Gosh. It's okay, it's okay ... I totally forgive you -

Dear JetBlue Customers,

We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.

Last week was the worst operational week in JetBlue's seven year history. Following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast, we subjected our customers to unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage, and other major inconveniences. The storm disrupted the movement of aircraft, and, more importantly, disrupted the movement of JetBlue's pilot and inflight crewmembers who were depending on those planes to get them to the airports where they were scheduled to serve you. With the busy President's Day weekend upon us, rebooking opportunities were scarce and hold times at 1-800-JETBLUE were unacceptably long or not even available, further hindering our recovery efforts.

Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that we caused. This is especially saddening because JetBlue was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.

We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information to you, more tools and resources for our crewmembers and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident, as a result of these actions, that JetBlue will emerge as a more reliable and even more customer responsive airline than ever before.

Most importantly, we have published the JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights—our official commitment to you of how we will handle operational interruptions going forward—including details of compensation. I have a video message to share with you about this industry leading action.

You deserved better—a lot better—from us last week. Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to welcome you onboard again soon and provide you the positive JetBlue Experience you have come to expect from us.

Sincerely,

David Neeleman
Founder and CEO


As long as everything is on target - March 1st.

OKAY?

Anyway. Things could have been worse:

One, Two, Tree, Four...This Is Rock and Roll:

Going up, ya'll...BIG TIME.

A Very Happy Birthday To:

All Of Us!

In Further Consideration Of Britney's Bald Head...

I stumbled on a terrific site: Michael Dougherty

#######

Edit to restate: The site is really ---> just okay.

But. This is very nice:

The Orange Peel

Here it is:
*

The legendary, Orange Peel - or as it is now known: The Orange Peel, Social Aid & Pleasure Club; attached to the equally renowned, Sronce Automotive - or as it is now known:
Sronce Carquest Auto Parts.

Or, as I like to remember it:
The Place Where Lionel Richie Rubbed My Mother's Stomach, When I Was In Utero.

Or:
The Place Where I Would Pretend To Be - Mary Lou Retton.




It is conveniently located adjacent to:
*


And here, again, is the man who once helmed the ship:



That's right. John Alexander Sronce! My Dad was very proud when he decided upon the white, with red and blue stripes, paint job. He had both the store and the Orange Peel behind it, painted in this palette; and was unfortunately summonsed by the city for it's being a "Visual Violation" to the historic, downtown Asheville cityscape. My Dad blamed all "Lesbians" for this insulting judgement, as it was two uniformed young women who issued the "RECALL ON: WHITE".

My Dad fervently assumed that all women in uniform, were lesbians.

As you can tell by the first photo, John Sronce was, in the end, somehow allowed to keep the store a soaringly patriotic "Red, White, and Blue".

We'll never know how he pulled it off, but it stands today as a legacy.

Not only did my Dad sell his very soul to the cause of - Car Parts (in exchange for a Pro Golf career); but we see here - that he also took his very first, singular, strident, and LASTING artistic stand.

Bravo!

My stepfather described paradox, in terms of my mother.

My father, too, was a rhapsody of paradox.

For you see, there is a certain endangered sample of Southern Man. He is marked, most colloquially, as a Good Ol'Boy. Unlike a Redneck, a Good Ol'Boy can generally maintain a typically functioning level of racism, while simultaneously holding many African Americans (the predominant variation on WHITE, in the South) among his dearest, and closest friends.

In other words:
John Sronce was VERY into being WHITE, but...almost ALL of his best friends were BLACK.

Paradox.

Julian Beasley, Lee Jackson, Big John...all the very best of friends my Dad could have had. They sure as hell helped him raise this particular daughter!


In order to provide the first cable service on record, in Asheville, to his beautiful family (pre-me):


(Heidi, John, and Jody Sronce)


He managed, nightly, the hottest ALL BLACK venue in the cosmos - The Orange Peel.

Back in the seventies - Percy Sledge, Gladys Night, Kool And The Gang, The Commodores...all played and stayed there.

So did Cats like this:








Now, acts like THOSE are definitely what I would call "Social Aid" and "Pleasure".

But, The Orange Peel is alive and in full bloom today. It's not necessarily the Black Cat Soul Lounge it used to be...but, it's still cool enough for GZA and DJ Muggs:



And, well, Son Volt's on the schedule. (Remember them?)

So.

There ya go.

Be sure to get your "Social Aid" on... if you're ever down there in Appalachia.

*The first two photos were found: WHO IS THIS GUY?!???

It's Just A Phase... Just A Pretty... Bad Phase, Folks:

I am just not going to judge her on this one.

Now, I feel entitled to sharply consider her parenting skills and public crotch furnishings - as my glass house still stands in windexed glory next to the above considered.




But THIS?

This is very interesting.

She seems to really want to start from ---> SCRATCH.

It's a reasonable reaction to life in your mid-twenties.

I too, at her age, shaved my head:



A Lakhota Sioux Medicine Man thought it would be a good idea.

I Shout At You!

I dare you to find a more perfect comedy than - The Money Pit.

Simply Impossible.

######


Cheap Girl 1: When your father took all our money, you were so nice to us. You washed my hair. I didn't forget that. We trust you. We need your advice.

Walter: I am sure I did not wash your hair.

Maggie Valley - In The Red

Late Winter, 1998

Looking back on the ancient... yet whimsical, surveys of - A. Randall Sronce: Useless Virgin

Love For The Books

Pablo Neruda and Matilde Urrutia - 1965




Mike and Debbie (...and wee Panther) - 1975




Jody and Allen Stevenson - 1995



Happy Valentines Day!

I thought I would share some words from Allen.
He is my lovely stepfather; the "Grand Finale" in an uproarious series!

He is a truly grand man.

And, he loved my Mother very, very much --->

...