SOUL MUD: Random Ramblings of my 24/7 Brain

     This past summer, July 2, 2019 to be exact, my favorite band Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers were inducted into the AZ Music and Entertainment Hall Of Fame.  ( A little clip of RCPM from the AZ Hall of Fame Induction:   https://youtu.be/7G4pIp30u54 )       Doug introduced me to Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.  And while Doug has been a fan since the Mill Ave/Long Wong’s days, I’m a pretty new recruit.  Yet, still, some friends and family call us groupies.  I get it…If you know us at all, you know that this band plays a big roll in our lives.  We live and breathe their music, we drink their tequila, we travel near and far to attend their concerts and we’ve had them play in our backyard twice.  But it is something more than that…      To begin with, the music has a pull that recharges us.  It surrounds you, lifts you up, washes away the sludge of everyday life and restores an inner balance, putting me back in touch with my personal energy fields.  That isn’t a bunch of “

Inspiration is a fickle bitch!  These words just came to me in a gush at around 3:37 AM.  It was all I could do to catch the flow to avoid losing it to the haze of my sleep-filled grey matter.  I'm not a performer, so I'm not sure where it came from - but it came to me non-the-less.  THE LONELY STAGE - by Autumn Boyet Stinton  The bustle of the venue fills my ears as the plans come into place…                  It could be a bar or grill, rough or rowdy, a big or tiny space.     But people tend to gather here and leave an imprint of their energy…                It doesn’t matter why they’ve come or whom they’ve come to see.   So if it’s me or someone else who stands upon the stage…                They’ll watch awhile, judge a little and then the talent gauge.                   Here I am, see me, the poet, the artist, the performer…                                                             …upon the lonely stage Backstage takes on a life its own and

     I am finding social media to be the bane of my existence.  I'm not saying I don't use it.  Nor am I saying that I don't like it - it do!  What I am saying is this - I am a real person who wants to engage with other humans, (as well as other creatures, nature and myself), in a manner worthy of my time.  I want my relationships with others to be built on honest reality.      I need to engage in the art of conversation.  I want to talk about dreams and aspirations as well as annoyances and irritants.  I want to discuss your interests and learn about you and I want you to care enough about me to want to discuss my interests and learn about me.  I don't want to forget how to communicate via the written word.  I want a hand-written love letter that I can keep wrapped in ribbon in a special place.  I want a heartfelt letter from a friend that shares their hart with me and knows I will treasure and keep the secrets they share.  I want to recognize someone's handwriti

It’s funny how things come to you, seemingly out of the blue.   A long-a-go moment thrust into the now.   A forgotten tid-bit from a time past in stark contrast with the present.   A trigger – a smell, a sound, a feeling, a sight – that stimulates a nostalgia that abruptly stops the now, and brings a remnant of the past into sharp focus…if only for a moment.   A twinkle of a memory that shines brightly again – a second chance at glory, if only for a moment as the memory flares and quickly fades, proving that life is hurtling by too fast.   Whether a frigid memory, ensconced in cold feelings of dread, bringing with it the icy strangling fingers of regret, pain and sorrow that haunt your being – Or the memory that soothes you and floods you with warmth like the perfect cup of tea – Or the delectable memory that tingles across your skin and washes passion through you like a midnight dip in a cool lake on a hot summer night – Or a memory that comes as a thunderstorm in the night, bui

In case you were wondering what happens when your dog jumps down a 6’ embankment into an unsuspecting 4 year old who is happily splashing at the waters edge... Said child is shocked as she is propelled into the lake by the impact.   She of course panics a little because she goes under.  That look of panic kicks your instinct into overdrive so you dive off the bank like superwoman straight into the lake to scoop her up ensuring her that she is ok and that her mom won't be mad.      Of course, one of your flip flops stays at the top of the rocky embankment and the other sets sail out into the lake at 50 knots. Yet, you somehow retrieve your wayward lake-surfing shoe, wrangle two wet dogs and the soaked and shaking 4 year old together and get everyone safe and relatively dirt and mud free to the top of the embankment extremely thankful everyone is in fact "ok" and in good spirits.  You smugly think to yourself, "Whew, crisis averted.  I did good!"

A friend recently asked me if I feared the future?  If ever there has been a loaded question for me - this one tops the list.   DO I FEAR THE FUTURE?  My first reaction is to say, no.  I do not fear the future.   My perspective is probably an odd one.  I am very “here and now” person. I am usually totally invested and focused on the immediate circumstance.  That can be a blessing and a curse.  Sometimes it prevents me from thinking things through like I should because I am so focused on “right now.”  However, more often than not, I get more benefit out of this tendency than heartache as it lends to me being engaged in, and enjoying, the moment.  Much of my outlook comes from my upbringing.   My mom was/is the best at finding the “bright side” of things and adapting to still find the fun and adventure in even the worst of scenarios.   I’m grateful for that, because I tend to do the same.    If something doesn’t work out like I think, I am usually able to shrug it off and