Halloween Beethoven Groaner

A tourist in Vienna was going through a graveyard, when all of a sudden he heard some music. No one was around, so he started searching for the source. He finally located the origin, discovering it was coming from a grave with a headstone that read: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827.

As he continued to listen he realized that the music playing was Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” and it was being played backward! Puzzled, he left the graveyard and proceeded to persuade a friend to return with him.

By the time they arrived back at the graveyard the music had changed again. This time it was Beethoven’s “Seventh Symphony,” and like the previous piece, it was being played backward.

Curious, the men agreed to consult a music scholar. When they returned with the expert, Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” was playing, again backward. The expert noticed that the symphonies were being played in the reverse order in which they were composed—the 9th, the 7th, and then the 5th.

By the next day word had spread and a throng had gathered around the grave. They were all listening to Beethoven’s “Second Symphony,” once again being played backward. Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambled up to the group. Someone in the crowd asked him if he had an explanation for the music.

“Don't you get it?” the caretaker said incredulously, “He's decomposing!”

(Stan Kegel's Groaner's List; “Profusions of Puns, Gaggles of Groaner”)

Have a Happy Halloween!

Penny Candy Penguin

Penny Candy Judy 

(October 17, 1945 – September 10, 1986)

Today is my sister, Judy’s birthday. Had she lived, she would have been 65 years old. She passed away 24 years ago on September 10, 1986. I still miss her and think about her often. Judy was a great older sister and role model. She made me laugh—a lot! She used to do a hilarious pantomime—about a little girl biting the end off her ice cream cone, that always brought fits of laughter. She was one of those rare individuals who could light up the room just by entering it.

Through a series of coincidences this year, I heard from two of Judy’s BYU theater friends and cast mates. They generously shared some cute stories about Judy that I’d never heard before. Apparently she made a lot of people laugh! Her friends, Carol Brown and Janet Swenson, were both in the 1968 BYU theater production of “Bye, Bye, Birdie” with Judy. Judy was cast as the lead character, dreamy-eyed teenaged “Kim McAfee,” played by actress Ann-Margret in the 1963 movie. Janet played the hilarious, overbearing mother, played by actress Maureen Stapleton. Carol played one of the teenage girlfriends. It was a great cast and a wonderful production that toured all over Europe that summer. For Judy, it was the trip of a lifetime for a young college student! It was also the summer before 23-year-old Judy married her “Neal.” They spent 18 years together and had five children before she had to leave this life much to soon. Leukemia was just as scary of a word in 1986 as it continues to be today. However, in the short (almost 41 years) that she was with us, she lived life to the fullest!

Carol said Judy was just a “doll” (literally a short 4’ 8” doll of a girl who always wanted to be 5 feet).  “She was always so giggly and cute and happy and positive,” Carol told me.  They called her their “Penny Candy Penguin,” as she always had a stash of penny candy.  Judy LOVED penny candy! And being so short had advantages to an established lover of candy. She’d dress up and go “trick-or-treating” even as a BYU college student!

That summer in 1968, on tour in Germany, Judy discovered “Gummy Bears,” long before they were popular in the United States.  She introduced them to the entire Bye, Bye, Birdie cast and soon they all fell in love with them too.  Janet said Judy’s nickname became “Penny Candy Penguin” because she’d always goof around by waddling like a penguin and telling everyone she was on a diet. She’d say, “I’m on a diet. My diet is eating penny candy until I became so sick of sugar that I won’t be able to eat it for weeks!!”  To top that off, in a hilarious coincidence, Judy married a “candy man,” who became the president of Maxfield’s Chocolates! Her cast mates got a huge kick out of that.

True to her penny candy reputation, at their ten-year Bye, Bye, Birdie reunion in 1978—held in Salt Lake City at the old De la Fontana Restaurant, Judy showed up with a never-before-opened bag of European gummy bears she had been saving since Germany!!!  Everyone about died laughing and couldn’t believe it.  To their delight, Judy shared them. 

Humorous as well, Carol said that prior to their departure for Europe Judy put her on to “thigh high nylons,” then sold only at the old Millcreek Pharmacy which was on the North East corner of 2300 East 3300 South in Salt Lake, where Judy grew up.  Carol would actually drive up from Provo just to buy them!

That was so Judy! She was always finding the latest craze and telling everybody about them—so they could get them too. After my sisters and I were married with children, Judy turned us on to everything from “Pound Puppies” to “Strawberry Shortcake Dolls” to “Cabbage Patch Kids.” I stood in many early morning lines trying to help her get a favorite Madam Alexandra Doll, when there was only one per customer. I laugh just thinking about it now, knowing she would have been obsessed with collecting Beanie Babies too! However, Penny Candy was her true memorable trademark obsession. Whenever we’d stay up late playing games at our Bear Lake summer family cabin, she'd bring out boxes of penny candy—gummy bears, gummy red raspberries, and gummy Swedish fish. She had licorice in all colors, shapes, and sizes. It was penny candy heaven!

So today in remembrance, I am sharing these happy memories—along with the new memories given to me—all rolled into one.  I have a big smile on my face, thinking about her as I write this. I am so full of gratitude for the stories her friends have shared with me, bringing a little of her delicious personality back to me, as if it were yesterday. Interestingly, when I contacted Janet she said she’d been thinking about “Birdie” a lot in recent months. Coincidently she’d even had a note from the Dean’s secretary at BYU asking her if she’d been in the show, wanting her to identify the actors in the production photo. It’s amazing how Heavenly Father puts things together for us, isn’t it!

“Bye, Bye, Birdie,” 1968 Production Photo; BYU European Tour

(Judy is the third person from the left.)

The Psychology of 10/10/10

Today is October 10, 2010—the tenth day, of the tenth month, in the tenth year of the new century! Many people consider the rare occurrence of same number dates during the calendar year to be lucky. At the very least, it is indeed a unique phenomenon!

To begin with, the number ten in general seems to give people a warm, fuzzy feeling. It is regarded as the most perfect of numbers, symbolic of the beginning and the end. We have ten fingers and ten toes. Counting on fingers probably led to our decimal number system, with its symbols 0-9. Biblically there were ten virgins, five foolish and five wise; There were ten leprous healed by Jesus, and God sent ten plagues of Egypt through the prophet Moses. Finally, Moses received the “Ten Commandments” of God!

Last, but not least, there are the ever ubiquitous Top Ten lists—Top Ten Reasons, Top Ten Websites, Top Ten Songs, Top Ten Movies, Top Ten Headlines, Top Ten Jokes, Top Ten Mistakes, Late Night Show Top Ten, Top Ten Reviews, and the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives … the list goes on and on!

Mathematically, the number 101010 is also rooted in uniqueness. It is evenly divisible by the number of days in a week (7, also considered lucky). An equal oddity is the fact that it is also evenly divisible by the number 6 (generally designated as being unlucky). Both a Ying and Yang situation seem to be incorporated into this date!

Globally, today is the biggest-ever day of positive action around the world. From sumo wrestlers cycling to their training in Japan, to 10,000 schools planting trees in Croatia and Russia, from a carbon-cutting telethon on national TV in the Netherlands, to hundreds of people in the UK sitting down to low-carbon Sunday lunches, this is going to be a really inspirational day!

What are you doing for 10:10:10?

Tuesday dōTERRA Tip!

Question 

Anyone know the six most frightening words in the world?

Answer 

“The Dentist will see you now!”

Dentistry is a branch of medicine considered necessary for complete overall health. Usually a male profession by nature, the dentist is probably one of the only men in the world that can tell a woman when to open and when to shut her mouth, and get away with it! Dentists can be frustrating though. You wait a month-and-a-half for an appointment, and they say, “I wish you'd come to me sooner.” And it is practically a proven fact that toothaches always start on Friday night right before the weekend when the dental office will be closed.

Are you one of those people, like me, who gets tense and nervous the second you walk into your dentist’s office? Does the sound of the drill and the sight of needles just send you into a fit of nervousness? I understand. I’m the same way. The fear of pain makes the entire process most unpleasant. But it doesn’t have to be this way! This relaxation tip is just for you!

Dentist Relaxation Tip 

Take deep breaths of dōTERRA’s “CITRUS” and “LAVENDER” essential oil (or apply 2-3 drops to the back of your neck) to relax and calm you—BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER a visit to the dentist’s office!

When University of Vienna researchers diffused the scents of “Orange” and “Lavender” into dentists’ offices, anxious patients reported they felt calmer. Both scents contain the chemical Linalool (a naturally occurring terpene alcohol chemical found in many flowers and spice plants), which seems to alter the blood chemistry to lower stress. Click here to learn more about these wonderful oils.

Sign Hanging in a Dental Office

“ … Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” ~ Psalms 81:10