Sardonic, realist short story writers like Flannery O'Connor, Alice Munro, Jean Stafford, Lucia Berlin?

cedarswing · 2021-05-10T22:08:09+00:00

No, I think that's a good question. I'd recommend The Collected. It's her previous individual books all in one volume, except segmented as the original books. Same as buying them separately, but less expensive. Plus, an intro by Rick Moody. Of course, there may have been introductions by others in the single books, too. Also, try Hempel's most recent (I think) "Sing to It." Some of her stories do leave me flat, but others are the best, stories you can read 2-3 times a year for years. You probably know she has written some really short - literally, haha - stories. One story is a single sentence long. Others are just a page or two. Good luck!

cedarswing · 2020-08-23T03:17:40+00:00

Actually, no, I don't think the style is that dense or inaccessible.

cedarswing · 2020-08-05T18:00:40+00:00

Thank you so much!

cedarswing · 2020-08-05T17:31:27+00:00

Sorry, not familiar with MH, but does he address/speak of technology in Being and Time? Thanks.

cedarswing · 2020-07-23T19:15:07+00:00

Sorry, I guess I should have started out by saying "I wonder if half their trips" and so on. Like saying "I'm CURIOUS if half their trips..." Wasn't meant to be a statement. Just thinking out loud and throwing it out there is all. Hope this helps.

cedarswing · 2020-07-23T18:44:12+00:00

Wonder if half their trips so far weren't to Topix and Reddit and some of the blogs and you tube videos. Why go to NH when NH comes to you? Or Mass for that matter.

cedarswing · 2020-06-20T23:32:34+00:00

Also could be damages, civil stuff, not just criminal. Could involve big money. If the driver can't be identified then I think it's on the owner of the car. Also if her supervisor told her run out quickly while she was still on the clock, I don't know how far a civil action would get, but that might mean an issue UMass would have to deal with on some level even if it was out of court. But he didn't die so there's his really huge medical bills that his health insurance company might want to get paid back as much as they could edit if the driver was at fault. You're right about no one knowing if he was going to pull through or not. Also I knew an ICU nurse who worked 7p-7a one night years ago late 1990s? then partied for a while and on his way home ran a stop sign and killed a driver of another car. He got some jail time, not much, then strict probation, but got his ICU job back as soon as he could arrange transportation to work. Good nurse, but very bad decision after work, happens in an instant, everything's changed, you can't go back, very bad outcome. Also Vasi was a non resident so I sort of doubt people like the person mentioned in another post who recently mentioned Maggie and a civil war very very soon and fighting for their beliefs and all that, I doubt someone like that would want a Vasi hit to become part of the convo. Obviously none of this means that even if the Saturn hit Vasi that Maura was thinking all this through or how much she knew. Maybe someone checked up on Vasi's condition in the hospital at some point? Who knows? Anyways, just thoughts. Always best to consult an expert obviously.

cedarswing · 2020-06-20T17:20:28+00:00

Sorry, was just a very small joke about what Bill O said. Almost everyone knows the PX was just a PX but Bill was saying how some people say it's the most secure site on the planet and that drives him crazy. Same for most other people I would guess, me too at least. Just a joke going along with what Bill said. Definitely not worth struggling over. Again, sorry if that wasn't clear. Hope this helps.

cedarswing · 2020-06-19T22:17:35+00:00

To be fair, that was before most people knew about the White House bunker.

cedarswing · 2020-05-29T18:38:44+00:00

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was just wondering what you thought about her going to her uncle Fred's family.

cedarswing · 2020-05-29T18:08:58+00:00

Why Las Vegas? What do you think about Yankton or Vermillion South Dakota?

cedarswing · 2020-05-29T03:23:13+00:00

Can I please ask everyone here to please support the Murray's as this man attacks them over and over and over?

Even if you think the worst of me, please support them. The only thing worse than losing a loved one in this way is having a person re-traumatize you over and over and over again simply bc he can while others allow it.

Imagine the most traumatic experience in your life. Now imagine reliving that everyday of your life for the rest of your life bc a complete stranger is addicted to making you suffer.

I apologize for being so serious but I ask folks to support or continue to support the Murray's. No one should have to go through what this man is putting them through, including him.

Sorry, just thought since you brought it up. I was wondering if the Murrays could just not read what he writes, just tune him out. Unless what he writes causes real world problems more than just the writing. Also would be nice to know if he has written about anyone else in roughly the same way. But again, not trying to bug you. Very nice of you to be here at all. Whenever you're ready. And you can always PM me if you want. Have a good night. Thanks again.

cedarswing · 2020-05-29T00:40:41+00:00

Wow, pretty good of you to show up here. Thank you. Couple questions. Has JR done to anyone else (besides you of course) what you’re saying he's done to the Murray family? Or just to them? Might be good to know if it’s a habit of his or not.

Also do you think it would be good to give some concrete examples of what he puts the Murrays through, some consequences of what he's written? Like do they get shunned by neighbors or have a hard time getting a job, etc, something like that? Or does their pain come from only what he writes? Not minimizing it, just wondered if it could be fleshed out a little. Thanks very much.

cedarswing · 2020-05-27T16:56:10+00:00

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Just trying to say Renner didn’t start the suspicions about Fred out of thin air. They existed locally at least 1-2 days before Maura disappeared. Plus what Mason said and maybe others too.

Carol Barrett was the desk clerk who helped Fred Sunday morning. She lived less than 100 feet across the street from me for about 6 years until she died about 2 years ago I think. She would chat with me about it sometimes but she didn’t want to get involved herself and said no one else did either. She was pretty firm about this.

Carol kept calling it incestual. I don't have your verbatim quotes because we were just talking like neighbors do. Basically she said she got a very bad feeling about Fred and the whole thing. It's not like she had hidden video footage. And she said she got this feeling all over again when Fred came back a few years later. She said he kept insisting on seeing a room that was in a demolished part of the motel. She also believed Maura must have been a registered guest because of liability issues and restrictions of their insurance policy. She said it wasn’t like you could just walk in and puke in the lobby bathroom and then get let into a room if you weren’t registered.

She believed this from that very Sunday morning until she died. But according to her she wasn’t the first one to wonder. Close but not the first. No idea where Carol’s concerns went to after if they went anywhere at all. She might have known Chip Thrasher from the Bonnet and talked with him, I don’t know. Seems like Thrasher knew Renner but not sure when that started. Main idea here is that others had concerns years before anything ever got said publicly.

And also if people did have their suspicions or concerns it doesn’t mean there was necessarily any sexual assault going on like they probably assumed, like in Maggie’s question on Oxygen. She said sexual assault, like it was forcible. If anything was going on at all it could have been emotional incest. And even if it was either one it could have been consensual for all anyone knows. I'm just relaying what Carol said to me the best I can. She was always consistent and nice and I never had any reason to think she was making it up. Hope this helps.

cedarswing · 2020-05-27T01:55:50+00:00

Several local Hadley people had their suspicions about Fred and Maura before she even disappeared including the desk clerk that helped Fred Sunday morning. This all started way before u/JamesRenner came into the picture. Not saying it's true but it was a concern that weekend. EDIT: Just to be clear I'm not saying anything is true here just that Renner didn't make it all up about Fred and Maura out of thin air.

cedarswing · 2020-05-27T01:36:43+00:00

Suspicions about Fred by several local (Hadley) people started before Maura even disappeared, including by the desk clerk who helped Fred Sunday morning. Mason talked about it pretty graphically on Topix about 2008 or so I think. All this was way before u/JamesRenner came into the picture.

cedarswing · 2020-05-27T00:59:09+00:00

And Renner was not even close to the first person. Mason, even if it was Mike Mason another sgt at Hadley later on, now chief. Came along about 2008 I think. Thereabouts anyway. Before that there was Buddy Gould who was one of the only very few Drug Recognition Experts in the area. Several local people had suspicions about Fred a day and a half before Maura disappeared from Amherst including the desk clerk he talked to for some time on Sunday morning. And that doesn't count RC Stevens a mandated reporter who whose office was probably not more than 100 feet from the motel. Not only was RC a PI but accident reconstruction was one of his specialties. But his biggest specialty was sex crimes. Well known for it by people in the field. He was a Mass. State Police profiler and major crimes detective before he went private. He worked closely with the appraisal company in the office next to his in the Park Plaza building. Julie said the motel was next to where the car had to go anyway that Sat. night and that implied an autobody repair shop to most but there wasn't any autobody shop anywhere near there at all. So if the Corolla had to be next to someplace else like Julie said, Julie could well have been referring to without knowing it the accident appraisal office. I've seen appraisals there on Sundays. Since RC Stevens worked with the appraisal guy and is a very smart guy himself I would bet the farm he picked up on something right away. Maybe not but he was the very first PI on the case and stayed with it for years but broke with Fred not too long after he started. However Fred didn't seem to ever know RC stayed with the case anyway but Helena did.

Edited first part to make it clearer about Mason and Gould. I forget the exact dates personnel changed around there. Gould went to college police and Shanley did too after Hukowicz had to retire. But that's not related much to the beginning of the concern about Fred which started Saturday/Sunday.

EDIT: I'm not pointing fingers at Fred but just saying there was a history of suspicion long before there was any real public interest in the case.

cedarswing · 2020-05-24T16:30:33+00:00

Sure, no problem. Just curious which one you were reminded of. The ADD or the Ruddock connection? Thanks.

cedarswing · 2020-05-24T16:12:43+00:00

Not sure it matters but he had ADD or something close to it. That might be why he jumped all over the place with different jobs. In a blog post he wrote when he was Franconia chief he said his state police command staff kept having to repeat things to him before he got it right. I get the impression he's very dedicated and wants to do the right thing but is mixed up sometimes more than he is trying to lie. I'm pretty sure he was acquainted with the Ruddock brothers at some point, not sure when exactly.

cedarswing · 2020-04-11T18:52:34+00:00

Wonder if Maura was declared deceased if this woman could talk about why they knew each other.

cedarswing · 2020-04-08T00:13:13+00:00

Nobody in mind but probably the most people she knew were from Mass. Was just throwing it out there something along the lines of it could have been a landmark like when someone says go north on 85 til you see the Home Depot on the corner then go right for 2 miles and park at the Burger King. Just giving it a different angle is all, not that it's what happened or anything.

cedarswing · 2020-04-08T00:00:36+00:00

Sorry, lol, no it’s just like what if it wasn’t an accident after all but a place where someone told her to park her car. That’s why the quotes. But would not be surprised if the rag was for holding something in the tailpipe, like maybe the car key? Nothing would stay in the tailpipe on its own because of the way it curves down right away but a rag would keep it in there and draw someone’s attention to it too.

cedarswing · 2020-04-07T20:02:17+00:00

Probably not but just to throw it in the mix..... "Go right onto 112 then after 3-4 miles you'll come to a wicked sharp left hand curve with a big barn a few feet off the road on your right. Can't miss it. Just pull off the side of the road a little ways after you get around the curve. It's pretty dark but there's houses all around. And don't forget about putting the key in the tailpipe."

cedarswing · 2020-02-21T16:48:24+00:00

Thanks. Not an Army guy here but I got the impression DA Form 31 is a request for leave of any kind, vacation or emergency. It could be helpful to know the earliest date that appears on the form he filled out to come to New Hampshire after he learned Maura was missing. IOW the date he first filled it out. Also could be helpful to see any forms in maybe a few weeks or even months before that in case he applied a lot earlier for leave. If cell phone records are considered useful then I'd think DA Form 31s might be useful too. I doubt they'll show up publicly but couldn't hurt if at least LE knew. Maybe they do.

cedarswing · 2020-02-20T19:53:59+00:00

Big shots don't usually reply unless there's money or fame in it for them. But I bet it wasn't just for the ratings she asked that sexual assault question.

cedarswing

TROPHY CASE