A Loving Reality

7 Jan

I had a medical procedure that required going under anesthesia. Before all of the action took place, I was looking out the window. Cars and trucks were going down the interstate. Flags were flying in the wind. The world was moving as I sat with tube and wires hooked to me.

Then, a scenario formulated in my mind. What if someone was put under anesthesia and they woke up in an alternate reality. Not one of those realities where the world is turned upside down. I mean an alternate reality with changes that are not immediately noticeable.Flag

A flag with 53 stars.

20-wheelers instead of 18-wheelers.

As the person goes along for a few days, they begin to notice these slight differences and realize that they add up to one big alternate reality. I am sure there are Twilight Zone and Star Trek episodes that deal with such things.

May years ago, I started writing a story about a guy who had a wreck and ended up in a coma. When he woke up, his life was completely different from the one he remembered. He was totally confused and had to figure out what was going on. Was this his real life? Was he still in a coma? Were the memories he thought were real only figments of his broken imagination?

I never finished that story. Other things in life gobbled up the time, and I put it away for a while. You know how it is when that happens. The thing you put away is lost forever.

There was a time in my life when I wished I could transfer to an alternate reality. I was lost in a lot of ways and was in psychological shambles. I no longer wish for alternate realities because this reality is the one I want.

When I woke up, they called my wife into the room, and she was by my side when the doctor came in for his consultation. She has spent the rest of the day taking care of me.

I am happy with this reality because I am loved, and there is nothing more real than that.

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Monty Pope – Teacher and Mentor

6 Jan

Several months ago, I wrote this about my mentor and friend. As we prepare for school to begin, I am inspired to reblog this post. It is about a great man and a great teacher.

Rick's avatarSBI: A Thinning Crowd

A few days ago, I had lunch with Monty Pope. Most of you have never heard that name, but please allow me to introduce him. Monty recently retired from a long career teaching history that began in the public schools of Nashville and ended at Cumberland University.

I was working on a Master’s degree when I first met Monty. He was offering a class on Historical Geography, and I needed to fulfill some hours. It turned into a class that I was always remember. Monty took us on a tour of the town that I grew up in and, through architectural styles, showed us when and how the town developed. Riding on that van, I had no idea that Monty and I would teach together for over a decade.Monty Pope

When I was hired, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never taught a class. I had never…

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Back to School

5 Jan

It is time to get back into the swing of things. The holidays are over. The days of going to bed late and getting up even later are a thing of the past. School is almost back in session.

Today, I am working on this semester’s schedule. When will tests be given? When will assignments be due? I like to give everything its proper space and not overwhelm the students all at once. Other teachers must use a similar formula for such things because students always complain that we schedule tests and papers at the same times. They are convinced that we work together to make their academic lives as difficult as possible.

Actually, I have never consulted another teacher about their schedule of events. I reckon that we happen to use the same scheduling techniques. Of course, we could have been brainwashed at some undisclosed location and hardwired to think like each other.

Today, I work on classes. Tomorrow, I work on classes. Wednesday, I have another matter to deal with. Thursday, I have faculty meetings. Friday, I have faculty meetings. That is how the week before classes begin usually goes.

So much time and so little to do. Wait, that is what Willy Wonka said.Willy Wonka

Actually, there is so little time and so much to do. That means I should be working on this schedule instead of blogging. That means that this post is coming to an unceremonious close.

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My iPod Has Issues – Prophets and Movie Makers

2 Jan

Wow, I cannot believe that it is 2015. That means it has been eighteen years since Snake Plissken defeated Isaac Hayes and escaped from New York with the first American president with a British accent.Plissken

I tell my students that if they are going to start their own religion and make a prediction about the end of the world, then they should make the date sometime in the distant future. When the end does not come, they will no longer be around for the disappointment. There is not much worse than a prophet who misses the set apocalyptic date.

The same can be said for people who make movies based in the future. When the established year actually hits, the movie is immediately outdated.

These are lessons to be learned for potential prophets and movie makers.

To honor those who have seen their work spoiled by the turning of the calendar, here is my playlist for the day. Prophets and movie makers may be somewhat crazy, but they are not as crazy as my iPod.

In honor of The Duke, I will start out with one of his classics.

“Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes

“For Your Precious Love” by Truth Hurts

“Pretty Paper” by Willie Nelson

“High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish” by Tony Joe White

“Love and Happiness” by Al Green

“Satan’s Got To Get Along Without Me” by Buck Owens

“See No Evil” by Television

“The Theme From Route 66” by Nelson Riddle

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

“Callas Went Away” by Enigma

“Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison

“Waterloo” by Stonewall Jackson

“Red Cross Store” by Mississippi Fred McDowall

“Just A Song Before I Go” by Crosby, Stills and Nash

“Tree of Level” by The Fairfield Four

“Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MG’s

“Boogie Street” by Leonard Cohen

“American Witch” by Rob Zombie

“Don’t Bring Me Down” by The Animals

“An American Trilogy” by Elvis Presley

“Served Chilled” by Groove Armada

I hope everyone has a great 2015. Be sure to make those predictions count.

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Celebrations of Yesteryear

1 Jan

Last night, we spent a low-key evening playing games and doing everything we could to stay up until midnight. It was a fun celebration of the new year, but my mind kept going back to a celebration that took place twenty-five years ago.

My college roommates and I threw a huge party at our apartment. To protect the guilty, I will not recount the gory details of the gathering, but it would make a good movie to be shown in some art house theater.

There were two parts of the party that can fit a family blog and provide examples of that night. First, most of the furniture ended up in the backyard. Second, I spent the strike of midnight convincing a girl not to kill her boyfriend.

As I thought back to that night, I thought about where I was on other nights of the yearly eve, Honestly, I cannot remember most of them. That is either a result of inebriation or old age. However, a few of the nights come in clearly.New Year

One New Year’s Eve was spent at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Those were the days when my favorite football team played in a New Year’s Day bowl every year. We watched fireworks that night and watched fireworks on the field the next day.

Traveling to a football game also took me to the streets of Phoenix, Arizona on a warm December night. My friend, who was also hosted the famous party, and I stumbled down the sidewalks with 200,000 other people. Luckily, we ran into Larry, who you have read about a couple of times, and he got us to our hotel.

Football games have also led me to less festive locales. One New Year’s Eve was spent in a Waffle House in north Georgia. The greatest memory of that night was one of my traveling companions complaining about the iced tea. According to him, it tasted like urine. Of course, he used a different term.

The New Year’s Eve on of Waikiki Beach was a lot better than the one in north Georgia. Everyone sat in the sand while fireworks blasted over the Pacific Ocean. The only problem was that we had to drive across the island to our beach house and almost got lost.

There have been many memorable New Year’s celebrations. However, none of them compare to the party at Citizen, a private club in Nashville. At one of their parties, I spent New Year’s Eve with my future wife. Since then, every celebration of the coming year has been awesome.

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A Prime Minister and a Racetrack

31 Dec

Once, there was a prime minister of Great Britain. I reckon he was somewhat famous. He was prime minister during World War II and was one of the most important people of the 20th Century. You may have heard his name. It was Winston Churchill.Winston Churchill

Currently, there is a famous racetrack in Kentucky. In fact, its most famous race is called the Kentucky Derby and has been run since the 1870s. You may have heard of the racetrack. It is called Churchill Downs.Churchill Downs

Why am I writing about all of this Churchill stuff? Because I live on a street named Churchill, and nobody knows how to spell it. I have seen it spelled as Churchhill, and I have seen it spelled as Church Hill.

Heck, our city, which owns the street and takes care of it, spells it Church Hill. Our water bill says Church Hill, and our property tax card says Church Hill. I wonder if I have to pay those since I do not live on Church Hill.

Since no one knows how to spell the names of one of the most famous people of the 20th Century and one of the most famous racetracks in the United States, I am writing this blog in their honor.

Here is to you, Winston Church Hill.

Here is to you, Churchhill Downs.

May your names live on.

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Movie Wisdom – David Keith Edition

29 Dec

My fandom of University of Tennessee athletics has been mentioned several times on this blog. We have had season tickets for football and basketball for decades, and I have been lucky enough to attend hundreds of games. However, I am not alone in my addiction. There are thousands upon thousands of us.

One of those thousands, David Keith, has football tickets a few rows in front of us. He is also an actor who has been in some good and not-so-good movies. How big of a fan is he? Well, he wears something orange in every movie.

I just put together a “Movie Wisdom” post but decided that a David Keith version needed to be created.David Keith

I only wish that I could have found a good line from The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck.

From The Rose

We are waitresses at the banquet of life!

From Brubaker

You can’t reform the system if you’re not in it.

From The Two Jakes

The city’s different at night.

You can’t trust a guy who’s never lost anything.

From Major League II

When the tough get goin’, go and get tough.

From U-571

You have to be able to make hard decisions based on imperfect information.

From Men of Honor

Beware what you wish for.

From Daredevil

It’s all business.

Violence doesn’t discriminate.

There’s an old saying that too much pride can kill a man.

Justice isn’t a sin.

Those are words of wisdom from the movies of a guy who sits in front of us at football games. There is only one more thing to say. Go Big Orange!

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A Lack of Respect for Frosty the Snowman

27 Dec

Like a lot of people, our house gets all decorated up for Christmas. This year, we had two Christmas Trees. One was called pretty. The other one was called tacky. Take a guess which one was my favorite.

Anyway, we had Christmas stuff everywhere. Figurines. Snow globes. Stockings. Each one of them had their place of prominence. However, one piece of Christmas decor did not receive the respect that I think it deserved.

Frosty the Snowman is a classic character and the star of one of the holiday’s best cartoons. You just would not know it at our house. Our Frosty sat on the couch in the bonus room, which should have been good because that is where we have the big television. However, that could have been his demise.

When someone hit the couch to watch television, Frosty always ended up on the floor.image-20

Most times, he lost his hat, too. Naming myself the fixer of Frosty, I gave myself the job of putting Frosty back into his proper place and putting his hat back on his head. Through the weeks, I have lost count of how many times I had to come to his rescue. I must admit that I started feeling sorry for him.

Tomorrow, we will be putting the Christmas decorations back into the attic, and Frosty the Snowman will go back into his box. I have determined that next year Frosty will be placed in a more protected place. There is no reason for him to spend his furlough on the floor. He should at least be allowed to sit up.

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Movie Wisdom – Earl Holliman Edition

26 Dec

As Christmas wound down, I turned on the television; flipped through the channels; and came upon The Sons of Katie Elder. This is not one of my favorite westerns, but I was lucky enough to catch the opening scenes, which I have always thought were cool.

As I watched the movie, I realized a couple of things. Martha Hyer, who plays the wholesome love interest of John Wayne, played a completely different kind of role the year before. She was soiled woman in The Carpetbaggers.

Also, I realized that Earl Holliman, who played one of Katie Elder’s sons, shows up in a lot of old movies. That is when I decided to find out if there can be any wisdom found in the movies of Earl Holliman.Earl Holliman

This is what I discovered.

From Broken Lance

Anybody that throws $10,000 in a spittoon makes me nervous.

From Forbidden Planet

We’re all part monsters in our subconscious, so we have laws and religion!

One cannot behold the face of the Gorgon and live!

From Giant

Money isn’t everything.

Just remember, one of these days, that bourbon’s gonna kill you.

From Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

There’s always a man faster on the draw than you are, and the more you use a gun, the sooner you’re gonna run into that man.

Poker’s played by desperate men who cherish money.

From Last Train from Gun Hill

If any of the girls try and tell you how wonderful you are, don’t believe them.

The human race stinks.

Don’t take no guts to kill a man when he’s cuffed!

There you have it. The wisdom of Earl Holliman.

 

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My iPod Has Issues – The Eve of Christmas Eve

23 Dec

Christmas is almost upon us. All those hours of decorating, shopping and “ugly sweater” partying comes down to a couple of days.

In our family, Christmas is spread over a couple of days. The afternoon of Christmas Eve is spent at the home of my parents. Christmas Eve night is a bit of a puzzle. Traditionally, my mom’s family and her mom’s family get together at the exact same time in two different counties. For that reason, we compromise and alternate years. This year, we will go to her mom’s place.

Through the years, Christmas Day has been less hectic. We go to my brother’s home for breakfast with his family. For me, that used to be the end of it. We used to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family, but most of them are no longer with us. Since out marriage, we drive a couple of counties away to visit my father-in-law’s relations.

In other words, the next couple of days are going to be crazy. Of course, Christmas is like that for a lot of people. We are lucky that our families do not live half way around the world.

Drive. Eat. Open gifts. Drive. Open gifts. Visit. Eat. That is a ton of activity. Then, it is all over. The decorations come down. The food leftovers are put into Tupperware. Normalcy returns.

In anticipation of the craziness to come, let us explore the craziness of my iPod. Unfortunately, it will not be Christmas themed because there is only one Christmas song on the playlist. However, I will cheat a little and start things off with that solitary Christmas tune.Bing Crosby

“Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” by Bing Crosby and David Bowie

“Green Green Grass of Home” by Porter Wagoner

“You Must Believe in Spring” by Tony Bennett and Bill Evans

“Mumblin’ Guitar” by Bo Diddley

“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell

“Jump, Jive And Wail” by Louis Prima

“Soul Francisco” by Tony Joe White

“Season In Hell” by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

“Blood And Roses” by The Smithereens

“Farther Along” by Mississippi John Hurt

“Youth Gone Wild” by Skid Row

“The Heart Of The Matter” by Don Henley

“Rockin’ The Joint” by Esquerita

“Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke

“The Fat Man” by Fats Domino

“Mercado Muevo” by John Murphy

“Contempt – Theme De Camille” by Georges Delerue

“Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley

“Before Today” by Everything But The Girl

“Walk On By” by Dionne Warwick

If I do not get back to the blogging world before Christmas, then I hope everyone has a great one.

 

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