August 19th, 2016
Mālō tau ma‘u e pongipongi ni! (A Tongan “Good Morning” )
Well, all the tests are done and the Doc says my buddy Steve must exit the building! I have been calling bird rescues and the humane society but so far no luck except for a pet store. I really want to make sure that Steve finds a good new room mate or room mates as the case may be. So I will just keep calling and emailing till I find him a place. Sad to see him go… he understands me when I have been drinking.
This week I learned some stuff:
• My retirement uniform is pretty much a Seadog or Life is Good T-shirt, baggy cotton gym shorts (with pockets now that I am old) and Crocs unless it winter (then its socks with Asics sneakers). Well, I tend to by these t-shirts in batches of 2-5. I like my Sea Dogs and LIG shirts, as they are high quality and usually say something inappropriate. I think of them as sort of a metaphor for my life .. pretty high quality but inappropriate. I wash them every week and after awhile they get frayed at the neck, the printing fades so they are less pithy or maybe just not as readable as they once were. This week it was time to restock the closet. My method of shopping usually burns up about 13-17 minutes per episode (if I remember to bring credit card to the computer or remember which browser has it saved). So stand back, there will be a new batch of pithy running around starting this week. Life is Good.
• I LOVE our San Diego Country Library!!! These folks do it right. I usually find the books I want by searching the online library (Large Print thank you very much). Then I can place a hold on the book and when it is available they ship it to my local branch and notify me when I can pick it up. Sweet!
Website Update
• WooHoo!! A“New” Vocabulary quiz!
• I added another quote or two to the UJT Kitchen Drawer
Writing and Painting Update:
• Painting still is a step too far this week.
• My new editor, maybe, has returned from holiday and is clearing his backlog – still clearing 🙂
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• About 10 or so years ago, I started taking my cars to the car wash for cleaning. Before that I enjoyed dirty cars or washing them myself. There was something manly and virile about removing the dirt from our chariot and restore the gloss and beauty of the thing with just a little soapy water. Happy collision of better car wash ecology, cheap southern California labor and old guy laziness created this new perhaps less manly version of the old ritual. I must say I feel less satisfied handing them my card for the $25 debit than I did sitting back an watching the soapy water dry in my driveway but its faster..
Music Update:
I heard some interesting music this week. How about you ? I want to remind people, that these songs are provided as temptations to explore the artists celebrated here and this week. These links will point to new songs next week so this is not the time to procrastinate. I encourage all to at least click on the songs that you might not have heard before or that you might not have heard in a while.
• Bob Marley and The Whalers – Three Little Birds — There has always been something special about Bob. He is another one we lost too early. This one makes 3 generations of my family sing together…now that is great music!!!
• Bob Dylan – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – I was reading a novel this week talking about one of the characters was a cowboy kind of character..you know tall, rugged, loner who is living a sad song. This has to be my favorite cowboy song. The first time I heard it was watching Sam Peckinpaw’s last film, “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid”. It just blew me away.
• John Mayer – A Face to Call Home — This is a song that John dedicated to Katy Perry for sticking with him long enough to learn what he was really about inside. She hung with him after his vocal surgery. I think its a wonderful song. Sara Watkins from Nickel Creek guests on violin and vocals.
• Rod Stewart – Love Is — This is another one of my favorites from Rod Stewart. He is my baby sister’s favorite and I am so happy she got to see him this year.
• Phoebe Snow – It Must Be Sunday — A little over a year ago I featured this old favorite of mine on UJT Radio. I usually don’t replay that soon but when this one came up on the turnstile, I just had to go with it. She made some fine music.
• Don Henley – The Boys of Summer – From the vinyl!!!! The music for this song was written by Mike Campbell a guitar player who works with Tom Petty a lot. Tom was offered the first shot at recording it but passed. Don heard it and wrote the lyrics and recorded it on Mike’s 4 track in his garage using a drum machine. Amazing.
• The Doors – Riders on the Storm – This was the last song every recorded by Jim Morrison and by The Doors as a band. I thought it was their best work so far. I was amazed that years after Jim’s death that I got to hear a near perfect cover of it when I was walking down the main drag in a Alongapo City, Philippines.
• Jude Cole – Hallowed Ground This is a deep cut from his 1990 album called, “A View from 3rd Street”. I just love this guy. His music is so tight. I just cannot believe how poorly he has done commercially. Check out the other cuts on this album on Itunes.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; And always remember … The best is yet to come!
As always, thank you for being my friend!
James