Category: Random Ramblings

Miscellaneous collection of stories

Skipping the Senior Shuffle

/ Anthea Tripp / 1 Comment

Tim Conway is one of my favorite comedians, well-known for playing the role of an elderly gent with a shuffling gait. This “older than dirt” character was slow to think, slow to move, slow to react and even slower to speak.

The live audiences would laugh hysterically at the antics of this somewhat “senile” but lovable individual so skillfully portrayed by Mr. Conway. He would often ad lib his lines which confused and amused his co-stars to the point they would collapse in uncontrollable fits of laughter. It was comedy at its best – taking a real life situation and conveying the humorous side. After all, laughter is the best medicine right?
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Faces, Spaces and Social Graces

/ Anthea Tripp / 1 Comment

I saw a movie in 2009 that provoked deep thoughts that I’ve been mulling over for months. The movie is “Surrogates” starring Bruce Willis. “Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.”
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So You Think Alligators Don’t Bite?

/ Anthea Tripp

It’s the middle of the month – time to pay bills online, give the finances a cursory glance and place a big check mark next to “mid-month accounting” which has top billing on my TA-DA list. No it’s not a typo – and yes spell check is on – I simply choose the term Ta-da over the common To-Do!

Getting the task finished so I can exclaim “ta-daaaah” is so much more palatable to me than having to DO something I’m not terribly motivated to start. I get to strike off the task and sing “Ta-daaaah” – I live for that sense of achievement! But today I am motivated to blog, which will provide me with an even greater sense of satisfaction, since I have been sloughing off on entries. I will blog and shelve the accounting.
 
Love that we have choices in life, don’t you?

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When Exactly Did Good Manners Abscond with Common Courtesy?

/ Anthea Tripp / 3 Comments

Do you remember when Good Manners was alive and popular and no matter where you went, he showed up and always managed to brighten someone’s day with a kind word, a good deed or a special gesture? He was a real gentleman – at work and at play.

Did you notice that wherever Good Manners went, you could always find Common Courtesy? A real lady who was always quick to say ‘please and thank you” and ‘excuse me’ – and raised her kids the same way! The two were inseparable. They made quite a couple – an item – and they were good together. Wherever they showed up, they were the main attraction – people enjoyed their company, respected them and strove to emulate them.

In the company of this congenial pair, people were polite, more considerate of others and a pleasure to be around. GM and CC were so popular, that one would never dream of hosting a business meeting, a family gathering or a party for friends without inviting them, because in their absence it was all too easy for Rudeness and Inconsideration to crash the party and spoil everyone’s fun.
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Imagine the Power of Possibility

/ Anthea Tripp

imagineHave you ever felt beaten down by life? Are you enslaved by circumstances that keep you trapped in a hole? Are you desperate to claw your way out, but don’t know how, and even if you do, you’re not sure you have the physical and emotional strength to do what it takes?

I’ve been there – more than once. I understand.  Sisters and brothers – this is for you – the video is directed at women, but is just as applicable to men, so I encourage you to watch. Be inspired – then read on: Continue reading →

Spandex! You Are Stretching My Patience!

/ Anthea Tripp

My friend Dorothy and I had a girl’s day out now and then when we lived in Apple Valley – a shop-‘til-you-drop kind of day. I’m talking ALL day! We’d drive 90 minutes to a huge Mall, be there when it opened and leave when the doors hit us in the rear as they closed, then we’d do dinner and get home in time for bed. The guys thought we were nuts! They were probably right – but those were some FUN times! It wasn’t that we always spent lots of money, or came home with more than we could carry; it was just the delight of the shopping experience itself. Finding a great bargain and cute clothes that fit can be a real stress buster and quite rewarding – an enjoyable experience, one you want to repeat. Continue reading →

The Whole World Stinks! No Wait..it’s Limburger Cheese

/ Anthea Tripp

There’s a story about a grandpa and grandma who visited their grandchildren. It goes like this: 

Each afternoon Grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, as a practical joke, the kids decided to put Limburger cheese in his moustache. Quite soon he awoke sniffing. “Why, this room stinks,” he exclaimed, as he got up and went out into the kitchen. He wasn’t there long until he decided that the kitchen smelled too, so he walked outdoors for a breath of fresh air. Much to Grandpa’s surprise, the open air brought no relief, and he proclaimed “The whole world stinks!”  Mmmmm – no! It was just his upper lip!  Continue reading →

From Whence You Came – Thither You Go!

/ Anthea Tripp

I’ve always ascribed to the belief that who you are today, at least in part, is a result of how and where you grew up, who influenced you most and what you made of yourself in the space between. I am most intrigued by the “why” part – to glance back at the early years and correlate the way someone is and how their past helped form who they are today. The connection is usually unmistakable, if you dig deep enough, and I find it quite fascinating and enlightening – as it lends understanding to who we are as people. Continue reading →

When Future Honors the Past – with “The Present”

/ Anthea Tripp

Have you ever been lukewarm about something and then to your surprise found that it blessed you beyond measure and surpassed all expectations?

If you’ve ever experienced reluctance in going somewhere and then ended up having the best time ever, you know what I mean. Nowadays, I give wisdom and experience permission to overcome reluctance, because I know if I don’t I will never discover what I might have missed! (What? I know – such crazy logic huh?) Continue reading →

Help! There’s an Elephant on My Plate

/ Anthea Tripp / 2 Comments

Elephants are some of my favorite animals. When I was little I marveled at them in the zoo, was fascinated by their acrobatic antics when the circus came to town, and at times rode on their backs – squealing in delight as I hung on for dear life. But never have I revered them more than when I experienced them up close and personal in East Africa in the late fifties.

It was a time when all the magnificent wild animals of Africa roamed free and untamed in their own habitats. They were plentiful and they were majestic and to a spell-bound teenager in a small 4-door sedan, with only a camera to shoot pictures of their magnificence, they were gigantic, powerful, awe-inspiring, sometimes terrifying and they always commanded the right of way. I’m so grateful to have experienced them in the wild, up close and in such great numbers – sometimes too close for comfort, but that’s a story for another time. Continue reading →