Comments on: A Ruby Kind of Christmas http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/ The Les Becker Blog: Writer (fiction, non-fiction, story-telling, memories, screenplays, radioplays, lyrics, ghost-writing, magazine articles, tourism and event promotion) and amateur photographer from Northern Ontario. Looking to escape Northern Ontario. Rescue me. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:38:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Aimee http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4596 Aimee Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:47:21 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4596 I found you through <a href="http://cardiogirl.net" target="_blank" rel="">Cardiogirl.</a> I just saw that movie and love, love, loved it. I had no idea it was based on a true story??? Am I getting this right? Anyway, tell Ruby her broach is beautiful. Aimee <em>Les Says: About the broach: I will happily convey your message to Ruby. About the movie: Holy ol' Joe, confusion reigns supreme on that one! Do you mean "Pulp Fiction"? I seriously don't believe that was based on a true story, by any means... although, I imagine bits and pieces were - almost everything *I* write as far as screenplays or any form of fiction goes, for that matter, has a scene or dialogue that was pulled directly from my life or something I witnessed. And I strongly believe that Tarantino has probably witnessed some pretty bizarre things. Anyway, welcome to <strong>Where the Walls are Soft,</strong> Aimee. It's nice to have you here. Hope you come back.</em> I found you through Cardiogirl. I just saw that movie and love, love, loved it. I had no idea it was based on a true story??? Am I getting this right?

Anyway, tell Ruby her broach is beautiful.

Aimee

Les Says: About the broach: I will happily convey your message to Ruby. About the movie: Holy ol’ Joe, confusion reigns supreme on that one! Do you mean “Pulp Fiction”? I seriously don’t believe that was based on a true story, by any means… although, I imagine bits and pieces were - almost everything *I* write as far as screenplays or any form of fiction goes, for that matter, has a scene or dialogue that was pulled directly from my life or something I witnessed. And I strongly believe that Tarantino has probably witnessed some pretty bizarre things.

Anyway, welcome to Where the Walls are Soft, Aimee. It’s nice to have you here. Hope you come back.

]]> By: cardiogirl http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4453 cardiogirl Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:18:40 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4453 Hi Les, I'm being extremely lazy instead of actually e-mailing you. I was at joe-a-sarus rex's place and you left a comment saying you had four or five hamsters/gerbils in your freezer for up to two years. First, everyone knows freezer burn sets in after month six. But more importantly, might you write a New Year's Day post explaining why you had come to have frozen hamster/gerbil in your freezer? Please :) <em>Les Says: Man, if you could see my To-Do List for posts! I'm still trying to catch up on my pre-Christmas stuff... You want the Dead Hamster Story? I will add it to the list. Send me any extra Time in a Bottle that you might have lying around, okay...?</em> Hi Les, I’m being extremely lazy instead of actually e-mailing you. I was at joe-a-sarus rex’s place and you left a comment saying you had four or five hamsters/gerbils in your freezer for up to two years.

First, everyone knows freezer burn sets in after month six.

But more importantly, might you write a New Year’s Day post explaining why you had come to have frozen hamster/gerbil in your freezer? Please :)

Les Says: Man, if you could see my To-Do List for posts! I’m still trying to catch up on my pre-Christmas stuff…

You want the Dead Hamster Story? I will add it to the list. Send me any extra Time in a Bottle that you might have lying around, okay…?

]]> By: OldGuy http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4319 OldGuy Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:18:01 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4319 Funny you should mention our mutual friend Les, I believe he's having a New Year's eve party. Check it out. <em>Les Says: OldGuy, you are the coolest. Thank you, thank you, thank you. HEY EVERYBODY! I think I might have just witnessed <a href="http://oldguy.castlecops.com/archives/2007/12/a-painful-new-y-1.html" target="_blank" rel="">an interrobanging at OldGuy's Treehouse!</a> Ya think?!</em> Funny you should mention our mutual friend Les, I believe he’s having a New Year’s eve party. Check it out.

Les Says:
OldGuy, you are the coolest. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

HEY EVERYBODY! I think I might have just witnessed an interrobanging at OldGuy’s Treehouse! Ya think?!

]]> By: OldGuy http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4294 OldGuy Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:38:52 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4294 What I wonderful post Les. I too have formed an image of Ruby in my mind, and I wonder if it's what she actually looks like. Whether you get to post a picture or not isn't that important because to me she's sitting right here with me anyway. :) And here's wishing you a very Happy New Year. <em>Les Says: OldGuy, I know Ruby will be tickled at the phrase "she's sitting right here with me.." She really has warmed to the point that she looks forward to everyone's reaction to the latest "Ruby Post". And Happy New Year to you and the family, as well. I hope 2008 brings better health to you all, and many more bizarre accidents to a certain ex-cop with a tricycle. Go, Lumbago!</em> What I wonderful post Les. I too have formed an image of Ruby in my mind, and I wonder if it’s what she actually looks like. Whether you get to post a picture or not isn’t that important because to me she’s sitting right here with me anyway. :)

And here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year.

Les Says: OldGuy, I know Ruby will be tickled at the phrase “she’s sitting right here with me..” She really has warmed to the point that she looks forward to everyone’s reaction to the latest “Ruby Post”.

And Happy New Year to you and the family, as well. I hope 2008 brings better health to you all, and many more bizarre accidents to a certain ex-cop with a tricycle. Go, Lumbago!

]]> By: Tish http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4205 Tish Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:49:15 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4205 This is my first visit to your site, but I really enjoyed this post. I have no idea who Ruby is, so I need to go back to some of the older posts. Still, her words really made me smile and remember what things were like for my mother, and her mother before her. I was born much later than Ruby, in 1972, but I got an orange in my stocking nearly every year! Of course, there were also candy and toys, but obviously, my mother kept that orange tradition alive! Nice place you've got here. :) <em>Les Says: Why, thank you, Tish! I'm glad you came by, and hope to see you again. Ruby is my "Little Old Land-Lady" - she's a real card. She thinks the Internet is "full of crooks and The Government", but is slowly warming to my readers. She's had a remarkable life - some of which I'm chronicalling here, and some that I am "fictionalizing" to an extent and intend to publish elsewhere. Come back soon!</em> This is my first visit to your site, but I really enjoyed this post. I have no idea who Ruby is, so I need to go back to some of the older posts. Still, her words really made me smile and remember what things were like for my mother, and her mother before her.

I was born much later than Ruby, in 1972, but I got an orange in my stocking nearly every year! Of course, there were also candy and toys, but obviously, my mother kept that orange tradition alive!

Nice place you’ve got here. :)

Les Says: Why, thank you, Tish! I’m glad you came by, and hope to see you again.

Ruby is my “Little Old Land-Lady” - she’s a real card. She thinks the Internet is “full of crooks and The Government”, but is slowly warming to my readers. She’s had a remarkable life - some of which I’m chronicalling here, and some that I am “fictionalizing” to an extent and intend to publish elsewhere.

Come back soon!

]]> By: cardiogirl http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4026 cardiogirl Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:48:04 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-4026 The doctor's office here is getting to be as much fun as the VIP Lounge! Must be the members :) I have to agree, wholeheartedly with Elle and Denise. Ruby is becoming a woman of mythic proportions and I am positive her actual image would never live up to the image I have of her in my mind. Although a little verbiage regarding the sights of her wouldn't hurt. Does she have long hair or short? I imagine, since she's a gal from the 20s (like my own mother who is a bit younger having been born in 1927) she has that "bubble hair cut" which is styled via pin curls using the hair styling tool of the 1900s -- the ever versatile bobby pin. I have such vivid memories of my mom sitting on the couch, watching television while she dipped her fingers in a cup of water, wet a section of hair, twirled it around her finger and then placed two bobby pins, in an X, atop the curl. She still does that to this day. All five of us girls went through the pin curl rite of passage. And all five of us had kinky, crazy looking hair after the experience. But my mom's hair always came out with a smooth curl, somehow. <em>Les Says: Oh, now I have another "story-starter", CG! Thank you! I've printed out all these comments to show Ruby. I know her CURRENT "hair habits" (in fact, she introduced me and Ky to the only hairstylist we trust anymore), but I've no idea how she wore/did her hair as a child/teenager/young mother, etc. I may not get permission for a pic, but I'm sure the topic of hairstyles will start all kinds of stories going.</em> The doctor’s office here is getting to be as much fun as the VIP Lounge! Must be the members :)

I have to agree, wholeheartedly with Elle and Denise. Ruby is becoming a woman of mythic proportions and I am positive her actual image would never live up to the image I have of her in my mind.

Although a little verbiage regarding the sights of her wouldn’t hurt. Does she have long hair or short? I imagine, since she’s a gal from the 20s (like my own mother who is a bit younger having been born in 1927) she has that “bubble hair cut” which is styled via pin curls using the hair styling tool of the 1900s — the ever versatile bobby pin.

I have such vivid memories of my mom sitting on the couch, watching television while she dipped her fingers in a cup of water, wet a section of hair, twirled it around her finger and then placed two bobby pins, in an X, atop the curl. She still does that to this day.

All five of us girls went through the pin curl rite of passage. And all five of us had kinky, crazy looking hair after the experience.

But my mom’s hair always came out with a smooth curl, somehow.

Les Says: Oh, now I have another “story-starter”, CG! Thank you! I’ve printed out all these comments to show Ruby. I know her CURRENT “hair habits” (in fact, she introduced me and Ky to the only hairstylist we trust anymore), but I’ve no idea how she wore/did her hair as a child/teenager/young mother, etc. I may not get permission for a pic, but I’m sure the topic of hairstyles will start all kinds of stories going.

]]> By: Elle http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3923 Elle Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:54:43 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3923 For the record, from the winner of the 1972 Frank Tusa Spelling Award (I have the plaque) you did NOT spell brooch (or broach) wrong. Either version is acceptable, and Dictionary.com backs me up, shet bag!? <em>Les Says: Well then, Betch, I stand corrected about needing to be corrected: i.e. I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken. YOU WON A SPELLING BEE?! Augh! I'm so freaking JEALOUS!</em> For the record, from the winner of the 1972 Frank Tusa Spelling Award (I have the plaque) you did NOT spell brooch (or broach) wrong. Either version is acceptable, and Dictionary.com backs me up, shet bag!?

Les Says: Well then, Betch, I stand corrected about needing to be corrected: i.e. I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.

YOU WON A SPELLING BEE?! Augh! I’m so freaking JEALOUS!

]]> By: Elle http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3922 Elle Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:13:50 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3922 Love love the brooch. Ruby is one of a kind, bona fide! Wish her the best from us Internet folks! I think on the same lines as Denise, it is fun to make her up like a character in a novel, and see how close our imaginations have come to the real thing. Lord knows I need something for my imagination to occupy itself with... shet bag?! <em>Les Says: I will most certainly pass the good wishes to her... Hey, I wonder what she'd say if I called her "shet bag"?! Shit! I spelled "brooch" wrong, Betch?! Dammit, dammit, dammit!!</em> Love love the brooch. Ruby is one of a kind, bona fide! Wish her the best from us Internet folks! I think on the same lines as Denise, it is fun to make her up like a character in a novel, and see how close our imaginations have come to the real thing. Lord knows I need something for my imagination to occupy itself with… shet bag?!

Les Says: I will most certainly pass the good wishes to her… Hey, I wonder what she’d say if I called her “shet bag”?!

Shit! I spelled “brooch” wrong, Betch?! Dammit, dammit, dammit!!

]]> By: Denise http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3920 Denise Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:02:31 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3920 Oh jeez I'm glad to have more Ruby before the end of the year. She is vivid and tangible despite the lack of her image in a picture. I wonder if, as with many characters one falls in love with in a story, it is better to have her face in my imagination. Please give her my thanks for sharing her life with us. <em>Les Says: That's a good point. I'd hate for finally seeing her "for real" to be a disappointment. Maybe I should leave well enough alone on this one. I *do* have plans for illustrating some of the posts eventually with drawings of her at various stages in her life, mind you - especially in The Waitress story.</em> Oh jeez I’m glad to have more Ruby before the end of the year. She is vivid and tangible despite the lack of her image in a picture. I wonder if, as with many characters one falls in love with in a story, it is better to have her face in my imagination.
Please give her my thanks for sharing her life with us.

Les Says: That’s a good point. I’d hate for finally seeing her “for real” to be a disappointment. Maybe I should leave well enough alone on this one.

I *do* have plans for illustrating some of the posts eventually with drawings of her at various stages in her life, mind you - especially in The Waitress story.

]]> By: Suzi http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3914 Suzi Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:14:57 +0000 http://lesbecker.com/LesBlog/2007/12/27/a-ruby-kind-of-christmas/#comment-3914 I can imagine what Ruby looks like a little more, now that I've seen her lovely jewelry, and I could just smell the evergreen as I read your description of the freshly cut tree and the pine boughs above the windows. I hope she lets us see her someday, but for now, I'm happy to imagine. Santa put oranges in our stockings, too, but I grew up in the seventies, so they always had "Sunkist" stamped on them, which just confused us, especially since there was always a whole bag of 'em in the fridge. <em>Les Says: Hey, I had Sunkist oranges, too! See?! There is so a "Santa"! He just stops to reload in Florida, apparently.</em> I can imagine what Ruby looks like a little more, now that I’ve seen her lovely jewelry, and I could just smell the evergreen as I read your description of the freshly cut tree and the pine boughs above the windows. I hope she lets us see her someday, but for now, I’m happy to imagine.

Santa put oranges in our stockings, too, but I grew up in the seventies, so they always had “Sunkist” stamped on them, which just confused us, especially since there was always a whole bag of ‘em in the fridge.

Les Says: Hey, I had Sunkist oranges, too! See?! There is so a “Santa”! He just stops to reload in Florida, apparently.

]]>