The Assignment

“That’s where all the good writing comes from
…the imagination.”
-Joe Caldwell,
Dark Shadows TV series writer

What is your “assignment” for today?

Definition: Assignment
Noun: an undertaking that you have been assigned to do (as by an instructor or yourself)

In the Mission Impossible television show (and films) top-secret assignments are taken on by an elite group of agents. This usually involves disrupting the activities of various small foreign powers seeking to create problems for America or the Free World. I always loved the beginning message from these stories:

"Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is…as always, should you or any member of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

There is another intense Action-Thriller film from 1997 that remains with me to this day and it is called THE ASSIGNMENT. It stars Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley. With this cast at the helm how could one go wrong? It is about an American naval officer who is recruited by the government to impersonate the most vicious and cold-blooded terrorist there is in order to catch him. Things are NOT what they really seem to be. I would highly recommend you see this one, considering the brainless other offerings at the movie theaters these days.

In memory of the fantastic journalist, Walter Cronkite, I must honor his classic way with words. He sadly passed away at age ninety-two on July 17, 2009. I will never forget hearing on the radio the other day that he had named his boat “Assignment”. It was said by close friends that he named the boat "Assignment" so that the journalist could truthfully say,
"I'm on assignment."
I would like to think he is on a very 'happy' and 'heavenly' assignment now.

Never lose track of your assignments. Get them done and you can relish in your accomplishments.

Twenty-five years ago today:

July 26, 1984
I met Karyn Kossoff at Third and Mission for lunch today. We ate at WENDY’s and sat out on this sunny day. I saw Mary Halverson (an old Alameda High School friend) pass by and she give a quick 'hello'. I also saw Michelle and Don (two people from our office). Now more rumors may start just because Karyn and I arranged our secret lunch outing together.

I was very excited yesterday because I received my Palo Alto Bicycle “road shorts”. UPS rang my doorbell with the package at 6PM as I was speaking to Geneva Wong (Helen’s sister). I had a date with Helen to see “The Good Earth” at the UC Berkeley Theater. I got dressed for my Berkeley outing and drove to San Leandro to pick up Helen and Geneva. I was home by 10:15PM.

I called Karyn Kossoff to ask her what time I should be at her house in the morning. She lives near College Avenue in Oakland and I made a deal to carpool in to The City with her and two other co-workers. We had a great talk and she made me laugh hysterically. It was when we were playing our ‘Bamm Bamm’ and ‘Pebbles’ mimicking talk that really got us ‘busting up’. Our 'new' thing was that I was 'Bamm Bamm' and she was 'Pebbles'. No one could ever know our top-secret code names.

Bruce telephoned once again. This time he invited me to go hiking this Saturday in the Hayward hills.
“That sounds like a pretty good idea, why don’t you call me on Saturday morning around nine o’clock,” I said affirmatively.
After I hung up I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea.