FOR SALE AT AUCTION
It’s me Grace E. Howell on the auction block for sale to the highest bidder! Yes, it’s true. And I have to confess that being on sale is stressful. What if nobody wants me? And nobody bids on me? Maybe I shouldn’t worry. Who wouldn’t want an 1918 style lunch with five friends and author Grace E. Howell? Plus everybody gets a treasure box full of what? Treasures, of course.
In the words of the Cowardly Lion–I do believe, I do believe, I do believe. Somebody out there is bound to be dying to have lunch with me and learn all my writing secrets. Now if I just had some secrets. Oh, well, I’ll think of some.
Meanwhile, I’ll just sit back and dream about that luscious lunch that CTK teacher, Mrs. Lorna Schmidt, is preparing and the treasures we are collecting for our lunch guests.
Take a look at the Auction Site online. It’s for a good cause–to support CTK School and help provide a superior education for K-8 students. Go to ctkschool.com, click on the auction link, and at the left, click on CTK Only. Then scroll down to see the TRUE FRIENDS book cover. Click there to see details about the sale of Grace E. Howell, well not actually the author but lunch with her.
If you can’t stand the thought of lunch with me, maybe you’ll find another item like a year’s supply of bathroom and facial tissue or a 26" LCD 728p HiDef Philips Television to bid on. However, I don’t think that tissue or TV will be nearly as hurt if nobody bids on them as I will if I go bidless.
My fingers and toes are crossed until I’ve been sold.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Jury Duty - What a Trip!
Rushing all the way, fighting the downtown traffic, finding a parking place, hurrying down the ramps, jaywalking across the street. Racing into the Federal Building and passing through security to check in at 8:28 a.m. Zipping up to the eleventh floor to join a short line of prospective jurors that stretched out the door of the Jury Assembly Room, a line that grew much longer behind me on down the hall. Check in time was 8:30. What a way to start federal jury duty!
The Jury Assembly Room was more than filled (not enough chairs) with enthusiastic and not so enthusiastic good citizens called to do their civic duty. Each one wore a JUROR label. A friendly woman welcomed us with a big smile and information about federal jury duty. After we watched a video explaining the responsibilities of a juror, we were divided into three groups and assigned to a judge and his courtroom. If we were not selected for a jury that day we could go home with our obligation to the federal court finished. If we were selected, we would be on a jury until the trial was over.
Then came a break to take care of personal needs. I attached myself to an endless line and had almost reached the restroom door, when a person in uniform announced that Judge McCalla was asking for his jurors. I was getting desperate, but I didn’t want to rile the judge. Along with others on Judge McCalla’s list, I was herded into an elevator. On the ninth floor, I weaved my way through the herd of jurors and found a line of women disappearing into an open door. By the time my personal needs were met, I was the only one in the restroom. Not to worry, my own uniformed shepherd was waiting in the now empty hall to escort me into the courtroom and assign me a seat in the middle of a long bench at the very back of the room.
It was dead silent in the courtroom as the judge told us all about being on a federal jury and how to be a good juror. Then fourteen lucky people were called to take the cushy jury seats near the judge. The rest of us had a little more breathing space on the benches. Judge McCalla told us we had to listen carefully to questions he asked the prospective jurors so that we would not repeat their answers if we were called to take a seat with them.
This was not turning out to be the nice relaxing away from work kind of day I was hoping for. Sitting in the back, I had to strain to hear and sit up as tall and straight as I could to see what was happening in the front. That bench was hard, no cushions there.
I had a chance to look around while the judge questioned each juror individually. A tall, blond woman wearing a red suit turned out to be the U.S. Attorney. A big, rugged-looking man with a beautiful, salt and pepper ponytail twice as long as the attorney’s was a law-enforcement witness. The defendant, an innocent (until proven guilty) African American man in a neat shirt and trousers sat with the defense lawyer, a dark-haired man in a black suit.
The judge asked the jurors question after question. Then the attorneys had their chance. After all the questions and answers, the judge and the attorneys met near the judge’s chair and I believe they activated some kind of swooshing noise so we couldn’t hear what they said. As a result of their confab, six of the jurors were dismissed. They got to go home.
Six more people from the benches were seated. And the process was repeated several times.
Through all of this, the bench sitters sat like statues, still and silent. I was getting fidgety and very hungry. A person on the bench in front of me managed to open some kind of snack without a sound, and she kept sneaking bits of it like a kid eating in class.
Finally we broke for lunch and I walked down the mall with two other bench sitters to a new Leonard’s Barbecue. If you’ve ever been to Memphis, you know we love our barbecue. That was the best part of the day–sitting there stuffing in barbecue and getting acquainted with people from other counties in West Tennessee(there for federal court) while catching the mall sights through a big window.
Then we were back in court for more of the same. Finally the judge and both attorneys were satisfied with the people sitting in the jury box. The rest of the bench sitters were dismissed. Our jury duty was over. I had been hoping to get on a jury, but after that exhausting day, I was relieved to get out of there while I could still move.
It was good to be a part of a justice system in which a person is guaranteed a fair, impartial trial by peers and a judge who interprets the law and makes sure the trial stays on track. I was impressed with Judge McCalla and the way he handled the jury selection. The solemnity of the court and the questions asked by the judge and the attorneys made sure the defendant would get a fair trial.
The sky had turned dark, and by the time I got to the parking garage a sprinkle had turned into a downpour. I drove all the way home in a gully-washing thunderstorm.
What a trip!
If you’ve been on jury duty, let me know what it was like for you.
The Jury Assembly Room was more than filled (not enough chairs) with enthusiastic and not so enthusiastic good citizens called to do their civic duty. Each one wore a JUROR label. A friendly woman welcomed us with a big smile and information about federal jury duty. After we watched a video explaining the responsibilities of a juror, we were divided into three groups and assigned to a judge and his courtroom. If we were not selected for a jury that day we could go home with our obligation to the federal court finished. If we were selected, we would be on a jury until the trial was over.
Then came a break to take care of personal needs. I attached myself to an endless line and had almost reached the restroom door, when a person in uniform announced that Judge McCalla was asking for his jurors. I was getting desperate, but I didn’t want to rile the judge. Along with others on Judge McCalla’s list, I was herded into an elevator. On the ninth floor, I weaved my way through the herd of jurors and found a line of women disappearing into an open door. By the time my personal needs were met, I was the only one in the restroom. Not to worry, my own uniformed shepherd was waiting in the now empty hall to escort me into the courtroom and assign me a seat in the middle of a long bench at the very back of the room.
It was dead silent in the courtroom as the judge told us all about being on a federal jury and how to be a good juror. Then fourteen lucky people were called to take the cushy jury seats near the judge. The rest of us had a little more breathing space on the benches. Judge McCalla told us we had to listen carefully to questions he asked the prospective jurors so that we would not repeat their answers if we were called to take a seat with them.
This was not turning out to be the nice relaxing away from work kind of day I was hoping for. Sitting in the back, I had to strain to hear and sit up as tall and straight as I could to see what was happening in the front. That bench was hard, no cushions there.
I had a chance to look around while the judge questioned each juror individually. A tall, blond woman wearing a red suit turned out to be the U.S. Attorney. A big, rugged-looking man with a beautiful, salt and pepper ponytail twice as long as the attorney’s was a law-enforcement witness. The defendant, an innocent (until proven guilty) African American man in a neat shirt and trousers sat with the defense lawyer, a dark-haired man in a black suit.
The judge asked the jurors question after question. Then the attorneys had their chance. After all the questions and answers, the judge and the attorneys met near the judge’s chair and I believe they activated some kind of swooshing noise so we couldn’t hear what they said. As a result of their confab, six of the jurors were dismissed. They got to go home.
Six more people from the benches were seated. And the process was repeated several times.
Through all of this, the bench sitters sat like statues, still and silent. I was getting fidgety and very hungry. A person on the bench in front of me managed to open some kind of snack without a sound, and she kept sneaking bits of it like a kid eating in class.
Finally we broke for lunch and I walked down the mall with two other bench sitters to a new Leonard’s Barbecue. If you’ve ever been to Memphis, you know we love our barbecue. That was the best part of the day–sitting there stuffing in barbecue and getting acquainted with people from other counties in West Tennessee(there for federal court) while catching the mall sights through a big window.
Then we were back in court for more of the same. Finally the judge and both attorneys were satisfied with the people sitting in the jury box. The rest of the bench sitters were dismissed. Our jury duty was over. I had been hoping to get on a jury, but after that exhausting day, I was relieved to get out of there while I could still move.
It was good to be a part of a justice system in which a person is guaranteed a fair, impartial trial by peers and a judge who interprets the law and makes sure the trial stays on track. I was impressed with Judge McCalla and the way he handled the jury selection. The solemnity of the court and the questions asked by the judge and the attorneys made sure the defendant would get a fair trial.
The sky had turned dark, and by the time I got to the parking garage a sprinkle had turned into a downpour. I drove all the way home in a gully-washing thunderstorm.
What a trip!
If you’ve been on jury duty, let me know what it was like for you.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
A New Beginning
"Good morning, Ms. Howell."
"I loved your book!"
"Thank you for coming to our class."
What a wonderful way to start a beautiful Sunday morning! At church today, fifth and sixth graders greeted me at the door. They had read True Friends. What a lift for me! With that and today's sunny, spring-like weather I'm ready for a new beginning.
Since last October, I've been tied up with so many things, including the last nine months of 2007 whenI battled with what I and my doctors thought was some kind of contagious crud. Then the consenses in December was that my old nemesis, allergy to almost everything, had me in its grip. Now that I'm shooting myself in the leg every Monday morning, I can breathe again and even think. Woo hoo!
I'm ready to go full steam ahead, but everything is now on hold. Why? I have federal jury duty for the month of March and will report to the Federal Building tomorrow morning at 8:30. I'm not complaining. I've always wanted to be on a jury but never been called before. I plan to chalk jury duty up as a real learning experience. Who knows when I may have a character in court? So I plan to be the alert, bright-eyed juror in the second row, taking all in and doing my civic duty at the same time.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
"I loved your book!"
"Thank you for coming to our class."
What a wonderful way to start a beautiful Sunday morning! At church today, fifth and sixth graders greeted me at the door. They had read True Friends. What a lift for me! With that and today's sunny, spring-like weather I'm ready for a new beginning.
Since last October, I've been tied up with so many things, including the last nine months of 2007 whenI battled with what I and my doctors thought was some kind of contagious crud. Then the consenses in December was that my old nemesis, allergy to almost everything, had me in its grip. Now that I'm shooting myself in the leg every Monday morning, I can breathe again and even think. Woo hoo!
I'm ready to go full steam ahead, but everything is now on hold. Why? I have federal jury duty for the month of March and will report to the Federal Building tomorrow morning at 8:30. I'm not complaining. I've always wanted to be on a jury but never been called before. I plan to chalk jury duty up as a real learning experience. Who knows when I may have a character in court? So I plan to be the alert, bright-eyed juror in the second row, taking all in and doing my civic duty at the same time.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
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