Hobbies and Imagination ...

I had a zest for art, colors, and music for as long as I can remember.   I have already mentioned many things I loved to do, but as I write this blog more memories pop up that I want to record here.  

I remember when we used to get the JC Penney Christmas Catalog and even Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs.  When I was a kid I would go through them and write down what I wanted Santa to bring me for Christmas.  There always was a Crayola art set on my list, sometimes a doll, but mostly art and science stuff.  

When I got older and didn't really have a mile long list of of things I wanted, I got a little more adventurous and used my imagination.  I would pretend that I had $1 Million dollars and I wanted to fill my dream home with things.  I would go through the catalogs, not the Christmas ones, but just the regular ones and write down things I would like to furnish my home with or things I would like to have....in my closets and just every room of the house.  I'd write the article and price and how many of each...even colors if I wanted various colors of the same thing.  It was a fascinating way for me to use my imagination, and THINK of what things I wanted that would actually fit my taste and the size of home I would have.  I never finished the list....I knew that my wish list was just a dream, but in the beginning it was fun to go through the catalogs and dream...

When I was in High School I often got books on handwriting analysis, personality analysis, and all kinds of things on arts and crafts.  I taught myself calligraphy and always had the pens to do that sort of thing.  While working at the library, I would check out books on all sorts of things.  I learned to macrame hanging basket holders...made a few for my Mom.  I read many different fictional books, mostly stuff from Judy Blume and V.C. Andrews.  Sometimes I read about psychology and sometimes I got books on poetry. 

I used to write poetry a lot.  I know I have most of it in storage but I don't ever get it out anymore to read what was in all those poems.  I loved poems to rhyme.  I tried writing limericks, they'd get silly.   I tried writing haiku's, but they don't necessarily rhyme, and they are so blasted short for my taste.  I read Edgar Allen Poe's poetry, and my sister and I spent time together one season memorizing his poem "Annabel Lee,"  It was easy to learn because of the rhyme and meter to it.  I have no idea why we both thought that was a cool poem to memorize.  I tried to remember the stanzas of "The Raven" but that one was a little too long for me.   Dad liked that poem.  I believe I kept the book on Edgar Allen Poe's works, it reminds me of Dad, and one good memory of my Sister, and his stories, though creepy, were interesting to me. 

I got a Kodak Disc camera when I was in high school, and took pictures all the time.  I loved going to the park and taking sunset pictures.  I would mail my pictures off to York Color Labs and pay a lot less than at the stores that did the same thing.   It would take longer to get them back, but I loved doing it nonetheless.   That little camera was my closest friend and took 15 pictures on the round disc it used for film.   I never did learn how to use a 35mm camera, the ones with the bells and whistles and different telephoto lenses and all that.  But it was always on my catalog wish list.  LOL

Think of a gizmo that kids played with, and I probably played with it.  My all time favorite gizmo was the Rubik's Cube.  I got really really good at that thing.  I still have one somewhere, but I would have to read the directions again to memorize the different moves to get a piece in a position to the side I wanted it to be.  It can be complicated at first, I got so good with it, I liked to show people, if they had the time and patience to watch me do it.  My friends Shan and Tricia, their Aunt's Sara and Theresa, would love to watch me do that thing.  I have a Christmas card from them in the past 10 years where they mention that too.  So funny that they remembered that one thing from my past.  Good memories those two!

And when my stuff was boring to play with, I would go tinker with my brothers stuff.  He had an Erector Set and I loved to help build stuff with that.  Heck I loved playing with Lego's, Lincoln Logs, and even now mentioned recently to my husband about finding some Lego kits and building stuff with them like I used to do.  He always looks at me funny when I mention playing with TOYS, but I just shrug him off.  I think toys are fun no matter what your age.  The building sets are good for manual dexterity, 3d imaginings and they do have all those lovely bright COLORS!

.....when you have nothing else to do, you can always use your imagination and play, and be a kid for a day!   Parents and adults sometimes forget that all this play and dreaming is calming on the nerves and serves a body well....and keeps you young.  My life needed more of this fun .... but it would be a while before I got back to it.  

Music quote...

Business School, Turning 21 and Changes Galore ....

So much was going on in my life in 1986 and 1987, it is downright nutty to try to decide what to mention first. I think I will 'start at the very beginning', like Maria sings in "The Sound of Music." :)

Sanford-Brown had a jobs notice board. I decided to try to find a part time job while going to Business School. I got hired on after passing their test at Western Union. The telegram company. The Internet hadn't yet become a public useful thing at the time, people still sent telegrams everyday as well as money to people in need. I learned real quick this place monitored EVERYTHING you did.  You had to get a time card and punch it on the wall, when you started your work, when you got up to use the restroom or take your break, when you came back from break, and at the end of your shift.  You were allotted so much time based on your hours worked for restroom breaks.  If you went over that, you were docked.  If you took a longer break than allotted, same thing, docked for the overage. 
No one really came to you and spoke to you once you entered the room where all the computer terminals were.   You were an Operator number and nothing more.  I did not like this.   I worked there for about a year, and only as a means to make money.  I made no friends there, and because it could be stressful, I started smoking...  

The stress came from the pushing to have everyone sell things that cost more than the average fee of sending a telegram.   And they monitored your phone calls.  I don't know how they did that with over 100 employees spread out in at least 4 rooms of terminals, but they did.  The 4 rooms I remember shared one corner from each butted together, and in that area there was a monitoring station with a couple people working, every day, every minute.   This company ran 24/7, 365 days a year.  I worked 25-30 hours a week at first, just enough to keep me busy but below full time status.  To get on full time there involved politicking.  Which I never got into.  You had to have recommendations from other full timers or from management.  Well having never really gotten to know anyone there, that wasn't going to happen, and the longer I stayed, the more I hated it, so in my mind why would I ever want to be their FULL TIME.  They charged union dues, even if you didn't technically belong to the union.  I never understood that, but they docked me a set amount on every time card for it.   I believe I was making $6 a hour back then, which was nice.  All my summer jobs before only paid minimum wage, $3.35/hr.  I had no true benefits, so I had to get medical insurance on my own. 

Some time while into working at WU, 2 days per week got slashed off my work schedule, so I dropped to 15-18 hours a week.   To fill in the income gap, I found a job with Emerson Electric.  It was fun there, but the biggest problem was that the Union workers were all on strike, and no one knew when they'd return.  I only worked at EE 2 days a week for a month and they had to let me go because the strike was preventing them from getting the workload to keep me busy.  That sucked, because I really enjoyed that kind of job.  But I don't specifically remember what I did there....it was too short a run.   I just remembered there were nice people and it was kinda interesting to walk past the work stations the union members would work at building whatever it was they built.   I think it was parts for airplanes.

I don't think I ever found any other place that would work with my schedule to work only 2 days a week.  So by early 1987 I was looking again for full time employment.  I found that at Bob Schultz Motorcycle Supermarket. 

They actually had 2 stores, and sold more than just motorcycles, and parts for them.  They also sold John Deere and White lawn equipment.  They sold 3 wheel ATVs, which over time became a problem with the amount of dangerous stunts and accidents people had, so they slowly started selling 4 wheel ATVs.  My job was to help do all the paperwork, including getting financing for those wishing to finance their purchases rather than pay cash.  Although most of the ATVs and bikes were less than $5,000, most people chose to finance.  There were dozens of forms to have filled out before the purchaser came to sign.  My biggest problem wasn't the work, it was the manager/owner.  He was a very aggravating and sometimes downright nasty person to work with. 

I got the job after showing some backbone in convincing him that I was worth more than just minimum wage.  Although he advertised the position as minimum wage position, I talked him up to $4 an hour.  I had made $6.50 an hour when I left Western Union, but that was for part time work, this was full time and not likely to have cut hours.  So he agreed to the pay rate if I showed him I could be dependable and do the work.  I was and I did.  Until one day when he wasn't there, and I was doing the closing with a purchaser.   The guy asked how the bike went from $3500 on the sales floor to over $5000 at closing.  I was trained to "fudge" how that happens....I didn't like the magical trick of lying to people.  Instead of pointing to the final sales price, I was to tell them them monthly payment and this guy wasn't budging and wasn't signing.  The salesman got all nervous and didn't want to lose the sale, he only got paid commission on the number of bikes he sold (maybe too on John Deere's, I don't know).  He called Bill the boss and Bill asked to talk with me, and proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs at me over the phone, I became totally unnerved and started freaking out, and dropped the phone and went into a closet and cried.  I had never been treated so badly by an employer in all my life up to then. 

I wanted to quit but couldn't find anything in the paper advertised where I met the qualifications for.  I was so confused, and really avoided being around Bill when he came to the office after that.  I don't recall if he ever apologized for his treatment towards me.  He was such a nasty person at times, and then when he wasn't that, he would say things that would make any woman feel uncomfortable.  Not TO them, just about women in general.  Stupid things.  I learned a lot that year, that was for sure.  I did have good times with the other ladies in the office.  Donna and Joyce were wonderful to me.  I worked a couple times at the other store, which had a different ambiance altogether. 

During this time is when Lisa and I had visited Colorado.  About a month after that she decided she had to move back to Colorado and wanted me to come.  She was working at a car rental place at the airport and found she could easily transfer out to their office in Denver.  Good for her.   But I couldn't do that.  She left me behind until she could find a suitable apartment for me to move to live with her.  That was the plan anyways. I began saving my money and boxing up my stuff to have sent out there ahead of me. 

I turned 21 that year.   Which was a blessing and a curse.  I was now legal to go to any dance club I wanted, but now my friend who got me involved in dance night's out was in Denver.  I hung around some friends from high school, Carmen and Michelle.  We hung with some guys one of them knew, and went horseback riding at Creve Coeur Park.  We had a lot of good times.. but when I turned 21 I felt the weight of being taken advantage of.   Carmen kept bugging me to purchase alcohol for them to take to a party or somewhere, and I refused.  I remember that feeling to this day how that felt.  I remember that was pretty much the end of the partying and hanging around with them.  And I never saw Carmen again, not for a VERY long time. 

I decided to keep my mind on moving to Denver in the Spring of 1988....and for all the changes yet to come in my life from that point on.

....when you are young and free to do as you wish, the world opens up and seems inviting and ominous at the same time.  Being naïve is normal when you are young, you haven't learned the outside world and how it truly ticks.   But naivety also comes with some warnings.   Whatever you thought you knew, that you learned from your family, may not be how everyone else lives and does their lives.  It's in the coming of age that we truly learn what kind of people we are, what kind of ethics we have and what kind of life we want to live.  Sometimes we grow, sometimes we freeze out of fear, and sometimes we take risks....and realize good or bad can result.  I had a lot of those kinds of lessons in life.  Read on, things get complicated really quick next. 

The horse I was on at Creve Coeur Park

I took the picture, ergo, not in the picture!

 

Michelle on her horse - more experienced rider !

 

 

Chris, Michelle, and Carmen with guy I don't recall name of

 

Don and Glenn, salesmen at Bob Schultz

Christmas party 1987

 

 

Joyce and her husband at Christmas Party 1987

Music Part I ....

Hey I wanted to explain the meaning of music in my life up through my teenage years. 

Music was always a part of my life as it probably was with a lot of people my age back then.  I would listen when I was alone mostly.  One of my favorite memories was when I was by myself, with a handheld transitor radio, and listening to Wings' "Let'em In."  It was a bright sunny day, I had nothing to do but listen to that radio, and when that song came on hearing Paul McCartney singing, I felt free as a leaf in the air.  That memory has a pleasing affect on my mood....if I but settle my mind to think and remember it. 

My cousin Kathy introduced to some rock music styles to me back in the early 70s.  I remember being in her bedroom and she turned on some music and I was in some sort of Heaven.  I learned that I liked all kinds of music over the years.  My Dad had some record albums I would play all the time.   One was the White Album by Johnny Cash.  I learned a lot about Cash's style of country music.  That stuff would stay with me all my life. 

Dad had some Surfer dude music too.  Maybe that was Mom's taste.   When I was 10 my Mom decided that she was going to join the Columbia House music entity.  There you would pick out 6 albums on cassette and get one free and be required to buy a few more.  Each of us got to pick out what we wanted to listen to.  Dave picked Elvis Presley's greatest hits.  I picked out Captain & Tennille's album "Love Will Keep Us Together", Mom picked one of the Beach Boy's albums, not sure what Sandy picked out but I remember Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" was one, and so was one of John Denver's albums.  We all listened to these albums all the time.  I got a cassette player for Christmas soon after we got these and had a blast with that.

We went on vacations and I took the player and the cassettes and played them all the time, even under my pillow when I went to bed.  I was crazy in love with music of all kinds.  

We got Shaun Cassidy's album that had "Da Doo Ron Ron" on it.  Played that thing until it was unplayable I am sure. All the girls in the neighborhood came to our house to listen to music.  And we once created a dance choreographed to some of his songs.  All the girls raved about how cute Shaun Cassidy was.  It is a fun memory of mine.  

Until we got a stereo with cassette player, I used to record onto cassette anything I liked playing on the radio.  Had to lean the cassette player up to the radio and hope no one made any noise in the background.  I even recorded the entire movie "The Sound of Music" that way and replay all the cassettes, as it took more than one, under my pillow, memorizing lines in the movie and all the songs sung.  

Finally we got a stereo with cassette player/recorder.  I spent many nights and weekends when nothing else was going on, with headphones on and recording my favorite tunes on cassettes.  I got pretty knowledgeable about brands of cassette tapes and how many songs I typically could record on one side, and judge it so I didn't have a lot of wasted space at the end of any side.  Always listening to Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" on Saturday morning radio.   And with the stereo cassette recorder, you didn't have to worry about background noise, it only recorded what was broadcast on the station.  I used to clean the house and let it record things and then back up the tape and record over anything I didn't want.  Yes I was the geeky freak about recording music, in high school. 

Ah, and then the next favorite thing I used to do, when no one was home, was play the music I like and pretend I was on stage and sing aloud and pretend I was performing.  I mostly liked to pretend I was the lead singer, but sometimes I liked to sit and pretend I was playing the drums too.  I loved to pretend I was doing a benefit concert and money made at the event would go to support a charity....   That's just how I always thought I would like to use any talent I had like that.   And truth be told, all these years later, on occaision when my husband isn't home, I will do this sometimes.  Not much dancing anymore, the ole back is not what it used to be.  But singing and pretending to be on stage, yeah, still do that sometimes.  I believe this is the first and only time I am admitting I do this.  LOL

We teeangers would debate a lot which radio station was the best.  There were the KSHE95 followers, and the KWK followers.  Me, I have always been a radio dialer....when a comerical came on, I would dial into some other station, I just wanted tunes to play.  I still do that now, but technology is different...so that is not always an issue anymore.  I'll pick up that topic in a later post.   KSHE is still on the air....that station is as old as me, but KWK has been long gone.  We have The ARCH now in its place.  I like both still...but The ARCH plays more genres than just Rock and Roll as KSHE still does.  And the classical station is not on the main stations, you need HD radio....yeah, I have more to talk about that whole issue later.  LOL

My first car didn't have a cassette player in it, which was an ultimate bummer.  I purchased a portable player to listen in the car that way, but driving on the highway made so much noise, couldn't really hear it.  Then my Dad started borrowing my portable recorder, after he went back to work and I ended up giving it to him.  It made him happy to listen while making biscuits or whatever he was making in the morning at the restaurant.  I always thought that was funny, him liking to listen like I did.  Now I think that was really neat, I was like him that way....loving music.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Movies of the 80s....

Well movies were a big thing in my life in the 80s, when I had the money to see them.   Here are some of my favorites. 

Bill Murray was excellent in this movie! 

 

 

 

Who didn't want to know what it would be like to travel in time or drive a cool looking car?

My favorite of the Indiana Jones series!

 

 

 

                    I loved the love story and the empowerment this movie showed us.

"Wax on, Wax off!"

 

Matthew Broderick at his cutest and cleverest!

 

 

 

My most favorite coming of age musical movie ever! 

 

 

 

My second most favorite coming of age movie musical,

but my most favorite Swayze movie by far!

I still cry when I watch this one now. 

 

 

This one is just weird and from the brat pack! 

 



TV Pop Culture ....

Okay, still gearing up to write more on my life's journey, thought I would post a little bit of pop culture on you.    These were TV shows I watched at the time (1980s).     

 

My favorite cop show of all time

 

 

 

Many sitcoms were the mainstay of my evenings

Diff'rent Strokes would be one of them

 

 

 

 

And yes, I owned a Tshirt with this very saying on it. 

Wore it proudly for a while.  LOL 

 

 

 

 

And then there was daytime drama, John & Marlena on "Days of Our Lives"

 

 



Pause For Hope Amid Tragedy ...

Just a pause today in my story a bit, to reflect on some things :

When I was out visiting in Denver in 1987, where I stayed was Aurora, Colorado.  Yes the one that was in the news in July 2012 when some guy with guns ablazin' went into a movie theater and shot arbitrarily into the crowd killing 12 and injuring 58 others. 

I later moved to Aurora Colorado, I'll get to that in a later post.  I know where Littleton Colorado is too.  The scene of the Columbine school shooting in April 1999.     Lisa's Dad would eventually move back to the Denver area and reside in Littleton. 

These days it seems there is tragedy and violence in places I was familiar with but from another time and definitely with other feelings about them.  I have mixed emotions about the part of my life that involved Denver and Aurora.  But none of that compares to the anguish people have lived through in those very same towns - since I have been back in my hometown these past 24 years - with violent acts it seems occurring every year or so.  I keep thinking when will this stuff end?

This week we had another terrible tragedy, this time at the Boston Marathon.  I have never been to Boston but I know friends and family that either reside near there or went to Boston University some time ago.  I cannot imagine what they are feeling this week as the reports of 2 suspected bombers were on the loose in their area.  3 were killed and many suffered horrible loss of limbs and injuries no one wants to view on TV.  It happened at a marathon of all things.  The first thing I said at work was, "You cannot do anything anymore, even run a race, without someone messing it up".   I know that doesn't fully state the anxiety I felt....I really added to that some colorful language I wish not to reiterate here.  

I wanted to post my favorite prayer here, as I try to gather up my thoughts for the next week of posts about a time that was full of all kinds of things, good and bad.   I want to leave a little bit of hope for anyone that knows someone that was killed in any act of violence, here or abroad, in their hometown or while visiting elsewhere.  It is like negative energy is running amok and I need to quell that negativity growing inside myself.  For today, I want to find a glimmer of  peace, of love, of shelter from the storms around us, literally and figuratively. 

 

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.