Life on a Box Wine Budget

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.  -Eleanor Roosevelt

There are those who scoff at the notion of “having a dream,” at the idea of following your passion, claiming it a foolish waste of time. They are the ones who follow the safe path. And I am very sorry for those people because a life worth living is so much more than taking the cautious route and steering clear of daring choices. It is challenging yourself to try new things. And when people smirk and ask, “What makes you think you can do these things?” you simply reply, “What makes you think I can’t?”

My son, Brian, has had a dream since he was a boy to become a filmmaker. He made movies on a $25 Digital Blue video camera we bought him for Christmas one year. He and his younger brother, Peter, and their friend, Alex, would post signs around the neighborhood announcing casting auditions for their upcoming projects. These signs also promised concessions, which Alex’s mother learned while driving through the neighborhood one day and happened to catch sight of one of the signs. Concessions??!! We wondered if they were just planning on raiding our pantries for half-empty boxes of stale crackers and a few rogue pieces of old Easter candy hidden behind cans of tomato sauce. But there was never any need to worry because no one ever showed up for their auditions. Ever. That didn’t deter them, though. The boys just ended up playing several parts…or twins… that option was always on the table too. And I do believe that someday, those kids from long ago who laughed at ours for thinking they could be anything special will regret not having been a part of those early dreams.

Brian did pursue his dream. He is a filmmaker. And an award-winning one, at that. His short film, Making Beethoven Proud, is currently making the rounds on the film festival circuit and, and of this writing, has been selected to premiere at many festivals across the country and the globe.

It is a story of perseverance. It is a story of overcoming adversity. And it is a story of choosing to see beauty in the world when only darkness surrounds you. It tells the story of a young music prodigy who must come to terms with a devastating loss and the power of the human spirit to rise and conquer.

I think some of those people who rolled their eyes at Brian’s dream will one day wistfully tell their friends, “I knew him when…” Remember Brian…The Best Is Yet To Come 😎

I am immensely proud of him and his beautiful talent. His short film, Making Beethoven Proud, is making this mama very proud. 

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.  -Colin Powell

Check out latest book, NUMB. It follows an unlikely serial killer. You might even like her…

NUMB tells the story of a desperate woman trying to balance a professional career, motherhood, marriage and the agonizing loss of her mother into the abyss of dementia. Her coping skills are unconventional, to say the least, as she finds herself reverting to a rather illegal method of stress management. When an old friend confronts her about his suspicions, he learns a deadly lesson in minding his own business. Friend or not, she cannot risk her secret exposed. 

The Amazon direct link to NUMB: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ELICULY

NUMB is now available for download on Kindle devices  and free Kindle apps for $3.99

REVIEWS FOR NUMB:

Today’s my dad’s birthday. He was born John Casey Toner on December 9, 1922. To most people, December 9th is not a day that stands out any differently than any other day on the calendar. No one gets the day off work. School is still in session and the mail is delivered as usual. But for me, it’s a very special day because my dad was an amazing man. He was a strong man. He was masculine when being such didn’t require an apology. And he was my hero and my friend. He lived through the Great Depression as a young boy. He fought as an Army paratrooper in WWII with the legendary 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles, Easy Company (the same company featured in Band of Brothers). He flew airplanes. And he jumped out of airplanes. Many summer nights he would regale the local neighborhood kids on our front porch with stories of jumping out of planes in Nazi territory in the pitch dark of night, not knowing how far he was from hitting the ground…or sometimes a tree. And we hung on every word.

Following his service to his country, he honorably served the city of Chicago as a police sergeant for 30 years. He raised a family of seven and sacrificed to send us all to Catholic schools and provide college educations for us. He was an artist and, at the begging of us kids, would sit at the kitchen table with us and say, “Okay what do you want me to draw?” And I would then watch the magic that he created. He took calligraphy classes at St Xavier College with my sister-in-law. Can’t imagine many daughters-in-law wanting to take a class with their husband’s father. But I always thought that was pretty cool. His handwriting and printing were pure perfections. He approached everything he did as an artist. He loved to cook and watching him slice a roast was a thing of beauty.

But the thing that will always stand out about him was his courage he displayed in the face of darkness. Without a care given to his reputation or his family, he was callously used as a pawn in the dirty politics of Cook County. He was considered nothing more than collateral damage as criminal charges were brought against him when he wouldn’t play along in their pursuit of much bigger game. The Cook County State’s Attorney thought with enough pressure and mounting charges placed against him, he would eventually break and say what they wanted to hear. But they thought wrong. I can still remember seeing him on the evening news exiting the courthouse. With microphones shoved in his face, his clear blue eyes looking earnestly at reporters he simply said, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

After several long years of being dragged through the mud and the threat of prison looming, he was finally fully exonerated by a unanimous decision and acquitted of all fraudulent charges placed against him. That momentous event happened on this day: December 9, 1979. His birthday. He was honorably reinstated to the police force, given his stripes back and awarded full back pay for the years he’d been suspended.

During these years, I’m sure he must have been terrified. He still had seven kids at home. He couldn’t afford to lose his job, his salary, his benefits. But he never showed it. As my brother Kevin so eloquently put it, “He was an icepick in a frozen ocean.”

My dad passed away suddenly on August 17, 1987 at the age of sixty-four, the day after my son, Mike’s 1st birthday party. He left this earth on good terms with his family, his friends and God. And that is a great consolation to me.

Though my dad’s case was not part the much larger Greylord case, the tactics employed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office with regards to the “Marquette 10” mimicked his case almost identically.

https://chicagology.com/chicagopolice/marquetteten/

Yes, he was my hero and my friend. Happy Birthday Dad, ya done good 😌

The polar vortex is over and we’re out of hibernation! On today’s episode we’re talking about the joys of air travel. That’s right…the stress of checking in EXACTLY 24 hours ahead of your Southwest flight, checking your bag, dealing with TSA and security lines. All the best stuff. What’s your least favorite thing about flying? Let us know!

Click on the link or type “Where are my glasses” in the search bar on your smartphone podcast app. Seriously, that’s how easy it is 😬

http://www.wherearemyglassespodcast.com/?p=541

Still not sure what to get that special percussionist or pianist in your life for Christmas?? Check out this beautiful solo piece written by my son 🙂
Peter Naughton composed Two Rivers through his tenure at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Door County, Wisconsin. The pastoral sounds of this charming marimba solo were inspired by the rich farmlands and rustic architecture of that stretch of land.

For those of us who may not understand the intricacies of performing music, we can still immerse ourselves in the “feel” of its hymnlike texture and flowing melody, which evoke the sounds of Early American folk music. 

And for you music prodigies out there…the piece features a main, song-like melody which is embellished throughout. As the piece progresses, the harmonies supporting this melody become more and more dissonant, with the original melody restated at the end, in its original unadorned form. 

Two Rivers ships in a printed, professionally bound folio with a full-color cover.

https://www.tapspace.com/marimba-xylophone/two-rivers

Well done, Petey 😌