This is Jazz. She is from Lake Charles , Louisianna. Just to the left of NOLA and right where the storm is heading. She's up here with us but her family and their homes are all right in the path of Gustav. So I hope they are all okay and I know she is probably very worried. She and I went to the student job fair the other day and hired a bunch of students in exchange for tuition. 8 brand new poopies. She is from the program several years back so I asked her to attend with me. That way she can tell the kids how hard I will work them. I hire all these kids to work in the Hospital Gift Shop because all the volunteers go to Children's Hospital. It works better anyhow. They're smart college kids rather than old church ladies. They can fix the cash register rather than break it. Jazz starts her internship this coming week for Channel 4 as a Sportscaster. I'll have to get her to tug on her ear or something to let me know she's thinking about me,lol.
In keeping with your baby head motif I managed to find a decapitated infant in my side yard. Here are some pictures with Kevin's new Birthday Camera. He needed one for his brother's wedding so we went for it. My cousin Tom and his partner Hance came to visit last night. They are on their way to DC for a party. They have been together 25 years. We went to The Aquarium to eat. The restaurant is surrounded by aquariums. I guess that's why they call it the...never mind.
Robins and spiders and gourds. Oh my.
My brother-in-law Shawn and his fiance Kim came for a visit along with Kim's brother Clint and his wife Julie. They ran themselves ragged visiting and going to local attractions. We had a barbecue Saturday night and another one Sunday. Saturday was supposed to be a bachelor party but the girls were all there and it was just more of a gathering. Kevin and I have little experience at these things so we went to Hustler Hollywood to get presents. We got Shawn a shirt that says "County Jail" on it and a few naughty toys. I'll spare you all the details. Nobody else brought naughty gifts.
We ate all kinds of barbecued meat that was cooked in a twenty foot barbecue you pull behind a truck. Shawn's friend enters National Barbecue contests and won the Memphis competition two years ago. The most prestigeous contest for barbecue. Later on the guys went to play pool and the girls went Honky Tonkin' downtown and ended up at Coyote Ugly. Clint and Julie went to the Grand Ole Opry on Friday. Kevin and I came home and went to bed.
Today we had a get together at Cheryl and Bill's house. It's always nice to go there. They feed us all pretty good and it's just a great place to visit. Kalisa and Pearse were there and they are the cutest young couple in all of Tennessee. But I'm biased,lol. She sang four songs for Clint and Julie and Shawn and Kim because they don't get to go and see her perform the way the rest of us do.
Verginia got Kevin a wheat gravy boat for his birthday. I'm getting him (us ) a digital Video recorder so he can take it to the wedding. He collects old dishes with wheat on them and she always finds great stuff. Bill and Cheryl have these Agave plants that Kevin's mom brought back from our house in LA. That was many years ago. At least ten. Shawn and Kim live in San Jose. It's tough having them so far away but since Verginia and Miss Jessie love California it's a nice place for them to visit. We always had tons of company when we lived in LA. It's a great place to go if you know locals. We finally got to meet Brielle, our newest family member.
Bill and Lauren had to go north for a few months for Bill's job. Brielle never stops laughing. GG (Miss Jessie) is very happy to have her Great Grandchildren home to spoil.
Lauren and I always get the food line going. She has to make the kids plates and I'm just a pig. She came out and got me today and said she was ready so we got things moving. There were too many dishes to remember ( not too many to eat, just remember ).
There is nothing more wonderful than Southern Hospitality.
Shawn and Kim will be married in San Jose in November and everybody will be going out for a visit. I have dog duty and cat duty so I will be staying home. They will have a blast. My Tennessee family are people who love to get together and just be with each other. I'm a lucky guy.
I have a new project that I am going to be devoting allot of time to. Our Life Flight program saves many, many, people. Literally thousands. In conjunction with our Level 1 Regional Trauma Unit they have served over 33,000 people in the last ten years. These are not moderately injured people or people needing antibiotics. These are literally the worst cases.
They are dedicated, well trained, and relatively unsung heroes. They save lives at accident scenes, transport criticallly injured or ill patients and without that time and care many of these people would not make it. We have very low mortality rates given the number of patients transported and treated. I am going to try my best to assist them financially and by promoting their programs to assist them in expanding and making this life saving service available to more people.
Two of our Life Flight Nurses were honored nationally for their outstanding service. Our flight crew is tip top and our dispatch office gets them where they are needed as quickly as they can. When I hear a Helicopter land I know that somebody is in grave danger. But I also know that because of the efforts of Life Flight the chances they will survive and recover are greater than they ever have been.
It's a Hoosier Cabinet or a "Baking Cupboard" as the people who sold it to us called it. It was $200.00 and that makes it about a third of what all the other ones I looked at cost. It's about a hundred years old and in pretty good shape. It makes the kitchen much more useable and it adds to the quaint charm of our lemon/lime kitchen. I knew Kevin would like it. The couple was moving to Houston for work and had to let it go cheap. It has light blue stripes and hardware and matches our awful floor and rug. Of course the grainy pictures and poor lighting add to its' charm.
Kevin and I went to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens today. They have big gardens and Museums all over the place. You can't take pictures inside the exhibits but they have the largest collection of Faberge Eggs and other things in the country. They have some great paintings and statues. Also a huge collection of Antique porcelain and lots of other interesting stuff to look at. Special events are year round and they even have plant sales for members. We are members. You can also get into hundreds of other Museums and gardens free with your membership. I am going to enjoy this. We used to go to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena for years and years and never got tired of visiting. It's just a few miles up the road and next to the Belle Meade Plantation. Also Percy Warner State Park so there is plenty to do in that part of town. I can go there and draw when I have nothing else to do.
Just out and about. Hope the Boston contingency did us all proud (By proud I mean I hope they raised hell and got carted off to the hooskow). No pig in Mass. was safe. Not with the Bacon Patrol on the loose. Hope you guys had a blast. Waiting for pictures. IG MOBLOGGED a few and we can't wait to see the rest of the gang's snaps.
Although I wouldn't go to the bathroom on my kitchen table, in my gourd patch, in a bowl of veggies, on my cat, or at Obama Nashville Headquarters. Or in my reading chair either.But my bathroom is pretty cute for a guy isn't it.
The world's tallest woman died today. Sandy Allen was only 53. I am thinking that her life was very difficult at times. Probably more often than not. Just her size must have had enough trials and tribulations like buying clothes, getting into and out of things, and then there would be the looks and comments.
I saw her interviewed once and she started crying and said it was very tough sometimes. People say things right out loud like she can't hear what they are saying just because she is so tall. We know what total dumbasses people are. Many are dirty, vile, creepy little beings but at the end of the day I would do anything I could for each and every one of them. Why then must they be so mean. Why could they not understand how hard it must have been to be Sandy Allen. Why couldn't they just keep their fucking mouths shut and let this woman be. She said she had no choice but to peddle herself. Hell, she has to live, eat, get medical treatments. How exactly is this supposed to take place with no income. So Sandy went on tour and made public appearances just to keep food in her mouth and clothes on her back.
She did so with more courage than I could ever muster. I can't get past a big zit on my nose half the time. What would it be like to be so very different from every single other person on the planet?
Sandy,
I hope you were at peace when you died. I hope those who loved you were near you. I hope you knew that people like me had an impression made upon them just for your courage and the way you shared yourself with all of us. Yes, we are curious beings. How good of you to wander the planet enduring what we put people like you through. Thanks for sharing yourself with us and teaching people like me that adversity is to be overcome. That the opinions of others are just that and not much more. That we can hold our heads high (not quite as high as you) as we trudge the road to happy destiny.
I didn't know you but I think I would have liked you very much. I have seen you on TV and in magazines and books for almost all of my adult life. Just so you know Sandy, I knew your name when I heard it on the news and knew exactly who they were talking about. That alone is an achievement. If I died I don't guess people across the world would know who I am. Your personal bravery and the kindness I saw you show made me a fan and gave me pause when I heard of your passing.
Here's to you Sandy Allen. You were tall, yes, but your heart was as big as the rest of you. Perhaps one day people will just allow everyone to be who they are without limits or without judgement. I'm not sure I would have taken things as well as you did. Be at peace Sandy. You were a one and only. That's more than most of us will ever achieve.
Greetings. Not much going on. We went to a football game. Titans v. Rams. We won. Kevin's brother Eric has been in the Hospital for a few weeks. I haven't said anything because I have been feeling like a "curse" lately with so many people dropping off around me. I didn't visit him in the Hospital because I have this bad feeling about me being around people and them dying. He just finally came to a day or so ago. It has been tough on Kevin's mom. She can't afford any more stress.
WE got a new computer. I left that to Kevin. It really kicks ass. We won't have to get another one for about 10 years before the technology is obsolete. Wireless keyboard, and mouse. Nice webcam to make video messages with. Surround speakers and a new all in one printer. It will take us a day or two to get it the way we both like it to be.
The weather has been great. The heat finally broke and we are all better for it. Flowers and veggies are all over the place. Gas prices dropping. The Olympics are on. We got a big High Def TV and a few new pieces of furniture so we have been busy fixing things up a bit. I painted the bathtub and put a new floor down. I got shower curtains with flames on them. I also bought a ceramic table. The entire thing and the stools are porcelain. I really like it.
Anyhow, here's some pics. I am laying low lately. Been trying to get my head together and it hasn't been working. Many things on my mind and little time to deal with anything. So I work out in the yard and all seems to go away if only for that time alone and in nature.
