Honky tonk angels can be sailors too

Happy birthday to Kitty Wells! The original Honky Tonk Angel turned 85 on Monday. For a minute, I thought she was still touring, but alas she is not. She is available for bookings, though, it seems.

Oh, there's so much to talk about. There's the CMA nominations announced this week. Stay tuned for my picks -- who I think should win, who will probably win, who should have been nominated. The other thing to talk about is the Republican National Convention and how many country stars are either playing at the Garden this week or playing a party in NYC for the Republicans. Sigh, how difficult it is being a lefty country fan. And by lefty, I don't mean Lefty Frizzell. But those are all topics for another post, another day. How's that for a tease?

What I want to talk about now is my second time out on the Magothy River, serving as a crew member on my friend's 27-foot Catalina, the Dharma Bum, for the Wednesday night Magothy River Sailing Association race series. We think we came in 2nd in our class, but we'll have to wait for the official results. It was a slow and quiet night, with the wind blowing only 3-4 knots -- once it got up to 6 knots, but not for long. For most of the night, I had to sit forward on the boat, on the leeward side, with my legs hanging over the side, just to help us gain a little speed. This time out I was able to pull the ropes so quickly when we tacked that the other crew members were yelling "stop! stop!" instead of "pull! pull!" It was quite a difference from last week with the wind blowing 12 knots and the spinnaker nearly carrying our crewmate into the water when she was taking it down (or "dowsing" it, as Cap'n S tells me). I can't believe how knowledgeable I sound with all this sailing lingo. Cap'n S and the Dharma Bum's crew sure have been edu-ma-catin' me.

What the hell are sloppy joes?

So here's the Country Music Conundrum of the Day. See, I have the local country station, WPOC, on my radio for my a.m. alarm (much to Mobtown's chagrin). And when I hear a snippet of a song before slamming on the snooze button, then the song is in my head when I wake up.

Well, this morning I woke up with David Lee Murphy's latest little ditty, Loco, in my head. And now that I've looked up the lyrics I realize that he actually sings, "Cause you're getting to me in those cut off jeans, / And that T-shirt from Sloppy Joe's." But up until now I had thought he was singing, "Cause you're getting to me in those cut off jeans, / And that T-shirt AND sloppy joes." And every time I've heard that song since it came out, I've been wondering, "What in the hell are sloppy joes in this context?" I mean, does she make mean sloppy joes, and he's thinking about her making some for him? Or are sloppy joes some kind of rural slang for booty or some other female body part?

Well, whew, now THAT mystery is solved. Seems country music just ain't as complicated as I sometimes make it out to be! ;-)

Welcome to the Meerkat's Den

Well, I've finally jumped on board with the whole blogging thing. Thanks to Mobtown for clueing me in on blogger.com.

This blog will feature my ramblings on various interests and hobbies of mine, such as country music, crocheting, sailing, kayaking, hiking, animals, and shape note singing. There will inevitably be intermittent posts of general random weirdness too.

Thanks for stopping by!