A Southern Missive

Today’s post is a short one and is centered on computer/technical issues. My MAC iBook is now three years old. Hopefully, it will last three more. I travel everywhere with it, and as a big hunk of my income comes from the online college classes I’m teaching, I’m constantly trying to sharpen my computer and technical skills, and I feel like I’m learning something new every day. I’ve been trained to use ANGEL, eCollege, and now am using Moodle. I have Comcast cable at home with a Netgear Wireless setup. I’m thinking of getting the AT&T wireless setup (good anywhere you can get a good cell signal), but I have not talked to a fellow MAC user to evaluate its effectiveness.  If you’ve any knowledge or experience about MACs in this regard, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

FOR ONLINE TEACHERS WHO USE MAC: About online teaching systems I’m certified to teach . . .

ANGEL – I used it last semester and found this system terribly slow when working at home. It worked fast when I was at the university or at Starbucks. Virginia College (who I work for) switched to eCollege this semester.

eCollege is fast, easy to use and works well on my MAC. If you  teach or take an online class, you’ll find it user and teacher friendly. This is the system that Virginia College now uses.

MOODLE – This semester, ULM made the transition from Blackboard to Moodle. With Moodle, so this is what I’m using to teach my ULM classes.  I had the same problem with Moodle as I did with ANGEL–the system seemed to be fast at the university, but SLOW at home. I did some research and finally found a site that gave me some information. As soon as I installed ADOBE Flash Player and ADOBE Shockwave Player, my laptop perked up and  worked with acceptable speed. This site is a good checklist to use for anyone using Moodle, or if you think Moodle is not working quite right. You can find that site is here:

I was listening to my iPod while working online, and heard again my Pat Green CD, I stopped work and transcribed the lyrics and learned the song. I decided to add this song to my Americana show and to post the lyrics for it today. I admire so many musicians whose music I would classify as Americana (some call it Roots music). Most of them are songwriters, most travel extensively, and they all seem to be more concerned about their music than in becoming a superstar. Speaking of Pat Green, at one of my Barnes and Noble book signings, I saw a book that interested me. I copied the following information from the Amazon description:

Pat Green’s Dance Halls & Dreamers is an all-access look at Texas’s legendary music venues and the musicians who make them great. Author Luke Gilliam and photographer Guy Rogers III spent a day at ten of Texas’s venerable dance halls, recording candid interviews and action-packed color photographs. The result is an unprecedented day-in-the-life look at the people who make the Texas music scene flourish. Each of the chapters documents a venue’s personality, history, and atmosphere as everyone prepares for and parties at the biggest show in town.

Texas icon and three-time Grammy nominee Pat Green shares his memories and favorite stories of each venue. He also gives fans a backstage pass into his world with a performance at his favorite dance hall, Gruene Hall.

A unique assemblage of Texas musicians share their stories about dance halls that have served as landmarks on their rise to fame. Hear from honky-tonk heroes Willie Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Robert Earl Keen, as well as established stars Jack Ingram, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Cory Morrow, and Kevin Fowler, and up-and-comers Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen. Each performer offers a firsthand perspective on his career.

The venues are equally diverse, from the big city lights of Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth and Stubb’s BBQ in Austin to road-trip outposts in Luckenbach and Schroeder Hall.

But the Texas music scene’s true essence is painted by the dance hall owners, bartenders, bouncers, and fans, who commingle at these halls on a nightly basis. Colorful sidebars delve into the unique characteristics of each hall as well as its founding fathers.

I think I liked this song because I thought of the many times I’ve said and heard people say, “If I had a million dollars . . .”

If I had a Million by Pat Greene

If I had me a million
I would build you a mansion,
A hundred miles from nowhere
With all a girl could need,
We would run around through the hallways
And dance in the backyard,
If we ain’t got no neighbors
Ain’t no one will see.

And if I had a speed plane
We’d fly across the land,
Settle in some little border town,
We’d drink some margaritas
And dance to mariachis,
Put you on my speed plane
And I would bring you back home.

And if I had a steamboat
We’d sail across the ocean,
Dock in some little port of call,
We would have a fine time
With Swiss cheese and French wine,
Put you on my steamboat and I
Would bring you back home.

Yeah, But I ain’t got a million
And I ain’t got a speed plane,
I ain’t got no boat upon the sea,
All I’ve got is these two strong arms
I can hold you so tightly,
So baby won’t you, won’t you please,
Come back home with me.

All I’ve got is these two strong arms
I can hold you so tightly,
So baby won’t you, won’t you please,
Come back home with me.

The past year I’ve tried to pay more attention to taking care of my health. There were several factors: the death of my younger brother (who didn’t take care of himself) the realization that I would be the one to care for my parents, and some other personal losses that caused me to feel the ephemeral nature of existence and the realization of mortality. I quit smoking, made some other changes, and did some reading on health. I found one book, The Self Health Revolution by J. Michael Zenn that is inspirational and packed with the common sense details and a ten-day plan that I think even I can follow.  Zenn’s website is here: I’ve heard the author speak and he is an excellent motivational speaker. Do yourself a favor and check out his site and his book that has been adopted by Whole Foods.

Here is what the Health guru Harvey Diamond said of this book:

What a masterful and inspired job of bringing together a mountain of lifesaving information into one blazing page turner. If ever there was a single book anyone interested in his or her health and well being should read without fail, this is it! This ground breaking, common-sense, eye opening read will show you the hidden reasons why so many people are getting sicker, growing fatter, feeling older than their years, and dying younger than they should. J. Michael Zenn will show you how you can quickly take control of your own Self Health and determine your own health destiny. Are you as fit as you wish to be? Do you have the energy you desire? Are you free from pain, ill health and disease? Are you aging faster than you would like? Discover how you can directly determine how long and how well you will live. Michael and I share many similarities on our healing journeys. He too began to study nutrition as a means to overcome serious health problems that baffled the medical community. Let Michael show you the powerful evidence that will convince any common sense person that our Self Health destiny is totally within our grasp. Read this book now, put it into practice, and share it with the people you love. You will be glad for the rest of your long and healthy life.
—Harvey Diamond
Best-selling health writer of all time, Author of Fit for Life, One of the top 25 best-selling books in history (along with the Gone With the Wind and the Bible).