bob dylan | dual personalities

May 25, 2020

“I see my light come shining From the west unto the east/Any day now, any day now I shall be released.”*

by chuckofish

Happy belated birthday to Bob Dylan who turned 79 yesterday. We love you and God loves you, Bob.

The weekend rushed by and daughter #1 and I had fun doing things we had not been able to do in a long time, like walking around downtown Kirkwood and actually going in a store and buying something! (Don’t worry, we wore masks.) We also sat outside on the patio and drank a cold one. It was 87 degrees!

Their parents dropped off the wee babes for awhile on Sunday morning and they ran us ragged.

We finally had to resort to getting out the giant box of Beanie Babies.

Hog Heaven

We were done in after that, but daughter #1 did give me a gel manicure. The rain actually held off for most of the weekend until Sunday when the OM decided to barbecue. Then it rained for hours.

We watched The LongRiders (1980) which you may recall is a movie about the outlaw James brothers, the Younger brothers, and assorted other brothers, all played by actual brothers: The Caradines, the Keaches, the Quaids, and even Christopher Guest and his brother. I had not seen it in a long time and really enjoyed it.

Screen Shot 2020-05-24 at 9.58.46 PM Rather than being gimmicky, the real brothers lent an air of authenticity to the film which I appreciated. The musical score by Ry Cooder was also excellent. And I enjoyed the Missouri setting and the story of our homegrown famous outlaws.

Today I am celebrating Memorial Day and watching war movies as previously mentioned. I will also toast John Wayne on the 111th anniversary of his birth.

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FYI daughter #2 is scaling back her blog post activity to once a week on Thursdays as she anticipates the imminent arrival of baby U. L’Chaim!

*Bob Dylan

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January 28, 2020

“Go not to the Elves for counsel”*

by chuckofish

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A good name is better than precious ointment;
and the day of death, than the day of birth.
²It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting;
for this is the end of all men,
and the living will lay it to heart.
³Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.
⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
⁵It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
⁷Surely oppression makes the wise man foolish,
and a bribe corrupts the mind.
⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
⁹Be not quick to anger,
for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.
¹²For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money;
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
¹³Consider the work of God;
who can make straight what he has made crooked?

(Ecclesiastes 7: 1-13)

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“Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”
― William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

“Sometimes it’s not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don’t mean.” –Bob Dylan

“Mark it, nuncle.
Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest,
Leave thy drink and thy whore
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shalt have more
Than two tens to a score.”
― William Shakespeare, The Fool in King Lear (Act 1, scene 4)

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Be prepared.

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*J.R.R. Tolkien

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September 13, 2019

“Oh but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”*

by chuckofish

Always the most glamorous member of the family, even in middle school.

Daughter #1’s birthday was Wednesday, but we will be celebrating it this Saturday. We are going to our flyover town’s annual Greentree Parade where we will sit in folding chairs and watch the local high school bands and elementary school floats go by. The wee babes are coming along and it should be a good ol’ time.

There will be presents, although nothing as cool as a new bike…

Mary on Bike.jpeg There will be cake…

…and we will toast the birthday girl once, twice…thrice!

I will also note that today, besides being Friday the 13th, is the harvest moon. It is the harvest moon because it occurs during the harvest and near the autumnal equinox (which this year falls on September 23). So be sure to check it out tonight.

And here’s a little Bobby D, always appropriate for the occasion:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
-Romans 15:13

*Bob Dylan, “My Back Pages”

4 Comments

June 1, 2018

There’s a white line in the distance*

by chuckofish

Today daughter #1 and I are hitting the road and heading to Nashville (sans the winded, but soldiering-on, OM) to celebrate our friend Andrew’s wedding. Hopefully we will have a chance to visit a few of our favorite spots in Music City, such as…

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the Johnny Cash Museum…

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and the Wildhorse Saloon…

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In Nashville one can drop the highbrow pretense and just have fun.

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If we are feeling hipster-ish, we can hit The Gulch. There is an antique mall there, after all. But I doubt we are cool enough.

We may be driving in the rain today, so please say a little weather prayer for us travelers!

BTW, we were distracted and missed mentioning Bob Dylan’s 77th birthday last week. but any day (including today) is a good day to toast old Bob.

*Bob McDill, On the Road

2 Comments

October 16, 2017

“Oh Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you…”*

by chuckofish

It was a stormy, gray Sunday and I contemplated staying in bed and reading Ivan Doig, but I was a good girl and got up and went to church. I was rewarded with great scripture readings and one of my favorite hymns. I mean, how great is Philippians 4:1-9:

Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

²I entreat Eu-o′dia and I entreat Syn′tyche to agree in the Lord. ³And I ask you also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. ⁶Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.

There you have it.

Our final hymn was #624, Jerusalem the Golden, which always makes me cry. I was kind of a mess, mascara running all over, etc. Oh well. I am just a sentimental/crazy old lady who cries at hymns.

Most of my weekend was spent catching up on house maintenance and the like, which I do not mind. Life becomes a romance when you can learn to enjoy your everyday tasks and routines. Didn’t Oswald Chambers say something about that? (I think he was talking about our relationship with Christ, but it works here too.) Enjoy your home, I say, and part of that is taking care of it.

The OM and I babysat on Friday night while the boy and daughter #3 went out on the town…haha…they were home before 9 o’clock! The wee babes were great–a hand full–but great. I had forgotten what it is like to try to change a diaper on a boy-child who, when put on his back, immediately flips over. What a wrestling match ensues! Zut alors! I managed to get the little bud into his jammies, but I’m afraid they might have been backwards…C’est la vie. They were tuckered out but too wound up to go to bed, and when their parents arrived home, it was in the nick of time as Lottiebelle was having a meltdown and the OM’s patience was wearing thin. We headed home and I had a large glass of wine. They all came over for the last barbecue of the season on Sunday night.

In between I went to a work-related fundraiser–a “Hootenanny”–where a bunch of aging hippies and old communists plus President George H.W. Bush’s former Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service sang 1960s folk songs accompanied by a ukelele band. I’m telling you, truth is stranger than fiction. It was more fun than you would think and the story of my life.

Now it is Monday already and it’s back to the salt mine. Enjoy the day!

*Isaiah 25:1

5 Comments

June 7, 2017

“Top-heavy was the ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head.”*

by chuckofish

So Bob Dylan finally made his Nobel Laureate acceptance speech, the only requirement to claim the money that comes with the prize, with several days to spare. (The deadline was June 10.)

And of course he spent a long portion of his speech talking about Moby-Dick! Bob never disappoints.

Huzzah for Bob! And here’s some Moby-Dick for your mid-week inspiration:

“Whether to admit Hercules among us or not, concerning this I long remained dubious: for though according to the Greek mythologies, that ancient Crockett and Kit Carson–that brawny doer of rejoicing good deeds, was swallowed down and thrown up by a whale; still, whether that strictly makes a whaleman of him, that might be mooted. It nowhere appears that he ever actually harpooned his fish, unless, indeed, from the inside. Nevertheless, he may be deemed a sort of involuntary whaleman; at any rate the whale caught him, if he did not the whale. I claim him for one of our clan.”

I will also note the passing a few days ago of rock legend Gregg Allman (1947–2017) who had been sober for twenty years and was a Christian. Funnily enough, he ended up an Episcopalian! Into paradise may the angels lead you. At your coming may the martyrs receive you, and bring you into the holy city Jerusalem.

*Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

3 Comments

May 25, 2017

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”*

by chuckofish

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Yesterday was Bob Dylan’s 76th birthday. I hope you celebrated appropriately.

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

© 1963, 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1992 by Special Rider Music

Yesterday was also Aldersgate Day which is a commemorative day celebrated by Methodists. It recalls the day in 1738 when Anglican priest John Wesley attended a group meeting in Aldersgate, London, where he received an experience of assurance of his salvation.

This was the pivotal event in Wesley’s life that ultimately led to the development of the Methodist movement in Britain and America. According to his journal, Wesley found that his enthusiastic gospel message had been rejected by his Anglican brothers. Heavy-hearted, he reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening in a Moravian chapel. It was there, while someone was reading from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, that he felt that his heart was “strangely warmed”.

I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

The following hymn was written by Shirley Murray to commemorate the event on the 250th anniversary in 1988.

How small a spark has lit a living fire!
       how small a flame has warmed a bitter world!
how great a heart was moved to hope, to dare
       and bring the faith out in the open air!

No boundary sign will stand against this faith,
       no wall restrain this preaching of the Word:
the Good News travels on, it rides the road
       and draws to unity the realm of God.

The single note becomes a song of praise,
       the single voice grows to a swelling choir
and born in song, new stories now are sung
       of freedom, chains unbound and loosened tongue.

Thank God for all who listened and believed,
       who still are by the Spirit set on fire --
our hearts be warmed again, for Christ will wait
       on beach, in upper room, or Aldersgate.

The Good News travels on…

*Matthew 20:16

5 Comments

March 30, 2017

Did they know?

by chuckofish

Last week there was a great Q&A interview with Bob Dylan on his website. He was asked which of his songs he thought did not get the attention it deserved. He answered “In the Garden”. Here it is:

When they came for Him in the garden, did they know?
When they came for Him in the garden, did they know?
Did they know He was the Son of God, did they know that He was Lord?
Did they hear when He told Peter, “Peter, put up your sword”?
When they came for Him in the garden, did they know?
When they came for Him in the garden, did they know?

When He spoke to them in the city, did they hear?
When He spoke to them in the city, did they hear?
Nicodemus came at night so he wouldn’t be seen by men
Saying, “Master, tell me why a man must be born again”
When He spoke to them in the city, did they hear?
When He spoke to them in the city, did they hear?

When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
When He said, “Pick up your bed and walk, why must you criticize?
Same thing My Father do, I can do likewise”
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?
When He healed the blind and crippled, did they see?

Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?
Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?
The multitude wanted to make Him king, put a crown upon His head
Why did He slip away to a quiet place instead?
Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?
Did they speak out against Him, did they dare?

When He rose from the dead, did they believe?
When He rose from the dead, did they believe?
He said, “All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth”
Did they know right then and there what the power was worth?
When He rose from the dead, did they believe?
When He rose from the dead, did they believe?

Very appropriate for Lent, don’t you think? God bless Bob Dylan forever and ever amen.

3 Comments

February 24, 2017

Shelter from the storm

by chuckofish

Friday again. The week raced by as it does when you’re busy.

How wonderful to be able to stay home this weekend and unwind!

A cup of coffee, a book, a movie, and some puttering. Maybe I will tackle a project or two and maybe I won’t.

One thing about growing older is that you allow yourself to take a break sometimes. And when you do, you appreciate it.

Of course, we’ll go see the darling wee babes…

Have yourself a good weekend. Here’s a little Bob Dylan to get you started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rKEXFSw54M

(The paintings are by Walter Gay, Susan Watkins, Carl Holsoe, and John Singer Sargent)

2 Comments

December 28, 2016

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?

by chuckofish

I have always liked Patti Smith and I liked this. (If you click through you can watch her beautiful performance at the Nobel Prize ceremony.)

I was born in Chicago on December 30, 1946, within the vortex of a huge snowstorm. My father had to help the taxi-driver navigate Lake Shore Drive with the windows wide open, while my mother was in labor. I was a scrawny baby, and my father worked to keep me alive, holding me over a steamy washtub to help me breathe. I will think of them both when I step on the stage of the Riviera Theatre, in Chicago, on my seventieth birthday, with my band, and my son and daughter.

Ah, scrawny babies. Our grand-babies are coming along, looking better every day, responding to their parents’ steadfast love and devotion. Little girl is over 2 lbs. now and little boy is almost up to 2 lbs. They are gettin’ there.

Screen Shot 2016-12-27 at 6.06.43 PM.png I was sorry to hear about Carrie Fisher who died yesterday at age 60. A contemporary of mine, she reminded me of a lot of the girls I grew up with. She wasn’t much of an actress–let’s admit it, she was pretty terrible in Star Wars, but she was a funny, funny gal who had been through a lot and kept going. My heartfelt condolences go out to her mother Debbie Reynolds.