Still Obsessed at 55!!!

"Girl, look what you've done to me
Me, and my whole world,
Girl, you brought the sun to me,
With yours smile, you did it girl"


One afternoon this week, after I got home from work and was getting ready to cook supper, I turned on to the Hallmark Channel to find my favorite episode of The Brady Bunch....the one with Davy Jones from the Monkees! Seeing Davy in all his cuteness, it brought back memories of my years that I thought he hung the moon. It saddens my heart to think he passed away last year.

After seeing Davy that day, it made me think of all of the obsessions I've had for entertainers since I was about 8 years old. I can't help myself! I get fixated on a handsome face with a singing voice and I'm turned into a puddle of goo at the mere mention of their name!

My first "boyfriend" was Paul McCartney of The Beatles. I remember so well watching him on The Ed Sullivan show when I was in the 3rd & 4th grade when we lived in Olla, La. My best friend at the time was Trudy Jeter and she actually had several Beatle albums. I only had just a few 45rpm records but oh, how I longed to have one of their albums. I just loved Paul with those sad, puppy dog eyes!

To this day, I still love me some Paul McCartney, even if he is 70 years old and I'm still hoping I get to see him one day in concert.

A couple of years later, still loving Paul, my attention is rudely taken from him and onto another Englishman named Davy Jones of The Monkees. My obsession for Davy was far more intense than it was for Paul. Maybe this was because I was now a older 10 year old! My every thought, every day was on Davy. Could any boy ever be that cute?

I started buying teen magazine about this time just to get my fix of Davy. I had 16 Magazine, Tiger Beat and Fave among the list of many. I got my first Monkee album for my 10th birthday and it's a wonder the grooves were not completely worn out. I would take my little transistor radio and change the dial continuously trying to hear
Daydream Believer on different stations. Many a time I can remember wanting to watch The Monkees on Monday night only to have my dad and brothers overrule me so they could watch Rat Patrol (for those who don't remember this show, the guy that plays Victor Newman on Young & The Restless got his start on this show playing a German officer). I was totally consumed with Davy but after a couple of years, The Monkees popularity was waning. It was then my focus shifted to a new guy on the scene, Bobby Sherman!

We were living in Vidalia, La. by this time and my new best friend was Toby Templeton. She shared my love of Bobby and in the summer of 1969, her parents took us to Shreveport, La. to see him in concert (it was my first concert, ever). I was still buying teen magazines by the dozens and my parents actually bought his albums for me. I know many an hour was spent in my room listening to my little stereo with the fold down turntable!

How could you not love a guy in a knit blue shirt with fringe hanging from it and hip hugger black leather pants? He had some pretty dreamy blue eyes too!

Alas, once again, fame starts to fade on poor old Bobby Sherman but hark....I hear the high pitched squealing singing voice of my next obsession....Donny Osmond!

Oh my goodness, Donny Osmond was the cutest thing EVER! What was even better, we were the same age.....12! I actually had a chance with someone that wasn't in their 20's! It's pretty safe to say that Donny Osmond totally consumed my every waking thought! I had every one of his records and got to see him in concert in 1970 in Jackson, Ms. with my friend Toby. I recall standing on our chairs screaming at the top of our lungs (now I realize I was just practicing for things to come) watching my precious Donny in his white double knit jumpsuit with the purple scarf!

I was the epitomy of a teenage nerdy girl with a celebrity crush. I had it bad for Donny and it pretty much continued for years.....really up until the time he so rudely announced he was getting married. I was crushed, devastated and hurt beyond words. It didn't matter that I myself was already married by then. How could Donny do this to me? Oh, the ridicule I took over the years from people who just didn't understand my love for Donny! I guess after his career pretty much fell off, I was left without a "boyfriend" for a while. I did get to finally meet Donny a few years ago in Shreveport, La. He did a show with Jim Brickman and I got to meet him after the show. All I could say when I finally met him was "I've loved you for over 30 years"....yeah, that was brilliant but it's all I could say at the time!

After being married and having two boys, I fall hard again. This guy was no singer but an actor! He was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever layed eyes on....Mel Gibson!!!!

How could any man possibly be this beautiful? Since he didn't have a singing career, I had to settle on just getting to see him on screen but the movies were just too far apart! I would just watch his movies over and over, never getting enough of those blue eyes of his.

I had a Braveheart poster hanging in my office so I could just stare at him while I worked. About the time that poor old Mel started acting weird and ranting at people, my attention is captured by another blue eyed Australian in the year 2005.....Keith Urban!!!!

Nothing in my obsessions from earlier years put together match the one I have for this guy! I can't explain it! After my first concert experience in Feb. 2006 when he called me up to the stage in the middle of the show, I haven't been right! I've traveled to places I'd never been, I've met many new friends, found a love of photography and discovered so much about myself because of my obsession with Keith. It's hard to explain...he came around at a time when my boys were grown and out of the house. I had time to do what I wanted to do. I've lost count at the number of shows I've been to all over the country and I've gotten to meet him numerous times! At my age, you would think I'd be done with this sort of thing, but I guess my inner nerd just keeps going strong! I don't even want to think about the money I've spent on concert tickets, plane fare, hotels, CD's, etc. but I do know it's been worth every penny! My friends think I'm crazy, but I've had the time of my life with this obsession.

Does one every really get to old to have an obsession? I think not!

P.S. The Braveheart poster in my office was replaced with a Keith Urban poster! It's still hanging on the door in front of my desk....I don't think this one is coming down for a long time!

P.S.S. I still have all of my albums & 45's...starting from the Beatles up to Keith! I'm sure those Monkee, Bobby Sherman & Osmond albums will be worth a ton of money one day....NAH! I'm just saving them so my boys will have to go through them all when I'm gone! I can just hear them now..."What was she thinking?"

I've Been Inspired....Again!

I realize I've been neglect in writing & posting this blog. I had been inspired by my friend Julie Farrar with her most excellent writing skills but after just a few posts of my own, my life seemed dull so I've neglected this thing entirely.


Now, my own sister-in-law, Michelle, has started a blog and has been diligent in her postings. After reading her entries for the past few days, I've decided I need to come here and post again! My life is still pretty mundane on a day to day basis, but I will try to find something in it that might actually interest someone!


Since I started this blog, I have taken up the hobby of photography. I actually got started back in 2006 when I attended my first Keith Urban concert. I had borrowed a camera from a co-worker for that concert and then didn't even know how to use it during the show. My friend Kathy Evans actually ended up taking the few pictures we got at that show in Waco, Tx. I knew that if I was going to attend more Keith Urban shows, I was going to have to get my own decent camera and I ended up with a Sony Cybershot with a 10X zoom.


Fast forward to 2013 and I've taken thousands of photos of Keith Urban at the multitude of his shows I've attended since 2006. I've actually lost count of how many I've been too. In my quest to take better photos of him, I just developed a love of photography and have advanced more than I ever dreamed! I bought my first DSLR camera in Sept. 2011, a Sony Alpha 55. I met my fellow photographer friend, Marie Frost, just a few weeks before and we've been burning up the roads looking for photo ops every since.


I've taken a couple of photography classes locally and have joined two local camera clubs. Since getting my Sony DSLR, I've entered my photos in the Friends of Black Bayou annual photo contest in 2011 and 2012. I was amazed to have placed two first place entries in the amateur division in 2011 and in 2012, I actually won the top "Best of Show" in the professional division. I still can't believe that I won this year due to the stiff competition and it being my first year as a "professional". I've had my photos shown with our Bayou Pixel Shooters Camera Club showing at the Snyder Museum in Bastrop and this past November, I entered several in the Art With A View fundraiser at the Premier Plaza. One of my photos actually won 2nd place in the juried competition.

I can't believe how far I've come in just a little over a year of actually trying to take good photos. I know that I have so much more to learn, I'm not even close to knowing what I need to. It's just going to be a constant learning experience for me but it has been a great one so far. I've met so many new wonderful friends and fellow photographers during this journey and I've truly been blessed with my new found "talent". My only regret is that I didn't get the "camera bug" earlier when my boys were little. I so would have loved to had really good photos of them growing up instead of my cheap, pitiful 35mm camera photos. When I look at them now, I wish I had taken better pictures!


So, what will 2013 hold in store for me and my photography? I really haven't got a clue but I do know that I want to dabble in "people" photography and not consentrate entirely on nature & landscapes. There is so much to learn and I sincerely hope that I can live up to the challenge!!!!