Book Inspiration: White Cargo by Stuart Woods

 
    

      This book is about a kidnapping that happens in Colombia.  George Lozano is the first Colombian I've met since reading this book.  Although recovering from a surgery, he is a lively, happy man.  I expect the interview to go the same. I fail miserably.  I know the interview is on the rocks when I ask him about any unhappy memories. He looks up at me with glassy eyes, as if to say, "Don't you know?"
     I do now.  On  April7th, 1948 the Liberal Party Leader Gaitan was assassinated. The murder sparked Bogotazo- a tide of violence in the Bogota streets.  The Revolutionaries had control over all the radio stations, calling people to strike. Violence spread out into the countryside, rivers of red ran freely. Lozano was in the military, picking the dead off the street.  "Horrible, horrible, " he says, looking down.  "They almost killed me."
     He made changes in his father's factory, mechanical changes that made things run better.  "But the Revolution changed everything.  We were constantly paying for it."  He moved from city to city to escape, and ended up coming to America in 1948.  "They let me in, like that."  He snaps his fingers and smiles for the first time. I feel a surge of pride for my country.  So now we're getting to the picture. This is my good friend Kelly, me, and  my boyfriend John visiting Ellis Island.  We got some insight into the problems the immigrants faced, and how they came here seeking refuge and relief.  And we got to go back across on the comfortable ferry back to our comfortable hotel room and later out for a nice big steak.  And our biggest worry was, would it rain that night?
    Dare-Talk to the person around you with the foreign accent. Try to learn something about why they came here and where they came from.  It will broaden your horizons and make you appreciate America.

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Book Inspiration: B as in Beauty

     Friday night I joined Jim and his AmazonsArena models at the Sin Bar in the Flamingo for Amazon Fest.  It is a meet and greet for the Amazons to meet their customers.  Now I'm not a hip chick, in fact I was raised  a nerd by Ozzie and Harriet.  So how did I find myself surrounded by women who spanked little men for a living?  I met Jim through the tall club.  And this happens to be his business.  I had a blast. These folks made me feel right at home.  The women did not look down at me because I wasn't one of them, and the men didn't look down on me because I wasn't an Amazon.  In fact, a little guy named Vinnie chided me for saying that I wished short women should save tall guys for tall women. We had a long talk about just loving people for what's on the inside.  Chagrinned, I had to admit that the times when I softened toward people that weren't my type, were the best friendships I had.
    The Amazons got  crazy, jumping behind the bar, posing with their backsides over the counter and towering over the men that loved them.  They caused heads to turn.  Some of the shyer tourists snuck around and took pictures, their eyes all aglow with that "only in Vegas look".  When they took the group photo everyone hollared at me to come join them.  I got such a warm feeling.  By normal society standards we were misfits: short men and tall women.  But we were all friends in that moment, smiling and mugging for the camera.
   Dare:  Think of someone who isn't your type and give them a chance.  My best friend was the guy that I thought of as an old flirt.  He turned out to be so much more.  I'm not just talking about romantic connections eithier, maybe there's that socially-challenged misfit that wants to be your friend.  Go out for coffee, give them a chance.

Book Inspiration: B as in Beauty

     I have to be careful about what I write here.  Google expressly forbids certain subjects.  But Bunny and I can assure you that there is nothing untoward about what she does.
    Meet Bunny. She is a model for Amazons Arena.com.  Blonde, buxom and pretty with thick blonde hair and a curvy figure, she does quite well, selling her videos and sessions.
    I ask her how long she has been doing "this."  For a writer, I am stumped for a word.
    "Fetishes?" she asks, supressing nothing.  "Let me explain to you what a fetish is."  Bunny is 6'3, 250lbs.  I let her.
     "A fetish stems from something that happened in childhood or puberty.  It's a deep-rooted need or desire."  She tells about her last business trip to England, where a lot of her sessions involved carrying men.  There is no laughter or sneering in her voice when she tells me how a lot of upper-class English parents would send their kids to boarding school or let the nanny raise them.  The kids never get to bond.  In Bunny's arms they feel safe, protected and like they're bonding with their mommy again.  After the session, she feels good, like she has helped someone.  "I'm an underpaid psychologist," she says.
     We are sitting in the Blue Ox over drinks, water for her. I am the wild one with my sugar caffeinated cola. This is not your typical bar talk. I expected more giggles and bawdy laughter and indeed, she does have a few funny moments.  There was the time when she was dancing, real low, over a guys head and she came up with his toupee stuck to the inside of her thigh.  But mostly, she speaks of her clients with concern and respect, telling me about the time when she rescued a poor little man from her fellow Amazons.  They were at a meet and greet and for some reason the ladies thought it would be fun to push him back and forth between them like a beach ball.  When Bunny came on the scene she interdicts with anger and disgust at the women for humiliating this man because of his small size.  She reminds them how they spent their school days being humiliated because of their tall size and tells them they have no right to do this to somebody else.
    I ask Bunny what's in the future.  Right now she is traveling the world, making $400 an hour.  She is beautiful.  I do not know her age, but I do know that she has grandkids and I think my question is a good one.  She says she doesn't know, but she does know and that answer is sanctioned. I will respect her because I like her, I found her a good person and I wish her well.  For right now, she plans to continue with what she is doing, saying she feels good after the session. She feels good and she she thinks her clients do also.
     Dare:  Get the book "101 Sexy Dares" by Laura Corn.  The book has  envelopes filled with dares for men and women to do to their significant other.  Bunny reccomends this as a way to get what you really want from your loved one.

Book Inspiration: B as in Beauty

     I am ugly,  living proof that god has a sense of humor.  I prayed for youthful skin and He gave me acne until I turned 35.  I didn't appreciate the zits until they were replaced by not-so-fine lines.  I'm as curvy as the Mojave Freeway and I have the appearance of someone who lives in their car.
     Still, people have told me I'm beautiful.  When I first met Jim he looked at me,  told me he wished I could be one of his girls, sighed and said that I wasn't tall enough.  Not tall enough?  Every other person asked me how the weather was up there until I was so mad I wanted to spit down and tell them it's raining.
     Jim runs AmazonsArenas.com, a website for men that love tall women. His clients can order videos or "sessions".  Spankings, messages, vaccuming (yep, I said vaccuming)  and all kinds of things happen-but not sex.  Jim almost bristles at the suggestion.  I asked him how he approaches women, wondering how do you ask women to do this without getting slapped or plugged with birdshot by a jealous boyfriend.  He started with Miss Tall Orange County and from there, the girls brought their friends in.        
     Bunny is one of his most popular models.  At 6'3, 220lbs, I am sure she's heard her share of annoying comments.  But there are plenty of people that find her attractive.  In fact, she charges $400 per hour.    For their money, they get picked up and carried like a tiny baby, or she hangs them across her shoulders like a human backpack.  Maybe they just want to do "comparisons"-where they line their limbs up with hers and ooh and ahh over how much bigger she is.  Sometimes they don't know and the boisterous Bunny helps them.  It's weird, yeah.  Different.  But who is it hurting?  Bunny gets to feel beautiful and her clients get a rosy glow put in their cheeks and a thrill.  Go ahead and laugh if you want to, but can I ask you one thing?  Are you sitting home alone because you are afraid to go out and get what you really want?
    Dare-Tell somebody around you what you really want.  Start with something benign if this scares you.  Tell your husband that you really like it if the first thing he does when he walks in the door is kiss you.  Tell your kids that you want them to say hello before they ask what there is to eat.  Tell your boss that you really do mind working all those weekends.

                                                    Jim of AmazonsArena.com