t-shirts! getcher t-shirts!

- we got the greatest t-shirt service right here on the mountain from a company right on our tiny main street! they are the good people who make the "i love fp" bumper stickers (on the back, they read "love god. love people." - both sentiments i can agree with cause why not?) i told the kindly owner/ screenprinter jerry that some batches in past have bled out some on the face & blues express lettering & he printed the image just-darker-enough that the shirts came out perfect, a much better representation of my original drawing! he also reduced the image size so it's a much better fit on most human torsos. in addition, he charged no set-up fee, a big savings! lastly, the turn-around on the order was just TWO DAYS! WOW! we were just all-around so pleased w/our treatment by "your t-shirt man," right here on the mountain. jerry says he does most of his jobs via online sales, so here's the link for you: https://yourtshirtman.com
james was very, very happy, too, needless to say. at last weekend's festival, the shirts sold like hotcakes, so we're ready soon to order even more!
we rested earlier & i had 20-30 minutes of the most blissful peace in my heart! i was in the moment, no worries, no fears, no nothing except a beautiful feeling of rest & calm & happiness! that is such a big deal for a monkey brain like me... the refreshing lovely wind blew its blessed soul through the windows, in larger gusts sighing & whistling some, & james murmured in his sleep, reminding me of w.c. fields, "tell that man to stop blowing his horn..." :)
he's going to kick butt & take names tonight (friday) in long beach city at gallagher's, tomorrow at the regal in lakewood, just a little north. go to www.whiteboyjames.com for the scoop/poop/whoopdeedoop on the greatest living frontman (since little richard is retired, that is...).
and now it's time for me to go read books & play some joplin & later, when the sun wanes some, pull weeds in the lovely luster of eve. :D
(ps - when i was a young person, i had great interest in things morbid & little interest in animals & poetry. so glad the poles have flipped! here are some poems i read yesterday, some new to me, some not. hope you love them, too! invictus IF the thousandth man a prayer a psalm of life )

21 days in jail, 24 hours in bakersfield

1. a few weeks ago, the local paper ran a piece about my favorite day in bakersfield. i thank jennifer self for featuring it so nicely. you can read it by clicking on the pic. not the most flattering pic, but a fun one, my friend bridgette's gotten some biz from the article, so it's been successful. :)
2. many people saw the article. i've been surprised by how many, & every person's been nice. :) we were going to circle-K the other night when a black-&-white slowed to a near-stop right in front of us. being real spiritual at the moment, i immediately began to gripe about how "they" can drive however they want, we didn't do nothin' wrong, etc. we got out of the van & the officers did, too, & one waited for me. uh-oh, i thought, but he smiled, so i did, too, & he said, real friendly, "aren't you that woman in the paper? i told my partner while he was driving just now, hey, there's that girl from the paper!"
3. being in bakersfield is kind of like being in a bad relationship: it'll often let you down, but you stay w/it because it's cheap, familiar, & at times surprises you by being a real good time.
4. bakersfield's variously called bako, buckersfield, bakerssippi, bakersfailed, & two i lay claim to from my underground rag days, bakingfield & backwardsfield.
5. buck owens' crystal palace has the best sound in the area, but is a little like disneyland, so if you like disneyland, you'll like the palace. i wish to heck they'd feature more americana & country-western music. lately they've been featuring singers from "american idol." then today a KUZZ DJ (station owned by the owens family) said "american idol" singers don't understand country music because (i paraphrase) they don't understand the "real, everyday life" that country music is about. she then played, w/no irony apparent, willie singing cole porter.
6. if you drive out 58 toward the canyon, before you get there you'll see merle haggard's old house to the north, & then the killer kern, about which haggard wrote a song.
7. google "gerald haslam"'s favorite day. haslam is an oildale native & writer who in his article described where be the trout's family's house, the haggard house, & many other historical places, many related to music. interesting stuff!
8. if you have kids, you should take them to CALM, which is a nice place past hart pk where they'll see native animals & plants.
9. i wanted to help promote friends in the article (as well as good eats, free & healthy things to do, &, well, yeah, the band), so took pix w/bridgette @ victorian chiropractic. as i reclined on the table & the young photographer started snapping, i realized, this must be the dumbest photo op choice for a nerdy female musician to put herself in. how unflattering.
10. when the article came out, i called auntie rita & lamented, "they ran a picture of me on my back!" not missing a beat, my aunt replied, "that's good - i bet a bunch of guys'll recognize you that away."
it was just the wrong, yet right thing for her to say.