HAPPY B-DAY EARL

My brother Earl has a birthday today.I hope he is celebrating it in good health and with good friends. Earl is a christian, brother, husband, father, grandfather, hardware salesman,entrepreneur, good story teller, even better joke teller, and probably has a hundred other titles he humbly goes by. His comic attitude was the bases of so many of our family's good memories. I look forward to the day that I can hear one of his great grandchildren laughing over his tried and true antics.

As is the case with most truly likeable folks they collect an assortment of nicknames, Earl your no exception to this rule. So here is to Early Bird, Earl the Pearl,and Uncle Bossman....

WHERE PARADISE LAY......

When I was a child my family would travel back to western Kentucky where my parents were born."

I hear this song and I'm transported back to 1970 and my family is on vacation in western Kentucky outside of Bowling Green at Beech Bend park, which the Green River runs past


"And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered so many times that my memories are worn."


Its a mid-summer afternoon and my older brother Earl and I have rented bikes from the park and we are biking down a shady dirt path through the countryside along the rivers edge. We are free as birds. It is one of those perfect times in your life, when you are running on all cylinders, enjoying all your senses, feeling alive and joyous and knowing that if it all ended at that very moment you would leave this world having known what it was to be truly happy.


"When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am." song by John Prine.


Thank you Earl.

Looking forward to going back,

Every spring I think of the time spent in a little town in Mississippi called Duck Hill.


When I was a child my family would take the pilgrimage known as "Memorial Day", which was always the first Sunday after the third Thursday after Easter if Easter was in late April. This timing practice was always debated from year to year and before all was said and done, it usually hinged on when the "matriarch" of the family had her say...............don't ask, it's a "Missippy" thang.





I have vague as well as vivid memories of these visits to Shiloh Baptist church, one memory was so strong and so comforting that decades later as I sat at my mother's graveside burial I began to hear the buzzing sound above my head. Looking up I was instantly transported a hundred miles south and forty years earlier to a wooden pew in a one room church in the warmth of a similarly beautiful June morning. Surrounded by voices singing of unity and love, I was once again watching wasps that had come in out of the sun to dance between the wooden rafters.





Here is a picture of a great aunt, who was younger sister to my grandmother. This was taken last year in the cemetery of the old church as a dedication service was being made to "their" grandfather, who was in the civil war. There would be thirteen children in her family before she was grown. They are all still living in our hearts and minds, and she will jokingly agree she just happens to be "the only one left above ground".





I can't wait to see and be with the rest of the clan........it's heaven looking forward to going back.

JINKS......MISSING IN ACTION

Hey,

Just now getting around to reading blogs and thank you Auntie J for the encouragement....I'm now ready to stand my ground and yell...."MARK IT ZERO"...drop kick the chaos and call a time out to check in with the blogworld......

here is a quick 10.... a slice of what i've been up to for the past 3 weeks.

1. decluttering my home and office.
2. climbing "Mount Washmore".....21 x 2=42 loads of laundry
3. i've been the one in the kitchen with Dinah..........18 home cooked dinners, 45 packed lunches.
4. pumping iron........15 visits to the Y
5. one visit to Kentucky...........30th wedding anniversary
6. shaved legs every 10.5 days.......(see number 5 and 7)
7. participated in 2 seperate 5K walk runs.......convinced there is something to aerodynamics ...decrease in my finish time of 1 minute and 11 seconds.
8. monkey mattress mayhem.....hmmm? ( well, Cheeta never had it so good)
9. lost 5 pounds.....If you find them don't mail the little fkrs back......
10. sudoko.......105 puzzles solved.

Blog to you later.........hugs all around.....Jinks

VISIT MY OTHER BLOG.......TO LEAVE A COMMENT...THIS ONE IS SUFFERING FROM
"ED"........EDITING DYSFUNCTION



LESSON FOR TODAY.....IS A REPEAT..BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN SKIPPING CLASS

LEARNING THE ROPES AND TRYING DESPERATELY TO LOOSEN THE NOOSE.

1. We are all bozos on this bus.

2. Don't tell anyone anything that you don't want everyone to eventually know.

3. No matter what your plan is, no matter what lengths you go to in order to make your plan work.., just remember it probably won't go as planned.....cause that's part of the plan.

4. Everyone has their own agenda, so its best to be about your own. At least you will have a captive audience, or know who to applaude or bitch slap if things aren't getting done.

5. Ed was right......"Things change HY!"

6. If you get tangled up in a web of hurt, deceit, or disillusionment best to study how you actively engaged in it, feel it and let it go.

7. Learn to love what is. Why?......because its reality and that is all we really have.

8. You have been given just as many breaks and blessings as anyone else on the planet, no body has anymore than you have at this very moment.

9. No matter what the situation....you have a choice.

VISIT MY OTHER BLOG.........E-DAY.

Christmas.......365

With each passing year, the Christmas season takes on different meaning with children aging, family members passing, and the world becoming more and more a hostile environment for the development of peace and goodwill.

In the past it has been easier for me to get into the conga line of holiday revelry. All the preparations necessary to pull off a decent Christmas for family and friends has been enough to get me going for years, but this year I've just wanted to retreat and have waited for some real inspiration to descend on me like a heavenly host with trumpets blaring and setting my spirit free...as of this morning I was still waiting.

I thought last night about how it always seems to come in small private ways. Not among the merriment of a party or the opening of a package but much like an old friend who you haven't seen in a long time that just comes up behind you with a tap on the shoulder.....I went to bed praying for the tap to arrive soon.

I can remember it pulled up one year as I was sitting in traffic and a city bus was across the street humming loudly as it was loading passengers. My eye caught an older black gentleman sitting on the bus just looking my way. We both smiled at each other and he raised his hand in a wave and mouthed "Merry Christmas "to me. Then the bus rolled away and I was left with a lighter heart and a wonderous feeling of connection.

Another time, it was as simple as hearing Johnny Mathis singing.

This year, feeling tired, and just down right uninterested has made Advent just one long dreaded day. Lack of interest in passing on any holiday wishes had pushed me into getting out the last of the obligatory cards before beginning my job duties at work. As I shoving the address book back into my bag, a small cut-out article that someone gave me a few years ago, which I never took the time to read, fell out in front of me. It was titled "How to have a more joyful Christmas."

Skimming it I came to a quote by Helen Keller "The seeing see little." Now I take this to mean that we aren't looking with our hearts otherwise we would see the obvious.

It's like I've had my glasses on my head and have been running around looking for them. I'm suddenly flooded with images of pure joy that I have wandered past totally unaware. Everything from sweet memories of friends and family who are no longer present right down to the joke my son told me on the way to school, the smell of my daughter's hair as she hugged me last night, to the St. Brendan's Irish cream my husband poured in my coffee this morning.

Here is to you seeing all the joy in your christmas season and in the new year.

TEN THOUGHTS TO PONDER FOR 2008

Number 10 Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9
Good health is the slowest rate one can die!

Number 8
Men have two emotions:
Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich .

Number 7
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day,
teach a person to use the internet
and they won't bother you for weeks.

Number 6
Some people are like a Slinky ...
Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile
when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday,
lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
Number 4
All of us could take a lesson from the weather.
It pays no attention to Criticism.

Number 3
Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200.00
and a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00?

Number 2
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.
Now the world is Weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

And The Number 1 Thought For 2008 :

We know exactly where one cow with Mad-cow-disease is located among millions and millions of cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of Immigration?

TCB

Only 7 more days......well, I work best under pressure.

Hope you are having a good pre-Christmas

season.

Jinks.

Can I borrow a lampshade?

DOING DUDLEY RIGHT ........the secret life of....Myrna Downtrodden....first female to infiltrate the ranks and shanks of the Canadian Mounties...

what they are saying:

"more mush than any lush could possibly handle"......Jean "Skippy" Lafeete, editor of "Northern Tights"

"If you like whips cracking and legs jacking......this is a read for you!!!" Louis Laidmoore, owner of the "Saskatchewan Skanks"


Hmmm, sounds like an alternative........perhaps I could just stay home and read......besides,

Who REALLY WANTS to go to their "office christmas party"?

CHAPTER ONE: ALL TUNDRA UP AND NO WHERE TO GO

Myrna, in her red silk size XL long johns and L.L. Bean footies.....took one last glance at herself in the cracked mirror above the wash tub before she set out in the cold dank Canadian night.
She unbolted the heavy wooden door and the howling wind whipped past her as she stood in the doorway.......panic gripped her throat as well as an over whelming thirst. She grabbed her last fifth of Canadian Mist and pushed against the biting wind. One...no two swigs and she was falling back inside the cabin. Miles away a lone wolf answered her cry of....."No....but Hell no!"

Sigh......see, even heroines feel like backing down............but I have Monday after the party to face and Myrna, well she's got a lot of Dudley to do (hope it is in Chapter 2).....so I'll have to
bite the bit, strap on the muckaluks and do what tough broads do.......GET OVER IT .

later pilgrims........Jinks.

WISHBONE

Hey everyone.

Have been in training for new position at work. So haven't eeked out time to blog. But have managed to pick up a new "trick". I'm now an irish bone player. Got a pair of satinwood stick (bones) to practice with and really enjoying it. Now traditionally it is an instrument that is heard playing along with Scots/Irish music and you may hear them on recordings they make a
click-clack sound. Having grown up with bluegrass and zydeco/cajun music I get better rhythm playing those sorts of tunes, but coming along with the Celtic sound. The only time I have to practice is while I'm driving in to work. Now most bone players get good with a pair in each hand, but being the novice that I am and not having learned to steer the car with my knees (yet) I have only been playing with one pair. I did have a bit of fun on Sunday with them, my Bill took me to see the McCoys, a local group that plays at Celtic Crossing pub. During one of the breaks a young man in the table ahead of me was inquiring of the band's bones player as to how he actually holds the bones and gets sound. Now, I don't know who was having more trouble getting his mind and consequently his fingers around the bones, the young man who introduced himself to me later as Seth, new to our city by way of San Diego ,or Mr. Johnson the band member. Mr. Johnson was being gracious in allowing Seth to finger his bones (sounds kinky doesn't it?) but Seth just couldn't master the grip. Naturally, I just couldn't let this young man who was so inquisitive and obviously had fallen in love with the bones as I have done just sit in frustration. So I got up and approached Seth and gave him my best bones 101 and it was worth it to see the light in his young eyes when he made his first rhythmic click. This tickled Mr. Johnson, who said. 'Oh, wonderful, a lady player! I explained thatI was quite new and he said "Dont matter lass, you are a natural!" I heard his band begin to tune and quietly told Seth that I would show him some more after they played. Mr. Johnson says, "Oh no you won't you are going to take a pair of mine and play with me now." after a moment of declining he said. Please say you will, play with me now. So, I reached in my windbreaker and pulled out my own wooden pair and this got away with him and he said. "Was meant to be" and next thing I know we were playing together accompanying the band. I had put my pair in my pocket hoping to cornering Mr. Johnson after the entire set for a quick tip or two. Bill had gone to the men's room while I was showing Seth the few ropes I knew. When he returned and saw me not in my seat but up playing with the band all he could do was laugh.

Well, my next goal is to get another pair and not of wooden ones but real goat bones and to practice with a pair in each hand. Johnson who is well into his 70's told me not to hesitate playing with two hands. I told him I was leary of it since I practiced while I drove and was afraid that regardless of where I practiced it would seem as difficult as rubbing my head while patting my tummy. He said not to worry that both sides of my brain would figure out how to play and it would be more enjoyable. Then he cocked his eyebrow up at me and said.
'So you practice while you drive huh?" thinking he was going to chastise me for that, I answered
Yes, but remember I only play with one pair, so I do have a hand on the wheel." "Well, go on and do what I told you, lass. Get yourself another pair and play with both hands......and about that driving....do what I do.........ride a bicycle."

Gonna run now.......but will come back soon. Count your blessings, and thank the Lord for all that he has done and better yet for all that he is yet to do.

comment?......go to my other blog 52 skido and leave it there....

Jinks

Loading the Gun

Last night I went with David our director/producer, and my fellow script writer Ed, to do the script reading for an upcoming film short entitled "The Gun".

We met at the home of the actress, who has graciously offered her (damn this is just what we invisioned as the scene) home to do the filming. She was bubbly and vivacious and welcomed us into her home and Ed and I were instantly charmed. David had told us she was delightful, but I wasn't prepared for someone with her extensive background to be so talkative.

I had been asked before hand to just be supportive, and really turn an ear to what the actors had to say regarding the work and to hold off at this point making any suggestions or criticisms. As if...., hell I was just so damn thrilled someone thought it was worthy enough of their time.

After breaking the ice, and waiting for the leading man to show up, we all settled in and they immediately launched into the reading. It was magical for me to see and hear our words coming to life and I was unable to keep from laughing in approval when they hit what I felt was the mark on a particular point in the dialogue. They both "got it".


Since it is a short, she suggested that we take out a line or two, which she felt was unnecessary and it was a very good suggestion. Now, when in my dreams, this is turned into a longer version those lines will be added back in.....lol, but for now, it will tighten up things.

She even suggested a twist to the end, which surprisingly was exactly what I wanted during our initial writing rough drafts and was compromised out.....I guess women see things a little differently. Well I was secretly (until now) tickled pink over that change. This seasoned actress even wanted to know my thoughts on how she should play that change out. We were reading each others minds and finishing each others sentences for a minute or two and there was no doubt in my mind we had written something she would enjoy.

Now, when this little number actually gets filmed is still up in the air, but all agreed it has to be soon.

introducing........52 SKIDO

Okay,

like I said, I want to give this comments thing another try. Even got some of the best techi help available to mankind and my blog page just refuses to co-operate.....so, I have started another blog, which like magic has a comments option that actually works.......so testing.....testing...testing one-two-three..........go to profile of this blog, click on 52 SKIDO and leave me a message........i'll pretty these two blogs up soon.........


love you and later........Jinks.

testing.

MORNIN MAMA

Because my hours at work have changed, and my days are now longer and i'm trying my damnedest to counter act the 8 hours tied to a computer by hitting the gym after work, which gives me less time to homemake during the week, so i'm out grocery shopping at 8:00 p.m. and house chores at 9:00p.m, plopping on the couch for a quick check of the tube, then crawling into bed by 10:30, tossing around a couple of times adjusting my pillow radio speaker in order to hear my favorite all night show, George Noory and occasionally Art Bell talking the supernatural stuff, i'm then hugging the pillow at 6:01 and trying to come up with some way to get out of starting another day at the office. After helping get a husband and son off and out the door, i have 45 minutes to shower, get dressed, have a slurp of coffe, pack a gym bag, pack a
healthy lunch and head out.....well, this morning it took me 1 hour.......so i had to switch gears and take a shorter route into the office. Now normally, I go the great white way, no not the expressway, I tried that once in 1977 or so....(yes, Virginia we had an expressway then) and got the holy crap scared out of me and swore I would walk the 9 miles into work if necessary, but never would I get on an expressway in rush hour traffic unless of course I was heading out of town......anyways back to my story.......my usual path takes me down well known streets of Memphis, usually those used by folks who live out in the county and travel into the medical center and downtown to work......that would be Poplar or Union, or Walnut Grove......several days I go through my old stomping ground, which is now part of the largest all black community south of the mason dixon line.....Orange Mound.....sort of zigzagging, trying to avoid traffic lights.

I had 25 minutes to get downtown and I had to pull out the big guns.......which meant Lamar Avenue........so left the house at 8:35 and destination......Barron and Lamar. So why don't i just take this route everyday? Truth?.....the usual reason would be that it would take me through a large section of run-down, worn-out, no body driving these streets in a non-commercial vehicle has insurance, or any type of license or permit, such as drivers license, or a gun permit. (Just a little word of caution to anyone who might find themselves on the streets of Memphis, use Poplar, Union, Walnut Grove, Central to go east and west) You don't want to go North or South unless you are driving with a life long Memphian....just trust me on this)....

Anyway, once again back to the story........it takes me 6 minutes to get from my house down to Lamar, the two schools I pass were already in session, so not stops or slow downs there......

I turn onto Lamar and no sooner had I gone a block.....when I was swept up in a sea of emotion.

Memories of traveling this street with my mother, came rushing at me. The shopping centers we frequented, the restaurants we ate at, the theatres we sat in, the streets we took to go and visit old friends and family..........I struggled to catch my breath before the tears flowed.

I would have given anything for the next 10 minutes to be able to have her sitting beside me.

Laughing and talking about some silly something or other that she had seen or experienced. My mother was the worlds champion at laughing at herself. She did the most outrageous things without meaning to and when most people would die of embarrassment she would just laugh and pass the story on to those she loved.

Those memories of her sense of humor helped stop the waterworks, also a quick look into the rear view mirror and for a split second recognizing how much I resemble her, how I even grip the stearing wheel like she did brought me back to myself.

As I sit here typing this, I fight back the tears and I hear her voice telling me that nothings changed, that she still loves me. She is also telling me......."Look kiddo, you have no business being on Lamar Avenue by yourself, who do you think you are.....the Queen of Sheba?....."

That is a little inside joke she has thrown into the conversation, so I know she is trying her damnedest to have me lighten up.

Things happen for a reason atleast that is what I've always been told. Maybe I needed a conversation with my mom and being late and driving an old route into work was just the catalyst neeeded to begin the dialogue.


Its time to begin the job at hand, and with that said, I want to tell you that I have changed my mind about turning off the comments section of my blog........I am welcoming comments again now whether I get them.....or not......I need to be open to them. So if you are so inclined, feel free to leave a comment. Have a good day and keep your ears open, cause you don't know who might be trying to speak with you.

WHO ARE WE?

Look at these two young people. Do you know who they are?

I will be very surprised if you do. I didn't until about 10 minutes

ago. I don't think I will ever forget them.

Here are just some details......they were boyfriend and girlfriend....living in pre and post-Katrina New Orleans.........he was ex-solider from Iraq war..........now stop a minute and think about all

the horror and destruction a young man could witness in this world by the time he reaches young adult hood. Now add the effects of a war, then a natural catastrophe. Its a recipe for disaster.

If you are like me, you didn't know or (still don't know) who these people were. When you discover who they are, you may have a vague feeling of having heard something about a tragedy, something about New Orleans, an ex-solider. The story perhaps got all shuffled in

your daily rolodex of tragedies. You know the ones I mean.....you catch a blip on the media screen and somehow it gets disconnected because we are all so busy trying to stay connected to

some sense of peace and continuity that if it isn't happening to us or someone we love at that very moment........we tune out.....or click our tongues......or more likely we click our remote controls ......afterall.........a person goes mad if they see too much, or feel too much, or hurt too much.......

my biggest fear is that in an effort to protect our sanity......we lose our humanity.

If you are curious enough to find out who these people were, be curious enough to ask yourself

how we are all going to live with all the stories like theirs to come?

Bonnie Raitt - Home-Live in Montreux(1977)

Home, sings me of sweet things....my life there has its own wings.....

singing this song or hearing it.......takes me to a place....real or at times imagined.....a place in my

heart that I never get tired of visiting...........my heart's home........come on in........and visit it


with me............home.

I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT!

come to WHINEFEST 2007...........

THE GREATEST WHINERS IN THE COUNTRY WILL BE THERE......FRESH FROM THEIR

YOU TUBE TOURS...........LIKE........"emo crybaby whine of surrender"formerly known as

"Princess Punk"........"Whining Cat".............."Kirk Herbstreit is a whining little girl"..........

and everyone's fave........."STOP GLOBAL WHINING!!!!!!!!!!"



MAYBE COMING SOON......WE'LL SEE......STOP YOUR BELLY ACHING AND BE HAPPY!!!!!!!

LESSON FOR TODAY.......

LEARNING THE ROPES AND TRYING DESPERATELY TO LOOSEN THE NOOSE.

1. We are all bozos on this bus.

2. Don't tell anyone anything that you don't want everyone to eventually know.

3. No matter what your plan is, no matter what lengths you go to in order to make your plan work.., just remember it probably won't go exactly as planned.

4. Everyone has their own agenda, so its best to be about your own. At least you will have a
captive audience, or know who to applaude or bitch slap if things aren't getting done.

5. Ed was right......"Things change HY!"

6. If you get tangled up in a web of hurt, deceit, or disillusionment best to study how you actively engaged in it, feel it and let it go.

7. Learn to love what is. Why?......because its reality and that is all we really have.

8. You have been given just as many breaks and blessings as anyone else on the planet, no body has anymore than you have at this very moment.

9. No matter what the situation....you have a choice.

COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

There was a letter on my desk at work this morning from a fellow artist friend of mine.
He has been going through some changes like the rest of us and is seeking answers to his own life questions.

He wrote me a letter a while back giving me details of his "spiritual happenings".

Now to be honest with you, I didn't have the nerve to tell him that I saw nothing spiritual about the happenings, but then who am I to tell anyone how spirit happens for them.

I just chalked it all up to a man approaching his 60's who isn't getting the same response from 20-30 year old women, as he has for the past 20 years that I've known him and its getting to him.

But hey, I'm not getting the same responses from anyone 20-30 years old male or female that I use to either. There comes a point when what use to be fun, exciting, or even flirty comes across with age as just plain boring, pathetic, or downright dirty.

The letter on my desk this morning was more or less a rant on how he was about to disassociate himself from the people in his life. Damn, it was good and he spouted and spewed
out things that I have already been through. The only difference was that I had reached the "and heres what I intended to do about it" stage.

So I wrote him back, trying my best to be reassuring and yet straightforward. Experience had taught me that first of all, I was to write nothing back to this hopeless romantic, which could be misconstrued by anyone with one foot still firmly in this dimension. What his spirit guide or his true light-his wife of some 30 odd years- reveals to him is his problem.

The second challenge was not getting depressed as I recognized myself in some of his comments. I wanted to scream, damn be glad you are going through this! What if you were never given the opportunity to change your perception of yourself!

I couldn't help but wonder where i'd be on my own journey if I had only been willing to accept responsibility for myself 20 years ago. But so what, when you know better you do better because if you don't.....hey it don't get no better.

What if I had never really understood that if I'm not happy with the people in my life, its because I'm not happy with me.

I've mentioned before that when God wants to tell me something he begins with a whisper and it escalates into a half nelson if I don't pay attention.......well, my friend is getting the crap punched out of him for not listening.

I do hope that I was a help to him and that he comes out the other side of this personal turmoil a happier person.

No more Ms. Nice-Guy.....what?, an award?

I was all ready to tell the world to "kiss my arse" when there came a knock on my blog.

It was an award from Auntie J. which immediately defused my temper bomb and deflatted all my hot air.

So thank you Auntie, dear. As I haven't felt nice for awhile.......as a matter of fact, I'm trying really hard to shake that image, you know? Being Ms. Nice-Guy doesn't always work.

So you have saved me once again from showing my "ass"......(see Auntie J's post)

I was just about to go to the window and in full "Network" style, do my very best Peter Finch/Howard Beale....(cause no one would caste me as Faye Dunaway) ...."I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!!!!!!!".........( I was totally in character too!)

Just as well, security here at the hospital has already warned me about being a "public nuisance" besides, I have plans to "make their day" soon.

BTW, you may have noticed that I have taken the "comment" field from my blog. Believe me, I think it was the "nice thing" to do. Besides, I was getting all depressed with the lack of comments until it dawned on me that what I blog about isn't as important as my ego thinks it should be. Its just thoughts for Christ sakes.......and every bozo has got those.......and it allows me the space to place those thoughts. So if anyone reads them and gets something from it that is nice to know......only I don't really need to know.....ya know?

So in the immortal words of Thumper's mama......."Thumper? what did daddy tell you?"....if any of you nice people have forgotten what Thumper answers.......go rent Bambi and watch it for yourself, how much time do you people think I have!!!

..........hell, this award is a lot of pressure..........but it was "nice" to receive.

ITS COMING ALONG

Had a fantastic weekend. Spent some time with an old friend, realized that no matter how much time passes between people......some things stay the same.

Also, a lesson was learned this past week. I think I'm finally getting it. If you have something you want to do........you don't need anyone's approval. The fact that you want to do it is reason enough. Do it for yourself. See I"ve done this foolish thing for a long time now and at 51 after trying to jump through hoops for years to win people's approval, it has finally dawned on me.........that I need to do things for myself.

For example: this book I'm writing........its going to be good......and i'm doing it for me.

type to you later......Jinks.

I'm not cool with that

Yesterday, I ranted.....today I want to...but will let my buddy, Donald Bucksley...blow off a little steam.....HIT it Don

OKAY, NOW I'VE HAD ENOUGH!

Hello readers,

Hope you all had a safe weekend. We finally got some good showers here in Memphis on Saturday afternoon. Sat out on the porch with a bottle of beer and watched it rain. Did so at our place for a solid hour and believe me everything soaked it up like a sponge. Could have sat there into the night and enjoyed it, but was grateful to get all that we did.

I feel a real rant coming on........so if you have better things to do......i'll give you a second to clear on out.....go ahead have yourself a good day and i'll come read your blogs later on today.....


Anyone left......well, here goes.......first of all let me start by saying......I've had enough of all the political bs that goes on in an election year....yeah, yeah, I know its just that i've come to a point in my life where i've decided that the most important things that happen don't require a politician. More good comes from people just sticking their heads out their own front door and asking their neighbor......"Hey, how can I help". The same old tired issues are tossed back and forth between guys and gals, who most of the time have never held a "real job" in their lives, are so far removed from the average joe or jill, and once they are elected.....do what ever the highest bidder(lobbyist) tells them to........There isn't a nickles worth of difference between the two major politial parties in this country they just go about swapping tactics every few years.

moving right along............


global warming........whew!!!! let me take a polluted breath......to heat or not to heat.......look i'm 51 damn years old...I'm not going to play the "menopause" card here......okay, but what I want to say is that for the past 40 years.....scientists, activist, globalists, naturalists, geologist and just about any other "ist" you can name has known and claimed ........"the sky is falling".......now don't go thinking I'm going to start spouting there is no such thing.......bottom line for me is .......doesn't make a big bit of difference if its real or not........common sense and human nature tells me........what ever happens happens........people don't push for anything until they are shoved......I hear all these folks arguing over the situation and not one damn fool coming forth to
ask........."Hey, how can I help us all to survive this?".....now, I don't want to hear how a career politician has all the answers, when these sobs tell the masses how we need to live on less, go solar......., which sure made good sense to me back when everyone called that ......"being a hippie".....yet they live in 5,000 square foot homes, and have no problem jetting all over the country needlessly helping to emit massive amounts of fuel carbons into the air.....

Next,..........we have so many battles going on in this country, drug, alcohol, child abuse.......hey, feel free to jump in here and name all the horrible sins agains humanity you can think of......why are we taking this countries future and putting them through hell on earth in a land of people who have been fighting each other for "turf" control for centuries and are being allowed to call themselves a religion.........and yes I'll state this for the record.......Islam is not a religion people.......it's a "brotherhood".....see in real religions...you have a respect for life, not only your own but that of your enemies.......yes, you fight to defend your life......but the purpose of your religion is not to "put to death" non-believers. And please, save the argument that
Christians have caused more pain than any other group of people........oh, contraire. Especially if your butte is sitting in a chair at a computer in America.



Last thing, and this is what broke the camel's back for me. I am listening to the radio late last night and I hear an angry Hispanic voice calling for all "like minded" peoples, to come together on September 12th of this year and band together for one day of "non-consumption"..in an effort to protest the misuse and abuse heaped upon the masses of and dare i say it....."law breaking criminals who have illegally entered into the United States of America".
now what do you suppose that would entail........a day's fasting......perhaps, how about no work that day, or not attending schools., no hospital admissions, or ER or clinic visits and treatment. Maybe not buying gas that day, not driving on roads, not standing in line collecting benefits that you are not legally entitled. Oh, yeah, listen up you murdering, raping criminal types.....don't consume the dozen or more legal Americans who are killed each day with your hands or by your wheels.
Non-consumption might be just what this country needs........if you aren't taking something that isn't yours......then perhaps witnessing this fasting will open the eyes and clear the minds of the rest of us who have been feeding these "hand biting" strays. Maybe the men and women in this country who you claim wouldn't take the undesirable jobs would show up in mass on the 12th ready and willing to prove you wrong. Maybe we would show up on the courthouses, and capital buildings of this nation demanding that you be given your "illegal rights" and that you be escorted in mass Exodus beyond our border, where you are free to consume or not consume to your heart's desire. See, you were wrong to confuse our hospitality with ignorance......we are a patient and loving people........but when you go to making a mockery of what our forefathers and mothers worked and died for so that we had the right to govern ourselves with laws protect us........"You have F'd up Amigo".
Don't confuse the fact that "fat cat" employers were willing to pay you pennies for any job that a tax paying, citizenship had gone through years of civil unrest and degradation to acheive equality would not take because it would mean they would be"back paddling".

I've straddled the fence on this issue long enough.......why, because like every other American, I love to see people succeed...the old pull yourself up by the boot straps, it makes all the sacrifices of our ancestors worthwhile........but if you want to work in this land, take from this land, then get to the "back of the bus"......"take a number".......get a clue.......you become We the People.....legally.........and if you don't want to be legal under existing laws.......then hold your breath until you have your way.........don't consume any more of my hard earned polluted globally warmed air.


Okay, I guess its over.........feel much better now.........Jinks.

Hot August Night

I"ve been humming an old Neil Diamond tune, don't ask me why but it cools me down.

Have had the opportunity to complete what I intend to send in to the writers workshop.
My plans are to turn a series of related stories into one "coherent" novel. So wish me luck.


I"ve been getting those thumps on the shoulder lately........you know the ones where something keeps coming up in your life like its trying to get your attention.......one of those attention getting taps is telling me ........let what ever comes.....come, don't fight it......just keep floating.......like water....flow........don't panic........just go with it.......to stop, to resist, to succumb to fear or negativity is to stop the flow of energy........keep going.......it will build positive energy....and momentum

Yep, leastwise that is what this ole "grasshopper" is experiencing.

Before I leave and begin listening to my medical tapes, I would like to tell you what will be on my mind and heart today..............all the folks who have ever stopped into to give this blog a look.

FEELING SMALL.......just got smaller.

A US team of astronomers observed the four-way cosmic smash-up using Nasa's Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes along with ground-based observatories.
The clashing galaxies are expected to eventually merge into a single, behemoth galaxy up to 10 times as massive as our own Milky Way.

Just trying to imagine this happening........planets and stars spinning out of control and all heading towards a cosmic conference.......... don't know about you but my worries and concerns certainly seem smaler.........

Wind that shakes the Barley marching song

See you at the Crossing....we'll drink one for Padraig....Up the Republic....

When the student is ready the master appears

Morning people,

Its August 2nd and school begins soon. I'm fifty-one years old and you'd think the butterflies that emerge like clock-work in the stomach of a young girl anticipating a new school year would have found fresher and greener pastures to enjoy.

Could it be the twins, Lucy and Lindsay......nah, they hate school. Wei-Wong doesn't get excited .....she just stays excited. Carl?.......hmmm, well he is a mixture of emotion when it comes to school because it means the latest group of teenage boys he hangs with at the pool hall will be too busy buzzing the girls to spend any more time drinking, smoking and listening to wild tales of his glory days. It also means that ex-wife Louise will expect him to bring his kids back from their summer stay with dear old daddy. Since the kids never actually stay with daddy Carl, he must take a head to his mother's house in Fifty-Six, Arkansas, herd 'em up, debrief them on what they did with him over summer vacation, and oh yeah.... borrow forty bucks from me to bribe them to testify to it on a stack of bibles to mommy-dearest.

So, the only explaination for this giggily girl giddiness must be Faith. You remember her,
she's the part of us that went on vacation back in June and refused to come back home.

We've had several folks inquire about her, why I do not know. So if you are one of those
people, here is a letter from her........



Dear Mind,


Just a note to tell you all that I'm doing fine and hope you are also.

The weather is dry here but somewhat cooler than Memphis. I've made a few friends here in

Roan Mt. Tell Wei-Wong that ranger Tim says "All is forgiven".

My days are spent getting to know all the people in and around town, practicing my dulcimer and writing.

Do have some exciting news, met a wonderful lady named Jill Robinson on the internet. She is

an author and lives in London. She teaches writing workshops and she has graciously

agreed to take me on as a student via email. Can you guys believe it? I'll do my best to

make us proud. This is a dream come true for me and I hope one day for you all as well.

I promised to help down at the elementary school during registration so have to be going.

Oh, one more thing, do any of you know anything

about the cats that were around the cabin before you left?

I'll keep in touch and be thinking about you...........Faith.




Well, there it is............tell me, how can someone get so excited about registering kids for

school...sigh......told you she was hopeless. Later, Jinks.

I HEAR YA.........

I re-read Aunt J's blog tribute to Jolie and something spoke to me in her response to a comment from a reader She used the phrase"right down her alley".

Love that! and remember so many people in my family used it. So, here's the deal lucille......

I'm asking you to send me all your favorite sayings, cliches, and/or colloquialisms.

What is it in the language of your life that is special to you?

Lets throw it at the wall and see if it sticks........(well, there's one....your turn.)

WHERE PARADISE LAY

"When I was a child my family would travel back to western Kentucky where my parents were born."

I hear this song and I'm transported back to 1970 and my family is on vacation in western Kentucky outside of Bowling Green at Beech Bend park, which the Green River runs past

"And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered so many times that my memories are worn."

Its a mid-summer afternoon and my older brother Earl and I have rented bikes from the park and we are biking down a shady dirt path through the countryside along the rivers edge. We are free as birds. It is one of those perfect times in your life, when you are running on all cylinders, enjoying all your senses, feeling alive and joyous and knowing that if it all ended at that very moment you would leave this world having known what it was to be truly happy.


"When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am." song by John Prine.

THIS IS A TEST.....THIS IS ONLY A TEST.....

The weekend is upon us and maybe like me, you too have places to go and people to be.

Went over to Aunt Jackie's and decided it would be fun to take the movie/leader test.

Since there are 5 of us at present, (faith is still gone) had to take each test 5 times. In a moment, the results.

Movies= Platoon, Sunset Boulevard, Easy Rider,Schindler's List, Apocalypse Now.

Leaders=Lincoln, Sadam Hussein, JFK, Hitler, Einstein.

I wasn't aware that Einstein would be considered a leader, but never the less I could use old Albert right about now to help make the decision as to which of these flicks we are all going to watch this weekend. None of the Leaders of my lost mind can agree.

Have a good one............

"THE MOTION PICTURE YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE..."

Due to the shocking climax of this movie, theatre management will not allow anyone to enter or leave the blog once the movie has begun.

WARNING: If you are pregnant, have ever been pregnant,know someone that is, or have been accused of getting someone pregnant....then you are old enough to know better!!!!!

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION NEEDS YOUR HELP:
If you know the whereabouts of any of the people in this movie, contact local law enforcement immediately never attempt to apprehend these people on your own, be especially careful around Sweet Sally Jenkins, aka Jinks. She is armed, legged, and has a chameleon on her right buttock, she calls" Lefty". Do Not assume that it is a tattoo.

THAT IS ALL.....pass the popcorn please.

Whatever Happened To Floor Monkeys? The Movie

BE SURE TO LOOK FOR
BEEDLES NORTON'S SEQUEL.....

DIE MONKEY DIE!!!!!!

WELL I'LL BE A BLUE NOSED GOPHER....

That's what my older brother Earl use to say whenever he was surprised by something.

It was the first thing that popped out after I checked my e-mails this morning.

Got up extra early and walked down the mountain into town. Lannie the maintenance man was pulling up into Mad Martha's for his morning ritual and I talked him into opening up the library early for me by bribing him with breakfast on me. He agreed to open up the back door for me if I would agree not to cut on any lights and to make sure the door was shut up good and tight when I came out.

I felt like one of those archaeologist searching a dark tomb for treasure, as I made my way through the aisles of the library and I likened the sound of the humming computer flipping through cyberspace as my digging tools. The final click into my inbox was the opening of the
mummies vault.

the reply from Ms. Robinson............Dear Faith,


I have to admit I was so excited she could have told me to go to hell and take my mama with me and it wouldn't have mattered......its the fact that she replied that made all the difference.

I printed off the reply, closed the vault down and made my way back out of the tomb.

Minutes later, I was seated across from Lannie who was already into his second cup of coffee and cutting through a stack of pigs in a blanket.

"You shut that door up missy?"
"Yes, and thanks."
"Hey, you win some contest or sumthin?"
" I sure did."
"Whud ya git?"
"I got an e-mail reply from a very famous author"
"Did she win too?"
"Oh, she's been a winner for a long time, it just a response to an e-mail I sent her about another writer after I talked to her on her blog-talk radio show."
"Huh, what did you win?"
"Well, originally I won a book she was giving away. But her e-mail was very encouraging and complimentary and she wants to talk to me again."
"Hmmmh, probably wants to discuss the shippin and handlin charges."
" You want seconds Lannie?"
"Yeah, sure why not at least one of us needs something good out of all this"

Martha noticed I'd come in and came over to the booth.

"Faith, coffee and something to eat?"
"Sure, I'll have eggs and grits and Lannie needs a refill"

Martha pours us both coffee and says "Fill em up, move em out!"
She pokes Lannie in the side with her pencil and says "Think this one is about ready to take to market."
"Oh, and who died and made you sheriff?"
"Listen, Slim, don't get fiesty with the cook cause I do have the right not to serve you."
"Awh, don't go mean on me Marty, a fellow has got to eat."
"You're right Lan, when things are empty around here, its my job to fill them up and when things get full, its your job to empty them...so when you get good and full, would you mind stepping over to the men's room and see bout emptying that clogged toilet?"
"Hey, I don't work here Marty, I'm just a customer"
"Well, seems that toilet ain't the only thing full of ..."

Martha stops in mid sentence as she is prone to do and walks off towards the kitchen.

"You still hungry Faith, or has all that gorging taken away your appetite" she says out loud without looking back.
"Sure, I"m ravenous"

Lannie, slurps down the last of his coffee then pushes his plate away as he breathes in deeply to remove his belly from the edge of the table.

"Well, I guess if I want to eat again, better take a look in the men's room and see what I can do.

He thanks me for breakfast and pulls out his wallet and drops more than enough money on the table to cover both our breakfasts.

"Lannie, it was on me remember?"

"Yeah, I know, but you can get it next time, I have to leave enough money for Marty to help pay to have two toilets fixed." He smiles and winks and heads off to the door marked "Dudes".

I read and reread the e-mail and the concept of empty and full keeps tumbling in my mind.
Yesterday, my self image seemed empty and a simple step out of myself began to fill it up again. Ms. Robinson, obviously saw a place to pour out from her full life and did so.
It reminded me of a quote "If you see something empty fill it up, if you have something full empty it."

Feeling full of enthusiasm as I walked out of Martha's, I head towards the square to see who in town might need a refill.

HERE'S TO YOU MRS. ROBINSON

After wandering into town this morning and having a few cups of coffee with Marty at Mad Martha's cafe, I decided to walk on down to the library and see what I had been missing on the blogs. I checked out blogtalkradio and noticed that "The Writer's Room" was going to be on air at 2:00 p.m. This peaked my interest and after browsing Sid's Market and having a bowl of pinto beans and cornbread at Bud's Drive-In, took the long way around town returning to the library and settled in the last computer chair, the one in the corner by the pay phone. Tuned into the show and was delighted to hear that the show was run by author Jill Robinson. She had a lady guest on discussing her book about maintaining long, fun relationships. She offered free books to callers and having a bit of change left over from skipping dessert I decided to splurge on ATT and see where it got me........next thing I know I'm talking to her in New York and to her guest from London......

They got a big ole kick out of me being from the south and I got a "freebie". I also got a little wind back in my sails from talking with them. I told Ms. Robinson that I had recently begun to blog myself and that although I wasn't really sure about it, it was fun and gave me a reason to believe that I could follow my passion to continue to write. She shared that she was new to blogging herself and that she understood what I meant by feeling uncertain in the writing.
That it was exactly how new writers felt, they know they have something to say, they just aren't sure what to do with it.......

I had to e-mail my address to her and while doing so invited her to take a look at Southern Voices and Visions, perhaps she will and leave me a note on her thoughts......at any rate I know have a new author to check out and a new blogtalkshow to tune into.

Well, gotta stop by Tim and Rita's before I head home to see if either of them has any extra banjo strings, found out I can use them on the dulcimer just fine. If I time it just right, should make it back to the cabin before the deer show up to graze.

Hope everyone is doing well and if not, well be patient cause you just never know what tomorrow is going to bring.

type to you later...........Faith

WHIZZ, POP, BANG......

Happy 6th of July everyone. Hope you all had a happy and safe 4th.
We're all fine, well I am anyway. Wei Wong and Carl are at it about the Nathan's hog dog contest. Carl is gloating that Joey Chestnut from San Jose, California beat out the reigning champion Kobayashi. The twins are quiet, which isn't unusual for Lucy, its Lindsey that has me worried......sumthing is up......
Still haven't heard from Faith and it has occurred to me that she might just stay put on the mountain. Dr. Moron said that we'd begin to disappear as individuals, but I'm not so sure she is the one that should go. Well, here's the story I promised......hope you get something out of it.


ALONG FOR THE RIDE

It was my baby sister who pointed out the obvious to me about some photographs we were discussing by phone one afternoon.

Have you ever noticed that just about every picture we have of Grandma Sallie, she
is standing beside a car?

She was talking about our maternal grandmother, a tall heavy woman with dark hair, dark lipstick and even darker rimmed glasses. She was someone we had confided memories about on other occasions.

Hoping to stir a pleasant thought while studying my set of photo prints, the shaded areas of Grandma's cheeks remind me of the oil stains left from all her cars over the years. I could only say.

Yeah, I'm trying to remember just how many she had.

Grandma was always driving somewhere and in order to have any time with her, one had to go along for the ride. She planned her days around car trips, trips to the Jitney Jungle or to the post office for more post cards to keep everyone she considered important up to date on the latest.

Well let's see, I can remember Pasadena and her last one Delta Dawn.

Sister was referring to the names Grandma gave her cars as she talked to them like they were her children. Explaining to them that she just had to get somewhere and that they just had to start up and not give her any trouble. She would coax them into small parking spaces giving them reassurance that they could make it. When honked at by other drivers, who were impatient with her lack of speed or annoyed that she didn't use proper arm turn signals, she'd tell her beloved cars not to pay any attention to those 'ole fools'.

Listening to her car talk was the extent of her conversation. Whenever children attempted to engage her in small talk while she drove, they were shushed so that the car could make it through some busy intersection or that it didn't miss it's turn.

You're probably too young to remember Ole Maude

I don't tell her that several of us kids were with Grandma the day that one died. Gasping its last breath somewhere near the courthouse in Jackson, she refused to leave it. In her solitary grief, she climbed into the wrecker's cab and drove away leaving us to find our way back to
239 Rose Street.

No, but I do remember how she'd pile all of us in and haul us all over the place.

Her laughter tells me she has found joy in her memory. I stare closer at the photo in hand and in my mind's eye I'm standing over an oil stain. It's the only thing I can relate to after
Grandma has driven away.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE

Hey Friends,



Me and my mental entourage took us a little trip to east tennessee/north carolina last week. We hung out in a cabin for eight days, hiked, read, swam, took a trip down the Nolichucky river in "fun cats" and detoxed from the phone, television, computers, and work. Now I (oh, yeah this is Jinks typing to you) really enjoyed myself. Carl was in his element most of the time but he did have a "carburetor craving", which got us in a jam about mid week and involved across state lines law enforcement. WeiWong got into a physical altercation ("I whipt sum ass, no?") with a local woman over a tall, dark, muscular Park Ranger, who was telling campfire ghost stories at the campground. I don't think Ranger Tim will ever ask for volunteers from the audience again. Surprisingly, the twins, Lucy and Lindsay had a great time. They were thoughtful, kind to each other, co-operative with the rest of me/us. I've decided its probably a good idea to just throw away their suitcase, the blood stains and cat hair would be just a bitch to get out...........the kitchen knives they took with them may be salvagable......and I'm not going to invade their privacy......besides what happens on Roan Mountain.....stays on Roan Mountain. Haven't heard from Faith, I think she is literally still there and refused to come home with the rest of us. Probably better this way. We can fill in on her job, Carl needs the money and WeiWong can improve her typing skills.

In closing today, I'm going to leave you a piece of "flash fiction" that Faith wrote a while back.
She won't know and besides if I don't share it with you........you'll never get to read it......

Drop me a line and tell me what you think........if Faith ever comes down off the moutain, I'll pass it on to her...........later people........Jinks.


Stop the press........hang on, Okay......Okay.......the story will be in Monday's blog......Carl says he can't be around when that story is told.....cause it gets to him.........("See, I tole u he big ol baby.....he what u say....woosea") ........Wei-Wong, that's inappropriate...("for reel gullfwiend, da biggest").......you have a point dear, but perhaps we should talk about it in therapy...("whot-evuh!")

Summer Time and the living is easy.......

Now if I could just have the dog singing Janis' Joplin's version of "Summertime"

perhaps he is like me and satisfied to hum a few bars and fake it.......

anyways this layed back ol' dog get me in the mood for a little R&R......T-minus 4 days and counting and then my pilgrimage to Roan Mountain begins.......with a stop off for 2 days in Gatlinburg on Ski Mountain to stay at the new crib of my bro-in-law.....then back on the road and next stop.....Roan Mountain and my home for the next 8 days......my husband and I have talked for years about moving to eastern Tennessee and finding us a little place in some sleepy valley that time has forgotten........now don't go gettin all "deliverance" on me.......no dueling banjos please.....but I can't promise anyone they won't have to get ear plugs for my dulcimer playing, which i have promised myself will occupy my retirement time.....along with long hikes, writing screen plays, cranking out a story or novel based on all the characters in my family history, and practicing some of the "foxfire"ways that have intrigued me from my "hippee" days......well, i'll be heading up that way for good in a couple of years........besides if we decide its just not for us in the long run......we can always come back.........but I have a feeling it will be more like we are finally going home..........until tomorrow.........jinks.

5 Shots - the Ronald Baldridge story

Another good film from Last Train to Memphis....God is Good! all the time!

It was a Blue Moon weekend

Hey Gang,

Well, finally had a wonderful weekend. Getting over the upper respiratory cruds......enjoyed my kids and husband. Got in a lot of walking, talking, housework, movie watching, game playing, baseball game, dinners out, productive meetings with fellow creative script writers and as the little guy illustrates so well.....beer guzzling.......

felt really rested coming back into work yesterday and amazingly all the crap piled on my paying job didn't phase me one bit.......so here's to more weekends like that.

In life, there is always a flip and the flip of this weekend showed itself ........in the form of unexplained phonecalls, articles of clothing, and weird stares from the neighbors.....(sigh).........I suspect its my resident cranial dwellers who have caused all this......

Let me back up......yesterday I get a call from MPD, Vice Squad......some fellow named Andy wants to know when I can come in....says he received a tip from some woman named

Louise that I might know something about a recent altercation at the Pink Pony.......hmm, sounds like a Carl thang to me...... Then last night after I had slathered on my last bit of anti-aging cream and had put the last pin curl in my hair I crawled in bed with Bill who was already two cords of wood ahead of me in his log sawing....pulled out my read...."Tomato Red".....put my radio pillow earpiece under my pillow, flopped on my back and as I was pulling my book up to eye level.....spotted an even larger book on top of the bureau mirror across the room. Upon inspection it was an illustrated copy of the Kama-Sutra with several pages dog-earred.......and very detailed penciled in notes, which kept crossing back and forth in english and chinese and some interesting polaroids of myself and bill looking as if we are in a sumo wrestling match...now I know where the pink and black thongs hanging from the ceiling fan in the bedroom came from........and believe me Wei Wong has got to reveal her "ancient chinese secret"to me before this evening.......cause Bill has called me twice at work already wanting to know if I was serious about inviting a third party to our next "sweet and sour" session.....ewwwwwwhhhhhhh.

And the stares while I was driving off to work this morning..........well, what else is new.......

talk to you later..........Faith.

And then there were 6

Hey,

Glad you stopped by, been meaning to get in touch with you and let you know the latest.

Hmm, where to begin. I"ll try to make this short. We all have our crosses to bear and some are heavier

than others. I have decided not to struggle with a few of mine (six to be exact) and just sorta

go with the flow, down the lazy river of life if you will and hope I'm better at log rolling than I

think. It seems that I have six personalities all fighting for the top bunk, the office with a view,

to be the alpha dog, the head knocker, she who must be obeyed.....you get my meaning. Not a

one of them is satisfied to ride along shot-gun. No, I take that back Carl doesn't mind as long as

he has plenty of shot gun shells.....and WeiWong will if its not a long ride. Wait, I'm getting

ahead of ourselves here.....Let me back up and introduce you to us....me...well, you know

what I mean. You know me, Jinks, I'm a 51 year old woman, been married 29 years, have

two children, a home, a job, pretty normal stuff right?.....well, if you can keep the rest of me

quiet you could call it normal. Then there's Faith, (she's a trip!), she's a medical transcriptionist

with definite identity issues..(a nut job!). Next, meet Carl...(Carl, tuck your shirt tail in!, Stand up straight son!) he's a 43 year old guy, whose been divorced twice and his first wife is trying to
talk him into a relationship again. He is currently unemployed (again!) but our therapist
Dr. Moron..(pronounced more-roan) says that Carl just needs to get in touch with his feminine side and he'll be just fine. Now there's Wei Wong, a lovely young foreign exchange student, if

you think lovely is an oriental woman with excessive body hair and young is a passport(its a death certificate) that says she left the orient(the planet!) in 1957 at the tender age of 17. She refuses to finalize her education and actually get a degree. (I suspect it would mean giving up frat parties).

Then there are the twins.... Lucy and Lindsay........who have finally struck an agreement on just how old they are..and what sex they are (for now!).....and I really wasn't paying much attention to them (I know, but I'm working on that) at our last session, but I do know they are responsible for a tattoo of a chameleon on my tuckus.

Did I leave anyone out?......(No? well thanks WeiWong)

So that's us....in a nutshell....(haaaa!!!) and in order to help hurry my recovery along, I've
(we've!) decided to share the blog page. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was Faith that charmed the masses with her sweet disposition on Friday.

Each one of us will take turns making entries and sharing with you.

So strap yourselves in....(we have plenty of straight jackets)....

it promises to be a bumpy ride......

because she asked..........

A- Available? You can catch me between 2:30 and 4:00 a.m., i'm usually lying there listening to coast to coast.......yep, just me and George and Bill.
B- Best Friend? Jesus, who else?
C - Cake or Pie? Thank you.....got coffee?
D - Drink of Choice? Blue Moon
E - Essential Item(s)? Pencil, paper, coffee and my push up bra.
F - Favorite Color? Teal
G - Gummi Bears or Worms? big ole fat night crawlers.
H - Hometown? Memphis
I- Indulgence? Movies and Fiction
J - January or February? For several reasons its the Feb.
K - Kids? two nearly grown.
L - Life is incomplete without… imagination
M - Marriage Date: February 17, 1978
N - Number of Siblings: 3 brothers and 1 sister
O - Oranges or Apples? Apples
P - Phobias/Fears: Heights without enough support/room to stand. Fear that I won't accomplish the one thing I'm meant to.
Q - Favorite Quote: "What in the Sam Hill are you doin?"-Scout-from "To Kill a Mockingbird"
R - Reasons to Smile? every.
S - Season? Summer....because of its phases...
T - Tag Three: they won't stand still.....can we play kick the can?
U - Unknown Fact About Me: If i knew it wouldn't be unknown.....would it?
V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Hey, get over it.....we are top of the food chain...I love my veggies, but feeling very oppressed trying to find ones "safe to eat".
W - Worst habits? geez, I love them all so much.....
X - X-rays or Ultrasounds? x-rays definitely......especially my x-ray vision glasses..
Y- Your Favorite Foods: Fish, Avocados, Spinach,Dark breads, plums....
Z - Zodiac: Libra

19 Years with a degree from the "School of Heartknocks"

Morning folks,

Today marks the end of and beginning of an important time in my child's life. Today is the last day of my daughter's school career. She has been going to school for 19 years if you count preschool, K-12, and 5 years of college.

As I got ready for work today, I had a nagging feeling that if I left the house as ususal, I would be leaving something behind. I sat down in the den and cut on the tv and felt like I was putting off something....stalling for time. I couldn't understand my mood. It was when my daughter came into our den and found me transfixed on an old movie classic that it fell into place for me. It was definite "deja vue". I had a flash back of a cute little girl, in a pair of pastel purple shorts and matching tee shirt with white sandals, bruised knees, and missing front teeth smiling at me and saying. "Mom, aren't you ready to go?" It took a moment for the memory of this little sweet voice speaking to me to speak to me in real time. "Mom, are you okay?.....Why haven't you left yet?.......Aren't you going to work today?...." Before me stood a taller version of this cute little girl, in a purple sorority tee-shirt, faded jeans, black spangled flip flops, shoulder bag, and carkeys. Suddenly, I was struck with the realization that this would be the last time I would see her walking away from me heading for her future in education. She read my face and said. "Oh, mom, you're not going to go all sappy on me are you?" " I expect that from Dad, but you're the strong one." She laughed and I quickly asked..."Are you sad or apprehensive about today?"...."No, I just can't wait for this last exam to be over." "Well, its been a long time coming kiddo" she smiled and gave me a hug and said..."don't worry Mom, remember I'll still go to get my masters in a few years. So this isn't completely over." We stepped outside and she turned and walked down the driveway. My heart took a picture of her walkng away.....then I went into mother mode... "Okay, well be........". "I will, you be careful too mom and smile, I love you".

Whew......its a good thing you folks are reading this on a computer screen.......it would be a
very soggy mess in pen and paper........

Maybe she will let me walk her to graduate school..........heyitcouldhappen.

DELAYED REACTION

Hey Gang,

Been missing you.....hell, i've been missing me......lot of seriousness going on in my life for the past couple of months and have layed low on the radar screen.........have tons of drafts saved.....but not yet the time or inclination to get them out to you.......right now, though because i have 15 .......no 10 minutes left of my lunch break........let me tell you that i'm coming around.....have enjoyed blog surfing and have been becoming fast fan of blogtalk radio........now most of the shows are on in the evening, but have caught a few daytime ....hmmm, i'll call them
blog + talk= blogtalkers.........which makes me think of codetalkers......the band.....which reminds me of their song, Victor the Snakeman, which reminds me that I have to ask Meg from MeggyMoons Crazy Talk just how she knows Victor, cause she has all these cool pictures of him on her website, which reminds me that I e-mailed a fellow who is also on her website about a part in an upcoming film he is doing, which brings me to remind myself to ask you to please go to Sv-2.com and read my first story and contact them by e mail and ask them to get the lead out and put up my other story "Along for the Ride", which makes me think of my grandmother, which makes me think of my mother.....God rest her soul, she would have been 77 yesterday..(now the good news) she isn't spending her birthday alone this year....(the bad news) cause we buried Dad on St. Patricks day......which made for an interesting celebration afterwards.......and a whole lot of twists and turns since then.........(see told you had a lot of blog drafts ).......speaking of which I am now feeling the slight twist in my ankle from yesterdays 4 mile run for Father Rick Gerherdt Memorial, which incidentally I came in 2nd place in my age group...(50-54)....heyit could happen!!!!!!!!! and I'm wanting to prop it on my desk and stretch, but have too many patient charts to do so, which reminds me that I have to see the top of my desk by 3:30 p.m. today, which means that i've now only gone 10 minutes over my alloted lunch time........which reminds me that I miss having the chance to go to lunch with a famous blogger whom you all love and admire, even if she is a Dork and is shamelessly seeking votes to catapult her out of the Deep Forest and into the Kingdom of Divine Dorkiness, which makes me day dream of kingdoms and castles and dwarfs......(especially the one I find so interestingly HOT, you know the guy from Lord of the Rings, no no no not the cutie pie Elf, mr. bloom..but ...the fiery red headed, eyes too close, short as a two-year-old's kneecaps, dwarf, who with just a little help from a step stool could put all those other guys to shame with his manly take charge attitude, which makes me think of the shortest doctor I work for, for whom no stool or ladder could possibly help......is going to be asking for my work shortly............SLAM.......well damn, I just hate it when reality catches up with my brain and the door to my innerself gets shut......well, i'll react to that later.......i'll get back to you all tomorrow........which makes me think........nah, better not......later
kids.........jinks.

WHO CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH?

It was 1968, and I was 11 years old. I cry as I write this because it is so bitter sweet. A lot happened in 1968, my grandfather, John C. Nolen died, Martin Luther King Jr. died, Bobby Kennedy died and innocence died for me.

Lost my grandfather to lung cancer, he had fought in the "great war" in France but lost the battle to Camel cigarettes and time. That was in February, I didn't attend his funeral because in my family at that time, children were spared death. At least that is what my parent's thought.

The day after Martin Luther King was shot, I can remember going to school and that my 7th grade Tennessee History teacher shut the door to her room and leaned up against her desk and said these words. "Class, I'm going to tell you something and its something you aren't going to hear on the news, and not from your parents. But its something, that you should know because one day you will be as old as I am and you'll have children of your own and if they don't burn down this town you might want to continue to live here." her all white class listened intently "Yesterday, a man was shot downtown, he isn't what the news or the public will portray him to be. The man shot yesterday was a trouble maker. He isn't some leader, he doesn't care what people of his color go through." Most of us kids had never heard of Dr. King before now, we were 11 and 12 years old and we lived in a world all of our own. She proceeded on. "My husband, who has been friends with our mayor Henry Loeb for several years and he spoke to mayor Loeb on the telephone last night. Mayor Loeb told my husband the truth. He said about a week ago, Dr. King and his bunch called and spoke to the mayor and told him if they received payment of at least $2,000 dollars, they wouldn't even come to Memphis for this sanitation strike, but if they didn't get the money, they were coming and bring trouble with them." "So, when you hear how great this man was and what a shame it was that he was killed. You just remember, he came to start trouble and if he could have bribed our officials he would have." With that she stood up and walked around her desk and plopped her bottom down in her chair and told us to open our books. She had assassinated innocence that day.

I never mentioned the incident to my folks. They weren't into listening to the ramblings of an 11-year-old little girl. My mother was worried about the safety of her husband, my dad, who was an employee of the city's sewer and drain maintenance department. Dad drove a black and white "city car" to and from job sites. It looked just like our city's police cars and before the next weekend was over, he had a brick thrown through the windshield as it was parked in front of our home. I can still remember the sound of the car that raced by our house late in the night and the angry shouts and then the shattering glass and the shouts from the brick throwers as they speed off into the early morning hours. My father came into my bedroom and told my sister and I to go sleep with our mother. He sat on my bed the rest of the night, in the dark, looking out our window which was the one closest to his city car. He had his shot gun and it was loaded. He didn't dare go out into the night, but waited to see if anyone would be brave enough to come back and attempt to throw a brick into our house. No one ever did, he parked his car behind our house for weeks afterwards.

Our city went on dusk till dawn curfew, and we sat glued to the television for the news broadcast. I can tell you truthfully that most Memphians didn't understand what had happened or why. Most of us didn't live in a world of hatred for other races. Also most of us didn't live side by side with other races either. We lived in two separate worlds. Neither world hating the other, just existing.

I didn't actually believe my history teacher, but what she had to say did cloud my understanding. What I have heard and read about Dr. King is in such opposition with the character of the person she described to us so long ago.

I have taken the time to read some of Dr. King's sermons and I have watched and studied the
politics of Memphis over the years also. I have made up my mind as to who was serving whom.

Pretty soon, the riots were in larger cities, with more to lose and consequently more to film.

In June, Bobby was shot and it was as if the whole country had lost a brother.

I've seen changes in our city since then on just about every level you can imagine. Some good and some bad.

A fellow blogger had a latin quote for the day, which translated into "the truth shall set you free".

Before leaving you today, let me encourage you to seek out the truth in your own life, especially
regarding the world and lives of those around you. Don't take on the opinions, or attitudes of those around you regarding people, or circumstances that you don't know. They become like shackles and chains. Don't be impatient, it takes time, but its a freedom beyond compare.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you of how the fall of 1968 became my saving grace.


jinks.

The, Them, Me.........Themes

On the way in this a.m. heard the lastest from an old musical love of mine. Eric Burdon.....it was a song about never giving up. I love that theme. This prompted me to take a trip down memory lane and the realization that its the themes in our lives that connects us to particular themes in music and we find ourselves returning to them just as naturally as the seasons return.

( Couldn't find a clip of Eric's new one, but will still be searching.)

and since my life is filled, as your's probably is, with a quote from Seger's "deadlines and commitments, what to leave in what to leave out". I won't take up any more time, but will leave you with some videos from theme's in my life.....what are yours? Leave me a comment
including yours.

I'm hoping to receive scads of them.........heyitcouldhappen.

Thursday.....go to meetin'

Excuse me while I adjust the mic here at the podium........testing...testing....

you there in the back row......can you hear me?........well good....then you have exactly 10 seconds to escape out the back door before I start whipping

Satan's ass right here and now!!!!!!

Hey, and don't forget to tell them out there ......there's more where that came from!!!!!!

The rest of you listen up and listen up good.......there's a whole world of folks out there that are getting all of "OUR" dirty laundry dumped on them and its leaving a bad taste in their mouths.....and I'm not just talking about the Catholic church here....every denominations got some "stanky" drawers that need a good bleaching.

You there, yes you....the one with the "whatchu talkin bout Willis?" look on your face. If I wasn't standing on this podium, I could swear I was looking at myself. You remind me of me......without the checkered polyester jacket. I'll be brief cause it ain't my Thursday to preach and I think I hear thunder outside so there's no since pushing the envelope.

All those folks who are hearing this and have actually never have had anyone in their lives share the word of God with them are the ones to consider......they only hear about the negative reasons folks attend church.....and believe me I've heard it from several people, all ages, all walks of life.......and hold on to your hallos....but there have been times in my life when I have "dissed" us with the best of them......which makes ME a hypocrite. I've also been a Pharisee, and looked down my fat nose at how some of the others of us do church. So I guess you could say I've been a bad sheep in His flock more times than I can count. So when I hear the all too familiar sound of the "blasphemous gas"being passed regarding the stinch of organized religion.........I can't help but wonder......how much of what they are saying is possibly the echo of one I "cut" myself.

You there, you are looking at me like you don't know me........chances are ya don't.....cause even though I am a member of this body, I make myself scarce........ain't something I'm ashamed of.....but it ain't something I'm proud of neither.......just sometimes I need to work things out and just cause I'm not sitting on a church pew doesn't mean that I am not getting worked on either. So remember just cause folks ain't sitting in church , doesn't make them any less loved by the Lord. Don't misunderstand me......there ain't nothing better than sitting on a pew, truly communing with God.......its better than catching a wave, better than any buzz you can imagine. Its when I go looking for anything other than the Lord that I mess up. I start thinking church is a place to twist and shape and make into my own image then it gets all stanky and well........folks can't be expected to accept that.

So, in closing let me say this.

If you have never been to church......don't let a few old farts real or imagined keep you out. If you have been to church and got turned off by what you saw, or heard, felt, or "smelt".....please consider going back......God is still there and he diggs it when you come to see him at his house. He always has something good to feed your soul if you are open to it.......

Well, gotta run .........hey, scuse me......slap that guy next to ya.....yeh, him.....there.."Wake up sweetie, we're done here."

How to do it?.......I'll show you how to walk the dog..

Ever have times when you tell yourself you are going to try to sqeeze in yet another "healthy habit" and so you set about mentally preparing yourself for it.

Example, you wake up at 5:00 a.m. and just for that moment you say to yourself.....hey, i'm alive.....why don't I get up and walk the dog. Then immediately alarms begin to ring in your brain and its like a switchboard of excuses lights up.....and you moan and roll over and say.....maybe tomorrow would be a better time. The switchboard goes dead and your internal receptionist jots down yet another message from an unanswered call for change........well, yesterday morning about 10:00 a.m, while I was deep in my "mental office" wondering why my productivity was down, feeling trapped in the same old s___t just different day....the same said receptionist stormed in my office and proceeded to dump a whole trash can loaded with these calls in my lap......said she's had it with my not complying with company policy and told me to get myself another thought cause she was on to me..........so, today when the alarm went off.......after a stiffled moan.......I stumbled around the bedroom, circled the kitchen twice and peeked out the den door and there sat my dog grinning from ear to ear.....now, how she does that with out caffeine is really something.....but at 5:23 she and I were heading down the driveway and she made the executive decision to go left, which was fine with me. By the time we got to the end of the street, my receptionist called to say....."See I told you it wasn't all that bad, all you had to do was get going." She was right, once again and agreed to take her job back if she was given a raise, a bonus and a weeks vacation in the mountains.

So what does this have to do with you?.......maybe nothing.....maybe everything.....you decide and if there is a call that you have put off answering because you've been busy with the

same ole tired excuses..........give a listen to Aerosmith singing their version of a Rufus Thomas classic...........might be just the thing to get you "walking your own dog."

Grab and RC Cola and a Moonpie and give a listen

Eclipse schmeclipse....just so dang glad we have a moon to view, no matter what phase it or

we are in......one still must look up .....so chins up

everyone. I agree with you Auntie J ......... better days a comin........



"They're a gonna put me in the movies......they're a gonna make a big star out of me......

and all I gots to do is .....act naturally." Buck Owens, Ringo Starr, and me......heyitcouldhappen.

Well Ain't We Hoytee-Toytee

Her Royal Highness Jinks the Functional of Brompton Underfoot

Her Royal Highness decrees March 2, in the year of our Lord, 2007 to be.....

wait a minute......she has decided that today should be whatever you want it to be, do whatever you want to do. Personally, she would rather be out walking in the woods but her loyal subjects have decided that she must remain chained to a computer in the castle dungeon with the

daunting task of transcribing dictation from physicians on their most recent discoveries and self proclaimed accomplishments, all of which must be printed to paper before the sun goes down.

So, with that said......all who desire her talents, her time, her body...(heyitcouldhappen), her presence of mind, her cooking....(told you it could happen), or whatever money she has left from her recent trip to the market......just get ya self a number......get in line....quit yur yappin....and

she wil get to ya when she gets to ya.

It ain't easy being royalty..........

Until we are formally introduced again, your Royal Highness, Jinks.

P.S. Youse is probably royalty too. Check out Chelly's blog for today and get your own

title......this ones taken.