Doing it all downtown

I'm having a great time in Marshall, and I'm doing it all downtown.

It would be easy to point out the gas prices make it more economical to stay in my neighborhood, but when it came time to move places I was adamant about living in the place I love the best.

Hometown Computers is at 307 East Austin Street, right next to the News Messenger. 

When someone first moves into an area and doesn't have the inside track on what's awesome about it, they can be happy living almost anywhere. When I first moved here, I knew nothing and lived out on Liberty Cutoff Road. Then I moved closer in to East Rusk Street, on a transitional (affordable) block between some super nice historic homes and some not so nice druggy blocks. (Marshall has drugs. Who's kidding themselves about crime and why should I care to make it seem like we're any better than all the other places that have these problems?)

"The Good House" at 606 N. Washington Ave. I'm on the B-side again. 

My new place has been dubbed "The Good House" and was given this nickname during the move as opposed to it being called the New House or anything like that. I have some art planned to reflect this and can't wait to get moving on it. I love my new neighbors already, and I'm right down from all the happenings on North Washington Avenue for Marshall's downtown music and other stuff.

And being on the B-side, the A-side is coming open sometime soon -- a time when I hope to get A-wesome neighbors and round out our little corner of town.

I was thinking that in some cases the "hit" songs aren't the ones the musicians love performing the best and that some great music is b-side stuff is just ahead of its time. I like to think that Marshall's downtown music thing and me living on the B-apartment-side twice in a row now just means that things are falling together in a way that is a little ahead of popularity.

It really does almost come down to "and other stuff" lately because I'm very interested in seeing the growth of the music scene. In my own time I manage to attend as many of the events as possible and take my camera along with me. Most people around there have even gotten used to me having it and don't get weird about whether I'll represent them well. I appreciate that a lot more than I can say.

Here's one of me working with Ron Munden, owner/operator at EastTexasTowns.com

I have been posting photos for the jams and other music events and people on my facebook page, since we're all, already linked up there and I can tag them in these shots a little easier. Blogger has been changing and I'll reacquaint myself with its offerings pretty soon. I'm also looking at www.wix.com for some good layouts to do marketing for individuals or bands as a way to help the music movement grow up with good information available to the wide world of wondering.

Eric Gardner, Kenny Laboarde, Kelly Chambers, Rick Sims, Stanton Hoffman, Wes Jeans and Rick Reeder filming music downtown on Sept. 14, 2011, for the show Killin' N Grillin'.

See more at: Facebook Album from Killin' N Grillin' in Marshall (and more)

Telling about downtown music and keeping up with the district is a full time job, which I'm glad I can work on during my paid hours at least a little and couldn't stop caring about after the work-bell rings. OK - you can say "she went there" -- but I don't have kids and nothing like soccer practices and Girl Scout meetings to keep me from getting into just a range of things for myself and the community. It's not like I'm trying to be this thing's Mom, but more like I'm trying to nurture it in the ways I can.

I love making contacts and sharing this with people. I'm already looking forward to Randal Reeder and the show Killin' N Grillin' to come back and cookout in Telegraph Park. I've made some pretty good friends with them so far and like being called to help set things up. I'm sure I'll be giving this one a fair bit of play in the paper as well, just to share the word.

Local business owners Rodney Beal and Mary Smith have Band Stand Music and Unique Boutique on North Washington Avenue. 

I've really enjoyed being among some classy business owners, who at the same time can get down with the regulars to have as much fun making things happen as we all can in seeing the results. I have been getting to know Rodney and Mary, as well as other members of the band Diddley Squat and am proud of all the ways they are staying close to the music on the street and in other venues. 

See More from Aug. 25, 2011, at Telegraph Park

I'm also pretty sure I'm not out of line when I say there is room for more and more musicians to at least come out and test the waters. A hidden talent one day could inspire someone new the next. Mary has a fabulous voice and has been working with it to bring joy or heal the blues as the moment strikes. 

Mary Smith, Larry Tallant, Rodney Beal, Pony Bubp and Chris Dean play late on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011

See More from Sept. 1, 2011 at Telegraph Park 

One of the things that has inspired me most about all of the FREE music in downtown Marshall is the fresh spirit for creativity that it brings out. My own photography has been amplified by these great sounds and the people making them. It seems impossible that a year ago, some of us had never met, because we're really growing a community around it. I'm thrilled by the number of poets I've also seen out and down to catch the vibe. They scribble some while others shoot video on their phones or think of witticisms to pitch into the facebook phenomenon.

Pony Bubp has rekindled his love of drumming and does great stick flips with lots of flare. 

(He also posts just about every event he's going to attend on facebook and spreads the word!)

I don't have any great shots of her just now, (have to check again soon!) but Leslie Clark-Williams at Under The Texas Sun is another of those awesome downtown business owners out mixing with the people and helping them all relax and enjoy their time with the music. She and Kat are definitely part of the scene!

Since I couldn't find one, I linked this shot from Kat and Leslie'sWeb-page, 

which you can visit by clicking the shop's name above. 

That it has all been kept rocking for the past few years is the only reason we have it today. I'm into the now of it all, but I have to thank Pap, John Fox, Nick Brumley, Grady Lee, the former open-mic for Nashville Songwriters and all of their friends for making sure it has and will keep going. 

Pap Watson and some of the other local musicians have kept this going for many years. 

On a completely different side note. I wonder if cameras had been more affordable then, if we might not realize how alike we are to those who came before us and were also geniuses.

I was listening to Last.fm through XBOX Live and was into classical music while I was writing this. So, I looked up and Johannes Brahms in 1853 looked quite like our own folk virtuoso Nick Brumley. Let me know what you think about this photo comparison.

Nick playing guitar and drumming during Thursday night open jams at Telegraph Park this summer. 

Johannes Brahms

http://dickstrawser.blogspot.com/2011/04/brahms-first-years-in-making.html

This is my "no pressure" outlet for things I'm into, and I try to focus around creativity. I always have projects in the works, whether its personal or for the rest of the world.

Please feel free to contact me here or by email. It was reported to me that there were problems in commenting on the previous blog entry on music in downtown -- so I'll be working on that in the future. If you see that I have incorrectly reported a name, date or event please let me know so I can correct it.

Thanks for all you do in this world!

Terri Richardson 

Music has been moving me

I've been away for a while. There is a lot going on in Marshall, Texas, these days in both the city and its tourism effort. I'm really appreciating how near I am to all the different aspects of the city, from its night life to its business and industry improvements. It's growing clear to me that these really are different times for this town.

The enthusiasm I have found surrounding some of the venues seems to be suffering along with the heat but there are some real bright spots to keep it hot and hopping. Music in downtown has really had my attention. I've been going to the outdoor performances more and more, watching how the crowd changes. I love meeting all the people out there and getting to hang out with some of the musicians.

All of them are so cool. I was really glad to see Danny Haggar playing out at Summer Wonder. I've known him pretty much since I started trying to live here and go out and about around Caddo Lake and Uncertain. I like that touristy-not-touristy feel that little town has.

This is the Internet, so you will be scrolling down and not jumping there like in newspaper. I've added the descriptions in above the photos for this reason. These are also in no particular order.


I used to sing karaoke with Danny sometimes, and that was a blast.

He told me he played music with his son, Dustin, who is singing in the center.

Just got through listening to Pony Bubp playing an unexpected concert at Under The Texas Sun. Excellent music by Pony as always, and I actually felt honored to pass the tip jar around on his behalf. He has a great sound and lots of dedication. I look forward to seeing him out again.

Larry Tallant plays from his heart and sounds good at it. I appreciate the way he comes out as often as he can and supports all the other musicians. He's also one of the funniest dudes out there.

John Fox sings and plays guitar for the Good Time Rounders with Nick Brumley on drums, Eric Gardner on bass, Pap Watson on guitar and Sam Kilpatrick also on electric guitar. They perform around the East Texas region and into Shreveport, and some of them are known to sit in with other bands from time to time.

These guys play at Telegraph Stage every week on Thursday nights and used to have a regular night out in front of OS2 pub. Here, they're playing the stage for Second Saturday in May.

I absolutely love the way the street fills up for the monthly festival put on by his Illustriousness Bo Ellis, who should be praised and bowed to with utmost respect and servitude. No, seriously, he needs volunteers, can always use funding and deserves all the credit one can muster to acknowledge. 

I believe these are from the June set. I think the wayfinding banners are fantastic for photography. Nobody will be able to come downtown and have a great time on film without also telling the wide world that they were in Marshall, Texas. There was a way finding banner in most of these photos.

 There's no need for a wayfinding banner with the courthouse in view. I love the courthouse. I've called it "stupid" a few times but only because I think it's better if people view the courthouse than view artwork of the courthouse while in view of the actual courthouse. I think it would be cool if some historic trial were reenacted there and it could become famous for something other than its beauty.

How family is this one with the baby carriage? I love that family feel. It might be nice to have a little more for kids to do while they're there during the cooler months. I thought it might be neat to see a sandbox on a trailer or something where we could just pull it up and let them dig around in it and maybe hide little prizes for them to find and build castles.

The Monday night jams over in front of Under The Texas Sun are a light in my week. I've only been to three or four of them, but they are a neat hangout for the beginning of my week.

This is Billy Pool, and too cool. (if you know I got a name wrong, please advise... it's been a few weeks since I took this.

Eddie Reno plays the fiddle in front of Under The Texas Sun

Rickey Maxey, a truly compassionate biologist and a great guitar player who gives a lot of soul.

Nick Brumley, local rising star and multi-talented musician. Love his attitude and hattiude in this picture.

OK... well enough with the photos. I've loved being out there and taking them. Time to move along to something else for the day. Hope this doesn't take forever to load.

Peace,
Terri

Looking at you, looking at me

It's amazing how most people never notice their own reflections in other peoples eyes when they speak to one another. They don't know how to listen to each other, reach the solutions on the first try and keep right on going.

Real listening happens in the heart, and that's just how you get to the heart of any matter. Can you look me in the eye and share your mission?

Mostly, people are so focused on their own visions and purposes that they never heard yours. Maybe, as you explained, they imagined how yours fit with theirs. Maybe they imagined how yours fit beside theirs, but probably they didn't absorb a word you said and went right on having their self-centered thoughts. 

Selfish motivations are perfect if you are only trying to please yourself. After that, you have to consider that everyone has to get something out of it if they are expected to participate. 

Some people, rare people, will generously give anything for the simple pleasure of giving. Most, want something in return -- whether it's joy, entertainment, social interaction, a profit, sometimes love or friendship. It's easy to tell who works for the money and who works for reasons you can't package.

Why is it that some people find it more fulfilling to whine about what other people have than to figure out how to get it on their own? 

It's a great big sandbox world out there, people. There's room enough for everyone to actually build their own dream castles, enough resources for everyone to find something with which to create them. People really are just waiting at the gates to see what gets all mixed in.

There are enough people not doing anything these days that if you really want to do the leg work, you can find them and bring them to your aid. Better yet, find someone whose passion is to recruit them for you. There is enough money and attention wasted on things empty, unsatisfying, and meaningless that it doesn't take much to gain an audience for worthy things. Plenty of people have nothing better to do.

That said, just make it experiential and worthy of notice. Easy. Here's where you go back to the heart. Stir them.

After that, just make sure that plenty of people see it and that their experience with it is pleasant. Easy. It's the age of the Internet, after all. 

Forget all the bickering, the whining, the coveting of others' resources, the criticism of their vision. They and no one else will hear you talking about your projects after zoning out while you whined so well. Negative campaigning does no good unless you can use real proof, and your opinion does not count as proof.

Don't expect anyone else to care about your project as much as you.

Don't be an elitist. Be inclusive. Act like your neighbors are your neighbors. Even if they are from another planet, they will only hang around so long as they want. 

Until there is more

I keep hoping that whatever I have, whatever there is, will be enough until there is more. It's like growing pains and realizing there's no use in complaining, like having a desire in sight because I'm also the creator of a very real vision which I move toward with all my might. It's as real as anything you've ever touched or tasted, heard or felt; it's a sense that everyone can have what they want. 

My public life follows me home like a shadow, reminding me that no matter which way I turn myself toward the light it will be upon me. Sometimes I look it full on and know that it's me. Sometimes it's out of sight and out of mind, no matter how pervasive it may be in attempting to burn my eyes -- a full emotional replicate alive in my heart. 

And I feel it growing, building, and somehow the same as always -- this town of Marshall. There's a movement going on, and it's happening in so many directions at once that few people can comprehend its scope on such a persistent basis. Such reflections from my eyes are your media -- from my mind and heart, and hands -- showing it back as clearly as possible. Is there any wonder that virtues are found more fully explained than shortcomings -- crucially acknowledged, never cruelly.

And I keep hoping that whatever there is creating this movement will be enough until there is more. I want to climb after all of it, marching after the pieces of the puzzle until the point where the effort has all been for the best. So I fly out in every direction, knowing that each tiny piece is important, that every person's sacrifices count.

Somehow we're moving outward and upward, making the stability we'll need to sustain the community spirit that drives it. Believing in the whole thing, all at once, and being called upon to acknowledge and share the stories of so many different elements playing all out at once -- is maddeningly endearing. Then, I'm at a loss on the point in pushing and shoving toward someone else's hard-gained rewards when they could use their very own persistence, resourcefulness and imagination for the gains they seek. 

Still and daily I become engendered to this magnificent event of momentum that I imagine a community choir, build some buzz for it and make contacts with leaders to get it going. Why not? And as for community pride, everyone has history -- let's celebrate the topic of history itself with lectures and events in a history festival. Let me share my vision with you. Then, let's build it together. 

Coming here, I didn't know I was going to like it. I didn't even like myself back then like I have learned to love my life here in this place. It's something I'm still learning as I pass myself from one doorway to another in hopes of doing one more right thing to prove my part played well. Phone up and phone down, emails, meetings, meetings, meetings... and there's no substitute to living it. I wouldn't trade living it. It makes me pity the ones scraping their expectations against the grit of second hand details, even from me.

I'm living it, not just living with it.

I'm a cheerleader for Hometown Computers. It's building. I see it. I dream it, and I'm in this dream hoping that whatever there is will be enough until there is more. How I could find a town, then a sweet and solid love relationship all in one swipe? It was the answer to a prayer I didn't know with any certainty that I was making.

When Charles Compton appeared, I saw him bravely attempting to shape his own dream from a passion for computers, and I was looking the movement full in the face with my vision for the rest staring me down through the filter of his dream. To say we have everything in the shop would be putting it mildly. Who can put a price tag on someone else's sacrifices?

The best kind of sacrifice is one made in love, whether it be for self or something greater. For the love their own interests Marshall has more going on in the arts, in music, in tourism, with the Birthplace of Boogie Woogie Project, in commerce, with industries, in busily building and creating things than I can keep up with whatever duty there is to see it all maintained. There's no removing the city from any part of these things, and boy wouldn't the political prerogatives be disappointed if they couldn't take some credit for it?

So, I see my visions growing into the movement of the other. I see them separately, like so many first names all around me, moving toward something great and at an achingly fast pace. The centrifugal force demands I stand on the side and do my best to reflect the whole thing, with so much honesty as I can muster. It sucks me in.

I tell myself I have a good compass, that my needle will be just as sharp as I need it be and it won't matter how fast the rest may spin. I set my own paths by this and can leave my own sense of direction at home like I can leave my shadow at the office. 

Marshall's movement is a study, but also an inspiration for me to jump right into believing such potential is not such a silly dream after all. Like the rest, I'm just hoping to have something sweet from seeds of my own sacrifices until whatever I have, whatever there is, will be enough until there is more.

I wonder

I never got into the rave scene even though I was in Dallas during the middle of 2000 until 2003. It never struck me to go. I was doing the poetry scene and hanging out with artists and felt pretty good about that kind of exposure. But more people speaking out for drugs all over and gatherings... like this one. This is the new channel, and it's happening out front.

 Rave moves from Las Angeles to Las Vegas venue

This story makes me wonder what's going to happen with then national spirit of youth is stirred to finally be more active as well as convincing. In the 60s and 70s, the movement of the babyboomers was by no mistake understood and known in Every home. The way communication has changed, nobody is seeing all the same stuff. If "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" came out today,  nobody would know what an M&M was -- much less that people ever ate things that didn't come in packages.

What happens when the back-building of peoples movements gains a stream and they choose to think in channels instead of be given channels. You can't have this much energy and not have it create a current to swirl things up. I've seen the "slow and steady wins the race" thing going on, but I wonder what happens when predictions of society are combined with this kind of youthful spirit.

Universal Heartbeat

"Universal Heartbeat"

I am --
And like the thunder
It shook them all,
But only some were
Awake enough to notice

Within their steeled hearts
Their weary souls
Cower and respond: Ignorance (wrapped in wonder)
And then softly: status quo

Dreams have been
Left for
Such sleeping star children
It plays them each
A melody of hope
Pulsing galactic
In their veins

It beats
I am, I will
I am, I do
I am, I am

Waking star children
Let their eyes drop ice-sickles
Across keyboard handshakes
Of cold, blue screen-reflections
And meet brothers and sisters
On wires, in mega-computers

They're anchored tightly
Into a necessity
Food, air, shelter, water... love
They become the machine
And bound to its devices
Respond they: status quo
Noting nothing, no

Unshielded realizations
Inside them all
It beats
It beats the call
I am, I am
Forever have I been

But they have forgotten
To be, to say
What it is they have forgotten
But then, there is the breathing
And the beat
I am, I am
Sounding slightly louder
Neighbor to neighbor

And casting off the cold
It beats -- on
--Quit pretending
--Start believing
In the universe
I am,
A whisper

Ear to breast
Leaking messages of
Activist souls
Into the wave of all communication
In battlement with: status quo

Slow and steady
Slow and steady
They get ready
I am,
I am

It beats,
And star children wake
And secret wisdoms wake
It beats some
Til they break

I am,
I AM

Awake --

Neighbors sleeping near
Suckled on their: status quo
Ask the wrong questions
Follow all the same directions
While searching for meaning
In a chapter
That's long been closed

Too many ideas, not enough time

I'm having a hard time getting my head on today. It's like there's a block or something that really makes me want to do nothing at all and everything at once. And somewhere in the middle is my work that needs doing and my drive for projects other than what I'm required to be working on. I'm not sure when this happens if it's just me or if there is more to it.

I'm pretty sure that when I'm hormonal (yes, it's a cause) I'm less in control of my impulses. I say things, I divulge information on things. I get worked up. I talk. I feel uneasy about what I've said, and then somehow I can't seem to keep from saying more of it. I don't have the down-side from any bipolar-like disorder, at least I don't think so. But I'm pretty sure I've got the manic-side and go a little nuts and get all aggitated.

It wouldn't matter to me if I were bipolar, it's a credit to creatives and seems to make their work all the more deep and intense. The ability to let go of the whole rest of the world to focus solely on a project has got to have some merit. Those famous artists who have given their all to be creative and who have had their trials with the disorder recorded as part of the battle they waged to see their works through leaves little doubt that being sort of crazy is part of the territory.

Grandiose dreams and ideas are sometimes the jumping off point for those who want to make more of this world. Dream bigger than you are.

I'm good at that. I'm one of the best at fixing myself on some ideas and then working through them piece by piece by piece until maybe I get one or a few of them finished. I might be better at what I do than I think, even. And I need these dreams. They keep me up, keep me hopeful, keep me seeing this world as someplace where impossible things are likely to happen. I keep them alive and feed them hope and talk about them and share the visions with others.

But the bigger they get, the more I worry I'll fail them and the more I worry I've spread them too thin by sharing the energy from them. Do secret projects pull off better than public ones? I want to see others involved in the execution of these projects and to involve their hope and spirit, just like mine. But when I can't follow through or something is only possible farther down the way, am I setting these dreams up to fail?

Going crazy is OK

It's OK to go crazy. It's OK to feel intensely for things and to pursue them as though the consequences were unimportant altogether.

Pressing the RESET button

(by: By Bruno Furnari CC license for non-commercial use)

Going home is like pressing a reset button in my head. It's a reminder that I don't have to win or lose, pass or fail to be alright and everything is in order. My family supports me and knows I'm brave and tough, they know I'm scared shitless a lot of the time but still go out and do my best.

This is today's theme it seems, and while it's super late I'm wondering what is the reset for others. Is it a vacation or going to someplace you learned great things? Is it a day of rest and sleeping it off or maybe just making enough time in a day to do something you love, like I love to paint or just go out and shoot random photos.

It doesn't take a lot to get me out of a creative and energetic funk. It does sometimes take me a lot more to get out of a creative funk. In the news business it's sometimes easy to get into a call/visit, notes, write reports, repeat -- cycle. And I hate that because I want to write poetry in the newspaper and apply it to common things so that people will include a bit more poetry in their lives. Maybe it's just a romantic notion to believe others are interested in reading a finely tuned piece of news better than taking the bitter as it is, but you'll have to come up with a pretty good argument to prove I shouldn't keep on believing it.

I wear myself out. I literally go and go, hope and hope, drive myself and drive myself crazy with details, names, facts, dates, late history, early history, who's what doing, did, said had a dream. And I love it. I love the pace because it's an addiction and I crave it like one, too. But at least it's productive, even when it's not healthy. The adrenaline rush was why I loved hard, breaking news and chasing the cops around like a mad woman for a year. Instead, now I just chase anything in sight and refuse to narrow things down.

Then there's my friend's business and how I hope to help it grow and make it more because I want to see him succeed after being an underdog. And if I didn't see the potential for success, I'd probably still help him because I love him. And love is always a good enough reason to do anything.

I've set myself up to move to the next phase of a woman's typical life, skipping children perhaps, and going out for a graduate degree and my own business. I'm thinking my life will always be empty if I do neither, so I'm going to do one. It's not the success I care about but that people stop whatever they're doing and notice I was here, take something profound away from my expression (in whatever form it takes) and live a more fulfilled life for it. And I don't care about how big my audience is. If you're reading this and moved by it -- well then, maybe I've done it all.

In the meantime, I want to travel, which has a fee attached to it. I want to create art, which has a fee attached to it. I want to help others in drastic ways, which (usually) has a fee attached to it. I want to be free from the system, which has so damn many fees attached to it that the idea of trying probably cost something.

And then there is spirit.

I've stood at the crossroads enough times to know that down one path lies the status quo, the home and family, a career with success, fame or money. And down the other path lies the revelations for today's world that I can reach through spiritual transformation and a smattering of enlightenment. The trick to being enlightened is to practice it all the time, so it's obvious that you can't stay enlightened all the time unless you are wholly supported by others. Walking with one foot on either side of the spirit-line is knowing you're mad while experiencing the madness and embracing this. Our world was not built for such folk, but I've seen that it is wild and hungry for what such mad folk bring back.

Shamanism would be the closest thing I have to a religion, but I cannot truly serve the people as a shaman while participating in the social drama. Thus, the crossroads. And while that is the role I feel I should take, I wonder at myself for not seeking a shaman to heal and help me grow into that role. How like the vision-quests is my seeking for knowledge of the human animal in these days? How unlike animals we are.

I'm far from the crossroads this time. I've developed a fairly healthy network of contacts and have a wonderful relationship with an understanding, supportive, tenderhearted man. I'm learning all the obstacles to communicating alternative ideas to the people and about their trepidation for the evolution needed to bring about a common and peaceful future. Spirit healing is not just a thing that happens to an individual.

And so, writing this blog is also like a reset button, a channel to put out all my feelings so they can begin building again. Building new atop the same old, same doesn't necessarily mean the foundation was good when you started. When things start out askew, then there might not be enough room for roots.

There doesn't have to be a malfunction or error to press reset. Sometimes that just means finding north when charting a course or east. Sometimes you have to push the reset button over and over, over and over, over and over - - before the beginning point will have its right time or place, or that things will finally be out of danger from prevention by external forces.

I have a wellspring of hope that rises with the rains that come from the muse. It leads me to feel immortal in ideas and formidable against the status quo's chief naysayers. And I will live the life of a visionary, whether I have to just give it a little go at a time or push reset again, and again.

Terri

Hoodoo in East Texas



Eh, fuckit. Self censoring is stupid, especially when the best things can be said plain out.
I don't have a future in politics, and maybe by then nobody will care I wrote this today. Can't kill my art, can't kill my spirit. I got all I need. And I got magick.

Whether it's just another part of the muse working in my subconscious or it's the observation that nature is no mistake, I believe in spirit and magick. I believe in personal power, personal spirit helpers and guides, I believe that a real hoodoo work is set by intention.

I've done a few spells. That's probably a huge surprise (or maybe not), but I have. They worked, what's more, and that's probably less surprising than me working them. A more recent example was when I wrote this, offered it to the spirits and did some other things and then the girl who I wanted revenge on disappeared from my life. (But not before she ranted a whole bunch of nasty stuff online that could condemn her for being the nutjob she is. -Yep, I said that too.)

Hoodoo Blues
(in mimic of hoodoo blues lyrics of old)

Oh girl - you done gone an done it now

Mama done found out the truth of you

Quit pretendin, sweet-chile you ain't

Wishin sure can't help you out of a hoodoo

Judgement's a comin, you ain't no saint

Ya done let your sheep skin slide

And I done seen your other side

Woman done opened up her mouth

Let them black lies come tumblin out

She gonna get what she deserves

Girl gone get what she deserves

She's gonna get what she deserves

This Old Hoodoo Mama

Done pay for that graveyard dirt

Girl brought that grin, but she ain't no friend

She done lied to hear the truth

Then put it in her pocket with her sins

She gonna get what she deserves

This Old Hoodoo Mama

Done pay for the graveyard dirt

Gonna get them snakes to come rollin out

She gonna flail and shake and shout

Gonna get them lies tacked in her head

Or she gonna break instead

Girl gonna get what she deserves

She gone get what she deserves

Girl's gonna get what she deserves

This Old Hoodoo Mama

Done pay for that graveyard dirt

A strong hoodoo doesn't need to be bantered around, but cursing someone in public has been done and seen to work. This was some mess that was all public, and it worked in the public. I don't mean to sound proud, because we are what we are. Our power comes from what we are, but the willingness to use our natural powers lies only with us (not everything in our arsenal of protection and prayer is formal or God-given, for I disagree that God is involved in our daily lives on a micro-level but is more a universal presence that is given form through our individual beliefs).

I personally believe that the more the rootworker/hoodoo means it, the more powerful the spell will be, the fewer "ingredients" you should use and the sooner the results.

I might have just put the poem and all this on here today as an affirmation to my belief in magic and in using it, but I also might have something to sprinkle on the forehead of the damned and very soon.

Let those you love know you'd protect them with your body, mind and spirit. Let them be protected by your caring and let their transgressors feel your wrath. Sometimes doing drastic things is called for and the consequences of evil forced upon those who must be stopped before the worst can come.

Woman Eco-Information Warrior Strikes

OK, so the title of this one is a bit overstated. I'm definitely not alone in the promotion of positive changes for the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, the Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area nor any other part of the lake and it's unique habitat.

I'm in love with Caddo Lake. I'm in love with the culture of the Caddo tribe from history and today, and I'm in love with the idea that the land left over from a place that made warheads can become a center for peace, nature, animals and people to enjoy them.

And I feel like I have to write about it or burst from my desire to have people understand how precious, how delicate and wonderful this lake and its eco-system are.


All these happy feelings come from a World Wetlands Day meeting held in Karnack, Texas, last night for stakeholders to the lake. Only the most dedicated were in attendance as the weather was bitterly cold. But the meeting was a good way for one committee to remind the other groups of their intents, accomplishments and hopes. I always leave meetings like that jazzed about what is coming up next and do my level best to make all of them want to call me as it's happening. Reporting with up to date information and catching them in the act for live-shot photos is hard sometimes, but I always get to see the coolest shit.

I've lived in this region, what used to be held by the Caddo, for my whole life. I would swear I have seen their ghosts traveling lost along new highways and heard their prayers whisper across the age of white people in America. I've never doubted that this land was blessed and, somehow, tightly woven prayers for ages past still protect it. I wonder if others have had that same thought. It was a passing thing, something that really just made me pause to acknowledge it. These little truths that don't have to be proven are things that I include in the muse. Sometimes they are a premonition, just popping through, and sometimes they are a link to history floating in the air around us.

I've not been promoting my blog out lately, but if you happen to stumble upon it in the interest of the lake, then please feel free to write to me and to share your news about the lake, your love for it and any project or event for gathering people there.

This is your time. This is my time. We are now, and living in the moment at Caddo Lake is one of the most divine experiences I've had. That's why I can't wait to share it.

Weblog and the continuing saga of life

If I haven't said this lately, the name of this blog "Muse Meets Main" is the connection between the average person living in the "main" of things to the "muse" and inspiration. Sometimes inspiration is divine, sometimes it's at least mystical. Other times it can be a simple spur to take on a project or effort that comes from a need.
Feed your muse today by choosing to be inspired, to be affected by the world around you and then do something with the creative ideas bestowed on you. They're yours and no one else will make them happen.

(Snow shot photo from Jan. 10, 2011, Marshall, TX)

I've been moved by my muse this week to start posting again. I feel like I should be writing more for myself and get over the whole writing burnout. If you don't know me, then you might not know I'm a newspaper reporter for a small town's 6-of-7 daily paper with the Monday edition dropped for financial reasons. But I like having Sunday's off, so no complaints.

That also means that my primary mode of communication is through writing, and some days that means up to six stories, photos added and maybe interviews for more material. I'm not struggling with my creative flow in the least, just sometimes lack the additional drive it takes to make things happen after I've already been on target for making things happen all day.

Am I selfish enough to ask the universe to give me a space and time, the energy and inspiration to be creative full time on and off the clock?

I'd love to make my whole life about my creative pursuits. I've started a book, again. This time it's about East Texas Hoodoo energy left over from long-past generations. In it, I'd like to include themes of anthropocentrism between humans seeing themselves superior to ghosts and spirits, also that the underlying dark energies from a long-gone society are still affecting the way whites and blacks in East Texas communicate today. It may be that I turn this into a play where the "ghosts" still whisper hate words and hover around the central characters. (Wow... look at me brainstorm!)

It's also time for me to set some of my bigger deadlines for myself. I've decided to take the How to Start and Operate a Small Business in East Texas class, which among other things keeps me in town. Last year I convinced the chamber of commerce to let me into its Leadership class for networking and that held me to a goal for graduation from that. Marshall, Texas, is a sweet place, it's a divided place. It's as apathetic as any place I've lived and more touchy than some others. The people here are wonderful and oldfashioned in a way that makes me like it, but progressive toward tourism and excited about the future.

Some of my major deadlines need to be made for my creative energies to enter the mix here. I'm hoping to do a series of photos from the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge from the ruins, and hopefully I'll be able to grab some wildlife to add in. Also, I'm hoping to start production on some back-lit photo frames to make these otherworldy settings seem all the more strange. The setting is very "life after people."

Another goal I'd like to declare is for a painting or series of art collage projects that include technology mimicking nature. I'm excited about this one for different reasons. I hope to display the artwork in my boyfriend's computer shop and will use computer parts, paint, and wires or other things to illustrate this. Some of it will revolve around code. Do I mind putting my ideas on the Web for anyone to steal? Not at all. I believe that if someone sees this list of items and feels inspired, then they should take up their tools and brushes and CREATE SOMETHING.

If you do, I'd like to see it. + Love and light to all who may see this. - Terri