WELCOME BACK, DAVE!

 

 

Heeeereee's Dave!

If you are a first-time visitor/reader, welcome!

Once again, it's been a year-and-a-half since I've posted here, and once again, I will try to be active here more often (hoping for one or two posts a week). There's certainly enough going on worth thinking about and sharing.

Also, I am about a third of the way through my 80th year, so if there's anything you'd like to know or ask, feel free. 

You really can't go home again, but sometimes you can peek back in through the window!

Overall, my wife and I do very little. If we're not working, going to appointments, shopping, and/or doing errands, we're pretty much stay-at-home people; you know, homebodies.

Recently, however, the Flying Monkey, an area entertainment venue, featured a concert with  The British Invasion Years, a tribute group offering a listen to the 60s - British and American. We went. 

With the first notes of the first song, two things almost immediately happened. First, I quickly took out my hearing aids! Absolutely not needed (you know how concerts are)! Second, I started getting a bit misty as the music poured over and into me. The music represented a different time and place and took me back – I was there – I lived through it. And... oh, the memories....  The feels washed over me like a tsunami. If you know, you know!

One cringe moment came along with "Mony, Mony" (TJ and the S). The last time I heard that song, I was chaperoning a senior prom on the Mount Washington.  At the prom, the attendees, in unison, embellished the chorus with some extra, uh, lyrics, which I am choosing not to include here. Fortunately, most of the recent audience was older, so while I still mentally heard those new words, I didn't in reality (or did I?).

The concert was good, but as an ofttimes purist, the popular studio version of the songs is my preference. It's like when I say there's no really good pizza or Chinese food near where I live; what I mean is it doesn't come close to what I grew with in and around Boston. It's all a matter of literal taste, but De gustibus non est disputandum, (As a total aside, there was one year during which I ate enough pizza and drank enough beer to add 40 pounds to my being.) 

Anyhow, that's it for now - just kinda like dipping my toe back in before the big dive. 

Thanks for stopping by. If you browse enough, you may even find something good! 

Later! 

WELCOME!

Greetings, and thanks for joining me for another week. 

I assume some of you are here because I mentioned my blog in my column. 

Because there is no formal setup for past entries (other than date), you'll have to browse. My suspicion is with some patience you might find something you like.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year to all!

BACK IN THE DAY....

I remember when I was growing up (as much as I did), there were a few career choices that I considered. The bottom line is that I was never an aggressive go-getter and would have been happy with a $10,000 annual salary (remember, that was then; this is now). 

Among my passing job considerations were police officer, long-distance truck driver, actor, and writer. Along the way, I came close - years ago, I was a security guard and, more recently, a NH Bail Commissioner, an everyday actor (aren't we all), and was a regular columnist and have had a few smaller pieces of writing accepted and published. I also have driven a pickup truck since 2006 (the longest I have driven was twelve hours in a day).

Regarding salary, my original goal came at a time when candy bars were five cents, gasoline was about thirty cents a gallon, paperback books were 25c (35c for the 'thick ones'), record albums were $3.98, and homes were around $18,000. Things obviously are a lot different now!

I miss the old days (in retrospect, they really were pretty good), but I wouldn't want to be young today. It is such a different world on so many levels, but that's for another time. I am guessing that to many, these days will be the gool old days for them. Sad.

(By the way, if there is anything you might like to read from me, just ask. I will respond to almost everything!)

WHAT? WHAT? PART II

A lot can happen in six days (and it did) following my last post here!

Upon my wife's urging, I finally made an appointment to have my nearly complete and sudden loss of hearing (left ear) checked out. Between my work schedule and lots of other people needing care at my doctor's office, I had to make the appointment for next Tuesday (six days away). A nurse soon called me back saying she was concerned about my waiting that long, so I went to our local Urgent Care.

I got right in and was examined. I will spare you the details, but they involved lots of flushing and digging and flushing and digging, et cetera. The verdict? Unless the doctor was kidding, there was about an inch-and-a-half of compressed/compacted wax removed (disgusting wax [I was shown each new discovery]). In spite of the prodigious amount removed, he said I set no records. They said such removal is an almost daily occurrence. Apparently, when I thought I was cleaning my ear canal, I was in fact packing it in (think a muzzleloader). Sigh.

And, yes, I could hear again! If I had listened to my wife, I would have gone at least a week ago. (Here's the part she'll love: "Yes, dear, you were right! I was wrong." [I say that a lot {and deservedly so}]).

I have turned my new hearing aids way down to 1 and am still impressed with my new hearing. I would regularly crank our main TV up to 15 so I could hear it - tonight, it was set on 8. My desk TV was usually set on 71 - tonight it's on 55. I can hear the bathroom clock ticking off the seconds. 

The only problem so far is the background music played at work. I am hearing it, and depending on where I am, it sometimes conflicts with voices, and I have to move away.

Anyhow, that was my day today.

WHAT? WHAT?

So, it's about ten months since my last post, and I am still above ground (twenty seconds or twenty years left - none of us knows).

For anyone who is interested, a few of the high points (in no particular order). When I 'retired' in 2008, I had a couple of great years off during which I did very little (not a bad thing). I ended up as a part-time assistant at a local free advertising paper the PennySaver (NH). Mostly a fun job until I was no longer needed. 

Then I had a couple more years off, and through a series of circumstances, I ended up as a Walmart associate in Lawn and Garden, where I have been for the past fifteen months or so. I am there three days a week, and in the early months, someone described me as a 'tourist attraction' as people (former students and friends) would hear I was there and stop by to say Hi. That's the good thing about working there: all the people I get to see. The not-so-good thing is being on my feet for eight hours. It's tough (really tough some days), but I have endured.

The other news is last week I had another skin cancer removed (squamous cell). It was on (in?) the area above my left ear lobe. It is now clear and slowly healing, but I have temporarily (I hope) lost virtually all hearing in my left ear. I am hopeful as the wound heals, the hearing, such as it was) will return, which leads me to yet another big event: after years of declining hearing, I finally ordered a pair of behind-the-ear hearing aids. Before last October, hearing aids were ridiculously overpriced costing in the thousands of dollars, which is why I never got any - way too expensive.

Long story short, with the price drop, I went into 'Incognito' searching looking for "Best Inexpensive Hearing Aids." Almost instantly, my Facebook feed was jam-packed full of ads for hearing aids (a coincidence, I am sure). I settled on one company and bought a pair for $197. I will tell you more when I have tried them. The problem is my left ear is going to take some time to heal, so I will either just try the right one or wait to use both.

(UPDATE - I have found a different company selling hearing aids for $97 a pair. I like them better.)

Not much else to say - I am quite the homebody. I love being home doing nothing - that's where all my stuff is. I am quite happy sitting at my desk, smoking my pipe (I know; I know), and seeing where my Internet surfing takes me. 

Stay well!

CHINESE FOOD!

 

I had Chinese food tonight! By itself, that's not a big deal, except I really had a craving (it's been a while), and I am still around to enjoy it. I may not be here tomorrow, but today I still am, and because I could, I had Chinese food. 

The picture above is from 2005 following the first of numerous skin cancer surgeries; I have had several between then and now. There was an assortment of basal cells and squamous cells. The last one was a melanoma which was successfully removed as it was caught early.

I am in my 76th year and am at the point when I could have twenty seconds or twenty years left. It's not a matter of if but when. I have decided not to wait on certain things (I also bought a package of black licorice recently). 

I know my life choices are not always in my best interest, but that's okay. I have watched people around me get old, and I don't have the patience or grace to get there. There is a point I don't want to reach. I am not there yet, but there are some small signs.

At the moment, it's all good!

Anyhow, just some food for thought.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET!

I need to know I am not the only one!

I went out today to snow blow some small piles and minor mounds of snow that were left in the driveway, which was not the problem.

Long story short, while moving around, I came an atom's-width too close to the blue plastic tarp, which had covered the blower and had been tossed off to the side. In less time than it takes to blink, the whole tarp disappeared into the machine.

When I examined the situation, the textured plastic was totally and quite tightly wrapped around the auger blades and the impeller, It was so tight, it was like it was painted on.

I started with kitchen scissors which did little. Then I tried metal snips - again to no avail. After a break, I grabbed a utility knife/box cutter with a sliding blade. Managing not to slice any bodily parts, I finally got it all off. Tomorrow, I'll see if the snow blower still works.

You've all done something like that... haven't you?

Please tell me you have.

BAN BABY, BAN!

So, banning books is back in the news again. This is nothing new; maybe the concept never left. "They" were burning books back in the 1600s.

Rather than revisit the controversy itself, I want to relate something that happened in one of my classes.

When I was teaching, many of the books we read were banned somewhere. One of my absolute favorite and important books to read is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. It was offered in a science fiction class I taught. Overall, there were no issues with that or other books I taught, except once. I remember a girl telling me her religious family didn't want her to read it, but she said she really wanted to. 

I wasn't sure what to do. I wouldn't go against her family's wishes, but I think the book is important enough for everyone to read. I ended up leaving a copy on the corner of my desk and telling her that I wouldn't give her a copy, but I had left a copy on the corner of my desk. I left it up to her to do whatever she wanted whatever, she felt comfortable doing.

Sometime later that day, the book disappeared. It showed back up a couple of days later. 

We never spoke of it after that, and the whole thing slipped from my memory. It's probably been forty or so years after that that I recently remembered the incident and wondered about whatever happened to her and her exposure to that classic book.

Did it ruin or enhance her life? Or was the book met with a shrug.

Maybe I will look her up and ask.

Or maybe I won't.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

I am currently watching the pregame show getting ready for the Patriots and Bills wild card playoff. Apparently, tonight's game will be played in one of the coldest temperatures ever (but not the record [trust me, there are stats on virtually everything]). Predicted starting temp will be about 4 degrees, and by game's end, it should be around 3. Factor in the wind, and it'll feel like -200.

Where I am now, it is currently -7, but the wind is dying down). Sigh....

Anyhow, I have been to one professional football game in my life (for purposes of comparison, my daughter has already been to three to see the Ravens [her team [I have failed as a father {but, to be honest, I do kinda like the Ravens because she does}]). As I am now on the verge of old, I can only remember my dad and I saw the Boston Patriots who played. It was in the very early '60s, around 60 years ago. They played at Nickerson Field (at Boston University).

The one memory I do have of that day is that it was cold (not like tonight, but it was cold). (Any Carson fans here? How cold was it? It was so cold the politicians had their hands in their own pockets! Budda-boom-tsss) For us, it was so cold that by mutual agreement, we left soon after halftime. My feet were so cold that they hurt (today, everything hurts).

That was it - my one game.

On the other hand, my dad also took me to see two Indianapolis 500s. 

They weren't cold.

ALLUSIONS, NOT ILLUSIONS

Over the holidays, my daughter, the Ever-lovely Miss Jessica, gifted me Stephen King's new book Billy Summers (no horror, but a really good story).

Somewhere along the way (p. 400 in my copy), King wrote, "Doesn't exactly make me John Howard Griffin, but I'll take it." Aside from the fact that in the book's context, the allusion worked perfectly for me, my reading immediately screeched to a stop. 

My first thought was how many people even know who John Howard Griffin was, and how many would stop there temporarily to find out? Most contemporaries of Stephen King (and me) would probably know, because they were around when Griffin did his thing, and there was much publicity. (During the time when the US was still segregated, Griffin, a white man, darkened his skin enough to pass as a black man and spent 6 weeks travelling through the deep South to experience first-hand what life was life on the other side. He offered his findings in a book called Black Like Me.)

As usually happens, thought led on to thought, and I reached some conclusions. Writers use many allusions. Understanding those allusions adds a deeper and clearer understanding to enhance the writer's meaning. Many years ago, while promoting Cultural Literacy, I found a one-page essay in the back of a news magazine, I found some 35 allusions (I 'got' all but two). 

We are all unique in our knowledge. I do lots of crosswords, and certain words keep coming up - where the Taj Mahal is located (Agra), 'The Thin Man's dog's name (Asta), etc. (Anyone even know the Thin Man is?), a certain reed instrument (Oboe), etc. If you don't know those, does it really matter?

I am sure there are things everyone need to know (Cultural Literacy), but what they are, I am not sure.

AREN'T RULES MADE TO BE BROKEN?

Sigh... a near perfect storm.

My credit card payments have to be in by 11:59 p.m. on the date due, otherwise, I get a late fee. 

I have reminders and due dates on my calendar and usually pay online electronically keeping a good record intact.

One such payment is due on the fourth of each month (only until 11:59 p.m., of course). This month, on the third, I went online to pay, but I ran into an issue - the day before, on the second, I lost phone service. It happens on occasion, rarely at a good time.

I had also cleared computer cookies. When I do that, various sites no longer recognize my device and have to send a verification code to be sure it's me. Some codes are sent via email or phone, but this particular card only offers telephone or text. Since I live in a dead zone, I can't send or receive texts, and my telephone is dead (it's dead, Jim).

So I faced the issue and sent a message to the bank explaining the situation and asking if there was any grace period. My record should be good enough to be granted a small consideration... should be.

The response I got:

"Hello, Dave. We appreciate you for being a valued XXX cardholder, and we can understand you're in a difficult situation. Credit card payments are due by 11:59PM ET on your due date in order to avoid a fee. If you don't have access to a phone, we'd recommend visiting a XXX branch to make the payment. Our branches can be found here (list of branches follows)..."

Love the empathy and how they understand my situation! The nearest branch is over an hour away - 67 miles to be exact. No, I am not going to visit a branch (besides, as of this writing [8:40 p.m.], they are all closed).

Assuming my phone is back tomorrow, I will call and politely ask to have the penalty removed. If they do, great. If not, the card goes in the shredder.

MAYBE I CAN GO HOME AGAIN

I spend way too much time in front of the computer, but one of my favorite quotes is: "Time one enjoys wasting is not wasted time."

When I start a session, I loop through a saved set of sites to catch up on the news and 'news.' My sites cover the gamut of MSNBC to FOX NEWS with many in-between points of view along the way. However, as Frost wrote in "The Road Not Taken," the statement "knowing how way leads on to way" dictates what happens next. Something will catch my mind, and I start off on a search to find out more.

I am not quite sure how it happened, but something triggered my mind this morning, and I ended up looking back over Bradbury's The Illustrated Man, a book I loved to teach (read and discuss [there is such a wealth of topics and ideas to pursue])! While the book of stand-alone short stories was published some 71 years ago, many of the stories are as relevant today as they were when published. 

Of the eighteen stories (held together by the frame of living tattoos on The Illustrated Man), I usually taught about half of them. Among my very favorites were 'The Veldt,' 'Kaleidoscope,' 'The Other Foot,' 'The Last Night of the World,' 'The Rocket Man,' and 'The Rocket.' The stories were predictive and all deal with today's issues. 

The book can be found at https://csuclc.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/illustrated-man-by-ray-bradbury.pdf 

Read The Prologue, and then pick the stories you want to read. Let me know what you think.

TODAY I LEARNED...

A mondegreen is a word or phrase that results from mishearing or misinterpreting a statement or song lyric. The term was inspired by "Lady Mondegreen," a misinterpretation of the line "And laid him on the green" from the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl o' Moray." The ballad is hundreds of years old, but in a 1954 essay, the writer confessed to misunderstanding the line. The writer wrote that she misheard the final two lines of the above verse as "they have slain the Earl o' Moray, and Lady Mondegreen." She said that she always imagined the Earl dying beside his faithful lover "Lady Mondegreen", and refused to hear the real words, because they were less romantic than her misheard version. (The real words were: 'They have slain the Earl o' Moray And laid him on the green.'

The term "mondegreen" has since been adopted for any misheard song lyric which changes the meaning of the original (Wikipedia).

When I was in junior high school (and high school), friends and I would make up our own lyrics to songs that were popular at the time. One of the few I remember (and appropriate to put here) was Herman's Hermits' line from their song "She's a must to avoid..." We changed it to "She's a muscular boy...," perhaps foreshadowing some of today's societal issues as The Simpsons seem to do a lot..

Anyhow, tonight I learned something I never knew. One of my go-to groups from the 60s was the Beach Boys. I love their sound. The opening lyrics to 'Surfin' USA are:

"If everybody had an ocean
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd see 'em wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U. S. A."

All these years, I thought the lyrics were, "'You'd see 'em wearing their baggies and raunchy sandals too...," which made total sense as I knew what raunchy sandals were - I had never heard of Huarache.

Anyhow, I am off to read about Monte Green's distant relative - Mrs. Malaprop.

MORE ON TV (or MORON TV)?

So, it's been just over a month since I got my new TV, which may partially explain where I've been. It's like an entire new world has opened.

I have watched way less news and way more other 'stuff.' I have finished 'Breaking Bad' and 'Better Call Saul.' I have seen 'The Conjuring' and 'The Conjuring 2.' I have also binged on 'COPS.'

The thing with 'COPS' is it's on a 24/7 station (woo-hoo). The other thing is the network (Pluto) is free but at the cost of having the same few commercials again and again... and again. One in particular is a budding romance in a laundry room between Tammy and 'that cute guy in 12C' until Flo shows up to promote insurance (and return Tammy's retainer). I don't mind it, but seeing it several times an hour is pushing it. 

Another thing about 'COPS' is what I see of a world within a world I am glad I don't live in: a few observations: (1) there are many people who lie more easily than I breathe, (2) very few people carry ID with them, (3) no one knows where the drugs found on them (or in their property) came from ('They're not mine'), (4) many, many people are walking around out there with warrants, (5) people's excuse for running is they're scared of the cops, (6) K9s do their job well, and (7) before things changed, there are knees on necks (but not for 9 minutes).

There was a time when I thought about being a policeman because of how I was raised - it was a respected profession. Things have changed.

Anyhow, still looking for recommendations of things to watch.

TV OR NOT TV? THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Until a couple of days ago, my  constant desk mate was an old 13" TV that extended out the back at least as wide as it was. If I was at my desk, the TV was on... mostly for background. There was little I watched watched.

For once I planned well, did my research, and ended up buying a 24" flat-screen TV that still fits on the desk without sticking out beyond the desk's borders or out in the back over the abyss. I think the whole thing is maybe seven pounds. After figuring out how to set it up (those things don't come easy for me), it's now up and running. 

Long story short, all along, I always had to check the online TV guide to see what was on. I am not sure how many channels I had, but there was almost always 'nothing on' (if you know what I mean). I usually watched the same few channels over and over again. The new set came with all kinds of built-in streaming apps, so apparently now I get to pick which which one(s) I want to try - I pick what to watch and when. So far, I have watched several episodes COPS on the what appears to be a dedicated COPS channel and a little bit of Dark Shadows (the original)!

Now, I m really appreciating the difference in sets. The Bruins are on, and what a world of difference! If I believe an online screen area calculator, there is over three times the viewing area, and just wow!

Anyhow, I have not watched much 'newer' TV, and even fewer movies, so I don't even know where to begin! I do want to finish up Breaking Bad, but where I go from there... who knows. Maybe you do - I am open to recommendations. 

SIXTEEN CANDLES

I am sitting at my desk working on a piece of writing for a friend. Usually, the TV is just on without my really watching - background noise with an occasional glance on my part. This time, however, to avoid visual distraction, I have a music channel on featuring Solid Gold Oldies.

A song came on that like a tidal wave swept me back to another time and place. Sixteen Candles was the most danceable slow song! In those days, we craved slow songs because that meant dancing and holding our partners close - three minutes of heaven on earth. We often asked the DJ to play a 'Slow Ladies Choice,' which allowed girls to ask the guys to dance. Sometimes someone would even ask me to dance. When that actually happened, I usually asked my friend to hold her cane and dog while we danced.

Once I found someone that would dance with me, we'd walk slowly to the dance floor, my hand in the small of her back gently guiding her (or clutching her blouse making sure she didn't bolt).

She'd turn and face me. My right hand and arm went around her waist; my left (and her right) arm stuck out to the left looking like we were ready to gently arm wrestle. And then, feeling the music (And other things), we'd begin to move and sway and glide over the floor. (In more advanced cases, I was able to put both arms around her and hold her close. 

At those moments, nothing else existed - true heaven on earth. Any reverie, though, was often cut short be the abrasion of her hair on my cheek and/or chin. Usually so much hair spray was used, her hair could deflect bullets. The most prevalent was called the beehive. Ouch!

I miss those days.

The song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD9krCCh7DY&ab_channel=OldHitsLyrics

GREAT ADVICE (AT LEAST I THINK SO)!

There was a time I didn't want children. 

I looked at the world way back then and didn't feel equipped to help properly prepare a child to not just survive it but flourish. There was also a time when I looked at the world and didn't see it as the kind of place I wanted to bring a child into.

That all changed along the way as did I.

Once our daughter was born, I wanted to do what I could to provide some life lessons and leave some advice I deemed valuable should anything happen to me.

Turns out, she didn't need it. As of this writing, I am still here, and she turned out perfect (much because of her mother), but not all kids are so lucky/blessed, so, taken from a rough draft, here are some random pieces of wisdom that I would have told her (and probably did along the way) and am now sharing with you).

* * *

(1) "Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are" (various attributions).

(2)  Just get through it! If things are great, enjoy them because soon they will suck. If things suck, hang on because soon they do get better. (Repeat as necessary.)

(3) 86 percent of guys are jerks! Find someone in the other 14 percent!) 

(4) Not everyone who's your friend is your friend.

(5) Whatever it is, it will get better. (See #2)

(6) Do what you have to do.

(7) Take care of your teeth and health

(8) Learn basic finances. Watch your credit

(9) "There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve." Mike Leavitt.

(10) Don't create problems

(11) Find and read (and reread) Desiderata (https://allpoetry.com/Desiderata---Words-for-Life)

(12) Find and read (and reread) 10 Rules for Being Human (https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/10-rules-for-being-human/)

(13) Find and read (and reread)11 Things They Don't Teach You in High School (https://sites.google.com/site/math10westviewsecondary/11-things-we-don-t-teach-you). BTW, these are not from Bill Gates.

(14) Don't ever stop learning and growing as a person.

* * * 

 This list above is but a starting point. There is so much advice out there. All we have to do is Google great advice, try it on for size, and the floodgates open.

I can guarantee someone needs to see the above list. Feel free to share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

So, I have just completed 74 orbital trips around the sun and am beginning my 75th. Wow!

I am grateful I have made it this far. As I have often said before, I wouldn't change anything because to change any one thing would change everything that followed. I can not imagine a different life/world without my family and the people I know. Again, however, to change any one thing would change anything, and I love where I have arrived. To quote words from the Faces (formerly the Small Faces), "I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger," but now would be very different. 

I have started thinking about age and mortality. Possibilities are getting real. While not terribly good to myself and my well-being, I am not bad. There is a part of me that says, "It is what it is." I also say what happens is in God's hands. Whichever it is, it's cool. 

My wonderful daughter, the Ever-effervescent Miss Jessica sent me a birthday card. She wrote a note inside that got me thinking about this whole age thing. She began with, "I don't know what I'd do without you." That got to me as one day it will be true, so after some thought, I have a response.

What you would do without me is what you are doing already. We have helped create a strong, responsible, independent woman, and who you have become will do you well - you will be fine. Whether I am around another 30 minutes or 30 years (I had to sneak that in), you will be fine. I think back often about my parents with great love and admiration, and I hope you will do the same.  

Following someone's passing, as time moves along, we get better - maybe never all better, but certainly better! There are still times when something happens and I want to call my folks and share it with them, but the feeling quickly passes... until the next time.

There is a lot more to say, but what's above will suffice for now. 

Anyhow, thank you for the words. 

WHICH AMERICA - PART TWO

Below is a post I put up back in October and in light of the recent anti-American insurrection, still hits the nail on the head. It is truer today than it was then. 

Back on November 9, 2016, following the election, I posted the following: "I only have one prayer following this election. My prayer is that down the road, well into Trump's presidency, I am able to say, "I am sorry. You were right; I was wrong" versus "I tried to tell you!"

I tried to tell you! They didn't listen then; they're not listening now. They never will. Re-read below to see why. (A few undated tweaks are in italics.)

***

October 10, 2020

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this thing called 'America.'

Growing up, I thought I knew America. Over the past few years, I am not so sure anymore. 

In my early days, I was taught to see America as the proverbial melting pot - a stew of sorts contained in the borders of a pot in which there were many different ingredients, each with a separate identity but contributing to a whole, something that was far greater than the sum of the parts. If one was a true American, little else mattered. 

Today, we still have those who remember, adhere to and fight for the old vision but we also have those who, whether they can admit it or not, want only a straight, white, armed, Christian, male-dominated, country. Anything short of that is not America. There is little in-between. America started off with the former and is struggling today with the latter.

People don't want America - they want their version of America, and if one doesn't fit their model, they are the enemy.

When I arrived in rural New Hampshire, it struck me as Mayberry-ish. I came from a place where debutants had balls (not that kind), females had nose jobs (and boob jobs), and lots of material goods. None of that up in rural NH. You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know.... 

I suspect the section of NH where I ended up was and is tribal. Attitudes of locals was passed down by their parents who learned them from their parents, etc., etc. When I got here, New Hampshire was 99 percent white. Some forty years, it hasn't changed much - I believe latest census estimate (last year) put her at 93.1 percent white. 

The true locals resented outsiders, especially when they brought 'their ways.' I adapted pretty well and was pretty much accepted, but the loud, pushy tourists (the Massholes and the like) ruined it. 

I am going to stop here because this is sounding familiar (I am sure I posted something recently that reflects these thoughts). 

Next time will be something totally different.

Thanks for understanding. 

UM...

In a few, um, recent interviews on TV and, um, radio I have heard a proliferation of, um, what's called, um, speech static, fillers, and once, um, you start hearing it and are tuned into it, it grates the ears! You stop listening to the message and cringe at every filler.

Public speaking tops the list as one of people's greatest fears. As a former speech teacher (a course I loved), there were ten areas I focused on, one of which was speech static. If students listened and took to heart what I tried to make them aware of, I would dare to say, anyone who took the course emerged as a better, more confident speaker. One key concept I taught is to speak about what you know; know about what you speak.

Maybe I should offer a speech improvement course for adults. It is sorely needed.

Any takers?

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"There are always three speeches for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave." Dale Carnegie.