Frazzled

September 30, 2009

They say that “a camera adds ten pounds.” I’m assuming from that phrase that they mean that a picture makes you look ten pounds heavier. If “a camera” adds ten pounds, then I need to lose fifty pounds pretty quickly! Later this month five movie cameras will be pointing my direction at one time! Oh, [...]

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Reality Bites

September 24, 2009

Today I get the dubious joy of having my fingerprints taken. Supposedly this will prove to schools, where I perform by telling stories for little urchins, that I am not a criminal pervert. Personally, all I think a criminal background check proves is that a person has never been caught. I’d blog this experience for [...]

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Love at The State Fair of Texas

August 3, 2009

It was the State Fair of Texas in 1970, long before Big Tex learned to speak Spanish. My sophomore choir was attending the fair to perform on stage that evening along with choirs from all over the state. I was excited because our performance would be followed by a concert featuring Burt Bacharach, whose song [...]

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If It’s Not Fun, Don’t Do It

July 29, 2009

Y’all see this little girl on the slide? That six year old still lives inside my heart some forty-nine years later. I look like I’m on top of the world, don’t I? Well, let me tell you about that day. I remember it well after all these years. Daddy and his brother, Uncle Denny, took [...]

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Chicken’s Good Enough For Me

June 23, 2009

Everyone conceded that my Mamaw, Estelle Cumbie, was the best cook in Wood County. That’s how she caught my Papaw, Guy. Well, maybe she caught him because she was darned good looking, but her cooking helped. Hers wasn’t fancy gourmet cooking; it was just down-home Southern style, flavored with a LOT of bacon grease. Like [...]

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My Heavy Foot Leaves A Big Carbon Footprint

June 2, 2009

Furious! That’s what I was. I had been “stood up” for a date by the boy with whom I was “going steady.” Now, what’s the point of “going steady” if you aren’t going to go anywhere? I hopped into my little Toyota and drove like a bat out of you-know-where into town to find that [...]

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Leapin’ Lizards

May 20, 2009

He stared at me from the edge of the porch, watching every move I made. Like a miniature pre-historic monster, that lizard seemed as curious about me as I was about him. Perhaps he thought I was “prey.” If I’m to assign human qualities to a reptile, I’m sure he had an enormous ego. From [...]

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Giving Eudora Welty A Second Chance

February 26, 2009

When you were in High School, did you enjoy the reading that you did for your English classes? I find it strange that I consume reading matter like a starving man devours bread (not missing a single crumb) until you tell me I HAVE to read it. If you want me to analyze it, then [...]

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Empty Words

January 14, 2009

In a storytelling workshop with 4th grade students this week, I had a child ask me a question that has given me pause. It made me start pondering my storytelling and my blogging. I told the kids that I didn’t start telling stories until I was in my thirties, although my life’s path had been [...]

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Dona Nobis Pacem

November 6, 2008

A Peace Tale for the Blog Blast For Peace. [This is my version of a folk tale told in Burma and Thailand. The story can be found in the book Peace Tales, by Margaret Read MacDonald.] In a time long ago, there lived a king who loved to hear himself talk. One day, he called [...]

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Present: Tense, Past: Imperfect

October 12, 2008

I was the quintessential “Earth Mother.” Did any of y’all go through a phase like that? I’ve been remembering those days long ago, as the television news warns me of dire economic times ahead. It was the early 70s, and I had already missed my chance to be a “hippie.” In my conservative small town, [...]

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American Masterpieces Program

September 29, 2008

This is an excerpt from an unexpected letter I got in the mail today from the Texas Commission on the Arts: Dear Ms. Tucker, The Commission is pleased to announce that you have been designated as an NEA American Masterpieces touring artist for the fiscal year 2009. You are one of 25 outstanding Texas artists [...]

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Too Good To Be True, and The Power of Story

August 12, 2008

I read this story in a book this weekend: Many years ago, back when airlines had to offer promotions to get your money, United Airlines offered a deal called, “Fly Your Wife for Free.” Businessmen were encouraged to buy a ticket for a trip and they would receive a ticket to take their wives along [...]

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“Organized” a short work of fiction, that rings true

August 1, 2008

Ellie sat down at the kitchen table with her cup of coffee in hand, and a determined expression in her hazel eyes. Sunlight filtering through the dirty window highlighted the splotch of strawberry jam on the golden oak table which she had neglected to wipe after breakfast. Her life was a mess. She couldn’t ever [...]

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Jonesing for Blogging

July 21, 2008

It’s a sad thing to be on a journey to places you have never seen, and spend half your time trying to connect to the internet! We are on the final leg of a journey to the Southland. Y’all know how excited you get to go on a trip? How for days you plan and [...]

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Pecking Order

July 2, 2008

I wish I could show you pictures of the birds in my backyard, but my camera is not the best for taking “nature shots.” I’ve been sitting on my back porch watching those birds this morning, intrigued by something I have never seen. I’ve watched one particular bird for several days. Perhaps it is some [...]

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Soup or Salad?

June 29, 2008

I’ve been speechless on this blog for a couple of days, as I struggled with a story that wouldn’t tumble out. It is what I have wanted to tell, but it didn’t want to be told. I’ve been busy lately. It has been a whirlwind of sorting through the flotsam and jetsam of our world, [...]

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Mind Your Manners, And The Rest Is Soon To Follow

June 17, 2008

“I think once you stop hearin’ “sir” and “maam” the rest is soon to follow.”~Sheriff Bell (Tommie Lee Jones) in No Country For Old Men Though the Cohen Brothers packed their movie with violence, the most memorable part of No Country For Old Men, for me, was the line above. It’s been bouncing around in [...]

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The Angel of Marye’s Heights

June 13, 2008

I’ve been working on my story repertoire the last few days. In that process, I came upon a tale from the time of the Civil War. Times of conflict can bring out the very best in some people. Richard Rowland Kirkland was one of those people. I wanted to share with you his story (facts [...]

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I Love/Hate My Job

May 15, 2008

Yes, I’m having a “love-hate relationship” with my job right now. I bet most of y’all go through that, too. I am relieved that there are times that I love it, because I know there are some people who despise the work they do to make a living. I realize I’m fortunate, and I try [...]

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