It's Been Awhile

Wow!

I had no idea until just a couple days ago that it's been a YEAR since I've posted anything to this blog!  Not cool!  I've decided it's time to fire up the keyboard and start posting again, hopefully on a more regular basis, like in the past.

With that said, I'll start right now with where I left off last year, wishing everyone and their family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

REVIEW---Rodney Atkins' CD "Take A Back Road"

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

The first time I'd ever heard of Rodney Atkins, he had a song on the radio called, "Honesty". I loved the song and was sorry that it wasn't a hit for Rodney.

Since then Rodney Atkins has had several hits to his name, and his latest CD is sure to launch a few more for him.

The CD starts off with Atkins' current hit, and title track, "Take a Back Road". From there the CD takes some twisting, back roads of it's own, exploring different facets of everyday life.

"Family", a song about family reunions, is delivered with Atkins' typical down home subtlety. Take a good listen to the lyrics though, and you'll hear a bit more reality in the song than most. As a line in the song says, "it's been three years since I've seen them; now I know why".


There are a couple songs back to back on this CD about couples fighting. The first, "She'd Rather Fight", is an upbeat tune, telling how the guy wants to make up, and how the girl isn't ready for that. Again, RODNEY's "aw shucks", type of delivery just makes the song that much funnier to listen to.


"Feet" is also about a couple fighting, though it's story is more typical, with a bit of a romantic touch, in my opinion. It tells how, no matter if the couple is fighting or not, they always touch feet when they're in bed.


While "Feet" hints at romance, "Cabin in the Woods" is a true song about love. It's a song Atkins has been doing in his live shows for awhile, and getting great response to it.


The rest of "Take a Back Road" tells stories about tips you learn in life, life lines and learning from them, and about wanting to rock and roll. The CD is rounded out with Atkins' hit, "Farmer's Daughter".

I really like this CD, though sometimes I wish Rodney would kick it up just a notch, especially on the more uptempo songs. Then again, he's been pretty successful doing music his way.

Over all, anyone who's a fan of Rodney Atkins' music shouldn't be disappointed with his latest effort.

Birthday Fun

(Note: The word for today is supposed to be red, in all caps. Unable to do that, so please look for the BOLD, italic, word with a strikethrough. That is today's 5,000 point word.)


I’ve always loved birthdays; friends, family, and especially my own. I share my birthday with my Uncle Dean; though we’re enough years apart that we didn’t ever have to actually “share” the day.

To some people, their birthday is just another day of the year. For the most part, I suppose they’re right. It just means you’re another year older. I’ve never really looked at birthdays that way however; I’ve always seen them as that person’s day, their day to do what they want, all day. That’s what I do for my birthday, find something I really want to do and do it, even if I do nothing.

This year, I asked a HUGE favor of the “Simon in the Morning” team; I asked if I could come in on Friday, August 12, and hang out for the whole show. The answer was yes, so I showed up at the Pacwest Center at 4:45 am, ready to hang out in the studio for the next few hours.

At the time, I never mentioned it was my birthday; I didn’t feel it was necessary. I knew it was my birthday, and I knew that’s why I wanted to hang out at KUPL, it wasn’t important that anyone else knew. Darned Facebook though, it busted me! Jake was checking Facebook for various things, and discovered my BIRTHDAY listed there for that day, ACK!

Despite that, I had a blast just hanging out watching the morning team work. They even put me on the air to do celebrity birthdays during “Simon’s Celebrity Soup”.

Originally they were going to do another game for listeners to win a prize, though it got changed along the way to a “Country Music Throwdown”, between Scott and me. The rules were, there were questions about country music and artists; if Scott won, the listener who’d called in would lose. If *I* won, the listener won; no pressure there, EEK!!!

Luckily I won!!! Though Scott did get one question that I *should* have known, (actually I did know, I just went blank at that moment; very frustrating!!!). And I guess one question really was a “throw away”. Really, of all people, if *I* didn’t know David Lee Murphy’s birthday, I’d have to give up my title, (and license plate), of DLM Fan!

This is an old photo of my plates, they really are current through 2011!

Before leaving the station, I also got roped in to being part of that day’s “Simon 90”, though I don’t like being in front of any kind of camera.

Over all, as I said, I had a BLAST! It was like being able to go play at the “cool kid’s house”, instead of hanging out at home.

So, thank you Scott, Jolynn and Jake for letting me do that; it made my birthday a special one I’ll always remember.

Wedding Bell Blues

 Today’s “Simon in the Morning” show focused primarily on the upcoming wedding of Scott Simon’s daughter.  Scott said he wants his daughter to have the wedding she wants; however, he wished there was a more inexpensive way to do it.   He didn’t understand why there had to be a full, sit-down dinner at the reception, instead of just cake and punch.

Jake, on the other hand, saw no reason why there shouldn’t be a full dinner served.  He said that people come to weddings to eat.  

Maybe it’s like Jolynn said, it seems those of us in the older generation have no problem with just cake, or a potluck; while the younger generation seems to want more.  I have no problem going to a wedding and just having cake and punch.  Then again, I don’t go to that many weddings, and when I do, it’s not for the food; it’s to see the couple getting married. 

Honestly, isn’t that why it’s called a “wedding”?   People have weddings to share their special moment with friends and family.  The reception comes later, as a courtesy, (in my opinion), of the couple.  It’s a way of thanking everyone for coming to the wedding. If it was called a “reception”, THEN you could have the big, fancy, sit-down dinner, open bar, the works; and for extra entertainment for the guests, throw in a wedding. 

A suggestion I had was that having a wedding is all in the timing.  Schedule the wedding after lunch, but early enough before dinner; it would eliminate the whole, “feeding everyone”, problem.  People would be full from lunch; feed them punch and cake at the reception; they’re good to go until they get home for dinner.

Another topic that came up in the discussion this morning was where did all these traditions come from?   Some were easy to explain, like the parents paying for the wedding.  It probably evolved from when brides used to have a dowry.  To honor a suitor wanting to marry a man’s daughter, the man’s family would throw in a “bonus”; usually a goat, or something useful like that.  

Things aren’t like that now however.  It seems as the times have changed, so have the traditions.  Nowadays, the family of the bride is expected to pay for the wedding; while the groom’s family is responsible for the rehearsal dinner.  Well, at least that’s how it was when *I* got married.  Not sure it’s even that way anymore.

Then again, when I got married, my husband to be and I paid for it ourselves.  We felt that if *we* were the ones getting married, then *we* should be the ones to pay for it.  And we had a nice wedding, with everything the way we wanted it.  Okay, we got a little crazy; we didn’t have just cake and punch at our reception.  We upped the ante a bit by also having coffee, cashews and M&M’s.  Doesn’t sound like much, but there was a reason for it.  If there were leftovers, we didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff we didn’t like.  It was our wedding, and his favorite thing was cashews, and mine was M&M’s; so that’s what we had.

I don’t know, it seems as time goes on, people want everything bigger and better than the last person.  Not just weddings, but everything in general.  Back on the subject of weddings though, I had a thought.  Since traditions have evolved with the times, maybe they should evolve some more.  It seems nowadays that the younger generation is more educated; getting married later in life, and generally establishing themselves before settling down.  Not everyone maybe, but it does seem a majority of younger people are trending this way.

If that’s the case, here’s my suggestion for whom pays for a wedding:  The couple getting married.  Why not?  If they’re ready to get married, settle down, and be responsible, what better way than starting with paying for their own wedding?  Yes, it’s the bride’s special day, and she’s going to want everything to be perfect and special.  If she can’t afford what she wants for a wedding though, maybe it’s not time for marriage.  Or maybe she could lower her expectations, or find a way to work her budget around what she’s planning for the wedding.  

 I’m pretty sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, and that’s okay.  This is just my opinion.  I’m sure if I were in Scott’s shoes, I’d feel the same way he does.  Every parent wants to do whatever they can for their child, me included.  I do feel though that it’s a viable solution to the high cost of a wedding.

One thing I feel shouldn’t happen at a wedding, or reception, is asking guests to pay.  These are friends and family that have been invited to the event; if they’re invited, why are they being asked to pay for it?  It seems totally tacky to me to do that.  Then again, if the couple who is marrying happens to be starving actors, this might be an opportunity.  Hmmm…I can see it now…

It could be a real life “Tony & Tina’s Wedding”, just change the names to the names of the couple, and go from there.  In this case, it *could* be a dinner theater, with each guest paying for their meal, and watching the wedding take place. 

If dinner is too expensive, even with guests paying, it could always be staged as a matinee.  Instead of dinner, guests would pay a lower price for the “show”, and have cake and punch instead.  VIP guests could upgrade to coffee, nuts and mints. 

Then again, with all the things that happen at Tony & Tina’s fictional wedding, maybe trying to do that in real life isn’t such a great idea.

I guess what it boils down to is, however a wedding and reception is paid for, it should be the best it can be for the couple.

For My Dad

Since today is Father’s Day, I’ve decided to post a blog about my dad, Wayne Predmore.  (Please forgive the quality of the photo.  My dad hates having his picture taken, and this was the best my son could get.)

 First I’d like to say that “Father’s Day”, sounds kind of stuffy.  To me, it’s “Dad’s Day”.  It just sounds more fitting and comfortable to me; especially since my dad isn’t the stuffy type.  If the truth were told, I’ve called my dad, “dad”, for a long time now; though in my heart, he’s always been, and will always be my “daddy”. 

Every year, I hear radio and television commercials about “what dad wants for Father’s Day”; they never fit my dad.  My dad isn’t one to wear ties, unless it’s necessary.  He’s not the rugged, outdoor type; the sports type; or any of the other things described in the commercials.  I think the closest a commercial has come to ever sounding like my dad is one that said, “dad likes to eat”.  That sort of fits my dad; he does love his cookies. 

 My dad is easy to get things for however.  He loves gadgets.  The nice thing about the gadgets my dad gets is, they’re useful.  Well, most of them anyway. 

 He also has some collections that are just his.  I’ll clarify this by saying that, as a couple, my parents have things they collect; and they also have separate collections.  For my dad, it’s pens with advertising on them; ball caps with advertising, or other things on them; and cow cream pitchers.

 Growing up, I’d always get pens from anywhere I went, to give to my dad.  When my son was about a year old, we got him a hat with my son’s picture on it.  Also over the years, I’ve made my version of cow cream pitchers for my dad.

 There are just so many things I could say about my dad.  How he used to work at Fred Meyer, and knew Mr. Meyer personally.  How he worked 35 years for the post office, always the graveyard shift. Before that, he worked at a Standard gas station, (it’s Chevron now), in Portland, Oregon.  How once, Nat King Cole came into the station and ended up singing while his car was being worked on.  I could tell you all the stories he’s told me over the years about his childhood, the navy, his jobs, all of that; but I won’t.  Not because I don’t want to; because I couldn’t tell his stories as well as he can. 

 Everything I’ve written so far tells you a bit about my dad; it’s just the surface though.

My dad is one of those guys that doesn’t say “I love you”.  When I was younger it bothered me; especially since we clashed a lot when I was a kid.

I’ve always been told I’m just like my dad.  Again, that bothered me sometimes when I was a kid, because of the clashing we did. 

As I get older though, I see things a lot differently.  My dad may have never told me specifically that he loves me; but I KNOW he does.  My dad is a living example of “actions speak louder than words”.  For all the times he’s never said “I love you”, there’s been an equal number of times, (if not more), where he’s done things for me, or others in the family, that he didn’t have to do.  He just did it, because he wanted to. 

My dad is also very loyal to his family.  One of the best examples I’ll always remember is when I had an internship at a local TV station.  It’s a station that I grew up watching the news on, because my parents always did.  I couldn’t get hired on to the station full-time, and ended up quitting, to take another job.  

The day I quit was the day my dad stopped watching the news on that station.  Didn’t matter that I was the one who decided to quit; if his daughter wasn’t good enough for them, he was just going to watch another station from then on. Over the years, he has gone back to watching the news on that station, though he does still switch around at times.

As far as me being “just like my dad”, yeah, I am; and I’m okay with that.  I’m especially okay with me having the same sense of humor as my dad.  My sense of humor is one of my favorite things about me; and seeing how my dad is, anyone could tell he’s where it came from.  Though I’m pretty sure my dad would tell you I’m a bit more warped than he is.  I am.  I like to say that I got the good part of humor from him, and expanded on it.

In other ways, I’m different than my dad.  I’m very much a hugger; my dad isn’t.  I say, “I love you”; he doesn’t.  In fact, it kind of makes my dad uncomfortable when someone says it to him.  Again, it’s not that he doesn’t have those feelings; he just grew up in a different era when guys didn’t say stuff like that. 

I used to think if I said it to him enough, he’d get used to it, and start doing it too.  Then I realized, I was just making him uncomfortable, which I didn’t like doing to him.  So I don’t say it to him anymore; not because I don’t love him, but because I don’t like making my dad feel uncomfortable; especially if it’s in front of other people.  As I put it, I don’t want him to feel all “squirmy”.   Instead, I try to show my dad in little ways that I love him.  Guess I learned that from him too. 

We still clash sometimes, we probably always will.  It’s what happens when two people are so much alike. Don’t ever mistake it for me not loving my dad, or vice versa; as stated throughout this blog, the love is definitely there, you just have to look instead of listen for it.

When it comes to that “squirmy” feeling my dad gets about this stuff; well, that’s where my actions will speak for me instead of words.  I’ve written this post, and put it here on my blog.  My next step is to print off a copy for my dad for “Dad’s Day” and give it to him.  He can read it when no one else is around.  Then, if he feels “squirmy”, no one else will know. 

So, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, dad’s, daddies, etc.; out there, and especially to my daddy.  Thank you for being my dad and putting up with me all these years.