Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2019

Back to School & Laurel Hill

Back to S chool & Laurel Hill U of O Campus B y the fall of 1974 and I was living in Eugene. I enrolled at the University of Oregon and I was renting a room in a house on Hilyard Street with Four others. I had the GI bill but it did not cover all my college expenses. I applied for and received financial aid. The aid came in the form of a student loan bundled with a work-study job. There were a variety of jobs to select from and I chose a job working in a home for adults who were not able to fully care for themselves. I thought I would be useful by directly helping people. I was hoping it would be a rewarding experience. Before I began to work there I was required to attend a one-on-one meeting with the head honcho. At the meeting he explained that this job is not for everyone, in fact, it is not for most. He stressed that this kind of work takes a certain kind of person and there would be a good chance I would not be that kind of person. It was nothing about me

A Case for the Beatles

A Case for the Beatles: I was talking with some friends a couple of years ago who are, oh, 10 to 20 years younger than me. They said they didn't like the Beatles and that they didn't get why they and their music were and are so popular. I can understand not caring for their music but the Beatles were so much more than just another “pop band”. They changed pop music and influenced most of the music that followed. I guess to fully appreciate the Beatles you needed to have been coming of age in the 60's. I was almost 15 when the Beatles hit America. I first remember hearing the Beatles (I Want To Hold Your Hand) on the radio in December of 1963. Beatlemania had already hit England and was about to hit the United States. I was never a big fan of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” but I did like the “B” side “I Saw Her Standing There”. My friend Eddie as well as my younger sister, Babs, liked the Beatles from the get-go but I needed to hear a few of their songs befo