The 2021 CMA Award's show review

 Dear 2021 CMA Awards, 

Four scores and many skinny jeans and leather bracelets ago I sat down for the first time and attempted to decipher for you what exactly Nashville is doing to the genre that most of us use to know as “country music”. Tonight represents a milestone for this occasion, It will be my 10th installment. A lot of things have changed in this last decade but one of them isn't Nashville’s ability to destroy country music as me know it. Sit back and enjoy as I present to you the 10th or 11th annual review of the CMA Award’s: 

1. The show opens with Miranda Lambert. You have my undivided attention. 
2. This also must be the reason she is late coming home. 
3. All the positivity and hope has come to a screeching halt with the introduction of Luke Bryan as your host. 
4. I have counted six cowboy hats in the crowd. Four of them looked to have been shaped by Brad Paisley. 
5. Keith Urban is taking diet tips from Tim McGraw. 
6. Lionel Ritchie and Katy Perry make an appearance with the host. This makes Luke Bryan the 5th most country on that stage. 
7. Chris Stapleton takes the first award of the night (This will be theme). Somewhere the cast of HeHaw is smiling. 
8. Dirks grew a mullet. I chalk this up as a win. 
9. Eric Church is the only artist that can shop in Michael Jackson’s closet and make it look country. 
10. The men of Nashville need to thank the current crop of women artists for giving the rest of us a reason to listen to mainstream country. 
11. Zac Brown and his band are auditioning for the Country Bear Jamboree. 
12. Gabby Barrett is singing “one of the good ones”. She isn’t referring to her outfit. 
13. I can’t hate on Jimmie Allan because I would rock that outfit. 
14. Kane Brown looks like an Old Navy commercial. 
15. If Reno Rosser is on stage with Carrie Underwood who is running the Christmas tree lot?…Wait, that’s Jason Aldean???…Gets me every time. 
16. Most people have hoarded toilet paper over the last two years. Carrie I chose crackers for you. 
17. Blake Shelton is the one stealing food from Tim McGraw’s plate. 
18. Coming up with material was so much easier when I started this. 
19. Can we allow Vegemite and ban Keith Urban? 
20. I would still let Deena Carter pour me some strawberry wine. 
21. I now want to grab some pallets and start a bonfire at the creek. 
22. Loving ones hair has now been added to “my girlfriend left me”, “got drunk” and “my dog ran away” as a reason to write a country song. 
23. Old Dominion is a struggle between making lattes and serving IPA’s. 
24. If you have dreams of making it big in country music, follow Chris Stapleton’s blueprint. We all win. 
25. Luke Bryan comes back more then a mask mandate. 
26. I like my wokeness on CNN not CMT. 
27. Billy Bob from Varsity Blues fame is now going by Luke Combs. Looks like he ate that pig named bacon. 
28. Thomas is wearing Wranglers and cowboy boots. Somewhere Rhett is shedding a tear. 
29. I want Trace Adkins to voice the story about my life. 
30. Dan and Shay are the COVID of country music. 
31. Mrs. Gaines makes an appearance but seems to have left Chris at home. 
32. Fell asleep for a few minutes and woke up to a blues concert. Still better then what Nashville refers to as country. 
33. Their are more sequins on stage then in the line at Riley’s on buck night. Only this time it is being worn by men. 
34. Moon walking is the new two step. 
35. Nashville, I don’t care about an artists sexuality. I care about good music, which you are failing at. 
36. You want people to get vaccinated? Force them to listen to Luke Bryan as the alternative. 
37. Freddy Freeman handles a bat much better then a mic and a cue card. I still love ya.
38. Chris Stapleton collects another piece of hardware. That glimmer of hope is still lit. 
39. Allan Jackson presents entertainer of the year rocking fringe and talking about other legends like himself. My heart is full . 
40. Luke Combs entertainer of the year. Waffle House’s stock price just skyrocketed. 

The pre-show described that what is now coming out of Nashville is “hybrid” country. I prefer to call it crap but I guess that wouldn't get the ratings. I really didn't think Nashville’s version of country music could get worst but the last three hours proved me wrong. Now I am going to make like our President and forget this ever happened…God Bless! 

Ps. Good to be back with you peeps and I hope you enjoy the read and remember…Brittney is free, rejoice. 

#CMAawards #CMAs #Nashville #countrymusic #awardsshow #ABC #review #americastrong

The balancing act of personal health and risk assessment

 Dear my current sickness experience, 

Health and risk assessment are some topics I would like to present to you as an audience today. 

Who do you believe? “Take a vaccine it’s good!”. “Don’t take a vaccine, it will kill you!” are what we are bombarded with daily based on what side of the political pendulum you fall on. 

What ever happened to days of science and health? This didn’t start with a virus, it has been going on for years in our society. We are constantly being assailed with commercials and ads  that tell us if we have a certain “symptom” we must take this drug or something we “suffer” from then this pill is a must all the while not paying attention to the numerous side effects that are listed in small print that could have an adverse effect on you. 

Being proactive in ones health just like other parts of your life is what we as a society should be seeing versus the previously mentioned scenarios. The United States is home to one of the safest and healthiest food supplies in the world. We have an abundance of choices that can be found at any grocery store or farmers market across the country. Putting these choices into your body versus waiting for a pill to come along that is going to save you from health issues in the future is a much better option for all of us. 

Feeding that immune system healthy food and working it through exercise can only help you prepare for the future. Your body is a bank that we are constantly making withdrawals from that needs to be replenished daily. Your body can give you some of the best medical advise around. Listening to it is key. When some people are sick they rush to the doctor immediately rather then letting themselves heal naturally. 

Contrary to a drink or more I have always refrained from putting things unhealthy in my body, especially when it comes to medicine. I have always trusted my immune system to do what it was meant to do…Keep us healthy. Following this advise has worked for me up to this point.

Life since the dawn of our existence as humans has been about risk assessment. It is what has allowed us to thrive and become the alpha species that we are today. Some examples of this: 

• “Should I attack that wholly mammoth without my spear or wait for my cave mates to come help me?” 
• “ Will taking this polio shot save me from a debilitating disease in the future?” 
• “Is it ok to not wear my seatbelt if I drive to the store to pick up some things?” 
• Will an experimental vaccine that was created on a conservative President’s watch and pushed to us to take by the succeeding liberal President help me survive or prevent me from becoming ill?” 

A month ago, after much “risk assessment” I decided to get a shot. It wasn't without great hesitation or anxiety. It was a choice that I decided to make that I viewed as for myself at the time. I trusted that it would help my immune system if I was ever unlucky enough to come into contact with a certain virus. 

Fast forward eight days later and I tested positive for our government’s favorite talking point. Now I know 3/4 of my audience are going to blame what I did for this while the other applauds. A little background before any of the above mentioned happens…Seven of us were diagnosed with it, four with papers, three without. I by far have shown the least amount of problems associated with it, while others have had to make there way to the hospital for their condition. 

Was the shot I received my saving grace? Was it my immune system and what i prepared it for? Tough questions indeed. I fall back to personal health and risk assessment. 

With the horror stories I have learned about through reaching out to people who have had it and those who have seen the issues it has caused both short and long term I was scared into not trusting my own self defense even more. I was in a window that gave me the opportunity to have antibodies added to my system to help fight what I didn’t want to take control of my lungs or any other part of my body. I have really come to enjoy them over the years. Once again, under much research and anxiety, I decided to say yes to this treatment even though I have been doing everything right and didn’t show the symptoms that others I know were experiencing. Risk assessment…Now on day two of receiving this treatment, my body feels worse then before and almost as if I have reverted back to square one in this fight. I have been told that this is natural because my body in “fight” mode and ridding itself of what it isn’t suppose to have in it. I hope the experts are right because my regret is weighing heavy on my decisions currently. 

Vaccines are good and have helped us eliminate some of the most deadliest viruses and diseases this world has ever seen. Polio, small poxes, etc. are no longer part of our vocabulary as a society because people much smarter then you and I had the ability to come up with solution for these ungodly problems. They may even help rid us of our current situation, only time will tell. 

What I want to relay most is that I didn’t trust my body and immune system that I have been nurturing my entire life. I second guessed it, and  have added unknown thing to it that i have spent a lifetime avoiding. Trust and risk assessment are a thin line sometimes. 

This isn’t a blueprint on if you should be medicated or not. It is my personal experience on what I have went through due to the choices that I have made. In sharing this with you, I hope that it helps shed some light on this virus and some first hand knowledge on how one person has dealt with it. 

Take care of and trust your body. Decisions made now in life will impact it in the future…

Ps. Thanks for following along peeps and you never know when I may get the writing bug back again and remember…Brittney is finally freed.