1 year ago today!!!

Greetings, readers. Gee how time flies. It has just come to my attention through WordPress.com that this is my one year anniversary of my blog. Whee! Seems like I ran the gamut over the year on many different topics. From the Air Florida plane crash to the USFL to a tribute to my father and much, much more. Oddly enough, my favorites have been the good old top ten lists.

Have I a clue what is to come this year? Not in the least. This is how Rebecca and I do a blog entry. 95% of the time I think of my topic as the computer is booting up. It is only that rare 5% where Rebecca comes in to work and I say I already know what I’m going to blog about today. Thanks to Rebecca’s extensive blog reading, and her willingness to share her personal views every once in a while, a From Rebecca is posted. Not that I am jealous, I’m actually happy, but hers tend to get the most views. From time to time, Rebecca and I do collaborate on an idea, or at the very least she helps me with wording if I get stuck.

Again, I just wanted to chime in on my one year anniversary. There will be many more years to come. Have a great day, take care, and as always … happy reading. 🙂

The end???

Greetings, readers. Google search defines the word end as: “a final part of something, esp. a period of time, an activity, or a story.” I have been contemplating this word overnight and I agree with the definition I found on Google. To me the word end sounds so darned blasted final, and in most cases it is. Unless there is overtime, sixty minutes is the end of a football game. My week-long vacation at Bear Spring Camps ends on that Saturday morning at check-out time. And a person’s life ends … well only the Lord knows that.

I’ve been thinking about a few personal ends lately, but with the help and guidance of friend and writing assistant, Rebecca, I am choosing not to end my writing career at this point. As of late no promising solid project ideas are coming to mind. It seems the harder I try to come up with something the worse the project ideas get. Whether it is stress or simply writer’s block, I have not determined. I must admit time got away from me this fall but I hope to make up for it with a vengeance.

There are three things which I am going to end. And these are in no particular order. I am going to end my days of mess. I am going to throw caution to the wind as far as my back problems go and just get my apartment cleaned up.

Number two, I am going to quit overextending myself. Many years ago I was told that I am “too nice.” At the time I didn’t know how that was possible. Now I do. It is called you set yourself up to be someone’s sucker or doormat. In the past, I loaned out money when I couldn’t afford to, or gave rides when I was too tired to drive.

Lastly, I’m going to change my outlook and demeanor when associating with people. I have found, especially recently, that I leave myself open for/to hurt feelings and emotional stress. Obviously these effects are temporary, though uncomfortable. I do not like emotional drama. It causes harm to my already sensitive nervous system. Am I going to be an anti-social Mr. Scrooge? No. But I’m going to make myself more refined, slightly more introverted, and safer.

You’ve read the definition for the word end from the Google search. To me, Mr. Eternal Optimist, I say that the end can be a beginning of something new or changed or improved. I think this will be the healthiest way for me to approach my current situations.

Until very soon, enjoy the winter wonderland if you like this type of weather. Drive safely, take care, and happy reading.

I hate technology! :-( Just kidding

Greetings, readers. Earlier today Rebecca and I were almost finished with our original blog entry. It was titled “My thoughts on Facebook.” Just as we were trying to do an edit and spell check, something went awry with our internet connection and we lost seven-tenths of what I had written, even though I saved a draft before reconnecting to the internet. Very discouraging! We moved to a different location, where the internet connection is stronger and more secure.

Well, it’s going to take me a day or two to reconstruct that entry but we will put it up soon enough. Right now we are just trying to get through today, hoping that the snow storm does not interrupt power or the internet connection. In State College, the snow started about 11 o’clock this morning and is still falling heavily.

The rest of this post will be me blowing off steam about the loss of work time (which was my fault because I only had a certain amount of time for the internet connection I was using and I forgot to check the time) and how much I tend to dislike technology at times. Oh, it is wonderful when things work but when I tell my phone to call someone and it asks which message type, I want to throw the phone across the room. The latest innovations now are the smart phones and smart TVs. I certainly hope something is smarter than this phone I have now.

On to some other news, just to finish up, I had a spectacular Christmas Eve, a wonderful time at Christmas dinner at Godmother’s, and I am looking forward to polishing off the holiday season by going out to celebrate the New Year. I’m not really a bar-goer, but I might make an exception this time around.

I shall begin to reconstruct the Facebook blog later on today and either I will put it up myself, or Rebecca and I will post the blog on Friday. Tomorrow is a creation workday, weather permitting.

If you are in the bad weather, stay safe. Take care, and happy reading.

My Christmas light ride tradition continues :-)

Holiday greetings, readers. For almost 40 of my 47 years alive, I have taken part in a ride around town to see people’s Christmas light displays. What a treat it was tonight. A good friend of mine went with me, a blanket of snow made for a pretty background for the pictures we took, and the local fire trucks came past us as we were snapping shots in front of someone’s home. Lots of folks came out of their houses to get a look at the decked out fire engines.

As soon as the pictures are developed – no I don’t have a digital camera – I shall add some to the Gallery section. 🙂 Well, it’s Christmas morning now (1:15), and I’m going to do a quick edit of this entry…, and then to sleep. Night all and Merry Christmas!!!

Until soon, take care and happy reading.

From Rebecca: Joe brought the Beatles music to State College

Joe put on his performance of Beatles music last Friday night, December 14, 2012, with two friends of his, at the Addison Court community room. The trio sang in various combinations and they sounded great. They started at 7:15 and when I had to leave at 9:00 they were two-thirds through their song list.

The performance was relaxed and masterful. Joe started the show by introducing them as the Bedbugs and the first song was “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” They followed it with “Twist and Shout” and they were able to persuade two audience members to get up and do the twist at the front of the room. Joe and his partners knew all the people in the audience and they interacted with everyone during the show, especially between songs. By the time the trio got to the 16th song, “Come Together,” many in the audience were softly singing along. As the evening went on, a few people here and there had to leave and the audience got smaller, but instead of ruining the experience, it gave the remaining audience members a feeling of closeness. I left during the second ten-minute break, and knew that I was missing out on something great with the final ten songs. The last two songs they sang before I left were two of my favorites, “Lady Madonna,” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Copies of the playlist were given out so everyone knew the song order, so I know the last two songs of the evening were “Good Morning, Good Morning” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Reprise.”

Joe had been practicing singing his playlist for months and he sounded smooth, and practicing with one of his partners for weeks. The third member of the trio only had two weeks practice with the music but sounded as good as the other two; he also played the tambourine on some songs and surprised us all with some loud yelps at appropriate places. The second member of the trio sang beautifully and had two solos. Joe also had two solos.

A friend of the trio played her cello during the song “Yesterday” while just Joe sang. The cello went so well with that song, and the musician played it perfectly. It overpowered Joe’s singing a little, but luckily his voice could still be heard as he brought out the wistful and soulful qualities of that song.

To Joe and his partners: Good work and thank you for an entertaining evening. I enjoyed it very much.

The positions we sometimes find ourselves in

Greetings, readers. I pondered this entry today very carefully and came up with the above title. I have recently been placed in one of those positions that a person never likes to find oneself in. And the question is which friend do I chose? Now before we begin a new paragraph I must state that no names will be used.

About a week or so ago, I did one of my famous, I’ll be there for moral support good deeds, and through no fault of my own, the outcome was less than satisfactory. Words were exchanged and apparently their friendship is over. Both of my friends insist that I am not to blame for the outcome, nor do I think that I am either. However, it puts me in a position that I do not like being in. Do I choose one friend over the other, or do I do my best to keep a peaceful coexistence, being separate but equal. I must say no!

I have worked too long and too hard developing both friendships to allow this incident to make me feel uncomfortable. Somewhere there must be a way that I can live in happy coexistence without either one of my friends believing I am choosing sides. One time many years ago, I was forced to choose one friend over another. I didn’t like it. As a matter of fact, I despised it. I vowed then and there that I would never do it again. I suppose what I am saying is, if push really did come to shove I would release both of them rather than sitting on the rickety white picket fence.

No blog entry on Friday due to a no-work-day. The big performance is that evening! The next blog entry will be from Rebecca, next week. Until then, take care, have a great weekend, and happy reading.

Top ten list of ways to get inspired

Greetings, readers. Today’s top ten list popped into my brain about an hour ago. Rebecca and I are calling it the top ten places where inspiration can come from. I define inspiration as a feeling of upliftment and a source of ideas.

#10. Animals (They lift us up when we’re low, just by their unconditional love)

#9. Daily life (For example, we might overhear someone at the grocery store that sparks a story idea or project idea)

#8. Your kids (Kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for)

#7. Songs and music

#6. TV (Entertainment gives us inspirational true stories, and can also give us story or project ideas)

#5. Books (Same as TV)

#4. Teachers (A great teacher who holds their student’s attention or goes out of their way to help someone, often inspires that person to want to teach or be like their favorite teacher)

#3. Friends

#2. Family (Larger families especially inspire the other family members and support them no matter what)

#1. Church sermons and faith

Until next week, take care and happy reading.

My thoughts on YouTube

Greetings, readers. My fascination with YouTube grows more and more every day. Very rarely have I typed something into the search box and found zero results. And believe me, I have typed in a lot of things. This medium has proved invaluable during my practices for my Beatles performance. I simply typed in the name of a song, added the words “with lyrics” at the end, and voila, up popped exactly what I wanted.

Such things that I have searched for include concert clips of my favorite rock bands, short videos of other people’s flight simulations doings, videos about old cars (yes, I’m an old car buff) and oddly enough, one video from Bear Springs Camps in Maine.

I have recently made attempts to create my own short videos to post on YouTube. Well, something is going amiss in my computer, because every time I make a video and play it back to see how it looks, the audio and my mouth don’t sync up. Before I put any videos up on YouTube I must figure out a solution. (If there is anyone out there who can help me with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Jake, hint hint.)

I’ve often thought about what YouTube will do next. It seemed not too long ago a person could only put on there a video ten minutes in length or shorter. They must have solved that problem because I’ve watched full length KISS concerts roughly an hour-and-half long. It is much nicer than trying to load ten segments and then watch them. However, something I am finding when I download a full Beatles LP, for example, is invariably two or three days later it has been removed due to copyright infringements. As I understand it a person gets three warnings about copyright infringements before their account is closed permanently. I guess for movies and specials, businesses like Netflix and Hulu have nothing to worry about just yet.

What would I love to see on YouTube? I would thoroughly enjoy seeing full length classic football and baseball games. They can go ahead and buy the rights. I’m sure they are for sale for the right price. Also, I would enjoy seeing rare shows and films. There are a couple of titles I can’t seem to find anywhere.

What do I not want to see on YouTube ever? Porn, even soft. We have enough of that already in other media channels. YouTube is fun, informative, and can be very addicting. Believe me I know. I’ve sat at my computer many an evening watching vids, as they are called.

Next time, my thoughts on Facebook. Until then, take care, have a good day and happy reading.