Melanie took today’s questions from The Evil Squirrel. Consider yourself warned.
What was the very first popular song you ever remember taking a liking to? I’m not talking about children’s songs or old traditional songs… but the kind of songs you’d hear on the radio. Most likely one by The Beatles, so how about "She Loves You"?
Are you one of those people who get queasy at sight of blood, or could you watch an open heart surgery? I think I’m somewhere in the middle, because while I don’t think seeing a lot of blood would make me sick, I don’t think I’d want to watch open-heart surgery, either.
Who or what do you feel is lurking right behind you, just waiting to ambush you and make your life a living hell (or “heck” for those with delicate sensibilities)? My underwear.
What is the gaudiest thing you have ever worn? Back in the ’70’s, I remember buying a pair of salmon-colored pants and a printed shirt to match. I think I wore them once, on a date, which was a disaster, so I never wore them again.
Fess up! What was something you did as a child that got you into BIG trouble? Setting the back porch on fire. I don’t remember any corporal punishment for that; however, I was enrolled in day care by the following Monday. Guess I was considered a bad influence on my younger brothers.
What are you looking forward to as the festive season approaches? The week between Christmas and New Year’s, i.e. the last week of the year. I used to get it off when I was working, and we just like not having no hoopla. "No hoopla" is my motto for retirement.
And that’s it for this week…
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
Hooray for Fire Marshall Bill! (Not quite Bob) I loved In Living Color, largely for the comic genius that was Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans, who carried that show in a epic way. I also came to appreciate its no holds barred nose thumbing to political correctness when it started airing in reruns in the early 2000’s, by which time it was already apparent that a lot of the show’s humor would have never been allowed on the air anymore…
I was a bit of a fire bug myself, though I contained my arson to things that could be burned in a barrel. Still didn’t keep my Dad from referring to me as Matches…
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There’s something cleansing about fire, wouldn’t you agree?
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When I retire I want “no hoopla” to be my motto too. Love it!
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I heard a lot of that today. I think hoopla is something we outgrow.
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Thanks John for Sharing Your World! I’m not sure where the notification for your post got lost, but it showed up (finally) today (Weds). Hilarious answers all…and the GIFs? Priceless. That dude dancing around in his underwear (and he seems mighty pleased with his underwear..) made me laugh aloud. Ziggy definitely thinks I’m insane. 😉 A salmon colored outfit doesn’t sound so wild, but I’m shocked you didn’t get teased for wearing “pink”, which I know boys used to get ribbed about a lot. My fashion plate brother had one of the first ‘pink” shirts I ever saw a guy wear, and upon teasing him about the color, I got the frosty reply that it was “SALMON’ not pink! Heheh. Maybe you were just a little ahead of your time. I like the idea of “no hoopla’ for the holidays and thanks for the Burl Ives inclusion. Such heart warming memories of that little show! ❤ Setting the porch on fire tops any ‘naughty’ I’ve read so far. We were routinely warned by our parents that playing around with matches would start Armageddon as far as they were concerned, even though my father turned out to be a bit of a fire bug himself (long story). Have a great week John!
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I wear pink shirts a lot. When I was working, I’d wear a pink shirt with a navy blue suit and a club tie.
Back in the ’90’s, they changed the animated “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”: at the end, where Burl Ives used to sing “Rudolph,” they cut in an animated Destiny’s Child singing it, with the three of them hugging and rubbing up against Santa. It was the only year they did it, I think. I guess CBS got a lot of angry phone calls from irate parents…
Glad you liked the underwear guy…
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Setting the back porch on fire — bwahahahaha!!! Though I’m sure it wasn’t anything close to funny for your folks.
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Mom was ready to kill me. or I assume she was, because she didn’t speak to me for a week. Like I said, I got put in nursery school, which is a lot like reform school…
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I love your answers especially..underwear! I remember hearing, “Cecelia” on a jukebox in a restaurant when my family was travelling to Ann Arbor. I was little but that song made an impression. I am not squeamish at all. As a kid, growing up in the country, on a sawmill, I saw a bad car crash and brought Coca Cola to my ne f the people sitting on the side of the road while his friend was hanging out of the car. The police and everyone were there. I went looking for a finger when our head sawyer accidentally cut it off. Our neighbour did a boo boo resulting in a mini explosion hitting his face. He came into our home and asked for water to splash on his face but when I saw his blackened skin peeling off his face I told him to wait while I woke up my mom. I also held a man’s muscle together T his hip because the skill saw hit something and went up his hip bone. My brother drove and I kept his hip muscles in place talking to him so he would be calm.
I was at the neighbours playing with my friend and to make mud pies more authentic, we took the eggs and mixed it up with water, mud and hay. My neighbour was very angry at both of us and sent me home.
I look forward to decorating and playing Christmas music.
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“Cecelia” (or, if you’re my mother, “Cecilia”) was on of those songs the girls loved and the boys hated. (We were in eighth grade, you know how it is).
That must have been a harrowing experience, haing to hold him together like that….
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No hoopla is the best motto yet, retired or not.
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That seems to have struck a harmonious chord with everyone.
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Okay, am I a day behind or what, but personally the girl getting splashed in the face with you know what made me a little queasey!!! YUK!
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Just to clarify, it was (supposed to be) blood, not another “you know what.” I wouldn’t feature that in a post. Ewww….
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It certainly looked like blood to ME!
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I’ll bet I’m the only one of your readers who remembers you setting the porch on fire! It was definitely not a Tickety-Boo day.
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One more thing: The first mature song that I liked was “Green Eyes” sung by Helen O’Connell with one of the Dorsey brothers band.
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That’s a favorite of mine, too. It’s Jimmy Dorsey with Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly. I’ve played it a couple of times here.
Allan Sherman did a parody of it called “Green Stamps.” I heard that when I was about seven (Cash used to bring me his albums), and it led me to the actual song. I learned about a lot of songs by listening to Allan Sherman…
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I’ve talked about it here. Follow the link…
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One song that comes to mind that I really liked when I was a child is “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant. There are probably others, but this is one that I took a special liking to.
Before I started college I added some colorful hippie-inspired bell bottoms and gaudy shirts to my wardrobe. Once I started attending classes I realized no one else was dressing in those kinds of clothes, but in traditional conservative looking clothes so I went back to the same styles I was wearing in high school. Wish I would have kept some of those hippie clothes. They were awful, but they might have been good for Halloween dress up.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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“The Wayward Wind” is a great song and Gogi Grant had a beautiful voice. I learned about that song from doing surveys…
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First song etc.. It was Old Shep sung by Pearl and Ayd on the radio show The Sunset Valley Barn Dance. I know it is considered to be traditional today but when I fell in love with it, it was only about ten years old.
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I heard Walter Brennan’s version of that. Great song.
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No hoopla is the best, even pre-retirement!
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You said it. Mary’s very lowkey and more of the stay-at-home type than I was in my misspent early adult days, but gradually I discovered the wisdom of being that way. Marry a good wife, they told me, and I think I got the best.
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The salmon- colored outfit sounds like it was really trendy for the time
And cheers to no more hoopla
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It was, and I was selling men’s clothing at the time, so I was more or less steeped in the whole men’s fashion thing. This was the disco ’70’s, which explains a lot.
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Yes And in the 1990s my husband had one of his dad’s old leisure suits!
It was yellow and he loaned it out to people who wanted to borrow it – and never got it back after one loan out – but he was done
Anyhow – the 70s sounds like a great time to seek clothes
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We thought we looked good, anyway…
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It was fresh at the time – 😉
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Great answers, John. Especially “underwear” and “no hoopla’
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“Underwar” just seemed the most appropriate answer. That, and I couldn’t think of a good inappropriate one…
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