C’n you believe it? We got ourselves over 300 million people in the old red, white, and blue. ‘Course, they have us divided into red and blue these days. Makes you kind’a wonder where all the white has gone. Or is that a racist statement? I don’t mean it to be.
I ain ‘t really concerned about the changing demographics of the country although I may be in a minority in that category.
I studied French as a ‘foreign’ language all those years ago when I was considering a career as a student. Hindsight tells me that I should have studied Spanish but I was enamored of all things francaise back then in my stone age. The women. The wine. The food. The women. Especially Brigitte Bardot. Who was, in todays parlance, hot! Le Sexbomb Hot! But if you mention her name today, most of the 300 million inhabitants of our insular nation will develop a blank stare of incomprehension. Ah well. C’est la vie!
It’s been so long since I got out of high school that if I were Johnny Carson making that statement, my doppelganger would be asking, “How loooong is it?” To which I could reply, “When I graduated from high school, I went straight into the military and took my basic training at Valley Forge.”
Of course, it would help if whomever I was talking with actually knew to whom I was referring when I mention Johnny and Ed. And it’s absolutely no use at all to bring up Jack or Dave and J. Fred Muggs. It’s odd to think that in this world of quantum leap population, when you get to be a certain age, the pool of people you can relate to grows smaller with each passing moment.
And speaking of passing moments, there’s a phrase that all of us should be able to relate to for what is life but passing moments? I think there is probably a lot of people who don’t want to be reminded of that but you know what, their moments are passing just like yours and mine.
Makes me wonder at times if time ceases to have any relevance after death. If you believe in life after death, do you believe in time after death? Do oxymorons exist after death? Does a plethora of oxymoronic phraseology signify anything at all?
Probably not!
Anyway, all this is simply my long-winded way of saying “Hi!” and Happy New Year!
Justin Other Smith
Ought Eight
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Last Sunday in Ought-seven........
Got dem jumpy legs again tonite......I’m sleepy but they ain’t
Been sunny most of the day but now they say there ‘s a storm comin’.....s’pozed to bring about ten foot of snow to the sierra....GOOD! We need it, the water, I mean..... and snow in the sierra means water in the valley.
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Been sunny most of the day but now they say there ‘s a storm comin’.....s’pozed to bring about ten foot of snow to the sierra....GOOD! We need it, the water, I mean..... and snow in the sierra means water in the valley.
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Been sunny most of the day but now they say there ‘s a storm comin’.....s’pozed to bring about ten foot of snow to the sierra....GOOD! We need it, the water, I mean..... and snow in the sierra means water in the valley.
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Been sunny most of the day but now they say there ‘s a storm comin’.....s’pozed to bring about ten foot of snow to the sierra....GOOD! We need it, the water, I mean..... and snow in the sierra means water in the valley.
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Last Sunday in Ought -seven .....I never gave much tho’t to it before, the turn of the Century and all. Even when it happened, it didn’t seem to be all that much. ‘Course, when you stop and think about it, not many of us get to see more than one of ‘em.....’n the ones that do are either too young to remember the first one or too darn old to really care about the second one....maybe that’s what God intended anyway.......
Last Sunday in Ought-seven..........
One more chemo to go. That’d be on Jan 15 which should get me pert near chem free in February, Ought-eight..
March and April for exercise therapy and high protein diet and, of course, watching the mirror for signs of new hair.....
It’s just a question of priorities, people............
HA PPY NEW YEAR..............Justin Other Smith
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Saturday......5th Day of Christmas
It being Saturday morning at long last and me on my on my next to last cuppa coffee.....I’ve had my toast and my protein shake, da dawgs have been out, had breakfast and (most important, snack)........read about Bhutto and Pakistan (tragic) and American Politics (tragi-comic)...also read the comix (American art form that SacBee has dumbed down so far they’be become pathetic) Makes ya wonder if the newsprint industry is actually pushing people towards the internet.........prob’ly some kind of massive tax writeoff promised them by the Dems..........Whatever happened to the fearless fighting press of yesteryear? O, I know. It only existed in the movies...same as pre- development California........
Some distant Archaeoligist is gonna fish us out’a the sea and wonder whatinhell we wuz doin’ here............
Justin Other Smith
O, da good nooze is dat de gurls is comin' home.......... hope the weather cooperates........Grandpa
Some distant Archaeoligist is gonna fish us out’a the sea and wonder whatinhell we wuz doin’ here............
Justin Other Smith
O, da good nooze is dat de gurls is comin' home.......... hope the weather cooperates........Grandpa
Thursday, December 27, 2007
4th Day of Christmas
My right leg won’t sleep. It just keeps dancin’ some kind of jig on its own. And becuz it won’t sleep, the rest of me is havin’ a problem also. So, I just got up and went to the kitchen and fixed myself a p-nut butter sandwich. Probl’ly should have a small glass of milk to wash it down but I’ll think about that.
I’ts probably the predisone that keepin’ me awake. It’s famous for that. I have some sleeping pills in there but they make me feel so bad I hate to take ‘em. Like being drunk all day without the fun of getting that way. All dizzy headed and staggering about, bouncing off wall and feeling like I’m gonna fall down. All that and no whoopee, no dancing and no girls. Ain’t hardly worth the effort. ‘Sides, it was never fun getting drunk alone. You need people and music and someone to dance with and someone to hit now and then. Otherwise, what’s the purpose? Also, you should wake up broke and with a hangover.
Lessee.....Tues was Christmas.......Wed was Chemo Day.....Thurs was the 3rd day of Christmas.........this must be Friday.....the 4th day of Christmas.......four calling birds, I think.....or was it three calling birds and four french hens? I’d ask Sarkozy but I think he’s Hungarian and his new girlfriend is Italian. Way to go, Sarkozy...............
I’m glad we’re friends with the French again. They’re a snotty bunch but they have great bread and they let their dogs shit in the street. And besides, it’s someplace where Jerry Lewis and Michael Jackson can go and be welcome. And if they get dogshit on their shoes, no one cares.
I wonder what kind of crap I might have written if I’d gotten some real honest to goodness illegal type drugs into me. LSD and Heroin, Cocaine and Morphine......You lies de castle of me fadder, kuklastan & ollie.......... prob’ly a good idea I never fouled out....found out. hell, maybe I fouled out and just never knew it.
H appy 4 th day of Christ mas everyone.....Justin Other Smith
I’ts probably the predisone that keepin’ me awake. It’s famous for that. I have some sleeping pills in there but they make me feel so bad I hate to take ‘em. Like being drunk all day without the fun of getting that way. All dizzy headed and staggering about, bouncing off wall and feeling like I’m gonna fall down. All that and no whoopee, no dancing and no girls. Ain’t hardly worth the effort. ‘Sides, it was never fun getting drunk alone. You need people and music and someone to dance with and someone to hit now and then. Otherwise, what’s the purpose? Also, you should wake up broke and with a hangover.
Lessee.....Tues was Christmas.......Wed was Chemo Day.....Thurs was the 3rd day of Christmas.........this must be Friday.....the 4th day of Christmas.......four calling birds, I think.....or was it three calling birds and four french hens? I’d ask Sarkozy but I think he’s Hungarian and his new girlfriend is Italian. Way to go, Sarkozy...............
I’m glad we’re friends with the French again. They’re a snotty bunch but they have great bread and they let their dogs shit in the street. And besides, it’s someplace where Jerry Lewis and Michael Jackson can go and be welcome. And if they get dogshit on their shoes, no one cares.
I wonder what kind of crap I might have written if I’d gotten some real honest to goodness illegal type drugs into me. LSD and Heroin, Cocaine and Morphine......You lies de castle of me fadder, kuklastan & ollie.......... prob’ly a good idea I never fouled out....found out. hell, maybe I fouled out and just never knew it.
H appy 4 th day of Christ mas everyone.....Justin Other Smith
2nd Day of Christmas.......& 3rd Day
The 2nd Day of Christmas
On the 2nd day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me,
a ride to Kaiser and chemo intravenously......
Hey, it rhymes.....and that’s the best I c’n do this early in the day on two cups of coffee and a protein shake.......
From 10:15am to 1:30pm.....that wasn’t too bad. One more on Jan 15....3 weeks to recover this one and 3 more to recover from the next and last.
Well Hell.....everyone needs sumthin’ to look forward to.....”O joyous day, calloo, callay, he chortled in his glee.......”
On the 3rd Day of Christmas...
I kind’a forgot I was s’pozed to get my montly vitamin shot so after breakfast I tho’t I’d just take a nap.....Millyrose tho’t that was a good idea so she joined me...Trudy & Rusty had no objections so they went along with the crowd............At 1:15, I awoke in a flash, tore open the windows and threw up the sash and exclaimed to the afternoon sky........”I forgot my 1’30 appt for my vitamin shot.”
So we rushed in a dither, in a snither hit the road to Roseville and Kaiser as fast as the l’il matrix would fly where I apalogized profusely to the sub-NPR who assured me, ‘no problema, senor’ and stuck me in the right arm and scheduled me for my next one. Pretty girl too. Had cancer 1 0 years ago, came back lookin’ good.........
Then Millyrose and I stopped at the waffle house and had waffles for lunch ...........what a day? When ya get out’a step, takes some shufflin’ to catch up........
Happy New Year..........Justin Other Smith
On the 2nd day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me,
a ride to Kaiser and chemo intravenously......
Hey, it rhymes.....and that’s the best I c’n do this early in the day on two cups of coffee and a protein shake.......
From 10:15am to 1:30pm.....that wasn’t too bad. One more on Jan 15....3 weeks to recover this one and 3 more to recover from the next and last.
Well Hell.....everyone needs sumthin’ to look forward to.....”O joyous day, calloo, callay, he chortled in his glee.......”
On the 3rd Day of Christmas...
I kind’a forgot I was s’pozed to get my montly vitamin shot so after breakfast I tho’t I’d just take a nap.....Millyrose tho’t that was a good idea so she joined me...Trudy & Rusty had no objections so they went along with the crowd............At 1:15, I awoke in a flash, tore open the windows and threw up the sash and exclaimed to the afternoon sky........”I forgot my 1’30 appt for my vitamin shot.”
So we rushed in a dither, in a snither hit the road to Roseville and Kaiser as fast as the l’il matrix would fly where I apalogized profusely to the sub-NPR who assured me, ‘no problema, senor’ and stuck me in the right arm and scheduled me for my next one. Pretty girl too. Had cancer 1 0 years ago, came back lookin’ good.........
Then Millyrose and I stopped at the waffle house and had waffles for lunch ...........what a day? When ya get out’a step, takes some shufflin’ to catch up........
Happy New Year..........Justin Other Smith
The 2nd of Christmas..............
On the 2nd day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me,
a ride to Kaiser and chemo intravenously......
Hey, it rhymes.....and that’s the best I c’n do this early in the day on two cups of coffee and a protein shake.......
From 10:15am to 1:30pm.....that wasn’t too bad. One more on Jan 15....3 weeks to recover this one and 3 more to recover from the next and last.
Well Hell.....everyone needs sumthin’ to look forward to.....”O joyous day, calloo, callay, he chortled in his glee.......”
On the 3rd Day of Christmas...
I kind’a forgot I was s’pozed to get my montly vitamin shot so after breakfast I tho’t I’d just take a nap.....Millyrose tho’t that was a good idea so she joined me...Trudy & Rusty had no objections so they went along with the crowd............At 1:15, I awoke in a flash, tore open the windows and threw up the sash and exclaimed to the afternoon sky........”I forgot my 1’30 appt for my vitamin shot.”
So we rushed in a dither, in a snither hit the road to Roseville and Kaiser as fast as the l’il matrix would fly where I apalogized profusely to the sub-NPR who assured me, ‘no problema, senor’ and stuck me in the right arm and scheduled me for my next one. Pretty girl too. Had cancer 1 0 years ago, came back lookin’ good.........
Then Millyrose and I stopped at the waffle house and had waffles for lunch ...........what a day? When ya get out’a step, takes some shufflin’ to catch up........
Happy New Year..........Justin Other Smith
my true love gave to me,
a ride to Kaiser and chemo intravenously......
Hey, it rhymes.....and that’s the best I c’n do this early in the day on two cups of coffee and a protein shake.......
From 10:15am to 1:30pm.....that wasn’t too bad. One more on Jan 15....3 weeks to recover this one and 3 more to recover from the next and last.
Well Hell.....everyone needs sumthin’ to look forward to.....”O joyous day, calloo, callay, he chortled in his glee.......”
On the 3rd Day of Christmas...
I kind’a forgot I was s’pozed to get my montly vitamin shot so after breakfast I tho’t I’d just take a nap.....Millyrose tho’t that was a good idea so she joined me...Trudy & Rusty had no objections so they went along with the crowd............At 1:15, I awoke in a flash, tore open the windows and threw up the sash and exclaimed to the afternoon sky........”I forgot my 1’30 appt for my vitamin shot.”
So we rushed in a dither, in a snither hit the road to Roseville and Kaiser as fast as the l’il matrix would fly where I apalogized profusely to the sub-NPR who assured me, ‘no problema, senor’ and stuck me in the right arm and scheduled me for my next one. Pretty girl too. Had cancer 1 0 years ago, came back lookin’ good.........
Then Millyrose and I stopped at the waffle house and had waffles for lunch ...........what a day? When ya get out’a step, takes some shufflin’ to catch up........
Happy New Year..........Justin Other Smith
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Morn '07..............
I just had a ‘croissant’ for breakfast...with home made apple butter and coffee. Apple butter is a comfort food for me. Not the store-bought stuff that tastes vaguely cinnonamy and about as apple-like as mock apple pie, but the real stuff. Well, as close to the real stuff as we c’n get today. We go to Apple Hill and buy boxes of apples and Millyrose cooks ‘em up on the stovetop the way my Mother did in her later years.
But the apple butter I grew up with was cooked outside in a big iron kettle by my Grandma Smith ‘n I couldn’t begin to tell you her recipe altho’ I would if I could. I think the world’d be a better place if everyone would go public with all their old ‘secret’ family recipes so that the world could have a continuity of comfort-food memories.
‘Course, I can’t imagine my Grandma Smith having a croissant for breakfast. ‘N if she ever would, she’d ‘a called it a crescent roll. Nosirreebob, she had her apple butter on a biscuit the way God intended it to be eaten.
And Grandpa would ‘saucer’ his coffee. It was black and strong and hotter’n......well, you know. Anyway, that’s how I learned to drink coffee in the first place. Hot and black and sipped out of a saucer. I think some traditions need to fall away with the passage of time ‘n that was prob’ly one of them.
My friend, Mollie Burke Phillips, has a new liver and I hear she’s doing well. I only mention this becuz’ until she got too sick a couple years ago, Mollie cooked apple butter every fall. Outside. In a big iron kettle. The way God intended it to be cooked. And yeah, I have a selfish reason for praising Mollie’s apple butter. I’d simply like to have some more of it.
Merry Christmas to whoever’s bored enuff to read this blog...........Justin Other Smith
But the apple butter I grew up with was cooked outside in a big iron kettle by my Grandma Smith ‘n I couldn’t begin to tell you her recipe altho’ I would if I could. I think the world’d be a better place if everyone would go public with all their old ‘secret’ family recipes so that the world could have a continuity of comfort-food memories.
‘Course, I can’t imagine my Grandma Smith having a croissant for breakfast. ‘N if she ever would, she’d ‘a called it a crescent roll. Nosirreebob, she had her apple butter on a biscuit the way God intended it to be eaten.
And Grandpa would ‘saucer’ his coffee. It was black and strong and hotter’n......well, you know. Anyway, that’s how I learned to drink coffee in the first place. Hot and black and sipped out of a saucer. I think some traditions need to fall away with the passage of time ‘n that was prob’ly one of them.
My friend, Mollie Burke Phillips, has a new liver and I hear she’s doing well. I only mention this becuz’ until she got too sick a couple years ago, Mollie cooked apple butter every fall. Outside. In a big iron kettle. The way God intended it to be cooked. And yeah, I have a selfish reason for praising Mollie’s apple butter. I’d simply like to have some more of it.
Merry Christmas to whoever’s bored enuff to read this blog...........Justin Other Smith
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Christmas '07
Christmas is almost here.....well, tomorrow being Christmas Eve which is a pretty special day all by itself...
I’ve been trying to recall Christmas’ past but my seventy year old memory kind’a runs them all together.....they’re all special but, there’s a je ne sais quoi quality about them that makes it difficult to pull them apart and remember them separately.
Oh, there are moments that I recall clearly...like the first time I ever went to Midnite Mass.....Vic and Marvin and I walked the bridge and went to the service at the cathedral in Portsmouth. It was in Latin, of course, and we didn’t understand a word they said.....or all the standing and kneeling, the rituals of the Catholic church. It was all foreign to three Kentucky boys. Afterward, we walked home thru the cold night, across the bridge toward the dark hills of home.
There was the time in ‘49 when Pop was in Lexington. He was laid off from the N&W and had taken a temp job with the C&O. He wasn’t going to be able to make it home for Christmas. He’d work Christmas Eve and had to be at work the day after Christmas and it was a long way back then. Little two lane roads that twisted and turned thru the hills. It was freezing cold and blowing snow and not an easy drive in good weather.
I was twelve years old and knew about the Santa myth and I stayed up after my brothers were in bed to help my Mother put the presents under the tree. I remember it well as the last Christmas I got a ‘kid’ present. We were just finishing, about 11:30, and I remarked to Mom that it sure wasn’t gonna feel like Christmas without Dad when we heard a thumping on the front porch and the door opened and Dad walked in brushing the snow off and wearing an enormous grin. I think that’s when my belief in Santa was reborn and I’ve managed to keep it all these years.
Christmas is much bigger and flashier these days. ‘Way more commercial. Some stores had Christmas stuff for sale before Thanksgiving. And the TV commercials...
O my! Avoid the rush! Buy now! More presents under the trees. Heck, the tree alone prob’ly costs more than most people spent on Christmas back then.
Yeah, Christmas is bigger and fancier and costs a lot more money today but it ain’t any more fun. The simple truth of Christmas is that no matter how hard we try, no matter how we secularize it, it’s basically a birthday celebration and for children of any age, it’s still the most special time of year.
Merry Christmas everyone.......
I’ve been trying to recall Christmas’ past but my seventy year old memory kind’a runs them all together.....they’re all special but, there’s a je ne sais quoi quality about them that makes it difficult to pull them apart and remember them separately.
Oh, there are moments that I recall clearly...like the first time I ever went to Midnite Mass.....Vic and Marvin and I walked the bridge and went to the service at the cathedral in Portsmouth. It was in Latin, of course, and we didn’t understand a word they said.....or all the standing and kneeling, the rituals of the Catholic church. It was all foreign to three Kentucky boys. Afterward, we walked home thru the cold night, across the bridge toward the dark hills of home.
There was the time in ‘49 when Pop was in Lexington. He was laid off from the N&W and had taken a temp job with the C&O. He wasn’t going to be able to make it home for Christmas. He’d work Christmas Eve and had to be at work the day after Christmas and it was a long way back then. Little two lane roads that twisted and turned thru the hills. It was freezing cold and blowing snow and not an easy drive in good weather.
I was twelve years old and knew about the Santa myth and I stayed up after my brothers were in bed to help my Mother put the presents under the tree. I remember it well as the last Christmas I got a ‘kid’ present. We were just finishing, about 11:30, and I remarked to Mom that it sure wasn’t gonna feel like Christmas without Dad when we heard a thumping on the front porch and the door opened and Dad walked in brushing the snow off and wearing an enormous grin. I think that’s when my belief in Santa was reborn and I’ve managed to keep it all these years.
Christmas is much bigger and flashier these days. ‘Way more commercial. Some stores had Christmas stuff for sale before Thanksgiving. And the TV commercials...
O my! Avoid the rush! Buy now! More presents under the trees. Heck, the tree alone prob’ly costs more than most people spent on Christmas back then.
Yeah, Christmas is bigger and fancier and costs a lot more money today but it ain’t any more fun. The simple truth of Christmas is that no matter how hard we try, no matter how we secularize it, it’s basically a birthday celebration and for children of any age, it’s still the most special time of year.
Merry Christmas everyone.......
Friday, December 21, 2007
Crossing the Lone Star Bar.........uh, State.........
Onwards to Alabam...........
Looking out the window as I write....T’is a sky blue pink morning out there.....(sky blue pink being a phrase from those old timey Uncle Wiggly books from an age predating both television and (gasp) radio) Gahd! I’m way past getting old..............
Got an e-mail from the eastward-trekking fambly......They lingered in El Paso a trifle overlong where they found out their CalMex Spanglish was insufficient...AND that quesadilla is evidently a California invention...ah well, TexMex cuisine is absogreat w/out California influence.....
Driving at nite thru Texas (according to an informed source) is an experience in sensory overload) Texas may well be the ‘Lone Star State’ but the sky is full of stars.......I’ve tho’t for a long time that we have way too much ambient light here in Calif...........wonder what it’d be like to see a nite sky full of stars again.........or, for that matter, to go to sleep w/out street lites and sirens...........
Merry Christmas, Justin Other Smith
Looking out the window as I write....T’is a sky blue pink morning out there.....(sky blue pink being a phrase from those old timey Uncle Wiggly books from an age predating both television and (gasp) radio) Gahd! I’m way past getting old..............
Got an e-mail from the eastward-trekking fambly......They lingered in El Paso a trifle overlong where they found out their CalMex Spanglish was insufficient...AND that quesadilla is evidently a California invention...ah well, TexMex cuisine is absogreat w/out California influence.....
Driving at nite thru Texas (according to an informed source) is an experience in sensory overload) Texas may well be the ‘Lone Star State’ but the sky is full of stars.......I’ve tho’t for a long time that we have way too much ambient light here in Calif...........wonder what it’d be like to see a nite sky full of stars again.........or, for that matter, to go to sleep w/out street lites and sirens...........
Merry Christmas, Justin Other Smith
Carry me back to Ol Virginny.........
Or...taking the g’chilluns to spend Christmas with the other G’parents.
So they left around fourish this AM or at least, that was the plan. I was asleep at the time. I s’pect they’ll call sometime later today. I hope they didn’t have any of our famous tule fog this morn.....that can be really nasty stuff.....
Sunny skies in Arizona.....Emily has her camera and is searching the landscape for Jackalope....make a nice memory if she c’ud get a foto of a Xmas Jackalope.....
My Chemo Doc poked her nose out t’day and must’a saw her shadow ‘cause she sez “six more weeks.” What she really said was that she was thrilled that I beat the cancer and that it was unusual to find that it was all gone after only three treatments and why didn’t I seem more enthuastic about it?........ I told her that I’d be more thrilled if I didn’t have to do any more chemo treatments at all and if it was all gone, why the heck did I have to continue?..... So that’s when she told me, “Two more and then we don’t have to worry about it coming back.” I tho’t, but didn’t say, ‘wot chu mean we, chemo sabe?’
But, she’s a lovely girl and she’s done a pretty darn good job of knocking out the cancer and I inherited a couple of white hats from Pop and I’m tryin’ to be one of the good guys, so keeping in mind the spirit of the season, we wished each other a Merry Christmas and went our separate ways until after the holidaze.......
“Breaking up is hard to do......” Neil Sedaka
So they left around fourish this AM or at least, that was the plan. I was asleep at the time. I s’pect they’ll call sometime later today. I hope they didn’t have any of our famous tule fog this morn.....that can be really nasty stuff.....
Sunny skies in Arizona.....Emily has her camera and is searching the landscape for Jackalope....make a nice memory if she c’ud get a foto of a Xmas Jackalope.....
My Chemo Doc poked her nose out t’day and must’a saw her shadow ‘cause she sez “six more weeks.” What she really said was that she was thrilled that I beat the cancer and that it was unusual to find that it was all gone after only three treatments and why didn’t I seem more enthuastic about it?........ I told her that I’d be more thrilled if I didn’t have to do any more chemo treatments at all and if it was all gone, why the heck did I have to continue?..... So that’s when she told me, “Two more and then we don’t have to worry about it coming back.” I tho’t, but didn’t say, ‘wot chu mean we, chemo sabe?’
But, she’s a lovely girl and she’s done a pretty darn good job of knocking out the cancer and I inherited a couple of white hats from Pop and I’m tryin’ to be one of the good guys, so keeping in mind the spirit of the season, we wished each other a Merry Christmas and went our separate ways until after the holidaze.......
“Breaking up is hard to do......” Neil Sedaka
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Of Bags & Baggage........
Way, way back in the Age of Aquarius, some forgotten hippie wit quipped, “It ain’t too hard to get your shit together. The hard part is carrying it.”
Lotta travelin’ this time of year.....lotta luggage, lotta packages, carried or shipped here and there, from one part of the country to another. Heck, from one part of the world to another. And a lotta people nervous about what might be packed inside that luggage and packages.
My son, Archbishop Dave Smith, renown trekkie, motorcyclist, raconteur and world traveler, recently went to work for the TSA. Basically they check the luggage of everyone who flies. While that may be seen to be an exercise in tedium for most of the employees, a great many of whom are retired military, policemen, firefighters, etceteras, who work long hours for relatively low pay in part because of 9/11. Because they wanted to help. Because during hazardous times, people sincerely want to help other people.
That attitude has always seemed worthwhile to me. As to how effective a job they might or might not be doing.......I don’t know and neither do you. Maybe the simple fact that they are there is a major deterrent to the aberrant idiots who believe that mass murder is a righteous answer to injustice.
And speaking of injustice, I won't. Much too large a subject for a country boy like me.
But, I digress, something I seem p’tick’ly good at. (Hey, you can’t always pick and choose your talents. Ya take what ya get.)
Anyway, when you take a trip today, you get your stuff together and pack it in something and that becomes luggage. What a concept!
When you get to the airport, a TSA officer goes through your luggage and if they find a prohibited article, (and that changes from day to day,) they confiscate it and your luggage automatically becomes lighter.
Doesn’t work with the baggage you acquire from living. That stays with you through thick and thin all the way to the end of the line. (Or at least, what we perceive to be the end of the line.) There are no TSA officers to lighten your load, nor porters to carry it for you. Sort’a like a really long golf course with no caddies and ya gotta carry your own bags.
Gee, is that why so many people consider golf to be a metaphor for life?
Not that I’d know. I’ve never harmed a golf ball in my life. I love golf courses tho'. Great places to while away a few hours. And with a little effort, you can turn whiling away a few hours into an art form.
Lush greenery, the smell of newly mown grass, a libation or three; you shouldn’t spoil that by whacking a tiny ball with an expensive stick.
Whatever! Looks like a lot of the country may get a white Christmas.......Merry, merry, everyone!
Justin Other Smith
Lotta travelin’ this time of year.....lotta luggage, lotta packages, carried or shipped here and there, from one part of the country to another. Heck, from one part of the world to another. And a lotta people nervous about what might be packed inside that luggage and packages.
My son, Archbishop Dave Smith, renown trekkie, motorcyclist, raconteur and world traveler, recently went to work for the TSA. Basically they check the luggage of everyone who flies. While that may be seen to be an exercise in tedium for most of the employees, a great many of whom are retired military, policemen, firefighters, etceteras, who work long hours for relatively low pay in part because of 9/11. Because they wanted to help. Because during hazardous times, people sincerely want to help other people.
That attitude has always seemed worthwhile to me. As to how effective a job they might or might not be doing.......I don’t know and neither do you. Maybe the simple fact that they are there is a major deterrent to the aberrant idiots who believe that mass murder is a righteous answer to injustice.
And speaking of injustice, I won't. Much too large a subject for a country boy like me.
But, I digress, something I seem p’tick’ly good at. (Hey, you can’t always pick and choose your talents. Ya take what ya get.)
Anyway, when you take a trip today, you get your stuff together and pack it in something and that becomes luggage. What a concept!
When you get to the airport, a TSA officer goes through your luggage and if they find a prohibited article, (and that changes from day to day,) they confiscate it and your luggage automatically becomes lighter.
Doesn’t work with the baggage you acquire from living. That stays with you through thick and thin all the way to the end of the line. (Or at least, what we perceive to be the end of the line.) There are no TSA officers to lighten your load, nor porters to carry it for you. Sort’a like a really long golf course with no caddies and ya gotta carry your own bags.
Gee, is that why so many people consider golf to be a metaphor for life?
Not that I’d know. I’ve never harmed a golf ball in my life. I love golf courses tho'. Great places to while away a few hours. And with a little effort, you can turn whiling away a few hours into an art form.
Lush greenery, the smell of newly mown grass, a libation or three; you shouldn’t spoil that by whacking a tiny ball with an expensive stick.
Whatever! Looks like a lot of the country may get a white Christmas.......Merry, merry, everyone!
Justin Other Smith
Sunday, December 16, 2007
An Early Christmas......
I know that lots of families have to have their Christmas celebrations early or late because circumstance dictates. So, we accomodate. This year the Smith Family Circus is making that accomodation.
Kellye and family are heading for Virginia to spend Christmas with the other G’parents (regretfully only fair, I spoze) and Gina and Andrew will spend Christmas cruising the Hawaiian Islands with his Mother and Stepfather. (Again, I spoze it’s only fair)
Anyway, we’re having Christmas today....well, part of it anyway......festive dinner, presents under the tree and CD player loaded with Xmas songs...Gene is singing Jingle Bells as I type.......and if you don’t get the reference, you’re too young......anyway, Santa Claus is on his way......Merry Christmas.....Justin Other Smith
Kellye and family are heading for Virginia to spend Christmas with the other G’parents (regretfully only fair, I spoze) and Gina and Andrew will spend Christmas cruising the Hawaiian Islands with his Mother and Stepfather. (Again, I spoze it’s only fair)
Anyway, we’re having Christmas today....well, part of it anyway......festive dinner, presents under the tree and CD player loaded with Xmas songs...Gene is singing Jingle Bells as I type.......and if you don’t get the reference, you’re too young......anyway, Santa Claus is on his way......Merry Christmas.....Justin Other Smith
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Stuff & Nonsense
Saturday nite.....Justin Other Smith
Everyone has stuff....and everyone wants more stuff. We fill our homes with stuff. We put so much stuff in our garage that the car must of necessity be left out in the cold. (Figuratively speaking, of course.)
Stuff is such an important part of peoples everyday life that storage units have become big business all across our fair land. When we run out of space at home, we simply rent a storage unit. Or multiple storage units.
Miser and hoarders who fill their homes with old newspapers and magazines are mocked by the news media. Often their stuff is taken away to be archived in the nearest landfill. Often, they themselves are taken away to be archived as well. Of course, they are extremists and not to be confused with the rest of us who merely collect stuff.
I once had a fellow collector explain his actions with the statement, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Toys being the euphemism he favored for his collection of stuff. Cars, tools, whisky bottles, assorted camping gear, etcetera ad infinitum. Not to be confused with my personal collection of art, rare books, vintage photographs of long forgotten friends and family. Oh, and some childhood toys that I’ve managed to drag into my seventh decade.
Of course, I do get rid of stuff. I bundle it up and pass it on to various and sundry charities (and occasionally, the nearest landfill) And I’ve never had to resort to renting a storage unit to keep my spillover stuff.
On the other hand, and just to be completely honest, my house is kind’a full and I never go upstairs anymore and rarely into the basement. Not that I can’t go there. I could if I wanted to. But I’ve told the grandchildren that monsters live in the upstairs and ogres in the basement and I just try to set a good example for them by not going there.
“And how are you, Mr. Wilson?”
Everyone has stuff....and everyone wants more stuff. We fill our homes with stuff. We put so much stuff in our garage that the car must of necessity be left out in the cold. (Figuratively speaking, of course.)
Stuff is such an important part of peoples everyday life that storage units have become big business all across our fair land. When we run out of space at home, we simply rent a storage unit. Or multiple storage units.
Miser and hoarders who fill their homes with old newspapers and magazines are mocked by the news media. Often their stuff is taken away to be archived in the nearest landfill. Often, they themselves are taken away to be archived as well. Of course, they are extremists and not to be confused with the rest of us who merely collect stuff.
I once had a fellow collector explain his actions with the statement, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Toys being the euphemism he favored for his collection of stuff. Cars, tools, whisky bottles, assorted camping gear, etcetera ad infinitum. Not to be confused with my personal collection of art, rare books, vintage photographs of long forgotten friends and family. Oh, and some childhood toys that I’ve managed to drag into my seventh decade.
Of course, I do get rid of stuff. I bundle it up and pass it on to various and sundry charities (and occasionally, the nearest landfill) And I’ve never had to resort to renting a storage unit to keep my spillover stuff.
On the other hand, and just to be completely honest, my house is kind’a full and I never go upstairs anymore and rarely into the basement. Not that I can’t go there. I could if I wanted to. But I’ve told the grandchildren that monsters live in the upstairs and ogres in the basement and I just try to set a good example for them by not going there.
“And how are you, Mr. Wilson?”
Friday, December 14, 2007
Opinions, observatons and non-specific BS........
Justin Other Smith
Once in a while, stuff happens. That’s just the way it is and the way it’s always going to be. You have to make your peace with it as best as you can because you have no choice in the matter.
When you’re young, you fight against it. You scream, you yell, you slam around and all you accomplish is to cover yourself with all the stuff you’re trying to avoid.
As you age, you learn to make as few waves as possible hoping to avoid getting stuff in places where it’s hard ro remove. Or where it tastes really bad.
I’ve come to look on stuff happening as a learning experience. Sometimes the lesson is readily apparent. An epiphany, if you will. Sometimes it takes longer. Often, we’re stubborn and resistant and only the fullness of time allows us to see the way.
Even then, we’re full of doubts. Human nature, I suppose.
Once in a while, stuff happens. That’s just the way it is and the way it’s always going to be. You have to make your peace with it as best as you can because you have no choice in the matter.
When you’re young, you fight against it. You scream, you yell, you slam around and all you accomplish is to cover yourself with all the stuff you’re trying to avoid.
As you age, you learn to make as few waves as possible hoping to avoid getting stuff in places where it’s hard ro remove. Or where it tastes really bad.
I’ve come to look on stuff happening as a learning experience. Sometimes the lesson is readily apparent. An epiphany, if you will. Sometimes it takes longer. Often, we’re stubborn and resistant and only the fullness of time allows us to see the way.
Even then, we’re full of doubts. Human nature, I suppose.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Into each life some rain .........
It’s raining tho’ not very hard...guess I could’a just said, “It’s drizzling.” On the other hand, it’s been a while since I’ve seen rain so I might be a little confused. And it’s spozed to snow in the sierra. That’s a good thing. We need the snowpack. And not just for skiers and snowboarders and the people who make their living off them.
Y’know......the ski resorts and the people who work them.....the restaurants and the service stations and the chain monkeys.....the highway patrol and the snow removal guys.....the tow truck drivers and the body shop people who rebuild the wrecks....not to mention the hospitals and doctors and nurses and pharmacies and the undertakers and cemeteries.......an awful lot of people are dependent on weather related activities.......
Y’know.....like farmers and undocumented aliens....can’t ja just picture E.T. chopping lettuce in the Salinas valley.....OK...bad example, just shows how old I am.....I haven‘t a clue about the aliens of t’day but I’m sure they’d all have super powers that would enable them to clear a lettuce field in record time..
I was having a CT Scan and it got me thinking how many people are involved in cancer related occupations......Heck! Health is big bucks in this country and around the world. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, wonder how many people would lose their jobs if they found a cure for cancer? Ah well, ain’t gonna happen anytime soon!
One of the big ongoing research projects is to find a cure for aging. News flash! The cure for aging is death. Always has been. Of course, I don’t think they really want to stop aging. They just want to slow it down. Imagine what that would do to the economy. Draw Social Security until you’re 150 years old.....boggles the brain when you think there’s a problem with too many old people right now.
Besides, with children having children, how could anyone keep up with great,great,great,great(?) grandchildren?????? Justin Other Smith
Y’know......the ski resorts and the people who work them.....the restaurants and the service stations and the chain monkeys.....the highway patrol and the snow removal guys.....the tow truck drivers and the body shop people who rebuild the wrecks....not to mention the hospitals and doctors and nurses and pharmacies and the undertakers and cemeteries.......an awful lot of people are dependent on weather related activities.......
Y’know.....like farmers and undocumented aliens....can’t ja just picture E.T. chopping lettuce in the Salinas valley.....OK...bad example, just shows how old I am.....I haven‘t a clue about the aliens of t’day but I’m sure they’d all have super powers that would enable them to clear a lettuce field in record time..
I was having a CT Scan and it got me thinking how many people are involved in cancer related occupations......Heck! Health is big bucks in this country and around the world. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, wonder how many people would lose their jobs if they found a cure for cancer? Ah well, ain’t gonna happen anytime soon!
One of the big ongoing research projects is to find a cure for aging. News flash! The cure for aging is death. Always has been. Of course, I don’t think they really want to stop aging. They just want to slow it down. Imagine what that would do to the economy. Draw Social Security until you’re 150 years old.....boggles the brain when you think there’s a problem with too many old people right now.
Besides, with children having children, how could anyone keep up with great,great,great,great(?) grandchildren?????? Justin Other Smith
Thank you......
First off......I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. I got the results of my mid-term exam yesterday and was informed that I am now Hodgkins-free......I s’pect that I shall have to continue with the Chemo treatments but I won’t know that for sure until after I talk with Dr. Hutchinson.....
As most everyone knows, I’m not p’ticularly religious. Doesn’t mean I’m a non-believer. I consider myself a Deist and that there is much that we, as humans, don’t understand of the world wherein we reside let alone the universe we know so little about.
I believe devoutly in the efficacy of prayer. I believe that ‘good thoughts’ and positive thinking can encircle the world and accomplish miraculous things. I believe that most people are good-hearted and forgiving and caring of others. I know that I received sympathy and support not only from family and friends but also from total strangers.
I’m grateful. Justin Other Smith
As most everyone knows, I’m not p’ticularly religious. Doesn’t mean I’m a non-believer. I consider myself a Deist and that there is much that we, as humans, don’t understand of the world wherein we reside let alone the universe we know so little about.
I believe devoutly in the efficacy of prayer. I believe that ‘good thoughts’ and positive thinking can encircle the world and accomplish miraculous things. I believe that most people are good-hearted and forgiving and caring of others. I know that I received sympathy and support not only from family and friends but also from total strangers.
I’m grateful. Justin Other Smith
Monday, December 3, 2007
T'ain't football.........
Four down......two to go........T’ain’t football, just chemo countdown.......Dec 26 then Jan 15 and no mas....
there’ll be some tests afterward, I’m sure......Heck! There’s always gotta be tests, that’s why hospitals have so many floors..........ANYWAY the really important part is......wait for it.......TA DA! End of Feb, my hair should begin its comeback........”oh, is that all?” you say. And I say, “Delilah cut Samson’s hair and got a whole chapter in ‘the book’ and I’m pretty sure I won’t even get an honorable mention......”
Not to think that I deserve an honorable mention in that p’ticklar book. Plus, I don’t believe anyone has attempted to add any chapters in recent memory (excepting J. Smith, no relation and thank God for small favors, I say) nor is likely too. Anyway, to quote the eminently quotable Gershwin, “things that you’re liable to read in the bible ain’t necessarily so.”
‘Course, things that you read in a blog ain’t necessarily so either.........Justin Other Smith
there’ll be some tests afterward, I’m sure......Heck! There’s always gotta be tests, that’s why hospitals have so many floors..........ANYWAY the really important part is......wait for it.......TA DA! End of Feb, my hair should begin its comeback........”oh, is that all?” you say. And I say, “Delilah cut Samson’s hair and got a whole chapter in ‘the book’ and I’m pretty sure I won’t even get an honorable mention......”
Not to think that I deserve an honorable mention in that p’ticklar book. Plus, I don’t believe anyone has attempted to add any chapters in recent memory (excepting J. Smith, no relation and thank God for small favors, I say) nor is likely too. Anyway, to quote the eminently quotable Gershwin, “things that you’re liable to read in the bible ain’t necessarily so.”
‘Course, things that you read in a blog ain’t necessarily so either.........Justin Other Smith
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Yada,yada,the lazy brown dog........
Friday as my ‘good’ week drags to a close.....I have an early morning app’t with Dr. Kendra, my C-Doc.....I hate early morning appointments for anything....I like to poke around in the AM’s.....have some toast & coffee, read what passes for a newspaper.....Newspapers, I think, are becoming less and less relevant as time goes by.......The SacBee is losing money.....can’t help but feel that in some way, they’re only getting what they deserve...I recall when they ran the SacUnion out’a business and we became a one newspaper town. The Bee never was much of a newspaper, mostly it was ads and it still is.....on the other hand, coffee and the morning paper has been a tradition for most of my life....
Someone dropped the ball on scheduling my mid -term exam but Dr Kendra sed she’d fix it for next week
I’ll be eating Prednisone then, but wot the hay.....she said I seemed to be doing well,.....also told me that the tiredness thing just increases with the continued chemo....chemically induced laziness.....nice to know it ain’t just pure ol bred in the bone triflin’........ ‘n I’ve always said that I wasn’t really lazy, just a little bit triflin’........ Here t’is Sunday already.....Kellye & Ashby came with ‘da gurlz’ and Cary came so we all loaded up and went Xmas tree shopping.......Ashby carried it home in the back of his truck and got it in the stand......Kellye got the lites on and now they’re all in there decorating......easiest tree I never had to do anything with.......
Gotta go in the morn for my 4th Chemo fix....hate those IV’s but I don’t think they have an easier way of doing it..........guess I’d better not pout or cry about it, Santa’s comin’ to town.........Justin Other Smith
Someone dropped the ball on scheduling my mid -term exam but Dr Kendra sed she’d fix it for next week
I’ll be eating Prednisone then, but wot the hay.....she said I seemed to be doing well,.....also told me that the tiredness thing just increases with the continued chemo....chemically induced laziness.....nice to know it ain’t just pure ol bred in the bone triflin’........ ‘n I’ve always said that I wasn’t really lazy, just a little bit triflin’........ Here t’is Sunday already.....Kellye & Ashby came with ‘da gurlz’ and Cary came so we all loaded up and went Xmas tree shopping.......Ashby carried it home in the back of his truck and got it in the stand......Kellye got the lites on and now they’re all in there decorating......easiest tree I never had to do anything with.......
Gotta go in the morn for my 4th Chemo fix....hate those IV’s but I don’t think they have an easier way of doing it..........guess I’d better not pout or cry about it, Santa’s comin’ to town.........Justin Other Smith
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