Gorden Jenkins Best! Written in 1958

This Is All I Ask by Gorden Jenkins

As I approach the prime of my life

I find I have the time of my life

Learning to enjoy at my leisure

And so I happily concede

All the simple pleasures

Walk a little slower when you walk by me**

This is all I ask, this is all I need

Beautiful girls**

Children everywhere

Lingering sunsets

Stay a little longer with the lonely sea

Take me to that strange enchanted land

When you shoot at bad men, shoot at me

Grownups seldom understand

Make my wish come true before the night has flown

Wandering rainbows

Leave a bit of colour for my heart to own

As long as there's a song to sing

Stars in the sky

And let the music play

And I will stay younger than spring

This song written so long ago has resonance for all times. It has been recorded so many times

by the great

vocalist of all times, e.g. Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett. Go to Utube plug the names in and

listen to the wonderfull

interpretations and enjoy. But while you are listening let the words sink in and take root because

the philosophy is

lovely and life inspiring, take it from one who knows.

I am way past the prime of my life but I feel younger than Spring because the flowers always bloom,

the girls are

always young be they 10, 50, or 100. And the children are always present bring back memories of

when we replayed

the Saturday serials that played with the movies every week.

Most of all the music is always playing so I can stay younger than Spring.

I hope the reader can do the same.

Donald Trump, The Paragon of Truth!

Does anyone actually believe that all the money paid to Trumps "Fixer" has been accounted for?

Does anyone believe the amounts reported as being paid to Trumps "Fixer"  has actually stayed with him, where did it find itself?

Does anyone believe that the swamp that Trump said he would drain was drained? Or was it made swampier?

Does anyone believe anything Trump says has any truth connected with it when it comes to Russia, increasing his own wealth and not having affairs or his misogynist practices?

Does anyone believe that Trumps personal "Fixer" has specific accounting knowledge that would have firms paying for because he is unique in the field?

Does anyone believe that Devin Nunes is not acting on behalf of the President's bidding  but actually is acting on the behalf of what is good for America?

Just wondering what anyone might believe about this reality show about our Presidency?

When The World Was Young

I was at a concert the other night at Westbury. Buddy Guy the old blues guitarist was the attraction and he was great in the style of BB King. But no matter how good he was it brought me back to a time my world was young because I was young.

The best thing about youth is that at any stage it was always the first time for something, the first black and white soda, the first slice of Pizza, the first time kiss, the first love, the first experience that was good or even bad like going to the dentist for the first time.

Anyway here I was at Buddy Guy's Westbury concert, he's 82, I am older. He was great but I heard great musicians before so while I enjoyed his show it was nothing like when I first saw Louis Prima at Westbury.

I was a young trumpeter because of Prima. I heard him on the radio and I fell in love with his music, his personality that was magically felt over the radio waves and most of all I fell in love with his trumpet and I wanted to be like him.

I joined Local 802 AFofM at 17 and stayed with them for 15 years.  I never became another Louis Prima but I had fun trying. But I digress. The first time I saw him was at the Paramount theater in Manhattan but he was so far away while it was great the best was the first time I saw him at Westbury. I was sitting in the last row. The performers entered from behind me but they had to go close by me down the aisle to the stage which wasn't far away, a lot closer than the Paramount's stage. The lights went down. The announcer let us know Louis Prima was about to enter. I was sitting with my love who put up with my dream to become another Louie Prima and listened to my trumpet almost every day of our marriage. Suddenly the lights went up   and Louis burst out of the door and ran down the aisle almost touched me as he went by. I was thrilled beyond words.

Full of energy he hit the stage running picked up his trumpet and played all my favorites, "Angelina (The Waitress At The Pizza)", "Robin Hood", "Just A Gigolo", all of them. He was backed by Sam Butera and  The Saints. He disbanded his big band at that time. It was the first time I had been so close to him, to hear him, to see him smile and to dream that one day we'd play a trumpet duet. Yes it was a thrill because the world, my world was still young and I was experiencing it all for the first time.

The worst part of growing old is there is very little first times left so grab on to the "now" and cherish the memories. Buddy Guy was great but he wasn't the first time in a young world.

Children Make A Differnce

I was talking with a friend of mine about how it is so difficult to raise a family these days, financially, morally and ethically. When it shifted to the fact that children make a difference in a relationship and my friend agreed with my assumption but seemed to want that assumption to have the caveat that the difference is only good if the couple share the duties of raising the children. It wasn't the idea that both have to be involved in the relationship that bothered me but it was the assumption that  the chores to be shared must be defined by the woman in the relationship or the one that has hands on if it is a same sex couple.


Let me present my case about this subject and the reader can either agree or disagree with what I have to say.

No matter the age of the couple any relationship without children is like hooking up without any obligations. The only people one has to think about is themselves and the fun they are having. But along comes the offspring and suddenly everything is different and that difference isn't acknowledged right away but it does creep up upon the couple and suddenly it becomes obvious "things" just aren't the same. This little human being demands attention, can't take care of oneself and is draining the finances, which drain becomes greater as they become older, and drains the physical well being of all involved .  Therefore the inclusion of having children should be discussed BEFORE the offspring enter the relationship so that clarity of each of the partner's feelings and thoughts of being parents are fully understood.

One person married another who had a child who was grown and with the ex. That person really didn't want children, in fact the thought of marriage was quite different from his partner. They married without discussing and reaching clarity about this matter. The first years of marriage were great. Each lived their lives as they wanted loving each other but the arrival of children changed that and led to a breakup, a divorce.

My marriage, courtship was many years ago but we, both of us agreed that children would be the physical representation of our spiritual love. It was difficult as in my time the man was breadwinner and the woman was the homemaker which included more time raising the kids. We both wanted children and accepted the fact that our lives would never be the same once they, the children, came along but we never let that come between us as we went to bed never angry always loving. We never thought there was anything more noble, or worthwhile than being parents. Instead of dividing us they brought us closer together because they were our expression of love. The vacations missed were missed but never so much as to think one of our children should not have been born. Get my drift.

Our lives were changed forever once our children came into our lives , changed for the better because this was what we wanted, discussed and agreed to way before any child appeared on the scene. Anyone out there reading this who contemplates relationships should discuss, consider and be truthful about wanting offspring because once one appears your life is changed forever.