Good Night

There's no such thing as a hopeless romantic. Hope is...hopeful, but it isn't sure. That's why cynics aren't romantic. They have no hope. They are absolutely sure about everything. And the things they're sure about are negative. Even about hope they're negative. No hope...no romance. What a shame. Today's podcast is called "Hope Is Hot." Because without hope, life gets pretty cold.

There are a couple of emails in the podcast. One guy writes to say, "Like you I'm a little past Springtime in my life. My youth was stolen from me through the years. But I've just decided to get it back." Wow. That's definitely a Big Louie kind of decision. Do you hear the sound of hope in it? There's a Bedtime Story called, "Lonely Lurks" in today's podcast. It's about the threat of giving up hope. Happens to lots of people. That's one of the reasons for doing my spoken word CDs.

Hope gets slippery some nights. It has a tendency to sneak away in the dark. That's why lonely lurks in the dark. Some smart guys in white lab coats just published a survey in which they claim lots of people these days like being alone. What they don't explain is that "alone" and "lonely" aren't the same thing. "Lonely" still has a touch of hope. Hope is hot. That means it sometimes burns. Which scares some people away. Hiding from hope makes you cynical and conceited. If there's only you in your life, who else are you going to think about? Today's podcast, and all the spoken word CDs at Dick Summer . com are there because I figure that although a voice can't be a complete substitute for having a person around when you need one, but something is better than nothing...especially at night...when your hope sometimes slips off into the dark. I think listening to a friendly voice is one way to feed your hope. Feed the hope, starve the cynicism. Enjoy some romance. In short...live. And hope for love.

This podcast is about a fantasy I've had for a very long time. It involves the airplane that I don't have any more. The airplane is gone, but the fantasy lives on.

"Sunrise, Sunset" is one of the most beautiful and powerful songs ever to grace Broadway. It's from a show called, "Fiddler on the Roof." "Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years." It's about a man and woman trying to come to grips with the changes that have taken place during their lives. Sunrise, sunset. A beginning and an end. But I sometimes wonder what happened in between the sunrise and the sunset. What went on at lunch time? "Sunrise, sunset, Swiftly fly the years, One season following another, Laden with happiness and tears." There was a "Sunrise" in my life, a very long time ago. My Dad took me to Madison Square Garden in New York for some kind exhibition. Part of the exhibit was a Piper J-3 Cub. Yellow. Fabric. Just like the ones I saw flying over the house in Brooklyn. I think I was 5 years old. Dad picked me up, and put me in the cockpit. I very clearly remember that my eyes felt like about 30 pounds each they got so big. It was the beginning, the Sunrise of my life as a pilot. The Sunset came yesterday. Oh but the lunch time in between was good.

Men and women aren't just different sexes. We're opposite sexes. And that's good. It's like a battery that needs a positive pole and a negative poll. Opposites start the current running. And that's what powers our lives.

There are two mighty questions that every married guy faces. You cannot avoid them. And how you answer them will determine the future of your sex life. Question# 1- "If I died would you get married again?" Question #2 - "Were you a virgin when we got married?" This podcast will help you navigate this awful trap.

I do a lot of these podcasts sitting here in my big, manly, comfortable, black leather poppa chair in the middle of the night. The middle of the night is a time for strange thoughts. I think it was in the middle of the night that Louie Pasteur said "Ok everybody...boil the milk. When everybody woke up they said, "Boiled milk...Louieeee?" I don't remember who discovered atoms or if it was in the middle of the night. Big Louie says "You can't trust atoms, because they make up everything." How about this for weird. Everything you see is made up of atoms, but atoms are way too small to see. Catherine Zeta Jones is a bunch of atoms. I can't see her atoms, but I am delighted to be able to see her. I don't understand that, but I do appreciate her.

Better be careful of getting too chummy with your nearby atoms. Remember what happens if you drop an atom. You get a mushroom shaped cloud. Atoms are so small that a lump of sugar contains as many atoms as there are stars in the universe. Not just the milky way, the whole universe...one lump of sugar. Atoms are wild little things. And little things mean a lot. That's the title of a fine old song from the 1950s. Kitty Kallen sang it. They called her Pretty Kitty. She got up close and personal with the mic, and she sang. "Blow me a kiss from across the room, say I look nice when I'm not. Touch my hair as you pass my chair, little things mean a lot." Sounds like the advice Big Louie gives to the guys in his Louie Louie Generation."

E mails occasionally pour in to [email protected]. Here's one that just poured. It says, "Dick, Just thought I'd share a couple of life rules with you that I've learned that have helped my marriage (of 45 years): Rule #1: Instead of arguing or debating with your wife too often, always agree with your wife on all the little things. This will make her happy and make your day go much more smoothly. Rule # 2: EVERTHING is a little thing....For you to share (or NOT to share) with you podcast listeners. -Jim Merrill-"

Jim's note got me to thinking. As some of you know, that can be dangerous. As Big Louie, the head guy of the Louie Louie Generation says in my book Staying Happy, Healthy And Hot…available at Amazon…Louie says, "Salespeople have relationships with buyers. Lovers have romances…together." I have a decades long romance with my Lady Wonder Wench, based on the premise that folks who sweat together, stick together.

There are some quick rules of thumb that can help you develop some mutual sweat. For example, your bedroom should be a comfortable place for both you and your partner. So take the oil paintings of you with your last 8 lovers off the ceiling. Resist the urge to walk into the room doing the goose step. That can disturb the sensitive partner. Be sure you have good solid drapes so you have something strong to grab on to if things get a little out of control. It may be ok for your lover to talk on the phone during love making as long as the person to whom he or she is not his or her spouse. Or your spouse. One exception is if it's his commercial agent who has a booking for a series of national TV commercials. Don't mess with that.

Our next door neighbors, Randy and Bernadette invited my Lady Wonder Wench and me over for dinner last night. Having good friends for neighbors is very special. Randy and I have lots of things in common, including working some pretty weird overnight hours. One of our basic points of agreement is, "There is no life without water, because without water there is no coffee."

Randy is a lot younger than I am, so he sometimes looks to me for guidance in dealing with the onrushing years. I'm young at heart, but not so much young in other places. I always tell Randy, "Life is short, so smile while you still have teeth." And, "We have a left brain and a right brain so we can keep secrets from ourselves. Secrets like 'Why did I just walk into this room? Where did I leave my car? I tell him, "Be careful, because with age sometimes comes oldness. Don't let that happen.

You're never too old to decide to act younger. Remember what Big Louie says in my book Staying Happy Healthy And Hot…'If you have any moving parts left, for crying out loud…move 'em." And I encourage Randy to learn new songs. Like "I've fallen in love with you and I can't get up" by the See Alice Singers.

I have been sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly black leather poppa chair in my living room, cleverly disguised as a responsible adult for quite a while now. It has taken some time, but I have come to the "Been There Done That" place in my life. It's a comfortable place. A place where I can safely sit back, breathe deeply and say Huh to the great confusions that are all around us.

I just saw a commercial that rates a big Huh. It's a super on the screen that says the people in this commercial are real people not actors. As some of you know I have done more than my share of voiceovers for TV commercials. People who do TV voiceovers are called voice actors. So I am an actor, but the IRS seems to feel that I am never the less a real person, who better send them the appropriate tax on what I have been paid as an actor. That doesn't affect very many people, so that just gets a single breath Huh?

I have just read a book written by a very well known smart guy doctor. It gets a three breath Huh? The essential premise of the book is that we are all just walking, talking, sacks of chemicals and electrical connections. Sorry doctor. That gets a great big three breath HUH. I have held a newborn baby in my arms, and I have watched my beautiful , sexy Lady Wonder Wench walk up a flight of stairs in tight jeans, and I have heard John Lennon sing Imagine there's no heaven. And along with a half million other New Yorkers, on a late Summer night in Central Park what seems like a lifetime ago, I have heard the New York Philharmonic doing Beethoven's Fifth. And Sinatra singing Nelson Riddle's arrangement of I've Got You Under My Skin. Just a sack of chemicals and sparks? Huh! I don't think so

Nailed it. The sign on the wall at the airport today. It nailed the explanation for why we boys need to have toys. The sign says, "Don't let the boy die before the man." That's why God made the word Toy rhyme with the word Boy. Boys need toys. I keep telling you that. I suppose that's why an Email one guy sent to me called me the, "Toy Boy." And I kind of like that name. Here's what made me want to tell you about this. My Lady Wonder Wench and I were enjoying a charity pancake breakfast at the airport today, and one of the guys had nailed the sign up on the wall of his hanger. It said, "Don't let the boy die before the man." I don't know who originally said that, but wow it's just like Big Louie's most important rule. Big Louie is the head guy of the Louie Louie Generation, and in my book Staying Happy Healthy And Hot, he always says, "If you have any moving parts left, for cryin' out loud, MOVE 'EM".