Say Their Name and They Live Again. Try This: Speak Out Loud The Names of Your Ancestors... From Memory... It Exercises Your Mind... Like Playing Jeopardy! on TV...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzbljIKw1_4

and... It Floods Your Mind With Pleasant Memories... Or Unpleasant Memories... and It Gives You an Opportunity to Forgive Them and Forgive Yourself... Do Not Take Resentments With You to Your Grave... Let Them Go... and Focus Attention on the Positive Experiences...

Everybody Sing!
"You got to accentuate the positive, 
Eliminate the negative,
Latch on to the Affirmative,
Don't Mess With Mister In Between." - Bing Crosby

Painting of a Flying Heart 
on My Little White Truck
 by Gregory Vanderlaan

and here is the next step... GOOGLE THEIR NAMES... and read their story,  look at their pictures... and all the related stories/pictures of people with the same name... "OH! I didn't Know That!" - Especially interesting are the Obituaries... "Really? Uncle Marc Did That!" - It is Common to Have A-HA Moments Googling Family Names. It's Like Reading Haiku Poetry on Acid... Eureka! I Have Found IT! 

Vanderlaan Family Chart

Here is My Family: Say it Out Loud.
Marguerite Malek Vanderlaan,
Justin Duff Vanderlaan, 
Martin Vanderlaan,
Mae Malek,
Albert Malek, 
Eldred Cornelius Vanderlaan,
Mable Alice Duff, 
Alberta Malek Grey,
Gary Lea,
Nicole Vanderlaan Smith,
Brodie Smith, 
Vanessa Vanderlaan,
Cadence Smith, 
Reese Smith,
Patti Post, 
Marcus Vanderlaan, 
Margret Vanderlaan,
Robin Vanderlaan, 
Karen (Jill) Vanderlaan,
Jo Ann Humphrey Vanderlaan,
Joe Humphrey,
Crystal Humphrey,
Gail Humphrey Chapin
Gary Chapin,
Janet Humphrey Chapin, 
Ray (Sandy) Chapin, 
Helen Mussat,
George Mussat,
Harry Meeks,
Roberta Meeks, 
Coral Meeks,
Victoria Davis Vanderlaan,
Ed Davis,
Jean Davis,
Beth Davis Deahl,
Gary Deahl...

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

My Gift to the World: A Free Coloring Book: Print as Many Copies as You Like and Share With Friends. Color with Felt Pens or Pencils... ALL FOR FUN! https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2020/04/peace-and-love-free-coloring-book-art.html

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

This is a Mantra That Has Meaning... Instead of Chanting the Hairy KRSNA... OM... AUM... or Mother Mary... Why Not Focus on the Family... and Chant While Doing that Deep Breathing We Were All Taught in the Movie Woodstock. 

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Massive #ArrestTrump Movement on Social Media. Millions of Americans are Demanding That The DOJ "Lock Him UP!" Read More at:

https://sites.google.com/view/gregoryvanderlaan/Home 

Click Here to Help Defend Democracy! Post Your Own Memes, Videos and Rants! or Like and Share Mine...

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

On a different subject: SE Said: I've always been fascinated by people who get married young. I find it really admirable that a person can know at a young age that they've met the person they want to spend the rest of their life with. I had several long-term relationships when I was in my late teens and 20's, but I was not at all ready to make a lifetime commitment at such a young age. I wanted to get married, but not until I was older and more mature. I worried that if I married too young, I'd end up getting divorced...and to me, it never made sense to take a chance on ending up divorced when I could just wait until I was older before getting married. I became more mature as I got older, and my emotions evened out tremendously. I cringe when I think of some of the ridiculous things I argued with my partners about when I was young, and I can't imagine arguing about such petty things now. I always assumed I'd marry around age 40 or so. By the time I turned 40, I felt more than ready to make a lifetime commitment to someone.

But what I never anticipated was the fact that the majority of people DON'T want to wait until they're older before getting married. The majority of people marry young. So when you wait until you're 40, there aren't very many single men left who are interested in marriage. The men who are still single after 40 are often single by choice, and they don't want to get married at all. Or, they're divorced, and now they're soured on the whole idea of marriage - which is exactly what I wanted to avoid by waiting until I was older before getting married. I didn't want to end up divorced and bitter, I wanted to stay single when I was young and then marry when I was a little more mature.

It's still hard for me to relate to people who were ready to marry young, and they got married young and stayed married. I really do admire that. My strategy of waiting until I was older didn't quite pan out the way I thought it would. If I could do it over again, I'd marry young and hope for the best.

and I replied: I got married at 21 and divorced 5 years later... then got married again at 45 and divorced 12 years later... Remember that there is a Financial commingling... During my second marriage she was applying for Food Stamps and CMSP (a medical insurance program paid for by the County of Humboldt) and IN THAT APPLICATION they wanted a copy of Her Bank Statement AND her Husbands Bank Statement... SO... We Got Divorced because I didn't want to provide MY Bank Statement... We Continued to live together as roommates...

SE SAID: I've also been hit on by married men on a couple of occasions, which proves to me that maybe it IS smarter to wait until you're older before getting married, otherwise you might find yourself feeling bored 30 years later, so you look to have a fling. But I find that to be pretty gross, and it's also insulting to me that any married man would think I'd even consider having a fling with him while he's married to someone else. I can't help feeling like they think that just because I've never been married, it automatically must mean that I'd be up for a meaningless fling. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Part of the reason I never married is because I have a lot of respect for marriage, and I would never dream of having a fling with a married man. Maybe if these guys hadn't gotten married so young, if they'd waited until they were older before getting married, maybe they wouldn't be bored and looking for a fling 30 years later.

****** (~);-} ******

Take ACTION...Like my Father said: 

"God Helps Those Who Help Themselves."

and then he would reach across the

Dining Room Table and Grab a Biscuit!

****** (~);-} ******

Burning Man Wisdom Tale: "The Canteen" - Traditionally, at Burning Man, You Share Water with People You Meet. Hand the Canteen to a Person and They Hand it to Another Person and ALL THE TIME, You are Worrying... "Will there Be Enough Water FOR ME?" Well, What if YOU DRINK FIRST and Then Pass the Canteen to Your Friend... That Way, All that Time You are Enjoying the Pleasure You Gave Others Without Worrying about Running Out of Water and Dying of Thirst in the Desert. Remember: Take Some ME Time First. You deserve it. - Story by Sonya Sophia

Once, I was at a Rainbow Gathering in Idaho and I Drank the Last of My Water and I was a Long Way from My Campsite and It Was Night... I got Upset and Told My Friend about My Problem and he said: "Just Walk Over to That Kitchen Right There and Ask For Water, AND THEN JUST BLISS OUT! We will take care of You."  - and I Did Get Water and I Did Bliss OUT! 

Just Bliss Out - MEME 

Portrait of an Alien 

Yin Yang
Find More Art on Google Image Search
Using the Words "gvan42 Free Coloring Book"

Psychedelic Art

Are We Really Mortal? Do the Math. If you count up all the people who have ever lived since the Beginning of Time... More people are Alive than Dead... [Not Factually Accurate - I posted this story on Facebook and Learned Something from an Alert Reader] Statistically Speaking, the ODDS of Mortality Being Fact is Less that 50% - and then there is That Famous Question of Coming Back from The Dead... I did that Every Time I Drove Home from a Concert... At Least I Did that after Every Grateful Dead Concert... Jesus Did That Once and Everybody Said it was a Miracle... Well, Some of Us Need a Miracle Every Day! As John Steinbeck Wrote in Tortilla Flat: I experienced the Daily Miracle of Food... Amazing, since I'm Unemployed...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla_Flat

We Ought to Simply Stop Car Races. The Indianapolis 500 is a Celebration of the Internal Combustion Engine. An Invention that is Killing Us by Causing Climate Change. Honoring a Death Machine is a Cultural Bizarro World Action... 

Ecology is a Concept Not Grasped by Monster Truck Guy...

When you Hear About the Datona 500, Think Death by Wildfires and Rising Ocean Levels Flooding Miami and New York City. We Had Car Races Every Saturday Night in the Summer in Eureka, CA and the Noise Sounded Like Angry Bees... I could Hear them thru the Redwood Forest in my Back yard... I Could also Hear the Children Playing Baseball and Squealing with delight... Quite a Contrast: Life vs Death.

One thing Dad told me was: "Scots Wah Hey, We Wallace Bled." In English: We are Scots. Men of William Wallace. (Braveheart-Mel Gibson)

He also bought me a book: "Born Fighting" by Jim Webb about the history of the Scots/Irish in America. Remember the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd? That's our people!

Toy Fire Truck in Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, California...  My Wife and I...

In the 1990's I often drove around with my Dad. One time we were cruising down Vista Ave near our home and he said "At least I raised you right, that man's son became a "Merry Prankster"...and he pointed to a neighbor's house. I have forgotten who the boy was but I'm sure he was older than me... more like my big brother's age. And definitely NOT Neal Cassady. He lived in a Different part of Los Gatos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Cassady

I was living in Willow Glen at that time and Working at Radio Shack and he would often come over an we would get a cup of coffee and sit on a sunshiny bus stop and "solve the problems of the world". He often wrote letters to the editor and they usually got published in the San Jose Mercury News. One letter recommended putting a stop light on Almaden Expressway at a dangerous intersection and soon the city installed one there. Saved some lives...

Copies of the Famous Sculptures of THE CATS
in LOS GATOS, California

My mom's family lived in "The Heart of the Willows" and I remember going to Christmas Parties there. My uncle made apricot white lightning and I would eat an apricot, get drunk and then dance with my cousin. The adults thought it was funny to have small children experience sexual desire before puberty... HA HA! The way he made the liquor was to fill a mason jar with pitted apricots and rock candy (sugar) then pour in vodka. Set that jar on a shelf for a year and the liquid was nearly 100% alcohol.

He also went to a bar named "Chick Letty's" during prohibition. Willow Glen was an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County just outside the border of San Jose. The laws were not enthusiastically enforced in the County... Decades later I went to the same bar and purchased illegal marijuana in the parking lot. SO, nothing has really changed... He bought illegal booze and I bought illegal reefer...

Mom's grade school has been recycled as a Senior Center and Dad went there to participate in their bus trips to Eureka. It was a voyage to the Bear River Casino in Lolita but he just used it as a handy way to travel to see me.

One time when he visited we went on The Hammond Trail in McKinleyville to look at the Mouth of the Mad River. It is visible from a park bench there. We had a long and meaningful talk about Mom. I'm really glad that I got sober and became my Dad's friend in the last years of his life. I was drinking heavily when Mom died and missed that event. OOPS! Mom worked as a secretary in Fisher Junior High School Library in Los Gatos and Lexington Elementary School. The kids loved and respected her. Dad proposed marriage to mom on the top of the hill behind the Novitiate in Los Gatos. There is a trail that goes to Lexington Reservoir and from the top you can see all of Santa Clara Valley. (Filled with apricot trees).

I did experience Aunt Alberta's last years. Dad bought a Television at my Radio Shack store and we drove over to her house and installed it in her bedroom. She had a TV in the living room but when she became bedridden she spent her entire time in the bedroom. I remember that I wanted to explain to my Cousin Dian how to use the remote control but she said hat it didn't matter because Aunt Alberta couldn't tell one station from another. She was taking morphine at that time but hated it. Too much nausea...

Grandpa Malek worked as a carpenter (general contractor). He would build entire houses. Mom's family would live in the houses while they were being built and then move on to the next house when grandpa sold it. Our family house on Hedding Street in San Jose was built by grandpa. We had to move because it was under the flight path for airplanes to the San Jose Airport and the entire neighborhood became uninhabitable when JET airplanes were invented. We moved to Los Gatos and the house was put onto a truck and moved to Almaden. The house was valuable enough to justify moving it instead of simply tearing it down. Grandpa became a carpenter right after the 1906 earthquake. He was living in Oregon when the call went out for all able bodied men to go work rebuilding the city of San Francisco. He also built a house on "The 17 Mile Drive" a neighborhood of palatial mansions in Carmel. Mom, Dad and Grandpa built a Redwood Deck on the back of our house in Los Gatos in 1960. The deck is still there today. https://www.pebblebeach.com/17-mile-drive/

Grandpa Vanderlaan worked as a minister. During the 1930's the people that attended his Church had NO MONEY to put in the collection plate. Ministers feed their families with the money from the collection plate. Grandma, dad and uncle Marc went camping on the Trinity River because there was good fishing, hunting and NO RENT. Dad and Uncle Marc were very good at fishing and hunting during the 1930's because that was a major source of food. During the great Depression Grandpa came to the realization that God did not exist. So he quit his job with the Church and became a math teacher. He also was a founding member of the Humanist Society. It's an alternative to Christianity. My dad was an atheist until the day he died. My brother became a Unitarian and I became an Acid Head. Grandpa Vanderlaan wrote a book about Religion... I tried to read it a couple of times but got bored in the early chapters and never finished it.

We went to Christmas parties at Dorothy and Leland Lea's home in the hills behind Oakland. My cousin Gary and I would play guitars and sing. Gary also played the family piano and the drums in a rock band of his friends from high school. Leland had a huge collection of tiny liquor bottles. The size they give you on an airplane... Surprisingly, after Leland passed away Gary sold the collection to someone on the internet. Before he shipped them to the customer he emptied all the bottles and poured the booze down the sink. It's illegal to ship liquor across state lines but empty bottler are Legal...

Gary Lea taught me about the Visual Mantra he used to quit smoking tobacco. Whenever you had an urge to smoke, think of the O'Neil Surf Shop Logo and remember that if you don't smoke you will have a longer life and more opportunities to go surfing... Good Idea!

We went to Sacramento on Thanksgiving to Uncle Marc and Aunt Peg's home. They had two daughters, Robin and Jill. Uncle Marc became a criminal defense attorney in Sacramento and Aunt Peg was a Social Worker. Jill became a lawyer and moved to Seattle and Robin went to work at Uncle Marc's Law office. One time a client of Aunt Pegs did a Bank Robbery and was holding hostages. The police called her and said that the only person he felt comfortable talking to was his social worker... She negotiate the release of the hostages.

Martin's wife Patti took me to my first AA meeting at Lake Tahoe. Thanks! It allowed me to live a lot longer.

I remember going to Martin and Adrienne's wedding on a Boat in Long Beach Harbor. We wore funny hats (Yarmulke) and I danced holding up a chair the she sat on.

I remember going to Nicole's Wedding in Laguna Beach. No chair dance that I remember... It was at a really elegant Golf Course and we had a lot of regular dancing... We met Brodie's Family for the first time. Martin bought us a Hotel Room at the fancy Hotel... it was where Hollywood Film Stars wen to party in the era of Charlie Chaplin. Big Fun! I also got to go to an Anti Iraq War protest march at the Beach. Every year we had protest marches in Eureka and I was afraid that I'd miss out if I went to Laguna Beach... But the people there hated the Iraq War Also!

Anti-Iraq War Protest in Laguna Beach, California

Gregory Vanderlaan and a Sculpture of the Laguna Beach Greeter

Read more of my autobiography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html 


Link to ALL My Trippy Hippie ART for Sale at My Webstore.
https://www.zazzle.com/store/gregvan/products?qs=Trippy

End Iraq War Peace Sign Button
by gregvan