As I mentioned last week, my friend Bronagh is heading back home to Northern Ireland soon. She’s currently marking off items from her DC bucket list and today, she got to cross off yet another item – she got to hear the gentleman in office next to WIP’s office, sing.

A lot of people probably have a singer in their office but I’m going to guess no one has the entertainer that is this guy. Not only is he a singer, but he is a composer of new, catchy songs. One of my favorites was ” I want to F*** you during dinner.” Original lyrics for sure. Another time he sang a lively tune titled “Your Girlfriend is Bitch.”  That song was composed to support his coworker who had complained loudly about his girlfriend earlier in the day.

It’s a talent to take the days events and transform them into lyrics.  He can take a popular tune and transform the words into something totally his own or he will take old favorites, like “Amazing Grace” which he sang for 2 days straight one time, and make you wish you’d never heard it before or will again. One time he sang “I’m a Little Teapot” all day.  When was the last time you heard a marathon of that song?

He isn’t just singing random songs. For example, at Christmas time, he can sing a whole host of holiday favorites. He likes to spice them up with a few curse words here and there. Most of us don’t know the words to the 2nd thru 12th verses anyhow – those words are probably in there.

If you were run into him in the hallway, you’d find him to be the most shy person ever. Not at all what you would expect to be singing his heart out each day.

So, today, to honor a true entertainer, I’ve picked “Sing” by The Carpenters (when was the last time you heard them?) from my IPod.

“Don’t worry that it’s not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.”

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there. I hope you are being treated like a King today. In our house, the king part hasn’t quite happened yet – Mike’s out mowing the lawn. Our gift is letting him enjoy the activities he loves without us getting in the way. LOL.  We did have a nice breakfast and Matthew will be over later for dinner.

My own Dad has been gone 13 years now. Hard to believe that much time has passed because he is still so present in my life. I still see something in the news, or after watching one of the Grand Slam tennis events, think I need to call him to chat about it. I see some of his expressions in Kathryn’s face.

He was a ferocious reader of news and books, especially those about history or Ireland. He loved politics. My father was a liberal with a strong sense of social justice. He loved to talk politics and I wish he had lived to see Obama in office. He wouldn’t have always agreed with him, but he would have enjoyed discussing his presidency. Thankfully he missed the majority of George W. Bush’s time in office. That would have given him another stroke.

When my Dad was his late 50’s, he suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side.  The doctors thought the stroke was not from high blood pressure but perhaps from a weaken vessel that could have gone anytime during his life. He always felt fortunate it had never burst during his time running track in high school or college or as an athletic director in the Navy. He was fortunate that the stroke spared his speech and mind. Despite the difficulties from the stroke, my Dad never complained. He had great faith and great acceptance. Sure he got frustrated, but never asked “Why me?”

My father had a wonderful, dry sense of humor, a good heart and a devilish enjoyment of teasing. He was a very proud Irish-American and was known to call the TV stations when he heard the term “Paddy wagon” used during a broadcast  of the news, as he felt that was a racial slur. My sister played “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” on her flute at his funeral.

My father had a successful career as an advertising executive. He told us he wanted to be an English teacher but figured he needed to make more money to support a family. Through stories I’ve heard, he apparently was the one they would call in to calm down angry clients. That’s where he and I are alike – I’m the one who is usually chosen to sit with the “offbeat” coworker or asked to come to a meeting when tensions are running high. We have a gift, or something, of diffusing a situation.

Today, as I remember my Dad, it is with a smile, not sadness. I’m fortunate to have had so many years with him. He could have been taken much earlier with the stroke.

From my IPod today, I could have picked something a bit more sentimental, but I’ve picked “A Boy Named Sue.” It’s a reminder that sometimes we don’t always understand the lessons we are being taught!

One of today’s chores was taking Smokey to the vet. He was having his semi-annual check up which includes blood work so he wasn’t allowed to eat before we went. I made an early appointment but he was lying around the house before we left like he hadn’t eaten in a month.

He gets kind of nervous at the vet. It’s also where he went to doggie day care when we had our kitchen redone and that was a tough experience for him. They loved him and nicknamed him “Love Bug” the first day, but he wasn’t so happy.

First of all, he prefers humans to other dogs so being with dogs all days, wasn’t for him.  If we go to the dog park, he runs with the dogs for a bit and then goes to the bench where the owners are sitting to get petted. Secondly, they did arts and crafts there. Yep, he brought home art projects. Like a lot of dogs, he hates having his paws touched and the day that they put the paint on them for the artwork, he was out of his mind when I went to get him. He was snorting and pushing me to get to the door while I was trying to hold on to his painting without getting the wet paint all over my clothes.

We finally had to give up on day care and ask the workers if it was OK with them to leave him home. He was so relieved. You could actually see him settle back down into the easy-going dog he usually is.

Today, he was OK at the vet, still a bit anxious but not too bad. The vet gave him treats which always helps. According to the chart in the vet’s office, Smokey is 61. A young 61, I must say, as he’s still full of energy and always ready to go with you for a walk

So, today from my IPod is Elvis’ “Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog” for my hound dog. We are lucky you are part of the family!

It’s been a long week. No crazier than others but somehow, maybe because of the news events of the week, it has dragged me down. I’m looking forward to recharging over the weekend.

Next week I’m taking a mental health day (yeah, I know, I could use more than a day) and heading to Amish country with my friends Andrew and Bronagh. Kathryn is going to join us for the adventure. Bronagh is heading home to Belfast soon and visiting the Amish was one thing on her bucket list to do before leaving the States. As anyone who knows me knows, I’m all about the Amish so I’m super excited about this trip.

In my next life, I’m coming back as Mennonite. Not sure I can reform enough to be Amish. I have a few things to work on including cleaning up my language, learning to sew etc. I’d be best suited sitting at a roadside stand chatting with customers but I’m not sure I’d get to choose my job so I’ve got to work on the other skills just in case.

I’ve been fascinated by the Amish for a while now. When I was applying to colleges, I got info from Eastern Mennonite near JMU. I probably would have been kicked out immediately had I applied and been accepted. You had to sign a very strict behavior agreement. Sort of ruins the fun of college, don’t you think? 🙂

There’s something very appealing about being in such a neighborly community, living off the land and focusing on family. Something appealing about setting your own pace of the day. Would be nice to step off the “right now, right away” mindset and appreciate each day. As we were reminded this week, each day is a gift.

So, let’s shake this week off and get this weekend off to a lively start, I chose “Walking on Sunshine.” Who doesn’t feel better after hearing this song?

This morning, like so many other people, I woke up to the news that 9 people were killed while attending a bible study at a church in South Carolina. The victims, all Black, were killed by a White man. It is hard to understand the total lack of respect for life and the vastness of the violence of this crime. Hard to understand how someone so young, is so full of hate. Hard to understand how yet again, a gun was in the hands of someone who shouldn’t have one.

America, why does this keep happening?

We have a big problem with guns getting in the hands of people who are mentally ill or filled with rage. These are not the people our Constitution should be protecting.

We seem unable to break cycles of racism, passing it from one generation to another.

We have a president that people hate, not for his policies, but for the color of his skin.

With an election coming up in 2016 and all those interested in running starting their war of words, maybe they could start a national dialogue on the issues that matter instead of relying on hateful, misleading rants against each other. If they really want to make a difference in this country, now is the time to step up. We need it.

I’ve picked Nanci Griffith’s “It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go” from my IPod today.

“If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all they’ll ever know”

Me: “Call Mary Brett”

Siri: “Ok, I will start referring to you as the reaper. OK?”

Me: “No dumb ass. Cancel.”

Siri: “Cancelled”

Seriously?

Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I realized reaper was appropriate because I might kill Siri.

A week ago, few us knew the name Rachel Dolezal, now she’s everywhere. Pretending to be black, she was outed by her parents. Turns out there’s some sort of family feud which precipitated their revelation. Meanwhile, it appears she was an effective leader at the NAACP which is now overshadowed by this news. Yesterday, there was a commentary on the radio that asked whether America was having a problem with this whole thing because we couldn’t imagine wanting to be black. Ouch.

Today The New York Times ran an article about Irish students who come over on J-1 Visas that allow them to work in the US. The article used stereotypes of the Irish as being heavy drinkers with wild behavior that seemed to imply that the tragedy this week, involving the death of 5 Irish students when a balcony fell, was somehow their fault. Not only is the timing of this article offensive, so is the content. When the rest of the world is sending their condolences for the tragic loss of life, The Times is taking this opportunity to perpetuate prejudices and misconceptions. Ouch. The outrage to the article was justified and The Times has since apologized.

For as much as all like to think we, as a society, are enlightened and we see everyone as equals regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, seems like we are reminded every day, this just isn’t true. Ouch.

This morning I was the speaker at a seminar on volunteer management. Yep, people paid money to hear me speak. You get me for free 🙂 It was a good session and lots of sharing and learning took place. I was riding the Metro back to my car reviewing the morning in my mind and it struck me just how many good people and groups are out there in the world.

The participants today represented people helping youth, feeding families, rescuing animals and providing health care to those who can’t afford it. I was speaking with one of the volunteer staff members registering people and she happened to be from Ireland (can’t get away from these folks). She was commenting on how generous Americans are as both individuals and corporations – generous with time, money and other resources.

That’s been my experience too – people are very generous. Glad to help when asked, glad to give when the mission moves them and glad to sacrifice when it can help someone else. The school system forces our middle and high school age kids to earn a certain number of service hours to graduate. What the program misses is teaching the kids to find their passion, because it is from that passion, that selfless service emerges.

These kids are doing whatever it takes to get the hours instead of learning to make a commitment or to try to find out what they are interested it. They are taught you get something when you do service. In their case, it is hours towards graduation. If you want them to become life-long contributors to their community, teach them how to identify their interest(s), locate groups that represent those interests and teach them that volunteering has rewards that aren’t always tangible at first.

As I was browsing through my IPod today, I saw “With a Little Help from my Friends.”  I think it is a fitting song for today. If you are interested in getting involved, check out http://www.volunteermatch.org to find something in your area.

Today I heard Ed Sheeran on the radio at least 5 times. I believe it was a message to me as to who to feature from my IPod today.  The radio Gods have spoken! And look, it is a song from this decade.

I got to see Ed Sheeran live last summer. The weather was much like it is tonight – rainy with thunderstorms except the storms were epic. Lighting everywhere, thunder that shook your ribs and rain that was on par with being sprayed with a fire hose. As luck would have it, the Moms that went had the outdoor seats and the girls were using the box seats I’d gotten at a silent auction.

With no where to go, the adults had to stand outside the men’s bathroom, cover by a small ledge. The girls, under cover, were texting about how bad the storm was. The storm raged on during the opening act and finally let up right before Ed came on. The girls had asked if we would get them t-shirts and so we were standing in line when there was such a loud noise, it sounded like a train was coming through. No train, just screaming fans. Screaming loudly. It was crazy.

The concert was good and despite the weather, we all had a good time. Ed is coming back to the DC area but this time at the Verizon Center where weather won’t be an issue. I’ll be there waiting for the screaming.

When Kathryn first got turned on to Ed Sheeran, she came out from her room one night to play me a “really cool song.” She started playing it and was SHOCKED that I knew the words. She was playing “The Parting Glass.”  I’d grown up listening to the Clancy Brothers/Tommy Makem’s version. No, she insisted, this is a new song, off his new album. No, I insisted, it’s old, look it up. This same scenario happened when the Lemonheads redid “Mrs. Robinson” and my stepson Matthew, would not believe it was a remake. “It was old when I was a kid” I told him, to no avail. Like who is going to lie about when a song came out…

I like a number of his songs. I did like “Thinking Out Loud” but I caught a bit of Barbara Walters interview with Mary Kay Letourneau and her husband. Her kids sang this at the end and Barbara said something about this song applying to them – ugh.

“The Parting Glass” usually ends an evening, and so I say goodnight.

Enjoy

With Mike gone this week, Kathryn and I have been living like bachelorettes (slobs). We eat dinner watching bad TV – that’s if we eat dinner at all. We put the dishes in the sink because the dishwasher, 6 inches away, is too far. We’ve been lounging around. Even the dog is in on the laziness as captured in this photo.Yes, he is alive.

Since Mike will be home today, I thought I would get back into real life and pick the place up. As I was thumbing through the mail that I’d been throwing into a pile on the kitchen table, I noticed something about Van Morrison.

Well, turns out that the AARP (American Associated for Retired Persons) magazine had a blurb about his new album. It is a punch to the stomach when you realize that you are now interested in the articles in that magazine. So long Glamour and Cosmo, I’m now reading about how to prevent myself from being swindled by creeps, and appreciating the article. AARP lowered their age requirements so now once you turn 50, you can belong. If your spouse is older and joins, you can become a member even earlier. Nothing says welcome to your 50s like an invite from AARP.

AARP has come a long way. There used to be ads for things you could do in retirement like make snow shoes or other crafty items. I know this because my Uncle Tom signed my Aunt Mary and Uncle Cliff up to receive information on these great hobbies. At one reunion, my Aunt Mary was so exasperated trying to figure out why anyone would be interested in making snow shoes and more importantly why anyone would think she was interested. Of course, Uncle Tom was cracking up and she realized what had happened. No snow shoe ads anymore. Travel, technology and entertainment fill the magazine now. Despite our age, we are still young and fun!

Back to Van Morrison, turns out he does have a new album of duets of some of his more obscure songs. In addition to his new album, he just received an honorary knighthood from the Queen. (He’s from Northern Ireland.) For someone who is 70, he’s having a great year. In AARP years, I think he’s 30.

So, in honor of Van Morrison’s great year and Mike’s return, I’ve picked “Have I told You Lately that I Love You.”