A to Z Challenge 2024 Theme Reveal

 March 10th is the official theme reveal for the 2024 iteration of the A to Z challenge.  Last year I actually announced my theme for 2024 here a year early while announcing my theme for 2023. In that post I stated, 

"The 2024 theme will be Narnian characters and creatures from A to Z. My working title is Narnia: From Aslan to Zardeenah."

Well it turns out, I lied.  Lied is a strong word.  I miscalculated.  Almost every year for the last 35 years I have reread each book in the Chronicles of Narnia.  Last year when I made the announcement, I had not yet started on my literary pilgrimage to Narnia and thought the idea of reading the books would help in making the alphabetical list of entries.  

I ended up reading a sum total of zero Narnia books in 2023.  While it's true that  I could easily journey from Archenland to Zalindreh, my heart was not in it.  I chose to abandon  delay my Narnian sojourn for another time (Although I would prefer to do all my blogging in Narnia, as no time would pass while I was writing).  

I then toyed with the idea of having no theme and simply blogging about something new from A to Z each day.  I liked that idea quite a bit, but then it occurred to me, I would have nothing to say at the theme reveal.  I then thought of having an overarching theme but leaving it wide enough to choose the individual topics the day they were due.  That also seemed a little problematic as I often suffer more from topic block than it's cousin writer's block.

Holidays by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free 

 Finally I thought of a topic that would give me both flexibility and stability.  I decided to blog about Holidays.  However instead of A is for Arbor day, C is for Casmir Pulaski Day (It's A Chicago Thing), I will be focusing on lesser holidays, the kind you would find at sites like the National Day Calendar or What is Today Holiday's like National Take A Poet to Lunch day which takes place on January 6th each year, the holiday that inspired this poem.

My process this year is each day of the challenge to post about a holiday that is taking place that day.  Some holidays like April Fools day on the 1st would match very well for the letter of the day.  Others will take a little pushing to make it fit the letter of the day.  April 2nd for example is Children's Book day. If I choose that holiday, I would have a title like B is for Books for Children. 

In addition to actual holidays, I am going to also create 5 new holidays as part of my list, including ways to celebrate these new festive occasions.   

Recent A to Z Challenges

2023 A Month At The Movies

2022 Limericks, Homeruns, & Wordles (Oh My!)

2021 A to Z People who were alive in 1921

2020 State (& Other) Capitals

Each year on Spotify I make an A to Z playlist for the year.  At the end of each post I will have a link to the song for  that day .

I am very excited about this Holiday edition of the A to Z challenge.  To learn more about The 2024 A to Z Theme Reveals click here, if you are ready to participate in said reveals click here, and finally if you are looking for a spreadsheet of who is already participating this year click here.

12 New Movies 2024 Film #1 In The Good Old Summer Time

 When It comes to placing content on this blog I continually am reminded of the Peanuts comic strip.  Lucy would hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick it and then pull it away from him at the last second .  He would fly through the air and land on his back.  Lucy always seems to be able to convince Charlie Brown that this time it will be different and each time it ends exactly the same.

In my blog I have these ideas for recurring posts and quite often I start them but then never get to finishing them.  One of these actually predates my blogs and that is the idea of watching 12 movies I have not seen before in a year.  Of course I complicate this simple plan by stating that the films must be from different eras.  Each year by April or May I have forgotten which new movies I've seen and I don't meet my goal.  I thought blogging about them might help me keep track, but it only ends up documenting my failure .  In some ways I am both like Lucy luring me to try again each year and like Charlie Brown convincing myself that this time I'll be different  falling flat on my back when the football is metaphorically pulled from my path.

My wife likes to say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results.  But that same wife once co wrote a song with me entitled I'm insane, you're insane, who's gonna win.  So since I already am (I won) sanity challenged, trying again this year isn't that bad of an idea.  Maybe this time I'll at least make it to AAUGHust. 

As I said I try to split the films up so they are not all from the same era. I try to choose 4 films that are older than me and 8 that have come out in my life time 

This year I plan to see 2 new to me films from each of these 6 eras

I. 2009 to 2023

II. 1994 to 2008

III. 1979 to 1993

IV. 1964 to 1978

V. 1949 to 1963

VI. before and including 1934 to 1948

I have already watched 2 new movies this year.  

The first was the 1949 film In The Good Old Summer Time.  I have wanted to watch this one for a while, and actually was reminded of it when I shared a YouTube video here  earlier this month.

By IMDb, Fair use, Link

I would give this movie a rating between 2 1/2 and 3 stars out of 5.  The film takes place in the early years of 20th century Chicago featuring  Judy Garland and Van Johnson  as two music  music store workers  who are also engaging in a mail correspondence not realizing that they know each other in what will be called " IRL" more than a century later. This musical is based on the  1936 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo which has spawned 2 other movies and one Broadway musical. One theme from the film is that circumstances can effect the way we view the world especially how we  evaluate people. I really enjoyed the performances by Buster Keaton (Sherlock Holmes, Jr.) , and S.Z. Sakall  (Casablanca) as the shopkeepers nephew  and the shopkeeper, respectively.  Their presence helps bring out much of the films comedic elements.  One aspect of the film I did not enjoy was that many of the musical numbers, although entertaining on their own merit, did not really go with the story that was being told.  This led to kind of an uneven feel to the film, which led to my mediocre rating.  I would definitely recommend this film to fans of Garland and to those who like to watch different adaptations of the same source material.  

Jesse Chavez lists All The MLB teammates he's been on.

 Jesse Chavez the most traded player in the history of Major League Baseball has made his way to White Sox Spring training by signing a minor league contract with the Chicago American League team,  While not officially with the Sox yet, the 40 year old pitcher talked about all his former teams in this video.

Tim Anderson Signs With Miami Marlins

On June 10th 2016 Tim Anderson made his Major League Debut for the Chicago White Sox. Last year On As of September 30th 2023 TA batted .288 with a .317 while playing home games for the  South Siders.  On the road he batted .276 with a .308 OBA. For his career so far Anderson has a .282 Batting average, an OBA of .312 and a slugging percentage of .422. 

2023 was a regrettable/forgettable year for bot the White Sox and Anderson in particular. Anderson In 123 games Anderson hit only.245 lowering his career batting average 6 points from the end of 2022.  Anderson only hit 21 extra base hits last year with only 1 home run, dropping his career slugging percentage 20 points in the process.

At The end of the dismal season the White Sox, declined on Anderson's 14 million dollar contract option for the 2024 season, buying it out instead for $1,000,000.00. After becoming a free agent in November of 2023 Anderson was signed in February by The Miami Marlins and have agreed on a 5 million dollar contract for the season.   

Do What I Did - Valentine's Day Advice

Poetry Friday is upon us once again. It is at Reflections On The Teche this week. I am entering this post from Valentines Day.

 

If You Want Your Love Story

To Have A Happy End

Do What I Did

Marry Your Best Friend

 

If A Diamond

Isn’t Really Her Thing

Do What I Did

Buy An Emerald Ring

 

If Your Fiancée

Doesn’t Need A Lot of Folks

To See Her Wed

Don’t Do What I Did

Just Elope Instead

 

26 Years Ago This Valentine’s Day

We Got Our Marriage License

And I’m Here To Say

I’m So Glad I Married My Best Friend

I Did What I Did

And I’d Do It Again

I wrote this earlier this month based on a prompt at my poetry group.  I gave it to Amy on Valentine's day.  Each time I read it I'm reminded of the work OF P.D. Eastman.  This is probably because I think MY NEST IS BEST because of the bird I share it with.

For More Poetry Friday click here.

Two Ways To Film The Same Scene

I just saw this on You Tube and thought it was worth sharing. It makes me want to watch Shop Around the Corner, Good Old Summertime and You Got Mail back to back to back. I have seen the 1940 Jimmy Stewart Classic multiple times. Have never seen Good Old Summertime and believe I have only seen You've Got Mail Once. I really liked this glimpse into the storytelling process of filmmaking.

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3 Former Bears in 2024 NFL Hall Of Fame Class.

The NFL announced their 2024 Hall of Fame class yesterday in advance of Super Bowl LVIII.  You can watch the announcement on YouTube by clicking here. The last 3 players announces Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Devin Hester, and Julius Peppers all played for the Chicago Bears.

Poetry Friday: A Winter Poem For Reluctant Poets

 Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Tracey at Tangles & Tails

Today there was no school as there was a snow day.  All the snow reminded me of an incident from 14 years ago when I was teaching a unit on  poetry to my children when I was homeschooling them.  The original post is found here.

Each of my children wrote a poem, but my 8 year old at the time son was originally a little reluctant to write his. Before producing the picture poem below, he recited something like Winter, winter I hate winter.

Later when I had some time to myself.  I reflected on the incident and wrote a poem as if it was written by an 8 year old who did not want to write a poem.

It reminds me of something that P.D. Eastman of Go Dog Go, or The Best Nest might write.

Winter. Winter. Winter. Winter.

Winter is no fun.

Winter. Winter. Winter Winter.

Now my poem's done.

I say it's done

but Dad say no.

Who wants to write

when you can play in the snow?

Sledding, Skiing, snow ball fighting.

Winter's really quite inviting.

It's fun outside and in the home

but do I have to write a poem?!!!

Winter. Winter. Winter. Winter.

Now, my poem's done!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I write this poem almost 14 years ago.  The youngest of the three children I was home schooling at the time is a senior now in high school.  I am working as a building substitute (a substitute teacher who works at the same building all year) at a middle school  I think of this poem from time to time when I encounter reluctant writers or winter activities.

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For more Poetry Friday click here.

National Take a Poet to Lunch Day

 January 6, 2024 is Take A Poet to Lunch Day.  It was started in 1995 making today the 20th annual celebration of this event created by Professor Arnold Adoff. This link gives some good ideas of how to celebrate poetry on this day.  A few years back I found out about this day and wrote a poem to commemorate the occasion,

I Took A Poet to Lunch Today

I took a poet to lunch today

And there amid the verse

Our flow of thought

Was free and light

Not stifled, bland or terse

I took a poet to lunch today

And traded quip for quip

She scrawled a sonnet on her check

 And left it with her tip

If you can't take a poet to lunch today

Please don't wear a frown

We all write poems in our own way

And some just write them down.

A few years later I included the poem in a holiday poetry reading on my vlog.

Best 2 Next Ten

The beginning of a new year is a time of looking back and looking forward at the same time.  In that spirit, I will be writing about the best 2 books I read for the first time in 2023, and also list ten books I am either currently reading or planning to read soon in 2024.   The best 2 books I read in 2024 were  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

In September I wrote a little about Levi here.  Levi has been many things in his career a lawyer, an independent singer song writer, a judge, a bee keeper, just to name a few.  He weaves many of those experiences into his first novel.  My favorite album of Allen's is Rivertown, a musical love letter to the history of Columbus Georgia.  Theo of Golden is also about a  river town.  The fictional southern city of Golden is an additional character among many finely developed characters.  But the characters and the setting take a back seat to the story which is about kindness, community and redemption.  Theo of Golden and is available in multiple places, including Rabbit Room, Amazon, and at Levi's website.

In preparation for the launch of his book, Levi wrote several pieces on his blog about writing.  In one, he talked about the novel A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles.  I was intrigued, so I borrowed it from my local library.  

A Gentleman in Moscow is about a man who is under house arrest for over 20 years in a Moscow Hotel.  It takes place almost entirely in the hotel, you would imagine this would make for one claustrophobic read, far from it!

Towles like Levi successfully makes the setting a pivotal character in this book.  The 2016 novel will soon be a television series on Showtime. I was sad to finish both of these books and am looking forward to rereading them again soon.  Which brings us to  our Next Ten ....

This will generally just be a list of 10 books, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I will also be entering a small update on my progress in my quest to read Fellowship Of The Ring before my 60th birthday,.

Dreyer's English - Benjamin Dreyer

Eugene Onegin - Alexander Pushkin

Concise Theology - J.I. Packer

1984 - George Orwell

Write Better - Andrew T. Le Peau

Royko - F. Richard Ciccone

Fellowship of The Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien 

I obtained the book from my local library, although my son has since informed me that he has several copies he could lend me.  I have finished the first chapter.  

The Periodic Table of D.C. - Melanie Scott

Theo of Golden - Allen Levi

A Gentleman In Moscow - Amor Towles

Note: I have already completed one book on this list since, I started writing this post a few days back.  When I have finished reading 4 more books, I will post a new Last 5 Next Ten.

A New Years Resolution or A Tolkien Gesture

 Today is J..R.R. Tolkien's birthday.  I have long been an admirer of his work.  It started when I went on a field trip in school to a puppet version of The Hobbit.  On the occasion of my first trip to Mackinaw Island, my parents purchased me a set of his Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  It was never actually intended to be a trilogy, it was published in 3 parts due to it's bulk and in case it proved to be a failure.

It of course was not a failure, being one of the best selling and most loved books of all time.  I on the other hand have failed many times in my attempts to read or even listen to the entirety of Fellowship of The Rings, the first installment of the work.  This is a cause of some embarrassment for me, and also a point of friction between myself and my son, who had read all 3 installments while he was still a tween. 

I am actually a much bigger fan of his fellow Inkling C.S. Lewis and generally read all 7 books of Chronicles of Narnia every year.  I have decided in honor of Tolkien's birthday that I will attempt yet again to read this magnificent tome.  Two years ago I was successful at my attempt to finish Moby Dick, this year I hope to finish LOTR. I will start  to read it this Winter and attempt to complete it by the end of Spring.  If I still haven't finished it by the beginning of Summer, I will complete the rest by listening to an audio version.  I will give myself to September 2nd, which is the day Tolkien died.  This years it falls on my eldest daughter's 25th birthday, and  thus a easy to remember due date.  If all goes well I will repeat the process in 2025 and 2026 for the final 2 installments.  I will update my progress here with my installments of Last 5 Next Ten. 

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Christmas Tree

For More Wordless Wednesday click here to be redirected to Comedy Plus.

First Poem Of The Year

 

I have written my first poem in a while, and it turns out also to be my first poem of the new year.  

Juggling

Why do I juggle?

Why Do I struggle,

with the pressure of every demand?

Why do I struggle?

Why must I juggle

When God has each ball

well in hand?

Why do I stumble?

Why do I grumble

constantly rehashing my plight?

Why do I grumble?

Why must I stumble

instead of choosing to walk

in the light?

Why can't I stop

Juggling and Stumbling

Struggling and Grumbling

Living a life based on fear?

Why cant I give up on 

Trying and Crying

Believing the lying

That I whisper into my ear?

The answers are found in the questions.

Truth is more than suggestions.

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Marcie Flinchum Atkins.  Click here to join the fun.  .

New Years Eve

2023  was a good year.   For the firsts semester of 2023  we got to work at the same school together.  In April we celebrated 25 years of marriage together.  

As soon as the school year ended, we went  to Greece  to celebrate said anniversary.  It was indeed amazing.

Besides hobnobbing with Greeks I also spent a lot of time near geeks as well.  After completing a Geek triathlon  of a comic book convention, a renaissance faire and a Doctor Who convention I went to my first Rubik's Cube tournament.  I had family members, plausible deniability and fun at each event.  

Rubik's Cube Convention Madison, WI

Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy concert South Holland IL

2023 was a good year and  I am hopeful that 2024 will be one as well.  I am also hopeful that 2024 will be a good year  as far as this blog goes.  

60 Years in 60 Days: 1982

I usually think of a year to write about and then a topic comes to mind when I think of the events of that year,  This time I had an idea for a topic and I thought of 3 different years that could fir the topic.  Those years were 1976, 1979 & 1982.  The topic was discovering that the world can be a scary place.  I finally decided on 1982 but let me tell you about the local events in 1976 , 1979 and 1982 and then dig a little deeper on 1982.

In 1976 a murder occurred on the street where I lived.  I was 12 years old at the time and  one of the 3 victims was just a year older than me.  His name was Michael Columbo and he and his parents were killed by his sister and his sisters boyfriend.  Patty Columbo is still in prison for the murders and Frank Deluca died in prison earlier this year.  Michael Columbo would have turned 60 this year.

In 1979 John Wayne Gacy was arrested for a series of brutal murders rapes mutilations of young men my age and living in suburbs near mine.  He received the death penalty some 15 years later.

Both these cases changed my view of the world a little.  When a brutal murder  occurs on the street where you live, in a house that would later be on your newspaper delivery route it's going to effect you.  When boys your age are being abducted in neighboring suburbs and being raped, murdered and buried it is more than unnerving.  It makes you wonder if you are truly safe. 

In 1982 when I was still in high school the unspeakable hit close to home again.  When I say close to home, I am not exaggerating at all.  Tylenol capsules filled with potassium cyanide were sold at two grocery stores, one in Arlington Heights which neighbors my home town of Elk Grove Village  and the other in Elk Grove 4 blocks from my house.  This was in my senior year of high school and occurred at a store my family had been buying groceries, including Tylenol my entire life.   

A 12 year old girl from my hometown was one of the seven who died.  She stayed home from school because of a stomach ache was given one Tylenol and died within hours.

As heinous as the first two crimes, they Tylenol murders to me was equally as perverse.  Especially when you consider the crime has still not been solved more than 40 years later.  Also the randomness of the victims, anyone who  bought products from either of those grocery store was a potential victim, which means I was a potential victim.  It is one thing to think that I was a target demographic of Gacy, but another thing entirely to realize that I was buying groceries at that store when there were tainted Tylenol available for purchase.  It is chilling.

This case also singlehandedly changed how products are manufactured.   Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturers  of Tylenol, not only responded to the crisis by recalling 31 million bottles of their product, but also introduced tamperproof packaging and child-proof caps.    They lost quite a bit of money in the process but  received well deserved praise with how they handled the situation.

Evil (read about any of these cases and the word evil, will come up again and again) is an age old problem.  Encountering it on my street, in my town, and near my town isn't unusual, as it exists everywhere.  But seeing such extreme examples of evil , may have been one reason why I was always on the lookout for good.

60 Years in 60 Days:1970

 1970: Keith 

I was in first grade in 1970.  It was my first year as a full time student as kindergarten back then was a strictly half day affair.  My older sister was in 2nd grade and my younger brother was doing whatever 4 year-olds did back in the early 70's. I don't have any memories when I didn't have both an older sister and a younger brother.

I do have memories before my youngest brother, Keith was born  on veteran's day 1970.  I remember some of kindergarten.  I remember my first day of first grade and I certainly remember walking home from school that day in Mid November when my Mom was coming home from the hospital with Keith.

I also sadly have many memories of life without my baby brother.  He died a little more than 14 1/2 years ago.  An event that is very well chronicled on this blog. This is the fifteenth birthday we have celebrated without him. 

 By the time Keith was starting first grade, I was starting 7th grade.  Because of the age difference we weren't all that close growing up.  He started high school when I was in college living at home and volunteering in the same high school youth group I had been in while in school.  He starting attending that youth group and we spent quite a bit of time together because of that. As a result we became closer and even though we weren't exactly super tight, he was probably the relative I was closest with.

In 1987, the year I left home to reinvent myself, Keith started his senior year of high school. Over Spring Break that year he had his first hospitalization due to mental illness.  This was the beginning of his road to a Bi-polar diagnosis.  I think back then they just called it a nervous breakdown.

That Fall he did go away to school, actually pretty close to where I had landed and he spent his first two semesters of college the farthest he ever lived away from my parents.  The next year He went back home to a local junior college and started to find his own way. While there he met the woman he would eventually marry and he got married before either of his older brothers.

Keith eventually graduated from college and began graduate school but never completed it.  I think the only job he ever had was at McDonalds, but he always worked hard and he always took care of his family, And I never met someone who loved his kids more fiercely than Keith did.  

Some Friday night in the summer of 2006, I was at an outdoor movie night at a local park with my family.  My cell phone rang, it was my Dad.  Keith was sick, He had only 10 % use of his heart and his kidney function was at the same rate.  Within a week, he was getting treated at the Mayo Clinic.  

His kidneys were shot because of the lithium he took for his bi-polar, but we never discovered what happened with his heart. From 2006 to April 2008 Keith's life developed into a consistent pattern.  He'd be hospitalized he'd then go to a nursing home (one of the only 30 somethings in the joint) then go back home far a month or two and then he'd be hospitalized again  because either his heart medicine was creating problems for his kidneys or his kidney medicine was messing with the bi-polar or any other such permutation. rinse, lather, repeat.  

Keith loved trivia, especially Jeopardy. He was an excellent chess player and  loved all kind of puzzles especially those in Games magazine.  I am sure, he would have been great at current games, like Wordle and Nerdle. 

Keith died at the age of 38 so I always think of him as 38. Or I think of him at 27, when he got married.  Or I think of him at 30 when his son Robert was born.  Or I think of him ay 32 when his daughter Sarah arrived. Or at the age of 22 when he visited me in Russia and said of my filing system, "A place for everything and everything on the floor." Or at the age of 17 when I saw him graduate high school at the old Poplar Creek concert venue. Or playing tee ball at the age of 7 or 8.  Or at the age of a few days, that November day on 1970 when he came home from the hospital.  I guess I remember him a lot.  I miss him even more.

60 years In 60 days: 1965

 I was born in 1964.  I turned 1 in 1965.  I don't have any memories of life in 1965.What I do know is that  my sister turned 2 in June , I turned 1 in September at the time that my Mom was pregnant with my younger brother who was born in March of 1966.  By the end of 1965 My Das  was 27, my Mom was 26, my sister 2 and I was one.  .  I am now 59 years old so I am older now than the combined age of my entire family in 1965.