How you view....

this will depend on if you see yourself as the great big screeching head, or the little guy walkin out.
Word according to Lurlene - August 2010

A Proper Introduction

Meet the Manager

If you can manage a neon, you can manage anything.

One of the things about livin in the Friendly Village is that you jus never know when you will acquire a new persona. It’s true, here, you can live out your dreams or be forced into somebody else’s, not unlike that new movie, Inception and perhaps just as frightin’. That’s what happened to Mr. Pat. bein so very tall, so very, handsome and lovin’ pointy-toed shoes and the click of a well manicured set of nails as much as the any one of the Neons; he jus seemed to be perfect “Manager” material. So before you knew it, we had adopted him.

Now VeraLee wrote about how the Neons were the precursors to the Two-Bit Teena’s but I’m gonna give you a little chapter from the Manager’s Book, one of the first published on the Free-After Hour Press (ie: my copier at work). It will give you a little background on each of the Neons as well as an idea of what Mr. Pat, (AKA The Manager) had to endure.

How to Manage a Neon (or a Teena)

1. Buy a large car and make sure it is a color that one of the Neons will want when you decide to replace it with a new one (in about two years or until Dennis dents it, whichever comes first) Note: Mr. Pat always studies up on cars, he just doesn't go by what fancies him, he reads and ponders and then buys. But one of his considerations is which Neon (or Teena) will be needin a new car next and what would she want and what color would she want. He likes to make sure we get first dibs and I am still driving "The Villager" while LaNeese still has that zillion year old Volvo Station wagon.

1. Take them shoppin and be sure to have snow tires in case one wants boots when it snows. One year we had a surprise snow and I (the one who only wear pointy toe shoes) had no boots. So Mr. Pat put chains on the car and then picked us all up, cause we always travel in a pack, to go boot shoppin.

1. Learn to make their favorite drink: The Manager has to be a mixologist cause we all have such different taste. Lushious wants fruity sweet and a perfect Cosmo, Lurlene loves her birthday namesake drink, the Radcliffe Martini with hand stuffed blue cheese olives, VeraLee...she's easy, the "Brenda-Rita" that cost a zillion dollars for the ingredients or just stop by and pick up a Gas Station Rita and she will be happy. For La, "Hey..."got a beer?"

1. Never let a Neon pose on her “Bad side or her Backside." This is important because Lurlene will indeed tear up a picture if it's not becommin' He must guard our image at all times and make sure he notices perfect places for us to "Strike a Pose".

1. Arrange to have food available at every performance. (Note: whenever Neons are together it is a performance)

1. Know when to “Just suck around it.” This is a phrase that is a story in itself...so I won't go into it here, but it is a good clean phrase and it means..."deal with it".

1. Don’t sleep with just one. (This takes some explanation too, but basically, when we all went to Chili Beach we stayed in Momma Neeses Cottage in the Trailer Court. That's ten of us in two bedrooms, so often it would be four in a King size bed and one on the floor. Buck couldn't always get down so often I would have to sleep around in what ever bed that was available, not havin' "couple status". So everyone of us, except VeraLee ended up snoozin with the Manager at some time. That's why the next rule.

1. If they (Neons or Teenas) are in the room, pretend you actually ARE sleeping and never open your eyes.

1. There are so many Manager stories, but they will come later. I am so excited that he has accepted my offer to write, because this man can turn a phrase. I'm just a story teller, he on the other hand...has skills, you'll see!

Welcome Mr. Pat!

(In the picture: Sitting: Left to Right Teena Lurlene, The Manager, Vera Lee. Standing: LaNeese Lame' and Lushious. Chili Beach - Momma Neeses "Cottage" sometime in the 90's. On our way to perform at some dive.

Dropped by to say "hey"

Hey there, Teena Lurlene. Just dropped by to say hello and thank you for inviting me to be a contributor to your blog. Been thinking about that little red convertible that you and the Villagers rented for me on my 40th birthday. But before I put pen to paper (or, in this case, fingers to keyboard) I will need to let the memory steep a bit. But don't worry, like a bad penny, I'll be back.