Late in the evening

The first thing I remember
I was lying In my bed
I couldn't of been no more
Than one or two
I remember there's a radio
Comin' from the room next door
And my mother laughed
The way some ladies do
When it's late in the evening
And the music seeping through

don't worry mom, I got this

That was before I met Julio. My parents turned on my activities after that.

Mama looked down and spit on the ground
Every time my name gets mentioned
Papa said oy if I get that boy I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention
Well I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way I'm taking my time

And it was late in the evening 
And the Democrats blew House of Congress away!

(Mama would be happy)

Mama told me

Just an old man wondering what Mama told me.

This is the craziest party there could ever be
Don't turn on the lights, 'cause I don't want to see

Oh excuse me, the sun is shining. I should take a walk outside and ponder this post.

(Many footsteps later but whose counting?)

Thanks it was a good walk. Met and talked with two neighbors while I out there meandering around. Great that the sunshine is bringing people out.

Mama told me not to come
She said, That ain't the way to have fun, no

Like most of us (I assume), I trusted most everything my Mama told me. Not that is matters for this post but if you were wondering I actually called her Mom. I don’t think we are influenced by just one person. Although I consider her my biggest single influence, my Dad, sisters, brother, teachers, coworkers, and friends all added to whatever it is I am today.

She instilled in me the importance of learning. Her immigrant parents often turned to her for help with English.

Care for the less fortunate, don’t be trapped in being selfish. Be nice. One specific example of being nice she gave me was "Don't say anything, if you can't say something nice."

The importance of truth. Lies and dishonesty lead you deeper into more of the same. You can’t earn lasting trust if you fail to provide truth.

I don’t recall her telling me that things are not always what the appear to be. However, I’m sure she would agree with that idea.

I seen so many things
I ain't never seen before
Don’t know what it is,
I don't want to see no more

 
How about you? Would any of you like to share what your Mama told you?

 

mammas don’t let

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mammas!

A great post title should always receive its deserved recognition. The other day Pearl (cat lady of Minneapolis?) had an award winning title. Here’s the title linked back to her post.

Ode to a Locked Document; or Mama, Don’t Let Your Spreadsheets Grow Up to be Password-Protected

In addition to providing me a smile, her title caused a few synapses to fire off. A brainwave of an idea crashed around in my brain. Regular readers might recall what results from these flashes of a far off brainstorm. Yes yet another Lisleman idea.

Let’s play a blogger game. Hey you might consider it a Mother’s Day game. Sure if it gets repeated enough call it a meme.

Using the Grammy award winning song title, "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys", we can create an easy game.

Just fill in the blank(s). 

Two blanks: Mammas don’t let your ___ grow up to be ___ 

or just one blank: Mammas don’t let your babies grow up to be ___

I’ll go first. 

Mammas don’t let your babies grow up to be bloggers.

Mammas don’t let your FB page grow up to be a mommy war.

Please play along in the comment section.

grateful for mom

Happy Mother's Day

I believe this is a very happy day and it should be.  But it's sad too for me and I suspect others too.  I miss my mother.

The emotions (except writing this is tough) don't overcome me as much now as they did during the months after she passed on.  Of course those emotions are still there and can surprise me at times.

Having these emotions is actually a happy thing if I consider the alternative of not bonding with my mother.  The sad emotions of missing her shows that she gave me memories that stayed and will stay forever.  She is not going to age or be far away anymore.  She is fixed forever in my heart as she was.


I am happy to have these memories.


Here's a picture of her (late 1950's) that I shared on G+ for a Blast-from-the-past post.  People share old pictures and I have done it a few times.  You can check my G+ page to find more.  You know you are older when some of the "old" pictures are from the 1990's.  My kids were all in school in 1990's.

thanks for going to bat for me - mom

I found this ad about moms today.  I shared it on FB already with our daughters who are moms.  You'll enjoy it.  I did.
 

Wishing you the best of Mother's Days.

She is a mom that goes by "unknown" but I know her kids know her well.  Please check out the photos at Unknown Mami's. 

foo foo friday

It’s bunny season and I’m sure many of you know about bunny foo foo. I was looking up a little more on “foo foo” and landed of course on the wikipedia page covering little bunny foo foo. Isn’t that amazing? A wikipedia page on little bunny foo foo.

Maybe you grew up with encyclopedias being available on CD’s. I remember (still have it) the Microsoft Encarta set of CDs. At the time I thought wow this is the future. I’m not going to check but I bet they didn’t cover bunny foo foo.

Is foo foo derived from foofaraw?

When I was in school we had to search through volumes of actual heavy books for research on term papers. Oh and then we had to walk barefoot through deep snow, followed by burning coals after which we were scolded for not dressing properly. And then chop wood …. Ok enough old man, kids today have it much tougher. They can be bullied by a tweet.

On the topic of research, I got a call this week regarding my oldest grandson’s school project. He needs to report on his heritage and ancestors.

My mother was an immigrant from Slovenia. She arrived as a six year old child. My wife and I were fortunate a few years ago to visit her village and see her birth house. We met some distant relatives. So I put some information together along with some pictures and emailed (digitally transmitted miles away - amazing technology) it to my daughter.

My mom arrived with my grandmother and their timing was not so great. They arrived in New York City along with the stock market crash of 1929. I know the major events of her story but I wish I could interview her today and ask even more questions.  My mom never made it back to her childhood village.

Another aspect of her story didn’t come together for me until just this week while putting together the information. My grandfather had come over to the states years before and had found steady work and got his US citizenship. After establishing a home here he sent for his wife and daughter.

The new realization for me - my mother not only was coming to a strange land with a strange language, she was meeting her father for the first time since she was a baby. Pretty much meeting him the first time at the age of six.

I found an old Apple ad from 1984. It was for the Apple IIc. This state of the art machine came with 128K of internal memory. Without getting into the various types of memory and all that, just think that your typical tiny 4G memory card in your camera is over 30,000 times larger than 128K. Also, the ad bragged about the 16 (yes sixteen) colors that “can bring a presentation to life”. Today’s screens have millions of shades of color.

Here’s an old ad for the Digital PDP-11 computer. That company doesn’t exist anymore.

(oh here is another back-when-I-was-young difference - women had to wear really short outfits to work and iron their hair.)

Recently, I have created a few more clips and updated my “Playing Around” page. Please click over and take a look.

This week I was surprised by a package addressed to me. Here’s a picture of the surprise I received from Google.

I suspect Mrs. 4444 could tell stories (she has posted some) about the technology impact in her school. But I know she has plenty of Friday Fragments to share, so don’t foo foo around and click her badge/button below.

unexpected treasure

Maybe you have been there too. Maybe you will be in the future.

Thank goodness we had each other.

It was the saddest of a fall turning into winter after my mom had passed away. “Passed” I guess is the nice way to say it. Our father had gone about 5 years earlier so she had lived in the house on her own until the end. Four kids, four sad but knowing they had to get along for each other siblings.

We did get along with just a few very minor bits of tension.

I can’t remember now exactly when we got started on the house but we did and we did it together. Probably not exactly equal. One sister lived out-of-state so for her to show up was a bigger issue. But she did make it and she cleaned and painted along with us all. In the end, the house sold and we all turned a page in our own history books.

But before the house sold, I need to explain a slight problem we had to overcome. Our mother blamed the Great Depression years and there is certainly some logic to that reason. What ever the reason, she was a saver. A saver of scrap, junk, whatever. Today, she could have had her own reality TV show. I guess she was a trend setter in that area.

The clean up was a massive job. It took a few months.

At first it was sorta fun. Digging through your childhood.

Hey, look at this old report card!

What Christmas did I get this toy?

Now I don’t remember which one said it but we sure all took notice when the words - 

Hey look, I found a $100 bill!

Our mother was not rich at all. But did I mention she was a saver. Little did we know until then that she saved cash along with papers, scraps of cloth, magazines, dishes, etc..

Now there was more than just memories to look for in those piles of stuff. There was some treasure. Maybe she had planned this all along as a reward for our efforts. It's fun to think so.

I recall nearly $1000 was eventually found. We split it up.

My hiding money story came to mind because I recently heard a story of family that bought a used car. One day their daughter was reaching under the seat for some dropped item and pulled out a $100 bill. Later the dad went searching and came up with another $100 bill. Now he was asking people if they thought it would be worth taking the seats out of the car. I don’t know if he did.

Maybe the best treasure is one you didn’t go looking for in the first place.

another circus 

Manners - A Treasured Gift

Jillsy Girl started a blogging exercise not long ago called Prompt Me Wednesday.

This week we have been prompted to express (not limited to writing) ourselves on a treasured gift. I am offering up a story that explains the gift of manners and respect I received from my Mom (I should give Dad some credit too but his lessons were often loud and blunt so it wasn't always clear if there was some deeper meaning.)

Before I drop you into the story (actually being dropped isn't nice - hmm maybe I should ease you into the story) I must state that I've been told on occasion that I was being rude. So I have failed at manners. I'm no manners expert but I do respect people and try not to fail.

Summer 2005 - AA 2325 flight Chicago – Dallas Fort Worth – final destination Long Beach CA.

As I work my way through another business trip which always has the potential of a small adventure, I decide to capture some thoughts of the trip. Since I was able to plan this trip, I selected a midday flight. I am not a morning person.

As I suspect many travelers do, I judge a trip by the number of hassles encountered getting from A to B. So far it’s not been too bad. Plenty of backed-up traffic on I-294 and a filled up airport parking lot, but I anticipated that and allowed myself plenty of time. I got through security and even had time for a salad at Chili’s airport restaurant. Eating alone at an airport restaurant seems more accepted than eating alone most anywhere else.

Row 25

My seat is in row 24, but in 25 is a young family. As I approach my seat I hear screaming and yelling. Two little girls with mom and dad are threatening my chance of a peaceful flight. The youngest and loudest one wants to play with her tray and doesn’t seem fazed by her mother’s threats. One interesting threat heard that day was “they have special seat in the back for children who misbehave.” She might as well told her they would strap her on the wing, she didn’t care. Mom and Dad need to get some training from TV’s super nanny.

Luckily I came prepared with a laptop filled with music. With all the electronic gadgets available hopefully other passengers were able to entertain themselves instead of listen to these unruly kids. The row 25 family had a DVD player for the kids. The three year-old I hear (all nearby passengers also discover this within seconds) does not want to share the view of the screen with her sister.

We have landed and there is hope of escape from row 25.

As we were waiting to deplane the kids were behind me in the crowded aisle. In this tight space bumping one another is common. So it didn’t surprise me that one of the girls bumped me a few times. It was not a big deal. What did surprise me was the mother’s response. She told her daughter that if she kept it up she would let the man (me) smack her. What a crazy thing to say. I later wondered if it was a ploy to sue me if I took her up on the offer.

My wife and I traveled with all of our five kids on a trip to Ireland in 1989.   We packed ourselves into a small version of what might be called a minivan today.  Great sites were seen.  But I was reminded that young kids don't appreciate the fine differences between second and third castle of the weekend.

The hero (my wife) did the return trip with just the kids (I really had to stay - really for work). I don’t recall any crying or fussing from our kids on our long ride over the Atlantic. Maybe I just don’t remember but I think the kids were excited enough about the trip that they just enjoyed the experience.

Back in 1989, none of them even had CD players yet. The boom box was still popular (tape and radio) but those were not allowed in the aircraft cabin. The youngest was not 4 yet and the next oldest had just turned 9. They brought books and colored. Being an overseas flight we had music and some movies provided. But the movies shown on screens for the whole cabin don’t provide much to a little kid that could hardly see over the seatbacks.


Return trip

Long Beach airport – a new favorite for me. A fellow traveler pointed out as we walked across the tarmac, Long Beach airport is probably the only airport in the US with no Starbucks. Starbucks has covered the west coast very completely. The airport did have a coffee/snack stand.

Free Wi-Fi at the gate in this small airport!!

For comparison to the early family there was family with two (maybe three – I don’t remember) young boys waiting to board the flight to Dallas. The youngest appeared to be about the same age as the young girl in row 25. They were probably closer in age than the row 25 set. The youngest boy came running through the gate area when his dad pointed out the plane. I think he was ready to run outside and jump on-board. Dad called to him to stop and he did. Unlike row 25 family, no yelling or threats were exchanged. Instead the dad seemed interested in answering his young son’s many questions. The difference in the parents’ attitudes of these families influenced the behavior of the kids. The Long Beach Dad appeared interested in making the most of what a trip can be for a young kid – a learning experience.

I'm no expert on teaching manners or discipline, but nonsensical threats only backfire. Kids learn quickly that threats are not backed by anything. You lose control at that point.

Change is constant with the technology in our daily lives. I wonder if the gadgets are used unsuccessfully to bribe kids. Disciplined kids however, I suspect come from techniques practiced since the beginning of families.

Share a smile - and thanks Mom, I think I get it now.

naturally curious

Photo taken by Tarquin

I met a bee once. 


The relationship ended badly for both of us.


My mom was proud of her bed of flowers along the side of the house.  I was curious.  The bees loved the flowers.  I was curious.  A bee can crawl all the way inside a snapdragon flower.  I was curious.


I thought I could trap the bee inside the snapdragon flower.  Bees don't like to stay on a flower too long.

Bee's stinger + my thumb = I wasn't curious anymore.

Enjoy Mother's Day

I wish everyone a great Mother's Day.

Even though my mom is no longer around, my memories of her are my fondest memories. Of those memories the laughs can still bring me a smile.

Thinking of laughs - here's my post from last Mother's Day which is still worth a look.

For all of you, supermoms out there - have a great Mother's day.

Do you know who Anna Jarvis is? She is credited with founding Mother's Day in the US. I think she would be shocked and upset if she were here for Mother's Day 2009. She was angered by printed cards back in her day (hand written was the proper way). Can you imagine what she would think of an e-card?

Not sure, but I suspect there are more mommy blogs than daddy blogs. Well on one of them I came across this Mother theme site called Mamapalooza. It looks fun.


On the Mamapalooza site I found this funny clip - enjoy Happy Mother's Day.

Share a smile

what was it my mom always told me

expressions
aphorisms
adages
sayings
advice
mottos

You hear them before you even understand their meaning. Some take years before they finally sink in and overcome our stubbornness.

I think the shorter ones are the best.

Be happy.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Wear sunscreen. (see clip below)

And one of my favorites:

Don't say anything, if you can't say something nice.

Not only do I believe this is top notch advice, I used it once to make a point without being rude or malicious.

While on a business trip I was asked in front of a whole carload of co-workers my opinion a former co-worker of mine. The manager asking said he was considering contacting this former co-worker. I assume about a possible job.

I know one other passenger knew that I disliked this former co-worker. I had a bad experience with him and didn't like his back stabbing methods (my opinion anyway).

I thought a second and answered,
"My mother taught me not to say anything, if I couldn't say something nice."

That ended the conversation. I was satisfied. Also, that FORMER co-worker stayed that way.

Here's one more bit of advice for bloggers:
Need a writing idea? Go to Sprite's Keeper and pick up the latest spin cycle assignment.

Interested in the story behind "sunscreen" advice? go here.

Mother's Day praise and laughs

For all of you, supermoms out there - have a great Mother's day.

Do you know who Anna Jarvis is? She is credited with founding Mother's Day in the US. I think she would be shocked and upset if she were here for Mother's Day 2009. She was angered by printed cards back in her day (hand written was the proper way). Can you imagine what she would think of an e-card?

Not sure, but I suspect there are more mommy blogs than daddy blogs. Well on one of them I came across this Mother theme site called Mamapalooza. It looks fun.


On the Mamapalooza site I found this funny clip - enjoy Happy Mother's Day.




Share a smile