I just returned from Bells, Texas.  I am exhausted from driving in hard rain the whole trip. Tomorrow, I begin teaching an ENG 101 class for Delta. I’ll give more details in tomorrow’s post.  Yesterday’s Memorial Day celebration at Kiroli Park in Monroe was a success. The crowd was large and their intense, yet sensitive and beautiful patriotism obvious. Terrance Armstard of the NewsStar was there. He is a first class photographer, and if you ever need to hire a photographer, I would strongly recommend him. You can see (and purchase) all the photos of the event here: Here is one photo of yours truly performing.

And here is a photo of the Blue Star Mothers Banner for the event. It was hung on the Kiroli Park stage:

Here is a photo of my friend, Sandra, one of the local leaders of the Blue Star Mothers in Monroe:

Quotations:

I like to collect quotes that make me think. These quotations are lifted from the site I wrote about in an earlier post that dealt with the causes of the War Between the States:

Deo Vindice Resurgam
(God Will Vindicate. I Shall Rise Again!)

Quemadmoeum Gladuis Neminem Occidit, Occidentis Telum Est
(A Sword Is Never A Killer, It Is A Tool In The Killer’s Hands) –Seneca, circa 45 AD

Omnes Homines Aut Liberi Sunt Aut Servi
(All Men Are Freemen Or Slaves)

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes
(Who Will Watch The Watchmen?) — Juvenal, 128 AD

Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
(If You Want Peace, Prepare For War)

I made the news again . . .

I made it into the Monroe News-Star. Just a small mention of me Saturday on NickDeriso’s page. Just a reference to the days when I played bass guitar with Johnny O’Neal. Though Deriso is Sports Editor, he is also a man deeply committed to promoting the arts. Deriso has been named columnist of the year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (2003), Louisiana Press Association (2004, ’07) and the Associated Press Managing Editors of Louisiana/Mississippi (2005-06). Under Deriso’s leadership, The News-Star’s Sunday sports section was named Top 10 in the nation by the AP in ’06.

I’ve mentioned Johnny before on this blog. I still think he’s one of the best musicians and song writers I’ve ever met, and a decent man too. I like his versions of many songs better than those versions of the original artists. Here’s the quote from the Deriso’s article that mentions me:

“It was with T-Bo and Rickey Pittman that O’Neal reached a national audience, when his parody “The Jerry Springer Song” was aired at the end of that television program. Big news stories greeted him. O’Neal took the newfound fame in stride – remaining humble and reliably upbeat.

“That’s the beauty of being a musician,” O’Neal jokes. “You can get on the front page without having gone to jail first.”

You can and should read the whole article about Johnny here:

Hopefully, being on the Jerry Springer Show won’t be my only claim to fame . . .