Daily Blues & Views

 I've been thinking of offering a writing workshop for older adults.  My peer group now.  It occurred to me that many of the prompts I used over a 35 year teaching career would work well with mature writers.  I think that's because aside from stimulating the memory and offering some critical thinking opportunities, writing helps one save their life...literally and figuratively.  There are other simple benefits too. Even writing by hand helps maintain fine motor skills and of course, writing helps people process their thoughts.  In the words if one if my favorite quotes, "How will I know what I think until I see what I say."  Just substitute write for say and there you have it.  I don't think E.M. Forester would mind. I'd decided to start with a simple writing strategy I'll call a childhood table of contents.  If you look at the table of contents of many books, the chapter titles are often fascinating...a world in themselves.  In my class...

 Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened in 1955. For young Baby Boomers, this was Nirvana.  The popular Disney TV show had become a reality that they could visit.  All the familiar characters were there as well as the various "lands" they knew from the TV show.  You could actually go to a place called Adventure Land, or Tomorrow Land, Frontier Land and even Fantasy Land, complete with Sleeping Beauty's castle. Two brothers down the street from me went to that opening day.  Their father worked for Technicolor and folks in the movie industry were among those privileged to go to the opening day.  My sister and I went a few years later thanks to the generosity of a New York uncle who worked for a media agency and sent us credentials for complementary tickets.  Even the E ticket coupons, the hardest to get.  I was about 10 years old and my sister 11.  We went with our parents and my Aunt Dorothy and her husband, my Uncle Clery.  They had n...

 I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt.  They are the foundational garment of my life.  My day starts with selecting a t-shirt and it ends with sleeping in one.  Once thought of as under garments, t-shirts are now original art and no doubt, a billion dollar business.   You can get a t-shirt with anybody's picture displayed.  You can commemorate an event, a birthday, a death, even a specular play in any sport.  Family reunions usually have a commemorative t-shirt.  Also, any organization that solicits your support in the form of a donation is likely to offer you a t-shirt. Where once I only had the basic white t-shirt, my drawers are filled with all manner of colorful choices.  Some recognize major events in my life, some, spectacular performances or plays I have witnessed, and some unforgettable places I have been.   I say I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt because I have taken the bait on what I perceived as a must-have only to be disappointed. ...