FLASHBACK january 8, 1935

 "it's down at the end of lonely street at heartbreak hotel"

elvis aaron presley is born. in tupelo, mississippi. to vernon and gladys. his identical twin brother, jesse, was delivered 35 minutes before...stillborn...he was considered "average" while growing up in tupelo. he received his first guitar at 10 years old. in august of 1953, he walked into sun records to pay for studio time. sam phillips liked what he heard. after that meeting, elvis would release18 number one hits (the first being "heartbreak hotel")...would be declared "unfit for family viewing" by the ed sullivan show...would star in 31 movies...would serve his country for 2 years...would influence other artists, such as the beatles...would marry and divorce only once...and would produce one child. elvis passed on august 16, 1977 at 42 years old...in a statement, president jimmy carter credited elvis with "permanently changing the face of american pop culture"...since his death he has been inducted into FOUR music hall of fames (rock and roll hall of fame, country music hall of fame, gospel music hall of fame, and rockabilly hall of fame)...graceland was opened to the public and welcomes over 600,000 people a year...had countless reissues and remixes top the charts...
HAIL TO THE KING BABY!!

                

FLASHBACK 8 dec 2012

 i wake up and post a blog. i realize what day this is in history...a glimpse around our apartment will tell you this is a true statement...yet i post about the history of christmas trees. i get a text almost as soon as i post. "i'm surprised your blog isn't about john lennon today". i thought about it but it's also jim morrison's birthday so i was torn. "yeah, i get it". bridgette KNOWS me...she may not always UNDERSTAND me, but she knows me. so, then, it bugged me all. day. long. so i came up with a solution. two...two...two blogs in one. and a day late...so neither of them can haunt me over picking one over the other...
FLASHBACK 9 oct 1940
"you may say i'm a dreamer..."
john winston lennon is born. in liverpool, in wartime england. to julia and alfred. though he lives with his aunt and uncle, julia visits often. she introduces him to elvis records and teaches him the banjo. first song he learned to play? "ain't that a shame" by fats domino.
FLASH FORWARD 8 dec 1943
"no one remembers your name...when your strange"
james douglas morrison is born. in melbourne, florida. to clara and (future rear admiral general) george. when jim is 4, he witnesses a car accident in which a family of native americans dies. he considers this the most formative event in his life and will mention it in spoken word (dawn's highway) and song (peace frog and ghost song). as a navy brat, he will spend his childhood moving from base to base. he loves to read and is greatly influenced by philosophers and poets.
FLASH FORWARD february 1964
beatlemania strikes the united states. formed in 1960 by john lennon and paul mccartney, the beatles also include george harrison and ringo starr. they will become the most successful and critically acclaimed act in the history of popular music, releasing 12 albums and producing 20 #1 hits in the united states. all of the members will have successful solo careers.
FLASH FORWARD the summer of 1965
jim morrison forms the doors after graduating ucla with a degree in film. in june of 1966, the doors are the opening act at whiskey a go~go...opening for van morrison's them. van morrison will be an influence on jim's stage performance. the doors receive national recognition in 1967, when they sign with elektra records. and the single "light my fire" (ps...my least favorite doors song) spends 3 weeks at #1 on billboard's hot 100. 
FLASH FORWARD 3 jul 1970
jim morrison joins the 27 club. he is found dead in his paris apartment bathtub. with no evidence of foul play, no autopsy is performed. he is buried in pere lachaise cemetery in paris and his grave is one of the cities biggest tourist attractions.
FLASH FORWARD 8 dec 1980
returning to his new york city apartment at 10:50p, john lennon is shot in the back, four times, by mark david chapman. he is pronounced dead upon arrival at roosevelt hospital. 11:07p. his ashes are spread in central park, where the strawberry fields memorial is later created.
FLASH FORWARD december 2007
the boys are playing with a ouija board. they swear they have talked to frank zappa. now they try to talk to jim morrison. the spirit keeps asking to speak to "sofa mama". who the heck is "sofa mama"? duh doy!! i'm a mama! AND i'm sitting on a sofa. he wants to speak to me. so i do. andrew and i sit on either side of my coffee table. the only lights are from the glow of the christmas tree. we stare into each other's eyes and ask the lizard king questions about rock 'n' roll heaven. cody stands above and tries to follow the planchette, repeating back the letters it points to. we get really strange and poetic answers. also, the lizard king hits on me. and, seriously. i. did not. just make that up. 

                                        

                                        

FLASHBACK 1967~70 (ish)

 "when god created the universe, he pulled out all the stops...first, he created all mankind...then she created shops..."
random weekday. mama loads me and lil bro in the car and into town we go. she gets her hair done...we crawl around on the floor and get a coke, in a glass bottle, for a quarter (or something insanely cheap like that). then we stop at the martinette to pick up the dry cleaning...we get a handful of chicklets for a penny. last stop? kaufman's for new clothes for somebody...i didn't care for who, i just liked going...and hugs from all the sales people.
FLASH FORWARD 1982 (ish)
every wednesday. mama's day off. gather up the empty pepsi bottles and take them to the iga...mama cashes them in and we get groceries for the week. i need a jacket for school. off we go to bashford's to pick up my varsity jacket. and my new saddle shoes. and EVERY pair of shorts or tee shirt i will need for cheerleading.
FLASH FORWARD today
bashford's is gone. kaufman's is gone. many of the places i remember going as a child or teenager are gone. maybe the owners just wanted to retire...or maybe they couldn't compete with malls and chain stores. or the internet. in their place are new small businesses. a few seem to be making it. some store fronts...and names...seem to change as fast as the weather. it breaks my heart.
friday...most everyone will be at the mall. or wal~mart. or target. or *insert big chain store here*. monday...people will sit at their computers and search out great online deals (more on cyber monday in a later post). but in between...in between is SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY. a day set aside to peruse the shelves of your local small business. maybe it's an antique store. a unique home furnishings boutique. a place to purchase great gifts and craft beers. my suggestions to you? this saturday, take a few hours and walk the brick sidewalks of lebanon, oh. grab a vera bradley bag or crabtree and evelyn lotions from oh suzanna. purchase a unique gift or home furnishing from pink hippo. check out the antiques at the broadway antique mall. grab a frozen custard at whit's. and then stop in at the paddock for a craft beer or wine. we should be shopping small businesses everyday. not just one day out of the year....

                     

                

       

         

 

ps...you say you want to start your day with a mani/pedi, spray tan, and new 'do? check out the girls at hair~n~now salon and day spa!!

FLASHBACK 1986

"songbird sweet and sour jane and music is my aeroplane, it's my aeroplane"
i move to north carolina. i notice the license plates say "first in flight". i'm an ohio girl. i know that OHIO is the "birthplace of aviation". what is up with that?
FLASH FORWARD today
living in the state for 23 years, i consider myself a tarheel. and, raising my kids there, i had the opportunity to study that phrase...first in flight. since november is aviation history month, i thought i would take this time to explain that ohio and north carolina, both, have the right to take credit for the wright brothers and their world~changing invention.

in 1896, the wright brothers (orville and wilbur) started working on a series of gliders, in their bicycle shop on the south side of dayton, ohio. the gliders were, both, unmanned and piloted. each model got more sophisticated. needing regular breezes and soft landing surfaces, it was suggested that they test their flying machines in kitty hawk, north carolina. after testing several versions of their gliders, they travelled back home, to ohio, and began work on "the flyer"...the first powered airplane. back in kitty hawk on december 13, 1903, at approximately 10:35a, orville wright launched the first airplane flight in the history of ever. 

so, you see...both states are right. the idea of the airplane was conceived and built in ohio, making it the "birthplace of aviation". but the first ACTUAL flight took place in north carolina...technically making that state "first in flight". and i am proud to be able to claim both as home.

           

 

 

 

^looking for something to do this weekend? in honor of aviation history month, why not visit the national airforce museum? it's located at: 
1100 Spaatz St  Dayton, OH 45431 (937) 255-3286 
hours of operation: 9a~5p, seven days a week. closed thanksgiving, christmas, and new year's day

                                                 

FLASHBACK halloween 2008

"karma karma karma karma chameleon..."
as long as i can remember i have preached good karma. i remind everyone "you get what you give so give good". treat others the way you wish to be treated. this is what keeps me from punching people in the throat. not that i haven't had a moment of weakness. snapped a few heads off. talked A LOT of smack. usually with disastrous results. a flat tire. the flu. or worse, grabbing that one cart at the store that squeaks and rattles and makes you want to punch you own self in the ovary, and inexplicably not being able to find one that doesn't. 94% of the time i try to do the right thing. buying that homeless lady a cup of coffee and a muffin (at the same diner every single time i went to philly...i sure hope someone took over for me). letting that person, who has one item in line at the grocery store and decided NOT to get in the express lane, cut in front of me. and smiling and saying hello to the one person that would love to see me get hit by a bus. 
so, in 2008, i went home, dragging along two of my boys and one of the girlfriends,  to visit family and go trick or treating with my niece. she wanted me to be a witch and she would be my cat. we were lovely. the next day, we went to the halloween haunt at king's island. i grabbed my debit card and driver's license and stuck them in my pocket. don't you just hate lugging a purse around an amusement park? ugh. the worst! at the ticket counter, i hand the cashier my debit card. "can i see some id?" "sure".  wait? what?! i didn't grab my driver's license? really? "there is an atm around the corner". they are all out of order. i go back to my circle of family and begin to explain that i will go get cash and be right back. there is a tap on my shoulder. "i have these extra tickets and they will go to waste. could you use them? they are free." what? did that just happen? good karma.

 

              

 

"it's about love. it's about compassion. it's about kindness and faith. you get what you give, so give good."

FLASHBACK june 2011

"i move on to another day, to a whole new town with a whole new way"

charlotte

in 2010 we were told that jamie's job would be relocating us to charlotte (seems i cannot get away from the carolinas). i had just moved back to my home town and was loving it. jamie still had two kids in high school. we did not want to leave. at least we had until june of 2011. what? it's june already? the time flew. the good-bye parties began. the packers came. yes. packers. we didn't have to pack ourselves. or move ourselves out. or move ourselves in. it is the only way to move. if you move in your future, i highly recommend it, if your name is bill gates. or donald trump. or "insert rich person here". how did we afford it, you ask? well, remember how i said the company was relocating us? plus, i invented the trendy top (that bottom band of a tank top that hangs out of your tee so you don't have the bulk of layers, as seen on tv, $9.99 but if you act now....). i may or may not have made that up, you decide.

FLASH FORWARD today
we weren't excited about the move but decided to make the best of it. rented a nice house in a cute town. bought a boat (that's what you do when you live next to a lake). made some new (old) friends (turns out a few people from our home town had relocated to this area). we said this would be an adventure, a lot of things to see and do. then, in may, jamie got a new position within his company. a new position that needs him in....CINCINNATI! we were being sent home. whaaaat? that's crazy! of course i'm excited. i wasn't. i had finally gotten comfortable with this being home. turns out, so had jamie. what do we do? accept the position and move? decline the position and stay? we chose to go home.
remember how i said there was a lot of things to see and do here? well...we hadn't done any of them. no one ever does. all the things you would do on vacation, you never do in your hometown. you should.  now we were down to a few short months to get it all in. one of the coolest things to do, in the charlotte area, is the national whitewater rafting center. this is where our olympic athletes trained for rafting and kayaking. they held the time trials here in april. you can raft, kayak, zip line, do a canopy tour. you can have lunch or dinner while watching all the action. did i have fun rafting you ask? wait? what? did i say i rafted? nah. i enjoyed a turkey wrap and a pint of north carolina's finest brew while i watched people brave the man-made whitewater. i walked, leisurely, as people scaled the rope course. 
when we get back to lebanon, we will make it a point to see more of what our home has to offer.  the cincinnati zoo, fort ancient, glendower (i've been once and it was really cool), the air force museum. we will get up off the couch and see it all. well...except on sundays when we will be curled up on the couch watching football. who dey!!

hot dog pontoon on lake wylie

   

and stuff to do in cinci

above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you~raold dahl