So, What Do YOU Do?

Is it even possible to meet someone new without being asked that question?

The vast majority of people assume they are being asked about their career or current job. But I never respond that way because my work doesn’t even scratch the surface of defining me as a person or giving anyone an even remote idea of what I do and don’t do.

Do we become our jobs?  Does our job define our character, depth of personality, our level of importance, or worth among the masses?  Do some people have so little else going on in their lives that they totally immerse themselves in work?  How about the level of respect we are given by our fellow humans?  Should that be based on our job title?

Hopefully, the latter is not the case because even the way we view certain occupations may change drastically over the years whether it be doctors, lawyers, athletes, show business people, or politicians.

In St. Louis, the major important question is, what high school did you go to?  Please ignore the fact that the question ends in a preposition.  The question itself is as native to STL as the ice cream cone at our 1904 World’s Fair, our toasted ravioli on ‘The Hill,’ and our innate love affair for the Cardinals.  But I digress.

When people ask me what I do, my normal response does include writing.  However, I may respond over a 10-minute period of time with a veritable laundry list of things I do.  Plus, I feel the compulsion to also list a few ‘do nots.’

Prepare yourself for extremely long paragraph time!

My answer, in no particular order, is that I do 1)travel extensively, 2)argue politics with The Far Left and The Far Right, 3)wild dance, 4)hike, 5)write many normal and abnormal fiction and non-fiction pieces, 6)buy clothes at Goodwill, 7)act playful and joke around with people, 8)hug everybody, 9)play a lousy game of billiards because I have trouble forcing myself to aim, 10)pray, 11)think the natural lands and female form are God’s most beautiful creations, 12)listen to and watch FAR too much sports, 13)love the MUNY, Fox, outdoor concerts, and other live performances, 14)despise any willful act of crime and other areas of verbal and physical abuse of people and animals, 15)procrastinate, 16)back-strengthening exercises, 17)appreciate all I have, 18)spend time with my mom, 19)try to make newcomers feel welcome at social events, 20)love people and use things, 21)volunteer work, 22)have a love affair with national parks, mountains, and beaches, 23)kiss women, 24)despise political ‘sheep’ of  both major parties, 25)keep in constant contact with my Navy son David who lived with me his first 21 years.

Wait!  I just remembered that one of journalism’s rules is to try and vary paragraph lengths, and don’t make any too long.  I’m now taking a brief station break before heading into part two, like an instrumental break in karaoke, which I also enjoy when others are up singing alongside me.  Break…..Break…..Break…O.K.  Continuing right along, I do…

26)almost always try to please others, 27)maintain a near-perfect credit rating by always paying my bills on time and not being much into material things, 28)constantly show people my Utah keychain and tell them why it’s my favorite state, 29)love most types of music starting with Big Bands and show music, 30)despise the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke, 31)love watching history and travel shows, 32)hop too much in swing dancing when I’m supposed to be gliding, 33)observational astronomy, 34)write strange plays with hilarious song parodies, 35)strike up conversations with strangers, 36)tutor a handful of subjects, 37)get extra slap happy and lovable after just one glass of sweet wine, 38)travel photography, 39)despise music that’s excessively loud, 40)compliment people without expecting anything in return, 41)sing aloud and snack while I sit in my lawn chair at water’s edge of Creve Coeur Lake on very hot days, 42)believe we were all created to love and help one another, 43)struggle to maintain focus on just one task at hand, 44)love fairs and festivals, 45)enjoy things cultural and intellectual, 46)belong to Mensa,  47)normally have trouble saying ‘no’ to invitations, 48)love most ethnic foods, 49) despise the taste of all beers, and 50)constantly tell people that I came to Earth from Saturn in the mid-1950s.

(Long sigh)…..O.K.  You all know a great deal about me. Actually, maybe I’ll copy and paste this to an on-line dating site profile. What do you think of that?  It’s your turn.

So, what do YOU do? 

The next time someone asks you that question, make sure the proper amount of time is allotted for your complete response.

But I would be interested in your own response to that question right now.  You certainly don’t need to think of 50 things, but please click on the ‘comments’ tab at the end of this blog post, and answer away…if you dare!  To me, this is way more important in getting to know someone than just finding out about the job they do.  I’m certainly not merely defined by the work I do.  Are you?

Happy Birthday, Motion Picture Princess!

Today is the birthday of a true American icon!  One of her works was embroiled in a major network television controversy a full 45 years ago!   She also served her country well for more than two decades.  But I’m wishing a very happy birthday to a lady best remembered in years prior to that as the most adorable and most popular child performer of all time!   Yes!  Happy 85^th birthday to Shirley Temple!     

Born in Santa Monica, CA in 1928, who could forget Shirley’s singing, dancing, and acting performances in dozens of 1930s and 1940s motion pictures?

Probably her two most famous songs are “On the Good Ship Lollipop” from the 1934 motion picture, Bright Eyes, and “Animal Crackers in My Soup” from the 1935 film, Curly Top.  Those movie titles were named for Temple’s own appearance.  All that was missing was one named for her delectable dimples!

But scores of NBC television viewers were not so keen on seeing those dimples on November 17, 1968.  That is when that network cut away from an old American Football League game (expansion into the National Football League was in 1970) in which the New York Jets had just booted a field goal to take a 32-29 lead over the host Oakland Raiders.

There was just 1 minute and 15 seconds left in the game that had exceeded a normal game’s length by about 30 minutes due to an abnormal amount of penalties and timeouts.  Fans missed Oakland’s two long plays leading to a touchdown, and the Jets fumbling the ensuing kickoff that was scooped up by the Raiders for another score just nine seconds later in a 43-32 win!

But the station, following pre-set rules, had already switched to the made-for-TV children’s version of “Heidi,” featuring Shirley Temple and set in the Alps.  

Due to the thousands of calls from outraged fans near the conclusion and after that game, the network changed its policies to hold off on other regular programming until games were completed.

All that happened due to the airing of “Heidi.”  Thus, that forever would be known as “The Heidi Bowl!”

The second most noteworthy accomplishment in Shirley’s career, then known as Shirley Temple Black, was her political life.  She was appointed as a United Nations representative in 1969.  Ensuing posts included Deputy Chairman of the USSR-USA Joint Commission, of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on the Human Environment, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  That was all through 1972.

Finally, Shirley was US ambassador to the Republic of Ghana from 1974-76, our Chief of Protocol from 1976-77, and ambassador to Czechoslovakia and later the Czech and Slovak Republics from 1989-1992.   

Shirley Temple had of course won many achievements as a politician and an actress.  That includes the National Board of Review Career Achievement Award.  In 1998, she was honored at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Just seven years later, Shirley won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild.

Once again, thanks for all the memories, princess of the motion picture screen!

Wait!  There’s one more thing!  How about the non-alcoholic drink named after Shirley Temple?  Made from ginger ale, grenadine, and topped with a maraschino cherry, it is reputed to have been first mixed in the late 1930s by a bartender at Chasen’s, a famous Beverly Hills establishment.  Nowadays, ginger ale is often substituted by lemon-lime soda.    

So, let’s all drink a non-intoxicating birthday toast to Shirley Temple!

America’s Best Bargain?

I’m the type of person who would be hard-pressed to try and sell a product in which I did not truly believe.   So, I just asked myself this question:  Which item that is not normally sold at a resale shop or discount store (skipping Goodwill Stores where I buy most of my clothes and all my record albums) or garage sale, offers the very best bargain at its price?

 

That is so darn easy!   Without a doubt, the answer is those 3-ounce packages of Ramen Noodle Soup.  Maruchan is my favorite brand, and for 25 cents or less, the contents of the package can be used as soup or simply as a side dish. 

I currently pay 19 cents each for them, but they are in so much demand that you can often get a Souper 6-Pack in any one of a few different flavors for about $1.35!  At that rate, you can probably get a 36-pack for about $8!   OK.  So, most Americans are not as mathematically functional as you and me!

You might be thinking, so what???  All you get is less than three ounces of curly noodles.  But NO!  The real bargain to me is that little rectangular pouch that contains the wildly flavorful dust! 

I admit that I had to do an Internet search to learn how many different dust flavors there are.  The answer is an even 10.  In alphabetical order, they are beef, chicken, chicken mushroom, chili, lime chili, Oriental, pork, roast beef, roast chicken, and shrimp.

Since I am a big-time chicken lover, that’s the flavor I buy most frequently.  Would you believe that the soup base features at least 19 different ingredients?  Some of the more creative ones are Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate.  Of course, they are both salt products, but the latter one sounds like a mixture of the flying bat (the mammal that is, and not the baseball one that slips out of a batter’s hand) and coffee bi-products.  Have any of you ever had a Guano latte?  Do you prefer it served hot, over shaved ice, or on the rocks? 

Reading further down the list to the final ingredients, we have powdered cooked chicken and cabbage extract.  With all the 17 other ingredients preceding them, it’s amazing that this magic dust actually DOES taste like chicken!  Heck!  Kentucky Fried Chicken’s original secret recipe only has 11 herbs and spices!

Speaking of sodium, I like the helpful hints posted on the back of the bag:  “You may reduce the sodium level by simply using less of the seasoning packet.”   That’s great advice for those who pay more per item by purchasing in quantity.  But why would anyone want to use less than the full packet and cheat themselves out of that full chicken flavor?

It also mentions that RAMEN NOODLES ARE VERSATILE!  “Ramen Noodles can be easily used as a main course or as an enticing side dish.  To do this, simply drain off the broth, then…”

But that’s not all that entices or even enchants or bewitches me to always have several packets on hand for my preference as a side dish.  Not only do they contain 0 grams of Trans Fat—important for all of us 100% health-conscious Americans—but they are also made in Irvine, California, right here in the good old U.S. of A.  

So, be like Jeff.  Buy American!  Buy Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup!

Thank you for your undivided attention, and I’ll be playing here…err…I mean eating them…all week…based on my current financial situation!

Darling, Save the Last...Err...I Mean...A Dance For Me!

There she sat alone within a few strides of the dance floor, some 25 feet from me, at a table made for six.  But for my purposes, it would be just right for the two of us!  It wasn’t long before it would be the last dance of the evening.  I would claim that with her after enjoying a few minutes of engaging conversation.

How angelic she looked, but at the same time, I was just as overcome with her incredibly voluptuous appearance.  As I strode in her direction, a few of the lyrics to the song, “So Rare,” infiltrated my brain.

“So rare; you’re like the fragrance of blossoms fair;

Sweet as a breath of air; fresh with the morning dew.

So rare; you’re like the sparkle of old champagne;

Orchids in Santa Fe couldn’t compare to you.

 

You are perfection; you’re my idea

Of angels singin’ the ‘Ave Maria;’

Or you’re an angel; I’d breathe and live you

With every beat of the heart that I give you…”

As I got within 10 feet of her, our eyes met in that rare, longing gaze, then…

…another man took her hand and led her away, and out the door!

“You win some; you lose some,” I nonchalantly told myself.  After all, women love a man who dances, and is there anyone more willing than me?  So, I reset my focus on another lady, and began the cycle anew! 

But seriously, folks…dancing is simply an activity I love regardless of any romantic vibes!

My adulation for dancing has gone through many different stages.  It started with square dancing from 1975-1988.  It continued with mostly freestyle moves to ‘Mad’ Maynard and Jackie McCoy’s KADI Original Oldies Show at Club Mali Kai in the Henry VIII Hotel late in that same time period.  Next was a brief stint of contra dancing some five years ago at The Monday Club in Webster Groves, then spread out everywhere with a variety of friends and acquaintances through Meetup groups, and I added swing dancing to the mix with my first lessons at Moolah in January 2012.

During my many extremely shy and introverted periods up to the middle of 2010, I often used dancing as an excuse for not having to actually talk to anyone.  But now, I’m wild and free both on and off the dance floor!

Yes, dancing is a wonderful means of expression, whether it’s freestyle, slow, swing, salsa, contra, cha cha, tango, Cajun, or whatever other steps.  It’s all about feeling the music, dancing to the beat, and potentially forming some type of connection with one’s partner.

 

I returned to the Concord Farmer’s Club in early 2013.  It was my first appearance there since I dated fellow dancing enthusiast Stalina from late 2002 to late 2004.  I had forgotten what the place looked like except for the bar area.  People told me that the inside was fully revamped. 

Either way, I enjoyed taking an East Coast swing lesson with someone who has developed into a great friend, and a bit later, I taught her the River Waltz.  It was wonderful dancing with several women I had previously met over the past year or so, and quite a few new ones.  I also loved the mixer about halfway into the night!

 

I grabbed my partner’s friend who had never taken any swing lessons before.  She appeared to be the perfect guinea pig, so I not only combined East Coast, West Coast, and regular slow dancing to the mix, but also serenaded her in the process with smiling faces and laughter throughout.

Dancing means SOOO much to me!  It’s not only a great way to meet people, but it’s a totally active pursuit, the music is normally terrific, and I can add a little karaoke that I normally just reserve for shower solos.  You know…like some of those Al Green songs, “Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still in Love With You,”  “Look What You Done For Me,” and “You Ought to Be With Me.”  It’s great to love & appreciate oneself, but it’s normally better to sing to someone else than just to myself.

My dancing venues have greatly expanded, too!  It could be Sunday evening at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, Sunday night at the Dorsett Inn for The Oldies Show, Tuesday night at Moolah Shrine (my own Parkway North Junior High a loooong time ago) and/or Sports Café, Wednesday night at Sports Café or JP’s Corner, Thursday night at Frontenac Grill, Friday night to Concord or any of a couple dozen other places on the weekend in St. Louis or St. Charles County!

Darn!  I have to get this blog finished!  After all, I DO have a dancing date tonight!  

To all the ladies out there, please save the last…err…I mean…A dance for me!

Meetup is the Best Solution for the Socially Inept Amongst Us

Have you ever talked yourself out of attending an event due to shyness or self-conscious tendencies?  Do you assume that your social inadequacies would make you feel somewhat akin to a square peg in a round hole?  Perhaps you have a phobia for large social settings or don’t feel you are a good enough small talker.

For those reasons and more, I have missed many a fun event in my life. 

Long ago, I luckily discovered a great means of dealing with those personality disorders.  Outside of actual medication or psychiatric help, the best solution for the socially inept amongst us is Meetup.

Just go to www.meetup.com, and a world of possibilities will immediately open up to you.  As it states on the site itself, “Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups.”

I know that the term ‘something for everyone’ is often greatly overused and exaggerated in our society.  But that’s precisely what Meetup offers.

Meetup activities run the gamut from small to medium to large group functions; the totally sedate to extremely active; and completely mindless to extraordinarily brain-challenging.  But the best thing of all is that there is generally no membership fee or cost to join Meetup other than what you pay for admissions or tickets to events, and money for gasoline and your own food.  But many people carpool to some events.

The groups I currently belong to and frequent the most are Fun Peeps, Living Life to the Fullest, Singles Again, St. Louis Volunteer Group, St. Charles County Baby Boomer, and Let’s Hike.

I will forever remember my first Meetup event just as I have my first woman.

It was an overwhelmingly hot and humid Saturday or Sunday in early summer 2006.  The event was a group picnic in St. Louis’ Forest Park through The Activity Group, to which I still belong.

Always early, I was the first of some 35 people to arrive amongst those who signed up in advance.  Not knowing a single member, I wandered around a bit, asking various strangers if they were there for a Meetup event.  You obviously won’t experience this when meeting at a restaurant, coffee shop, or any other much smaller venue than a city park!

I finally connected with a woman name Anne, who I still see several times a year through Meetup, including a hike tomorrow morning at Fort Bellefontaine.  Together, we found the correct picnic spot.  Each person brought a covered dish to complement a big-time BBQ!  I met a dozen or so people in that first hour of eating and socializing.

From there, many of us either carpooled or walked the half mile or so in the heat index of about 100 degrees, to the Forest Park Boathouse.  We rented pedal boats with up to four to a boat for an hour.  We pedaled around all the beautiful and cool fountains well below a hill that houses The St. Louis Art Museum.  I’ve lived in St. Louis my entire life, but never did that before!

After hiking back to the picnic site with another new friend, the socializing continued with more snacking, drinking, and desserts.  There were even a few picnic style activities, but it was far too hot to partake in too much of that.

But after that one single event, I have been totally hooked on Meetup as an active member of seven or eight groups.  Those groups alone have helped me form great acquaintances and friendships with several hundred people!  They provide some 20-30 or so event choices every single month!  I know some people who belong to 50 or more of the several hundred area Meetup groups.  You do the math!!!

There are Meetup groups for every age group starting at 21, and for just about every type of interest available to man or woman!  Another benefit is that there are groups to attend in mornings, afternoons, evenings, and late nights.

Meetups include several dining groups like West County Dining Group and Dine Out on a Dime, very active groups like St. Louis Adventure Group and Single Christian Adventure Group, ones for couples, dancers, those into a variety of sports, playing cards and board games, movie going, political, spiritual, live plays, Happy Hours that often draw more than 100 people, karaoke, business and networking, etc.  It’s also easy for anyone to start their own Meetup group right from the site!

There are also several parameters on the site to easily find most of the choices.  Just plug in your zip code, distance willing to travel, and also key words for interests.

We attend a few very small gatherings all the way up to huge ones like the Happy Hours, recent Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day parades, and the Mega Meetup Party held this past Saturday, March 30^th.  It was dubbed “Take Me Out to the Ballroom” in honor of the start of the Cardinals’ baseball season.  Most of the more than 500 of us who signed up were clad in a wide array of baseball garb to party and dance to the band Crossfire after reserving The Casa Loma Ballroom to ourselves!

So, you say you’re a bored and lonely person with little to do and with very few friends?   You say you’re not very outgoing or sociable?  Sorry!  Those excuses just won’t fly in Meetup!  Most of us are extremely friendly and welcoming to all newcomers!  So, head to www.meetup.com and start your new adventures!  If I could do it, anyone can!