Before I am Famous

I figured that title would get everyone’s attention! So me and my daughter went Lyken’s yesterday afternoon. Of those of you who don’t know it is a just a little conveinence store right up the road from my house. Anyway some sodas and lottery tickets. Which I didn’t win, oh well. So her and I leaving the store. There are two guys sitting on the bench. One is the gas delivery guy and the other is some customer. This customer is in his 40’s short kind of stocky and well not very attractive. Anyway that was important.

So they are talking about chaps. The short guy says, ” Well don’t wear chaps around here.”

Then some mumbling and then I hear out of the short guy’s mouth, ” I love assless chaps.”

Oh yeah, the image in my head was not pleasant.

Don’t get me wrong I would love to see a very sexy man wearing assless chaps with no pants on underneath. What woman would not like to see that. I love the cowboy look. It is so rugged and I don’t know I love cowboys. Even some ugly guys could be sexy if dressed in cowboy gear. Well I don’t think there is hope for this guy. All he did was imprint a bad image on my brain. Thanks a lot, pal. Now I need to see a sexy cowboy to erase this image. Got any ideas?

Have a nice day and happy trails to you. Giddy-up

I am writing today about the impending disaster in Lousianna, Hurricane Katrina. The people that live near where the hurricane is likely to hit are in my thoughts tonight. Especially since the storm is supposed to make land fall sometime tommorrow morning. I hope that many people survive and very few die. I like to think that with the new technology and better understanding of hurricanes that many people can survive. Who cares about stuff? I realize stuff is not always replacable but is more replacable then a human life. I have been evacuted once because of a hurricane.

My parents owned a campsite in Hortown, Va. Which is right over the bridge from Chincoteaque and Assateaque, where the famed ponies live. I was scared then, I was young teenager so this had to been a hurricane in the early 90’s. When I was much younger and Gloria was a threat to where I lived in Pennsylvania just north of Philadelphia. I remember my mom and biological father packing up some of our stuff and heading to my grandparent’s house a few miles away because they had a basement and their house was made of brick while our was just a house trailer. I remember the fast wind and the heavy rains as we waited the storm out. I was definatley scared that night. But I could never imagine the fear of a catergory 5 hurricane coming my way.I am glad that I live here in central PA.

I completely horrified of tornados and probably of hurricanes I have just never been in any and I don’t plan to be in one any time soon. I was offered a lot of money to attend the University of Tampa. I declined because of the hurricanes.

I wish everyone in the storm’s path good luck and you are in my thoughts.

I have noticed that nursery rhymes don’t make any sense at all. Like Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle… well you get the point. So I thought to myself I can make up ryhmes too. Maybe the rhymes do make sense they have been around for centuries. Maybe mine have a secret message that I don’t even see. I suppose that is why there are literary critics. Once I wrote a story which won second place in the Penn State Lehigh Valley Margret Smart writing contest. The teacher who wanted me to enter said that judges were up in arms and fighting about certain things in the story and what they meant. I just wrote a story, that’s it. I didn’t find any underlying meaning but who knows maybe I am gifted that way. So with out further delay here are the three nursery rhymes that I wrote. Have a nice day

Shiver me timbers
and crack me bones
I used to be limber
but now I need Doans.

Sweet little Carrie Berry,
loves her dairy.
She drinks it all day long
now she is big and strong.

Hey there Jenny Jenn Jenn
where’d you get that hen?
Down at the 7 eleven.
hey there Jenny Jenn Jenn

After her last set, Daylene and Jason sit together in the almost empty club.

” So you wanna get some breakfast?” Daylene asks and drags on her cigarette.

” I hate doing this Daylene but I should get some rest. I haven’t slept since the other day.”

” You didn’t have to come tonight,” Daylene says.

” I wanted to see you again. What are you doing tommorrow after 5?”

” I have to be here at 8 but I have to watch Chantel’s kids until she gets home. And who knows when that is. You want me to call you when she gets home?”

“Hmmm, I’ll just come over. I love kids. You like pizza?” Jason says.

“Well if you want to. I love pizza.”

“OKay it is settled then.”

They both stand and walk out to his car hand in hand. The two kiss longingly and she gives him the directions to her house.

“See you tommorrow, Jason.”

“Good bye.”

The next day, Daylene rushes around before 5 to look great. Chantel is not home but Dionne is and watching the kids. She hears a car pull up in the driveway and kicks some toys and other clutter in the closet.

She opens and he is standing there holding 3 large pizza boxes.

“Hi.”

” I brought enough for everyone.” he says.

“Come in.”

“Hello ma’am.”

” Hi there uh ” Dionne mutters.

“It’s Jason, Dionne,” Daylene tells her.

Chantel comes in behind, ” Just what we need is a white boy in here.”

“Chantel,” her mother snaps, ” He’s Day’s friend be nice.”

” Yeah well he didn’t have to come here. It’s bad enough she lives with us.”

” I’m Jason,” he says to Chantel holding out his hand.

She doesn’t take, ” Yeah well I don’t care if you are the freakin pope.” Chantel goes up the stairs.

“Don’t you mind her. She don’t like white folk.”Dionne says, ” Well lets break into the pie before it gets cold.”

After the pizza, Daylene and Jason sit on the porch.

” It must be hard living with her.”

“Well it ain’t no picnic. But what are you gonna do? I love her becasue she can be a good person sometimes. She hates that I sing in a club and she don’t.”

“You have a great voice, why aren’t you singing on records?”

“For me this is my dream come true. I have a steady job that pays good and I love it. I love singing there.”

They sit quietly for a few minutes and Daylene says, ” What are doing this weekend. I can take off Saturday and maybe we can go away somewhere like New Oreleans.”

“Maybe next weekend Daylene. I am in the reserves and I have to go for my weekend fullfillment.”

“Okay. I didn’t know you were an army man.”

“It never came up I guess. But next weekend we can go to New Orleans.”

Yesterday the three of us, my daughter, boyfriend and myself, went swimming up at Black Moshannon State Park. It was probably the last day because Labor Day is right around the corner. The dirve up there is beautiful. We drive up 220 and there is a mixture of wide open fields and woods. Then when you trun up to the park you ascend up a mountain then through the state forest.

I always loved going there since I moved here. It is very peacful. No matter how many people are there yelling and screaming and swimming. There is a certain quiet there. The water was pretty chilly. The sign said it was 74 in the water. I dont know where they took their measuremenst from, probably the the shallow end. we put carrie in her baby boat. She loved it. She was splashing and carrying on.

There is something to be said about a mountain fed swimming hole. When you jump it is cold but if you stay in the water it becomes refreshing. You get that feeling this is what I need for a long time. And then your mind drifts off to sleep but you are still awake. You are just being. Like the Transcendentalists- just being.

When I lived in New Hampshire, I used to go to Wasserman park all the time. The water was never warm but I could just stay float on my back forever it seemed. I was so happy there. A circle of evergreens, blue sky and gray blue water and me getting sun burned was a great day. I didn’t need friends or people. I didn’t anything. it was liberating to just be.

I think I felt the same yesterday brought back alot of happiness of enjoying nature’s playground.

Sorry I haven’t written in a couple of days but it is summer and the weekend and the weather was fine. Why would I be behind a computer screen? Well… I took an online IQ test and scored 118. I suppose that is good or average. I really dont know and I dont really care. But what struck me is the little blurb on me about how I answered the questions. The results showed that I am have a excellent communication skills. The title of the little blurb was word warrior. Anyhow , I am supposed to have a vast knowledge or words and such. And that stunned me because I feel that is true. I think it is amazing somtimes when something liek that is true. Well if you are interested in knowing what you are I found it at the site www.tickle.com look for the test tab. They have a variety of tests on the site. They are free to take and you get a free few sentence answer. It is worth it if you are bored and interested.

Today it an overcast day that is somewhat warm, probably the humidity, somewhat cool day. Tiny strips of fog float off the green mountains into the gray sky. I think back to a time when I was younger.

My longtime friend, Jessica, used to invite me to her parents home near Pottsville. I used to spend a whole week there. The family always made feel welcome. You know how if you spend too much time with some friends, you drive each other crazy and are looking forward to when you 2 part? Well that wasn’t the case with me and her.
We met in 5 th grade and had girl scouts together. Soon after we met I moved to a different school district, then a different state, and another state before I finally moved back to Pennsylvania. Anyhow enough back ground. We valued our time.

Well anyway the one time I was there it rained. And for some reason we were burning insence and making worry dolls. We used to do a lot of stuff like that. Or we would go for walks or swim or play cards. We always had a good time. I guess today just made me think of her and the fun we used to have when we were kids, well teenagers anyway. Those were some good times.

Even now, we don’t see each other often and our lives are very different. She is getting a PHD in New York and I am a stay-at-home mom in PA. However, she was down in June and we picked up right we left off. Not many friendships can last that long and still be friends when we see each other. I am truly lucky person to be in a friendship like that.

Daylene walks into the house to find her adopted sister chasing around her 2 young children. Devon, the little boy is running around naked and the baby Shondra is crying. Chantel looks up, ” Where the hell were you? You knew I had to be at work early. Now I am gonna be late.”

” I am sorry Chantel, I met someone. I forgot about watching the kids,”Daylene says.

” Yeah whatever, well I gotta go. You knew I am already on the shit list with my boss. I hope I don’t get fired. Not everyone can have such a hoity-toity life like you.” and Chantel is out the door trying to catch the bus.

Daylene calms the kids and sits with a cup of a coffee thinking about Jason. She is so nervous about tonight. ” Is he going to be there? What shoudl I wear?” She says out loud to herself. her biggest fear is that he wont show tonight or any night. The rest of the day is a blur. She takes a nap about 3 and wakes up at 7:00 and drives over to the club.

She spies Felix heading towards the stage. “Hey Felix, do you know if he is out there?”

“No I don’t know, Sugar.”

“Thanks,” she says trying to keep her hopes up. She walks into her dressing room and looks at her wardrobe. Selecting a slinky, shimmery black dress with slits two slits that run up both her thighs. She fixes her hair up and applies sparkling make-up. Daylene hears her cue and goes to stage.

She starts her frantically searching for Jason. Finally, there he is in the back sitting alone. He smile sat her and her heart leaps out of her chest. After a few rocking blues songs, Daylene changes the pace and tells the band she wnats to sing ‘At Last’. She sees him smiling at her. Hearing herself sing, she is drawn into a fantasy of last night, kissing me hard, feeling that rush of passion, being embraced by his strong arms.

She finishes the song and rushes off stage and they embrace again.

“For some reason I could not stop thinking about you today,” Jason says.

” I couldn’t either.”

Jason gives her a rose. ” I see this girl was seeling these. I knew you had to have one.”

“Thanks.” He takes her hand and leads her to the dance floor and holds her close and the two sway in perfect harmony. It is time for her to sing again he kisses her gently on the lips.

Why do emails say FREE something or another and in the end it is not free. I get a lot of emails, get a free computer or free 500 gift card but then you have to buy a bunch of crap or sign up for credit cards. Then when you are don you might as well just spent 500 dollars at many stores or paid the 1500 dollars for a new computer.

Yeah I should know by now that you dont get anything for free.I sift through pages and pages of crap siging up for stuff and then boom here’s the catch. What I love is that you have to pay to make money. What the hell is that about? I thought since gas is getting expesive I could work from home. Then I really would have extra money. Well in the paper there are ads for home assembly jobs you know for cd cases and stuff. I go to the website and I have to pay 35 dollars to get a list of employers looking for people to put products together.

I have tried doing the research myself and I keep getting the same old thing that what my money so I can make money. I want a job no to invest in crap. Another thing is the surverys… another site another 35 dollars and they’ll give a me a list of paying surveys that I can make so much money. I am not a lazy person and I don’t mind researching things myself. But I keep hitting roadbloacks. I wish it were easier and free to actually work and make money from home and then I wont have to drive so much and waste so much money on gas.

Oh yeah another thing I get these emails that say something like… what do you like better baskin robbins or ben and jerrys answer our survey and get 15 dollars. Well so I go through and sign up for crap that constantly fills my inbox just to find out I have to buy stuff then I am really not making 15 dollars. You would think after wasting like 30 mins looking at ads and siging up for crap they would give me the money. I know this a money making world but where is my peice of th epie. If I waste my time looking at crap then I should get rewarded. Some are pretty good offers. Maybe if I had money I would buy something. Oh well what are you going to do? Maybe I’ll win Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweeps.

I am in a bit of a quandry. In my local paper The Centre Daily Times they have a weekly section called Blue Weekly. They paper is looking for freelance journalists and creative writers. I am considering applying for the job. I think my problem is that since I am no longer a college student and I have a child that I am not the type of writer they are looking for. Since this section is geared towards college students and twenty-somethings. I am a twenty something but I feel older then my counterparts. I know the worst that can happen is that they are not interested in me. But what if they are, it would be a stepping stone towards acheiving my dreams of being a sucessful writer. I just dont know what to do. I love writing and writing on here has given a chance to open up my creative juices.

I think what gets me excited about this is that there is the thought there could be one person who reads this. Maybe not but I would like to think that there are so many people online there has to be at least one person. That is why I wanted write maybe I really do want to be journalist. At the time, I thought that was not the job for me. But who knows maybe I will go back to Penn State and finish my degree. I only have 1 and half years to go. We will have to wait to and see.