Welcome to In A Lather. i'm sookie, and here you'll find my takes on celebs, tv shows and movies that are favs of mine, that i hope are or soon will be favs of yours too. Also events in the entertainment and fashion industry.Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to comment.
Smooth as Kentucky sippin' whiskey, Elmore Leonard's sure shot, stetson wearing, U.S.Marshall Raylan Givens is back. Timothy Olyphant as Raylan has made peace with his forced relocation to his bluegrass roots. Turning down his fed boss' offer to return to Florida, he's happy to remain in Kentucky. But, he's got a tough row to hoe, dealing with old heart-achers, and new law breakers. With his partner, deputy Rachel Brooks, Marshall Givens is on the trail of sex offenders, moonshiners, marijuana farmers and shady sheriffs.
FX' Justified, returns for season 2, Wednesday February 9th 2011 at 10:00pm Please check your local listings.
NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? is back for a second season, and the celebs tracing their family trees are still terrific: Vanessa Williams, Rosie O’Donnell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Cattrall, Ashley Judd, Steve Buscemi, Lionel Richie, and Tim McGraw.
"Never"...Vanessa Williams is reading her Great Great Grandpa David Carll's written response on a pension form to the question "were you ever a slave". Born in 1845, centuries later, that "never" remains emphatic and resoundingly powerful.
Slavery in New York State had been abolished in 1827 which afforded him the status of freedom. In 1864, David Carll enlisted in the Union Army to fight for the freedom for others who were not as fortunate as himself. Wisely, $200.00 of his $300.00 salary or "bounty" as it was then referred, was used to purchase land for his family in Oyster Bay NY, and his descendants would live and thrive there for generations.
i love that Ms Williams' family has a cemetery plot in her hometown that spans several generations. Even though they are deceased that kind of access provides a strong continuity.
Great Great Grandpa Carll was among the 1st to enlist in the Union Army once blacks were permitted to serve. Vanessa Williams, the 1st black Miss America [though she would later be compelled to relinquish her crown] comes by her pioneer spirit honestly. Of course Ms Williams has subsequently made many other great accomplishments: philanthropist, award winning artist, star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, etc. But in a bit of prescient whimsy, on her birth announcement her parents wrote "here she is, Miss America". Something i'm guessing her descendants will find delightful.
NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? begins it's 2nd season Friday February 4th 2011 at 8:00pm. Please check your local listings.
i'm a gemini from wash.dc, married 35 yrs to an aries from san antonio texas.
i'm sookie, he's tex, together we are sookietex.
Many people think i adopted the name sookie after HBO's TrueBlood heroine Sookie Stackhouse.
Nope. It's not my birth name, but my older brother gave me the nickname sookie when i was a baby.
Best and might i add most prescient gift bro' ever gave me ;D
hubby and i live in nyc and even though we like it here, we dream of the day when we'll pull up stakes and move to austin, or maybe some other town in the lone star state.
a bit more about me and In A Lather public domain image credits
library of congress prints and photographs online: secession bubbleknow nothing soap
i am a child of the south, a "boomer", born in 1958, a child of the television age. This was a time when "African-Americans" referred to themselves as "colored". In fact on my birth certificate under racial description, "colored" is the word that is used. Today i still affectionately refer to myself as a "colored child". my paternal great grandpa was Blackfoot Nation, and my maternal great grandmother was also Native American, [but i have not found out which Nation]---i affectionately refer to that part of my heritage as 'injun'---hey i'm never going to be described as politically correct and have no desire to be.
my mother was a woman who was far ahead of her time in terms of "feminist" survival. Long before it was fashionable, she was a single parent. She did have support, and not just financial from my pop, but they did not live together as husband & wife. In fact they never did take that walk down the aisle...but that's another story. Mom was a woman who worked outside the home long before most women of her generation would have even thought of making that choice, much less do it. She fully appreciated the value, neccessity, and strength of a loving extended family. She did not need anyone to tell her it "takes a village".
When mother was at work, i, the youngest of 4 (2 sisters 1 brother & me), was alternately cared for by mother's eldest sister, "auntie" as we used to call her, and our nextdoor neighbors. They were like family to us. We called the elder woman 'grandma' (to this day I do not know her given name), and her daughter Miss Elsie, or more usually 'aunt'Elsie. They were very religious folk. God fearing, bible reading, honest, and i and my family loved them dearly. 'Aunt'Elsie always made sure my days were full of activity, but one of my favorite times of the day was when she would look at her watch and say "oh my, we'd better hurry, it's almost time for my stories". By her 'stories'
she of course meant the day's soap operas. For Elsie and her mother, watching the soaps was sort of a guilty pleasure, but at the same time they made it seem sacred. It was a ritualistic activity. Her favorites were The Edge of NightThe Secret Storm and General Hospital
Paul Harvey would say i am giving you "the rest of the story" so that you may better understand its importance, and how it relates to the spirit of this blog. Which is to say we all have drama of some level going on in our lives, so sometimes the plotlines of our favorite shows may seem either tame, empathetic, or absurd, depending on where life may take you on any given day.
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