QUALITY SOUND

212 – Friday, July 31, 2009

As I sat in my den today pondering the subject that I wanted to use for my blog I was soothed by the music that Cynthia had playing. Emanating from the cable TV, she had selected Soundscapes, one of more than twenty dedicated 24/7/365 music-only channels all called Music Choice. After being enhanced by the Bose 3-2-1 system I have installed to maximize my television enjoyment, especially when something is blowing up, the music is so pristine and crystal clear it is as though I am seated in the midst of the orchestra – truly surround sound. As I thought more about this, I was taken back to the 60’s when I got my first after-market stereo tape player and thought I had gone to heaven on an 8-track cassette! Played through the 6x9 combination speakers I had laboriously installed while contorted upside-down in the trunk of my auto, my tunes were ‘to die for’ compared to the thin and tinny static-laden sound that the stock radios crackled forth. Advance the clock forty-plus years and sit in the still surrounds of my 2006 Chrysler 300C so well insulated from the road sounds that if you do not see the flashing lights of the emergency vehicle, it passes you with sirens blaring that are barely audible within – then add to that a 13-speaker high-tech Boston Acoustic premium sound system where the bass is felt more than heard and the crisp highs of cymbals are perfect and violins are produced in such clarity that you can literally hear the rosined horse-hair grating across the strings to produce the timbre of acoustical vibrations. We have come such a long way with technology and yet we seem to hear less these days! Perhaps the music is only a part of that lost art of listening and with the addition of text messaging and cellular telephones interrupting our drive time, we are missing out on some of the finest quality sound to have ever been available. I know if I had the quality of output that is in my car today, my father might have even enjoyed the Beatles!

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XYLOPHONE

211 – Thursday, July 30, 2009

Isaac Day, as Thursdays have become, proved to be no less enthralling than usual. With the flashy smile and a jump upwards as I entered the living room, the little man and I were off to an adventure land filled with imaginations and discovery. Today we added the word “Rock” to our ever-expanding verbal arsenal as we pretended into the woods to go camping with Barney and Friends. Isaac has a whole collection of rocks he has retrieved from a myriad of different excursions which have now been washed, rinsed, and sanitized suitable for assistance in cutting new molars, providing a boulder in the road for a miniature off-road vehicle or simply serving to Poppie for crumpets at the imaginary tea party. We hammered on a toy xylophone making noise in various tinny pitches until Poppie managed to tap out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and he recognized the etude. His eyes widened and his previous method of pounding out indiscernible ringing was abandoned in a lighter attempt to make the same music that his Poppie made – a good sign! Perhaps he has the music gene in him that skipped his parents – keep checking this post spot for possible updates into a potential prodigy status – He’s got the dance gig going pretty well already, knee bending and bouncing and spinning about to the lilting melodies of kiddie songs – can we say “academy of performing arts?”

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DECEPTACONS

210 – Wednesday, July 29, 2009

With the latest film release in the Transformers series, it is no wonder that Decepticons are leaching into corporate America. Given the state of our economy, the burgeoning percentage of our workforce scrambling for a chance to fill a shrinking number of job openings, and the general lack of conscience sported by numerous unscrupulous businessmen, the newest trends should not shock any of us. Yet, I find it despicable that I have been lied to and misled three times in the past six months in my quest for a new career opportunity. I do not expect the task of finding suitable employment to be a simple one, however, the already mountainous challenge is made even more daunting when deception of such great magnitude begins to erode confidence in businesses to a point that, when a truthfully legitimate opportunity comes knocking, skepticism may prevent follow-through. If you happen to be a potential employer reading this, know that honesty and integrity are the right paths to take – really the only paths – if your prospective job is truly a great one, be totally transparent and up front about that outlook and divulge all the information about the employment before candidates invest their time and money just to be told a different story than they were first led to believe. There are a plethora of prospects in the personnel pool that are much more likely to give you the kind of value you seek in a new employee if you bare all and are up front so they can trust you implicitly going into their new position without feeling duped. So far, I am maintaining a positive attitude and am able to discern these ploys, but not until after I have driven long distances and endured repeated hooks for recruitment into everything from pyramid schemes to covert self-employment anglings that require substantial up-front investments of time and money yet hold no interest to me whatsoever – I pray that I shall be able to remain objective and optimistic.

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TURNED-UP TUESDAY

209 – Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Today is “Turned-up Tuesday” – send the message to the corners of your mouth!! Life is a blessing and should be enjoyed. Enjoyment begets smiles and yours should be two ‘S’s’ with a ‘mile’ in between!! Make it big – make it teethy!! Show your pleasure with others and laugh! The Bible says that “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”! - Your prescription for living today is a hearty dose of mirth and joy! You have control over your own outlook on life – choose a positive and good one!! Be happy with who you are – be overjoyed with who you are allowed to be!! Send a message or an email to a friend – tell them why they make you happy! Hug a child and smile at them!! (Preferably one with whom you are well acquainted so you do not endanger your freedom – sad, is it not?) Blow a kiss to your spouse and tell them why they make you smile! Grin like a fool to your postal delivery person when you wave at them! (At the very least it will help them pass the time as they make their route trying to figure out why you looked like a Cheshire Cat today!?) Twinkle your eyes at the check-out person at the grocery and before they can say their piece, tell them to have a blessed day, and thank them for doing such a great job in taking care of you!! One of my favorite responses to someone asking how I am today is, “All the better for having seen you today!” which never fails to get a smile from whoever asked me. Think about it – is your load not lightened, is your burden not more bearable, is your day not more peaceful when you purpose to have a positive and good day? Remember the song, “When You’re Smiling’”? The rest of that lyric says “The whole world smiles with you!” In the day, it did not matter whether it was Frank or Dean singing, the message was still the same!! If you have never tried to make this happen for yourself, there is never going to be a better day than “Turned-up Tuesday!” Get smiling!!!

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INTEGRITY

208 – Monday, July 27, 2009

Integrity is such a hard thing to maintain in our world today. Society has become so infused with ‘me-ism’ that integrity has all but disappeared from the scene. Many people confuse integrity with honesty when, in fact, they are related but not interchangeable terms. When a person is honest, whatever comes from their mouth is accurate, however, not always the whole entire revelation. Honesty is a large part of integrity which, by my definition, is always doing the right thing even when there is no one around to see you do it. Integrity is what is ebbing from our society – we are losing it in our children, neighbors, local leaders, politicians (they used to be referred to as statesmen when they really represented the locality in which they lived and served) and world leaders. There was a time when this country was forging itself that we all had to rely upon one another to hold everything together – our thoughts were on each other and what was best for the entire community, but it is all changing now!! Collectively, we no longer consider the larger contingency first, but have been reprogrammed to thinking we have to “look out for ourselves first because nobody else is going to do it for us”! That is not how it used to be, but I also can remember the times when it was unnecessary to lock your doors and everyone in the neighborhood knew everyone else and watched out for them. Now, murder and mayhem occur in plain sight and people turn their heads or walk across the street to remain uninvolved! Humanity needs a new infusion of integrity – always doing the right thing, even in the dark when no one is looking – we are not alone – Someone is watching and He sees and knows everything –

Hebrews 4:12 (King James Version) ^12”For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

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REGENT OF BLOG

207 - Sunday, July 26, 2009

I just finished responding to each of my brothers who had barbed me with their thoughts on previous blogs – wonderful!! First, it indicates that schooling really did work for them and they are excellent readers – Second, that they actually take the time to not only peruse my journalistic sanguinity (see blog 202) but to respond to it – I am actually quite enthralled! Any of you, as loyal readers, have an open door to respond at any time. If you agree with things I submit (a preferred response), that communiqué may be as long as you wish – If you hold a differing or opposing view, then please limit your responses to one or two syllables, for my reading time is precious and valuable and I get so many of those long, platitudinous replies. If you have nice things to say to me, please select the ‘reply to all’ button, however, when sending the other kind, please choose only the ‘reply’ button and when finished typing, also find the ‘delete message’ button and save me a great deal of time! It is so great to be the Regent of Blog – I feel so empowered! Where else can a self-proclaimed ruler of realm be so deluded that he might actually think a series of instructions could be so well defined and so blatantly ignored. All responses are welcomed – please see above for details!

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WHAT'S BETTER?

206 – Saturday, July 25, 2009

Now we have an eighteen-month-old aquatic mammal to add to our collection of grandchild descriptors – really a fish!! When you say ‘fish’ to Isaac, he puckers his little lips in a circle and opens and closes his mouth the way he has seen a ridiculous number of his ‘adult’ tutors do to stimulate his intellectual development. This was a really prolific weekend in the lad’s maturation, new words flowing from him in rapid-fire for the days we have spent with him – Amen – Doctor – Apple - Bubble – Tractor – Cut – Paper (of course he would get the last two mentioned, the ladies were enjoying a scrap booking bee at the Mercer’s, Grandpa Bill and Poppie were the designated boy sitters!! I want every reader to note that as soon as the grandfathers had a measure of the responsibility of his care, Isaac spouts forth five or six new words – not taking all the credit, just saying…. (better stop right there)! Oh, did I mention that we took Isaac to one of Bill’s favorite haunts, Miss Vicki’s! Now, before your minds take you to a place where you should not be, let me state unequivocally that everyone there was fully clothed!! Miss Vicki’s is an open-air dining experience like none you have ever shared – unless you have feasted at Earl’s Supper Club in metropolitan West Union, Illinois, population around a thousand, but that takes in the entire zip code. Quaint, with a unique ambiance and some of the best food one can gnaw on. What a day!! Nosh, camaraderie, and a swim with the champion of all grandsons – now I ask you, what could be better than this?

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RICHES

205 – Friday, July 24, 2009

Blogging is falling behind due to the family events of this week. After my father had only been retired for about two years and was spending several months in Avon Park, Florida, about two hours to our southeast, I called him one day to see when would be a good time to come for a visit. He began reciting a rather long list of plans that he and Mom had coming up over the next couple of weeks when all of a sudden he stopped mid-sentence and said, “What am I saying, just tell us when you are coming and we will adjust our schedule!” When I inquired of him on our visit how he had gotten so busy he said, “You know, Rog, I don’t know how I ever found time to squeeze in a fifty-hour work-week!” Now quasi-retired myself, I fully understand! A week goes by seemingly in the span of a couple of days and before you know it, it is time for another one to begin! In my case it is ‘squeezing’ in the fifty hours of looking for a job, but there is really not that much difference except in the ‘credit’ column of my bank statements! I am such a blessed and rich man, given the proximity of my son and his family and the opportunities we are blessed to spend together to watch them mature into a unit. I am swelled within at the reverie. If I could but have the rest of my extended family in the neighborhood, life would be perfect!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

204 – Thursday, July 23, 2009

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!! As he puts it when prompted, “The tenth anniversary of my twenty-first birthday!” I still remember the little baby boy like it was yesterday – it is very simple since he has bestowed upon his father a legate who reminds his mother and me of himself when he was a mere 18 months old and flying about the house with the nimbleness of a sprite and challenging us each day to be more excellent parents. He can take a great deal of the credit for preparing us for grandparenthood! Ben still has that quick flash of a smile that can often be accompanied by a devilish little twinkle in his eye, although the hints of crow’s feet are beginning to shadow their corners. He still has that lightning-fast wit that both endears and gets him into tough spots with equal proclivity. Our son is, well, what can a parent say, our son! Daily we can see the challenges in his life force him to fulfill 1 Corinthians 13:11, “¹¹When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” That is not always easy for a young man to do, especially when his heart is youthful and vibrant and still wanting to have its own way and just have fun – but the time is right and the die is cast and forward impetus is in motion – life progresses as it should and Ben and Chrissy are enjoying it with Isaac to serve as a stimulus to maturity and development – a harsh but valuable gift of which to be reminded on a tenth anniversary!!

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HEALING AMERICA

203 – Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It would seem that in only about six months our president’s popularity has taken a nose dive – understandable! His was a no-win situation only exacerbated by his ‘critical emergency’ handling of the affairs of the economy coupled with his apologetic approach to the international community as though the culpability for the global state of affairs is totally ours. But that is what is so great about this country – when the leadership of the nation falters, we, the people, hold the remedy! When management of affairs of state are bungled and no longer serve the needs of those it represents, it is a call to arms to the populace to get up off the couch and get involved and make something better for ourselves – that is exactly what I anticipate will happen! When our quality of life is threatened, we have two choices – we can idly sit by and accept whatever is done to us as ‘out of our control’ or we can lift our arms in an iron-willed movement to reclaim liberties once vibrant within the tapestry of our free land! Yes, I am flag-waving a little today, but it is about time for us to do just that! When the ‘representative government’ is no longer representing the people, then it is “time for a change” - that was the slogan upon which Mr. Obama leveraged his campaign, was it not? Oh, he has made some changes alright – the kind we will, our children will, and our grandchildren will be paying for – but we can overcome that too! The most incredible thing about the American community is its resiliency – our ability to bounce back!! Let’s set our sights on obtaining a national healing and not stop until we have gotten it! We have a lot of work to do, but God has given us a formula: 2 Chronicles 7:14 (King James Version) ¹⁴If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (Emphases and bold, mine – the rest is a promise from God!)

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