A snapshot of McQueen..

[Sir Limpsalot]

I always really enjoy a quiet browse through O'Doug's blog, it's a cracker. Check this out..

http://40on2.blogspot.com/2005/12/instamatic-memories.html

Si :)

[Deans BMW]

O Doug, again, your Blog is world Class.

[vintagemxr]

Thanks, guys, glad you enjoy my ramblings. I don't doubt for a moment that most people who have spent a lifetime fiddling about with motorcycles could tell similar stories but most don't want to write about them. In part I write the blog because kids and grand kids and even great grand kids are the ones who will truly enjoy the stories long after we're pushing up daisies. As with Donna's grandmother's pictures of her Yosemite trip, the joy of the life can be shared for generations. I recommend that everyone jot down their experiences even if the stories are never put on-line.

the other Doug

[Lyle]

Thanks, guys, glad you enjoy my ramblings. I don't doubt for a moment that most people who have spent a lifetime fiddling about with motorcycles could tell similar stories but most don't want to write about them. In part I write the blog because kids and grand kids and even great grand kids are the ones who will truly enjoy the stories long after we're pushing up daisies. As with Donna's grandmother's pictures of her Yosemite trip, the joy of the life can be shared for generations. I recommend that everyone jot down their experiences even if the stories are never put on-line.

I agree 100%!

There are so many times, talking to my friends or especially my sons, when I start out with "Did I ever tell you the story about...", and I think of writing it down. I must have a million of them. I am putting a list of them on a PDA, so I can refer to the list and write down all the stories, but have wondered for years where to keep them. I've thought of printing them up, or giving CDs to my sons with all the stories burned onto them, etc. But any of those media could get lost or destroyed. I thought of keeping them on a website, but when I kick the bucket, nobody will pay the bill. But a free blog would be a great place to keep the stores, at least as a backup. I have no idea what BlogSpot's policy might be on keeping blogs online once they stop being updated, but at least it will be out of reach of whoever might one day clean my house out and toss whatever they don't think they can sell on eBay.

[Donson]

O"Doug, I had not looked at Your blog. I read 5 or 6 of them in short order. I will be back for more!:001:

[Pacific]

First class, Doug. I think I once attended a lecture where the speaker insisted that storytelling set man apart from all other creatures. Others engineer, hoard, attack, defend, and care for their families, but only man tells stories. It's the way we drive truth from generation to generation.

Get the stories out. As someone who works with teenagers, I regularly hear, "My grandfather always says . . ." or, "When my dad was 20 years old . . ." followed by a story. Keep talking. The kids are listening.

Jay

[vintagemxr]

I agree 100%!

There are so many times, talking to my friends or especially my sons, when I start out with "Did I ever tell you the story about...", and I think of writing it down. I must have a million of them. I am putting a list of them on a PDA, so I can refer to the list and write down all the stories, but have wondered for years where to keep them. I've thought of printing them up, or giving CDs to my sons with all the stories burned onto them, etc. But any of those media could get lost or destroyed. I thought of keeping them on a website, but when I kick the bucket, nobody will pay the bill. But a free blog would be a great place to keep the stores, at least as a backup. I have no idea what BlogSpot's policy might be on keeping blogs online once they stop being updated, but at least it will be out of reach of whoever might one day clean my house out and toss whatever they don't think they can sell on eBay.

Lyle, as far as I can tell Blogger just lets blogs live on and on even if they are not updated, but of course there is no guarantee of that. I've always thought at some point I'd organize my blog entries and print them out for my one and only son. Not sure he'd care right now but when he's my age he might. Committing the info to stored digital media is a bit of a crap shoot because technology changes and even the best archival CD-ROM won't last forever and if they did, would anyone be able to read them? So my stories will live on the web for as long as Blogger lets them, and I do save them all on my computer too, but oddly enough, good old paper still holds the best chance of being readable in 100 years or so.

Donson, Jay, glad you enjoyed the read around. As with any such endeavor, not every page is a gem but I like to think a few are.

the other Doug

[DarthRider]

Write a book! Seriously.

We bought a cool little book once at an obscure little gift shop/cafe/micro brewery on a beautiful river in Northern New Mexico.
I discovered the guy who worked there was the author, also an artist, sculptor & pro photographer who had lived his long life all over the world.
His book was simplicity itself...wherever you opened the book, there was a complete story, page left & right. 2 pages, no more, no less for each.
He said everyone owes it to themselves and their posterity to write such a book. He told me "there are no uninteresting lives, only unrecorded lives'.
The book format removes any fears of dealing with continuity, plot, character development, etc. They are like "beer table stories" and can be as literary or basic as we like. And it imposes a great discipline that prevents over-long, boring stories...2 pages only!
The stories can be arranged chronologically, by subject, totally at random, or any way we like.
They can be handwritten, or typed on a simple computer text writer or fully formatted with MS Word or something similar.
They can be self published by companies who specialise in that, or nicely produced on home desktop publishing.

And it's a fun & different way to read a book as you can just open them randomly and read a couple or a few.

This old artist/writer had literally known kings, queens, movie stars, sports heroes, politicians and all sorts of famous or interesting people in his long life, and wrote a 2 page story on each. Particularly interesting subjects got a complete book unto themselves!

I've been sort of working on one like that for years, writing & gathering stories of all sorts, a lot of skydiving and motorcycle stories, unforgettable characters, great jokes, my magazine stories and a lot of other things. I have a great many buried here on the Cafe'...and that's a problem! Many or most are in threads started by others so I don't even know where to look. V Bulletin used to index our "Threads" and "Posts" separately which helped a lot, but no more. And now (temporarily I hope) I can't even get to my list of "All Posts".

I guess my point is that the Cafe' is not the best place to "store" our "keepers". I never got into the blog thing and often didn't keep off-site copies, and now I'm paying the price.

Anyway, think about compiling a little book like that interesting old man did!