SPIN THE BOTTLE

July 31, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey

While thinking about what I would write about in this blog, I recalled that I've been writing this blog since 2003 and had previously written a daily newspaper column for 10 years.  So, I'm quite sure that I've repeated myself over the years.  I hope my long term readers will understand.
Barry told me this week, he is going to give me a party on my 90th birthday this December 10th.  That reminded me of the fabulous birthday parties my late mother gave me until I was 13.  That year mother agreed to have a boy - girl party at night time.  I thought she was in a really good mood so I asked if we could play the game, "spin the bottle", and she agreed.  Before I became too excited, she explained that her version of the game was that the boy and girl could walk around the outside of our house.  Even within the restrictions the party was a success.
The next day when my girlfriends and I were discussing the party, we were shocked by the confession of one friend who said she let a boy kiss her when they walked around the house.  (She, like myself was a preacher's daughter and you know what they say about preacher's kids.)  We were awestruck when she described the kiss, and keep in mind this was a time of innocence, at least for the girls in my east Tennessee community.  If a boy and girl held hands at a movie, it was exciting for both of them.
I was diagnosed with dementia last year, which means my short term memory is getting shorter, and I agree.  I have Barry and Tam to remind me of what I need to remember.  My long term memory is amazing to those I talk to.
One of my earliest memories was when I was about 4 years old.  My parents took me to what may have been a park in Chattanooga to see Tom Mix, an American film actor who was the star of many early Western movies between 1909 and 1935.  He appeared in 291 films, 9 of which were silent movies.  He was Hollywood's first Western star and helped define the genre as it emerged in the early days of the cinema.
Two things remained important in my life until recently.  One was books.  I still have my first book, "Little Women", which I read many times.  The other was movies.  I haven't seen a movie in several years.  My two favorite movies are "From Here to Eternity" and "The Godfather".
See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited and typed by Tam.)

MY WAY

July 27, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey
Now at the age of 89, I find myself often thinking of my past life.  This week, I remembered the song, "My Way", written by Paul Anka for Frank Sinatra who recorded it in the 1960's.  Later, Elvis Presley recorded a slightly different version of the song which he included in his Vegas act.
The words of the song describe my personal emotions of my life.  Barry printed the lyrics for me and agrees the words describe my life.  If you haven't heard the song or at least not recently, I'm posting the words as follows:

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say - not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes, it was my way


See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited and typed by Tam.)

WRITING IS MY PASSION

July 24, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey

Barry printed a list this weekend of my most popular blogs of the past six months.  This list is further proof to me that I have no talent predicting any of my writing's popularity.  Topping the list is Sand Mountain which has interesting history and was posted September 10, 2013.  It has been on the list since it was first posted.  Another blog on the list surprised me.  It was titled Brother which is about my cousin who was like a brother.  It was posted on May 30, 2017.
Some of the blogs listed were not at all popular with local readers.  Go figure!  I haven't been successful in predicting the popularity of my novels either.  I guess if I wasn't a compulsive writer I wouldn't continue writing at the age of eighty-nine.  I knew when I was a little girl I would one day be a writer.  I've had a long love affair with newspapers.  There were times when I thought of becoming a newspaper writer.  But, my main love was fiction.  Even at a young age, I knew I had a lot of living to do and emotions to experience to write fiction.
My first novel, Catch the Brass Ring, was as the great Kristofferson wrote in a song, "partly truth, partly fiction".  I had my first writing break with newspapers when I was in my thirties.  Over the years, I worked on the novel.  I had no trouble finding a top literary agent who loved the novel, but said it was too long.  I cut out a big part of the novel and one character I loved.  (Barry says I talk about my fictional characters as if they are real people, and to me they are as I created them.  I grieved for the character I killed and later brought him back to life in another novel.)  This novel is set during the World War II years.
Some people I meet look me up on the internet and are surprised the novel, Princess Mooneyes which I sold to a German publisher many years ago is still popular.  This is a story about a young woman who is half American Cherokee Indian and half American English.  The man she falls in love with calls her Princess Mooneyes when he remembers an old legend about a group of white people with blue eyes that settled on Fort Mountain thousands of years ago.  The Indians believed the mooneyed people could see better at night which is why they were called mooneyed.  This novel is available at Amazon.
Thanks to beautiful hair stylist, Carrie Jackson, of N-Style in Dalton.  I recently had a much needed haircut in my home.  She is Tam's daughter and mother of two beautiful daughters.  She has cut and styled my hair for several years in her shop but recently started coming to me.  She always cuts my hair in an attractive, easy to maintain style.
A word of encouragement to people who want to write.  Do it regardless of your circumstances.  When I started writing professionally my office was a space in the living room of our small house.  My desk was an old card table.  The typewriter was a Royal manual that I borrowed from a neighbor.  My filing cabinet was a cardboard box.  My chair was a hard wooden kitchen chair.  Now I have a large well equipped office with the walls lined with bookcases.  Unfortunately I'm unable to write in there.  But, Tam utilizes the office space and takes care of my business.
See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited and typed by Tam.)

amazon.com Olivene Godfrey

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

July 17, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey

I was five years old when I started to school.  A few years earlier my family had moved to a fairly new community (East Ridge) on the outskirts of Chattanooga where we had lived since I was one year old.  My twin sisters who we referred to as "the babies" didn't have a babysitter at that time.  So, a neighbor's daughter who would be entering the sixth grade agreed to walk to the school with me.  On the big day, I wasn't scared as I was eager to learn to read and write.  In my earliest memories my daddy would read the "funnies" to me as well as little articles I enjoyed.
The name of the school was Anna B. Lacey, a school I loved.  According to the internet the school is still open.  A picture on the internet of the school still looks like I remember it.  I have fond memories of the six years I was a student there.
I had been a student for a few weeks when my mother arranged to have a sitter so she could visit the school and talk to my teacher.  Each afternoon when I arrived home mother had a snack for me.  While I ate I told her about my day.  I told her my teacher's name was Miss Tribban and the principal was Miss Growl.  When mother visited the school she discovered those weren't their names.  She recalled when I was older, the day she visited I was sitting in the teacher's lap.
I have always been a finicky eater but I loved the cafeteria food at that school.  I remember the school having elaborate plays and festivals.  Once, I was a Shirley Temple doll in a play set in a toy store.  I had a Shirley Temple doll and mother, who was a needle artist made me a dress like my doll.  On the day of the play, she arranged my blonde hair into Shirley's classic style.  I have a photograph of myself made that day in my bedroom/sitting room.  I was fortunate to have had good teachers in elementary school.
See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited & typed by Tam.)

CAPTIVATING ELVIS

July 10, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey

Now that I'm a frail 89, it tires me to write.  I've always been a compulsive writer and I guess I'll dictate a blog to Tam on my death bed.  I don't feel too good today (Sunday), but I have writing a blog on my mind and won't be able to relax until it's written.  I've been writing a blog since 2003, so I've probably written on this subject.  If I have, bear with me.
I've been thinking for several days that I've been fortunate to have seen some famous entertainers perform live.  Today, I'm going to comment on what I think was the best show and the worst show.
It won't be a surprise to my long time readers that my favorite show was Elvis Presley.  The show was in 1973 at the Atlanta's old Omni.  The demand for tickets was so great it was sold out for four performances.  Ralph and I and young Barry saw the fourth show.  I've never been able to explain the atmosphere in the Omni.  It was like an electric current in the air.
At the time of the show to begin the lights went out.  A smooth, loud voice announced, "Elvis has entered the building".  Then the lights came on and a still slender, incredibly good looking Elvis was standing on stage.  Then, he began to sing with his orchestra and backup singers.  Barry recalls that the show we saw was his Vegas act.  The security was tight.  I briefly stood up at an exciting moment and security tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to sit down.  When the show ended, the lights went out and the voice announced, "Elvis has left the building"
On the drive home, I remembered the day when I was driving home from work in 1956 and I had the car radio on when the DJ announced he was going to play a new record with the title, "Heartbreak Hotel", by an unknown singer with the name, "Elvis Presley".  I was captivated!  The next day I and millions of others who heard it, bought the record.  (I still have it in my office.)  The song won every award and the rest is history.
The most disappointing live performance was the comedian, Bob Hope.  It was held at an outdoor theater in St. Petersburg, Florida.  He had all of his "sidekicks" and a beautiful young blonde on stage.  I didn't find him the least bit funny.  Actually, he was pathetic.  When his jokes "laid eggs" he started telling off color jokes.  The people in the audience started leaving.  One young man seated near us laughed hysterically and we decided he was a "plant".
Barry read on the internet recently that Bob Hope relied entirely on "scripted jokes".  He also read that Johnny Carson didn't think highly of him.
See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited and typed by Tam.)

RADIO IN THE 1930's

July 5, 2017

By Olivene Godfrey

For the radio, the 1930's was a golden age.  At the start of the decade twelve million American households owned a radio.  By 1939 this total had exploded to more than twenty-eight million, according to research I've done.  I had the privilege of growing up during this period.
As technology improved radio's became smaller and less expensive.  They became the central piece of furniture in the average family's living room, with adults and children alike.  Most crowded around the set to hear the latest installment of their favorite show.  We had a large radio in the living room and a small radio in the kitchen.  I remember when I was an elementary school student and would listen to Chattanooga's Luther Massingale's program early in the morning while I ate my breakfast.
Radio provided a great source of entertainment with much loved comedian's such as Jack Benny and Fred Allen.  It marked the advent of the soap opera, a running story that people could return to, with characters they could sympathize with and love.  I remember returning home from school in the afternoon, eating the snack my mother always had waiting and listening to the radio soap, "Stella Dallas".  That poor woman had more to bear than any person should have to endure, but somehow she always overcame her troubles.
Radio programs provided a source of inspiration with heroes like the Lone Ranger and The Shadow - "who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men."  Ha Ha!
News broadcasters influenced the way the public experienced current affairs.  I remember during World War II listening to newscaster, Gabriel Heater, giving his "good" and "bad" news while we ate supper.
Franklin Roosevelt's "fireside chats" helped the population feel closer to their president than ever before.  One of my greatest thrills was when I saw FDR in person, in Chattanooga when I was a child.
By the end of the decade radio had exacted quite an influence on the American media.  Advertisers capitalized on the radio's popularity and the idea of the "sponsor" was born.  Radio also helped establish the national broadcasting networks such as NBC and CBS, still present to this day.
An after thought; In my last blog, I wrote about my strange family.  I neglected to mention that often at night, my daddy would stroll through the house, quoting scary passages of Edgar Allen Poe's epic poem, "The Raven".  It didn't scare me, it just caused me to be interested in the poet.
See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (Edited and typed by Tam.)