Da Goddess

Two favorites: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and John Denver. Really, does it get any better?

I dunno know about you, but I hope I like a different girl* after today.

Court today. Wish me luck.

* For anyone not going to click that link, just let me say it’s one of the best Bowie songs ever.

Show of hands: who’s really dug into the lyrics from Crowded House? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Absolutely brilliant stuff. Dig in deep, my friends. I’ve always loved them. Always. Even when Neil Finn was with Split Enz. (I know I’ve blogged this before…somewhere in the “lost archives”…) And even since then.

You probably remember this Split Enz tune:

But this is the song I loved:

Bringing this back full circle, here’s one of the sweetest tunes from Crowded House (for the official video, watch one). This version is beautiful, too:

I know, I know, you were waiting for me to lob “Don’t Dream it’s Over” your way. Nope. You already know that song. But the pictures they paint within that song are rather amazing, aren’t they? Try “Four Seasons In One Day”. Try “Weather With You”. Try…the whole damn song library.

I’ve probably seen Eddie & the Cruisers a million and four times. I used to work in a video store and this was one of our favorite movies to play. I knew all the lines. I knew every look. I knew every note played. In short, I loved the movie in a most unhealthy manner.

I heard this song on the radio today and now you must join in the fun.

I obviously made it safely to San Diego. The flight itself was good, but I was in bad shape. My back… sheesh. Just scary. I spent a couple hours in the emergency room this afternoon. Got a shot of dilaudid and vistaril. Got a refill on my meds, finally. The attorney is working on getting me into a regular doctor. I may be having to fly back here every month or two to see someone, but if that means my pain will be properly managed, I’m cool with that.

Little Dude is here with me and the four dogs we’re caring for this week. So far, it’s been just a little noisy and lots of fun. LD and the puppy are getting along well. Molly even let him pick her up (she’s been running away from me unless I have food for her).

And now we’re going to hang out and do a lot of nothing for tonight.

I’m a bit sore, but I’m happy to be here.

Plus the original version

I really like this video. Hope you do, too.

The trip to Phoenix has been a lot of fun. I’ve taken a load of photos and, get this, managed to whittle night’s photos down to only 56, which is pretty remarkable for me. I didn’t edit any of them, just uploaded to Flickr. Still have over 1,000 from the blues festival and the pre-party on Friday night, but I went the instant gratification route for once.

Have enjoyed my time with Temple and the great dinner and convo with Miachelle, who made a long drive for just a couple hours of visiting. How cool is that?

Wish everyone could have been here. I’ve seen and heard things that will never occur again. Remarkable events. Simply remarkable.

The following was written yesterday and things have certainly changed within the past 24 hours. You should never ever go to bed angry or upset, write something when you’re angry or upset, blog…you know how it goes. So, keep that in mind as you read.

Some days…

You know how it goes.

Think I’ll just go ahead and sew my mouth shut for a couple days. I can’t win. I don’t say anything and it’s taken the wrong way. I say something and it’s taken the wrong way.

This, my friends, is the very definition of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m not playing any longer.

Still working on uploading photos from the last couple days with Little Dude. Until then, there’s Randy. Here’s a photo of one of my friends on the drums. He works with one of the big blues guys and with several other bands. He’s good. Damn good. And really cool. He makes me laugh. Just like LD. Which reminds me, LD had another drum lesson last night with Buster. One of these days, it’ll be LD on stage and I’ll be the proud mama photographing him.

I never don’t approach someone I admire. So it surprised me that last night I failed to approach someone I thought was present at a concert. Someone who is amongst my top three “Oh my God! It’s fill in the blank!” Yes, I thought it was “him” and he’s very distinctive in his look. I was speaking with another photographer and he said he’d had people coming up asking who the guy was. I’m pretty certain it is who I thought. And if it is…if he’s here in town…I will find him. Yes, I must. This is one of those rare RARE opportunities and I MUST meet him. If only to fall at his feet and let him walk all over me.

I don’t get like this often, but it’d be totally worth it in this case.

Sigh.

Keeping my fingers crossed for the Smokin’ Knights as they head to Memphis and face 170 other performers at the International Blues Challenge.

And the last one here, well, it’s probably the most artsy of all the shots. Normally I don’t go for these images, but I liked this one for some reason.

That’s what I got runnin’ around my head tonight…er…this morning. Met a cute cowboy last night.

Shut up.

It’s not like that. But somehow that doesn’t stop me from remembering a time when it might have been. Sigh.

And he sang a song I liked. Even better, I asked him if he was a fan of a once-red-hot-team and he not only knew who I was talking about, he was, indeed, a fan. Swoooooooooooon worthy at every level.

I have to admit that this whole cowboy thing goes way back for me. Back to when I was a kid. I admired those who worked with cattle and horses and sheep and chickens and hay. But by 8th grade, I was drawn even deeper into that world by a boy named Ray. He was in my class. He wore a cowboy hat every single day. And dirty boots that he’d tried so valiantly to clean before school (after mucking stalls and feeding an array of animals all before the crack of dawn) but were just too well-covered with muck and such to ever be pristine again. Ray loved to write me poems. He’d write down all the lyrics to all the country songs he knew and then sing them to me. He didn’t care who heard. Mostly, I didn’t care either. His remarkable lack of self-consciousness made his presentation that much more endearing and welcome. Sadly, I don’t know what happened to him. Yep, I’ve even expanded my comfy little FB world just to see if I can track down the boy in the hat who made me smile. No such luck yet. I’ll keep trying though.

So, yes, the seeds of cowboy lust were planted long ago and have grown tall and golden. I peek through every now and again and watch quietly. Until last night. When I stomped my ass through, cheered, and then boldly conversed. Neener, neener! I grew some balls. Or I just borrowed the ones from the freshly castrated bull in the corner or something.

A photo? You want a photo? Perhaps I’ll grant you just one. Maybe.

Let me know if you think the colors have been off lately. I’m working between two computers and the color profiles aren’t quite level yet.

I have to finish editing about a million photos. I have more of Big Mama to do, which makes me smile because she’s a delightful woman. She’s sassy, sweet, a helluva singer, and really funny. Until I get all the photos done (including the rest of the Sin City Sinners), I figured I’d get this one posted and get started on the daunting task in front of me.