(VIDEO) RAGS TO RICHES

John Cullum and his wife, Emily Frankel, talk about the days when Emily supported them with earnings from touring with her dance company.

They didn't have money for anything, except essentials -- chuck steak, and rice dinners, and rent. Even so, when their landlord raised the rent, John found a way to buy their building.

CONTEMPLATING KID STUFF

How do you feel about the younger generation?



Some time ago, when I was part of the younger generation, I didn't say anything when my mother started disappearing. Occasionally Mom did some of the things that women do to maintain a more youthful look, but she didn't seem to want to bother staying in touch with the real world, which was my world.

She'd never been much of a newspaper reader. Her Time and Newsweek magazines piled up, unread. She didn't know the names of the newest latest appliances, cars, movie stars, or sports heroes. She referred to the latest music, especially hits with a Rock and Roll beat, as noise.

In the last years of her life, she didn't answer the phone, or bother with the People Magazine I bought her, or that "Easy Do"  embroidery kit I got for her -- that stuff just sat on the table by her bed as I tried to make conversation with her while her TV played on and on.

The way Mom tuned out was sad, bad, wrong -- something to notice and warn your own children and friends about.

You need to listen and pay attention to the younger generation's music; grab onto their slang without cringing at silly phrases, or texting. You don't have to do it or use it -- just hear and feel where they're heading, and pay close attention to things like the latest style outfits. Styles just ebb and flow -- return like waves from a thousand miles, a thousand days ago.

The fact is, I see myself disappearing like Mom did. I find myself turning off things that seem at first ridiculous -- later, ludicrous -- later nonsensical, stupid, repulsive. I pretend I'm laughing at ridiculous vulgarnesses, but actually I'm sneering.

Nowadays visiting Mars is a possibility -- not something I dream about, but most kids are thrilled by the idea. And all that tech stuff -- the pods, pads, phones, photos -- insta everything that kids do, along with other ridiculous things that inspire outrageous behavior -- that's what you'd be dealing with if you came back for a visit after your life was over.

So think "this is awful" privately. Don't burden the kids, their parents, or even their grandparents with your older generational eeks, icks, yikes. Feel what you feel. but express it very carefully, when you're chatting with a stranger, or expressing yourself in an email, tweet, or on Facebook

Instead of disapproving, find beauty in what's awkward or ugly. Try on the younger generation's "wrong" clothes,  their "wrong" ideas,  and see yourself becoming freer, nicer, more interesting. You don't have to go to their get-togethers, but let yourself imagine yourself in the midst of some of that nightmarish, congested partying when they do the NaeNae Dance and Twerking.

Guys, even if you're just sort of slowly, quietly disappearing, it's hurrying you to the end of your life,  a time when you have no choices.

Just pretend it's a fun party -- wriggle a little, and join in.

CAN ANTS FIX THE WORLD?

How could ants HELP us?  

According to an article in Newsweek, Geoengineers, guys specializing in using the earth's own resources, are looking into ants, along with other things that might slow down, even reverse what's threatening our survival on planet earth.

The long, complicated, rambling article explained what Geoengineers do. Using mechanics, math, physics, chemistry, biology, and geology, these scientists deal with the development and production of subsurface earth resources, things like mining, drilling for water, oil, gas, and transportation of  hazardous wastes.

Since 1995, there have been 20 international meetings about global warming, but the major countries of the world can't even agree about what's urgent -- like the ever-increasing co2 -- the carbons in the air from cars, factories, power plants, and life in the world's increasingly overcrowded cities.

Meanwhile, some geoengineers, are focused on the world's rain forests, working on re-forestation of the land that's been shorn of carbon capturing trees; others are focused on the oceans -- ways to increase the plankton, tiny plants that eat carbon dioxide from the water and release oxygen into the ocean -- they say plankton produce about 50% of the oxygen humans breathe.

Ideas are floating around -- sci-fi ideas, impossible ideas such as capturing the waste carbon from Mediterranean power plants, injecting it into ocean currents at the Straits of Gibraltar, which would carry it out into the deepest parts of the Atlantic Ocean where it would effectively be sequestered -- or fixing the air by constant, massive spraying of aerosol cans into the air -- or seeding the ocean with iron so that plankton will grow faster, better, bigger.

Now, some highly credited experts are talking about ants.

Ants are strange creatures. They're as old as dinosaurs; they've been around for about 120 million years and an estimated 10 quadrillion of them are on the planet. They can lift up to 100 times their body weight, and they can pull carbon -- one of the greenhouse gases that’s warming the planet -- out of the atmosphere. How? As ants dig tunnels, they bore through anything that's in the way -- break it down into calcium that combines with carbon from the air and re-forms as limestone, which is already a significant portion of the earth's crust. Ant hills serve as one of the largest carbon repositories on our planet.

Could the increasing the number of ants, creating and nurturing ant colonies get significant amounts of carbons out of the air? Geoengineers are thinking maybe yes.

The thought  amazes me.

The thought gives me hope that, with Geoengineers, we have a small tribe of men who can think logically and creatively of new ways to help the world survive.

You can wade through the article in Newsweek, and clasp your hands (like I've clasped mine), and hug the thought -- pray for wise men like these guys, to help us have a future for our home sweet home on planet earth.

Here's the link:  REBOOT PLANET EARTH

(VIDEO) CULLUM'S MOST FAVORITE SINGER

John Cullum names the singers who have inspired hin -- Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and others.

As he explains what it is about each of them he especially admires, his wife, Emily Frankel, insists he reveal who his favorite is.