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I have been having some disturbing dreams lately. The really don't make a lot of sense as I understand reality but they are usually peopled with long dead family members and nearly forgotten incidents from what to me are the olden days, the 1940s and '50s.
The dreams have, as always, faded now and I can't reliably relate them in the here and now. But they stir up memories that I
do remember, and remember well.
One of my early memories is reading the various aphorisms hanging on the wall in my father's office, which also served as a large storage room in the Jasper County Courthouse where he was the custodian, a job he held for at least thirty years. One of those wall decorations looked something like this:
There were several more quotations and proverbs, but that was the one that stuck in my memory.
My father (my
dad) and I were not close. I don't think he liked me much. And until I approached the age of 40 I didn't think much of
him, either.
My Father
The statement I most easily remember was my dad saying, over and over, again and again throughout my younger years, "...another one of your harebrain ideas."
The statement I most easily remember hearing
about my dad was
"If you grow up to be half the man your old man is..."
Or possibly the affirmation -
"That Bill Chambers can fix anything."
And that was true as far as I know. Dad had taught himself radio repair via the
National Radio Institute's mail order course and spent his evenings out in the backyard shed fixing the radios of everybody in town, and in later years, their television sets.
Who would have believed that no matter what menial daytime job I held (and there were a LOT of them) I too still did part-time radio and TV repair at night.
Brr!
Those days do not hold many happy memories.
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Did You Know . . .?
When you die you can have your ashes made into a rock to form the base of an "eternal memorial reef" so that you can help coral reefs bloom after you've died.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On January 24, 1908, the Boy Scouts movement begins in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden-Powell's
Scouting for Boys. The name Baden-Powell was already well known to many English boys, and thousands of them eagerly bought up the handbook. By the end of April, the serialization of
Scouting for Boys was completed, and scores of impromptu Boy Scout troops had sprung up across Britain.
The American version of the Boy Scouts has it origins in an event that occurred in London in 1909. Chicago publisher William Boyce was lost in the fog when a Boy Scout came to his aid. After guiding Boyce to his destination, the boy refused a tip, explaining that as a Boy Scout he would not accept payment for doing a good deed. This anonymous gesture inspired Boyce to organize several regional U.S. youth organizations, specifically the Woodcraft Indians and the Sons of Daniel Boone, into the
Boy Scouts of America. Incorporated on February 8, 1910, the movement soon spread throughout the country.
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WORD FOR TODAY
aphorism
noun
1. a concise statement of a principle
2. a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a concise and memorable form.
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(Jan 24, 1917 - July 8, 2012)
Ernest Borgnine was an American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning an Oscar in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. He was also known for being the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 to 2012.
(Jan 24, 1949 - Mar 5, 1982)
John Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician. He is best known as one of the original cast members of the hit NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He was the older brother of James "Jim" Belushi. He was known for his brash, energetic comedy style and raunchy humor. During his career he had a close personal and artistic partnership with fellow SNL comedian and author Dan Aykroyd.
Belushi died on March 5, 1982 in Hollywood, California after overdosing on a mixture of cocaine and heroin (a 'speedball') at the age of 33.
(Jan 24, 1943 - Aug 9, 1969)
Sharon Tate was an American actress and sex symbol. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several motion pictures. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic and dramatic performances, Tate was hailed as one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers. She made her film debut in the occult-themed Eye of the Devil (1966), which was produced by Martin Ransohoff. Tate also starred as Jennifer North in the cult classic, Valley of the Dolls (1967), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Tate was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with the couple's son when she was murdered in her home, along with four others, by a group known as the Manson Family on August 9, 1969.
(born 24 January 1961)
Nastassja Kinski is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than sixty films in Europe and the United States. Kinski's starring roles include the title character in Tess (1979), for which she won a Golden Globe Award, and her role in Paris, Texas (1984),
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"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long."
--Laozi, Te Tao Ching
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