Politics Through A Rural Lens
Last year on National Poem in Your Pocket Day I wanted to be well prepared, so I asked my friend Dennis Kirschbaum for a suggestion. He sent me a beautiful tribute to coffee.
Today Dennis’s work is featured on Laura Shovan’s blog Author Amok. As always, Dennis packs big ideas into a small space. I laughed out loud more than once. You will too.
I plugged in my iPod on my way into work this morning, and was surprised to see that Jay Bookman’s column today is all about what I listened to while I drove.
I owned a small market radio station and on September 11, 2001, ABC Radio told affiliates we shouldn’t play John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Well my station did play it.
As the Iraq War began, comments by Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks, weren’t well received when she criticized the President (she named W, but should have added President Cheney too).
Male country musicians in particular were among the worse in condemning Maines.
Did that embolden the public to go so far as to threaten her life? It sure didn’t help.
In my family, we bought two copies of “Taking the Long Way.” We went to hear the Dixie Chicks in Atlanta when they toured to promote the CD. And I have the DVD “Shut Up and Sing” for good measure.
We also went to hear Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young tour after Neil Young released “Living with War.” In the documentary about that tour, fans in Atlanta, where we heard CSNY sing, left the concert because they were singing war protest songs.
Hello? Anybody in there? Did they think those four got a different religion on the way to Phillips Arena? (“The Cost of Freedom” was sung with a slide show of soldiers lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the audience came silently to our feet while they performed.)
Oh yeah, we didn’t stop playing the Dixie Chicks at WJFL anymore than we stopped playing John Lennon. We could all use a little more “Give Peace a Chance” too.
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
March 8, 2013
Handmade ceramic button and repurposed cashmere
There is no time to wait.
Be The Lorax wherever you are.
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
February 22, 2013
I don’t keep a journal or diary, but when 2012 drew to a close
several of my friends said they were going to keep a jar to fill with
notes when they do something they would like to reflect on after 2013 winds down.
My notes include simple things (I found an oncologist I really like two years post diagnosis).
The notes also include big things like last Sunday’s Forward on Climate Rally and attending my first TEDx event last Friday (TED really is “ideas worth spreading.”
I’ll post the videos from TEDx Charlotte when they are online. Thought provoking and inspiring. Food for your brain and soul.)
Whoever said you can’t bottle happiness was wrong.
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
February 8, 2013
I need to say Yes with Sprinkles on Top more often.
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
October 19, 2012
This felted cashmere sweater is waiting patiently for me in my sewing room. Working with cables and other designs can be a challenge sometimes, in addition to any signs of wear that send things to a thrift store. I think I’ve just about worked through how to use this cast-off treasure.
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
August 10, 2012
When a Guilford College friend gave me a used kayak, I had to hustle and get my car outfitted for carrying the boat.
My 2010 Chevrolet Equinox (unpaid product placement here) had hooks in the front for securing a strap, but none in the back that are sturdy enough for regular use. The service manager, Jo Wren, asked Billy, a mechanic working on another vehicle, to make sure we weren’t missing it on the underside of the car.
We were stumped when there wasn’t one, but Billy said with an hour’s worth of work he would make one for me rather then installing a trailer hitch.
Yesterday I went back to Childre Chevrolet in Milledgeville (unpaid product placement again), and turned my car over to Billy.
About an hour later Billy took me out to the shop to show me the finished product. I knew it would be good, but I didn’t realize that I was really getting a craftsmanship quality product in addition to great service.
He seemed surprised when I said he was a craftsman in addition to being a mechanic. He replied, “Well I did this type of work at another job. I just wanted you to have something that would do the job but be out of the way and out of sight when you didn’t need it.”
Billy may not think he is a craftsman, but I do. Art is not only in museums where we expect it, but in the everyday things that make our lives richer.
Where are you making art and not realizing it?
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
August 3, 2012
Celebrities prefer the pastries at Amelie’s French Bakery
in Charlotte’s NoDa Arts District
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
July 6, 2012
Live bluegrass music played by a beaming grandfather and granddaughter
Old friends, new friends, great food
An African doctor, educated in Communist Russian, returning home to use years of experience working in war torn Eastern Europe to open a women’s health clinic
Politics, religion, books, health care, retirement, tales about travel, history, family
Cool breezes after dinner stirred with a soft British accent
And so much laughter
The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
June 22, 2012
June 23rd is our 28th wedding anniversary.
This year David let me pick out my own gift.
There doesn’t seem to be a traditional gift for the 28th anniversary.
But we aren’t a traditional couple.