Good Night

Good Night

By Dick SummerSociety & CultureAlternative HealthReligion & SpiritualitySpiritualityPhilosophyPersonal JournalsSexuality
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Good Night episodes

  • We're In Trrooouuuble!
    I'm sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly , black leather poppa chair in my living room, and I've just read what might be the best Louie Louie Generation poem ever written. Proud Podcast Participant John Lancellotti sent it to me. He wrote it a long time ago. It's called, HANGIN OUT. And It goes like this:
    We did it in the dark street
    as daytime turned to night.
    You'd find us hangin' out
    benearth a corner light.
    Or maybe down the block,
    we'd gather in a group
    to spend the evening laughing,
    noisy shadows on a stoop.
    We dared the night to harm us--
    with danger always near --
    but hangin' with the crowd
    was a room we closed to fear.
    For boys it was a passage
    that led to being men.
    We learned that life was struggle,
    the gutter's great Amen...
    For girls it was a time
    to test a woman's ways,
    to learn about the magic
    that turned their men to slaves.
    That's how the city brewed us
    in the kettle of the street,
    where hangin' out with friends
    made being kids so sweet.
    18 min
  • Dick's Crayon Caper
    I am sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather poppa chair in my living room, and I'm semi-seriously considering popping a copy of my new book, Staying Happy, Healthy And Hot into my neighbor Steve's mail box. He really needs to think about the Gratitude-Attitude that the book talks about.
    Steve starts every day off with a smile, so he can get that over with as soon as possible. He often suspects people are plotting to make him happy. When someone says, "Have a nice day" to him, he usually says, "Sorry, I have other plans."
    Our state motto is on our license plates. It says, "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania." I wouldn't be surprised to see Steve putting a strip of tape under the slogan that says, "Don't look at me." He definitely needs to grab some Gratitude-Attitude.
    Steve is an excellent example of the Dreary Drones I've been talking about in my book. They're people who have just let themselves turn into hunks of luke-warm meat. Steve is kind of a stale sausage.
    14 min
  • Birthday Blues
    I'm sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather papa chair in my living room trying to recover from having another birthday. I used to think that even noticing that you've had another birthday after the age of 21 can be depressing.
    But as Big Louie, the honcho of the Louie Louie Generation says in my book Staying Happy Healthy And Hot, 'Always remember the "Gratitude-Attitude."' There's got to be something good about adding another year of wrinkled splendor. I guess you can say when you get to be this age, you never have to worry about dying young any more.
    15 min
  • Playing With Fire
    I am just stretching out and relaxing here on my big, black, comfortable, manly leather poppa chair in my living room, after a long drive home from my buddy Al's house. I didn't actually do the driving. My Lady Wonder Wench did the driving, because we were taking the trip in her car, and because she is convinced that she is a better driver than I am. Which she is not. She tailgates and I hate that...because the idiot ahead of you is not to be trusted.
    But we take her car on long trips because it is much newer than mine, and in much better shape. It doesn't slow down when you turn on the windshield wipers, it doesn't leave streaks of oil on the side windows, and it doesn't make mysterious noises that only my Lady Wonder Wench can hear.
    15 min
  • All Groan Up
    I now own a very stylish pair of leather gloves, and they are totally confusing me. I don't follow fashions in clothing, or anything else because I like to march to a different accordion player.
    If my Lady Wonder Wench didn't buy me clothes, like these gloves, I would probably still be wearing the same slacks I wore in college, and more than likely, I'd be using a bungee cord to hold them up.
    When she isn't watching, I sometimes use a table spoon for a shoe horn. I have however been pretty good about honoring her request that I stop stirring my coffee with my car keys.
    17 min
  • Love, Luck and Guts
    I just got knocked on my backside. Fortunately, my big, comfortable, manly, black leather poppa chair was right there to take the hit. Just for the heck of it, I took a very un-scientific poll of a bunch of friends of mine about Valentine's Day, and the results shocked me. More than 90% of them...both sexes...just kinda blew Valentine's day off. One of the guys I talked to said, "I'm too old for that kind of thing."
    Big Louie the Chief Mustard Cutter of our Louie Louie Generation, went nose to nose with that guy. Louie said, "As long as you have some moving parts left, for crying out loud move 'em." One guy even said, "That love stuff is just stupid."
    17 min
  • February Is Half Way There
    I'm sitting here in my big, manly, comfortable, black leather poppa chair in my living room, getting ready for an interview about my new book, Staying Happy, Healthy And Hot on my friend Michael Harrison's radio show, A Touch of Grey. He calls his show, The Talk Show For Grown-ups.
    It's fun doing these interviews. I got to talk with Pia Lindstrom on Sirius/XM radio last week. It was such a lot of fun that my son David...who is also our podcast master...posted it on the website at www.dicksummer.com It's right under the book cover on the home page. Give it a listen when you have a moment.
    17 min
  • It's Cold Outside
    I am sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather poppa chair in my living room, looking out at the ice, and remembering some of my favorite it's so cold jokes. You know them. It's so cold you could freeze an egg on the sidewalk. It's so cold the streakers are just describing themselves. It' so cold I saw a politician with his hand in his own pocket.
    I know...it is appropriate that cold rhymes with old, because those jokes are. How about, it's so cold that nobody wants to go out, but some of the guys at the singles bars who felt they're just too good looking to stay home. Or how about it's so cold that girls are going with guys who have the flu because they have high temperatures. It's so cold you have to part your hair with an axe?
    Actually, I went out to the mailbox this morning, and I forgot I had my coffee cup in my hand...it still had a little coffee in it...and when I got back inside, I found a little chunk of coffee left clicking around in the cup.
    13 min
  • Gratitude Attitude Part 2
    I'm sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather poppa chair in my living room trying to keep my gratitude attitude going. Your gratitude attitude is an important part of my new book, "Staying Happy, Healthy And Hot".
    I've got to admit that even for the guy who wrote the book, some days, keeping your gratitude attitude going is a little harder than other days. Something went "pop" in my right shoulder a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to do push ups ever since, and I'm feeling fat.
    I'm trying to apply the gratitude attitude by telling myself, I'm not really getting fat, I'm just getting easier to spot in a crowd. I went to see doctor Boyd, and he basically said, "You know I can't make you any younger." I said, "That's not the point. The point is I want to get a good deal older."
    14 min
  • Attitude Of Gratitude
    I'm sitting here in my big, comfortable, manly, black leather papa chair in my living room, and my legs are hurting, and I'm trying to remember what my Lady Wonder Wench wanted me to do with her car tomorrow, and I'm looking at a blank page where the copy for a new TV commercial that's due tomorrow is supposed to be...and in general, I'm feeling like an oldie-mouldy.
    Do you ever get that feeling? Like old age is creeking up on you. You feel like your social security number could be one. Like when God said, "Let there be light"...you were the one who flipped the switch. You feel yourself going from why not to why bother. You're tempted to go to a dentist and have him put braces on your dentures to make you feel younger.
    Is that what's bothering you? Huh? Does it seem like your wild oats have turned to shredded wheat? Don't complain. Remember the Attitude/Gratitude Connection. As Big Louie, his own bad self says: "We have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart?"
    14 min

About Good Night

From the publisher's feed

Sometimes it's hard to get to sleep.You just can't seem to say goodnight to yourself. Booze helps sometimes...or pills. But that's a big step down a bad street. "Good Night" puts a smile on your face,…