My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2025 the theme is a random assemblage of things that are on my mind--or that just pop into my mind. Whatever! Let's just say I'll be "Tossing It Out" for your entertainment or however it is you perceive these things.
Philately or postage stamp collecting used to be a very popular hobby when I was growing up. I don't know that very many kids today collect stamps. It's probably pretty boring to most modern kids. For me it was a great hobby. I would spend hours with my collection learning so much about the world and history. But we didn't have so many other distractions in my youth. It was a simpler time where patience was just what you had to have sometimes. Peaceful, it was when I think back, but maybe not really. Now it is all just past.
Ozempic and other such things I have considered in recent years. I've been what is considered overweight for a number of years, but in the past couple years I've been losing pounds. I've yet to resort to any weight loss drugs. I'm hesitant to do so. I have however been eating far less than I used to and consequently have been losing some weight. Good news I think. Hopefully I won't have to resort to any drugs to lose weight. Eating less and doing more exercise is the way I prefer. I'll walk up and down my stairs more. That sounds like a good approach. And less eating.
Nice things are nice to have. I have a lot of nice things, but that is my subjective opinion. My wife doesn't think a lot of my things are all that nice. I suppose a lot of folks would not be particularly impressed with my possessions, but I like them just fine. I've got pretty simple tastes and don't really want of all that much. My needs are met for the most part and I'm pretty content in my life. I guess that's a nice thing as well.
"Minus the meat, please," has almost become my body's mantra as I get older. I was never a big consumer of meat, but now it's like I'm turning into a vegetarian. Not quite, but I seem to be trending that direction. Oh, I still enjoy a burger now and then, but not too big. Chili with ground beef sounds fine, but not any huge quantities. I'm sure I'd enjoy a good steak occasionally, though I've never been a big fan of eating steak.
My body is changing I guess. Maybe soon I'll be eating even more salads and veggie platters than ever before. I'm sure I won't totally give up on meat anytime soon, but I'll be likely saying, "Minus the meat, please" more often than ever before. I guess that will make some animals happy.
Lost men seems like a bit of an oxymoron, doesn't it? I mean, whoever heard of a lost man? Okay, I'll admit that I've been lost a few times in my life--literally and figuratively. Now GPS helps a lot for the literal geographical way. Years ago the GPS didn't always seem to get it right and I'd still get a bit lost, but seems like they've worked out most of the kinks. I haven't really gotten lost in I don't know how long. But I don't go much of anyplace either. And if I get lost in my own house--not that it couldn't happen someday as I get older--I don't think it would be for long. Not many places I can go in my house.
Kansas was one of my favorite rock groups back in the seventies. When I saw that they were coming to Evansville Indiana when I was living there for a short while in 1976, I was excited to get a ticket for the concert. My employer at the time matched me up with her hairdresser who she thought would be a cute date for me. I was a twenty-five year old guy that didn't really know anybody in town so happy to get connected with someone. I invited her to the Kansas concert for a first date.
I don't think she was much of a rock fan. We got to the concert into the first set which was Bachman Turner Overdrive. At the end of that set my date complained that the loud music had given her a headache and she wanted to go home. I never got to see Kansas in concert. I also decided that going to a concert was not the greatest thing to do for a first date with someone you don't know. I never saw her again after that and it probably didn't matter.
June seems like it's here already. At least for me. Since one of my daughters and her family have been visiting it seems like summer because that's when we usually see them. And what happened to winter in California anyway? We seemed to have a very short cold season this year and now the weather is definitely springlike if not like summer. But in Los Angeles it doesn't matter that much. Our weather is usually pretty nice.
Harbingers of spring is a term I've heard most of my life. They seem more obvious back in the Eastern United States than here in California. I'm sure they're here, but mostly not noticeable to me. Weather is probably the biggest indicator, but that is not always a reliable way to look at the seasons. We had some very warm winter days. Come to think of it, we didn't have much of a winter at all this past few months. I guess the warm weather was maybe a harbinger of spring? Seems kind of silly to me, but that's L.A. La La Land as they sometimes say. La la la. I can't hear you...
"God is good," is reportedly what one of the flyers shot down in Iran said in his initial radio contact with his soon to be rescuers. This has always been true in my life. Even when my life seemed to be going down the tubes, it was because I was bad and not God. God is always good.
I can't see it any other way. Without the goodness of God then hope seems out of reach to me. I'll hang on to that mantra. "God is good!" Hallelujah and amen.
Facing the future is a forever state of mind. No matter how much we dwell in the past or live for today, the future is always the next thing coming. Everything else is memory or what becomes memory. The future is always ahead of us, waiting to become our next immediate concern or the contemplation of what once was. It's all going too fast, even when it seems like it's going slow. The question for me now is the future. But the future always seems to be the question for all of us whether we ask it or not.
The future will be here soon enough. Now what should I do?
Easter evening has arrived after a very nice peaceful restful day. My wife and I started our day with church during which I played my violin with the church youth band. We played two songs and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I thought it was a bit rough, but we're just a bunch of kids after all. I guess at seventy-five I have the right to claim being a kid, Right? And the actual church youth group is rather small so every musician helps.
It had been many years since I had played my violin to any real extent and it's felt good of late to be playing again. Someone pointed out that our small church has an unusually large number of violin players. Well, there's three of us, but that is half the size of our band. Looks like we're on our way to becoming an orchestra.
After church I was craving some ham as was my family's tradition to have such a dinner when I was growing up. So we stopped at Subway and I got a ham sandwich for my Easter dinner. Then I took a nap after which my wife and I watched a few things on TV. We closed our evening of television viewing watching the bio movie about Leonard Cohen and his song "Hallelujah" which seemed appropriate for Easter evening.
Life is good because right now it is peaceful. Hope you are experiencing the same.
Doing things--lots of various things--is what I've been doing of late. Things piled up all of a sudden once February arrived. And I had thought I'd be getting A to Z posts out with no problem. I even started laying the posts out. And then things happened. And then more things. That's how it usually seems to go for me. How about you?
I've been engaged in a lot of spring cleaning the past few days. Needed to be done, but I didn't expect the doing to become such a pressing issue. And then there's...
Done for today. I'm at least managing so far--the household stuff and the blog posts. We'll see how this upcoming week goes.
California really is a great state once you get past the bad government, some wacky people, and other stuff we shouldn't have to deal with but we do. Otherwise, the state has a lot to offer. There's so much I haven't seen yet though I have seen a lot of things I've missed in movies or TV shows. Catalina is one example. It's an island about 26 miles or so off the coast near Los Angeles. On a good day you can see it from various places like the Getty Museum.
I'll be going there soon for an overnight visit. I'm not sure about the boat trip but I've enjoyed things like the ferry from Maryland (or wherever it is) to Cape May NJ. That was a pretty big boat and I felt very secure. The ferry to Catalina doesn't carry vehicles so I'm sure it's smaller. I'm not that fond of being on the water. I'd make a lousy sailor.
And count me out of any plans for a cruise. I'm quite content at home thank you.
Breakfast was the first order of today--like most any morning--and then I loaded up my van with about 3 months accumulation of recyclables as I typically do quarterly during each year. For those who don't live in California I should explain we pay a fee for most plastic, aluminum, and glass drink containers that we can get back if we bring them to a recycle center. It's no big deal, but it all adds up. It's a minor inconvenience to keep all of the recyclables, but I have space in my garage so it's no big problem. And the recycle center is just a few blocks from my house. So I went down first thing after breakfast. I guess I help the environment or something and more importantly I walked away with $25. No big deal, but it's better than throwing it all away.
After that I was cleaning outside our house and other chores. Spring cleaning you know. And company's coming next week. So we're getting things ready for my daughter and her husband and three of our grandkids. It will likely be a short fast-paced week of fun. We only usually see them once a year since we live so far apart.
Bed time now calls me. Like yesterday I'm tired. I've at least managed another A to Z post. Now I'll see if I can keep up. It might be difficult. Hopefully I'll be back with another installment tomorrow. Or sometime.
Well, just wanted to check in. I had every intention of starting A to Z posts and getting a timely post for Insecure Writer's Support Group and wouldn't you know. I don't want to bore you with details and I'm worn out. It's late and I just got my internet back after having been almost a week without. I have been overwhelmed of late and haven't had much time for online activities. And the next few weeks seem like they are going to be more of the same.
Let me see where I am tomorrow and where I'm going next. For now I'm going to bed.
We're still having moderate summerlike days here in Los Angeles. Not heat spell summer, but near perfect summer. It's the kind of weather to love...
Last weekend we headed on down to Yuma AZ for an overnighter. The power company was doing upgrades in our neighborhood and had to shut off the electricity for a full night. We figured we'd go away so we wouldn't have to be in the dark on an early Sunday evening.
It was a great quick trip. We drove via Palm Springs and down the western shore of the Salton Sea. We spent a relaxing afternoon looking around Yuma--a nice town now, but maybe not so much in the heat of summer. We returned home by way of San Diego where we had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a quick trip home with no traffic delays. Smooth sailing on a Monday and no traffic back-ups. Something I've rarely seen here.
Life is good.
Battle of the Bands Results
My previous Battle between Kathleen Edwards and The Bad Plus doing versions of the Flaming Lips song "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" was not a bad one. I love the percussive jazz sound of the piano centric The Bad Plus. What a great group with a fantastic interpretation of this song. That being said, I'm going with the more relaxing version which I think is more illustrative of what the song is about.
Just the other day I celebrated another birthday. Seventy-five years old seems so unreal in many ways. But I can feel the effects: I am disintegrating in one sense and yet I feel fantastic for the most part. Much of the time I feel like I did in my twenties or thirties. However, the reality exists that I am getting old. I am in a process of deterioration. I hope it keeps on feeling as good as it does now...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away SeriesandStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. I do this event each month on the 15th and the 1st of the month. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
A year ago I used this song in a Battle in which I used the original version by Flaming Lips against another relaxing dreamy song. To me this is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard. And it seems so relevant as I get older.
Here are two versions that I find particularly nice. Take a listen and then tell us which one you like best.
Don't disintegrate yet! Vote now please. Which song interpretation do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.
February 4 question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?
Through the years I have often looked back on old writing that I've done and often I have been somewhat surprised how well my writing seemed at that time. Just the other day I was looking at a comment I had left on someone's blog post about ten years ago and thought to myself, "Did I really write that? It seems so well expressed." Same goes with writing from my college days fifty years ago. I might find an old paper that I had turned in for an assignment or a short story that I had written and be quite surprised at how mature my writing had seemed back then.
Recently I pulled down from my closet a box of some of my old writing that I was planning to go through. The writing goes back to my high school and college days and I think I'm going to find some writing that seems almost unrecognizable now as something I had written in the past. Was I a better writer back then? Am I starting to forget words and concepts as I grow older? Maybe, but I'm not sure that this is the answer. Probably I just haven't been writing enough lately.
I guess I need to start writing more again to hone my skills. Couldn't hurt. And maybe my mind will sharpen as well. More writing would be good. I need to do that.
Did you seem to write better when you were younger? Do you still care about writing as much as you did in another time of your life?
It's raining in Los Angeles again. After a stretch of unseasonably warm summer-like weather, I sense the onset of winter in the air when I step outside. Can Christmas be far behind? Is another year about to end? What's happening!!! Just me I guess. So here's something else...
Battle of the Bands Results
My most recent Battle had a pretty low turn-out as they have been of recent times, but it was a balanced return. Without my vote it's a tie and I'm kind of split on mine. I have The Herd album which I acquired on vinyl back around 1970 or so while scouring a cut-out bin. I enjoyed the album then and liked it enough to keep it when I purged much of my collection.
Zoot on the other hand was totally new to me, but their song is a style that I probably prefer to the British Invasion style of the Herd. I really like them both for different reasons. I think I'll leave this contest as a tie as it is with my own taste.
We've been having cool nights and balmy days after a bit of rain to usher in our new year. It's Los Angeles after all and I guess that's what we should expect at this time of year. For whatever it's worth. And really how much is it worth just to say this? How about we do this....
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away SeriesandStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. I do this event each month on the 15th and the 1st of the month. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Other lives/lifetimes
In the mid-sixties in opposite parts of the world--Britain and Australia--two mildly successful rock bands were formed that would later give us a couple of big stars in the music world. And that brings us to another Battle of the Bands. Take a listen to each song and tell which you like best...
Not only did Zoot give the music world the beginnings of The Little River Band, but even more famously this band yielded the heartthrob star of the eighties, Rick Springfield who most notably recorded "Jesse's Girl" as well as making a number of appearances on the popular soap opera General Hospital. They released this Beatles song in 1970 and charted in Australia reaching #4.
Peter Frampton became the pretty faced guitarist and vocalist for the band The Herd in 1966 when he was only 16. The band charted with mild success in Britain and then Frampton went on to form the band Humble Pie to an even greater success. Then he went solo and eventually put out his immensely popular live album in 1976. Here is one of his "hits" with The Herd...
Time to Vote!
Before you too become too famous to vote on these Battles, take a moment. Vote now please. Which song interpretation do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.
Christmas is over and I'm still talking about presents. However, I'm thinking about the most important present of all and that is now, today, the whole where we are in our lives at this moment. Really though, I'm always thinking about past, present, and future. Aren't we all? For the most part. Maybe...
January 7 question - Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?
Couldn't get done? I don't know. I can always get something done if I really want to, but I'm a bit lazy I suppose. And maybe conflicted too? Sometimes I feel the importance of things that later I ponder as to why they are important anyway. My writing is important to me I suppose, but how far beyond that does this "importance" go? I guess the best way to find that out is to keep writing and so that is what I plan to do.
In essence, my plans for this year are the same as most years that came before. I want to keep writing songs, but also do something with them. We'll see. I still have a ton of songs started that I'd like to finish some day which means now is a good time to do that. Same with my memoir writing. I'm more focused on that than any fiction aspirations, but apparently I haven't been focused enough to actually produce any significant progress on that front.
Time is not going to stop for me to get on board. I'm already there and whatever I do with my time is up to me. I'd better get busy. The station of my destination is getting closer.
Battle of the Bands Results
Holding Back the Years Battle
My previous Battle was a showdown between two different artists performing the Simply Red hit "Holding Back the Years". I must say that I really liked the Angie Stone version with the percussive backing and all. Love that kind of sound. And the organ! But, like the rest of you I had to give my vote to Dan Mason. Just enjoyed his sound better. And he won.
And just like that 2025 was over! It was a pretty good year for me and my house. We're still going,, maybe not as strong as in past years, but pretty darn good I'd say. And here on this blog the music is still not over. Listen! It's more music I hear...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away SeriesandStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. I do this event each month on the 15th and the 1st of the month. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Holding Back the Years
Well, it looks like Déjà vu all over again. I've used this song a couple of other New Years Day Battles, but to me it's a good song and right for the occasion. After all, this is often a time when many of us reflect on the past as well as a hopefully better future. I hope your past year was at least as good as my own and I hope the year to come is better for all of us.
So on with this Battle with two versions, both live performances. Take a listen if you will and tell us which one you prefer...
Don't hold on too long! Vote now please. Which song interpretation do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.
