What DOES One Do With Good Ol' Boys Like Me?

It has been brought to my attention that we as a people need to perform more Don Williams songs. I am in a little over my head with this one, but it is my favorite. This is a shout out to our old college friend, Ellen...'member...'member...Ellen?...She was awesome! She introduced me to this song so many years ago. (She did a great version of this song, I can't believe i never archived a copy of her singing it.) Bad archivist...naughty, naughty archivist!

I had to edit out some false starts, and when i rendered the final edit, my editing software formatted it in this odd version. I tried to fix it, but this is it I guess.

After you endure my rather hamfisted and oddly jaunty rendition of this song, check out this guy's version at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix_E_DENLOY

he is just great!

Peanut of Dotham, GA

Don't ask me why.

Alabama City a Symbol of Hope

"Since the beginning of man's awareness, the rainbow, spanning the horizons, has been a mystic symbol, displayed in the heavens to signal the passing of yet another storm and the birth of new hope for mankind."

Quick Answers to Burning Questions

I squeezed a few research minutes into my busy social calendar. I have been to the hotel breakfast twice already, and plan to make another trip to the front desk to check for the books I am impatiently awaiting to arrive from Amazon sellers. I also need to take my work clothes, caked with puke-smelling mud down the hall to the washer machine. I can't really count that as part of my social calendar since I don't usually run into people in the hall. Now, if I were taking them into the Rainbow City laundromat, then I would count it. I almost always have a conversation there. Like this one last week: "Excuse me, ma'am. Did you just take your clothes out of this washer? Would you mind looking to see if you find a sock like this one?"

I don't have a car this weekend, so I'm not going to go anywhere. I lost my cell phone, so I don't have to worry about all those people who never call me anyway interrupting me. I should have time to do even more research. Here's what I've found so far:

"Rainbow City was named after U.S. Highway 411, called Rainbow Drive, which runs through the middle of our city. Some of our older citizens say it was named after Alabama’s Rainbow Division that fought in World War I."

"The 42nd Rainbow Division was formed in August 1917 of National Guard units from 26 states and the District of Columbia. After Chief of Staff Major Douglas MacArthur remarked that the Division "would stretch over the whole country like a rainbow," the coalesced national guard units were christened Rainbow Division. As the war progressed Douglas MacArthur was promoted to commander of the 84th Brigade and finally to commander of the Rainbow Division."

I don't know about you guys, but I think it's funny that a town might have been named after a highway.

I wonder...

how did Rainbow City get its name? Was it because they have a way more than usual number of rainbows? One day did some one say, "hey we sure get alot of rainbows around here maybe we should call our little burg Rainbow City!". Or was it just because someone thought it sounded optimistic? Or were their founders just fond of rainbows? I wonder if there is anyone who could find out?

Daily Rainbow 3

Daily Rainbow 2

Rainbow of the Day

Alabama Worker Practices Interaction With Local Bookstore Clerk

I had an interesting conversation with a clerk at the only bookstore in Etowah County. (The clerk informed me the only used bookstore closed down last year. ) I was looking for Choke by Chuck Palahnuik because it is the June book for an online bookclub I wanted to join. He said, "Really? There's an on-line booklcub reading a story about a sex addict who cons people for a living?" He was even more suprised when I told him it came from a list of 1001 books you must read before you die. He said he was glad he wasn't Palahnuik, with all the whack stuff in his head. When I mentioned I was here from Michigan he said "We don't see many people here from the Big Mitten." I think I'll have to use that from now on.

Being a little rusty on this conversaion with actual humans thing, I neglected to find out all kinds of things. Maybe I'll go back next Saturday and see if I can talk to someone again.

Small Gay Haven Found in Alabama

To get anywhere I want to be from my hotel I seem to find myself on Rainbow Drive which takes me through Rainbow City. I didn't expect to find such liberal mindedness here in the deep south, which is just a sign of my own prejudice and preconceived notions.

If I Had a Camera,

I'd camera in the morning, I'd camera in the evening, I'd camera all the live long day. I would camera a nice sunrise shot accross the pasture with the Alabama hills on the horizon. I'd camera up some pine trees, and some mudholes and lots of bugs, but not too many pretty ones. I'd camera this groovy thunderstorm from my hotel window even though it wouldn't really show up that great because thunderstorms through windows rarely do.

Worker Hits Milestone In Alabama Woods

Gadsden, AL Long time worker in the-out-of-doors, Denise Hardesty finally executed a respectable "farmer's blow" today. She had given up all hope of ever successfully dishcarging snot from one nostril while pressing the other closed with a finger, and had not tried the method in years. She admitted such failure had been a "point of shame" and that she covered up this lack of skill by always carrying tissue. In fact, this new skill might not have been achieved had she not distintegrated her tissues in the wash yesterday.

Today, in the woods for a 10 hour shift while suffering a severe head cold, Hardesty found ample opportunity to practice, and eventually succeeded in blowing snot cleanly out of her nose and not onto her clothing. "I feel pretty darn good about it," she said. "I mean, I don't think of it as a real resume-padder or anything, but every new achievement feels good. I honestly didn't think this one was possible."