Woody’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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Thoughts on “On Time” and More
A pocketful of “selfie” thoughts jotted down the past few weeks . . .
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A story headlined “5 Minutes Early is on Time; On Time is Late; Late is Unacceptable” recently caught my eye – and fortunately didn’t make me late for anything.
While I generally agree punctuality is a virtue, this is not ironclad. As Einstein said, time is relative, so here is my “On Time” theory:
Yes, 5 minutes early is on time for a work meeting; but5 minutes early for a doctor’s appointment is wasting your own valuable time; and 5 minutes early for a dinner party is rudely unacceptable.
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When you see a car out on the roads with a dented fender or door, or both, you often aren’t surprised why after a couple blocks of seeing the way the driver drives.
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While I am still awaiting official approval for the naming of a race horse in my honor – first choice from a reader vote-in contest being “Masterpiece Day” followed by runner-up “Streakin’ Woody” – I already have a four-legged friend named after me, sort of.
Stan Whisenhunt, my first managing editor at the Star, wrote to me the other day: “You might be interested to know that we have a wonderful little Jack Russell Terrier named Woody.”
Keeping my ego from inflating like a balloon, he poked a needle: “He already had that name when we got him,” but then kindly added, “and I wasn’t about to change it.”
I consider that a namesake. Now I need to get a sandwich named after me, perhaps “The DagWoody”?
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The Tennessee Volunteers are my new adopted college football team. Specifically, I am rooting for former Star sportswriter Rhiannon Potkey to have a terrific team to cover in her debut season as the beat writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel.
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My two cents on the Colin Kaepernick kerfuffle: Patriotism does not mean you cannot find fault with your country, nor or that you must remain silent. To the contrary, social change and progress has rarely happened without protest. Ergo, protesting is patriotic.
And even if you are angered by Kaepernick’s method of taking a stand – by sitting, or kneeling, during the pregame nation anthem – his non-violent protest has been remarkably successful in creating a national discussion without inconveniencing others via a shutdown freeway or clogged city street requiring police intervention.
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My 2 cents on the 805: Break up the area code and thus BRIEFLY annoy a segment of residents and disturb a few businesses that incorporate 805 in their name, rather than ENDLESSLY inconvenience everyone by having to dial 10-digit numbers for local calls.
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The other evening I happened upon a PBS episode of “California’s Gold” and was once more reminded that we all should strive to embrace travel and new experiences and meeting people with half the curiosity and enthusiasm the show’s iconic host, the late Huell Howser, always exhibited.
Indeed, his lasting legacy is as an AMAAAAZING inspiration to see life through new eyes.
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Speaking of inspiring, here’s an update on Francelia Teran, whose long and unstoppable educational journey I chronicled here in late May after she graduated from CSU Channel Islands with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology:
Fran has been accepted into the Clinical Psychology Master’s program at Antioch University Santa Barbara for this Fall quarter.
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About the nicest thing you can do for a friend is an unexpected kindness for one of their kids or spouse.
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Wisdom is generally shared by elders to younger people, but the exchange can go the other way as evidenced by a thank-note recent Ventura High graduate Nestor Rodriguez sent me and concluded with this nugget:
“If I could offer some advice it would be to remember to get lost once in while. And also remember what it was like to be a teen and a kid, a time when your were basically nonexistent.”
Now that this column is finished, I’m going to put my play clothes on and go get lost in an adventure.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check 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”
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