O-Dark-Thirty

Young Dad For the few regular readers I have, you're family and already know Dad died twelve days ago. For anyone else who wanders onto my blog, that's the reason for the silence the last few weeks.  I'll return to regular posts in March. Wallace E. Bernhardt was born on September 4, 1935 in Canton, OH, the son of Victor A. and Josephine Bernhard.  (That's not a typo - his mother changed his name.) He was baptized at St. Peter's in Canton on September 20, 1935. He and his mother moved to Detroit when he was young. He loved sailing and was a member of the Sea Scouts in his teens. After graduating from St. Joseph's High School in Detroit, Dad joined the US Navy as a medical Corpsman and was sent to Norfolk, Virginia where he met Frances Stone (also in the Navy). Dad and Mom married in March of 1957 and had four sons: Vince, Barry, David and Tim. Dad's Naval career included a tour in Viet Nam in 1968-69 and a letter of commendation for his work in the...

Wow. I don't have notes for 17 stages. Years ago I read an article titled "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth" and very much liked it. After that I gathered some of Joseph Campbell's books and read as much of them as I could absorb. He's prolific and my attention span is like the lifespan of a gnat. I don't recall much of it, but I ran across some notes I took. Here they are. Star Wars is a “hero’s journey” as defined by Campbell. I always thought of it as a space-based western, but westerns are really our USA hero myths (which is why they are so popular around the world, I suppose). In Star Wars, the story of space faring pilots and their daring escapades is based on the hero's journey, which is an ancient form of mythology. ~*~ Now let me shift gears and try to explain my personal definition of mythology in human culture. We start with history, inevitably written by the victors. If the losers write the story also, the better story usually survi...

I love writing and prefer fiction. So if I think of heroes, I don't immediately think of real life, but of fictional heroes. One of my favorite on-line writing haunts is currently Writers Write . Not too long ago they posted a list of Six Type of Courageous Characters . When I wrote about leaders I began to think of heroes. Writers Write says there are six types of bravery that create fictional heroes: heroic, steadfast, quiet, personal, devil-may-care and frightened. In my life I have met many of each of these kinds of brave people, and they are all heroes. The heroic ones are usually easy to spot. I know soldiers who labored to save others, at great risk to themselves. My Dad and brothers fall into this category, as do all the service men and women I have encountered in life. This includes police and firefighters, but doesn't end there. Thank you all. The steadfast ones are trickier. I know a few people who are missionaries in far away countries who could be arr...

MARRIAGE : A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting she won't change and she does. NICKNAMES : When Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose. If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy. EATING OUT : When the bill arrives, each guy will throw in a twenty dollar bill, even though the total is only $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back. When the girls get their bill, they will pull out calculators and compute who owes what, including an exact fifteen percent tip. MONEY : A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item she doesn't want. FINDING THINGS : A man will not be able to find the $2 item he bought a week ago. A woman will be able to tell where in the two-...