Deep In The Forrest

Have you ever noticed that all of the old remedies taught to you by your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother (or the fathers) and so forth work better than any over-the-counter product you can buy? Well if you are saying "No" right now, then you need to get in touch with your roots child! I was just thinking about this today as I read this prevention.com article entitled: 19 Bizarre Home Cures That Really Work . One of the ones that stood out from this to me was about Duct tape. You know we have all made the joking generalization at times that Duct tape works for everything. In fact a popular saying is, "There are only two things you need in life, Duct Tape and WD40. If doesn't move and should, use WD40. If it moves and shouldn't use the Duct Tape." lol It's funny but in a lot of ways kind of true! :) So just when I thought I knew all of the uses for the stuff, besides the obvious ones, we find: Home cure: Duct tape Use it for: Warts Yes, this re...

Dion for short... lol I know it is an oddball name. :) So be it. Have a look at the latest edition to our family! I think he's picking up HBO with those ears!!!

Today being Friday seems like a good day to just ramble... get "whatever" off my chest. Whatever, I say, because I don't know what will come out and I will just play it by ear (like I do most stuff). I've already mentioned on Facebook that we decided to adopt a new puppy. He is a German Shepherd and supposed to be full-blooded. However, I don't quite know if I trust my husband's assessment of these things because when he surprised me with our first dog, Sal, he asked me "Do you want a German Shepherd puppy?" and I pictured this cute little 'tootsie-roll' looking baby dog, all fuzzy and cuddly, and he brought me home a full grown "Something-or-another". LOL :) Sal (short for Salvador, after Salvador Dali , is some sort of cross between possibly a German Shepherd and I think maybe an Akita. He has a thicker coat than a regular GS, and has a fluffy curly tail. He is also shorter in stature. His markings are very similar to the Shepher...

Sylph shared This Funny Video today on Facebook . Ahhh the auto tuner. It's funny, when they do spoofs and all, but I don't quite understand why they want so much to use this. It may have its place, in parts of songs for effect, but now artists are getting lazy and beginning to use it all the time . When did it happen that it is not necessary to carry your own tune, be able to sing in order to be a singer? It just kind of sucks if you ask me. But nobody is really asking me. Certainly, I have had zero calls from these multi-million dollar recording artists asking my opinion on singing technique and whether or not they need to incorporate the auto tuner into their work. They have enough cash, they're not even worried about it. Now, they even have this I Am T-Pain iPhone Application so people can sing right into their phone and get the same effect. More money... Interesting. Why can't I invent something useless like that? Where did this Auto-Tune phenomenon come from??...

That's right, I am going to dive into some of my Hot Springs Photos and participate in this week's Weekly Words Challenge (WWC) brought to us by the ever-amazing Tink (formerly of Pickled Beef, but still on the net). This week's words are, as you may have guessed, "Sit" and "Fall" . I'll try my best to get a few in here. Fog on Lake Hamilton, Chilly Fall Morning Fall Is Beginning To Show In The Trees Caught A Cool Spider Web. But the Stairs Would Be A Nasty Fall! A Comfortable Place To Sit And Eat Your Dinner Fall Sunrise At Lake Hamilton This Little Guy Decided To Sit And Enjoy The Sunrise With Me

So I broke my posting vows for October on Friday, and I am not going to do a "make-up" post. We were in Hot Springs, and I only had my Crackberry, and honestly just didn't feel like typing up any blog posts from the tiny little excuse for a keyboard. On top of that, really didn't have anything to say. Hard to force out something all the time. Usually I am very good at these "post-a-day" rituals, when I choose to partake, but I just haven't had much of interest on the brain lately. Nothing that ought be shared with mixed company anyway. ha-ha I jest... sort of. The weekend sped by alarmingly fast, and honestly we didn't do anything. We ate lunch, we ate supper, we watched movies. I made coffee on a chilly fall morning and drank way too much of it. I took photographs of the same views of the lake as I took last time. I especially love the mornings in October there on Lake Hamilton when it is foggy. However, I still feel like I did not capture much of i...

We're hanging out in Hot Springs for the weekend. We thought it was about darn time to be spontaneous again. Having to plan for every little thing and slaving to a clock sucks, so it's nice to get away... I'll be snapping photos and posting more. Happy weekend!!!

Just Listen...

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." ~Albert Pike What brings meaning to your life? We are all selfish individuals to a degree, that's the flaw of human nature. It's the raw and basic want for survival. So, we do not always think clearly enough to realize how much happiness it brings back to us when we do selfless things for other beings in the universe. Work, I guess is one of those things we do for survival, but in the course of our careers I am sure we have all had our moments when we helped others and it just made us feel good to do so. My jobs? Some might say I have been the "Jackie-Of-All-Trades"... Babysitter (13 years of age) -This totally sucked. The kids were bratty, they found their Dad's Hustler stash, asked me questions. I was marred for life. I never babysat again. McDonald's - "Drop some fries, clean the bathroom. Drop some fries, clean the bat...

All of my life, I have been funny. Not funny as in "strange", although I am also strange, but funny ha-ha. I enjoy making people laugh, and I seemed to do that easily since a very early age. Then I began blogging. Originally, I wanted to make my blog a compelling literary work, one of great humor and inspiration. Sometimes that falters though, and I feel like my humor waxes and wanes. I am jealous of those who have such witty commentary and enthralled followers, and I often wonder why I don't have more than I do as long as I have had this blog. If everyone knew me in daily life, I am honestly the one who keeps people laughing, so I don't know what happens between there and here. I guess I just get tired and find more solace and relaxation in venting my feelings, and occasionally emotional or inspirational posts. Truly, I wish my blog was funnier and that people enjoyed it more. Now, where was I? The other day I took on the self-appointed exercise to write a "lett...

I was born in a small town. No, this isn't the intro to a John Mellencamp song. Okay, so I wasn't actually born in the small town, I was born in Memphis, which is not the largest city, but certainly much bigger than this Mayberry-like utopia that I grew up in. Mine was a dry county (still is). I just find that so funny in a way, how many counties are really still "dry" these days? That did not stop people from drinking of course, as the nearest liquor stores were only 7 miles either way across the county lines. Small town life, although it seemed so lame and boring as I was growing up, had its 'advantages'. Everybody waves at everybody. Traffic was never that bad. It's annoying sometimes, though because everybody knows your business. If they don't know, someone else does know and tells them. So nothing is ever much of a secret around those parts. I don't know... As I was on my way home from Mom's the other day, riding my bike, I went down old ...

The Sound Of My Neice's Voice is... Hauntingly beautiful. We have been singing at my piano together since we were kids. We've always enjoyed music together like that, and today was no different. We did this for an old-fashioned church event for my Mom, well, they keep requesting us back and we do it not just for Mom but because it's also nice to uplift people just by the sound of our voices. Ahh to move a room with just a song. I love to sing, singing anything really. Rock, Blues, Soul, R&B, Punk, Grunge, etc... as long as music moves the soul, I am in! Ginger's voice moves the soul. Whether you like Gospel or not is not something I am asking, nor am I interested in. I don't wanna hear anybody's religious views, that's not what this is about. Seriously, don't "God" or "Anti-God" me. Gospel music is not my forte either (you can thank the little ol' blue-haired, tone deaf church ladies for that). However, I do like Soul, R&B...

Please excuse Jackie for not blogging on time Saturday, she had explosive Diarrhea. Signed, Jackie's Mother No I am only joking. I did not have explosive Diarrhea... I was nowhere near a computer keyboard though, so I have been unable to post until today. Stay tuned.

Am I o.k.? Yes, I'm fine... nothing wrong here that I can't take responsibility for myself. I know that everything is up to me, and when I am stressed or dissatisfied, it is up to me to make the changes that are necessary to get me chewing the greener grass. So no worries, I don't need any strange advice or bleeding ears to bend, I know you all have your own grievances, so keep on rockin. In other news, the search for blog ideas took me to another generator, which I am guilty of playing around with sometimes just to lift me out of a creative rut. I found a few that I have been using lately to get my topic going. Ain't no shame in it ;) This one is the following challenge: Write a letter to someone you need to forgive . Recipient? Yours Truly! Coming later tonight... or maybe tomorrow. Depends. I have to gather my thoughts and get it together. So, check back!

This is a very cool song by Maxwell. I love what it says. For all those who have loved and lost, fly your pretty wings... [Click Here To See Official "Pretty Wings" Music Video] Time will bring the real end of our trial One day there'll be no remnants no trace No residual feelings within ya One day you won't remember me. Your face will be the reason I smile But I will not see what I cannot have forever I'll always love ya I hope you feel the same. Oh, you played me dirty, your game was so bad You toyed with my affliction Had to fill out my prescription Found a remedy I had to set you free. Away from me To see clearly The way that love can be when you are not with me I had to leave ...

How do you feel when you are by yourself? This morning found me thinking about the times in my life that I have truly been alone. In retrospect, it has not been all that often. Siblings notwithstanding however, because as I have stated before, I grew up more like an only child since my sisters all married and moved out by the time I was age 4. They were adults, I was a baby. ...'The Baby' The good point about that was that they had children, and made me an aunt at a very young age, so I still had plenty of company as a child, or "all I wanted" I guess you could say. I rarely had a multitude of people around, so I got kind of used to being a loner. My husband, on the other hand, grew up with hordes of people around whether he liked it or not, and he is used to that. He's comfortable with people just helping themselves, stopping by unannounced, and crashing all over the place (people he knows, that is, not as much on people he doesn't know very well). I'm n...

I have once again had such a busy week that I wasn't able to collect any photos for this week's WWC (Weekly Words Challenge). This Haunts me ;) The last photos I took were from the Bowling Green trip, and I haven't been able to take any fresh ones, I even tried to archive dive but none of the existing ones would do either. This sucks. I'm just doing terribly! :( If I happen to get anything and am maybe able to do a late one, then I will try. We'll see. So nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen... just a broken down, tired-azz blogger. The spirited girl full of life formerly known as Me. A Dead Bulb.

I might have time for another post later this evening, but in the theme of NaBloPoMo's "Haunting" I thought we could take a moment to remember one of the best scenes from "The Shining". Roll On October! :) If you can't see the video, Click Here

It Was All Just A Beautiful Dream.

This subject chased me down and made me promise to address it, so today I will tell you about moments in my life that I always remember, in essence moments that Haunt me. 10 Unforgettable Moments In My Life Yesssss... Where to begin? I guess I should try this chronologically, so allow me to rewind for a moment. Unforgettable Moment #1: Being Potty Trained Early memories are fuzzy for most people, and I'm no exception. I don't recall any of my infancy, but I do have a toddler memory or two. I have a vague image in my mind of my parents and this green potty chair, I remember thinking that the potty chair was kinda gross. I also remember getting to graduate to the 'big toilet'... It was a moving experience. Unforgettable Moment #2: Shopping for a Beanbag My Daddy was one of those Dads, you know this because I have written so many things about both my parents. Good things, loving things... because for my parents there are no other words but good ones. I was still a toddle...

Today I have conjured up a whole slew of cool junk to blog about this month as I begin trying to make it through the entire month of October for my NaBloPoMo theme of "Haunted" . The rules of course are simple, just blog every day for the month. It's not forced, of course, it's a choice to become a part of the blogroll. I do it some months, when I feel I can, and others I know I won't I just do not participate. However, I enjoy it, so here it is. October! I will begin to tackle a lot of cool topics which might help you to get to know me (Aunt Jackie) better in the coming days, so I invite you to join me and read, comment and bring your friends! For today, though I would simply like to remember a one-of-a-kind, musical genius. The man, the legend, "Freddie Mercury". A voice like none other, and his song is still so haunting to me. Long Live Freddie Mercury

I thought aside from my WWC photos the other day, I might share with you the other few photos I captured, which were nothing to write home about but at least some documentation of the trip. I'll get to those in a minute... first I'll blog. Well it is the first of October... my favorite month of the year! It denotes fall, which is officially here, but not quite painted up in all its glory just yet. I love the colors of fall. There's just something magical in the crisp cool air that breathes new life into our tired souls (mine anyway). Yes, 2009 has been a rough year for so many of us. More trials, more lessons and if you are reading this then you are winning. You are still here, and you still have another day and another chance to do something that makes a difference... whatever that may be for you. We have a tendency to get so caught up in what is wrong in OUR lives, and what WE don't have, or for the shiny bauble that we can't seem to afford that we forget there ar...