I was hoping for a knight in shining armor this morning, as I sat with my coffee in the darkness on the porch. My dream was fading. I needed help, but couldn’t find what I sought: something BIG to get
you to donate. So, I was trying to decide how to gracefully back out of raising money for Camp Sanguinity cancer camp.

I was discouraged!

All of this week, I approached local merchants asking for donations so I could have a raffle, but was met by a polite wall of “no.” The economy is just too scary right now, and (though they liked the cause) the merchants couldn’t contribute. I didn’t see how in the world I could keep trying, while I struggle to get my life in balance.

[You are supposed to be helping me by participating in a group writing project, and none of you have said a word.]

On the brink of giving up, I opened my e-mail.

Who needs a stinkin’ “knight in shining armor,” when you have Jessica The Rock Chick on your side?

She stepped out of her glimmering white limousine in her black stiletto cat boots with Jon Bon Jovi at her side…

Wait.

That’s a dream Jessica had.

Actually, she was probably barefoot in her pajamas. She drives a stinky mommy van (hey, she admits that it literally stinks), and she only stalks Bon Jovi. Still, she has saved my day.

That generous gal decided to have a raffle to help Camp Sanguinity (and to celebrate her 2nd Bloggiversary).

You can win a 1GB Apple iPod Shuffle!

She will even let YOU pick the color!

ALL you have to do is:

1. donate by paypal or check (Tucker’s Camp Sanguinity Fund 2008, P.O. Box 2241, Denton, TX 76202,
   or click that banner at the bottom of this post to donate through PayPal. Jessica has a button on her blog post, too.
2. write a post linking to her post (you could link to my first post about it, too, so people know why they are donating!),
3. and make a commenton Jessica’s post, so she knows you are there

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

AND Jessica sweetens the pot! Well, her fabulous daughter, the one and only supertalented Samantha Hollywood (whose heart is as big as her mother’s), owner of Fashionably Late Layouts, does. She will make you a custom MySpace layout for a $10 donation to the fund. How cool is that? If you donate $10.00 or more and would like a custom MySpace layout for you or anyone, please email Jessica at jessicatherockchick[AT]yahoo[dot]com and she will hook you up.

There you have it. A chance to win big for yourself AND help send a child to cancer camp.

Thank you, Sweet Jessica and Samantha. You have made my day. Y’all are better than a knight in shining armor any day of the week.

And, Happy Bloggiversary, Rock Chick. Rock on!!

Oh, children. Someone who calls him/her self “realist in Denton” commented on my post about the Denton Jazz festival. Do y’all ever get comments that make you want to twist someone’s head off? I just have to share with you. This is what the goofball had to say:

Either you haven’t been to a concert in ages, or you are just bitter. There weren’t just kids being rude, drunken adults your curmudgeonly age were far worse in my area than any kids I saw. So get off your high horse, deal with what happens when you go see a big name band at a general admission venue… or go pay your overpriced $$$ to see seated shows at the aac, etc.

This was my response:

First of all, “realist,” I said “people” not kids. I’m fully aware there were people my age who were drunk and disorderly. Second, obviously your momma didn’t teach you any manners. You are a perfect example of what I was grousing about. This is MY house. If you want to make rude remarks do it to your own momma.

Remember that line in Hamlet? This kid “doth protest too much, methinks.” I’d almost bet money that this is the little smart aleck drunk who was trying to push me around!

I e-mailed the response to the person, but does anyone want to bet that it bounces back? I’ve noticed that spineless people who go into people’s blogs and leave nasty comments usually don’t leave their real e-mail addresses.

I’ve got better things to do. Like finish photographing some afghans for kids with cancer. We have 111 showing in the afghan gallery now.

Back to it.

I’ve been to enough outdoor festivals that I should know these things by heart.

Items to take to an outdoor festival:

• chair
• camera
• binoculars
• blanket or jacket
• bottled water
• sunscreen
• mosquito repellent
• antihistamine!
• taser gun for zapping unruly crowds!

I know them, but I still forget.

I had told y’all about the horrible crowds at the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. On Friday night, throngs of idiots who arrived late scrambled to stand in front of the stage, blocking the view for the people who had been there all day waiting to see. I had groused that I was going to take an umbrella to jab offensive people, but Jamie had suggested tasering folks and stacking them like cordwood.

I’m happy to report that the Saturday night crowd was much more civilized. Or, maybe the police just had it figured out better, and stopped people from going down to the front. At any rate, the taser gun I dragged along was unnecessary (but impressive). However, I forgot antihistamine and a jacket! When we went down to the festival grounds, it was hot (so we were in our free t-shirts provided by Jupiter House Coffee). By nightfall, the temperature dropped dramatically. The freshly mowed lawn put a lot of pollen in the air (as if there isn’t enough of that in the air in Texas already).

By the time my hero, Delbert McClinton, came on stage, my teeth were chattering and I couldn’t breathe through my nose!



[photo by Matthew Barnes]

The worst news, is that if I had not already been a Delbert McClinton fan, THIS concert would NOT have made me one. Bless his heart, Delbert has been performing since the early 1960s. When he ripped into a song, he could rock the house. His voice has been abused mightily over the years.

I was mortified for him. I had been bragging on and on to the woman next to me about how good Delbert was, since she had never heard him. As the concert began, I wanted to swallow my tongue. He sounded weak, and ragged. He couldn’t carry a melody! Aww, say it ain’t so! No, it’s true.

Maybe it was an aberration. Perhaps he has allergies, too. It could have been that he was exhausted. It might have been that the sound system had a glich. Or, was it just my ears?

I don’t think so. If that is how he sounds all the time, somebody needs to tell him that it’s time to retire. I think his voice is dead and gone (R.I.P.).

The woman next to me was less than impressed. She left after three songs. We waited until he took a break. I should have gone sooner, because I don’t want to remember Delbert that way.

At least I got to hear him in road houses and honky tonks thirty years ago. That Delbert is still my hero.