Skip to main content

Dick Clark

I know I don't look, or act, old enough but Dick Clark was a huge part of my childhood and adolescence. 


I watched American Bandstand on Saturdays throughout my school years. I loved to dance and I could watch and dance along with the 'really groovy' dancers on the Bandstand. It was my view into the latest music, dance moves, and fashion! I could see what the girls from the big city of Philly were wearing and try to adorn myself in something similar in the big suburbs. Next to Seventeen magazine, it was my best source for fashion!!


Now mind you this is 'back in the day' when most homes only had one TV. And I don't think ours was color until the mid-to-late 70s. So, I would have to announce to my four siblings that it was my turn for the TV at 12:30 when the Bandstand came on. You can imagine the number of times actually sibling warfare broke out - you know name-calling, pillows flying, arms flailing. Often times we'd end up laughing. And then later they might laugh at me when they watched my boogie to the Bandstand!


When I was in high school - I was huge- huge - into disco. I had the Candies (and now the bunions to prove it!) and the Danskin leotard/skirt to go to the discos. I even entered a couple contests with my buddy Jim Chouinard, who loved to dance but would still say that he thought 'disco sucked'. It may be one of those memories reinventing itself, but I think we won a contest or two. So when the Bee Gees made an appearance - I was beside myself to watch them sync to the songs from Saturday Night Fever and to see what the dancers would be wearing.


I learned all about lip-syncing from watching the bandstand. So I wasn't shocked in the 80s when Milli Vanilli was caught doing the lip-sync. Heck they probably got it from watching the bandstand! Only I think the acts on the Bandstand used their own voices for the sync.


All the while, throughout my youth, Dick Clark never seemed to age. It wasn't really until his stroke that you could see the years on his face. He always seemed so kind - to the musical guests and teens in the audience. One of my favorite times in the show was when Dick Clark would sit in the bleachers with the teens to 'talk' and then introduce the next act. He seemed genuine.


So, I was a little sad to hear of his passing. Though after seeing him this past New Year's Rocking Eve, I can say that he didn't look or seem well. Good bye, Dick and thank you for many Saturday's and the many memories bestowed.
   



Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Parenting

I just read a post on Facebook regarding the dearth of parenting. The poster was describing a scene where two young girls were pelting rocks at some ducks in our little town and how he observed no parents around telling these girls that it was wrong to torture little innocent animals. Within hours, there were 15 responses - all alluding to a lack of parenting that is evident nearly everywhere today. Stick with me here - because that conversation reminded me of one I'd had recently that might not seem related to parenting at all. It was with my oldest son about his concern about the selfishness of our culture - most recently evident in the Wall Street meltdown. He believes that we are too focused on "Me" and not enough on "We" and if we had a little more focus on the total and just not our part, we would be in a much better place. Still there? Okay, here's the cement that will hold this together - those girls pelting little ducks with rocks weren't likely...

Tough time to be a Pollyanna

Remember when 9/11 was just a date or a number you called in an emergency? Our lives changed dramatically post 9/11. For weeks after that September day, we seemed to walk around in a fog, like the haze that loomed over the now-fallen twin towers. I remember trying to minimize my obsession with the news, trying to keep the three little Piggins away from the enormity of the disaster. Remember when corona was simply a beer best served with a lime wedge? It now and forever will be instead associated with this virus that has upended our world in ways we could never have imagined. This tiny little, microscopic virus has brought the mighty to their knees. It has us quarantined and distancing socially (though I believe we've been doing this emotionally for years) and working from home. As anxiety peaks, our economy tanks. As toilet paper and hand sanitizer flies off the shelves, we are looking for new ways to stock our pantries. A good friend observed, "I never thought I'd...

Emily Post of wheelchair etiquette

I've been in my wheelchair now for over a year - sometimes it seems like 20 and others times seems like days. Depends on a lot of things including my mood for the day (whether my 'get-up-and-go' got up and went), the weather (let's face it even the heartiest of Michiganders don't always want to venture out in blustery, snowy or icy days) and what's on the agenda (if I have a date with my hubby or going to see the not-so-little Piggins). Another variable, about my attitude towards the wheelchair, however is what I believe I will receive from some people when they see me in the wheelchair. What I mean is, some people see ME in a wheelchair and others see me in a WHEELCHAIR. Many times someone will see me coming and give me a look of sorrow or pity - it's a look that gets under my skin and makes me want to scream "You don't see me -I'm not pitiful I'm in a wheelchair!" (actually, what I want to scream sometimes includes a few four-letter...