Wisdom from the Cookie

Fortune cookie logic....................

Sometimes these things are good..................

"The man who rows the boat doesn't have time to rock it."

Remembering "RERUN"

The other day at work I called the tank wash we use (The place that cleans our Chemical trailers after we deliver) and Shirley answered. She is the wash rack's clerk. Trying to be funny and make people smile I said "Shirley, I need a favor."

She said "What is it."

I said, "When Rog, Dewayne and Rerun come to the diner, tell them I will see them later."

I laughed and my co-worker laughed. Shirley didn't laugh.

I could not believe that she did not know who Rog, Dewayne and Rerun were. I quickly explained to her about the show "What's Happening".

After that I felt the urge to google Rerun.

Fred Berry passed away on October 21, 2003. I didn't even realize he died. Between the time I read some information on him and now, it is starting to come back to me. I sort of remember him passing.

He starred in the show. He battled drug addiction and alcoholism in the 1980s. During the 90s, he became a Baptist minister. He lost 100 pounds after learning he had diabetes. Rerun got around. He was married six times to 4 different women. Berry appeared in various films after the "What's Happening" days. He was recovering from a stroke at his Los Angeles home when he died.

Rest in Peace Rerun.

Wednesday Quote...on Thursday

"The highest point a man can attain is not knowledge, or virtue, or goodness, or victory, but something even greater, more heroic, and more despairing: sacred awe!" - Nikos Kazantzais (Greek author)

Honest Abe

I have writer's block.
So I cam across this from yahoo and thought you might find it interesting.
The headline:
Lincoln ranked best president by historians

I was happy to see Honest Abe at the top:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_go_pr_wh/ranking_presidents

Let the Church Rise...

While in Memphis last weekend, we attended Lighthouse Fellowship church. During the praise and worship time this song was sung.............Awesome

here is one version............

What She Knew

What She Knew

Jan. 2009

He told her “You cut me to the quick.”
But she knew all along what he really was.
She could tell who he actually was.
She realized that she would eventually find him.
She understood that he would act as if he was a dim-witted man.
But she knew his act was just that.
She could tell it was a front.
She realized that he would have the capacity to assist her.
But sadly she understood that he never would.

The Laundry List

The Laundry List – for Hiccups
Feb. 12 2009

Last night my wonderful wife had hiccups. They simply would not go away.
I suggested a spoon full of sugar.
For the hiccup of it, I went to our copy of The Doctors Book of Home Remedies.
On page 345, in plain sight, I see the words: “Doctor Dubois’ surefire sugar cure.”
So we use the sugar and the hiccups go away. They stay away.
This blog would be over now, but I decided to read a little further.
I turned the page and saw “The Laundry List.” This is a list of suggested cures for hiccups.
Two of them immediately caught our eyes.
1-“Lift the uvula (that little boxing bag at the back of your mouth) with a spoon.”
TIMEOUT! I have one question to the person who tried this. How long did it take you to clean the puke up off the floor? I gag just thinking about a spoon touching my “little boxing bag.” I guess this works because just the thought of that would scare the hiccups out of a person.
I can picture the deleted scene from Valley Girl. “Like oh my gosh. Like I had the hiccups and I totally gagged myself with a spoon and like it was totally gross like for sure. I threw up all over my Madonna poster. Like wow, totally no more hiccups. For sure.”
I will stick with the sugar.
2-“Yank forcefully on the tongue.”
WHAT?
I tried it last night. It hurts. Imagine the scene. Two couples meet on a cruise. The husband of one couple can’t talk. The wife is asked why. Her answer: “Back in 2002, John had the hiccups.”
I will stick to the sugar.

FINDING OTIS REDDING'S GHOST

Finding Otis Redding’s Ghost

2-10-09

This past weekend, we went to Memphis.
We went to visit my step son there and had a wonderful visit. The Memphis skies were partly cloudy but the days were beautiful. Beale Street was in full swing. Live Blues music was blowing through almost every door. The vibe was flowing through our bones. Our hotel was remodeled and like new. It was a weekend that would rank up with the best of them in my life so far.
When I was a younger boy, my little brother bought a compilation set of cassette tapes. The Complete Stax-Volt Singles: 1959-1968.
We were floored. This music spoke to my heart and something moved inside of me every time we listened.
Ever since that day, I wanted to go to Memphis to see where Stax Records was. Later in adult life that thought fell a little out of my mind, but I never forgot the music. Like many types of music, the Stax tunes were listened to for a stretch, then not. Regardless of the period of listening to the music or the music taking a back seat to other types, the Stax sound was always a part of me.
That sound and vibe will always be a part of me.
Hurricane Gustav hit and we evacuated to Memphis.
Prior to that I had almost forgotten about the Stax Museum (on the old site of the original recording studio) being in Memphis. We stopped at a tourist information station and were looking at brochures when we saw the Stax Museum flyer. I was instantly ashamed that I had not remembered it being there.
Otis help me.
We came and went and didn’t make it to the Stax Museum.
We vowed then, that on the next visit to Memphis, the museum visit would be on the agenda.
On Saturday, February 7, we drove to Soulsville USA, The Stax Museum of American Soul Music http://www.soulsvilleusa.com/ and my heart skipped a beat. I was actually nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it was going to be nice.
It was more than I expected.
It was a lot more.
All of the Stax artist have a place in my music heart. I enjoy some songs more than others, but every note, chord, and beat that was generated from the old converted movie theater at 926 E. McLemore Avenue hits me where it hurts (that is a good hurt).
Some we have all heard of, some lesser known. I learned of some artist just this weekend that I had no idea recorded at Stax.
Carla Thomas and her dad Rufus, Booker T. and the MGs, Sam and Dave, William Bell, The Staple Singers, Johnnie Taylor, The Mar-Keys, The Bar-Kays, Jean Knight, and Isaac Hayes are just a few of the many remarkable artist who produced that soulful sound from Stax Records. I was equally impressed with all of the exhibits and stories that reflected their lives and careers. In a word, I was simply moved.
As I walked through the museum I was held up by the old recording equipment that was displayed so gracefully there. It was as if time stood still for me. I thought about the fingers that touched the keys. I tried to put myself behind the controls as Carla Thomas or Otis Redding sang behind the microphone.
Then my wife walked up and said that coming up next is a room basically dedicated to Otis Redding.
My heart, another beat it skipped. When I walked around the corner and saw the picture of Otis on a board, a small tear tried to escape from my right eye. I held it back. Time stood still while I was in the “Otis” room (There were other items in the room, but the greater majority of the writings and plaques and pictures and documents were Otis).
I don’t know how long I was there but I do know the last thing I looked at in that room. I read Otis Redding’s death certificate.
I found Otis Redding’s ghost.



Note: When I say “Ghost” I do not mean the kind we all think of when Halloween comes around. I hope that in my writing, you, dear reader, understood the “Ghost” that I found. If not I failed you, if so, get yourself to Memphis.
Note 2: No cameras are allowed in the museum so after we exited I took pictures of the front of the building. Standing there, the tear that tried to escape in the “Otis Room” did.
Note 3: In later blogs, I would like to do a piece on the story of Stax records. Look for it whenever it may appear.

Wednesday quote............times 2

"Nothing in life can take the place of dependability. Brilliance, genius, competence - all are subservient to the quality of faithfulness." - Wallace Fridy


"If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer." - Proverbs 9:12

PAM.....the space aged last forever wonderful spray

I was briefly amazed by PAM. The 100% natural, no-stick cooking spray. A couple of days ago we were grilling and I looked at the PAM can and saw the words "Look! Freshness date on bottom." So in my most daring Dora the Explorer way, I looked under the can. What I saw was amazing. This can of PAM (which I am currently looking at for inspiration) has an Expiration date of "FEB2310". I went WOW! then started counting on my fingers. The year 2310....that's like 301 years from now. My wife chuckled and said the Expiration date was Feb. 23, 2010.

I paused for a moment and thought how stupid I was. But then I started thinking of distracting reasons why I was "not all there."

Could it have been the birds in the Avocado tree squawking (at a cat we didn't even see until it ran)?

Could have been the Christmas lights on the deck (we took the lights down in the front of the house, but will keep them up around the deck for awhile - see LOST LIGHTS)? http://copiouscogitations.blogspot.com/2009/01/lost-lights.html

Those lights were really shining.

Could it have been the mushrooms we were grilling (among other things)? They were store bought. We didn't find them with Alice in the woods.

Or was it just the relaxing day of not thinking about the world around us?

I vote for the latter.

So raise your PAM and spray.

PS: PAM is also fun to spray on ants. It doesn't really kill them but it is fun anyway.