anyone know? *cue music from the Twilight Zone*

Saw the movie last Sunday. It was just "OK". I was a little disappointed I admit because the movie was a bit dragging. The actors are great though especially the young characters.  Gong  Li is gorgeous  even with unruly  hair, Michelle Yeoh is a good actress but she looks old. I was fascinated by the fan dance. The ladies move very gracefully. Ken Watanabe and the actor who played Nobu are also very good. Another thing, some characters are not faithful to the book. I was expecting young Pumpkin to be chubby as the book implies but instead, young Sayuri has a more rounded face than her. I didn't imagine Dr.Crab to be like that. I was expecting a plump, short man who looks like a maniac but instead, they got an old man who (for me) looks harmless. Even the friend of Mameha is different from how the book described her. I imagine her to be a tall woman who has masculine features. 'nuf said.

 

The following is an excerpt from A Nasty Life: The Unabridged Autobiography of Uncle James Nasty Partridge the Third:

...I wasn't going to go to the party. It was in the woods and there was going to be a lot of alcohol and we were all underage and I just knew it was a bad idea, but then I got a call from Mullows. He asked me if I was going. I don't know why, but I blurted out, "Yes, I'll see you there!" I couldn't believe I was agreeing to go, but Mullows has this power over me. I can't explain it. If he was going, I knew I wanted to be there.

Perhaps I should pause for a minute to describe Mullows. He's probably the most amazing person I have ever met. He is caring, generous, thoughful, and just so much more. His niceness is infection. He has these gorgous, mesmerizing blue eyes and this wide smile that just lights up a room. You could be in complete darkness but when Mullows smiles it's like turning on a flashlight.

And he's funny. My God he is so funny. He is the inspiration for the man I am today. Everytime he opens his mouth I laugh. And I'm not laughing at him like I do with most people. No, I laugh with him. He just cracks me up. Everything he says is golden. He could do stand-up, but he doesn't have time for that. He's too busy giving money to charity or donating his time to soup kitchens. Wow, what a great guy.

So anyway, I knew the party in the woods was a bad idea. But if Mullows was going I had to. So I took a shower, got dressed, spritzed myself with my cheap cologne, and left. On the ride over I had this horrible knot in my stomach. I just knew something bad was going to happen.

About twenty minutes later, my fears were realized...