Christmas List

Wow. It's December 1st already. Hard to believe 2011 is one month away from ending. Christmas is right around the corner and I was thinking back the other day to when I was a kid and how excited I was when the Christmas catalogs would arrive in the mail. You remember them, unless your a lot younger then I am. Sears and JCPennys were the big ones. Those things would arrive in November I believe and I would spend hours looking over each item on each page in the toy section towards the back, trying to decide if and what item deserved to be on my Christmas list. I would usually write that list up. Then erase items I had wrote and penciled in something else until the sheet of paper was a blur of erased pencil marks. I would tear that one up and start fresh. The finished paper had to look professional, I couldn't take a chance on turning in a sloppy Christmas list to Santa and then later on my parents. I put more effort into that wish list then I did most homework assignments at the time. I tried to have the right balance of things that weren't too big and extravagant and things I thought would be fun to have. But what if I were to write a Christmas list today? As a 44 year old male, what items would I want on that list. Here's a few things that I thought would be nice.

-A new tube of Preparation H that comes in a commemorative 2011 Christmas tin

-A new pair of 4.00X magnifying reading glasses so I could WRITE my Christmas list and then proof read it.

-A stylish new pair of orthopedic shoes that's designed to alleviate pain from falling arches.

-A Atari gaming system (that was a annual wish list item when I was a kid and I never got one and I'm still traumatized by that)

-A gift card from Hess for a months worth of free gas. I know, WAY to expensive to ask for but this is a "wish" list, right?

-A new President with conservative valves in 2012.

-One of those miracle dumb looking exercise gadgets that will change my 2 liter abs to six pack ones with just 5 minutes of use per day.

-A risque pair of new flannel pajama for nights when the mood is right with that special someone.

-A brand new Hybrid gas sipping car would be nice. It would certainly eliminate the need for the Hess gas card. Maybe I could jazz it up with some custom painted pinstripes, a air scoop on the hood and a great stereo system.

-One of those new fancy Blu-ray DVD players would be nice. First though I would have to make sure it would be compatible with my 18 year old 27 inch Magnavox.

-Speaking of DVD's, the complete second season of Hee Haw would be nice. That was the season Grandpa Jones moved to Kornfield County from neighboring Hillbilly Hollow and Junior Sample was introduced.

Of course, this is a early list. Items on here are subject to change as Christmas approaches. Keep checking back for my revised list.

Dad

Most of my friends that read this know that I recently lost my Dad. He had just celebrated his 79th birthday on Nov 2nd. He left this world on Nov 11th in the wee hours of the morning. My dad had been ill for about two years and just grew weary and tired of his fight. And what a fight he put up. He had emergency surgery almost two years ago to the day. Back then, no doctor gave him a chance to ever leave the hospital. He was to sick, to ill to recover. But he did. Doctors and nurses were amazed. He was a strong man. And that's the way I remember him. When I was a little boy I thought nothing was impossible for my dad. He could fix anything. He knew everything. When I would have a bad dream in the middle of the night I would go in his and mom's room and try to quietly climb into bed with them. I remember thinking how nothing could harm me as I was laying against his back. As I grew up I remember thinking that dad was to hard on me, making me work around the farm. The list of chores got longer as I got older and I was envious of my friends who lived in town that didn't have the chores that I did. Thank you dad for making me get up and get to it. My dad loved people and always had a smile for and a story to tell someone. He could and would strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. We never ate in a restaurant without dad harassing the help. I would feel so bad for the poor waitresses who ended up with our table. Dad did it all in good nature of course and by the end of the meal most of the women were laughing right along with him and us. Most of them would. I do remember a few that looked like they were about ready to explode and I would whisper to him that he better back off a little cause the poor woman's top was about to blow. Dad loved to travel and him and my mom did a lot of it. First they did it with my three older siblings, then 10 years later it was me and my younger sister Kimberly's turn. Dad had a slide in camper and we took more trips in that thing then we can remember. We always seemed to squeeze in a trip to Florida during the summer while me and my sis were out of school and me and Kim would always beg for a day at Disney. I have fond memories of being at the Magic Kingdom with my parents and Kim. Dad worked hard and made us work hard to but he always made sure we had time together to play as well. He instilled a strong work ethic in all 5 of his children and he always provided for us, placing our needs above his own. He and my mother were married for 57 years. 57 years! Sadly, that's a rarity now a days. He loved his wife and my mother with a passion. But above all of this, my dad loved his lord and savior. He never hesitated to tell whoever he could about Gods love for us and he sending his one and only son down here from heaven to die for us so that we could spend eternity with him. Many lives were touched by dads kindness and his testimony of Gods love for us. One of the things that used to really amaze me about dad was his ability to forgive. Long ago, my dads parents were brutally murdered by someone who lived down the road from them. They all knew the person that did it and that person is still serving his sentence in jail. I remember talking about it with dad several years back and I asked dad how could he deal with the trauma of what that man did to his parents. He just simply said he had come to forgive the guy for what he did. I didn't understand then how anyone could forgive someone of something like that but I understand it now. If we hold hatred and anger in our hearts and don't forgive then it destroys us from the inside out. Plus Jesus tells us that if he is to forgive us then we must likewise forgive. I now understand what dad meant. We don't have to like it or say it was okay what that person did, we just have to release it and let it go. I get it now Dad. Dad was at home when he passed away. My sister Kimberly and my niece Rachel Cartwright were there that night and they were awakened by dad coughing and gasping. He told them that his time was almost up and the fight was about over. Kimberly told him that it was okay and he should just go and join his mother who was waiting for him in heaven. They asked him if they could pray with him and dad said yes and about thirty seconds later he smiled and he was gone. Gone only from this world though. We know he is with his mom and dad and his two brothers and two sisters who had gone on before him. His faith was unshakable and he's receiving his rewards. He ran the race and he finished it in full stride. I only hope I can turn out to be half the man he was. I love you Dad and you are missed dearly but I'll see you again one day. And what a glorious day that will be.

HHN 2011

Some pictures of Lorenzo, Emily and myself at Halloween Horror Nights 2011. Emily's first time attending. Can't believe how their growing up!

October

It's October. Summer is over and fighting its demise but its a futile effort. The days are getting shorter. Darkness is coming sooner and earlier. Leaves are giving us their last farewell of show and color before they wither away and drop off having fulfilled their obligation for the season. We start to put away those T-shirts and shorts and bring out the pants and sweaters. Hopefully, they still fit and we can squeeze one more season out of them. The warm, balmy nights and sunny days are replaced with chilly evenings and cool fall days. October is a month of transition. We call it fall but anything can happen. A string of warm days when we are teased and reminded of the summer that just ended or a cold snap when we are reminded of what awaits us right around the corner. Our thoughts turn to pumpkins and cornstalks and mums and scarecrows to decorate our yards. If your a football fan your in your glory as both the college and professional seasons are in full stride. The season is early and every fan hopes for a championship for his or her team. Fall festivals abound, every town has one. Our busy lives are a little less hectic. Things start to slow down and we can catch our breath. Kids are back in school, at least back on some kind of schedule. Our jobs slow down and we can finally start to get caught up on the things we have been putting off due to the fast pace of summer and trying to cram all we can into those glorious months when we are all together and we are carefree. The full moon for this month occurs on the 12th. Make sure you go out to look at it and see if it isn't a little bigger and brighter then normal. The fall full moons seem to blaze with a orange glow that makes even the darkest hour of the night seem like dusk. Soon our kids will start to think about costumes and candy and trick or treating. Who will they be this year? We would always decorate the house up for trick or treat night to give those kids that ventured up for candy a good scare and to make them earn that treat. I always tried to carve a few jack o lanterns with my kids around Halloween time when they were young. I was the one who always had to scoop out the "guts". No way would they touch something that gross but I always let them do the cutting and the carving. "Be careful," I would warn. "Don't slice your finger open with that knife" and they never did. Hopefully, they'll remember how and will carve one this year and when they get older they can show their kids how to carve one. Then THEY will have to clean the thing out and they will remember whining to me how gross it is and they'll laugh to themselves and tell their kids not to be so silly. This is what October means to me.

No Friday Nite Video ;(

Folks the first Friday Nite Video I did on this blog was last September. I've been doing one every Friday night since then. It's been fun and I've shared a lot of my favorite groups and songs but after a year I think it's time for a change. I'm gonna start doing more of what I love doing and that's sharing my memories and writing stories. Keep stopping by and I'll keep writing. Love to you all!

~Ren~

Friday Nite Video (Willie Nelson)

The rain theme continues here at FNV. Tonight I thought I would feature a music legend, Mr Willie Nelson. What hasn't Willie done? He's a accomplished songwriter and performer. He's been in some movies. I could ramble on and on about all that he has done over the life of his career. The part I like about Willie is he's rough and ragged. He doesn't fit into that "star" mode. He's a rebel, a outlaw of sorts. He's fought with the IRS. He makes no bones about the fact he likes to smoke pot ( I don't agree with that or condone it but he doesn't back down). He throws a huge 4th of July bash every year at his ranch in Austin Texas and opens it up to whoever wants to come. He found early success writing songs that other people became famous for including Crazy sung by Patsy Cline. He released his first album in 1962 and is still performing today. Is he country, folk, rock or what? I'm not sure but I know you can't put old Willie in just one category. He's a little bit of all of them. Here is Willie with Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, tonight's wet video. Enjoy!

Friday Nite Video (Oran "Juice" Jones)

Hey all. It's Friday Nite. Remember last week when I was talking about the rainy season in Florida and how I thought it would be fun to do some video's dealing with rain? Well I guess that couldn't have come at a better time. Right after that Irene traveled up the east coast and millions of people experienced rain. Sadly, thousands of homes were flooded and destroyed because of her rains and winds. My thoughts and prayers go out to those people affected by the storm. Since last week I've thought of so many different songs that deal and talk about rain. There are obvious ones. Famous ones. Not so famous ones. On MY blog I like to highlight the songs that make you say oh yeah, I remember that. Such is the case with tonight's video. Remember Oran "Juice" Jones song The Rain? It was a song about this guy (Juice) following his girl one night and discovering that she is cheating on him. The last part of the song sees Juice confronting her and dissing her while she just sits there taking it all in. She knows shes "Stone Cold Busted" Not to much to tell about Juice. He signed with OBR records, the released The Rain in 1986. It was a big hit. His follow up song was not. After that Juice said bye bye to the recording business. But in 1986 everyone was singing along to The Rain. So here it is in all it's soaking wet glory. Enjoy!

The Beach

I love the beach. If you've been reading this blog for awhile you probably know that. I've talked about it several times. I did a Friday Nite Video that featured a beach. I've made fun of personal adds that ALWAYS list long walks on the beach as a favorite activity. Last week Elizabeth and I went to the beach in the evening with plans to put out a blanket and just relax there for awhile during the night. That outing lasted about ten minutes. We arrived there at dusk. Unrolled the blanket and sat down. We were surprised that there were several other people around us, apparently with the same idea we had. We breathed in the fresh, salty air. We admired the stars above. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Then the mosquitoes attacked. Not just one or two, a whole platoon. Biting our legs, arms, necks, our feet. Even biting through Elizabeth's jeans. We gathered up the blanket and high tailed it out of there. So much for our beach adventure. My love for the beach goes way back. My mom used to take me and my sister Kimberly there every summer. My aunt would rent a house every summer for a couple weeks in Fenwick Island, Delaware, I think is the beach where they would always stay. We would usually go for a day or two while they were there to spend the day with them. My cousin Carol, who Kim and I were always close with, would be there. We would have a great time, every time. But, I never went out in the water to far. Why? Because I saw the movie Jaws when I was a kid. Really! I saw that movie when it came out and to this day I can NEVER go very far out in the water. I want to be able to quickly make it to shore if I have to. Somewhere between waist and shoulder is plenty deep enough for me. Even when I'm out in that depth of water I'm constantly scanning the water ahead and around me. I can imagine a giant fin or a huge gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth with shreds of human flesh hanging from them behind every wave that's coming toward me. I'll swim around and I'll enjoy it but I'm always looking. I try to swim where there are several other people swimming in case there is a great white lurking. At least if there's other people around me I have a chance the shark might get one of them instead of me. It's even more comforting if there's a person way out in the water swimming around. You just know monster shark will go after that person because it will require less of a effort on its part. I saw Jaws when it was released way back in 1975. I was eight years old in 75 and for some reason my older brother Greg decided it would be a good idea to take me to see this movie so he and his newlywed wife Hope put me in the back seat of whatever car he had at that time and took his young, innocent brother (me) to see one of the most terrifying movies out at that time. We saw it at the old Sussex West Drive-In which used to be right on route 13 outside of Laurel. My brother Greg and his wife Hope had just gotten married that same year so what was the point to taking little old me to the Drive-In theater of all places if it wasn't just to scare me witless. They should have been making out in that car instead of worrying about what I was doing or thinking. Well, they succeeded in scaring the pants off of me. I remember several parts of the movie where I would duck down in the floor of the car, to scared to watch. Greg would laugh at me and tell me to get up and watch! I would with my eyes as big as saucers. Every time that music would start, my stomach would tighten. I knew someone was going to be eaten. Why would my brother do that to me you wonder? Last year I posted a story called Scary Movies where I talked about my two brothers loving to terrorize me. They took delight in seeing me scared senseless. My other brother Kirk made me watch Psycho one night with him and to this day I get nervous showering when I'm alone. Any strange noise makes me tense up and listen to see if I hear anything else. I can imagine Norman Bates slowly making his way to me in the shower, dressed in his mothers finest. My brothers took delight in it. Sensory overload for a eight year old boy. Now, as a 44 year old adult I can still see that giant shark swimming around the beach, looking for fresh victims. Doesn't matter if I'm at one of Delaware's beaches or one here in Florida, I'm on the lookout for Jaws! I remember when my kids were younger and Jaws was coming on TV and I told them ya both have to watch this movie about this giant fish. It's terrifying! They watched the first half a hour or so then got bored with it. They didn't find it scary. They didn't get nervous when that creepy, slow building music would start up. They were soon begging to go outside and play. Today they can go to the beach and swim and laugh and carry on without a thought to what might be lurking beneath the surface. But for me, being a eight year old boy back in 1975 who watched Jaws, I know what could be down below. Watching, waiting, hungry and ready to eat! Coming up out of the water to get that guy who's floating along on the raft or boogie board. Surging up from the bottom to grab that girl from below that's way to far out. That's why I'm going to stay close to the shore thank you!

Friday Nite Video (The Eurythmics)

Well, we're in the rainy season here in Florida. Kinda ties into the August dog days of summer thing I was talking
about a few posts ago. Typical day here, wake up to a muggy 78 degrees. By 9:00 am its 85. Noon its stifling. Around 2:00 the scorched atmosphere can't take it anymore and the sky darkens and the flood rains start to fall. So that got me thinking how many old skool videos could I come up with that talks about rain? I recently did one by New Edition while it was pouring outside. But now that it's raining about everyday here now I wanna see how many I can come up with. The New Edition song was Can You Stand The Rain and it was a great song. But I can think of several more good ones that have to do with rain. So lets see how long we can keep this rain concept up. I'll post them as I think of them here on Friday Nights and if you think of any email me and I'll try to post it and you can even get the credit. We can get going until we run out of ideas or the rainy season ends. Remember too, its gotta be somewhat "old skool". Sound fun? Okay then, lets start it off with a duo that I never really liked. The Eurythmics. This duo formed in 1980, broke up in 1990. They had several releases that made it into the top 40 but I never really cared much for them. Annie Lennox had her buzz cut hair dyed orange half the time and David Stewart was just plain weird looking. Still, they did have a cool song about rain! So starting off our rainy season here on FNV is The Eurythmics from 1983 with their song Here Comes The Rain Again. Enjoy!

Carnivals

I took Emily to Old Town in Kissimmee when she was here over the summer to visit Fun Spot. For those of you that's not familiar with Fun Spot or Old Town for that matter, they sit side by side off of 192 in Kissimmee. Fun Spot features go kart tracks and it's really like a big carnival. They have the go karts, which the kids and I love, but they also have the traditional carnival style rides as well. Pay one price and get the all you can ride unlimited armband or pay for individual tickets if you just want to do one ride. What is it about these places that makes us adults pull out our wallets and spend money like it really does grow on trees. I like to think that I'm pretty conservative with my spending but get me somewhere like Fun Spot and suddenly I'm a bigger spender then a congressional democrat. Please, nothing less then the unlimited, all day and night, go-carts AND rides armband for me and my kids! 37.00 dollars each? Chump change to be able to let my daughter (and son Lorenzo when he's here) ride till she's sick and tired of riding. We ride the go-karts and yes, we do break the rules every time we ride. We bump, we crash, we spin each other out, we try to put each other into the wall. We crash into the innocents riders that just so happen to get in our way while we are trying to get in front of each other so that we don't lose that particular race. We make the attendants blow their whistles and point at us while hurling some threats at us. We bump whoever is in front of us as we come into the station at the end of the race. We laugh and get off and then run to get back in line. After we get tired of the go karts we will walk the midway and do some of the old classics. The tilt a whirl. The bobsleds, yes, we do want to go faster. And surprise! Now we get to do it in reverse! I remember riding that ride when I was a kid. The songs then were songs that I grew up with. The songs now I don't recognize. I think one of them was Lady Gaga, maybe. As it gets dark the place takes on a life of its own. Lights flashing and sirens screaming for attention, competing with the laughs and shrieks of kids. The skill games with all the giant stuffed animals that no one ever seems to win. The air is heavy with that unmistakable smell of a carnival. Part machinery, part food. The food smells coming from the booths that are frying hamburgers and hot dogs and cheese steaks and french fries. Sausages and onions. Delectable desserts such as funnel cakes, cotton candy, candy apples, caramel popcorn and the list goes on and on. Your kid wants something? No problem. Pull out wallet, purchase item. We eat til we're about to puke and rightly should! But it's not the rides we're paying for or the food or the games or the cheap souvenirs. We're buying the experience. We are paying top dollar for the memories that we are making. We're buying time together that nothing will ever be able to erase. A long way further down the road of life we will look back at our time together and we won't remember what it cost. What we will remember is that we were together. Dad was there. Emily and Lorenzo were so young. We rode those rides and ate all that food and we laughed and we laughed! Remember when Dad crashed his go kart into the wall when he was trying to past Emily or when Lorenzo got spun around and that other kid hit him head on and his phone went flying? THAT'S what we are buying at the carnival. And those things are eternal.

Friday Nite Video (TNT)

Hey all. You've heard of glam metal? Those bands where all the guys wore heavy makeup and had the big hair? Of course, you know the ones I'm talking about. There was one after another in the 80's and the music was secondary to the looks in some cases. Tonight's band would be better called glam/sham metal. Who would that be? I'm talking about that Norwegian band TNT. Remember them? Exactly. I first heard these guys back in the old PK video store in Laurel, Delaware. I also happened to work at PK Video for a year or so at nights to supplement me and the ex's income when she decided to wanted to go back to school. Anyway, PK had this promotional video that we were supposed to play on the big TV that they used to show new release movies on. It was a promotional video for several new release movies and albums by various performers. TNT happened to be one of the bands that was on that video and I had to watch and listen to this tape for like a week straight. The TNT song was Everyone's a Star and it was a great song. The lead singer could really belt out the lyrics and the band jammed along. I decided hey, I need to buy this tape, these guys are really good. The album must really rock. I remember I had a hard time finding the tape and had to look several different places before I did. After I finally found a store that carried it and I listened to it I discovered why it was so hard to find. It sucked! Really bad. Everyone's a Star was the first song and it was good but the others were sooooo bad that they cancelled out anything good that I felt for Everyone's a Star. I ended up throwing that piece of garbage in the trash and I wanted to puke whenever I had to listen to the 15 seconds of the song that was on the promotional tape at work. That was back in 1987. Today, 24 years later I can hear the song and laugh. These guys sure fooled me. Listen up and see what you think. Enjoy! (if you can haha)

The Dog Days

I gotta confess, my blogging has been slacking here lately. Why? We're in the dog days of August. Who ever came up with that expression? What kind of dog did they have in mind? Most dogs lay around most of the day anyway if they were implying that it was hot and that's all we wanted to do. Most dogs I've been around do that year round, hot or cold. It's certainly what I've been wanting to do. My routine is get up, go to work, baste and sweat at work, come home and strip, get shower and lay under the ceiling fan. Like a dog would do I guess haha. When it's this hot I find myself not wanting to do much of anything. If I do it's definitely gotta be indoors. The beach is nice but it's gotta be early or late in the evening. In fact, I have plans for this Saturday with Elizabeth to go to Cocoa Beach in the evening and swim in the Atlantic Ocean while the sun sets. We might even take one of those long walks on the beach afterwards that every person in a personal add claims to love. Ive never taken a nighttime swim in the ocean but I'm looking forward to my first! I'll let you all know how that goes. Ive got several good stories in mind, I just gotta get the energy to put them on here. Right now we're in the dog days of summer and it's hot!

Friday Nite Video (Sam Cooke)

I was at work the other day sitting with some of my friends/co-workers and the topic turned to old music verses the music out today. We all agreed that most of the stuff out there today that was posing as music really wasn't. One of the friends said she used to love to go to "Old Skool Music" parties where, of course, Old Skool Music was played throughout the night. Me, being the youngest at the table, suddenly perked up and took interest in the conversation. After all, I have been doing a old skool video every Friday night on my blog since I started this thing. What is old skool for me? Well, just scroll back through my archive and you'll see. It's what I feature on here each week. 80's rap. 80's rock and roll. 80's pop. Pretty much anything from that decade. That's what my 40'ish mind comes up with. But here was this group of friends who all happened to be a little older then me starting to reminisce about THEIR old skool groups and singers. People like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, The Spinners, Smoky Robinson. I thought, Wow! For my slighter older friends, Old Skool was music that I had never really thought of or even considered. MY old skool stuff was probably trash to them. Kinda like when I tell my kids about a popular group or song from back in my day and they roll their eyes and say yeah dad, whatever. Then I thought, who will be THEIR old skool performers when THEY grow up? Lady Gaga? Kesha? Britney Spears? Kinda frightening if you really think about it. And when that's old skool THEIR kids will look at them and roll their eyes and say yeah mom or yeah dad, whatever! Anyway, I looked up some of the songs of some of these artists and I gotta say this one I found by Sam Cooke was one of the best. He had a amazing voice and most of his live performance videos were pretty grainy and hard to hear so I just used this one that only shows a picture of him but it captures his voice perfectly. Close your eyes when you listen and you can feel that era of music coming out through his voice. From 1965 and no, I wasn't born yet, its (Somebody) Ease My Troublin' Mind by the late Sam Cooke. Enjoy!