Jack’s Winning Words 7/31/14
“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”  (Lily Tomlin)  Being born in Detroit is one “claim to fame” by Lily.  As a comedienne, she was famous for her characters, Edith Ann and Ernestine.  I laugh, just remembering.  Her advice to those who are living on the fast track is this…slow down!  A busy, busy woman knew she had to slow down when she realized that she actually had to schedule a time to see her 3-year-old daughter.    ;-)  Jack

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I used to put "play" in my work schedule as an appointment. Now, I put "work" in my play schedule. Simon and Garfunkel also sang, "slow down. You move to fast. You gotta make the morning last..."====JACK:  India Arie sings:  "Slow down, baby you're moving too fast.  You got your hands in the air with your feet on the gas.  You're about to wreck your futures running from your past.  You need to slow down before you go down baby."

FROM TARMART REV:  The old Laugh-in program . . . her sitting in the big chair giving us advice . . . I think I remember correctly! Learning to slow down in Willmar.====JACK: I'd tune in to Laugh-In if it were on the TV schedule today.  Thanks to YouTube, I can.

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  didn’t she do the routine about the desperate caller on a pay phone who has no more coins when she says, “Deposit another diyem, pleyiz”?  I think “All of Me” has some of the best physical comedy (like Steve Martin’s possessed-on-one-side body) of recent decades.====JACK:  I think that our sense of "what is funny" is pretty much the same.  "Wry" might be a descriptive word.  This morning, I pulled up a Lily Tomlin "phone operator" on YouTube.  Funny!

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  fits with Matthew 6:34, the first verse I memorized.====JACK:  Worrying about tomorrow, or the "what-ifs" in life does often consume us..  I remember this little poem by Elizabeth Cheney...Said the robin to the sparrow,   "I would really like to know   Why those anxious human beings   rush around and worry so."   Said the sparrow to the robin,   "Friend, I think that it must be   That they have no Heavenly Father   such as cares for you and me."

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Have a few weeks off from doctoral work. I am going to slow down.  I believe Tomlin is credited with saying, “I always wanted t o be somebody, ‘I should have been more specific.’” A 20 year old goal of earning a doctorate is pretty specific; I hope I can keep up with the work.  I am now waiting for my first grades from the summer semester.====JACK:  Like the proverbial grandfather's clock, some folks slow down so much that they stop altogether.  You always seem to have "races" you want to run, "worlds" you want to explore.