The "Your Life is Your Story" Blog Archives

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January, 2005

January 30, 2005

Tonight I watched a new Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, The Magic of Ordinary Days. A young woman in the 1940's, WWII time, is studying archeology at college. Then she has to come home to care for her dying mother. In her loneliness she meets a flight instructor and becomes pregnant. Her father sends her to Colorado and an arranged marriage to cover up any potential shame. Her husband, Ray, is a kind and caring farmer who falls in love with her, but she's still holding out hope for the flight instructor, Edward. In the meantime she learns about life on the farm and befriends two Japanese-American girls from an internment camp who are part of a group forced to help the farmers. There is history throughout the story - family history and American history. It was a great story of relationships and the real meaning of love.

January 24, 2005

"Heeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" For many of us this was the nightly cry we heard that opened The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson. He was the King of late night television and host of NBC's "Tonight Show" for 30 years. Yesterday the king passed away.

Johnny Carson was a great host, comedian and entertainer. For me, two words defined him: funny and classy.

Nowadays talk show hosts are a dime-a-dozen. Not so in the days of Carson. We even called the show "Carson". Not the "Tonight Show". Common watercooler talk was, "did you see Carson last night?"

Countless entertainers made their mark on the show over the years. Countless monologue jokes were re-told. Countless smiles on faces late at night.

Johnny, we'll miss ya.

USA article on tributes to Johnny Carson

January 23, 2005

StoryCorps is one of those small dreams that have yielded some great results. These results are not measured so much in dollars and cents as they are in the priceless memories they've preserved for so many.

A booth if Grand Central Station, one of the busiest places in the world and an ideal location for busy commuters and travelers in New York city, allows you to enter and record up to a one hour session for just $10. You leave with a CD recording of the session and you also have the opportunity for your story to be added to the StoryCorps Archives, housed at the Library of Congress.

See more about StoryCorps - our current Highlight Site feature.

January 21, 2005

Here's a very interesting way to promote relief efforts for the victims of the Tsunami disaster in Asia. A group of storytellers are organizing events around the U.S. You can see the information at the Story Tsunami website which describes itself as "a wave of storytelling benefit concerts for the victims of the tsunami and earthquake".

January 19, 2005

The other day we ordered up some pizza for the family meal. Like many people there are times when everyone is just too busy to have a sit down meal and pizza does the trick. Anyway, I was looking at the boxes from Pizza Hut and noticed that they were promoting a reading program. The Book It program is something they've been involved in since 1985 and it's a good cause.

What caught my eye in particular were some questions on the box. Ten questions kids can ask their parents and five questions parents can ask their kids. I'ts another sign of family history going mainstream. They had some pretty good questions, too. Questions like "what were your first words?", "When you were my age, what did you want to be when you grew up?", and "where's your favorite place to travel?" (for kids asking their parents). A couple of the questions parents can ask their kids: "what is your favorite animal and why?", and "who is your favorite character from a book?"

I applaud Pizza Hut's efforts. The next time you get some pizza from them see if those questions are on the box, and more importantly, take the time to use them in family conversations.

January 15, 2005

Wow - it's the middle of January already! Many of you may be thinking, how do I keep the motivation and my new goals for the year fresh and inspiring? Well, that's a challenge we all face. Part of the reason for regular journal writing is to keep you aware of the need to "check in" with you goals and your values.

I like this quote:

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."
- The Dalai Lama

January 6, 2005

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry I've not been writing much here lately. I've been very busy with my new job. I'm back in radio broadcasting again fulltime after a five year absence. I'm working as the promotions director and afternoon "on-air" for a classic rock station.

Radio has been a passion of mine for nearly 30 years. While it has had its ups and downs I find that I still have that passion. It's like wearing a pair of comfortable old shoes.

I hope in this year you get to do more of the things you have a passion for. Like pursuing your family history and life story. I'll still be keeping the Your Life is Your Story site going and there are some new things to tell you about soon. I hope to get a new issue of the newsletter out in a few days.

If you aren't already journaling, the new year is a good time to start.

Everybody has a story to tell!
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