Volume 1, Issue 2


EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!


Welcome to the second edition of the Poetrybox.com E-zine requested by, created by and created for the visitors and members of our community here at Poetrybox.com. In these e-zines, you will find articles on different topics, and "Ask Auntie" column to who you may write questions about life to, Herbal Medicine and about anything else you could possibly ask for. Speaking of, if you would like to see something in our next issues, write us at cio@poetrybox.com and I will see that we do it for you, if at all possible.


Ghostwriters


By: Mary Elizabeth Rumsey

I was so awed when I first heard "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!" I thought how inspiring for president Kennedy to dream up such a memorable phrase. It wasn't until I saw a biography about the Kennedy family that I thought otherwise. During the movie a "group of writers" in another room were putting together the perfect words for the president to use.

My bubble had been popped for I thought that JFK had sat up late one night and personally penned out the great words as Abraham Lincoln once did.

It has been said that Abraham Lincoln wrote part of the Gettysburg address on executive mansion stationery and then the other part was pencil written on lined paper perhaps on his train ride before the dedication on November 19, 1863. The original copies have matching folds of the two sheets that Lincoln had pulled out of his pocket in order to deliver the speech.

It is said that The Presidents regularly use ghostwriters. Unfortunately the ghostwriters are not silent anymore, or at least some of their spouses find it unnecessary to stay so.

Case in point; President Bush promised in his state of the union speech to focus anti-terror efforts on the "axis of evil". The phrase referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. The description drew immediate attention and may have become a phrase well known to have been dreamed up by President Bush.

Not! The wife of the speechwriter who created this phrase made a round on the internet letting everyone know by these words "I realize this is very Washington of me to mention, but my husband is responsible for the axis of evil segment." She then went on to say, "it is not often a phrase one writes gains national notice...so I hope you'll indulge my wifely pride in seeing this one repeated in headlines everywhere!"

Obviously Presidential speeches should be written by the orators themselves or at least by some ghostwriters who do not have bragging wives waiting in the wings to highlight their husbands' works. A hired ghostwriter should be just that or get into another line of business. Whatever happened to writing what is in ones' heart? Has it gotten so lost that we have to resort to Presidential speeches being flaunted by overeager self righteous family members, who want their 15 minutes of fame?

"Presidential writing- does not have to be so enlightening!"

If you are interested in becoming a guest colomnist, write me at cio@poetrybox.com and we will include you in our upcoming issues.


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Last Months Answer:

Center of a lily is the correct answer
A problem shared is a problem halved. Write to Auntie at askauntie@poetrybox.com to see if I can alleviate those worries.

Unfortunately, Auntie cannot answer any medical questions; these should always be discussed with your physician.

All letters are treated with the utmost confidence. I will try to answer all mail as soon as possible; this may take time as all letters are read. If you do not wish your letter to be selected for the page, please sign anon.

Dear Auntie....
Please, please help... I have candle wax on my carpet and I am renting. How do I get the wax out before my next inspection???

From Candle Lover

Dear Candle Lover,

Thank you for your e-mail, Don't panic!

1. The wax on your carpet should be chilled before picking the excess wax off. Do this by placing a bag of ice cubes over the wax.

2. Melt the remaining wax using a sheet of blotting paper over the wax, and blot up using a WARM (not hot) iron.

3. Rub with methylated spirit or dry cleaning fluid. DO NOT USE METHYLATED SPIRIT ON ACETATE OR RAYON; it will melt the fabric.

4. Wash the area with baby shampoo or the recommended carpet shampoo.

NOTE: If the carpet is silk, I suggest you go to a Persian carpet dealer as they can advise you how to treat silk.

Good luck!

Auntie.

Dear Auntie:
I do not have a problem: But I do have a comment to make and would like to share it with everyone. I am very happy to be a "Member of the Poetrybox.com family." Noboby could ask for nicer friends and acquaintences than the "Staff members of Poetrybox.com" Not only are they "Wonderful folks," but they are always there to lend a helping hand or even a shoulder to cry on. "A friend in need is a friend indeed." I would like you to also refer members to poem number # 7047. Thanking you for taking time to read this little note. I always say it is better to hear something "Cheerful," than sad.

A"True Blue Member",
C. M. Porter



The Euro

Anyone traveling to Europe will no doubt face the new currency. "The Euro." So, I hear all you Americans say, "What’s the big deal, we’ve had a single monetary currency for a life time?” Those of you hopping from one European country to another will find the single currency a god send, no more paying exchange rate commissions, no more having to work out the value of different currencies into your own currency, no more carrying home lots of unwanted loose change that you won’t be able to change into your own currency. What a relief! But there is the other side of the coin. Are Europeans losing their identity? Are we losing our individuality that makes us incomparable to the rest of the world?

Since the introduction of the Euro prices have risen, but our incomes have remained stagnant. The elderly are not able to come to grips with this money, therefore mistakes are made and usually at the peril of the innocent.

Great Britain is fighting to keep their independence of the great British pound, but alas, I fear the worst is yet to come. The Euro will sneak its way into the homes of the British like a sleek panther waiting in the shadows for the right moment to pounce soundlessly and swiftly onto its oblivious pray.

For the full story, click here!





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 GIVE YOUR FACE A WORKOUT
to help headaches

All you need is your own handsome face and a mirror and you're ready to do some face and scalp calisthenics, courtesy of Harry C. Ehrmantrout, Ph.D., author of Headaches: The Drugless Way to Lasting Relief. The exercises are designed to relax the muscles of the face and scalp and teach you conscious control over these muscles so you can go into action at the first sign of a headache. Here in a summary are 11 face and scalp calisthenics Dr. Ehrmantrout recommends:

* Eyebrows up and return: Lift both eyebrows up quickly, then relax and let them drop down.

* Right eyebrow up and return: This move could be tough to do. Start by holding the other eyebrow in place and then move the right eyebrow up, as you did before.

* Left eyebrow up and return: Same as the right eyebrow.

* Squint both eyes closed and release: Do this quickly, hold briefly, then relax.

* Squint right eye hard and release: Squeeze the right side of your face hard enough to raise the corner of your mouth.

* Squint left eye hard and release. Same as the right eye squint.

* Frown deeply and release: Squeeze eyebrows down and in toward the bridge of your nose.

* Yawn wide and close: Slowly open your mouth by lowering your jaw gradually to a wide position. Then close slowly.

* Open jaw, move right and left: Open mouth slightly and slide jaw from right to left, and then from left to right.

* Wrinkle nose: Squeeze nose upward, as if smelling a foul odor.

* Make faces: Ad-lib this one, just like when you were a kid. And don't worry, your face won't get stuck.

(Excerpted from "The Doctors Book of Home Remedies" by the Editors of Prevention Magazine Health Books)


NOTE: This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR; AND ALWAYS READ LABELS AND DIRECTIONS FULLY AND CAREFULLY.



Surely everyone either loves to shoot photos of nature and its creatures, or look at them!!! Well, here's your chance to do both! Send in your photos of nature - sunrise, sunset, critters, birds, mountains, flora and fauna......and we'll give them a showcase. Be sure to give your name for credits, and if you want to do so - a title. We would appreciate knowing the location, or name of whatever you are sending, if you know them. Please send only photographs taken by you. Send these pictures to cio@poetrybox.com

Photos by Joyce P. Hale, taken at Englewood Park and Audubon Society, Englewood, OH, USA. February 2002.

Great blue herons.......





and the riverbank as the sun was going down there.



Note: All photos in this newsletter are owned by the listed photographer, and may not be copied or used without permission of that person, and crediting them. If you wish to copy or use any photos, please contact cio@poetrybox.com and we will be glad to put you in contact with the photographer. This newsletter is associated only with Poetrybox.com.