Red Shoe's Chronicles

"No, It Just Can't Be..."

2012-01-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

Wow…

Guess who would have been 69 today!?!?!?!

I hope you watched that video and turned the sound WAY up… What a voice she had! What a set of pipes!!

The guitarists are playing Fender Telecasters... I SO wanted one of the paisley models that they came out with...

ARGH!!!!

You could SO rock, Janis... you've been gone WAY too long!!!

~shoes~

"Blah..."

2012-01-18T13:59:00.000-06:00

Hurt

I Hurt Myself Today...

To See If I Still Feel...

What Have I Become...

My Sweetest Friend?

Everyone I Know Goes Away...

In The End

I Wear This Crown Of Thorns

Upon My Liar's Chair...

Full of Broken Thoughts

I Cannot Repair...

Beneath The Stains Of Time

The Feelings Disappear...

You Are Someone Else

I am still right here...

What Have I Become...

My Sweetest Friend?

Everyone I Know Goes Away...

In The End...

__________________

This is just the mindset in which I've found myself stuck...

Where, oh, Where has my Muse gone!?!?!?!?!?!

Blerk...

~shoes~

"Happy New Year, Part II..."

2012-01-11T15:45:00.001-06:00

So It Goes...

I have a colleague here at Alluvial Flood Plain State University that I consider to be one of my best friends... I went into her office a last afternoon and found her crying... she was working on a financial statement as to how her Life Insurance proceeds would be split among her two children, so as to give them the best financial opportunities possible...

She was diagnosed with breast cancer just a couple of weeks ago, and has been so strong... so brave... I guess even the strongest of us wear down over time...

On a different and separate note, my stalker is back... the married woman that just can't seem to take clear, distinct, and direct messages... this time, she has enrolled in one of my classes. When I saw her name on the class roster, my stomach immediately knotted up... on the way to class yesterday morning, I honestly was on the verge of throwing up... Of course, this really is just a nuisance... a pain in the butt. I can handle this...

That's supposed to be a vomit face,

but it doesn't look like it to me...

Anyhoo...

I just don't understand things at times...

I've reassured my friend that she is going to be ok... and that she shouldn't worry about her classes... we can cover them for her. She has surgery scheduled for next week, and then radiation... She just doesn't deserve all of this...

*sighs*

All in all, I'm ok...

It's just my friends that seem to struggle so...

~shoes~

"Happy New Year???"

2012-01-05T13:45:00.000-06:00

Happy Fukken New Year…

... or so they say...

Man, have I been out of the Loop or what? I haven't posted since December 15th...

No "Merry Christmas" posts or any of that stuff...

*sighs*

I had mentioned earlier that I was emotionally down... and how I tend to reduce the size of my world when I feel this way...

What way is it that I am feeling? I don't know... I don't feel threatened, I don't think... but I have greatly withdrawn from everything... from everybody... from Life.

Outside of my Son, I really saw no one over Christmas that mattered to me... I did spend a few hours with one of my brothers and his wife, but that felt more like an obligation... I did see my daughter after Christmas... she and her husband drove to Oxford, MS to see Boyshoes for his birthday...

I spent the same hours with my sister... the one that I thought was leaving us back in August...

She's doing much better, I think... she's mean again... How sad is that? If someone wanted to make a movie about a female version of 'Mr. Scrooge,' she would be the ideal model for that role.

You know how people say that you can't take your money/riches with you when you die? She will prove everyone wrong on that account... she WILL find a way...

We report back to work tomorrow... it will be registration for the Spring, 2012 semester...

I don't care... I really don't care... the indifference of the students and the ambivalence administration has caught up with me...

They've won...

I've started going through my guitars... they've been a joy to me, but I have too many... I'm going to start selling some of them off... they deserve to be played more than they are getting played...

I've written before about my good friend, Keith... he and I have gone on quite of few trips... we like Monument Valley, we've done parts of the Appalachian Trail... anytime we've planned trips, it's always been with the caveat that whether we actually went or not would be dependent on how well Connie (his wife) was doing at the time... Connie's struggled so with colon cancer...

Connie died over the Christmas break... it hurt to see my friend, Keith, so grief stricken...

So it goes...

I had a dream about my Mom the other night... and like many of the dreams about her, I never see her... I "feel" her... what does that mean? Anyone have any ideas?? I hear her talk... I sense her presence... but I never see her in the dreams...

I've not "felt well" since November...

This is not the right time of the year for me to want to be taking a pilgrimage...but I so need to rejuvenate...

In all seriousness...

Happy New Year, folks...

~shoes~

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-15T16:05:00.001-06:00

We have a saying in our family...

... that it's not Christmas until someone cries...

Well...

Merry Christmas...

*sighs*

~shoes~

"Reflections..."

2011-12-09T14:52:00.000-06:00

Part Of The Plan

I have been goofing off some when I should be working on exams, and grading of projects and assignments... but I needed a break.

I was reading over at Kimber's blog, 'Drifting Through'... and she posted a Dan Fogelberg song... and I kind of got side tracked with Dan and his music.

I've always had such a great weakness for his music... he was a story teller to me... not like Jim Croce or Harry Chapin, but a story teller none the less. I always seem to have been able to find messages for me in his songs.

I have these moments

All steady and strong

I’m feeling so holy and humble

The next thing I know

I’m all worried and weak

And I feel myself

Starting to crumble.

The meanings get lost

And the teachings get tossed

And you don’t know what you’re

Going to do next.

You wait for the sun

But it never quite comes

Some kind of message comes

Through to you.

Some kind of message comes through.

And it says to you...

Chorus

Love when you can

Cry when you have to...

Be who you must

That’s a part of the plan

Await your arrival

With simple survival

And one day we’ll all understand...

I had a woman

Who gave me her soul

But I wasn’t ready to

Take it.

Her heart was so fragile

And heavy to hold

And I was afraid I might

Break it.

Your conscience awakes

And you see your mistakes

And you wish someone

Would buy your confessions.

The days miss their mark

And the night gets so dark

And some kind of message

Comes through to you

Some kind of message

Shoots through --

Chorus

There is no eden or

Heavenly gates

That you’re gonna make it to

One day

But all of the answers you seek

Can be found

In the dreams that you dream

On the way.

What a great place in which to lose oneself...

Here's another one...

possibly my mostest favoritest...

He didn't write this one, but it's great all the same...

These songs all have meaning to me.

And then this one... *sighs* what a great great song...

Hard to believe he has been gone four years this month...

~shoes~

Funerals

2011-12-07T16:01:00.000-06:00

So It Goes...

I’ve been to way too many of these lately...

Yesterday, I attended yet another funeral...

Connie had been ill for quite a few years. Connie is the wife of one of my best friends ever. Over the years, Keith and I would plan trips out West, or to the Smoky Mountains for hiking, camping, exploring... the one standing caveat ever was that our trips could be cancelled at the last moment... after all, Connie's health and well being and his need to be with her was more important than anything...

My dear friend, Annie , has even pointed out to me in a comment to a post that I seem to have become obsessed with death and dying. I don't think I've become obsessed with it... it just seems to be around me.

One of the great Christmas stories has to do with the visit of the Magi... and the gifts they brought to the Baby Jesus...

Do you remember what the gifts of the Magi were?

Gold: This carries obvious significance. It’s precious and worthy across all cultures and t imes. It’s a gift for royalty… it says to the Christ Child that you will be a King…

Frankincense: It has been touted for its medicinal and soothing properties… Herbalists say it is calming, restorative, and meditative… Ancient people burned frankincense, believing it to carry their prayers to heaven… It’s use as incense illustrates His role as that of a Priest.

Myrrh: This is perhaps the most mysterious of the gifts… It is considered a wound healer because of its strong antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s most notable use to Egyptians was that of an embalming material… and was used in the mummification process… As an embalming ointment it signified that He was born to die for the world. In fact, myrrh was one of the burial spices used for the burial of Jesus.

So it seems that even at the announcement of the Birth of Jesus, there was an foreboding of His pending Death...

Funerals are really for the Living... not the deceased... The deceased have already moved on... they are already on their journey, to wherever it may lead...

Maybe funerals allow us the grieve the passing of a loved one... remember those good times...

Maybe they allow us the opportunity to realize that our loved one is really gone on... and is no longer with us...

Funerals need to be more upbeat... as much as possible...

For some reason, I think a clown funeral would be... well... funny...

I recall 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'... about the announcement of the death of 'Chuckles The Clown'... and then the funeral service for Chuckles...

More funerals need to be like that... I trust mine will be...

I think a New Orleans Jazz funeral complete with a Second Line would be fun...

Maybe I will feel better once I get on the other side of the holidays... maybe I will feel better when I get my Christmas tree up and decorated...

~shoes~

Extra Credit...

2011-12-01T19:21:00.001-06:00

Hey Mr. Shoes...

What can I do to pass this class??

This was asked of me this morning by one of my students... who has done very little this semester to learn any of the material... hasn't completed the extra work that I gave them the option of doing... hasn't come to class... and now with one week left in the semester, she is curious as to how she can pass...

I did have a student one semester tell me that if he didn't make at least a 'B' in his classes, that his Grand Father would have him deleted from his will...

Poor guy... I guess it sucked to be him... no?

There is a study that suggests that the longer one has been teaching, the more that teacher 'dumbs' down his/her classes... I guess the idea is that we become more jaded the longer we teach.

I went back and reviewed my final grades that I have turned in over the past three years (6 semesters) and compared them to a three- year period from earlier in my career... my grades are lower.

I would think that has to imply that I haven't 'dumbed' down my material, but instead, I've possibly have become more strict about my grading policies and what I am willing to accept from students.

I had a colleague some years ago that probably subscribed to this theory presented above. One could always tell when he had an exam pending... some of the coeds would come to his office for 'study sessions'... they would all wear their tightest t-shirts and shorts... He thought he was being sly... but they knew it would work. The male students were greatly resentful of this 'competitive advantage' the female students had over them...

Some of my students do not like it when I count off points for misspellings when they submit assignments. I assure them that their employers will grade them on a much stricter basis than I do...

Nothing wrong with aiming high!!

And then there is always the question of 'extra credit'...

~shoes~

Ten Years Gone...

2011-11-29T14:24:00.000-06:00

George Harrison...

02/25/43 - 11/29/2001

You were the best of them all...

Namaste...

~shoes~

2011-11-27T14:20:00.000-06:00

Words...

"It's only words...

and words are all I have...

to take your heart away..."

These are lyrics from the song, "Words," written and performed by the Gibbs Brothers... we knew them as the BeeGees... I read the other day that Robin Gibbs has been diagnosed with liver cancer... what a shame...

I like words... I wish that I were better with them than I am...

Ethereal...
I like that word. It means:

'almost light as air'
'celestial or spiritual'
'extremely delicate or refined; exquisite.

I also like the word, Ephemeral... It means:

'short-lived'
'lasting one day'

When I was a kid, I LOVED Jimi Hendrix... I remember buying one of his albums and going home, putting it on the turntable, putting on my headphones and listening to 'All Along The Watchtower'...

I was thinking about this song the other day, and I started to think... this song sounds ethereal... light... airy... I can remember wearing the headphones, and listening to what a fantastic job the engineer had done in mixing and arranging the tracks... the guitar work would flow from on ear to the other and back... and I would sit and follow the sound with my eyes.

Another Hendrix song that sounds ethereal to me is "The Wind Cries Mary..."

It's the same kind of thing... especially during his instrumentals... so fluid like... everything just flows... back and forth through my head...

I've read that Hendrix is deemed to be responsible for having saved the Fender Stratocaster... that guitar had been created for a small market, and just wasn't selling in large enough numbers to continue to justify the manufacture of it... Fender had decided to cease the manufacture of it... then Hendrix hits it big... and everyone wanted a Strat... go figure.

Jimi and one of his Strats

Here is one of Jimi's more obscure songs... unless you are really a big fan of his, you probably haven't heard this one.

To really enjoy it, I think you need a great sound card in your computer, great speakers, and a volume knob that goes to 'eleven.'

"it's louder... it goes to 11..."

'Spinal Tap'

So, I guess it's easy to say then that Jimi's life was ephemeral... short-lived. He was only 27 when he died.

But, when compared to Time itself, maybe we are ephemeral... we are here only a short time.

_____________

The past week has been so bizarre... last Sunday night, my vehicle broke down when the alternator decided to stop working. I was so fortunate as to where it decided to die... I was a good distance from home, but I happened to coast to a stop underneath the awning of a service station that was closed for the night, but had left it's lights on. I was able to contact a towing company to come and take me and the vehicle home.

Anyway, I playing everything over and over and over in my head, I realized how fortunate I was... I could have been broken down out in the dark along the highway somewhere... with no form of protection... I hadn't carried a pistol with me... I would have been an easy target.

The chaos from that event carried forward into the Thanksgiving holiday (family, you understand...), and to make a very long story short, I don't feel well.

I feel emotionally drained... I feel physically drained... I feel 'lost...' I feel as if I am without a direction or a path... and at my age, that's not good.

I am hoping that a counselor that really made a difference in my Life a few years ago is still around... I need her.

When I feel like this, I tend to shrink my world... if that makes any sense to you... I bring everything close in to me, and I tend to not venture outside of that enclosure. Maybe that is why I haven't written a post in almost two weeks.

I don't like feeling like this...

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday...

~shoes~

2011-11-15T14:18:00.000-06:00

Not quite Shoes...

But Almost...

Good afternoon...

Well, I think I am beyond that birthday I ~~experienced~~ survived last week...

I've had quite a few of em, but this one has really taken the wind out of my sails... I'm sure I will eventually regain my composure, but...

Anyhooo...

I found this Engineering Flowchart earlier and thought,

'damn, isn't THAT the truth?!'

I can't think of much of anything that is 'stoved up,' other than myself, that WD-40 isn't the cure-all/fix-all for... When I used to do quite a bit of target shooting, my rifles all would receive a WD-40 bath afterwards... I think I became addicted to the smell of that stuff...

I've been told that older women go for men that smell like Mentholatum and urine...

I'm not sure I believe that...

... so this got me to thinking...

about...

duct tape...

I've heard that duct tape can fix almost anything...

... and that it has a multitude of uses...

A Brazilian using duct tape??

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These photos make me wanna go looking for a pair of scissors...

Why is it that women are SO sexy wrapped in duct tape...

And men are so...

Dorky looking...

Stupid Looking...

I've been told that a Red Neck Tool Box consists only of

WD-40 and Duct Tape...

Here, baby...

Let me help you with that...

As for my attitude,

I'm working on it...

~shoes~

"Old Shoes..."

2011-11-10T13:29:00.001-06:00

Did you know that Shoes come in all ages?

9 month old Shoes...

1 year-old Shoes...

4-year old Shoes
(on the left)

24-year old Shoes...
(holding baby GirlShoes)

30-year old Shoes
(trying to hypmotize the camera)

35-year old Shoes...
(balancing lil GirlShoes on my head)

44-year old Shoes...

Old Shoes...

Older Shoes...

Really Old Shoes...

Today, November 10th
is my birthday...

Have I told you how old I am?

~shoes~

Vanz Kant Danz...

2011-11-04T15:55:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite bands has always been Creedence Clearwater Revival... and especially John Fogerty for his song writing skills... what a talent... Fogerty and Creedence parted ways over whether or not John should have top billing in the band (John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival)... the split was a very bad one which resulted in John not talking to his bandmate/brother, Tom, for the rest of Tom's life...

John Fogerty (foreground) and brother, Tom over his left shoulder

John wanted a clean break from the band as well as from the recording company with whom he was obligated for more songs and albums... in exchange for his release, Fogerty assigned all rights to the CCR library to Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records.

Zaentz later sued Fogerty, claiming that the chorus to a Fogerty song (The Old Man Down The Road) was identical to that of a CCR song that Zaentz owned (Run Through The Jungle )... During the law suit, Fogerty showed up at court with a guitar, and demonstrated to the judge and the Court, that the two songs were indeed different compositions, and that the primary reason that the two songs sounded similar was because he had in fact written both compositions... Needless to say, Fogerty won his case.

He wrote and recorded this song, in part, to document the event, and is mocking Zaentz...

I really like Fogerty's work... his compositions are more simple than those of Steely Dan, yet, there are great subtle trills and fills within his songs... I seem to discover new licks every time I listen to them...

This is one of my mostest favoritest Fogerty songs...

This next song was probably just a filler on the first CCR album, but Fogerty does an outrageous LIVE performance here... 'embedding' was disabled for this video, but you can find it HERE... Go there... listen and watch... I think it's worth the time...

I hope all is well with you... that things are going well for you... that you are happy...

~shoes~

"Turn It Up Thursday..."

2011-10-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

"Steely Dan"

I have really been in a funk... so much going on... So much happening... I guess I am having difficulty just processing everything...

I am tired... I am drained... emotionally... physically... in every which way....

When i feel like this, I feel drawn back to music... it's easy for me to get lost in it... I just love it so... I wish I were a better musician... I know just enough about it to get myself in trouble when i can't follow chord changes...

So, I'm down... depressed?? I'm not sure... Dejected?? I don't know why...

Anyhoo... back to music... One of my favorite bands of all time is Steely Dan... even though technically, they aren't a band... it's an ever changing group of musicians that are corralled by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker... Two of their songs always seem to uplift my mood... my spirits...

Did you know that the source of the name of the band was from "The Naked Lunch," by William Bourroughs?? Did you know that it was the name of a metal dildo that belonged to one of the characters in the book??

Anyhoo, one of my favorite all time Steely Dan songs is 'Show Biz Kids'... Their songs are SO complex... so mysterious...

So enjoyable... These do sound MUCH better LOUD!!! So, do turn em UP!!!

My other all-time favorite Steely Dan song is 'Pretzel Logic'... and I found this COOL live recording... it's right down there...

I love the way that Michael McDonald jumps in and sings that part... Did you know that he has been one of the many who have performed in Steely Dan?

I stepped up on the platform...

The man gave me the news...

He said, 'you must be jokin', son...

Where did you get those shoes?'

Anyway... I hope I re-discover my Muse...

~shoes~

"In Memory Of A Friend..." Updated...

2011-10-19T11:08:00.001-05:00

I've known Jane for quite a few years... she was married to a colleague in the College of Business at Alluvial Flood Plain State University...

Her husband always had a ton of "good ideas"... just none were very focused... he was like a toddler on Hawaiian Punch... just all over the place. Jane was a sweet heart.

One day, I was having lunch in the Union, and she and her husband were in line ahead of me, and she turned to speak to me... and I told her how much I loved what she had done to her hair. It was really nice... really attractive...

"It's a wig," she told me... and I immediately knew that I had just put my foot in my mouth... I felt so bad... I've had a history of saying the wrong things at the even more wrong times... but I didn't know.

Jane was a mortgage banker... well liked... well respected... her husband was a... well...

He moved away looking for a better job... more money... an opportunity. Jane didn't want to move... she stayed here with her job and her friends.

Jane died Sunday...

There's so much more I could write... but, it doesn't really matter. Do take care of yourself... do the exams...

~shoes~

I just returned from her funeral... the choir sang this during the exit... how appropriate... it is SO something she would have selected...

"WARNING: POLITICAL POST"

2011-10-17T11:29:00.001-05:00

A Colossal Train Wreck!!!!

One of the more famous trainwrecks involved an engineer by the name of Casey Jones... he was from Jackson, TN, and died in a train wreck near Vaughn, MS in 1900...

But I am going to write about another train wreck...

_______

It seems that the primary part of the president's health care reform law that was forced through Congress on a late Christmas-Eve vote has been removed from the law by the Obama administration... you can read about it HERE. This part of the law was the part that was supposed to make the plan cash-heavy, would pre-fund the plan for the first ten years, and then would pay for the second ten years.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said from Day-One that the cost of this health care ~~train-wreck~~ was being understated. It will be interesting to see how the Super Committee, a committee appointed by the president after the August 2nd vote on the debt ceiling responds to this news. If you remember, their purpose is to come up with the ~~budget~~ reductions to finance and pay for the new debt ceiling.

_______

In an another insane moment in this country's declining history, Michael Moore, movie director , this past Friday called for the police of our country to come and join the Occupy Movement, just like the Egyptian Army did in Cairo... quote:

MICHAEL MOORE: My last word here out in the hallway just outside of [Lawrence O’Donnell’s] studio is that the police need to join us. In the same way the Egyptian army joined the people in Freedom Square there in Cairo. This is my appeal to the New York Police Department, the police departments all over the country. You are working class people. You’re not paid enough. You have the most dangerous job in the country, and these rich bastards on Wall Street they have ruined your 401(k)s, your pension funds, your future, your children’s future. Money that should be going to having better law enforcement has gone to needless wars in other lands.

So, my appeal to the police is you are us and we are you, and join us. It’s fun. We’ll even let you beat on a bongo drum. That’s my last word. Thank you.

Is Moore aware that the Egyptian Army fired upon and killed over 30 Egyptians in the last couple of weeks? Is it because the Egyptians killed were not Muslim (but instead Coptic Christians) that this slides under Moore's radar? Do those people at Occupy Wallstreet know that Michael Moore is worth over $50 Million? Isn't he part of why they are 'protesting?'

... and then what about this?

_______

United States Attorney General Eric Holder and his 'Operation Fast and Furious' that's just gone amok! You can read about this HERE. The Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that is supposed to control and regulate the purchasing and sales of firearms, just one of their reasons to exist... was running guns into Mexico. I recall when the news of this was first breaking, the mass media was reporting that the primary source of firearms in Mexico were local, legal, firearm distributors who were all in compliance with the existing Federal and State firearms laws. What hypocrisy!!

_______

And, lastly, Warren Buffett, etal who claim, that as millionaires, they they are paying less than 17% income tax on their earnings... Below, you will find a tax table that is from the Tax Policy Center... you can see the full link HERE:

According to this table, the top 1% of all taxpayers should be paying 30.4% of their earnings in Federal Income Taxes. My question to Buffett would be, what tax manipulations are you pulling off to only be paying 17%?

Now, it is possible that most of Buffett's (and other millionaires' income) consists primarily of dividends, which would be taxed at a lower rate of 15%. BUT, one needs to remember that corporate dividends are taxed BEFORE being paid by the corporation to the share holders at around 35%. This means that each $1,000 of dividends is reduced by $350 before being paid to the stock holder, where it is then taxed a second time at 15%... 15% of $650 is $97.50, which results in a net to the investor of $552.50. This makes the effective tax rate on dividends almost 45%... that sounds like a Hell of a lot to me...

It seems that we replaced this...

With this...

The lunatics are indeed running the asylum...

~shoes~

"Thursday..."

2011-10-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

It is Thursday,

Isn't it??

Oh, What The Fuck...

Today has been interesting so far... it is currently 10:06AM, Shoes Time... and I came within a breath of telling a student that I thought he looked just like Chaz Bono...

I didn't think it would end well, and I just don't feel up to fighting that battle today... so I passed.

But there's always next week...

A student phoned me at home this morning at about 7:00 AM... he wanted to tell me that he wouldn't be in class today because he 'was in Oxford shacked up with a girl...'

The person who came up with this line must have been a marketing professional...

This below SO fits my demeanor today...

So I've been on a ZZ Top kick here lately... you know, the little ol' band from Texas... on of my favorite albums of theirs is 'Fandango!' I have a great deal of trouble selecting my mostest favoritest song on this album, but I have to go with these two for now...

'Down At The Balinese'

'I remember Ruby...

She always dressed in Red...

Wearing Skin tight pants,

Lordy, how she could dance

With that rag wrapped around her head...'

Mexican Blackbird

If you have good speakers with your computer, just turn 'em up and enjoy!!!

Oh well... I had best get back to work...

~shoes~

BoyShoes and Other Stuff...

2011-10-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Boy Shoes...

So... I have this son... BoyShoes as I affectionately refer to him... He has this rather insane sense of humor, and one never really knows what he's going to say or do next. I honestly have no idea from where this trait comes...

For example, here are three text messages I've received from him recently...

'So I had a dream I beat the shit out of Hitler last night. Not going to try and even figure that one out...'

I have no idea where this comes from, but BoyShoes is greatly subject to a great deal of 'free association'... so who knows... really...

Hank, Jr., referred to the president as being like Hitler, and the news media goes insane... yet just a few years ago, stories about someone calling Bush, "Hitler" would invoke news and calls of freedom of speech and such, and play it down. Let Hank, Jr., say it, even during one of his less than stellar moments, and all Hell is raised.

I was looking for a picture of Hitler to use with BoyShoe's text message and found this image above... and it sums up my position quite well.

So... then he sends this one a few days later...

So, I'm thinking about being Casey Anthony for Hallowe'en Dress like a woman and carry around a baby doll with a bag taped over its head. Too much you think??

A couple of years ago, BoyShoes told me he was going to a Hallowe'en Party as Jesus... complete with a crown of thorns, etc... I told him that I didn't think that was a good idea... but, he wasn't gonna listen to his Dad...

It's Fun To Stay at The Y.M.C.A...

... and then I get this one Saturday night...

'So I'm reading this real nasty slogan on the wall. And i quote, 'my grandma can't wrestle, but you should see her box.'

A boxing Grandmother...

What were you expecting??

For some reason, I'm wanting to see more photos!!!

Needless to say, BoyShoes is always good for some laughs!!

~shoes~

"Happy Birthday, Mom..."

2011-10-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

On this date, October 7th, in 1912, my Mother, Evelyn Ruth Ohl, was born... Mom would have been 99 today... Mom was born in a small German settlement in South West Illinois... Mascoutah.

I've posted these photos of my Mom before...

I can remember my Mom holding her purse

exactly the way she is holding it in the photo above.

My Mom loved Life as much as anyone I've ever known... I can't even begin to express how large of a hole there is in my being because of her loss.. because of her not being here...

I believe that I received the compassion about others... a sense of fairness that I have from my Mom. Girl Shoes has told me that when she sees some photos of me, that she sees her Memom looking back at her. Some times I feel that I look a great deal like Mom... other times I feel that I look a great deal like my Grandmother Brown... a woman that I never knew.

I miss you, Mom... each and every day...

With each and every day that passes,

you just get further and further away from me.

I hope you know how many times
a day I think of you...

I do love you so...

Your son...

~Jim~

2011-10-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

... And so it goes...

Rest In Peace...

~shoes~

"Yum... Brains..."

2011-09-30T00:30:00.000-05:00

Greetings...

Welcome to my contribution to the Zombie Walk... Let's see what I can come up with...

What a delicious little number she is...

She might be difficult to resist...

I wonder if she bites...

It appears that even the President gets into things like this from time to time...

_______

So... I thought I found myself in a room full of zombies earlier today, but it turns out it was just one of my classrooms full of students... of course, when looking at how to identify a zombie, I can see why this was easy to do... except for the brain eating part anyway...

_______

What would a Shoes post be without sexual innuendo...???

GI wonder if zombies find us finger-licking good? I wonder if a zombie-tress could give a blow job without biting? I bet not!!

Oh God... this may or may NOT end well!!

I wonder why they put a raptor on a 'zombie' poster?

Well... I guess because there is such a thing as a zombie T-Rex... there ya go...

________

Now, for your reading entertainment, how about some Zombie Haiku??

I hunger for your

Delicious cerebellum...

Where's the ice cream scoop?

______

Zombies came calling...

They refused tea and crumpets...

I am losing my mind.

______

Dismembered zombie

heads roll around on the floor.

Soccer anyone?

______

Oh my God! Zombies

are coming! Run! Run! Run! Run!

Oh, wait... you are slow.

______

I thought he had been

lost or run over. Turns out

Zombies ate my cat.

That shotgun won't work

unless you aim for the head.

Brain matter splatter.

Speaking of guns...

I have absolutely no idea how I started this post of with a sexual zombie content and it evolved into this...

Be sure to visit the other zombie blog walkers...

~shoes~

Above the Norm: Bizarre Arizona

http://above-the-norm.blogspot.com

Zombies Everywhere

http://www.zombieseverywhere.org

Holly's Horrorland

http://hollyshorrorland.blogspot.com

Little Gothic Horrors

http://littlegothichorrors.blogspot.com

Anything Horror

http://www.anythinghorror.com

Katy Bennett Horror Writer and Poet

http://kaybeewrites.blogspot.com

Bubba's Place

http://thisisbubbasplace.blogspot.com

Horror Smorgasbord

http://horrorsmorgasbord.blogspot.com

Gnostalgia

http://gnostalgia.wordpress.com

Monkey Man

http://petzoldspracticalprose.blogspot.com

Words and Music

http://leogodin.net

Red Shoes Chronicles

http://redshoeschronicles.blogspot.com

The Wolf's Eyes

http://thewolfseyes.blogspot.com

My Day in a Sentence

http://mydayinasentence.blogspot.com

Pixie's Horror Galore

http://pixieshorrorgalore.blogspot.com

Strange State

http://strangestate.blogspot.com

The Misadventures of HalloweeNut

http://halloweenut.blogspot.com

Halloween Blues

http://www.halloween-blues.com

Kweeny Todd

http://kweenytodd.blogspot.com

The California Blogging Massacre

http://thecaliforniabloggingmassacre.blogspot.com

Horror Shock Lolipop

http://horror-shock.blogspot.com

Vanessa Morgan

http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com

Improbable Frontiers

http://improbablefrontiers.wordpress.com

No Really, You Can Eat It

http://noreallyyoucaneatit.blogspot.com

Art By Living Dead Girl Nicole

http://livingdeadgirlnicoleart.blogspot.com
Two Gory Chicks

http://twogorychicks.blogspot.com

A Dust Bunny in the Wind

http://www.dustbunnyinthewind.com
A Ghoul's Best Friend

http://aghoulsbestfriend.blogspot.com
Zombies Are Magic

http://zombiesaremagic.blogspot.com
Cherry Neko Saves the World

http://cherrynekostw.blogspot.com
Tall Tales

http://www.lisafee.com
At the Mansion of Madness

http://atthemansionofmadness.blogspot.com
The Haunted Rose

http://www.thehauntedrose.blogspot.com
The Rotting Zombie

http://therottingzombie.blogspot.com
Halloween Overkill

http://halloweenoverkill.blogspot.com
Out of the Shadows

http://viviennemoss.blogspot.com
Creepy Glow Keyhole Gallery

http://keyholegallery.blogspot.com
Creepy Glowbugg

http://creepyglowbugg.blogspot.com
Bifocal Univision

http://bifocalunivision.blogspot.com
Haiku-Koo-Koo

http://haiku-koo-koo.blogspot.com
Sherry Soule

http://sherrysoule.blogspot.com
Anchors and Roses

http://anchorsandroses.blogspot.com
Paranormal Researchers Group

http://paranormalresearchersgroup.blogspot.com
Whispering Pines History

http://whispering-pines-history.blogspot.com
Lovely Miss Megs

http://lovelymissmegs.blogspot.com

Sean Thomas Fisher's Blogwash

http://www.fishblogwash.blogspot.com

Rise and Fight

http://www.riseandfight.net

Stump Town Horror

http://stumptownhorror.blogspot.com
LoliClown's Little Blog of Horror

http://loliclownshorrors.blogspot.com
Zombies Can't Love

http://zombiescantlove.blogspot.com

Books and Beyond

http://booksandbeyondreviews.blogspot.com

The Grave Bandits

http://www.thegravebandits.com

Screaming Goregasms

http://www.screaminggoregasm.blogspot.com

Lazy Daisy Life

http://lazydaisylife.blogspot.com
Icky Monster

http://ickymonster.blogspot.com
Pretty in Fiction

http://www.prettyinfiction.com

Ivy's Closet

http://bonjourivyparker.blogs

Justine's Halloween

http://justineshalloween.blogspot.com

Annie Walls

http://annie-walls-author.blogspot.com

Just Johnny

http://thetimebi.blogspot.com

"Duckface...

2011-09-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Fuckface...

Duckface:

def: A term used to descibe the face made if you push your lips together in a combination of a pout and a pucker, giving the impression you have larger cheekbones and bigger lips.

usage: "Oh christ, look at that horrific duckface"
"Stop doing that duckface. You look stupid"

Duckface:

def: Stupid facial expression put forth by stupid women that don't know how to smile. The Duckface is made by moving both lips has far up and outward as possible. Commonly seen in photos of slutty women where the lighting is too high up or they're taking photos of them self in the mirror.

usage: She put on a duckface the moment she pulled out her camera.

fuckface:

def: the person on the giving side of a blowjob; a term describing a person whom has given a blowjob.

def: The act of giving head, technically speaking could be classified as fucking ones face. thus deeming the person whom is giving said blowjob the face being fucked, or fuckface.

I may be politically incorrect,

but this is just gross...

def: Someone who sucks penis in exchange for something they want.

usage: "That girl is a fuckface!"

Ride him, cowgirl!!!

def: The look someone gives you when they want to engage in intercourse with you; undressing someone with ones eyes.

usage: "That girl was totally giving me that fuckface. I'm going to go converse with her and see if i can't get some."

I'm sure there's a face up there... I promise...

Hmmm... I don't recall the 'Mona Lisa' looking quite like this...

Now, this looks REALLY interesting...

OK... now this is cute...

Maybe...

I've been thinking about a duck face/fuck face post for a couple of weeks, but I have been so stupidly and insanely busy, I haven't have much time to read, and NO time to write...

Things are going to have to lighten up at work here soon...

~shoes~

"Nuts..."

2011-09-16T16:39:00.002-05:00

Aw, Nuts, Man...

Disclaimer:

This has been a very difficult week at work.

I am personally not responsible for this post...

Not really...

______________________

I received this image in an email... and thought... what about a nut post? All in all, it sounds like a good name for a cereal...

Monkey Nuts...

Is he packing, or what?!?!?!

I'm KNOW what this is...

... but I'm not SURE what it is...

His little Life will never be the same...

... Is he drinking beer? He doesn't look that old...

We've all heard stories about squirrels and their nuts...

haven't we?

Dayum...

... I thought the Monkey was loaded...

Well... then what does the coffee come in?

AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.....
He should have remembered to 'tuck'...

I guess one can buy replacement nut sacks...

they are over by the pop corn...

Smell this...

One has to start somewhere...

Looking at this one reminds me...

Have I ever told you all I was once married?

~shoes~

"Wanted..."

2011-09-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

Wanted...

Boobs for guns... always a good trade, I'm thinking...

Now I know why he needed the guns...

However, if I were going back in time, I'd take the boobs...

I wanna meet Marcy Teddle...

A huge WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

I guess it cums with the house... no?

Evidently, it's a toss-up between 6 month old kitty and handsome 32 yo hubby...

LMBO @ Mr. Giggles...

What a cute face...

Damn... what a perfect description!!!

Thank God the sonofabitch knows how to spell..

This one sounds serious...

Oh my!!!

~shoes~

"Is It Friday Yet?"

2011-09-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

"Nope..."

Poot...

... but it's getting closer.

Things with my sister seem to change day by day. I had posted that she was hospitalized with pleurisy that was headed towards becoming pneumonia...

My Mom, whom I write about so often on here, contracted pulmonary fibrosis and died only a few months later.

My sister's greatest fear is that she would come down with it. While she was hospitalized, I was talking to her doctor... he was the one who told me about treating her for pleurisy and pneumonia. I made the passing comment to the doctor that her greatest fear was that she would be diagnosed with it, and he looked at me and said, 'she does have pulmonary fibrosis...'

I had this bit of information running through my head as I headed toward her hospital room... and when entering, my other sister told me, 'we just got the best news... Sister Shoes1 does NOT have pulmonary fibrosis!!!' Their source of information was another doctor from the same clinic, but who would not have access to the same information as her primary care physician would have. So, the first question that I thought of was, 'do I tell them what the primary care doctor just told me?' The answer to that question was, 'no.' I would just keep it to myself... I'm of the opinion that one's state of mind goes a long way towards how they handle their illness.

I will confess to knowing nothing about medicine although I have played doctor a time or two...

Anyway... I decided to share this information with another brother, and then last night we shared what we knew with the other sister... So everyone but my oldest sister is in the loop.

She is having to take prednisone in order to breathe efficiently. This isn't good. I guess the good news is that the strain she has doesn't seem to be as aggressive as the one my Mother contracted. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is 5 years... Mom lived almost nine months... Anyway, we know what we have before us now...

We just don't know a time frame... and as we all know, Life goes on...

On a different note...

How do you like my newest addition to my cowboy boot collection? I'm still searching for that elusive red pair, but I think I am closer to having them... I found some outrageous boot bracelets that I really wanted, but NOT for $250 EACH?!?!?!?!?!

Yet, on another different note...

I had absolutely NO idea this guy could do this!!!!!!!

He was on The Today Show this morning... and I was blown away... I had no idea...

... anyhoo...

~shoes~

'stripped...'

2011-09-04T15:31:00.003-05:00

"Stripped..."

Tired... spent... worn out... exposed... bare... those are words that can express how I am feeling today. The events of the past few weeks have worn on me. I promise that I am not being ingratiating when I say that your words of support have been very helpful...

Stripped is another word that describes how I feel... and when I thought of this word, it reminded me of a great album of the same name by the Rolling Stones...

Somewhere in '94 or '95, the Stones toured behind their 'VooDoo Lounge' CD... and while on the road, they recorded and filmed some performances which later appeared in their 'Stripped' CD... talk about Rock and Roll at it's finest!!!

The performances were scaled back... cleaner, I think, in sound... and one of my favorites from the 'Stripped' cd is...

I want that big Gibson jumbo acoustic that Ron Wood is playing... and I want that... hmmm... looks like it could be a Gibson ES-125, but I don't know if they came with dog eared P-90s or not. I would have loved getting to be a fly on the wall when they recorded this... augh...

Things are better... the sister is doing MUCH better considering we were all getting ready for a funeral... she is even showing parts of her mean streak again... when she hugs me, they are different though... and once, she whispered in my ear that she could never ever pay me back... I'm much too kind to ask her just to be nicer to others.

The colleague at work who tried to take his life was back on Friday... we were told to not make a scene, but when he walked in, I have to admit that I did hug him and told him I was glad to see him... he seems changed... better, I think.

I want to add another video of a performance from the 'VooDoo Lounge' tour... it is one of the mostest awesomest songs ever by the Stones...

The intro to this song is one of the greatest ever!!! At the same time, this song is one of the most fun to perform, and most frustrating, because in order to do it justice you need a female singer with a really great pair of lungs... I could listen to Lisa Fisher do her vocals over and over and over and over...

Things for all concerned seem to be getting better... improving, but I feel down... spent... energy flowing out.

I heard someone talking on tv this morning... and he was asking... 'who am I?' 'Where am I going?' And I thought... I am not sure I know those answers at this time...

I tend to want to go to music when things aren't 'right'... but, I think I know what I wish I could do... I think I know where I wish I could go right now... and it will be at least October before that can happen...

I love this place...

namaste...

~shoes~

"Transitions, Part II..."

2011-08-25T17:18:00.001-05:00

Transitions, Revisited...

What a week this has been...
I so appreciate everyone's comments...
I am reminded by the lyrics of a song by The Byrds...

A time to be born, and a time to die...

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance...

These verses come somewhat from the Book of Ecclesiastes... and I guess provide a great deal of comfort... I guess that is what I was referring to in my previous post about it just being 'our time' to go...

I am tired... I am so tired...

Wednesday night a week ago, I was convinced my sister was going to die that night. I took her home and put her in bed when we returned from the doctor's office... and to watch her curl into the fetal position was just heart breaking to me. Here is a woman who once had great business sense and acumen (never mind the fucking over she gave us 15 or so years ago) and wasn't afraid to take on or tackle anything. Now she asks me what she should have for dinner... It breaks my heart to see this happening to her.

Last Thursday was a bad day for her. Her doctor wanted her to go into the hospital Wednesday afternoon, but she refused to... she called me at 6:00 AM Friday morning wanting me to come and get her and take her to the hospital... I did. When I presented the lady with her paperwork, the receptionist looked at me and said, 'She was supposed to be here yesterday...' *sighs* My sister is still very hard headed.

To write about and explain everything that has transpired since Friday is just not feasible... there isn't enough room, and it wouldn't be that interesting to read.

I hope she realizes that my actions and my love for her are forms of forgiveness... I learned lessons from having watched my Mom and Dad die... about what to do... what to say... when people are in this stage of their Lives.

I've learned something that has caused me to do a great deal of soul searching... and to not share that information with my family members... it's not exactly 'lying' as much as it's protecting them from things that they just don't need to know. How do you like that for a cryptic statement?

Monday was a big shock for us here in the College of Business... we learned that a long-time colleague tried to end his Life... bless his heart. I don't know if he will be back...

Tuesday, I asked another colleague how her day was going, only to learn that her husband had just moved out on her, leaving her with three children... one of them only a year old...

There must be something in the water around here... everyone's world seems to be in turmoil. As for me, I just slow my Life down when my world is in chaos... it seems to help me make better decisions...

I'm so tired...

~shoes~

"Transitions..."

2011-08-18T10:35:00.001-05:00

Transitions...

... defined as a process or the period of changing from one state or condition to another.

When my Dad died... and just a handful of months later, filed for divorce, my Life underwent a host of changes. As my level of 'normalcy' as I knew it underwent great changes, I sought out the services of a counselor... someone who could possibly help me organize things back into some semblance of an existence with which I might could exist...

This counselor told me that considering what all I had experienced at that time, I was doing rather well... and that I had experienced four transitions in such a short time.

I asked her what a transition was, and she told me it was a change in one's Life that was so drastic... so significant... that one's Life would never be the same.

Yep... losing your last parent, and becoming an orphan (albeit I was an adult, it's still a shock to the system)... and then to follow that up with a rift in the family that would forever cause some kind of separation between the two sets of children that our parents had... and then the divorce... and then on-going behavior problems with my daughter...

Life had indeed changed...

... and it's changing again. I am facing a new transition...

When one is young, you don't expect your parents to die... you just don't... Mom and Dad and you and your pets and everything are going to live forever and ever and ever...

... but they don't.

My Mom was the first significant loss of Life to me. I loved this woman... I adored this woman... I never wanted to hurt her feelings or make her upset with me... And she died...

I had issues with my Dad... I've posted about them and they are back there somewhere if you care to look and read... but after he had his stroke, I felt I needed to reach some sort of understanding with him... and I did. My greatest regret is that I didn't do that sooner.

At times, I can't even begin to comprehend how long Mom and Dad have been gone. All of the Christmases, and birthdays, and special events all seem like distant memories... and I guess they should seem this way... that's what they are now.

Well... one doesn't expect a brother or a sister to die... but they do. We think... expect... that they, and we, will live forever... but they and we don't.

I've stated before that Mom and Dad had two litters of kids, so to speak... I'm the middle child of the second litter. There's a great age difference between the litters.

I've written about my oldest sister... and not in very nice terms, but I suppose part of that has been my trying to work out the angst that I have with her. In years past, she has really fucked us (2nd litter) over... significantly too.

But I've worked past all of that... I forgave her. I haven't forgotten what she did, but I had to let some things go... we just have to from time to time.

I've become the guy who takes her to dinner several nights a week... goes and checks on her when she doesn't answer the phone, and have just been much of a trouble shooter for her.

I've become the family member who takes her up and down the highways to her doctor appointments.

... and in recent months, I've seen a great decline in her... physically and emotionally. She's always been a strong person; I can't ever recall seeing her 'broken'... but that's how I describe her now. She has no energy... she sits with her head in her hands.

...she tells me that she is scared...

... and she doesn't have to tell me why she is scared. She sees it coming... as do I... as do my ~~litter mates~~ brothers.

I've been to the doctor with her every day this week... he told her yesterday that she needs to go into the hospital for treatment... and she has said, "no..."

Maybe she knows the 'Time' is here... without going into the hospital, it could be here really soon... My brothers and I are making efforts to get our other sister here... she needs to be here.

This has gotten longer than I meant for it to be...

All I really wanted to write about was how the guard always seems to change... our grandparents die... our parents die...

... and then your siblings. It's our turn, I suppose.

I am dreading the weeks ahead...

~shoes~

2011-08-17T12:16:00.002-05:00

(Not Alluvial Flood Plain State University)

Here at Alluvial Flood Plain State University, our Division of Continuing Education strives to offer classes and opportunities for all segments of the population...

Here are their most recent offerings...

__________________________

Fall Classes for

Women at

THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED

By August 22, 2011

NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL

OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.

Class 1
Up in Winter, Down in Summer - How to Adjust a Thermostat
Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hrs. beginning at 7:00 PM..

Class 2
Which Takes More Energy - Putting the Toilet Seat Down, or Bitching About It for 3 Hours?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Drive Past a Wal-Mart Without Stopping?--Group Debate.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between a Purse and a Suitcase--Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Curling Irons--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Bathroom Cabinet?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
At 7:00 PM

Class 6
How to Ask Questions During Commercials and Be Quiet During the Program
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Can a Bath Be Taken Without 14 Different Kinds of Soaps and Shampoos?
Open Forum.
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch--They Make Medicine for PMS - USE IT!
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
I Was Wrong and He Was Right!--Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined.

Class 10
How to Parallel Park In Less Than 20 Minutes Without an Insurance Claim.
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live--How to Apply Brakes Without Throwing Passengers Through the Windshield .
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12

How To Shop By Yourself
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.
Certificates will be issued upon completion of ANY of the above courses.

________________________

~shoes~

2011-08-11T18:25:00.002-05:00

"What The Uck~Fay?!?!?!?!"

Some people just have too much free time on their hands...

According to news reports today, there are petitions being circulated encouraging the powers that be at "Sesame Street" to allow Bert and Ernie to enter into a 'same sex' marriage...

Here is a statement from a "Sesame Street" publicist...

Bert and Ernie are best friends," the statement said. "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most 'Sesame Street' Muppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

That's a great explanation... our kids grow up way too fast the way it is... there's plenty of time for them to learn other facts of Life...

Now, if they want to have 'Sesame Street: The Later Years,' then go for it... maybe they could have a bunch of skits like this one...

But, until then, just leave them ~~the fuck~~ alone...

~shoes~

"All She Wants To Do Is Ride..."

2011-08-05T13:08:00.002-05:00

Ride, Sally, Ride...

One of my buddies wants me to come and sit in tomorrow night... and play with their band. This is always a great deal of fun!! Invariably when something like this comes up, the conversation turns to, 'well, what songs... what kind of music are you going to be playing?'

We all have our favorite songs... I've been accused of having my favorite songs change on a whim, but it's ok... but for a performing musician, there are some songs that we just get tired of from time to time...

Two of the songs that come to mind are Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl' and Wilson Pickett's 'Mustang Sally'...

A group could probably play each of these songs in each set they play, and the people there would be happy... but from a performer's standpoint... ARGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

But... I can't think of too many other songs that will get people up and dancing like these two songs will... and watching women dance can be a great deal of fun...

Of course, unless it's Elaine...

Anyway, while ~~screwing around online~~ researching an economic topic, I ran across this 'decision-tree' which will help a band decide if they are going to play 'Mustang Sally'...

According to this chart, it seems those attending a serious blues festival wouldn't want to hear it... but it also seems that whether or not there are women in attendance also carries a great deal of weight as to whether or not it should be played...

Of course, I'm thinking if Buddy Guy is performing it, I would most definitely WANT to hear it!!

This version is off of Buddy's 'Damn Right I Have The Blues' featuring Jeff Beck...

Back when I was a kid, one of my favorite bands of that time was 'The Yardbirds'... The original guitarist for 'The Yardbirds' was none other than Eric Clapton... Clapton left to pursue another interests (Cream) and was replaced by Jeff Beck... after a short time, Jeff Beck left and was replaced with Jimmy Page... the band didn't last much longer after Page joined... Page went about re-organizing the band and named it 'The New Yardbirds'... Keith Moon, of 'The Who,' after hearing this story about the reorganized band, made a comment about how that would go over like a 'lead balloon'...

... and that's how Led Zeppelin came to be...

~shoes~

"I'm Calling..."

2011-08-02T14:08:00.004-05:00

"Bullshit On This..."

Well... it's August 2nd... the much feared economic melt~down date according to President Obama and his ~~cronies~~ colleagues... he has told us that if we didn't have an end to the debt ceiling crisis by now, that our credit rating would be lowered, and all Hell would break loose...

It hasn't yet... and of course, if we are dumb enough to believe that the passage of whatever this ~~bullshit~~ legislation is will stop the economic collapse that we are heading towards, we deserve whatever happens to us.

Yesterday, Vice-President JoeBiden (the male, Democrat equivalent of Sarah Palin) was mentioned to have referred to some 'Tea Party' representatives as terrorists that were holding the legislation hostage...

... so I started looking for information online that indicated that anyone would possibly stand in the way of refusing to raise the debt ceiling so that our government could continue to borrow and spend monies that we don't have in order to keep running...

I found this...

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit."

Damn... it DOES sound like someone may have been wanting to derail the efforts to raise the debt ceiling... Could it have been Boehner? ... or Bachmann?? Or some other rogue Tea Party-ist or Republican??

Nope, this quote comes from 2006, when then U.S. Senator Barack Hussein Obama was speaking against a request by President Bush wanting to do something similar to what President Obama is wanting to do now... in fact, President Obama thought it to be such a bad idea that he voted against two requests for debt ceiling hikes requested by the Bush Administration...

If we can then believe President Obama to be speaking the truth, has he admitted to 'leadership failure?'

I was NOT happy with the Bush Administration and their level of spending... and I have to admit to being quite shocked when I heard on one of the Sunday Morning Pundit Talk shows that it was estimated that the Bush Administration was spending roughly $1.5 Billion per day compared to the Obama Administration's current clip of about $4.3 Billion per day...

I am thinking... given my current income level, that if I had the ratio-to-debt figures that our Federal Government does... and that if I had to borrow money from a lending institution to pay my bills just to exist... do you think that lending institution would lend money to me?

If the banks were dumb enough to lend money to me, what interest rate do you think they would charge to justify the risk of my not being able to pay them back the money I would owe... plus interest??

Do you know that China owns the largest amount of our Treasury Bonds? Last time I looked, Japan was the second largest owner of our debt... The good news about government securities is that they are not 'callable'... that means that the owner of the debt can call for repayment on demand... That prevents China from being able to place us over a barrel and demand payment for those bonds when we don't have any money... like right now.

The Federal Government should be worrying, however, about China... their economy is NOT doing well... if their money should dry up... who will buy our debt?? Who will lend money to us??

I don't know if the Senate has voted to ok whatever nonsense that was that the House voted on and approved yesterday... it doesn't matter... If I were a rating agency, I would have down-rated our government's ability to repay its debt a long time ago...

... and quietly throughout all of this... have any of you noticed that we have 'settled' for about $3.75 per gallon as the 'normal' price for gasoline?

I would love to see consistency on the part of our politicians... either party... both parties...

I tend to be an optimist about things like this, but...

I fear we are greatly fucked...

I hope I'm wrong...

but I don't think so...

~shoes~

'...so it goes'

2011-07-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

"... so it goes"

I've written before about a book I've read that I really enjoyed...

... anytime someone dies, or Death is mentioned... Vonnegut wrote "... so it goes." The critics gave him grief over this, said he over-used it, but I am not sure that they read it in proper context... after all, we are all notorious for taking things out of context.

I work with this woman here... we have known each other since the first grade... her husband died Monday... he was an ag-pilot and he didn't come home.

Now, this post isn't about her... or him... but instead, I got to thinking about the suddenness in which she learned of his death. She saw him off to work that morning, just as she has any number of mornings, and had no reason to not believe she wouldn't see him later in the day...

... she has told me before that he has walked away from any number of crashes. I am guessing that it was assumed he would walk away from the next one... and he didn't.

What this post is about... is how we experience the death of a loved one... Which is easier to process? Which is easier to understand?? The sudden, totally unexpected Death? Or the long, lingering Death??

My Mom died from pulmonary fibrosis... a horrible death... but I suppose no more horrible than dying from a gunshot wound or an auto crash... but I did see Mom slowly die over a period of nine months... I guess the 'sudden shock' with her was when the doctor told us that Mom wasn't going to survive...

My Dad died from a stroke... not really unexpected... Dad was 90. It took Dad eight days to leave... I guess it's always a shock, whether it's the Death that is immediate or the immediacy of the news...

I don't really have an answer... one of the bloggers that I enjoy reading has posted about the deaths of people for whom she has known... and she writes of it so eloquently... with such respect.

I guess in trying to process which is easier to handle, immediate or gradual Death... is kind of like trying to decide whether the day of the funeral is a 'good day' or not... Dad told me that the day they buried GrandMother Brown, that it was a bad day... so bone-chilling cold (his words)... but what if the day had been bright and sunny... and pleasant? Isn't that still a bad day??

I don't know...

So it goes... Huh??

~shoes~

'Doc Holliday..."

2011-07-24T17:29:00.000-05:00

"I'm Your Huckleberry..."

John Henry 'Doc' Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887) was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter (not necessarily in that order) during the days of the American Old West... it is claimed that he once had a dental practice in Dallas, Texas, just about one block east from where Dealey Plaza is located... realizing he could make more money gambling than he could by practicing dentistry, he changed careers and moved further West...

He did become friends with Wyatt Earp, and Earp did credit Holliday with having saved his life during a gunfight... Holliday was also known to have a very short fuse when it came to his temper, and was of the opinion that it would be far better to die in a gunfight than in bed from his disease...

There have been many movies made about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp and their relationship... in 1994, 'Wyatt Earp' was released, and featured Kevin Costner as Earp and Dennis Quaid as Holliday... in 1993, my favorite Earp movie, 'Tombstone' was released... Kurt Russell portrayed Earp and Val Kilmer played the part of Doc Holliday. I like Kilmer's portrayal the best...

Kilmer just seemed to portray Holliday with somewhat of a devil-may care attitude... playing up to the idea that Holliday would rather die in a gunfight than by tuberculosis.

If you are curious as to why two movies were made so close to each other, Costner and Russell were working on the same project, and differences in the way the movie should proceed arose... and Russell went off to make his own version...

One of my favorite scenes in the movie occurs when Johnny Ringo, a notorious gunfighter himself, challenges the Earps to a duel in the street... and it plays out like this...

Who knows if a confrontation like this ever played out, other than for Hollywood theatrics... but one thought is that the use of the phrase, "I'm your huckleberry..." was interpreted to mean, that Holliday "was the man for the job"... the man for the job of disposing of Ringo.

However, other popular usage for 'huckleberry' was for the sake of comparison... to be a"huckleberry" was to be at least second best, or inferior in nature... so in that scene, one could argue that Holliday was trying to entice Ringo to pull his pistol on him... that Holliday was admitting to not being a gunfighter of the same quality as Ringo.

This interpretation is reinforced in a scene towards the end of the movie... when Ringo is expecting Earp to show up for a gunfight, and instead, Holliday shows up. The depiction is that Ringo is scared of Holliday... not afraid of Earp...

The scenario plays out almost exactly the same way as it did earlier in the streets in Tombstone... "I'm your huckleberry"... again, almost egging Ringo to draw... after having shot Ringo, Holliday tells him, "you're no daisy... you're no daisy at all"...

Just as "huckleberry" was used to imply a lesser quality, to be a "daisy" was to be the best quality... so as Ringo was dying in the movie, Holliday was still goading him onward...

In reality, Johnny Ringo's death is a mystery... officially it is listed as a suicide, although is does appear that evidence exists that could implicate Holliday... so this last scene is another example of Hollywood embellishment.

Unfortunately, Doc Holliday did die in an asylum for those with Tuberculosis. There were sulfur springs there that were thought to improve one's ability to breathe, but now it's known that it probably aggravated his illness.

He died in bed from a disease... a death that it was known he did not want... and he died without his boots... in his sock feet.

His last words were reputed to be, after having looked down toward his feet,

'Damn, this is funny...'

~shoes~

"Rehab..."

2011-07-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

Amy Winehouse...

She should have gone...

Rest in peace...

~shoes~

2011-07-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

'Yet Another Dream...'

'The Shepherd's Dream'

JOHN HENRY FUSELI

I dream a lot... some make no sense and leave me with the vaguest memory... others haunt me...

The dream of which I wrote about yesterday was just so vivid... so real... and then the dream of my Dad which occurred in San Francisco, right next to the Bay... I will never forget that dream...

I received a link which took me to a site about reading dreams... I'm sure that there are tons of them out there... and when I entered the topic of the dream of which I wrote yesterday, zombies, here is what it told me...

To see or dream that you are a zombie, suggests that you are physically and/or emotionally detached from people and situations that are currently surrounding you. You are feeling out of touch. Alternatively, a zombie means that you are feeling dead inside. You are just going through the motions of daily living.

To dream that you are attacked by zombies, indicate that you are feeling overwhelmed by forces beyond your control. You are under tremendous stress in your waking life. Alternatively, the dream represents your fears of being helpless and overpowered.

Hmmm... I'm going to have to think about that... because I think it ties in greatly with the dream I had last night...

Last night, I dreamed that I was sitting down to play one of my guitars... there were other people there, but I can't tell/remember if I was playing for them, or if they were just there...

I was aware (sensed) that something was wrong with the instrument... but I tried to play on anyway... at one point, I tilted the guitar over to look at the back of the instrument, and it was coming apart... it was busted... and separating even more as I held it. I tried to play on anyway, and the neck separated from the body and just fell into pieces...

I had this feeling... that if I just continued to try to play, that no one there would know or see that everything was falling apart... that I was having difficulties...

I saw the zombie dream as a form of entertainment, although, after reading the possible interpretation, maybe not. The interpretation that I have for last night's dream seems to coincide with the possible meaning of the zombie dream... and it's about how maybe something in my Life is 'broken'... maybe I am 'broken'... maybe I am trying to hide the idea that I am broken from others...

Maybe I have some self-reflection I need to do... maybe things aren't as they seem...

~shoes~