HUMOR - Ralphie "just" had a fight...

HUMOR - Parental nightmare!

HUMOR - Girl's First Moon Party

MY LIFE - Intelligence vs what's really important

I was recently reminded of the time I learned my dad could have joined MENSA.

I don't really remember when this was. I could have been in high school or college, but it might have been later.

I had always known my dad was a very intelligent man, but I didn't know he was that bright.

So when I asked why he didn't join Mensa, his reply was so typically my dad! Don't remember his exact words, but it was something along the lines of "Why would I want to enjoy a snooty organization like that?! What would I do with a group like that?!"

I think my dad found the idea of Mensa as repulsive and stupid as having an organization for the top 2% richest people or tallest people.

That was the great thing about my dad, and my mom! They both taught me that intelligence is a great gift that should be prized and fostered, but that other traits, such as kindness, sympathy, understanding, patience, tolerance, among others, were more important.

After all, great as intelligence is, like good looks, it comes mostly from your genes and how you were nurtured. And is largely out of your hands. If you have it, you should prize it, nurture it, and make use of it, but you don't control that much about how intelligent you'll be.

On other hand, you DO control a lot about how kind, sympathetic, understanding, etc, you will be!

And that is a wonderful lesson my parents taught me, and I hope I passed onto my daughter, and am passing onto my stepson.

ENTERTAINMENT - Father's Day playlist

Some music for your Father's Day... 

But I gotta admit, it seems a LOT of rock and pop stars have daddy issues!

http://open.spotify.com/user/127676752/playlist/4i0YMudpnqSYLbUTkAop2g

MY LIFE - Wives, stepsons, and geeks...

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Report: Mom’s Got Her Thing Tonight

BLOOMFIELD, MI—Noting that she had left earlier and would probably be gone for most of the evening, household sources confirmed Wednesday that local mother Diane Walsh has got her thing tonight.

According to Walsh family members, this is the same thing that Mom had mentioned something about at breakfast yesterday. Several reports also indicated that Mom usually goes to the thing with her friends from high school or maybe those ones from work.

“She’s usually there for a few hours,” said daughter Christina Walsh, 15, adding that tonight’s thing is definitely different from that other thing she does once in a while. “It’s at the community center or YMCA or something like that.”

http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-moms-got-her-thing-tonight,35446/

MY LIFE - Prostitute rings, porn shops, and my family...

MY LIFE - Martin Luther King Jr Day weekend

MY LIFE - 50 For My 50th Day 31:"Surrender" by Dropkick Murphys, a song on how I feel about my daughter and my parents

For an explanation of "50 For My 50th", go here - http://oldermusicgeek.blogspot.com/2013/08/entertainment-50-for-my-50th-50-days-of.html

As my daughter gets older and becomes a young lady, I can't help but think about how I raised her and how she'll be out in the real world.

This song seems to capture my feelings on that best.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vn2SencrSL_0ujzefX_Bfc_j-KJhKJzSUTDJi3CiQs8/edit?usp=sharing

Click the link below to listen to my monstrosity of a playlist, OlderMusicGeek's 50th B-Day, on Spotify:

http://open.spotify.com/user/127676752/playlist/1bRKV8LHJIL3JQih1ZSq76

MY LIFE - 50 For My 50th Day 04: "Our House" by Madness and a tunes that describes my childhood!

For an explanation of "50 For My 50th", go here - http://oldermusicgeek.blogspot.com/2013/08/entertainment-50-for-my-50th-50-days-of.html

I grew up in a house where my parents had 4 kids in 6 years, and then one more 9 years later! Yeah... And my parents also raised us to be very individualistic and independent! Which sometimes bit them in the ass, but overall was a good thing! To put things more clearly, I'll quote a friend, "I don't blame your mom for being the way she was. Not only did she have to raise five kids! She had to raise YOU five!"

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vn2SencrSL_0ujzefX_Bfc_j-KJhKJzSUTDJi3CiQs8/edit?usp=sharing

 

Playlist with "Our House" and other tunes:

Click the link below to listen to my montrosity of a playlist, OlderMusicGeek's 50th B-Day, on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/user/127676752/playlist/1bRKV8LHJIL3JQih1ZSq76

CULTURE/SOCIETY - For each death, a hole in the world

Soldiers are not chunks of identical clay; each of them has a story, their own reasons for being caught in a war.

Brave? Maybe - sometimes, under some conditions. Scared, mostly. The younger they are, the more likely their presence had to do with restlessness, cockiness. The need to be part of a winning team, the desire to even a score. Kick ass, take names. Kill them all, let God sort them out.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/each-death-hole-world-0

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Mother shuns Disney Princess ideal and dressesdaughter up as five REAL heroines from history to commemorate fifthbirthday

By MARGOT PEPPERS

A photographer has commemorated her daughter's fifth birthday by dressing her up as five different influential women from history - Amelia Earhart, Coco Chanel, Susan B Anthony, Helen Keller and Jane Goodall - and capturing the images for a photo series.

Jaime Moore from Austin, Texas, wrote on her website JaimeMoorePhotography.com that instead of dressing Emma up as a Disney princess - which is 'an unrealistic fantasy for most girls' - she decided to take photos of her emulating real women worth admiring.

'My daughter wasn't born into royalty,' the mother-of-two explained. 'But she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that's what REALLY matters.'

Real-life heroines: For her daughter Emma's fifth birthday, photographer Jaime Moore dressed her up as five inspirational women from history, including designer Coco Chanel (left) - minus the cigarette, of course

Taking flight: Emma (right) imitates aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (left) by sporting pilot goggles, a fur-lined leather jacket and a white scarf

The mother-of-two said she chose five women since it corresponds to her daughter's age, but that 'there are thousands of unbelievable women (and girls) who have beat the odds and fought (and still fight) for their equal rights all over the world.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2323795/Mother-shuns-Disney-Princess-ideal-dresses-daughter-REAL-heroines-history-commemorate-fifth-birthday.html#ixzz2TNzk0LbF

ENTERTAINMENT - That'll teach Batman!

ENTERTAINMENT - This Mother's Day, Strike Up The Band

You might be getting your mom flowers, brunch, or a card this Mother's Day. But in Mexico, mariachi bands are snapped up to serenade moms well in advance of the holiday. Host Michel Martin speaks with Dan Sheehy of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He's also a member of Mariachi Los Amigos, a Washington D.C. mariachi ensemble.

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/10/152422157/this-mothers-day-strike-up-the-band

ENTERTAINMENT - The Day My Kid Went Punk, an ABC After School Special

MY LIFE - When my daughter shows she's my child!

ENTERTAINMENT: A belated happy International Women's Day

Learn how to get your song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

HUMOR: Evolution Of Mom Dancing (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Michelle Obama)

MY LIFE: Yeah, what the f*** does your family do?