Tag: The Time Tunnel

A Family Conversation: THREE Cousins Discuss Family Traditions, Beliefs and Superstitions

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation1 Comment

“A Family Conversation” is a storytelling audio series that features weekly discussions between blogging cousins LadyG and Ron Brown on current events along with favorite posts from each other’s blog.

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Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first “A Family Conversation” audio post of 2021.

This post is extra special because one of our other cousins is joining our conversation.

It took some doing to get her to join us so we were very happy that she agreed to round out the chat!

Now… join us as we use my post, Your New Year’s “To Do” List, to talk about:

  • How Ron jinxed Creek 
  • Some very superstitious people
  • Messin’ with folks’ luck
  • Every Southern Mom
  • How “doing” is just as important as “not doing”
  • Dragging trees
  • General sorry-ness
  • How “old” is NOT really “old”
  • Technicalities and clarifications on dirty clothes
  • Our major loss, “The Bon Vivant.”
  • Roy Clark
  • Pepto Bismol and where we got the gift of storytelling

Rest in Peace Uncle Leroy!

A Family Conversation (Part I): “Shattered”

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation3 Comments

“A Family Conversation” is a storytelling audio series that features weekly discussions between blogging cousins LadyG and Ron Brown on current events along with favorite posts from each other’s blog.

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A mirror shattered into a thousand pieces;

A thousand different reflections;

A mystery which never ceases;

A future with infinite refractions.

-Ron Brown

In part I of today’s discussion, we discuss Ron’s poem, “Shattered.”

In this piece, Ron paints a sobering picture of how family violence can erupt into the unthinkable.

No doubt, this holiday season, with its additional stressors, will be exponentially difficult for victims of domestic violence.

We keep them in prayer.

Resource: National Domestic Violence Hotline

Halloween Edition of A Family Conversation: Hoodoo, Voodoo and “The Client” (Part I)

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation10 Comments

A Family Conversation, an ongoing conversation between blogging cousins, Ron Brown and Lady G, is celebrating the time of year when the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds becomes paper thin.

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For the remainder of this month, we are working with Ethereal Standard Time. That said, there’s no telling when these little ditties will be released.

But…

Posts will occur at the witching hour…..

The date is anybody’s guess so keep a watch….

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA…..*laughed LadyG using her very best Vincent Price transatlantic accent*

And so…

Today, we are discussing LadyG’s excerpt from her newest writing project that has yet to be named.

So, for the sake of sanity, we will refer to it as “The Client.”

Got it?

Good!

Now then, during this discussion, we touched on the following:

  • Popeyes chicken. C’mon….who would we be without talk of fried chicken?
  • Feeling protective of your writings
  • Voodoo, hoodoo, spiritual workers and all manner of magick and mystery
  • A reading of the excerpt (by LadyG)
  • Binding spells go all the way back to antiquity
  • Bounded and not knowing
  • Leave nothing to chance when dealing with magickal folks
  • Big strong ding-a-lings; yeah, we’re talking about that!

Enjoy,

A Family Conversation: The End of Eliza’s Grave…Or is it?

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation2 Comments

A Family Conversation, an ongoing conversation between blogging cousins, Ron Brown and Lady G, is celebrating the time of year when the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds becomes paper thin.

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Are we at the end of the story or is this…”only the beginning….only just the start?”

…said LadyG singing from Chicago’s “Beginnings.”

At any rate, listen in as we add just a bit more insight to the conversation on Eliza’s Grave.

We also discuss our own family’s history with the “unseen,” including the fact that one of our family members was born with “the caul.”

Don’t know what that is?

In the South, we call that phenomenon “VEILS!”

To learn more…listen up 🙂

Thanks for listening and follow Ron at The Time Tunnel

Halloween Edition of A Family Conversation: Eliza’s Grave (Part II)

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation5 Comments

A Family Conversation, an ongoing conversation between blogging cousins, Ron Brown and Lady G, is celebrating the time of year when the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds becomes paper thin.

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In this edition, Ron shares a bit more about the symbolism of “The Crow.”

We also ponder the following:

  • The mystery of a “real live” person’s grave and DNA Ancestry research… and yes I understand that this is an oxymoron-ish statement 😂
  • Whether Eliza’s ghost wants her story told
  • Transcending time and generational shared experiences
  • “Cassingles” aka cassette tapes usually featuring one song and possibly the “remix.”
  • Ron’s writing process

And…

Whether or not we believe that Universal ideas float around the atmosphere and are available to all.

Did Michael Jackson believe in this concept?

Does LadyG?

Ron has his doubts.

Anyway…

Click to read an excerpt from Eliza’s Grave on Ron’s blog, The Time Tunnel.

Enjoy the audio:

Halloween Edition of A Family Conversation: Eliza’s Grave (Part 1) Including Valuable Advice from The UK

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation4 Comments

A Family Conversation, an ongoing conversation between blogging cousins, Ron Brown and Lady G, is celebrating the time of year when the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds becomes paper thin.

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WARNING: I posted this after drinking a glass of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, so God only knows how it’s going to turn out!

Forgive me!

Anyway…

In this week’s post, we discuss Ron’s upcoming book, Eliza’s Grave.

During our conversation we touch on:

  • Random trash talk about Church’s Chicken, beer, and fall being our favorite time of year
  • Why LadyG loves Halloween and Ron’s unforgettable night of trick or treating
  • Eliza’s discovery and an introduction
  • The challenges of writing a book and wonderful advice received from our friend Roger in the U.K.
  • 1961, The Year of the Crow

We also include our recommendations for Bloggers who can really write!

Roger is an awesome writer from Wales. We are huge fans and we highly recommend his blog.

Although we didn’t get around to talking about them in this post, we also HIGHLY recommend :

Dr. Katherin Garland, a professor who hails from Chicago. The professor owns an editing business y’all!

Best believe, editors are an invaluable part of the process! Well worth the money.

In addition, we happily recommend Ellie P., a fabulous Canadian author and grammar maven!

There are many more… and we will include those as we go along!

Anyway….

Enjoy the conversation and please feel free to comment below

Tune in Friday for Part II of Eliza’s Grave

A Family Conversation: The Cousins Discuss the Pandemic Part 2: Don’t Panic…The Stock Market

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation

“A Family Conversation” is a storytelling audio series that features weekly discussions between blogging cousins LadyG and Ron Brown on current events along with favorite posts from each other’s blog.

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In today’s conversation, we use my post “Pandemic: The Winds of Change” as a conversation starter on who’s making money during this time (and prior) as well as who is NOT…and hasn’t been for a LONG time.

Listen in as we discuss:

  • The importance of NOT “panicking”….. the stock market
  • How a pandemic is fruitful for a select few
  • Crazy logic when it comes to holding Trump accountable
  • The fact that most of us are “fans” on the sidelines
  • Reaganomics and how it stunted our growth
  • Benefits for American workers vs. workers in other countries
    • In the audio, I meant to say that you must be laid off and actively seeking a job… not fired
  • Our refusal to be guinea pigs for a fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine
  • The Scientific Method/Listening to Scientists
  • Normal + Coronavirus = ?

Tune back in next Wednesday for Part 3

References from the audio

In this video, an American expat shares her experiences moving from the U.S. to Europe (including key differences): Life in Sweden/ Germany

In this link, pay attention to Table 15 (Wealth Inequity -Concentration of wealth in the U. S. between 1983-2007). Important statistics from Stanford Center of Poverty and Inequality

This article explores financial actions of U.S. Senators after January briefings on Coronavirus

A Family Conversation: Trouble We Ain’t Gon’ See

On By Lady GIn A Family ConversationLeave a comment

“A Family Conversation” is a storytelling audio series that features weekly discussions between blogging cousins LadyG and Ron Brown on current events along with favorite posts from each other’s blog.

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No matter what happened that’s only once it’s shame on you
You come up in here and do it again then it’s shame on me
Sometimes we be gettin’ in trouble we didn’t wan’ learn or
Sometimes we be gettin’ in trouble we ain’t gon’ see…

-Mystikal

“Bouncin’ Back (Bumpin’ Me Against The Wall)”

This week, the cousins discuss:

“What Time Is It?” written by Ron’s Father, Fletcher Brown, around 1974.

Sadly, it touches on themes that are still very relevant today.

Click here to listen to audio recordings

A Family Conversation: The Cousins Discuss The Elusive American Dream

On By Lady GIn A Family Conversation, Uncategorized4 Comments

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“A Family Conversation” is a storytelling audio series that features weekly discussions between blogging cousins LadyG and Ron Brown on current events along with favorite posts from each other’s blog.

“A Family Conversation” is published on Wednesdays.

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Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech:

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

If you are interested, you may read the full speech transcript here.

Now…

Observe as I switch my focus from the words of a King to a topic that appears to be totally different.

I’ll begin “the switch” by asking…

Isn’t it funny how the lyrics of a song can mean one thing in one context, and another thing in a different context?

That very fact inspired Ron to post two throwback jams from one of the most prolific songwriting duos of all time, Valarie Simpson and her late husband Nickolas Ashford.

And so….

This week, Ron and I discuss the song lyrics from Ashford & Simpson’s “It seems to hang on” and “Found a cure.”

Listen in as we flow with the lyrics into conversations on :

  • Dealing with the ever-present albatross of discrimination.
  • Interacting with people who either intentionally or unintentionally invalidate our experiences of prejudice.
  • Maintaining a hopeful optimism that one day America will live up to its greatest potential by adhering to its own assertion that “all men are created equal.”
  • A Divine prescription for the cure that we need; hint, it’s been there all along.

Enjoy,

Adult Language and Situations

Pt 1

Pt 2

To listen to a deeper conversation click here for parts 3-5

She Heard It Through The Grapevine!

On By Lady GIn Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Relationships71 Comments

Honeyblonde

**Includes adult language and situations.

“Girl you better come get Ron!  He out here all hugged up with a bitch with a honey blonde bob!”

Yes baby, word on the street was that our dear Ron was stepping out on his wife with a bitch with a honey blonde bob!

YAAAASSSS!

Say what????

Yeah chile!

Sit down and listen while I pour this tea 😉

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It was a dark and stormy night in Southwest Georgia (No seriously, it really was!) and I decided to visit one of my most favorite men in the whole wide world.

So, I jumped in the car and drove to Cuthbert, Georgia.

To say that the drive was gloomy would be an understatement; the weather was bad and the occasion was somber.

You see, I was going to visit my cousin Ron the night before our Grandfather’s funeral.

Indeed, this was not the happiest of reunions.

Anyway, Ron told me that he had planned to grab a beer at the club.

Which club you ask?

Come on now, Cuthbert ain’t exactly the ATL so you know it ain’t but one ‘club’ in that joint.

At any rate, after driving for about 45 minutes, I had arrived at my destination.

I immediately got out and walked into the club—right up to Ron.

Clearly, he’s a good looking brother so you know he wasn’t hard to find 😉

Sorry for the digression!

So, as one would guess, we gave each other a long hug then walked away from the crowd to have a private conversation.

Mind you, Ron did not introduce me to anybody.

You guys understand right?  It just wasn’t the time or place for such pleasantries.

Anyway, after our talk, Ron walked me to my car and gave me another long hug.

Remember, we were trying to comfort each other because we both knew that the next day would be very long and painful.

Needless to say, right after our embrace, we said our goodbyes, and I drove away.

BAYBEE, the next day Ron’s then wife, who had not been present at the club that night, called me and said, “Girl you know somebody called me and woke me up out my sleep to tell me I needed to get down to the club ’cause Ron was all hugged up with a bitch with a honey blonde bob!”

I hollered!

She went on to say, “Gwin, something told me to roll over and go back to sleep.”

I said, “You know that was me right?”

She said, “Ron told me, and I’m so glad I didn’t come down there actin’ a fool for NOTHING!”

🙂 🙂 🙂

To this day, Ron and I joke about me being the bitch with the honey blonde bob.

Let me correct that, Ron doesn’t cuss—but I do!

LOL!!!

Y’all, I decided to share this story because I think that it provides a great example of the lyrics from that soul classic, “Heard it Through The Grapevine:”

Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.

And so…

My advice to busybodies:  Stop being so quick to run back and tell shit!

Pass it on!

 

Remember you can catch up with Ron on his wonderful blog,  The Time Tunnel.  You can also catch him here every Friday 🙂

Best believe you’ll LOVE reading, my cousin,”The Black Mark Twain!”

-Lady G

😘💋