BOOK REVIEW: Steeltown USA: Work and Memory in Youngstown

I read this book in ~ 2005, and found my notes as I was getting rid of some old notebooks.  Here are the memorable lines I recorded while reading Steeltown USA: Work and Memory in Youngstown by Sherry Lee Linkon and John Russo.

"The recovery of a positive memory of itself is the first important step toward reconstructing a sense of place, belonging, and ownership."

"Where there is work, there is social organization."

In 1963, a Saturday Evening Post cover story dubbed Youngstown 'Crime Town, USA'.

Urban Policy expert said about Youngstown:

"I have never been in an urban community before where jails and prisons were treated as a growth industry."

"While work gave people a sense of pride and brought them together, it could not bridge the gap between workers and managers, nor could it fully erase differences of race and ethnicity."

Youngstown would become a place known for loss and resistance.

1977-1987, unemployment would reach over 20% and remain in double digits.

Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce headline one week after Youngstown Sheet and Tube shutdown, "Not Our Valley!  No Place for Doom and Gloom."

"We've been in a 20 year pity party.  As long as week looking backward, we'll never keep going forward."  - Rufus Hudson

The book does not acknowledge that most of the job growth in the last twenty years has been in the service and retail sectors.  These sectors traditionally provided short job ladders, contingent and part-time employment, and low pay and miserable benefits.

Mark's Thoughts:

Overall, I really enjoyed the book because it put into words many the things I did not see growing up in Youngstown (my era was 1985-2001).  I knew it wasn't always doom and gloom, but it fascinated me how long people held on to views that it would just get better with time.  There is definitely not an entrepreneur attitude among residents, and that led to so many years of just the status quo. 

In 2015, some of the things the book points out as problems are still ongoing in the city.  The City Government is as Tax Hungry as ever, even though the majority of the population in city lives under the poverty line.  Instead of finding ways to decrease the size and scope of Government, the city boo hoos about how their 2.75% Business Profit Tax, and the 2.75% Personal Income Tax the city imposes will be down in 2015.  See Vindy Article HERE. Never forget, taxes are just a form of theft.  The City will never be prosperous again as long as the city government feels it deserves a large slice of the economic pie.

BOOK REVIEW: Cybill Disobedience by Cybill Shepherd with Aimee Lee Ball

Many may wonder, "Why would you read a book about Cybill Shepherd?"  The answer is 'Why Not?'

The ol' saying of 'Don't judge a book by its cover' is thoroughly shattered with this book.  You truly can judge the book by this cover, and know you are going to be thoroughly impressed!

Below are the Insightful/Hilarious/Frightful quotes compiled by reading 292 pages about Cybill Shepherd:

Family Life and Advice:

...My siblings and I ignored the frisson between my parents and never discussed the family drinking patterns, except that we referred to Moma and Da-dee's Florida Condominium as Fort Liquordale.

I can take a trip down memory lane just by walking past the men's cologne counter of any department store.

After winning Miss Teenage Tennessee, a note arrived '...you are such a sweet, thoughtful All-American Girl.  If you stay this, and I am sure you will, you can never really become a loser.'

My room looked like the inside of a pepto-bismal bottle.

On dating Elvis:

Then he opened his jacket and revealed a pearl-handled revolver stuck in his belt.  "I carry this little girl everywhere I go."

Elvis was the first person I ever saw drink bottled water, which he imported from the Ozarks.  "You drink enough of this,and it'll keep you regular."

 Advice and Movie Reviews:

"If I was still acting, you're the kind of girl I'd like to work with.  Whatever you do, don't get depressed and start eating." - Cary Grant

When Gene Shalit reviewed the film on The Today Show, he said "In this movie Cybill Shepherd appears as if she cannot walk or talk, much less sing."

"Casting Cybill Shepherd in a musical comedy is like entering a horse in a cat show" - Cincent Canby of the New York Times

There's nothing like rejection right in your face to keep you humble.

"Cybill Shepherd is a no-talent dame with nice boobs and a toothpaste smile and all the star quality of a dead hamster." - Critic 

Life Choices:

I gained forty-five pounds during my first pregnancy, and just to keep me company, my husband, David, gained fifty.

When my daughter was christened, I wore Birkenstocks.  My Mother and Grandmother complained, but I told them Jesus wore sandals and would have understood.

By the third tri-mester, I was so i huge i began to resemble Marlon Brando.

...I got to do The Return, not quite the worst movie ever made, but close.  The plot, such as it was, concerned aliens who come to Earth and inhabit cows.

My first choice for the part was Paula Poundstone, a stand-up comedienne with a twisted wacky charm.

Introductions:

I'm Cybill Shepherd, You know, the Movie Star?

If you are looking for a good time on a Saturday night, I wholeheartedly recommend Cybill Disobedience!

- MO 6/2/14 

UltraMarathon Man - Dean Karnazes

One of the my favorite passions is running.  I could blog just about running, and I would never get bored.

DEAN'S LEGS!

The one runner I look up to the most is Dean Karnazes, the Ultra Marathon Man.  What separates Dean from any other runner I have followed or met, is his drive.  My friend gave me a copy of his book, 'Ultra Marathon Man', and I finally got around to reading it.  I was blown away!

Below are some quotes from the book that I treasure and use as motivation:

Most dreams die a slow death.  They're conceived in a moment of passion, with the prospect of endless possibility, but often languish and are not pursued with the same heartfelt intensity as when first born.  Slowly, subtly, a dream becomes elusive and ephemeral.  People who've let their own dreams die become pessimists and cynics.  They feel that the time and devotion spent on chasing their dreams were wasted.  The emotional scars last forever.  "It can't be done," they'll say, when you describe your dream.  "It'll never happen."

This part of the book really stood out to me.  I feel I have followed this path many of times in my life, and when I reflect on what went wrong, it was because of lack of intensity.

Runners are real people.  They don't run for money or recognition, they do it out of passion.

Runners are the most peculiar, caring, funniest, interesting people I have ever met.  Some of my best friendships were forged running.

Check out his website www.ultramarathonman.com and find out what he is up to next!