Day: April 8, 2024

The Good Old Days

Fandango8 Comments

Marilyn Armstrong posed an interesting question on her blog today. She asked,

Do you think of your past as “The Good Old Days”?

I think a little context might help set the table before I begin to a answer this question. I had the good fortune to be born to a white, middle-class, suburban family. They weren’t wealthy; both my mother and father had to work to make ends meet, but we had all the necessities we needed and I never felt deprived as a child. Had the circumstances of my birth been different, my perspective of my past would likely be different, too.

As an old timer, I have to admit that, yes, I do think back on my past as The Good Old Days. I was young, physically fit, full of vim and vigor, as well as piss and vinegar. I was invincible. And yes, life was simpler, less complex, slower. There were no personal computers back then. I was almost 40 when I got my first PC. No internet. No cellphones. No cable TV. No digital cameras. No 24-hour news channels, no music or video streaming.

When you wanted to talk with someone, you had to call them on the telephone (landline) or visit them face-to-face or write them a letter, which could take a few days to a week to be delivered. No dating apps, no email, no texting, no Facetime. No Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat.

The world was more local. Life was manageable, time seemed infinite. There were boundaries. The truth felt true and lies felt like lies. No audio or video deepfakes. No alternative facts.

I’m not saying life was perfect back then. There was Vietnam. There was significant racial unrest and riots. There were assassinations — JFK, RFK, MLK, Jr. There was the Cold War. The disastrous War on Drugs. So there were serious issues we had do deal with, but the world hadn’t yet gone insane.

I may be looking at my past through rose-colored glasses, but when I try to imagine being a teenager or a young adult in today’s interconnected, 24×7, fast-paced, partisan, conspiracy theories-filled, crazy world, I don’t think I’d be a happy camper. I’m glad I was around during The Good Old Days.

Answer Me This — Have At It

Fandango10 Comments

Suze, over at Obsolete Childhood has introduced a new prompt called “Answer Me This.” Suze says it’s “an alternative daily prompt” to the WordPress Daily Prompt, which she characterized as “ones that totally suck and are focused upon the young people here.

Anyway, her prompt question today is this:

What would you say if you had five minutes to defend the human race in front of a group of aliens who were going to obliterate humanity?

I’d say, “Have at it. We’re past our prime and we’re on a path to destroy ourselves anyway. Go for it!”

AI image from Wonder

Share Your World — 04/08/2024

Fandango3 Comments
Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her questions for this week.

1. We all make mistakes, but what was the worst one you ever made?

It was on January 14, 2023, when I decided to grab my ladder and climb up to the top rung so that I could reach and clean debris out of my gutters when the ground was wet and to not ask my wife to come out and be my spotter. I’ve been paying for that mistake every day since then.

2. Do you enjoy walking in the rain?

I enjoy walking — or used to before what I described above happened — but in the rain? Not so much.

3. Have you ever been to a Fancy Dress Party? What did you go as?

I’ve been to parties where tuxes and gowns were required. But I went as myself. By “Fancy Dress Party,” do you mean costume party? I’ve been to numerous Halloween parties where we were supposed to come in costume, but I can’t remember what I went as.

4. What was the first thing you saw when you woke up this morning?

My digital alarm clock when I woke up and checked to see what time it was. It was 7:08.

A2Z Challenge — The Letter G

Fandango24 Comments

I am unofficially participating in this year’s A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is girlfriends.

G is for Gloria M.

I’d like to tell you about my baby. She’s about five feet four from her head to the ground. And her name is Gloria. G-L-O-R-I-A. G-L-O-R-I-A. G-L-O-R-I-A.

So go the lyrics from the song “Gloria,” the 1964 song from the Belfast garage band Them. The song was written by Van Morrison, who was Them’s lead singer.

Okay, let me start over. When I was a senior in high school I started going out with Gloria. She was was one of those high school girls whose dresses always seemed to be at least a size too tight. She wore a lot of makeup, and had big hair. Hers was reddish brown and she used a lot of hairspray on it. She also applied just a bit too much perfume.

So why did I want to go out with her? Well, I’d lost my virginity the summer before (see “S is for Suzanne F.” in a few weeks) and rumor was that Gloria was “easy.” I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, but “easy” sounded like it would be fun.

Now, back to the song “Gloria.” in that song, Gloria would come around to the singer’s place “just about midnight and she’d make him feel so good. She’d make him feel alright.”

Gloria did not come around to my place just about midnight because I still lived at home and my parents would be there. But both of my parents worked and so Gloria would come around to my place a couple of times a week after school and yes, she made me feel so good.

After a few weeks, Gloria started pressuring me to “go steady,” but I was ready to move on so I dumped her. But it was fun while it lasted.

Previous 2024 A2Z posts: A B C D E F

FOWC with Fandango — Worth

Fandango12 Comments
FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “worth.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, ÿplease manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.