Saturday 9~ Desi Arnaz

The Straw Hat Song

Welcome to Saturday: 9. 

Hosted by Sam!

The Straw Hat Song (1955)

Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.

1) In this song, Desi Arnaz encourages us to laugh and sing instead of concentrating on our troubles. Is this an approach to life you could adopt? Or are you a worrier?

I   have spent a lot of life being a worrier,   but thankfully,  I am learning to  give  my troubles to God and let Him hold them for me..Life is too short to worry about  things...

2) Because Desi's public persona was carefree, people are often surprised to learn his early life was hard. In 1933, his wealthy family was targeted by Cuban revolutionaries. Their home was destroyed and were forced to flee the country. In Miami, they lived in a warehouse and 16-year-old Desi helped support the family by cleaning cages for the man who sold canaries outside a drugstore. Think about your friends and acquaintances. Whose life story turned out to be very different than you originally thought?

Back about  30 years ago.,.  goodness I can't believe that,  but, anyway,  there was a very poor family who lived in the rural community  near  my parents and my mother's church took them under their wing to try to help them..  mainly because the ,mother  of that family was the daughter of  a man  who had worked on my mother's farm and he was such a great  man, simple, hardworking and a dear Christian.  Well, this  poor family  had nothing.. They lived in a    shack and   the church worked it out so they could move into a larger  old abandoned  home on a neighbor's property,  but it wasn't much of a step up,  it did have running water,  but   it  was in bad shape.. no central  heating etc..  but they were thrilled..  There were about 5 children in the family and my husband  and I "adopted"  the oldest boy  who was 16 for Christmas that year...  We bought him several outfits and a winter coat.  When  we delivered the gifts  I was  shocked to see their living conditions.. While we were there, the father  arrived..  Someone had taken him to  the grocery store to buy some    food..   The driver  placed the bags there on the sidewalk and then drove  away.  My dad  started to help carry the groceries in when the   husband of the family  picked up the the gallon of milk and just through it into the house and it burst and  milk went everywhere..  Whether he was   witless or drunk I never knew,  but I learned to avoid him and  my prayers for this family  became even more  prominent.   The boy we had been helping ended  up in jail and I lost track of him..  The  father  went to prison for something  and as for  the mother we would see her  ever so often and she seemed much happier..  But it was the oldest daughter,  she  was a lovely sweet  girl,  she caught the eye of the  mail  carrier, the son of a big contractor in town,   who married her and  the last I saw of her    she was living in a nice home,  going to school and  she was great loved...

3) While still in his teens, Desi got his first job as an entertainer. As a boy in Cuba, he expected to be a lawyer, not a musician. He only began playing guitar because he noticed girls like musicians and he liked girls. Tell us about a hobby of yours, and what inspired you to pick it up.

My oil painting  just  sort up  popped up after I retired..   there was the dearest older lady in our church,  

(This  beautiful  woman in blue.  She  was 88 when I started in her class.. She  was an acclaimed portrait painter) 

whom I really didn't know very well,  but  she was in the Bible Study I was going to.  When I heard she gave oil painting classes in her home, I was intrigued so I  went to a class and was immediately hooked.  I loved her way of teaching-  not a lot of rules,   her main thing was  to tell us to paint what we see not what we know is there,    and to use various tones of a color to  demonstrate light and  distance. I loved  working with the  colors, the shading and the lights.. After a very  stressful  job of teaching for 30 years,  oil painting was hugely cathartic!..

  

4) He discovered he was not only a talented musician but a natural leader. By the tender age of 19, he had organized The Desi Arnaz Orchestra and they were performing in Miami hotels. Have you ever been a boss? If so, did you enjoy it?

No.

5) When he was 23, he went to Hollywood to try his hand at movies and met a 28 year old actress named Lucille Ball. In Hollywood back in 1940, it was considered embarrassing for a woman to date a younger man. Their initial attraction was so powerful she quickly got over it. Do you think age matters when it comes to romance?

Not really  but it   does  sort of depending on the  difference, I think..  I know a man who  was  73  who married a maiden  who was  30.  It just never really set well with many people, including me.  Now he is nearly 80 and she is  35. 

6) Desi was the first person to call that famous redhead "Lucy." Throughout her entire life, friends, family and coworkers always referred to her as "Lucille," as she preferred. But Desi insisted on "Lucy." He said that name was his and his alone. Ironically it became the way the world referred to her. Do you have a pet name for anyone?

Well, Schotzy is a pet name for me... We used to call Amanda, 'Button", but no more! Oh, yes,  we do call our  oldest granddaughter, Birdie!!! 

That may stick with her...

7) Lucille and Desi named their son and daughter after themselves. Were you named after anyone?

My mother switched her  first and middle name to name me.  I named Amanda after my great grandmother. I loved to hear the stories Grannie told about her mother,  and I think Amanda is a beautiful name.. It means 'worthy of love'!

8) Desi was the founding force behind Desilu. One of the first great production studios of the television age, Desilu grossed $15 million in 1957 (more than $135 million in today's dollars). He credited his success to his unconventional and creative approach to problems. Are you a good problem solver?

I think so.

9) Random question: Who annoys you more, a know-it-all or an ignoramus?

That one has to be a 50/50. I know a couple of know- it -alls, and they can be grating!