This morning I received a phone call that was quite a surprise to me. It was from a fellow that I had not heard from or much about for at least 17 or 18 years. He was a student at de Paul School when he was in grade school, so I knew him there, but after dePaul he moved on to high school and when he was about 16 or 17 he came to be a tutor in the dePaul summer program at Mt. St. Francis.
He is a very good looking guy and pretty much had everything that money could buy. For his 16 th birthday he received a new sports car along with a vanity licence plate that had his name on it. He tooled up to the Mount each day in his carefree manner and was so easy to spot by the State Highway patrolmen that he got a few speeding tickets, which his dad promptly paid. He was sorely in need of some "growing up" skills. I did my best to provide him with those skills. He was always amenable to my guidance but did not always apply the rules that I urged him to follow. He had a very winning smile and the charm that is so evident in so many dyslexic people.
We concentrated on changing the lives of the children that we taught but along with that we changed the lives of the young tutors that we hired. It was a daunting task but I loved it. He was a challenge because of his delayed maturation. Somehow or other we survived the many trials and tribulations of the term. I dealt with a few thousand more children in the following winters and summers after that summer. I do remember most of them.
When he called me this morning, he identified himself and asked if I had a few minutes that he could talk to me. He said he was baby-sitting his two children, a one year old and a 3 year old, and he said he'd apologize in advance if he had to rush off screaming suddenly. He told me that he thought of me frequently and of the things I had said to him in those years in my effort to grow him up. He wanted to thank me and had wanted to thank me for years for my patience and guidance with him. He quoted a few of the things that I had said to him during those years. One of the things that he said he often thought about was my statement that all authority was by assumption. (At the time I was trying to convince him that he could indeed teach his little student the Linguistic rules and other things without being intimedated.
He is now a member of LDA and is intent on giving adult learners the opportunity to learn to read and write. He said he finally did grow up and realize that he had to quit depending on his dad for everything and to also realize that he could never take his dad's place in the world. He is selling real estate and doing well, and he is married and has his two beautiful kids. He is content with his life. I know that he is giving me too much credit for his success. He had the potential all along, he just needed someone to push him and give him responsibilities.
Every now and then something happens that makes you know that it was all worth while. He said, " When you walk in the door of heaven there will be thousands of people there that will say 'thank you' for being a part of my life." He certainly made my day! I just hope those thousands of people outnumber the ones that will be trying to throw rocks at me! Ciao
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Laughter is the Best Medicine
We need a few more laughs in our lives during these bleak times. All the news is so glum. The news reporters come on with their lugubrious faces and tell us of the woes of the world, wars, murders, mass killings, abuses of children, wives, the under privileged, all is gloom and doom. The politics of character asassination, and fear is always on the horizon and then when the prime time shows hit the air, guess what? They are all about murders, nefarious deeds and unrealistic reality shows and crime solving.
Where did all of the comedy shows go? Isn't it a time that they should be dominating the prime time slots? Where are the great talented comedic performers? The few attempts at comedy are dependent on off color jokes, blatent sexual inuendos and dialogue, openly vulgar language, scantily clad performers. Do any of you remember people like Ernie Kovats, Jackie Gleason, Steve Allen, Groucho Marx, Gracie Allen, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and a legion of others? Their skits and routines were original, outrageous, hillarious and absurd. They entertained us without making us blush or wish that the kids were not in the room. Who can forget, Norton addressing the ball, "Hello, ball." or WKRP's "I swear as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." or Ricky's " Lucy, you got some splaining to do." "Roooooooooob!"
Yesterday, on the Today Show the complete cast from The Bill Cosby Show had their 25th anniversary. They showed a few clips from the Huxtable family show and they are still funny and timely. The people that used to be the kids on the show still call Cosby, Mr. Cosby. When Matt Laurer commented on that they all looked to one another and finally the former Cleo said, "He makes us call him that!" Everybody laughed at that. Cosby said, " I gave them their checks, they had jobs! " The implication being that they showed their respect for him by addressing him formally. They all laughed about it but it was clear that the respect was still there. We watched that show every week and discussed it at work the next day with others that watched too. No sex scenes, the euphemistic word for derriere was not used nor allussions to bedroom activity, no bosom displays, no pot smoking, crack sniffing, unacceptable language, but still we laughed at the clever, humorous skits that we could all identify with and go back for more the next week.
We do have some very funny, creative comedians on TV today but they are on Late night TV and can have more adult humor and have provocative skits. That's fine. However, we need shows again that can be watched as a family, and can be examples of family behavior. Eating dinner at the kitchen table, sharing with other family members, conflict resolutions, problems that all families can identify with. We need some shows that have responsible parents and extended families and good examples!
As I mentioned before, when I was in Florida with the twins during January, they watched Gilligan's Island day after day and they laughed and laughed at the humor. I think Angela had acquired the videos at the library. It seemed like they had about 100 episodes but I'm sure it was far less. After they completed the whole series, (I was back in Louisville by that time) they had a special theme dinner to salute the show. Bridget dressed as Mary Ann, wig and all, and each played a role. They had decorated the table to fit the occasion. Granted, that was not a show of a family but it was a very funny show without obscenities, sex etc. and could be enjoyed and laughed at while being with family.I hope the fall lineup includes some funny sit-coms again. I don't want all comedy, what will I do if they don't renew 'The Closer" and some of the other crime shows ? I can't imagine life without 'Law and Order' but the kids need something a little more uplifting! Ciao.
Where did all of the comedy shows go? Isn't it a time that they should be dominating the prime time slots? Where are the great talented comedic performers? The few attempts at comedy are dependent on off color jokes, blatent sexual inuendos and dialogue, openly vulgar language, scantily clad performers. Do any of you remember people like Ernie Kovats, Jackie Gleason, Steve Allen, Groucho Marx, Gracie Allen, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and a legion of others? Their skits and routines were original, outrageous, hillarious and absurd. They entertained us without making us blush or wish that the kids were not in the room. Who can forget, Norton addressing the ball, "Hello, ball." or WKRP's "I swear as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." or Ricky's " Lucy, you got some splaining to do." "Roooooooooob!"
Yesterday, on the Today Show the complete cast from The Bill Cosby Show had their 25th anniversary. They showed a few clips from the Huxtable family show and they are still funny and timely. The people that used to be the kids on the show still call Cosby, Mr. Cosby. When Matt Laurer commented on that they all looked to one another and finally the former Cleo said, "He makes us call him that!" Everybody laughed at that. Cosby said, " I gave them their checks, they had jobs! " The implication being that they showed their respect for him by addressing him formally. They all laughed about it but it was clear that the respect was still there. We watched that show every week and discussed it at work the next day with others that watched too. No sex scenes, the euphemistic word for derriere was not used nor allussions to bedroom activity, no bosom displays, no pot smoking, crack sniffing, unacceptable language, but still we laughed at the clever, humorous skits that we could all identify with and go back for more the next week.
We do have some very funny, creative comedians on TV today but they are on Late night TV and can have more adult humor and have provocative skits. That's fine. However, we need shows again that can be watched as a family, and can be examples of family behavior. Eating dinner at the kitchen table, sharing with other family members, conflict resolutions, problems that all families can identify with. We need some shows that have responsible parents and extended families and good examples!
As I mentioned before, when I was in Florida with the twins during January, they watched Gilligan's Island day after day and they laughed and laughed at the humor. I think Angela had acquired the videos at the library. It seemed like they had about 100 episodes but I'm sure it was far less. After they completed the whole series, (I was back in Louisville by that time) they had a special theme dinner to salute the show. Bridget dressed as Mary Ann, wig and all, and each played a role. They had decorated the table to fit the occasion. Granted, that was not a show of a family but it was a very funny show without obscenities, sex etc. and could be enjoyed and laughed at while being with family.I hope the fall lineup includes some funny sit-coms again. I don't want all comedy, what will I do if they don't renew 'The Closer" and some of the other crime shows ? I can't imagine life without 'Law and Order' but the kids need something a little more uplifting! Ciao.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Saga of Sponge Bob Square Pants
I had heard of the cartoon character, Sponge Bob a number of years ago. I think he has been around since the 1990's, but last January when I went to Sarasota for a couple of weeks I was introduced to him in person, so to speak. Bridget is very fond of him and has a little Sponge Bob doll. He is her constant companion. He has his own little bed that she fashioned for him complete with covers but usually he slept with her in her bed. She has a little black purse that he fits in quite nicely so he can accompany her where ever she goes. Violin lessons, beach trips and so on.
The Florida State Legislature was in session in April so when Spring Break time came, Angela, Conor, Bridget and Sponge Bob went to Tallahassee to spend time with Keith and to sight see. They had a great time and all was well until they discovered that Sponge Bob had stayed in the hotel and did not make it back to Sarasota. Bridget was very distraught! Keith asked the hotel personnel if they had found Sponge Bob and they said as a matter of fact they had! Whew! Good news. However, when they went to get him for Keith they could not find him. They had lost him. They were very apologetic and they tried to make up for it by going out and buying a new one for her. Alas, it was not like the original, it was bigger and did not fill the void that he had left in Bridget's life.
He is a goofy little guy who looks like a sponge from the kitchen not a sponge from the sea but nevertheless he is a fry cook in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom. I think his job is at the Krusty Krab and he has quite a few friends that work there with him. ( I stayed with the twins while Mom and Dad went to the Inauguration and we did take time out from watching the Gilligan's Island films, I think there were 100 or so films, to watch The Sponge Bob Square Pants show. ) It was a new experience for me.
Anyway, Angela, Conor and Bridget are dedicated yard sale aficionadoes, as a matter of fact they may have purchased the first SBSP at a yard sale. So Bridget suggested that they go to some yard sales and maybe they could find another one just like the original. She asked Ang to show her where to look in the paper for the advertized events , Ang did and told her they would only go to sales in their area of town. Bridget read the ads and circled all of the one's she thought they should visit. She analyzed each ad to see if they were possibilities but she was baffled by the word 'misc.' and asked for an explanaion of that word. Ang explained that it was an abbreviation of the word miscellaneous, and then of course gave her the meaning of that word.
Bridget figured if they were going to find SBS, he would probably be included in the miscellaneous category. So armed with her news paper with the circled ads, they set out on their quest.. At each site Bridget wanted to thouroughly search for him in the "misk"as she called it. She would make critical comments of the sales when they would return to the car. "They had some pretty good misk." or "their misk was not very interesting." Unfortunately, Bob did not make it to any of the yard sales.
Lots of 'misk' but no Sponge Bob. It looks like e-bay may be the next possibility. The big cyber yard sale will surely have one among the 'misk' that they can purchase. So all is not lost. I will be pleased if they find one on there. We shall see. Ciao
The Florida State Legislature was in session in April so when Spring Break time came, Angela, Conor, Bridget and Sponge Bob went to Tallahassee to spend time with Keith and to sight see. They had a great time and all was well until they discovered that Sponge Bob had stayed in the hotel and did not make it back to Sarasota. Bridget was very distraught! Keith asked the hotel personnel if they had found Sponge Bob and they said as a matter of fact they had! Whew! Good news. However, when they went to get him for Keith they could not find him. They had lost him. They were very apologetic and they tried to make up for it by going out and buying a new one for her. Alas, it was not like the original, it was bigger and did not fill the void that he had left in Bridget's life.
He is a goofy little guy who looks like a sponge from the kitchen not a sponge from the sea but nevertheless he is a fry cook in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom. I think his job is at the Krusty Krab and he has quite a few friends that work there with him. ( I stayed with the twins while Mom and Dad went to the Inauguration and we did take time out from watching the Gilligan's Island films, I think there were 100 or so films, to watch The Sponge Bob Square Pants show. ) It was a new experience for me.
Anyway, Angela, Conor and Bridget are dedicated yard sale aficionadoes, as a matter of fact they may have purchased the first SBSP at a yard sale. So Bridget suggested that they go to some yard sales and maybe they could find another one just like the original. She asked Ang to show her where to look in the paper for the advertized events , Ang did and told her they would only go to sales in their area of town. Bridget read the ads and circled all of the one's she thought they should visit. She analyzed each ad to see if they were possibilities but she was baffled by the word 'misc.' and asked for an explanaion of that word. Ang explained that it was an abbreviation of the word miscellaneous, and then of course gave her the meaning of that word.
Bridget figured if they were going to find SBS, he would probably be included in the miscellaneous category. So armed with her news paper with the circled ads, they set out on their quest.. At each site Bridget wanted to thouroughly search for him in the "misk"as she called it. She would make critical comments of the sales when they would return to the car. "They had some pretty good misk." or "their misk was not very interesting." Unfortunately, Bob did not make it to any of the yard sales.
Lots of 'misk' but no Sponge Bob. It looks like e-bay may be the next possibility. The big cyber yard sale will surely have one among the 'misk' that they can purchase. So all is not lost. I will be pleased if they find one on there. We shall see. Ciao
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Confusion sets in
First of all I thought it was the fifth today instead of the fourth, so I dated and wrote a blog commenting on Tim's blog. It was quite lengthy and I posted it. I wanted to write another two blogs so I numbered that blog #1 and then I proceeded on to blog # 2. I was right in the middle of that blog when the phone rang and I had to leave the computer . When I came back later there was a red stripe across the screen and a sign saying "error" but the uncompleted blog was just as I had left it, so I continued with it. I had no idea where or when the error had occurred. When I finished #2 and posted it, I found out that #1 had somehow or other been deleted. I know it posted because I checked to see before I started #2. Then later in the day I discovered it was actually not the fifth of May (Cinco de Mayo) but the fourth of May. It's not easy being me!
I will try to remember what I had to say to Tim in my deleted blog and try again. Tim discussed the fact that the bloggers seemed to be blogging less and less. He thinks Face book and Twitter is taking over. I think that the Face book and Twitter group is made up mostly of people with Blackberries or their equivalents. These people have access to their communicators all the time because they are portable. Whereas, the people that depend on a computer at a desk or a lap top that is not quite as easy to carry around as the Blackberries or their equivalents, are not able to keep up with the BB's. I, for example, check my computer just a few times a day. I do respond to some of the "bookers" but by the time I get on they have moved on to something else and what I have to say is no longer relevant. As Tim did, I also got on Twitter and found it to be quite weird and eerie. I had a few responders that were a little bit over the top. I'm sure that is not for me. Definitely not to my liking .
I think the two realms are entirely different. I look upon blogging, as far as I am concerned, as a way to express my thoughts, my rants, my philosophies and so on. I enjoy writing and even if people never respond to my words, I don't care, because I get enjoyment out of doing it. (Pat does respond every once in awhile and I know he does read them because he told me so.) I love his blogs, and read every one of them. He is very talented , witty and creative. You can be more creative on blogs than you can on Face book or Twitter because they are geared more for one liners.
Tim, I've enjoyed your blogs from the beginning and surely hope you don't abandon them for the other two venues. I want to read all about the kids and their accomplishments. I had six kids and they all had to cut teeth, go through potty training, say amusing things, keep us up all night have accidents and so on but I still like to hear about Maureen and Rowan 's advances and about their antics and their new words and so on. It may sound maudlin but it is comforting to know that life is going on and the world keeps on turning despite all of the scientific advances and changes in other areas, both good and bad, but the babies still cry at night, still learn to crawl, take steps, learn to use words, and acquire skills that will take them where ever they want to go. They will probably not travel the same paths that I did or that you or Kristin did or that their grandparents did but nevertheless they still had to start from where we all did. Learning to sit up, take steps, say Dada, mama, go to the potty and all the other basics and give us all hope. Don't let us down, let us share in their accomplishments, keep on blogging'. (Keep the pics and the films going too.)
I wish people would do more blogging rather than less or not at all. I know it takes time but it is not a thing you HAVE to do. Maybe everyone does not enjoy writing as much as I do but some of you should try it, you may like it. Ciao
I will try to remember what I had to say to Tim in my deleted blog and try again. Tim discussed the fact that the bloggers seemed to be blogging less and less. He thinks Face book and Twitter is taking over. I think that the Face book and Twitter group is made up mostly of people with Blackberries or their equivalents. These people have access to their communicators all the time because they are portable. Whereas, the people that depend on a computer at a desk or a lap top that is not quite as easy to carry around as the Blackberries or their equivalents, are not able to keep up with the BB's. I, for example, check my computer just a few times a day. I do respond to some of the "bookers" but by the time I get on they have moved on to something else and what I have to say is no longer relevant. As Tim did, I also got on Twitter and found it to be quite weird and eerie. I had a few responders that were a little bit over the top. I'm sure that is not for me. Definitely not to my liking .
I think the two realms are entirely different. I look upon blogging, as far as I am concerned, as a way to express my thoughts, my rants, my philosophies and so on. I enjoy writing and even if people never respond to my words, I don't care, because I get enjoyment out of doing it. (Pat does respond every once in awhile and I know he does read them because he told me so.) I love his blogs, and read every one of them. He is very talented , witty and creative. You can be more creative on blogs than you can on Face book or Twitter because they are geared more for one liners.
Tim, I've enjoyed your blogs from the beginning and surely hope you don't abandon them for the other two venues. I want to read all about the kids and their accomplishments. I had six kids and they all had to cut teeth, go through potty training, say amusing things, keep us up all night have accidents and so on but I still like to hear about Maureen and Rowan 's advances and about their antics and their new words and so on. It may sound maudlin but it is comforting to know that life is going on and the world keeps on turning despite all of the scientific advances and changes in other areas, both good and bad, but the babies still cry at night, still learn to crawl, take steps, learn to use words, and acquire skills that will take them where ever they want to go. They will probably not travel the same paths that I did or that you or Kristin did or that their grandparents did but nevertheless they still had to start from where we all did. Learning to sit up, take steps, say Dada, mama, go to the potty and all the other basics and give us all hope. Don't let us down, let us share in their accomplishments, keep on blogging'. (Keep the pics and the films going too.)
I wish people would do more blogging rather than less or not at all. I know it takes time but it is not a thing you HAVE to do. Maybe everyone does not enjoy writing as much as I do but some of you should try it, you may like it. Ciao
Blog 2 for 5/5/09 Derby 135
Once again I had a great time at the Derby even though it was totally different than the recent Derbies. Number one, we did not have our usual place at the backside. Some one else usurped our place that we have occupied for years. Ideal spot, right on the fence, but this year we had to make do with a sight further down the strip and not on the fence. There was a plethora of people everywhere so we had to do a little hip bumping to get a good spot in the viewing stand in order to watch the horses run by. But watch them we did. I was glad to be 5 ft. tall, because the tall guys invited me to get in front of them and thereby stand right on the rail of the viewing stand, it also helps to be very, very old. (Or pretend to be).
I had determined a few years ago to always bet the horses with Bird in their names. There were two horses in this year's derby with Bird and both of them were 50 to 1 odds so I bet both of them across the board. As you know, Mine That Bird came in so I won $175.00 on him and I also put those two horses and Lucas's horse, Flying Private in a $1.00 matrix bet and so I won $50.00 more on that bet.
I had saved my winning tickets from last year and cashed them at the beginning of the day and that was what funded my bets for the Derby. The horse that I won on last year was named Einstein and he was running again so I bet him again and he won. He didn't pay as much as last year because he's been winning a lot this year so his odds are down. I did have Big Brown last year too but Brian wants that winning ticket, which I still have. So anyway, all my winnings this year were prepaid, so to speak, it cost me nothing!
It was suggested that I save my tickets again for next year but I am pretty money strapped so I am forced to cash them.
It was a very pleasant day, cool enough to be comfortable and warm enough not to have to be bundled up. Our personal crowd was down, just Paul,Karen, Linda, Larry Gregg, Brian and I but we joined some of Brian's friends and they were very amenable. So it was a fun day and I am so glad I got to go. I hope I get to go next year too! Ciao.
I had determined a few years ago to always bet the horses with Bird in their names. There were two horses in this year's derby with Bird and both of them were 50 to 1 odds so I bet both of them across the board. As you know, Mine That Bird came in so I won $175.00 on him and I also put those two horses and Lucas's horse, Flying Private in a $1.00 matrix bet and so I won $50.00 more on that bet.
I had saved my winning tickets from last year and cashed them at the beginning of the day and that was what funded my bets for the Derby. The horse that I won on last year was named Einstein and he was running again so I bet him again and he won. He didn't pay as much as last year because he's been winning a lot this year so his odds are down. I did have Big Brown last year too but Brian wants that winning ticket, which I still have. So anyway, all my winnings this year were prepaid, so to speak, it cost me nothing!
It was suggested that I save my tickets again for next year but I am pretty money strapped so I am forced to cash them.
It was a very pleasant day, cool enough to be comfortable and warm enough not to have to be bundled up. Our personal crowd was down, just Paul,Karen, Linda, Larry Gregg, Brian and I but we joined some of Brian's friends and they were very amenable. So it was a fun day and I am so glad I got to go. I hope I get to go next year too! Ciao.
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