Connie Franks
"We are not here to see through each other, We are here to see each other through....."
Journal Entries for Connie Franks
CHEERS
May 17th, 2012 11:39 pm MDT
“Where Everybody Knows Your Name”
Ever Listen to the ‘Cheers’ Theme Song Full Lyrics?
If you grew up in the ’80s watching American television, this show was a staple of NBC’s “Must-See TV” line-up on Thursday nights. This was a charming little sitcom with a quirky cast of characters. Of which, may I say Kirstie Alley has such enchanting eyes…
Anyway, The other evening while channel surfing my over the air television stations, I hear that distinct and well know piano intro, followed by:
“Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got”.
Taking a break from all your worries,
sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.
(Lyrics actually aired)
"Where Everybody Knows Your Name" is the theme song from the 1980s television sitcom Cheers. The song was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo and performed by Gary Portnoy. Shortly after the premiere of Cheers, Portnoy went back into the studio to record a full-length version of the song that made the US and British pop charts.
(Full Song Lyrics)
Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
All those night when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiancé didn't show;
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;
Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came...
Funny thing about music, it touches your emotions so deeply. In a nano second my mind scours up memories of days gone by. By the line “Wouldn't you like to get away?” comes along, I’m reaching for a tissue. Thank goodness no one is here to see this emotional reaction to this short little tune on the TV. Silly huh? Thinking back, little did I realize then how badly I would miss going my local neighbor bar “where everybody knows your name”.
Little did I know there was actually more to the song than we heard on television? Those were the days before the internet and Google searches for any and everything, a virtual information purgatory where nothing ever dies or goes away. A whole other subject best saved for quite another conversation.
Thank you so for taking the time, hope you enjoyed listening.
Socially Challenged?
May 13th, 2012 2:51 pm MDT
Is It Being Shy or just a Bad Rap?
I came across an interesting piece about introverts: this one the “10 myths about” model. So here are a few common misconceptions about Introverts (not taken directly from the book, but based on the book writers life experience):
Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.
Small Talk in small portions is quite tolerable, quite enjoyable even. Seems to me though “small talk” often turns to gossip in which I shy away from. I would be remiss to not admit going on & on once immersed in a subject I find interesting. Thank goodness I most certainly do not go on for days, lol. Finding a middle ground on this particular issue remains a challenge.
Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.
‘Fitting In’ is indeed exhausting. The thing about “Fitting In” is we’re told early on, not to care about what others think about you. Is it not human nature to do exactly the opposite? Years ago, I used alcohol (the great equalizer) for assistance in this matter. Funny how often you can quickly tell when someone’s not being real or honest. I find the eyes so telling. My friend Anne “with an E” calls me socially challenged, have not figured out if she's being sarcastic or not. However, I have argued that women are predominantly better with social skills. Only to be reminded in so many words; Welcome to the rodeo Connie! Ouch! And I my clothes, purse, shoes, nails, makeup and jewelry must stay in my color pallet and flawlessly applied, lol. Social etiquette along with “Political Correctness” which started in the 80’s frowns on calling a duck “A Duck”, go figure?
Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.
Of these five myths this is the hardest to broach. My “close friends” can most certainly be counted on one hand. There is a laundry list of aspects to close and true friendships. I wholly concur with the writer’s views; further discussion on this topic would be better served independently. It seems in the new cyber world, the term “Friend” has lost so much of it’s true meaning. Very much like the term “Free” this or that?
Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
Here is most certainly the proverbial double edged sword with this one. Everyone enjoys some alone time. I find living alone quite satisfying with some wonderful advantages. On the other hand yes, it can get incredibly lonely at times. Ironically I do so crave an authentic and sincere connection with that ONE PERSON, call me silly.
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.
What more can be said here? Valued for their novel ways of living? i.e. new, original, fresh, different, or unique. Really who can be truly happy as one in a herd of sheep, I ask? However, like everyone I too have habits.
I’d add that even though he points out that introverts aren’t shy, they aren’t shy because they’re introverts, but sometimes we are independent of the introvert thing.
I found many parallels in the writers’ life experience and my own which prompted me to share these top five myths. Maybe you can find some in yourself? Am I an Introvert? Most certainly to some degree more or less.
Getting my thoughts down in writing remains a challenge. Fast thinking teamed with slow fingers, bad combination. I however, suspect it’s more an issue with organizing those thoughts into something decipherable. Anyway, this is my humble opinion. I am a lot of things, being kind of shy is one of them. Is that such a Bad Thing?
XOXO…Connie
Diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.
April 8th, 2012 11:45 am MDT
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my bike and decide my bike needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the bike.
I lay my bike keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox, when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
----the bike isn't washed,
----the bills aren't paid,
----there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
----the flowers don't have enough water,
----there is still only 1 check in my check book,
----I can't find the remote,
----I can't find my glasses,
----and I don't remember what I did with the bike keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!
GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC.
P.S. I just remembered, I LEFT THE WATER RUNNING IN THE DRIVEWAY!
Bad Temper
March 15th, 2012 2:43 am MDT
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.
Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same.
When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.
You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.
It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.
A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Pass this along … you may know someone whom this story may help. Maybe your Congressman?
Gender Neutral
February 29th, 2012 11:07 pm MST
Marriage Equality Will Never Trump Human Nature
Some things just never change. Mind that gender roles are of no consequence, just substitute
appropriate pronouns. However, women seem to pull this off way better than men.
A guy walks up to a beautiful woman in a shopping mall.
"Excuse me" he says
"But I've lost my wife here somewhere and I can't find her. Could you please help me?"
"How may I help you?" asks the woman.
"Just stand here and talk to me" the man replies.
"How's that going to help?" she asks
"I don't know exactly, but every time I talk to a beautiful woman like you, my wife appears out of no where!"
The Rest is Just Sand
January 10th, 2012 3:20 am MST
The Rest is Just Sand
When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,
When 24 hours in a day is not enough or way to much,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class,
he had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles, poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, friends,
and favorite passions.
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else --The small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.
So...
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled.
'I'm so glad you asked'.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
There’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.'
Connie Franks
Mouse Story
January 2nd, 2012 4:15 am MST
Mr. Mouse’s Story
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.
"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered
He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.
There is a mousetrap in the house! "There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a
grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do
about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house –
Like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was
a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer
rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to
the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.
To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well, she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer
had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you,
remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and
make an extra effort to encourage one another.
SEND THIS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER HELPED YOU OUT AND LET THEM KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE. REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.
One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend. Thank you my friends for being mine.
Connie Franks
All Day?
September 21st, 2011 11:04 pm MDT
When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day,"
I always wonder, How can that be?
How can you not have all day?
George Carlin
Guilty now and then while driving on the freeway, I'm just sayin.
"I'm The Slime"
February 25th, 2011 3:18 am MST
"I'm The Slime" lyrics by: Frank Zappa
(Sing along, with attitude. Ready --- 1 & 2 & 3 & 4)
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And Industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozing out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help, no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
"That's right, folks.. Don't touch that dial!"
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livingroom floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go
Thanks to and In memory of Frank Zappa a visionary way ahead of his time.
Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane and it inpsires a look at current offerings on television today.
In coming weeks, public media in this country could quietly cease to exist as we know it. It's up to us to take this opportunity to do something about it.
Are you gettting less advertising and political opinion from paid subscription television than I do from our free over the air network broadcasting? Since 1967, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS) has provided a viable alternative in which is not beholding to private interests. Federal support is a mere 20%, the rest is all private money form corporations and from viewers like you and me.
Try the programing at PBS. Here are some of my favorite PBS programs: NOVA and NOVA Science now, News Hour, Frontline, Masterpice Theater, American Experience, In The Life (LGBT programing) to name a few. All these programs and a great deal more delivered uninterupted by comercials and news reporting with no political opinion. FREE with "No Slime", imagine that, whats not to like.
Please visit http://www.170millionamericans.org/ The Take Action button allows you to send an email voiceing you're support of Public Broadcasting. A movement is also emerging on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/170Million
Thank you so much...Connie Franks
Lessons From Man's Best Friend
February 7th, 2010 12:43 pm MST
In his weekly commentary Bob Schieffer notes that humans would be better off if we allow our dogs to be our teachers. As the new decade begins, the sting of this crappy economy has recently found it’s way to my door. Tough as things seem to be, as I watched Bob’s commentary, a great optimism came over me. Reflecting on my own relationship with my own puppy and the joy he brings me asking for so little in return. I remind myself "Life gets complicated all on its own, It truly needs no additional help". My new years resolution is to practice what my dog is teaching. I thought to pass this along because it seemed such a nice thing to share.
Lessons We Can Learn From Dogs
Here is a list of what we could learn if dogs were our teachers. Such as:
Always run to greet loved ones when they come home.
Never pass the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
Recognize the ecstasy of fresh air and wind in your face.
Take naps. (I do that!)
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Thrive on attention (I do that) and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, lie on your back in the grass. On hot days, drink lots of water and find the shade.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Enjoy long walks.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want is buried, dig deep until you find it.
And, when someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
We'd be better off, better people . . . if we acted more like dogs.
