We went to Bergeron's to rent movies for our Memorial Day Marathon on Saturday, and they are going out of business. They're selling all of their inventory and closing up. I was so sad, I couldn't think straight. We didn't ask why, just told them how sorry we were. It could be because of Mr. Bergeron's poor health, or it could be because the location they choose really didn't end up being a very good decision. I think Old Handley was on the verge of becoming a vibrant part of East Fort Worth when they moved there. But some of the surrounding businesses have closed since they moved in, and the area is getting a little run down again. But I'm sure the biggest culprit is Blockbuster.
We are currently searching for another neighborhood rental store, but I don't think there's one close to us.
Maybe it's time to try Netflix, but that really isn't going to make me feel better about the end of Bergeron's.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Am I helping you, or vice versa?
I have had the pleasure of getting to know and become friends with a wonderful woman named Cobra over the past 3 years. Cobra and I met through the Tarrant Literacy Program when I was assigned to be her tutor. I'd only had one student before her, and the guy ended up quitting after a couple of months because he was too busy trying to earn a living to really give reading the time he wanted to. I didn't know what to expect when the director of the program told me my new student was named Cobra. It's not like you meet a Cobra very often in life.
Little did I know that a very unique person was about to come into my life.
Cobra was 59 years old when we started working together. She had already been through at least a couple of tutors, and had decided this was her last try. We liked each other immediately. She told me right up front that she had dyslexia. I read up on it, and learned that I had to lean heavy on phonics in order to help her really learn.
She was this lively, creative, intelligent and charismatic person. NOT what I had expected at all. We met at the library near her house most Saturday mornings for an hour and a half. We probably spent an hour on the lessons, and 30 minutes talking about our lives. She told me she felt really comfortable around me, and I told her I was having so much fun teaching her. Halfway through the first book (there are four books total), she asked if I would mind coming to her house instead of the library, because sometimes we had trouble concentrating because of other people milling about. Teachers are really never supposed to go to their student's home, but something told me that it was ok to bend that rule a little. So that's where we've been meeting through our current book, the third in the series. (We move slow, but that's ok with us).
Cobra is always making or doing things for other people. She has the most generous spirit of anyone I know. I never leave her house empty-handed. At first I thought she sort of considered it "paying" me for my time every Saturday morning. Some homemade fig jam from the figs trees in her yard, some wine she and her husband had tried and liked, homemade fudge, jewelry she saw somewhere and thought of me. But then I realized that she does these little things for everyone in her life. She made flower arrangements for all the girls that work at the bank, after finding out what their favorite colors were. The mailman, the women in her swim aerobics class, her neighbors, her co-workers - every person in her life is significant enough to her to deserve a hand-made gift, a trinket, or a cutting from her garden. She made all of the centerpieces for our out-of town wedding reception, set up several tables, and did a million other wonderful things for me throughout the whole ordeal.
She recently went home to Michigan to bring her four grown children together and explain to them about her dyslexia and inability to read until recently. She never told them about it while they were growing up, partly because of pride, and partly because she was afraid they might use it as an exuse for their own setbacks while they were growing up. She didn't know about the dyslexia until recently, and realizes now that some of her kids probably have it and don't know it. Now they understand so much more about their Mom, and her relationship with each one of them is growing by the day.
Cobra tells me that she could never have imagined these things happening, and says she owes alot of it to me. Maybe she could have come this far with someone else, but to me it was fate that brought us together. She doesn't seem to realize what I owe to her. She has taught me SO many life lessons, which mean just as much to me as her reading does to her. She has taught me kindness, not just to friends and family, but to everyone in your life. She has taught me to laugh and have fun, when it's so easy to take life too seriously sometimes. But most of all, she's taught me about never giving up on a goal. I can't imagine how frustrating it was for her before she learned to read. But she was determined, and now so many things in her life are better than she ever expected them to be.
I'm so proud of her, and so happy to have her in my life.
Little did I know that a very unique person was about to come into my life.
Cobra was 59 years old when we started working together. She had already been through at least a couple of tutors, and had decided this was her last try. We liked each other immediately. She told me right up front that she had dyslexia. I read up on it, and learned that I had to lean heavy on phonics in order to help her really learn.
She was this lively, creative, intelligent and charismatic person. NOT what I had expected at all. We met at the library near her house most Saturday mornings for an hour and a half. We probably spent an hour on the lessons, and 30 minutes talking about our lives. She told me she felt really comfortable around me, and I told her I was having so much fun teaching her. Halfway through the first book (there are four books total), she asked if I would mind coming to her house instead of the library, because sometimes we had trouble concentrating because of other people milling about. Teachers are really never supposed to go to their student's home, but something told me that it was ok to bend that rule a little. So that's where we've been meeting through our current book, the third in the series. (We move slow, but that's ok with us).
Cobra is always making or doing things for other people. She has the most generous spirit of anyone I know. I never leave her house empty-handed. At first I thought she sort of considered it "paying" me for my time every Saturday morning. Some homemade fig jam from the figs trees in her yard, some wine she and her husband had tried and liked, homemade fudge, jewelry she saw somewhere and thought of me. But then I realized that she does these little things for everyone in her life. She made flower arrangements for all the girls that work at the bank, after finding out what their favorite colors were. The mailman, the women in her swim aerobics class, her neighbors, her co-workers - every person in her life is significant enough to her to deserve a hand-made gift, a trinket, or a cutting from her garden. She made all of the centerpieces for our out-of town wedding reception, set up several tables, and did a million other wonderful things for me throughout the whole ordeal.
She recently went home to Michigan to bring her four grown children together and explain to them about her dyslexia and inability to read until recently. She never told them about it while they were growing up, partly because of pride, and partly because she was afraid they might use it as an exuse for their own setbacks while they were growing up. She didn't know about the dyslexia until recently, and realizes now that some of her kids probably have it and don't know it. Now they understand so much more about their Mom, and her relationship with each one of them is growing by the day.
Cobra tells me that she could never have imagined these things happening, and says she owes alot of it to me. Maybe she could have come this far with someone else, but to me it was fate that brought us together. She doesn't seem to realize what I owe to her. She has taught me SO many life lessons, which mean just as much to me as her reading does to her. She has taught me kindness, not just to friends and family, but to everyone in your life. She has taught me to laugh and have fun, when it's so easy to take life too seriously sometimes. But most of all, she's taught me about never giving up on a goal. I can't imagine how frustrating it was for her before she learned to read. But she was determined, and now so many things in her life are better than she ever expected them to be.
I'm so proud of her, and so happy to have her in my life.
Monday, May 23, 2005
The Latino Sound
We're listening to a new CD - Los Super Seven (self-titled CD), a motley crew of 7+ musicians with their tribute to border radio. People like Freddie Fender and Flaco Jimenez (accordianist from Freddie's band), and David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas from Los Lobos. What great music this is. I feel like I'm sitting in a dusty bar drinking my cerveza with Pancho Villa, discussing the politics of the day. And hoping a gunfight doesn't break out in the dusty streets outside.
I can't help thinking about my grandfather. He grew up along the border, and could speak street Spanish. He loved border music, and would have been singing along to most of these songs with his beautiful deep bass voice. I think he would get such a kick out the fact that I married into a Hispanic family.
This last fact has greatly broadened my horizons of Latino music. I already had some CD's in this genre-The Gipsy Kings (Spain), The Bueno Vista Social Club and Celia Cruz (Cuba), Bebel Gilberto (Brazilian). But Jav and his family has opened my ears to great bands (Mana), pop stars (Juanez, Christina Aguilera, who I like much better in Spanish), and traditional crooners (Pepe Aguilar, Pedro Infante, Luis Miguel). These last three were included in our wedding reception music, mixed in with Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitgerald. We decided to incorporate music that both of our grandparents loved, and it was a great decision because both of our families were moved by what we had chosen. Little did my new family know that I had a grandfather who loved all of it.
I feel very lucky that my eyes are being opened to a culture that's different (but still similar in many ways) to mine. If I could only pick up Spanish as easily as Bapaw could!
I can't help thinking about my grandfather. He grew up along the border, and could speak street Spanish. He loved border music, and would have been singing along to most of these songs with his beautiful deep bass voice. I think he would get such a kick out the fact that I married into a Hispanic family.
This last fact has greatly broadened my horizons of Latino music. I already had some CD's in this genre-The Gipsy Kings (Spain), The Bueno Vista Social Club and Celia Cruz (Cuba), Bebel Gilberto (Brazilian). But Jav and his family has opened my ears to great bands (Mana), pop stars (Juanez, Christina Aguilera, who I like much better in Spanish), and traditional crooners (Pepe Aguilar, Pedro Infante, Luis Miguel). These last three were included in our wedding reception music, mixed in with Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitgerald. We decided to incorporate music that both of our grandparents loved, and it was a great decision because both of our families were moved by what we had chosen. Little did my new family know that I had a grandfather who loved all of it.
I feel very lucky that my eyes are being opened to a culture that's different (but still similar in many ways) to mine. If I could only pick up Spanish as easily as Bapaw could!
Friday, May 20, 2005
My favorite sporting event
Oh it's that time of year again. The shushed crowd. The quiet commentators. The electric, crackling tension in the air. The goosebumps as your favorite wows the crowd into roaring applause.
I'm talking, of course, about the Van Cliburn Piano Competition.
This outstanding competition occurs only once every four years. If you like classical music at all, it would be worth seeing. Last time, I kept up with the goings on through the video (televised on the now defunct Denton PBS station), and the TCU radio station (88.7), which is broadcasting live again this time. One of the early recitals happened to catch my ear and eyes. An attractive Russian woman and single Mom nameld Olga Kern. She played with more passion than anyone I'd ever seen. She continued to progess, and in the process became the darling of Fort Worth and the competition. I decided to try to get a ticket to one of the Finalist concerts - and ended up getting to see her.
I have heard in my life from time to time that a person was born to do this or that. But I don't take much stock in that, because it seems so rare. I think Tony Bennett was born to sing and Fred Astaire to dance. I think Hemingway was born to write. These people make whatever it is they do well look effortless, and do it in a very understated way. Olga Kern was born to play Rachmaninoff. She pours everything she has into that music, but her performance doesn't seem put on or over the top. Her grandmother actually knew the composer, and she had some music she used in the competition that had his handwritten notes scribbled here and there. All emotions ranging from dark sadness to sheer joy emit from her fingers. She comes back from time to time, and if you can get a ticket, anywhere in the hall, it will be worth your while. I know I will be there.
Fortunately for the competition, and unfortunately for me, all of the concerts sold out very quickly this year. But in the meantime, I will be listening on the radio - waiting for that one performance that is so spellbinding that I will realize when it's over that I was holding my breath.
I'm talking, of course, about the Van Cliburn Piano Competition.
This outstanding competition occurs only once every four years. If you like classical music at all, it would be worth seeing. Last time, I kept up with the goings on through the video (televised on the now defunct Denton PBS station), and the TCU radio station (88.7), which is broadcasting live again this time. One of the early recitals happened to catch my ear and eyes. An attractive Russian woman and single Mom nameld Olga Kern. She played with more passion than anyone I'd ever seen. She continued to progess, and in the process became the darling of Fort Worth and the competition. I decided to try to get a ticket to one of the Finalist concerts - and ended up getting to see her.
I have heard in my life from time to time that a person was born to do this or that. But I don't take much stock in that, because it seems so rare. I think Tony Bennett was born to sing and Fred Astaire to dance. I think Hemingway was born to write. These people make whatever it is they do well look effortless, and do it in a very understated way. Olga Kern was born to play Rachmaninoff. She pours everything she has into that music, but her performance doesn't seem put on or over the top. Her grandmother actually knew the composer, and she had some music she used in the competition that had his handwritten notes scribbled here and there. All emotions ranging from dark sadness to sheer joy emit from her fingers. She comes back from time to time, and if you can get a ticket, anywhere in the hall, it will be worth your while. I know I will be there.
Fortunately for the competition, and unfortunately for me, all of the concerts sold out very quickly this year. But in the meantime, I will be listening on the radio - waiting for that one performance that is so spellbinding that I will realize when it's over that I was holding my breath.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The call of the sea
We witnessed a strange event while we were on our beach trip. One afternoon we decided to take a break from our very strenuous lounging and walk along the shoreline. We happened to notice that some of the gulls had stopped milling about groups of people searching for food, and were lined up along the shoreline, staring out to sea. On our way back, there were at least 30 gulls, all staring very intently out at the sea.
I asked Jav, "I wonder what they are hearing?" He pretended to all of sudden hear it too, and snapped around to face the sea with a very longing look on his face. This cracked me up, and we went onto talk about something else. But it stayed on my mind. What were they doing? I thought some ancient memory was causing them to remember generation after generation of gulls. Ancestors struggling to survive with the angry churning backdrop of the sea spurning their instincts.
The actual reason was not nearly as romantic as all of my musings. It wasn't what they were hearing, but what they saw. When we got back to the condo, we went out on the balcony to hang out our beach towels, and Jav spotted what the gulls had been looking at. The biggest patch of seaweed you've ever seen was slowly getting closer to the shore. It was just this huge brown patch in the middle of all the blue. And sure enough, the next morning the beach was covered with seaweed. The gulls hung around the edge of the water for the next day, as we watched the seaweed slowly roll back into the water, then roll back onto the shore. Each time, gathering small fish and who knows what for the gulls to feast on. A smorgasboard of the highest order, at least to gulls.
I guess I'd probably go catatonic, too, if I saw my dinner for the next few weeks floating towards me.
I asked Jav, "I wonder what they are hearing?" He pretended to all of sudden hear it too, and snapped around to face the sea with a very longing look on his face. This cracked me up, and we went onto talk about something else. But it stayed on my mind. What were they doing? I thought some ancient memory was causing them to remember generation after generation of gulls. Ancestors struggling to survive with the angry churning backdrop of the sea spurning their instincts.
The actual reason was not nearly as romantic as all of my musings. It wasn't what they were hearing, but what they saw. When we got back to the condo, we went out on the balcony to hang out our beach towels, and Jav spotted what the gulls had been looking at. The biggest patch of seaweed you've ever seen was slowly getting closer to the shore. It was just this huge brown patch in the middle of all the blue. And sure enough, the next morning the beach was covered with seaweed. The gulls hung around the edge of the water for the next day, as we watched the seaweed slowly roll back into the water, then roll back onto the shore. Each time, gathering small fish and who knows what for the gulls to feast on. A smorgasboard of the highest order, at least to gulls.
I guess I'd probably go catatonic, too, if I saw my dinner for the next few weeks floating towards me.
A day at the beach
We just got back from three and a half glorious days on South Padre Island. Nothing recharges a burned-out, stressed-out psyche like a couple of days of sitting on your beach chairs, toes wriggling in sand, reading a book, listening to those roaring waves. Or simply staring out at them. For what seems like hours. Why does time move slower once you really begin to let go of all of that stress? It took me a full 24 hours before I could feel it draining out of me. But then it seemed like three hours turned into eight. I could really swear that we've been there over a week. What can we do to recreate this feeling now that we are back in the mad-paced reality we live in today? Probably nothing. That's why we go on vacations. I'm short of vacation time this year, so we can't do another long one like this. But maybe a three-day weekend every now and again, just to get a quick fix of salt smell and sea breeze.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
A Mother's Day tribute
I am one of those people who pays way too much attention to Who Am I and How Did I Get To Be This Way? One of the things that makes up a majority of me is music. I have a love for all types of music, and sometimes I like to ponder over my musical influences to see where my tastes originated. And the first influences all of us have, if we are lucky, is our parents. So this post will explore music that came from or that makes me think of my Mom.
Classical and choral music, especially Bach and Handel and Vivaldi: My mother majored in music at Texas Wesleyan, and sang in the church choir the entire time I was growing up. I can never remember a time when there weren't at least a few classical records in her collection. Our church choir used to combine with the Wesleyan college choir and a small orchestra to sing Handel's Messiah every Christmas. When I was little, I remember watching the tympani player because he was the most interesting. But now, whenever I get to see a full symphony, I marvel at how someone could write all of those different parts and come up with such cohesive beauty. I now also like Romantic composers, like Beethovan, Rachmaninoff and Brahms, but my first love will always be the Baroque period. My appreciation for choral music has grown slowly. I was flipping through stations one day within the past year, and caught a work on WRR that literally gave me goosebumps. It was like the moment on The Shawshank Redemption when Andy plays the aria over the prison speakers, and time just stopped for the inmates. So now I'm hunting for some choral work CD's, and will be asking Mom for help.
Show tunes, especially from Rogers and Hammerstein musicals: Mom started trying out for musicals when she was in middle school, and performed in quite a few productions up through college. I wish I could have seen her in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in full geisha makeup. (I think she played Yum-Yum, one of the three sisters). Or in any of her productions. When you grow up listening to show tunes, you never think about the fact that this might be a little unusual. Doesn't everyone know the words to The Lonely Goatherd? Didn't every little girl try to dance like Rita Moreno does in America, swishing our imaginary skirts? This great start Mom gave me led to many classic musical films. I especially like anything with Fred Astaire in it. I think my favorite, though, might be Sweet Charity with Shirley McLaine. I still throw touches of Bob Fosse choreography in when I dance to this day. All That Jazz, a movie based on his life, is in my top ten list. And I still have many musicals to try, still, like Showboat and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Barbara Streisand: Now, I'm not a huge fan. I really only like her stuff from pre-1980. But one of my favorite CD's is Stoney End, where she covers many great songwriters' works (Carole King, Laura Nyro, Randy Newman). But I remember many happy moments as a child with this record playing in the background, or dancing about the house to Don't Rain on My Parade. I can appreciate her amazing singing voice and her ability to hold a note for what seems like forever.
Other sing-along honorable mentions: Here's a few that I remember singing to along with Mom from the days before I had my own car: I Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow, Lonesome Loser - Little River Band, Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life - Anne Murray.
I think the biggest thing I can thank Mom for instilling in me is a love for harmony. All of my favorite artists to this day (The Beatles, R.E.M., Indigo Girls) have that in common. I love being able to hear and to sing the different parts in a song. And I think I'm slowly returning the favor in a small way by turning her on to people she'd never listened to before but now loves, like Carole King and Kathleen Battle. So thanks, Mom, for giving me the most unique parts of my musical background! I can't wait for the next time we can sing in the car again.
Classical and choral music, especially Bach and Handel and Vivaldi: My mother majored in music at Texas Wesleyan, and sang in the church choir the entire time I was growing up. I can never remember a time when there weren't at least a few classical records in her collection. Our church choir used to combine with the Wesleyan college choir and a small orchestra to sing Handel's Messiah every Christmas. When I was little, I remember watching the tympani player because he was the most interesting. But now, whenever I get to see a full symphony, I marvel at how someone could write all of those different parts and come up with such cohesive beauty. I now also like Romantic composers, like Beethovan, Rachmaninoff and Brahms, but my first love will always be the Baroque period. My appreciation for choral music has grown slowly. I was flipping through stations one day within the past year, and caught a work on WRR that literally gave me goosebumps. It was like the moment on The Shawshank Redemption when Andy plays the aria over the prison speakers, and time just stopped for the inmates. So now I'm hunting for some choral work CD's, and will be asking Mom for help.
Show tunes, especially from Rogers and Hammerstein musicals: Mom started trying out for musicals when she was in middle school, and performed in quite a few productions up through college. I wish I could have seen her in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in full geisha makeup. (I think she played Yum-Yum, one of the three sisters). Or in any of her productions. When you grow up listening to show tunes, you never think about the fact that this might be a little unusual. Doesn't everyone know the words to The Lonely Goatherd? Didn't every little girl try to dance like Rita Moreno does in America, swishing our imaginary skirts? This great start Mom gave me led to many classic musical films. I especially like anything with Fred Astaire in it. I think my favorite, though, might be Sweet Charity with Shirley McLaine. I still throw touches of Bob Fosse choreography in when I dance to this day. All That Jazz, a movie based on his life, is in my top ten list. And I still have many musicals to try, still, like Showboat and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Barbara Streisand: Now, I'm not a huge fan. I really only like her stuff from pre-1980. But one of my favorite CD's is Stoney End, where she covers many great songwriters' works (Carole King, Laura Nyro, Randy Newman). But I remember many happy moments as a child with this record playing in the background, or dancing about the house to Don't Rain on My Parade. I can appreciate her amazing singing voice and her ability to hold a note for what seems like forever.
Other sing-along honorable mentions: Here's a few that I remember singing to along with Mom from the days before I had my own car: I Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow, Lonesome Loser - Little River Band, Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life - Anne Murray.
I think the biggest thing I can thank Mom for instilling in me is a love for harmony. All of my favorite artists to this day (The Beatles, R.E.M., Indigo Girls) have that in common. I love being able to hear and to sing the different parts in a song. And I think I'm slowly returning the favor in a small way by turning her on to people she'd never listened to before but now loves, like Carole King and Kathleen Battle. So thanks, Mom, for giving me the most unique parts of my musical background! I can't wait for the next time we can sing in the car again.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Supporting the little guy
Jav and I got really miffed at Blockbuster about six months ago. They signed us up for one of their new "plans" where you get to check out as many movies as you want (or can) in a month, but only three at a time. The words out of the clerk's mouth when we signed up were "try it for a month". Jav immediately determined that this really wasn't a good deal for us, because it's hard for us to find the time to watch movies. But I coaxed him into it. What the clerk didn't mention, however, was that they would be charging his credit card each month for the service. Obviously we don't always read the fine print. When Jav found this out, he complained, but they said they could only cancel the service AFTER the current month ended. So we pretty much vowed to never rent a movie from there again.
UNTIL Jav won a free month trial of Blockbuster Online. I really liked using the online service, because it turns out that we DO have time to watch movies. We just don't have time to stop after work and argue about what we want to see, or to take the movie back before work. I loved the convenience of having movies delivered to my door and the US mail taking care of sending them back. We watched more movies in the month of March than we had the entire two years we've known each other. So when the month was over, I wanted to continue, only with Netflix. But Jav didn't want an extra monthly bill.
So now we are renting movies (one a weekend) from a little family owned place called Bergeron's. The store is out of the way for us to get to, they don't have a great selection of new titles, and rarely have DVD's of movies. But after renting from them for a month, I feel really good about the experience. They have hard to find movies, an unbelievable selection of classic and foreign films, and I don't mind watching VHS. The prices are relatively cheap. But the best thing about it is the feeling that you are supporting a dying breed - the neighborhood Mom and Pop establishment. The Bergerons actually attend our church, and are very well-known to Fort Worth's Eastide community. A few years ago they moved their store to the historic area of Old Handley, only to have it destroyed by the same tornado that blew through downtown Fort Worth. But with hard work, luck, many friends and just plain stubborness, they perservered. I like the small town feeling of the store. They are always willing to help you find something, even if there is a long line waiting after you. Nobody seems to mind waiting. They must all feel the same as me, that I can put up with alot as long as I'm still helping David beat Goliath.
UNTIL Jav won a free month trial of Blockbuster Online. I really liked using the online service, because it turns out that we DO have time to watch movies. We just don't have time to stop after work and argue about what we want to see, or to take the movie back before work. I loved the convenience of having movies delivered to my door and the US mail taking care of sending them back. We watched more movies in the month of March than we had the entire two years we've known each other. So when the month was over, I wanted to continue, only with Netflix. But Jav didn't want an extra monthly bill.
So now we are renting movies (one a weekend) from a little family owned place called Bergeron's. The store is out of the way for us to get to, they don't have a great selection of new titles, and rarely have DVD's of movies. But after renting from them for a month, I feel really good about the experience. They have hard to find movies, an unbelievable selection of classic and foreign films, and I don't mind watching VHS. The prices are relatively cheap. But the best thing about it is the feeling that you are supporting a dying breed - the neighborhood Mom and Pop establishment. The Bergerons actually attend our church, and are very well-known to Fort Worth's Eastide community. A few years ago they moved their store to the historic area of Old Handley, only to have it destroyed by the same tornado that blew through downtown Fort Worth. But with hard work, luck, many friends and just plain stubborness, they perservered. I like the small town feeling of the store. They are always willing to help you find something, even if there is a long line waiting after you. Nobody seems to mind waiting. They must all feel the same as me, that I can put up with alot as long as I'm still helping David beat Goliath.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)