Smorgasbord of Thoughts

by Woody

STRAW_CoverWoody’s highly anticipated new book “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” is NOW available! Order your signed copy HERE! 

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Smorgasbord of This, That and The Other

From the comic strip Calvin & Hobbs, panel one. Hobbs: “Do you have an idea for your story yet?” Calvin: “No, I’m waiting for inspiration.”

Panel two. Calvin: “You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.”

Panel three. Hobbs: “What is that mood?” Calvin: “Last-minute panic.”

In a deadline panic, here goes . . .

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I came across this the other day, “10 Things That Require Zero Talent”:

1. Being on time1preparequote

2. Work ethic

3. Effort

4. Body language

5. Energy

6. Attitude

7. Passion

8. Being coachable

9. Doing extra

10. Being prepared.

It is a terrific list, although it seems to me that these are all actually “talents” in themselves.

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“Every child is an artist,” Picasso said. “The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

While I am less artistic than an elephant wielding a paintbrush in its trunk, I have managed to hold onto my inner child. Evidence of this is how my daughter remembered her hotel room number – 5512 – on a recent vacation.

“It was easy, Dad,” she explained. “Fifty-five is your age and 12 is how old you act.”

I took it as a compliment, intended or not, since I’m 56 and actually usually act about 8.

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Some wisdom from another artist, Venturan Rima Muna, who offers this short list titled: “What I’ve Learned From Kindergarteners (about painting):

“1. Be generous. Use a lot of paint, use it frequently and reach for your favorite colors.

“2. Fill the page.

“3. Don’t worry about perfection. An artwork can be good and bad. There is no such thing as ‘perfect.’ ”

Near-perfect advice outside the studio as well as inside it.

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Congratulations to Andria’s Seafood Restaurant and Market at the Ventura Harbor for being named on “The Top 10 Best Fish-and-Chips in America” list by Coastal Living Magazine.

The review included: “We love the fish-and-chips, especially the halibut, which arrives as five big, moist pieces. The views show off the harbor and mountains, but the star is on the platter in front of you.”

Another star is in the bowl in front of you when you order Andria’s renowned clam chowder.

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“The price of anything,” Henry David Thoreau said, “is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

So choose wisely and passionately and, as Coach Wooden advised, make each day your masterpiece.

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File this under “ill-chosen words.” After 64 people were shot, and four killed, over the July 4th weekend in Chicago, police superintendent Eddie Johnson said of the city’s gun violence: “There is no magic bullet that’s going to solve the whole thing.”

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Thoreau again: “Write while the heat is in you.”

Wise advise not limited to writing.

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Speaking of writing and heat, Melania Trump’s speechwriting talents bring to mind a saying from my mentor and predecessor in this space, the late and great Chuck Thomas, who liked to say, “Never write a bad column when you can steal a good one.”

Of course, unlike the third Mrs. Trump and whoever helped with her speech, Chuck gave attribution to the author of the words he borrowed.

In closing, in an effort to make this column better, let me steal these heartfelt words from Chuck who was looking through the prism of being divorced:

“While a happy marriage lasts, enjoy it to the fullest. Enjoy each day, each year, each decade. In our hectic lives, it’s so easy to take this happiness for granted. We’re so busy with jobs and kids, with careers and chicken pox, so preoccupied with mortgages and car repairs, that we don’t stop to smell the most beautiful flower of all – the happiness we’re sharing with someone we love.

“Don’t wait until today’s happiness is gone to make you appreciate what you’ve lost. Enjoy life to the fullest right now because today may be as close as you’ll ever get to ‘happily ever after.’ ”

Wise advice for all of us, married or not.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Wooden&Me_cover_PRCheck out my new memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece”