It wasn't until I was listening to the 45's loaded into my husband's reconditioned juke box, that I realized my love for spinning a rhyme, came from my mom's music.  Mom has a collection of 45's still in the harvest gold plastic record spindles.  We would unearth them to play, laugh about, and hear Mom's stories of each song.  Invariably the songs would be too slow for our pace, too lame. 

This would of course cause us to 'rewrite' the next lyric, & snap it out to each other, before the actual singer of the song could sing the next intended verse.  My brothers and I would try to rival each other in an outrageous jr high school brand of humor for each song.

Usually my Mom would say, 'Ok, that's enough' until sometimes we would really craft a golden rewrite, and she would catch herself laughing too, caught off guard as a parent, just one of the kids too.

Oh Mableline, why can't you be true . . . why are you angry I'm stalking you,
Everybody loves somebody, somehow  . . . even if they are fat just like a cow,
Groovin on a Sunday afternoon  . . . running from you, you crazy loon, life would be ecstasy, if you would stay away from me,
She got the way to move me, Cherry Ex-Lax, she got the way to move me,Oh Cherry-Baby!
My baby bought me a letter, said she couldn't live without a vowel anymore, don't care how much I've got to pay, wheel of fortune's here to stay, my baby bought me a letter,
Young girl, get out of this line, you can't buy beer or smokes this time,
better run girl, cops aren't fun girl,
I wish they all could be paraplegic girls, the girls who walk, show offs who can, wish they were girls like me who can't stand,
Then I saw here face, like hit by a meat cleaver, not a trace, of last night . . .
usually when Mom took the records away.

Politically incorrect kids! My poor Mom.  She smoothed our rough edges with tolerance, open mindedness, and a global view.
Thank goodness!

Sometimes I still find myself in the middle of a rewrite, my husband's juke box playing in background.  The juke box he spent years refinishing, the poetry i spent years waiting to publish, together in rhyme.

There's a kind of  hush all over the world, tonight, until you fart tonight, la la la la.

Caught in a crack, and I can't get out, I can look up your skirt right now, baby, why can't you see, what your doing to me, when you step on my face, baby. (fade) when you step on my face, baby.

I was recently asked to create a list of 'ruthisms' for future reference and bemusement.
Upon reflection, I noted to my friend, the origin, of most of these sayings,  is my dad.
In light of that statement, these hor dourves of litany should be due fully referenced as:
'stoshisms'

and since 'isms' are short and sweet, (and because i am also ironing while typing, scary, eh? :o)
here is an incomplete list of  'stoshisms'

l.  The paranoid always survive.

2.  Don't act like a woman wearing a paper hat.

3.  Always walk around with a cup of coffee in your hand, even though you
     sweep the floors,
     people will think that you run the place!
     (and someday you may!) *

4. If you want to know why someone is doing something for you, ask yourself,
    what that 'something'
    has to do with money, and you will have your answer.

5. There will always be someone who wants you to help them save the world, but only
    one time, when you are young, that you can use your energy to save/build yourself.

6.  Pay attention to your spelling! There is no 'spell check' on handwritten job applications.

7.  When you are looking for work, don't just pick out any job in the want ads.
      Find an employment opportunity that agrees with your focus and drive,
      with a team of co-workers you can respect.
      Then approach them, and tell them what you can do to add to their team!

8.  Never underestimate a firm handshake, confident eye, pressed shirt,
     and shined shoes.

9.  Success is 2% know how and 98% moxy!

10.  Make it do, wear it our, use it up, or do without!

11.  Despite how little money you may have, your car, home, clothes (closets,
       dresser drawers, barn, out buildings, basement, back pack, . . .)
              ~can always be clean and presentable!

12.  Never forget Norman Cousins' lesson in Anatomy of An Illness,
       and always look for the healing power of laughter.
      
13.  Remember to always look for magic ~ like Walt Disney!

14.  Work hard, play harder!

15.  Careful how many times you put your hand in the refrigerator, you may get frostbite!

16.  No matter what is happening, there is always time for The Solid Gold Dancers!

17.  A resume is always best; hand typed, brief, and hand delivered.

18.  (when noting something amazing) "Stop! Look around at this."
       "Make a picture of it in your mind."
       "You may never be in this spot again in your life. Take a look at how beautiful this is!"

19.  Always pack your suitcase with ironed clothes. 
       Folded correctly, you will be able to wear them right away,
       and have an advantage over your competition.*

20.  Listen to your mother.



miss u, dad


*My dad started sweeping docks at trucking terminals,
  and ended up the President of a chapter of several trucking terminals
  in the Milwaukee, WI area, in addition to his own company.

*Dad came home on weekends. He stayed in Des Plaines, IL or Milwaukee, WI for work weekdays.

I met a man with a love of words just as deep as mine.
We met on St Patrick's Day, and the shower of golden words he shared, was better than any pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The magic of it all was; he bequeaths a profound, sometimes funny, vocabulary
word, one for each letter of the alphabet, to his grandchildren. Currently, I believe, they are somewhere near 'm'.
I was titillated with words like kakidrosis, intrepid, scalawag, and hallux! (sweat with fetid odor, fearless, rascal, and big toe)
His grandchildren use the words for improving school work, a political figure will 'abdicate' or the basketball team will face opposition 'intrepid'!  I told the grandsons, "Do you know how awesome your Grandfather is?" They knew, but looked disappointed that I did not use a more tantalizing tidbit of wit or whimsy to describe the Irishman with.
Perhaps I could have described him as: tremendous, epigrammatic, jocular, scintillating, ebullient, vivacious, & wily! But woe is me,  I am not as nimble-witted or facetious as their grandfather is!

What a great example for grandparents~a word a day!

My oldest sing sang the word onomatopoeia in grade K. The youngest in grade 5 during class discussions of solids, liquids and gases asked, 'What about plasmas?' Our input does make a difference! Turn off the TV and pick up a classic, Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, or even Poe and read to your child!

The youngest still has angst over the story: 'The Tell-Tale Heart' which really originated with Edgar Allen Poe, and not mom, when she heard it around the campfire as a child.  Many years later in freshman LIT class, I was pronounced guilty of plagiarism!

The opportunities are everywhere. Share them with a meal. Becos means bread, bread is sustenance, as knowledge is sustenance.  Words lead to knowledge.  Children love to hear new words.