Shanon Angermeyer Norman
Bio
Gold, Published Poet at allpoetry.com since 2010. USF Grad, Class 2001.
Currently focusing here in VIVA and Challenges having been ECLECTIC in various communities. Upcoming explorations: ART, BOOK CLUB, FILTHY, PHOTOGRAPHY, and HORROR.
Stories (377)
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Economic Awakening in the face of Financial Crisis
My readers and subscribers may be familiar with my whining rants of the hardships I've faced over the past eight years. After Hurricane Debbie in August, and Hurricane Helene at the end of September, let's just say life has been stormy in recent times. Though I can recall when I thought lightly of the phrase "The struggle is real" during a time when I was sitting fat and pretty and happily married - I am now considering how many new disciples of that phrase there will be in the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Hawaii, California, and Florida. I'm sure that New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisianna, and islands in the Carribbean already have masters graduates wearing the phrase on their hard-earned t-shirts. So is the subject of Economics a branch of politics, religion, sex, or all three? And if so, why are those three subjects considered "taboo"? I like rhetorical questions to get my readers thinking, but for me the answer is simple. People consider some subjects "taboo" simply because passionate conversations can lead to unwanted conflicts if the people engaging in the conversation are thoughtless about their manners and word choices. This is expecially the case when the communication is occurring between two people who do not speak the same language. Hence, interpreters and linguists are often called for peaceful negotiations to occur between different nations when business negotiations and treaties are being drawn up.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Trader
Susanna Kaysen, Susanna Kaysen? Checks! Girl, Interrupted?
Flashback. Nuns at Catholic Daycare in Habits. Grape juice and crackers. Even Catholic kids are selfish and mean. Flashback. I pissed my pants. I couldn't kick the big red ball at kickball. I don't know anyone's name.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Psyche
The Night of the Storm
After I got water and supplies, I called everyone on my contact list to make sure they were somewhere safe. Denise was alright in her apartment by herself. Roshelle and her husband William were stocked and ready to brave the storm in their house. Patricia and her lover Deborah were evacuated from the mobile home park and decided to stay at a hotel. Maxine took her dog and a small bag to her boyfriend Freddie's apartment which was in Plant City, much further away from the water like her little condo on the beach. Lillian and her boyfriend Jonah were stocked and ready just like Roshelle, staying at their house. It was only Helen who wasn't sure where to go. Her tiny mobile home was in danger and she had also been told to evacuate. I told her she could stay with me and since she didn't want to stay at a hotel all alone, she agreed.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Fiction
Historical Ybor City has seen many changes
The first time I ever saw a glimpse of Ybor City was from the window of an orange school bus taking me to Booker T. Washington middle school in 1984. It was a ghetto back then. There was an old forgotten cigar museum, a few struggling businesses, The Columbian Restaurant, and a lot of empty rotting space. There were no hotels or condos. Not too far away from my school or Ybor City were buildings that they called "the projects". In 1984, it did not look like the Ybor City that visitors see today.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in History
Business Education comes from the passion of business
Let me begin this piece of journalistic writing by saying, I do not have a college degree in Business. I thought it was an arbitrary degree when I considered college, and I still think it's an arbitrary degree as a college graduate. I know those who have Business degrees think that my English Education degree is just as arbitrary. That's okay. Maybe college is not only overpriced and elitist - perhaps the whole concept of college is arbitrary.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Trader
The Search for the Best Laundromat
In the city of Clearwater, there are many laundromats. I suppose that's because not everyone can afford to buy a $600 washer or a $600 dryer. When I first moved to Clearwater at the end of 2010, the first laundromat that I visited and used was located at 1471 Belcher Avenue. Don't know what it was called back then, but today it's called Suds. Besides the name, it hasn't changed much. It's a very small laundromat. Most of the time when I was there, there was no air/conditioning, so it got very hot inside. Most of the machines worked though, and the coins required for wash and dry were not any lower or higher than the others. For about the first two years of my married life, I used that laundromat. Then out of the blue, I decided to search for a laundromat that was "nicer" meaning cleaner looking with a/c. I got lucky and found a new one that opened near the Publix on East Bay Drive.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Lifehack
Thoughts after another Hurricane passes by
After Hurricane Debbie damaged our home and we spent several weeks recovering, Hurricane Helene showed up and luckily passed us by without any major damage. Looks like towns like St. Marys, Perry, Valdosta, and Atlanta have more headaches to deal with than we do right now. Images of flooding, trees fallen on wires, cars submerged in water havoc, were shown on the news and are not new to my eyes. They have me recalling the same damages that were shown in Homestead, Florida when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew showed up. Or when Katrina hit New Orleans. I've been watching people survive these devastations for a long time. It's just another reason that I don't particularly like living this far south or so close to the ocean or Gulf. Floridians are used to it the way that Californians are used to earthquakes. Still, when the damage hits your home, it's traumatizing.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in FYI
Suicide Prevention: Honorable endeavor or impossible mission?
Suicide is a serious subject and I haven't written about it seriously or intellectually for most of my writing career. I've written many poems expressing in various ways the emotions and thoughts of a suicidal person. I've also written some stories in an attempt to shed some light on the matter. However, today's submission isn't about being "suicidal" or dealing with mental illness. In this article, I'd like to discuss mental health in general and the Florida Mental Health Act of 1971 (also known as The Baker Act). I'd also like to share my personal experiences with suicide, crisis stabilization facilities, and my overall opinions about how people should handle this subject. What makes me an expert? Do I have a Doctorate degree in Psychology? No, I majored in English. But I've spent 25 years in and out of the "insane asylums" and on and off prescribed psyche medications. I've been to hospitals in Florida, New York, Illinois, Georgia, and New Jersey. I may not be qualified to prescribe medications, but after 25 years of experience as a diagnosed and treated patient, I feel quite confident in my expertise on the subject.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Psyche
Catching Up on the Phone
I was sitting in my living room on a Saturday morning (a few days after the birthday party) trying to enjoy the a/c pumping the cold air. Florida is a very hot place to live. I was born here, but the older I get, the hotter it feels and even though Fig's uncle Georgio tells me that the cold weather way up north is no better on the old bones, sometimes I just go into hybernation mode. Yeah, I'd say that I hybernate from the beginning of April to the end of September. I go out a little more in October and March, and I only really enjoy the outdoors in Florida in the months of December, January, and February. That's the only winter we get. During those three months of our Florida winter, I'm the happiest. Besides that I just stay indoors and thank the lord that I have air conditioning. According to Georgio, it's the opposite up north. There they hybernate for the winter months starting in November and they don't come out of their caves until around April. Still, it seems a bit more balanced. Six months in, six months out, seems a lot better than 9 months in and 3 months out.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Fiction
Fig's 33rd Birthday Party
Before I tell you all about the birthday party, I think I should start filling in the blanks about me and Fig. I'll start by telling you the basics about myself. My name is Danielle Marie Lyons. I was born on March 15th, 1983 in Bartow, Florida. I moved to Tampa in 2003 when I was 20 years old. I got married to Kenan Rosenbaum in 2005 at the age of 22. At the age of 24, in 2007 we had a son, named Seth. Kenan and I divorced in 2011, and agreed that I would keep custody of Seth so long as I didn't request child support. I didn't want to fight about money because the year before our divorce my father had passed away and left me a trust fund to live off for the rest of my life. I guess my father knew that my little waitressing jobs were not going to be enough to raise my son with. I don't get much every month, but at least I have a stable income.
By Shanon Angermeyer Normanabout a year ago in Fiction
