ARK LIFE: BINGE WATCHING IS WHERE IT'S AT!

WHEN Life gives you lemons or: making chicken salad out of chicken shit...

The Fabulous Feathermaye and Yours Truly have a lot of life lessons we've collected over the past two years.  In that time, a sudden unemployment tuned us in to life in a bad economy, and just how drastically America has changed from the wonderful land of opportunity we were raised to believe in, to a more dependable truth: we needed to downsize and start living as if it can all change tomorrow!


This new philosophy is not the big disappointment one might think it is; rather, it opens up the eyes to new ways of living, and pursuing the American Dream.  Very simply put: we've learned that we don't need the standard "fixed fortifications" we'd been lead to believe we had to have: house, cars, toys etc. 



Instead, we've boiled it down to the essence of "What we really enjoy" and "What we actually need".


We call it "ARK LIFE"... Living with mobility in mind.Let's face it: Moving is a bitch, so make it easy on yourself.  Only take the essentials with you, so you can set up camp quickly, without feeling as if you're missing or lacking anything important.  


*A good rule of thumb: if you haven't used it in the last three months, you don't need it*


One important essential component question is: "how will you entertain yourself in downtime?'' 


Since today's technology has become more mobile, we discovered a little device call

"ROKU" that we carry with us everywhere.  Through it, and a decent WiFi signal, we can stream videos, movies and TV shows.  Which leads me to the current topic: Binge Watching.


Have any of you tried this?  Seems to be catching on with many of us Baby Boomers.  We saw a report just a couple of days ago from one of our favorite actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins, in which he told of how he caught up on the fantastic AMC Drama: Breaking Bad.  In two days, Hopkins watched every episode of Brian

Cranston's characterization of a High School Chemistry teacher who began to produce high grade Methamphetamine, and ended up destroying his family, and himself as his efforts lead from a "little extra cash for cancer treatments" to becoming the infamous Heisenberg, Drug Lord of New Mexico.



We did the same here in our portable ARK; only we did it in stages; the first two seasons (which my buddy Bill Keith recommended) and then waited with baited breath as each new season was offered on our favorite stream providers: NetFlix and Amazon Prime.  

Personally, I've always hated the distraction of commercial TV.  I can't stand the constant bombardment of "over-run" commercials--Super Bowl ads being the lone exception, but that's once a year, right?


With streaming TV, you catch it all in succinct episodes.  This has allowed us to keep up with all

our favorites, and we tend to do so in "Binge" periods, taking in the whole show in that period of time, be it a few episodes a night, or a weekend Binge from beginning to end!



Sure, there are other ways with which we spend our spare time: Exploring the different cities we find ourselves in, or the surrounding country side.  Feathermaye's photography comes from these excursions, and often my own impressionist paintings are inspired from those very same captures.
  


However, being "homebodies" by nature, not to mention the simple fact that we just enjoy each other's company so very much, streaming video together has become a routine we look forward to every day.



For more information on ROKU, Netflix, Amazon, and all the other streaming sources available today, you might try these links.


And, I'm curious to know how many of you already Binge Watch?  Feel free to leave a comment below, and include your favorites! 

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I'm finally back or: Why the Geek Squad Sucks

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who asked after me when

We work best side by side

I sort of...disappeared.  There is a lot to the story, and a good many of you follow my wife: The Fabulous Feathermaye, and know that she has kept up the news of what's been going on during my blog absence.

Many of you were following our exploits through our quazi-homelessness, as we meandered from Greater Houston to Canton Mountain, to Palestine (pronounced: Pal-ess-teen around these here parts) then our movements to Dallas, which has finally brought us back to a position where we sort of started from: with a roof over our heads, and employment in the storage business, leaving us once more working side-by-side...whew! 

The Old Mine on Canton Mountain

As you may recall, I was blogging like a madman from The Mountain.  Then, the stupid power cord on this lap-top developed a little, shall we say: wiggle? I was having to stop, rig a constantly changing jig with which to shore up the plug, just to get a little juice so I could plunge into the web's waters.  This worked briefly, and became so much of a hassle that I could not finish anything without hours upon hours of head-banging effort just to power up.

Finally, I gave up and went back to work --literally-- as our unemployment ran out and we had not yet found this new little opportunity. 

On our way to where we are now, I attempted to get the lap-top serviced and spoke with numerous individuals who nodded in agreement: all I needed was to have a new power-port installed, the bad one had just enough play in the contact points that it simply would not stay put! I even consulted with an area manager for Best Buy, and he agreed that the good ole boys at the Geek Squad could tackle that job, and would probably only run in the pricing neighborhood of around 65.00.  I promised I would not hold him to that price exactly, and even nodded at the "give or take 10-15 bucks".  

As it turned out, his little cluster of Best Buy stores did not include the one in Mesquite, Texas...which was the closest one to the area of East Dallas that Feathermaye and I were renting a room in.  We called ahead and did as much research as possible about the Best Buy/Geek Squad procedures and felt that since the lap-top had to be shipped off for repair anyhow, it didn't matter which store we dropped it off at. 

We paid our 35.00 deposit and sent the unit on its way to repairsville.  

While I was at work a few days later, Feathermaye sent me a text telling me that the Geeks felt that my poor laptop needed a new motherboard to fix the problem and they wanted 367.00 to button'er up.

I know, I know, you're all chuckling and saying: You can buy a new one for that price!  AS important as writing is for me, this was not in our budget.

When Feathermaye attempted to pursue the "can't you just change the power port?" argument, they addressed her as if she were a mentally challenged individual.   A condescending "No ma'am..." was the answer she received from the Geeks.

"Just tell 'em to send it back, then..." I said to her, mentally adding "I'll just have to put off writing for a while longer".

It was Best Buy's third strike

"I figured   you'd say that," she said.  "I already told them that, along with a few expletives I felt you would want me to add in.  I promise I didn't call any of them anything that did not fit the situation."

"That's my girl..."

 Back to the ole drawing board.

Having moved everything in to our newly remodeled residence, I took advantage of a rainy day and finished unpacking our stuff for like the upteenth time in the last two years.  Atop a shelf sat the laptop once I was done, along with the disagreeable power cord.  It called out to me this morning and I had a moment of inspiration.

When the morning duties were done and we reached a period of quiet (one of the real advantages that Feathermaye and I love about this type of work) I grabbed the laptop, power cord and a little aluminum foil.  

I had actually thought about using the foil long ago, but dismissed it because I really thought the Geeks could fix this for a songs worth of pocket change.  I fed my power cord up through the holes in the back of the lower counter top and opened the puter. 

"Honey, breathe..." Feathermaye told me when I was working on it. At last, I had everything positioned and neatly folded a bit of foil, which I then carefully wrapped around the male portion of the cord prong. Remembering to exhale, I gently pushed the shimmed tip into the hole; it was a nice firm fit; I saw the little red "charging" light come on.  It stayed on.

I stared at it, waiting for it to blink off again, as it had so many times over the last year or so. 

"Honey, breathe!" Feathermaye said again, not looking at what I was doing, but noticing none-the-less. 

But, the little red light was staying on!

It's still on!

I've written this entire blog without it going off...

The angels are singing: hallelujah!

And even after we broke for lunch, it stayed on...

Oh wait...It just turned green.  I'm charged! I'm charged!  Great god almighty, I'm charged at last!

As for the Geeks...well, I guess everyone needs a paycheck.  I'm just not contributing to it.

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ON THE MOUNTAIN: a mountain of subject matter...

It took the fabulous feathermaye and I exactly two seconds of standing on this Mountain to realize that we were looking at ART WORLD:a place full of subject material right out of an artist's dream...

I mean, c'mon... this place is a time warp, what would you do if you found
all this around you?  Got paint?  Got a sketch book?  A camera?

This one, and a couple of others are set ups for a few pen & ink pieces

Classic walkways that disappear around

irresistible corners...

In reality this bump of sand was once

the playground of artists

The aged wood, shapes...tickle the sketcher's eye...

Old West meets our age...

all yours to capture

look up...

look down...

Art is waiting for you here...

This place has been home to painters, photographers, and World Class Sculptors.  Street performers and glass blowers with chainsaw art wielding husbands.  Musicians, dancers and (like your's truly) a few novelists.  This fertile mound is now ready for its next colony of artists to form.  They only need set foot here once...


If you've been a starving artist working shows and traveling from here to there, you need to add Canton, and The Mountain, to your plans.


If you have a closet full of paintings, or a garage full of furniture that you've reclaimed and turned into fantastic works of art, you just might find the place where it all comes together, here, were ART HAPPENS every 1st Monday of the Month "Market Days" here in Canton, Texas.


Shop Canton, Experience The MOUNTAIN!

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A few words from feathermaye: Have you had your Zeal today?

Over the last couple of weeks I've gotten a couple of phone calls and several emails with basically the same message: You're looking so much thinner in your pictures! Are y'all eating okay? Do you need anything? 

Bless your hearts. Every one of you who has asked and even those who have just wondered. As if feathermaye would ever miss a meal!

So. Yes, we are eating okay. Not great stuff, necessarily, but plenty of it. We are not starving to death, despite how skinny my legs look in those purple sweatpants.

And really, what other color would you expect my sweatpants to be?

Life on The Mountain has naturally introduced an increase in our exercise level, which helps our struggle for daily wellness. Survival-mode menus, though (once you've eliminated the zero value fast foods), are sparse by design and should serve to remind you that we should not be living to eat, but rather eating to live. It's a hard cycle to break out of, admittedly, but we are currently proving that it can and SHOULD be done.

Shortly after arriving on The Mountain and making friends, we were given a sample of a product that contains the same nutritional equivalent as all of the supplements and vitamins listed below. That's over $400 worth of products, on a daily basis, to get the nutritional elements our bodies need to thrive.

Just this image should be enough to startle you when you realize that these are proven, key elements to maintaining your physical health, and each one is recommended to be taken on a regular basis! How in the world are we supposed to afford the time it would take to shop for and consume these products, or acquire the money it would take to keep them stocked FOR OUR WHOLE FAMILY to be healthy? 

It shouldn't be expensive to be healthy! Getting what your body needs to thrive should not be an intimidating task to be dreaded every day with dry, hard to swallow and tasteless (or worse!) products. 

So, passing on the good deed some new friends have done for us, I want to share this nutritional miracle with the rest of my friends. And Scott's friends. And their friends' friends. This works, folks. And we are shining examples.

Click for larger image

Zeal is a simple solution to complex nutritional needs. The triple benefit of Enriching, Restoring and Protecting our bodies doesn't require dozens of pills and supplements every day. With the new superfood foundation of Rice Bran, Zeal delivers everything your body needs to maintain its own wellness, and helps to purge the stuff we don't need that we get from our environments, food choices and bad habits. In one simple drink every morning!

And yes, not only have Scott and I taken the wellness pledge with Zeal, we've become so convinced by its effects that we have signed up to be distributors, too. But here's the truth: I didn't sign up thinking I'd sell Zeal--I signed up knowing that I would get a 15% discount on my own supply. Even if I never sold a single bottle of Zeal, I would continue to take it on a daily basis. But each week, as I feel and look better, and as my moods and energy levels are more easily maintained, I've decided it would be very selfish of me to not share it with you.

If you'd like more information about Zeal and its associated wellness products, please visit our website at feathermaye.zealforlife.biz. There you'll find lots of links to all of the Zeal supporting information, contact information for us, and ordering information, if you are so inclined.

And Zeal has a 30-day money back guarantee, so you've got nothing to lose. 

Have you had your Zeal today?

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a feathermaye photoblog: This is Canton, This is The Mountain Pt.1

By now, you've become a fan of feathermaye's eye, just like yours truly.  Here in pictures, my fabulous, Artist wife begins to show you what this place is all about...

- This is Canton -
Lots such as these are all over and surrounding the city

- This is The Mountain -
During 1st Monday weekends, no autos on The Mountain

- This is Canton -
A tribute to the General Stores of old, in the heart of the city

- This is The Mountain -
Simply stated: Just cussin good junk!

- This is Canton -
A fine, historically rich Texas town with strong traditions

- This is The Mountain -
A special place, where art happens everywhere

- This is Canton -
A special place, with special shopping, artists flourish here
amid the strong influences of Texas' past...

- This is The Mountain -
Many successful artists came here to enjoy the special energy, The Mountain just
makes an artist WANT to go the extra mile with their work...

Much more to come in the next issues from The fabulous feathermaye!  Art happens here every 1st Monday Trade days.  Shop Canton.... Experience The Mountain

Once again we would like to thank you all for following this blog.  Your support is our motivation.  Look for us on facebook, and you can find me stumblingupon every week looking for things to Digg.  Please be sweet and give this one an extra Tweet!  

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ON THE MOUNTAIN: Art Explosion, INCENDIARY new work by Feathermaye

Okay, so I'm a bit self-prejudiced since she is, after all, my lovely wife...However, I'm the grandson, and son, of artist-women-folk; good ones. I know good when I see it with my eyes. 




and so, I'm quite proud to announce that the Herndons have gotten their ART ON!


Next Market Weekend will be the official unveiling of feathermaye multimedia's "MOUNTAIN ART".


Here's just a taste folks: Another masterpiece by feathermaye...

Waiting in the Wings: by feathermaye

We hope you'll drop by to see our work... fun! 

Stay with the Blog for more great photo art, news from Agony...Texas, updates about The Mountain, and much, much more!

Shop Canton, experience The Mountain!

We invite you to follow our little blog here, and thanks to all who've just joined in on the fun.  You can always find us on facebook, and I'm known to Stumlbeupon great notions that I Digg.  And, hey, if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a Tweet!

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Market Weekend: Part Two

Throngs of shoppers flood Canton

Over a Million visitors flooded the town below us, but only a few thousand ventured up this hill.  That's in part due to the fact that most of what happens up here, happens at night.  However, low crowds during the day are also due to the fact that the word about the place is not getting out, any more. That's part of the role we've assigned ourselves... 


You've all witnessed how we have fallen in love with this sandy bump in East Texas.  We can't let it lose its identity as "The Best kept Secret in Texas".  No, sir, and we ask not for one dime, we just want the word to get out; we want stale and out-of-date websites that still draw hits at the top of search engines, to be replaced by hits that filter through this blog, by you, our faithful followers.  After all, this is about getting your attention, and trusting that if it moves you to do so, you'll not hesitate to pass it along to your own networks.  Hey, that's what a blog can do...


But for all of the ones that found their way up here...

LZ putting the final touches on her evolving dream

TWIRL! a Photography Boutique premiered this weekend and I watched, grinned and even twirled my-own-self as the vision that was only last Market Days referred to by its central story line: "Miss Lilly's Closet", metamorph'd, in serendipitous fashion, to become 'Twirl'.  Feathermaye Multi-Media even zipped together a really cool sign with Laurie's script design in lights that made the joint pop even more.  


Like a magnet people were drawn to the elaborate Zebra Tree set, wondering what, oh what, could this be... Then, about sundown on Friday, it took off as the first set of girls flooded in, chose outfits and got to twirling while The Divine Mz. Z, feathermaye, and even a reserve photographer (Becky Mottolese) put their creative eyes behind Mz. Z's designs and directions, and as spectators stood agape in the street watching, the dance that is 'Twirl!' flowed, organically, magically.  By 9:00pm Saturday, the artists were spent, dragging...


Be sure to check out Part Three in the next issue!


As always, we would love it if you follow this blog,and you can always find us on facebook. Often, you'll stumbleupon us, but if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a Tweet!  Digg it!

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Market Weekend: Part One

That's right, we rented this little Red School House, right
here on The Mountain: Current HQ for
feathermaye multimedia

IF you're just joining us, I'll begin by telling you that we are hiding out on The Mountain, here in Canton, Texas.


You'll also find several additional blogs here on the site about The Mountain, Canton, and what, exactly, The Herndons are doing on this hill.

The Texicans were in full swing:
led flying, pistols popping
every hour!

Now, for everyone else in the Posse...

Lecia's Designs were a natural crowd stopper...

We had us a root'n toot'n, shoot'em up weekend here on The Mountain.  Our guest Artist Lecia Zinna set up a small exhibit of her work and met many fellow artisans that love coming here, not only for the exposure to thousands of eyes during Market Days, but also for the camaraderie shared by an artist's contemporaries, regardless of their art, we all starve, we all crave the company of others with similar aspirations, however lofty, or simple they may be...


More about this weekend coming in the next issue!


As always, we would love it if you follow this blog, and you can always find us on facebook. You can also find us as we Stumbleupon and if you'd be so sweet, please give this one a tweet!  Digg it!  

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Off to Look for America: ways and means to pay for your adventure...

No one is standing there ready to hand out advice when you set out to see if you can find America. You accumulate it as you go; sometimes folks you encounter along the way will offer up some useful tidbits, time or money savers that help--but most of the time, it's trial and error.  And, we've got a lot of ideas.  But, that's how it goes...

The Fabulous Feathermaye and I have finally concluded that WE are going to have to jot down the notes that others can follow.  Some of it is silly, sure, some of it can really make a difference.  As I've said in earlier blogs: We are operating from a very thin precipice... avoiding mistakes can be the difference in staying in your budget, or going hungry.

Of course,   the best way for a Blogger/Novelist/Humorist/Satirist to pay for his or her room and board, is by Advertising!  

I don't want to make too much of this; after all, the last thing I want to do is alienate my readers, just to make a buck.  Besides, no readers=no blog=no advertising bucks to keep going with.  

Does ANY insect repellent actually work?

My Fabulously Brilliant wife has taken great pains to shop for the right sort of advertising clients, not based upon how much we can make; but rather upon the sort of products or services that I'm already talking about in the blog.  

Beyond that, we had to decide if the product or service is something that we can actually get behind, actually promote, in other words: Would we use this ourselves?

A very wise man named Judge Ziglar (yes, that one, the brother of Zig) told me once that it's always important to remember the last four letters in the word "enthusiasm". The Judge told Yours Truly that those four letters actually mean: I Am Sold Myself. Ergo, we now have some new affiliate advertisers that we not only care about, but feel their product lines are unique and fit well with our over-all theme.  And, just so you know... Judge Ziglar once sold TV sets in rural Mississippi, before there were any TV Stations!
He also holds the world's record in sales of Pots and Pans, Insurance, you name it.  The man knew what he was talking about.  That's the sort of advice you tend to keep...

We will diligently report any and all new products that we come across as helpful or useful.  And, we hope to develop long term relationships with our affiliates, as we open up the rest of our web pages in the near future.  


Allow me to introduce our new affiliate sponsors!


The Fan Zoo is, simply stated, a Sports Memorabilia distributor, based out of Vancouver, Canada. Their overall mission, however, is so much more. From their website:


The Fan Zoo is committed to "Connecting Athletes with their Communities of fans" through:

•   Sports Memorabilia signings
•    Hockey player events with local children and youth
•    Hockey schools
•    Outfitting local sports teams

All our sports initiatives have a societal impact on local organizations or individuals.


The next company we're now working with, and equally excited about, is SpiceBox Ltd. As promised on their website:

SpiceBox creates high quality books and activity kits, designed to foster learning, friendship, fun and laughter.

This mission is very special to Feathermaye and me.  Also, knowing that many of you have artistic interests and hobbies, and a few of you are STARVING ARTISTS like us, we really couldn't turn away from the chance to do business with such fine folks.  These cool art kits are a fantastic way to expose your talent to different media, without investing a fortune!  We love to go look at their product line...










**I also want to mention that both The Fan Zoo and SpiceBoxBooks.com reached out to us personally in response to our application for affiliate advertising. Both companies took the time to visit this website and ask questions to determine how well we fit together. These are exactly the sorts of relationships we hope to foster over the coming years.


Stay tuned for the next edition of "...ways and means..." to hear about some of our other sponsors, like Minimus.biz (which you absolutely NEED when living life in survival-mode), and FiveFingerTees.com, your ultimate resource when you need some ridiculously awesome t-shirts. 




Be sure to look for us on facebook. And, it would really help OUR cause if you click to follow this blog. Please be sweet and give this one a Tweet! as you Stumbleupon to your next brilliant find...Digg it!

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