Where's Armand?

Update on Babu

Armand's daughter, Ann, our Official Armand Correspondent, has the latest breaking news for us. Babu, is a name that Armand was given by villagers during his last African safari:

Hello everyone! We arrived in Morgantown Sunday evening and visited with Babu before his surgery Monday morning! He was quite eager to get this surgery done, I can tell you! Staying in bed for a month (yes, it was 4 weeks exactly on Sunday...most of it in the ICU) has not been good for him and he is most eager to get the hell out of the hospital!

His surgery went remarkably well for someone in his condition after 29 days in the hospital with nothing but IV fluids for food! During the surgery, he was briefly pulled out of deep anesthesia due to a precipitous drop in blood pressure, but otherwise tolerated a 4 hour procedure pretty well for a 92 plus year old man! As of 10pm last night he was still heavily sedated and semi conscious to keep him from fighting the ventilator so was not aware anyone was there at all!

I just spoke to the nurse at 6am and he had a restful night and they will try to wake him around noon today to see if he can tolerate being off the ventilator, You may remember that last surgery (over 3 weeks ago) he was removed from the ventilator in a record 4 hours after surgery but this time his condition has deteriorated significantly and that will not be the case this time. They think he is about ready to breathe on his own though and will attempt small periods off it later today to test the waters, so to speak, before removing it!

His recovery will certainly be long and arduous as he is so badly de-compensated after 31 days in a bed with almost no mobility! He has such an incredible will to live though that I am confident he will do his damnedest to beat the odds!

So, we will begin the road to recovery again today!

Love to you all and thanks for all of your concern and wishes!

Love,

Annie

Going Through a Pile of Letters!

Armand has been enjoying your cards and letters. If they were tickets out of the hospital, he would have been out the door weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Armand's recovery is not what his doctors had hoped for and he will be having another surgery today. He's been in the hospital for a month now, still reading, writing and planning for his "release". I am in awe of his desire to simply keep on, keeping on.

If you'd like to add to the pile of letters and send some thoughts and well wishes to Armand The Brave, here's the address:

Armand Singer
PATIENT
Ruby Memorial Hospital
1 Medical Center Drive
Morgantown, WV 26505

Photo: Rivertart

He Writes Us a Few Lines

Armand is an authority on stamps such as these rare Tibetan issues. His comments are part of the description for these stamps,on sale for $775 on Geoffrey Hack's website.

Armand is also irrepressible. While he remains in the hospital, he is still busy working on the Fall Colloquium and found the time to get this update to us:

Working on the Oct 4-6 colloquium on Literature and Film. Our subject, Stage and Screen today. All kinds of new digitalization techniques are changing the world around, e.g., the background of the "300" movie is all fake! It used to be that the stage was faked and the screen was real! Now, they are both faked! You put on a set for the screen and if it is a stage you make up a background in the same way!! 100 years of movies ... and we are right back where we started!

Then, separately, I am working on my Friday noon general paper on Sex and Violence! And, in little and or BIG ways it's getting worse! Sex and violence, that is, and unfair to boot!!!

I have no use for Imus, but an awful lot of people liked him! We encouraged the guy to get lower and lower in his comments and then we push to get him thrown off the air when he does what we have encouraged! He is no good, but the whole culture degrades women, both Black and White!!!! And, it isn't getting any better!!

All of this, I am putting into my upgraded version of my essay. In my favor, I will try to explain why I think things are the way they are, psychologically and historically. My conclusion: don't hold your breath!!!!

You may continue to send your well wishes, limericks and comments to:

Armand Singer
PATIENT
Ruby Memorial Hospital
1 Medical Center Drive
Morgantown, WV 26505

Photo: TibetanPost.com

Ready to read your writing.

Armand progresses daily, as Ann The Daughter reports:

"His sense of humor is intact, he's been receiving visitors, reading voraciously and entertaining the nursing staff!  He is getting better although still no food or water by mouth so the real test is yet to come when they let him eat and drink on his own!"

He's ready for your cards, letters and limericks. Let's keep the man occupied and spare the nurses! In case you need some help with your Limerick Contest entry, these sites may be helpful:

• e-How.com
• PoetryTeachers.com
• Dr. Birch's guide

Here's my attempt (disqualified, of course) that's rated for general audiences. You need not be so constrained (you should read some of Armand's).

Singer to the hospital, admitted

He awoke to his cecum, omitted

"Not a problem", said he

"I'll eat like a flea!"

"Frozen dinners and shakes, permitted!"

Photo:Christoph Kuschnig

Causing Postal Fatigue

While we were all paying attention to Krista's delivery last weekend, Armand was driving himself to the emergency room in Morgantown. His sleuth of a daughter, Annie, tracked him down when she was unable to reach him by phone.

I spoke to Armand on Wednesday as he lay in his hospital bed. His three hour surgery was performed on Friday and according to Annie, he's getting better every day. He'll be out of ICU by tomorrow but will be in the hospital for another 10 days, at least.

Chocolates (Armand's not-so-secret-desire) and flowers are not the thing to send at this time but I'm certain that he would just be elated to hear from you. A quick note or a 'get well' card would be wonderful. Just be mindful that it will hurt him to laugh! If you're up for it, compose a limerick for the Master of Limericks.

How about that? Another contest! Armand will be the judge this time. The winner will receive a Where's Armand t-shirt of choice and a box of Kona chocolates that I would have bought for Armand, if he were recovering from anything other than a digestive disorder.

Send all your cards, letters and limericks to:
Armand Singer
PATIENT
Ruby Memorial Hospital
1 Medical Center Drive
Morgantown, WV 26505

Let's turn the postman into an Energizer Bunny!

Photo: Word Movers

Recovering!

It worked! All of your good thoughts and energy for Armand must have helped. Surgery was successful and they removed the uncooperative part of his digestive system.

He'll be "withheld" for about two weeks in the hospital. I wonder if the nurses and doctors have any idea that they are dealing with the human Energizer Bunny. His batteries may be running a bit low right now but wait until he recharges. They will never forget this spry gent walking up and down the hallways...he just keeps on going!

Photo:Tropical Beach Homes

Down by the River.

Once again, Morgantown has made the Forbes inside list as the 5th Best Smaller Metros for Business and Careers. Our dear Armand Singer plays a major role in Morgantown's rating success.

Armand has been a resident of Morgantown for over 60 years and has influenced the ranking (indicated by the number ) of its university (57) as a professor at West Virginia University. He maintains an active role even to this day!

Morgantown's economy (income growth-15 and job growth-14) thrives, in part due to Armand's loyal patronage of the local Dairy Queen and movie theater. It might appear to be small change (a blueberry shake and a movie ticket) but you multiply that by at least 42 weeks out of every year times 60+years! It certainly adds up.

Morgantown's best rating? A low crime rate (2). That's because the people there love and respect their little city so much that they would not even commit anything that could be misconstrued as a traffic violation in their own town. Perhaps in a neighboring state like Ohio, but never in Morgantown, WV.

Illustration:wvpics .com

Calling for Papers.

Armand actually made the call a few months ago for submissions to the Thirty-first Annual Colloquium on Literature and Film: Stage and Screen Today that takes place at WVU in October. June first is the deadline for abstracts so Armand will soon be busy culling papers.

Along with the selection process, Armand must begin work on a schedule of events and all of the details that go along with hosting the conference. The colloquium is one of his passions so Armand puts his heart into it, no task is too big or tedious.

Therein must lie the secret! Armand is sincerely passionate about life. He wants to fill each day, every nook and cranny of his existence, with more. He'll certainly be busy for the next few months but I'm certain that he's already plotting the course of yet another adventure!

Need to Improve Your Groove? Read this article on how to cultivate a zest for life.

Photo: Don Brice Photography

Still Driving.

One of the great American themes, according to Armand, is the road story. People love the freedom of driving across the country, as Armand has done every two years since the early 1930's. (Remember his return from that notorious drive last year through the national parks?)

Few traffic laws were in force in the 30's and 40's and towns and cities erected signs which assumed drivers to be aware and cooperative. You were asked not to drive while drunk, unless you wanted to be considered a public nuisance (!).

In 1937, Mary Blanche Einhouse got herself a driver's handbook from the city of Detroit and probably earned the right to drive just by reading it. The manual captures the cars and roadways of Armand's early years as a driver. You'll also be amused to see that many of our traffic laws were once merely safe driving tips, as the picture above portrays.

Enjoy a look at the past as you view the photos in The Right To Drive Right.

Note to Armand: If you recognize any landmarks or buildings in the manual, let me know. The author of the website is asking for help.

Photo from The Right To Drive Right.

Speaking of Jazz and Taxes.

Armand loves jazz! Jazz with a powerful bass and strong ending. "Not the kind of music that ends as though they're tired of playing it."

In the early 1920's, jazz was gaining popularity and as a 7 year old afficionado, Armand wrote a song titled the Washerwoman Blues. He has a dance style that's all his own, moving to the music and not to a set of prescribed steps and turns. Jazz gyration at its best!

"I get all worked up and sometimes I scream, sometimes I cry." A few nights ago, he went to sleep to the sounds of Gerald Wilson blowing through the late night darkness.

Armand continues to prepare for his philatelic exhibition in San Francisco later this month. Color scans of his collection have been completed for a revised version of The Chinese Presence in Tibet, which will be translated this year into Chinese.

But first Armand must file his income taxes, like everyone else. He's been paying taxes since 1941, when he made a record $1,480! Twice in his tax paying career, he sought the services of a tax preparer. Dissatisfied with their outcomes, he's done his own taxes ever since.

Check the blog over the next few days for samples of Armand's jazz favorites. They may help you to gyrate the tax blues away.

Photo: Payroll Systems, Walnut Creek, CA