an influencial singer

this is an entry that i posted almost a year ago. i am re-posting because i have added a photo that i recently found that i refer to in the post...you can view it at the very bottom.

i have been a long-time fan of elton john. as a ten-old-year i had several of his tapes and remember my older brother complaining that's all i listened to (which was pretty much true). he tried to heavily influence me with van halen, yes, and u2...to name a few. i didn't really have an option to dislike van halen seeing how our home was decorated with smoking babies with wings and long, blond-haired men posing in spandex. anyway, back to elton. in sixth grade, i wanted to dress up like elton and perform to crocodile rock for my peers for an english class presentation. so what did i do? dressed up, borrowed a friend's blow-up crocodile pool float (remember those?), and danced around the room lip-syncing to crocodile rock. holy heatwave batman! what in tarnation was i thinking??? i guess that's why they call it the clue(less). i was clueless...no wonder i had such a hard time in middle school. i was such a dork. such a dork. to make things worse...i was elton john for halloween as a ninth grader...yes, i said ninth grader. kinda of embarrassing. the school that i attended in ninth grade allowed you to dress up for halloween, so off i went bearing a top hat, bald cap, leopard-laced red jacket (that my mom wore as her going away out fit at her wedding, ha), black parachute pants (compliments of my brother), and white golfing shoes. oh, and i can't forget the huge yellow, squared-rimmed sunglasses. all of the kids at school were like, who in the heck is she? i was so offended. :o) my dad gave me EJ's box set collection for christmas that year (tapes, of course...didn't have a cd player until my junior year in high school), and subsequently various vinyl records to collect over the years. my mom took a friend and me to his sleeping with the past concert in the early 90's, and she let me go up front "by myself." i was in heaven. it was pretty amazing (now that i think about it) being just a few yards away from the man while he played your song on his grand piano. i have to say though the obsession has worn off to a huge degree, but i can't deny the man that influenced me as a kid. i haven't been so much of a fan of his music since the mid 90's, but the greatest hits volumes are definitely on the ipod. he holds a special place in my heart. here's my latest creation:[17 x 22 in. / medium: ink, pastels, and oil pastels]
yep...this is me. ninth grade. halloween. so i was wrong about the white golf shoes...i guess they were too big...so i had to settle with white slip-on keds. so what do you think? are you laughing?

thoughts on a tuesday night

so i am sitting here on our couch. all by my lonesome. this semester david teaches a really cool documentary course at centre on tuesday nights and teaches a grad class on thursday nights at UK. so tuesday and thursday evenings are pretty much my time to "be." (i get woo-ed by some students on thursday nights to watch grey's with them.) it's kinda weird because for the past five years, david and i have pretty much been inseparable. it's been awhile since i have been "single" and had evenings to myself. i put my time in during those days...didn't get married until 27, so i had many solo nights. very glad those days are over! so wheel of fortune is muted in the background. we somehow messed up programming our VCR, and it didn't tape 24 last night (yes, i know...tivo, aly. we don't have cable...not an option). i was going to watch that tonight while i am by myself, but nonetheless, i decided to use this time to jot some thoughts. i am feeling pretty happy right now. the former keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter of mylon lefevre & broken heart left a comment on my blog earlier today (thanks to our carlos connection). so i am feelin' kinda special right now. paid me a compliment that humbled me. i also received a random email today from a nun from new york complimenting me on my cards and artwork...which is interesting because i don't really have much of my work accessible on my sight, but i was very touched by her comments. a freakin' nun was scoping me out! cool. it's amazing what so few words can do to make you believe in yourself. if i had someone tell me on a daily basis (besides my husband) that i created beautiful work, there is no telling what i would crank out. and to me that is so pathetic because i shouldn't rely on others' compliments to feed my motivation. holy spirit inspires me but i am so guilty of allowing the enemy to squelch my gifts. i know i can draw, and i know i can write, so why in the world do i not do it consistently? i sometimes blame my environment, my resources, and that i am not stimulated by my surroundings. lame, i know. trust me, i'll find an excuse. if i were immersed in an art culture i honestly think that i would create more pieces. well, i don't live in decatur, riverside, chattanooga, or on sanibel island, so what am i going to do about it? i'll be back.

holy crap!!! the dude on wheel of fortune just solved the bonus round puzzle "tangy flavor" for $100,000!!! i don't think i have ever seen $100,000 (before taxes) won. and he guessed the puzzle with T A _ _ _ _ L A _ _ R. it was described as a "thing." how in the world did he get that? holy mackerel. i am such a dork.