Colorado Kimmie

BACKGROUND: For all my close personal friends and family, you all know how much I adore dogs.  Anyone who knew me back in my undergrad college years remember I had a little black dog named Samone.   HOW I BECAME A DOGGY MOM: I was in the Fort Sanders area of Knoxville at a convenient store one evening when a little fuzzy black head popped out of the trench coat of a homeless man.  He told me I could have the puppy in exchange for a six pack of beer.  I obliged, and Sam should have probably been called "six pack." For those following years, she was my roommate, my best friend, my daughter, my everything.  Sam and I lived in a duplex and later in a tree-house off Alcoa, near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.  I drove past the Body Farm referenced in Patricia Cornwell's novel every day.   HOMAGE TO SAM: Sam was a lab mix.  She loved squirrels, hiking, visiting friend's homes (and sitting under the coffee t...

I bet you thought this was going to be about Jim Morrison.  Sorry to disappoint, yet again.  Thanks to another request from a reader of my blog for this write up.  I've enjoyed going down this rabbit hole! BUT FIRST!  WAYNE'S WORLD FLASHBACK, Circa 2015-16: Several years ago, I was a captive insurance agent for a well known insurance company in Greenville, SC.  I won't mention the name of the company or the Agency, but Peyton Manning and Brad Paisley promote their policies on television.  I remember sitting at the front desk of this small agency where I could greet all walk-ins.  And, one day this woman came in and sat down in the cheap stained office chairs requesting policies for her million dollar home, multiple cars, boat, and vacation home.  Since most insurance agents work off commission and residuals, I was delighted to help! She was an attractive woman in probably in her mid 60's, early 70's.  She was intelligent, well dres...

I bet you thought this was about food.  The biggest Google searched recipe during the quarantine was “banana bread.”  But, this ain't a recipe.  I mean, banana bread?!   How boring!  Are we that demotivated and uninspired in this country? Anyways, I digress....   A few years ago, I decided to go back to school in my late 30's.  I had found myself, if we are to use Hollywood slang, type cast in a series of sales roles.  Also, little did I know it at the time, but the tuition I paid in South Carolina for a three-semester post Bachelors Associate degree would have paid for in state law school tuition in the State of Florida.  Yes, that Magical Mouse apparently does a lot for the state of Florida in terms of education.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. My first semester was the hardest, because I had taken on so much that I rarely found time to unwind and relax.  I took 15 credit hours (considered a full academic load)...

I grew up in the "Murder Triangle."  I graduated from high school in '97 in a community right outside of Memphis, TN.  There were school shootings triangle'd around: Pearl, Mississippi - (The 1st mass school shooting by a student in the USA - 1997) Paducah, Kentucky - (Heath High School, 1997) Jonesborough, Arkansas - (Westside Middle School - 1998  Then, on April 20, 1999 at 11:19 a.m., Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold committed an atrocious mass murder suicide right outside Littleton, Colorado, at the campus of Columbine High School.  Murdering twelve students and one teacher/coach, the two boys then counted to three, jumped in the air, and turned the guns of themselves.  By the year 1999, Columbine became the deadliest school shooting in history.  If we are to find any silver lining:  Several home made bombs planted around the school and in the parking lot failed to detonate, sparing the lives of what could have been hundreds more victims. ...