4064

A perfect score

My husband took advanced sailing this week. Their final day was a sail to East Harbor (about 2 miles) where they had lunch and sailed back. As I've noted here before, Lake Erie is the most treacherous of the Great Lakes because it is very shallow, and a wind can really whip up the waves. By noon, the wind had picked up and the next class to sail got stranded at East Harbor, because it wasn't safe to sail back. The staff had to motor over and pick them up. By 1 p.m. when I went down to the dock, the waves were crashing over it.

He just walked in carrying his score for the week--he got of perfect score. Only he and a high school girl he was paired with who took her first lessons this summer, got a perfect score for all the summer classes (taught each week). So, all you old guys, take heart--you can teach an old dog new tricks.


I'd asked him earlier in the morning if he was going out today, but he said NO, he was going to work in the yard. But he's so thrilled with the scores, he's heading out. Who knew that the skinny, athletic kid I married 47 years ago would grow up to be a skinny, athletic old sailor?

4063

It's new notebook time

This notebook, with a pink/coral hydrangea design by Tina Higgins, is all used up. I started it June 13. Looking through it, I see many things I never added to the blog, so you are welcome to them. In May 2006 I listed 44 items I didn't blog about that were in the used up notebook. In October I listed over 30 blogging leftovers I didn't use. Here's the summer of 2007 list.

1. EPA estimates of removing 100 lbs from the trunk of your car. I may still use this one in a weight loss blog, about removing excess from your own trunk.

2. Fashion advice for Father's day. This was a photo essay in the Columbus Dispatch. Idea was not to be so sloppy and don't wear clothes too big.

3. Amnesty. Biggest issue of the summer. I probably used these notes, especially about Ted Kennedy's role in this mess.

4. Where Bush has failed conservatives--think I used some of the notes in various blogs.

5. Anne Graham Lotz quote about a PBS special on her Mom (Mrs. Billy Graham) that managed to never mention the name of Jesus.

6. FBI hiring 4,564 agents since 9/11 and what they are looking for (sounds like all the same skills that librarians treasure).

7. Alli--that new weight loss product that has the side effect of oily discharge. Yuk.

8. Diabetes death rate lower in men than women--may have noted this.

9. Nicotine patch success rate same as placebo.

10. Global pedophile ring--ring leaders are British.

11. John McGoldbreck, MD--reader writes to WSJ on how his family has more money now that they live on one income. I may still use this one--looks good to go up against the Dims for wanting to raise taxes, and the Repubs for not doing anything about the AMT.

12. Bush vetoes stem cell bill.

13. My stolen identity.

14. 70 year-old wearing shorts to the coffee shop. This didn't seem too alarming after I got to Lakeside and see most 80 year-olds in shorts.

15. Direct and indirect costs of heart failure, CHD and stroke.

16. Direct and indirect costs of obesity as identified in workers' comp claims (Arch. of Int. Med.: 2007;167:766-773).

17. Cleveland's crime rate--problems with police and firefighters as perps.

18. NOLA's deaths up 47%. Look at how cities run by Democrats for decades are faring.

19. Cream cheese use at the free snack table at Panera's. Guess who?

20. Alison E. Burke, medical illustrator. I like her stuff.

21. God and the blow fly. Illustrates all the reasons I don't believe in evolution. Using a hbc bear, the ODNR staff observe the blow fly maggots at work. It's an incredibly complex and precise schedule, and the information is used to determine time of death in humans.

22. Death of Bob Evans, 1918-2007.

23. My IQ test in elementary school, 126.

24. $54 million pants litigation. This was so well covered by comedians and reporters, there was no need for me to weigh in.

25. Where is your reading nook? Based on a Home Magazine survey.

26. WSJ subprime article based on 3 complaints out of 60,000 loans in 2006-2007.

27. Value of $1 million. Gas prices.

28. Democrats and Talk Radio--why they can't walk the talk.

29. People who grieve for those in Darfur, but are willing to kill the unborn. You know who you are, and I don't get it.

30. Wellness seminar. My way is too boring.

31. Wearing the U.S. flag on your butt.

32. Jill Rappaport [Today show] how many trees died for her home in the Hamptons? (Architectural Digest, June 2007)

33. More people in Cleveland die without a verb than in Columbus.

34. My favorite lunch.

35. Plain Dealer travel ideas. www.blog.cleveland.com/travel

36. Campbell's Soup is going to market canned soup to Russians.

37. How to kill an already struggling state--Michigan. John Dingell's idea for a carbon tax.

38. Separate is not equal; it is better. Why the ACLU wants Cleveland to scrap successful one sex schools.

39. Sanctimonious celebrities and environment issues.

40. Friendships--how many in a lifetime? On the decrease according to PD reporter John Campanelli's figures.

41. National ice cream day.

42. Barns. A barn in Burton Township in Geauga Co. had been cleaned up for the wedding of the owner's daughter.

43. Going green is anti-female.

44. Mega veggie diets and cancer.

45. Nationalizing health care--what Obama and Hillary want.

46. New Harry Potter book. (no need to report)

47. What if Obama's mama had been black?

48. Novak's Prince of Darkness book.

49. Cleveland Public School scores, as reported in the PD, compared to the rest of Ohio and private schools and charter schools.

50. Democrats and the poverty theme. This one will definitely need to be resurrected, especially in light of John Edwards' investments in funds that hold subprime loans for homeowners in New Orleans.

51. Short term missions by Christians.

52. Silly car ads--I'm looking for 13 but only have 9.

53. Hurricane statistics.

54. 13 reasons to read JAMA--this is in draft form, but essentially finished.

55. Large companies that recruit the disabled. I found 13 points in an article featuring Walgreen's plan--might use it for a TT.

56. Photo of Tom Drake (movie star, dancer) in the paper. He's the uncle of my sister-in-law.

57. Meeting Roger's daughter-in-law in the coffee shop.

58. The faith of scientists in science.

59. The conditions of local bridges.

60. hyphens

61. Student loans, based on Ana M. Alaya's article. This was almost too easy to poke fun at, but I may still use it. Predatory lenders are causing a college grad to take a roommate and ride the train because of high repayment amounts.

62. Review of "The two income trap" by Amelia Tyage, apparently doesn't tell the whole story--biggest increase in costs since the 70s is our tax bill (140%), and Democrats want it to go even higher. Reviewed in WSJ by Todd J. Zywicki (hard to read my writing).

63. James B. Stewart on the amazing economy which just keeps expanding despite the perfect storm.

64. Pay raises: who gets the biggest. War for talent: 1) signing bonuses for IT, finance, administration, marketing and sales. 2) Flexibility

65. What dredging of the St. Clair River is doing for Lake Erie and to Lakes Huron and Michigan.

My goodness, that's a lot of stuff I didn't write about. Once I put the notebook in the cabinet, it's pretty much forgotten.

4062

Judge John Plough needs to go

Earlier in the summer it was reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Judge John Plough of Portage County got into trouble for gaming and gambling on the people's dollar. He got the internet blocks removed for his work computer and his employees in January and then it was reported (by an employee he fired) he was visiting gaming and gambling sites. Many employees waste millions of hours on the web, but I think judges should display a better example. Plough was already under investigation for a long list of issues, including displaying a volatile temper.

Now today's PD reports he has a habit of arresting public defenders who aren't prepared--even if they've only been assigned the case for one day. Some say the intention is to intimidate the defendants into guilty pleas.

This sounds like a guy who needs to be removed.

Friday Family Photo--Uncle and Nephew

My uncle and brother-in-law enjoying a family get-together over the Fourth.

Democrats get chewed out and up by the Daily Kos crowd

Today's Opinion by Kimberly Strassel:

"If the liberal blogging phenomenon deserves to be known for anything, it is the strategy to intimidate or silence anyone who disagrees with its own out-of-the-mainstream views. That muzzling has been on full display in recent weeks as Mr. Moulitsas [Daily Kos] and fellow online speech police have launched a campaign against the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. DLC Chairman Harold Ford, Jr. was even thwacked last week for daring to speak to this editorial page (my sincere apologies, Mr. Ford)--the clear goal to discourage him from making such a free-speech mistake again."

No, the Soros Kossacks don't allow any centrists. Look out, party faithful.

Mary Wilson of the Supremes

will be performing at Lakeside tonight. The original trio was Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross. I can't figure out who is who in this YouTube, but I notice all the dancers are white kids.

4059

Chapter Six at Lakeside

Last night's program at Hoover was a male vocal group of 6 handsome young men who met in college in Illinois Chapter 6, a jazz a cappella ensemble. I rarely stay for an entire program, but these guys were terrific. If you're ever within driving distance of one of their shows, don't miss the opportunity.

The reason there are 7 in the photo is that one is the writer and arranger, although he also came on stage for one number. A really fun group.

4058

Confronting global warming fundamentalists and alarmists

There is no conservative theological basis for the current belief of environmentalists that humans [are] principally consumers and polluters rather than producers and stewards and that nature knows best, or that the earth, untouched by human hands is the ideal, according to this testimony by David Barton before the U.S. Senate Environment Committee

"The reason for skepticism among the conservative religious community on the hotly debated issue of man-caused Global Warming is based on lengthy experience. Recall that twenty years ago the scientific community asserted that fetal tissue research held the solution for many of the world’s health problems; science eventually proved the opposite.

Similarly, in the 1960s, environmental science alarmists warned that the Global Population Bomb would soon doom the entire planet and that by the year 2000, economic growth would be destroyed and there would be a worldwide unemployment crisis; yet the worldwide unemployment rate this year was at 6.3 percent – hardly a crisis by any measurement.

In the 1960s, environmental science alarmists similarly claimed that DDT harmed humans and caused cancer, thus leading to a near worldwide ban on the use of DDT and now resulting in the deaths of between one and two million persons each year from malaria. In fact, four decades later, the scientific community still has found no harm to humans from DDT, so the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, and U.S.AID have once again endorsed the use of DDT in fighting malaria 20 – after millions of lives were needlessly lost.

And let’s not forget that in the 1970s, aerosols were considered a leading cause of harm to the environment, but recent reports note that "Aerosols actually have a cooling effect on global temperatures” that helps “cancel out the warming effect of CO2." Environmental science has a demonstrated pattern of announcing strong conclusions, and then reversing itself following further time and study. . ."

Read the whole piece, with references which I've removed. Also, if you are a member of a main line protestant church, your left leaning leadership has bought into the alarmists' argument and may be pushing BUZZ orange t-shirts so 3rd world peoples can sleep under insecticide soaked nets.

4057

The most interesting job in the world

Yesterday and Tuesday I attended lectures by Rustin Levinson, president of Rustin Levenson Art Conservation Associates. She received her conservation training at Harvard University's Fogg Art Museum and worked at the National Gallery of Canada and the Metropolitan Museum of Art before beginning a private conservation practice. She has studios in Florida and New York City, and summers in Lakeside. Couldn't get better than that. I know just the young lady from Columbus, a recent college grad with an art background, who should look into an apprenticeship with this woman.

On Tuesday she showed photos of damaged art and what can be done about it. She explained the tools of her work--ultraviolet light to detect over painting, infrared light for under drawing, radiography, x-ray, cross section samples, evidence from the painter's records like letters, notes or sketches, notes on the back of paintings, and the artist if still alive. She also briefly went over supports, grounds and paint, including the odd materials some artists use, which make restoration so difficult (mayonnaise, house paint, wax).

On Thursday she showed us examples, before and after, of 33 of her 2006-2007 projects. It was an amazing list of artists and projects, ranging from the Tom Loftin Johnson mural in the mess hall at West Point, to a Maxfield Parrish mural, Old King Cole in the St. Regis Hotel in NY, to a DeKooning to Salvador Dali. One interesting story she told of a project was repairing damage to a watercolor called "Sugaring off" in Vermont by a Gruelle dated 1954. It was done for a mural, but no one has been able to locate the mural! I think she said the artist is a brother of Johnny Gruelle who created Raggedy Ann.

Rusti has co-authored a book, "Seeing through Paintings," Yale, 2000, and has chapters in "The expert versus the object" ed. by Ronald D. Spencer, Oxford, 2004 and "Tiffany Chapel at the Morse Museum" Winter Park, 2002. It would definitely be worth a trip to Florida to see the Morse Museum of American Art. She also writes articles on conservation at the Chubb Collectors web site.

4056

Lenders are tightening their standards

Apparently, you're going to need a good credit rating and 10% down to get a home loan. Now that's a shocker, isn't it? Sounds just like 1961 (6%), 1968 (6.5%) and 1988 (10%) the last years we took out a mortgage--although in the 1960s banks wouldn't figure the wife's income in the mix. WSJ had another story today in its series about the subprime market problems. Like the Tiger op ed piece I put into poetry a few days ago, this story uses an Hispanic family. There were a few details in the piece that I'll put at the beginning instead of the end:

When the Montes bought their house
they had little savings (no amount was given)
not-so-great credit (no information on score)
were eating out as a family twice a week
paying $70 a month for piano lessons for one daughter
planning college for the other
taking vacations in Lake Tahoe
had 2 car loans (make and model not given)

When they got the home loan
they didn't read the small print
there is a prepayment penalty--$12,000 before 3 years
didn't realize their property taxes would jump $3,000 because of the new valuation based on their purchase price
they got a 2/28 loan, which means it can reset after 2 years for as much as 30% more in the payment amount when it floats to fixed for 28 years
their payment on the 2/28 was $3,200 a month, not adding in the increase in property taxes
their mortgage, which was actually 2 loans, covered only the interest, which means they were not building equity

I'm guessing that a person with the discipline to have a good credit rating and a savings account would have started putting money back immediately by eliminating the restaurant meals and vacations and piano lessons, knowing they had only two years before the crunch would come. But they didn't. They counted on refinancing the house, fantasizing that home values would continue to go up. They didn't, and the house is now worth less than they paid, plus they have no equity built up. They hope to hang on to the house by working some additional part time jobs and making the cuts they should have done two years ago.

Fortunately, God looks at the heart,

not the results. While driving to Wal-Mart today to buy a new computer mouse, baby aspirin, Dixie cups, and deodorant, I was listening to a commercial on WJR Detroit urging people to buy book bags for 3500 homeless kids filled with school supplies and hygiene items. To listen to the enthusiasm of the voice overs on the commerical, you would think that this was all it took to turn a kid around--an $18 bag of school goodies. There may never be public school programs to teach young girls that they need to respect themselves enough to finish high school and be married before they make babies, or young boys that they should keep their pants zipped, turn off the music and get a job, but there will always be book bags.

4054

Poetry Thursday--a betrayal of trust

Last week I took a writing class at the Rhein Center here in Lakeside with Patricia Mote. One of our assignments was to write an editorial, poem or song lyrics about a fallen person in public life--a president, sports figure or celebrity. I chose Bob Taft (Robert A. Taft, II), our former two-term governor of Ohio, who by the end of his term was ranked 50th of the 50 governors.

He bears one of the most famous names in American politics--Taft. His Taft fore bearers have included a president, senators, supreme court judges, secretaries of war, as well as state politicians. He left office entangled in an ethics scandal (quite mild by standards of other politicians), and he and his wife went to Africa where he had served in the Peace Corps as a young man. He will be at the University of Dayton this fall.

Poor Bob Taft
by Norma Bruce

Gone are the days when our Taft name was strong and great.
Gone are my state house friends who also met my fate.
Gone from Columbus to far off Tanzania,
Peace Corps memories and far off Tanzania.

I'm going, I'm going, this life is still a draft--
I read the Zogby ethics polling, poor Bob Taft.

Why do I weep so, it can now not be improved,
George Bush is my eleventh cousin once removed,
And I'm the ninth cousin of Richard Bruce Cheney;
Yes, in my family, Vice President Cheney.

I'm going, going, before I get too daft--
I hear the ethics charges tolling poor Bob Taft.

4053

Lakeside 80 years ago

On my bookshelves at our summer cottage is the Lakeside on-Lake-Erie Season 1927 program. I think I bought it several years ago at a yard sale. On p. 7 there is a photo of a man doing a high dive and I think it is Frank Thompson, for whom the baby pool here is dedicated. He taught generations of little Lakesiders to swim, and built our house in the 1940s which we purchased from his widow.

"Hundreds of people are looking to Lakeside to provide for tem a happy vacation. People will not be disappointed, for Lakeside is full of promise for another splendid season. Physically, many improvements have been made which will have the hearty commendation of our patrons. The grounds have been improved; trees, flowers, and shrubbery have been planted; and a more beautiful Lakeside is on the way.

The program for the season is a good one. The Chautuqua program has been carefully built, and men and women of genius and power have been secured to appear upon our platform. Lakeside is a platform of the open mind where authoritative speakers are welcomed."

The main speaker the week of July 1 (opening week) was Dr. William A. Ganfield, president of Carroll College in Waukesha, WI. He was a former Presbyterian Minister who also ran for Senate against Robert LaFollette. That week he spoke on "Is the world doomed to starve," "The next step in American progress," and "Saving the day for the U.S.A." There were daily band concerts in the park, and the Inskeep Players performed "Other People's Money," and "The Mender;" also available--Pathe news reel, a 2 piano recital, 4 reading recitals by Jeannette Kling, performances by the Vintons, father and son, orchestral preludes in the auditorium (Hoover hadn't yet been built), and various youth choirs that opening week. Each week had wonderful programming, just like today.

During the season there was not only the Chautauqua Assembly, but a conference for the Congregationalists and the Lutherans, the WCTU, School of Foreign Missions, the German Methodists, the Epworth League, a horseshoe tournament, science week, a junior tennis tournament, a music week, and a Shakespeare Day.

In 1927 you could reach Lakeside via the Steamer Chippewa from Sandusky and Cedar Point, or the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad, connecting with the New York Central at Danbury. There was an auto ferry Sandusky to Lakeside and a trolley between Toledo and Lakeside for $1.50 round trip. Everyone over age 10 had to have a ticket within Lakeside, which were $.25 a day for adults, or $5.00 for the season. Automobiles were $.10 daily, or $3.00 a season. Clergy and family got in for half price.

Well, the prices have certainly changed.

4052

Can you say No?

Some people have a problem saying or hearing the word NO. I think it is the first word children say, either because they hear it so often or because it is short and easy to say. So why is it, that people have such a problem with it later in life? My mother, God bless her, had a problem with that word. Her favorite phrase was, "We'll see." That just put off the inevitable, but she didn't get into trouble with it. I didn't follow her example. In fact, it drives me crazy when people aren't honest about wanting to say NO, so they just lead you on until it is too late to make other plans, or you've moved on only to find out later something else was about to happen.



So here's how I'd do it--how to say NO.

1. To a request to bake a cake for a fund raiser/good cause. I say, "NO, if you needed a pie, I'd gladly help out, but I don't do cakes. If you'll accept store-bought or bakery, I'll do it." I never say, "Let me get back to you on that." I'm 67 years old and I think I should know the answer to this one--you'll love my pie, and pass on my cake.

2. To a request to join yet another organization. I say, "NO, I already belong to two small groups and that's about my limit. I don't want to add anything else to my calendar." However, I do say YES if it's a short term task with a beginning and end in sight, but that has to be clarified. Also, I can spot "empire building" from 50 yards, so don't even ask if that's your intent.

3. To a request for a dinner date with my husband for Thursday if we already have plans for Friday and Sunday. I say "NO, sweety, those extra calories don't bother you one bit, but I don't want them." I'm probably the only wife who says NO to a dinner out, but you gotta do what you gotta do, or else walk an extra 5 miles a day!

4. To a request for a donation. I say, "NO, we tithe to our church and contribute to several community organizations we believe in. We have met our limit for this year."

5. To a request to help in my professional area of expertise. I say "NO, I believe that level of support deserves an employee and not a volunteer. Have you considered hiring someone?"

6. To a request to join a committee. I usually say NO, but there are exceptions. You don't ever want to appoint me Chair, because I'll dissolve the committee.

7. To a request to borrow money. Usually this is NO, but we have helped out our children occasionally, and other relatives if we know they haven't been irresponsible. My parents loaned us the downpayment for our first house, loaned me money to finish college and financed a car for us, so I had help, too--in my early 20s. Dad would set up payments with interest. However, don't ever loan money that you can't offer as a gift, or you might be disappointed and don't use it as a means to control behavior. The relationship is more important than the money. You just create hard feelings by making people indebted to you. Once we gave money to one of my husband's relatives because we knew a loan was out of the questions--he would have never paid it back.

8. To a request to babysit or help in the church nursery. Can't think that any one would ask this today, but in the past, I always caught a cold. Babies and toddlers are crawling with germs for which I have no immunity. Wording this NO is tricky, however, or you do sound like a meany. Honesty would be best so they can call the next name on the list.

My mother did give me some advice on saying NO, although I don't usually follow it. She suggested, in her dear, nonconfrontational way, that I at least look like I'm thinking about the request before I say NO.

When my daughter was in elementary school, the teacher sent home a grade report that said something to the effect that she had an overdeveloped sense of NO. Good girl. A woman after my own heart.

4051

Remembering labor

Normally, I never think about labor--not the paycheck, but the kind that has a baby at the end of the effort. You really do forget it almost as soon as they place the baby in your arms. But when I read about it, somehow it all comes back, and I have a feeling that most women wouldn't see it the way this writer does.

4050

Memorials at Lakeside

Some light the way with period sensitive street lamps, this one in remembrance of Hazel and Wendell Lutes, Sr. who may have strolled along the lakefront holding hands.

This one preserves flowers found only on our peninsula, the Lakeside Daisy, in memory of Daisy Foster.

The 19th century bell from the old bell tower on the lakefront was taken out of storage and restored in memory of Robert and Olive Pekar a few years back.

We're all enjoying the fine landscaping at the Hoover Auditorium in memory of Marian and Hurst Anderson.


The Steele Memorial allows us wonderful times for evening vespers, Sunday afternoon band concerts and weddings. It was built in 1979 for the memory of Fritz and Karilyn Steele, who died in an auto accident, by his parents with additional upgrading provided by Mary Corbett in 1995.


The Fountain Inn was expanded and beautified by donations by the Warner and Wolf families.

Almost every park bench and tree has a memorial plaque, this one for the Martins.


We can hardly remember what we did for fun before 2000 and the opening of the Rhein Center where families draw, paint rocks, create pottery, make kites, write poetry and knit and crochet and hundreds of other crafts. This building was closed for many years, but was transformed as a wonderful memorial to C. Kirk Rhein, Jr. who lost his life on TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

When I walk by a plaque, I stop and read it--and say thank you.

4049

Maybe he could take up golf

Lionel Tiger is an anthropologist who sees himself as an economist when he writes for the op ed page in the WSJ. I see him as a poet, because his writing about the subprime mess is so obscure and squishy, it just screams for the pages of Poetry. In today's piece he writes movingly of Maria (note the Hispanic, i.e. working class allusion) and her home loan problems. Tiger says that the savings and investment industry is built on optimism and overestimates--by all parties, but the blame when that goes awry does not go to Maria, however. Here's where I see the poetry.

Blame
by Norma Bruce
based on Lionel Tiger's essay

For Allen who
never checked Maria's paperwork,
who assumed because she had a heartbeat
she was both
fine and subprime
all at once and
he didn't give a damn.

For the companies who
lurked outside
the gated-city building sites
promising the moonlight
on the deck
for just a little
overestimate please.

For the regulators who
couldn't follow
the trail of crumbs
leading from an
intimate overestimate
by a hopeful Maria
for a humble bungalow.

For the massive banks of Paris who
decided to close
their cash windows
and take
a long lunch
just when Maria comes
to refinance.

For the rating agencies who
are largely paid by the
companies they rate
[without a word to condemn the social scientists
who urged the high-risk, poor-credit workers
before they were ready,
to grab for the American dream.]

Read about banking on illegal immigrants, and see how business, the federal government loop holes and do-gooders work together, but we the people will pay.

4048

I should feel sorry for her,

but I don't. She's working 80 hours a week to meet her mortgage payment, which was an ARM and she couldn't get refinancing in today's fearful market for a fixed mortgage. So why doesn't my heart bleed for her? Her mortgage payment is $8,200 month, and she owns 2 acres of prime real estate in Marietta, GA, which she wanted assessed at $1 million to secure a loan, but the bank said, $900,000 tops [story in today's WSJ].


The number one rule of economics that every child should be taught in school is, "All bubbles burst." Give every senior on the last day in high school a cup of sudsy water and a wire wand, ask them to swish it and blow. Tell them to watch the pretty bubbles float, admire to colors, laugh at their classmates' antics. Then watch the bubbles pop--every single one will pop. Remind them that they are watching the real estate market, or the stock market, or their current love interest or their chosen career aspirations. It could be as valuable as a typing course and about as exciting.

Monday Memories--Is there life after high school

I saw this meme over at Big Mama. She's been out of high school 18 years, so her memories are a little fresher than mine--I've just had my 50th high school reunion. Well, not the 50th reunion, but you know what I mean.

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend Tina moved to Florida after our junior year. We both lived on Hannah Ave. and would walk to school together, stopping for Kay and Priscilla on the way (probably a 2 mile walk, and longer for her). We also double dated a lot. Lynne's best friend got married that year and left school, so Lynne and I started hanging out together, and we still correspond and see each other when I go home to visit family.

With Lynne and Sylvia in 1999


2. Did you play any sports? Not so you could recognize them. Those were pre-Title 9 days, and in Illinois, there were no competitive sports for women. We did have GAA which allowed us to wear uniforms not seen since my mother's college days. Katie, our PE teacher, was a guest at our reunion in July. What that poor woman had to put up with.

3. What kind of car did you drive? Anything my Dad owned, and he changed cars rather than change oil. I love those 50s cars. I had a boyfriend from Polo that had a 1953 royal blue Plymouth with dual pipes--unbelieveably sweet and loud--the car, not him.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? With my friends of course, usually at a slumber party after a school athletic event. Or it seems that way in my memory. I was part of a "birthday group" (clique) of 12 girls, and so we'd have at least 12 parties a year, pretty mild by today's teen standards. No boys. Lots of food. Presents. Occasional picnics. Movies.

5. Were you a party animal? See #4.
Christmas Party 1954
6. Were you considered a flirt? Oh yes.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Yes. I played first chair trombone, and sang in girl's chorus, and whatever that smaller group was called.

8. Were you a nerd? That word hadn't been invented yet, but I was an A student. A brain who didn't study all that hard, and I really paid for that when I got to college and didn't have good study habits. I took all the college prep-courses except Algebra II. I had the classic math anxiety syndrome that afflicts many girls (or I was just dumb in math), although that term wasn't invented yet either.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Heavens no! I just got the "we're so disappointed that a young woman of your talent and potential would behave like this" lecture from the principal.

10. Can you sing the fight song? I think we sing it or hum it at our reunions. One year--1987?--the reunion committee brought along band instruments and everyone in the band had to try to play the school fight song. What a hoot. I couldn't even find F on the trombone, let alone play anything.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? For a small school, we had some great teachers and an excellent administration. Warren Burstrom was memorable--managed to get me through physics and chemistry. He was a graduate of Luther College in Iowa. He later went on to teach at a junior college. His wife had been my 8th grade teacher, and she was excellent too, although I think my class was her first and we probably made her regret choosing that career.

12. What was your school mascot? Our school name was so odd, we didn't need a mascot.

13. Did you go to the Prom? All four years. Three proms with the same date.

14. If you could go back, would you? No, at this age, they'd think I wandered in from the retirement home which is next door. Our high school has merged with our biggest rival, much to the grief of the alumni.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? I had to give a speech. I still nearly pass out in front of an audience. I've got it here somewhere on my blog.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We didn't do such things, at least not as a class, but I think we did the next worst thing for the 1950s--wore jeans to school one day in the last month of our high school career.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes. I worked at Zickuhr's Drug store and the town library, and also filled in during the summer if I was home, which wasn't often. I was thrifty (tight), and had saved enough for my first year of college.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? To the school cafeteria.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Yes, about 10 lbs. Several times. But it has rearranged itself. Some of my measurements are the same--my right thigh is now what my waist was in high school.
20. What did you do after graduation? I went to Manchester College in North Manchester, IN after a summer in Brethren Volunteer Service in Fresno, CA. Then I transferred to the University of Illinois to study Russian.




21. What year did you graduate? 1957. There's a song about that by the Statler Brothers, "The class of '57 had its dream," or something like that.

And the class of '57 had its dreams,
Oh, we all thought we'd change the world with our great works and deeds.
Or maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needs,
The class of '57 had its dreams.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? My boyfriend. He had to come home from colllege, but he made the sacrifice. Neither one of us knew how to dance, but we did go to them often.
This is the 1956 prom
23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I didn't make it to the 10 year, but did get to most of them. In 1967 we had just moved to Ohio from Illinois, and it is about a 10 hour drive to get there.

If you liked this memory meme, tag, you're it.

4046

Blogging blues

The laptop failed again. Very frustrating. So I'm back in the hotel lobby at the desk meant for little people, or the intention that you not stay long because of leg cramps.

Last night's program at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside was Mike Albert, the big-E, an Elvis impersonator. I think this is the 5th or 6th time I've seen him over the years, and he's really a dynamic performer. He said it was the 9th performance in 10 days, but the show didn't get out until 10:45, so he always gives a lot. I wore my autographed scarf which he'd given to my son to give to me when he'd been to his shop in Columbus, maybe 2 years ago. Last night he had his own mother on the stage--said they'd sing together when he was young, and they did a little harmonizing for the audience.


Yesterday I wrote about silly things reported in the press about political candidates and mentioned Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Last night at the program I was reading this week's (issue no. 10) Lakesider, and see that the Chaplain of the week is Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. It says he got a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Morehouse College, was a track and field athlete, then went to Yale where he got a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Ethics and Theology. Then it was on to Denver to pursue a PhD in Religion and Social Change. It says he created the Issachar Movement (I used to get a newsletter from them, I think).

See? I blog. They come.

I usually go to the Lakefront service at 8:30 on Sunday, not the one with the Chaplain of the Week in Hoover. In my life time I've heard so many liberal sermons I could probably preach one myself.