Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.
1) This song describes the plight of "poor ol' Jimmy," who caught his girlfriend kissing someone else. Have you ever spied on a romantic partner? No. Not to say I haven't had relationships in which the other person did things deserving of being spied on, but I've always felt that kind of thing will come out on it's own if it's there. Why borrow trouble that may not even be there. Jealousy doesn't do anything good to the one who has it and can create problems where there aren't any.
2) In this song, Stephen Bishop sings that he "smiles when he feels like dying." When did you recently put on a happy face, even though you really weren't all that happy? I can't think of a specific time, but I try to do that all the time. I don't live in denial, but I try to look for the positive.
3) Stephen Bishop always wanted to be a musician, and as a child he began playing the clarinet. Did you take lessons -- dance, art, music -- as a child? If yes, did you take them because you enjoyed them, or because your parents made you take them? I didn't take any kind of lessons like that. I asked to take piano lessons and later dance lessons, but my parents weren't the sort to support that kind of thing with lessons. They were supportive of my artistic side and encouraged me, they just wouldn't throw money into it.
4) When he was 12, inspired by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, he switched to the guitar and began writing songs. Tell us about someone or something that influenced your career path. Living in a wildlife preserve and growing up with a father who had a career in wildlife management made me want to work with wildlife in some way, but it was not to be. The only colleges that had specific majors in the field were either far enough away my dad refused to consider them or I didn't hear back from them. I went to a local state university and studied journalism instead, because writing had always come easily to me.
5) Stephen Bishop attended Will C. Crawford High School in San Diego. This school requires students complete 20 hours of community service every year. Tell us about an organization, cause or campaign you volunteered for, either as a student or an adult. I've been involved with several organizations, but one that touched my heart the most was a local pregnancy clinic. It helped young women/girls who found themselves pregnant and didn't have any help or many options. Many of the girls were, in truth, the dancers from the local "gentleman's" clubs. They were presented all the options a girl had and then supported them and helped them through whatever choice they made. If they chose to keep and raise their baby, they helped them with supplies and taught them how to care for their child. It wasn't a bunch of anti-abortionists screaming in the faces of scared young women outside of clinics. It was kind, loving people with actual help, solutions, and hope for the girls. They helped them find work and ways to support themselves other than stripping. I'm really sorry the clinic had to close because of a lack of funding.
6) In 1977, when this song was popular, Seattle Slew won racing's Triple Crown. Sam's mother has always been afraid of horses. Is there an animal you're uncomfortable with? Snakes. And I am waaaaay beyond uncomfortable with them. My fear of them is borderline phobic.
7) Also in 1977, moviegoers waited in line for hours to see Star Wars. What's the longest line you waited in recently? The checkout at Walmart. Last year our local store made about half the checkout lines self-checkouts, which are fine if you have a small order, but it is easier and faster to use a cashier for large orders. A majority of the people who go to Walmart leave with a cart full of stuff and with fewer cashiers, that means longer lines. Christmas was a nightmare.
I have begun to use online grocery shopping at times and I've heard the Walmart in a neighboring town has begun using the app you put on your phone to scan each item as you put it in your cart and pay on your phone. You don't even have to go through a checkout. I wonder how many people it will put out of work?
8) The mini-series Roots first aired in 1977. Today Americans are spending more time and money than ever to research ancestry. How far back can you trace your family tree? I don't know my biological father, so nothing there. On my mom's side it's been well researched. Through my grandfather's family we can go all the way back to John and Priscilla Alden on the Mayflower. On my grandmother's side we can go back to Swiss Mennonites who were given a land grant by William Penn, himself.
9) Random question: It's often said that nobody's perfect. How about you? What quality keeps you from being perfect? Only everything! And I'm okay with that.
That must have been so rewarding to volunteer in that clinic. The clinic that I volunteer in now provides dental and other healthcare on a sliding scale but they are worried because of all the cuts in funding for healthcare agencies. Many of their clients have severe disabilities or are seniors living only on Social Security.
ReplyDeleteThe insurance and health care industries in this country should be ashamed of themselves...and toss the lawyers in there, too, since I blame a lot of it on all the law suits against doctors, hospitals and anyone else that went on a couple of decades ago.
DeleteThat clinic sounds wonderful. I'm passionately pro-choice, but the key part of that word is "choice." A woman (often just a girl!) can't make an informed choice without unbiased facts and options at her disposal and a quiet place to think. It sounds like you worked to provide that. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteI'm passionately pro-life, but I do believe everyone needs to make such a decision for themselves. I loathe the "Christians" who stand outside of clinics and scream at the women going in and calling them murderers. I suspect that Jesus isn't too happy with them, either. He extended grace and mercy to those who sinned. He didn't condone what they did, but he did not heap burning coals on their heads. This is something too many Christians have lost sight of as they are "casting stones." Anyway, this clinic never denied that abortion was an option and they would discuss it with a girl. They just also showed her other options such as adoption or yes, raising the baby herself, but then they taught them how. They didn't shame them into keeping a baby and then leave them on their own to figure it out. Sometimes the best thing was adoption. Some girls really should not be mothers. But the best thing was that if a girl chose to have an abortion, she wasn't abandoned. They counseled her through that, too. There was real love in that place and many of the girls who were strippers didn't return to it.
DeleteYou know, there is a lot that can be said about your statement " I don't live in denial, but I try to look for the positive." That really helps to get beyond stuff- at least in my life. BTW- yes, it was you and your prayers that I am most grateful for too :)
ReplyDeleteIt does and it's something I've had to learn or relearn. When you go through something difficult it's so easy to get sucked into a negative way of thinking that becomes your mind's go-to pattern. I fell into that over a period when our church fell apart (and we were given much of the blame), our marriage was not in a good place, our finances were in a BAD place, our son married a woman who seemed to hate us and they rejected everything about us, and our daughter went off the emotional deep end. Looking for the positive was impossible for me. I was lost to the pain and it took a very long time to crawl back out. I still catch myself sometimes and have to make myself find something to be thankful for and the more I do it, the easier it becomes.
DeleteIf my prayers had anything at all to do with your dog's recovery, then I am thankful for that. :)
I admire that you worked with women in this very difficult area. It’s quite hard to council a frightened and very young woman who is under such a burden. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the peek at your family tree.
My paternal grandmother and aunt were a wellspring of genealogy for me, and even knew names clear back to the conquistadors. Grandma’s Oral traditions were amazing for safe guarding ancestors. My Hubby recently was given his grandfather’s bible, and with my grandmother’s own bible notations, I learned some of his ancestral family names.
PS: *as with my own grandmother’s ....*
DeleteThank you.
DeleteMy grandmother was the one that told me a lot of things. I'm lucky in that someone in both branches had already done the work and written it down. That your grandmother knew the names clear back to the conquistadors is amazing! But then in olden times everything was preserved with the telling and retelling...even the bible. It's good that we can print things now, but I can't help but think we've lost something, too. My aunt (oooh, I am so mad at her) gave my great-grandparents' bibles to a cousin who was interested. He never thanked her or sent her money for the postage and insurance or anything....and knowing his branch of the family we will never see or hear of them again.
Your work at that clinic sounds very much like something you'd do, given what I know of you. I'm glad it was rewarding but sorry to hear that it had to close.
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
DeleteI would LOVE online grocery shopping. I am jealous!
ReplyDeleteI love, love, LOVE it! I am just waiting for them to add delivery, too. (Some Walmarts already have it.)
DeleteI am always interested in genealogy and yours is pretty exciting!! Have you ever considered a DNA test to locate your paternal line? This was a fun Saturday 9!!
ReplyDelete