Roxy, Huckleberry Hound, Billy Bob Thornton... A Photographic Study

I want you to meet our little Cockapoo (no, not a cockatiel... that's all different) Roxy. Sometimes known as Rox for short, other times known as dumber than a box of rocks, but always sweet as candy dipped in syrup and cuter than elf turds.




Awwwwwwwww.....


Now... this is a spot where I fed the sheep all winter, just lump of lousy dried out hay and I threw a match at it the other day to get rid of it. It burned all up into a big black pile of poofy ash.






This is a picture of a cartoon character named Huckleberry Hound. One of my favorite cartoons from way on back. Huck always was singing "Clementine" and happy 'bout just pert near everything on earth. When my daughter Amanda was little she called him "the little blue doggy".






A couple days ago I looked out at the spot where I'd burned the haypile and saw Roxy. I might not ever had noticed her if she hadn't been carrying on like a fish you'd thrown out on the pond dam. Flippin' and floppin all over. Rooting and rolling and just generally enjoying burned hay ash. I don't have any answers. We laughed til we couldnt stand up.






This pose says it all. She's so proud of the new look she's created, and in this shot looks particularly Huckleberry Houndish.






I may have changed my mind. That smile on her face looks a little more like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade than Huckleberry Hound.







She had a little bit of smokers hack for a couple days. Took 2 baths to get her decent to go in the house again. When she ran across the yard she poofed like Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strip.


That's my dog.


*sigh*




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Llama Llama, Who's Got The Llama

Yesterday my neighbor Dale came over and we loaded up our 3 sheep, Ruby and the Psycho Sisters... Dummy and Stupid. Then we went to his place and loaded up his 5 sheep and a Buck and hauled 'em all over to my buddy Gary's house where we were gonna meet up with Doug the sheep shearer guy. Gary was gone but his wife Jolene was there so me and Dale and Jolene hung out for awhile until Doug the shearer showed up.

Meanwhile I looked up the driveway and did a blink... rubbed my eyeballs... blinked again. Here comes a llama being led by some Amish dude. Gave me a serious case of the giggles. I dunno if it was the fact that a llama is being led in, or if it's because an Amish dude is doing the leading or if I was just tired and bored. Anyway, struck me pretty funny.

Amish guy gets his llama parked and he's waiting for Doug the shearer too. Needs to get his llama trimmed up for summer. Jolene introduces us... Amish dude is "Junior". I like that. Junior Borntregger.

Doug gets there finally and we get all set up and he breezes thru the sheep, Jolene had 2 of her own too. No one wanted the stupid wool, but we made Doug take it. Anyway, came time to give "Honey" (That's Junior's Llama's name...lol) his haircut. Doug's done a few and I've got the rope holding Honey the llama so I get the most instructions about what the llama is and is not gonna do.

What I learned yesterday.

1. Llamas spit.
2. Llamas kick.
3. Llamas got a mean streak in 'em.
4. Junior is a butthead.
5. Jolene makes baby talk to llamas
6. I don't much care for llamas.

I don't know what the correct way is to cut the hair offa stupid llama, but it sure seemed to me like it was the hard way that Doug did it.

He'd be clipping along and the llama would get all still and tense like a cat then it'd kinda just explode with a bunch of grunting noises and Tasmanian Devil spinning. Junior the Amish guy would laugh, Dale kinda stood outta the way of back feet, Jolene made baby talk, Doug sheared, I got slimed by Honey.

We got all done, Junior led Honey the llama off into the setting sun. We all overpaid Doug so he'll come back (lol) and then we went home.

I know this was a prime opportunity for pictures. Sorry, no camera. But I put together this wonderful montage for you of what it was kinda like. I found all these pictures on the wide wide world of the internets.

From upper left. Junior the Amish dude, Honey the llama, Dale (I know it's a girl, but I always liked Dale Evans... what a cool chick. She'd have wanted in on this I'm sure, if she wasn't so dead.) Me, Jolene, (Jolene isn't asian, but I thought this girls pic added a bit of mystique to the whole thing) and finally Doug the shearer.

Click it to make it big.




Thank you, thank you.





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Wine Drinkers Are Party People

We played at a local winery yesterday, man did we have a blast and I do believe that everyone else did too. :-) I think we played a 25 or 30 song set with a break and the owners at West Winery provided the band with WAY too much wine.

This song... I dunno. It's pretty much our "Party Song That'll Give You A Smile That You Can't Knock Off Your Face With A 2 by 4" I have a real hard time looking at the girls when they're backing this one up... sends me into hysterics. (and makes me forget lyrics lol)







And a bunch of pictures from yesterday 'cause I'm too lazy to give you a real blog post.

*Click 'em to see 'em bigger*



















And finally, my sweetheart, Sally... dressed to the nines and looking like 2 and a 1/2 million bucks in an awesome hat, jacket, vest and boots. Having a dance here with "Arnold". :-) A little outta focus, but I think that was from 'em movin' so dang fast.

Some Pics From Yesterdays Studio Session

Sally got some pics offa the camera from yesterdays recording session for Keota.... Did I mention we had a blast? :-)

Some of the pics are a little hazy and glared that were shot thru the booth window into the studio.

*Click on any of the pics for a larger view*


Gettin' ready...





















Finally, Louis ("Louie") Me and Ronnie.

Went into the recording studio today.

Well... what an incredible roller coaster ride this week. Our band, "Keota" went to a recording studio this evening, and our intentions were to try and record 2 original songs that our singer, Martina is going to enter in a Christian music contest. We ended up doing 5! And we did those in about 2 1/2 hours... pretty much amazing. How much fun was it? More fun than you can shake a stick at. All of us were wound up, a couple of us were pretty nervous, but I don't think I've ever been more at ease playing. I'm probably not gonna sleep tonite though... 'cause now I wanna go back and finish us up a CD.

Sally took videos of the whole session and took a bunch of still shots, and I can't wait to see 'em. Matter of fact the videos are downloading off the video camera's hard drive right now. ;-) I'll get some of 'em put up here in a few days, and our daughter Nicky is also getting our website together for us and we'll have more stuff up there.

We've got a private party gig tomorrow night and then playing at a local winery's grand opening on Saturday afternoon.. so we ended up with a full week of music.

I honestly think this is the best time of my life. Truly. We're all enjoying it SO much, no youthful attitudes to get in the way, just a bunch of late 40's-early 50's people doing what we love. Well one mid 20 person thrown into the mix... but Martina is a total kick in the head. Just a pure joy to be around. We all love her to pieces.


So, a little more upbeat post today huh? :-) Pictures to come later.. it's late and I've got videos to watch!

Just an odd day... even for me.

I kinda stumbled through the day today, it was a weird one. I'd guess what set the tone was the funeral I attended this morning. I had a cousin pass away that was a couple years younger than me... her health was pretty good, she just went. Of course she'd been on my mind the week leading up to the funeral. We were together some as kids, but mostly just "howdys" at family reunions and when we'd run into one another in town for the past 30 years or so. We weren't real close, but I really couldn't put my finger right on my feeling until this morning.

After the funeral, several of my cousins and I were standing out on the sidewalk chatting, smoking, catching up, etc. and someone mentioned that this is only the second cousin that we've lost out of pretty humongous clan. When Stuart died it 'bout ruined me, we were 15 and 16. He contracted bone cancer and lasted about 2 years of misery, the loss of a leg, radiation... the whole gamut.

Even the service was catching for me. Pam's regular pastor was unable to hold the service and her family had requested a local guy, that as far as I know isn't a preacher of any sort... but gave a memorable, and at times mesmerizing and quite touching memorial service. The whole point that Jack made with his memorial for Pam was taking care of the undone, saying the unsaid and fixing wrongs before you regret them forever.

This is the second person my age to go on in the past 2 weeks that I've had some sort of relationship with. I want to say "young person" but we aren't exactly young any longer at 50, but we're not old either. Anyway, made me run a whole lot of stuff through my head today.

So... there's that part of my day. Sleep will take care of a lot of it and the rest of it I hope to address in my life as I come to it.

Ta Da!


Getting the cattle up in the barn tomorrow morning and gonna vaccinate the calves. Should be a good day.


I promise to be funnier next time. :-) lol

Cheap Hotels

I just had a story relayed to me about the price of hotels getting stupidly expensive. Heck what is'nt these days? It got me to thinking about some of the places I've stayed.

Back when I was in the gun business and I did gun shows, I stayed in some real doozies along the way. Of course with the business I was in, I was usually armed to the teeth with enough armament to win most small governmental skirmishes single handedly. If the sheets looked clean, the cockroaches weren't too bad, the place had a bar and it was cheap... I was there. Never had trouble that I remember, being a pretty good sized feller doesn't hurt sometimes... you get away with more in a rough place, 'specially with the butt of a 45 sticking up out of the back of your pants. :-)

Most of 'em I've forgot about, I DO remember a Ramada Inn that I stayed at once that had blood red shag carpeting that was soaking wet. I went back to the desk and they moved me down to the end of the hallway and everything was cool until about 1 am when the folks in the room next to mine... got loud. I gotta put this as politely as I can... They sounded as if they were beating elephants with a 2x10 while walking on hot coals. I laid there in my bed for awhile trying to envision just what antics these folks were performing... when all of a sudden I heard glass break, a loud expletive deletive, laughter.... and then what apparently was a monkey riding a bicycle in circles with a playing card stuck in the spokes while he chased a sea lion around the room. The female half (I say "half" because I'm just assuming there were only two people involved in these shenanigans)seemed to REALLY like this part.

I called the front desk and everything stopped in about 5 minutes. I looked around for signs of a seal the next morning, but none was there.


A few years ago I had to be at the hospital for a procedure VERY early in the morning, several miles from here and decided it'd be best to get there the night before and have a quick commute to the hospital. Sal got a coupon outta something for a hotel called the "Budget" something. Can't remember the name now. Anyway we got to the Budget Dump and I walk in to the front desk. The place looks a little on the tough side. A gal with what looked to be "some experience" and a black eye, took my money and my stupid stupid stupid coupon and gave me the key to hell.

Sal and I drove to room 666, got out, tried the key... wouldn't work. I drove back to the office. This time a big Mexican guy with a pony tail came to the desk and wanted to know what I needed. I told him the key didn't work and he double checked it and said to go back to the room and he'd send his brother down to open it for us.

We go BACK to the prince of darkness' room and wait until the big Mexican's brother comes waltzing down the parking lot and is quite possibly the drunkest man I've seen that is still able to keep his feet on terra firma. Drunk brother stabs around with the key, wiggles the doorknob, curses in spanish and finally the door pops open. We all 3 walk inside, it's freezing cold. I ask him if there's any heat, he flips on a heater over the top of the doorway that sounds so weary and awful, I'm sure that it predated the Spanish American war. As a matter of fact it may have been a weapon in that war. I dunno.

Drunk brother leaves and I stand there in this room with my lovely bride who refuses to get any closer to a bed, chair or wall than 8 feet. I peer around the corner into the bathroom.

Sally: How is it?

Me: Not pretty. I ain't using it.

Sally: You want to look at the bed?

Me: No.

Sally: *frightened silence*

Me: Let's go.

Sally: Where?

Me: I gotta go talk to the ponytail.

We get back in the car and I go back to the office. A puny looking little white guy in black rimmed glasses, might have been Wally Cox but I don't know for certain, handed Juan Ponytail some cash and sauntered off down another hallway with Miss Blackeye.

I belly up to the counter and he looks at me...

Ponytail: Dere a problam man?

Me: Yeah... I'm gonna be needing my money back.

Ponytail: *Looking at me*

Me: *Looking at Ponytail*

Ponytail: No problemo man.

I walk back out to the car and open the door.

Sally: How'd it go?

Me: *handing her the cash refund and laying my Glock down on the console.* No problemo man...


We drove to a very nice Ramada Inn, walked in, they were all decorated for Christmas... it was beautiful. Sally walks over to the giant Christmas tree in the lobby.

Sally: JACE! LOOK! They have a Christmas tree! Isn't it beautiful?

Sally: *running over to the curved staircase that is decorated with lights and garland* JACE! HONEY! LOOK! They have stairs. Real stairs... WITH GARLAND AND LIGHTS! I think I'm going to cry now honey.

I turned to the clerk who was smiling and she gave me an excellent deal on the room for Sally's most excellent performance and we lived happily ever after.

A Clarification To The Term "Good Ol' Boy"

By now most of you at least know of our son Jake. He's an independent welder, lives on the road, makes above average money, single, loves what he does, likes to go very very fast... and as much as he hates to be aligned with this stereotype... he's a Good Ol' Boy. He's all cutting edge with what's cool and what everyone is doing, very popular with the ladies, but by crappy, the boy is a redneck. Some of it possibly is "Good Ol' Boy by osmosis" or "redneck by proxy" just because of his buddies that he hangs with.

He'd never admit to it. Seriously... never. Probably would call you a name for suggesting it. That's what I'm here for though.

Let me take you back to yesterday morning here at the Cowguy household. I wake up, there's an extra set of boots by the backdoor, which usually means things got a little out of hand and someone couldn't make it to their own home and crashed in the guest bedroom here. This time it was Joe. I sauntered into the bathroom and as I entered into fellowship with nature, I gazed out the bathroom window and saw something that literally made me laugh out loud.

Let me introduce you to a Good Ol' Boy's "mud truck"... Joe's S10.

*click on any of the pics to see 'em big*




I wandered out with the camera to inspect the thing. One blinker light gone, one hanging by the wires... more mud flung on it than exists in the whole state of Arizona... And, at least 12 1/2 acres of good Missouri bottomland hung in the front bumper. That right there had to be a teeth jarring experience to lodge that in the bumper like that.

Let's walk on around. True Good Ol' Boys don't need unnecessary equipment like say, rear view mirrors. When I asked about 'em I got the answer "HA! They were just there yesterday!"

I'm sure they were. :-)




And what does a Good Ol Boy always have right handy in his 4X4? Hell Yeah! Guns! I peered in at a random smattering of weaponry flung asunder in yon truck.





Before y'all get all up in arms (no pun intended lol), these are not the guns of some gang banger looking to hold up the local 7-11 and rape the Slurpee machine. No, these are the guns of Good Ol Boys that might possibly just wonder "Hey whut do ya think a 45 hollow point will do to this can of beer?" "I dunno, but it'll blow a big ol hole, the size of Harley Jacksons ol' lady's hind end, in the mud down in the bottom of the creek bed." In unison. "huh huh huh"


What might you find in the back of a Good Ol Boy's truck after a night of mayhem such as this one suffered? Horror. That's all... just Horror.





I hope to hell that boy washes out that lunch box before he uses it on the job coming up next week. Looks like some crackers, a snack bar, a can of Copenhagen chewing tobacco and "things" that I just don't wanna know.

So there you go. Today the 2 of 'em are out at the KC drag strip with their bikes tweaking and tuning and trying to see who's the fastest. I've got my money on Jake, although Joe just put Nitrous Oxide on his... yes, he really did. Lordy...

I can't really say much, 'cause I've done just as bad... some things much worse. They're hard working young men, but when it's a week or two off, ho-lee crap! Outta their way, 'cause they're Good Ol' Boys.




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We've Got A Hostage Situation Here.

Before Sally and I were married, in the winter of 1998 (we tied the knot in 99)we went out Christmas tree shopping for her house. On this little excursion we were in my truck. Nicky our daughter was with Sally and I along with a 13 year old Jake in the back seat of the truck.

We went south of us a ways to a Christmas tree farm and when we got there, they were closed because of sickness so we headed back to town. Now Jake would have rather been anywhere on earth, doing anything on earth, instead of Christmas tree shopping. Think "Rusty" in Christmas Vacation and you've 'bout nailed it... except Jake was in a non-stop yammering mode. It'd got to the point where we were'nt even being polite anymore. One of the three of us was reciting "Jake, shut up" about once every 2 minutes.

He'd finally got quiet in the back seat by the time we got to town and we pulled into the grocery store to grab some stuff and when we got out... we saw Jake sitting quietly in his little corner of the truck... with his face completely duct taped. Just a breathing hole for his nose. He'd gone all the way around his stocking hat, his face his mouth, his chin, his whole dang head was a silver bulb of duct tape.

What exactly compelled him to do this, we'll never know, but there he sat... and it was hillarious. I asked him if he was staying in the truck or if he wanted to go in. No answer. I asked him if he wanted anything. He shook his head no. And the 3 of us went inside.

As soon as we got inside we ran into Mike, a friend of mine that was a cop. He was out of uniform and I asked him if he had his badge with him... and he did. I lead him over to the front window of the store and showed him Jake. There he sat in the back seat of the truck.. all you could really see was this wad of silver tape on top of a small boy's shoulders.

In the midst of all this, a deaf store clerk was working on something in the front window and she was between us and Jake. She misunderstood what we were laughing at, thought we were laughing at her and gave us a butt chewing about not having any manners and being rude and stormed off before we could figure out what the heck.

So I filled Mike in on the Jake episode and he went out to the truck. I followed but stayed hid from Jake.

Mike tapped on the glass with his badge.

Jake freezes instantly, unable to see, but knows that someone just tapped on the door glass of the truck.

Mike: You okay in there?

Jake: *motionless*

Mike: Hey, this is the police. Are you a hostage?

Jake: *trying to frantically tear eyeholes thru the duct tape but it ain't working*

Mike: Do I need backup? Have you been taken hostage?

Jake: *In full panic now ripping the tape and pulling skin and hair and stocking hat all at once*

Me *100 percent totally unhinged as was Sally and Nicky as we watched a little silver tornado of arms, hands, and duct tape, virtually spinning in the back seat of that pickup truck*

Mike *trying to be serious* You need to roll down the window now.

Jake: *finally getting most of the tape off but it's just hanging around his head now and he answers* I'm okay. I was just fooling around with some tape. *staring at Mike's badge that he's still holding up at eye level.*

Mike finally turned and said he'd better go, but he had tears streaming down his face and was the color of a beet. We were all ruined. Jake was pissed as only a 13 year old boy can be... and a family story that we've told 100 times came to be.






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A Redneck Can Too Play Jazz!

Thursday evening, that's 3 days ago, I was asked to play guitar for the social event of the year in our community. A fund raiser held each year to benefit the local theater group. I went into this thing, playing with people that I'd never played with, about a 30 song set of the type of music that I'd never played... with one practice. I was more than a little concerned that I'd either come off looking like a total fool or by some stroke of luck, I'd pull it off and have a blast.

I had a blast.

My musical background is rock and of late... country with tinges of bluegrass. To sit and play jazz, 40's big band tunes, 50's crooner and torch songs... oh holy crap. Top this off with I do not read music and I was sitting in with a group of semi-pro and professional musicians. I gotta hear a song through a couple times to get a handle on it usually. Chord charts help and give me a starting point if I'm totally lost... which I was on a few of these.

Got to see loads of friends and acquaintances that I hadn't seen for years, had great food... way too much liquor and the most beautiful woman there on my arm.





Martina, the gal that sings in my regular band was one of the vocalists last night, she was incredible! Steve, a highway patrolman by day does one of the most awesome jobs crooning out Sinatra and Dean Martin tunes that you've ever heard. Here's the two of 'em ripping through "Sway". The drummer, John and I had a hoot with this one, we got into the samba mentality and got the giggles pretty bad.





Martina and Sally cuddled up for an incredible shot of the two of 'em.





And some guy sitting back there with a Stratocaster, having the time of his life, doing a style of music that he'd never played. :-)





The dinner and music was held outside in a tent that covered the street for half a city block. It rained off and on and was a little chilly... but it sure didn't dampen the spirit any.

I wish we could do this once a week! Too much fun!




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Things I've Found In Furniture.

Over the years I've found tons of stuff in furniture that people have brought to me, mostly it's just junk but sometimes it's interesting.

The cracks and edges of dresser drawers are rife with rusted bobby pins and dress pins and sewing needles. Scraps of newspaper clippings that got stuck in the crack of the back of a drawer. Whole newspapers lining drawers of dressers... those are usually interesting. I've found grocery lists from 50 or 60 years ago, photographs, pictures crayoned on the bottom of tables and furniture from kids laying on their backs on rainy days, bored and crayon ready.

I have seen more prehistoric chewing gum than Wrigleys turns out in a years time. Roll top desks are a treasure trove. Where the desk top rolls back, there's usually an area behind the cubby holes that is always hidden and stuff gets back there in time capsule form. I even found a wooden dip net like you would've taken trout fishing 100 years ago, in a rolltop desk once. I bet the guy always wondered where the heck it went. I found letters from a son that was attending Wash U. in St. Louis, sent home to his parents while he studied to become a doctor in the early part of the 1900's (I can't remember the dates on that)


All this brings me to a find from today. I flipped a dresser upsided down, one of 2 I'm working on for a family and up in the top, inside of the dresser was a picture stuck in a crack. I slid it out and wiped it off...LOL I don't know quite what to make of it. It seems a little naughty. :-) It appears that the couple is window peeking and has caught mother inside OR the gentleman is getting frisky with "mother" on the porch. I dunno..

Here it is, click on it to enlarge it. Let me know your take on it and what you think is happening.








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Gonna Sing For My Supper

Y'all be glad to know that friends have taken pity on me this evening... being as I'm in the dire straits that I have succumbed to, of being home alone. Some of the folks that I play music with invited me and my mandolin over for dinner this evening. Just call me Lucky.

Finished up a bookcase this afternoon, after working on boring crap all morning. The bookcase is a gift for one of the kids and is my design. You can take a look at it if you want over at the woodworking forum. If you've already seen it over there, just pretend like it's all new to you again. :-)

Gotta run, real food awaits my eager lips.

J.





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Whiskey and Twizzlers

Whiskey And Twizzlers


A country heartbreaker
By Jace Weber
© 2008

(Pick a sad lilting CW tune of your choice to sing this beauty to)


At first it was a great idea and plan,
stocked up on junk food and beer in the can.
Hot dogs and chili,
Doritos by the case,
Who came in and messed up my place?

Cartoons on the TV and then blood and gore,
Guns leaning against the couch, even my old 44.
Toilet seat is up,
Dishwasher door is down,
Even the air is lookin' a little brown.

(chorus)
(lol)
Ohhhhhh Darlin' when you left me for the big ol cit-eeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I couldn't hardly hope for a better time for me.
But soon it got lonely and sorry as could be,
I'm living on Twizzlers and Kentucky Whisk-eeeeee.

I ain't seen the dog for nigh on 2 days,
Last time I seen her was in the kitchen thru the haze.
The bathroom smells funny,
And the sink is a mess,
Hate like hell to do it, but I'll clean it I guess.

When you git ready to come back to the countr-eeeee,
Give me a ring or two honey, wo-wontcha please?
To let me know you're comin',
There's a few things to do,
Like get rid of the stench here, that smells just like poo.

(chorus)

Ohhhhhh Darlin' when you left me for the big ol cit-eeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I couldn't hardly hope for a better time for me.
But soon it got lonely and sorry as could be,
I'm living on Twizzlers and Kentucky Whisk-eeeeee.

I'm a living on Twizzlers...... and Kentucky Whisk-eeeeee.




***************************************
Yup, I'm still home alone! :-)




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I Am Man. Hear Me Roar.

Remember that old Helen Reddy song, "I Am Woman"? I always hated that song... :-) but I'm borrowing the catch line in it. Why? 'Cause for this whole week, I am celebrating my manliness.

Why this week you ask? Because Sally is gone for the week and I'm "bachin". I am MAN!

Sal's mom flew into Lambert down in St. Louis and she went down there to spend the week with her mom and our daughter Nicky and the grandbabies. Nicky's husband went on a fishing trip, so it's a great big Italian women fest. No place for men or folks that "believe" they have the equal constitution of a barefoot woman armed with nothing more than a pasta ladle and a harsh look. Cross them and they will kill you with one swipe of that thing.

So here I sit. *ahhhhh* I stripped furniture all afternoon and right now, I'm sitting in my recliner, laptop on my lap, cold beer at my right hand, remote control at left.... and I'm watching cartoons... in my underwear.

I freakin' rule!

I had a salami sandwich for dinner with chips and some dip I whipped up. I ate in the living room, 'cause I'm a man and I like my food where I watch my television. A little while ago, I had a big stinky cigar. ROAR!! I have farted when I felt like it, I have belched when I felt the least little twinge of pressure on my stomach. Loud.

I am using dishes right out of the dishwasher and my shoes are in the middle of the floor. I haven't shut the bathroom door once yet! ROAR!!!

In short, I have reverted to the habits of a 12 year old, and I'm wallowing in it because I've been left unsupervised and now... I'm gonna have some ice cream. ROAR!



PS: Yes I know that link way up there that said it was Helen Reddy, went to a Slash and Steve Winwood version of Hendrix's "Hey Joe"... but wasn't that alot more impressive than Helen? :-) BTW that ending solo that Slash tears into... wow.



The following picture has nothing to do with my post today at all... but it's for my friend, Kent. He sent me a great writing of his on the subjects of environmentalists and diversity in our society...





Thanks Kent.

It Happened While I Was In The Bathroom.

Last night, while Sal and I were at The Round Barn Blues show, a little incident happened that further reinforced the fact that.... things happen to me in and around the bathroom. Maybe it's just that I notice them. Hell I dunno... but it's usually entertaining.

We were at the RBB's and they had "not enough port o johns" there and I was in a fairly good sized line with a bunch of other folks for the 4 unisex johns that they had. It was pretty dang chilly, like I could see my breath, and a couple of college age girls were in line behind me, one of 'em was pretty well trashed... but still "interesting". The intoxicated one had gone into teeth chattering mode and was having a bit of difficulty containing herself and her bladder. She scootched up as close as she could to my backside and stood there huddled against me trying to warm up when she whispered... as only a drunk college chick can... "Hey mister. You're not gonna go in there and poop or something are you?" "No... lol"

Her girlfriend broke out in the giggles... I did too. I gave her my place in line, she got the communal TP from her girlfriend, thanked me profusely, and stumbled down the little hill to the portapotty.

*youth*

A bunch of years ago, I walked into the men's room at a mall and there was a real normal looking guy, standing at the sink.... washing his socks like that was what everyone did. I don't know anymore about this guy's story, because more than anything else, a scene like that says to me "Do not touch". I didn't.


I went into a restroom at WalMart once. Both urinals were out of order, with the signs hanging on 'em. I went to one of the 2 stalls... the first one was... "Lord have mercy" wrong. Dumbo had obviously had an emergency in there, so I went down to the Handicapped stall. The big roomy one. I was standing there, just getting started with my business when the door to the stall blows open and a guy comes running in there with me. He's dancing around behind me real frantic like and I ask him if there's a problem.

His response: I gotta poop, I gotta poop, I gotta poop really really bad, I gotta poop.

Me: Buddy, you are NOT speeding things up for me by being in my stall with me.

Poop man: I gotta go really really bad.

Me: Seriously dude, you need to just hold on a few seconds.

Poop man: I can't.

Me: *calling it quits and just zipping up* Have at it buddy. *walking out*

I get outside and Sally is waiting for me and I'm guessing I must have one of those looks on my face that you never see your spouse have, 'cause she just saw me and started laughing and said "what happened?".



Hoo boy, huh? :-)

Hey, Remember Ol' Smooshy?

Way back in January in this post (click) I showed off a little present from Sally. Christmas food on a stick, Smooshy the special snowman. Well... me being me, and enjoying small scale science experiments, I kept ol' Smooshy around and kept Sal from throwin' him out.

Oh yes I did.


From January 2nd 2008







Here's an updated picture of this Christmas time confection from 07. He seems to be holding up pretty well, considering the condition that it was in when I got him.







Special huh?


I'm a youtube junkie, I watch a few videos on there most everyday. For the most part I learned to play mandolin by watching instructional videos on youtube and just watching other players. It's a heckuva resource on a jillion different topics. Anyhow, here's a vid of Tom Rush. Remember him? Cute tune. The Remember Song.