Talking the Talk
I swear, I thought I had made another entry. When I brought up the site I started screaming like a little girl, "MT ate my last entry!" Alas, it's just me. The following is unedited, unlinked, and un-something or other that sounds clever. Use the links on the sidebar for the part about professors, lawyers, and rocket scientists. And, of course, Steven den Beste.
I spent the week mostly fretting over my 'talk' on Friday to the elders. When it was all over I had yabbered on for 90 minutes and was getting tired of my own voice when someone pointed out that it was lunchtime. I still had another 15-20 minutes of material.
I remember thinking a month or two ago while I was at 'Deadwood,' that it was too bad that the entertainment at these assisted living communities was, ah, less than star quality. I had little fantasies about digging up a real swing band or barbershop quartet and using my ample powers of persuasion to talk them into doing a gig or two for peanuts. Needless to say, as I was gearing up for my presentation on Friday I was feeling a little short on star quality myself.
The residents that come down to listen to this kind of discussion in the 'Garden' are the ones that still have most of their marbles. They watch Tim Russert and George Stephanopolis on Sunday, and are used to 'old Sid' coming over every other Friday to rattle their cages. In other words, although I had a captive audience, only politeness and decorum would keep them from chewing me up and spitting me out during the Q & A.
It was fortunate that I had the good sense and the good luck of asking for, and getting permission from Steven den Beste, to use some of his material for my presentation. I also grabbed a couple of articles from the Fox News web site. One of the residents asked me afterwards what I did for a living, and when I told her, she and the two standing next to her were floored. "We thought you were a professor." If den Beste can make me look that good, He is a God. What's even better is that he himself, unlike many other top bloggers, is not a professor, rocket scientist, or lawyer. Go read his bio.
At the end, at lunchtime, I still had about 15 people out of the original 25 or so. I would like to say that this big turnout was because of slick marketing or that my Grandmother has undue influence, but it was mostly because there was an exercise class going on just before I got up there. Nonetheless, I'm happy that I did it. Although the crowd voted for Clinton by a sizable majority, the word 'Bush' is regularly spat out as an epithet, and the NY Times is the paper of record; I received no injuries due to flung walkers or canes. Our elder population, by and large, is a class act.
I'm heading back west this coming Friday and I'm going to miss hanging out with the geriatric set. I'm seriously and deliriously thinking of putting together some kind of pat talk of this nature, maybe a current events kind of thing, and picking out a local old folks home to infiltrate on a regular basis. I don't play an instrument (badly or otherwise), I can't give dance lessons, and I never did really master the art of juggling, so I'm thinking about honing my public speaking skills at the expense of people that can't run away that fast. Poor bastards.
