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Grampa and his Good Buddy.

Truly one of the great joys in life is being a grampa. Until you become one, it’s
difficult to understand or appreciate the tremendous affection that can develop. When
they are babies they can’t tell why they are unhappy - only that they are. But what a
joy (and sense of pride) when you do well at comforting and quieting them. And, if its
rocking them, looking down at those angelic faces and enjoying the peace and
contentment you share at that moment.

And, later, when they are able to converse and enjoy shared interests and activities.
Helping them to feel secure in your presence. A sleepover at Grampa and Grandmas.
Art, photography and reading with Grandma. Computers, golf and building a fort with
Grampa. Enjoying the fun of playing the roles of Big and Little Spoofers - just kidding
around.

The biggest challenge: being prepared to respond well to the request, usually at bed
time, “Grampa, will you tell me a story?”

Now, she is not the critic that you may be - so, tell me how I did with this one? Or,
better yet, tell me a story about you and your Grampa. Or, you and your grand-
children. Set down somewhere and write. Build your human legacy.

They’ll appreciate it.

Yes, yes I know - it’s not all hearts and flowers. E.g., if I rock too long and don’t
change my dominant rocking foot, I will wake up with a cramp in my leg that night.
Hmmmh - yes, a pain - but a small price to pay. Remembering that angelic face
helps to work the cramp out.

One of the great joys in life …

Thanks for listening.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger

Please follow me on Twitter (@Senior Tweet) and http://twitter.com/SeniorTweet/ .

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Thanks for your contribution - participation increases the value of the blog for everyone.

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This senior does! How about you?

In my entry to the world of Twitter I am discovering some interesting things.
I captured some of it in the Ampersands comic strip below. Read it and tell me
what you think - both about the strip and about Twitter.

Well, what do you think?

Please comment and then follow me on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for visiting.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger.

Please follow me on Twitter: SeniorTweet

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I’m not here to convince you to Tweet on Twitter. However, I just came across two
articles that will give you a flavor of how serious bloggers feel about Twitter - you
decide on your timeline. I’m finding it’s worth more that sorting through my email -
that’s probably because I am more selective about my Twitter now than I’ve been
about my email opt-ins in the past (more about that later).

For now, I will just share with you what I am learning about Twitter and how I
integrate my tweeting into my daily activities. On the learning side, I just came across
two excellent articles that Jack Humphrey, referred to me.

First, Darren Rouse had an interesting article on his TwiTip blog called:
Types of Birds on Twitter and How to Be an Eagle. The article was written by
Jason Mitchner - follow him at @jasonmitchener. In it Mitchner
describes various types of birds and compares their characteristices to how people
behave on Twitter. Many lessons about “what not to do” included. Not surprisingly
he described the eagle as the bird to choose to emulate. Its characteristics best suited
for effective functioning on Twitter.

The second article, 8 Sure-Fire Ways To Tick Off the Twitterverse“>8 Sure-Fire Ways To Tick Off the Twitterverse, was written by Jenny Cromie. Between these two
articles you should get a good sense of what not to do. However, these two tweeting
bloggers represent the kinds of people you should listen to if you are interested in Twitter.

Any writers reading this? Jennie’s Blog, The Golden Pencil subtitle is: The Freelance Writer’s Resource. I bookmarked both of these sites - shouldn’t you? Check them out and see.

- VS, Tweet Me @SeniorTweet

If you want to advertise your own Twitter feed, there are simpler, less obvious ways
than the one below but heck, you’ll not have trouble reading it …

Tweet Me @SeniorTweet

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Setting up one’s social networking takes time - lots of it.
A part of that is verifying the existence of your blog. So here’s one for Technorati.

Technorati Profile

How do you verify YOUR existence?
How can you validate your existence?…
May I suggest a living legacy?

What is going to be your legacy?

I’ll tell you about mine, if you’ll tell me about yours. And, there’s a good chance you
have more time to accomplish it than I do. Anyway, let’s start working on it. And,
don’t look back! Else whoever is there will have passed you. So, git’er done!
Forget about the past. It’s what you do today, - everyday.

Working on making the world a better place and helping others to do the same.
- VS

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Just finishing posting on Gobala Krishnan’s blog a poetic response to his question,
“Do you Twitter?”.

I’ll share the little ditty - it’s not so witty - and not so pretty.
What can one expect from such a little ditty?

To help you understand this Twitter thing,
This “SeniorTweet” brings forth this borrowing
From the Noble Bard
Tis sure to make him turnover in his earthly yard:

To Tweet or not to Tweet.

To Tweet or not to Tweet.
That is the question:
Whether tis nobler to suffer alone
Their slings and arrows
Or join with all the other sparrows?
And take arms against the doubters muzzles.

And tweet, tweet, tweet about our troubles,
Victories or defeats - neither kind is near as sweet
Without the mundane sharing of one’s tweet.

Tis is a very human thing to share
The sound of words upon the air,
Or, read them - share them in this blogosphare.

- VS, Twitter url: http://twitter.com/SeniorTweet

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The more efficient bloggers repurpose their content ( and aren’t above using other’s
works with just a bit of careful editing). So wanting to demonstrate best practices
and improve my efficiency, I present to you this example of repurposing some
cartoon content. The Fence Critters are featured in another of my blogs, Comics
Cartoons and Creativity. So with this brief visual introduction,
I present to you my friendly little critics, The Fence Critters.

This song has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it many years ago.
Can you remember who wrote it - it’s been covered many times. The lyricist is said to
have written it after hearing a sermon.

This song seems very timely in our country’s (and our own?) present financial
circumstances. Even if you are not religious, it wouldn’t hurt to sing it once in
while! I provide a part of the lyrices - they repeat:

You gotta accent-thu-ate the positive,
E-lim-inate the negative,
An latch on
To the affirmative
Dont mess with mister in-between!

You gotta spread joy up to the maximum,
Bring gloom down to the minimum,
An have faith ( amen! )
Or pandemonium’s
Liable to walk upon the scene!

To illustrate
My last remark
Jonah in the whale!
Noah in the arc!
An what did they do ( what did they do? )
Just when everything looked so dark?

( what did they, what did they, what did they do? )

Man! they said
You better accent-thu-ate the positive,
E-lim-inate the negative,
An latch on
To the affirmative
Dont mess with mister in-between!
No, dont mess with mister in-between!

I’m not sure if it was Bing Crosby and Andrews Sisters version that I remember -
maybe you can remember? It first came out in 19_ _. Don’t worry about showing
your age - it’s OK, we are all in this together. Maybe you Boomers can remember
one of the “covers”.

By the way Boomers, it’s 2009 and the Boomer age range is now considered to be
45 -63 years of age. Interestingly, for most who concern themselves with us older
folks, the beginning age for seniors is still considered to be 62. So, … some of you
boomers just became seniors - Congratulations!!!

- VS

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While working on Comics Cartoons and Creativity, one of my new blogs, I had this kind of strange thought that I then captured in this image:

How do you keep track of your ideas?

How do you prepare for those great ideas of yours? How do you keep track of them?

I’m trying to get better organized. A part of that process is developing a
systematic way of capturing my great ideas so I immediately know where to go to find
them. As you may already know, as you get a little older, it doesn’t get any easier to
remember where you put them, or your keys, or …

So what does one do about it? Paper and pencil/pen at hand? Pocket notebook
always at hand (in the pocket or pocketbook)? Notepad or other note-taking software
when on the computer? Have any good ideas? What works for you?
- VS