In My Life

1 Nov

I was grading papers and listening to my iPod when “In My Life” started playing. Of course, I mean the Jose Feliciano version, which is the best of all the versions.Feliciano

It has always been one of my favorite songs, and, when we were picking music for our wedding, it was the first one on my list. I have no idea if it was played. You know how it is with weddings. The people getting married have to stay hidden and miss all of the preliminary activities.

My wife and I first dated years ago, but, for a myriad of reasons, things did not work out. Not least of which was the fact that I had no idea how to be in a relationship. We went our separate ways. The following is the way I went.

In my mind, I fancied myself as an explorer. I was the rider who was always looking toward the horizon and wondering what was on the other side. Others probably thought of me as a player of games. Another term could be serial dater. I was always in a relationship, but I was never in a relationship. As the person I was dating moved closer, I moved further away and started searching for the next person.

I also kept what I considered a back door. I wanted a way to get out quickly if that is what I wanted to do. This meant as few attachments as possible. This meant, among other things, keeping their personal items at their places. God forbid someone start talking about moving in. That would always throw the situation into turmoil.

In short, I was a terrible person to have a relationship with. I was never fully committed, and everyone would eventually figure that out. They may have been thinking about forever, and I was thinking about when it was going to end. When those ends came, they came like hurricanes.

Through those times, I was not trying to be a bad person. I was trying to make my way through life and find the person who was meant for me. However, each relationship felt off. For me, there was something missing in each, and I knew it was not where I was meant to be. I did not handle any of them correctly, but none of them were what I really wanted.

There were probably people out there who envied my life. I was free to do what I wanted whenever I wanted. Nothing was tying me down. They probably saw my life as an adventure with something new happening all of the time. Some of that is true, and I liked my life. However, there were parts of it that people never saw. They never saw me walk into an empty house. They never knew that I wondered why other people could be in successful relationships while I could not. They never felt my feeling of always being in the wrong relationship at the wrong time.

My life was a broken record. Meet a women. Start a relationship. Get restless. Meet another woman. Start a relationship. Get restless.

Looking back on it, I know that it was a miserable existence.

When my wife came back into my life, I was afraid that the pattern would continue. After all, we had broken up years before. However, this relationship felt differently. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I did not want to open a back door.

Before we got married, my wife told a story that involved her cousin. As the story goes, her cousin went to work for a lady who used to live across the street from me. She did not know everything about me, but she knew enough to have a conversation. One day, they were talking about me, and the lady wondered why I had never gotten married. She came to the conclusion that I was waiting for someone. That is when my wife’s cousin said that she knew who I was waiting on.

Thinking about that conversation, I know that she was right. There was a reason I was restless. There was a reason that the relationships never felt right. I had already met the love of my life.

I love my wife. I love my life. The past two years of marriage have been the greatest years I have ever known, and I know that future years are only going to be better.

A while back, a friend asked how married life was going, and I talked about how great it is. Then, they asked if I wished I had gotten married earlier. The answer was easy. I am thrilled that I did not get married earlier because I would have been married to the wrong person.

In my life, being married to my wife is the best thing I have ever known.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Maureen O’Hara Edition

29 Oct

A few days ago, Maureen O’Hara passed away. In my opinion, she was one of Hollywood’s most underrated actresses. She excelled in a variety of movie genres, but I knew her most from the Westerns of John Ford and John Wayne. Since her passing, I have delved into her career and realized that I have also seen a few of her non-Western movies.

To honor Maureen O’Hara, these are some words of wisdom that can be found in her works.Maureen

From Miracle on 34th Street

Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.

Don’t overlook those lovely intangibles.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

A man’s gotta do something to keep warm.

From Rio Grande

A man’s word to anything is his honor.

From The Parent Trap

History’s just jammed with stories of lovers parted by some silly thing.

From Spencer’s Mountain

Sometimes educated people has less brains than fools.

The world steps aside to let any man pass if he knows where he is going.

From McLintock!

Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.

From The Rare Breed

You cannot live with dreams.

A man in love is neither lord nor master of himself.

While beauty is skin deep, meanness runs all the way through.

 

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Cumberland Beats Georgia Tech 629 to 450

26 Oct

In 1916, Cumberland University, the place where I work, played in a memorable football game. They traveled to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech, which was coached by John Heisman. Yes, the man who the trophy is named for.

The game is memorable because Georgia Tech won 222-0, which is the most lopsided game in college football history.Score

Occasionally, that score will show up on ESPN or some other channel, and the announcers will make a joke out of it. They do not say that Cumberland disbanded football the year before and that Heisman threatened to sue the university if a team did not show up. They also do not say anything about Cumberland beating the Georgia Tech baseball team 20-0. That team was also coached by Heisman, and he was looking for some payback.

Essentially, the game was between a pickup intramural team and the best team in the nation.

Around here, we hear about that game a lot, but the 2015 season has brought us something else to talk about. This year, the Cumberland Bulldogs are better than the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets or Rambling Wreck or whatever they are calling themselves. This is how it works.

Cumberland beat Kentucky Christian 54-21, and Morehead State beat Kentucky Christian 28-0. That means Cumberland is better than Morehead State.

Morehead State beat Campbell 31-27.

Campbell beat Drake 24-14.

Drake beat Jacksonville 28-24.

Jacksonville beat Delaware 20-14.

Delaware beat New Hampshire 31-14.

New Hampshire beat Elon 37-14.

Elon beat Gardner Webb 21-13.

Gardner Webb beat Liberty 34-20.

Liberty beat Montana 31-21.

Montana beat North Dakota 42-16.

North Dakota beat Portland State 19-17.

Portland State beat Washington State 24-17.

Washington State beat Rutgers 37-34.

Rutgers beat Indiana 55-52.

Indiana beat Western Kentucky 38-35.

Western Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 14-12.

Vanderbilt beat Missouri 10-3.

Missouri beat South Carolina 24-10.

South Carolina beat North Carolina 17-13.

North Carolina beat Georgia Tech 38-31.

All of that happened with a combined score of 629-450.

Lest you think I figured all of that out by myself, I bring your attention to http://www.myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com. Check it out to see where your team ranks.

With that being said, I hope John Heisman is spending eternity coaching baseball.

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Stuck in the Middle

24 Oct

I stay away from politics on this blog for a couple of reasons. First, I think my personal politics is a private matter. When I go into a voting booth, no one is allowed in there with me, and there is a reason for that. Second, no one really cares what I think nor should they care what I think. That is my biggest problem with celebrities who spout their political philosophies. I do not want to know. Third, there are probably people from all political spectrums who find their way to this blog, and I see no reason to make them mad.

With all of that being typed, this post is about politics. Specifically, it is about a couple of conversations from earlier today that I saw as a microcosm of the state of politics.Stooges

This afternoon, I was at work and met someone in the hallway. We had been talking for a few minutes when I was asked if I watched Hillary Clinton at the Benghazi hearings. I said that I did not watch it but followed some of it on Twitter. That is when the other person started talking about how it was terrible. The committee did not hit her hard enough. They should have gone after Clinton for the terrible job she did as Secretary of State. After all, Richard Nixon erased 18 minutes of a tape and was forced out of office. She deleted 30,000 emails and nobody cares.

After our conversation, I walked outside and headed toward my car. That is when another colleague walked up and started talking. We had been talking for a few minutes when I was asked if I watched Hillary Clinton at the Benghazi hearings. I said that I did not watch it but followed some of it on Twitter. That is when the other person started talking about how it was terrible. The committee treated her too harshly. It was sickening and was the worse thing that has happened since Joseph McCarthy was holding hearings.

When I got into my car, I started wondering what just happened. I talked to two people in a matter of minutes, and they had completely different opinions of the same event. These two people have similar backgrounds and perform similar jobs. Yet, they saw the hearings from polar opposite perspectives.

People have always disagreed politically, but it shocked me to have those hear those opinions in that short of a timeframe. Then, I realized that I had experienced our political atmosphere. It is not that people disagree. It is that people think those on the other side are evil, stupid, crazy and are driving our country over a cliff. That is why nothing can get done. Many people talk about how politicians need to negotiate and meet in the middle. However, politicians know that the conservative and liberal bases do not want that to happen.

I consider myself to be someone in the middle. On some issues, I am more conservative. On other issues, I am more liberal. Today, I found myself really in the middle as I listened to people espouse opinions from both wings.

Which one was correct? I have no idea. However, I bet the truth is somewhere in the middle. More people interested in politics should realize that.

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The Faded Dreams of Kit Carson and Cactus Slim

23 Oct

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and it was fun to experience with her the things I usually experience with students. It was also fun to visit Santa Fe in a more relaxing way. We hit a bunch of the cool spots that I have written about before.

Acoma Pueblo

Tent Rocks

The Santa Fe Plaza

We also ate at some fantastic restaurants.

Maria’s

Horseman’s Haven

Santa Fe Bite

Along the way, we found time to go to an awesome movie theater, and my wife spent some time in the spa at our hotel, the Inn at Loretto. We also visited a former member of the Shadow Horse Gang.

Oh yeah, we also bought a piece of Native American art that dates back a couple of thousand years.

It was a great trip, and I am glad that my wife and I spent some time in one of my favorite places. Two people driving around in a regular vehicle allowed us to do some things that are not possible with a bunch of students in a 15 passenger van, and a couple of those things led me to some deep thinking.

On Saturday, we made our way to Madrid, an abandoned mining town that became home to some people who wanted to get away from the bonds of society. I have been there many times, but this time was different in one respect. We got to sit and have a beer. While drinking that beer, we listened to a band called Cactus Slim and the Goat Heads.image-3

As we listened, I realized that the band was made up of locals who had, as I wrote earlier, made their way to Madrid to find freedom from the stresses of our world. One table was filled with other locals who had done the same thing.

The table in front of us was filled with people who looked for freedom in another way. There were two couples who had ridden their motorcycles to town. Madrid has become a destination for those weekend riders who want to spend Saturdays and Sundays on the roads with the wind in their hair. After all, helmets are not required in New Mexico.

Listening to the music and watching the people made me think about the larger city down the road. Santa Fe has also become a place where people want to be free to pursue their dreams without society getting in the way. Artists come from all around to be inspired by the environment and make a living off of that inspiration.

On Monday, we went to Taos and explored the town. The stop that I had to make was at Kit Carson’s home. He is one of the great characters of the American West, and I wanted to walk in his footsteps. Before going into the house, we watched a movie about him, and one scene struck me to the core.

The narrator said that Carson went into the West to escape American civilization and society. However, the trails he blazed would be used by others to bring that civilization and society into the West. In essence, he could not escape the bounds of his world because he brought them with him.

That made me think of Cactus Slim and the citizens of Madrid. Like Carson, they moved there to be free of society and the stresses that go with it, but that same society followed them there. My wife and I brought it with us. The man in the blazer who my wife thought was Robert Redford’s brother brought it with him. The bikers at the next table brought it with them.

Madrid is no longer an escape from the outside world. It is an attraction to the outside world.

The same can be said of Santa Fe. It was a place for artists to live a life unnumbered. Now, it is a place of art galleries filled with expensive pieces. It is a place of nice hotels with spas and fancy restaurants. It is a place for people like us to walk around the streets and find our own sense of temporary freedom.

The dreams of Kit Carson and Cactus Slim were to escape the world. Those dreams were shattered by the fact that it is an impossible feat. No matter where they go the rest of us are going to follow.

There is one other sad part of those broken dreams. The people who went into the corners of the West to left one society and ran into another. Madrid, Taos and Santa Fe sit on land that was once the domain of Native Americans. Now, those Native Americans are on reservations and come to those towns to sell their wares.

The dreamers looked for freedom by taking that freedom from the people who were already there. Then, the freedom they thought they had achieved turned out to be temporary.

Kit Carson and Cactus Slim come from different times, but their dreams turned out the same.

 

 

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When Listening to Sports Talk Radio Leads to an Investigation of Woodstock

13 Oct

The other day, I was listening to a sports talk radio interview with John Fogerty. Apparently, he has a book coming out that needs to be promoted. He spoke on a lot of interesting subjects, but my ears perked up with he was asked about Woodstock. In short, he did not have a good opinion of the event.CCR

Fogerty said that Creedence Clearwater Revival went on three hours late for two reasons. The Grateful Dead would not stop playing, and the festival was run by people who had no concept of time.  By the time Fogerty and the gang hit the stage, most of the crowd was passed out. Although, there was one guy in the distance who was holding up his lighter.

I looked up the Woodstock schedule and found the truth behind Fogerty’s words. He did not take the stage until well after midnight. However, I also found out something else. Performers who epitomized the era were not at the concert that epitomized the era.

Bob Dylan lived in the area but was not on the bill. In fact, he got upset at the number of people who had shown up.

The Doors turned down an invitation because they thought it was a knockoff of the Monterey Festival.

The Byrds did not play because it was one of many festivals taking place.

Joni Mitchell missed Woodstock to be on The Dick Cavett Show.

Woodstock is in the history books and is considered a watershed moment for the 1960s counterculture. However, it was a business venture. The organizers wanted to make money, and the performers wanted to make money. Many of the people who sang the soundtrack of the 1960s missed Woodstock because they would not get enough pay.

Woodstock was a huge event but was it bigger than Monterey? Was it a better concert than the Atlanta International Pop Festival?

Part of me thinks the fascination with Woodstock comes from the documentary released in 1970. It won an Academy Award; paid off the debts of the organizers; and preserved the festival for posterity. On film, Woodstock looks like fun, but I wonder if it was that fun in real life.

Did you attend Woodstock? Was it as important as history says it was? More importantly, how was the show?

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Long Pants and Socks

9 Oct

WARNING: THIS POST MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME PEOPLE! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

A few weeks ago, my nephew and I were at a football game when he asked a simple question.

Why are you wearing sandals?

Unfortunately, that simple question did not have a simple answer. If I could boil the answer down to one sentence, then I would say, “Because I like socks.”

Allow me to explain.

I know that my wife would like for me to wear loafers with shorts. However, I cannot bring myself to do it because of something that happened in my childhood. My dad had a friend who wore loafers with shorts, and I thought it was the strangest looking thing I had ever seen. It got more strange when he took them off. His feet were swollen, blistered and caked with dead skin. In my mind, I knew what was up. If he had been wearing socks, then his feet would not be destroyed.

Shoes that encompass feet are meant to be worn with socks. If that was not the case, then socks would have not been invented. I like to wear socks with shoes. I also like to wear socks around the house. Rarely do I go around barefoot. Do you know why? Because that is how feet end up swollen, blistered and caked with dead skin.

When we were dating, my wife really wanted me to wear loafers with shorts. She thinks it looks good. I do not agree, but I was willing to give it a try. Coincidentally, that same night we had the biggest fight ever. I acted like a fool, and I am certain that the shoes played a huge role. I did not like the look, and I definitely did not like the fact that my feet were swollen, blistered and caked with dead skin.

I understand that a lot of guys like the look and the feel of wearing loafers without socks. There are a ton of guys I know who do it all of the time. I just do not know why.

The other day, we were tailgating at a Tennessee Titans game, and one of the tailgaters was wearing sneakers with socks. Before going into the stadium, he took them off and slipped on loafers. One word entered my mind.

Why?

His situation brings me to another point. For a while, I tried to get by with wearing some high dollar running shoes with shorts. They are super comfortable, and I wore socks that did not go above the shoe line. In my mind, this was a good compromise. However, the next time we went shopping my wife pointed out a pair of sandals. It turns out that they are a better compromise, and that is why I was wearing them to the football game. They encompass my feet, but the airiness makes the socklessness bearable.

All of that is well and good, but this post is about more than socks. The entire issue about the shoes is created by the issue of wearing shorts. That is why people can see if there are socks or no socks.

When it comes to shorts, I must make a confession. I like wearing long pants a lot better. This probably comes from the fact that my dad – the man I respect and admire more than any other – has never worn shorts. At least, if he has, then I have never seen it. For years, his comfort clothes of choice were khaki pants and Hushpuppy shoes – with socks. That probably shaped my opinion that men should wear long pants. As a result, I wore long pants, and they became my most comfortable clothes. While most people put on shorts or pajamas to lie around the house, I wear jeans…and socks.

When I talk to my wife about the uncomfortable aspects of wearing shoes without socks, she counters with the argument that women have to wear uncomfortable shoes. In other words, we all have to sacrifice.

I agree and have an idea of how men can sacrifice just like women have to sacrifice.

Instead of going around without socks and wearing shorts, men should dress more manly by wearing long pants and shoes with socks.

Wyatt Earp never wore loafers and shorts.Wyatt

George Patton never wore loafers and shorts.Patton

Genghis Khan never wore loafers and shorts.Khan

The list goes on and on.

Anyway, the issue is solved. Women have to sacrifice for fashion, and men should do the same by wearing long pants and socks. The fact that those things are more comfortable for me has no bearing on the situation.

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My iPod Has Issues – Brain Block

7 Oct

There are several ideas rattling around in my brain, but they are all being blocked by my thoughts on long pants and socks. The problem is that I am not ready to write that post because it has not properly formulated itself in my mind. It will contain important information, and I want it to come out right.

Here I sit. Laptop in my lap. Television on some documentary that is not interesting. An almost empty glass of orange juice on the table. What to do? What to do?

I know. I will turn on the iPod and see what it going on inside its brain. Hopefully, there are no long pants or socks blocking it from thinking.Block Brick

“Pipe Dreams” by Jimmy Beck and His Orchestra

“Melissa” by The Allman Brothers Band

“Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer

“Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie

“Ignition” by R. Kelly

“Go Speed Racer Go” by Sponge

“Little Joe” by Red Sovine

“Numb” by Linkin Park

“I Ka Barra” by Habib Koite and Bamada

“Philadelphia Lawyer” by Red Smiley and the Bluegrass Cut-Ups

“You Really Got Me” by The Kinks

“I Fought the Law” by The Bobby Fuller Four

“Reach for It” by George Duke

“Baby Love” by The Supremes

“American Roulette” by Robbie Robertson

“Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi

“The Streak” by Ray Stevens

“Drops of Jupiter” by Train

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King

“I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” by Jim Croce

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From Juice Newton to Jethro Bodine

6 Oct

My wife called from the beach with a very important question. Who sang Who sang “Angel of the Morning“? She was in a huge debate with her mother. My wife said it was Juice Newton and my mother-in-law said it was someone else. My wife turned out to be right.Juice Newton

I am glad she was right because I thought it was Donna Fargo, who hit it big with “The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA“.

I have no idea why I wrote about our discussion of country music trivia, but it is probably because I cannot think of anything else to write about. There is a post floating in my brain about long pants and socks. However, it would be a controversial topic and might offend some of my readers.

There is a stack of graded quizzes on our breakfast table. They were over a book that I had some of my classes read. In the Heart of the Sea is about the Essex, a whaling ship that was attacked by a whale. I will not tell you what happened because Ron Howard just finished making a movie about it. The only thing I can tell you is that the story inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick.

It is still quiet around the house with everyone gone. I am in one chair and Daisy Dog is in the other one. To tell you the truth, it is kind of boring. I guess that I could watch a movie or get back on the treadmill. However, those are not inspiring choices. There is a Monday Night Football game on, but that does not excite me.

I wonder how Juice Newton got a name like Juice.

(Pause)

After a quick Google search, I learned that her real name is Judy Kay Newton, but there is nothing about how that turned into Juice. However, I came across another song that I forgot she sang. In fact, I think “It’s a Heartache” is better than the other one.

For some reason, reading about Juice Newton makes me think of Bobbie Gentry. Talk about somebody who put out a great song. “Ode to Billie Joe” is one of the all time greats. Although, there was a terrible movie starring Robby Benson that was inspired by the song. It was directed by Max Baer, Jr., better known as Jethro Bodine.Jethro

By the way, did you know that Max Baer, Sr. was boxing’s heavyweight champion of the world?

Anyway, it is time for this post to come to an end. We have not covered much useful information. That long pants and socks post is still rattling around in my mind. Who knows? Maybe that will be the next one.

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Movie Wisdom – Charlton Heston Edition

5 Oct

In the last post, I mentioned a character played by, among others, Charlton Heston. Then, I flipped through the channels and caught a few minutes of Will Penny, which stars Charlton Heston. If that is not a sign, then I do not know what a sign looks like. Obviously, it is time to check out words of wisdom from the movies of Charlton Heston.Charlton Heston

From The Greatest Show on Earth

When things go up, they must come down.

From The Ten Commandments

Ambition knows no father.

Nothing from some is more than gold from others.

A charging chariot knows no rank!

From The Big Country

Take a bath sometime.

You don’t shoot an unarmed man.

From Ben-Hur

Live your own life.

The world is more than we know.

A grown man knows the world he lives in.

From Will Penny

We don’t all have the same choices.

No self-respectin’ cowhand’d be caught dead milkin’ a cow!

From Planet of the Apes

Some apes, it seems, are more equal than others.

You can’t trust the older generation.

From The Omega Man

There’s never a cop around when you need one.

From Soylent Green

People were always rotten.

You’re bought as soon as they pay you a salary.

From Tombstone

Wearing that badge don’t make you right.

From True Lies

Seconds count.

 

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