Hard Work Hour with Douglas Douglas

SFBG - San Francisco Bay Guardian

No money was paid to anyone for anything here, so look somewhere else!

"The Journey," by Douglas Whiting can be read with great love and respect and hope for your enjoyment. This time with complete endorsement, authorization, and permission from the author, their heirs and publisher! All me!

We did not pay anyone for use of the opening music from Cake ("Wheels," off of "Pressure Chief," or the closing, either (Mr. Scruff's tune "Kalimba"). Our bad.

Yes Men

hardworkisfun@gmail.com

Notes and links from BTR show " No, Hitler Did NOT Invent the Olympics! " 7/27/2012 HWH w DD

All material licensed by Creative Commons. If you want to use it, ask!

NGBTWD

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Hard work is fun

Hard work is fun.

I use this as my email because I want students, peers, friends, neighbors and fellow educators to embrace and carry the message that the old-fashioned idea of hard work and long hours can be a wonderful way to spend time. Many of my students have grown into the posture that hard academic, hard physical, hard work that challenges social mores, and ANYTHING challenging is threatening and humiliating. I hope to work to my last breath to sell the words: HARD WORK IS FUN

And if anyone else tries to make money on this phrase I want my Creative Commons Copyright to apply.

July 26, 2012

P.S. I have had the hardworkisfun@gmail.com email address since 2008

Friday, July 20, 2012

West Coast Grunion Run Proves Eternal Life

Click BlogTalkRadio play button to hear show --->

Tune in to the Hard Work Hour with Douglas Douglas Live on Blog Talk Radio Friday mornings now at 10:00 am Pacific Coast Time.

Today's show: "West Coast Grunion Proves Eternal Life" is dedicated to The Light of Learning and brought to you by Discovery Learning Tutoring, serving California and the world with your education needs.

Also on today's show:
1) Local News

2) Other News

3) Local Loco
4) "West Coast Grunion Run Proves Eternal Life"
5) Lit Minit : "The American Nation, Volume Two : A history of the United States since 1865. John A. Garraty, Longman, NY. 2003.

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1) Local News

Drought threatens corn crop.
Them? Or us?
Japan rice loyalty bitch-smacked by tsunami.
Olympics! Can they again be a time for putting down our arms and getting down
to the business of FUN?
Hitler's stamp on the Olympics. Oops! Learning is fun, idn't it? Okay, he didn't
create the Modern Olympics himself out of dried and stretched yiddish lampshade
material. But he did have a giant effect on the event. We ignore this to our peril.

One year since Kelly's beat-down.

2) Other News

Duh. Shootings, panic, reloading, indifferent parents, pain, suffering, absent dieties...

3) Local Loco

4) "West Coast Grunion Proves Eternal Life"

Smack dab in the middle of the June grunion run, and not a shell casing or canister in
sight (except the smashed-up and sand-filled Tecate can at my feet). What could be
more life-affirming and hopeful than the uber-sex-filled mating ritual of Southern Califor-
nia's favorite maritime sluts, The Grunion?

----------

For the uninitiated (and myself yesterday) Leuresthes tenuis, commonly known as the California Grunion is a member of the New World silversides family, Atheriniopsidae, along with jacksmelt and topsmelt. Their usual range extends from Point Conception, California, to Point Abreojos, Baja California. Occasionally, they are found farther north, to Monterey Bay, California, and south to San Juanico Bay, Baja California. They inhabit the nearshore waters from the surf to a depth of 60 ft. Tagging studies indicate that they do not migrate. (source California Dept. of Fish and Game website http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/grunionschedule.asp#runs)

One of the great things growing up really stupid here in LA is that as an adult I can
experience grunion for the first time. In my mis-spent youth we often went down to the
shore late at night to chase the wiggly creatures, but at this writing it is not clear that we
had ANY idea what the hell we were looking for.

I remember being insufficiently buzzed. That and cold. That and confused. "What are
we doing here again?" Drinking, fighting. Yelling at the quiet people running away. More
drinking. Back to the car for more beer and an end to the misery of night-time beach
research. Not a fish in sight, copulating or not.

But tonight if you're lucky, you will see what I did last night under the Redondo Pier.

THOUSANDS of wriggling, fucking giant sardines macking hard on each other and
leaving her covered in his yak, then they all bail and disappear into the water. It took
about ten minutes. I sorta couldn't believe it. It matches with a lot of sober experiences
as an adult. Shit actually WORKS. Twenty five years in and it still amazes me. This is
just one in a long line of 'em.

Do yourself a favor. Get down to the beach real quiet around ten, with a jacket and
blanket and coffee. Hunker down and channel the energy of the fish that never leave
the water at the shore. When you get where THEY think is a safe beach, back up twenty
feet and plop. Breath through your mouth and DON'T TALK. Is it obvious that the rule is
"no fires, no flashlights, no music, no loud voices" ? Should be. You are trying to guess
where the fertile fish chicks think is a safe place to dump their babies. Then you are
trying to imitate one of the grains of sand on that beach.

If you are as lucky as I have been, you will see a sea of jumping, crazy silver joy, lit only
by the moon get down to baby-making like, like, well, like nothing you have ever been
next to, I guess.

Good luck, and post something here about your trip.

Now get back to work. First a little something from Garraty.

5) Lit Minit : "The American Nation, Volume Two : A history of the United States since 1865. John A. Garraty, Longman, NY. 2003.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. I hope you had fun. Now:

GET BACK TO WORK !!

Follow these here links if you want to follow up on anything you heard here, hear?

SFBG - San Francisco Bay Guardian

No money was paid to anyone for anything here, so look somewhere else!

hardworkisfun@gmail.com

Notes and links from BTR show " West Coast Grunion Run Proves Eternal Life " 7/20/2012 HWH w DD

All material licensed by Creative Commons. If you want to use it, ask!

NGBTWD

Monday, July 16, 2012

Got bit by a damn dog! Surprisingly painful.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Feeling Tired Much Lately?

Click BlogTalkRadio play button to hear show --->

Tune in to the Hard Work Hour with Douglas Douglas Live on Blog Talk Radio Friday mornings now at 10:00 am Pacific Electric Time.

Today's show: "Feeling Tired Much Lately?" is dedicated to and brought to you by Discovery Learning Tutoring, serving California and the world with your education needs.

Also on today's show:
1) Local News

2) Other News

3) Local Loco
4) Feeling Tired Lately?
5) Lit Minit : "Desiderata" by Max Erhmann.

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1) Local News

China is working on fixing THEIR economy. News?

Gallery Row Art Walk News

"Trailer Park Blues." Santa Monica gets in it's own face in a giant cluster fuck with light rail,
tenant's rights, learning from personal history, free enterprise and right and wrong. Read
Tessa Stuart's LA Weekly article here.

Friday the Thirteenth was a great club in Chicago for years that appears to have been
disbanded.

Summer of Love? Chaos of Occupy demonstrations will be our challenge all summer.

Occupy Long Beach

Hollywood Bowl

California Science Center. Get there before the Space Shuttle lines!

Hammer Museum in Westwood

Downtown LA Artwalk

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

2) Other News

Fires, wars, rumors of wars, incontinence, misery, earthquakes, rumors of earthquakes...

3) Local Loco

4) Tired much lately? You are if you are paying attention. This citizenship shit is
EXHAUSTING!

5) Lit Minit : "Desiderata" by Max Erhmann.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. I hope you had fun. Now:

GET BACK TO WORK !!

Follow these here links if you want to follow up on anything you heard here, hear?

SFBG - San Francisco Bay Guardian

No money was paid to anyone for anything here, so look somewhere else!

hardworkisfun@gmail.com

Notes and links from BTR show " Tired Much Lately?" 7/13/2012 HWH w DD

All material licensed by Creative Commons. If you want to use it, ask!

NGBTWD

Friday, July 6, 2012

Hard Work

Click BlogTalkRadio play button to hear show --->

Tune in to the Hard Work Hour with Douglas Douglas Live on Blog Talk Radio Friday mornings now at 10:00 am Pacific Electric Time.

Today's show: " Hard Work" is dedicated to Richard Kopelle and brought to you by Discovery Learning Tutoring, serving California and the world with your education needs.

Also on today's show:
1) Local News

2) Other News

3) Local Loco
4) Hard Work
5) Lit Minit : "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger.

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1) Local News

2) Other News

Wars, evictions, incontinence, misery, earthquakes, rumors of earthquakes...

3) Local Loco

4) Hard Work Is Fun, mostly when you look back on it. I really think that our current escape attempt at avoiding all work and hating our jobs is a death-spiral choice. Love your work or stop bitching about it is more my speed. I believe that the human species is designed or has evolved to be a working problem solving creative force. When we seek only comfort, ease and leisure we deny ourselves our real joy, passion and purpose and therefore deny ourselves real joy.

Scrubbing out a toilet as a gift to a struggling neighbor may not be high on our list of priorities, and I am not saying that it should be. I am saying that a constant and unequivocal flight from labor in any form for homo sapiens is like the eagle who only wants to float downstream on a log. We aren't built for it, and it really isn't that cool. Especially when you lay it next to the great shit we CAN do, when we use our skills.

We can communicate with people, plants and animals and make for more harmony and less strife. We can reduce suffering. We can take a pretty good guess on the future and take means to improve it. I am talking about mundane stuff like cleaning your fridge and keeping a little food in it.

But it is only with a conscious choice that we can do these things with a light heart and a sense of purpose and joy. When we see our To Do lists as obstacles to our joy, ie, keeping us from the "real fun" of TV, parties, camping, vacations, dancing, or whatever, we miss the chance to experience the pleasure our creative force provides for us every moment of every day. The deep and dependable pleasure that comes from and with a HUMAN BEING (verb not noun, as RG would say).

5) Lit Minit : "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger.

Thank you so much for reading and listening. I hope you had fun. Now:

GET THE FUCK BACK TO WORK !!

Follow these here links if you want to follow up on anything you heard here, hear?

SFBG - San Francisco Bay Guardian

No money was paid to anyone for anything here, so look somewhere else!

hardworkisfun@gmail.com