OK, Boomer: Slang

Zounds!

Growing up, I always associated that word with science fiction set in the distant future. Space men said it in comic strips. Spaceman Spiff, of Calvin and Hobbes fame, liked to use it. I knew we didn't say it much, but if comic books were to be believed, it would be used all the time in the 21st Century! So imagine my surprise when I was studying, of all subjects, Shakespeare, and learned that he used it in the 16th and 17th Centuries! It is an expression of surprise like "Wow!", and as I learned, is a contraction of "His wounds" ("His" referring to Jesus'). I've heard it pronounced in two ways: rhyming with "pounds" and "wounds." I still don't generally use it, particularly considering its derivation, but it's an interesting word.

Image by lexiconimages on Adobe Stock

In the early 20th Century, a lot of things were swell. I was born in the late '70s, and by that time, things were groovy, man. We're talkin' gnarly! I remember vaguely in the early '80s when people still observed that that is so boss! Those words are generally no longer used in that way (though I have heard them on occasion). As the '80s went on, a lot of things were radical, or rad for short. It meant great. These days, radical isn't generally a good thing, but it was more commonly a good thing back then (although we did use it in its current sense as well, referring to political and religious extremes...a lot depended on context). But though it isn't used as often now, rad still means more or less the same thing as it did then. The word cool, on the other hand, has endured longer. I still use that one. More recently I've heard the kids talking about how things are lit. (When I was younger, lit had a very different meaning. I wasn't all that familiar with that word in its colloquial sense at the time, as I wasn't around people who were lit, or drunk, very much. Now it has a much more positive meaning, more along the lines of groovy and cool.) Even cool has changed in meaning over the years. Though it still can mean calm and not upset, that isn't as common a usage these days. If The Flash (CW series starring Grant Gustin) is to believed, things will be schway by 2049. Note that these words are nuanced and don't mean exactly the same thing. For example, rad was stronger than cool in the '80s. However, the meanings are similar.

Image by Rawpixel.com on Adobe Stock

One phrase that has changed considerably over the years is "just alright." The classic '60s and '70s song "Jesus is Just Alright with Me", recorded by the Doobie Brothers and others, was high praise at the time. It meant that I think Jesus is awesome, great, incredible, groovy! Now "just alright" means "meh, not great." To the people of the '70s, there was alright, and then there was the much more impressive just alright! So next time you hear the Doobie Brothers (or DC Talk, or Stryper, or other bands who recorded it) singing that, understand that they are not saying that Jesus is meh. Instead, they think He's the bee's knees! Jesus is lit! (using the current definition of lit, not the definition from the '60s and '70s)

With the increase in popularity of the internet, I started noticing a lot of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) being thrown around on the internet and in e-mails (and more recently in text messages). The first time I saw "LOL" I wondered if it meant "Little Old Lady," which didn't make sense in the context. I finally asked someone, but figured it out before they answered. It means "laughing out loud." Please note, it does NOT mean "lots of love." I have seen that misconception, and it has led to a lot of unfortunate misunderstandings (the classic one being the text conversation between a mother and her son, something along the lines of... Mother: "Your uncle died, LOL" Son: "What?? Why is that funny?" Mother: "It isn't funny. Why would you say that?" Son: "What did you mean by LOL?" Mother: "Lots of love." Son: "That stands for laughing out loud." Mother: "Oh no! I'm going to have to apologize to everyone I told!") The point there being, never use LOL for "lots of love." I like the French equivalent, MDR, which stands for mourir de rire (literally, "dying of laughter"). Personally, if I feel the need to express laughter, I go for the classic "Hahahahahahahaha!!!" (or longer or shorter variants of that)

Swear words have also come and gone, some more enduring than others, but in the interest of keeping this family friendly, I will not go into those. I don't use them myself, but have gotten a lot more tolerant of others using them as I've gotten older. Still not a fan, though. Our counselor in elementary taught us to use the words of the immortal philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh, "Oh bother!" Much more wholesome, and it usually gets close enough in meaning. I have a few other things I use on occasion, such as "Rats!" "Bummer!" "Seriously??" "Good grief!" (Thanks, Charlie Brown!) "Uff da!" "Ay nako!" "Bless your heart." Though I don't use these alternatives as much, I also like "Fiddlesticks!" "Dagnabbit!" "...cottonpicking..." "Doggone it!" "...dadgum..."

Another term I have grown up with, owing to my Norwegian heritage, is Uff da! It's an all-purpose interjection that doesn't have a direct translation in English. The closest I've heard in any other language is the Yiddish Oy veh! and Oy gevalt! Uff da means "Oh my!" "Good grief!" "Oh no!" "How silly!" "How awful!" "Eww, gross!" (among many others). The Tagalog Ay nako! (literally, "Oh my mom!") and the French Zut alors! come close. The French Oh là là! (which does not mean what many Americans think it means) also comes close.

Of course, there has been so much slang over the years, and if I went into all of it, this would be a very long post. But that gives a small taste of it.

Oh, and I sometimes use slang on my phone. I also use it when I'm talking. It isn't exactly in the same class as other things I've covered in this series, but I feel it's important to mention whether or not I use it on my cell phone now.

One more thing...you may be wondering about the title of this post. The baby boomers and the millennials seem to have some sort of rivalry going on. They don't tend to understand each other so much. Boomers (stereotypically) tend to believe millennials are lazy and other negative adjectives. Millennials, in turn, (again, stereotypically) tend to see boomers as hopelessly old fashioned. And then, here I am, in Generation X, looking in both directions and scratching my head. (I'm an Xennial, which is the group of people born at the end of the Gen X era and the beginning of the Millennial era, who carry some aspects of both Gen X and Millennials.) Anyway, many millennials finally gave up with the criticism coming from their elders, a lot of which was unfounded, and just say, "OK, boomer." Whatever you say. I won't argue. It was the closest I could think of to a modern slang version of "Days of Yore."

OK, another thing...how is it that, given their meaning, "colloquial" and "vernacular" are not generally used in today's vernacular?

Fort Worth

When visiting Fort Worth, Texas, I highly recommend visiting the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. They are beautiful and peaceful, with a waterfall, lots of plants (obviously, considering the name), bridges, and more. They also have koi and other wildlife. If your chosen family also includes a big sister and niece and nephew in the area, so much the better!

Fort Worth
Steven Sauke
Acrylic and gel on canvas
2012

Our second assignment in our painting class in 2012 was to paint a small portion of a picture. I selected the below picture that I took in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens in 2007 as the inspiration for this painting. I mixed matte gel with the paint to make the bushes more bushy, and mixed gloss gel with the paint to give the water more of a sheen. I was especially proud of the textures in this painting. Having just painted Mt. Rainier in Monet's style, this painting was also partially inspired by his bridge paintings—but I didn't paint his bridge because I didn't want to appear to be duplicating his artwork.

Said big sister, nephew and niece
Also at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
(different bridge)
Picture taken in 2007, so they are now a bit older
How is that 16 years ago?!

Days of Yore: Research and Organization

As you may remember, I covered research to some extent in my post about books. In that post, I mentioned that we spent a lot of time in the library looking up information in books. We used encyclopedias, dictionaries, newspapers, magazines, microfiche, and more. In my post on telephones, I mentioned the wonders of phone books. But there were other ways that we kept track of phone numbers and contact information. I covered aspects of today's subject in previous posts, but here I expand on more.

Photo by puhhha on Adobe Stock

Going to a library could be a tad daunting at times. Once you got to know how it was laid out, finding the book you needed was easier, but could still be challenging at times without help. We had a couple options. We could ask the librarian, who was usually quite helpful, or we could check the card catalog. It was a cabinet with small drawers just big enough to fit cards that listed all the books in the library. Most libraries I went to used the Dewey Decimal System, which arranges books by subject. For example, computer science, information and general works are classified as 000; philosophy and psychology are 100, religion is 200, and so on. The numbers in between are more specific. Each book in the library has a sticker on the spine with its Dewey Decimal classification, which gets more and more specific, down to identifying the individual book. The card catalog is arranged in a simpler manner so books are easier to find. They have a section that lists the books by title. Another section lists them by author. Each card represents one book, and it tells its Dewey Decimal classification so you know where in the library it is. (We usually wrote down the information from the card so we could remember it when searching for the book on the shelf.) The aisles of books are typically labeled with the classifications in that aisle. Though libraries still use this system, Google and Amazon have simplified this considerably. I haven't been to a brick-and-mortar library in years, though I have been to bookstores more recently. Bookstores typically don't use the Dewey Decimal system. They still arrange books by subject, and then usually alphabetize them on the shelves by author.

Card Catalog
Photo by Andrey Kuzmin on Adobe Stock

When checking out a book, we would open the front cover and find a paper pouch with a card in it. That card had a list of names of people who had checked it out in the past. At the front desk, the librarian would stamp the card with the date and file the card until we returned the book. Most libraries had a limit on how many books you could check out at a time, and also how long you could keep them before you had to return them. They often fined you if you kept the books too long.

One way of keeping track of appointments and such was a calendar. Not the kind you hang on your wall, but one you could carry with you and mark up. My dad jokingly called it his brain. They were of varying sizes, typically from small enough to carry in your pocket to regular paper size. Now Outlook and other programs have calendars (with a similar setup) where you can do it electronically. I have a calendar on my phone that reminds me about appointments and other events coming up.

Filing cabinets were a way of keeping papers neat and organized. Drawers were organized similarly to a card catalog, but you could arrange it in whatever way worked best for you, and label the drawer. They often had hanging file folders that hung from tracks on the sides of the drawers, and then you could put manila folders in those to organize papers further. (Honestly, with ADHD, filing was one of the most boring jobs I have done. I don't bore easily, but when I am bored, it may be when filing things in the old-fashioned filing cabinets. Even so, it's a great way of keeping papers organized!)

Then there was the rolodex. Where phone books came with the phone numbers printed in them, you could customize rolodex with just the contacts you needed, and when placed next to your phone, it was a convenient way to find contact information. They came with special cards that fit on the wheel, and you could put them in their alphabetical place for easy reference. (They could also be used for other things, but keeping track of contact information was one of the most common uses.)

Rolodex
Photo by Albert Lozano-Nieto on Adobe Stock

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I do all these things on my phone now, and rarely use the above options. I have a filing cabinet, but I don't use it much. I have physical books, but most of my reading is done on my phone, Kindle and computer. It's also much nicer to carry your entire library on a small device, as opposed to lugging heavy books around. That could get cumbersome, and it was sometimes a little awkward to pull out a big book on the bus. On the other hand, books don't have a battery that wears down and dies if you don't recharge or have access to an outlet, so there's that. These days, I may not lug around books, but I might bring some wireless chargers if I anticipate not having access to an outlet for a while. My trusty chargers came in handy when visiting New York last September, though didn't help the day I forgot to bring it and my battery ended up dying just as I got to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I did have my cord with me, so I found an outlet in the lobby during intermission and got permission to use it. That helped a bit, so I was still able to check the subway route after the show, and write down what I needed in case it died again.

Back to books...I have gotten rid of a lot of my books, as they just take up space. Some of them are in storage. I still have some in my room, but most of them are either in storage or gone. I do still use wall calendars.

Le mont Rainier

One of the amazing things about living in the Seattle area is the amazing view of the mountains to the west (Olympics) and the east (Cascades). Looking to the north, we can see Mt. Baker on a clear day. To the south, we can see Mt. Rainier. Both are prominent peaks in the Cascade range.

Le mont Rainier
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on canvas
2012

In 2012, I took a painting class. Our first assignment was to research a painter and either paint one of their paintings or do one in their style. I selected Claude Monet. I visited his house and gardens in Giverny, France in 1999, and his paintings fascinate me. Since I'm not much for duplicating someone else's work, I opted to paint Mt. Rainier in his style. Since he was a French painter, I decided to title my painting in French. This is my favorite of my paintings.

Me standing on Monet's bridge
overlooking his lily pond,
subject of several of his paintings

Days of Yore: St. Patrick's Day

In which my "Days of Yore" series meets my previous series on simple acts of kindness shown to me in the past. Most entries in my current series concern changing trends over the years. This one is more along the lines of my previous series, but does take place when I was a child, so it fits in both categories. Also, leprechauns are known for their mischief and shaking things up. Besides that, I'm part Irish, and proud of it. So there's that.

Image by Artificial Dream on Adobe Stock

Anyway...

St. Patrick's Day was serious business at our school in the Philippines. Friends and classmates had no trouble pinching anyone who was not wearing green. So it was with some shock and consternation one March 17 on the bus to school that I suddenly realized I had forgotten what day it was, and—horror of horrors—I was not wearing green! (Cue the Psycho theme) We're talking major emergency here. As I was on the bus, I couldn't go home and change! What is a kid who needs some green, stat, to do to avoid the dreaded pinch?

That's what friends are for. Sara was a year or two ahead of me in school. Her younger brother Luke was around my age. Their dad was a teacher at our school, as was mine. They were even British, which gives a person a lot more authority in the matter of an Irish holiday. Sara had a running theory that as long as a person wearing green is touching someone who isn't, the person who isn't can't be pinched. (This theory worked better for kids in the '80s than it would for adults today.) Obviously, she couldn't follow me around all day for so many reasons, but she had a better idea. As soon as we arrived at school, she and I raced down the stairs to the playground and hurried to a tree, where, with a great sense of relief, I obtained some leaves. I don't remember how I wore them, but the day was saved by the quick thinking of a thoughtful friend who was herself wearing green.

Come to think of it, maybe it would be a good practice to carry green lapel pins or something with me in case people I meet on St. Patrick's Day are enduring a similar crisis. Hmmm...

The Heirs of Djeek

The Yibvlidjians' discovery that earth did not explode on December 31, 2012 was only the beginning of their adventures on earth. Thirteen years passed, during which time Cchhär married the optician Maya, and Dröuh met and married a human named Amanda. Cchhär and Maya were blessed with two sons, Diehn and Frankh, while Dröuh and Amanda welcomed Leif. The two families shared a common bond and saw each other as extended family.

Diehn, Frankh and Leif were raised with the ancient accounts stating that the survivors of Yibvlidj lost the power of teleportation when they arrived on earth at the beginning of 2012. The Yibvlidjian blood in them caused them to learn fast, and despite their age, they quickly became smarter than the average human with a doctoral degree.

Find out what happens in the movie below!

Inspiration and back story:

The thrilling sequel to Yibvlidj Apocalypse, The Heirs of Djeek was my final project for my video production class. I took into account feedback from the first movie, such as the fact that the first movie only showed them reading the history, but didn't show it in flashbacks. Also, as Yibvlidj is a touch hard to pronounce (indeed, people struggled with it in the productions of both movies), I named Djeek in a manner easier to pronounce.

As with the first installment, I would like to thank everyone who helped me out with this one. I would also like to mention that I dedicated this to Gabriel Timothy Yoder, who was born and passed away on the same day, shortly before production started on this due to complications with spina bifida. As a result, his father Andrew, who played Dröuh in the first movie, was unavailable to participate in this one. 

Director and Producer: Steven Sauke
Filmed by Steven Sauke, Russell Dorsey, Jimmy Smith
Edited by Steven Sauke

CAST
Cchhär: Charlie Ostlie
Maya: Darcy Jamieson
Diehn: Daniel Newman
Frankh: Franklin Tausher
Leif: Levi Tausher
Narrator/Djeekan Pioneer: Zach McCue
Djeekan Pioneer: Steven Sauke
Descendants of the Maya: Charlie Ostlie and Jimmy Smith
Bigfoot: Russell Dorsey
Loch Ness Monster: Himself

With apologies to Los del Río, who actually composed and performed the Macarena

Trivia:

• As with the first movie, all characters (except for Maya, who was named after the ancient civilization) were named after the actors who portrayed them, but adapted to sound Yibvlidjian and Djeekan.
• The Loch Ness Monster graciously played himself. It was a bit of a thankless job, as none of the characters even noticed him in the background!
• The talented actors who brilliantly played Frankh and Leif, though cousins in the movie, are brothers in real life.
• Being ten years older than he was when this movie was made, the talented actor who masterfully portrayed Diehn is himself engaged to be married later this year. I'm excited for him and his fiancée!
• The amazing actress who portrayed Maya is my cousin, and is now married (not to her on-screen husband). She has one of the cutest little sons you could imagine. Think of the cutest kid you've met. He's cuter. (I might be slightly biased, but my point stands. So does Darcy's son, who is now a toddler. I hope he reads this when he's a teenager!)

Days of Yore: Julius Caesar

Friends, readers, countrymen, lend me your ears. Today we remember a man who met his untimely demise on this day 2067 years ago.

It was March 15, 44 BC, the Ides of March. An auspicious day in ancient Rome when they settled debts, it turned tragic that year as one of their greatest leaders, Gaius Julius Caesar, was assassinated by a large group of senators. He was the father of the Julian Calendar (which is close to the calendar we still observe today), and the month of July is named after him. Obviously, it was before my time.

Illustration by Steven Sauke

This is an unusual "Days of Yore" post, as it does not relate something that I remember from childhood, and it is not something that I now do on my cell phone, aside from perhaps discussing it to some extent on social media. (Come to think of it, maybe I should download Shakespeare's play on Kindle and Audible. I do find ancient history fascinating, though I imagine Shakespeare isn't necessarily the best source if I want the actual facts. Hmm...) That said, I don't claim to be an expert on the subject. Most of the information in this post is from research I did just now.

For good or ill, Julius Caesar was a great man whose legacy still lives on today. His family was believed to be descended from the Trojan Prince Aeneas, subject of epic legends. He was born July 12, 100 BC, and was killed 55 years later at the Theatre of Pompey in Rome. Caesar was a skilled military leader, still viewed as one of the greatest generals in history. He led a conquest of Gaul. He granted citizenship to many from farther reaches than in the past. As mentioned above, he proposed the Julian Calendar, with the help of Roman mathematicians, adding three months and adopting aspects of the Egyptian calendar. He ordered Carthage and Corinth rebuilt. He and several others formed the First Triumvirate, a political alliance. For most of the time he was in power, he was considered pontifex maximus, or supreme pontiff. (Today the Pope is the pontiff of the Catholic Church, though obviously Caesar was not Catholic.) Near the end of his life, he was designated dictator perpetuo, or "dictator for life." (Ironically, that title was very short-lived.)

According to William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar, his last words were "Et tu, Bruté? [And you, Brutus?]—Then fall, Caesar." This was addressed to Brutus, one of his assassins, who was apparently not as much of a friend as Caesar thought he was. However, the real Caesar probably didn't say those words. Some say his actual last words were, "Και συ τέκνον" (Kai su, teknon), or "You too, child." But ancient historians even disagree on that. His assassination unintentionally brought an end to the Roman Republic with ensuing civil wars led by Mark Antony, Octavian (Augustus) and others, laying the groundwork to the Roman Empire.

Following his assassination this day 2067 years ago, he was succeeded by his great-nephew Gaius Octavius, who was successively called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (that last word was to distinguish him from his great-uncle), Imperator Caesar, and Imperator Caesar Augustus. Rome's first emperor, Augustus was still in power when Christ was born around 40 years later. Augustus died in AD 14, succeeded by Tiberius.

The πs have it!

Disneyland, March 14, a few years ago. It was a dream come true. I had already met Captain America, and now I was about to meet my first mythical Norse god. I don't recall if it was Thursday, the day named after him, but it isn't every day or vacation that you get to meet two greats who are worthy to wield Mjolnir! We lined up in the antechamber, which included several important artifacts, such as Loki's pointy hat. Then the door opened, and there he was in all his Thormidable greatness.

For a powerful Norse deity, Thor was quite friendly. It was Pi Day, and he observed I was wearing a π t-shirt. He reminisced fondly about how they had π back on Asgard, but it was different. It was served on a plate. It was delicious.

I will always remember that day. The day I met a great fictional Norse god on π Day. It made me proud to be Norse myself.

****

Another π Day, a couple years earlier. I was studying design, and I had recently learned the wonders of Adobe Illustrator. At the time, Gangnam Style was all the rage. It was all over YouTube, TV, memes, social media, everywhere. It was hard to miss. I also observed that Psy, the artist who brought it to the world, sounds similar to π. The following illustration was the result of this observation. Oppan πnam Style!

I know, it's random, but there you have it.

Happy π Day!

(By the way, if you are on a PC, you can type π by holding down Alt and typing 227 on the keypad on the side of the keyboard.)

Yibvlidj Apocalypse!

It was January 2, 2012 when the humanoid refugees from the destroyed planet Yibvlidj arrived on earth. While they had enjoyed long life on their home planet, they soon discovered that earth's atmosphere came with some undesirable side effects. The landscape proved to be blurry to their eyes that saw so clearly back home. In addition, the air was more difficult to breathe, and consequently, their lifespan was drastically cut short to an average of one week of earth's time. As time passed, they adapted somewhat. The growth process sped up to allow for descendants. However, whatever they tried, they lived a maximum of ten days.

It was in the third week of January when they made two important discoveries: a solution to the problem with their vision, and the wall calendar. By this time, the sixth generation since their arrival on earth was beginning to be born. One of their number, in his tenth day, explored the calendar and foresaw the coming end on December 31, 2012. With his final breath, he warned his offspring to ever be watchful and remember their time on earth was short.

And so days passed, and weeks passed. One generation passed the warning to the next. Once every nine generations, their most esteemed member had the honor of advancing the calendar to a new month. And so, as time went on, the final week of December arrived. In fact, it was the evening of the 31st of that month. Two young Yibvlidjians of the 104th generation, Cchhär and Dröuh, anxiously awaited their fate.

Find out what happened in the video below!

Inspiration and back story:
As the end of 2012 approached, many of the more superstitious among us observed that the ancient Mayan calendar went through 2012. As I'm sure any Mayan could have told you, that just meant one era ended and the next would begin, seeing as that's how calendars work. However, some people got it in their heads that this impending end of the calendar meant the Maya had foreseen the end of the world as 2012 ended. As those of us who were less superstitious expected, no apocalypse happened. That year, I made this short movie inspired by the hysteria.
In 2012, I was studying graphic design, and I took a video editing class. As my final project, I wrote the screenplay, produced, directed, filmed and edited the video. I am grateful to everyone who helped out in this project, to the talented actors, to my aunt and uncle who graciously allowed us to use their living room and porch for filming, to those I consulted, and to my professor and classmates.
Cast:Cchhär: Charlie OstlieDröuh: Andrew YoderNarrator: Zach McCueCommentators: Jim Brinkman and Sandy Brinkman
Trivia: Cchhär's and Dröuh's names were inspired by the names of the actors portraying them, adapted to sound Yibvlidjian. The ancient Yibvlijian Aalb the Seer was named after my chosen brother Aaron, who had some excellent suggestions to improve the story. The character Maya, who the movie only mentions, was named after the ancient civilization. We will meet her in the sequel! Stay tuned!

Days of Yore: Transportation

Once upon a time, a young child with ADHD (who didn't know at the time that he had ADHD) was sitting in the car looking out the window singing, "Old McDonald had a - FORD!"

Yep. Some kids interrupt themselves to yell, "Squirrel!" I interrupted myself when I saw a billboard advertising Ford cars, as well as any time I saw an airplane or helicopter in the sky. (Certain birds, such as eagles and robins, as well as cows and llamas, have also elicited such a reaction out of me on occasion.) I got very excited about any cars, and I'm told I could identify the make and model of a car from a long way away. I often cut pictures of cars out of magazines to put in scrapbooks. I had a relatively large collection of matchbox cars. When I visited my great grandma when I was little, my favorite part of her apartment was the closet where she kept her toys, which included cars. After her memorial in 1983, our family went to her place to split up her belongings. I made a beeline to her toy box and claimed the toy cars. As I got older, I collected models and other representations of Philippine jeepneys. My dad and I liked to assemble models of cars, planes and other vehicles. I also loved playing with Transformers, which were usually toy cars, trucks or planes that converted into robots.

Jeepney in Cebu, Philippines
Photo by Øyvind Holmstad
CC BY-SA 4.0 license

The Philippines had several different kinds of transportation.

• Jeepneys were adapted from World War 2 jeeps. The picture above is an example of one. They were elongated, and behind the driver's seat, there are two benches going from front to back on either side. It's a common form of public transportation, and people often crowded them. Riders would bang on the ceiling when they wanted to get off. Generally, jeepneys are privately owned, and the owners take pride in decorating them in bright, artistic colors. They often list the destinations where they go on the sides.
• Our mission agency had a Toyota Tamaraw. A tamaraw (the animal) is similar to a water buffalo (carabao), but smaller and wilder, and the horns are a bit different. They live on the island of Mindoro, Philippines. The automotive version was very similar to a jeepney in setup, but with aspects of a van. They had plastic on the windows that rolled up, so on nice days they could be rolled up and open to the air, and rolled down and secured on rainy days. (I think newer models have changed since we lived there, but that's how they were at the time.)
• Tricycles were common in neighborhoods. They involved a motorcycle with a sidecar. Sometimes the sidecar was decorated, and it sometimes had a roof. People often decorate their tricycles similarly to the way they decorate their jeepneys. The sidecar generally has a capacity of one or two people, but that didn't stop people from crowding more onto them on occasion. In Thailand, they had a similar vehicle called a tuk-tuk, which is kind of like a cross between a motorcycle, rickshaw and golf cart. Both tricycles and tuk-tuks have three wheels, counting the motorcycle.
• Since the Philippines is an archipelago, they traveled between islands using planes and boats.
• Bangkas are rowboats with wide pontoons going out on either side. They are common for taking people out on the water, going between smaller islands, snorkeling and fishing. 
• Glass-bottom boats are particularly common around the coral reefs. There are benches around the perimeter, and the middle has a glass bottom, so riders can look down and see the awesome beauty of the colorful reefs, coral and fish, among other sea life. They often had a place in the back where you could jump off to go snorkeling.
• Calesas were common in the older districts in Manila. They are the Philippine version of horse-drawn carriages, with massive wheels on either side, and decorated similarly to jeepneys and tricycles. (Since the Philippines doesn't get snow, the annual Nutcracker ballet used calesas instead of sleighs. There were a lot of other things they did with the set, props and costumes to make it more relatable to Filipinos, while leaving the music and ballet itself intact.)
• They also had transportation more normal to the average American, such as cars and buses, as well as airplanes and helicopters.

Airplanes have changed a lot over the years. The changes that immediately come to mind are that they no longer have phones on the backs of the seats in first class, and the meals they serve (if they serve any at all) have gotten a lot smaller. I've noticed in recent years, they sometimes charge for meals separately from the price of taking the plane. If I remember right, meals used to be included in airfare. Also, planes often have in-flight wifi now. They sometimes had a screen in the front of the cabin to watch movies, and you would plug headphones into the armrests in the seats to listen. Then they started having screens in the seat backs and the ceilings. Now many planes no longer have screens, but have options for watching on your phone or device after logging into their network on wifi. Devices generally need to be turned off or put in airplane mode during ascent and descent, though.

I took the train in Thailand, as well as in different parts of the US. I also took the train from London to Paris (part of the journey under the English Channel) and back. Trains have changed during my lifetime, but as my train experience has been much more limited than other forms of transportation, I haven't had as much chance to observe those changes. 

While Seattle doesn't have a subway, I have taken the subways in Paris, London ("Mind the gap!") and New York. I've also taken the El (elevated train) in Chicago. Seattle does have a monorail, and the extensive light rail system is under construction. The completed parts of it are in use.

Cars have done away with the ashtrays that used to be standard. They have also gotten a lot smaller, on the whole. 8-track players in cars gave way to cassette players, which were replaced by CD players. Now many cars don't even have those any more, but there is usually an option for playing streaming radio, such as SiriusXM. Now you can roll the window down in the car by pressing a button, and the driver usually has the option of locking the windows. When I was younger, there was a crank on each door to roll the window down. That crank liked to get stuck sometimes, and good luck rolling the window up when it's rainy if the crank is stuck! It sometimes took a lot of muscle to roll the window up and down. When I was little, I thought cars with seatbelts in the back were cool. Most only had them in the front, if they were even there. In cars with seatbelts in the back, we often had to go digging under the seat for them because they had a tendency of retreating into the inner recesses of the car. Now they are standard in all cars, and required wearing by law. When I was younger, I loved riding in the back of pickups, and it was especially fun riding in the trunk of my grandparents' station wagon. Now that isn't legal any more, so it's been years since we've done that.

I got a car for my 18th birthday. I remember telling my French teacher about it. It was a yellow Dodge Viper. She was impressed until I pulled it out of my pocket and showed it to her. It was a matchbox.

When I was 15, a lot of my friends started taking driver's ed. In Washington State, you can get your learner's permit at 15½. I was a bit wary at first because I had slow reflexes when I was younger, and was worried that would cause issues. Also, when playing Pac-Man, I kept missing corners and could just see myself driving a car and overshooting an intersection. (Thankfully, I have since learned that isn't how cars work!) So I waited a few years before getting my driver's license. Even after getting my license, it was several years before I got my own car. I drove the family car when I needed to, and occasionally borrowed one. Seattle has a great transit system, so I generally commuted to work on the bus.

As long as I can remember, I have always named our (real) car. My first car was Astrid. My dad helped me to find a place that sold used cars, and Astrid had been a rental before being retired from that status. She was beautiful. Being single and not having kids, she was like my child. It was heartbreaking losing her in an accident in 2019 (see the poem I wrote in the link in this paragraph). I waited a couple months to get a new car, due to injuries from the accident, but once I was cleared to drive again by the doctor, I went looking for a new car. A friend recommended CarGurus.com, and I found the perfect car at a nearby dealer. I was able to haggle the price down a bit, and he is an amazing car. I named him Luke. Though he has less trunk space than Astrid, I feel he was an upgrade on the whole.

At this point, I'm sure you're wondering how I drive with my cell phone. The simple answer is, I don't! I know, it may be a bit shocking that there are things I don't do with my phone (such as drinking coffee), but driving and texting or holding a phone is illegal in this area, and my phone does not magically transform into a car, or a robot for that matter. (Don't tell Optimus Prime or Bumblebee. I'm sure they'd be disappointed.) That said, I have been known to check bus schedules and New York subway schedules on my phone. The OneBusAway app is great for bus schedules. Google is also great. I have also used my phone to order plane and train tickets and request rides on taxis, as well as Uber and Lyft.

Where they left off...

I was in college on April 20, 1999, when 12 students not much younger than me, and a teacher, were murdered at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, near Denver. It rocked the nation. Next month is the 24th anniversary, and sadly, not a lot has changed over the years since then. We need to put an end to this! We must never forget the 13 innocent victims, who are listed at the bottom of this post. 

I wrote this poem in late April 1999.

Credit: CBS

Thirteen lives
Snuffed out
Twelve students and a teacher.
How could this be?
Why did this happen?
Thirteen lives
Cut short

Several followers of Christ,

No longer in pain,
Are now with Christ.
They are with the One who gave His life
To save theirs.
Some of them martyrs
So young

Funerals.
"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."
How could God's plan for their lives happen
When they are dead?
A nationally-televised funeral.
A challenge for teens to pick up
Where these students left off
Millions of teens
Around the world
Take their places.
Millions of followers of Christ
Take their places.
How many millions
Will come to Christ
Because of this unspeakable tragedy?

Families
Left behind
Grieving their loss
Rejoicing Heaven's gain

Now see God work
Through the tragedy

In spite of the tragedy
To bring countless millions into the fold
How many millions
Will be saved from the abyss?
How many millions
Will take their place
To spread God's word?

Only God
Can bring joy from a tragedy
Only God
Can heal a fallen nation
May God have all the praise and all the glory!

I took these pictures of columbine
flowers in Utah, summer 2022

We remember the innocent victims:

Cassie Bernall
Steven Curnow
Corey DePooter
Kelly Fleming
Matthew Kechter
Daniel Mauser
Daniel Rohrbough
Dave Sanders
Rachel Scott
Isaiah Shoels
John Tomlin
Lauren Townsend
Kyle Velasquez

Days of Yore: Warming Up and Waking Up

When I was little, there was nothing like sitting in front of the fireplace with a nice cup of hot chocolate topped with melting marshmallows and savoring the warmth on a cold day. That's still an accurate statement today, but it doesn't happen like that nearly as often these days. 

Photo: konradbak on Adobe Stock

Having lived in Hong Kong in the '70s, we also loved some great Chinese tea, particularly of the jasmine variety, but really, any kind. Mint tea was also great. It was also nice that teabags could be reused. That said, one of the most perplexing things we encountered was people back in the US having this creative idea that nobody (with a surprising number of exceptions) had ever thought of before. Care packages from the US were always a special treat. But a bunch of people decided it would be thoughtful to brew a nice cup of tea while they were packing the box, save the teabag, dry it, and include it in the package so the missionaries could enjoy the same tea when they got it in the mail. It gave them a sense of connection. The thing is, it doesn't work that way. Dried teabags don't reconstitute right. It isn't as meaningful to the missionaries as it sounds in theory. It's a nice thought, but odd, and honestly a bit gross. There are more practical ways of creatively encouraging missionaries, and everything else in the care packages was usually awesome. I particularly liked the flavored instant oatmeal packets.

Another nice way of warming up was chili (I love topping it with cheese), or any kind of hot soup.

Chai and hot apple cider were other options, and they had a very similar effect to hot chocolate.

When I was young, I was always told I was too young for coffee. It would be too easy to OD on the caffeine. But all that changed January 1, 2000. In the months leading up to that date, there was general panic about the Y2K bug. People were afraid computers would short-circuit because they wouldn't be able to handle the years starting with a 2 rather than a 1. My grandpa made sure we knew his typewriter didn't have that problem. He also made sure we knew some of the more reactionary were advising running for the hills because computers were scary with the impending Y2K. We had to make sure everything was Y2K compliant. As it turned out, it was a lot of fuss over nothing. The apocalypse didn't happen. But one thing was not Y2K compliant: me being too young for coffee. I was a senior in college by this point. January 1, 2000, we were having our family New Years celebration, and my mom asked if people would like coffee. I told her i would love some. She thought I was joking until I asked again. I only had a half cup to avoid OD'ing, but that was my first cup of coffee.

When I returned to the dorm after Christmas break, I decided to get some coffee at the nearby 7-Eleven. We got a discount when we brought our own mugs, and I'm very thankful I only paid a few cents for it, in this case. I was used to hot chocolate, where the powder dissolves in water. Nothing could prepare me for the shock of the coffee grounds NOT dissolving when I put them in the cup and poured hot water over them...and stirred and stirred and stirred...one might say it was a stirring experience. I decided maybe I had added too much powder, so I poured some out and added more water. Still no luck. It was not pleasant. Needless to say, I finally gave up and made a point of learning how to make it properly! 

Once I joined the workforce, I got to know the wonders of coffee shops. My favorite was Seattle's Best Coffee, but I also enjoyed Tully's and Starbucks (in that order). Caffe Ladro is good, but I'm not as big a fan of their black coffee. (I love living in Seattle, the coffee capital of the country!) I had a flavored latté every morning on the way to work until years later I started counting calories and realized how caloric they are (not to mention all those lattés add up quickly in terms of price). I then tried putting flavored creamer in my coffee...but eventually discovered a tablespoon of creamer has several times the calories of the entire cup of coffee! Since then, I generally drink it black. I try to get one or two pumpkin spice lattés as a special treat during the season when Starbucks has it.

Baristo at the Tully's where I went every morning before work.
This was the same Tully's, but not the same barista,
where I got the inspiration for my poem "Words @ Random."
(Yes, I spelled "baristo" right...the Italian way. I'm odd like that.)

Some time ago, my brother introduced me to the wonders of Senseo. It was a machine with special pods that you inserted in the machine, and put water in it, which heated up and then ran through the pod into the cup. It was great, until they stopped making it and the machine gave out. Those Senseo pods were a bit useless without the machine made for them. That would later be replaced with Keurig, which I use regularly now. They have a different kind of pod, though, so I don't believe Senseo pods work in them. (Though I don't recall if I've tried...) Since I've been working from home due to COVID, I keep a Keurig in the office, and it comes in handy. Long gone are the days when I would only have a half cup of coffee in a day. Toward the end of his life, my dad could no longer have caffeine, but he still liked to drink decaf coffee. I find decaf somewhat pointless, but it's nice for people who can't have caffeine. For me, part of the point of coffee is staying awake. Since I still like flavors, but lattés and creamer have lots of calories, I often have flavored coffee. I also have plain (unflavored) coffee on hand, and for when I'm extra tired, I have some with extra caffeine...but I try to use that more sparingly. I also have hot apple cider, cocoa and chai Keurig pods, but don't use those as often. Nespresso is another kind of machine that does coffee pods, but I've never used that.

I also like to warm up in the mornings with some good oatmeal or grits. Good stuff! I generally go for flavored oatmeal, and I usually put cheese on my grits. You have to be careful warming those up in the microwave, though, as they can overflow and make a mess if you don't watch it like a hawk.

I know what you're probably thinking right about now. "This is the part of the post where you tell us that now you drink all your coffee from your cell phone." Well...

Image by Freepik

Surprise plot twist! I do NOT drink my coffee from my cell phone! That's just silly! Who does that? I still drink it out of an old-fashioned mug. Well, assuming a mug that looks like the TARDIS, or one with a Captain America shield on it, or a sea turtle mug made by my super talented cousin Rika Blue, are what you would call old fashioned. (Seriously, go check out her pottery, and order some if you like! It is amazing!) That said, I do have the Starbucks app on my phone for the rare occasion when I go to Starbucks. I also occasionally order Keurig pods on Instacart on my phone.

The Scent of Pine

Growing up in the Philippines, there was magic all around us. The tropical beaches, palm trees and coral reefs were breathtaking. The rice paddies, plantations, mountains and more were amazing. The tropical fruits were mouth watering. When people arrived in the country, it was common for the people meeting them to put sampaguita (jasmine) leis on the new arrivals. It's their national flower. Sampaguita and plumeria (pictures at the bottom of this post) are two of my favorite flowers, thanks to their amazing scents. But one thing we did not see much was pine. There are some evergreens in the north of the country, but further north than we usually went. It was a smell we missed when we were there, and the only time we got to smell it was when Christmas rolled around (starting in September) and the local hotels put up their imported trees. Partly due to the heat, partly due to the length of the Christmas season (September 1-January 6), and partly due to the scarcity of evergreens in the Philippines, most people used fake trees. We kept our tree in a barrel and assembled it every year. So it was a special treat to visit the local hotels to smell the trees. A bit of an odd tradition, but it was amazing.

Photo by Hotel Continentale on Unsplash

The hotel lobby was resplendent in Christmas glory
Garland draped luxuriously on the walls
Wreaths announced the joy of the season
And in the middle, the crown jewel stood in all its splendor:
A tree of real pine, imported just for Christmas.

The scent of pine filled the air
Recalling memories of snowy slopes
Of sledding down the hills
And making angels in the snow
Memories of walking through a pine forest
The sweet smell wafting through the fresh air
Memories of long ago and far away
In far-off America

A scent in the hotel which we enjoyed but once a year
Stepping out of the heat of the outdoors
Into the cool of the air-conditioned hotel
Standing at the foot of a real pine tree
Savoring its sweet fragrance

Christmas season would soon be past
And the year through we would enjoy the savory fragrance
Of the enchanting sampaguita and the fair plumeria
And we would look forward to September
When the Christmas season would begin
And we could once more enjoy
The scent of pine.

Sampaguita (jasmine)
Photo by Eslah Saad on Unsplash

Plumeria
Photo by Gina Ball on Unsplash

Days of Yore: Listening to Music

I know what you're probably thinking. "Wait a minute... Didn't you already cover listening to music here?" Well, yes and no. In my "Audio Recordings" post, I covered ways of listening to music and other audio recordings in the home and in your car. That included records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and MP3 players such as iPod and Zune. I also mentioned the radio. But those are not the only ways out there of listening to music over the years.

Jukebox
LMPark Photos on Adobe Stock

Many Broadway fans are familiar with the concept of jukebox musicals. These are musicals using songs that were not written for the musical. Someone decided to use existing songs and build a story around them. There are several kinds of jukebox musicals. Some, such as Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys and others, feature the music of a specific artist or group (ABBA and Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, respectively, in these two examples). The playwrights of Mamma Mia! came up with a fictional story based on the songs of ABBA. Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons and incorporates their songs. Many jukebox musicals follow one of these two patterns. Others, such as Moulin Rouge, gather songs from a wide variety of artists. The original musical, The Black Crook, even gathered a lot of its material from existing songs from multiple sources, and also new ones.

But I wonder how many people in the younger generations, who may have varying opinions on the existence of jukebox musicals, know what a jukebox is? The picture above is a jukebox. They were common in the previous century in restaurants, dance halls, and anywhere that you wanted to have a good time. Each jukebox had a set of songs which you could see through the glass at the top and scroll through. You could select the song, put your coin(s) in the slot, and start it up. Voilà! Your song played for everyone around to enjoy! Some restaurants had smaller jukeboxes on each table. Though they aren't nearly as common now, I have seen them on occasion in '50s-style diners.

Over the years, there have been a variety of ways of playing music for a crowd. There's live music played by artists on a stage. There is recorded music curated by DJs (disc jockeys), who have used various kinds of equipment, often using vinyl records or more electronic types. Milli Vanilli got in trouble for pretending to do live music while in fact playing songs that were previously recorded by someone else. Karaoke has used records, CDs and other forms to play the accompaniment track (just the music without the singing) for someone who may or may not have a talent for singing to stand on stage and sing their hearts out, following along with the words on the screen. We also used accompaniment tracks for other purposes, such as special numbers in church. I performed songs in church and choir class in high school using both cassettes and CDs. In the Philippines, they called them Minus Ones. In my interview for a design internship a few years ago, I used the accompaniment track to parody "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll & Hyde and showcase my design skill set. I downloaded the track from Amazon and saved it on a thumb drive so I could play it on the classroom computer. (Disclaimer: I did not warm up ahead of time, and I could have used more rehearsal, but hey, I got the internship! If I ever perform this again for Broadway, I promise to rehearse more and warm up ahead of time.)

I did the same in a class presentation around that time period to parody "Bui Doi" from Miss Saigon, regarding my dream of becoming a graphic designer. (Note: While Jekyll & Hyde and Miss Saigon are musicals, they are not the jukebox variety.) In that same class, I did another presentation using the same way of playing, but in a silent movie format to showcase how I had overhauled my website. I was The Great Steverino, a celebrated magician of yesteryear who could magically transform websites. No sound came out of my mouth, but I mouthed the words, and they appeared on the screen. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor played on the organ in the background. (Sadly, that was not videoed.)

In a previous blog, I mentioned various ways we have played music over the years. Record players, 8-track players, tape recorders, CD players, Walkman, Discman. Over the years, various websites have offered options for playing music. Napster, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, iTunes and others. SiriusXM offers streaming radio that you can listen to in your car or just about anywhere.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I listen to most of my music on my cell phone and the computer these days. I mentioned as much in my post about Audio Recordings.

It was a funeral—or was it?

I wrote this on March 9, 1995 as part of an assignment in high school. It's based on a miracle recorded in 2 Kings 13:20-21:

Elisha died and was buried. 

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

The dead man, who was thrown in Elisha's tomb,
comes back to life (2 Kings 13:21)
Oil on panel, Jan Nagel, 1596
Frans Hals Museum

It was a funeral
The deceased was lying peacefully
The wails were heard from everywhere
It was a funeral
"My baby, my baby!" cried the mother
The father just wept
It was a funeral
The siblings embraced
The children sobbed
It was a funeral
The tomb was open
The grave prepared
It was a funeral

Then onto the scene came the raiders
The cruel Moabite raiders
Would there be more funerals?
The relatives ran
The body was thrown
Into the tomb of Elisha
Was it a funeral?
The corpse rolled into the bones
The blessed bones of Elisha
The man came to life
He stood on his feet
He jumped for joy
No more a funeral!
He ran out of the tomb
He found his family
Was it a ghost?
No, it was their son!
He was alive!
No need for a funeral!
Praise the Lord!
Elisha's bones had been blessed!
God had brought this young man back to life!
Great was their joy
It was not a funeral
It was a celebration!
It was a feast!
Great is the Lord our God!
Praise His mighty Name!

Days of Yore: Telephones

Once upon a time, telephones only had one function, and they could not be taken everywhere. I realize this may be surprising to some people today. Years ago, people called others by picking up the receiver on the candlestick phone (so called because the phone was shaped rather like a candlestick). There was often no way to dial a person's number on the actual phone, so when the caller picked up the receiver and put it to their ear, the voice of the operator on the other side asked who they would like to call. The caller then spoke into the mouthpiece attached to the main body of the phone and asked them to connect them to the person they were calling. The operator would then connect them.

Businessman using a candlestick phone
1913

Telephone Operator at her switchboard
everettovrk on Adobe Stock

That was before my time, but there were some remnants. By the time I came around, people generally used the rotary phone. The numbers were arranged in a circle, with a hole over each number. You would put your finger in the hole for the first digit, dial it around, wait for the dial to go back into place, then repeat the process until you had dialed the whole number. (They still call it dialing, even though it isn't generally literal dialing any more.)

Rotary Phone
(This one is fancier than the
ones we generally used)
Photo by Himanshu Ranpara on Unsplash

I remember when we got touchtone phones. I thought they were cool! We didn't have to turn the dial and then wait for it to scroll back. We could just push buttons for the numbers. Dialing was faster!

Though I am told there weren't as many issues with party line in the '80s in the US, we had it in the Philippines, and I know it was a thing in previous decades in the US. With fewer phones in the world and only so many slots in the operator's switchboard, several houses were on the same connection. The individual phone number only went to one house, but sometimes we would pick up the phone and hear a conversation in progress at other houses. We had to hang up as quietly as possible so as not to disrupt the conversation, and wait for them to be done before making our call. Sometimes it took several times checking before they were done. (In an emergency, you could ask them to call each other back later, but that was generally considered rude, so I don't recall ever doing that.) It was a bit annoying at times. We also sometimes had to be careful what we said over the phone, in case someone at a different house happened to be listening in.

By the '90s, we still had a phone operator, but their role had changed considerably. By this time, they didn't just answer when you picked up the phone. If you wanted the operator, you had to dial "0". I generally called the operator when I wanted to find someone's phone number, particularly if they weren't in our city, and maybe weren't in our phone book.

Speaking of phone books, the phone company would deliver heavy brick-like phone books to our house annually. Most of the book had thin white pages with a long list of names and phone numbers, arranged alphabetically. It worked pretty well, unless several people had the same name. Good luck if you needed to call John Smith! The end of the book, the pages were yellow, and were thus called the yellow pages (I know, super imaginative name). They had phone numbers for businesses, and also included more information on the businesses, such as addresses and sometimes logos. Radio and TV commercials for USWest Dex phone books advertised that they were "The one that gets used." A choir in the ads sang, "Used! Used! This one gets used! This is the one that we use!" (or something like that) to the tune of the Anvil Chorus from Verdi's Il Trovatore.

As phones continued to advance, they introduced the wireless phone. This was very cool, as we didn't have to stay in one place due to the phone cord. I was jealous of people who had one. (One time I was talking to my friend Dan on the phone on April Fools Day and told him that we had one, following it up with "April Fools!" It was among my more lame April Fools jokes.)

When I was in high school in the mid-'90s, one of my friends in our choir had a new kind of phone that he carried with him. It was called a cellular telephone. The fact that he had one told me that he must be rich.

As cell phones became more popular, we started talking about cell phones and landlines to differentiate between cell phones and the old-school ones connected to the wall.

There were several phone companies. American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) went way back to 1885, way before my time. (In fact, some of my ancestors hadn't even immigrated to the US yet at that time.) There was USWest, which later became Qwest, which later merged with CenturyLink, which is now part of Lumen Technologies. When I got my first cell phone in 2000, I went to the VoiceStream kiosk in the middle of Northgate Mall (see my previous Days of Yore post about shopping). VoiceStream would later be purchased by T-Mobile. Bell Atlantic (named for Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone) and GTE merged into Verizon in 2000. T-Mobile acquired Sprint a few years ago. There were others.

Cell phones started out pretty large, about the size of your average brick. Nokia phones were known for being indestructible. Eventually, the Android came out. Previous to that, my only association with Androids was in Star Trek. (They were also called Droids, which I associated with Star Wars.) Somewhere around that time, Apple introduced the iPhone. Having never been a big Apple fan, I opted for Android, but people I know with iPhones love them. As smartphones started to eclipse "dumb phones", they got smaller. Then they started getting larger, as apps on the phones gave the option of watching shows, taking pictures, playing games, and more. Many "dumb phones" could take pictures. I remember taking pictures on my old flip phones. Some "dumb phones" also had the option of playing games. Smartphones, however, opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Read all of my Days of Yore posts so far and you'll see many of the ways I use mine. My grandpa was amazed at all the ways I used my telephone, when he just used his to call people.

Image by Sakurambo, Public Domain

Cell phones also gave the option of texting. They had the same arrangement of buttons as the touchtone phones, and the letters on them allowed for writing texts to people. At first texting was rather labor intensive. To type an A, you just needed to press 2. To type a C, you had to press 2 three times. To type an S, you had to press 7 four times. One of my last "dumb phones" had a nifty keyboard that you could pull out. That made texting easier. With the advent of smartphones, they had keyboards built in. That made texting considerably easier, though smartphones still prove to be not so smart when they decide their predictive text and autocorrect make much more sense than what you explicitly typed. 

Shockingly, I don't use the old style of phone any more. I use my cell phone! I sometimes even use it to call people. I have a candlestick phone that works (it is a bit more modern than the traditional ones, in that it has touchtone buttons arranged like a rotary phone), but it's mainly a decoration now. I bought it as a prop for a play. For a long time we used it in case our power went out and our other phones that depend on electricity didn't work. We don't even have a landline any more.

I Will Praise the Lord

In January I blogged about my childhood diagnosis of pigmentary degeneration of the retina, also known as retinitis pigmentosa, which doesn't have a cure. As I explained in that post, it was miraculously healed after people around the world prayed.

A few years ago, our pastor challenged us to write a poem or prose giving thanks to God for something. I didn't record the date, so I don't recall when exactly I wrote it, but this poem is the result. If it weren't for God's miracle, I would be blind today!

I will say, I recommend getting your eyes checked regularly, and taking precautions such as blue light filters. I didn't know before getting them checked that there was an issue, and I thought my peripheral vision, or lack thereof, was normal. I feel this world would be safer if everyone who needs glasses actually got them.

I like to call this my super extreme close-up.
It is the interior of my eyes, side by side,
with no sign of retinitis pigmentosa.
It's called an Optomap.

I will praise the Lord
For He has healed my eyes
My vision was leaving me
And His children prayed

I will praise the Lord
For my brothers and sisters who prayed
Their cries reached Heaven
And God heard and healed

I will praise the Lord
For giving me my sight
Right now I should be blind
But that was not God's will

I will praise the Lord
To Him I give all the glory,
All the praise and all the honor
I cannot thank Him enough for my vision!