STORYWORTH

The posts to this blog have been scarce in 2023, and one reason is that I have written about 60 answers of varying lengths to a project called "Storyworth." It was a gift from my kids for birthday last year and I have responded to questions like "Who did you take to the prom?" The result, we hope, may give my kids a view of my life, but we'll see when complete.

The essays will be compiled into a book and I have no idea what the cost will be, but still to be discovered. I guess I am like so many others, my favorite topic is myself! Not very admirable, I'm afraid, but it is the case. Had a good time recounting some of that stuff.

You may see a few more on this site soon. Until then...

DICK EDMONDS

 My friend, Dick Edmonds, died about 2.5 years ago. We knew each other from Banker's Life Nebraska and rode together to work and argued about Richard Nixon, it was the early 1970's. 

Every year, the first weekend in October, we would travel to his cottage, later his house, at Battle Lake, Minnesota and prepare for winter. His cousin from Wayne would often go with us, and sometimes others. Always work and good food. This went on for over 20 years.

Dick was 10 years older than me and his son, Rick, described his death to me as "his body and mind just wore out." So true for a lot of us. Dick had an affinity for Battle Lake that was similar to my connection with the farm where I grew up. His family lived in Cincinnati, and that was the source of some of his stories. 

One of my favorites was about the mother of a friend who was having trouble with her garbage collection. She lived in an older section of the city with alleys, and the garbage men came early, about 5 AM. In order to communicate her wishes, she arose at 4:00 AM, put on her best dressing gown, pinned a broach that always caught attention, and waited. Soon enough, they came by, she went to the alley and talked to them about her problem. Not well-received. Promptly at the time when city offices opened, she called the man in charge and told him that she had explained her issue to the garbage collectors and they sassed her and just didn't act like gentleman. In a tired voice (delivered with Dick's characteristic grin) the supervisor said, "Madame, you can't imagine how difficult it is to get gentlemen to pick up garbage."

Another favorite involved Kentucky, right across the river. He worked in the mortgage world all his professional career, and they had a customer there who required a visit. Evidently, the first name "Turley" is common among the old-time residents, and in this case, it was coupled with the last name "Curd." Again, the grin, then "You had to be careful."

I visited him at his residence in an assisted living facility about 6 months before his death. He had trouble finding words and would pause many times in a sentence to find it or move on to another topic. One time this happened and the pause lasted until he said, "Man, you've gotten fat." Which is true, but not often spoken so clearly!

Every now and then I run into a quote or story that I know Dick would have liked. And I tell it to him.

ANOTHER JIMMY FALLON

Jimmy Fallon had a guest, Chelsea Handler, made a surprising admission. She did not know that the sun and the moon were different until she was 40 years old. She thought the sun changed to the moon at night and vice versa during the day.

These are the people who try to tell us how to vote and which latest fad we should follow in our diets, child rearing, energy (they think that electric vehicles and wind power have no carbon footprint since they don't count manufacturing and disposal).

Television is, indeed a wasteland. PBS has always toed the liberal line, but it has become a religion. Supported by my tax dollar.

Television Today

 

Jimmy Fallon had 11 million viewers when he took over the reins of Tonight from Jay Leno. He has now grown that to…1.3 million. Worth the $80 million five-year contract?

Probably not, he is bested by even Steven Colbert (and you have to have a particular view of the world and politics to listen to that guy) and by upstart Greg Gutfeld on Fox. Yes, there is a political and social view attached to Gutfeld, for sure.

Others have observed that late night TV is no longer funny, after all the days of humor in general has been tossed in the trash by the woke crowd, but still, couldn’t it be amusing at least? I admit I haven’t watched much of any of them for a while, but Fallon’s giggling and his campy schtick is definitely not funny and not entertaining to the public. Proof? Look at the numbers.

I guess we could yearn for the old days or simply accede to the new, woke reality. There is hope, of course, as the phrase “go woke, go broke” is proving more and more true. Take Victoria Secret. How about Disney stock down from $200 to $90. And the list goes on.

I hope for a swing back on the old pendulum when one fool shouting (and they always shout) “I’m offended” stops the bus, instantly.

To all of you out there, Happy New Year. I'll try to resume posting more.