More on the subject of dreams....
One of my earliest dream memories occurred when I was about four years old. My dad was in the Air Force, and he had a tour of duty in Libya. He left when I was almost 3 and returned just before my 5th birthday. One night during his absence, I had a dream that he'd returned home. It was so vivid and so real that I jumped out of bed and ran into my parents' room to see him. He wasn't there; my mom had to explain to me that it was just a dream and he would be home in a few months. All these years later, I still remember every detail of that dream. I wonder how many memories lie buried in my subconscious. I wish I could recall other incidents of my life as clearly as I recall that dream.

No Cover Etiquette (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tip Jar)

Let's face it...Austin has an abundance of riches where live music is concerned. On any given night in this town, you can find live music, be it in a bar, night club, restaurant, or street corner. This is a blessing and a curse for the musicians here, because people tend to forget that music isn't free. The musicians who perform work hard. I know...I've helped with load-ins and load-outs for a local band here, and it is hard work. I think because the word "play" is used to describe what a band does (they play music), people think it is just fun and the band is just having a good time. A good band also makes it look like lots of fun to be onstage. I've seen musicians show up to play when they're sick, exhausted, stressed out, over worked and under paid, and they're still entertaining the crowd. The point I'm trying to make is that when the tip jar is passed at a show where there's no cover (or even if one is passed at a show WITH a cover), you should be generous and show the love by putting something more than a dollar in the tip jar. Musicians have families to support and bills to pay, just like the rest of us. And by making sure they get paid fairly, you help insure that music will be around in this city for years to come. So don't fear the tip jar....embrace it and fill it to the brim! Thankyouverymuch.

Blogs

Yesterday I announced to my family that I had started a blog. Of course, they wanted to know why. And you know what? I don't really know why I decided to do this. During the course of my day, I have thoughts that I think are funny or interesting (at least to me) and would make good content for a blog. Then when I sit down to write about the, they vanish...poof! Frustrating, to say the least. So I'm just going to continue to try to write about whatever I please and not worry about whether it's interesting or funny to anyone else. If you stumble upon this blog and find it amusing, fine...go ahead and read and hopefully, enjoy. If not, well, move on. I'm not looking for approval or praise.

Moon Dreams

Ever have recurring dreams? Well, I do. One type of dream involves the moon. The other involves houses. My moon dreams generally have a scenario in which the moon grows larger and larger until it seems it will crash into the earth. Sometimes the moon will be on fire. Once there were two moons, one inside the other. I have no idea what this means. The house dreams generally involve a room or rooms in my house that I've forgotten about. Sometimes it is the house I live in now, sometimes it is a house I used to live in. Sometimes it involves a house that seems familiar, but that I've never lived in, at least not in this lifetime. I guess I need to find someone who interprets dreams, because I have these types of dreams on a regular basis.

SXSW

South by Southwest...we here in Austin have a love/hate relationship with it. We have great music here year 'round, so the festival isn't that big a deal, at least not where I'm concerned. My beef is with the City of Austin, which, in its eagerness to embrace the financial gains to be had, totally mess up traffic for the people who have to live and work downtown. OK, I get that it's only 10 days out of the year, but still. I have to find alternate routes to get to my office, and I don't like it! I just checked out a map of street closings and my regular route is completely shut down. But you know, when I write it out like this, it makes me seem like a really shallow whiner, which I am totally not! So, I guess I'll quit my bitching and be glad that a) I've got a job to to to; b) I've got a reliable vehicle to transport me to said job; and c) it's a temporary situation and next week all will be back to normal. Life in Austin, Texas....gotta love it.

Fashion over 40

Ladies of a certain age: It's perfectly OK to dress provocatively. In fact, I encourage it. BUT if you are showing flabby or wrinkly, that's not sexy. You can wear clothing that accentuates the positives without drawing attention to the negatives. Great cleavage? Low-cut tops are fine. Flabby upper arms? Don't wear the halter top. And too tight is always out. Clothing that fits properly will always make you look thinner.

I'm just sayin'.