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Benjamin Cox - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Benjamin J Cox, writing under the pen names, Ben J Cox and Ben James, is an author, novelist, poet, speaker, writer and humorist. He has written two books, Insider Dreams, a 911 Novel and To Mama: The Long Road Home. He was born on a dirt street in a Waldron, Arkansas, in 1943. He graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is married with three children, five grandchildren. ... [More]
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- Homonyms - Words That Can Get You Into Trouble
[Self-Improvement:Mind-Development] Yes, it is true, standing behind a lectern or on a stage before a group of people carries with it a certain degree of risk. But you don't have to mispronounce a person's name to make a mistake. There are many ways; and it can be much worse! The English Language itself might be the culprit. The reason being is that there are so many of its words that are spelled the same or sound the same but have a far different meaning! They are called homonyms.
- A Party Line Telephone
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humor] I don't remember how the party line worked. I don't know if we had two long rings followed by a short, a short followed by two longs or something else. But I remember what happened when one of the other members of the party line were rang. It was unmistakable. There would be a short but noticeable ring, a partial ring, a blurb. When that happened you knew someone was on the line and there was a tremendous urge to pick up the phone and see who was there, and what they were talking about. I say that only because my wife and a next door neighbor did that.
- Retirement - What Are You Going to Do?
[Home-and-Family:Retirement] For most of my working life, other than to try and save a little money, I've never given that much thought to being retired. But I have to admit, by the time my sixty-second birthday came around, the thought had crossed my mind more than once. I began to weigh in my mind what it would be like to quit my steady job and ride off into the sunset. What would it be like to roll over and go back to sleep when the alarm sounded at five a.m. I wondered.
- To Mama, the Long Road Home
[Self-Improvement:Grief-Loss] This is not a novel. However - if you've been poor, picked cotton, sold scrap iron from a red wagon, played Red Rover on top of a big sawdust pile, played marbles, played hooky, tasted moonshine, dipped snuff, survived a broken home, lived in an orphanage, kissed a girl, driven a tractor, been pursued by a pedophile, played football, driven a busload of kids to church, been railroaded, done a tour of duty in the Navy, graduated from college, made love to a woman...
- The Butler Hotel
[Writing-and-Speaking:Public-Speaking] "Sometime after we had paid for our meal and Dad had left two bits for those working back in the kitchen and dining room and had bought me a black cherry sucker from the candy case, sometime before we exited the door back to the street and while we were strolling across that white tiled floor to the exit, somewhere along there, I would hear that big old parrot squawk a couple of times like he was clearing his throat. Then, about the time we opened the screen door to step back on the sidewalk, that parrot would always say...Thank You!"
- Girls Don't Pick Their Noses - Do They?
[Arts-and-Entertainment] "Did you see that? That girl picked her nose! Girls don't pick their noses! They are not like boys! Girls are on a pedestal. They are adored. They are yearned for. They are loved. They are beautiful. Girls are sugar and spice and everything nice. They are not like boys. They are not snails, nails and puppy dog tails. Girls don't spit in the dirt. Girls don't scratch. Girls don't pick their noses...do they?"
- Don't Ever Give Up
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] Well, I see my time is up. But, let me leave you with just these few words. "Don't ever let someone tell you that you can't do something. Don't let them tell you that you can't do this or you can't do that. Don't let them tell you that you are too tall or you are too short, that you are too old or you are too young, that you are too fat or you are too thin, that you need a college education or you are over qualified. Set your goals high. Always aim just a little above the horizon, and most of all...Don't ever, ever, ever - give up!
- To My Senior
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Poetry] My favorite memory of Christy is when she was three and four years old, dressed in a triangular shaped dark blue and white dress with white leotards, black patent leather shoes, her hair cut straight across the front, around the sides and back, a round face and wearing a pair of glasses as thick as the bottom of a pop bottle.
- My Uncle Bill
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humor] Of course, Dad had his own version of what happened. He said about midnight Bill would push the covers back real slow then lift one knee then the other then turn around to the side and place one foot on the floor then the other then stand up and start across the floor. The floor would creak and someone would say, "What was that?" And uncle Bill would stop and grab his hip and say, "Oh my back, my back, oh my back. And Dad said he would come back into bed and the night would go on. But it's a good bet that uncle bill made it over to aunt Vena's bed more than once, because him and aunt Vena had two kids while they were living under the roof with grandpa.
- Management Or Labor - Which Will It Be
[Business:Management] I once coined a phrase or saying that goes something like this: Every engineer should get his or her start in Arkansas as I did, cutting chicken necks. In that manner your peers will always marvel at how far you've come – or understand why you achieved so little.
- This Is My Life
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] The first thing we noticed was her eyes tended to cross at irregular times, requiring thick, strong glasses, also her feet turned in requiring special correctional shoes. And like most kids, there were other things that required our attention but none that could not be handled – that is, all except one thing.
Christy was what I would describe as, inquisitively dumb. That is she had a little different take on life than most kids.
- Love And Marriage Then Divorce
[Relationships:Divorce] Divorce is not a profitable business, unless of course one happens to be a lawyer and the clients are all wealthy. I suppose there could be some emotional gains by one person or the other and that would be expected. But the average man or woman is not going to realize any financial gain, in the long term, by obtaining a divorce.
- Sheriff Lobo's Deputy
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humor] As he starred waiting impatiently, my mind drifts back to some old reruns of Sheriff Lobo I had seen on TV. The deputy was a short man with black hair, like me. He was bald on top, again like me and a little overweight. Hey! this is getting to close for comfort. Also he talks hillbilly like and acts dumb. "Wait a minute", I thought to myself, "this man thinks I am Sheriff Lobo's deputy.
- There Are Always Three People At Closing
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Poetry] I've always thought of myself as being different than most when I'm drinking. That is - as I've already stated - I don't get into fights and I don't drive fast. But the two individuals standing at the entrance to the bar would not have known that and both of them appeared overly concerned that an individual was leaving their property drunk, after drinking their alcohol, also an individual that was in no shape to be driving home, regardless of the distance.
- Giving Up On Life Is Not An Option
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] It was then that I noticed something peculiar going on across the way. No, it wasn't that the woman with her back to me had lit a cigarette and was puffing away? What grabbed my attention was that she handed the cigarette to her daughter and she took it with her foot!
- Leaving Guam On A Jet Plane
[News-and-Society:Military] The typical procedure would be to plant your body directly in front of a seven by three foot piece of electronics equipment then reach down to the bottom most drawer and turn the power switch off then back on – a crude sort of rebooting the system as is done these days with computers. If that didn’t work we would open the power supply drawer and close it, and might slam it closed if the first step didn’t work.
- The Baldheaded Cowboy Band Leader
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humor] The band leader, a very good looking tall individual wearing a white cowboy hat and sporting a wonderful dark tan, would seem to be every girl's dream. He smiles broadly as the stands erupt into a loud roar as each member of his group is recognized.
Once his supporting cast is introduced, the leader takes his turn and steps forward. He removes his hat and bows to the anxious throng of fans in the traditional cowboy manner, revealing a neatly trimmed but almost completely baldhead.
- My Memories Of Phyllis Ray
[Kids-and-Teens] I have no memory of the year Phyllis Ray came to the Baptist Home or how long she lived there. My first memory of her began in Monticello, Arkansas in Mrs. Belts, seventh grade class. She sat near the teacher’s desk and I sat behind and to her right. Although there were other times and places or activities when I remember her being around such as the time she asked me to go with her but my infatuation began in that early classroom.
- That Darned Coke Machine
[Kids-and-Teens] I've always thought of myself as a person interested in almost everything and may have been born with that trait. Of course Dad was like that and he may have passed some of that along to me, if not through his genes, then certainly on the many projects we tackled together.
- The Baby Boomers and The Stock Market
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] In 1945 the streets of New York City were filled with cars, people, balloons and confetti. Everyone celebrating the end of World War II - and we won! After the war was over, twelve million soldiers came home from the war. And guess what! There were twelve million women and men waiting there for them and the party began. Nine months later, more than four million babies were born.
- Barbara
[Kids-and-Teens] There was a foot of space on either side of Barbara separating the three of us from each other. I don't know who made the first move, Barbara, Donald or me. But the distance soon diminished when a beautiful fourteen-year-old girl began teaching a couple of thirteen-year-old boys a thing or two about girls. Of course in those days, things were not as they are today. We mostly kissed.
- The Ballad of Buck Helm
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Poetry] San Francisco is so sublime - Though it lies along the fault line - And someday it's said she'll fall into the sea - But the buildings keep on rising - While the scientist keep surmising - Telling people you must stay upon your toes
- Mersenne Prime Numbers
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Astrology] A photograph released Saturday, April 17, 1993 revealed the existence of the farthest known galaxy, some 72 trillion billion miles from earth. That means the picture shows the galaxy as it existed 12 billion years ago. The picture was taken by the most powerful optical telescope on earth, at the $94M W. M. Keck Observatory on the Island of Hawaii. The telescope is at 13,600 feet near the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano.
- The Enlisted Men's Club
[News-and-Society:Military] Our bombers labor with fuel and bombs. The laughter drowns ongoing sobs. Each candle’s flicker, a life snuffed out. But the steak is good on Guam.
- How Much Do You Know About Noah
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] In the King James' version of the Holy Bible, the book of Genesis reveals the line of genealogy from Adam to Noah – that Noah was the seventh generation from Adam. Adam begat Seth and on down the line to a man named Enoch. Enoch then begat Methuselah, Methuselah began Lamech and Lamech begat Noah – or did he?
- The Dale Carnegie Course
[Writing-and-Speaking] The first night Mr. Ray Rayburn introduced himself and impressed the thirty or so men and women enrolled in the class by memorizing all of our names and something about each and every one of us. Mary Foster, a poet, wrote a poem that included a line about each of the class members.
- The Spirit
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] Some people would believe a person’s soul or spirit is that part of a person’s being, thought of as the center of life, the will, thinking, feeling – that part of a person that survives death. If that were so then I would agree with the person writing the article on that one point – that the soul or spirit defies death. But that the soul has mass and affects the scale, I would tend to disagree. Let me explain.
- Where Have All The Heroes Gone
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] Then one day the stakes were raised to a new level when Washington received word that all his officers had threatened to resign. Without being paid they saw no reason to go on and Washington didn't know where the money would come from or if they would ever be paid.
- Night Eagle Woman
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Poetry] But I'm safe over here in this trailer, Vee!
Cause my heart is tender as a nipple on thee
I'm brave and strong at a distance you see
But close to you, I'm weaker than thee
- Betty Ann Ross, Just Who Is That Woman
[Writing-and-Speaking] That same year on a Saturday afternoon we were watching the Oklahoma and Texas football game from her living room. All of a sudden my pager went off and I went to the phone and called the plant and learned that some equipment was down and the shift foreman needed my help. I told Betty I would be back in a few minutes and to let me know how the game ended. She said she would and I left.
A couple of hours later I came back and asked her about the game and she said Texas won.
The next morning we drove to a local restaurant to read the Sunday paper and have some breakfast and I immediately saw on the front page that Oklahoma had won the football game.
I glanced over at Betty. “I thought you said Texas won the game.”
She glanced up from the women’s section of the paper. “They did win, didn’t they?” “No!” I said, and showed her the score. “Oh!” She said. “I suppose I should have watched the rest of the game.”
- A Letter To A Marine
[News-and-Society:Military] A third grade student wrote
a quizzing letter meant to tote
to the front for the men doing the fighting.
- Insider Dreams-911 Novel
[Writing-and-Speaking:Book-Marketing] Two weeks can be a lifetime. Just ask Ben James character, Wade Foster in the September 11 thriller, 'Insider Dreams', which hit the bookshelves in 2006. The suspenseful plot chronicles the lives of four individuals over the two weeks leading up to the attack on the World Trade Center.
- The Tulsa Run
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] How does a 62 year old man prepare himself for a 15K race through the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma?
- A Tribute To Pete Rose
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] Now he's hustled about
Living lean without
The freedoms and comforts of home
Why do we treasure so
The favorite son's role,
Then search out to pummel with stones
- The Twilight Zone Revisited
[Writing-and-Speaking] An old man wearing a straw hat and rumpled clothing is brushing the leaves and twigs off the hood of an old model Chevrolet car. He seems unaware of where he is or that he is being observed. I look to the left and to the right, trying to understand what is obviously an unusual occurrence this August morning in 1968.
- Persistence - It Pays
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] I learned a lot those three days and the weeks that followed. First of all, I learned that being a janitor wasn't what I wanted to do and secondly but more important, I learned that determination and persistence - pays!
- Of Men And Purses
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Humor] "Wow!" I thought. "If only men carried purses everything would be so simple."
- The Vietnam Wall
[News-and-Society:Military] The war was raging in Vietnam, When Daddy got the call, Now he lies in state, a twist of fate, Inscribed upon the wall
- Can You Always Negotiate A Settlement?
[News-and-Society:Politics] I keep hearing that we should negotiate rather than use force or sanctions. If that is so then why do we spend so much money incarcerating people that have committed a petty crime. What good did the three strikes and you are out law do?
- The Fox Run Tavern
[Arts-and-Entertainment:Poetry] How can I say it without being crude?
How can I make you believe it's the truth?
How can I fight it without being a prude?
The awkward exciting pleasures of booze
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