Vacation's all I ever wanted...

Christmas vacation is going very well here for the Brown family! My children are enjoying themselves thoroughly and Phillip and I are taking it easy. Each day, we come up with some craft or food to make and a way to get out of the house. So far, so good. Previously, Miles has cried when school was out, but this time she is giggling and happy. I think she understands that everyone is out of school, not just her. (At fall break, she seemed to think that the rest of her class was still at school having fun and that we were just keeping her home. We could not convince her otherwise, and she cried like a mopey, depressed thirty-something.)

To think that tomorrow is Christmas Eve is astounding. The weather is so nice and mild. The sun is shining! So much for a white Christmas, huh? That's ok. My childhood memories always seem to include beautiful sunny Christmas days in Louisiana, so I'll talk a nice mild Tennessee Christmas.

We had planned to go to Liberty tonight to Mandy and Neil's house, but it looks like we are going stay in town. They have three more puppies to give away and need to meet some potential adoptive families for these three, so it would be hard to get together. They came over Friday night and I was able to give her the Little Wayne painting I commissioned from Jeff Bertrand. She loved it. We gave Neil some leather work gloves, some bungee cords and a copy of Capote. I guess you just have to know Neil to understand that gift combo. :)

I am very ready for Friday morning. Santa is bringing so many wonderful things this year! In fact, I may have gone a little overboard. Possibly. Slightly. But not really. We have lots of gifts under the tree and will all be getting many things that we wanted...but every penny spent was cash money, so that isn't too bad, right? No lingering debt after the holidays means it is ok, right? But I digress.

2009 has been a strange year. We've sent a child to kindergarten and we've passed along how good it feels to keep on volunteering in this community. We buried Papaw Joe but we've celebrated birthdays with lots of little friends just learning to be themselves. I went back blonde. Lola became a true LSU fan. (She's watching tv, wrapped in an LSU thrown right now. Don't prod her or she will ask you, "How 'bout them tigers?") The entire world said goodbye to MJ. We congratulated Britt on her engagement.

Merry Christmas to each and every family, with warm wishes for 2010!

All up in their faces

I was just reading US Weekly. In it, a few "stars" claimed that they had nose jobs just because of medical issues and absolutely NOT due to looks. Now first, I should clarify that I don't give a rat's if someone wants a new nose. I wanted and got new boobs three years ago. Then I promptly gained 40 pounds, but that is a whole different subject. Back to the intended subject, I know one family member and more than one friend that had a deviated septum repaired...and none of them look different at all. Which leads me to the point that if you ONLY had it for medicinal reasons, then why does your nose look dramatically different? Exactly. Just own up to wanting a new nose, people. I would not personally mess with my face. Then again, I think I have good features on my face. I would absolutely mess with my flabby arms or double C-section abs. I'm just sayin'.

Second, I just read where Holly from that Playboy show Girls Next Door eats one fast food/junk food meal a day and nothing else but Raisin Bran. That is a horrible dietary influence on young girls!

I miss the early 80's, when chics were hot and still considered 'skinny' in a size 8 or even size 10 jeans. I mean, really. Next time you are with a friend who wears an 8 or a 10, look at them. They are NOT fat; they are slim. Some fo them might night be totally toned, but they are slim! Crap. I'm 5' 3", and when I wore a 9/10, I had no shortage of interested cute, popular guys. They liked the fact that I didn't look like a seventh grader. According to Hollywood, anything over a 2 or maybe a 4 is a total lard-butt. It is ridiculous.

I'm officially ashamed of my three year subscription to US Weekly.

This Is It

Thank you Michael for all of the old memories, but I'm so glad I was able to see this side of you.

What can I say about the Michael Jackson film, This Is It? Well, for starters, it was phenomenal. The footage truly makes you feel like you were there, a part of it, like you knew him. He was far more normal in the film than he was projected to be in life. He was far less effeminate, noticeably less strung out, far more normal, more humorous and particularly humble in regards to his dancers, musicians and singers.

I left the film so happy that I was part of history. I saw the film at the earliest possible point in time for anyone that wasn't someone to M.J. himself. I saw it when it premiered to the world. I felt included and a complete resurgence of all of the feelings that were felt when he died. I hope that any Michael Jackson fan gets an opportunity to see the film in theaters. It was heart warming. I was really sad when the credits began. I could have watched another hour of his rehearsal footage. It was that good.

Of course, there were a few drawbacks. Someone sitting behind us clearly had a foot fungus of the corn chip variety and we smelled it frequently throughout the showing. We also got a few funny looks for wearing the sparkling gloves that I made for Jen, Meag, Emma and myself. Those things didn't change my opinion of the experience for the worse. By the way, thank you, Jen, for inviting me! I hope your sparkling glove makes a nice addition to your scrapbook!

If you call yourself a fan, you must see This Is It. Then again, if you call yourself a critic, then you truly must see This Is It. I think you'll reevaluate your opinion.

Funkin' out in every way

I like a plethora of old tunes. I even enjoy a good punk show in person, though I prefer something that makes you want to dance or some classic country. Give me some Vern Gosdin, some Alabama, some George Jones. Give me some Red Hot Chili Peppers, some Phish, some Police, some Conway Twitty. Of course, Casey would shoot me if I forgot to include Lorettie. Give me some classic Dolly, some Duran Duran, even give me some Metallica. Hit me up with some Jay-Z, some Dr. Dre, some Ice Cube, some Tupac. Just make sure there's some funk in there somewhere.

I don't know when my adoration of funk music began. Based on what I see in my children, perhaps I've always liked that deep-down desire to move my booty to the beats, horns and percussion of funk. Miles and Lola both openly 'wiggle' to the beat. Maybe I was the same way. I don't recall.

I do clearly remember just how much I loved "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio in the spring of 1994. I've always loved Atomic Dog by George Clinton and Fame by David Bowie. I just love the funk. Phillip and I saw Parliament at 328 in 1999 and it was a phenomenal show, as expected. (Phillip has seen them five times.)

Now I wouldn't classify funk as my favorite genre...more like my favorite genre to funk out to, which seems pretty redundant. On the flip side, there is virtually nothing that can beat a live band with horns playing classic 60's hits like Mustang Sally and Stand by Me. Then again, most of these bands play a fair amount of funk in their setlists. Generally speaking, I'd have a hard time declaring a particular genre as my favorite.

I count Fleetwood Mac as part of my short list for the very best bands of all time. How could you ignore Gypsy, Landslide, Don't Stop, Silver Springs...just to name four hits for the band? Stevie Nicks even inspired the bridesmaids dresses for my wedding.

Furthermore, I do believe that Dan Fogelberg's Same Old Lang Syne is one of the greatest musical compositions in history. Go ahead. Laugh. That song gets to me. Every. Single. Time.

In regards to music and memories, well classic country wins that category, hands down. Nothing can take me straight back to childhood quicker than some of the country music that my mom or dad loved. Granted, certain songs from 80's pop and rock can do the trick, but 'This ain't my first rodeo' by the late, great Vern Gosdin, is pretty hard to beat.

TG&Y was the bomb...OR...how I spent part of my childhood flying to Denham Springs in a Bonneville

I've noticed lately that I have a blog reader or two in Denham Springs, Louisiana. The funny thing is, a 1980's version of Denham Springs is a place that I am quite familiar with. I've never lived in Denham, but I have lived in Bayou Barbary, about 25 minutes away. My mom would sometimes decide that we needed to go to town after school, and off to Denham we'd go. Drive through the Hardees right there on the main drag by Popeye's Chicken and then to modeling, TG&Y, whatevs. We were rolling with the flow in the back seat of the ol' Bonnie. That Pontiac Bonneville was smoooooth. White with a navy blue vinyl top and navy velvety seats!! When my mom got behind the wheel and gave it some juice, man oh man, ol' Bonnie sure could fly.

Furthermore, my dad, the *ever-so-handsome-and-he-knows-it* Dean Felder, is from Denham Springs: he played basketball, was a 4-H officer and was voted most courteous for the class of 1952, which also happens to be one of the classes that had to finish out the year in temporary tents after the old high school burned. *He's not a jerk about it but he does spend way longer than most men fixing that hair.

Proof is in the pictures: My daddy (2nd from the right) with his fellow 4-H officers, 1951 or so

Memories of Denham Springs for me surround trips to Aunt Nell's house, with her little dog Penny yipping around. Uncle John had all of his WWII medals in display cases and we loved to stare at them. If I remember correctly, I think he also had a case of some rattlesnake rattlers. We also went to Denham weekly to take modeling lessons at the American Legion with Ann and Lisa Carpenter. You could do your modeling thing, up there practicing your strut and turns as 'Cool it Now' blasted out of the jam box and then just trot right on over to the snack bar to buy a small bag of an off brand of chips from a veteran! How cool was that? Sometimes after pageants, we would go to the McDonald's near Kmart and the interstate. I also can't forget to wax nostalgic about just how much I loved a trip to the now defunct chain store, TG&Y. Why, TG&Y is where I got my thoroughbred horse stationary in or around 1985, for Christ's sake. Not to mention the day my mom found a cookie jar that looked like a stack of pancakes for Sis (Allyson), who loved pancakes, natch!

Sometimes you were in Denham Springs for a wake or funeral. The funeral home was on that main drag past KMart, and they had those little bitty paper cups with the two-loop handle for coffee. I haven't been in there since before 1986, but if I went in right now, I know I could go to the left and down the hall to find the coffee, except I don't drink coffee. By the way, people in other parts of the country don't call it a 'wake'.

I have lived in Tennessee for over 20 years now, but I still remember. Let me know who you are if you're reading my blog, peoples. I want to know who's stalking me!

Denham Springs 4th grade class, '46-'47
(Daddy is in the 2nd row, all the way to the right)

TESTING! TESTING!

Is this thing on? I am attempting to upload a blog posting.

Rock of Love disappoints...

I can not begin to explain how disappointed I am in Bret Michaels. Taya?!?! Really? Seriously? I can't believe he picked Taya. She is just nasty. Very dated style. Obnoxious fake, monotone manner of speaking. Just wrong.

Site changes

So tonight I did something that I've been debating since October. I changed my website. The dilemma involved came to fruition when I had my hard drive replaced in the fall. My hp laptop #2 crashed. Somehow, only a portion of my files were lost. Sounds great...except the missing items included my 'checkbook register', my files for my site and some priceless pictures (Walt Disney World and more!)

Phillip has worked on a new site for me using more professional programs like GoLive, but he hasn't been able to prioritize finishing it lately, as he's been doing a lot of ads for a specific company. My new site is not finished, but the website has been outdated since late fall. I can't make quick changes and re upload the ftp. I lost the files. This means that I had to decide whether to leave the outdated site up, or to upload a new, simplistic site for use until Phillip finishes mine. I finally went with uploading a new, simplistic site for temporary use.

Though it isn't as visual as my previous version, it includes all of the same info, but with new photographs of current merchandise for the Spring/Summer 20009 season. I decided that it was worth to me to show my new work than to have the older site with all of the styling, just until my new one is done. I have seen a preview of the redesign and I absolutely love it! I can't wait to see the finished product.

If you've never been to http://www.brownbagstudio.com/ or http://www.dustybrown.net/, check it out.

Feather hair accesories...

Handmade by me

$12

(SOLD)

Creative writing 101

I have to find a way to organize my thoughts enough to create a novel. I don't think there is anything in this creative world that could make me as proud as publishing a well liked novel. I know I'm capable of the creative writing and the vivid imagination. I study the books that I read and make a mental note of the things that I like about each. I just can't get focused enough to sit down and tap out a true outline and then a novel. I'm fairly frustrated with myself tonight.

I do know that I've certainly decided that I would never want a novel written by me to have a slow start, and that I'd like to write southern fiction. I also know that I'd prefer that my novel be set in another time, and I think this is where I'm running into my writer's block. Perhaps the first step is to do more research on my preferred time frame and gather more knowledge for accuracy in writing.

Another thing that I do know is that one day, I hope you'll walk into a bookstore and see a popular southern fiction novel set somewhere between the 1940's to 1960's with my name on the cover.

The nightmare of Chuck E. Cheese...and how I wanted to beat a skank down.

We took Miles and Lola to Chuck E. Cheese tonight. Several people have told me that C.E.C. sells beer. I should have looked into it, because I think I needed a sedative after, oh, about five minutes.

The place was packed to the gills. We had to wait a minute to enter and then we were seated by an employee. The place was just swimming with mainly whiskey tango families. I can't forget to mention the Stinky McSstinks. Literally, I was overwhelmed with the smell of sour crotch as I waiting in line behind some real nice yet hygienically challenged people. I had to take a step or two back, pretending to be just stepping back to see another game machine. The number of skanky white women with caked on makeup and children with stripper names was phenomenal. The number of men in desperate need of a haircut, a shave and and a toothbrush was something you couldn't ignore.

We battled the hordes long enough to accumulate 641 tickets, as we brought in 270 saved up points. We got in line to choose our prizes. A smart alec little boy, about seven years old, turned around and smarted off to Miles that he was in line first. Ohhhhhhhhkay. We weren't trying to cut. In fact, he kept lingering out of the line and then jumping back into place and we never said a word...but if you know me, you know I told Miles just to ignore him and not to worry about it since he kept getting out of line anyway. I didn't say a word to him. Now, not 60 seconds after he disrespectfully barked at Miles about her place in line, he invited someone to cut in front of her and join him in line. Really! Again, if you know me, then you do know that I did say something this time. Forget the fact that it turns out that the person he invited to join him was his sister. How was I supposed to know that, since no parent was in sight. He should not have smarted off to Miles about the line if he intended to disregard the line behind him.

I nicely said, "Ohhhhh, no, I'm so sorry, but you just made an ugly comment to her about the line, and you are not going turn right around and invite someone to cut in front of her when she is waiting her turn." I wasn't mean about it. I didn't raise my voice or act confrontational. I just said it nicely to make a point. Yes, I know I said it to someone else's kid. I wouldn't necessarily have said it to someone else's kid had there been a parent in sight.

A moment later, a skanky girl, probably about 22 years old, steps over and asks me if there's a problem, flashing a condescending grin in an attempt to intimidate me. The boy who seems about seven years old is her son, and it seems that the girl he invited to join him in line is her daughter, Destiny. DESTINY.

The 'lady' has long brown hair and an insane amount of caked on Cover Girl foundation coating her bad skin. She has been in a different line for prizes with Destiny. I say that I'm simply making sure that my child has someone watching out for her, as she was rudely told that she was behind him in line when she wasn't trying to cut, only to have him turn around and invite someone to cut in front of her and that I let him know that this wasn't acceptable.

I won't go in to all the details, but the girl repeatedly tries to ask what the problem was and why I said soemthing. After explaining twice more that he smarted off about my child's place in line, only to turn around and invite someone to cut line, I just tell her to find a manager if she has a problem with it, but that I don't owe anyone an explanation for taking up for my daughter and calling someone out for cutting in front of her, as the lines were already long. By this time, her bleached blond friend has joined in, smarting off and referring to me in third person, like I am not two feet away. I ignore it. They keep it up, antagonizing me to argue with them. I continue to ignore it as I help my precious girls pick out some sparkly combs, a stretchy ring and a stretchy bracelet. We decide to save 200 points for another visit.

We get our prizes and leave. I get a serious case of the stink eye as we pass the skanks on our way out. Phillip and I start laughing when we make it outside. He says, and I quote, "They all smelled like cigarettes anyway. Don't worry about it."

The point of this entry is that you can't even go to Chuck E. Cheese and expect people to have a small amount of respect for strangers. I don't even remotely regret that standing up for my child caused me to have a stare down with some skank. I am certainly not afraid of someone just because she's someone that would give her daughter a stripper's name.

Wartrace, really?

So, it won't actually materialize, but Phillip and I found a beautiful home in Wartrace that we'd love to have. It was built in or before 1900 and sits a large lot in 'downtown' Wartrace. Just looking at the pictures make me feel like it could foster my aspirations as a writer of southern fiction! I can just picture my girls climbing the huge, old trees in the yard or playing Red Rover, Red Rover with friends on the lush green grass.

Like I said, it won't ever work out, but I can dream right? Actually, the price isn't the problem. The price is very right, but it would be 29 miles from my parents' house, which is something that I can not do under any circumstance. Yes, it makes me feel like my life would be right out of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' or could be written by Flannery O'Connor, but I can't be that far. I am well aware that some people will think I'm silly for that, but those people don't have my parents. My parents help me out so much with my kids, plus, I would totally panic over not seeing them as much. I can't move any farther away than I already am.

Oscars

I am so happy that Heath Ledger won an Oscar! I also love Kate Winslet, so I was happy to see her win. However, that hair was terrible. I love vintage styles, but something about the color and the combed back look just didn't work for me.

The category winners that I really paid attention to were:

• Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture.
• Sean Penn won for his role in 'Milk'.
• Kate Winslet won for 'The Reader'.
• Heath Ledger won for 'The Dark Knight'.
• Best animated feature was 'WALL-E', which is awesome because we love that movie in our house!

PS: an update on Sunday

Today was a better day! I got some jewelry work done, I listened to my Ipod in the studio and I enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.

Well tomorrow's another day...

For some odd reason, later this evening, I began to feel very melancholy about certain things. I found out that yet another neighbor had something stolen from his porch back in January, and it really made me dwell on how much I want a new house. I want a huge yard again, like our old house, and I want to feel safe that someone won't be sneaking up to my door to steal my belongings. I don't have the energy to focus on it right now, but somehow my mind wants to. For some reason, it is making me miss living outside of the city limits/in the country.

I also found myself missing my girls too much, even though the break is so needed right now during winter. Phillip and I went to Fuji and had a fun date, so why I'm focused on one evening wihtout them in a negative way is beyond me.

I think I am just overwhelmed this evening with how bad the economy is, how much I want a new house, how if I did decide to go back to work next year, all of the jobs that I see are offering like $9/hour, which is just ridiculous. That won't even pay me to work after I pay daycare and expenses for clothes, lunches and gas. I am just very blah at the moment, and I can't sleep.

Here's to hoping that I wake up tomorrow without these clouds hanging over me. I need to focus on the way that I am blessed to be able to stay at home with my children, how I have a decent house, a good car and a healthly family...but man, that is hard to do at this exact instant.

I just feel trapped by this terrible economy. Granted, there are some phenomenal deals on houses right now. (If you're in the market, tons of houses in town in good neighborhoods are under $200k for 2300 to 3000 square feet and decent sized back yards.)

DISGUSTED

I am absolutely disgusted right now. Just fuming. Just in denial. Just ready to strangle someone for the stunt they pulled today.

Last night, I was asked to donate clothes to a family that lost everything in a fire via FreeCycle. I went and got the Goodwill stuff I had already set aside and then went through my closet for more things. I gathered together a heaping laundry basket of nice clothes. Several pairs of pants and jeans still had $60 to $100 tags on them. Some jeans, some pants, a dress and a shirt had been worn once. Two shirts were still tagged, brand new. I can't remember what else I put in there.

I put the basket on my stoop at 10:05 AM in case the lady came while I was upstairs with the kids. At 10:18, it was gone. I had asked the lady to leave my laundry basket, so when it was gone, too, I checked with her. She hadn't picked them up.

Do you realize that this means that in about 12 minutes someone trespassed right on up to my front door and stole the clothes intended for a family that just lost everything? I really, truly hope they choke on their dinner tonight. They must be so proud of themselves. The truth is, whoever stole my laundry basket had no idea whether it was my personal laundry that I might be fixing to leave with or what. They just took it upon themselves to steal from my front door. I am disgusted with the piece of excrement that did this.

Rock of Love, part II

The former porn star that cries all the time is PSYCHO and she scares me. She sounds like Miss Piggy and she wails about everything. She lays in the bed sobbing and writhing about how it is so unfair for people to hold her past against her, yet she didn't bother did get her GI-normous breast implants removed. That might be a starting point if you don't want people to focus on your history in porn.

We won't be going back to Fulin.

I'm gonna keep this short and to the point, since I'm tired.

We went to Fulin Asain Cuisine today at The Avenue. We were there for an hour and 10 minutes. We asked for a to go box and our check as soon as we got our food. It took THAT long to get an order of vegetable fried rice and chicken curry. The fried rice was disgusting. So much so that I asked that it be taken off our ticket, which I never do. Our server was MIA for probably 25 straight minutes at one point. He was not a good server at all. We won't be giving it a second chance.

To recap, it took forever, like Phillip and I were getting antsy in our seats and way past wanting to just leave. The fried rice tasted completely foul to me and like seafood to Phillip, who thinks it had fish paste in it. GAG! The server was very non-chalant about the whole thing and quite dismissive of our bad experience.

Rock of Love

I am so happy to announce that the new season of Rock of Love is pure craziness, full of hot mess after hot mess!! By the way, Brett Michaels wants us to know that "this sucks for him" to eliminate contenders BUT that if "you want the most hotest, out of control footage you've ever seen", you can find it at VH1.com. Oh. And he also wants you to know that his hair is composed of his own natural hair extensions and 'some of the finest hair extensions Europe has to offer'. Really. That's a quote.

Sicko

Currently watching Sicko...don't generally care for Michael Moore personally...but GOD I love his documentaries...