Tangled tho'ts......

As the days dwindle down........
Ah, dwindling days......y’know, it don’t really matter how you view life, the longer you live, the sooner you’ll die.......Is that a classic oxymoron or what?.....Showbiz folk say, “Dying’s easy, comedy’s hard.” Twenty something’s die every day but they don’t expect it... when you’re in your twenties, you’re immortal or, you think you are which is durn near the same thing.....death is practically incomprehensible but if you live to be......oh, say eighty or thereabouts, then you’re pretty darn close to dying....so close, in fact, y’might want’a think twice before buying those green banana’s.....(old joke, but some truth).
All of the foregoing comes from the fact that I saw Maurice Chevalier in an old movie t’other day (go figure....I like old movies) and he sang ‘Autumn Leaves’ and the darn thing has been running thru my head ever since....
Chevalier once said that his highest ambition was to be a Parisian Boulevardier (he was a classic example & possibly the last).....He was considered by many Francais to be a Nazi collaborator because he continued working as an entertainer during the German occupation of Paris.
Chevalier, with his classic Gallic shrug & deferential smile explained that he was “just an entertainer.” Pretty darn good one, too, even tho’ he was too old for leading man roles by the time Hollywood got around to ‘discovering’ him.......In the movie, ‘Gigi’....he played a supporting role (& purty much stole the movie).....One of the songs he sang, “I’m glad I’m not young anymore”... .......he claimed they were the stupidest lyrics he’d ever heard & I tend to agree with him....
There’s a lot to be said for aging but while some wines improve with age, sum of ‘em turn to vinegar.....some vintage automobiles are fantastic but they don’t make good daily drivers......same with people. Some people age well, acquire wisdom, live & die respectably & are mourned by all who knew them.....some irascible SOB’s rant & rave, fight with their neighbors & families & the world gives a sigh of relief when they go......most of us fall inbetween.....regardless of politial affiliation & no matter how much we may deny it, most of us live & die as Centrists......I think most politicians, no matter what they say, tend to sit on the fence reading polls while trying to decide which side to jump.....& they don’t want to jump too far becuz they might mis-speak & have to jump back......Politicians mis-speak, reg’lar folk lie.....Mark Twain (or Disraeli, take your choice) claimed there are three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies, & statistics. Our modern society has coined a ‘hole new word for political mis-speaking.....it’s called ‘spin’.....T’ain’t really a lie, t’ain’t really the truth. T’is what t’is. The Brits called it, ‘dithering’.....the Irish called it, ‘blarney’...
My mama called it lying.........but Pop....well, he always claimed he wuz jus’ tellin’ a story.......Justin Other Smith