Elvish

In a perfect world, my dad would still be here, too. He died a day after Irwin - equally unexpected.

Animal crackers and apple juice. I'm not a three-year-old. I just eat like one.

I love "Bring On the Rain." I have a CD of rain songs, and it's on there

Homemade chocolate cake with chocolate chip icing

Joy Inside My Tears Overjoyed Ribbon In the Sky

Lyrical interlude: An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day It's a black fly in your Chardonnay It's a death row pardon two minutes too late And isn't it ironic... don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought... it figures Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought "Well isn't this nice..." And isn't it ironic... don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought... it figures Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up In your face A traffic jam when you're already late A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife And isn't it ironic...don't you think A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think... It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought... it figures Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out Helping you out

lemonade vitamin water

Fireworks. Similar, but not the same.

Martin! Happy Day Off, Edna!

Ahhh....then you know I'm headed off to bump your birthday thread, then?

You stalking me again, sweetie? [smaller]We mustn't let the others in on how you might be privy to details of my slumber...or lack thereof [/smaller]

I slept some And didn't get drunk...yet! The official 10th Anniversary Celebration of my 21st is tentatively scheduled for this weekend when childcare arrangements are available

Ice water

This is really good stuff, especially on ice cream. Beer float, anyone? I'm trying Rogues this weekend to compare. And I might be becoming a stout lover. Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout tastes quite chocolatey. Very good stuff!

Oh sweetie, how many times do I need to tell ya? I might be a hick, and I'm definitely a redneck, but I was born and raised in the delta. Flatland. Yeah, I might live in the hills now, but I'm not a hillbilly. Yet The differences are subtle...

Shiner Hefewiezen

Okay, last one. Birthday wishes for NORML Member, Willie Nelson, from Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director www.NORML.org Best wishes and happy travels to one of America’s great authors of music, masters of the performance stage and American highways. The cannabis law reform movement has never had a better, more honest or longer-serving goodwill ambassador for cannabis consumers as well as a dedicated proponent of hemp as an industrial crop that should be within the ambit of choices for the American farmer. Even on the rare occasion that Willie has been arrested on cannabis prohibition-related charges, the arresting law enforcement officers involved have oddly been embarrassed, giddy and ultimately honored to have the opportunity to meet Willie in person. On one occasion in Texas in 1995, Willie was arrested for possessing a couple of hand-rolled cigarettes that just happen to consist of cannabis rather than tobacco, and in a totally unlikely scenario the local sheriff was the individual who bailed him out! To the man who once smoked a joint on the roof of the White House and has donated the proceeds from events like the 2007 Austin Freedom Festival to support cannabis law reform advocacy, on behalf of NORML’s nationwide membership and chapters, as well as the board of directors, thanks for all your help and support for too many years. time saved time saved Posted in NORML,WAMM, etc, Special Days

I'll stop now

April 28, 2008, 5:49PM 'Hillybilly guru' Willie Nelson turns 75 Friends and fans recall memories of the singer on his birthday By ANDREW DANSBY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Willie Nelson through the years There was an uncomfortable silence when the subject of Willie Nelson came up. The conversation was about the song Luckenbach, Texas. Waylon Jennings talked about Nelson's proposal that the two of them purchase the town. Jennings said he wouldn't if Nelson had anything to do with the bank or the town's finances. He called his old friend and Luckenbach duet partner a "crook." I laughed. "No, I'm not kidding," Jennings said. Then the silence. Jennings made a few complimentary concessions to Nelson's unique spirit. But he seemed deadly serious. He said he'd had his fill of business dealings with Nelson. Seven years later, I brought up that conversation to another Nelson friend, Ray Price, who seemed convinced it was a joke. "Waylon was pulling your leg," he said. "Willie's no crook. (Pause.) He's just surrounded by them." Who knows who's right. Certainty would make Nelson less interesting. He turns 75 today (some sources list his birthday as April 30, but most suggest he was born before midnight on the 29th), which seems remarkable given some of the myth and facts about his life. I could putter on about his discography, which I've owned in every format, from 45s and LPs to 8-tracks and cassettes to CDs and downloads. Nelson's work has been equally varied. There are the agreed-upon classics — Country Willie, Shotgun Willie, Yesterday's Wine, Phases and Stages, Red Headed Stranger, Stardust, etc. — and others such as Tougher Than Leather and Spirit that reveal their beauty and craft later. Even uneven albums have gems: Write Your Own Songs on WWII; Reasons to Quit, which gets hidden in Pancho and Lefty's shadow; She's Not for You, which is buried on Across the Borderline. The way his voice nearly breaks on the bridge of Always on My Mind remains sublime. I'm not about to unravel Nelson's mystique for anybody. It can be partly attributed to the seemingly leisurely phrasing, the reedy voice, the simplicity of the original songs and the comfortable rejiggering of the covers, the underrated guitar playing, the worn-out guitar itself, the loyalty to his band, the pigtails, the laid-back manner, the pugnacious streak that flickered up on creative matters. Contradictory forces are no small part of his enduring allure, and more than the hillbilly/ hippie thing that prompts musician Jesse Dayton to call him "my spiritual hillbilly guru." Whether Nelson is a crook or a guy surrounded by crooks wouldn't matter much if the songs weren't great. The One Hell of a Ride box set, released earlier this month, is a great sampler, ranging from the mid-'50s to the present. It's bookended by When I've Sang My Last Hillbilly Song, a version from 1954 and another from 2007. Ninety-eight songs come in-between, but most everybody finds some personal favorites in Nelson's catalog.

Happy 75th Birthday Willie! 4/30/2008 8:52 AM By: News 8 Austin Staff Willie Nelson is in Amsterdam on his birthday on his box set album tour. Just how much of a musical impact has Willie Nelson had on modern music? Well, to put things into perspective, Willie turns 75 today, and he's released more than 350 records in those years. That's nearly one different album to play for every day of the year. So in effect, that means a radio disc jockey would never be hard pressed to find something new to play. It also means the DJ can successfully shrug off the heavy rotation of music play lists. KGSR Radio Austin DJ Bryan Beck. "Willie's got over 350 records, and we've got 46 of them," KGSR Radio Austin personality Bryan Beck said. "But his album repertoire is amazing when you go back to his early stuff and all the way through with his latest with artistic duos, it just blows my mind." And KGSR Radio Austin is poised to blow listeners' minds Wednesday evening for Willie Nelson's birthday bash, where at least 26 sets will take the stage in the station's Music Lounge. Some of the performers on the bill include Willie's daughter Paula Nelson, Ray Benson, Ian McLagan, Joe Ely, Bob Schneider and Jimmy LaFave to name a few. "The people that are coming by are just amazing, from Ray Benson, Bob Schneider, the Resentments … the list is really all the A-listers in Austin," Beck said. It's safe to say it will be a good day to listen to Willie. Tune in to KGSR Radio Austin starting at 6 p.m. with radio specials that will provide some behind the scene glimpses of early Willie Nelson music. To listen, tune in to the 107.1 or visit them online. "It will be all Willie all night!" Beck said. It's been a good year for Willie Nelson. He's on the cover of Texas Monthly magazine and he's released a new comprehensive album that has his music from 1954-2007. Nelson will spend his birthday on the road, again, since he's currently on tour in Europe and is scheduled to perform in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

www.DallasNews.com Willie Nelson, one of the greatest living Texans, turns 75 today. Wherever sons and daughters of the Lone Star state find themselves today, let them lift their ice-cold longnecks high in honor of the gentleman from Abbott. In a state that has produced more than its share of legendary American musicians, perhaps no Texan is as artistically consequential as Willie Hugh Nelson, whose grandmother taught him to play the guitar. Beyond his peerless artistic legacy to the state and the nation, there is Willie’s status as a cultural icon – indeed, the iconic Texan of our time, beloved by all. Despite his eccentric political opinions, his tax problems and his marijuana busts, if you harbor hardness in your heart towards Willie Nelson, that says more about you than it does Willie. Willie Nelson is like Louis Armstrong, a deeply American artist whose simplicity, decency and generosity of spirit, conveyed in a voice as clear and sweet as branch water, illuminates the finer parts of our common humanity. Speaking in the current issue of Texas Monthly, Austin singer-songwriter Bobby Earl Smith has this to say about Red-Headed Stranger, Willie’s visionary breakthrough 1975 album that assured his place in music history: “It’s got that mysterious quality that you kind of feel the meaning of more than you can say what it’s all about.†What’s true of the songs is true of the singer. It’s hard to say what Willie Nelson is about, but it’s easy to say this: Willie Nelson is Texas. With his old, battered heart and Trigger, his old, battered guitar, he makes us all – rednecks, hippies and the whole Lone Star lot – proud to be from here. Good Texans honor Willie Nelson on this milestone because he has honored them with his music and with his life. Looks like Edna and Sammy have already been into the brownies

I already bumped his thread...[smaller]not that it was far to bump! [/smaller]

Should I roll my age back to 29 instead of 30, then?