STICKY DOORKNOBS

Turning kids into young adults with a passion for music one of Randy Storie's greatest gifts

When we moved into our house near Lee High School in 1993, we used to tell everyone we saved a lot of money on video rentals every August, because for entertainment all we had to do was set up our lawn chairs in the back alley and listen to Mr. Storie whip his Rebel band into shape every day. He was legendary throughout the neighborhood (and beyond) when his voice would boom from behind that megaphone.

That was well over a decade ago. Mr. Storie's voice is somewhat quieted these days as he continues his forced sabbatical in a Midland hospital room while dealing with complications from diabetes and recovering from a surgery that is setting him back way longer than he would ever want to be set back.

We've had one child go through the Rebel Band with another one on the way, and although our daughter stepped out of  music and into another field in her senior year, she is the one who first alerted me to his recent illness. The news had made the rounds on MySpace and our daughter was expressing a genuine concern to me even though it has been four years since her graduation.

Mr. Storie is an enigmatic soul. I don't think there's much question about that. He drives his student musicians as hard as any football coach drives his athletes. Some would argue harder. But he loves them and he tells them frequently. On one hand he can be somewhat controversial, but on the other he has an uncanny ability to turn novice band students -- children -- into young adults who are gifted with a passion for music.

His track record for success at University Interscholastic League contests may be approaching the unprecedented level; his bands have won something like 35 or 36 sweepstakes in a row, probably more by now. He is an honored and admired educator and someone who is truly and genuinely moved in his heart by the sound of music, a quality he hands down to students willing to learn and willing to make the sacrifices necessary to live up to the potential he sees in them. Ask anyone who's been through that program: it's not always easy. But the fruits are substantial. If you make it through his program, not only do you get a man who will champion you for years after you graduate, you get someone who passes along to you a deep passion for music. Both are gifts to be cherished for a lifetime. As I tell my own kids, anything worth having must be earned.

I served as a band volunteer several years ago and didn't do nearly the job that needed to be done. No excuses, only regrets that I was unable to devote the time he needed and the kids deserved.

Mr. Storie reminds me a lot of my own high school band director, a man who drove me and others hard every single school day. He instilled in me a lifelong love of music (not to mention my lifelong habit of a nearly endless tapping of my fingers to the beat of whatever is looping through my head at a particular moment). I will never forget my band director, who still remembered even me a couple of years ago. The best band directors never forget their students. Mr. Storie is that way. He is hard and he is demanding, yes; but what student musicians get in return is irreplaceable: the love of a teacher and the love of music.

The news out of Midland Memorial Hospital today is good: Mr. Storie continues on the road to recovery and doctors are encouraged at his progress.

Hundreds of people who have crossed paths with Randy Storie wish him only the best during this difficult time. He will remain in their prayers as well.

"Billy Bones" taught his family how to love and live life

One of the kindest, most decent and caring men I have ever known, Billy Raies, lost his father Saturday. Bill Raies was 93. Billy and his wife Jan moved Bill to Midland when health problems began to mount about 18 months ago. I never met Bill, but I have had the pleasure of hearing the stories about him. And our family has had the privilege to share with his family many good times, and we are better for their having been friends.

At the family's visitation Wednesday, Billy told me his Dad was a YouTube video star. Bill played the bones. You can see just how well he did so, and how much he loved life, by taking a look at this.

Bill was buried with his "bones" between his fingers, the ultimate indication of just how much they made his life and the lives of others more enjoyable.

Prayers to janie's family and friends

Tragedy and what happens when it hits close to home. Prayers for our friends at Sounding Forth.

A friend remembers Jay

Becky Sotelo, a friend of our family, grew up with Jay Ewing, the Midland man who died of ALS and was memorialized yesterday with his friends at Calvary Assembly of God Church. I asked Becky to share some memries she had about Jay ...

Jay and I met at Alamo Junior High School .  After finishing our eighth grade  year, we went to separate freshman schools and lost touch with each other.  Two years ago we ran into each other at Walmart. and we decided to get reacquainted and what a blessing.  We spent our time together getting to know each other by sharing stories about our lives after jr high, our families and what we hoped for in the future  During other visits we spent time sharing about our week, painting, cooking,  sometimes reading and once we even cleaned a room!  My favorite part of visiting with Jay was the prayer time we shared together and of course eating!  At the end of every visit we would always tell each other we loved each other and God loved us too.

The last  month we spent together I don’t think was different than any other visits  We painted, talk about different projects that we wanted to complete and we even discussed the possibility of taking an on line course in Art History at Midland College.  He even made a remark about learning to paint using his mouth.  Jay had such great vision for painting and often spoke of his son Jason being a good artist, he was so proud of all his boys.  The last day I visited with Jay we had decided to meet the Thursday after Thanksgiving.  Jay had a lot of family coming in for the holidays and he wanted to spend time with them.  He was very devoted to family  Thursday morning came, after Thanksgiving Day, and his mom called and said that Jay didn’t feel like visiting.  I asked her to call me if he wanted to visit on Friday.  The next day she called and said Jay wasn’t up to visiting again so we planned to see each other the next Thursday.  That night Sue called and told me that Jay was very ill and asked for our continued prayers for him.   Then on Saturday she called and informed me that Jay had gone to be with our Lord  Saturday seems like a life time ago.  I will miss Jay but the precious visits that our Lord gave us will always be in my heart.  The dear gift of his wife and family will always remain in  my life.

So long, friend.

Oh, I feel much better about myself now

This just happened. And it reinforces my self-worth as a worker bee. Betty, a woman who has worked at the Midland Reporter-Telegram for longer than I have been alive, just took a gentleman through a tour of the newsroom. Here was Betty's description to the man as she walked through the editorial department:

"This is Tim, he's our photo editor and has some really wonderful photos ... This is Gary, he's our editor and he's just published a book. And this is Jimmy. ... ... ... ... I'm not sure what he does."

Sympathies to Wallace

The death of a beloved dog. A difficult divorce. And now, the passing of his father. My friend Wallace has been through much in the last couple of months. To ask someone to deal with so much pain in such a short time is askng a lot. Drop by his Streams blog if you can and read about Wallace's dad. It's times like these when friends are much needed and most noticable.

Manly Men Denied

The website Askmen.com released its list of the Most Manly Men on the planet this week. George Clooney was the winner, they say. He's fine, but giving George Clooney a Manly Man award is like rooting for Brad Pitt to get lucky.

Of course we will argue for centuries about who was on the list and who was left off. A few of those who would make an alternate Top 10 if I had anything to say about it. And I don't. But if I did:

10. T.O.

Write a children's book. Alienate everyone. Celebrate a touchdown like it's the Super Bowl winner when your team is 21 points behind. Survive an overdose AND a broken hand at the same time. It's all in a days work for this giant among men guy who is not exactly turning the Dallas Cowboys around in this particular lifetime.

9. My friend Dennis.

Confident. Self-assured. A successful oilman, husband and discerning purveyor of the finer things in life (the rock band Chicago, FOX News, the Cubbies, leftover Italian). Picture not available.

8. George Michael.

George had the decency and humility to say the other day that smoking pot keeps him sane. George, buddy ... I never thought I'd say this, but ... you ain't smokin' enough pot.

7. Some guy I grew up with and worked with in a sandwich shop.

He taught me about life. And then he became an attorney, preventing him from taking a higher spot on this list (photo confiscated by Colorado jurisprudence authorities).

6. Earl Miller, former head football coach, Midland Lee High School.

Possessing a quiet confidence, Earl was a West Texas favorite. If they ever filmed a story about his life, Earl would be played by Peter Falk. In Columbo character. (photo never taken)

5. Mel Cooley

Mel possessed an unending generosity, allowing Rob to grab all the headlines while repeatedly being on the receiving end of Buddy and Sally's abuse. His lack of confidence was only an act and Mel spent his entire career successfully fighting his inner demons. A true giant among men who could possibly be the single most unappreciated television star of our lifetime. A role model for all men. The perfect son.

4. Boy George

Boy proudly accepted his punishment recently when he was sentenced to clean up the streets of New York for something stupid he did. This follows by 20 years the tremendous successes he achieved after recording such monster smash hits as "Karma Chameleon," "I'll Tumble 4 Ya," and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me." Yes, Boy, we really wish we could.

3.(Open)

2. Norton

Poker player. Loyal friend. Beer drinker. And he still had enough left in his tank every day to be one of the finest garbage collectors sanitation engineers the city of New York has ever known. Oh, and he came home to the beautiful Trixie every night. In the unpublished biography, "Norton, Ya Bum", he bravely tells the story of secretly beating up Ralph repeatedly, an accomplishment for which he never received sufficient fame.

1. Bernard P. Fife.

The epitome of what a man should be: Lawman. Conosseiur of fine spiked water coolers.  Frugal. Friend. Compassionate deputy. Wise with a bullet (mostly). Ladies man. Companion to Thelma Lou, who along with Trixie, was a babe before there were babes.

We celebrate these men for what they are and for what they aren't. They are role models and they will never be recognized by Askmen.com for being among the manliest.

Congratulations. You rock, dudes.

Striving for the highest

My new favorite quote:

"I hope one day I can be as good a person as my dog thinks I am."

Condolences to friend Wallace for the loss of his beloved Golden.

-- jp

Jim comes through Midland on his way to the Grand Canyon

Some people dream of getting in their car and seeing the country. Jim Janotti is doing it. In fact, as of today, he is in the middle of a two week journey cross country. About a week from now he will return to his Pottstown, Penn., home, where he serves as a minister at a local Methodist church, is a rural mail carrier, and serves as husband to Joy and father to two daughters.

When both Jim and Joy landed new fulltime jobs this year, they knew they wouldn't be able to vacation together this year, so they decided they'd take separate trips.

Jim's a blogger. His Serotonin Rain offers inspiration, insight, family moments and real-world slices, and he has garnered a particularly good following in these parts. He is friends with the Fire Ant Gazette's Eric Siegmund, Archaeotexture's Jeff McDonald and others. You guys may very well know him, too. During the Lenten season leading up to Easter this spring, Jim wrote a devotional blog every day for 40 days called "Lent for Real People." It was the best devotional I've ever read. MyWestTexas.com was lucky to have had his insights.

I sat down for lunch with Jim and Eric and the others Wednesday at Midland's Italian Village as Jim made his way across the country meeting the bloggers he has come to know only through the computer, until now.

Jim would make a fine Texan. Eric, Jeff and I tried to talk him into relocating to West Texas but he apparently didn't bite. You can take the boy out of Pottstown ... you know the rest ...

When he left, Jim would only say that he was headed west and that he had another week to go before he was due home.

I tried, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to get him to spend a few days in Big Bend, but apparently, he was swayed by another blogger in Kansas City, who told him he really ought to visit (insert mystery location here). My money's on the Grand Canyon, but Jim wouldn't give an inch. He did promise, though, to return with Joy for an extended visit to the national park soon.

Why is this all important? I don't suppose it is really, in the whole big picture. But it goes to prove one thing, especially to those folks who think the Internet has depersonalized our relationships (and they do have a point, don't get me wrong). But when people like Jim come through town and you have lunch and talk like you've been friends your whole life, there is a certain shrinking of the global community occurring. If technology helps us build new friendships and introduces us to good and decent people like Jim Janotti, there's good in this whole technology thing.

When we were done with lunch we loaded Jim up with a box of Susie's South Forty candies, a 2007 Texas calendar, a Kinky Friedman Etiquette book and a homemade CD of Texas songs. I still have a problem envisioning this guy from Pennsylvania tooling down the highway headed who knows where singing "Luckenbach." But if you see anyone who fits that description, you'll know it's Jim.

Check out Serotonin Rain blog in the next few days and find out why Midland was lucky to have him as a visitor last week. And find out where he ended up on his mystery destination.