Do you remember life before the internet?

JetPack Prompt – 5/30/23 

So let’s time travel back to Pre- Internet times. For prior to what’s commonly know today as the electronic digital era, I obtained two college degrees without much use of any computers, celebrated love and peace without benefit of glitzy gadgetry, taught middle and high school via paper and pencil and actually read maps to where I needed in travel.The library back then filled my imagination with a vast sea of book shelves inviting me to get lost in my chosen subject of knowledge on a given day. In fact, my most prized possessions seemed to be my World Book Encyclopedia and Yearly Almanac as I actually looked up facts on my own. The daily newspaper always appeared at my front door as well.

As far as human interaction without the Internet, personal letter writing also flourished as I concentrated on forming my cursive letters carefully for those I confided in with my ideas. I did not fear getting hacked by strangers either as I had full control then over who might read what I wrote. Along the street, no personal device was around, so I might pop into a phone booth or drive by someone’s house I knew to contact them as desired.

So you might reason life for me seemed old fashioned without the so named World Wide Web. But I seemed better prepared than many of my peers for the oncoming digital information onslaught with my curious quest to learn on my own and network successfully with others in making key life decisions. How sad it seems then in this present era that so many people are held prisoner by their mobile phones.

Do you have any collections?

Jet Pack Prompt – 5/25/23

One of the most interesting aspects of being a serious fan of Major League Baseball seems to be the opportunity to collect various giveaways over the course of each season. So I’ve collected drink cups, hats, travel bags, and various team banners over the years and always try to find some visible spot to display them in our condo. In fact, our living space in many places seems to have evolved because of this reason into a sports museum layout.

Perhaps the most recognizable collection I value in recent times would be the multitude of Bobblehead dolls that line the walls of our dining room. For I find great comfort in just staring at each of these gyrating figures who represent authentic heroes of mine that I’ve watched over the last decade primarily during road trip travel. So I invite you take a good look below at several of my favorite Bobblehead figures. For a bit of amusement, now imagine a hero who you most admire in your life that you would like to insert as a bobblehead figure as in my blog title photo above. 

How do you feel about cold weather?

Jet Pack Prompt- 5/24/23

As a longtime resident of subtropical South Florida, I am rarely exposed outside to those dreary skies and freeze like conditions that cold weather around the country so often brings.As a point of fact about this weather phenomenon, the last time measurable snow fell in the Greater Miami area was 1977. So I can certainly frame this topic in a much more tolerable perspective than many. I  might further reason that because of my seasonally deprived  mindset, I might find an incentive to feel joy with the thought of cold weather conditions resurfacing anywhere. For I can always think back to those fond  childhood memories in Northeast Ohio of playfully frolicking outside in the snow. 

But on the “flip side”, consider that cold weather also brings a mass of “snowbird” tourists to the “Sunshine State” hoping to escape the annual frigid wrath of winter up north, So during this so called “The Season”, daily life can be more difficult for me due to significantly more congested conditions happening throughout South Florida. I might further note that our less stringent housing codes often fail to insulate buildings effectively from cold weather conditions.

So might I attempt to move back to Cleveland and endure once again such continuing frigid cold? Probably not at this stage in my life as my body would unlikely tolerate it well. Nor would my hot weather mindset be likely patient enough now to slow down and stay warmly inside most of the time during the long season of Ohio winter. So I find it best to concentrate enjoying my current lifestyle of leading my life  moment by moment in torrid Fort Lauderdale, and just forget about the cold.

Are you a leader or a follower?

JetPack Prompt – 5/19/23

I remember those fun occasions as a child when my teacher played “Simon Says” with the class. This game apparently taught me to follow any instructions that I heard only with only these two words so I would not be told “you’re out.” But I can say from this long ago memory that being taught such passive obedience at that time did not feel right nor does it feel an appropriate act today. 

So as a basic rule throughout my life, I reject going on with such passive behavior to just play by others rules. Instead, life’s daily struggles since then have often required me to “put myself out there” and lead primarily by example when the situation calls.  Consider for instance that during my thirty plus years of teaching, such leadership expectations drove me to either serve as the expert spokesperson who others relied on for information in a key learning situation or as a fair-minded mediator who just enjoyed bringing opposing sides to a more united cause..

With great relief in my retirement though, I’m no longer expected to play the role of an outwardly confident leader in order to fulfill  the duties of a job. So I’ve alternatively become fascinated by the more subtle leadership ideals of yoga which connect my physical presence in the present moment with an energy flow that others can contagiously follow. For I now hope to prioritize spreading more kindness and gratitude to others without necessarily making my leadership intentions blatantly known.

Notably, however, this inward shift in my current leadership paradigm often seems fruitless to follow. For I seem to be living today amid a reality show plot where confrontation with so many others seems to the “modus operandi” of each day. There’s just often simply too many narcissist adversaries out there with their egos out of control. Thus, this quieter leadership message of mine goes on mostly these days to serve my smaller circle of trustful family and friends.

 

Share a story about someone who had a positive impact on your life.

Jet Pack Prompt 5/15/23

As the old saying goes, “the cream always rises to the top” always inspired me to listen well to the timely advice of so many of my former life mentors. But when I think back to someone who best exemplifies an ideal role model for making me believe in this ideal, allow me to tell you a brief story about Mr. Tulu, an accomplished Italian trombonist and former private lesson teacher who challenged me to play this slide instrument in high school better than anyone else.

So on this particular occasion, mother sat proudly in an adjoining room as I set up my sheet music in Mr.Tulu’s living room and warmed up my horn for my weekly lesson that day. Working with him then on some difficult pieces I’d prepared for that week, I felt totally confident that I played the pieces right. But Mr. Tulu soon ranted otherwise and then gestured violently as I feared he might tear up my sheet music or perhaps hit me with his baton.

So as his dissatisfaction with my playing quickly sunk in, he demanded we play each piece together over and over with the idea of raising my performance expectations at the same time. So as I played the pieces with such vehemently put instructions multiple times, sheer exhaustion and some anger set in from this effort. But by such arousal of my emotions, I finally began to get it. I must express the music more passionately when I am playing to resonate a much fuller sound. Unfortunately I would also notice that  my impulsive trombone teacher failed to channel his emotions appropriately at the end of this lesson as he tried to woo my mother into some nonmusical bliss with glasses of Chianti and sweet amorous talk of them being together as more than friends.

Yet in spite of Mr. Tulu’s fiery style of teaching and his seductive “come-ons” to my mother, his presence in my life had proved immensely beneficial to me in future concert band competitions. For as a result of his approach to raise my playing expectations to make my instrument “sing” with intensity of emotion, I caught the interest of band contest judges whenever I was chosen to perform. Thus, during those those high school junior and senior years of my former musical stardom, I eventually earned #3 ranking as an All Star trombonist throughout the state of Florida.

 

What was the last live performance you saw?
Jet Pack Prompt 5/11/23

I’ve been a huge fan of the rock band Chicago ever since my college days over fifty years ago. After all, I play the trombone and have long admired their infusion of sheer horn talent as a featured element of so many of their songs. You might even say that tunes like “Beginnings”, “Feeling Stronger Everyday” and “Dialogue” from their large musical repertoire strongly affect me emotionally to this very day.

So that raises the issue of tribute bands who attempt to emulate the trademark Chicago Band sound today. Some depict them as a flashy Vegas act involving short version “singalongs” of their early hit glory, while others hone in on their later love song era when the horn section seemed to be disappointedly gone. I’m imagining then that Terry Kath, their original lead guitarist who tragically died during the band’s heyday is laughing in heaven unmercifully about these cheap Chicago imitations.

So that brings up the matter of our last live concert attended featuring the Tribute band called “Leonid and Friends.” With little doubt in my mind, this enthusiastic group of primarily Russian musicians put on a masterful musical show of Chicago tunes in my my opinion much better than those pseudo Chicago band acts mentioned before. . For these were no “old guys”  living again the dream of Chicago’s long ago past but accomplished younger performers who infused the Chicago brand of fresh performance energy creatively now.

Thus I considered during this wonderful Leonid “gig” the musical director’s youthful son Roman who would race on stage to enthusiastically introduce the band before they arrived on stage. Or I would notice the stunning presence of their female singer, Ksenia, who wowed the audience with her captivating voice and persona.  But of greatest interest to me this night seemed to be how Leonid and Friends simply outplayed the original Chicago band as the wildly enthusiastic crowd responded to their exceptional musical talents. We’ll be most certainly looking for them again on tour during our upcoming road trip travels. Have a listen of them if you like. Click on the link below.

 

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

JetPack Prompt 5/9/23

When thinking about a dream job of this lifetime, my longstanding fascination for realistic science fiction plots immediately arise. I thus consider the iconic 2001 Space Odyssey saga where artificial intelligence possibilities introduced the computerized “Hal” as an integral part of an outer space mission. Or perhaps more prominently I think of the cool logic of Spock in Star Trek overcoming human error that could jeopardize the lives of the Enterprise crew in so many  TV episodes.

So I might need to create a new job description for this question but here it goes. My dream job for one day would thus be labeled as an assigned “Earth From Space Advisor” on a one day space mission circling the earth. I might best assist the astronaut team in this capacity by noticing how space photographs of key geographical features along the different continents of our planet proactively influence the minds of each member of the crew to   to focus intensely on solving our world problems during minute to minute progress of this mission.

From a psychological perspective then, I might for instance encourage this space team to work in tandem to study photo evidence of global warming’s impact on sea level change along the Poles or I could also provide up to date visuals of extreme weather pattern change in war stricken areas Iike Ukraine, Haiti and Sudan. Such provided insight might render my job contribution quite useful at these times. 

List the people you admire and look to for advice…

JetPack Prompt 5/7/23

When it comes to a list of people I currently admire and trust in their advice, those daily acts of giving that I receive from each of them must be correspondingly balanced with a degree of positive reciprocity from my side that I must wisely return. In the following unranked list then, I can also say that the names described below resonate most strongly according to my present life circumstances.

1. My yoga teachers teach me time tested movements to improve my strength, flexibility, and balance followed by periods of silent meditation where I direct positive energy toward each of them from my inner soul.

2. My massage therapist follows up this yoga routine with some skillful adjustment for areas of physical tightness as we converse in mutually beneficial conversation about how to lead our lives productively in the present moment.

3. Shared common interest about sports, music, travel, and past career experiences motivate me to allot quality time talks with two  wisely minded  ex- teacher  friends throughout my week.

4. My elderly mother’s best friend gives up so much of her free time to be with her for some leisurely fun. As I often coordinate the timing of my own visits to mother with those of this female companion, I’m elated that I’ve worked successfully with her as a team to provide greater comfort for my mother in this time of dire medical need. 

5. The independent spirit of travel counts strongly at this moment as a major source of giving admiration for my loving wife.  For during this current crisis of family illness, I trust her uncanny ability to foresee the right adventures that we will most economically afford to  enjoy abroad when the opportunities to do so arise again. In turn, I will surround her in due time with destination based maps/apps, practical tourist research information as well as some travel friendly human contacts to consult as needed. 

 

Do you vote in political elections?

JetPack Prompt 5/6/23

When duty calls, I always choose to vote. As it’s one of my responsibilities as an American citizen to stay informed about issues that may critically affect me, the act of voting seems to be a practical way to perform this task.

Yet what difference does it make if I vote Democrat or Republican these days? For we are all Americans and I need to consider what’s best for the common good rather than bend to the will of the party. On the other hand, a wasted vote means nothing so it would not be advisable for me to vote as an Independent or other less recognized third party.

So if the day comes that my right to vote has been taken away from me, it’s definitely time to rethink my proud allegiance to this country. What would you do under those dire circumstances?

What gives you direction in life?

JetPack Prompt 5/5/23

You might notice every so often that some “heavy” event happens that makes you think of a new direction that your life must take. In my case, whether such self epiphany is caused by luck, fate, or coincidence, I respect what changes my intuition is telling me.

So it seems I have come to a crossroads in my retired lifestyle with some lingering medical crises in my family preventing me from upcoming travel. So this ever present “tug of war” between Yin and Yang in my mind caused by sick loved ones now tells me to stop obsessing about going somewhere in person to write and publish blogs. In lieu of such self imposed pressure, I feel greater need to prioritize now just finding more ease in the company of family, friends, and even new strangers I meet. Know that my restless traveling mind will will no doubt return to me, however, when the right time comes with Japan, Antarctica, Nepal, and Ireland journeys on my “bucket list” for sure.