SWITZERLAND FORUM

[cklaurence]

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO EM AND ANY OTHER PEOPLE PASSING BY!!!!! WITH MUCH LOVE FROM C.K.

[cklaurence]

BIG BOOK SIGNING GALA TONIGHT AT CITY HALL - THE RESTAURANT, 20TH AND BISCAYNE BOULEVARD, MIAMI, FL. HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU IN THIS AREA THERE! BOOKS ARE BEING SOLD AT A DISCOUNTED PRICE FOR THIS SPECIAL EVENT AND COMPLIMENTARY HORS.Ds AND COCKTAILS WILL BE SERVED!

PLEASE TUNE INTO BLOG RADIO at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authors-on ... ica-benson at 3:30 this afternoon (Friday, July 6th to catch "Smart and Sassy" Pam Stack and Ann White's show where they interview the authors. Today's author is ME!!!! Thanks so much for your support!

Have a super weekendl...

[Emeritus]

I hope that the book signing is a great success. I plan to take a friend to the country club to dine and dance. It's a favorite place because they play old folks music.

[Baglady]

GREAT interview CK - well done
No doubt the book signing was a huge success

Only a month till preseason.

CK, Em, sure hope your weather is better than the continued 105 degree range here - ugh

[Emeritus]

Our weather has been "only" in the Nineties because of daily thunderstorms. On the other hand, the humidity has been very high, so it's uncomfortable. I only go out to sit in my porch swing when there's a breeze blowing. I think that we all need some relief. ck, are you feeling exhausted?

[cklaurence]

I'm doing well, Em--thanks for asking. Took me two days to recover from my signing, though. It went way past the 6-8 set time for the event. Didn't get out of there till nearly 11! The hors.ds were plentiful as were the "Murdertinis" (powerful cosmos with Blood Orange added for a real kick!). People from all parts of my life showed up--save for the Switzerland era. Perhaps another time, though. Lots of books sold and signed and hopefully, more reviews on Amazon.com...
How about you, Em--everything good?

[cklaurence]

Ooops, my bad! Just saw Ms Bags--thanks so much for your good wishes. Couldn't have gone better--still on Cloud Nine. Wish I could do a signing like that in every state!
I am counting down the days till season begins. Unfortunately, the Fins are in zero demand and all our games are one o'clock. We almost switched sides of the stadium this year, which would have put us in the shade, but couldn't get any seats that would give me an aisle, so we stayed where we are. I know I'll regret it. I knew this was coming, I'm only shocked that it hasn't come sooner. They've kept us on Monday night games and 4:00 games way longer than I thought they would, but the time has come where three's no more pretending that there's anything to watch on the Miami Dolphins I guess. Now it's time to sit back and hope (pray if you have a connection!) that the turnaround time is here...

[Emeritus]

Have you ever had one of those mornings when you just couldn't get your motor started? I really don't have much to do, but I'm about two hours behind on that. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that it has rained every day. Half of the country is suffering from a drought and here it's monsoon season. I guess that I shouldn't complain as long as a hurricane doesn't head this way. And it has been much cooler, with highs in the Eighties.

[cklaurence]

That's me about every day, Em! Pushing myself to get out of bed and get started is a real mission nowadays. When I had a "real" job I was like a bullet. Really and truly! I shot out of bed with purpose every day of my life--oddly enough, even on weekends; however, now?Even on days that I have appointments it seems I have to push my brain into gear and force myself into gear. Such a shame. I think maybe if I had a full time "you have to be there at such and such a time every day" job, it would be different, but having only to work from home, bedroom office--although I do have another office down the hall as well, the true inspiration to get up and really move is just not there.
I will say, though, this past Friday (the day of my big signing gala) I shot out of bed like old times and moved like a firecracker! I had so much to do to get ready--so much to get done and so many places to go, plus had to be home for the arrival of my friend Vicki (who was coming to stay the night to help with the event--along with Pam, who now lives in the guest house); wanted to listen to my radio interview that had recorded earlier in the week at 3:30, then whoooooshed off to the event. (BTW, lots of pictures posted at facebook from the signing, many on my page if you're interested in checking it out.
Sorry you asked?

[Emeritus]

LOL, not at all! Sometimes we just need a little extra motivation. It sounds like you had a very full day. I have always been not punctual, but compulsively early with everything. I have made an effort since I retired to wait until the appointed time for things, but it is difficult to change the habits of a lifetime. A couple of years ago I decided that I would leave my morning newspaper lying around for a while after I finished it, just to overcome my habit of immediately putting it in the trash. I did it for a couple of mornings and then decided that it wasn't worth the discomfort. Now it's gone immediately again.

[cklaurence]

I don't bother trying to change behaviors because so many have changed on their own, mostly since I "broke" sixty. Where once upon a time I had a voracious appetite (for many things, lol), especially at meal time--I'd sit down and eat (a lot) quickly. Now, I have a very small appetite and eat very slowly. Peter often chastises me because I push my food around on my plate like a child. When I was young, I wasn't able to nap and had terrible insomnia. Now I could sleep 24 hours a day and the doctor actually had to prescribe medication to keep me up. I hate the way the drug makes me feel as much as I hate being sleepy, so it's a toss up every single day. Take it or not? If I have some specific things to do, I take it, otherwise, I try hard to fight the sleep, but at least I'm home where if I nap off, it's no biggie. Used to be if by any weird circumstance I did nap during the day, I'd wake up terribly disoriented and have serious anxiety. Now I just want to go back to sleep! Where I used to be a terror on the roads, now I pretty much stay within ten miles of the speed limit and I'm as cautious as I was when I was toting my kids even if I'm the only one in the car. All these transitions, I suppose, that we have no control over really.
I remember not understanding how anyone could be attracted to a man or woman older than their twenties, and today looking at Harrison Ford's 70th birthday picture and thinking, "he sure makes 70 look good." Amazing this thing we call life, yes?

[cklaurence]

Hello out there. Just a quick post to let you know this is not a ghost town and Switzerland is still a monitored site.

I am busily at work on the sequel to THE MYSTERY OF JESSICA BENSON. Many interviews with professionals still at hand, as well as promotional work on MYSTERY. My plate is full, but I always have time to talk football. So if you're out there, feel free to speak up. Season grows nearer--only 52 days till the first real season Dolphin game and I can't wait! I know it'll be another tough year, as there's been nothing to show me otherwise by our wretchedly football ignorant owner, Steve Ross, but for me? Hope springs eternal.

Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) is back in Miami and snubbing all his high school football buddies, claiming not to remember them. Amazing what fame can do--even negative or otherwise. His loss, really.

Have a great Wednesday and keep smiling!

[dredwak]

is missing...anyone with info please let me know when you hear something...

[cklaurence]

Dred--so good to see you here (for any reason), but now I'm so upset! I just figured Em was off for awhile, as he sometimes takes short breaks. He's so involved with his community works--counseling, tutoring, church activities, so many ladies bringing him meals and inviting him over--quite a list. This has been a particularly long disappearance, but I just, console myself with thoughts of all his many, many activities and wait till he shows up poo poo-ing my concerns.

Why do you think he's missing?????

[dredwak]

havent seen him anywhere...didnt see where he posted he was going on vacation...folks on fox have been asking about him...

[Emeritus]

At last! My computer motherboard died, so I ordered another. Then I couldn't get the new one to recognize any of my peripherals, mainly because of the new operating system. Why do they always have to "improve" them? To answer my own question, so they can sell new ones. I lost everything and am having to rebuild, including my favorites list. This thing came with Internet Explorers, but downloading and installing Firefox was the easy part. I hope that everybody has been well. I'm still trying to get help to get everything working, so I'll will be back later.

[dredwak]

glad to see you back sir...just knock off the first kid you see go by on a skateboard...hold the skateboard until he gets your pc the way you want it...good luck...

[Emeritus]

I finally got everything working except my prefered keyboard. I downloaded the proper driver, but it doesn't recognize the device.

[cklaurence]

Well, good news. I went missing for ten days and no one worried about me! So glad to know I don't cause anyone angst when I'm not around...

In case anyone was curious, I was in Tampa visiting my daughter Emily. It was an impromptu move and I had no idea I'd be gone as long as I was, and didn't bring my computer. We were working on decorating her new house, which is a fabulous place and a wonderful canvas to work on, but I think Peace was sleeping on the job because I've used my computer since I first came to Switzerland and did not remember my password. Couldn't log on and tried to get approved with a new password and never got my new password, PEACE????? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION????? I couldn't even send him a message because I couldn't get on to do it. A real Catch-22.

I thought about Dred's message looking for Em just before I left and worried about first about whether Em was okay (then saw him on FB, so knew he was) and then about all my adoring fans, lol--till I got back here today and realized I didn't even have Dred or Em looking for me. Now I have a voice shouting in my ear, "TAKE A HINT, C.K....."

[Emeritus]

I thought that you were mad at me for being gone and wanted to show me what it was like.

[cklaurence]

Never! I miss you terribly when you take off, and I got really concerned when Dred came looking for you (although it was really nice to see him here TWO times even); however, I don't hold grudges (except with Steve Ross) and I don't believe in pay-back with friends who don't do things to hurt me intentionally. You've never taken off for such a long period of time and I figured something was very wrong--especially when Dred said you weren't around at fb either! I was finally ready to call it a day here though. It seemed really senseless to keep it open for me to come around and babble to myself.

[Emeritus]

Sometimes the most intelligent conversations are those that we have with ourselves. Or so I tell myself.

[cklaurence]

Sometimes the ONLY convos I have are the ones I have are the ones I have with myself...

[Emeritus]

I'm just glad that we are both well and we both seem to be crisis-free at the moment. I'm beginning to feel some excitement now that the teams are in training camp. I'm just hoping the Texans can avoid some of the injuries that we had last year. First our great running back went out, then our starting quarterback, then the quarterback's backup. Our defense lost their best pass rusher. I'd like to see what the Texans could do with their whole team.

[cklaurence]

Amen, Em.

The Hard Knocks B.S. starts this week with the Fins. Oh how I hate the thought of that! They are marketing it to us serious, long-time season ticket holders as though it's a good thing. I'm not buying into any of it, though. Just another stupid publicity trick of the Owner/Idiot for this year. Every year--just when we think it's safe to go back to the stadium...

You should hear the hype coming out of the Dolphins' newsroom! Tannehill shines; receivers amaze; Fins stronger than Jets and Bills; Lamar Miller is a game-changing talent -- they can only blow all this smoke up our butts until the games begin, silly asses that they are!!!

[Emeritus]

As you know, the Texans were one of the teams who turned down Hard Knocks on the grounds that it would be a distraction. Our coaches demand all of the players' attention during training camp. If you will permit an outsiders opinion, your owner seems more interested in selling tickets than in winning. That is self-defeating, because no amount of promotion can equal the effect of winning. That's just one old guy's opinion, of course.

[cklaurence]

I could almost understand it if it were about selling tickets, Em--but it's far worse than that! This man is an attention monger of the worst ilk. It's all about being Mr. Entertainment. As I've said over and over till I'm sure I'm a total bore, but it started with his movie stars and Margaritaville, the infamous orange carpet, and every year a different gimmick. This year it was Ochocinco, Tannehill and Hard Knocks. A bunch of hot air and high stakes for naught (or should I say "sound and fury, signifying nothing...")

I want to believe it will be different. I want to believe we can finally step out of this thirteen year drought. I want to believe that Philbin can look beyond the distraction of Hard Knocks and do what needs to be done; but really? A first-year, virgin head coach--coming from a team who no one can really figure out what he actually did while he was there, suffered a horrible tragedy at the end of last season (how does one get over their son's suicide, move to a new state, climate and team, take on a position he's never had and do it properly, much less excel at it?)--the odds are frighteningly stacked against us, no?

[Emeritus]

You never know,ck. The Dolphins won one game in '07 and were in complete disarray. The cupboard seemed bare. The next year they won their division. It's amazing how fast things can turn around.

[cklaurence]

I'd sure love to see it happen, Em, but it seems that big turnaround was a one-season fluke, and failure is the norm since Ross bought the team. Hard Knocks getting involved was a really huge blow. Philbin was a big question mark to begin with, and having Hard Knocks forced on him had to be tough. The only think worse would be to believe Ross' spin on it, which is that Philbin made the decision to have Hard Knocks come around--and in that case? Philbin is definitely not thinking straight. I'd bet against it being anyone but Ross' idea, because he's the one who loves to bathe in entertainment, not football...

[Emeritus]

It's hard to believe that we will have football to watch, starting with the Hall of Fame game this weekend. It was a long off season. There were so many big moves by so many teams that I don't know what to expect. Good luck!