And so it begins...YIPPEEEEEEE!

For the past 60 or so days, JTC has been holed-up in his drum room choppin' tons of wood getting ready for his new gig with Lee Roy Parnell. Ain't that SOMETHIN'! I'm so happy for him I've had to resort to wearing only sweaters... and things without buttons for the past few weeks. **hee hee**

Anyway, today is the first of three days of solid rehearsal for Lee Roy and the band (John Richardson-drums, Jon Coleman-keys/B-3 and Charles Hayes-bass)... so eventhough John technically isn't gone on tour until next Monday, the gig officially starts today! YAY!

If you want to catch Lee Roy and the band in action, you've got three chances to see them in the Nashville area this week:

Friday (3/3) & Saturday (3/4)
8 p.m.
Bluesboro
Murfreesboro

Sunday (3/5)
9 p.m.
Lightning 100 Sunday Night Live
3rd & Lindsley
Nashville

I'll be there all three nights!
Come out for one... or all three... no matter what, we'll have a BLAST. After this weekend, you may not have a chance to see them around Nashvegas for a while unless you find yourself in one of the other cities they're touring over the next few months.

And, as I posted a few weeks ago, the new Album "Back to the Well" is INCREDIBLE. You can hear a preview of the album at Lee Roy's site. It's officially available in stores next Tuesday, 3/7.

If you want to get a copy right away, you can also pre-order your very own autographed copy at his site for $14.99. Get 'em while they're hot folks!

Passive aggressive work speak.

Dear Employees:

It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co-workers.

Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated. We do, however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when communicating with co-workers.

Therefore, a list of 18 New and Innovative "TRY SAYING" phrases have been provided so that appropriate exchange of ideas and information can continue in a positive and more effective manner:

1. TRY SAYING: I think you could use more training.
   INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the f___ you're doing!
   
2. TRY SAYING: She's an assertive and aggressive colleague.
   INSTEAD OF: She's a ball-busting b__ch.
   
3. TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late.
   INSTEAD OF: And when the f___ do you expect me to do this?!
   
4. TRY SAYING: I'm certain that just isn't feasible.
   INSTEAD OF: No f___ing way!
   
5. TRY SAYING: Really?
   INSTEAD OF: You've got to be sh___ing me!
   
6. TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with...
   INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a sh__!
7. TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project.
   INSTEAD OF: It's not my f___ing problem!
   
8. TRY SAYING: That's interesting.
   INSTEAD OF: What the f___?!
   
9. TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented?
   INSTEAD OF: This sh__ won't work!
   
10. TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that.
    INSTEAD OF: Why the h___ didn't you tell me sooner?!
    
11. TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues.
    INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his a___!
    
12. TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir?
    INSTEAD OF: Eat sh___ and die!
    
13. TRY SAYING: So you weren't happy with it?
    INSTEAD OF: Kiss my a__!
    
14. TRY SAYING: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment.
    INSTEAD OF: F___ it, I'm on salary.
    
15. TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand.
    INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your a__!
    
16. TRY SAYING: I love a challenge.
    INSTEAD OF: This job s__cks!
    
17. TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that?
    INSTEAD OF: Who the h___ died and made you boss?!
    
18. TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive.
    INSTEAD OF: He's a real pr_ck!
    

Thank You,

Human Resources

Thanks to D for passing this along. (DISCLAIMER: This is not a real HR letter.) While I don't really make a practice of swearing (in the workplace anyway... hee hee.) I do think I'll be utilizing some of the passive aggressive options... um... hmmm... and maybe some have been used on me already!
HA.
Let the paranoia begin.

Liquid Ice

Wow. Sarah has hipped me to a little breath mint that is blowing my mind.

Yesterday, there were too many onions in my tabouleh at lunch and I didn't have any gum. So, Sarah came to my rescue and shared four liquid ice jewels with me. Let me tell you, they packed a punch. While four was way too many to consume at once (it felt like I'd put my tongue and throat in the deep freeze) they did the trick. No more onion breath. I was ready for my afternoon of meetings. YAY!

Today, DP and I had Mexican and once again, needed a little help. Sarah, being the good cubemate that she is, came to the rescue.

Now, I'm gonna have to get me some of these.
Hmmmm... and maybe I need to take Sarah to lunch, too!

Team manager scores 20 points

Last night when I got home from work, JTC told me about this story that he'd seen on CBS news. And, this morning, they re-ran the package locally.

This"hoop dreams" story brought me to tears and I thought I'd share it with you just in case you hadn't gotten to see it yourself.

Jason McElwain is the team manager for his high school basketball team in Rochester, NY. What makes this special is that he is also autistic. And, while he wasn't able to play on the team over the past four years, he is one of their most enthusiastic supporters. Jason's dad even says he would sometimes worry he was too over-the-top at times... fearing a technical foul or something would be called during the game because of his enthusiasm. Everyone at Greece Athena High School loves him and appreciates his dedication to the basketball team.

So, for the team's last game of the season, the coach added Jason's name to the roster and let him suit-up. In the last four minutes of the game, the coach did what no one expected him to do... he put McElwain in to play. Afterwards, he was probably wishing he'd been playing him all year. By the time that short four minutes was up, Jason had scored 20 points. No... that isn't a typo... 20 points.

The crowd went wild and Jason is now somewhat of a hero at Greece Athena. In the interview, which you can watch from the story page, Jason said, "I just caught fire... I was hot as a pistol."

You have to read and/or watch the story.
It's just so inspiring.

Save the date!

OMGoodness... I can't believe I forgot to tell you this! The Friday before I left for MN I got a call from Barbara Cloyd asking me if I wanted to set-up a 6 p.m. round on Thursday, March 16.

WHOOHOOOHOOOHOOHOOO.
I'm playing a REAL ROUND at the Bluebird on March 16... a weeknight!
AND, I'm stoked.
It's a real milestone as a songwriter and I can't wait.

So... here's the scoop:
6 p.m.
Thursday, March 16
In the round:
BB (Jeanne Richardson), Karleen Watt, Lala Deaton and Ken Johnson
Bluebird Cafe

**she does cartwheels**
PLEASE MAKE PLANS TO BE THERE!
Be sure to call ahead for reservations to make sure you have a seat. AND... don't forget, early shows at the Bluebird are sans-cover... so you only have to pay a $7 minimum at your table.

Good shows last night

Man... I missed out.
Sounds like ChezBez took in a great line-up at the Mercy Lounge last night.
Damn.
Foiled again!
I was home falling asleep to watching the Bachelor cat fight show.

Mr. Bentos Box

Saw a link to TN Girl on Nashville is Talking about a "Mr. Bentos box".

At first, I thought it was a restaurant chain or something, but now realize it is even better.

It's a stackable stainless steel food thermos.

How cool is that?!
Now I want one!

Where did they go?

The past ten days?
Seriously.
I swear I'm in a time warp.
Please accept my apologies for being so delinquent at keeping you up-to-date.

After I returned from my surprise trip to MN, things just got away from me. In fact, I think it started before I even left.

Work has been overwhelmingly crazy... but that's really all I have to say about it. The details are way to boring if you're not in the thick of it. But... the good news is that I'm making some progress on a couple big projects that I may even share with you once they are done. First one should be ready at the end of March. It's gonna rock.

Music has also been crazy. Last week I attended as much of the CRS events as I could without staying up 24-hours-a-day every day.

Tuesday night we saw a show at the Basement and then BB and I headed over to 12th & Porter for Billy Block's Western Beat. Jeffrey Steele was on the bill and, as usual, he was electric. BB sat in on several songs... which was an incredible treat. She's so amazing. Of course, Tommy Mac, Steve C and Tom Hambridge were on fire backing JS up. Plus the whole gang was there, Lala, Karleen, Lucy Angel, Southland, JC, Randy, Ken, Andi, Lisa... and more. It was a great night.

Wednesday night, hung out at the Renaissance Hotel where CRS was happening. Got to meet some new faces and spend time with people I know around Nashville. Big & Rich played a showcase along with some other cool artists.

Thursday night, I hung out some more at the Renaissance with my music peeps and then headed over to the Red Iguana for my second Jeffrey Steele show of the week. The sound wasn't the best (the club sound... not Jeff and the band's sound) but because it was a CRS show, the crowd was actually manageable at the show. Kinda nice for a change. AND,both Cat and BB sat in most of the night. Again... the whole gang was there plus a few more. We had a blast! Although, I ended up getting home at 3:30 a.m. Somehow I functioned on three ours of sleep Friday. Whoohoo.

Friday night, JTC and I headed over to 3rd for a killer line-up: Stacie Collins, Ashley Cleveland and the Fortunate Sons.

Saturday, I slept until a whoppin' 7:30 a.m. Had a writing appointment with my friend Steve in the afternoon, BTS came over for fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and then we all went out to see BMT at Douglas Corner where we met another good friend, Eric Dout, who's in the process of moving home to Detroit. What a CRAZY night.

Sunday, I had a church council meeting. Then, JTC and I hosted a little gathering of friends (12 people) at our house. JTC made his infamous BBQ sauce along with some of the best BBQ chicken this side of the Mississippi! It was so much fun. Everyone brought something to eat... from Micol's homemade "not yo mama's banana pudding" to Ellen's homemade guacamole and short bread cookies to Tommy Mac's potato salad and Lala's own special brie concoction... there was no shortage of good food. We've got a great family of friends here in Nashvegas... and we're so thankful.

Today, I'm working with my friend Danny to lay out a plan for recording and scheduling studio time for this weekend, setting up some writing appointments this week, writing a song and working on learning to play the dang-gum guitar. (Lala and Karleen showed me a better way to play a C chord last night... it is soooooo rockin' my world.)

Tonight... I'm not doing a darn thing except hanging with my drummer boy.
Yippeeeee.

OK Rex... here it goes...

Tag!
I'm it.

Four Jobs I've Had:
For more than ten years until 1997, I had very restaurant position possible (hostess, waitress, delivery, cook, etc.); Graphic artist; Ad agency account exec; marketing this... internet that...

FourFive Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
Signs | Pulp Fiction | The Incredibles | 12 Monkeys | Seven

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
Extreme Home Makeovers | Medium | Seinfeld | Survivor

Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation:
Black Hills of South Dakota | San Diego | Cozumel | Chicago

Four Favorite Dishes:
JTC's Pork Chops | The Pasta (my very own recipie) | Sushi | Lobster

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
NFIB.com | MySpace | Google | Bloglines

FourFive Places I'd Rather Be:
Nashville (I LOVE NASHVILLE!) | Sioux Falls, SD | Home in NE | John's Parent's in IA | Minneapolis, MN

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging (Nashville blogs):
ChezBez | Sarah Ashley | Nashville Stories | Pitcherlady

Weekend music fixes...

TONIGHT at 3rd & Lindsley:

7:30 - Stacie Collins
9:00 - Fortunate Sons (Gary Nicholson, Kenny Greenberg, Michael Rhodes, Reese Wynans and Chad Cromwell) and Ashley Cleveland

TOMORROW NIGHT at Douglas Corner:
9:00 - Blue Mother Tupelo

Come on down... you won't regret it.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.

The Story Behind the Song

Lala just forwarded this link to me. Kinda cool... although it's not completely comprehensive yet... it's a great idea.

Check it out and see if your favorite songwriter or artist's song shows up!

Givin' us somethin' to talk about

At 8 p.m. CT TONIGHT, CMT is airing the Bonnie Raitt / Lyle Lovett Crossroads episode that Lala and I were lucky enough attend a couple months ago.

Maybe you'll get a glimpse of us in the audience! Watch for us on the floor, in the center of the back few rows... straight out from the stage.

Denice's Surprise

OK... you may have noticed a lack of posts over the past few days. Well... last week... I couldn't tell you that I was going to be gone.

Tessa, Terri and I (now affectionately known as the three pinnochios) were counting the days to surprising Denice for her birthday. She had no clue and it was all I could think to blog about... so I had to just hold off so as not to risk giving it away. (D reads this pretty often and I couldn't take a chance of showing our hand.)

SHORT STORY: I met Tessa, Terri and Denice in Minneapolis for a surprise birthday weekend celebration for Denice. She had no clue I was meeting her in The Cities and we had to do some major dancing to pull it off without Denice catching on. AND it was all worth it. She had no clue and it was so incredible to be able to surprise her for her birthday.

LONG STORY: I'll post more about that later... I've got some major catching up to do at work. It's good stuff so be sure to check back tomorrow morning for the details.

THANK YOU Tessa and Terri for coordinating the dance.
What a GREAT weekend!
Now...
WHEN ARE YOU COMING TO NASHVILLE for the next adventure?!
**wink**

BB & Friends TONIGHT

After a few months of performing hibernation, BB Logan, Karleen Watt and Lala Deaton are ready to lay some new songs on you.

So, make plans to stop by the French Quarter on TONIGHT for our 6:15 round. We'll have JTC, JC, and Danny Torroll there helping to take our songs up a knotch or two as well.

The French Quarter's got some good eats... so, bring the whole gang and get the night off to a great start.

Please pass this along to anyone you think might want to join in the fun!

This plate is fishy.

Hey... fishermen and women everywhere!
Get 'em while they are hot.
um... well... actually... the TWRA need your help making them HOT!

There's a new TN "fish plate" in the works, but there is a catch (so to speak). 1,000 have to be pre-ordered by June 30 (links to PDF pre-order form) in order for the state to produce the plate.

So even if you don’t fish, please pass this info on to anyone in Tennessee you know that does. A portion of the proceeds from plate sales will help fund TWRA fish and wildlife management programs.

THANKS!

Happy Birthday Denice!

My bestest girlfriend in the whole world is celebrating another trip around the sun today.

Sure wish I could be there to help her age gracefully... well at least have fun anyway. (Not sure I can really help with the graceful part... grace has never been my forte... just ask her! Most of the laughs we have are over me spilling or tripping or doing something really clutzy. HA.)

Anyway, in lieu of actually being there, I sent her some flowers and she just sent me this phone pic of them. (I love that!) So, just for today, imagine this is me, in SD, hangin' out with D.

Happy Birthday Denice.
Love you, Sistah.
Have fun with T tonight... and sing one for me!

He kicked him. Rat monster.

OK... for all of you on dial up who aren't going to be able to see these hilarious videos... I apologize in advance. But, these are so funny I just had to share.

He Kicked Him -opens a video link
(Thank you BTS.)

Rat Monster -opens a video link
(Thank you Sarah.)

BBBBBWWWWWAAAaaaaaaaaHAAAAhaaaahaaaaha.

Superadver Bowl

If you're like me, you watch the Super Bowl more for the ads than the game. Well... last night we were watching the game talking during the game and I have to confess I missed most of both the game and the commercials. (I'm sure the conversation was better anyway. HA.)

Rex and Busy Mom were a little more attentive than me and give their take on the spots. (Thanks guys!)

Just in case you didn't get to see the bagillion dollar ads (or you want to see them again), here is a link to all of them on ifilm with rankings and everything. You can even download the spots to your iPod and/or get code to put them on your blog / website. Pretty cool.

Of the ones I've taken time to watch so far, I like:

Bud Light: Secret Fridge
Career Builder: Practical Jokers
Emerald Nuts: Machetes and Druids
Both of the Ameriquest Mortgage spots
...and more to be added to the list later....

Asylum Street Spankers

Wow.
John and I went to this band's show at 3rd on Saturday night.
It was amazing.
It was unique and unlike anything we've seen in Nashville in the past five years.

They are an eight-piece acoustic group with multi-talented musicians and an un-peggable genre. Instruments on stage included a washboard, percussion rig / toys, several dobros, a resonator uke, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, an upright bass and even a hand-saw played with a fiddle bow. More like a theatrical musical experience, the group wasn't afraid to just be themselves. Their tight harmonies and forthright lyrics sucked us in all the way. And, I really appreciated the acousticness of the show... it was a nice change of pace. The audience actually refrained (well except for the loud chick on her cell phone behind us. Thankfully she and her man friend left half way through the show. I came really close to asking her nicely to shut up... I didn't pay $13 to hear her conversations.) from talking and was attentive to the A.S.S. (ha... just realized that the band acronymn is ASS... no accident I'm sure. HA.)

Next time they are in Nashville... or anywhere near where you live... I recommend you take in the show. It's an experience... and I mean that in a very VERY good way.

Time for a Moondance

WHOOHOOO.

Van Morrison is coming to Nashville!

Amazing.
The guy NEVER tours in the states.
In fact, I probably shouldn't even tell you about this...

But... oh well... what the hell... got to spread the love.

Tix go on sale TOMORROW.

Get there or get online early and be prepared for the show to sell out fast.

UPDATE:
VM @ the Ryman is SOLD OUT.
: (
I didn't score any tickets... but Tim did. YAY Tim!
Have no fear... I'm still going to try to find a way to go.
**fingers crossed**
I'll let you know if I have any luck.
(Don't worry... I'm not holding my breath or anything.)

Survivor starts TONIGHT!

Whoohoooooo... just remembered that I've got a Survivor date with my honey tonight.

YIPPPPPPEEEEEEE!

Such a good fit for Unfit

Thanks to Linda... I discovered that a mutual friend has thrown his work in the hat for consideration to take over Mike Belkin's Unfit comicstrip.

If you can, go to the site to check the cartoons out and if you like what you see, please leave a comment about #16 on the Dilbert blog.

GOOD LUCK, DALE!

Mike the Headless Chicken

Last night an aquaintance of mine was telling me about "Mike the headless chicken"who supposedly survived for 18 months without a head after a chopping mishap by his owner. I questioned the motives of the tale... sounded a little fishyclucky to me. She insisted that it was a true story and told me there was even a website all about it... which of course only made me more suspicious.

So, I Googled it and found tons of information about the questionable tale.

There really is a website dedicated to "Mike the Headless Chicken". On it, of course, there's tons of information about Mike. According to the site, farmer Floyd Olson was tasked with getting a chicken for supper by his wife. In doing his duty, he wanted to make sure he left as much of the neck as possible to score some brownie points with his mother-in-law because her favorite part of the chicken was the neck and she was coming over for supper that very night... so Floyd was aimin' to please, if you know what I mean. Well, according to the story, he aimed so well that he cut off most of the head, but left the brain stem and an ear. **gross**

Then the site says: "When Olsen found Mike the next morning..."

WHAT? The story said he was preping one chicken for supper and his mother-in-law's visit that night. Wasn't his wife upset when he came back without the chicken for her fryin' pan? So, why would he not find the chicken until morning? How do you lose a chicken who's head you've just chopped off so you can have them for supper the same night?

Does not compute.

Now, I can't deny that the story seems to have some validity. According to Wiki and other sites, the story is true and they even go on to explain how Lloyd toured the country with Mike the Chicken and made tons of dough... until one day, as they were traveling through Arizona, Mike started choking, Lloyd didn't have his eyedropper with him and subsequently, Mike met his maker somewhere in the middle of the desert.

HUH? He was traveling around the country with a headless chicken... going from fair to fair and town to town... but he didn't have his life-sustaining eyedropper with him.

Sorry... but I'm just not buying it.

I apologize if I sound cynical right now, but you have to understand something. I'm a farmers daughter. Raising and tending for chickens was my responsiblity from age 8 - 18. And I'm not talking a few chickens either... We had 400 laying hens and raised a 100 or so broilers (chickens grown specifically to eat) every year. My mom and I dressed those broilers every summer when I was growing up... and if the ax didn't do the trick the first time we wouldn't have kept the chicken alive with an eyedropper for eighteen months. We'd have given the ax a second chance or more if necessary. Given that, I can't imagine farmer Lloyd Olson, who was supposedly trying to impress his mother-in-law, giving up after one try... especially when it was allegedly for supper that same night.

What I see is a tourism site wrapped around a really wacked, exaggerated story about a headless chicken. There's an entire festival built around "Mike the Headless Chicken", with a store, a cookbook, a link to find lodging in Mike's hometown of Frutia, Colorado and even a "run like a headless chicken" 5K race in Mike's honor. (which... incidentally... you have to register at the Frutia Rec Dept. site to view the details. )

All that said, I think Frutia knows what they are doing. I mean really... I heard about it in Nashville, TN, was compelled to investigate, and I just wrote an entire post about their gimmick didn't I?!

Go Frutia!

Wow.
Can't believe I wrote that much about a headless chicken.
Anyone want to go to Popeye's for lunch?!