April 1, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Welcome to today’s column. Today the AMC Gremlin and Apple, Inc highlight On This Date, while the Turtles and Aretha are at The Top of the Charts, and fooling ourselves is the subject of Philosophy 101. 

Enjoy, and many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo,
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 1974 – The AMC Gremlin is introduced in America. One of the ugliest cars in human history, the Gremlin was designed to compete with other economy car legends such as the Chevy Vega and the Ford Pinto. Appropriately, the first designs of the Gremlin by wizards at American Motors were drawn in an airplane on an airsickness bag. The Gremlin ceased production after the 1978 model year.

In 1976 – Apple, Inc. is founded in Los Altos, California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Twelve days later Wayne sold his share in the new company back to Wozniak and Jobs for $800 and later accepted $1,500 against future claims, a total of about $9,500 in today’s money. Its first product was the Apple I computer and the Apple II would be introduced the following summer.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1967:
Hot 100 – Happy Together…The Turtles (2nd of three weeks)
Soul Chart – I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)…Aretha Franklin (2nd of seven weeks)
Country Chart – Walk Through This World With Me…George Jones (1st of two weeks)
UK Singles Chart – Release Me…Englebert Humperdinck (5th of six weeks)
Album Chart – More of the Monkees…The Monkees (8th of 18 weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard (US) and Official Charts Company (UK).

Numbers Racket
10,691: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.171: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
590: number of days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.
Richard P Feynman

Our mind is at the same time our most useful and dangerous tool. Take, for example, the aphorism everyone can do something well. We preach this regularly in this feature and it is one of the earliest lessons we can remember learning. Though true, it’s a double-edged sword, carrying both good news and bad news.

The good news is some of us believe this and once we do, we are on our way to getting the most out the talents we were issued birth.

The bad news is some of us believe this and we delude ourselves into believing we are good at things we really aren’t very good at.

This feature is a good example of both. You’re reading this because we have a knack for writing and are vain enough to think others will like it. On the other hand, we are delusional enough to think everything we write is the very best human letters has to offer, though it should be noted that while this may not be true, a little ego usually attends all successful ventures.

The biggest way some of us delude ourselves is that we are making the most of our time on this planet. It’s easy to fool ourselves with the procession of aimless days, days full of the distractions that nudge us off our path. In fact, this nudging is so gradual we may not even be aware it is happening: a day or two off our path and the next thing anyone knows we’ve been off our path for weeks, months, years, the rest of our lives. When our time comes to die we will be looking back at time squandered instead of time well spent.

They key to not fooling ourselves is first to look inside ourselves, to find the talents we were born with and to spend our days courageously and diligently getting the most out of these talents.

Second, forget success and failure. These two imposters exist only in relation to each other: ignore the relationship and both disappear. The Taoists amongst us would say, somewhat contradictorily, that someone who never fails always succeeds, but dismissing success and failure means we are left only with the work we’ve put into our lives. If that work is substantial and consistent, then we will have a life well spent, life’s great prize.

Richard P Feynman (1918-88) was an American physicist, earning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

March 24, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Good morning, and thank you for reading.

Today we allow On This Date to take us to 1765 and 1944, Top of the Charts reviews 1974 and Philosophy 101 talks about choices that may already have been made for us.

Many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo,
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 1765 – The British Parliament passes the Quartering Act, which required colonial governments to house and feed British troops. This was one of many acts of Parliament that tended to annoy the Colonists, was one of the grievances detailed in the Declaration of Independence and was the impetus for the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes without permission or without being specifically authorized by law. It also had some influence over the passage of teh 2nd Amendment.

In 1944 – What History refers to as the Great Escape begins at German POW camp Stalag Luft III in what is now western Poland. It was not particularly successful. Of the 600 prisoners who worked on the tunnel, 200 were chosen for escape and of these 76 actually made it out of the camp and of these only three made it to an Allied or neutral country. Of the 73 that were captured 50 were executed by the Germans.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1973:
Hot 100 – Love Train…The O’Jays (only week)
Soul Chart – Neither One Of Us (Want To Be The First To Say Goodbye)…Gladys Knight & the Pips (2nd of four weeks)
Country Chart – The Teddy Bear Song…Barbara Fairchild (2nd and final week)
UK Singles Chart – Cum On Feel the Noize…Slade (4th and final week)
Album Chart – Dueling Banjos…Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell (2nd of three weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard (US) and Official Charts Company (UK).

Numbers Racket
10,683: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.149: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
598: number of days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
But for the chosen, there is no choice.
Saul Bellow
Ravelstein

We talk a lot here about getting the most out of the talents we were issued at birth. We believe it is the key to a good life and doing so is one of life’s great prizes.

We had no say in what those talents are, either. Nature endowed us with them and the only real choice we humans have to make is whether or not we are going to make use of these talents or squander them. It might seem like there are those chosen for a good life and those who are not, but in reality the only difference between those that get on in this life and those who do not are the former had the diligence and courage to get the most out of their talents and live the life they were meant to live. Those looking back on what might have been probably did not maximize their talents.

All of us – you, me, your aunt in Reno – are cut out to do certain things, things we were chosen to do by nature. Now, it is important to note that these things do not necessarily have to favor or curse us with fame or fortune or cause to live down the ages. In fact, they probably won’t. All that is important is that we do the things we have a knack for, that we make our time serve us by following the path our hearts direct us to take and trusting our instincts to take us there.

When we do that, we’ve made the only real choice us humans have to make.

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a Canadian/American writer and was a winner of both the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes. 

March 22, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Some good stuff for you today as On This Date visits with the namesake for the Americas as well as Karl Wallenda, Top of the Charts reviews today in music in 1975  and Philosophy 101 talks about being on the wire and why that is a good place to be, even though some avoid it.

Many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 1508 – King Ferdinand II of Aragon appoints Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mariner and cartographer of note, as chief navigator. Thanks mainly to various letters he either wrote or were attributed to him, a variation of his name was attached to the continents of the New World, now known as North and South America.

In 1978 – Karl Wallenda, a German-born naturalized American and patriarch of The Flying Wallendas, falls ten stories to his death while attempting to walk a tightrope between two buildings in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Wallenda was about halfway across and was lowering himself when he lost his balance and fell. Despite the high winds, his family said his fall was due more to faulty wires that were attached to the tightrope. Wallenda, 73, came from an old German circus family and had been performing since he was four-years-old.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1975:
Hot 100 – My Eyes Adored You…Frankie Valli (only week)
Soul Chart – Shining Star…Earth, Wind & Fire (1st of two weeks)
Country Chart – Before the Next Teardrop Falls…Freddy Fender (2nd and final week)
UK Singles Chart – Bye Bye Baby…Bay City Rollers (1st of six weeks)
Album Chart – Physical Graffiti…Led Zeppelin (1st of six weeks )
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard (US) and Official Charts Company (UK).

Numbers Racket
10,681: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.142: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
600: number of days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
Life is being on the wire; everything else is just waiting.
Rick Wallenda

We all have our wires waiting for us. The only question is whether we choose to cross them or not. Now, the wires that await us don’t necessarily have to be tightropes strung between buildings or over waterfalls. As we note here from time to time, we are all issued assorted talents at birth and not all of us have a knack for or an interest in being an acrobat.

But we all have talents. We all have certain things we can do well. The difference between those that get on in this world and those that, perhaps, are looking back on time squandered, is those that make something happen for themselves have accepted the challenge of making their time serve them and maximizing the talents they were issued at birth. They know the life they were meant to live, they have the courage to go and live that life every day and they have the patience to see their path through to the very end.

We can do no less; the talents we were born with are calling us, waiting with their own wires for us to cross. Are we going to accept the challenge? Are we going to choose to maximize the talents we were born with and live the life we were meant to live, or are going to squander that opportunity? I can’t answer that question for you and you can’t answer it for me. Each of us must look in the mirror every morning – where we will generally see our biggest obstacle – and decide for ourselves.

Attempting to cross the wire is life’s great challenge and crossing it is life’s great prize. It is there for everyone. All we have to do is know ourselves and follow our hearts and trust our instincts to lead us where we were meant to go.

Rick Wallenda is the grandson of Karl Wallenda, whose death is noted above. 

March 20, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Welcome aboard today. On This Date reviews events in both 1602 and 1985, while Top of the Charts visits the #1 songs and album of 1982 while Philosophy 101 talks about knowledge.

Many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In  1602 – The Dutch East India Company is formed. Though usually known as a trading company, the Dutch East India Company was rather diversified, and was one of the world’s first megacorporations and was also used by the Dutch government as an instrument of colonialism. It remained in business through 1799.

In 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the Iditarod Dog Sled race in Alaska in a time of 18 days and 20 minutes, about two-and-a-half hours faster than the runner-up. The race that year had more than the usual number of storms and Riddles won because she had carried on in a storm where others had chosen to lay over in a village. Four of the next five races were won by Susan Butcher, and they remain the only two women to win the race.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1962:
Hot 100 – I Love Rock and Roll…Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1st of seven weeks)
Soul Chart – That Girl…Stevie Wonder (5th of nine weeks)
Country Chart – Mountain of Love…Charley Pride (only week)
Album Chart – Beauty and the Beat…The Go-Go’s (3rd of six weeks )
UK Singles Chart – The Lion Sleeps Tonight…Tight Fit (3rd and final week)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,679: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.138: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
602: days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
I was by no means a scholar, simply an interested reader with nothing to do but live and learn.
Louis L’Amour
Education of a Wandering Man

We talk a lot here about the assorted talents we are all born with and how maximizing those talents is the key to a good life but, in reality, L’Amour is right, all we really have to do in this life is live and learn. Because when you get right down to it, all education is self-education, something else L’Amour was fond of saying.

This is true regardless of how we choose to educate ourselves, whether we utilize the resources of a great, or even average, university or whether we do it ourselves: we must put the work in to teach ourselves both what we want to know and what we should know. Those that go to college and spend four years binge drinking and passing tests are doing themselves as much good as the autodidact who comes home from work and spends his time drinking brewskis and watching TV all night.

The ultimate education in this life is knowing ourselves, and the only real knowledge comes the experiences we have and the work and diligence we put into making good things happen for ourselves. The very best way to educate ourselves is to know the life we are meant to live and the only way to do this is to know what we are about, to have the courage to go and live the life our hearts and our instincts tell us to live and to have the patience to see our path through to the very end.

Louis L’Amour (1908-88), self-educated himself, was an American writer. 

March 17, 2019
Dearest Readers,

A good Sunday morning to you, and thank you for stopping by.

Today On This Date takes you to the American Revolution and to Israel while Top of the Charts visits the top songs and albums of 1962. Philosophy 101 discusses success not demanding a price.

Many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 1776 – The Siege of Boston ends after the British army evacuates sets sail for Nova Scotia. The siege had begun in April 1775 after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the opening salvos in the American War of Independence, after American militiamen had blocked land access to Boston. Though Boston ceased to be a target of the British afterward, the city retained its preeminent place in revolutionary activities. Today is still known in some cities and towns as Evacuation Day.

In 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister in the history of Israel. Previously, she had been both the Labor and Foreign ministers and would serve until June 1974. Among the highlights of her tenure, was her ordering Israeli agents to identify and kill those responsible for murdering eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1962:
Hot 100 – Hey! Baby…Bruce Channel (2nd of three weeks)
Soul Chart – Duke of Earl…Gene Chandler (5th of five weeks)
Country Chart – That’s My Pa…Sheb Wooley (only week)
Album Chart (Mono) – Blue Hawaii…Elvis Presley (14th of 20 weeks )
Album Chart (Stereo) – Breakfast at Tiffany’s Soundtrack…Henry Mancini (6th of 12 non-consecutive weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,676: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.130: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
605: days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
But in truth, success doesn’t demand a price. Every step forward pays a dividend.
Dr. David J. Schwartz
The Magic of Thinking Big

The first sentence in this paragraph might raise some eyebrows. After all, you hear people of accomplishment frequently talking about the sacrifice involved in scaling a mountain. And perhaps they’re right to a small extent: you set out on your path and you shed some things like tired old habits that were not producing a dividend and people will come and go from your life, too. It’s the way the world is built.

Really, though, every day spent on your path, every day spent maximizing your talents, every day spent making your time serve you instead of serving time on this planet is a day well-spent. Once you have committed to following your heart (which will tell you where to go) and following your instincts (which will tell you how to get there) good days will come. Enough good days and you have a good year and enough good years and the next thing you know you have built a good life for yourself. Every day on your path is a step forward and every step forward pays a dividend.

The only time a price is paid is when we decide not to follow our hearts, trust our instincts and follow our path, and the price for this is a little bit of us dying every day we are not doing these things. All of us were put here for a purpose, and our best lives are lived when we are living that purpose.

Dr David J Schwartz (1927-87) was an American writer.  

March 16, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Good morning. Today, On This Date makes trips to Vietnam and Beirut, and Top of the Charts investigates 1985 and in today’s episode of Philosophy 101, we chat you and me being the only thing new in the long progression of days.

Many thanks for reading,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 1968 – What History refers to as the Mai Lai Massacre occurs in northern South Vietnam when between 350 nad 500 Vietnamese civilians are slaughtered by elements of US Army’s 23rd Infantry Division. The cover-up, of course, began immediately and the story was not broken until November 1969 in an Associated Press story by Seymour Hersh. 26 soldiers would ultimately be charged though only Lt. William Calley would be convicted. His life sentence was eventually reduced to twenty years to life and then, in 1974, time served.

In 1985 – Associated Press reporter Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut after, kidnapped on the street and thrown into the trunk of a car following a game of tennis. Anderson was held captive for six years and nine months, released on December 4, 1991. He was captured by militants attempting to urge the United States to stop butting in in the Lebanese Civil War.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1985:
Hot 100 – Can’t Fight This Feeling…REO Speedwagon (2nd of three weeks)
Soul Chart – Nightshift…The Commodores (1st of four weeks)
Country Chart – Crazy for Your Love…Exile (only week)
Album Chart – Make It Big…Wham! (3rd and final week)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,675: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.127: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
606: days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
In this old world, there is nothing new but ourselves.
Gore Vidal
Creation

It may seem that life is merely a long progression of days that tend to look an awful lot alike, but the good news is we can make a new version of ourselves every day. We all have 24 hours every day, the only commodity every human is issued in equal measure, and what we get out of our lives depends on how we spend those 24 hours. Do we spend them in activities that yield a dividend, or do we squander them doing things that provide no long-term benefit?

Those that get on in this world put their 24 hours to work for them, taking advantage of what nature and circumstance put in front of them and making their time serve them. Those that spend their lives marking time squander their 24 hours.

Which are you? Are you looking back on and forward to time well spent, or are you not entirely pleased

If the former is your answer, good work and carry on.

If your answer, however, is the latter, don’t fret, because a new you is there for the taking. All that is required is to take some time to look inside yourself, inventory your talents and ambitions and know what you are about. Then all you need is the courage to maximize these talents and the patience and diligence to do this every single day. When you do this, you will be on your path, living the life you were meant to live, life’s great prize.

Both you, your loved ones and this old world will benefit.

Gore Vidal (1925-2012) was an American was an American writer. He is quoted regularly in this feature. 

March 15, 2019
Dearest Readers,

It’s tough to be the king today, as On This Date features both an assassination and an abdication, while Top of the Charts looks at 1971. Philosophy 101 features a quote from Will Durant, about not depending too much on external factors.  

Cordially,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn

On This Date:
In 44 BC – Roman Dictator Julius Caesar is assassinated by some malcontents in the Roman Senate, who he had been bickering with for a while. Though able to stave off the initial attack, he was unable to fend off reinforcements and Caesar has stabbed a total of 23 times, though an autopsy, the earliest one on record, said only the second one, which severed his aorta, was fatal.

In 1917 – The Emperor of Russia Nicholas II is forced to abdicate, ending over 300 years of rule by his family. He and other family members were immediately imprisoned and would be executed the following year.

Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1975:
Hot 100 – Black Water…The Doobie Brothers (only week)
Soul Chart – Supernatural Thing (Part 1)…Ben E. King (only week)
Country Chart – Before the Next Teardrop Falls…Freddy Fender (1st of two weeks)
Album Chart – Have You Never Been Mellow…Olivia Newton-John (only week)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,674: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.126: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
607: days until Election Day 2020.

Philosophy 101
The essence of the matter is that a man should so mold his life and conduct so that his happiness shall depend as little as possible upon external things.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Volume III: Caesar to Christ.

It’s inevitable that we are influenced by external factors. Family and friends provide demands on our time and us humans tend to spend a lot of time being entertained, from our homes to the palms of our hands. Distractions from the life we were meant to lead are everywhere.

If we are spending all of our time being influenced by external forces we are ignoring the forces that compel us from deep inside. When we ignore these forces we are actually ignoring the very core of our being, the reason we were put in this planet. We are a half-step off the path we are meant to be taking and this doesn’t do anybody any good.

All of us were issued certain talents and ambitions at birth and those that get on in this life are those who spend their lives on a path that leads to maximizing these talents. They have the wisdom to know what they are about, the courage to follow their path, and the patience to see their path through till the very end. It doesn’t matter what these talents are, either. It doesn’t matter if they cause us to live down the ages or barely be noticed. What does matter is that we get the most out of them.

This is both easy and hard. Easy, because when we commit to maximizing our talents we are doing things we enjoy and have a knack for. It’s difficult, supremely difficult at times, because we must do it every day. We can’t commit to our path some days and not others, some years and not others. Those that get on in this life pursue their path with diligence and courage.

The only way to build a satisfying life, a life looked back on with pleasure, is to be on your path every day, from the day you commit to it until the day you die. When we do that, when we commit to maximizing the talents we were born with, we will be living the life we were meant to live, life’s great prize

Will Durant (1885-1981) was an American historian, philosopher and writer. though his wife Ariel collaborated with him, she did not always get credit.