It’s Back! #JustJoJan

It’s January 1, 2019, and it’s the start of Just Jot It January!

Today, Linda herself provided the prompt “whatever you want to write,” with a suggestion that if I haven’t already shared my New Year’s Resolution for 2019, “now would be a good time to do it.” Well, my resolution for this year, as it is with every year since my stroke, is “get out of the year alive.” And I have every intention of doing just that.

I don’t know when I started doing this, but I get a giggle out of it, and since I always do this for my “Linda” blog hops, I think I’ll do it for this one, too. Now a subliminal message from Butter-Nut Coffee.

Monday’s Music Moves Me: Blue Monday #JusJoJan

I love it when a plan comes together.

I’ve been participating in Linda Hill’s Just Jot It January this month, and I chose today’s word, “blue.” Then, Marie (better known as XmasDolly) contacts me Saturday night and tells me “WHOO HOOOOOO! You’re the spotlight dancer for Monday!” That meant I got to choose the theme of the day, so what do I choose? Songs with “blue” in the title, blues songs, and/or songs that you play when you’re feeling blue.

Two Birds. One Stone.

First, a couple of songs with “blue” in the title.

Linda Ronstadt, “Blue Bayou” This is a Roy Orbison original, and his voice can hit all these notes too, but Linda does such a good job of it, and I love her voice.

Swing Out Sister, “Forever Blue” Another beautiful voice belongs to the lovely Corinne Drewery, chanteuse for Swing Out Sister, and this song is gorgeous.

Now, some blues….

Junior Wells with Buddy Guy, “Stormy Monday Blues” Buddy and Junior worked together often in the Sixties and Seventies. Buddy is still working, God bless him, while Junior passed in 2000. I always liked their version of this the best.

Little Walter, “Confessin’ The Blues” Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs got his start with the great Muddy Waters. Together they defined the sound of Chicago blues.

Finally, a couple for when I’m in a blue mood.

Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France, “Limehouse Blues” I DARE you to listen to Django’s guitar solo in this and sit still. I can’t.

Bobby Vinton, “Blue Velvet” Solo singers like Bobby Vinton were big in the early Sixties, between the early rock & roll and the British Invasion. Bobby’s from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, home of another great singer, Perry Como.

And that’s Monday’s Music Moves Me for January 30, 2017.

Monday’s Music Moves Me is sponsored by X-Mas Dolly, Callie, Cathy, and Stacy, so be sure and visit them, where you can also find the Linky for the other participants.

Don’t Know Much About… #JusJoJan

Sam Cooke, “What A Wonderful World”…

KL Caley, of new2writing, chose “history” as the Just Jot It January prompt for today.

There are those (usually history majors, particularly those with advanced degrees) who say that “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” And yet, history is the story of the same mistakes being made time and time again. Duh.

Now, does that mean we shouldn’t learn about the past? No. I love to learn about the past. I spend a lot of time learning about it. Granted, it’s about TV, radio, music, and baseball, none of which actually qualifies as capital-H History. I do plenty of memoir on this blog, telling stories of my past. We did, and still do, a lot of that in my family. I’m interested in genealogy and where I came from. Things like that.

There was a contestant on Jeopardy! named Colby Burnett, who was a history teacher at Fenwick High School in the Chicago area. He said the way he teaches history is from the back of the book forward. In other words, start with things today, and work your way backward, rather than starting with cavemen and working your way forward. The reason, he said, was because he feels that more current history gets ignored because school’s over before he gets there. It makes sense: start with the world today and figure out what happened in the past that caused it.

But that’s just me.

How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck If A Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood? #socs

A couple of groundhogs

The answer, according to Wikipedia, is “A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

A classic Beatles song from the Rubber Soul album is “Norwegian Wood.” It was one of the first songs that George played sitar on. I wasn’t able to find the actual single (WMG was at it again), but someone posted a bootleg out on YouTube.

Today is Mary’s and my 39^th wedding anniversary. It’s not the wood anniversary; Mary tells me it’s the yarn anniversary. I’m not sure what anniversary it is, to be honest. Doesn’t matter, we still love each other. We used to say that it wasn’t a marriage so much as a fight to the death, then I had my stroke and, well, we stopped saying that. Just out of curiosity, how many of you are 39 or younger?

For those of you wondering why we got married in January, when it’s cold and snowy in Chicago and other parts of the country, it’s simple: January 28 was also my in-laws’ anniversary, as well as Mary’s cousin and his wife. Mike and Peggy were married in 1967, the day after the biggest snowstorm in history hit the Chicago area. And yes, it was shortly after Dad died, and my mother didn’t want us to get married that day because she remembered all the snow. And, in keeping with the tradition, we had a snowstorm two days before we were married. Mom never forgave me for that.

Here’s coverage of the 1967 blizzard from WFLD-TV in Chicago. Thanks to The Museum of Classic Chicago Television for making this available.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill, who also brings you Just Jot It January every January.

Unfinished Business #JusJoJan

This will be short, because it’s 4:30 in the afternoon and I still have this post and a Friday Five post to get out the door. I could blow one or the other off, but I’d feel like I left something unfinished, like somehow my week wasn’t complete without them. Well, since this is Just Jot It January, this will do… better do The Friday Five…