WIXY's Gone Bananas

 This may or may not make the final cut of my book. I was writing about some events this weekend and what had started as a joyous Friday night at my home school district became a weekend of heartbreak in the area after what happened at another school. Sometimes We Need to Realize That Sports are Just Games   Friday nights in late summer and early fall are sometimes a big deal for high school students and their families. As the long-time band announcer for my local high school, it is a time of year I always look forward to. This past Friday night was originally supposed to be the homecoming game for the local high school. The schedule had to be changed a bit because of the uncertainty of the opponents being able to field a team. There was talk around the league that they may have had to forfeit this game, so homecoming for the local school was rescheduled. The opponents, which are rivals of my local school district, were able to field a team and the game was played. The game was

 As I was working on my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift, I decided to give some impressions of a meeting of the Lions Club which I attended last night. If you wish to make a difference in your community, a service organization is something you should consider. We Serve   Last night I attended a Lions Club meeting. The Lions Club is a service organization, known for their work in battling blindness. They have been known to provide optometry services to those in the communities they serve to those that can’t afford to get glasses. This is just one of many service the local clubs provide their towns. The Lions Club provides great outreach. In our town, they have funded projects such as park improvements and needs for others, such as ramps for homes. Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, many service organizations have taken a hit. Other organizations, such as the Kiwanis, are dying of old age. If you are one that may be civic minded, you will see the need for these fine groups. Peopl

 Here is another selection from my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift .  I selected the title, as this month, I am listening to the classic recording by Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret . I dedicated this passage to my hometown of Rittman, Ohio. We Become What We Think About   The community where I live. Rittman, Ohio, is a town that has seen its share of hard luck. That can probably be said about many towns on this planet, but I have called Rittman my home for the past 40 years. I have seen several businesses and a large employer go out of business in this time. I have also been the marching band announcer for the local high school since the 2000—2001 school year. In this time, I have seen ups and downs on the football field, and from 2006 to 2021, there have been more downs than ups. The town has seen hard times because other nearby larger communities, most of which are off major roadways, have gotten the major retailers that have put mom and pop businesses out of business

I took some time away from writing the past couple of months, but am back trying to complete my upcoming book "The Daily Uplift."  I am currently part of a challenge given by Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work and Life You Love Fame to listen to the Earl Nightingale classic recording The Strangest Secret . I reference this in my latest writing. Keeping It Simple   This morning, while I was sitting in church, I opened my bible and stopped at Matthew 5, which begins Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The amazing thing about this scripture is the fact that Jesus preached with so much simplicity. The reason I say this is because most preachers tend to show off how much education they have, and some denominations require quite a bit of classes before you can get behind some of their pulpits. This is a shame because there may be some people who have been called to preach and have learning disabilities that prevent them from getting the almighty piece of paper. The world may miss out on som

 In the latest sample from my upcoming book, I share a poem I originally wrote in 2018 as I was rhyming my way through How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I begin the passage expressing why I don't do politics. The Good aren’t all Good, and the Bad aren’t all Bad   I do not like discussing politics personally or virtually. I have observed most people that choose one party over another will extol the virtues of their party and glaze over the bad things. You must choose the whole package. And the opposition party, no matter what good they do, you place a magnifying glass over the bad. And no one who is active in politics is willing to step across the aisle. They can’t spell cooperate, much less do it. We have all been guilty of bias at one time or another. It could be one thing or another, but it’s all wrong. You can’t even tell anyone why you think what you do about a person or a group. Chances are it’s born out of tradition. Having spent my adult year

 It's been over  weeks since I have shared anything I've been writing with the blogosphere, but The Daily Uplift is seeing some progress. I am up to page  and have written over 40,000 words. here is what I have been writing this morning. Beat Down? Look Up!   It’s been often said, written, and sung that life is full of ups and downs. We enjoy the up time but tend to like to talk more about the down time, hoping for some sympathy.   When we are down, we also learn the most about ourselves and others and you find out who your friends really are. When we are looking for sympathy, we will get the same things. People will tell us that life is tough all over. We may hear about others who are having it worse than we are, or we may hear about people who are always up and what they are doing right. Or you may run into somebody like my dad who would say “If you are looking for sympathy, look in the dictionary……” I prefer not to finish that quote. When you are down, this can be a

 I am now on page 94 of my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift . Getting up early has yielded over 35,000 words. Not bad for soeone that has very little college education. But the experience I gave myself in this location in cyberspace fron 2006-2010 is paying off.  I decided to share something I wrote just this morning. If you have a Kindle or Kindle app, you can go there and download some of the ebooks I referred to. Make me happy and put a few quarters in my bank account. Be Happy Where You Are   “If you can’t be happy where you are, it’s a cinch you can’t be happy where you ain’t.” ~ Charlie “Tremendous” Jones As a project, I once wrote a series of eBooks. The series, still available on Kindle is called Ten Poems for a Buck . Most of the times there was more than 10 poems and the book this one was poems based on positive quotes. I thought I would write some thoughts concerning the quote above before sharing the poem I wrote about it. You hear all the time that people are not ha

 I am now over 30,000 words on my book, The Daily Uplift .  I look back to 2006 when I began blogging, which led to my writing of poetry, which led to me meeting others that encouraged me to develop my talent, which led to my book Caricatures of My Mind .  A lot of my talent would have remained hidden if I hadn't had the influence of hundreds of student musicians that I met as the announcer for the Rittman Marching Band. This past weekend, the Class of 2023 had their commencement ceremony. Here is a tribute I wrote today as part of my book. Childhood Talents   As the announcer for the local high school marching band, it has been my privilege to see hundreds of student musicians over the years displaying talents. Many of these talents have not even been musical. Some have an artistic flair. One past student did the artwork for the cover of Caricatures of My Mind . We also have a night late in the football season where the students march in Halloween costumes. One even dressed as

 Here is my latest writing. I am up to more than 28,000 words as I am working on The Daily Uplift . No Is Not the Final Answer   Way too often people stop when they are told no. They feel their idea is the greatest in the world and they will pitch it to others that may feel the idea is simply fertilizer. This rejection will become a brick wall. If the idea has merit to you, do not stop at that no. Earlier in this book, I wrote a passage about not casting your pearls before swine. Again, that is more than a biblical principle. Others that don’t think you will amount to much are undeserving of your level of genius. Let them wallow in their pride and find those that can appreciate the special person that you are. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Did that stop him? I don’t think so. I am reasonably sure that he went back to the gym and playgrounds and honed his skills. Not taking no as the final answer took him on his way to earn 6 NBA championship troph

 This is another story, musing, or whatever you want to call what I am doing for my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift. Today's post was something I first thought about as I was driving home from a ,medical appointment. Divine Handcuffs   Most of these small stories are written after I have written the poem at the end. This one has both written as I go along.   This may be religious in nature, but my faith is a big part of my personality. As I stated in one of my earlier writings, I can imagine a previous pastor coming up to me and saying “Brother Cliff, I want to talk to I claim no calling from above or special dispensation for writing this book. I do claim encouragement from some very good and well-meaning friends.   One of the most dangerous things you can tell someone is “I feel that it’s God’s will” when they are doing something. When you are active in the church, you hear it all the time. Or if you are doing something that someone doesn’t like, then “It’s NOT God’s wil

  The following is another of my musings for my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift What do You Want to be When You Grow Up?   I was asked that question often in the days of my youth. Or, as I like to say, in the 1960’s and 70’s, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.   We went through those days hearing how rough our parents and grandparents had it. We had it rough too. We had to walk up to the television and change the channel. For much of my youth, I wanted to be a radio personality. I made some decisions that I regretted in later years, like not going to college. I honestly don’t know if that would have made a difference. I also don’t know if it would have made a difference if I joined the military. I graduated high school in 1974, which was the first-year post Viet Nam. I heard too many horror stories and did not want to get my hair cut. Not much has changed about my hair, except for the color. I don’t know if I ever answered the question. I also don’t know if I have grown up yet. I

 The following is a page from my upcoming book The Daily Uplift . The poem used is from my study of The Success Principles . Polish the Old, Work on the New   “It’s always been done that way.” “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” “It was good for Paul and Silas and it’s good enough for me.” The are are times when we get into a groove. Or is it a rut? I was once told that a rut is a grave with the ends kicked out. The only constant with life is change. We will not advance by doing the same thing even though it has worked well over the years. In manufacturing, there will always be someone building a better mousetrap. AI is currently changing the way companies handle customer service. Covid 19 permanently changed the workplace and in the virtual world it is now called the workspace. This does not mean that you must quit what you have done well. You need to adapt your exceptional work ethic to the changing times. This will take education and a heart willing to adapt. I say adap

 Little by little, bit by bit, my book is taking shape. I am at 55 pages and over 20,000 words. I get up most mornings at 4am to work on it in order to get some quiet time to be alone with my thoughts and keyboard. With over 5,000 poems written, I am amazed at the fact I can come up with new ones for the book. The one I am using at the end of this post is a rewrite of one I wrote back in 2020.  Look in a Good Book   Many of the poems I have written have been based on things I have read in books. My choice of literature happens to be some of the motivational classics. I have written poems based on See You at the Top , Think and Grow Rich , How to Win Friends and Influence People , among others. I caught Dan Miller’s eye when I wrote 48 poems based on his book 48 Days to the Work You Love . I also read books without rhyming my way through them. I have also been told by an assistant of Gay Hendricks after I sent them poems based on his book The Big Leap , that this is one of the bes

 Here is another selection of my upcoming book, The Daily Uplift. It is becoming more and more like my former blogging style. Please enjoy the musing. If You Ain’t Where You Are, You’re No Place.   The title is a quote by Colonel Potter, played by Harry Morgan, in an episode of MASH. Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret were in Potter’s office and bemoaning the fact that they were in Korea and not home for Christmas. The four of them were at the 4077 th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, getting ready to go over to the mess tent for a substandard Christmas dinner and some holiday cheer. I was thinking about the quote as I look back at things, sometimes regretting not doing or being things I have wanted to do in life. But when I look at the things I have, I get to thinking how lucky I am. My inventory includes the following: I am popular in my town as the longtime marching band announcer. I have often heard that “the band wouldn’t be the same without Cliff announcing.” I am also popular wit

 I am in the process of writing another book. I will be writing the way I did when I was an active blogger and putting in many of the poems I have written over the years. I figure I have written over 5,000 poems since discovering my ability to rhyme. The poetry and the writing is designed to be read on a daily basis and I am calling my book The Daily Uplift .  Along the way, I want to share some of my writings in this blog for the few who stop here to enjoy. Here is a selection I wrote just this morning: Artificial Intelligence and Real People   In the most recent past, Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has become a big part of our daily life. You can experience it by calling a customer service line. When you hear things like “say or press one”, you are experiencing a chat bot. AI has revolutionized the industry and eliminated many entry level jobs. Many people are now utilizing AI for creative purposes. In my mind that is a contradiction in terms, but it is true.   Spell check and