Today, for this week’s Drink of the Week, I thought to do something a little different.
Below is a YouTube video featuring a drink that, although not in the present offering of Sips with Susan, could certainly find its way into a future volume.
Makes two libations, one to share and one for you.
ENJOY! 😉 Drink your “Sips” responsibly! 😂
From Sips with Susan — A Gathering Place Companion 🍸
Each week, we’ll share one recipe from Sips with Susan — A Gathering Place Companion. Some will be simple, some a little more involved, but all are meant to be shared — one to enjoy and one to pass along to a friend.
We begin where many of the drinks begin — with Ginger Jazz. Drinks in Sips with Susan feature ginger liqueur — often shown using a familiar commercial bottle. Ginger Jazz is our homemade version, crafted right here at The Gathering Place.
Ginger Jazz is a bright, spicy house liqueur that brings warmth and character to your cocktails. Once made, it quickly becomes a favorite to keep on hand.
Ingredients
2–3 oz fresh ginger root (2 oz = milder | 3 oz = hotter)
1 whole vanilla bean
1 cup orange blossom honey
1 tsp cinnamon (ground)
1 tsp cardamom (ground)
Zest from ½ orange
1⅜ cups water
1⅜ cups V.S.O.P. brandy
¼ cup neutral spirit (190 proof grain alcohol = 95% alcohol) (see note below for substitute)
Directions
Peel ginger and slice thin.
Slice vanilla bean lengthwise.
Add ginger, vanilla bean, water, and honey to a pan and simmer about 20 minutes.
Strain through fine mesh lined with a coffee filter into a bottle.
Allow to mellow 24 hours before use.
Makes approximately 2½ cups of Ginger Jazz.
⚠️ Note on Neutral Spirits
Grain alcohol (190 proof = 95% alcohol) is extremely strong and should never be consumed straight. It is used in small amounts to help extract flavors during infusion.
If neutral spirits are unavailable or not preferred, substitute:
¼ cup mixture made from:
⅛ cup water
⅛ cup brandy
Finished Ginger Jazz averages about 56 proof(28% alcohol) once diluted.
ENJOY! 😉 Use your Ginger Jazz responsibly! 🍸 From Sips with Susan — A Gathering Place Companion
Sips with Susan — Volume 1 A Gathering Place Companion
Some books begin with an outline.
Sips with Susan began with a habit.
Not a business plan. Not a publishing goal.
Just an evening… a glass… and a willingness to try something a little different.
At The Gathering Place, drinks were never just drinks. They were conversation starters. Excuses to sit longer. Reasons to laugh one more time before calling it a night.
It started with a Moscow Mule — changed just enough to make it ours.
Then another variation.
Then another.
Before long, we were doing what creative people often do without realizing it — we were keeping track.
Not because we planned a book… but because we didn’t want to forget.
Names were given. Tweaks were made. Favorites were repeated.
And somewhere along the way, the number quietly reached one hundred.
That’s when the idea finally spoke clearly:
Maybe this isn’t just a collection of drinks. Maybe it’s a collection of moments worth saving.
That thought became Sips with Susan — Volume 1.
Not as a commercial product first — but as a memory preserved.
Today, the book exists. But more importantly, the gathering continues.
If you’d like to explore the finished collection, you can find it through I-Imagine Press, where it is available in both free and paid editions.
And if you’d like to see where the drinks truly live — where new ones are still being created — visit The Gathering Place, where the stories behind the glass are still unfolding.
Because in the end, this was never just about cocktails.
It was about connection.
And connection, like a good drink, is best when shared.
Thomas Wolfe had written a novel and it was posthumously published in 1940. Many had thought it was titled by his editor. On the face of it, the fact that the novel ended up with a different name to the manuscript would imply that we have Wolfe’s editor to thank for the title, but actually it seems that the title was Wolfe’s because, according to Gail Godwin’s introduction to a 2011 reprint of ‘You Can’t Go Home Again,’ Wolfe took the title from a conversation he had with Australian-British journalist Ella Winter who remarked to Wolfe, “don’t you know you can’t go home again?” Wolfe was so taken with the expression that he asked Winter for permission to use the phrase as the title of his book.
The expression is meant- If you try to return to a place from your past it won’t be the same as it was.
you could then…
never leave home
move back home
return to wherever you call home,
but you can’t ever go home again
Home is, where ever you hang your hat, wherever your heart is and with whoever you live with. It’s good to be home again.
Besides Food, What Else Can Be Done on Thanksgiving
The annual Macys Day Thanksgiving Parade – But of Course! Apple Toss– With baskets and red and green apples for points and scoring (make your own rules) Chop Firewood – This will warm your heart and someone’s hearth. What a great gift and exercise too Make a DIY Candle – pour some wax into some old metal piece of junk, add some wicks and there you go. Start a collection of heirloom cast iron skillets to hang on your kitchen wall
Skillet Wall
Take a Drive – Go get lost. Enjoy the adventure! (always have a map and GPS to get un-lost at the end.
Take a Walk – with your dog, a friend, family member or some kindred spirit.
Read a Book – to yourself or to children. Maybe both.
Susan inspired(my wife),Kid friendly Craft– make something turkey-delight with the kiddies
Rake leaves —Throw yourself into a pile or throw some other kids into piles
Look at Family Photos
Gather ‘Round a Firepit – roast some weenies, marshmallows and or S’mores – tell tall tales, get all smoky😂
Collect Food Donations
Be a secret Turkey Dinner Dropper-Offer – Take a whole dinner or the makings ring a doorbell then run away
Gratitude Game — (a paper plate, some glue, rope, fabric, a pushpin, ink pen and letters. Spin the fabric around on the pen until in stops revealing what is underneath. 6 possibilities. Whatever it lands on and whose ever turn it is, tell everyone what you are grateful – say the word and then elaborate a little on that word
Gratitude Game
Make your own Tic Tac Toe game — with stones, pinecones and a piece of wood and stuff.
Homemade Tic-Tac-Toe
Volunteer at a food kitchen
Make a Family Heirloom Table Runner — Take inspiration from television personality and cookbook author Nancy Fuller, whose linen table runner features the signatures of family members. To create your own version, have family members write their names with a disappearing ink pen, and then stitch over the hand-lettering.
Write Letters to Soldiers – those that cannot be home as they are serving us freedom and even those veterans that have served us freedom that may be alone this Thanksgiving
Write Letters to Santa — for yourself or help other children write and send theirs🤣
Interview Family Members – make a journal, a book or a recording
Host Your Own Turkey Trot– run walk or push baby carriages and wagons around the neighborhood. Organize your own version of a family Turkey Trot, whether it’s a one-miler, 5K, or something in between. First turkey across the finish line gets all the leftovers!
Watch a Holiday Classic Movie – Holiday Inn – Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Good Ole Charlie Brown
Football – if you have to? 🤣
Some Open Stores on Thanksgiving(limited Hours- yay)
Whole Foods Kroger Buc-ee’s Harris Teeter Meijer Safeway Rite Aid Walgreen’s CVS Dollar General – In case you want to start your stocking stuffer stuffing early😂 Family Dollar Cabela’s Bass Pro Shops– Besides just shopping, take the whole family for fun and frivolity and maybe even a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. I did 8 years ago. 😂
Many closed on Thanksgiving, including Walmart. Good on them!
Restaurants(if you don’t want to cook)
Red Lobster – sure seafood for Thanksgiving, why not! Dunkin Donuts Golden Corral Waffle House – Yay! T.G.I. Fridays Ruby Tuesday Popeye’s Subway Ponderosa Bonanza Applebee’s Sonic I-Hop Bob Evans – “Down on the Farm!” 😂 Cracker Barrel– Even if you don’t eat, or buy a thing, it’s worth just looking around! 👍 Sizzler Denny’s – But of Course!
Others may be open and others closed as they all should be. But if they are open, just go anyway!
OK, and Then There was Food
Even now, it is pretty likely that you already know what you are going to cook. Some don’t like turkey. Some will have ham. Some look forward to leftovers, making new dishes with those leftovers and soup. This year. I’m bringing champagne, some apple sugar spice for champagne flute rims, apples for slices and apple cider. I call these Apple Cider Mimosas. Figure it out and make your own.
Susan (my wife), is bringing batches of her world-class cranberry, orange,🍊 walnuts and white chocolate scones. My sister and I don’t care if they are frozen, served hot, warm or at room temperature. We figure we are good for about 1 every half hour. 🤣 Make your own or ask Susan for her recipe.
Now if you want turkey that everyone will like, do the following. Susan’s dad never liked turkey, but he loved this. I did not like dark meat, but I do with this. As a matter of fact, even though we grew up with turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas, looking back, I never liked any of it. It was just something we did and combined and smothered under with the good stuff like gravy, masked potatoes, dressing and cranberry, to mask the blandness of turkey— white or dark. That’s the way it was for years for me anyway until…until I came up with my Citrus Salt Rub years ago. I will give you the ingredients, but you will have to either buy my book when finished or figure out how to do it on your own.
¼ cup of coarse salt
¼ cup of virgin olive oil
1 whole lemon🍋 cut into halves
zest from the whole lemon above
5 sprigs of fresh whole rosemary
Zest the lemon and combine with 2 sprigs of finely chopped rosemary, olive oil and salt. Mix together.
Pour olive oil onto clean and dried turkey. With hands covered with culinary gloves, coat inside of turkey with the oil too. Place the two lemon haves into the turkey cavity and the remaining 3 sprigs of rosemary.
Coat the outside of turkey with the citrus salt rub. Elevate turkey in pan to contain the salt drippings as it melts. Envelop entire turkey with aluminum foil not just cover, ENVELOP! Cook 350° F until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Raise temp to 425°F, remove foil and allow to brown for about ½ hr. Let rest. Carve. ENJOY!
The secrets to this citrus rub.
Salt tenderizes to the point the turkey though still juicy, falls of the bone. The lemon, oil, and rosemary get the flavor into every part of the turkey, white or dark meat.
Note: be careful if using drippings for gravy or soup etc. as it is really salty
For left over ham, get a sister name Carol Lee to make some Ham Jam Sammiches’!
A Sweet Little Nutcracker Suite history and the Ballet
Plan now to check and see if a local performance of The Nutcracker Suite, by Tchaikovsky will be playing in your area. If you have never seen it, you are in for a real treat. If you have already tasted of it, re-treat yourself and see it again.
The Nutcracker Suite is a sparkly little box of jewels made up of highlights from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s fairy tale ballet The Nutcracker, which has become a Christmas, staple around the world. Conductor Simon Rattle calls it “one of the great miracles in music.” The ballet’s title comes from a story, The Nutcracker And The Mouse King, written in 1814 by the German fantasy writer ETA Hoffmann.
After the pair had worked together on The Sleeping Beauty, the choreographer Marius Petipa worked with Tchaikovsky to write the music for a new scenario he had chosen and written out, based on a version by Alexandre Dumas of Hoffmann’s story. Yes, Dumas the Frenchman, is the same author that wrote ‘The Count of Monte Crisco’ of which the sandwich is named after. There is no charge for this little extra. 🤣
But, Petipa instructed Tchaikovsky down to the last detail, including the tempo and the number of bars in each section.
Sweet Nutcracker
The Nutcracker, a fairytale ballet in two acts, is centered on a young girl’s Christmas Eve celebration and romantic awakening. She creeps downstairs to play with her favorite present, a nutcracker, which comes to life as a handsome prince who whisks her off to the Land of Sweets. The ballet was first performed on 18 December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia. The Nutcracker Suite became instantly popular and was featured in Disney’s — ‘Fantasia’.
Mushroom Dance from Disney Fantasia — 1940
The Nutcracker Suite is a sparkly little box of jewels made up of highlights from Tchaikovsky’s fairy tale ballet The Nutcracker, which has become a Christmas staple around the world: conductor Simon Rattle calls it “one of the great miracles in music.” The ballet’s title comes from a story, The Nutcracker And The Mouse King, written in 1814 by the German fantasy writer ETA Hoffmann. Oh, but there is so much more.
Little Nutcrackers and some of their history
As children we had small nutcrackers. These brightly painted, carved, nut-cracking decorative toys with functional mouths were quality pieces mostly found and made in Germany. But who knew there would one day be a man and his little fledgling company, making them here in the United States? Enter Glenn Crider.
Making Nutcrackers in the USA and Little Ginger Cottages
Crider was a small-town born and raised in Virginia. Who knew that after 30 years in the IT sector of building software for a food service, he would be laid off. At age 54 his prospects were dim so, he plunged headlong into doing his own custom woodworking. He installed tools in his backyard shed and started making wooden circus toys: trains full of animals with bobbing heads and unicycle riders that danced through the air on a wire. TRC (Three Ring Circus), the name of his company, was born. “Then one day at a show I had this little toy soldier, maybe an inch tall,” says Crider. “A customer was looking at that, and she said to me, ‘Can you make a miniature nutcracker for my dollhouse?’ “That’s when the light bulb came on.”💡
So he started to make nutcrackers — designing, constructing them and even making the mechanical jaws, to crack nuts. He made them in all kinds of sizes. But he was still basically a starving artist.
Official U.S. Postage – Photographs of Glenn Crider’s work
It’s OK if you have not heard of Glenn Crider and TRC, but the United States Post Office and the Smithsonian Institute came calling anyway. Stamps were made from designs he made and shipped to them that they photographed and turned into stamps. The Smithsonian Institute houses some of his original designs. Larger versions were commissioned and made for the Nutcracker Suite ballet, for Richmond, VA and other cities.
Birth of ‘Ginger Cottages’
“Among Crider’s nutcrackers is a baker holding a tray of treats including a tiny gingerbread cottage. In 2009, a customer unable to afford the doll asked whether she could just buy the gingerbread house. Using a laser engraver he had purchased to inscribe the company’s name on wooden nutcracker boxes, he began cutting out plywood roofs, floors, and walls and assembling tiny structures that looked like real estate from Santa’s Village. The Ginger Cottage line was born.”
Sweet Nutcracker baker that became the inspiration for ‘Ginger Cottages’
To this day, each ‘Ginger Cottage’ has several surprises including a little gingerbread cookie man hiding somewhere. I wonder if the little girl (now grown up), could ever imagine what was going to happen when she just wanted to buy a little gingerbread house for her dolls? So how did a guy with mechanical skills (woodcarving), use his former training in computer software that laid him off? The game changed in 2010 when Crider discovered he could design his products on a computer then send them to a laser engraver for production. The development grew the business exponentially, Crider said.
‘Santa’s Workshop’ – Ginger Cottage (actual size compared to human hands)
About 15 percent of TRC’s business is custom work, and it grew dramatically. Cracker Barrel came calling and at one point, they were responsible for selling 30% of TRC’s designs. They even commissioned him to make a miniature cottage for ‘Cracker Barrel. I have one of those in my little collection of ‘Ginger Cottages’ that I put on display every Christmas season.
My Little Village with some ‘Ginger Cottages’ and original piano music (look closely and you will see my Cracker Barrel cottage)
Among clients that have ordered site-specific Ginger Cottages or ornaments for their gift shops: Busch Gardens – ‘Santa’s Workshop’ in the amusement park’s German section; Mount Rushmore for the studio where Gutzon Borglum designed the monument; and Colonial Williamsburg (six historical buildings at the living-history museum). “It turns out they have 400 buildings they want done,” says Crider about his Colonial Williamsburg work. “I don’t think I’m going to live long enough.”
TRC Designs eventually had tour busses stopping by to tour the only Nutcracker making company in America at the time. They were the only one that made them with the functional nut-cracking jaws, for a very long time. They had 58 sales representatives in 40 states and worked diligently to pick up the other ten states. They did. Initially, states like Alaska, Texas, Hawaii and South Carolina did not have TRC Designs representatives. But they still shipped to stores and individuals, and collectors everywhere in the USA and all over the world.
In 2019, ‘Old World Old World Christmas’ of Spokane, Washington bought TRC Designs Inc. and its Ginger Cottages collection of wood ornaments. Glenn Crider, the founder and designer of the clever ornaments and figurines, joined the Old World Christmas team and continues to design all Ginger Cottage products.
Glenn Crider ‘Ginger Cottages’ for Old World Christmas
Back to the Sweet Nutcracker Suite
A Tradition in Rochester, NY – Where I first experienced the Nutcracker Suite Ballet just a very short few years ago.
Please note: I am neither sure of the local dates or ticket prices for Rochester, NY, but wherever you may be, find a venue, purchase some seats and go experience for yourself, a Sweet Nutcracker Suite for the holidays. Maybe get started on your own miniature Nutcrackers and ‘Ginger Cottage collections too!
Do yourself a favor, go see a live concert of the Trans Siberia Orchestra. You should award yourself with doing this at least once in your lifetime. If you really like Rock N’ Roll’ or reminded that you do, you will especially appreciate TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra), as it is known by its three letters.
I am writing this now because it is still possible to grab a couple of seats for a show near you. Just click on the following link and look for “all dates.” – https://www.trans-siberian.com/
What is the Trans Siberian Orchestra. The same website above will answer all these questions and more, but I will give you some perspective as one that has seen a live TSO show.
What really sets them apart is their combination of classical Christmas music and songs with Rock N. Roll quite possibly. Inspiration was no doubt from the first album ever titled a ‘Rock Opera’ from the Band, ‘The Who’ – ‘Tommy’ in 1969. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was a commercial and ‘Broadway’ success in 1970. David Bowie’s – ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ in 1972, was another ‘Rock Opera.’ ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ in 1973 was another ‘Rock Opera from Broadway to motion pictures, can likely be found running in some cities somewhere at any time. Each Rock Opera have several things in common as full orchestras, multiple guitars, drums, keyboards, singers and large productions. They each have their own unique calling and attraction to participants. Trans Siberian Orchestra has its own unique brand too. For starters, they use incredible light and sound techniques, fire and lasers along with spellbinding storytelling virtuosity. There is not a bad seat in any auditorium where you may experience a TSO show. Cranes and other elaborate props and sets will bring the musicians to you or at least close.
The other thing I find unique about TSO is they will employ local musicians and singers in every show. It gives a real homey touch especially if there is someone you actually know in your community, in the production.
I just cannot put into words what it is like, witnessing a TSO in person. You will just have to see at least one and experience it yourself. But I will say these few final things. Be prepared to meet people from all walks of life, ages, skin color, intellect economic background, whole families and even some that have been to many, many of these TSO shows for years. The programs are beautiful and the gift store filled with treasures enough for there to be, something for everyone. Finally, have you ever heard the term –
“close enough to feel the heat?” My wife Susan and I set in the balcony of a TSO show several years ago and with blazing flames of fire from the stage, everything they would burst into flames, moments later, we could feel the heat! If you think about $120 bucks for 2 seats is expensive, let me just encourage that a perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime event as a TSO show has so much interest, value and will produce so many memories, $120 is nothing. Besides, if you couples want to do something together, let this be the gif you give each other for Christmas.
How on earth did they come up with the name – ‘Trans Siberian Orchestra’? The original founder of TSO, was Paul O’Neill in 1996. O’Neill said it was inspired by his trip to Russia in the 1980s. He was particularly moved by the Russian province of Siberia, known for its freezing cold climate. One of its most distinctive features is the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is the longest railroad in the world that connects western Russia to the eastern part of Russia which touches Northeast Asia.
“If anyone has ever seen Siberia, it is incredibly beautiful but incredibly harsh and unforgiving as well. The one thing that everyone who lives there has in common that runs across it . . . is the Trans-Siberian Railway,” O’Neill allegedly told Citizen’s Voice in 2011, using the railway as a metaphor for how music connects people across the world. “Life, too, can be incredibly beautiful but also incredibly harsh and unforgiving, and the one thing that we all have in common that runs across it . . . is music. It was a little bit overly philosophical, but it sounded different, and I like the initials, TSO.”
In closing, I will share three videos. Two you have liekly seen before, thesey are all of the Internet, YouTube and etc.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve / Sarajevo (Timeless Version) (Official Music Video) [HD]
Wizards of Winter by TSO – Background music for this home with an incredible light show for the holidays
It is officially summer. How apropos would it be for a popular Italian drink, a Limoncello Spritz! With or without alcohol, let’s do this! 👍
Non-alcohol Limoncello Spritz
The traditional Limoncello Spritz is a delightful combination of limoncello, prosecco, and club soda that will transport you to an Italian lemon grove. Add some mint and lemon slices for color, and you’ve got a simple cocktail that is also easy on the eyes. For my non-alcohol and no sugar Limoncello Spritz, just replace the alcohol version (original recipe), with a non-alcohol base for the limoncello, a non-alcohol dry sparkling champagne, club soda and liquid organic Stevia to taste.
Note: view and enlarge the included picture here, of the exact products I used.
Ingredients
5 lemons🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋 (just the peels, make lemonade or something lemony with the rest) 😊
1 L (liter) of alcohol-free vodka (33.81402 ounces – full bottle)
Directions
Zest the lemons 🍋 (with either a vegetable peeler or a paring knife). Be careful that you don’t cut in too deeply, as you don’t want the white bit. Use the rest to make lemonade or something lemony. 🍋😎
Put the zest in a large, clean jar and pour over the non-alcoholic vodka.
Cover with a tightly fitting lid and leave for three weeks, shaking the jar each day!
La Dolce Vita
(Limoncello Spritz, aka a Lemony— “life that is full of pleasure and luxury)🍋
3 ounces (2 jiggers) of either Prosecco (what the actual drink calls for), or dry non-alcohol champagne
2 ounces (1 jigger and less than ½ of a jigger) of limoncello or non-alcohol no sugar limoncello
1 ounce (less than 1 jigger) of club soda
Mix
Fill a wine glass or tumbler ⅔ rds. of the way full of ice🧊
Add drops of liquid organic Stevia (one drop at a time), to desired taste and sweetness
Stir
Garnish with a slice of lemon🍋 and some mint🌿
ENJOY! 😉 Sip your sip responsibly, as if you were on the shores of Portofino, Italy by day or at night, listening to Andrea Bocelli. 😊
With the single word “get” a lot of things come to mind like and often referred to as phrasal verbs. What are phrasal verbs? According to the dictionary they are –
a phrase (such as get off or get going) that combines a verb with a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words. Here are some phrasal words in alphabetical order with “get”:
Get about Get ahead Get alone Get at Get away Get back Get by Get even Get going Get in Get into Get on with it Get off Get out Get over Get through Get up
“Get” is often used in an idiomatic manner. What is an idiom? An idiom is a figure of speech. An idiom is an expression that conveys something different from its literal meaning, and that cannot be guessed at from the meanings of its individual words. It is understood by the culture of the people associated with its origin. As an idiomatic manner, when taken as a whole, they have a meaning we wouldn’t be able to deduce from the meanings of the individual words. Some think of these as essentially, the verbal equivalent of using the wrong math, but still getting the correct answer.
The phrase “kill two birds with one stone” is an example of an idiom. Fluent and native speakers of the language understand that this doesn’t refer to harming birds or using stones, but that someone is completing two tasks at once. How about a fish out of water? 😂 Here are some of the get idioms, in various popular idioms.
Get to it Gotta I gotta’ go it’s late (note: not used in written English)
Have got to Get down to business Get together Get it together Get something
“Get” for Possession is also used to indicate possession in the present perfect use of have got. This form can indicate that someone has an object, a friend or relative, or even a situation like:
I’ve GOT two children. Sheila has GOT an appointment at three o’clock. Have you GOT a TV in your kitchen?
It is an interesting word GET, GOT or however the word is used.
For some background, I have within the last few months, come to the factual situation that I have failed and likely as a man, a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, and in business. Truly this had been and still is difficult for me to grip this. This is actual-factual not a mere expression of low self-esteem. But I am grateful for the realization, I truly am. But at 69 years of age, I am a little late to either my graduation from child to an adult or a pity party, wouldn’t one think this?
For myself, like I wrote before, I am grateful to be able to see perhaps for the very first time, what is the reality of my situation? I have decided not to continue to do the same things as I have for years and expect different results. I recognize now, this train of thought by followed actions is insane – nuts – crazy – stupid. I do not want to be this way anymore. But I also believe, even though I cannot do anything about what I have done or failed to do in the past, they are in the past, remain in the past. But I can certainly do something about what I do now and in the future, for as long as and according to – whatever time and quality of life I have left or that this may be.
As to the word “get” I am not seeking to “get over”, “get ahead of”, “get even”, “get by” and most of all those other “GET”(s), phrases and idioms. But I am interested in a “GET” or in “getting”.
Being brought to the place I was I have had to in essence, start all over or begin again. Such things as most have asked themselves and I asked myself many years ago as, Who am I, are renewed. Yes, finding nothing left of value, I have asked myself now what? What do I want to be? What do I want to become? What do I want to accomplish? Again, who am I?
Many of the things I thought I valued are no longer important to me. Some things never change, but many things have changed for me. Though there are still animals in my life, they are not as important to me as they once were. They are expensive and are dumb animals that often irritate me. But this does not mean I am going to be mean to them or not do my best to take care of them. Honestly, I am waiting for them to die and when they do, I will never have another pet or animal in my life and especially not inside.
I miss my aluminum-could-be-causing-Alzheimer antiperspirant deodorant. I tried natural and the so-called aluminum free deodorants. Thankfully I found an antiperspirant that works for me. This has not changed for me. It is just that in learning who I am now, this blast from my past, still works for me today.
I was told to wear boxer shorts. I did. I don’t like them. I need more support for my “boys” 🤣 and all cotton. Found a pair of Tommy John® brand that supposedly is several times cooler and keeps one drier than regular cotton? No bunching, chaffing, riding-up promises they say. They are expensive, but I decided to give them a try. So far so good! 😊👍 No, I am not posting a picture of me wearing them! 😂
Years ago I discovered Van Der Hagen Men’s Luxury Scented Shave Soap. I found it at Wal-Mart. I have been buying it for years. Now, everywhere I have looked it has been replaced with various shaving creams. I don’t like the aerosols or tubes of shaving cream. I don’t like shaving oils. Thankfully, I have located Van Der Hagen Men’s Luxury Scented Shave Soap on Amazon. I have a cup and a shaving brush (badger hair). I like shaving like this. This has not changed for me. It is just that in learning who I am now, this blast from my past still works for me today.
And another thing, when I-don’-care-if-everyone-is-doing-it, I don’t like body sprays and splashes or whatever they are called. I’m back to using cologne. I like smelling good and specifically, ‘Bernini’ and ‘Cool Water’ 👍
I need to loose weight and to lower my A1C levels. It is recommend that to do this, I should build muscle. I am working out at the gym, three days a week. I had not been in about three weeks while Susan was in Colorado. Call it me, staying home with the animals. But after she got back home, I went to the gym and was going to tell my trainer that I would be back the very next Monday. But I stood there and watched him train another of his clients for about 15 minutes. I did not want to interrupt him, but mostly, his training of his client captivated me. John’s client was female, but male or female it did not matter to me. She had on boxing gloves and John had on training gloves she could hit. Overhand shots, hooks and uppercuts, fast, slow, side-to-side, it was like a dance. I did not know if she wanted to learn how to protect herself or she was actually training for some competition? As it turned out, it was all just an alternative way to work on all her core muscle groups as I was with machines and weights. I immediately was reminded of dance and martial arts.
When I was a child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, I became interested in dance – tap and ballet. There was a class in an instructor’s home, not far from where we lived. I was able to join. I was the only boy or male. I did not care. I loved it. Other boys in my neighborhood and school found out about it. They teased me and made fun of me and I quit. Years later, I met a man that was living at his college fraternity. He was working out in what I learned was his karate Gi. I watched him for quite awhile and his movements awed me. He looked as if he was dancing.
He noticed me watching and my apparent interest. Must have been my bug-eyes? 😂 He not only was a black belt in karate, but he was an instructor and had his own dojo (school). He never asked me to join his school, but he did ask if I wanted to learn. So I worked out with him whenever I could. He never charged me. I have never paid a dime for any martial arts training until around 2007.
Somewhere along the path I was on, I saw an old black and white movie. It was about dancers. Thugs tried to mug, steal or just generally accost a group of them that had just left their dance studio. None of them were fighters, but they did no how to dance. If memory serves me correctly, this could have been a musical and/or a comedy movie. But all I vaguely remember is the scene where the dancers fended off the thug-fudder-muggers. 😂 One dancer dived into a trashcan and when the mugger bent over looking for where he went, two shoe-clad feet came out, upper cutting and knocking the guy down and out. This was all I remember, the dancers using nothing except their dance moves and techniques, successfully defending themselves. WOW, dance was looking pretty manly and cool 😎 to me after watching this movie! 👍
The word “defending” is important because, I was never interested in fighting or AKA kicking anyone’s ass. I never paid for any martial arts classes, joined any groups or wanted anything other than a beginner’s belt (white). I did not want anyone to know I was into martial arts as an alternative to dance or a reason to challenge me so they could kick my ass.
From karate, there was judo, tai chi, and with Bruce Lee, I was interested in Kung Fu. So, I always seemed to befriend black belt masters who took a shine to me and taught me many things, without charging me. Like I said, until about 2007, I never spent a dime on martial arts.
As a little side note, I went to a college in Emporia, Kansas for awhile about 1976. The college was trying to setup a dance class for entertainment purposes for campus life mostly. I joined. Now I was not the only male this time, but I was number three among many women. I loved it. I told you I loved dance.
Anyway, back to Bruce Lee, Kung Fu and the 70’s. I liked Bruce Lee. Besides his skill and physique, I thought he was cool 😎 and funny.🤣 I watched his movies and his moves. I practiced his one-inch punch. Somehow, this big-popular-athlete-boxer-fighter (never knew him to have ever lost a fight), found out about my interest in martial arts. He believed they were nothing. He persisted. Finally, I relented and said, “I can knock you on your ass with my fist, just one-inch from your chest. He did not believe me. I had him hold a three-inch telephone book over his chest for his own protection. He did not believe me. I knocked him down.
Now I am not proud of this, but it shows how quick my responses were and it shows muscle memory. Muscle memory basically just means you practice something so long your muscles seem to develop almost a photographic memory. This explains why even though blind, many people develop their other senses and do not need sight. There are many grand masters of martial arts that are literally blind. But anyway, my mother and I were having an argument. I turned my back on her to walk away. Apparently she was not done with speaking to me and she reached out and her hands or fingernails reached my back. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, my mother was on the ground looking up at me confused and in disbelief. I did not hurt her. I was not proud of that, but it shows my response time. Years later I was working with a large man over 6’ tall and he weighed over 200 lbs. He was driving and I was on the passenger side. I did not like this man, but at the time, I was working for him. He sucked as a people person. He was clueless as to thinking about many things and at common sense or about communicating with others. But somehow he was brilliant in math and the use of Microsoft’s excel program. He was like an idiot savant.
How about this, I will write here so you can perhaps understand my opinion of him. He was raised in the “sticks”. His dad once told him that the way you could tell if a dog is a good one or not was to throw a stick at the dog. If the dog were dumb or worthless, it would run away. If the dog were smart and a good dog, it would come back to you. Well, I thought just the opposite. If the dog was a good dog and smart, if I ever threw a stick at it, it should run away and never come back!
You need to understand this. I worked for him. I lived in a former chicken coop that he owned. His wife kicked him out of their home and he was also, living in the front of this converted coop in what was also the office. We had to share the kitchen and the bathroom. But when not working, I wanted nothing to do with this redneck-overalls-wearing-hillbilly. He was an embarrassment to me. He was an embarrassment to my then trade. Somehow, he hit my every trigger, many of which I never knew I had. I thought I was a peace loving person. He made me angry. I wanted to hurt him. Thinking and doing are two separate things. So, I started thinking up and writing down plots for murder mysteries.🤣 At least I wasn’t fighting. 👍
Well, one morning, I got into his truck. We were on our way to a job. He said, “Good Morning.” I responded with: “Look, I have to work for you presently and with you. But I could care less if you say a single word to me, other than as it relates to work!” (emphasis intended). The next thing that happened was his right arm was reaching out towards me. I viewed this as a threatening motion. The next thing I realized, I had swung all the way over and was somehow between the front glass and the steering wheel holding his arms to keep him from hurting himself or myself. He opened his door and turned in his seat to try and throw me out. The angle and gravity finally forced me to the ground. No one was hurt, but he drove away.
From my beginnings in martial arts, I never wanted to hurt anyone. Any of the few physical confrontations I have ever had in my life, I always resorted to wrestling moves to hold them back until the anger subsided, they agreed to end this and I let them go. I bring this up as “defense” not “offense” has always been important to me. All the martial arts say they are for defense only. I have not found this to be entirely honest. Most are highly aggressive, offensive and competitive. But breaking concrete blocks, blocks of wood, breaking knuckles, bloody fists and having your hands registered with law enforcement as lethal weapons might be appealing to those that actually need these skills in law enforcement and the military, but I’d rather be a lover than a fighter or an arrogant bully.
Over the years I have kind of become a law unto myself. By this I mean, learning so many techniques from so many different martial arts, it was kind of like what Bruce Lee developed and called, Jeet Kune Do. “Jeet Kune Do” supposedly means – “Way of the Intercepting Fist”. I kind of refer to what I have learned or what I do as, use what is at hand or use what you’ve got. Maybe at the moment all that you have is a stick, a banana, a bag of chips, or whatever is available. Mostly I use whatever an opponent has – their strength, their size, and especially, their lack of balance. Speaking of “balance” I learned along time ago that those flying kicks might look impressive, but the moment your feet, both of them are not on the ground (grounded), you have lost your balance!
Over the years I have been interested in martial arts as an alternative to dance. I liked martial art movies and television programs. For a time, I enjoyed Steven Segal movies. Even when I was into him, I thought he was fat, arrogant, a sexist and a bully. But it was the core of his techniques I found incredible. You can still find YouTube videos of him defending himself from about 10 masters to become a grand master. He was the real deal! What he did in the movies was based on a legitimate martial art (over-scripted and over-choreographed for film), but one in which he was truly a master at. He learned it as a foreigner and in Japan. In Japan, many of the natives are prejudiced against any foreigner. Color of skin is not important, but where you are born. Many American-born people literally have to be better than the Japanese, in order for the Japanese to give them any respect. Steven Segal did that. And it did not hurt him that he was once married to the daughter of a martial arts grand master from Japan.
About 2007 or thereabout, I went to Japan. There I understood that this martial art among all the other martial arts is really and truly for defense, not offense. But this does not mean that someone could not be seriously hurt by these techniques or that those who know them run if they are confronted and there is no other way. I still remember its first principle – ‘Don’t be There.’ “Don’t Be There” in my own words means:
Don’t go looking for a fight Don’t show up for a fight Don’t get into a fight… …Just don’t be there
Get Out Get Going
But if confronted and there is no other way, you have every right and the responsibility to defend yourself and others too! I am now thinking of a man that served in the defense of his country and found himself in a situation where he believed it necessary to defend others from another that appeared bent on causing harm. The one man died and the former soldier-defender has been charged for having committed a crime. Read what I wrote above, again. If there is no other way, anyone has the right and the responsibility to defend themselves and others, the misinterpreted laws be damned. The deceased man violated Aikido’s main tenet or first principle – “Don’t be there.” I am truly grieved for those he has left behind, but he is responsible for his own death!
All the principles of Aikido work for me! When I got back to the United States I found and joined a local dojo for Aikido. Part of this included receiving my first ever Gi. It was all cotton, loose and padded to be able to move and roll. We did a lot of that. I loved it. Then the instructor became a Christian (so am I), and he had some religious conflict between Aikido and Christianity? I tried to dissuade him to no avail. I could not persuade him. So much for my spiritual prowess or persuasion abilities, huh? Well, this was the end of that class and it was the end of Aikido for me, for probably over 10 years. That is until last week when I went into gym and watched my trainer working out with the lady boxing. I was thinking WOW, dance, Aikido! So I went home and took out my Gi. That thing is so well made or so under-used it could maybe last 150 years? At least for longer than I will likely be alive.
The uniform is called Aikido Gi (or Aikidogi) is the correct term. You could also use the short form: Dogi. But most people simply call it Gi.
Gee Dahni is this you in your Gi? 😂
My pants with a drawstring still fit great. The long white belt has not changed. The jacket was a little tight due to that belly now hanging over my waste. So I went and got another one, cheap and on sale. So now, besides just machines and weights, I can work my core muscles going through martial arts aka dancing.😊 I did this at home on Wednesday. At home, I don’t have to wear socks and have the benefit of toughening up my feet. For the gym, I found some black sock-etts with rubber grips on the bottom for traction and besides, the gym probably does not want me there in my bare feet. 😂 I probably don’t want my feet touching gym-germs either. 🤣
OK, so what does this all have to do with “get”? I’m getting there. 😂
In finding out who I am for maybe the first time ever, growing up, letting go of my past, sometimes people and stuff I used to do or hang with for whatever reason(s), didn’t work, what do I do now? I’ve decided I don’t want to stay in New York, but honestly, especially not, for the winter. Yep, this state politically is messed up. All I can say about that is that it’s not California, which is worse.
Surely I’ll be, at least once in awhile
Well, I got a big, big bucket full of shame, embarrassment and failure. I’m not suicidal and I don’t need a shrink, a therapist or anyone to talk to about this. I could use some new friends, but I don’t need professional help. I get up every day. I’m breathing. I may have been beaten down and I may be broken, but I have not given up. I still have hope. My expectations if not now lower, call them more reasonable. Besides, if they were lower and I get disappointed, I won’t have too far to fall. 😂
I have been looking for work. Most now-a-days all I have been able to do is apply online. I have been. I wanted full time M-F 8-5. Changed that to willing to work nights and weekends. I was willing to work part-time X however many part-times jobs it would take me to reach full time.
Someone that I know supposedly saw my resume and asked me to apply as a chef for another restaurant they are opening. I was honored. I applied. No return. I think it was not really Moma, but a dishonest recruiter. They get paid if I get hired. Part of the name of the restaurant is Moma. The person asking me to apply wrote, “This is Moma.” I have my doubts as we do know each other and I have used her kitchen years ago for a fundraiser. But I was honored and even though I had my doubts about returning to commercial chef-fery, I applied.
I applied for a carpet and fiber cleaning position. I was a trained specialist and considered an expert witness in a court of law. I was personally trained by the very best in the business, Doug Bowels. He was known by Dupont, all the carpet mills in Dalton, Georgia, has cleaned tapestry for a prince in Saudi Arabia, consulted with Disney World in Florida and on and on. He was here locally to do some training years ago. He and his wife Sandi invited Susan and I to dinner. A great time was had by all with great people. I loved this industry! My last work in this field was in Rochester, NY over 10 years ago. I cleaned all the carpet and drapes at The George Eastman House & Museum (founder of Kodak), and treated the curtains at Dryden Theater with fire retardant. That’s when I developed that day, a chemical sensitivity. That’s that and that ended my career. Over ten years ago? Well, maybe I’m no longer sensitive? I applied. Nothing.
I lowered my expectations again. And then I kept getting this and that from them and those, almost like spam. There was nothing in between of not being qualified and not being interested from these.
Then I made a simple tweak. I only wanted Indeed, Ziprecruiter, CareerBliss (partners with LinkedIn), and other job finders to only send me remote work. They did and in fact, within minutes, not only did I have openings that could be done at home, I found one I was interested in and I applied. I got a response within a very short time. I listened to and watched a presentation by the owner and CEO of the company on Zoom. I was impressed. I filled out a survey. Heard back from them. They set up a follow-up interview. I decided before the day of the interview, this is what I wanted to do, even before knowing if I would be hired. I had my interview with one of the VP’s, face-to-face, also on Zoom. We hit it off. I guess he was impressed with me. He told me, “I want you to know that if I hire you, there are others in the wings I cannot.” I said in response, “I’m sorry, that I cannot be sorry!”
So, I’m hired at age 69. Doing what? I am not going to tell anyone, anytime soon if at all or maybe not for ten years? Why? I do not want anyone to know if I succeed or if I fail. I want no other outside influence, positive or negative. This is something I want to learn, I want to do and to be be successful at. I want to do this first, for myself.
I don’t want to Get on. Get even, Get over and all the other Gets. I just want to GET this now, in my time. Don’t call me (unless it is a real emergency), between 2-9 PM M-F or maybe, Sat or Sunday or both – 8 am to 1 pm. I’ll be working to help others and myself. I may not need to work beyond Thursday. I may just want to work because, I’m good at helping others and myself, a lot! 😁
Yes, maybe I can retire (again), but in ten years, at age 79, with some lead left in my pencil and something to show for all my efforts? That will be new! Maybe I can finally do what someone told me to do probably over 50 years ago now –
“Learn to do something so well it can support you and a family if desired.”
Perhaps I am now ready to succeed. Maybe my attitude will attract others to what I have done myself, for myself, with the help of others and the opportunity given me? It happens for others, why not me? It’s going to! I am out to –
W
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