Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Rebel Deb's Summer Reading List

Some of the Rebel Deb's favorites summertime reads (to go along with a mint julep or nice, tall glass of sweet tea!):

1) Naked" by David Sedaris


















2) "Dry" by Augusten Burroughs
























3) "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche (I know, I know... I'm gonna get hate mail for this one. And if I don't, it just means no one's reading great philosophers anymore. So which is worse? Hate mail for me, or the general malaise and intellectual degradation of readers? I'm just not sure.)























4) "The Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love" by Jill Connor Browne























5) "A Wolf at the Table" by Augusten Burroughs
























6) "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith












xoxo,

Rebel Deb

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I'm Down for that Good Old-Time Religion



Tonight, I spent over two hours at a gospel sing-along at the New Hope Baptist Church in Burlington, North Carolina.

I'd always believed the stereotype... you know, that African-American churches are the most flamboyant in the South. That they're full of sweaty, fire-n-brimstone preachers hollering out "Amens!" and "Keep on warring! Keep on the battlefield for Christ!" That these places are full of devout, emotional worshippers who tear off their clothes mid-sermon and run screaming down the walkways, stopping only to jump up and down on their pews.

... Well, they aren't the only ones.

Enter the New Hope Baptists. Ordinary, conservative, polite-looking white folks who show up to a Tuesday night gospel singing in seersucker suits, floral printed knee-length dresses and tasteful pearl-handled gloves.

They line up nicely in their pews, families sitting together, friends saying their hellos... it's all quiet, kind, reserved politeness resembling the behavior of their English ancestors...

And then, the music starts.

Two verses into "Over Yonder," followed by "Three Men on the Mountain," and I'm surrounded by sobbing, shaking old ladies blowing snot into their lace handkerchiefs while screaming "Praise Jesus!" and "That's right, brother! You tell that Devil to git back!"

Their husbands waved their hands frantically, mixing the air with aggressive exuberance. One elderly fellow in a blue wool getup with brass buttons and what looked like a pace-maker jumped up from his seat and did a couple laps around the sanctuary, sprinting like a track star. This was the kind of guy you'd see ordering tapioca pudding at the K&W Cafeteria. If I'd seen him walking through the mall, I'd wonder if he'd left his good walker at home. This "old-time religion stuff" sure had its groupies.

Sometimes, I wish I was a hardcore Baptist. Those old white folks sure can dance.

xoxo,

Rebel Deb

Monday, July 27, 2009

Introducing My New Baby, Butters!

As I get older, my maternal instincts get stronger and stronger... and while I'm NOT ready for a human baby in my life, I'm more than ready to bring on the kitties!

Introducing my newest human-baby-replacement, Butters:



She's a stinky kitty, my Butters. Her daily bath consists of a few licks from her mother's mouth and perhaps a quick, accidental dunk into her watering bowl.

When first we met, she was an outdoorsy kinda gal. When I picked her up -- all 20ounces of her -- she clawed at me, tried to run away. She was an adventurer, an explorer. She dared to steal steak bits from the food bowls of other neighborhood cats -- was brave enough even to test the wild dangers of the outside world and travel all the way to the edge of my bedspred before looking over and taking a PLUNGE into the unknown!

But now, she's relaxed her devil-may-care ways. She's become my tame, indoorsy, snuggle-buggle Butters, sleeping happily in my arms and eating her catfood from a spoon.

Ahhhh, motherhood. Tis a wondrous thing.

... And the best part is: She'll never ask to borrow the car.

xoxo,

Rebel Deb

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Free Babar!

Remember when going to the circus was a happy, family-oriented event much anticipated by kiddies and adults of all ages?

Well, apparently, the Ringling Bros. have been beating, harassing and torturing their elephants (and probably many other species of animals) for YEARS...

Check out this video. It'll leave all you animal lovers speechless:




Sickening, huh? And I thought Babar the Elephant had it rough, roaming around out there in the two-dimensional jungle of syndicated cartoon TV.

I, for one, will never go to the circus ever again.

xoxo,

Rebel