Stories, humor, travel, news, links, poetry, personal essays, memoirs, and lots more. No bells and whistles, just good reading.

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Home - I Home - II Articles Links Stories from the Press Snippets Message Board Editor's Bio Bulletin Board Submissions Free Update E-mail Link to USADS USADS BACK ISSUES May~2003 Jun~2003 Jul~2003 Aug~2003 Sep~2003 Oct~2003 Nov~2003 Dec~2003 Jan~2004 Feb~2004 Mar~2004 SNIPPETS By Beth Jacks Click the link for more info. USADS - SOUTHERN PEOPLE AND PLACES . . . AND ANYTHING ELSE WE FANCY! One of the best sites on the Net for readers, writers, storytellers, travelers, nostalgia buffs, and gossips. Southern Talk "There they sat on our pantry shelves – the jars of scuppernong jelly next to Cousin Maggie’s bread-and-butter pickles next to Cousin Addie’s chow-chow, on the shelf above Aunt Mattie Steadman’s fig preserves and Mrs. Bullock’s pear relish. And on the shelf above that, a row of empty jars, washed and rinsed and ready to be returned, for that was the understanding between them." -- Charles East "Boy, but the barbecue is still fine and the air is still clean and you can drive along in a car and tell what who is having for dinner." -- Ralph Ellison "There is no escaping the conviction that fishing in the South is pursued for its own sake, and not as a means of recuperation between business deals." -- Clarence Cason "Junior Kimbrough is the beginning and the end of music. Ain't no one can play like him. No one. There is no greater sound than Junior's cottonpatch blues." -- Charlie Feathers “Southerners seem more likely than other Americans to think of their region . . . possessively as theirs.” -- John Shelton Reed "A cabin on a hill in the region of Mississippi or Louisiana, standing in the open, stained with nature's patina, built from the wood of the surrounding trees, expresses the harmony of architecture and environment that some men spend a lifetime trying to copy." -- John McCrady "Greens are good for you but it's the drippings that make you want to eat 'em." -- Dexter Weaver "If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'You know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.'" -- Jeff Foxworthy "[My grandmother] wrote about the advent of trains, telephones, and her first Coke. She described Marechal Niel roses, a Jersey bull that always broke through the fence, and seeing the steamboat Rosalie when she was five." -- Marion Barnwell "In most of America, probably because of television, stories are drying up. Not in New Orleans. They grow in abundance here, like the flowering vines, and the myrtles, the bananas, and the figs.” -- Andrei Codrescu "I am often asked if I consider myself a Southern writer, and, to be honest, my answer depends on . . . whether or not my questioner smiles when he calls me that." -- Tony Earley "Ask any Deltan the disadvantages in living here, and chances are 100 to 1 that a mosquito will turn up somewhere in the answer." -- Dorothy Shawhan "I don't hate Yankees, but I have a friend who does. His hobby is reading the obituary page of The New York Times." -- Lewis Grizzard "There I’d be, down on my hands and knees, fingers all cut and scratched, knees sore as boils, dusty and dirty, picking that dang cotton as fast as I could, with a vision going around in my head of George Jones asking me to sing with him in front of thousands of people.." -- Tammy Wynette “Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories.” -- Eudora Welty "We knew how to gather the hardened resin from the big trees that had been turpentined, and we used it as chewing gum when it was well hardened. It took a great deal of chewing to make it smooth and cohesive, and the taste was so astringent that it wrinkled our noses." -- Agnes Anderson “Then someone gave a Natchez doctor a Mexican cotton seed . . . and changed the whole face of Mississippi . . .” -- William Faulkner “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” -- Helen Keller "I never pray on a golf course. Actually, the Lord answers my prayers everywhere except on the course." -- Billy Graham “A sincere compliment is always grateful to a lady, so long as you don’t try to knock her down with it.” -- Mark Twain "I use language to order my past. I feel like if I can get all of that in order, then I have a network for the future and everything will be okay." -- Kaye Gibbons "You’ve got to have smelled a lot of mule manure before you can sing like a hillbilly." -- Hank Williams “Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.” -- Rita Mae Brown “The naked body is one thing – but the naked face, well, that is more than a Southern woman can deal with. -- Nanci Kincaid Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Click here! ~Southern Speak~ “Sinning shame” ~~awful~~ “It's just a sinning shame she lost her mama's ruby ring.” For more great Southern expressions, please click here. @2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 All Rights Reserved Best viewed on IE Updated Apr/04

~April '04 Featured Articles~ Lots of new writers this month – along with some of your favorites! _________________________ The Briar Patch by Bill Fullerton USADS doesn’t publish fiction often, but we’re always glad to get the stories of great writers like Bill Fullerton. Trust our recommendation and enjoy! Cloud Walkers by Aamie Burnley Aamie blesses USADS again with her delicate poetry. This one is especially for April, that most rain-splashed and glistening month. Reality TV – the real thing? by Charles W. Dowdy Here’s another of Dowdy’s clever columns that’s sure to leave readers grinning. Well, we’ve come to expect that, haven’t we? Darn, he’s funny. Vietnam Doughnut Dolly by Beth Boswell Jacks Jacks gives us an update on the Vietnam tapes of her sister, Kathy, who worked in Nam with the Red Cross in ’67 – ’68. Were the tapes resurrected? Was this bit of history preserved? Read the rest of the story. Cherry Blossoms and Our Lives by David Norris Beautiful thoughts for spring! From Asia, Virginian David Norris sends us another lovely essay on life. Circle of Love -- Alzheimer's and Rachael by Hugh Frank Smith Longtime journalist Hugh Frank Smith lost his vivacious wife of 53 years to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. He shares with us this moving tribute to a grand lady. Thanks, Buge! Writing mentors revisited by Gene Owens Two teachers inspired Owens in his writing career. They’re now in retirement homes, and he pays a visit to express his appreciation. USADS columns don't come any better than this. Driving laws address inattentional blindness – huh? by Ann Ipock Welcome, Ann Ipock, to USADEEPSOUTH. This woman can write some stuff. Funneee lady! Conspiracy Theory by Lonnye Sue Sims Pearson Read our favorite story by Lonnye Sue, a regular here at USADS. She flat nails this one. Go, girl! Who Has The Edge? by Claude Jones This is another fictional piece from a great storyteller. Readers have loved Claude’s poems, now enjoy his prose. Tales from the Withalacooche by Edward V. Folkes We’re glad Ed is back, and he came back in a big way. These vignettes are a scream. A Cup of Enlightenment by Bill Melton New to USADS, Melton tells us how he went looking for enlightenment and found . . . well, read and hoot. The Devil Made Me Do It by Harvey Gardner No way do we believe the devil made Harvey do it, but you decide. And chuckle. Mr. Bob Malone’s Cadillac by Kent Fletcher What was that darn buzzing from the dashboard? Kent Fletcher can tell about life’s smallest moments and bring smiles to our faces. Three Poems by Phil Bratcher Here’s the second installment of poems from Rev. Phil Bratcher. What a poet! Fast Cars and CB Radios by Tom Givens Always a favorite here at USADS, Tom Givens entertains us again with one of his terrific tales of life in the back yonder -- the rascal. Experts Say . . . by Ed Williams Experts say the darnedest things, according to Georgia columnist Ed Williams. Here’s an article from yet another talented southern newspaper columnist. Alzheimer’s: You Might As Well Laugh by Jackie K. Cooper Also new to USADS, Jackie Cooper explores the value of maintaining a sense of humor when dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. This is a must read for caregivers. Well said, Jackie. Ol’ Red and the Armadillo by Newt Harlan Newt is new around here too, and can he spin a tale southern style! Good 'un. Out That Door by Brenda Parris Sibley Moderator of the Alzheimer’s site at Suite 101 and author of several books on the disease, Sibley shares with us a poem she wrote while serving as caregiver for her sick mother. Beautiful! Blood Kin by Edgar L. Carroll Oh, yes! More fiction from another outstanding new USADS writer, Edgar Carroll. Uncle Willie Learns About Wimmin by Asa Sparks Asa’s back with another of his ticklers about Uncle Willie. You’ll want to check the Articles lists for the others. Uncle Willie is a mess! Southern Buttermilk Cornbread by Paula Tillery Uh huh, you’ve been waiting for this one, haven’t you? Would you pass the greens, please? _____________________________ And why not enjoy these "oldies but goodies"? A Boy and His Fiddle by Gene Goodson Akumal, Mexico by Wes Wilson Survival Guide for Newly Married Men by Jack Kean Blond, Blond and Blonder by Kristen Twedt Bottletree: Out of Nowhere by Don Drane Georgia’s Blue Willow Inn by Beverly Lucey The China Adventure by Bill Boswell, Jr. Tennessee Acquarium by Sheila Moss The Delta by Mavis Turner Touching History by Marta Martin

Stories, humor, travel, news, links, poetry, personal essays, memoirs, and lots more. No bells and whistles, just good reading.