My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Posts Written By L Parker Brown

Closure Completes the Puzzle

by on ·General

Blue puzzle with missing piece and light beam

Nearly a month ago, I wrote the previous post (titled Desperately Seeking Closure) about my friend, Kenny G, who was missing. Since then a few of my other friends and some blog readers have been asking if I have heard anything about Kenny. The answer is …

Yes. And the news is good. A week before my birthday, which occurred earlier this month, I received a card from Kenny G along with a note informing of his where about. How happy was I to learn that he is alive and well. On the eve of my birthday, I got a phone call from him. What a wonderful birthday gift. We talked for about 20 minutes and I learned that he is living in another city. To preserve his privacy, I will not disclose his location, but to alleviate the curiosity of any prophets of doom, I will say that no, he is not in jail nor hospitalized.

Nancy Bern, in her book Closure: The Rush to End Grief and What it Costs  writes that closure has been described as “justice, peace, healing, acceptance, forgiveness, moving on, resolution, answered questions, or revenge.” Drawing from her list I would say that I found resolution and answers. Not only did I learn that my friend is not dead as I feared he might be, but he is all right.  

While I have always empathized with anyone who I hear express a need for closure, especially when it involves their child or loved one, my recent personal experience has given me even deeper empathy for people who are facing that dilemma. And to add my own description to Bern’s list, I liken closure to inserting the final piece that completes a jigsaw puzzle over which one has agonized for way too long.

 

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Desperately Seeking Closure

by on ·General, The Way I See It

QuestionI think he’s dead. I don’t know for sure. I hope I’m wrong. What I do know is that he is missing. Not knowing what has happened to my friend has me in a quandary, so perhaps you’ll understand if I switch between speaking of him in the present and past tense.

In the years since we’ve been platonic friends, Kenny G – my nickname for him – rarely missed sending me a card for my birthday, Christmas, and other special occasions; or phoning me every few weeks just to keep in touch. For him not to send a Christmas Card or call me last month to say “Happy New Year!” was very unusual.

Although we attended the same high school — he was a few years ahead of me — and grew up blocks apart, we never actually met until 21 years ago; and over time we learned that we knew some of the same people from school and the old neighborhood.

The last time I saw Kenny G was a few weeks after his birthday last October, when he stopped by my home and visited for about half-an-hour with my beau and me. Before leaving he hugged me, shook hands with him, and said “See ya’ later.” to us. That was four months ago. Since then I have left several messages on his phone — the calls went straight to voice mail — and sent notes to his last known address, but received no reply.

Recently, while scrolling through my cell phone messages I discovered that

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Resistance to Change: A Baby Boomer’s Perspective on Computers and the Internet

by on ·Baby Boomers, Technology, The Way I See It
“A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you’re in and take advantage of it.” ~Nikki Giovanni 

“Why can’t things go back to the way they use to be?” That rhetorical question was asked by my friend, Jay, a fellow boomer who frequently expresses dislike for most things technical including computers and cell phones. His disdain for such gadgets is not only the result of occasional encounters with computerized devices that refuse to yield to his touch; it is ongoing warfare with any gadget that requires more steps to operate than turning it on and off.  And although he occasionally uses the Internet, he feels that he could easily live without it, without email, without cell phones and texting. I could go on, but that might imply that he is a dinosaur, which would be an insult to every prehistoric creature ever recreated in a computer simulation.

Humans are creatures of habit. We get used to doing the same old things, the same old way. Change will never be embraced by everyone, nor will resistance to change prevent it. Like it or not — change happens; so the sensible thing to do would be to accept and enjoy it.

I recently went to the post office to mail a small package. Sometimes when I go there, I purchase a roll of stamps that usually lasts for several months, because I use them infrequently to snail mail a birthday card or send something to one of the few organizations that still doesn’t offer online services. On this particular day, when the clerk asked me if I needed stamps, I said that I didn’t need any and she replied with a wide grin, “You know y’all have to mail those bills, don’t you?” I returned her smile and responded innocently, “No, I pay my bills on line.” 

Freeze!  Apparently, I said the wrong thing on the wrong day, because

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Throwback the Throwbacks

by on ·Opinion, Sports

As is the case with nearly everything, people have their preferences. On this occasion, I am sharing the opinion of armchair quarterbacks; concerning NFL throwback uniforms.

Before I reveal what some may find to be the surprising viewpoints of the AQ’s, let me report that according to Wikipedia “Throwback uniforms have proven popular … not only with fans, but with the teams’ merchandising departments.”  That statement begs the question:  who in the name of gridiron is buying those awful looking jerseys?

Who likes them? There is mixed opinion among the football fans surveyed for this post. One fan said, “They [the teams] should just stay with the regular uniforms and find another way to commemorate special occasions.”  If they want an alternate look, why not get something more contemporary? Most of the throwbacks look outdated and unstylish. Oh, but isn’t that what they are?

Actually, the throwbacks of some teams are not that bad looking. According to some survey participants, the award for the least favorite and ugliest retro uniform goes to the Pittsburg Steelers. When that team brought out their throwbacks last week in the game against the Washington Redskins, it looked to me like someone had released a box full of Tony the Tigers on the field. A commenter on another blog saw it differently. He wrote, “Not sure if I’m looking at a football player or McDonald’s next hamburglar [sic].”  And still another fan wrote that he was confident that the Steelers’ uniforms were intended to distract the Redskins. Apparently, the ploy worked.

Someone else, expressing disappointment with the wearing of throwbacks by any team wrote, “There’s a reason those uniforms are no longer in use.” And a very candid football enthusiast may have scored a theoretical touchdown with fans that are in consensus when he voiced this opinion, “Whoever suggested wearing throwback Jerseys? When we find out we should check to see if that person’s last address was a psychiatric ward.”

Earning honorable mention in the category of all-time ugliest throwback uniforms — whenever they are worn — are The Packers, The Bears, and the Broncos.

For some old timers, throwback uniforms may bring back memories as it did to one blogger who wrote on Yesterday’s Heroes, “Looking at a classic throwback jersey is like looking at a 1957 Chevy, you never get tired of looking at something so beautiful.”  Regardless of sporadic praise for throwbacks, the majority of the people I questioned turned thumbs down on the retros and unanimously agreed that when it comes to throwback uniforms — what was worn in the past should stay in the past.

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What Women Want: Tickets

by on ·Entertainment

Women learn at an early age that some things require patience – like waiting for Santa Claus, reaching our 18st birthday, and getting tickets for a live television talk show.

There are a few tricks that might get a wannabe audience member into the studio:  stand-by and use chutzpah like the now ex-Salahis; implement a write-in campaign with the determination of a president running for a second term; or sign-up on the show’s website and wait — with the patience of Job. There is another way to get tickets; not just for a live TV show, but for just about anything. It is the ultimate trump card:  have connections. It works for me!

My affinity for quality talk shows began in the early days of Phil Donohue, but my favorite contemporary program is The View. I will tell you about the arrival of my long-awaited opportunity to be an audience member on The View, but first let me share some of my past live studio experiences.

In the early 1980s, I was twice an audience member at The Carol Randolph Show, which was broadcast locally on CBS. Then, on one spring morning, as my son, daughter, and I were enjoying our favorite week-end activity – roller skating in Rock Creek Park – we were filmed by the crew of the weekly TV program Saturday Magazine. The show was producing a feature about single parent families, and my children and I were part of the live studio audience when the segment aired on WTOP in March 1983.

Audience members at live talk shows get the opportunity to see their favorite hosts and celebrity guests in person, as I did at The Carol Randolph Show. Lou Rawls was the singing guest on one show that I attended. Millie Jackson was the other. I visited briefly with both in their dressing rooms. But enough of my horn-tooting, you want to know how to get your own studio tickets, don’t you?  Here is the deal.

If you don’t have a friend who works with the show to hook you up,

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