Single and Sassy

I played a gig recently with a friend and fellow co-writer Terry Floyd. Afterwards we rode around listening to each other's music and complementing each other on how well we each played and sang. We work together at the Greenville Fire Department and we're both struggling wanna be songwriters.. with the occasional urge for a cigarette every now and then.. We were traveling down a gravel road which I've never been down before and I asked him for a light and he throws me a lighter and says: "keep it." Course, I say thanks and light my smoke with it.. There in the orange glow of the lighter flame came the full moon of the lighters surface. I just kinda smiled, took a puff and stuffed it generously in my pocket.
A Few weeks later I was in Lakeshore Cafe where I sometimes play and had just finished my last set when some of my fellow smokers got in a discussion about ugly lighters.. "I think I have the ugliest one", I said as I broke it out as did everyone else bearing an ugly or unusual lighter. "Where do these things come from and who designs this stuff?"
Suddenly I had this vision of a one on one board meeting in one of those small factory offices... you know the ones with the grate stair case that you can see through the steps on your way up? I saw a scruffy looking boss man with hair sideways from the newly removed yellow hard hat which lay to his left on the desk. The brainstormer is a younger dude with a few wild tatoos and frayed, dyed hair... (a bold move for a blue-collar manager, you know.. dragging some punk-rock lookin' dude onto the design board of the Acme lighter company). "I got it!" the young man blurts out nearing the end of a long, drawn out creative design meeting... "A clear lighter... with a blue cap and fuel lever, and I see a pair of red lips floating around.. inside the FUEL! And just behind the lips... on a baby blue backdrop.... in big pink and purple letters.............. SINGLE.... N' SASSY!"

(Long Pause) Then the boss man grins slowly as the vision comes into focus....

"I like it.... I LIKE it!"

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But then we looked on the bottom of the lighter and it says: "made in china"...

So... same story just different characters with Chinese accents.. just use your imagination...

Wasp Encounter

I stepped out onto the back porch just a few minutes ago... I just happened to have the camera around my neck (because I am planning on taking some pics today as Angela and I go Thanksgiving shopping).. We've been renovating our house so we still have piles of lumber lying around in certain places. I noticed this wasp on one of the old boards.. It looked confused and seemed to be scraping wood with its jaws. I guess it was just doing its job at the wrong time. Just this past Friday it was around 25 degrees out and here two days later its about 55.
To be perfectly honest I hate wasps with a passion! I believe it all started with this one incident when I was a child visiting my cousins in Redwood, Mississippi. I remember they had this old bus next to their house. We were playing hide n seek and I thought I would climb up on top of the bus and get inside or something. Anyway, I stuck my fingers underneath a part of the grill and *ZAP! I got stuck by a wasp on my tender fingers.. Since then wasps have always been after me! And I'M the one who got stuck! So I hate the site of them and they hate the site of me.
However........ today I felt sorry for this little guy or girl. Maybe it's global warming.... maybe it's just a stray that for some reason lost its bearing or got kicked out of the hive. (It happens). I believe the poor thing was just confused because of the weather and got left out in the cold. Or he/she thinks it's spring already. Either way what ever happenes I wish her/him well... but if he/she shows up early spring in my tool shed then that's his/her abdomen!


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UPDATE!! I just found out on the net that it was probably a female looking for a place to hibernate for the winter...

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

At a certain time of the year (often around autumn), the bulk of the wasp colony dies away, leaving only the young mated queens alive. During this time they leave the nest and find a suitable area to hibernate for the winter.

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EXTRA!!

THE BEST FLYING INSECT KILLER: (costs about 50 cents)

1 get a spray bottle or garden pump sprayer (preferred)

2 Mix warm water with a generous amount of Dawn dish liquid, mix it up and drench the wasp nest and wasps.... God help you if you miss!

Keep your face covered!

What I've Been Up To

Well.. I know I haven't blogged in a while so I'm going to try to catch you all up on "What I've Been Up To." I'm working on my 3rd album right now so I've been at Michael Brenza's house. He's my friend/studio engineer who has a room in his house converted into a studio. The cd is going well. Anyway.. Michael's house is in Leland, (bout 10 miles east of Greenville). It's a nice little town with culture, big beautiful houses and a deep mocha colored creek that runs through it.. I'll give you some pics of Leland later.. Speaking of mocha, one thing Mike and I do regularly between sessions is visit Miss Molly's Coffee Shoppe on the corner of 3rd and Main in Leland. (That's enough info trust me.. its a small town you know). Miss Molly's is really comfortable and roomy. St*rbuck's eat your heart out! I had a nice time today when I went to the coffee house alone. Not that Mike's no fun but he was getting a hair cut so I thought I would have a hot beverage.. (Coffee is great by the way.. just thought I'd mention that). I got a good solid look around and got a few great ideas.. I'm always inspired by artwork. Ok nuff said.. Go by and visit Miss Molly's some time and tell her Aubrey say's Hi!



Miss Molly---------------->