Birds

We went to dinner with my cousin, Darnell Arnoult and her husband, William Brock, last night.

The last time I visited Darnell and William at their home down I-40, there sat an extremely large bird in the yard. I had to walk past it to get around to the front door, but I really didn't want to disturb it. I knew William was making birds, but I didn't realize he was also displaying them in the yard. So, I crept down the sidewalk, fascinated by the huge bird, thinking, "Wow, this is what you get when you live in the country." Just about then, the sun hit it just right and I realized it was one of William's creations. Duh.

William makes each bird out of copper or tin and cuts each 'feather' by hand. Isn't that insane? I mean, in a really good way. You can see more images and get some information at www.rustedbirdstudio.com.

And to the lady who told him she could buy one of these at Wal-Mart: a double duh.

-b

Blue

Where have I been? Ugh. Has it really been a month since I've updated? Judge me. Go ahead.

The good news is the bad neighbor is gone. I'm guessing he abandoned the house since it appears to have been the landlord who removed the 100 or so tires that said bad neighbor had stacked up against my back fence. I haven't seen anyone over there for a few weeks. HOORAY! There is still a blue tarp over the roof of the house, but we'll take what we can get.


I played a show with Benton Stokes the other night. Benton makes me want to write different kinds of songs--a huge compliment to him. I think I've mentioned his record to you before, but if you don't have it, I would recommend it. He has a song on his CD called, "Blue."


I also spent a week at the TN Young Writers Workshop. We lived on the campus of Austin Peay University. My, how I'm missing that ridiculous plastic mattress. Yeah. Anyway, the young writers were really inspiring this year. I gave the kids a title prompt with the word "blue" in it, and the blue songs were some of my faves from the week.


And, in what is probably the most important news, for first time in my entire life, I've painted a room in my house blue. I know. Who have I become? Well, it's actually called, "Deep Ocean," and that's exactly what it looks like to me, and I LOVE it. And, if you're looking for a good paint, try Benjamin Moore's Aura line. It took one coat of paint to make a white wall blue. Stunning.