Encouragement Just When You Need It Most

My little brother just walked into the room, brand new spinning yo-yo in hand. He is an English professor.

He said, "I was just thinking. You should become a college professor, too."

I said, "Yeah?"

He finished, "Yeah, 'cause you don't have anything to look forward to."

Helpful, isn't he? lol

-b

Dear Adam Lambert:

I'm writing to give you my two cents, not that you asked.

I looked up from my laptop just long enough during your AMA performance to see you "plant the big one." I don't have a comment about that, mostly because I thought at the time that the person you kissed was a petite girl with short hair and lots of make up. So, I don't think I can go back later and say I was "shocked" or anything else, when the truth is, I just didn't see it as "dramatic" or "cutting edge" or anything else. It seems to me that you and your keyboard player have some things to talk about, though.

I just wanted to drop you a line, however, to say that I hope you don't stop concentrating on your singing. I thought you sang pretty well on the few American Idol shows I did see, while I admit that I'm not really an AI watcher. Your singing wasn't there the other night. The theatrics, yes. The drama, yes--moreso than I even noticed, apparently. But your voice? Yeah, not so much.

Here's hoping you don't get lots of publicity for all this other junk and feel like that's reward enough. Most anybody can do a sexually explicit dance on a stage. Not just anybody can actually sing.

-b

An Important Commercial Message

If you're trying to set off a bug bomb in your bedroom and the chemicals in the can spring forth like a perfect water fountain instead of spraying like hairspray, it's probably not working right.

This message has been brought to you by Those of Us Who Do Everything the Hard Way!!!!!!!!!

-b

Backpacking In, Around--and way outside of--Tennessee

www.tennesseebackpacker.com

There are some great photos at the above site, and I just happen to know these two clowns pretty darn well. My person is one of them--I'm too old to call him my boyfriend. The other is one of his best friends. If you're similar to me and you like to camp vicariously through other people, then you might like what they're doing over at their brand new site.

-b

What Have You Got to Lose

My brother visited back in June and stayed for a few weeks.


While he was here, he challenged me to take three risks by the end of the month. "Do three things that make you uncomfortable," he said. "What have you got to lose?"


'Makes you think, doesn't it?

-b

p.s. As it turns out, this was one of the best dares ever.

Everyone Has a Story

So, I was sitting at lunch the other day with five women I'd never met before this week. Each one was accomplished in her field and that was only side of them I'd seen until lunch.

I sat there on the end and took in the conversation. One woman has been married for 16 years and is raising two small children. Another has been divorced for eight. Her husband made a series of bad choices and she had to pick up the pieces and start over without him. The woman at the end of the table was a cancer survivor. The woman next to me has been in her second marriage for two years and may not choose to have kids. The other woman talked about how she and her husband opened their home to an exchange student, who as it turned out, really needed a 'second' family.

I couldn't help but think that if we could all see each other's scars and know each other's stories, we might be kinder to each other.

-b