Midnight in the Garden

I wrote these lyrics in 2000. Ten years later I finally get around to putting music to it. It’s been a busy decade. To hear it, choose from the list below.

Updating some old issues

Hadn’t posted in a while so I thought I’d drop a note.  For those wondering about the progress of my book, I’ll be using a pen name, so you can follow things at ChristySummerland.com.

Physical therapy on my neck did finally greatly reduce my headaches.  And my tail bone pain is gone.  This pain I was told might never be fixed, for a problem even surgery couldn’t rectify, was fixed by one therapist simply by sitting with proper posture.  Try it.  You might like it.  Granted, if I sit in chairs where posture is difficult, it will start to hurt.  So I try to avoid those chairs.

I’ve lost 21 pounds in my mission to be a healthier me.  I still have a lot of foot pain here and there, usually after I clean the house (imagine that) but I’m confident someday I’ll get rid of that issue completely.  I accept nothing else.

The Echo finds a home with friends

Now this is a cool story.  As most of you know, I sold my Saturn and took over mom’s Echo when she couldn’t drive anymore.  I never liked the Echo.  A couple weeks ago I started thinking about trading it in, and I hemmed and hawed about it.  Finally I felt it was the right thing to do, so I traded it, paid half the price for a downpayment and accepted a three year payoff on the other half of a Honda Fit.  A much more ME car and I get payments for my credit report.

Yesterday I got an email from an old friend of my mom’s.  His partner’s mother had been searching for an Echo and she found one.  She sent pictures to her son, he took a look at the bumper stickers and said, “I know that car!”

My new baby

When my mom’s ALS progressed to the point where she couldn’t drive and couldn’t get into a regular car, we had a choice. There was no point paying for two insurance policies when one car would never be used, so I had to decide whether to sell my Saturn or her Toyota Echo. The Echo was younger and got better mileage, so I sold my beloved Saturn.

The Echo and I never bonded.  I loved my Saturn.  It had manual windows and locks and no cruise control but I loved that car.  The Echo was a good car but it didn’t have my personality…and it was green.  So after more than a year of still thinking of it as “mom’s car,” I’ve finally traded it in.

Join Martha’s Marauders!

On September 26th, join Martha’s Marauders as we Walk to D’Feet ALS in Springdale. At Arvest Ballpark we’ll honor my mom, Martha Lindsay, by trying to raise awareness for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. You can either show up around 9:30am and walk with us or visit Martha’s Marauders and click the Walk banner to donate in mom’s name. The more the merrier!

You can read more about my mom and her struggle with ALS on my Mom page.

For my mom

We had “the meeting” yesterday to finalize things, which means mom is now in her last few weeks. I was trying to come up with something brilliant to say or write a song myself, but as she always has, Lita Ford tends to say all I need to say.  Just with a different name.

If you know nothing about ALS, please consider reading up on it and volunteering sometime. ALSA.org

Lots of stuff coming up

I’m going to be a regular frequent flyer by mid year.  Thursday I’m off to Houston for my much-deserved WrestleMania weekend.  May 3 I fly to New Orleans for a week long web and advertising conference for work.  In July I’m off to Indiana for my father’s annual birthday fireworks shootoff.  I don’t think I’ve ever had three roundtrip plane trips in a four month period ever in my life.  To some it may be nothing but to me it’s a little wild.

Two very short personal trips and one work trip.  At least I’ll have some nights in New Orleans.  I promise not to get in too much trouble.

Thinking of Michelle Meldrum

It hit me pretty hard to find out this morning that Michelle Meldrum had died last night of what I was told was a cystic growth on her brain that cut off oxygen and blood flow. I don’t even know what that means or what kind of growth, how long it was there and more importantly, why the hell?

Most of you know about my love of bands like The Runaways and may not have thought I was into Phantom Blue or Meldrum, but I came to The Runaways through Lita Ford. Albums by Lita, Vixen and Phantom Blue were the ones I played when I practiced rock star poses with my guitar in front of the mirror. They (as well as Heart) were the ones I put on when I started learning drums. When I wanted to pretend I was a huge rock star I swung around my Les Paul or my bass to those three and only a few others. And when someone asked me what my entrance theme would be if I was a wrestler, I said either “Through Shattered Eyes” or “New World Order,” both songs by Meldrum.