Meet Mo

Meet my friend Mo.... Here's Mo sitting on my couch:

I let mo drive my truck:

But I didn't know Mo had been drinking.... Here's Mo about to pass out

When Mo and I first met

General Rambles

Happy Happy Happy Birthday to Ashley - My kiddo who has blossomed into a beautiful young woman both inside and out! Ah to be 26 again. I wouldn't care to be much younger - but the late 20's were good. May only good things come into your life this year.

Well the old (not old to me, but doc says....) fancy mare is finally doing better - she has not refused a meal in over 2 weeks and finally is drinking some water (not still quite enough) in addition to the water being served on her feed and on her alfalfa cubes. She is also acting like she feels okay. One stress lifted....

I have a line on a secondary job - nothing exciting to brag about, just some call center work - but for a short time until I see how life is gonna shake out - it will make making the rent sans my roomates possible. So another stress lifted...

Yesterday was fat tuesday and today is the first day of the lent season. A good 40 days to be contemplating the nature of things.

I saw the first daffodils of the season today.... I love love love the daffodils because they represent the first real sign of spring - they pop up through the brown ground in stark defiance of winter and warm the spirit of all who come across them.

Okay, I think that's all I got today..... Carry On!

Oscars 81

I know I already said that I love the Oscars, but now I can say specifically what I loved about the oscars.....

I LOVED THE HUGH - THE HOST WITH THE MOST!!! Okay, taking nothing away from any previous oscar hosts - (almost all of whom i loved, each oscar has it's own feel) - But Hugh did SUCH a good job. He sings, he dances, he acts - and he is OMG handsome - and that's not even talkin about the accent or anytime we are lucky enough to see him McConaughey style....(ala australia)

(COMPLETELY GRATUITOUS SHOT)

Okay, undigressing.... Besides the host I almost lost conscienceless laughing at Ben Stiller

who was making fun of....

And I LOVED the Whistle....

and you homosexual commie sons of guns...

I loved lots of other stuff tooo.... but it's bed time now!

Momma Mia

How very bizarre. Not bad, just very odd. Okay, I'm not much of a musical fan, just never have been. But I decided I needed to watch this one for a couple of reasons... first, I adore Pierce Brosnan and like to watch anything he's in. Secondly, the rest of the cast is great too. Thirdly, the cast is dancing tonight on the oscars and since I haven't seen so many of the films nominated tonite, and since I had access to this one right here - I just thought I would.

Not a bad film, I just have a hard time getting past the weirdness of the musical factor I guess. It's just sooo over the top - which is clearly on purpose, but still weird.

Did I use the word weird too many times?

Not much else going on here this weekend. I went to a Mardi Gras party last night, mostly it was just a get together with a couple of friends for gab and a few beers. It was a good time though.

Today, I finished a grisham book i've been reading (the appeal) which I have to confess I really didn't care for the ending of since he let the bad guys all win. Then a few chores and tonight the oscars. I love the oscars, even when I haven't seen the films.
That's all today.....Carry on.

Mardi Gras

just thinking about getting in the spirit for the party tonight....

2 months and 2 days

I was sitting here earlier thinking how long 2 months and 2 days can be. That's how long it's been since you had to go. I was thinking how much I think of you every day. On good days all my thoughts and memories are happy ones - on other days I can't help but cry when I come across your ball, food bowl, favorite spot etc.

As I was sitting here thinking about those things I noticed that a thunderstorm had managed to sneak up on me. You were always the first to alert me if a thunderstorm was on the way, especially in the last few years. I never had to wait till the rain had started to put the ponies in the barn, you always gave me plenty of notice. It also occurred to me that surely you aren't scared of such silly things anymore.

Yesterday your cat snuck in the house looking for you. She still sniffs the end of the couch where you always layed. I'm pretty sure she has no idea where you took off to. I let her hang out and lay on the couch for a while. I figured we could miss you together for a few minutes.

Anyway, just wanted you to know how much I miss your smiling face.

Love,

Your human

Presidents day

What's better than a Monday that really isn't a Monday at all? Not much! I rolled my lazy butt out of bed at 9:30, a full hour and a half after I normally would have had to be at work. I fed, and am now sitting here blogging and enjoying my 2nd cup of joe as the sun shines in on me from the front window. If only every day could start off so perfectly!

Yesterday was cold and dreary looking, but today there is some Sun out there and it's suppose to even get semi warm! Speaking of sun, over the last week I have noticed several signs promising that Spring is on the way!! I hate winter, I hate every aspect of it from the lack of sunlight, the cold, the gross weather, the mud, and did I mention the lack of sunlight? BUT my yard is starting to sprout green shoots everywhere, if you look closely there is a green blanket developing under the dead brown grass of winter. Secondly, Strait the horsey teddy bear is starting to visibly shed. Thirdly, our trees have started budding. Fourthly, I have the first little yellow flowers poking up out of the ground, and lastly yesterday I witnessed a male and female cardinal doing the "mating" dance of spring!!! This all means I better get re-focused on my diet and exercise regimine if I want to reach my goals by spring!!!

Hope everyone has a pleasant work day....

and those on Holiday are grateful for their day off!

That's all,
Carry On.....

Costner blogging

"This is as close to my personality as I ever get, playing live," Costner said."When I'm making a movie I'm playing whoever I'm playing. But my personality comes out on stage when I play live. That's when you see me the clearest." (Kevin Costner 2008)

I love that quote, which I just stumbled across. I like it mostly because I was impressed with the Kevin I saw on stage.... it's nice to hear him claim that this is the REAL Kevin.

Speaking of Kevin....Little did I know that Blogging about Kevin Costner could be almost as exciting as blogging about Garth Brooks, but luckily in a good way. For those that don't know, or don't remember, I made THE HUGE mistake of voicing a complaint about Garth Brooks on my blog. Just me, making my little comments known to the 5 other family members who read my blog right??? NOOO I was reminded the hard way that the blogging is a public forum and your words can and likely when it is the least convenient for you, they will be used against you. My comments were picked up and published by the Orlando Sentinel. My first clue was when my little "live space" got several hundred hits in one day from a referral site I didn't recognize. I clicked over there to see my words supporting a very negative article about Garth. Yes, I'd written it, and yes I'd meant it... but I had never intended for ANYONE to see it really, and I never ever meant to publicly diss Garth... I loved Garth.

So it was a little flash back the other day when i noticed my little blog hits had gone through the roof, and the referring sites were all Kevin Costner related. Upon checking I found my blog posted on a costner "scrapbook" site. Thankfully however, my comments about Mr. Costner had been nothing but glowing, and the comments that I've received from costner fan visitors have all been positive! It's given me a chance to check out their sites and for more people to all share in what for me was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

A much nicer experience. And a sweet way to hold on to my extraordinary night and keep reliving it over and over!!!

Maybe I'll move on to other topices this weekend, especially since I still have 2 days in this 3 day weekend!!!

News

I'm an NPR junkie... I'm always just a little bit embarrassed to admit that since I don't consider myself the "type", but alas anyone who really knows me knows that it's true. It's on the radio in the truck and it's my morning alarm clock.

One of the perks of being an NPR junkie is that I rarely miss any major developments... In fact, I would almost say that I hear too much. But with a new pat green album loaded onto my mp3 player, not to mention my efforts at reliving my night with Costner, the few times I was in my vehicle this weekend NPR was silent.

I also watch enough TV to generally rot my brain and when i'm not watching TV, I'm on the Internet... but this weekend i had a sick horse to tend to which meant lots of outside time (and with the weather that was not a sacrifice) and when I was in the house I was checking out a new channel that plays all country music videos all the time. (what a foreign concept that is)

So this evening i'm feeling a little blindsided by the news. On the way home from the store earlier, feeling a little bit of withdraw for my npr programing I took off the earbuds and found out that Australia had caught on fire and was apparently burning down.... It sounded awful. Then after my Sunday TV favorites the news informed me that Tulsa had some sort of murder and crime spree over the weekend.

I'm almost wishing that I had just left my headphones on.... If you don't know about it and acknowledge it, then it doesn't exist.... Right Tam???

My night with Kevin (the Novel)

Where to even begin….? I guess the beginning is as good a place as any. I'll apologize for the length of this story in advance... get a beer and some chips and get comfy - it's a once in a life time story and takes up a once in a life time amount of BLOG space. I did embed a slideshow of pics - but i purposefully put it way down - sooo keep reading LOL!!!

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As days go, Tuesday was one of those rare days where things you don’t even realize you need to fall into place somehow magically do. I had secured tickets some weeks ago to see Kevin Costner in concert in Oklahoma City on 2/3. That part was a no brainer – I love Kevin, have since I was about 14. I had made up my mind 5 seconds after getting an email back in October alerting me that Kevin Costner had a band, and was putting out his first Country Album, that this was my chance – I meet country music stars, it’s easy… So, if Kevin wanted to be a country music star – I was ALL ABOUT IT. Who cares if he can sing or not.

I got the album and after a few spins I was relieved to find out that this was not (by far) the worst country album that I had ever listened to. In fact, it was, dare I say – really good.

Then while checking out one of my favorite venues to see who might be coming to town I see that Kevin & Modern West were schedule to play there. Kevin at The Wormy Dog? Re you kidding?? I mean that’s like one of my favorite venues ever… It was almost as fi Kevin were saying to me: “Johnanna, I’d sure like to meet you, AND I’m doing everything I can think of to make this easy for you! I'm going to start singing Country Music, and I've going to come play your favorite bar.” I mean, how could I turn down an invitation like that!
With the tickets purchased, I began to look at the schedule. The show was on a Tuesday. Hmm… Well nothing I could do about that. Chanda had made it clear that she had been dragged to enough Kevin movies that she had damned well better be dragged to see the man in person as a payoff for her 15+ years of service. We work together – but decided that it just couldn’t be avoided – I put it on the schedule.

Last week, out of the blue I was informed that I needed to pick a day when I could go to Oklahoma City and see a Judge about getting an Order signed. Really? How lucky is that? Okay, I’ll go to the city on Tuesday. Then, Monday when I called the Judge, she told me I need to be there at 1:30. Really? That’s early? What will I do after that? – Oh go get in line to meet Kevin Costner – yeah, that sounds good!

Literally everything worked out perfectly & we found ourselves at the very front of a long long line of middle aged and older women. We had no trouble passing the next few hours because the conversations all around us were highly entertaining. One group discussed their “ailments,” while I whispered jokes to Chanda about “now serving Geritol at the bar!” Another group listened intently as a woman repeatedly told how she’d met Costner earlier in the day at a album signing at Wal-Mart. Another group discussed which movies they loved and why. Many of them had brought DVD’s or Magazines for autographs. Some of the magazines were quite old, and people in the crowd were ooing and awing over them. I chuckled to myself, because I had each of the ones that I saw – but they were home in a box, with the rest of my craziness from my late teens & early 20’s. I soooo could have been like those women – but was making a conscious effort to “play it cool.”

It was readily apparent that no one was there to hear a band. Some of the people didn’t even know he had a record. Some had picked it up on the way to the show, and others were promising to pick it up on the way home – or the next day. One lady tried to gain early entrance into the club by knocking on the door and when a guard answered she flashed a wallet sized photo of Kevin and stated that she had gone to school with him and that she was sure he would want to see her. I'm not sure what the guard said, but the lady returned to the end of the line.
The doors of the Wormy Dog finally opened about 6:30 and since the 2 people in front of me had noooooo idea where they were going I had zero problems being the first person in the door and the first person at the stage. I’ve played this role a thousand times before and it’s like riding a bike. I know how the game works, I know how the venue is set up and I will roll your ass over like a steamroller if you get between me and my destination and slow your pace in the least. I arrived at the stage. Found the sweet spot, marked my territory, and then and only then did I turn around and wonder where the hell Chanda was. It took her several more seconds as she had gotten into a shoving match with someone trying to prevent her entry into the club. Once she had our spot I hit the bathroom and then the bar. I was planning on having a few shiner's to pass the time till the show started. I headed back to the stage and already had a little trouble getting back in. Ten minutes (and about 1/2 of my beer) later the woman who had been standing behind us made a bar run. When she finally got back she announced that she would not be trying that again. It dawned on me that I was done with that beer because there would be no potty runs before this show. Within a few minutes the entire bar was sooo full that movement (at least near the stage) was essentially cutoff completely. Chanda and I settled in for the 2 more hours of waiting.

My back, feet and knees were killing me but eventually it was time for the opening act, the Paula Nelson Band. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't actually know who this was. I popped off to Chanda "I wonder if she's kin to Willie?" Well, turns out she's isn't just 'kin' - she's his daughter! And she's very talented. She had a great bluesy raspy voice and the sound system was such that I couldn’t hear every word, but it sounded like she was a pretty cool song writer too. I'll have to be checking her out a little more fully.

Finally after an entire afternoon of waiting with only slightly contained enthusiasm... it was time. They brought out the song lists and the beer and sat by the mic's and we knew our wait would soon be over.... and then with zero fan fair it happened - a laid back looking Kevin emerged from the back with a boyish grin and a little wave to the 750 women in the house who were screaming shrill-ly. He stood about 4 feet from me behind his microphone stand waiting for ruckus to die down. I simply could not believe that I was seeing this with my own eyes. It was sooo very cool. The screaming subsided but his smile did not. He said that he wanted to get something out right up front - he wanted to thank us all for coming to his movies for all these year. Again cheers erupted. He then said we'd talk as we went along and with that they were starting their first song. I looked over at Chanda and gave the "can you believe this?" grin. She could not. For the next two hours I barely moved. I kept reminding myself that this was possibly a once in a lifetime experience and I needed to be "aware" of it, savor it and commit as much of it to memory as possible.

I can't give you a blow by blow because I was literally having like an out of body experience where the whole thing, but I can give you my impressions. I was first struck by how OMG handsome he was. I was prepared to see an old man. An old man that I loved, but still an old man. This was no old man, this was a handsome man. He was also taller than I would have thought. He was just as skinny as he looks. In person he still has no butt. He has really big (soft) hands and long fingers. He has a nice smile and he employs it a lot. He was way more personable than I would have imagined. He told stories between almost every song, sometimes really long ones – and then jokingly compared the length of his stories to the length of his movies. He assured us he wasn’t done making long Westerns either.

I had heard going in that while Kevin had a few songwriting credits that John Coinman was the real talent in this area. But something that struck me was that Costner was the one who explained the origin and meaning of each song before they sang it. He expressed a deep understanding of the origin of the songs – telling us what the song meant, where it came from and what sort of images and emotions it might conjure up in us. In other words, he spoke like the songwriter. He also spoke like a storyteller. I guess that’s not a stretch from acting – just story telling in another form. I’ve heard Kevin say he was a story teller before, but I’ve not had a forum to hear him literally tell stories until now.


I almost hate to gush about how talented I think this band was musically, but they were really good. I loved all the songs, they had a old rocker feel to them and great beats that really jammed. I have listened to the album over and over and there simply isn’t a song on it that doesn’t hold up. Live, they were even better. Kevin showed a range of vocals not present on the record, and of course absolutely nothing can replace the energy of a live show. I wouldn’t have thought that we would have been so entertained beyond getting to stare at Kevin, but in fact we were. It was almost easy to forget that I was looking at a oscar winning actor whom I had been in love with since my teens, I could have just as easily been jamming at a Gary Alan concert. It’s not as if he swung from the rafters or anything, but he was entertaining and engaging. He made eye contact, he acknowledged countless people with winks, waves, blown kisses and the hand over the heart nod. (you know the “you get me right here, move.”) He sang, he danced (sorta - definate white man) he chatted us up and he made an impression….a good one.

Somewhere in the middle of the show he stopped, grinned and pointed to a woman and said “Hi Cathy.” He then explained that he went to school with that woman over there and she used to drive him crazy. Chanda and I exchanged glances – guess the woman outside wasn’t blowing smoke. Even so, I thought it was pretty great that he saw her, recognized her & pointed her out. In fact, as he wrapped up the show he told her he wanted to see her back stage.

The show was long but seemed like only a few minutes. He wrapped up by saying thank you to everyone a thousand times. He told us how special this night was to him and promised that he would not forget it. I know for a fact that every woman in that bar felt the same way.

We thought it was all over and were resigning ourselves to get going. Kevin was exiting the stage, but the women in the crowd were screaming themselves silly. Then all of a sudden there Kevin was coming back out – and off the stage out to where we were. He started on one side and began shaking hands and signing autographs. He was very kind and was smiling at everyone. He shook hands with tons of women and then went to the other end of the stage to repeat the process. He turned to leave like 5 times, but always turned back to the crowd when they began to scream. I found myself acting like a 15 year old teenie bopper stretching my hand out towards him and shaking it as if to say – PLEASE ME, TOUCH ME, JUST TOUCH ME! As he was turning to head backstage one more time he looked up and saw Chanda and I reaching for him. We had been front and center for the whole show and we had been 2 of very few who not only knew Kevin had a band, but who had been singing along to every word. He grinned and grabbed both of our hands. I could have literally fainted dead away. But then he looked up past us over our heads at another woman stretching out her hand. He stepped into us and reached right over the top of us to reach her. He was literally leaning against us and every fiber of my being was screaming GET HIM!!!! But be proud of me… I tried to just soak it in and refrain. I didn’t grab him, cause him to run away – look at me like I was one of “those women” or have security remove me from the bar. He simply grinned and turned.

I know this is like a twelve page blog and I apologize, but I can not even begin to describe how cool this was for me. I’ve always wanted to meet Kevin Costner and how this came down simply blows my mind…. My story from now on really will be…. “Kevin knew how much I loved him and he wanted to meet me. He knew how much I loved Country Music and how I had met all the stars that I admired, so he decided to become a Country Music Star to make it that much easier for me. To seal the deal, he even decided to play my favorite bar. Then he knew we’d finally be together…. The way we were always meant to be!!!

My Night With Kevin....

Just a taste - much more to follow.

What now

As a teenager I set a few goals for myself. They weren't goals about college or marriage - oh no, not me... my goals were more like meet Garth Brooks, Meet Reba, attend Fan Fair become a roadie!

You may scoff at my goals, but at the time that I set them I could think of nothing on the face of the planet that I would rather accomplish, and I set about trying to do just that, I mean my father did say that I could accomplish anything I set my mind too.

And accomplish them I did, I've met Garth and Reba and every other country music star that I have ever set my fancy upon meeting. I set goals to interview stars and accomplished that, I even went beyond all that to wanting to produce my own shows and book artists to play gigs for me, and while i've not booked any "Garth"gantuan shows, I have booked some of my favorites. And most of these "goals" turned out to be absolutely as wonderful as I imagined that they would be.

As a teenager and young woman, although my love of all things country music was strong, the real love of my life was actually a movie star. From the first time I saw Bull Durham, I was a gonner. But, one goal I never set for myself was to meet Kevin Costner... I always felt that Kevin was just beyond reach. I would be content to adore him on the big screen.

Over the years as Kevin and I both aged (one more than another!) my lust receeded (a little) and I began to move on. But of course, I knew I would always have a soft spot for kevin.

Recently however, Kevin has decided that he is a Country Music Singer. Seems he is treading in my waters. My musical waters. And what country music star exists that I have wanted to meet - which I have not... ???? It's a short short list....

So the moral of this story is that I have tickets to see Kevin Costner in concert at one of my favorite spots.... a really really small spot call the Wormy Dog. Even if I don't get to meet Kevin, chances are I will not be more than a few feet from him during his concert performance, in other words... Step One.

My question now is - what on earth will I do with my life after obtaining my goal that was so unobtainable that I didn't even dare it....

Guess I'll have to accomplish something even crazier....

more to come.....

That's all - Carry on.