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Blair Hansen first got my attention in 2004, at my very first South by Southwest, where she was one of the first acts I saw, and where I happened to run into her just outside the convention floor a couple of days later. I recall being impressed by her self-titled… Read full post »

Geraldine Carmen Smith passed away on January 2, 2010 after a brief battle with cancer. A long-time resident of Longview, Geraldine "Jerry" was born in Irving, Texas, on August 14, 1933, to Keith and Florence Skaggs. She was a great-granddaughter of french settlers Lucy Santerre and Charles… Read full post »

I know that Snow is a recurring theme in my blogging, but not because I have much actual experience with the stuff. It snows about once every decade or so in central Texas, and the populace mostly hides out for the afternoon until it is completely gone. I do,… Read full post »

Spotted Mind's Punk Rock Girl post got me thinking about punk rock, and besides, I've got nothing but rage going for me tonight. This song, an unauthorized rendition of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's Face Down resonates. Check it out:

 If I am not mistaken, you can still downloa… Read full post »

Bob Dylan's Christmas in the Heart somewhat live-blogged review:

(I put on the record just as we sit down to dinner.)

1) Here Comes Santa Claus

 Me: "Sweetie, it's Bob Dylannnnnn... Please???"

She: (glaring intently.)

2) Do You… Read full post »

I was just thinking about how nothing has really changed in the national dialogue in 40 years.

I mean, you still have this Flag cult, which the southern-fried masses confuse with patriotism. 

You still have the same impotent peace movement.

 You… Read full post »

Before Viagra and all his little brothers, I think probably most men never conceived of a 4-hour erection. And certainly, within the general public there is, I can safely say, much less alarm over the possibility of a medication-induced 1/2 day boner than the disclaimers warrant.

"Honey!!!"

&… Read full post »

I first saw Rusty Wier the night he opened for BW Stevenson at the new arena at North Texas State University in 1974. Little Ricky drove up from Longview to see BW, and I had bought two tickets to the concert so that he could introduce me to… Read full post »

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 Yesterday, I “managed”.

I’m really more of a worker bee type. Several years ago, I did a 5 year stint in management, mostly without success and with only a lot of emotional scars and a Prozac habit to show for it. I took a new job a couple of years ago,… Read full post »

 Apropos of nothing, here is Eliza Gilkyson performing one of her best tunes, Borderline. That appears to be Slaid Cleaves stepping out of the spotlight. He's great, too!

Here is a bit closer view of the undustable Bark Museum (along with my favorite refere… Read full post »

I love to see what's on other people's shelves! Any interior view of any OSer's home-twenty piques my curiosity. I expect there are others who share my prurient interest.

So, here are some of my favorite shelves. (Click to enlarge any of these images.)

This is the… Read full post »

She sits inside her faux whiskey barrel, beside the Sassafras tree and beneath the Escarpment Cherry. I turn to spy her out the window to ensure she does not take flight. She stares back through the window at me, knows me for the ape who feeds her the delicious… Read full post »

One of my friends lives somewhere in the great Northwest, and I was noticing a picture of some fresh apples over on her FaceBook, apples she had picked from her own apple trees. Man, what I wouldn't do for some fresh apples! I live in central Texas where most… Read full post »

There are few rules at my house, but one of the strictest rules has always been this: "There shall be no pet reptiles. So saith Laura." The corollary to this rule states that "Should ever there be a pet reptile, then Laura is so out of here." (In earlier times, these… Read full post »

One of the best songs written by the late, great Townes Van Zandt.

Butch Hancock performs a more striking rendition, but he is still jealousing that Townes wrote this one. Read full post »

And so will I.

 This is partly in response to wakingupslowly's challenge. It is also offered as my contribution to an open call I mostly wasn't paying attention to, sometime in May. (Thanks, Cherie, for directing me to your post!)

Leaving a bit more to the imagination--and… Read full post »

Some people are annoyed that "Open", as Sloan calls it, is using advertising to make ends meet. Me, I'm annoyed at the people who are annoyed. This seems like a pose to me. Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once: it's called a scroll bar; you'll find it… Read full post »

 An unauthorized video of an anti-war song, by Hamell on Trial.  A solo act who was even based in Austin for a time (so saith the Interwebs), in recent years Ed Hamell has been a recording artist for Righteous Babe Records (Ani diFranco's label) and holes up in New… Read full post »

At the bait store, and getting a bit of a late start on the fishing.

No mullet in sight and the water the color of Thai tea does not bode well for the fishing. That's my son James, heir to the house of Clay, and darned handy… Read full post »

One of my favorite stories of my father is one he liked to tell on himself. Seems like he and my mother, when they were dating, drove out with a couple of friends to the newly-completed Grapevine Lake, just north of Dallas. At some point during the outing, my dad… Read full post »

Sometimes, my confidence is so high, I don't need a belt to hold my pants up. And then there are other times I am deer-in-the-headlights timid. This year, my swagger has been repeatedly interrupted by the need to dive into a foxhole. Being named a team lead on a Mission Impossible… Read full post »