well, hello Dolly....

last week we drove through sevierville, tn (home of dolly parton) twice on our way to and from thanksgiving. it was exactly eight years ago last week that i fell in love with dolly while driving home for the holiday from college and happened upon the WSEV radio station that was only playing her music and a recently released album "Just because I'm a Woman." I'd always though of her as something of a hokey, down home joke, but when i truly listened to her lyrics, i knew she was speaking deep, powerful truths...specifically to me.

I thought of Dolly and made boone listen to that same album as we were sitting in traffic in knoxville.

not only is her music incredible, but her style is unmistakeable. 

growing up in south mississippi, we had a saying "the bigger the hair, the closer to God." i guess some folks may have been joking about that, but not me. oh, no. since high school i've worked hard to have big, voluminous blonde hair. while all my friends were flat ironing their hair to pieces, i was using hot rollers (hot rollers in high school! in the year 2000!)

now i use a giant curling iron and velcro rollers to pump my hair up, but the concept is nearly identical. i have a feeling that it was dolly parton's early look (before "backwoods barbie" and all that surgery) with her flirty, fun personality that gave me the idea that this is what southern women could (and should) look and act like. (ie: they should be ferociously independent, truly smart and 'with it', able to make fun of themselves, care deeply about their appearance, and make men feel special and breathless.)

then, in college, when i learned that she donated entire libraries of books to children in her hometown and rescued injured bald eagles i realize that she truly was someone to be idolized.
and did i mention that she's for marriage equality? score ANOTHER ONE for Dolly. Yep, she once said, "Sure, why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us." ;)

i finally got to see her perform on my cousin's birthday a few years ago, and even though we were in the ABSOLUTE farthest rows away, she was still incredible..and so fun...and super sparkly...and her boobs looked enormous even from that great distance.  ;)

 

anyway, when i meet another Dolly devotee (my friend Jon from Grad school and my coworker Sally to name two of the most important) i feel like we share an extra special bond because we know how truly incredible she is...we get it.

in fact, sally told me a few weeks ago that there's a new dolly movie coming out in January. I have NO IDEA about the plot, but i  do know that i'll be buying a ticket for opening night and will try to introduce as many people as I can to the mountain angel.

Is there someone you love but no one else gets? 

it's time to play the music...it's time to light the lights...

i'm excited times a billion.

almost everyone i know is up in arms about the twilight movie that comes out this week, but i can't stop thinking about amy adams, jason segel, and THE MUPPETS--three HUGE crushes I've had for some time now because they seem so good natured, honestly nice, and truly funny... and they're ALL in one place. Enchanted and I Love You, Man were two of the movies where I've laughed the most AND laughed the hardest in years. I mean, they were so sincerely, sweetly funny, and were like the only comedies that weren't even a little bit ironic, mean spirited, vulgar, awkward, or sarcastic.... and if this movie has those main characters AND adds in kermit the frog, how can it be bad?

honestly, i can hardly stand it. who else is with me? if you're not sure, watch this trailer (or this even better trailer) and try not to squeal with glee.

rolling in the...

so, the flood is still happening... we're safe, though. thanks for all of your prayers! Two dear friends are coming to visit this weekend and if they're interested I think we'll head to a music festival/fundraiser for Tunica cutoff (a place REALLY affected by the flooding and sand boils) Saturday. If you want to come with us, let me know.

on another not completely unrelated note, I can't get adele's "rolling in the deep" out of my head. (the mississippi is deep..and definitely rolling these days). anyway, i drive to work singing it. i fall asleep singing it. i cook dinner singing it. i listen to other songs on my ipod and sing it.

this is worse than my  dolly parton/kenny rogers "islands in the stream" fixation about a month ago. (that was so bad it almost ruined my marriage. seriously. ask boone.)

anyway, although i'm sure i'm WAY behind the times here, i had no idea what she looked like, but i did a google search the other day and was inspired that this woman with a golden voice wasn't a stick figure with no soul. instead...she's a soft, full figured, lovely lady with similarly silky voice. which means....

new. style. crush.

it's especially exciting because i've been feeling (and looking) softer and curvier every month we live in MS. i've been pretty unhappy about it, but now: 1) I feel confident that one can be curvy and still sexy and 2) I ordered the zumba videos so I can take control of my own body again. :)

it takes two...

some coworker-friends and i are in a "super secret mix tape club" which isn't really secret and involves making mix cds, not mix tapes, but eh... semantics.

we make a mix once a month and pass them out to the other 3 in the group (it was 5 people total for a while, but apparently the 5th didn't really have time to devote to the hobby). ANYWAY, this month my mix is a compilation of my most favorite duets and two-person harmonies... here's a little visual taste for you..

 

tammi terrell and marvin gaye singing "if I could build my whole world around you"

 

stevie nicks and don henley (of fleetwood mac and the eagles) singing "leather and lace"

 

rodrigo y gabriela playing "hanuman"

 

she and him "why do you let me stay here?"

 

kenny rogers and dolly parton (sigh...) singing "islands in the stream"

 

gram parsons and emmylou harris duet "love hurts"

 

the avett brothers singing and playing "november blue"

  

lucinda williams and elvis costello on "there's a story in your voice"

some of these folks sang together ALL the time..and others just connected for one incredible duet. if you leave me a comment with YOUR favorite duet, and I choose your number on Friday, YOU can have a copy of this mix. 

you know you want it.

love hurts...

five years ago i was working as a high school art teacher and i got a wild idea to dye my incredibly long and naturally blonde hair jet black. now i realize it was a desperate attempt to emulate my idol, emmylou.

 it's that she's always confident and refined, while still seeming easy going and natural. her voice is clear and authentic, and her harmonies make every song sound better. plus, a woman with a guitar is so unmistakably cool.

before i married boone and got the new last name of Harris, i'd had grand plans to name a future daughter emmaline louisa and call her emmylou.

emmylou wilson, sure. emmylou vanderzanden, perfect! but two emmylou harrises in the world might be one too many. ;) i still love her though.

 

who are your famous crushes?

new year's style crush...helena bonham carter.

isn't she the coolest? i know. it's either the curly hair, the wild outfits, or the cigarettes. in the new year i'm going to try to take my coolness to this level (never going to happen, but a girl can dream). who's your style crush this year?

i love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes...

my first attempt at an inspiration board is an ode to neko. prison girls is lovely, gritty, and a little bit disconcerting, which is probably why i love it. i wake up almost every night singing it in my head... anyway, this is the first of (hopefully) many more songboards. any ideas?

photos taken from here

put on your red shoes and dance the blues...

david bowie... i don't get it.


at all. but whatever it is, i know i like it.



images from here, here, here

TA life, live!

went last night to see our favorite radio program (This American Life) broadcast LIVE in a movie theatre and it was FABULOUS. i rolled laughing at the beginning and was in tears at one point.
fyi: now i know what my hero starlee kine looks like and my ira glass crush is even bigger than it was yesterday.

here's the special edition poster that they had designed for the show... isn't it great? if you missed the show or want to see it again you can see the encore screening on May 7th.

ode to neko...

a little monday eye candy.






isn't neko the coolest? wishing that i had some spare change to spend on her new album that came out in march. also wishing that tomorrow when i get my hair cut (eeek! hooray!) that i could get it this color red. but i won't.

dear ryan...

ryan,
it. was. wonderful. thanks for a great last show.