Life is SO INTOXICATING!!!!
November 30, 2006
And giddy.
And, tonight, c-c-c-o-l-d!
Which, before I delve into utter silliness about the upcoming travels to Los Angeles and Ojai, reminds me that House the Homeless needs YOU! And if you don’t want to help with the Austin drive, just run out and buy the same things, keep them in your car, and pass them out or take them down to your local shelter. Here’s the info on our drive, though, in case you want to send in a check for, oh, I don’t know, $720. Or $10. Ten dollars is good, too!
7th Annual Thermal Underwear Drive…
(This is a group I work with as often as I can…House the Homeless does so much for the homeless in our community!!!!)
You can help ensure homeless folks stay warm this winter with just $10…(or $120!) Your contribution will supply them with a full set of cold deflecting thermals! $20 will outfit them with thermals, a hat, socks and gloves! $25 gets them all of the above PLUS a reusable rain poncho! This holiday season, give the gift that gives people WARMTH. Please send your tax free contribution to :
House the Homeless, Inc.
p.o. box 2312
austin, tx 78768
I’m really OVERJOYED to be heading to McCabe’s in Los Angeles, where I have had so many magical moments!!!
I’m going to see Brian and Angie and John M. and John Black and Aunt Kevina and so many loved ones I can hardly CONTAIN MYSELF!
In fact, why SHOULD I contain myself?! What’s with that? Maybe I’ll just be a jumpin’, crazy happy ever lovin’ bowlin’ fool on the stage, like the old days at Caravan, where I just went off on tangents and didn’t worry about whether I was talkin’ too much…and we all laughed until tears ran down our cheeks, and we didn’t even remember what we were laughing about…just the joy was everywhere, you could see it…it was there! Floating around, landing on our heads, patting us on the back, cheering our hearts with hope and happiness.
Ah, yes….the good old days are here again! Come out and feel the love, baby!
Austin Guitar Town was also incredible…Seeing my 10 foot tall guitar with all of the others (50 in all!!!) had my smile wide as a country mile. The girls and I ended up playing freeze tag on the City Hall lawn. Ray Benson had to bend over twice, he’s so gianormous, just to wish my kids a “hello”…in that low voice of his. And my new friend, Jonathan Clark, showed up with a film camera and shot loads of footage for…what?….a TV SHOW that is a surprise and I can’t tell anyone about it yet…but just know that this time next year…it is going to be a tee shirt and a theme song that will be EVERYWHERE!!!! (Lots of delirious delightful giggles here…sorry you can’t hear them….just pretend…did you hear that? No, not that car backfiring, silly…that other sound! The sound of one happy woman, chuckling with deep mirth over plans for the future!)
And I have a decorated Christmas tree up at the University Co-op that will be auctioned off to raise money for the UT Elementary children..run by the ever groovy Ramona Trevino, super principal…along with Earl Campbell (his Heismann is downstairs! I am not kidding! It is the same size as the dining hall of the Titanic, and twice as heavy!), Ray Benson (hey! there he is AGAIN!), Kathy Valentine (yes, of the Go-Gos!), and a host of other local/national celebs who all donated a tree for a tremedous cause. My tree was decorate by the very children I mentioned above, and they all showed up at the bash tonight, dressed in Burnt Orange UT garb, and we burst into “Feliz Navidad” as bulbs were popping and parents were smiling. Thank you, Brian Jewell, for inviting me to be a part of this!!!!!
Oh, I haven’t mentioned the Chuy’s parade. The float we rode on was presented by GSD&M;…Let’s just say there was a lot of shout outs via my big mouth, lotsa tom foolery and sing along business…and Austin was right on time, singing along and the driver of our float was so smooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth this year. Not one jerky moment. Ususally, I bang my teeth into the mic at some point, but not this dude. He was captain of my heart! And my grateful teeth. GSD&M;and I already have MIGHTY plans for what we are going to create for next years float…yes, yes…come down and see for yourself…you will not believe it! Make plans now. The curbside gets full purty darn quickly!
posted by Sara Hickman at 09:38 pm
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Tampons (And How They Make Women Sick Inside)
November 26, 2006
Have you heard that tampon makers include asbestos in tampons? Why would they do this?
Because asbestos makes you bleed more … if you bleed more, you’re going to need to use more. Why isn’t this against the law since asbestos is so dangerous? Because the powers that be, in all their wisdom, did not consider tampons as being ingested, and therefore wasn’t illegal or considered dangerous.
Tampons have been around since the 1930s, and women have largely taken their safety for granted. But over the past three decades there has been a staggering increase in illnesses that were once thought of as rare, including endometriosis, fibroids (growths in the uterus), pelvic inflammatory disease, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), and cancer,
causing some to take another look at those ubiquitous products.
The worst offenders were Procter and Gamble’s ultra-absorbent Rely tampons. According to the book “Soap Opera: The Inside Story of Procter and Gamble”, the company dismissed consumer complaints about the tampons for years. A 1975 company memo disclosed that Rely tampons contained known cancer-causing agents and that the product altered the natural organisms found in the vagina. Rely tampons were taken off the shelves in 1980, but many women claim they left a legacy of hysterectomies and loss of fertility.
After this crisis, carboxymethylcellulose, polyacrylate rayon (a derivative of wood pulp) and polyester were outlawed for tampons, but viscous rayon can still be used, which concerns some observers. “Viscous rayon can still amplify toxins to some extent, and the lowest risk [for TSS] would be had by using all cotton,” says Dr. Philip Tierno of the New York University Medical Center. Today most tampons are made with rayon, conventional cotton, and undisclosed chemical fragrances.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insists such tampons are safe but so did they insist that the now banned components were also safe until it was uncovered to be harmful. How much longer will it take for these to also be banned? Or rather, how many more women need to be diagnosed with cervical cancer or other dis-eases before their lives are considered valuable?
This month’s Essence magazine has a small article about this and they mention two manufacturers of a cotton tampon alternative. The companies are Organic Essentials @ 800-765-6491 and Terra Femme @ 800-755-0212.
Here is the scoop:
Tampons contain two things that are potentially harmful: Rayon (for absorbency), and dioxin (a chemical used in bleaching the products). The tampon industry is convinced that we, as women, need bleached white products - in order to view the product as pure and clean. The problem here is that the dioxin produced in this bleaching process can destroy
body cells
Dioxin is an acidic carcinogenic (cancereous-associated) and is TOXIC to all body cells including immune and reproductive cells. It has also been linked to endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men - for both, it breaks down the immune system.
Last September the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that there really is no set “acceptable” level of exposure to dioxin given that it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate. The real danger comes from repeated contact … I’d say using about 4-5 tampons a day, five days a month, for 38 menstruating years is “repeated contact”!
Rayon contributes to the danger of tampons and dioxin because it is a highly absorbent substance. Therefore, when fibers from the tampons are left behind in the vagina (as it usually occurs), it creates a breeding ground for the dioxin and other toxic acids. It also stays in alot longer than it would with just cotton tampons. This is also the reason why TSS (toxic shock syndrome) occurs.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
Using feminine hygiene products that aren’t bleached and that are all cotton.
Other feminine hygiene products ds/napkins) contain dioxin as well, but they are not nearly as dangerous since they are not in direct contact with the vagina. The pads/napkins need to stop being bleached, but obviously tampons are the most dangerous.
So, what can you do if you can’t give up using tampons ? Use tampons that are made from 100% cotton, and that are UNBLEACHED. Unfortunately,
there are very very few companies that make these safe tampons. They are usually only found in health food stores. Countries all over the world (Sweden, Germany,
British Columbia, etc.) have demanded a switch to this safer tampon, while the U.S. has decided to keep us in the dark about it.
In 1989, activists in England mounted a campaign against chlorine bleaching. Six weeks and 50,000 letters later, the makers of sanitary products switched to oxygen bleaching (one of the green methods available). (MS magazine, May/June 1995)
WHAT TO DO NOW:
Tell people. Everyone. ESPECIALLY YOUR DAUGHTERS!!! Inform them. We are being manipulated by this industry and the government, and YOU CAN do something about it!
Please write to the manufacturing companies:
Tampax (Tambrands),
Playtex,
O.B.,
Kotex.
Call the 800 numbers listed on the boxes. Let them know that we demand a safe product - ALL COTTON UNBLEACHED TAMPONS.
Find out more by going to:
http://www.phmiracleliving.com
ph Miracle Center
16390 Dia Del Sol
Valley Center, California
92082
US
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:41 pm
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The Motherlode of Cookies Tour
November 19, 2006
Today, Kristin and I have sworn to be cookie free!
Last night, we stayed here, at the Holiday Inn in Bath, Maine, and were all driven outside by the clanging of the fire alarm, hotel employees walking down hallways, asking everyone to go stand outside, across the street in a parking lot. I walked down the hallway, feigning terror, grasping Kristin’s arm….we ran into another
guest, and I said, “The FOG! THE FOG IS COMING! Aaaaaaaah!” to which the other guest gave me a nasty look and rushed past us down the stairs (thirteen steps to the door.) Kristin and I were beside ourselves with laughter. You can’t kid about anything anymore.
“The Fog” was the source of the alarm (feigned and otherwise.) It seems downstairs in the bar area, Poke Chop and Other White Meat had turned on their fog machine while pumping out “Pink Cadillac”, and this was what had set everything into motion. (Personally, I was thinking the name of the band would be enough!) We stood with said band, the night dark and quite cold, and when we mentioned we, too, were musicians, they asked us what GUY WE PLAYED WITH.
Ha ha ha. Why didn’t I just say, “Oh, you know…Colonel Mustard and His Lead Pipes in the Hallway!”. I always think of these things later.
Chocolate Church is just that…an 1850’s church, built in the Empirical style (I think I got that right?), with vaulted ceilings and a slight draft. The wood floors have had thousands of feet scuff them up to where the wood is soft as leather, and the stage is settled down, facing up into 300 or so seats. Lovely people, lovely crew. We were served a chicken parmigiana with spaghetti and spinach quiche, a side salad and cranberry juice for dinner, and, there they were for dessert…homemade cookies from Marnee. Ohhhhhhh….that was my last one! I promise!
The show was fun…we were given twenty minutes to do our thing, and I was bowled over by the standing ovation…I had to hug Kristin immediately, the sound was so deafening. Then, I sheepishly asked if they wanted another song, looking over to the back stage where the executive director was smiling, and asked him if that would be alright…he nodded yes, so we sang “I Wish You Well”, and everyone sang a long. It felt so much like “It’s A Wonderful Life”, especially afterwards, when, thankfully!, people came out in large numbers and bought cds…this was an unpaid gig, so I was relying on sales to help us with gas and hotel expense.
I definately want to come do a full show at Chocolate Church, and also a children’s show…so we talked about that before leaving with Amy and her husband, John.
Today we are driving to Rhode Island. The weather up here has been picture-perfect. Speaking of which, we did take a picture of the fireman in the lobby last night. And the firetruck. And the flyer with “Poke Chop and the Other White Meat” displayed at the front desk.
TUPELO/LONDONDERRY
Ok, I have played in a zillion places, in a bah-zillion different scenarios, but this place takes the cake. First of all, Scott, the owner, is HILARIOUS….dry and infectious…the minute we walked in the door, he and I were like brother and sister, dropping jokes left and right, zingers and laughter. He made Kristin and I feel like we’d known him all our lives.
But, alongside that…the club! Wow! It is stunning. Soft, warm, peach colored walls, round oak tables with matching chairs, the stage lit with just the right amount of artist-friendly lighting (meaning: I can see the faces in the audience!)…and THE SOUND. FIVE STARS and I can’t go on enough about how confident it makes one feel to have a superb master at the board, nudging your voice here, removing subtle reverb during the chatty parts, quietly (and swiftly) popping it back on as I started to sing…yes! I DEFINATELY want to return to this neck of the woods. Ok, no cookies here….but the chocolate cake…oy!
We stayed at Laurie and Neale’s house in Sudbury, starting the night of Club Passim….and MAJOR KUDOS to Cindy, as well…she ran sound for us at Passim’s, and it rocked, too. We had a wonderful night, and, at the end, I was making up theme songs for members of the audience…I sang about Misty and Adam and
several other folks…we were all laughing as the words magically appeared in my mind and out through my mouth as my guitar seemed to keep up with the musical end of the story. Adam Klein came out! That was AWESOME. (Some of you may remember him from WBOS, where I first met him in 1991, singing for the concert in the park, inviting Boston’s homeless up on the stage to sing with me. One woman, I think her name was Betty, made up a very long 20 minute song about cockroaches…) And my dear old friend (well, he’s not old…but we’ve known each other longer than half our lives) Brad came out and it is always a happy occassion when I get to see him, albeit too short and I haven’t gotten to meet his fantastic wife, Amanda….yet!
Next day, we didn’t have anything to do…although, darn it! I should have thought to ask Laurie and Neale if we could have done a show at Fox Run, their exquisite, grey and purple home…but, you know, it’s nice to have a day with nothing to do but noodle around…so that’s what Kristin and I did…we finished our books we’d brought, I made breakfast for everyone (Kristin took pictures…she’s so sweet!), and then we headed into town and saw “Stranger than Fiction.”
Friday we played at Tupelo’s, and then last night we played at Chocolate Church. So, there you are. All caught up!
Wishing everyone a time of thanks giving….
Love,
Sara
posted by Sara Hickman at 09:04 am
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Counting the cost of homelessness
November 14, 2006
Memorial honors 93 people who have died on the streets of Austin.
By Lisa Ogle
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, November 13, 2006
A flourishing live oak tree on Auditorium Shores stands as a symbol of the homeless people who have died in Austin through the years. Sunday, 93 simple stakes topped with winter hats stood to the left of the tree, honoring homeless Austinites who died this year alone.
As mist rose from Town Lake before sunrise, about 60 people gathered at the Homeless Memorial to remember the dead, many known only by their first names or by street names.
Colleen Troxell, a 16-year-old Westlake High School student who helped plant the memorial tree 13 years ago, led the ceremony.
“Now, it’s grown, just like our love and compassion has grown,” she said.
The sunrise memorial service is intended to raise awareness that people are living and dying on the streets of Austin, said Richard Troxell, Colleen’s father and president of the nonprofit group House the Homeless.“The message is, there is a real human cost for Austin not being successful at dealing with its homeless problem, and that real cost is human life,” Troxell said.
Austin has nearly 4,000 homeless residents, according to a 2005 Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department report, less than 0.6 percent of the city’s total population.
The city is trying to address the problem of homelessness, City Council Member Lee Leffingwell said.
It has added 70 mats to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless downtown and set aside $1 million in the past budget for transition housing, he said.
Leffingwell said he knows there’s more to do.
The next steps will include financing the treatment of abuse problems and psychiatric care for the homeless and moving on a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness, he said.
Musicians Sara Hickman and Nelson Mock showed their support at the service, performing several songs each.
Hickman said she’s been involved with homeless efforts for 20 years.
“I wish that everyone would come” to these types of events, she said after the memorial. “I think they’d be surprised when they’re standing by a homeless person. It would open up a connection for them.”
Jo Ann Koepke, who has hemiplegia and epilepsy, has been homeless twice and was on the verge again before she filed for permanent disability. She has been volunteering with House the Homeless since 1992.
It’s tough to lose 93 of your friends, Koepke said.
But taking time to attend the memorial Sunday helped: “It’s always healing to me.”
Homelessness “can happen to anybody,” she said. “If we work together, it doesn’t have to happen to anybody.”
posted by Sara Hickman at 11:09 am
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Copy this letter—-Help This Man!
November 13, 2006
Please take a moment to print this letter out…just change it to your name and address…read on…sign it…mail it…make a difference.
Bless you,
Sara
November 13, 2006
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Xuanwuqu Beijingshi, 100032
CHN
RE: Release Prisoner of Conscience Shi Tao
Dear Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli:
I am writing to express my grave concern over the imprisonment of Shi Tao, a poet and journalist who has been imprisoned solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and his rights to seek, receive and impart information. I urge you to bring about his immediate and unconditional release from prison.
In April 2004, Mr. Shi sent an e-mail from his Yahoo! account to a US-based pro-democracy website in which he summarized a government order directing media organizations in China to downplay the upcoming 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. On the basis of this e-mail, police arrested Mr. Shi six months later in November 2004, charging him with ”illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities.” Using email account holder information supplied by Yahoo!, authorities sentenced Shi Tao to 10 years in prison in April 2005. He is being held at Chishan Prison in Yuanjiang, Hunan Province, where he is reportedly forced to labor under harsh conditions without access to proper medical care.
The right to freedom of expression is protected under China’s constitution and under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed. Shi Tao’s imprisonment appears to be a violation of both of these legal instruments. The pervasive system of Internet censorship in China contradicts the guarantees of freedom of expression that are embodied in the nation’s constitution and international law. I am alarmed that authorities continue to use vaguely-worded laws to detain journalists, dissidents and others engaged in the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression.
Amnesty International considers Shi Tao to be a prisoner of conscience. I respectfully call upon you to bring about his immediate and unconditional release from prison. I urge you to amend or repeal vaguely-worded laws or regulations that can be used to persecute individuals who exercise their right to freedom of expression.
Sincerely,
Sara Hickman
3005 S. Lamar
D-109 #412
Austin, TX 78704-8864
US
posted by Sara Hickman at 04:05 pm
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The Vote Created Change! And the Homeless Sunrise Service
November 12, 2006
But I like to think most of us are being the best we can be, at any given time….
Yes, I know… we live in such a mean spirited time. But, if anything, I hope the change in the world can continue to grow towards a maturity, with a group of intelligent, caring, spirited people leading the way, trying to make these times better for one another, not worse. Because when we rise up, truly rise up in humility and love, then there will be no need for war, for belittling those different from us, for bitter, unending comparisons.
I have been shocked by this administration’s policies, especially those decisions based on torture and greed, but even still, I must believe that
good can overcome evil, and this is done through the strength of love and by standing strong against wrong-doing, not by calling names, but by doing exactly what Americans did this week: voting for change and speaking out for what is right.
Having the Democrats charge into offices this week (through the voice of the people demanding change!) has strengthened me. I think it sends resounding currents of
enthusiasm through us all. This is a change of determination, of diligence, of wanting to know that we are not alone in saving this world from pollutants, from ignorance, from bribery, from affluence run amuck. It’s like the class valedictorian stepped forward to the podium and caused the class bullies to take a seat, just through the use of her words. It means America’s beating heart for justice, mercy and liberty is still beating, and the pulse has just quickened! It means so many things; I’m elated and ready and willing to keep volunteering and singing and speaking out on behalf of the dream that can become a reality….peace for all.
And that is what I experienced this morning under a tree, next to a lake covered in swirling will-o-wisps. As the sun was rising, a bell tolled 7 am, and all the will-o-wisps seemed to be drawn to it’s ancient sound…ghosts of those who passed away on the streets this year, the homeless spirits slowly dancing toward the heavens.
It was an awesome sight.
The tree was planted many years ago by Richard Troxell (founder of House the Homeless/Universal Living Wage Campaign) and it is now a mighty oak (?), it’s branches extending out, overhead, the hand of nature reminding us to play in her limbs, to cuddle under her leaves, to remember the embrace of all things possible…simply by the planting of a seed, symbolic of an idea, that has grown into the fruition of the annual Homeless Sunrise Service.
Richard shared a story of a homeless woman whose car was impounded by a police officer, even though she was parked legally in the Salvation Army’s parking lot, and the director of the SA had come out to intercede on behalf of the woman. All she had was her car. She had fled Arizona, fleeing an abusive husband, and come to Austin to stay with a girlfriend. Who had moved. And, so, the woman was living out of her car and on the streets.
To free her car would have cost $1000, due to the fact it took her several weeks to find help, and it was through Richard that the two of them went before city council, pleading her case. As they were leaving, Interim Police Chief Cathy Ellison, on her very first day, came over and asked Richard and the woman to repeat the story they had just told. Chief Ellison secured the release of the car in THREE hours, and not a penny was spent in procuring it.
This is the example of how one person can make a tremedous difference in the life of another. As Richard says, they didn’t have to wade through the muck and mire of administrative paperwork, not wait for assistance. Assistance came immediately because Ms. Ellison stepped forward and called the incident ludicrous.
We had a council member speak to the crowd, we sang songs, we heard prayers, and the names of those who died on the streets were read. Flowers were laid on the plaque of the tree I mentioned, and the river flowed on as tears were falling from the homeless, and those with homes, gathered together. I saw one man, a homeless man, standing alone, and as the names were starting to be read, I quietly walked over and laid my arm across his shoulder, and his head fell forward and he began to cry. And I could only think of all the lonely moments, all the terror and chill and hunger, that I could never truly know…and my heart wrapped around his form and I held him as the names went on and on.
posted by Sara Hickman at 12:46 pm
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I want to be a Rock-n-roller!
November 11, 2006
The stage was in the back, and there wasn’t a P.A., but I just didn’t worry about it after mussing with it and realizing the system was from 1987 and there was no 1/4” jack for the guitar….so, I had lunch with my new six year old friend, Audrey, and her cool mom and dad and sister, Eliana, who is from Guatamala. During lunch, when Audrey told me she loved horses, I said, “Ooh, are you going to grow up to breed horses or ride them?” and she looked at me like I was a loon and said, “No! Why, I’m going to be a Rock-n-Roller!” Met a lot of fantastic families, and heard about their beautiful kids. One family has adopted FOUR children! God bless these families!
Anyway, after a fun afternoon, back in the town car, back to Love Field, flew home to Dallas and read the paper. Finished another book and filled out a contract on the ride.
Speaking of loons, yesterday the family went canoeing. Lily and io made a picnic lunch all by themselves; we didn’t even peek in the basked to see what they’d made.
Got to the park, rented the canoe from a young woman and her sweater wearin’ chihuahua, Lula, headed down the river. We saw turtles and fish and a swan with a crazy itch…kept rolling itself in the water, biting at it’s own back. Feathers flying everywhere, so, of course, Lance and I were encouraged to paddle over to scoop swan feathers, big and white and downy, out of the water. We now have new additions to our feather collections here at home.
Picnic was fantastic. We rowed out past Congress Avenue bridge, found a green spot, and tucked into a little cove. Sat on a bench, the four of us, and watched the water lazily rolling by. Gorgeous day. Sunny and sweet smelling, not hot or cold. Just perfect. We ate our double decker peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, our bottled waters (still icy!), our goldfish and chips, our peaches and apples and carrot sticks on round, white plastic plates. Two pit bulls came running up the grassy knoll, and I was nervous for a minute, but they were bouncy, happy creatures, turning around as fast as they had sauntered up to us.
Back in the boat, paddled back to our beginning.
Our office is really getting organized. Teresa has really done a fine job of turning this office into a one-stop wonder of effeciency. I love having folders for gigs, for
contracts, for BMI, for family, for church, for you name it. There’s a folder. If not right now, check back with me on Tuesday and I bet there will be one with your name on it!!
So, I have another gig in forty minutes…better go change out of my user friendly decorative overalls and into something more adult.
Tomorrow is the annual Homeless Sunrise Service…if you are in Austin, please come. This is a very moving ceremony in which there is music, prayer, and the names of those who have died homeless on the street have their names read as we place carnations in the river. It is at the Gazebo near the First Street Avenue cross over at Town Lake….6:45 am….I will be singing, and a Rabbi will be leading us in prayer and thought. Breakfast, coffee and fellowship with an assortment of diverse people guaranteed.
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:08 pm
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Jack Palance
November 10, 2006
Afterwards, I went up and asked him if I could get his autograph for my friend, Linda Jackson, and he snarled and said, “I don’t do autographs!”
It was so cool! I never forgot how powerful he was, just standing there by the breakfast table.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:47 pm
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Ed Bradley—A Life Well Lived
interested himself.
If I had a dinner party and I could invite anyone I wanted, Ed Bradley would be seated right next to Mother Teresa and Ann Richards. Jesus
would be chatting with Jim Henson, and Theodor Geisel would be outside talking about Europe with Jerzy Kosinski. Carol Burnett, George Burns and Harriet Tubman would be helping me in the kitchen (which would be slapstick comedy in itself: Harriet laughing in her rich, throaty way to the fact Carol and I would keep bumping into each other, George casually smoking his unlit stogie). Josephine Baker, Madam Curie, Robin Macy and Diane Keaton would be off to get more ice in Gene’s Ford Prius (a steel-silver convertible, Prince cranked to the gills) while Prince, Pat Methany, Cab Calloway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez were dissecting Kosinski’s work.
Ellen DeGeneres would call in with a cold, but would have sent a spray of white roses peppered with wild flowers, which Jimmy Carter would deliver (along with Jocelyn’s yummy homemade pizza rolls) with Imogene Coca and Coco Chanel, Jimmy looking a little dazzled. Mattie Stepanek would be regaling Louise Hay
with his latest poem, and his theory on Heartsongs, and my departed friends, Bruce and Caryl, would be falling in love, over on the sofa, eyes all over the glow of
the fireplace in each other’s eyes. Later, Mark Seliger would stop by to talk about our East Texas State college days, and casually snap some group photos of all of us, (by now, each of us slightly tipsy, full of food, fabulous conversation and the promise of sleepy, complicated dreams) as Steve Carell kept us in stitches with his imitations of Huey Lewis imitating Dick Cheney.
Thank you, Ed, for being an inspiration and a light. God bless you.
FROM YAHOO NEWS
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
Thu Nov 9, 6:14 PM ET
NEW YORK - Ed Bradley, the award-winning television journalist who broke racial barriers at CBS News and created a distinctive, powerful body of work during his 26 years on “60 Minutes,” died Thursday. He was 65. Bradley died of leukemia at Mount Sinai hospital, CBS News announced.
He landed many memorable interviews, including the Duke lacrosse players accused of rape, Michael Jackson and the only TV interview with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Bradley “was tough in an interview, he was insistent on getting an interview,” said former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, “and at the same time when the interview was over, when the subject had taken a pretty heavy lashing by him — they left as friends. He was that kind of guy.”
With his signature earring and beard, Bradley was “considered intelligent, smooth, cool, a great reporter, beloved and respected by all his colleagues here at CBS News,” Katie Couric said in a special report.
Bradley’s consummate skills were recognized with numerous awards, including four George Foster Peabody awards and 19 Emmys, the latest for a segment on the reopening of the 50-year-old racial murder case of Emmett Till.
Three of his Emmys came at the 2003 awards: for lifetime achievement; a report on brain cancer patients; and a report about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. He also won a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
Bradley joined “60 Minutes” in 1981 when Dan Rather left to replace Cronkite as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.”
His reporting ability was matched by his interviewing finesse. When he spoke with McVeigh in February 2000 at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., the convicted bomber told Bradley that he was angry and bitter after fighting in the Gulf War. In December 2003, Jackson said he had been “manhandled” when arrested on child molestation charges a few weeks earlier.
“Ed could get people to say the damndest thing because he put them at ease,” said former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw said Thursday. “It was like talking not to a reporter, but talking to an interested counselor of some kind. … He had this wonderful way of stroking his beard and saying, `Well, what do you mean by that?”
Though he had been ill and had undergone heart bypass surgery about a year ago, he remained active on “60 Minutes.” In one of his last reports, an investigation of the Duke case that aired last month, he broke new ground with the first interviews with the accused.
“The first time I really understood that he was ill, on the air, was a couple of weeks ago,” said fellow “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace. “He was narrating a story, and his rich voice wasn’t there anymore. It was just thinner.”
Born June 22, 1941, Bradley grew up in a tough section of Philadelphia, where he once recalled that his parents worked 20-hour days at two jobs apiece. “I was told, `You can be anything you want, kid,’” he once told an interviewer. “When you hear that often enough, you believe it.”
After graduating from the historically black Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania), he launched his career as a jazz DJ — he was a lifelong jazz fan — and news reporter for a Philadelphia radio station in 1963. He moved to New York’s WCBS radio four years later.
He joined CBS News as a stringer in the Paris bureau in 1971, transferring a year later to the Saigon bureau during the Vietnam War. He was wounded while on assignment in Cambodia. He was named a CBS News correspondent in early 1973 and moved to the Washington bureau in June 1974. He later returned to Vietnam, covering the fall of that country and Cambodia.
Cronkite recalled first meeting Bradley in Vietnam: “He seemed to be fearless, an incredibly smart reporter in getting the story.”
After Southeast Asia, Bradley returned to the United States and covered Jimmy Carter’s successful campaign for the White House. He followed Carter to Washington, in 1976 becoming CBS’ first black White House correspondent — a prestigious position that Bradley didn’t enjoy.
He jumped from Washington to doing pieces for “CBS Reports,” traveling to Cambodia, China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It was his Emmy-winning 1979 piece on Vietnamese boat refugees that eventually landed him on “60 Minutes.”
The latter piece still resonates for Wallace. “I’ll never forget the picture of Ed picking up a man who was about to drown,” he said. “… If Bradley told a story, you could be sure it was accurate, and at bottom it was done with integrity.”
“60 Minutes” producer Don Hewitt, in his book “Minute by Minute,” was quick to appreciate Bradley after he arrived at the show. “He’s so good and so savvy and so lights up the tube every time he’s on it that I wonder what took us so long,” Hewitt wrote.
Bradley recently served as a radio host for “Jazz at Lincoln Center,” where he won one of his four Peabody awards.
Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Lincoln Center’s jazz department, called Bradley “one of our definitive cultural figures, a man of unsurpassed curiosity, intelligence, dignity and heart.”
Accepting his lifetime achievement award from the black journalists association, Bradley remembered being present at some of the organization’s first meetings in New York.
“I look around this room tonight and I can see how much our profession has changed and our numbers have grown,” he said. “I also see it every day as I travel the country reporting stories for ‘60 Minutes.’ All I have to do is turn on the TV and I can see the progress that has been made.”
But, he added, “There are many more rivers to cross, and many more stories to cover and, I hope, a lot left in this lifetime.”
Bradley is survived by his wife, Patricia Blanchet.
___
Associated Press writers Jake Coyle and Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.
posted by Sara Hickman at 02:17 am
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It’s already here…The Future
November 06, 2006
My mom forwarded this link to me. I’m not sure how we can go back…I know when I stop to buy gas, I can’t until I’ve entered my zip code, which really ticks me off. When people at stores
ask me for my zip code, I always say, “No, I don’t like to give out any information, thanks.” I recognize that giving a zip code may not seem intrusive because the corporations are only collecting data on which areas shop the most frequently in their stores, but you know what? It is, actually, prepping us to feel comfortable to give out even MORE information in the future.
Trust me. So, speak up and say “no”. So….
Listen closely and watch the screen and pointer carefully. You are the person “processing” the call.
Click the link and see… turn up the volume.
((( Turn Sound ON )))
Ordering Pizza in the year 2010
http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf
posted by Sara Hickman at 04:29 pm
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All Saints Day
November 05, 2006
Then, I walked across the street and gave my talk, “Fine Tuning the Balance of Life and Work” to a Sunday School class of about 22 adults. I felt so happy to share the slides and thoughts I have about life, connections, work, blessings, each other…The end of that hour was lots of hugs!
Then, back across the street to sing in the 11:00 am service…and I stayed afterwards to sell cds, talk to folks, thank the minister, Bobbi Kaye, for having me be a part of such a glorious morning.
About to go sing for a Democratic fundraiser at Threadgill’s with Kristin…followed by a trip to Sanrio with the family. It is Hello! Kitty’s birthday, so we’re going to meet Hello! Kitty. iolana has already made her a card and is very eager to deliver it in person!
Oh, I forgot to mention. My hair is now black, purple and honey colored. I’ll try to upload a pic. Kate, the amazing hairdresser goddess, helped “transform” me…when I look in the mirror, I see my mom, circa 1970…minus the polyester, swirly pantsuit! (Although, who knows: I watched a Sarah Silverman film, “Jesus Is Magic” and she had a groovy paisley outfit on…..and a big, black wig…so it might just be coming back in vogue!)
Lance told us about a film last week, “Art on The Streets”, and we all went to see the premiere. We saw several homeless people we know, or have worked with, in the film…and, of course, I was in tears. It was so moving to watch people create these beautiful works of art at ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless) and then have a big show…the show is spectacular, and the homeless have their work matted and hung, and then they are present to talk to attendees about the work as they sell it. They keep all the money, too. It is the only program like this in the world. Some folks make enough money from the sale of their art to get into an apartment, sometimes they make enough to stay in the apartment for an entire year. If you get a chance to see this film, please go support it. You can check it out at:
artfromthestreets-themovie.org
io had a soccer game yesterday. I swear the team they were playing were 7 year old Brazilians….they were a tough team! After the game, io went to Emmaline’s to celebrate her birthday, and Lily and I had a mother/daughter day. We went to Borders and purchased a book for our mother/daughter book club (“Harriet the Spy”),
had lunch at the China Buffet, walked across the street to see “Flushed Away”, which, by all standards, was FANTASTIC. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but let me tell you…
high marks all around. Story: A++…animation? A++…Character development? A++ …Music? A++….Slugs? A+++
I can’t say enough about this film! Shockingly good.
Which reminds me: REDS is finally arriving on DVD! One of my favorite films of ALL TIME. Did you ever see it? I can not tell you how excited I am. I haven’t seen it since
1981…at which point I saw it FOUR TIMES…and it is a four hour movie (with intermission!) Lance was all over it before I even mentioned it…he had read it was coming out on DVD, too, and he knows I love it…Gotta love that my man knows what I love!!!!
Oh, saw Rob Patterson yesterday. That was cool-ie-o. So, Rob, should you happen to meander by my blog, I am now telling the world (ok, those who actually know about my blog and choose to read it..THAT world!) that I was delighted to see you and tag you are it…call me for that lunch date! Don’t forget. Are you forgetting?
DO NOT. End of the year is almost here….
posted by Sara Hickman at 12:35 pm
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Still more reasons to vote…The New York Times Editorial
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
The Difference Two Years Made
Published: November 5, 2006
On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has endorsed for election, we will include no Republican Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory. Although Times editorials tend to agree with Democrats on national policy, we have proudly and consistently endorsed a long line of moderate Republicans, particularly for the House. Our only political loyalty is to making the two-party system as vital and responsible as possible.
That is why things are different this year.
To begin with, the Republican majority that has run the House — and for the most part, the Senate — during President Bush’s tenure has done a terrible job on the basics. Its tax-cutting-above-all-else has wrecked the budget, hobbled the middle class and endangered the long-term economy. It has refused to face up to global warming and done pathetically little about the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Republican leaders, particularly in the House, have developed toxic symptoms of an overconfident majority that has been too long in power. They methodically shut the opposition — and even the more moderate members of their own party — out of any role in the legislative process. Their only mission seems to be self-perpetuation.
The current Republican majority managed to achieve that burned-out, brain-dead status in record time, and with a shocking disregard for the most minimal ethical standards. It was bad enough that a party that used to believe in fiscal austerity blew billions on pork-barrel projects. It is worse that many of the most expensive boondoggles were not even directed at their constituents, but at lobbyists who financed their campaigns and high-end lifestyles.
That was already the situation in 2004, and even then this page endorsed Republicans who had shown a high commitment to ethics reform and a willingness to buck their party on important issues like the environment, civil liberties and women’s rights. For us, the breaking point came over the Republicans’ attempt to undermine the fundamental checks and balances that have safeguarded American democracy since its inception. The fact that the White House, House and Senate are all controlled by one party is not a threat to the balance of powers, as long as everyone understands the roles assigned to each by the Constitution. But over the past two years, the White House has made it clear that it claims sweeping powers that go well beyond any acceptable limits. Rather than doing their duty to curb these excesses, the Congressional Republicans have dedicated themselves to removing restraints on the president’s ability to do whatever he wants. To paraphrase Tom DeLay, the Republicans feel you don’t need to have oversight hearings if your party is in control of everything.
An administration convinced of its own perpetual rightness and a partisan Congress determined to deflect all criticism of the chief executive has been the recipe for what we live with today.
Congress, in particular the House, has failed to ask probing questions about the war in Iraq or hold the president accountable for his catastrophic bungling of the occupation. It also has allowed Mr. Bush to avoid answering any questions about whether his administration cooked the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. Then, it quietly agreed to close down the one agency that has been riding herd on crooked and inept American contractors who have botched everything from construction work to the security of weapons.
After the revelations about the abuse, torture and illegal detentions in Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Congress shielded the Pentagon from any responsibility for the atrocities its policies allowed to happen. On the eve of the election, and without even a pretense at debate in the House, Congress granted the White House permission to hold hundreds of noncitizens in jail forever, without due process, even though many of them were clearly sent there in error.
In the Senate, the path for this bill was cleared by a handful of Republicans who used their personal prestige and reputation for moderation to paper over the fact that the bill violates the Constitution in fundamental ways. Having acquiesced in the president’s campaign to dilute their own authority, lawmakers used this bill to further Mr. Bush’s goal of stripping the powers of the only remaining independent branch, the judiciary.
This election is indeed about George W. Bush — and the Congressional majority’s insistence on protecting him from the consequences of his mistakes and misdeeds. Mr. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 and proceeded to govern as if he had an enormous mandate. After he actually beat his opponent in 2004, he announced he now had real political capital and intended to spend it. We have seen the results. It is frightening to contemplate the new excesses he could concoct if he woke up next Wednesday and found that his party had maintained its hold on the House and Senate.
posted by Sara Hickman at 12:29 pm
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Todd ‘n Lucky
November 03, 2006
that is not a dog… it is a human spirit or little goddess…my friend, todd, at our house, holding our sweet little pumpkin
posted by Sara Hickman at 12:50 pm
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I Love You
There is a place
Within my heart
You hold a part….you hold a part
No matter where this life may lead
Where waters rise and they recede
You hold a part….you hold a part
When I am lost, you understand
You guide the way, you take my hand…
For all the life that you are living
The simple act that you are giving
Loving me…just as I am
When you are lost, I take you in
I sing the song, I call you “friend”
For all the life that I am living
The simple act that I am giving
Loving you…until the end
We walk in awe, we walk in wonder
In sunshine’s kiss no fear of thunder
You hold a part…You hold a part
Now up above the moonbeams glow
The day is done, it’s time to go
You hold my heart…you hold my heart
and…Love never fades, but only grows
A constant pulsing living flow
Within the heart…the sum of parts
The light of God all beings know
xox
me
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:06 am
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And yet…ANOTHER reason to vote!!!
November 02, 2006
Trust me.
http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/10/more-on-staying-course.html
More foolishness and more wasting of time when real issues could be confronted by the Executive Office.
posted by Sara Hickman at 12:20 pm
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Red State Blue—Video to Encourage you to VOTE!!!
Ya know, I just love when people take action and create something to encourage the rest of us that change can happen. Take a second and watch the video…
And kudos to Jill for singing the song with such authenticity and aplomb!
From Jill:
The links below will let you see a video that my brother Russ, my husband Doug and I created called “Don’t It Make My Red State Blue?”. Please enjoy, share it with everyone you think might care - and remember to vote! (this will most likely be the first time any of you have seen me dressed up like Crystal Gayle)
Love and peace,
Jill
P.S. - The web.mac address quality is much better, but if you can’t pull it up for some reason, you should be able to see youtube without a problem.
http://web.mac.com/russell_ray/iWeb/Site%206/RED%20STATE%20BLUES.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ1VAHZkfe8
posted by Sara Hickman at 09:15 am
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I am grateful
November 01, 2006
I am grateful for these aspects of my life,
As a mother, friend, lover, wife:
I ‘m grateful for
My community,
For My friends and for my family:
For the postal workers, who bring my mail
For Carl Anderson sharing Santa’s Christmas tale
For Liz Carpenter and Cactus Pryor
For Las Manitas and the orange of the UT Tower
For Femme FM and the Pumpkin Patch
For Barton Springs and the Soup Peddler’s
Latest batch
For KUT and John Aielli
For KGSR and their support of our Lone Stars
For the teachers giving
On such low pay
For them I’m grateful
They don’t go away!
For my funky, fun tattoo
(Which, right now, I can not share with you)
I’m grateful for House the Homeless, who
Help the homeless in times of danger
Mobile Loaves and Fishes
Who feed the strangers
For churches and temples and mosques
And love
And telephones and cars and stars above
For my dog and cats and crickets and snakes
For the leaves that fall, and whoever invented the rake
For my two children
Who totally have it going on
They keep me laughing with their vibant songs
I’m so deeply grateful: For this chance to be alive
For music, for dance, for the love that thrives
In my home and in my neighborhood
And to my husband, who keeps it good!
I’m grateful to KLRU for visiting me
And this Thanksgiving opportunity
(I promise to pledge next pledge drive, you’ll see)
So blessings to all of us
Who keep this city true
There’s no place like Austin
And I love you
posted by Sara Hickman at 03:23 pm
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A man was walking home alone late one foggy night…
BUMP!…
BUMP…
BUMP…
Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog h e makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.
BUMP…
BUMP…
BUMP…
Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him
FASTER…
FASTER…
BUMP…
BUMP…
BUMP…
He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.
However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping
clappity-BUMP…
clappity-BUMP…
clappity-BUMP…
…on his heels, the terrified man runs.
Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.
With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.
Bumping and clapping toward him.
The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!
Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket…
and,
(hopefully you’re ready for this!!!)
The coffin stops.
Happpppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Day After Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
We had a big shin-dig here at the house last night, our annual Halloween Party. Bobbing for apples (if you get a green one out of the sea of red, extra bonus prize!),
ring toss, prizes for Scariest, Funniest, Prettiest and Adult (Parent) Costumes…then we eat fingers (weiners cut in half with pimento red fingernails) and eyeballs (powdered donuts with a gummy lifesaver and a chocolate chip, red gooey icing for the bloodshot effect) and drink bloody drinks (strawberry soda with vanilla ice cream and a straw)…..next: everyone in big groups to go trick or treating.
This year’s costumes included: a dragon man, a seventies Afro-topped girl, a Swiss miss, many witches, a devil, a ladybug, a retired Chippendale dancer, pirates,
a bunch of tired parents who came in their regular clothes, a dyslexic ex-nun (me), and a kid in a white bathrobe. Not sure what he was supposed to be, but he looked very relaxed.
Since I wrote last:
After Odessa, I came home that Thursday and had dinner with my husband and two amazing friends, Neil and Teresa. Neil is part of Stingray (he designed the “Spiritual Appliances” booklet), and Teresa was the DJ for her radio program “Femme FM” on KUT. She was ungraciously let go after 15 years, two days before her last show…so she had to scramble to create a goodbye show. I’m not sure why anyone would do such a thing to such a thoroughly dedicated woman, but perhaps KUT is losing
their grasp on what makes KUT special…but I have a feeling that KUT is moving towards talk radio, and at some point, this discussion will be completely moot. We will be losing the last bastion of real, local radio in Austin, TX, where artists could come in and perform for an entire hour (they have also cut back John Aielli’s hours on “Eclecticos”, from 9-1 to 9 to 12). I saw this happen with KERA in Dallas…music becomes a distant relative and only plays at odd hours, while the talk gets louder and louder….Sigh.
But, anyway, the dinner was tremendous, and so fulfilling to have conversation with old friends who can talk politics to design to movies to you name it. You know what I mean. And, by the way, Neil is a fantastic chef, and made a yummy vegetarian meal, complete with homemade cheesecake for a closer. Mmmm…..with blueberries
on top.
Friday morning, got up at 4:30 am, got dressed, popped all my stuff in the car, and headed to the airport, got off in Dallas, got to the rental car, drove to Allen, TX and played a 9:30 am show for 350 four and five year olds in a high school theatre. After hugs and kisses and high-fives, back in the car, back to Dallas, back on the plane, back to Austin.
Caught up on some work and home, and then time to change into clothes for my gig with David Wilcox at the Cactus Cafe. Kristin, David and I ate at Madam Maams…I had my favorite: Tom Yom Kai. Gosh, I sure do love that soup.
Then Griff, who runs the Cactus, showed us the new “green room”, down in the belly of UT, directly next to the stage under ground. Lots of pipes painted mustard yellow, a sad looking mirror, a table with bottled waters and four chairs. David immediately went into the dark crevices to see how far back he could meander, and Kristin went up to see friends. I laid down on an old piano bench and shut my eyes, listening to the hustle and bustle of excited folks waiting to get in.
That show was FUN. I told everyone that David and I had grown up down the street from one another in Dekalb, Illinois, and he used to babysit my sister and me.
And he would make us snacks with Spam, and I had often thought that, perhaps, he was a Spamaholic. When David got on stage later, he busted me for my big fat story
and we all had a good laugh.
Saturday: Flew in to Tulsa to perform at a benefit for Clarehouse, a 10 bedroom home for people who are dying. The home is very inviting, very real and warm, and I was given a walk through of the kitchens and rooms, several which were occupied. One of the guests I saw was looking very near the end of his life; I was informed that he had passed on several hours later. He was surrounded by friends, but his mother had just left and was called back…
The event itself was lovely. I would guess about 400 in attendance, and there was a silent auction, and my friend, Spike (Mike Easterling) had come up from Santa Fe, so I was really happy to see him. His sister is the founder of Clarehouse, so I sat at their table, and met members of the Easterling family, and that was a blessing in itself.
As I was out in the foyer, returning from a vocal warm-up in the bathroom, a group of 10 young boys came running at me. They were excited and bouncy and talking all at once about my guitar and they had a band and who knows what else but, suddenly, they burst into “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and they were doing these silly dance moves and I had to laugh.
Then, of course, I had an idea.
I asked them to calm down and told them about Clarehouse, and how there was an event going on in the ballroom RIGHT THERE, and would they like to go up on the stage with me and sing a song….to which their eyeballs nearly popped out of their mop-topped heads. I told them they had to be respectful, and they had to wait until I gave them a signal…and they would know what the signal was….and they were trying their hardest not to explode with joy, saying, “yes yes yes!” and itching to jump up and down.
Kelley, the founder, came out to tell me it was time for my performance, and she looked beautiful in her sparkling autumn hues, and I could see a nervous look in her eyes as she realized I was in cahoots with these unknown boys….she asked if everything was ok, and I said, “Oh, yes…don’t worry…this will be sweet…I promise…”
and the boys followed right behind me, a row of little ducks, quiet and calm, and I led them past the silent auction tables, alongside the diners waiting to see what was about to happen on the stage…
I had the boys sit by the backstage curtain, right there in a group next to the stairs, and I walked up to the microphone and my voice was loud, now, on the speakers.
I spoke softly. I spoke of love and Tristan (a two day old boy who had died at Clarehouse in his parents arms) and the journey of life and the transition of death, and I sang “It’s Alright” a capella…the mood was still and calm and my voice caught on one of the words…I was wanting to share so much of the meaning of love through my simple notes….
As the applause was fading, I explained to the audience that my band’s bus broke down somewhere outside of Texas, but not to fear…I had 10 of my cousins in the vacinity, and they had showed up to help me sing the next song. UP came the boys, ALL around me, a huddle of wiggly, giggly, trying to be serious boys. I moved to the side of the stage and started the reggae beat/chords on my guitar, and they began “Ah-weem-ma-wop-ah-weem-ah-wop…” with two of the boys moving forward to
sing, “In the jungle…the quiet jungle…” and I had a huge smile, I couldn’t help it. They were adorable! The audience was laughing as I broke into “Ah-weeeeeeee-
eeeeeee-ah-….” over the dancing choir of kids, and then I said, “NOW!” and they all bowed at the same time, began filing off the stage, and sauntered through the audience, out the open doors, into the hotel. Gone. As fast as they were there next to me, they were gone. As they were filing out, I had said, on mic, “To be honest, I have no idea who those boys were, except that they are on a soccer team from Missouri and staying in this hotel. I just met them out in the hall!” and we were all laughing, the boys waving as they walked out.
The rest of the concert was joy filled, and on “Simply”, I asked couples up to dance, which many did, and I love to see a dance floor fill up with connection, with grace,
with smiles, with hearts touching.
After the event, Spike, Kelley, Brian and Penny and I went to the bar. I had a frozen strawberry margarita with whip creme and a cherry on top! Spike kept asking me how I liked my sundae.
Next morning: Riding down the elevator with a kid, when he says, “Hey! You’re Sara Hickman!” and I say, “Hey! You’re one of the boys!” and, as if by magic, we reach the lobby floor, the doors open, and there are MORE of the boys and we are all animated and re-hashing the spectacle of the night before. The boys ask me if I have a MySpace and I say “yep” and so I suspect I will have some interesting mail soon!
Kelley and Spike arrive to take me to breakfast at Kelley’s house. A brick cottage with charm and effortless grace inside. Breakfast is biscuits and gravy, eggs and donuts, coffee and juice, bacon and hashbrowns, hanging around the kitchen table or the dining table. Spike and Kelley’s parents are there, and they are terrific. Lots of laughter
and, afterwards, we all go outside for photos and find a big spider who is taking apart her web, methodically gathering all the loose silk and creating a big ball with her spindly legs. After photos, out in the front street where I, finally!, learn how to throw a football. Thanks, Spike! That was relaxing, just throwing the ball around.
Back to the airport, and I am holding Spike’s hand, he in the back seat, me in the front; my old friend, my dear friend from ages past, years of letters back and forth, and cow-tipping and everything Oklahoma City, where we first met. The Blue Door, Otis and Keri and the Yippie-Ay-Yo Cafe and late nights and time standing still when my watch broke one night at an aftershow party…There is nothing like a friend where nothing needs to be said. But if only more time could be spent together, instead of these once in a while gatherings, usually, no always, around my coming to town to perform. I can’t complain…the music takes me on all these adventures, helps me connect with and see my friends, even if only for a short while…I’ll take these moments, these God-sends.
A long hug goodbye to each, thank yous and then they are driving away, and I am talking with a skycap, and into the Tulsa airport I go, to read another Kay Scarpetta mystery and wait for the big bird to take me home. Today, I fly home early, I changed the flight: I am missing my family and want to be in the house with them.
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:56 am
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