In real life, Arlo wouldn’t even have to turn the light on, but then I’m allowed to draw him flipping a light switch.
Home & Away
By Jimmy Johnson
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132 responses to “Home & Away”
Crab, a Nook Glowlight makes a good flashlight, too. No app, Old Bear, just a built-in booklight.
At a family gathering while I was in my mid-twenties, a distant relative proclaimed shrilly that she would give just ANYTHING to be a teenaged girl again. I thought, “Ah, so some of us do forget what that time was like.”
One of the most appealing things, emb, about G & S is all their bits of business. Could I time travel, I would go back to see perhaps the 20th performance of each operetta under Gilbert’s stage management (20th, to have allowed whimsy and Gilbert the time and performances to suggest and inspire those bits).
The current (controversy?) reminds me of something I just commneted on to a cruise newsletter that I receive. It seems that the writer had received a less than nice e-mail from someone who gave several reasons why they hated cruising. The writer asked what “we” would tell that person. My comment, which was praised by the writer, was: “It’s very simple. Don’t cruise!” Same goes here as GR6 said, “The down arrow …etc.” I haven’t commented much lately because I haven’t had much to say.
Prayers and blessings on everyone. Pax vobiscum.
Ghost, I hope your project is going well and that you are enjoying your involvement!
Charlotte, while the lightening flashes, we may feel unsettled. But the air is always its most fresh and fragrant after a thunderstorm.
I think the teenage years were painful, and are painful for more than a few. The best thing that happened to me was I turned 18 and joined the Army.
Thanks, Denise. Some projects are both necessary and enjoyable, and some are merely necessary. This is one of the latter. On the bright side, it’s going better (and more speedily) than expected.
emb: I couldn’t help but wonder…individually lopsided or lopsided in relation to each other? 🙂
It seems to me that even the quiet ones have plenty worthwhile to say. Not every comment has to be totally planned out when you start. Stephen King says that when he starts a book he can’t wait to see what happens.
GR6: “individually lopsided or lopsided in relation to each other?” Hadn’t thought about that; probably the two don’t match “perfectly.” It’s sad that it’s a concern, another example of teen angst. Wife was not totally symmetrical. So? Worked fine in both their functions.
The adult culture nurtures teenage angst, and probably always has. In almost every opera, both grand and comic, the most eligible ingénue or whatever is supposedly a striking beauty, and that goes back centuries. Count Almaviva courts what’s-her-face after seeing her from a distance. Ezio Pinza says you will see her “across a crowded room.” All a look will tell you is that she is pretty. It’s pretty that is skin deep, not beauty. If the men are all crowded around her, now’s your chance to meet some neat wallflowers.
Peace, emb
Good thinking, emb! I like your thoughts on the opera (how I adored Ezio Pinza!) and on beauty. I think lots of people WOULD like to go back and live their teenage years again IF we could know what we know now! Not gonna happen, but it would be nice.
Charlotte, I think of that old proverb: “Bad choices can be avoided with experience. Experience is gained by making bad choices.” I would not have what little wisdom I have without those days but I would not revisit them. Human nature would indicate that I would find different misadventures to gain experience from, as opposed to some triumphal re-writing of history.
The sum total of my greener days made me recognize and properly revere The Real Deal when it arrived in the form of my now-wife. Yes, there were tragedies that seemed huge Back In The Day, but I decided that my motto would be “Their Loss.” And so it has proven to be.
News flash:
http://fox6now.com/2015/04/13/bird-flu-virus-confirmed-at-egg-laying-facility-in-southeast-wisconsin/
So, first thing we hear this morning is that we’re in “the orange”….Homeland security color code; I guess. But it’s ‘red’ alert … let’s think here…The avian virus s originated in China…then before that, wasn’t iit something about ‘sheet rock’, oh, and let’s not forget the ‘lead’ in children’s toys.
Do I see a pattern??
David, if you do get ‘layers’, as it said in the article…buy from a very reputable supplier.
…hungry, husband has chicken strips in the oven….a salad…..a cucumber for me alone….
…hitting the ‘fridge and recliner, in that order.
And Jerry, Gal Miss Charlotte, and Denise….I’m humbled..and grateful for the prayers.. Rachael is home…got home late, still dark, morning….her mother has been staying with her. No ‘plumbing’ had to be removed..Amen.
Debbe 😉 Because women like “Charlie” and planes like the F-14 both give me a…thrill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUis9yny_lI
(And my Ray-ban aviator glasses like Maverick’s are on order.)
“The remaining chickens in the affected flock will be depopulated…” Yeah, that sounds so much nicer than “killed”, doesn’t it?
Those asking for prayers for others…I haven’t had time to reply individually, but rest assured they were tendered.
(In case anyone cares, I’m on my lunch break. And if you don’t care, I’m on my lunch break.)
That movie sure had a lot of “meaningful looks” in it, didn’t it? But the aerial photography was awesome.
GR6: “…Now, back to what I should be doing.”
Now you’ve got me wondering what it was you should have been doing when you were visiting with us?
Ursen, tell us more, if you feel like it, about your teenage years, and about joining the Army. Where did you go for Basic Training, and where were you stationed afterward?
Debbe, I’m very glad that Rachel is home and, I hope, feeling better.
Debbe: Prayers DO help!
Ghost: The only thing that I didn’t care for in Top Gun was… the star! Am afraid that those smooth looks of Tom Cruise just creep me out. PLEASE don’t tell me you look like Tom Cruise!
OF may be gearing up, but wind from NE. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Only our sunglasses will look alike, Gal. I agree; he’s too much of a pretty boy. Plus, he’s “travel size” and I’m not.
Pleasant out, 71F [site won’t accept degree sign], too much W breeze, but still supped on patio. Female Cooper’s hawk flew by. Saw her* a week or two ago; maybe a nest nearby. Won’t try to find that. Harrier nests are potentially easier.
*Likely female / size. Only think it was same I saw days back because, unlike juncos and robins, big raptors are widely spaced.
Everyone:
Please bear with me while I clarify my post of this morning. I was not speaking only of the kids who can’t have or lose the Special Boyfriend or Girlfriend. Yes, the kids feel that pain very keenly because it is new to them, but the vast majority leave it behind in a week or so.
I was remembering the kids who lived in abject poverty, the kids who wanted to succeed in school but just didn’t have the innate ability, the kids who wanted to have at least one friend but never did all the way through high school, the kids who lived with alcoholic and abusive parent/s, and the kids who endured depression, autism, schizophrenia, physical handicaps and deformities, the death of a parent or a sibling, incest, and more.
When I retired from teaching after thirty years, I had nothing left to give.
Please pardon this bit of self-praise: I lost track of the kids who told me that, if I hadn’t been there in the classroom, they would have committed suicide. It was either seven or eight. Except for one boy, I didn’t know that they were in danger at the time. I knew about the one boy only because his parents told me that I was only thing keeping their son alive.
It’s still hard to talk about.
But it’s nothing compared to the pain that the kids were experiencing.
Rick, thanks for sharing this experience with us.
And good luck to Debbe and thanks to Galliglo for the background information.
Rick, I can’t imagine dealing with kids with such heart-breaking problems. Thank you for your willingness to do so. You are a true hero.
Rick: I am thankful for teachers like you. I don’t see how you do it, day after day. So… It is ok to blow your horn a little bit!
My sister and brother-in-law were both teachers. She did not teach full time after she had a family, but he taught 5th grade for 25 years. He loved the kids, but the frustrations did take a lot out of him. Those kids can break your heart.
Thank you for YOUR service in the trenches of the educational system.
I don’t post a lot, and don’t always find time to read every comment, but I like keeping up with this little community because I sense that we do have concern for each other and a certain connection through A&J. As I have always been a bit of a wallflower (by choice and quite happily) I am reticent about sharing a lot of personal information, though what I do say is always true. I appreciate all the different perspectives and personalities here!
Debbe – Re: cheezburger 4:48am – ba dum, crash! What a groaner! LOL!
Muse go to bed, but will fill everyone in on the latest twists in my universe tomorrow.
Nytol!