The Real Juggling Music ( #BOTB )

    The basement at my parents' Maryville TN house was, to me, my music room.  But it was very likely that my father saw the basement as a space to practice our juggling act.  Either way, the music was there...

Battle of the Bands

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   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.

Juggling Music

        My previous Battle centered around my attempt to introduce some rock music into the practice session.  My father wanted the same music we used for performance.  If we didn't have an actual band to back us up then we had prerecorded music on reel-to-reel.  Here are a couple of the actual recordings we used during our act.  Which one do you like best?

Xavier Cugat   "El Cumbanchero"   (1961)

Les Brown  "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"  (1956)

Time to Vote!

           At least you don't have to juggle while listening to these.  Just listen and have fun.  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.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D

Stine Writing

Results coming on Friday September 22

Juggling, Jacksons, & Jefferson Bass ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

       Juggling just seems like an obvious book choice for this letter.  Yes, I do have several books on juggling and those of you who know anything about me know that I am a juggler and have an interest in the art.  Of course I would have some juggling books even though it's not a category most people would think of exploring.  Really, though, there are a lot of books about juggling and I have several.  Keep looking through the shelves and you'll find some other entries for 'J'...

      

Jackson history  (Colonel Edward Jackson:  Revolutionary Soldier)

       My actual last name being Jackson makes books about my family history of definite interest to me.  Fortunately my aunt Nancy Jackson and another relative Linda Brake Myers compiled this hefty history of over 1100 pages detailing the family lineage from their first arrival in the Americas in 1756 up to the 1990s when this book was published.  This highly detailed book is a real gem.  Probably difficult to find--I'm not sure how many copies were published--but I'm proud to have such a fine book on my family's history on my father's side.  And I'm named in the book as are my children!

Stonewall Jackson by James Robertson

         This famed Confederate general would be a distant cousin to me on our family tree.  My relationship to him has been confirmed by DNA testing.  Despite the choice he made in the Civil War, Stonewall is still highly acclaimed as one of the greatest military strategists in history.  There are several books about him, but this is the only one I own.  I started to read it a number of years ago but then stopped for some reason.  It's time for me to go back to reading this biography.

Juggling The Art and Its Artists by Ziethen & Allen

       Most of the juggling books I have are somewhat smaller books about how to juggle or different juggling tricks.  Typically they are cheaply made paperback books so most of these are not on my bookshelves.  However the Juggling book by Ziethen & Allen (a writing team made for A to Z) has a place on display in my collection.  This is primarily a picture book from 1985 that mostly depicts European jugglers of whom I am not familiar.  But there are some jugglers I've met and the photos are very nice.  A good coffee table book I guess.  Maybe even a collectors' item of sorts.

Jugglers' Bulletins

       Speaking of collectors books, here is a one of a kind book that I had custom bound by a book binder in Richmond VA back in 1977 or so.  I had visited the former editor of the bulletin of the International Jugglers Association, Roger Montandon who was living in Oklahoma at the time, and he indicated that he had all the back copies of the bulletin from the forties to mid-fifties.  I was very interested in collecting juggling materials at the time so I bought a set of these back issues that were just loose paper copies.  To keep them in good order I decided to have them bound.  Maybe someone else has also done this, but I seriously doubt that it looks like my copy.  I ordered it special.  I wonder what this might be worth to some serious collector?

Jefferson Bass

       This should go under the letter 'B' you say?  Well, actually no because this "author" is actually two people--author Jon Jefferson and Dr Bill Bass.  There are several books in this series of forensic crime novels.  Aside from the books being good, I was drawn to these books because Dr. Bass was my anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  He was one of my favorite professors as he was entertaining as well as informative.  Bass is renown as a forensic scientist who has been called in to solve many crimes.  He is also known for his studies of decomposition of corpses through is work at the Body Farm in Knoxville.  Great series for anyone who enjoys good crime writing with solid science to back them.  Flesh & Bone and Carved In Bone are but two of the books that I have, but if I really dug I'd probably find a few more.

      Has anyone in your family published genealogies of your lineage?    Do you enjoy researching your family history?  Have you read any of the books in the Body Farm series?

Just Juggle ( #AtoZChallenge )

Sometimes I just juggle, not for practice to become better, but to momentarily take my mind off something or just to see if I can still do it.   I can...




Just Juggle

       Just a few years ago or so I put some juggling balls in my living room.  They remain there tucked among stacks of CD's and DVD's on a media shelf.  I figured they were better stored there than out in a plastic tub in the garage along with some of my other juggling gear.  At least if they were close at hand I'd be more apt to juggle now and then.

        Every now and then I'll pick them up to toss them around.  Juggling can have a therapeutic value of sorts, helping with concentration and focus or just allowing for a rhythmic lull akin to the beating of my heart.  And I suppose juggling might be good for the heart since it is a form of exercise.

         Then once again comes the metaphor--juggling as life.  We're always juggling elements of life.  Work, friends, family, country, God... 

          So much going on with us as we can juggle in so many patterns and variations.  At times it might seem a wonder that we can keep so many things going when we look back on that metaphorical juggling act somewhere in our past.  Other times we might drop everything, left in a scramble to pick it all back up.

        Maybe having been a juggler in a theatrically professional sense might have some bearing on my ability to have dealt with a lot of balls flying in the air of my life.  I get less flustered by the unexpected things that come my way as I get older.  Or maybe it's all just a matter of age and experience.  Others I have known had a lot worse things happen in their lives than I have and managed to get back on their feet.  Others didn't.

         It might just be that all of those who make it are all pretty good at metaphorical juggling.  And maybe a good many of those survivors happen to be able to actually juggle three balls.  For those of us who can, I say, "Just juggle". 

         What have we got to lose if we don't?   Maybe everything.


         Do you find yourself in an overwhelming juggling act in your life?  Can you actually juggle multiple objects?   What activity do you like to do when you need to calm yourself or get focused?

Juggling Jackson ( #AtoZChallenge )

I'm not a Darwinist, but I do believe in evolution where it applies to society, politics, and juggling acts...

The Jugging Jacksons @ 1966
(photo taken by studio in Alcoa Tennessee)

         Up until I was about age 10 the act known as The Juggling Jacksons consisted of two people--my father and my mother.  They performed that way from about 1953. when my mother due to a couple of pregnancies temporarily stopped doing her dancing act and worked up a team juggling act with my father, up to around 1961 when my sister joined the act.  Not to be outdone by my younger sibling, I too learned to juggle and was soon incorporated into the family juggling act. 

         We practiced a lot and worked rather sporadically with gigs that fit my father's work schedule.  School schedule was never a consideration--my parents would just take us out when a job came up for us and settle with the principal later on.  After all we were good students and being out for a spell now and then didn't affect our grades to any great extent.

          The juggling jobs provided a nice little income for me over the years.  I'd get paid $25 per job, which was money that in the sixties I could stretch out as a kid and still put some away in savings.  There were also perks like the restaurant meals my father paid for, the interesting places we'd go, and the general fun of performing and being around show people.

          As is frequently said, show business gets in your blood.  My sister essentially departed from her interest in the show biz lifestyle after she moved away from home, but I was hooked.  I continued to work in the family act throughout college (with a pay hike to $50 per show).  Then, after I dropped out of college (I'd been going for five years already) I was offered a job to tour with a magic show.  It was an offer too good to refuse.

           The night before I was to leave on the new show I played my last date with The Juggling Jacksons performing in the Emmett Kelly Jr. circus which was playing a high school gym in Cleveland Tennessee.  The next day I was on a Trailways bus leaving the Knoxville station on my way to meet up with the magic show somewhere in North Carolina.  It was a bittersweet parting, but it was also a new chapter in my life and the history of The Juggling Jacksons.


            The family juggling act that had established a good reputation as being a top notch professional passing act had gone back to its beginnings--a husband and wife juggling team. The big act had permutated into two working entities--the Juggling Jacksons and one solitary juggler known as The Juggling Jackson (singular).

The Lone Juggling Jackson in 1976
(photo taken by a studio in Spencer, Indiana)

       

          This is me--The Juggling Jackson formerly of The Juggling Jacksons.  I'm not juggling much anymore.  Sometimes I'll toss up a few on a whim, but I doubt whether I'll ever again be performing in the sole capacity as a juggler.  Now it's mostly something to entertain the grandkids and that doesn't happen often.

             Nevertheless, I'll always think of myself as The Juggling Jackson even if it should legitimately be qualified as "former".   It's unlikely that you'll ever find me busking for money from passerby in some place like Venice Beach.   And I'm quite certain that I'll never be a star attraction juggler in any show of any sort.  Maybe a juggler, but not a star juggler--I'm not that good, never was, and not ambitious enough to put enough practice in to become one.

           Who knows what the future holds at this point.  I'm considering my options and developing a plan.  I might not be in the center ring juggling all sorts of objects, but I might be doing a different sort of juggling soon.  Hopefully I can keep everything in the air without dropping anything.

           But on the advice often given to jugglers, musicians, or anyone for that matter, if you make a mistake just keep going and act like nothing happened. As long as I'm still going on with the act, no one will even noticed that I dropped a ball.  So on I will go with metaphorical juggling.

          Did you ever work in a family business?   Did your plans of younger days match up with what the real outcome of your life was?   Was there ever a time when you split off from a business association to go off on your own in the same business?

Juggling Stuff ( #AtoZChallenge )

 Juggling is a full-time job that we all deal with every day.   There was a time for me when this statement was more than a metaphor...

My Strange Career of Yesteryear

      As some readers know, for many years I worked as a professional juggler.    It all started with my parents, who were also jugglers.  I grew up working in the family juggling act and then after college went on for the next fifteen years as a juggler/show manager for touring theatrical productions. 

       That all ended around 1990 when I settled into a regular job so to speak.  Occasionally my juggling skills would come into play since I was still in a theatrically related business in the Los Angeles area.  Any juggling would have been for impromptu demonstrations of equipment we sold or just for fun.  I haven't juggled at any length for quite some time, but I still have plenty of juggling props just in case the urge ever hits.   I should probably go to one of the busking places in my area and try to juggle for tips to make extra money.   Hmmm--nah, I'm not sure about that gig.

        Over the years I acquired several books, magazines, and other items that are good additions to my little juggling research library.  Before my mother died she gave me books that had been my father's.  The juggling books would probably be among the last of my books to go if I were to start clearing out my shelves.  They're not especially interesting to read for the most part (though some have pictures), but they might be considered among my more curious collectibles.  Keepers for now.

       Then there is the Juggling Jackson Gallery of Wall Art--and I use the term very loosely.  I have an array of old juggling photos given to my parents over the years.  For years those hung on the walls of whatever room in our house we practiced juggling.  Also there's the collection of dime-store framed prints of clowns--most who are juggling--that hung all around the house.   If something had to do with juggling or reminded my father of juggling then he'd buy it.

        We got rid of most of the family props by sending them a juggling museum that I wrote about on my memoir blog.   Still I have quite a number of props and other fun items mostly stored away in my garage or closets.  This is a collection for which I wish I had a special room set aside.   I guess for now I'll just dream about that room and hang on to these personal treasures.   It's not clutter to my eyes and it's not junk either. 

         Are there any tools of your trade that you have hung on to?  Have you ever bought a how-to book even though you already knew how to and just wanted the book because you liked the topic?  Do you have a special room in your house that is focused on some certain theme?  

         

Coming and Going

A Happy Arrival!

       Another grandchild!   She is my sixth grandkid (I can hardly believe it) and my fifth granddaughter.  This is the second child of my youngest daughter, Angelina, and her partner Ray.  Logan Maria Lego was born in the afternoon on Monday November 6th.  Though it will after New Years before I can see her in person, I am excited to meet her.

     According to my daughter, the inspiration for Logan's name comes from the character Wolverine.  I guess Ray and Angie must be fans. 

    Everyone is saying that Logan looks like either my daughter, Angie, or her big sister, Marley.   Either way that would certainly make sense to me, but I've never been able to tell much who a baby looks like.  I'd say she looks like herself--beautiful!

On a Sad Note...

       In the early hours of the Wednesday morning November 8th, my youngest brother, Jeff, passed away from a heart attack.  He had been living in Nashville, Tennessee for many years.  I had been looking forward to visiting him on my way to New Jersey during the Christmas break, but now it looks like I'll be picking up his ashes from the mortuary where he will be cremated.    Then I'll take his remains to be interred next to our parents in Maryville, Tennessee.  He'd been wanting to go back to Maryville.  Now he will be home at last.

       Born in San Diego on Halloween of 1962, Jeff had just turned 55.  As a small child he was one of the youngest jugglers in the world having learned the skill at age three.  By age five he could juggle five objects, which is no easy feat.  In later years he developed a passion for music.  He had an amazing talent in all sports.

       In high school Jeff began displaying signs of mental illness.  He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and moved through a number of of care facilities throughout his life.   This was a burdensome heartbreak for my parents and especially for my mother after my father died in 1991.  My mother faithfully visited Jeff on a regular basis when he was living nearby and as often as she could when he was housed farther away until her death in 2014.  At that point I became Jeff's conservator.

        It was not easy for me to visit very often, but Jeff and I spoke via phone on a regular basis.   I will miss those conversations.  He would usually talk about CD's that he wanted me to buy for him or about his favorite musical artists.  However, there were those times when we had interesting conversations about life, death, and family.  Jeff would at times have unique outlooks concerning what was in his head or at other times absolutely crack me up with his odd sense of humor.  He too enjoyed a good laugh when I would connect with him with my own humor.  Yes, I will miss his calls.

        Something that he frequently told me was that he was saved by Jesus Christ and someday he would be in heaven.  I guess it sounds cliched, but I do believe he is in a far better place where he has peace and clarity.  Just as he never failed to end our conversations with "Love you Lee," I will leave him with that same thought:   "Jeff, my brother, I love you."

Jeff Jackson at about age 9

Making Do

Visit the Historical Juggling Props Museum (Photo by David Cain)

     

       Sometimes my father would open his juggling act saying, “There are good jugglers and there are lousy jugglers. Tonight you get to see a double feature–a juggler who’s good and lousy.”   Though he wasn't the greatest juggler he was pretty darn good.  And he was funny which is why his solo act was centered on comedy topped off with some pretty darn good juggling.

        My father knew how to apply his talents to at least get by if not excel in whatever he was doing.  I've tried to do the same in my life.   Looking back on things, I guess I've managed well. I’m not a very good juggler, but I spent years making a living as a professional juggler. Even now I’m always dropping stuff.  Perhaps someday I can pick up some of it.

        It’s not so much how good you are as much as it is what you do with what you’ve got and the lucky breaks you encounter along life’s way.  I've encountered many fortuitous circumstances in my life journey.   Hopefully many more lie in wait on the road that lies ahead.

********************************
         Hope you'll excuse my rambling.  I'm just filling my Monday space with content as I wait for my Battle of the Bands post coming up tomorrow.   No song clues in this current post.   The clues can be found in my two previous posts.

          In any case, please stop by tomorrow to vote on my next Battle.

        Are you making do?    Are you pretty adept at adapting to new situations?    What in your life has flustered you the most?

      A portion of this post originally appeared in a comment I left on Loni Townsend's Squirrel Talk.  

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Get Healthy!

Original Tabasco red pepper sauce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm out visiting today!

        Be sure to drop by Nutschell's The Writing Nut where I'm showing off my writing space and telling a bit about myself.   It's a fun little visit that I hope you'll enjoy.


Get Healthy Bloghop:
Get Healthy Blog Hop: 

Alex J. Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, Michael Di Gesu, and Stephen Tremp have teamed up for a Blog Hop that focuses  on health.  

The Objective: Share with everyone something you have done that affected your health in a positive way. You can share an awesome low cal low fat tasty recipe. Post simple tips to lose weight. Or a testimony on what has helped like joining Weight Watchers. Recommend a routine like P90X or Insanity. Or stretches one can do while sitting in their office chair working or writing. I'm sure people have countless great tips and ideas they would love to share. 

Here's what I do:

        Believe me, I'm no paragon of good health.  I've been fortunate to have always been relatively healthy, but I'll mostly attribute that to good genes and the providence of God.   But I have made some efforts in my life and despite all of my bad habits I'm hanging in there.  Here are a few of the things that might contribute my relatively good health:

• Juggling-- It's a skill that develops good hand and eye coordination.  A quick little toss up now and then can be a relaxing stress-reducing exercise.  And since I'm not all that great of a juggler I drop a lot so that means I frequently have to bend over to pick up the props.    It's exercise.
• Stop smoking -- I've been a relatively heavy smoker in certain times of my life--at times as much as 3 packs a day.  I finally quit for good in 1997.  I'm sure it's been very good for my health, not to mention that I save a bundle of money.
• Moderate alcohol consumption -- I've never been a real heavy drinker, but I do find a drink now and then to be good for me.  It's fairly rare for me to drink, but I've heard that it can be healthful so I don't take any chances and take my medicine now and then.
• Dark chocolate--I've heard that this is good for you too.  How could I ever argue with that?   I try to eat dark chocolate at least once every day or so.
• Hot peppers-- I usually start every day with a small glass of Clamato juice with a few splashes of Tabasco Sauce.  Somehow, spicy food and hot peppers seem healthy to me.  They don't always rest well with my digestive system these days, but I'm standing by my love of hot peppers.
• Walking -- I've always enjoyed walking and still do.  I need to walk more, but I do try to find a reason to take some kind of walk a few times each day.  I once had a plan to walk from Tennessee to California.  Now that I'm in California I think I need to walk back someday.  For the sake of good health.  Plus, it would be an adventure.

      
         Which of these do you do?   What is your biggest tip for good health?   Are pizzas with anchovies, onions, and hot peppers healthy for you?  (Please tell me they are.)

           

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Juggling Movies (#atozchallenge 2013)

Cover of Seven Faces of Dr. Lao

 The films that I'll be listing in my April postings will not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming.   The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.

        This is the topic that inspired my theme for the 2013 A to Z Challenge.   After all, how many of you look for movies with juggling in them?   It's part of my nature I suppose, something I inherited from my father, that I look for jugglers in movies.  There are a lot in fact when you really start looking closely.  Whenever there is a fair, festival, parade, or other similar fun scene you will typically see a juggler in the background.  Start paying attention and you'll see what I mean.

        The post was conceived a few months ago when I started thinking about movies with juggling in them and wanted to share some of them with my reading audience.  Since it seemed like a pretty off the wall topic I kept shoving it forward in my blogging schedule.  When I started thinking about my A to Z theme the 'J' of "Juggling Movies" jumped out at me and the theme came together.

         Since there are so many movies that can fit into this category, I will be focusing on those films where the movie is about juggling or jugglers or juggling is a very integral part of the plot.

         These are some of my favorites:

The Old-Fashioned Way (1934)-- Before he became a movie star, comic actor W.C. Fields was one of the most famous jugglers in the world.  In this film he plays The Great McGonigle, leader of a vaudeville troupe always one step ahead of the bill collectors.  Fields performs a portion of his famous juggling act toward the end of the film.   Pretty amazing stuff.

Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)-- Besides his known skills as a dancer, I would consider Fred Astaire to be a bit of a juggler.  In many of the dance numbers in his films he incorporated props such as canes and did fancy manipulations with them.  In this film he does some outstanding prop manipulations as he performs "I've Got My Eyes on You".   Also this film features a clever scene with one of the most famous female jugglers of all time, Trixie Firschke (click the link to see the scene).

Chained for Life (1952)-- This is a bizarre low-budget film featuring the famous vaudeville performing Siamese twins the Hilton Sisters.  The interesting dilemma presented in the story is if one conjoined twin commits a murder, is it fair to also punish the innocent one with death or life imprisonment.  One of the featured characters in the story is vaudeville juggler Whitey Roberts who performs various routines during the course of the film.

The Juggler (1953) -- In a film of historical and social relevance, Kirk Douglas stars as a psychologically troubled German Jewish juggler who is among those sent to the new state of Israel after the war.  The acting and story are very good.  I was particularly impressed by how well Douglas was able to juggle as he performs some very credible routines.

7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) --A fantasy-western with Tony Randall as the enigmatic circus owner Dr. Lao.   When the magical circus comes to the small town of Abalone lives are changed as the inhabitants learn who they really are within.   Juggling symbolizes confidence and a mastery of life.

Jewel of the Nile (1985)--In this sequel to the film Romancing the Stone, Kathleen Turner as a romance novelist and Michael Douglas as an Indiana Jones style adventurer head to the Middle East and become involved with intrigue concerning a mysterious jewel.  Members of the popular juggling act The Flying Karamazov Brothers play key roles in the film and perform a number of juggling stunts.

The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)-- Bill Murray as a London tourist who thinks he is part of a street theater performance, but is actually mixed up with international terrorists.   The juggling scene at the end of the film is an important part of the plot.  To me this film is one of Murray's best.  It's an absolutely hilarious film about mistaken identity that has me in stitches every time I see it.  If you enjoy nutty comedy by all means check this one out.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)--This is a lovely film with a message.  Based on the bestseller by Mitch Albom, the story concerns a man who dies and goes to heaven where he learns about the people who most impacted his life.   There is an important juggling scene midway through the film.

And finally...

Give My Regards to Broadway (1948) --In one of the best films about jugglers ever made, the father of a  family of jugglers once successful in vaudeville tries to revive the act, but his wife and most of the kids have other ideas.  Vaudeville is dead and most of the family think that perhaps it's time to move on.   This movie really touched home for me and reminded me of my own father and our family.  There are some interesting juggling routines in the film though not especially skilled from a juggler's standpoint.  They were creative to say the least.  It's a poignant film that is hard to find.  If they ever do an official DVD release I'll be buying this one since it means so much to me.

         Have you ever noticed how many films have jugglers in them?   Did you ever think about juggling movies as a micro-genre?    Which of these have you seen and do you remember seeing the juggling?


I'm making a guest appearance today at Andrew Leon's Strange Pegs.   Be sure to stop by and pay a visit.   It's all about juggling!

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J is for Juggling

       
         Most of my long time readers know that I am a juggler and came from a juggling family.  My father called the act "The Juggling Jacksons" because that was our last name.  Besides the alliteration sounded good.

        Juggling was a sideline for us.   We would have loved to do it full time, but my father wisely chose the security of a regular daytime job.  His career was as an accountant for an industrial contractor.  And though he juggled books for a regular paycheck, his true passion was juggling objects.

       So what's this have to do with marketing and promotion?  We always had an agent or agents who booked shows for us, but as is often the case with anyone who has an agent sometimes you have to get out there and do things yourself to get the ball rolling--or in our case the balls and other objects tossing.

       We practiced our act regularly to stay in top shape for our performances.  Stage attire and props had to be kept maintained.  My father was always on the lookout for new gimmicks to make our act stand out.  He put a lot of thought, time, and sweat into making our act marketable.

        Like The Juggling Jacksons you and your business have a juggling act underway.  Some of you may be working jobs to pay the bills while you work at trying to get your passion off the ground.  You are juggling family and relationships, job, education, health, relaxation time as well as the dreams of success in whatever it is you are trying to achieve.

          Then there is the juggling act of your marketing efforts.  What do you need to promote what you are doing?  Photos, brochures, resumes, and other media?   How about conferences, trade shows, or other events that will further your reach?   You juggle time, money, and personal well-being and hope your act will reap some benefits of what you've put into it.

         Marketing can be a real balancing act for sure.  Plan your act carefully.  Practice the tricks you'll be using and then when you're ready you can hit the stage and perform before a real audience.  One thing you don't want to do when you're in the spotlight is drop the balls, but if you do just pick them up and act as though it's part of the act.

            What are you juggling in your life?   Have you achieved balance?

How about these J's:

Jenny Hansen's blog is More Cowbell.  If you don't get the reference and don't fear the reaper I think you'll find out where her blog title comes from if you go there and look around.

Reversing the initials we also have Hart Johnson who blogs at Confessions of a Watery Tart, the blog where no pants are allowed and naked people get in free.

Are we bloggers a wacky bunch or what.

Finally, Michelle Jones at The Family Tales is offering a give-away at her blog.  Head over to her blog and you may be a lucky winner of a  a new customized blog design and/or custom header graphic.  The graphic design will be created by fellow A to Z blogger, Lisa Campbell.   

Related articles

• Mastering The Art Of Juggling (hellobeautiful.com)
• Things Jugglers Say (circusgeeks.wordpress.com)
• Mathematics of Juggling (mrhonner.com)