Adventures in Non-Lawn Mowing

So, I came home to mow the lawn and I started the mower and I hit the gas pedal and… nothing. I hit it again. Nothing. I called my dad. He made me do all the things I’d already thought to do, but this time with him on the phone and that didn’t work. So [...]

Forget It; This Day Can’t Delight Me More

She fucking dedicated the devil poem to me. Holy shit. Edited to add: Nope, it did get better. Someone brought gingerbread!

Farewell, The 9513

The best country music blog in the country is no more. Barry Mazor says something I just want to highlight, considering the Feministe brouhaha: I do believe that The 9513 has been providing a service that’s genuinely unique, a place where country music of any stripe—yet with contemporary mainstream country very much included, respected, and [...]

It’s all Hank Williams Junior’s Fault

Have I told y’all my “Hank Williams Junior is the nexus of everything that’s wrong with white people” theory? Ha, well, shoot, the whole theory is right there in the title. I should give it a shorter name, like “The Bocephus Theory” and then, when you got to the part that explained it, I could [...]

The Blue Egg

There’s a blue egg in the middle of my vegetable garden. That kind of bums me out on the one hand. Poor lost potential bird. But on the other hand, it’s very beautiful next to my tomatoes, which are coming back even after being eaten. Did you see this? Sometimes the roar of stupidity in [...]

I May Have to Learn New Skills

The lawn hasn’t been mowed for two, going on three, weeks. On the one hand, fortunately, we have no grass left in the yard… okay, very little grass left in the yard… so it doesn’t look that bad because the weeds can only grow so tall. But the Butcher has late nights all this week. [...]

Wade in the Water

I tried my hardest to download the maps featured on this post, so that I could print them out and wrap myself in them and make small gurgling noises of pleasure all afternoon, but my computer kept crashing from the effort. I understand why we don’t let the river reinvent itself constantly any more, but [...]

I Didn’t Answer the Big Question

But no, I did not tell my dad about the Devil’s Threesome. I have left it like the sperm squeezing chapter towards the end of Moby Dick. If he comes to me complaining about hot devil sex, that’s how I’ll know he read the book. Ha ha ha ha ha. You know, the more I [...]

The Awesome Devil Poem Moves Closer!

Remember a while ago when I was all excited about the poem about the Devil I got to read? Well, it’s in this month’s issue of Apex. Fabulous Memphis poet, Elizabeth McClellan wrote it. You should try to get a hold of it, or talk your library into subscribing. Edited to add: It’s less than [...]

“What Do We Care?”

Oh, my dad. Here’s why I love him. I was having a shitty day and I thought, “Well, this day can’t get much worse, I might as well call him up and tell him about the book.” And so I did. And I said that it wasn’t autobiographical, but I was afraid people might take [...]

‘Dwayne’ is a Good, Country Name

Yesterday, my boss said, “Oh my god, guess who’s set to star in and produce the Charley Pride biopic and I went down the list of black actors I thought had enough clout to star in and produce anything and who looked even vaguely like Charley Pride. I had no one. “Not Denzel. Not Morgan [...]

Ooo, This Nice Thing Happened

Check this out. Ha, no pressure there! No, it’s awesome. Wow.

When the Levee Breaks

Steve Ross has an excellent post about the flood, reminding people that, even if they are on high ground, they need to make sure their escape route remains open. No good being on high ground surrounded by water. But I did want to address this part: Last night the US Army Corps of Engineers blew [...]

High Water, Rising

Watching the Mississippi River flood is… I can’t even say, really. It’s terrible and yet, once you know history is being made, that the water is going to be higher than ’37, higher even than infamous ’27, it’s hard not to get almost… I don’t know. Is there a word that means “giddy with horror?” [...]

In Her Place

Jill over at Feministe has put up a great post about the bad dynamics at work in the feminist blogosphere. I have a lot of thoughts, because, if you’ve been around for any period of time, there are a lot of old sore spots. But I’m not sure it’s really worth rehashing. The feminist blogosphere [...]

Bin Laden is Dead

I stayed up to watch the official word from the President. I didn’t feel jubilant at the news or horrified at the people who were jubilant at the news, which seemed to be the two main vibes on Twitter last night. It’s a solemn occasion, I think. At least, that’s how I feel about it. [...]

Oh, Blah, Headache

All day long I had a headache from the front trying to move through. It wasn’t a very painful headache, but I was just tired and groggy all day. I got my park done and had coffee with friends and that was pretty much it. Ugh, just a complete wasted day. No dishes done, no [...]

Be Safe, Mississippi River Communities

Ugh, floods. Yuck. They’re talking about near-record flooding along the Mississippi. As you know, they were talking about blowing a levee north of Cairo to try to keep Cairo above water. I don’t know, honestly, how much good this will do for anyone south of Cairo, because I don’t ever remember the Ohio being this [...]