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Russell Schierling's avatar

Not necessarily the biggest all time fan of punk (although the Ramones "I Wanna be Sedated" rocks), but I AM a fan of ANYONE whose "hill to die on" is Freedom of Speech! Keep rocking brother - headed to play drums for our church's praise band (not quite "punk" but if everyone is there, we can bring it!)

Keith Jajko's avatar

Thanks much, braddah! It was worship bands that first attracted me to church ~ and my pastor says the same thing. Some say Jesus was a punker, rebelling against the Pharisees. I see their point. ✌️🤎🤙

Meddling Kid's avatar

Takes all kinds. To this day, the worship music is my LEAST favorite part of church, but unlike most folks, I have deep emotional scars (mostly self-inflicted) from my mom being the organist and choir director at our church for my entire childhood.

Russell Schierling's avatar

I hate to hear that Meddling. Our organist is the sweetest little widow you'd ever hope to meet - probably in her mid-80's. She makes our church's organ hum, though. The unfortunate reality is that when this generation of organ players are gone, there is no one coming up to take their place. Praying that God will heal those scars. God bless.

John Wright's avatar

Fascinating! My grandmother's church had a massive pipe organ (Lord knows how long ago that church was built! They don't built them like that anymore.) and that organ inspired my love of the sound of an organ.

I miss the days of "real music", not this modern MP3 compressed crap played on tiny little earbuds or worse yet cell phone speakers which have to be the worst speakers ever invented.

Russell Schierling's avatar

Keith, when you are in the Ozarks next, holler at me and we'll hit the Current River! https://doctorschierling.com/?s=Current+River And then you can play with us on Sunday morning. Could be interesting - would definitely be fun! It's kind of a hillbilly's slice of Maui - ha!

Keith Jajko's avatar

My ex-wife and son live in Ozark, Missouri. My first jet ski ride was on Lake of the Ozarks. I might just take you up on that one day. 🤘🤘🤘

Russell Schierling's avatar

Small world, Keith. Lake of the Ozarks is a pretty crazy place today. When we go to the river we typically run the stretches where the tourists are sparse. It is the definition of getting away from it all. BTW, if I find out you came to Missouri without contacting me, I might have to send Guido after you!

Laura Jacoba's avatar

Mad props to your sobriety, Keith!

Keith Jajko's avatar

Aww! Thank you. It's the single hardest endeavor I have ever attempted. 💪

Meddling Kid's avatar

“I would drop killa memes there, too, but Substack doesn’t allow that with comments (yet).”

But you could restack her posts with memes and comments!

Keith Jajko's avatar

Oh man thanks a lot. Not sure I'll ever be able to get any work done now. Might be too big a squirrel to chase. 🤣

James Allin's avatar

Keith is aware that Hawaii had authoritarian lockdowns and wanted forced vaccination, isn't he? After all, this ain't Magnum P.I. country (club) anymore.

Keith Jajko's avatar

Oh I lived it ~ and wrote about some of it in my book. Also, it seems my shadowbanning on Facebook began with criticism of the then-Lt. Governor who is now Hawaii's esteemed grand ruler, its new king, if you will. He's not a real doctor but plays one on TV whenever his party asks. A real orders-taking ghoul. I think he has a forked tongue but can't get myself to look that closely.

By the way, the billionairres who fund the No Kings shit have it called No Dictators in Hawaii. It seems too many locals or long-timers wouldn't actually mind having a king, after all.

https://mauiinsight.town.news/g/kahului-hi/n/34034/state-announces-new-12-tier-pandemic-re-opening-strategy

🌱Nard🙏's avatar

From on Senior Gen Xer to another (also née 1966), damn glad to meet you! You seem like a super cool guy, and I’ve always appreciated YOUR wit and insights 💗. Thank you for sharing!

Keith Jajko's avatar

Thank you sooo much, for this, and especially for all your wit and spot-on commentary here on SS (including to many of Jenna's pieces). Your insight is much appreciated.

Roberta Stack's avatar

Nice to meet you Keith! And I love your story! You speak to as why we love Jenna too!

Jean Louise's avatar

So nice to hear your story, Keith! We have similar paths except I am not at the ‘senior’ end of Gen X as I’m a 1967 baby. 😉 Congrats on your sobriety! Speaking from experience, I know how hard it is but living free is vastly underrated. 🙏💛💛

Checked out your memes on the Maui link and I’m in stitches! Love your sense of humor.

Keith Jajko's avatar

Aww, thanks so much! Maui Insight has been a pleasant surprise. I have some of the most hilarious stories from responses. Follow us on Facebook (Maui Insight group); you'll see some avid followers commenting often. Apologies in advance for all the safety cone references. They're our unofficial state bird. 🤗

Janna's avatar

Excellent read. I’ll check in on Maui Insight from time to time and thanks for the link.

We lived on Oahu for 40 years and still have kids and grands there. We grew tired of the noise, traffic and people. So many, too many people.

I’m glad you enjoy Maui. My Mom lived in Ulupalakua for a time and it was lovely there.

We’re now in northern Maine, possibly as far as one can get from Hawaii, and I am happy here. As Maui did for you, this move has restored my soul.

Different strokes and all that.

Keith Jajko's avatar

Wow, what an incredible story, thanks for sharing! (My dad's from MA, btw; I'm still a diehard Red Sox fan). ✌️🤎⚾️

deb king's avatar
1hEdited

Oh, I definitely found my tribe here. 😂😎

John Wright's avatar

Absolutely! 😇

Keith Jajko's avatar

🤣🤣🤣😎

LAURA LEE's avatar

Great spotlight, Jenna! And thank you, Keith, for sharing with the class! ♥️ I plan to purchase your book and read more about you and your life’s experiences.

Keith Jajko's avatar

Aww thanks so much, Laura!

LAURA LEE's avatar

Just purchased! 😘

Romana's avatar

Just wanted to say Hi!! to Keith!

Joe (Chip) Cordell's avatar

Thanks for the introduction to Keith , Jenna! He is certainly a fascinating writer and a good example of the interesting fare you present to me each morning! Your site is the high point of my day!

“Chip” Cordell

Heather B's avatar

Nice to get to know you. Glad for you that you're sober. I love Maui it's my fave island in the world, envious of you for living there.

Keith Jajko's avatar

Thanks, Heather. You're welcome to visit any time (I have angels here helping). We need the visitors, still recovering from the fires and the government. 😬

Heather Andrews's avatar

I like you too, Keith. You have a new friend!

Keith Jajko's avatar

Likewise! 😁

John Wright's avatar

Another *great* spotlight! Thanks Jenna! Love these!

It's great to "meet" you Keith! Yet another wonderful perspective on the world! We are the "silenced majority"!

Once again, let me plug our MeWe group "Substack Friends":

https://mewe.com/join/substackfriends

I'm not expecting many to come join us, but I offer it as a refuge in case Substack falls to tyranny and we need a place to stay in touch with each other.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

Thanks for that, John! I just "applied." TBH I won't check it often/ever (I'm already overwhelmed and already nearly weaned off FB and IG) but I love the idea as a backup! :)

John Wright's avatar

You have been approved! 😇

Yes, MeWe is not for everyone. It's not for the fame seekers like Instagram who want a million followers. It is for those of us that love free speech though! It seems like all the major sites thrive on censorship. FB ticked me off with Covid when my opinion was silenced. Shadow banning is evil! Even though I stay on IG to remain in contact with models, I feel like on IG I'm "talking to the wall" as almost nobody sees my posts. I gave up posting anything intelligent there.

Janine Melnitz's avatar

I think it is a great achievement to beat the demons of addiction. I agree that the first amendment (and sarcasm) are the hill(s) to die on! I have listened to RFKjr talk about his addiction and recovery and had not heard about the new HHS initiative. Fentanyl is a scourge on our country

Keith Jajko's avatar

Thank you so very much, Janine!