for Andrew

Andrew is getting a delivery...
06/05/2007 3:30pm

Putting the FUN back in dysfunctional

OHIO

OK, we went to meet some friends that we met on a cruise in 1997 or so.

Beth and Dan Hafler and their kids Emily and Greg are FUN people. A little crazy, but a LOT of fun. Beth is very similar to our Beth in so many wierd ways, but she is speedy. She is always full throttle until she crashes, she sleeps it off, gets up and does it all again. Dan is the calmer one. Not quite ying and yang but more like zing and zang. He is a workaholic too, always busy, but at least his feet touch the ground. Their son Greg is like Beth while Emily fortunately is a little more like Dan. They own Hafner Florists in Holland Ohio. Dan runs one store and Beth runs the other one. A very sensible arrangement. Note: Beth Hafner, you actually have a website, click on the underlined words a couple of lines up to see it. (Beth isn't really technically proficient because you have to actually sit still to learn about computer stuff)



It was great seeing them. We nagged them about taking a vacation some time. Dan is reading a self-help book about "How to do nothing". He hopes it works.

I think I will take a nap.

We said our goodbyes and then drove over to Oregon (Ohio) about 20 miles away. We went to see some friends houses so that we can picture what they are talking about when we are telling stories at the Muster. We walked around Linda and Bill's place and peered into the garage windows. Nice Bar! We went down the road to Sandy and Chuck's place and parked next door and peered into Bill's bigger garage. I think I found a place to live.

Linda was busy stealing some plants to bring to her daughter's house in Columbus the next day. Sandy was working and Chuck was at the hospital with his very sick daughter. They are having a brutal year. Sandy, it does get better, I think. I can recommend a florist shop down the road from you. Sandy, you should go there. It will help.

We are going to meet Linda, Bill, Sandy and Chuck in San Francisco in a few weeks. We hope.

Anyhow, a major storm was preparing to flank us so we made a run for it. We veered off course to go to Ann Arbor Michigan, because I have always wanted to see Ann Arbor. We are here right now while I am typing in the last few days worth of - - - stuff. There is a Big Boy restaurant attached to this motel. Beth worked as a waitress at Bob's Big Boy in Tucson (7 nights a week for $1.00 per hour plus tips) so it was good to see the Big Boy again, although he is MUCH smaller now. We went downtown and walked around, had some food and beer, pronounced the town as "good" and went back to the motel. I have been typing ever since. We have to eat breakfast and hit the road to somewhere now.

I will add the pictures a little later. We gotta go. Thanks for listening.

You may notice that I usually do not write FULL names of people we visit, but the Hafners have a business. Publicity is good. I don't know where they live, so if I can't stalk them, YOU can't stalk them. Order flowers from them. If enough of you do it, they can afford to take time off and we can play with them. OK, if you don't go to their town very often, how about calling THEM to order your long distance flowers (FTD or whatever), they will pass it through to Warwick Rhode Island or wherever you are sending them, they get their little cut, and YOU get to talk to a REALLY fun person. Now I don't know if they actually DO ftd, but let's just assume that they do. Call them.

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ingrid said...
The grandfather of a friend I grew up with in Vermont invented Big Boy.

I can't remember the entire story, but I do recall how my friend used that as his claim to fame!
June 10, 2007 7:42 PM

for Wes and Graham

(Detroit)

a parkway??? wouldn't "Willys TRAIL" be more fitting?

Cleveland Rocks

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Finally a "Hall of Fame" that I can understand.

It wasn't crowded because of some sports thing happening at Cleveland's new stadium up the street. I heard that Sundays can be very crowded sometimes. The parking angel got a spot closest to the door.

It was really cool. There were little nuggets of history everywhere but you had to look for them. I searched out Sister Rosetta Tharpe and some of the old timers first. There were film clips playing everywhere. Watching the censorship hearings was scary. Some of those people are still in office. I had never seen any footage of that because that was during the period when we didn't have a TV. It was cool to see the governor of California (when I was a teenager) asking "Are these young kids just showing their idealism or is there a PLOT involved?".

There were movies about the start of rock & roll, the entire Bangladesh concert, kiosks with headphones everywhere. With a minimum amount of people there, it was a cacaphony of sounds which was as exhausting as being in a Best Buy at Christmas shopping season. Normally a lot of bodies would absorb the sound so that each display's sound was all you could hear.

Beth and I were going at a different pace. I love to read OLD PAPER. It's in my genes.

Well remember from the last post that I was a little "fragile"? Well I guess I still was a wee bit fragile even with the excitement of the museum. I was watching a little movie clip of Al Hendrix. He was talking about the first time his wife said "that's Jimi's voice" when they were in a restaurant and they checked out what music was playing and he found out it was his son. He talked to Jimi on the phone and said that he actually made the big time, cut his first record, and they let HIM sing it. "And you know, I don't have a good voice..." and Al said "Oh I know, that's for sure...". Al was talking about how when Jimi was on tour they got together for the first time in five years, "even though they had always stayed in touch", how he saw his show and was sooooo proud of him, but he slid way down in his seat when Jimi was playing the Star Spangled Banner because he was afraid "he's gonna be arrested now" but then he looked around and everybody was cheering, so he sat back up and figured that it must be OK after all.

He joked and talked about all kinds of things about Jimi, and he had a big grin on his face the whole time. He was soooo proud of his son. This interview was three decades after he lost his son. The laughter and the pride was still as strong as ever. I stood there by myself with the headphones on sharing being a father with him. The pride, the joy, the friendship. (now remember the part about being fragile?) I don't know how much time I stood there with my headphones on, but Beth pretty much finished the museum while I was standing there. The pride, the laughter, and what really knocked the stuffin' out of me was while Al had this big grin on while telling the stories and laughing, there were tears down his cheeks during the entire interview. I couldn't get my focus off the tears. Three decades. It never goes away.

Well I finally broke away and went to another little kiosk and listened to studio takes of Little Wing and Angel a few times. I looked at the drawings that Jimi made as a kid (he was very good). Looked at all of the clothes, and the handwritten song lyrics. Did you know that Purple Haze was originally "Purple Haze, Jesus Saves"? I had heard in the past that Jimi complained that purple haze had a lot of wonderful lyrics that got lost when the record company shortened the song to turn it into a single. By the time Jimi heard the finished product his notes were already gone. The record execs probably didn't mean to remove all references to Jesus, it just happened.

I quickly looked at everything else in the museum. Beth and I met up in the lobby, I bought a few postcards and we left.

Wheeeeeew.....

Dee why ess eff you en see tea eye oh en aye ell

OK, so we're still a little fragile... OK? we know that....
Saturday Night. It's the weekend, time for some free phone calls.
Beth called D&L to see how they were doing.
"fine" doug said
"how are the animals?" beth said
"Sophie has been missing since Thursday" doug said
"Well it's OK, that's the risk we take, just keep looking for her." beth said - and ended the call pretty quickly.

Beth and I talked about how she "probably found a home already", how she didn't have claws to defend herself, how she had never been out of the house before, how she was the best kitty ever, how we did everything wrong, how she was probably still in the house, how she may be in the house but got squashed by something, how she probably didn't suffer, what bad parents we were, how horrible D&L must be feeling right now.

(we cried ourselves to sleep)

Doug called at 4:45 this morning to tell us that he heard Sophie in the cellar that morning, went down and got her, fed her, gave her lots of pats, and that she was now sleeping in Foxy's bed.

We are soooooo happy.
I have a headache, my sinuses are clogged up and I have the most unbelievable bags under my eyes. We are going to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame today and I look like Iggy Pop.

But it was a cleansing experience, yep, that's it. I feel like crap today because I am cleansed.
Sophie the kitty is fine.