dual personalities

Tag: music

April 6, 2021

Nothing else but miracles

by chuckofish

The day after

I had a busy day at work on Monday–four Zoom meetings! So I don’t have a whole lot to share today. Meanwhile the grass is getting greener and the leaf blowers and lawn mowers are back with a vengeance.

Yesterday was Nebraska Day and this article was very interesting about classic movie stars who were born in Nebraska. It is a very impressive list–especially compared to Missouri. But, hey, we have Scott Bakula.

This article makes some good points. “Remote, virtual, disembodied fellowship simply isn’t enough.” We are all getting too comfortable with not seeing people.

We’ll “tip our hats an’ raise our glass of cold, cold beer” to the late, great Merle Haggard (1937–2016) on his the birthday today. (April 6 is also the day he died.) And I like this rendition of one of my favorites, Mama Tried, by Reina del Cid and Toni Lindgren:

When the California State University, Bakersfield, awarded Haggard the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts in 2013, Haggard stepped to the podium and said, “Thank you. It’s nice to be noticed.” Classic Hag.

So enjoy your Tuesday and channel some positive Walt Whitman attitude.

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the
        ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

–Walt Whitman

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March 29, 2021

Sittin’ on top of the world

by chuckofish

We took the train, as planned, to Jeff City on Thursday and got our 2nd vaccine shots on Friday morning at the HY-VEE. Everything was blooming in JC…

…and the river was high.

After saying ‘hey’ to old friends,

…and rewarding ourselves with a Chick-fil-A breakfast, daughter #1 drove us home. I took a nap.

We took it easy for the rest of the weekend, but the wee babes came over on Sunday. We blew bubbles on the driveway…

…and read the liner notes on some cool LPs we got at an estate sale…

and played with some more vintage wooden toys we unearthed in the basement…

…and only one boo-boo resulted.

Good times.

Here’s Paul Zahl’s list of movies to watch on TCM in April. Once again he hits the nail on the head.

Sir Laurence Oliver’s Henry V was produced in England in 1943 with morale in mind. Somehow it has never dated. (I prefer it to the Kenneth Branagh version for all kinds of reasons.). And the music, by Sir William Walton — well, one can remember almost every note.

He is my soul brother.

Have a good Monday! And here’s something from Josh Turner and Carson McKee who always make me smile.

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March 19, 2021

“We’re all between perdition and the deep blue sea”*

by chuckofish

I had a very busy week at work and I hardly left the house. No trips to the recycling center or the Post Office to break up the monotony. I poked around in my yard from time to time, cutting daffodils, but it rained a lot, so I really didn’t go outside much. Our lives have been reduced to a very small scale indeed. If it weren’t for Zoom meetings, who would I see but the OM?

(Yes, I am grateful he is here!)

Thankfully I get to FaceTime with this precious babe who is taking after her namesake and dressing in my favorite neutral–leopard print. She is clearly feeling the vibe. (I think I need a jumpsuit!)

This weekend I plan to clean up the Florida Room in anticipation of warmer weather and being able to move all my houseplants out there soon. And I hope the wee babes will find time to come over and wreck havoc at our house. Life would be way too neat and tidy without them.

I’ll watch a movie from my Lenten List, because Easter is coming sooner than you think–two weeks! Maybe I’ll watch La vita è bella (1997) although it is a hard one, because the little fellow in it really reminds me of another little fellow I know.

But we need to watch, lest we forget what can actually happen. People who openly talk about re-education camps and deprogramming don’t seem to be able to make those connections.

Well, I’m feeling like some Ben Folds. How about you?

Yes, life barrels on like a runaway train. It won’t be too long until I am packing up my stuff in the office I haven’t been to in a year. And that’s okay with me.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”

*Frank Loesser, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”

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February 8, 2021

What is your life?

by chuckofish

Brigham Young University Museum of Art

David Zahl used this Norman Rockwell painting “Lift Up Thine Eyes” (1957) as a sermon illustration this week and I thought I’d share it too. Rockwell depicts New Yorkers with hunched shoulders and downcast eyes passing St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. They are not looking up at the beauty around them or at the message on the church sign or at their fellow man. Nowadays he would no doubt illustrate people with eyes locked on their cell phones, oblivious to their surroundings and their fellow man. But the sign on the Episcopal Church wouldn’t quote scripture–it would probably say, “All are welcome here” and fly a rainbow flag. And the church would still be empty.

We didn’t get much snow, but the temperature plunged. It was 7 degrees when I checked on Sunday morning.

It was the kind of weekend where you were content to sit by the fire…

and/or cuddle under a blanket.

On Saturday I did venture out to an estate sale at a very modest house in my flyover town, a house which I would normally skip. However, the pictures online of the interior of the house revealed a lot of nice things, including a mysterious array of early 1960s high-end children’s clothing. There were Steiff animals, needlepoint canvases, worked and unworked, and other signs of cultural familiarity.

When I got there my interest was piqued…

and when I found these M.I. blazers, I knew the house had belonged to someone I knew long ago.

Indeed, it all came together and I remembered reading that this woman, who was in the class below me all during my growing up years at school, had died a month or so ago. Well, estate sales can become very creepy when you realize you knew the person(s) who lived there. This happens more than you might think, mostly because I know a lot of older people because of my work. However, a surprising number of my contemporaries have departed this mortal coil, and that does start one thinking.

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13-14)

Well, I bought a book–I already have a copy, but I always pick up out-of-print treasures like this when I get the chance.

Sigh. All this has caused me to feel a certain nostalgia for the wretched 1970s!

In that spirit, I give you the Grateful Dead:

P.S. While looking on Youtube for the GD version of this song, I found this cover by some talented youngsters–I love these guys! Jack-A-Roe (or Jack Monroe) is a traditional English folksong which has been recorded by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, among others. Time goes by, but things stay the same, right?

Have a great week, starting with today–Monday! Look up! Pray for the day ahead. Pray that you might bring glory to God, in thought, word and deed. Thank God that his mercies are new every morning. Thank God that his grace is sufficient for all situations that you may encounter.

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February 1, 2021

Roll over, Beethoven

by chuckofish

It was a dark, rainy, windy weekend. Every time I went out–and I did go out–it was miserable. C’est la vie.

So I got a lot done inside. I vacuumed. I tidied up. I cleaned out drawers. I needlepointed. All while listening to Beethoven! You see, we had a special program at my flyover institute on Friday celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday (in 2020 actually) and it was very interesting. Besides the fact that we screwed up a lot in our Zoom presentation (the music), it was kind of mind-blowing. Anyway, it inspired me and I highly recommend listening to some Beethoven. It really elevates one’s daily chores. (Just google Youtube Beethoven.)

Of course, listening to the seventh symphony, I couldn’t help thinking of the great scene in The King’s Speech (2010).

And daughter #1 reminded me of this:

We had quite a record collection when I was growing up. My DP and I loved to listen to classical music and dance around the living room when we were little girls. Sometimes we fake conducted while standing on the canister vacuum cleaner. Our brother and our mother used to quiz each other–you know, play a snippet and see how long it took before they could identify the piece and the composer. Our brother got to be too cool for that and moved on to more contemporary fare, but we still liked to play the old records. In fact, I still prefer listening to records to going to hear the symphony play. Even when I was much younger, sitting in Powell Hall always put me to sleep. If that makes me low-brow, so be it.

The wee babes came over on Sunday night with their parents for dinner and a frolic…

…and a wee bit of quiet time.

Good times. I’m not ready for Monday or, really, for a new month, but I’ll persevere. With a little help from Beethoven.

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January 25, 2021

Small town Saturday night

by chuckofish

We are now in the last week of January! Time slips by even though we don’t do much.

On Friday night the wee babes and their parents came over for pizza. Daughter #1 arrived in town in time to join in the fun. While the adults gabbed, the wee laddie set up a Beanie Baby school with his favorite Collie as teacher. (Is that the cutest thing or what?) School must be on his mind and I guess he likes it!

In other news daughter #1 found this handmade mid-century child’s apron for me at a mid-MO antique mall.

How much do you love that fabric?

On Saturday I had the pleasure of daughter #1’s company while running a few errands. Gone are the days when we could enjoy lunch out, but we did get take-out margaritas from Club Taco to bring home and drink in front of a crackling fire.

The Bob Dylan sing-along started early and the music flowed far into the night. (The OM remained engrossed in his iPad.)

It was a good weekend. So onward and upward, remembering that today is the feast day of the conversion of Saint Paul on the road to Damascus.

Great painting–but please note that there is no mention of a horse in the scripture. Saul/Paul was on foot.

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 

II Corinthians 11: 16-31

Have a good week!

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January 19, 2021

A home in that yonder city

by chuckofish

It is January 19 and time to note once again the birthday of our dear mother, Mary, born in 1926. She would be 95! She would not recognize much about our world today and I have no doubt she would feel even more of a pilgrim and a stranger than she did in 1988 when she died.

Be that as it may, I will toast her tonight and watch one of her favorite movies–something with Errol Flynn or John Wayne or possibly Shane. I will remember sitting in the darkened theater with her and how she would lean over and whisper to me to notice something special. I will think of her in that house by the bend in the river where the cottonwoods grow.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Dolly Parton, who as you know, celebrates her birthday on this date as well. Happy 75th!

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December 22, 2020

When you see a guy with a stick in his eye

by chuckofish

Daughter # 1 and I were singing to wee Katie and were not able to remember the “real” lyrics to Guys and Dolls (see above) so we looked them up.

We had fun, but she was not impressed:

We also found the Fireside Book of American Folk Songs–a classic published in 1957–

and we sang all our faves, but again:

“Who are they, Mommy?”

I guess our singing stinks, but we had fun anyway. Katie forgave us. Singing is not something I have done much of lately (no church) so I am out of practice, but it is fun and I recommend it. It lightens the spirits.

I will also note that last night we watched the 1951 Alastair Sim version of Scrooge. It was great. The Barbara Allen scene always makes me cry.

…as does the whole second half of the movie. (“Barbara Allen” is in the Fireside book, by the way, and we sang it in the afternoon.) Watch it or, better yet, read the Dickens book which the movie faithfully follows:

“I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoön of himself with his stockings. “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!”

–Charles Dickens

At the very least, send a check to the Salvation Army.

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December 15, 2020

A touch of myrrh

by chuckofish

Cards in each mailbox,
angel, manger, star and lamb,
as the rural carrier,
driving the snowy roads,
hears from her bundles
the plaintive bleating of sheep,
the shuffle of sandals,
the clopping of camels.
At stop after stop,
she opens the little tin door
and places deep in the shadows
the shepherds and wise men,
the donkeys lank and weary,
the cow who chews and muses.
And from her Styrofoam cup,
white as a star and perched
on the dashboard, leading her
ever into the distance,
there is a hint of hazelnut,
and then a touch of myrrh.

“Christmas Mail” by Ted Kooser

Read through this article about the line-up of December Christmas movies (and others) on TCM to find out why Paul Zahl and I should truly be best friends. I mean really. I don’t agree with his take on all the movies, but The World of Henry Orient and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon are spot on.

This is an interesting tidbit about Episcopal minister Endicott Peabody in the Old West. He built St. Paul’s Episcopal in Tombstone that stands today as the oldest Protestant church in Arizona.

On December 21 Saturn and Jupiter will align into a beautiful bright star. This will be the first time they align like this since the Middle Ages. According to Forbes, the two planets will look like a “double planet” and provide an extraordinary amount of light. The last time these two planets aligned like this was on March 4, 1226, according to astronomer Patrick Hartigan at Rice University. Pretty cool. I hope I remember to look.

We were sad to learn that Charlie Pride, country singing superstar and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, had died at age 86.

Here’s Mr. Pride bringing some Christmas cheer your way 50 years ago:

Enjoy your Tuesday. Only three more days ’til Christmas vacay starts pour moi.

6 Comments
October 16, 2020

“The only thing I knew how to do/ Was to keep on keepin’ on”*

by chuckofish

‘Tis the season when new holiday outfits multiply…

Lottiebelle sets the standard for 3-year old fashion statements, complete with matching scarf. Ghoulishly chic, n’est-ce pas?

The rest of us just stay home and dress from the waist up for Zoom calls. Not that I’m complaining! And it is, after all, almost the weekend! Huzzah!

This article on “Things I Did My Kids Never Will”–i.e. “Be kind, please rewind.” Mixtapes. Dial-up internet–forces us once again to realize we’re getting old. However, it is written by someone who is closer to my children’s ages than to mine! My list would include much older things, such as having to wait and wait to see your favorite movies on tv because there was no such thing as a VCR! Remember those days?

Speaking of feeling old, the OM and I will be marking our 40th anniversary this weekend! Yikes. (I will just point you to last year’s post as not much has changed.) We’ll toast ourselves without much fanfare.

Earlier this week I opened a blogpost by a well-known blogger which began, “The other day, I was talking to my therapist about…” OMG, the privilege of this statement alone sent me into conniptions…but the gist of the post was about how to stay cheerful this winter. The suggestions ranged from gazing into a light therapy lamp to lighting “candles everywhere” to hosting a virtual soup group. Not to judge, but please. How about getting a spiritual life? Try being grateful for your privileged life and stop feeling sorry for yourself because winter is coming. Try saving the money you would spend on candles and give it to a real soup kitchen! There are plenty of real people in need in New York City these days.

Sorry–I am trying to quash my desire to rant…It will take a concerted effort this weekend and listening to Bob* on repeat.

Today the Episcopal Church remembers Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, Bishops and Martyrs, 1555. “Play the man, Master Ridley. Today we shall light such a fire in England as shall never be extinguished.” With these words Latimer and Ridley went to the stake and were burned to death on this day in 1555 at Oxford. Both were English bishops with strong protestant sympathies. Each was an exceptionally fine preacher in an age of great preachers. Both were Cambridge men. Both were social reformers. Their “protestantizing” sermons brought down upon their heads the wrath of Bloody Mary’s most unreconciliatory regime.

You will recall that the old lady in Fahrenheit 451 quotes Hugh Latimer when the firemen come to burn her books–“Play the man, Master Ridley.” She goes up in flames with them, a martyr as well.

We need to remember such historical events, lest we let them happen again. (Does anyone these days seeing this film, get the reference?)

The Oxford Martyrs monument

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servants William Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, we may live in your fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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