A LITTLE BIT SERIOUS, A LITTLE BIT ROCK 'n'ROLL

by Bon'O

Those of you who've come to 'know' me here, know I love me some music! In the spirit of "The Season", my thoughts for an interesting blog topic of course turned to what I thought would be a fun Mini-Survey for us to share. But, given the state of the world, I've also been a bit haunted by a particular song and wanted to share...but how?


So...First a Tribute: CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES........and then A FUN LITTLE OWL SURVEY~~~

There's one song, which tells of a true moment in history~~Christmas, 1914~~that touches me to the core each time I hear it. I added it to my Christmas playlist, and find myself all goosebumps and tears whenever it plays. Yet somehow, I'm encouraged by it.....hoping someday we will realize that "on each end of the rifle, we're the same", and wars WILL be over. This is, IMO, a beautiful video. If you care to watch, please think of your loved ones and mine who have fought, and are still fighting, so that we at home can be blessed with holiday cheer.




NOW, PUT AWAY THE TISSUES, AND TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY SONGS......I can't wait to see what you have to say!


1) My absolute favorite traditional holiday song is__________________ as done by ______________________.

2) My favorite 'hip' holiday song is ________________________ performed by __________________________.

3) The holiday song I absolutely CANNOT stand is _____________________________________!!

4)The holiday song that most brings back happy memories is ____________________ because :

(Go ahead! We LOVE long stories!!) _____________________________________.

CALLING ALL WI$E OWLS WITH NE$T-FEATHERING IDEA$!

by Bon'O

*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*

Well, OWLS, this is the week I dread all year, every year......the week I pay my annual Property Taxes (due 11/17), Vehicle Insurance (due 11/15), and Homeowner's Insurance (Due 11/19).

Then, of course, my trusty yard-guy sends his annual bill around Thanksgiving.
OUCH!!!

Yes, I know I could pay them quarterly or some other time of the year. Silly me, I've remained on this schedule intentionally forever.
It forces me to think about what I spend over the Holiday Season.
That's the one time of year I absolutely LOVE to overshop!

We OWLS are so good at sharing great ideas. With the meltdown of the Economy, the holidays fast approaching, several of us retired or currently under-employed or unemployed, I thought it might be fun to share any and all ideas and success stories on how to pinch a penny or save a buck.

Are you all about Neiman Marcus and FAO Schwarz? Or more into WalMart and Target? Gourmet-restaurants-only or MickeyD's? Full retail shopper or a coupon clipper? Do you have favorite online holiday shopping/shipping sources? Home energy-saving secrets? Pantry stocking ideas or dollar-stretcher recipes? Family travel bargain tips? Cool stocking stuffers? Inexpensive, but meaningful, holiday traditions?

What works for YOUR house and family budget? What tips can you share with us that we might use? Winter's coming...let's feather our cozy nests together!

How I Got Young Again

by Bon'O

Many of us know Mitch Albom as the best-selling author of Tuesdays With Morrie and For One More Day.
This is an article from last Sunday's PARADE MAGAZINE and the video link showing how he fulfilled his 50th birthday dream of recreating just one day with old childhood chums. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And, I ask YOU...if you could recreate just that ONE DAY where would it happen and what would you do?

How I Got Young Again
By Mitch Albom
Published: September 14, 2008 See the Lucky Tiger Grease Stick Band in action. Watch the video!



We were never very good, and it never really mattered. Eight high school guys in a band. Guitar, piano, sax, bass, and drums. Three of us didn't even play an instrument, just stood around singing, "Shoo-bop, shoo-bop." We went by nicknames--"Rico," "Greaso," "Ace"--and we played dances, sock hops, even a local TV show once, singing songs older than we were, wearing hairstyles that were before our time. We practiced in my parents' �basement, and we named ourselves after the stuff kids rolled into their 1950s crew cuts.

The Lucky Tiger Grease Stick Band.

Some say adolescence is a time for angst, but eight buddies in a band will help you fight that. My teenage years were spent greasing up, tuning up, and cracking up. All I really remember from high school is laughter.

Maybe that's why, decades later, when I was approaching my 50th birthday and my wife insisted that I do "something special," I felt a rush of ennui. I've always been a reluctant grown-up. I have no interest in suit-and-tie affairs, a few raised wine glasses, everyone so...mature.

"Well, what do you want?" she said.

The truth? I wanted my old basement back.

And so began the best birthday I ever had. It started with seven phone calls and seven anxious responses. "You're kidding?" "Heck, yes." "Count me in." It continued with a visit to my old neighborhood in South Jersey and a request to the McCutcheon family, who now live in my old house.

"Would you mind," our drummer Marc "Rosey" Rosenthal asked, "if we borrowed your basement for a day? Oh...and could we clear out your furniture?"

Incredibly, they said, "OK."

Old song lists were dug out. Instruments were brought in. And finally, on a beautiful Saturday in May, one car after another pulled up to a familiar house. Out stepped Howard, Victor, David, Marc, Sandy, Mark, Perry, and me.

For the first time in 34 years, we were all together.

"Look at you!" "Ayyy!" "Man, you got old!" Although some of us were now physicians or businessmen, we were back to teenaged insults the moment we laid eyes on each other. We rumbled down the steps to the low-ceilinged basement of my youth. We ran the familiar grease through our hair, donned sunglasses, rolled up our sleeves. We plugged in and tuned up.

We were never very good, and we weren't good now. We had less hair. Wider stomachs. Occasionally, we had to pull out glasses to read the lyrics. And it was pretty obvious that "Action Jackson," our guitar player, was not going to do the flying full-leg split he used to do on "Splish Splash." He's a doctor now. He knows better.

But if you love music--and we loved that music--it is always inside you. So, when my piano started plinking and Rosey's drums began banging and Sandy "The Kid" began plucking his bass, I can't explain it, it all came back. At our ages, we can't remember where we left our car keys, but we can still remember who sang what on "Silhouettes." We played only for ourselves and a few family members. A private basement concert. And we laughed until our ribs threatened to snap.

Now, our band's best memories were never of excellence (we didn't have much) but rather of screw-ups and shenanigans. Like the day we played on a beach and got attacked by bumblebees. Or the night when we pulled off a highway ramp and ran across the top of Big D's car. Or the gig where we sang "Sixteen Candles" and, when we got to the part about "Blow out the candles," one of us hit a light switch to darken the room--and all the power went out.

At best, such stories are cute to others. But they are priceless to us. So we told them again, for the thousandth time. And we cracked ourselves up. We sang "Teenager in Love," "Jailhouse Rock," "Great Balls of Fire." We did nearly 30 songs, many from memory. And when we finished, we didn't wash the grease from our hair. Instead, looking like Sha Na Na's retirement party, we piled into our cars and drove to the local diner where we used to stuff into booths late at night and punch songs on the jukebox. We ordered cheese�steaks and fries (the salmon and grilled veggies of adult life were put on hold), and the laughs went on for hours.

Stephen King once wrote, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12." That pretty much sums up my Lucky Tiger Grease Stick pals. It was nearly midnight before anyone heaved a sigh or looked at his watch.

It was the best birthday of my life. And the kicker is, the whole thing made me feel younger, not older. After all, every good memory is a notch on your life belt, and every happy song you sang is still somewhere inside you, if only in the "twiddle-lee-dee" backups on "Rockin' Robin."

I love my band mates. I missed them all those years. And I came to realize something as we hugged goodbye in the parking lot and promised another reunion.

We were never very good, but we were always good for each other.

And we always will be.

What's On YOUR Summer TV Schedule?

by Bon'Oregon



Have I ever mentioned how much I love CBS Sunday Morning? (lol) This Sunday's offerings:

*History of the G.I. Bill (if only it still worked for today's Vets the way it was designed during WWII!)

*Bio and video clips of Judy Garland (died 39 yrs ago today!)

*Mo Rocca with clips from PBS's 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me' (GREAT weekly news quiz/game show on radio!)

*The Best Music for Summer 2008 (I definitely need to check out Lizz Wright!)

*'Best in Show' about all the dogs performing on Broadway from 'Annie' to 'Legally Blonde'.
(Did you know they ALL came from New York's Animal Shelter?)

*The Longest Day (about Summer Solstice)

*Blowin'in the Wind (about Texas wind turbines 'fueling' controversy and the economy)

*'The Money Lady' ~~ Suzy Orman profile (Did you know she was poor, from the southside of Chicago before moving on up to Berkeley and her high $8-figure multi-faceted career in SF with life partner, Kathy Travis?)

*Editorial about Scott McClellan's tell-all book and P.R. people in Journalism

*'Step by Step' about Bertie Bowman, 70-something black man, one of fourteen kids, who in 1944 hopped a train to Washington, DC and swept the steps of the Capitol for $2/week, and has now written a book about all his years since, on the 'inside'.

*Closing nature scene, this week of the seals and gulls off the San Francisco Coast.....I learn so much every Sunday while being so well entertained. The only thing better would be if they'd expand it to at least three hours. THE BEST (imho) 90 minutes on TV!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SO...we all miss our favorite shows during the Summer. (Un)Reality programming is SO pitiful. The Stanley Cup has been won, Tiger is sadly out for the season...Have YOU discovered any must-see TV we might have missed? If so, PLEASE SHARE!

Pollyanna?

Pollyanna?

by Bon'Oregon

So many natural disasters recently, worldwide...So many of us have recently lost loved ones, or are experiencing our own health scares and traumas...the world and it's economics and politics are scary. Then there is 'the small stuff', and we know we shouldn't 'sweat the small stuff...but we do.

Just yesterday, I flushed the toilet...or tried to, but nothing happened...just a clicking sound. Water to the shower and tub, fine. Water to the sink, fine. Water to the commode, nothing. Obviously, this needed fixing, NOW! So, out to the garage to hop in the car for a trip to the hardware store...dead battery. Damn, DAMN, DAMN!!! Long story short, all's fine now, but it did make me think. It's those 'little things' that we take for granted each day, that~~if not there at the flick of a switch~~can bring our lives to a screeching halt.

This little mini-drama reminded me that I need to get in touch again with the 'Pollyanna' I used to be...glass always half-full, always mindful when making entries in my Gratitude Journal to be grateful for the bad things that DIDN'T happen on any given day.

*******************************
(stolen from the web):
The popular 1913 novel, Pollyanna, introduced the Glad Game. Its author showed how the use of the Glad Game could contribute to the mastery of stressful life events and daily hassles. The Glad Game consists of developing the habit of not dwelling on dysphoric emotions in relation to life's disappointments or threats. The player is taught NOT to deny negative emotions, but to turn one's attention away and to think of something one could feel glad about in the situation.

The title character is Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but dour Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need 'em!".
*********************************

Sometimes, this life really sucks! Some days, what you and I are going through together or alone seems unbearably unfair. Anyone have an anecdote or more thoughts on gratitude for the bad things that DON'T happen or that could have been so much worse? I could use a chuckle, and a reminder. Perhaps others feel the same. As I write this, Glynis just posted about (bad news) puncturing and having to replace tires, but (good news) doing so in a safe place and before any life-endangering accident..........glass half-full!!!

Life Lessons Learned

Dedicated to our own Iteach, Jennifer, VIG and Tink ~~~

by bon'oregon

Recently I read the inspiring best-seller The LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch, the 47-year old father of three very young children and Carnegie Mellon Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Design and Time Management. In September 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and, in August 2007, he was given the prognosis of 3 to 6 months of relatively good health. Much of the next few months were spent capturing in a 'last lecture' his philosophy of life and lessons he wanted to leave with former students and-~~more importantly~~-his own children and wife. What a wonderful gift he left for all of us educators, parents, HUMANS.

I'm so tempted to leave a dozen or so quotes from the book here, but I'll resist. Here are just a few.....

*"In the end, educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective. The only way any of us can improve...is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves."

*"I've always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out."

*"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted...failure is not just acceptable, it's often essential."

*"Whether you think you can or can't, you're right."

*"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other."

*"If I could only give three words of advice, they would be 'tell the truth'. If I got three more words, I'd add: 'all the time."

Today is National Teacher Day. This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I thought it might be fun, on this day, for each of us to look back and remember the ONE teacher who stands out in our memories for something they said or did which impacted us and our life choices.

Was he/she a Post-Graduate Professor or gifted Kindergarten Teacher? Did we recognize that influence at the time? Or are we just beginning to realize how much of who we are we owe to them? I've had one or two such teachers, but I'd rather hear from YOU about yours!

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A Step Back In Time

IT IS POSSIBLE TO REMEMBER THE 60's~~
EVEN IF YOU DID EAT THE BROWNIES!!

A Step Back In Time

by Bon'Oregon

Since we all seem to be nostalgic for the GOOD OLD DAYS (whatever days those may be for each of us), I thought it might be fun to hear what, if anything, you remember or were told of that most eventful era, the '60's. Were you "at Woodstock"? ~~ Wasn't everyone? Were you told about The Sixties by your parents? Do you remember them with fondness or sadness? Where did you live? Has much changed there since? Do you still have trash or treasures from that era?

Here's a wonderful link with almost 10 minutes of 60's memories to get you thinking. Grab a beverage, turn up the volume and ENJOY a step back in time.......

http://cruzintheavenue.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

A Basket of Memories

nightowls, our daily blog
is from our own Bon'Oregon

what a ingenious idea!

A Basket of Memories

by Bon'Oregon


Recent blogs and posts about departed loved ones and fond memories of them reminded me of something I made many years ago for my mother. At the time, I thought it was just a little something extra for a birthday, to entertain her for a few moments that day. It has proven to be much more than that. Many of you are so crafty, I thought you might enjoy taking the idea, modifying and improving upon it in any way you choose.

First, I found (at Michael's, of course) a miniature oval wicker picnic-style basket (approx. 5"h. x7"l. x 4" w.). You know the type: two-sided flip-up top that folds up from either side to the center bail handle. I chose to embellish it on either side (bring on the glue gun!) using matching leather oak leaves with tiny bronze acorns. A length of narrow ivory matte satin ribbon completed the presentation.

THEN, the fun began! I purchased a lined note paper tablet which had various pastel colored pages and, using the paper cutter at work, cut identical-sized 1 1/2"h. x 6" w. strips (approx. 100 of them). Over the course of a blustery November weekend, I nestled in with my fondest memories, from early childhood in our family home through middle-age occasions and events, all of which had included my mother. Once I got started, there was no stopping. From the most mundane and fleeting moments that I had no idea were permanently etched in my memory bank, to the more major milestone moments, the floodgates were open! On each slip of paper I wrote one little memory. Each of us has a different life and different memories, so yours would be unique unto you, but I'll share just a few of mine (not too personal) which included.....

*Bubble lights on the Christmas tree *Summer neighborhood parties with homemade, hand cranked ice-cream and fresh in-season fruits. *Making sure we got home from Wednesday night church in time for 'Ozzie & Harriet'. *Walking through the snow to cattle auctions in Snohomish with Grandpa & Uncle Marvin. *Picking green apples together in the abandoned orchard where Dad was hunting. *Watching Sputnik overhead from the backyard *Sitting together glued to the TV for 4 days when JFK was assassinated. *Collecting Beanie Babies together *Climbing sand-dunes while camping at Honeyman *Shopping together for THE dress for your 50 Year High School Reunion.......After about 100 of these, I folded each in half, fortune cookie style; then, 'scrambled' them gently together so that the different colors and decades were well mixed. All were then tucked loosely into the 'Basket of Memories'.

I don't recall what my primary birthday gift to Mom was that year. But, I can tell you that the 'Basket of Memories' delighted her that day and stayed on the side-table next to her favorite chair for the rest of her life. She'd often call me on the phone to chat about the context of a particular memory. We dumped them all on the dining room table and had many a chuckle over Saturday coffee more than once. When she couldn't sleep at night after Dad passed, she'd get up and read through a number of them again and again. She'd shake the basket and pull one out like a Thought for the Day with her breakfast some mornings. Now that she's gone, I have the 'Basket of Memories' again, and return to it often. Last Mother's Day, I took the basket with me when I went to 'visit' with her at the cemetery and I swear I could hear her chuckling along with me.

Your 'Basket of Memories' might be a different shape or size. It might be housed in a hat box, dad's or child's lunch box, or a family heirloom. It might be from you to a parent, spouse, child, lover, best friend, or all of the above. But, trust me, it will be a gift that keeps on giving.