Newman
New Member
- Location
- Schaumburg, IL
Just Joined; I live in Schaumburg, IL & I turned 71 last August. Oh, I am in good health so far!
In fact, my purpose in joining and participating in this forum is to solicit anyone who lives in my neck of the woods, and who might be interested in canoeing, bicycling and/or throwing a baseball around. Besides playing a guitar [badly] those are my lifelong passions.
Northern Illinois is blessed with a great many rivers and streams upon which I, from time to time, attempt to satisfy an insatiable urge to distance myself from the madding throng that some people refer to as civilization.
I do this mostly alone. It's not easy to predict when the need to 'get away' will begin to nag. On days worth playing hookie, the grass aways seems to need mowing, something always needs fixing and somebody is always either looking for me, or making plans that involve me.
My kids are grown and gone. My wife generally dislikes my obsessions. My username was her invention. She requisitioned it from the annoying Seinfeld character, as a means of announcing her disgust whenever I did or said something which she deemed annoying, or 'newmanlike. All my relatives and friends have adopted it, and it's how I've referred to myself for several years.
To give you some idea about who I am, my passion for canoeing became so strong about ten years ago that I could no longer enjoy sailing on Lake Michigan. Every time I took my sailboat went out, I found myself supposing that I should have gone canoeing. I was glad when I found a buyer and no longer had to go sailing just to assuage the family politics. The shame going something like, 'hey, you wanted that expensive toy, so now go sail it.'
I am neither gregarious nor ostentatious. I don't use foul language or tell jokes. My politics are middle-of-the-road fiscally conservative and socially
liberal. The following example may explain:
I think Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" would make a much better national anthem, especially if it were appended to the first verse of America The Beautiful, as was once done via a children's chorus on a Limelighter's LP in the early sixties. I also think JFK's pursuit of the Moon Project, even though it was originally intended for military purposes with beligerent undertones, turned out to be the most wonderful event in global history that occurred during my lifetime.
I neither tweet nor do I facebook. Right now I am rereading James Burke's companion book to his 'Connections' video saga. I am dividing my time with
"The Authorized Biography of the Beach Boys by Byron Preiss.
I have not taken a tour of this website, but intend make that a priority.
If anyone is interested in discussing baseball, either the organized sport or the disorganized version I was raised on (there was a five year period before I discovered girls, when I played baseball every summer day from early until the dusk made seeing the ball impossible). Some, and I hope that includes some here at Senior Forum, over the age of seventy will know first hand the culture to which am referring. We played in 'T'shirts and jeans, no uniforms, teams or coaches and nobody ever kept score. I played both versions of the game at the same time from as early as I can remember until just before high school, afterwhich I played only the organized game. You could ask any of my friends and they would all agree the disorganized game was more fun.
So much for now. If anyone found any of this interesting and wishes to respond, feel free. If anyone calls Northern Illinois home and wants to do some canoeing, let me know.
Bob McDonnell,
Schaumburg, IL
In fact, my purpose in joining and participating in this forum is to solicit anyone who lives in my neck of the woods, and who might be interested in canoeing, bicycling and/or throwing a baseball around. Besides playing a guitar [badly] those are my lifelong passions.
Northern Illinois is blessed with a great many rivers and streams upon which I, from time to time, attempt to satisfy an insatiable urge to distance myself from the madding throng that some people refer to as civilization.
I do this mostly alone. It's not easy to predict when the need to 'get away' will begin to nag. On days worth playing hookie, the grass aways seems to need mowing, something always needs fixing and somebody is always either looking for me, or making plans that involve me.
My kids are grown and gone. My wife generally dislikes my obsessions. My username was her invention. She requisitioned it from the annoying Seinfeld character, as a means of announcing her disgust whenever I did or said something which she deemed annoying, or 'newmanlike. All my relatives and friends have adopted it, and it's how I've referred to myself for several years.
To give you some idea about who I am, my passion for canoeing became so strong about ten years ago that I could no longer enjoy sailing on Lake Michigan. Every time I took my sailboat went out, I found myself supposing that I should have gone canoeing. I was glad when I found a buyer and no longer had to go sailing just to assuage the family politics. The shame going something like, 'hey, you wanted that expensive toy, so now go sail it.'
I am neither gregarious nor ostentatious. I don't use foul language or tell jokes. My politics are middle-of-the-road fiscally conservative and socially
liberal. The following example may explain:
I think Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" would make a much better national anthem, especially if it were appended to the first verse of America The Beautiful, as was once done via a children's chorus on a Limelighter's LP in the early sixties. I also think JFK's pursuit of the Moon Project, even though it was originally intended for military purposes with beligerent undertones, turned out to be the most wonderful event in global history that occurred during my lifetime.
I neither tweet nor do I facebook. Right now I am rereading James Burke's companion book to his 'Connections' video saga. I am dividing my time with
"The Authorized Biography of the Beach Boys by Byron Preiss.
I have not taken a tour of this website, but intend make that a priority.
If anyone is interested in discussing baseball, either the organized sport or the disorganized version I was raised on (there was a five year period before I discovered girls, when I played baseball every summer day from early until the dusk made seeing the ball impossible). Some, and I hope that includes some here at Senior Forum, over the age of seventy will know first hand the culture to which am referring. We played in 'T'shirts and jeans, no uniforms, teams or coaches and nobody ever kept score. I played both versions of the game at the same time from as early as I can remember until just before high school, afterwhich I played only the organized game. You could ask any of my friends and they would all agree the disorganized game was more fun.
So much for now. If anyone found any of this interesting and wishes to respond, feel free. If anyone calls Northern Illinois home and wants to do some canoeing, let me know.
Bob McDonnell,
Schaumburg, IL
