Changes Happen

Daily writing prompt

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

No…..most definitely not. There’s been a big change from a year ago. I call this new phase semi-retirement or Act 2. Back in September the large multi-national global conglomerate of a company I toiled for over 25 years announced they were consolidating operations and closing the location I worked at, and although I was offered another position at a different location I thought it was best to move on.

My routine of getting up and rushing off to work and working 8 or more hours has been replaced by lazy mornings sitting in my sun-room, laptop open scrolling through news and contemplating blog posts. The birds are getting breakfast at the feeder and in the field behind our house the deer roam languidly searching for any last beans that didn’t get harvested. All the projects that get talked about and never started have been started and some have been completed to be replaced by more projects. To be honest not everything has been started, that book I keep contemplating has not been started….that might be a commitment I’m not ready for.

I spend more time researching travel destinations…..did you know the best time to go to Machu Picchu is in the spring or fall to avoid the rainy season and avoid the crowds of the summer season. If you desire to hike the Inca Trail it’s a four day hike to Machu Picchu but there’s also a train that can take you to the top. So far my semi-retirement travel has been limited to the continental U.S. but perhaps with more free time I’ll expand my destinations.

Also this has been the first year in forever that I sent out Christmas cards. I always had the excuse that December was actually my busiest month so I had no time for cards, but this year cards are mailed, decorations are hung and most of the shopping is complete with still a week before Christmas.

Much to my wife’s chagrin there are times during the week I don’t even know what day it is, and as the weather has turned colder here in the mid-west my lazy mornings are stretching into lazy afternoons. I find myself sitting around more and watching stuff instead of doing stuff. These are not habits that I want to continue so Act 2 is evolving and I recently accepted a part-time position at our local community college. I love the idea of working part-time at this point of my life. I’ll still have the flexibility of time but with the incentive and purpose that only a job can provide, and lets face it my allowance around here wasn’t increasing.

As I sit here and think about the changes of the past couple of months I realize that life can throw you some unexpected curve balls and it’s important to be willing to accept change and look ahead, perhaps even if you think your taking a step back it’s really just a precursor to a new situation….Act 2…..the mornings are better, it hardly matters what day of the week it is and finding a new purpose is a revelation to be embraced…….

So look ahead and enjoy the journey, don’t sit around and if possible start planning your next adventure…..and avoid the rainy season

Peace and Love

John

Saturday Mornings

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite cartoon?

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When I was a kid cartoons were a Saturday morning ritual. Get up early, grab some cereal and plop down in front of the TV. Especially if the weather was cold or rainy and mom wasn’t yelling at me to turn off the TV and get outside. I loved cartoons so much that I never had a problem getting up to watch them unlike the misery of getting up for school 5 days a week. Perhaps because cartoons only came on once a week that it seemed so enjoyable.

I had many favorites……who amongst us could resist the adventures of Scooby Doo and the gang rolling around in the Mystery Machine, poking their noses into odd situations and then solving a strange occurrence that usually involved an adult in some kind of costume or mask which led to the great reveal at the end where the bad guy, and it was almost always guys, would be unmasked. The great reveal was soon followed by the line that has become synonymous with the show as the criminal exclaimed that he…..

“would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids”

I’m glad I watched it as a kid because as an adult I would have so many questions, the two obvious ones would be……..what exactly was in those Scooby Snacks they were constantly munching on, and can someone explain the exact relationship between Freddy, Daphne and Velma ?

Scooby and the gang held my attention for a few years, they even had a season where it seemed like every show had a special guest. I remember Hollywood stars like Phyllis Diller, Don Knotts, Sandy Duncan and even the Harlem Globetrotters joining the gang for an episode of hi-jinks and hilarity. Eventually they found it necessary to add characters and with the addition of Scooby’s nephew Scrappy Doo the entire show seemed to change, and although it remains a fond memory it isn’t my favorite……that distinction without a doubt belongs to the Looney Tunes gang especially Bugs Bunny.

I think the reason Bugs became my favorite cartoon is that he could find himself in any situation and he was clever enough to get out of it. In fact he was far more more clever than the humans he encountered, whether it was Elmer Fudd or some other human, Bugs had the unique ability to devise a scheme that made the antagonist seem silly. The show was unique and daring to put Bugs in situations no other cartoon would attempt….what other cartoon would put their main character in woman’s clothes and make-up and poke fun of the other characters for not recognizing him.

It was through Bugs that I was introduced to opera and although I continue to have no interest nor do I see any opera in my future, I am aware that there is an opera called the Barber of Seville, but I prefer the Bugs parody the Rabbit of Seville.

Whether Bugs was playing baseball and seemingly playing each position as pitcher, catcher and fielder and then smacking home runs to win the game or wrestling behemoths like “The Crusher,” Bugs constantly found himself out-manned, outgunned but not out-smarted. Perhaps it’s because Bugs was usually in an underdog position that he becomes so identifiable. Most of the time life puts us in positions where we feel out-manned, outgunned and on the defensive, but by being clever and using our brains instead of just brawn there is a way to prosper……and let’s face it, Bugs Bunny in a dress with outrageous amounts of make-up seductively walking around and being flirtatious is the most daring and clever thing you would see on a Saturday morning. Long live Bugs and the Looney Tunes gang……

Peace and love

John

Early Bird or Night Owl

Daily writing prompt

Are you more of a night or morning person?

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Ah, the dance between the morning person who’s up with the sun or the late night soul who’s productivity peaks when most people are asleep. I’ve been both of these people at different times of my life.

The college years was probably the peak of my late night adventures. Staying up late studying, watching TV or just hanging out with friends life at that age was all about late nights. I did occasionally have an early morning class that I’m proud to say I rarely missed but after my first year I learned how to schedule my classes to avoid that situation. The hard part was adjusting my late nights to my parents routine when I came home for holidays or summer vacation. My parents were headed to bed as I was headed out the door. This routine kept going after college for a few years when I could stay out late and still get to work on time.

Unless a job situation requires working the afternoon or midnight shift most people seem to adjust their habits. This mainly happens when you get married and start having kids. Kids have this amazing ability to not comprehend schedules, clocks and the need for consistent sleep. My son was up early, ready to go when all my wife and I wanted to do was sleep just a little bit more. There were also times when he would be up late refusing to go to sleep as if he might be missing out on some great thing we were doing. I tried explaining to him that nothing is happening in this house after he goes to sleep but he really didn’t understand….of course he was only a toddler so any moment he wasn’t awake he probably felt he was missing something.

Now though I’m up early….. I like to get a morning walk and sometimes I get to see the sunrise. I’m most productive in the morning…..working out, planning the day and yes the occasional blog post. I enjoy the idea of being up when others are still in a deep slumber. It helps to have a reason to get up each day, even if my days aren’t as busy as they used to be. Kids grow up and they become the ones staying up late……..sure if I start watching a show I might stay up and watch a couple of episodes but I generally reach a time when I know my day is done and that’s alot earlier than it used to be but I know I’ll be up for the sunrise tomorrow

Peace and Love

John

Can I Have 3 More ?

Daily writing prompt

Name your top three pet peeves.

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This is like when you find the magic lamp and the genie pops out and grants you 3 wishes….your first wish is to ask for unlimited wishes but then the genie says “nope, you only get 3″….. ok fine, 3 pet peeves

The first is technology…..oh technology, my friend, my enemy, my frenemy…… you make everything so easy and so, so frustrating. Need directions, just take out your phone and get turn by turn directions. It’s gotten to the point that I wonder how anybody got anywhere before maps on our phones.

Need to find out which president died shortly after his inauguration because his speech was too long and he caught pneumonia….it’s just a query away on your phone ( I don’t actually know who that was or even if he did die of pneumonia because I didn’t actually look it up but I do remember from history class that did happen )…..my point is before smart phones and Google we had to find information in the encyclopedia or at the library or by asking our parents, and lets be honest 2 out of 3 of those were probably accurate and the other just told you something to get rid of you.

I marvel at all the wonderful technology and information just a few keystrokes away but nothing and I mean nothing gets my blood pressure rising than creating a profile and password for every single stinkin thing on the web. Scan this QR code, create a profile and password, become a preferred member, accumulate points, get a discount………why is it that everybody on the web wants me to be a preferred member with a profile and password. My password book is now multiple pages long and yet most on them still don’t work…… is that all caps for that one or just one capital letter and is that the number one or the special character the exclamation point….UGH, WHY WON’T IT TAKE IT…..I KNOW IT’S RIGHT….my wife’s solution is to just ask for another password and update it…….but I have a book of passwords of multiple pages some of them must work….right ?

My second pet peeve is fake outrage. Everybody is outraged about something and they have a way to express it. Blame the cell phone again or perhaps social media but I blame us, humans for this one. Folks…..are we really devolving into people that whine and complain about everything……please you can’t really be outraged about all the things I see on Facebook or Tiktok or Twitter. I do feel this is just sad attempts at seeking attention for yourself and whatever cause nobody is really paying attention to. And lets face it most things posted on social media are quickly forgotten as people scroll by and there’s so much outrage going on that it’s really just become noise, background noise that people ignore like traffic noise.

The third pet peeve and this one is the cousin to fake outrage…..fake urgency. Just because you can reach me immediately by phone or text doesn’t mean I have to respond immediately. Just because you think your problem is of utmost importance doesn’t mean that I have to solve it right now. Very few things need to be taken care of now….in fact most things can wait, an hour, a day, a couple of days in fact…..so if I don’t answer my phone the first time you call then send me a text but if I don’t answer it right away I’m probably looking through my password book for the right password for my profile so I can become a preferred member and get points and discounts on the web……

Peace and Love

John

Make Bread not Art

While scrolling some headlines this morning my attention was diverted by a story about a banana duct taped to wall in an art gallery. Evidently this piece of art is soon to be auctioned off by Sotheby’s auction house and could sell for $1 million or higher.

This artwork titled “Comedian” by an Italian artist first debuted at a Miami art fair in 2019. It quickly became a much discussed piece and selfie seeking crowds so thoroughly crowded around it that it eventually had to be removed, but not before another artist who was perhaps jealous of the attention, removed the banana from the wall and ate it necessitating a backup banana be brought in.

A spokesperson for Sotheby’s calls it “profound and provocative” ……….although truthfully I feel he says this about every piece of art. Just to clarify the bidders won’t be bidding on the original banana and piece of duct tape as the fruit was always meant to be replaced.

In fact, what you are really buying is not the banana and duct tape but a certificate of authenticity that grants the owner the permission to reproduce the banana and duct tape on their wall as an original piece of artwork by the artist.

So really I or anybody else doesn’t need to spend a $1 million to duct tape a banana to their wall. I could do it for considerably cheaper than that, but I’m sure my wife would not be happy at my attempt at modern art and removal of the banana would probably take paint off the wall and we do have a fruit bowl sitting on the table and even though I never considered it a piece of art I suppose I could duct tape a banana to the fruit bowl…..who knows maybe some day, somebody would consider a banana duct taped to a fruit bowl to be “profound and provocative”

So go ahead make art with fruit, duct tape or any other household items….just make sure it doesn’t damage the walls or your spouse would not be happy about your modern interpretation of art……or you could just make bread

Peace and Love,

John

Go Ahead and Do It

Daily writing prompt

What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to?

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There is something I’ve been pondering and putting off. A couple of weeks ago I saw a notice about a short story contest open to all residents in my state. I thought it might be interesting to enter but I became paralyzed each time I sat down at the computer to enter.

I had a short story in mind that I liked and thought others might like but each time I sat down to submit it I would stare at the screen and eventually turn it off without entering the contest. Part of the reason was the submission guidelines….you have to create an account and password and I had to change the spacing and font on the story. I know these are all minor and easily overcome but I used these as an excuse not to submit.

I knew the real reason for my reluctance was that my story would be read and judged. I have a very small audience of readers of my blog and that’s fine…..sure I would like more readers but I know the loyal few do actually read it and generally find it to be entertaining……and really that’s all I’m aiming for here.

By entering a contest my work would be judged against other stories probably submitted by real writers, not by bloggers who write once a week about something that happened in the grocery store. And that’s really why I’ve been pondering this and been paralyzed into in-action for the past couple of weeks. I know my story probably isn’t good enough to be considered against other stories but when I write a short blog post a few people read it and some even hit the like button but nobody comments how bad it was.

So this morning I sat once again at the computer staring at the entry guidelines and submission page. I found myself filling out the application and attaching my story to it and away it went into the internet ether…..a few minutes later I got a confirmation e-mail and it was submitted.

I don’t know why today was the day…..maybe because it is Monday and I wanted to get the week rolling in the right direction or maybe I got tired of making excuses and sitting around worrying that others would read my story and possibly dislike it or call it the work of an beginner but my work is out there for others to read and really as writers that’s all we really want.

Peace and Love….

John

Do Something…..

Daily writing prompt

Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

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I love a lazy morning, in fact a lazy Sunday morning might be my favorite time of the week. Especially when it turns colder in the fall or downright freezing in the winter. Nobody really expects anything out of you on a freezing Sunday morning, so it’s perfectly acceptable to curl up under a blanket and read a book or the paper (although the paper is on my phone so curling up with my phone reading the paper doesn’t sound as romantic as it should)

I’ve never been the type to sit for hours and not do anything, although I have been known to doze off under a blanket in the chair by the fire listening to a podcast awakening an hour later only to discover my podcast has ended and I must decide if it is worth the hassle to go back and listen to it again because I doubt I really grasped the concept of it while napping. Most times I don’t….if it caused me to doze off it really wasn’t holding my attention to begin with.

I’m not the type to binge watch an entire season of the latest and greatest show or even watch more than one episode at a time. No matter what I’m doing on a lazy morning, after awhile I feel this urgency to get up and do something. I really can’t stand the idea of an unproductive day….it seems so wasteful and I feel very lethargic unless I accomplish something…..so yes I love a lazy morning but it almost never stretches into a lazy day

Peace and Love

John

If Only I Could……

Daily writing prompt

What skill would you like to learn?

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I am often dismayed by my own lack of skills. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of genuine interest and curiosity or just a lack of self-confidence and belief but it is rather astonishing how little I know and can do. My wife is often exasperated at my lack of knowledge and skills. Quite frequently this leads her to simply doing a task herself instead of asking me to.

Can I do car repairs, oh heavens no, that necessitates a trip to the repair shop. My friend once told me that he changed the brakes on his car by watching a YouTube video….I was surprised and instantly disappointed in myself, I can watch videos as well as anyone, but I decided it was probably for the best that I have no desire to attempt brake repairs as that could go disastrously wrong.

Can I do basic carpentry, not at all, I have a hard time driving a straight nail. Plumbing and electrical repairs are way out of my skill set and quite frankly I would be slightly fearful that I would make whatever the problem was only worse. I can perhaps change a tire in an emergency if I follow the instructions in the owners manual and I had my glasses handy.

I am quite capable of following instructions so I can put together stuff, you know the stuff you buy that says rather ominously on the side of the box “some assembly required”……usually my wife will come and check on my progress after an hour or so, her presence casting a shadow over me with a gentle inquiry of….. “so, how’s it going, need any help ?”

No matter my progress I confidently exclaim that….. “I’m almost done and just a few more things to tighten”…..this is of course an obvious lie as there are half of the pieces and parts scattered on the floor and a pile of screws, bolts, nuts and washers that I hope are just extras. She usually sighs and leaves me alone in my misery of assembly, her sigh saying so much. But unless I need an extra pair of hands I can follow the instructions to completion and I proudly stand over my assembled work hours later showing it off like a sculptor who just created a masterpiece.

I’m awed by those talented individuals who can see a pile of wood and construct a piece of furniture or a person who can walk into an empty room and envision a cozy space with just the right wall decorations and properly spaced furniture so the room has a certain flow and warmth. I know that most people aren’t born as carpenters or interior designers, except Jesus was a carpenter so maybe he was born with those skills, but most people spend hours acquiring said skills. Perhaps this is my weakness, I never really had an interest in spending so much time on something that it turned into a skill……but as I age there is one skill I wish I had and that is the ability to play an instrument.

Much like my inability to drive a nail or change the brake pads on a car, I have zero musical talent. I can’t sing, dance, read music or carry a tune. My musical ability peaked when I was a teenager and I could make a mix tape on my stereo adjusting the knobs just so to get the perfect balance of bass and treble. I wish I would have kept those mix tapes as it would be some sort of tangible proof of musical ability but now I just open the Pandora app on my phone to get a mix tape type listening experience.

What I would really like would be to learn how to play the guitar or piano….I want to be the old guy on the beach strumming a guitar at sunset or the guy at the piano jauntily playing a sing-along as everyone joins in. I suppose it’s never too late to learn a skill, it just takes time and interest and commitment. So perhaps one day I’ll find the time, I’ll make a commitment and learn a useful skill, one that doesn’t involve an instruction manual and doesn’t cause my wife to sigh plaintively.

Take Care….Peace and Love

John

Games, Games and more Games

Daily writing prompt

If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?

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I’ve never been the type to want to open any kind of store. When I was a teenager my first job was in a retail store so I got to experience first hand the type of career that working in a store would be, add in the fact that my fathers career was also in retail management and I quickly determined that this wasn’t for me. Working or owning a store means long hours, nights and weekends. It means being open on holidays and always feeling like you’re the only one working. Working in a store requires dealing with the public everyday, all day and never having a bad day.

No I would never want to own a store, in fact I wold probably be terrible at it and would soon go out of business because the only store I would open wouldn’t even sell anything. The only store I would ever want to own would simply be a game store, but I wouldn’t sell games instead I’d rent them out for people to play at my store.

I should mention that the games I’m talking about would be board games and not video games and I suppose that can tell you about my experiences as a child as I played far more board games than video games. We didn’t have a game night every week but we certainly played alot of board games as a family. We had all the traditional games….Monopoly, Life, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Yahtzee just to name a few. We played games that involved throwing dice and moving plastic pieces around a board and games with spinners and driving stick people in cars. Games with the small little sand in the hourglass timer and games with no timers that seemed to last forever. Still to this day whenever we gather we most likely will break out a board game and play as a family. So I always thought it would be fun to own a store to recreate that feeling of sitting down with family or friends and playing a board game.

Imagine a store filled with games…..all kinds of games. The walls would be lined with games the shelves packed with them. Every board game ever made would be in this store and people could come in and play them for a small fee. And I wouldn’t try to sell anything….no coffee or tea, no bagels or doughnuts, nothing to distract you from the game. There would be all kinds of tables, big ones, small ones, long ones and round ones, and all you’d hear would be people playing the games, shouting, laughing, even anguish cries of an unlucky dice roll and most of all there would be no TV’s or cell phones allowed.

I know this might make some people feel uneasy not having their phone in their hands or right next to them but I would have small lockboxes to lock their phones in so they were inaccessible and the lockboxes would sit on the table as they were playing and if anybody opened the lockbox to check their phone they would be immediately kicked out and told to never come back, banished from the game store. and possibly publicly humiliated…….yes I know, perhaps a bit harsh but hey nothing should interrupt the game.

I know this store would probably never be successful in this day and age, although board games are still very popular I lament that people seem too busy to play, too many distractions, too much to watch and too much social media to scroll thru but still I would love to have a store where every night is game night.

If you had a family game night or favorite game you played as a kid please feel free to comment and share your experiences and don’t forget to hit that like button

Peace and love,

John

Finding My Way

Daily writing prompt

If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

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Well for starters I can’t imagine anybody wanting to write a biography about me, but lets suspend reality for a brief moment and suppose that it somehow happens. I also can’t imagine anybody reading a biography about me. You know how you are browsing through a bookstore and they have the shelves or tables of bestsellers and then there’s usually a rack of staff recommendations……typically these are lesser known books or authors that the staff enjoys reading and they want other people to know about. Usually there is a little blurb about what the staff member enjoyed most about the book something like……

“I couldn’t put it down”…..or…. “a real page turner”…..or …….. “memorable characters”……

I would have a feeling that the poor staff member who was assigned to read my biography would have a hard time finding a positive blurb about it……it would probably be something like….

“well I finished it”……or…… “at least I wasn’t scrolling through social media”…..or…… “helped with my insomnia”……

Remember back when there were video tapes of movies and we all went to Blockbuster to rent a movie and you’d be browsing the aisles and you’d see some movie you never heard of but it just came out…..this was the infamous “straight to video movie”…….named for the fact that it never even was worthy enough to be distributed in movie theaters but the studio wanted to try to recoup some of the expenses of making it so they tried to sell or rent it in VCR format.

I don’t know what the equivalent of that is in book form, but that’s what my biography would be. Relegated to the bargain table as soon as it was published, offered for some low price to cover the cost of printing. Even the summary on the back cover would be underwhelming…..

Finding My Way

One average man’s journey from middle class suburbia childhood to hard-working middle class adult. The trials and tribulations, the joys and heartache along the way are a microcosm of our times. The struggle to find a worthwhile career, the improbable meeting of his soulmate, his strange childlike fascination with the world around him and much to his wife’s consternation his immaturity grows greater with each year that passes…… “I was more mature as an 18 yr. old than I am now.”

That’s definitely a book to be found on the bargain table or at a thrift store…..

Peace and Love

John