As posted on ClashDaily.com/candacehardin DEFENDING THE HILLBILLY

The term “Hillbilly” is often misunderstood. The word is mainly used to insult those considered ignorant or out of touch, however, the word quote, unquote hillbilly has a rich heritage. The term did not come into play in the United States until 1900, when a New York Journal article defined the hillbilly as a “free and untrammeled citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he can get it, and fires off his revolver when the fancy takes him.” As it was in 1900, so is it today, New York professes knowledge of subjects that they may or may not know anything about at all. Usually, hillbilly is applied to people who live in the Appalachian region of the United States. Due to the rugged terrain of the area, the people who populated the land were very isolated. It was not until WWII when the men were called to war and the advent of the television in the 1950’s that the region was exposed to all the advances of the twentieth century. Many notable and respected public figures came from humble “hillbilly” beginnings. A short list will include entertainers Lucille Ball and Patsy Cline, author Cormac McCarthy and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. The common misconception is that the mountain people are ignorant as they have not had the educational advantages that most cities offer. Nothing can be further from the truth. The skills an Appalachian or hillbilly may possess could be ones that save the world in a crisis. Hank Williams Jr. refers to these skills in his song, A Country Boy Can Survive. “We can skin a buck, we can run a trout line, and a country boy can survive.” The talents the song lists are the ones that would be called into play should anything disrupt our comfortable state of electronically assisted, instant gratification way of life. Historically, Americans are the original rebels. Our ancestors left Europe to seek freedom to worship, freedom to live as independent people in a free land. The original colonists were not conformists, neither were they looking for a free ride. They immigrated to this land to make their own way and live by their own rules. Long years before Jefferson wrote America’s declaration, a group of Appalachians shocked the King of England and were labeled “a dangerous example for the people of America” due to their fierce independence and unwillingness to submit to any will other than their own. That American spirit lives on in all who may fall under the title of hillbilly. It is the strength that has built a strong country that is the beacon to all in the world that yearn to live free. It is the original pilgrim that put God first in their lives without consideration of who likes it or does not. Hopefully, it will be the spirit that will save the unique formula that is or was the United States of America. To quote Hank William Jr’s song again; “We say grace and we say Ma’am, and if you ain’t into that, we don’t give a damn.” God Bless the USA, again. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5386355 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly

Novacaine Society as published on ClashDaily.com

http://clashdaily.com/2014/05/disconnected-modern-technology-increasing-novacaine-society/ It was pointed out to me today that people in society today have put themselves in a cocoon of isolation. It is a prison of their own making, utilized for both physical and emotional protection. Everyone has a cloak of silence wrapped around themselves, shutting out opportunity for real time human contact. They employ their cellular devices whether alone or in a group of friends. Eye contact is not as common as it used to be. Just meeting people in public seems to be much harder than it should be. It could be fear, it could be lack of confidence, but more likely it is fear of intimacy. How many times have you seen a group of “friends” at a restaurant for a meal together? How many times do each of them check their electronic communications? Sometimes conversation comes to a complete halt as everyone is more engaged in technical chatter. This social malady is a symptom of the disease of lack of community. This does not apply to every town or city, of course, but the lack of community has created a vacuum in society. It has given rise to a virtual society of placebos, such as dating services and social networking sites. These sites give people a way to feel that they are connected to others without really putting themselves out there emotionally. It gives perfect opportunity for a false sense of community. Even dating has fallen victim to this virtual reality. Observing young people in high school, they spend a great more time as texting couples, rather than actually talking. In years past, if your love interest didn’t call on the phone, so there was an all-night discussion about anything and everything, it was not a real relationship. They get together by text and they break up by text. Families have become less nuclear and more spread out to several states. This is often an economic necessity but families are the heart of community. Without community, people do not feel the sting of the consequence of moral boundaries. In times past, certain behaviors were frowned upon by society. There was an amount of local peer pressure that kept undesirable behaviors at bay. If one wanted to indulge these behaviors, community disproval was often harsh. Albert Einstein warned us of this emotional numbness. He said, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Another great quote is from a song by the Eagles, “So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains that we never even know we have the key.” Tomorrow as you buy your morning coffee, smile at the person next to you. Make a real time connection.

AN ENTERTAINMENT VACUUM; I MISS FREDDIE MERCURY

I like to listen to music when I am critiquing my writing, or if I am writing. No matter if I am happy or sad, it would be safe to say that music gets me centered and in a creative mindset. It keeps sane as well. I was at my favorite coffee shop last Friday, going over a manuscript. I had my headphones on and I was in the zone. I put on the Queen channel. For you young folks, Queen was an innovative group from England that came out in the 1970’s. Their first hit was “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It featured Freddie Mercury as the lead singer. He was a powerful vocalist and could play piano with a light touch that would melt your heart. He was a dynamic entertainer, a sexually attractive man with the worst teeth that you have ever seen. Somehow, that overbite seemed to contribute to his overall charm. To say that Freddie Mercury and Queen were trail blazers in alternative music and dress etc. would be rather an understatement. In fact, some of what they did and said, I did not even understand until I was well into my thirties. (We were totally naïve growing up in the mountains of WNC.) All I knew was that I liked it. Freddie Mercury died at the age of 45 from bronchial pneumonia as a complication of AIDS. He had remained silent on his condition until the day before his death to protect those close to him. However, he went public at the last to throw the disease into the light in hopes protecting others and searching for a cure. Now, when I play the videos, I feel a vacuum has been created in the entertainment atmosphere. The award list of his professional career is too long to name, but it can be summed up in one word, talent. I miss Freddie.

REST IN PEACE COCO 2010 - 2014

Shameful Deceit

I have a friend who has found herself single after 23 years of marriage. After taking a while to reconstruct her own life, she thought to get back into circulation. Unwilling to do the bar scene, she joined an online dating service for her age group. After a couple of weeks of shifting through the choices, she thought she had met someone who she would like to get to know better. A supposedly retired, slightly older, professional man seemed to be a good possibility. He had been a widower for a number of years and was looking for someone with whom to start his life over. They began talking and sending texts. By coincidence, he had to go on a business trip right after they began. It was something left over from when he was still working that was unresolved. They were still able to continue to text, even though he was out of the country. This went on fine until the day before he was due to fly back to the States. He sent her a text that he had been attacked and robbed. They had stolen his bag that contained his passport. He missed his flight, as he had to go to the American Embassy to see if he could obtain papers to return. She expressed concern, but he insisted he was fine. A small red flag flew up with this information. However, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt as it could have happened. The next day he called to say that he had obtained a temporary passport, but now had to get a ticket home. He asked her to loan him some money, which he would promptly return when he arrived State side. The small red flag bloomed into a huge one. She knew then that she was being scammed. She informed him quite truthfully that she had no money to lend. He said he would call her later that day. Of course, he never did. On careful review of a few other “men” she had talked to on the dating site, she concluded that probably they were all the same person. He had put up various profiles, hoping for a score. I suppose it happens. You see it on talk shows, how people have bought into a sad story and sent cash. It is usually always women who have sent money to men. My friend saw through the ruse, but what about those who might not? It is a shame and a scandal that another human being would perpetrate that kind of scam on another, especially when they use people’s search for companionship as their vehicle.

SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!

My best friend made a good analogy today. Both of us have had some really, really tough financial times for about six years. The Recession that is “over” according to the press is still residing in our houses. I believe it remains an unwelcome houseguest in many, many more people’s lives as well. The financial vacuum that the aforementioned recession has created in my life is a load I carry with most days with a minimal amount of grumbling. I try to disassociate myself from the reality and trust God to handle all of it. However, some days, that load, in combination with a certain sphincter here and pain in the neck there, coupled with personal heartache just gets to be overwhelming. So, I had a serious meltdown, which brings me back to the analogy. We take turns with giving each other pep talks and his turn consisted of this: “You have had a whole loaf of crap sandwiches. I know that just when you think you are at the end of the loaf, someone brings a fresh batch for you to finish.” How very well those words describe the situation. I believe that my generation and parts of others bear the scars of this economic boondoogle created by the banks and the greediness of those who were in a position to profit from the decline of our entire infrastructure. It may not be labeled, per se, as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but it is exactly that condition.

Goodbye Harold Ramis

I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis. I fell in love with him and the characters he created when he was Bill Murray's best friend, Russell, in "Stripes." He was just the intellectual type I go for in real life. He was a writer and member of the cast of "SCTV." This was the show that employed John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis et al. It was hilarious and I loved to watch it. SNL was funny, but SCTV had it's own unique appeal like no other. The last role I saw Harold Ramis play was that of a doctor on the movie, "As Good As it Gets," with Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, and Jack Nicholson. He played a physician who still did house calls. He visited Helen Hunt's character to care for her son. He had a special way about him, confident, with a dry wit that made you feel like he was always up for a prank, or ready to punk one of his friends. His writing was superlative. He was one of the good ones. As Pete Townsend would say, one of "my generation's" finest entertainers, off and on the screen. So, in the scene from "Stripes" where Russell was ineffectively teaching English to as a second language, let us sing together: "There she was just a walking down the street, singing Do Wah Ditty, Ditty Dum, Ditty Doo!" Go in peace Harold. Join John Candy and the others that went before you. I will be wanting to see the show when Heaven calls and I enter the next life.