Jim Jones's Blog, page 2

YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED

“You can’t always get what you want, you can’t always get what you want,

You can’t always get what you want but if you try some time, you just might find

You get what you need.”

  That’s a quote from those great Western philosophers, the Rolling Stones.  Of course, you have to look past their opulent life style and colossal self-absorption to appreciate the wisdom of the words but it’s there nonetheless.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’ve been pondering what I can be thankful for.  I’ve decided that to a great extent, it depends on your perspective.

If I made a list of all the things I don’t feel thankful for, chances are it could be a very long one.  When I look around, I can see many people who have a great deal more than I do in terms of material wealth.  There are folks who can drop $10,000 on a meal and not think twice about it or fly off to Paris (France, not Texas) at the drop of a hat.  When I contemplate this, I could let it bring my mood down, no doubt.  It could really depress me if I let it because I know not only can I not afford these things now, there’s almost no chance I’ll ever be able to afford them.  Shoot, I can feel the wind going out of my sails as I sit here and type this.  What in the world can I do about this?

Well, the most obvious answer is to make a list of what I do have to be thankful for and compare the two lists.  Like the Rolling Stones, minus their opulent life style and with only a fraction of their self-absorption, I addressed this in my song, “Borrowed Time,” which I wrote about what’s really important in life. 

“Get a dog, get a wife, have some kids, get a life

And shame on you if you neglect’em, that’s a dirty rotten crime

Cause we’re all livin’ on borrowed time.”

In the song, I go on to mention grandkids, fishing, horses, friends and singing your heart out.  Since I’ve got all those things in my life in various quantities, you’d think I’d be pretty doggone content most of the time.  My problem is that I’ve also got things going on in my life on occasion that are difficult and, dare I say…UNFAIR!  Sometimes these things are only unfair in my mind and sometimes they truly are unfair by any measure.  I’d like to ignore them but often I’m just not able.  I’ve got them sitting there on my list of things interfering with me being thankful and they get in the way of me letting myself appreciate my life.  I’m not sure how to shorten that list and balance things out.

My friend George Ensle, an Austin-based singer/songwriter and a sure nuff real Western philosopher, wrote a song with another great songwriter, Richard Dopson, which helped me tremendously.  Here’s a portion of their wisdom.

“I asked for strength and I got troubles to get me straight and strong.

I asked for wisdom and I got problems that taught me right from wrong.

I asked for courage and I got dangers to get me through my fears.

I asked for answers and I got silence that taught me how to hear.

I got the world in a rain drop, I got the promise of a seed, I got all I wanted when I got all I need.”

I’d heard George do this song in the past but just a couple of months back, I had the privilege of hearing him perform it again.  All of a sudden, it was like a light bulb went on in my head (sometimes it takes me longer for the lights to come on than it does for other folks).  I realized that there were things I was viewing as burdens which were really opportunities for me to become a better person.  Maybe I had them on the wrong list.  Generally speaking, you don’t build your character by taking the easy way.  Good times aren’t really what make you stronger, it’s the hard times that forge the steel.  Getting through those times with people you love, helping each other along the way, forgiving each other when you’re less than perfect, getting up when you get knocked down- that’s what really matters.

So thank you for the hard times.  Thanks for the chance to show the people I love that I’m there for them, not just when it’s smooth sailing but also when the waters are rough and we don’t know if our little boat is going to get swamped.  Thanks for my dogs, my wife, my kids, my grandkids, my two new grand nieces whom I’ll get to meet for the first time at Christmas, thanks for all the wonderful music in my life and thanks for the great friends who have made me one of the wealthiest individuals on the face of the earth.  Turns out there’s a lot to be thankful for, it just depends on how you look at it. 

TOMORROW’S WEST

All too often, I hear people complain about “kids today.” Seems like most of them are lazy, apathetic, lacking direction and on occasion, violent. It must be true because we see and hear about it in the news all the time. Well, I’m here to tell you that if we broaden our focus a bit, we’ll see a very different picture. I’m going to focus on the recent Western Music Association Convention in Albuquerque but I’ll bet you could look all over this country and find similar examples.
The WMA has long expressed a desire to involve young people in the organization. It’s only in the last four to five years that this goal has become a reality. Through the efforts of co-chairs Jane Leche and James Michael along with a number of other folks, more and more young people have been recruited and have begun attending the annual conference. What they’ve found is an environment in which they have the opportunity to learn skills such as how to sing and play their instruments, how to dress professionally, how to write songs and how to work together as an ensemble to put on a good show. Their parents have found people willing to help them try to figure out the intricacies of the business such as how to package yourself to get booked, how to do a CD project and many other things. Occasionally, the organization falls short in giving these young performers and their parents the resources and support they need but for the most part, the WMA has really stepped up.
Miss Kristyn Harris, who at age 20 is most likely the youngest person ever to win the WMA’s Performer of the Year award, is still a member of the Youth Chapter until next summer. She remembers when she and Naomi Bristow were the only people under forty at the convention (by the way, Kristyn, what’s wrong with being “over forty”??!!). That was six years ago. This year, there were kids everywhere! We’ve come a long way. Where once the performances of most of the young people involved in the chapter were “cute” (kind of like when your child stumbles his or her way through their part in the school play), now they are often jaw-droppingly good. Like twelve year old Olivia Hobbs singing “Shenandoah” while modulating…THREE TIMES!!...with one of the purest, richest voices you’ll hear anywhere from a performer of any age. Or Jeneve Rose Mitchell not only playing multiple instruments but playing them on the same song. Or Mikki Daniel and Hailey Sandoz knocking your socks off with their great Cowboy swing tunes that belong not just on the youth stage but on any stage, anywhere, any time. Or young Thatch Elmer reciting his own original poetry with the aplomb of a Waddie Mitchell or Baxter Black, confident and in command. I could go on but you get the picture. These kids are good!
All of the above stuff is pretty impressive. Let me tell you now what impresses me the most. Behind the scenes, you see these kids helping and supporting each other in so many ways. They get together to work out their arrangements and rehearse. The older ones mentor the younger ones. They see each other doing things and it inspires each of them to learn something new and different. And most importantly, I see them becoming great friends. Many of these kids are now part of the circuit of cowboy gatherings and music festivals that occur throughout the West so they see each other fairly often. Kathy Sawyer, mother of Leah and David (two young and extremely talented young folks from Texas) described it as “finding their tribe.” When she said it, my jaw dropped. Not too long ago, I used the same phrase about myself and others who have found kindred spirits in this particular slice of the music world. It hadn’t occurred to me that the same would be true for these young people but it makes perfect sense. These associations make you want to be better…a better singer, songwriter and musician but more importantly, a better person.
In my “other life” where I worked for many years helping young people get their lives on track, I came to believe that one of the most important things children need in addition to family stability is an opportunity to become passionately involved in activities which give their lives meaning and purpose. Before I ever became involved with music, sports provided that for me when I was a teen-ager. We see “aimless” kids in our society because we fail to give them something to aim for. How dare we sit back then and criticize them when they behave badly when it is our failure to give them what they need. I’m proud that the Western Music Association is doing its part to give young people and their families an opportunity to pursue their passion in such a productive way. I know organizations of different types all over the country do the same thing on a daily basis. We need to tell those stories to each other to remind ourselves that there are things we can do to really make a difference.

TOMORROW’S WEST

All too often, I hear people complain about “kids today.”  Seems like most of them are lazy, apathetic, lacking direction and on occasion, violent.  It must be true because we see and hear about it in the news all the time.  Well, I’m here to tell you that if we broaden our focus a bit, we’ll see a very different picture.  I’m going to focus on the recent Western Music Association Convention in Albuquerque but I’ll bet you could look all over this country and find similar examples.

The WMA has long expressed a desire to involve young people in the organization.  It’s only in the last four to five years that this goal has become a reality.  Through the efforts of co-chairs Jane Leche and James Michael along with a number of other folks, more and more young people have been recruited and have begun attending the annual conference.  What they’ve found is an environment in which they have the opportunity to learn skills such as how to sing and play their instruments, how to dress professionally, how to write songs and how to work together as an ensemble to put on a good show.  Their parents have found people willing to help them try to figure out the intricacies of the business such as how to package yourself to get booked, how to do a CD project and many other things.  Occasionally, the organization falls short in giving these young performers and their parents the resources and support they need but for the most part, the WMA has really stepped up.

Miss Kristyn Harris, who at age 20 is most likely the youngest person ever to win the WMA’s Performer of the Year award, is still a member of the Youth Chapter until next summer.  She remembers when she and Naomi Bristow were the only people under forty at the convention (by the way, Kristyn, what’s wrong with being “over forty”??!!).  That was six years ago.  This year, there were kids everywhere!  We’ve come a long way.  Where once the performances of most of the young people involved in the chapter were “cute” (kind of like when your child stumbles his or her way through their part in the school play), now they are often jaw-droppingly good.  Like twelve year old Olivia Hobbs singing “Shenandoah” while modulating…THREE TIMES!!…with one of the purest, richest voices you’ll hear anywhere from a performer of any age.  Or Jeneve Rose Mitchell not only playing multiple instruments but playing them on the same song.  Or Mikki Daniel and Hailey Sandoz knocking your socks off with their great Cowboy swing tunes that belong not just on the youth stage but on any stage, anywhere, any time.  Or young Thatch Elmer reciting his own original poetry with the aplomb of a Waddie Mitchell or Baxter Black, confident and in command.  I could go on but you get the picture.  These kids are good!

All of the above stuff is pretty impressive.  Let me tell you now what impresses me the most.  Behind the scenes, you see these kids helping and supporting each other in so many ways.  They get together to work out their arrangements and rehearse.  The older ones mentor the younger ones.  They see each other doing things and it inspires each of them to learn something new and different.  And most importantly, I see them becoming great friends.  Many of these kids are now part of the circuit of cowboy gatherings and music festivals that occur throughout the West so they see each other fairly often.  Kathy Sawyer, mother of Leah and David (two young and extremely talented young folks from Texas) described it as “finding their tribe.”  When she said it, my jaw dropped.  Not too long ago, I used the same phrase about myself and others who have found kindred spirits in this particular slice of the music world.  It hadn’t occurred to me that the same would be true for these young people but it makes perfect sense.  These associations make you want to be better…a better singer, songwriter and musician but more importantly, a better person.

In my “other life” where I worked for many years helping young people get their lives on track, I came to believe that one of the most important things children need in addition to family stability is an opportunity to become passionately involved in activities which give their lives meaning and purpose.  Before I ever became involved with music, sports provided that for me when I was a teen-ager.  We see “aimless” kids in our society because we fail to give them something to aim for.  How dare we sit back then and criticize them when they behave badly when it is our failure to give them what they need.  I’m proud that the Western Music Association is doing its part to give young people and their families an opportunity to pursue their passion in such a productive way.  I know organizations of different types all over the country do the same thing on a daily basis.  We need to tell those stories to each other to remind ourselves that there are things we can do to really make a difference.  

VAST AND HALF-VAST

Last week, I wrote about Election Day and more specifically, about my frustration and disgust with the great dearth of integrity in our current political process, which I believe is a truly bipartisan issue. This had been weighing heavily on my mind leading up to the election and it continued to occupy a large part of my focus, time and energy in the aftermath. I realized that by allowing this negative event to “take over” my life, I’d lost perspective and balance. I just kept obsessing about it though, picking at it like your dog does when he gets a “hot spot.” I probably needed the psychological equivalent of one of those cones they put on dogs when they do this. It looks silly but it helps. I knew I needed to do something, I just wasn’t sure what.
I had performances scheduled in Silver City, NM for the weekend after the election so I headed down that way mid-day on Friday. After a satisfying performance that night, I retired to my motel and got some sleep. On Saturday, I had time on my hands so I decided to drive south from Silver City to check out City of Rocks State Park. It turned out to be a great move. The park consists of a large rock formation made up by many boulders of various sizes and shapes. If you close one eye and squint with the other one (and maybe have a couple of shots of tequila), it definitely looks like a “city.”
The information about the place says that almost 35 million years ago, there were several massive volcanic upheavals that covered the area with volcanic ash. This hardened into a thick layer of rock that essentially left the area a vast wasteland. The rock was porous however and over time, the wind, water and extremes in temperature caused cracks. The cracks eroded and widened, resulting in the development of many individual rocks standing side by side. Before you know it…well okay, it took 35 million years…we have a “city of rocks.” The process is ongoing (I looked close but I couldn’t see it happening) and they say that in just a few million more years, the rocks may erode away completely, leaving a flat plain once again.
It occurred to me that in the context of 35 million years of changes, what happened in the past week, political and otherwise, is pretty insignificant. Humans have been around for what seems like a long time and yet it’s hardly a blip on the timeline of the universe. More than 8,000 years ago, which is sort of “just the other day” in universe time, nomadic tribes lived in this area. They gathered fruits and nuts and they hunted antelope. I saw some of their descendants (the antelope, not the nomads) and wondered if they knew or cared who was governor of New Mexico. As far as I could tell, they didn’t.
I decided to take a hike (a number of people had been advising me to do this for quite some time). After walking for a pretty good ways, I found a nice flat rock looking out towards the southwest. I could see for miles (“and miles and miles and miles and miles,” to quote the Who). I sat down and pondered what I’d read on the sign at the trailhead. Seems the whole area is part of the Great Chihuahuan Desert which covers more than 200,000 square miles from Southwest New Mexico down to Mexico City. It’s a vast area, the largest desert on the North American continent. Kind of makes you feel humble and insignificant, in a good way. After sitting there for a while, I felt a lot better. Insignificant and humble but better.
In a little while, I headed on back to Silver City. I’d spotted a local micro-brewery, Little Toad Creek, and figured I would continue on my quest to sample every beer known to mankind (except for the IPAs…WAY too bitter!). Their Little Toad Amber was excellent. I felt like the afternoon excursion…and certainly the beer…helped me regain my perspective and balance (well, okay, beer doesn’t generally help with your balance; I was speaking metaphysically). I’d realized that what happens in a day or week or year in my life time is really nothing in the big scheme of things. 35 million years- now that’s a LONG time! Things change dramatically during that time but at any given moment, it’s extremely hard to actually see and evaluate that change. And 200,000 square miles is a LOT of land. It’s vast. Politics, on the other hand, is half-vast.

VAST AND HALF-VAST

Last week, I wrote about Election Day and more specifically, about my frustration and disgust with the great dearth of integrity in our current political process, which I believe is a truly bipartisan issue.  This had been weighing heavily on my mind leading up to the election and it continued to occupy a large part of my focus, time and energy in the aftermath.  I realized that by allowing this negative event to “take over” my life, I’d lost perspective and balance.  I just kept obsessing about it though, picking at it like your dog does when he gets a “hot spot.”  I probably needed the psychological equivalent of one of those cones they put on dogs when they do this.  It looks silly but it helps.  I knew I needed to do something, I just wasn’t sure what.

I had performances scheduled in Silver City, NM for the weekend after the election so I headed down that way mid-day on Friday.  After a satisfying performance that night, I retired to my motel and got some sleep.  On Saturday, I had time on my hands so I decided to drive south from Silver City to check out City of Rocks State Park.  It turned out to be a great move.  The park consists of a large rock formation made up by many boulders of various sizes and shapes.  If you close one eye and squint with the other one (and maybe have a couple of shots of tequila), it definitely looks like a “city.” 

The information about the place says that almost 35 million years ago, there were several massive volcanic upheavals that covered the area with volcanic ash.  This hardened into a thick layer of rock that essentially left the area a vast wasteland.  The rock was porous however and over time, the wind, water and extremes in temperature caused cracks.  The cracks eroded and widened, resulting in the development of many individual rocks standing side by side.  Before you know it…well okay, it took 35 million years…we have a “city of rocks.”  The process is ongoing (I looked close but I couldn’t see it happening) and they say that in just a few million more years, the rocks may erode away completely, leaving a flat plain once again. 

It occurred to me that in the context of 35 million years of changes, what happened in the past week, political and otherwise, is pretty insignificant.  Humans have been around for what seems like a long time and yet it’s hardly a blip on the timeline of the universe.  More than 8,000 years ago, which is sort of “just the other day” in universe time, nomadic tribes lived in this area.  They gathered fruits and nuts and they hunted antelope.  I saw some of their descendants (the antelope, not the nomads) and wondered if they knew or cared who was governor of New Mexico.  As far as I could tell, they didn’t. 

I decided to take a hike (a number of people had been advising me to do this for quite some time).  After walking for a pretty good ways, I found a nice flat rock looking out towards the southwest.  I could see for miles (“and miles and miles and miles and miles,” to quote the Who).  I sat down and pondered what I’d read on the sign at the trailhead.  Seems the whole area is part of the GreatChihuahuanDesert which covers more than 200,000 square miles from Southwest New Mexico down to Mexico City.  It’s a vast area, the largest desert on the North American continent.  Kind of makes you feel humble and insignificant, in a good way.  After sitting there for a while, I felt a lot better.  Insignificant and humble but better.

In a little while, I headed on back to Silver City.  I’d spotted a local micro-brewery, Little Toad Creek, and figured I would continue on my quest to sample every beer known to mankind (except for the IPAs…WAY too bitter!).  Their Little Toad Amber was excellent. 

   I felt like the afternoon excursion…and certainly the beer…helped me regain my perspective and balance (well, okay, beer doesn’t generally help with your balance; I was speaking metaphysically).  I’d realized that what happens in a day or week or year in my life time is really nothing in the big scheme of things.  35 million years- now that’s a LONG time!  Things change dramatically during that time but at any given moment, it’s extremely hard to actually see and evaluate that change.  And 200,000 square miles is a LOT of land.  It’s vast.  Politics, on the other hand, is half-vast.   

ELECTION DAY

I don’t generally write about politics. It tends to be divisive and my goal with my writing is to bring people together. However, since today is Election Day, I decided to make an exception. Once again on this day as I look at the ballot, I’m faced with choosing between “the lesser of two evils”. I am sick and tired of that. I refuse to do it any longer. Evil is evil. I won’t vote for someone who is evil.
Here in New Mexico, we’ll be electing a governor, choosing between incumbent Republican, Susana Martinez and Democrat Attorney General, Gary King. Both candidates are morally corrupt individuals who are so consumed by their ambition and lust for power that they’ve repeatedly stomped all over both the U.S. Constitution and the rights of innocent individuals in New Mexico. I can back this statement up with overwhelming facts in the case of both candidates. That’s not the point of this article, however, so I’ll move on to what I really want to say. Whether you believe me or not doesn’t really change the bottom line.
Our political system has been effectively taken over by powerful special interests and individuals whose only goals are getting elected to office and then getting re-elected over and over. They are not the least bit interested in representing you or me. They could care less about our issues and have almost no stake in solving the problems our country faces. In fact, they have a large stake in perpetuating those problems and blaming their opponents for them. For a lot of years now, both political parties have relied primarily on ad agencies, staffed by people with zero integrity, to run their campaigns. They find “hot button” issues and pound on them in their political ads, thereby “mobilizing their base.” Essentially, their strategy is to appeal to the extremes in our citizenry and count on their fanaticism…both liberal AND conservative…to motivate them to vote. If your goal is to get elected, this works just fine. If your goal is to bring people together in order to find solutions, it stinks.
The media, also desperately lacking in integrity, finds this “fascinating.” They love to wax eloquent about all the ins and outs of the campaigns. It’s their bread and butter. Like the political parties, they’re very invested in keeping the process adversarial. Nothing sells like conflict. They don’t want to report on two politicians from the different parties working together to come up with a solution. They’re pretty sure that doesn’t sell. They want us to believe that the future of our country desperately depends on the ___________ Party’s (fill in Democrat or Republican) taking control of Congress or the White House. We’ll all watch with baited breath to see the outcome and ratings will soar. Guess what…it doesn’t matter. Just in case you missed it, I said “IT DOES NOT MATTER!!” As long as powerful special interests control politicians, as long as the only people who get elected are morally corrupt individuals who lust for power, as long as the way to get elected is to polarize the electorate, it doesn’t matter who we elect. None of them care about any of us and have no reason to work together on our behalf.
I know this is pretty grim but I think there’s a way out of it. My optimism waxes and wanes from day to day but I think we can do something about it. Here’s the first step: Get over the notion that “if only we had a majority of politicians with a __________ political philosophy (fill in conservative or liberal), we could get this country on the right track.” In the long run, people of both philosophies need to find a way to resolve their differences and move ahead to solve problems. Currently, politicians have no reason to do that. Until we, the citizens of the United States, give them a good reason, they won’t do it. So here’s my radical idea. All you conservatives need to start having a dialogue with those “liberals” you love to bash and blame. All you liberals…oh wait, you’re “progressives” now…need to get over yourselves and your moral superiority. There are a lot of folks with conservative political views who care just as much as you do about poor people and many of them actually DO something about it. We need to temporarily set aside our very real differences and band together in an alliance to stop this dysfunctional process that currently exists.
Some short-term goals to pursue would include implementing term-limits, seeking campaign finance reforms that don’t give all the power to the wealthy, and finding accurate, unbiased sources of information about candidates so people can make objective, informed decisions. We need to push hard in a bipartisan way to get people out to vote. Also, don’t be afraid NOT to vote. Your political party will tell you that this will be a disaster for you. What they really mean is that it would be a disaster for them. You know what? I don’t give a damn. We need to hold these disgusting poltroons accountable and the best way to do is to band together with people who don’t necessarily see things exactly the same way as we do. Who knows, we might all learn something.

ELECTION DAY

I don’t generally write about politics.  It tends to be divisive and my goal with my writing is to bring people together.  However, since today is Election Day, I decided to make an exception.  Once again on this day as I look at the ballot, I’m faced with choosing between “the lesser of two evils”.  I am sick and tired of that.  I refuse to do it any longer.  Evil is evil.  I won’t vote for someone who is evil.  

Here in New Mexico, we’ll be electing a governor, choosing between incumbent Republican, Susana Martinez and Democrat Attorney General, Gary King.  Both candidates are morally corrupt individuals who are so consumed by their ambition and lust for power that they’ve repeatedly stomped all over both the U.S. Constitution and the rights of innocent individuals in New Mexico.  I can back this statement up with overwhelming facts in the case of both candidates.  That’s not the point of this article, however, so I’ll move on to what I really want to say.  Whether you believe me or not doesn’t really change the bottom line.

Our political system has been effectively taken over by powerful special interests and individuals whose only goals are getting elected to office and then getting re-elected over and over.  They are not the least bit interested in representing you or me.   They could care less about our issues and have almost no stake in solving the problems our country faces.  In fact, they have a large stake in perpetuating those problems and blaming their opponents for them.  For a lot of years now, both political parties have relied primarily on ad agencies, staffed by people with zero integrity, to run their campaigns.  They find “hot button” issues and pound on them in their political ads, thereby “mobilizing their base.”  Essentially, their strategy is to appeal to the extremes in our citizenry and count on their fanaticism…both liberal AND conservative…to motivate them to vote.  If your goal is to get elected, this works just fine.  If your goal is to bring people together in order to find solutions, it stinks. 

The media, also desperately lacking in integrity, finds this “fascinating.”  They love to wax eloquent about all the ins and outs of the campaigns.  It’s their bread and butter.  Like the political parties, they’re very invested in keeping the process adversarial.  Nothing sells like conflict.  They don’t want to report on two politicians from the different parties working together to come up with a solution.  They’re pretty sure that doesn’t sell.  They want us to believe that the future of our country desperately depends on the ___________ Party’s (fill in Democrat or Republican) taking control of Congress or the White House.  We’ll all watch with baited breath to see the outcome and ratings will soar.  Guess what…it doesn’t matter.  Just in case you missed it, I said “IT DOES NOT MATTER!!”  As long as powerful special interests control politicians, as long as the only people who get elected are morally corrupt individuals who lust for power, as long as the way to get elected is to polarize the electorate, it doesn’t matter who we elect.  None of them care about any of us and have no reason to work together on our behalf.

I know this is pretty grim but I think there’s a way out of it.  My optimism waxes and wanes from day to day but I think we can do something about it.  Here’s the first step: Get over the notion that “if only we had a majority of politicians with a __________ political philosophy (fill in conservative or liberal), we could get this country on the right track.”  In the long run, people of both philosophies need to find a way to resolve their differences and move ahead to solve problems.  Currently, politicians have no reason to do that.  Until we, the citizens of the United States, give them a good reason, they won’t do it.  So here’s my radical idea.  All you conservatives need to start having a dialogue with those “liberals” you love to bash and blame.  All you liberals…oh wait, you’re “progressives” now…need to get over yourselves and your moral superiority.  There are a lot of folks with conservative political views who care just as much as you do about poor people and many of them actually DO something about it.  We need to temporarily set aside our very real differences and band together in an alliance to stop this dysfunctional process that currently exists.

Some short-term goals to pursue would include implementing term-limits, seeking campaign finance reforms that don’t give all the power to the wealthy, and finding accurate, unbiased sources of information about candidates so people can make objective, informed decisions.  We need to push hard in a bipartisan way to get people out to vote.  Also, don’t be afraid NOT to vote.  Your political party will tell you that this will be a disaster for you.  What they really mean is that it would be a disaster for them.  You know what?  I don’t give a damn.  We need to hold these disgusting poltroons accountable and the best way to do is to band together with people who don’t necessarily see things exactly the same way as we do.  Who knows, we might all learn something.

WESTERN WOMEN

“This country was hell on horses and women.” (Ian Tyson, “Own Heart’s Delight”). Certainly a true statement if you trace the history of the West. The opportunities and options for women were extremely limited back in the 1800s when the Western expansion took place…school teacher vs. soiled dove. Of course, it was never as simple as that and there were women who prospered as ranchers and business owners. Still, it was an uphill struggle, no question about it. We live in the 21st century now though, so the playing field should be pretty level, right? You do the same job, you get the same pay…common sense; a no-brainer. Not so fast.
According to recent U.S. census data, women are paid 23 percent less than men on average. I would guess if you break down that number and look closely at the details, not every situation involves women getting paid less for doing the same job. Still, you have to figure a pretty good chunk does. I understand that there are plenty of issues where people advocate different approaches based on their political philosophies, conservative versus liberal. I just don’t see how this could be one of them.
My good friend Deanna McCall, Western poet and author, lived and worked for more than twenty years with her husband, Dave, on an outfit in Nevada. Much of that time, they lived off the grid. If you don’t quite understand what I’m saying, that means they lived like Westerners did in the 1800s…no electricity, no running water, no cell phones or computers (oh my!!). Deanna is as good a hand as you could find anywhere. During her lifetime, she has done each and every job a cowboy does, and she’s done them well. In addition to that, she’s a gourmet cook. She’s always posting pictures of her mouth-watering meals on Facebook, which is somewhat annoying because she and Dave live several hours to the south of me and there’s no way I can get there before the food is all gone. Beyond all of the above, she has found the time to set down her experiences in poetry and prose in such a compelling way that when you read her stories, you feel like you are there. Should she get “equal pay?” I would venture to say you could make a case that she should get paid a lot more than all us hairy-legged boys.
From my earliest recollections, my mother was employed outside the home. She was a professional journalist and through her work at the Houston Chronicle when I was a small boy, I got to meet my heroes…Roy & Dale, Gene Autry, Annie Oakley (not the “real” one but she was real to me!). The fact that my mother had a career just seemed normal to me. For a good portion of her life, my sister chose to be a homemaker. She followed that career up with one as a special education teacher. She’s so smart she could pretty much do anything she wanted. My wife is one of the most competent and hard-working individuals I know and she’s had a long and successful career in her chosen field. I have a son and a daughter, of whom I am equally and insanely proud. His career path has been in the scientific/technical area while his sister is pursuing a career in the arts, so they will never compete for the same job and salary. I promise you though, if he found out his sister was receiving less pay for doing the same job as a male, he would be in somebody’s face. My point is that this issue is personal for all of us. If you are a man who loves and respects the women in your life, how could you be against them receiving equal pay for doing equal work?
A few years ago, my buddy Juni Fisher received the Western Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award. In its twenty-five year history, that was the first time the organization had ever given that award to a woman. I don’t understand how that could have happened. Liz Masterson was one of the founding members of the WMA as was Joyce Woodson. How could one or both of them not have won the award at least once? Jean Prescott has been making beautiful music for many years. You would think she would have received the organization’s most prestigious award. You would be wrong.
There are some amazing young performers coming along in the Western music genre. Mary Kaye, Trinity Seely, Kristyn Harris, Mikki Daniel and others whose names I can’t think of right this moment (and I’m sure I’ll pay for THAT!). Take a look at that list…they’re all females. There are certainly some outstanding male performers in the WMA but most of them are getting a bit long in the tooth. I don’t see very many talented young men coming up through the ranks. So here’s a word of advice to all of us hairy-legged boys, myself included. Let’s get behind this “equal pay for equal work” notion as fast as we can. Number one, it’s the right thing to do. Number two, these women are taking over. We’d better get on their good side while the gettin’ is good!

WESTERN WOMEN

“This country was hell on horses and women.” (Ian Tyson, “Own Heart’s Delight”).  Certainly a true statement if you trace the history of the West.  The opportunities and options for women were extremely limited back in the 1800s when the Western expansion took place…school teacher vs. soiled dove.  Of course, it was never as simple as that and there were women who prospered as ranchers and business owners.  Still, it was an uphill struggle, no question about it.  We live in the 21st century now though, so the playing field should be pretty level, right?  You do the same job, you get the same pay…common sense; a no-brainer.  Not so fast.

According to recent U.S. census data, women are paid 23 percent less than men on average.  I would guess if you break down that number and look closely at the details, not every situation involves women getting paid less for doing the same job.  Still, you have to figure a pretty good chunk does.  I understand that there are plenty of issues where people advocate different approaches based on their political philosophies, conservative versus liberal.  I just don’t see how this could be one of them.

My good friend Deanna McCall, Western poet and author, lived and worked for more than twenty years with her husband, Dave, on an outfit in Nevada.  Much of that time, they lived off the grid.  If you don’t quite understand what I’m saying, that means they lived like Westerners did in the 1800s…no electricity, no running water, no cell phones or computers (oh my!!).  Deanna is as good a hand as you could find anywhere.  During her lifetime, she has done each and every job a cowboy does, and she’s done them well.  In addition to that, she’s a gourmet cook.  She’s always posting pictures of her mouth-watering meals on Facebook, which is somewhat annoying because she and Dave live several hours to the south of me and there’s no way I can get there before the food is all gone.  Beyond all of the above, she has found the time to set down her experiences in poetry and prose in such a compelling way that when you read her stories, you feel like you are there.  Should she get “equal pay?”  I would venture to say you could make a case that she should get paid a lot more than all us hairy-legged boys.

From my earliest recollections, my mother was employed outside the home.  She was a professional journalist and through her work at the Houston Chronicle when I was a small boy, I got to meet my heroes…Roy & Dale, Gene Autry, Annie Oakley (not the “real” one but she was real to me!).  The fact that my mother had a career just seemed normal to me.  For a good portion of her life, my sister chose to be a homemaker.  She followed that career up with one as a special education teacher.  She’s so smart she could pretty much do anything she wanted.  My wife is one of the most competent and hard-working individuals I know and she’s had a long and successful career in her chosen field.  I have a son and a daughter, of whom I am equally and insanely proud.  His career path has been in the scientific/technical area while his sister is pursuing a career in the arts, so they will never compete for the same job and salary.  I promise you though, if he found out his sister was receiving less pay for doing the same job as a male, he would be in somebody’s face.  My point is that this issue is personal for all of us.  If you are a man who loves and respects the women in your life, how could you be against them receiving equal pay for doing equal work? 

A few years ago, my buddy Juni Fisher received the Western Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award.  In its twenty-five year history, that was the first time the organization had ever given that award to a woman.  I don’t understand how that could have happened.  Liz Masterson was one of the founding members of the WMA as was Joyce Woodson.  How could one or both of them not have won the award at least once?  Jean Prescott has been making beautiful music for many years.  You would think she would have received the organization’s most prestigious award.  You would be wrong. 

There are some amazing young performers coming along in the Western music genre.  Mary Kaye, Trinity Seely, Kristyn Harris, Mikki Daniel and others whose names I can’t think of right this moment (and I’m sure I’ll pay for THAT!).  Take a look at that list…they’re all females.  There are certainly some outstanding male performers in the WMA but most of them are getting a bit long in the tooth.  I don’t see very many talented young men coming up through the ranks.  So here’s a word of advice to all of us hairy-legged boys, myself included.  Let’s get behind this “equal pay for equal work” notion as fast as we can.  Number one, it’s the right thing to do.  Number two, these women are taking over.  We’d better get on their good side while the gettin’ is good!  

Y’ALL SPEAK TEXAN?

I often tell my daughter that she is twice blessed. She was born in Dallas so she has strong Texas roots, and she got to grow up in the lovely Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. By and large, she agrees with me although currently, she does live in New York City. That’s fodder for another blog though (maybe for the “fodder/daughter blog...sorry, I couldn’t resist). Today, I’m writing about how we Texans talk different.
When she was little, I asked my daughter if she wanted to learn to “talk Texan.” Of course, being a young lady of good breeding with sturdy Texas genes, she agreed immediately. Here’s how it went.
Dad: “Jeet?”
Daughter: “Nope.”
Dad: “Yanta?”
Daughter: “Yep.”
Dad: “Sgo.”
Daughter: “Kay.”
Translation:
Dad: “Have you eaten yet?”
Daughter: “Why no, I haven’t, thanks for asking.”
Dad: “Do you want to go with me to get something to eat?”
Daughter: “Why yes I would, I really appreciate it.”
Dad: “Well, then let’s go.”
Daughter: “Okay, I believe I will.”
There are grammatical rules in Texas that you sometimes have to explain to folks who are not sufficiently educated. Although the word, y’all, is a contraction for you all, it’s not always reserved for groups. If you see an individual that you know well but haven’t seen in a while, you might ask, “How y’all doin’?” If it were a couple that you happened to run into and you were asking about their family, you might use the possessive form… “How’s y’all’s dogs?” If there are a number of people present, you might say something like, “How’s all y’all doin’?” And of course, if you were to then inquire about their canines, you would use the possessive plural, asking, “How’s all y’all’s dogs?”
Another rule of Texas grammar is that when the letters, “ing” appear at the end of a word, the “g” is silent. Thus, the word, nothing, becomes nothin’, or parting becomes partin’ (as in “partin’ is such sweet sorrow”…that’s Shakespeare for those of you who aren’t quite up to snuff on your literature). What seems obvious to a well-bred Texan can become confusing (or should I say, confusin’) to a foreigner. A few years ago, I was at the home of some friends here in New Mexico and they asked me to play some songs for them and their guests. One of the songs I performed was one that I co-wrote with my good buddy, Allan Chapman, a true Texas gentleman. It’s a cowboy love song (that means it ends badly) entitled, “Smoke of the Brandin’ Fire.” When I’d finished performing it, the lady of the house, who happened to be from Indiana originally, said, “That’s a beautiful song but I have a question. What is a Brandon fire?” I patiently explained the grammatical rules to her and tried to be as non-judgmental as I could be. Not everyone can be from Texas.
We have any number of phrases that are apparently differ from what you might hear in the more backwards states. For example, if you are getting ready to go to the store and someone calls, you would tell them you were “fixin’ to go to the store.” If a friend was out on the lake bass fishing and a big wind came along to capsize his boat (narrowly missing the trailer park on the shore!), you would say his boat tumped over. And of course, when you hear the words, “Bless her heart,” you know the person is about to say something really harsh, though usually well-deserved, about someone…i.e. “Bless her heart, she’s real sweet and all, but she could eat oats through a picket fence” (this means she has a serious overbite!).
I’ve been so busy with other things today that I didn’t get around to workin’ on this piece until much later than I had intended. It’s early evenin’ as I write these last few words. My wife just came in and asked, “Jeet?” I said, “Nope.” She said, “Yanta?” I said, “Yep.” Excuse me, dinner is served.