Deep In The Forrest

Tuesday... what can I say about Tuesday? I know Zig always puts up 'TMI Tuesday' posts, which are always interesting to say the least!! Zig and Mrs. Zig must have some saucy stories to tell. Except for the little day-to-day stresses, my attitude is still forging on and on a positive path, so I'm glad about that. I feel like I am finally getting to a point where I am using the past to my advantage, and while I can never forget it or the people in my past, I am trying to take that and fuse it within myself now to optimize the present. Our pasts, no matter how much we might wish that they were not, are an integral part of us. It has made us who we are now. To reject that is to reject yourself, and that's not going to work. So taking it as a real part of me, can assist me in understanding things that I do, and help me move forward. I truly feel that I am beginning to open-up and embrace the idea of the future... let's hope I can keep it up. Speaking of TMI as well as p...

How about that Full Moon last night?? OOoooohhhhh God it's Monday again!! (Ok, that is my official moan). Looking back, I felt quite more enthusiastic last Monday, but don't worry. My spirits are not dampened! If you are reading this, then I trust you have made it through to another one unscathed as well... or at least I hope so. I have a couple things for today, one is the song that I have been stuck on since yesterday. Now please don't make fun-I know that some people love Rod Stewart, and some may hate him. I'm neither here nor there, but yesterday afternoon, I began playing the song "You Wear It Well" over and over until I could sing the lyrics to this song perfectly. I don't know why this tune struck my fancy, it just did. I was even thinking it would be cool to do a cover of it. Unfortunately, Rod doesn't wear it well. Secondly, I am curious about something. In your work place restroom, do you have a "Favorite" stall? If so, will you ...

Sometimes the simplest things can be intricate and dramatic when you simply stop and observe. I went to visit Mom and Dad today and enjoyed some wonderful "Coffee Talk", and while I was there I witnessed a bit of real life nature in action. Just as I was about to walk out onto the front porch, so afraid of wasps as I am, I stopped waiting for one to fly away when I observed it suddenly trapped in the web of a very small spider. I could've opened the door, and continued on at this point, but I was mesmerized by the ferocity of the wasps 'then fate'. She immediately sprang into action, zipping down close to the wasp, but then quickly scurrying back to the top of her web, waiting for the wasp to get caught up enough and in a good position for her to pounce. Back and forth she went until the wasp, in an effort to untangle himself, got even more stuck. So then she zooms down and attempts to capture him. The wasp was significantly larger than this small, but obviously t...

I feel 110% dead this morning. But, I'm completely in Love!!! Seriously, I'm totally infatuated, and lustfully in love... With this delicious piece of cake!! It may have something to do with the fact that I overslept like a poisoned Cinderella and had to rush like mad to get going, so I had no time for breakfast. Skipping breakfast is a BIG diet "No-No!" You've heard it all before, you know I'm right and all the nutritional reasons, so I won't go into that. Just don't skip meals, your metabolism will get trashed and your body will store fat like a warmonger planning for the apocalypse. But it is Friday, and it started off badly, so I couldn't help it. Now I'm sitting here plotting what to go and binge on for food. Calling all Chocoholics, are you out there? I am a self-professed chocoholic but I have really gotten much better than I used to be. I remember a time when I would go into my Mother's cabinet and open up a can of chocolate cake fr...

Ahh it's thirsty Thursday, and it's been raining through the lunch hours here in Memphis. You all know how much I love rain (not flooding you understand, but a good soothing rain). Thrills me the way the droplets form on the windshield and then roll down, and I see many artistic things in that... just as when I stare at the clouds rolling by. Been like that since I was a child. So here is a photo I took of the windshield on my way back from lunch, cutting through a parking lot, long enough to photograph the rain through the glass, and after I took the photo I happened to notice I caught the McDonald's arches there in the storm... lol This photo I took with Barnze (Am Tellin Me Mam) in mind... he knows how I love the foot snapshots that he always includes when he and Mrs. B are out somewhere, so Cheers Barnze! Here's one for ya. I'm also going to let that foot snapshot be my entry for this week's "Half Nekkid Thursday" since my toes are Nekkid :D I kno...

I had to throw in an extra post for rain stuff. This first one is totally dedicated to Four Dinners! , because I know he loves A Clockwork Orange , and who (like me) with a whacked out mind doesn't! So here you go 4-D, it's Singin In The Rain, From A Clockwork Orange . Enjoy! Then, I came up with a few more great songs that would make a great "rainy day" soundtrack. As follows: The Beatles - Rain Garbage - Only Happy When It Rains Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have you ever seen the rain? Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song Counting Crows, Rain King Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain Peter Gabriel - Red Rain Blind Melon - No Rain Guns N Roses - November Rain Milli Vanilli - Blame It On The Rain Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again SWV - Rain Missy Elliot - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall Bob Dylan - Buckets of Rain Prince - Purple Rain Some of them cheesy, but yes, they would still be good fo...

"The guardian angels of life sometimes fly so high as to be beyond our sight, but they are always looking down upon us." - Jean Paul Richter The post you are about to read is about my late niece, Jolie Samantha. Although she passed away at the most unfair age, 20, this is not a sad post. So I beg of my sister Vickie (her mom) if she reads this, please don't be sad at all. I know that she is with us, when we are happy or sad... but especially when we are happy because Jolie loved to laugh, and found good and humor in everything and everyone she met... she was the most pure-hearted and kindest one of us all... When I laugh remembering some of the silly things we all used to do, or the silliest movies that we watched and loved, I know she is near, belly-laughing with me. It is because of a new show that I saw advertised that gave me the urge to post this about her. The show is to be called "The Two Coreys". Yeah you know them. They infiltrated the movies "tog...

I'm working on a very meaningful post, which I will be putting up soon (for anyone who might be interested, that is). It's just taking me a bit of time because I've been busy with a lot of things. Click above to visit www.coolopticalillusions.com If you have been neglecting your Aunt Jackie, and haven't been by in a few days (and you know who you are), then you have some catching up to do anyway so 'get reading!!'. If you have been faithful to me, and you come by consistently and check in lovingly, then you get kudos points... know that I appreciate you (even more so when you think enough to leave a lovely comment!) So I am working on this meaningful post, which will be funny in some ways and sad in other ways. I'll be talking about one of my wonderful nieces, Jolie, who my family lost a few years back, and the terrific way that she affected all of our lives--as well, it is going to include some of the cheesy 80s-90s pop culture that she loved so dearly, and...

"It is not how old you are, but how you are old." - Jules Renard Has the bad moon phased away? Has the smoke cleared? I awoke this morning, albeit with a crick in my neck, but with a strangely amazing great attitude and feeling. 5:00 a.m. and we headed to the gym, did some cardio (neck still barely turning). I took some Advil, hoping it would loosen the tightened muscles or whatever was causing the pain to my neck and shoulder. Still, I felt so good which is totally unlike me facing a Monday morning. (I mean seriously, "Monday" AND "morning" too?) Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we ate healthy most of the weekend instead of totally blowing our health regime. Then again, maybe it was the fact that I went to bed early enough not to wake up feeling like a zombie on heroin. I don't know, I just know that I am starting it out well today. I know this is good news to a lot of you, who have begging of me 'more positive' outlooks and w...

Don't ya just love weddings?? Although my mother has always scorned me for never having an "official" goo-goo gah-gah wedding, I remain glad in a way that I never put myself through all of that. Weddings are the kind of places that you get stupid memories like this (above). A groom being so nervous that he can't blow out the unity candle, or someone getting blitzed at the reception and doing something crazy. So maybe I should have had a real wedding... who knows. Richie and I just got up one day, threw on jeans and sweaters and headed down to the Courts, got the only JP that wasn't out for the holiday (being December 28) and got hitched! Then he was so freaked out and frozen over the whole deal and the fact that we'd actually gone through with it, even though he was the one who brought the whole thing up in the beginning, that we never really went on an Official "Honeymoon". That kind of sucks. I never get to travel to many places, and I always wish...

Ok, it's poetry time again! Would love your input on my latest... Grave Charade This is the Deathly time of life searching for the light digging beneath the grave to see the other side of night This is the time before we're born as we live inside the shadows still tattered and torn, waiting Looking forward to a new day outside this warm retreat when silence spills over into the noise of morbid parades Charading around they all dance in frocks of false hopes trying to fool us once again into feelings of peace and serenity Knowing that one day they'll be free just like we are now With disdainful sighs we measure time to the Death Watch Beetle's song swaying towards the exit when these seconds may become a thousand years. © 2007 Jacqueline Wood ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's Friday, so I'm trying hard for a relaxing day that doesn't over-stress. I do have plenty to do, and as always it looks like the weekend before me is going to be another noisy and fast one. If I can just accomplish a couple of things, it makes me feel better. We're in the middle of getting a brand new Air Conditioner/Furnace unit. Yesterday we had to go through the process of picking it out, and it is being put in, it's not quite done yet. This unit that we have had was probably put in when the house was built... that would make it around 30+ years old I guess. So it's about time... still, home improvement is not my bag baby! haha. We've been doing our workouts, lifting, cardio etc... but my back has been bugging me. It's stiff, it tends to threaten to 'go out' on me (this is in the lower back), so I'm wondering if I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go on back to my chiropractor and just stay straightened out. They really nab yo...

This post is dedicated to "the guys"... or anyone who loves women I guess. All of you probably wonder what Memphis offers that other cities might not really. "Smack Dab" in the middle of the Bible Belt, the city still boasts fully nude strip clubs, and plenty of debauchery! Aside from this, why do you think people live in Memphis TN? Is it the delicious Barbecue? Is it the scenery? Music History? The Drivers? Maybe it is the business opportunities. Memphis has a decent job market and seems to draw professionals from all over. That being said, what does "Bikini Cut" mean to you? It probably makes you think of women grooming their nether regions in such a manner as to be presentable in a bikini, does it not? Well that's one way of looking at it. However, a Memphis business owner saw it as a way to increase his success. How did he use "bikini cut" do accomplish this, you might ask?? Well, it is a lawn service called Tiger Time Lawn Care . Tiger...

(We salute you!) Apparently, by authority of Her Indoors , I Rock! This is a great honor, and I express my sincere gratitude to you, as well as all of you who made this moment possible! It truly is rare that I win awards, or win much of anything for that matter, but occasionally, the stars align and I do. So, along with the honor of the "Rocking Blogger" award, I also get to award this to 5 more bloggers of my choosing... (which would include Her Indoors, if she hadn't already received this award). However, I couldn't narrow it down to 5 I had to cheat and do 6, and it's my award to give away, so I can do that! :) Congratulations (in no particular order) goes to: Jinks at Jinks Writes and Rewrites . Why? Because she has such an original outlook on life as well as sense of humor. Her blog reflects that. She is always very supportive of me and uplifting, and an all around great friend. So, Jinks, You Rock! Next, our Friendly Neighborhood Rockdog . Why? Of course f...

I miss my sisters. I miss the good ole days. I miss my best friend, Tamra. I miss Lenny Kravitz's dreads. I miss riding around all night with nothing to do and nowhere to go, but ending up there, doing it anyway. I miss being 20. I miss my parents. I miss good music--a lot of today's music truly sucks! I miss the snow in winter. I miss magic in my soul. I miss every love I've ever known, though I don't miss the jerks (they know who they are). I miss trips to the moon, and stargazing late at night. I miss kissing in the rain. I even miss myself sometimes...

Weekend zipped by fast, probably due to our gig at Kudzu's Bar & Deli, which went pretty well. Once again, my band, "S.A.P" would like to thank Kudzu's very much for having us there, they are always very cool. The weekend, oh let's see... Friday night, after work, Richie and I headed out to a little Mexican place which was nice. Relaxed a little, he had a few brews, we came home and just goofed off at the house the remainder of the night, and I had thoughts on preparations for the next day because we were supposed to be taking band photos before the gig, and I had tons to get done (I thought so anyway). So a friend of Richie's came by for a while. That pretty was pretty much it for Friday night. Saturday, I wake up around 11:30, or close to Noon, take the normal amount of time to completely "wake up", which consists of checking e-mail, having a bit of breakfast, zoning out for a bit. Then I threw myself together to venture out shopping for cloth...

Am I not the Vixen?? :) Got the gig tonight at Kudzu's... Should be fun. I'm off to shop for an outfit and "vixen" up my hair and make-up... Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Happy Friday, and good luck. That's all I have to say today. Everyone have a great Friday... I have tried. The only good thing that I had happen today was I found a dollar. Guess it's better than losing one. x

Well let me quench you. Originally, Richie showed this video to me. I find it quite funny and I hope you will too... I'm going to have a busy day but I just wanted to share a laugh with my blog buds.

I've been thinking a lot about those feelings I've had lately of needing to get away from it all, and feeling like a recluse half the time; wishing I had some secret spot to go where I could just be chilled out with my thoughts... Lately, just about everything has been getting on my nerves or draining me of all my physical and emotional energy. I'm seriously starting to wonder, am I officially " Burned Out "? So, I googled "Burned Out" and found numerous pages describing the symptoms of it, and comparisons between Stress and just being Burned Out... I couldn't tell for sure, so I took the blogthings quiz... It tells me: You Are 93% Burned Out You are extremely burned out. You work too hard, and you're not getting the results you deserve. It's time for a life change, as soon as you can manage it. You're giving away most of your energy to something you don't even enjoy. Are You Burned Out? Anyway, what can you truly do when you are tra...

Wow... harsh realization here. Consequently, I feel a great urge to get a pedicure and buy some Gold Bond Foot Spray...lol. "Seacrest, OUT!" Since it appears that my shoes are so effective for killing the formerly 'unstoppable' cockroach, I will be making these (my used shoes) available for purchase. The price might be a bit steep though, since it takes me at least two days and a bit of foot work to get them to this toxic state! So, I had another tough night going to sleep for some reason, I put in the movie "Boogie Nights" , which I haven't watched in a long time but was reminded of it when I posted the segment where Dirk Diggler is trying to be a singer, recording "You've Got The Touch" . Funny stuff. So I'm thinking I will fall asleep pretty quick while a movie is playing, and I put it on "repeat" just for good measure. Nope. I get interested in the flick, and watch nearly the entire movie before getting even slightly grog...

That's right. Sunday hacked up a hairball and named it Monday... I said it. It happens every week. If there's one thing I hate it's hairballs, there's never anything good in a hairball. I'm so sick and tired of not having anything interesting to report from my weekends. I could once again repeat the numerous things I didn't accomplish, but that is just me torturing myself. I shouldn't put that on you guys. Life has gotten so monotonous and uneventful for me. I long for the magic and excitement that came with 'always getting into something' and 'never sitting still for long'. What the hell happened to me? Anyways, I'm going to try to do something about this, and I will keep you abreast of my progress and status on becoming the old Jackie I used to be. The one you guys see a glimpse of every once in a while. The person I was before I ever showed my face online, because I didn't have time to think of technology. I only had time to live l...

They might be using this for Autistic children, but maybe These Robots could help other people with their Social Skills. Read: Using a Robot to Teach Human Social Skills

My drummer, Rob sent me this. It was totally amazing. At first, I had no idea what the guy was painting. I thought it looked like a dragon, or something. Then when I got to the end, I fell out of my seat. This is the sort of thing that makes me feel totally inadequate and talentless... I hope you enjoy it like I did. Seriously, you gotta watch it! Click here: YouTube - Paintjam Dan Dunn

I know for some, it has been a trying week since the holiday on Wednesday kind of threw many of us off track, but it's all cool because it is officially Friday! Many of you guys did some fun stuff for your Fourth of July holiday, mine was rather uneventful with the exception of going out for dinner, playing a little World of Warcraft , and then spending my late evening monitoring the neighbors across the street (this is the south, remember? My neighborhood has a lot of 'down home, country folks'). They had at least 50 people in their front yard, and were setting off a high-number of fireworks in the center of the street. So every time a loud one would go off, I had to peek out the window or door and ensure that there were no flames coming from my rooftop, and that none of their pyrotechnics had shot into my carport. It made me feel kind of bad... like I was the snotty, testy neighbor... the one who always bitches when something eventful happens on the block, or the one who ...

How I'm Feeling today, Seriously!!! I thought I'd take a break but share an e-mail that a cousin of Vickie's (Nana) and mine sent out, thought it was kind of cute. WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee. Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box. Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.. Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl. And her husband is on the back of the milk carton. WOMEN'S REVENGE "Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet , I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, "but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally." UNDERSTANDING WOMEN (A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE) I know I'm not going to understand women. I'll never understand how ...

Today is Independence Day (July 4th Holiday) here in the United States. Everyone enjoy your celebrations, and please stay safe! Above all--please do not copy this guy, as you can see he got his in the end! So I'm going to go relax myself, but I'll see you guys soon! Cheers to everyone... All my British friends, thanks for the happy wishes--and remember I love you guys! If we hadn't beaten ya, we'd be having a drink together right now! :) j/k Oh by the way, someone in West Virginia finally found the pot at the end of the rainbow! Congratulations to them! Who'd have thunk it? LOL.

Hi everybody! I'm just sitting here thinking about how it really sucks that this week's holiday (Independence Day-July 4th) is happening on a Wednesday. It couldn't be a worse day--right in the middle of the week. Unless you happen to be one of those people who have vacation time that they can take to bridge the holiday and the preferred weekend. Example: If I had 2 vacation days available, I would have taken them for July 5th and July 6th. That would have been a FIVE DAY WEEKEND!!! Oh Woe is me. So I've been in one of my 'listening to sappy old love songs, and feeling nostalgic' phases. Why do I do it to myself?? I'm talking some early to mid-90s stuff, even down to stuff that reminds me of high school... I really cannot fathom the lost time between here and there. I don't know where it went. If I had known it was going to slip away from me that quickly, I would surely have never blinked... not once... What things might I have missed by sleeping? I have...

You guys are so funny sometimes. Such curious creatures. I understand it--I really do. You need to know how things work, and you need to perform your experiments. However, I have to agree with the author of this site, that only a guy would do this (go on, click it): ~ONLY A GUY WOULD DO THIS~ Now, read it and weep (or laugh, like I did)... I would like to sincerely thank this man for being sweet enough to NOT do this to his cat... Humanity still exists at least in some places of this world, and obviously so does stupidity!

Chalice, over at 'Sand In A Box' has given me the 5 thought provoking questions that she promised, and I want to share my answers with you all... Hope this is good, and you enjoy and maybe glean something out of it. :) If you could have your choice of a dream job what would it be and why? I would say to be independently wealthy enough to not have to have a "profession". I would love to be able to spend my time working freely on web development work, maybe freelance and devote quality time to my music and get back to oil painting. I know we all have to "make a living" but all-too-often, we get too caught up in the professional day-to-day "J.O.B." and we don't devote enough time to sheer joy and ecstacy that we deserve in life. As yourself this question when you start to take things too seriously: "At the end of my life what would I regret more, not having "worked harder", or not having "enjoyed my family and my life" ...

Here around Memphis, you're not likely to find the words 'Cold' and 'July' spoken in the same sentence. I was up way too late last night (but strangely, up earlier than I was even yesterday); when I was just about to go to bed, I looked at the computer clock and actually got a shock when I saw "July 1". I mean, how did it slip up on us this fast?? Entirely HALF of the year, evaporated before our eyes. I haven't had a chance to write as much as I wanted to over the weekend, but things just happen I guess, and time flies. I often wonder how "accomplished" everyone else feels. Do you feel like you are able to get things done in your spare time, you know? Make them most of time off, or your weekends?? Usually, I start the week on Monday feeling like I haven't done anything worth anything... Someone give me lessons!! Recently, on MySpace , I've talked a bit about music with a very talented former classmate of mine, who's music I found ...