"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Wednesday - Hump Day

The following is kind of interesting - it is sand art - all made by some one's hand.



"Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself."
– Miles Davis

Happy Birthday Steve McQueen - Wikipedia - this is kind of long, but very interesting.

McQueen was born Terrence Steven McQueen in Beech Grove, Indiana, a suburban community bordering Indianapolis, in Marion County. His father, William, a stunt pilot for a barnstorming flying circus, abandoned McQueen and his mother when McQueen was six months old. His mother, Julia, was a young, rebellious alcoholic. Unable to cope with bringing up a small child, she left him with her parents (Victor and Lillian) in Slater, Missouri, in 1933. Shortly thereafter, as the Great Depression set in, McQueen and his grandparents moved in with Lillian's brother Claude on the latter's farm in Slater.

McQueen had good memories of the time spent on his Great Uncle Claude's farm. In recalling Claude, McQueen stated "He was a very good man, very strong, very fair. I learned a lot from him." On McQueen's fourth birthday, Claude gave him a red tricycle, which McQueen later claimed started his interest in racing. At age 8, he was taken back by his mother and lived with her and her new husband in Indianapolis. McQueen retained a special memory of leaving the farm: "The day I left the farm Uncle Claude gave me a personal going-away present; a gold pocket watch, with an inscription inside the case." The inscription read: "To Steve-- who has been a son to me."

McQueen, who was dyslexic and partially deaf as a result of a childhood ear infection, did not adjust well to his new life. Within a couple of years he was running with a street gang and committing acts of petty crime. Unable to control McQueen's behavior, his mother sent him back to Slater again. A couple of years later, when McQueen was 12, Julia wrote to Claude asking that McQueen be returned to her once again, to live in her new home in Los Angeles, California. Julia, whose second marriage had ended in divorce, had married a third time.

This would begin an unsettled period in McQueen's life. By McQueen's own account, he and his new stepfather, "locked horns immediately." McQueen recounted him as "a prime son of a bitch", who was not averse to using his fists on both McQueen and his mother. As McQueen began to rebel once again, he was sent back to live with Claude a final time. At age 14, McQueen left Claude's farm without saying goodbye and joined a circus for a short time, after which he slowly drifted back to his mother and stepfather in Los Angeles, and resumed his life as a gang member and petty criminal. On one occasion, McQueen was caught stealing hubcaps by police, who handed him over to his stepfather. The latter proceeded to beat McQueen severely, and ended the fight by throwing McQueen down a flight of stairs. McQueen looked up at his stepfather and said, "You lay your stinkin' hands on me again and I swear, I'll kill ya."

After this, McQueen's stepfather convinced Julia to sign a court order stating that McQueen was incorrigible and remanding him to the California Junior Boys Republic in Chino Hills, California. Here, McQueen slowly began to change and mature. He was not popular with the other boys at first: "Say the boys had a chance once a month to load into a bus and go into town to see a movie. And they lost out because one guy in the bungalow didn't get his work done right. Well, you can pretty well guess they're gonna have something to say about that. I paid his dues with the other fellows quite a few times. I got my lumps, no doubt about it. The other guys in the bungalow had ways of paying you back for interfering with their well-being." Ultimately, however, McQueen decided to give Boys Republic a fair shot. He became a role model for the other boys when he was elected to the Boys Council, a group who made the rules and regulations governing the boys' lives. (He would eventually leave Boys Republic at 16 and when he later became famous, he regularly returned to talk to the boys there. He also personally responded to every letter he received from the boys there, and retained a lifelong association.)

After McQueen left Chino, he returned to Julia, now living in Greenwich Village, but almost immediately left again. He then met two sailors from the Merchant Marine and volunteered to serve on a ship bound for the Dominican Republic. Once there, he abandoned his new post, eventually making his way to Texas, and drifted from job to job. He worked as a towel boy in a brothel, on an oil rigger, as a trinket salesman in a carnival, and as a lumberjack.

I liked Steve McQueen - I didn't know any of that. Seems he had a lot of stamina - would you be able to go through all of that? Amazing.

18 comments:

santamaker said...

Hey Sandie! What an interesting post!
Had such a good time yesterday! Check out DesignsbyGollum.blogspot.com today...she has gorgeous photos on her blog and she has a lot of tips on getting the best photos!

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Good Morning Sandie Sweetie...
Great post.

Oh My I did not know any of these things about Steve McQueen. Who would have thought he had all these jobs. What a rough life. It is ashame his Moma could not have left him on the farm where he was truly loved. Just imagine he would have had a totally different life for sure.

I love it when you share these tidbits about each and every one of these movie stars. Thank you for sharing sweetie. Country hugs and much love, Sherry

Susan said...

Hi Sandie...Had not known any of those facts about Steve. Very illuminating. I don't think I could have survived all he did! Sincerely, Susan

ClassyChassy said...

Cool sand art movie! And Steve - what a life he chose for himself - shows what you can do if you have a mind to do, doesn't it?

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Good mornin' sweetie!

I've seen this done before and as an artist am always amazed of this beautiful hand work. Thanks for sharing....I could just sit and stare at it all day.

So many things I never knew about Steve McQueen although I've watched and enjoyed his movies all my life. It's always interesting to learn the rest of the story.

God bless ya and have a wonderful day!!!

Anonymous said...

Sandie,
to answer your question...one of my friends, a gal I worked with in a previous job...house sat and pet sat for us. She is WONDERFUL. It was awful because there was a mega snow storm while we were gone and I felt so bad. My friend lives in town and we live OUT...I just kept trying to remind myself that I was paying her very well!
so far, we haven't had to board her and I hope we never do!
hugs, Cheryl

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I knew Steve McQueen had a rough life but did not know details. He was one strong guy! Great post Sandie. I have seen that sand art before...amamzing!!

^..^Corgidogmama said...

Wow...Steve McQ led quite a different life for a potential movie star, huh?
Sheesh, you never know what is in someone's past...no matter who they are.
Great post once again.
We sure do enjoy them all!

Whosyergurl said...

why does it say Anonymous by my comment? grrr!
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the bio on Steve McQueen.
Chino is only about 40 miles from where I live.
I'm not sure if the California Junior Boys Republic is still around or not?

sallie(FullTime-Life) said...

I like that video Sandie! I think I saw another one of her's one time, seems like I read then that she won something like Europe's Got Talent doing her sand thing.

Joyce said...

I had no idea what life was for Steve mcQueen before the movies. He sure was so cute and one of my all time favorites. Didn't we all have fun yesterday especially getting lost? Have fun making candy. I am saving my seashell mold for this summer when I have the blog gals here for a dip in the pool since we are all such mermaids:)
Joyce

Angela said...

Hey Sandie!

Love the video of the sand art! It is amazing what a person can do with sand isn't it!

I don't know who Steve McQueen is but he sure did have a rough life growing up.

Hugs,
Angela

Sue said...

The Boss is a huge Steve McQueen fan infact just today he told me a new biography is out about him....or one that has been re-released....he has all his movies and another thing about him is that he had not oly a big car collection but a huge antique toy collection....Loved him in Bullet.

Knitty said...

I am a fan of Steve McQueen's movies and knew he had a rough childhood, but didn't know most of those details. My life is a piece of cake!

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

What interesting facts about Steve McQueen. I may be dating myself, but I think I saw all of his movies and tv westerns. God bless, Lloyd

Lesley said...

Question for you? How do I put the sunshine award on my sidebar on blogger? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Interesting to read about Steve McQueen. I've never seen anything like the sand art video; thanks for sharing that.