We needed tough lessons as children. An occasional playground fight was expected as the norm, and if we complained to our mother that we were being teased, we were treated to this glorious aphorism: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” My mom used to say that all the time, one of the seemingly endless adages she had at her disposal to deal with any of life’s problems. To this day I think long and hard about the practical application that dogma had on my life.
The idea that you could actually choose whether or not to be hurt by words: that was huge for me. Even though it has been repeated ad nauseam for generations, “sticks and stones” really is a powerful bit of philosophy to a kid. That’s one of the great things about being a parent: you can spout nothing but clichés, and yet, to your child, you come off as one of the great thinkers in Western culture.
–from MEAN DADS FOR A BETTER AMERICA, by Tom Shillue
Please use the term media cave, - I hate the phrase man cave - it’s reductive and derogatory. As Sebastian Maniscalco said “my father had a man cave it was the house”
Thank you for reminding me. I wanted to talk about our post-show hangout in Memphis and here it is:
“Remember When”
Remember when I was young, and so were you
And time stood still, and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love, and then you cried
Remember when
Remember when we vowed the vows, and walk the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, and it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when
Remember when old ones died, and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other's hearts
Remember when
Remember when the sound of little feet
Was the music we danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we'd never give it up
Remember when
Remember when 30 seemed so old
Now, lookin' back, it's just a steppin' stone
To where we are, where we've been
Said we'd do it all again
Remember when
Remember when we said when we turned gray
When the children grow up and move away
We won't be sad, we'll be glad
For all the life we've had
And we'll remember when
Remember when
Remember ...
