Writing Samples

Last year I decided to lobby for the TWRA. I wrote and distributed what I felt was provoking material in hopes to protect a tradition in my hometown and more importantly my family! This letter was thrown on to a website and I was able to track the views. I watched the visits grow from 30 to over 1300 in less than a day! This was one of three ways it was distributed.

Hunters & Gatherers

On November 2, The Citizens Of Tennessee Will Have The Opportunity To Confirm The Personal Right To Hunt And Fish In Our State Constitution.

I wanted to make sure that you were all aware that this was happening. As Tennessee’s population grows and the state becomes more urban and suburban, we as people are losing our connection to the land. We have a responsibility as humans to take care of our wildlife – to be good stewards of the earth's resources. The political winds are always shifting and it is important that we preserve our traditions. I will never forget sitting around a table eating what my grandfather so proudly displayed... the days work. It wasn't about the 'kill' it was about being able to provide for his family. He shared with his sons the traditions that his father and his father's father proudly and lovingly shared with him. The lingering hope would be that it would some how run through our families hands for decades to come.

Here are some bits to ponder and I thank the TWRA for making this informatin available.

First and foremost, the effort to create a right to hunt and fish in the Tennessee constitution is a proactive effort to prevent these time-honored traditions from being abolished by a future general assembly. Should constitutional protection become necessary in the future, we would be at a distinct disadvantage.

TWF’s Hunters for the Hungry Program collected and distributed over 100,000 pounds of venison to hunger relief agencies during the 2009/2010 deer season. As a result, more than 400,000 meals will be provided to individuals and families in need.

Think about this industry and how it affects our states economy. When you think about all of the sporting goods stores, bait shops, boat dealers and the equipment manufacturers across our great state, you realize that hunting and fishing are big business and some of our neighbors and country men would greatly appreciate it if we could protect their jobs. I want my buddy, Tommy McCormac, to have his dream job protecting our rivers for years to come!

The hunting and fishing industry generates more than $2.4 billion annually, including nearly $100 million in sales tax revenues and thousands of jobs. In these economic times, that’s a major impact we can’t live without.

Hunting and fishing drive essentially all of the wildlife funding in Tennessee – both game and non-game. By protecting the Tennessee traditions of hunting and fishing, we will preserve the funding that helps take care of all of Tennessee’s fish and wildlife.

And because some little boy or girl, I love you DAD, wants desperately to hear you tell them stories about their family while you put the worm on the hook!

Feel free to pass along!

Check out Levon Helm on the drums hopefully this will pull on your heart strings a little...now get out and vote:

More...

Recently I was asked to address the marketing needs of Barefoot Republic. Barefoot Republic is a summer retreat program that provides a fun, inspirational, and healthy camp experience for under privileged children.

Click here to download:
Case_Study_Barefoot_Republic.pdf (1.13 MB)

I must preface this material with a small note. I was paid to write, in a somewhat cheesy fashion, for an online village that was part of a local news channels attempt at creating a social media space. I addressed the need and tried to have fun.

Cupcakes Ala Brigitte Bardot!

I love cupcakes... I love the many ways they make me feel and what they embody. I look at a cupcake as a flirtation. The packaging is so bluntly, sexy and reminiscent Brigitte Bardot. Perfect for one, the sometimes also dubbed, fairy cake is a symbol of femininity with its frills and supple core. I have decided to morph into a cupcake and with a little extra blush and a super creamy and somewhat cheesy center I think this is doable. It shouldn’t take much a little opera on Saturday mornings, couple of Grace Kelly reruns some pink satin heels and I’m covered, right? Since I spend a little too much time watching live video feeds of outer space and living vicariously through old Miami Vice reruns I should consider visiting Victoria Secret and Dulce Desserts more often.

I have been riddled with what we women understand as “packaging wows.” I know that society would suggest that I should desire no other option, but to stay forever young, blushing at a young man as he struts by, devouring tasty sweets at any whim without the thought of gaining an inch and remembering to put on an extra coat of mascara upon hopping into any vehicle; preferably an Alfa Romeo, think cute little red sports car in The Graduate. Staying thin like celebrity debutant Paris Hilton and minus the socially handicapped antics of Tara Reid seems to be the right way to go. I personally think the body of Marilyn Monroe is more appeasing, but I don’t like to argue with stick insects.

Look at the cupcake; even the word is slightly sexy! It rolls of your tongue and you instantly want to giggle or touch something cute and fuzzy with only the tip of your little pink fingertips. You imagine a romantic picnic and a candle in the middle celebrating, well, you! If someone gave me a cupcake today I would probably pounce and declare my infatuation beyond the out pour of male pheromones and the soul saturating sound of Nessun Dorma in my head and scream “I FEEL PRETTY, Damn it and I love Science!”

Back to Dulce, this place is extremely cute and cozy and rests in the newly revamped Edgehill area off of music row. Don’t expect to be able to hang out though, this little slice of heaven is all tight corners and busting at the seams with tasty tidbits, think Victoria Secret and why wear those goodies here, take them home and share. Get your midnight snack and take it to its true destination. Favorably, a place that is romantic or placed on someone’s desk as a surprise on returning from a meeting or dreaded doctors appointment, well not the cute knickers you just bought. Drop a cupcake on a buddy’s desk and let it work its magic. On a more lascivious note you could show up at your special someone’s place singing Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart” with your cute knickers and your complete adoration. I think both will receive an ear-to-ear grinning comeback.

Eat Big...Think Thin!

Because I like or love just about everything except celery and cucumbers, I am generally in fantastic shape wherever I go. However, if I do go somewhere to have dinner or even a muffin and the crew on staff is in a foul mood it completely alters the experience and I might as well have sat at home with a bushel of cucumbers and watched Jessica Simpson’s mind numbing collection of films. Bad attitudes are contagious? Think for a moment about all the money you could save others in therapy by not sharing your disdain for who is in office or the fact that you actually set through one of Ms. Simpson’s blockbusters? Now for those of you who need a little dose of hospitality to put you in a good mood or a bowl of gumbo or jambalaya to make you thankful check out Richard’s Cafe. Richard is originally from, for all you clever cats who have already figured it out good for you and for those drinking decaf, New Orleans.

Richard’s takes the cake when it comes to hospitality. No matter who you are or how cranky you get or homicidal behind the wheel you become in the continually flourishing Nashville traffic we all appreciate and love friendliness. It is, as nauseating as it sounds, the icing on the cake. I would find it hard to believe if you said you actually visited Richard’s without him chatting you up personally. Great personality is big for me, even if its in the form of getting the finger at the corner of Hillsboro and 31st by a soccer mom sporting a “What Would Jesus Do” bracelet, as questionable and contradictory as it may seem. We all struggle when plagued with traffic.

I eat at Richard’s Cafe a couple of times a month. I dig it and honestly it’s because I love the places vibe. Richard’s is in an old building that was originally constructed by the Mason’s of Whites Creek as a grocery store and sits on the corner of Shelby Road and Whites Creek Pike. When you arrive your brain is saying, “What...this is more like on the corner of nothing and nothing.” Immediately your greeted at the front porch with a couple of rocking chairs and a neon “OPEN” sign that is reminiscent of the old meat and threes you see out in the country. Truly the best places in the world have women at the counter named Mae Belle and Rose that smell just like your granny, a cross between whatever fragrance Avon is running a special on mixed with fried apples and have the question of “so when you getting married” lingering on their breath. Ha, “as soon as you start wearing Coco Chanel and get a Brazilian bikini wax!”

Here is the insider tip to eating at Richard’s; first, order some fried pickles before you even look at the menu. They are incredible and they will help you realize how important staying hydrated really is. Second, order all small helpings, but a large serving of red beans and rice and take a friend. I usually get a cup of gumbo, a cup of jambalaya, an order of veggies, a cup of etouffe and a little salad (the last to assist in the no guilt factor). Then feast! Afterwards, treat yourself, you never know what tomorrow will bring, have the bloody beignets. If it is all in the power of positive thinking then think thin and eat big!

Literally, I get a little buzz every time I go just from the staff. They are zipping around, geez I sound like Mae Belle, and completely digging what they are doing. Almost every night there is live entertainment so don’t plan on a quiet night and in fact, you could possibly get lucky and see some big time folks in here doing their thing. Again, look forward to the good feeling of this place...from the crew to the surroundings you feel like your in the middle of nowhere and like you have been to an enjoyable family reunion, yes, they exist.