The Poconos Archives - Page 11 of 11

P*ssy at my doorstep…

Posted on Thursday September 13, 2001Friday June 3, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Hey... it can happen??!!?? Yeah, life is good.

Carole heads off to work at night, and I have “Puddy” show up right at the door, just minutes after she leaves… like clockwork. It’s a nice feeling to have someone snuggle with me at night again.

Carole knows, and has no problem with it. Truth be told, she’s actually encouraging it.

“Puddy” is apparently a housecat that somebody no longer wanted (or lost). I can tell, because she’s still kinda fat, and relatively clean, even though she has no collar or tags. She shows up every night looking for something to eat.

What did you *think* I was talking about?

Now that we no longer have dogs to eat our leftovers… Puddy and I have a great working relationship. She also boosts the kid’s spirits (If you recall, the kids were taken away, without even given a chance to say “goodbye” to them.), since we’re not legally allowed to have pets anymore.

Carole named her “Puddy Tat”. Original, no? This is the same person that named a black cat “Snowball” and an orange tabby “Dog” back in our N.Y.C. apartment when we first got married.

I’m trying really hard to be the tough guy here…. enforcing it in
everyone’s heads that we can’t keep Puddy as a pet.

The other night, the kids took her in because she was crying from the flashing lightning… I crashed after doing an all-nighter and going straight to work.

I was told Puddy spent the entire night sleeping on my chest.

So here’s the situation:

1) We can’t have pets…
2) I hate cats…
3) It’s EXTREMELY dangerous where we live. We spot bears crossing the road almost every day, looking for food for the upcoming winter (which is going to be a *BITCH*… you heard it here first!). We actually spotted a Bobcat on our property the other day, among other wild predators. Puddy won’t stand a chance out there alone. It’s just a matter of time before a wild animal either tears her to shreds, or gives her rabies.
4) You should see the kids’ eyes light up every time Puddy shows up. They go outside and play with her, try to sneak her in… then I have to be the bad guy and put her back out.
5) I’m probably more attached to this cat than I want to admit.

So what the hell do I do now?
Pictures of Puddy coming soon… (’cause I like to torture myself that
way.)

Pocono People: Kitty Jones

Posted on Tuesday August 28, 2001Friday June 3, 2011 by Eric Brooks

I had the honor of featuring my dear friend, Kitty Jones in Pocono
Life today. Every week, the Pocono Record picks someone, and features them in a section called “Pocono People”. (Last week featured one of the many constables that have tried to arrest Carole over the last few months, but let’s not open that can of worms, ok?)

When the Tribe called Brooks was stranded in Stroudsburg (as usual, thanks to the vehicle we lovingly refer to as “THE DEATHMOBILE”), Kitty was there for us, with her tour van, to get us home safe & sound.

She puts on a phenomenal one-woman show called “Kit’s Kaboodle“, bringing in audience members to play various parts, and she does this all across the PA, N.J and N.Y area. (Click Here for her Show Dates)… it’s really incredible, you’ve gotta catch one of her shows.

The article is here, and her biography (bet you didn’t know she was in “As The World Turns“) is here.

I met Kitty when she hired us to redesign www.kitskaboodle.com at the Pocono Record, btw….

The Legacy of Tocks Island Dam

Posted on Sunday August 19, 2001Sunday May 8, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Looking for some riveting reading this weekend? Check out The Legacy of Tocks Island Dam. This story has it all: Natural disasters, death & destruction, our Government going to extremes: taking homes and land by any means necessary, land owners committing suicide as their land is taken away, hippie protests, and the origin of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

It also features photos that never made it to print, courtesy of The Monroe County Historical Society and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

It was a three day series, that ran in the Pocono Record last week, and now it’s online. I’ve gotta admit that I really didn’t get a chance to read this until I put it together online this weekend… and it is MIND-BLOWING! Full of history that us New Yorkers moving in never knew. Go check it out, I’ll wait.

Pocono Record: Under Siege!

Posted on Sunday July 15, 2001Friday June 3, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Yup… that’s your CyberPal, right there with the Editor, Publisher, and Editorial Editor… um, well, basically laughing at the buffoons picketing the Pocono Record. (Story at the Pocono Record site).

At the Pocono Record offices, staffers (from left) Web page designer Eric Brooks, Editor Kim DeBourbon, Publisher Carolynn Allen-Evans, Editorial page Editor Paula Heeschen.
David Kidwell /Pocono Record

Actually, we were *all* at the window chuckling at this makeshift parade… supposedly an unknown group of contractors protesting the way the Pocono Record has portrayed the home-building industry in Matt Birkbeck’s Special Report.

Out of the 200 people there (I still say 130-150) there were, maybe, 30 men there, that could pass as contractors. The rest were women, children and dogs (with posterboards taped on their back).

We’re all lined up against the windows, yelling “Hey pal, what’s under the kilt??!!??”, “What? no eggs or tomatoes?”. Photographers David Kidwell and Jason Farmer snapping up pics of the protesters outside.

Well, that’s the front page of today’s Pocono Record. If you can get up here and grab a copy, hurry up, because it’s selling like hotcakes, and the same people holding up signs that say “BOYCOTT POCONO RECORD” are buying up 5 or 6 copies for their friends and family because their names & pictures are in the paper…

Am I the only one who sees the irony in that? :0)

The Frank Frazetta Connection

Posted on Monday June 11, 2001Friday June 3, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Oh Lookie! Your CyberPal has made yet another reference to Illustration God Frank Frazetta.

This one appeared on Sunday’s splash page of the Pocono Record

Jerry Herring of Bloomington, IN, an avid admirer of famed local artist Frank Frazetta, looks at one of his paintings during the grand opening of the Frazetta museum at the family complex in East Stroudsburg Saturday.
Jason Farmer/Pocono Record

Hmmmm… now one may speculate why Your CyberPal (hereafter referred to as “Ye Olde Burnt-Out Designer”) has been sucking up to the Poconos’ other famous resident.

It could be (and this is a really THIN theory) that Pocono Record’s Online Director, Patrick Mullen (hereafter referred to as “Saturday’s Birthday Boy”, or “Ye Young Slave Driver…”), is an avid golfer, and good friends with the owner of Stroudsburg’s Golf World store… none other than Frank Frazetta Jr..

Should said Slave Driver manage to get said Burnt-out Designer to sacrifice two of the three hours a sleep he gets a night to work on some cool specs for the Golf World site… there is a chance that this burnt-out designer can meet said Legendary father.

Kids… this is why Vivarins is not a substitute for sleep….the best I could come up for “Golf World”

Yes… Patrick reads WHUZZUP!. Have I mentioned what a cool boss he is? :0)

(Originally supposed to be posted on Sunday, but my site was down most of the weekend due to server upgrades)

P.S. Kare is back… YAY! (via Jon Sullivan, can ya believe it????)

Eric goes to the hospital

Posted on Thursday May 17, 2001Friday June 3, 2011 by Eric Brooks

<begin commercial>
Hi… this your CyberPal!

When I’m not licking asbestos shingles on a dare, I like to spend my time playing with potentially deadly insects!
</end commercial>:

It all began when… (screen gets fuzzy and wavy) I woke up this morning and thought a tissue was stuck on my stomach. As I pulled it, I realized that it was some form of a creepy bug (white, about 3/4 of an inch long with black tick-like legs… is there an entomologist in the house?) halfway burrowed into my skin.

Anyway, to make a long story unbearable…

Carole had to pick up Ashley and rushed her to Pocono Medical center with abdominal pains. After work, I head over there… dizzy and weak as hell. They’re not 100% sure, but they think she may have some kind of parasite in her stomach. So I inform the doctor of my adventure this morning to shed some insight on this. Perhaps, since we live in the woods (aka middle of nowhere) our house may have some unwanted guests lurking in the woodworks.

“Do you have the insect, so we can take it to the lab?”
“Uh… no, I drowned the sucker under scalding hot water and he went down the drain”

Uh oh… wrong answer

“You should have saved it… that’s why God made plastic baggies.”
“God made plastic baggies?”

So me, with my yellowish-red eyes was immediately admitted, bloodwork, urine sample, lyme disease test… the works.

Carole pensively awaited the results. She knows I’ve been sick for months, tired all the time, dizzy, pale.

AND THE RESULTS ARE (insert drum roll)….

nothing!

She feared my condition could have been Lyme’s Disease, Diabetes, Anemia or a combination.

“Your husband’s perfectly normal…”
“Uhm, that’s a questionable term doctor”

Just simple burnout and dehydration. Prescription: Plenty of fluids and more than three hours sleep a night.

Carole’s relieved I finally saw a doctor. I’m sure Kare, wherever she is, is thrilled, as she also knows I haven’t seen a doctor since 1988.

So there… you’re all stuck with me for a decade or two, TOUGH NOOGIES!.

… and my tongue went back to it’s normal color after a few months, thanks for asking.

… On your side.

Posted on Friday April 27, 2001Thursday June 2, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Well, whaddya know….

A couple of CyberPals in New York City let me know that ABC’s Eyewitness News: 7 on your side, ran a story last night about the Poconos and the predatory lending practices going on, and driving people to foreclosure and bankruptcy.

And they even link to Matt Birkbeck’s series on their site.

For those not following the story…. it’s in the hands of the Feds now.

SCARED??? You should be. :0)

Special Report….

Posted on Tuesday April 10, 2001Thursday June 2, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Three days in a row… The Pocono Record has been sold out at newsstands. My phone has been ringing off the hook from homeowners looking for this article, and that article online….

Yesterday, managing editor Bill Watson came to me: “Eric, do you think we can make a ‘Special Report’ section for Matt’s exposes?
Matt Birkbeck’s 8-page series A price TOO HIGH…. goes live to the public at 3AM today.

I love my job!. :0)

Y-Rent…

Posted on Tuesday April 10, 2001Thursday June 2, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Hey New Yorkers! Before you jump for the bait at the too-good-to-be-true “Why-Rent” commercials you see on TV… you know, the one where Raintree Homes pays your rent until you’re ready to move to the Poconos???

Check out part two of Matt Birkbeck’s series “A Price TOO HIGH“… here and here…

Part three goes up today at www.poconorecord.com and then into a special section called “Special Reports” sometime today (details to follow).

Fixed

Posted on Thursday August 27, 1998Saturday May 28, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Well, after four days it seems ICOM (My Web Host) has finally fixed the bug in my website, and I’m open for business…despite this one problem, they really are excellent. At least they spelled “Erox Graphix” right. If you want a laugh, you can check out the website that SPDI tried to set up for me at www.eroxgrafix.com …

Anyone who has read my soapbox or has spent even a 1/2 hour with me knows what a nut I am about correct spelling…it seems these guys didn’t read the order form correctly and filed for a domain for eroxgrafix.com. I complained, they promised they would change it. When it turned out that interNIC wouldn’t do it for free, they basically expected me to live with their mistake….

Uh uh. No way. Services weren’t rendered as far as I’m concerned.

Now I’m working with professionals that have the same work ethic that I do. THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

Anyone interested on more information on being hosted by my web host can write to

web_host@ericbrooks.com .

Cuz boys, girls, and future webdesigners…the object lesson of the day is:

“The customer is always right“