It turned out pretty damn good -- if I do say so myself! (heh)

Yeah, sorry about the coyotes. But I can always do another one later on and include it! I think I've got it down (fingers crossed) on how to do it. So maybe next time... We'll see! Hey, the more often I make these, the easier it's going to get. (Like everything else.)

Of course, it may be my flash slideshow, but it's YOUR parade, baby! Seriously. And you've been an essential part of it for decades. ROCK on!

Isn't it cool that we can put our own flash in entries? Who knew? Lovin' it...

Very cool. Now I need to learn how to embed the vids from the Flip. (There's always something . . .)

awesome, thanks for sharing :) !


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Yeah, it is pretty cool. Thanks for watching!

You have the coolest job. How did you get started with it? I always wondered about that. And did you take writing classes in school? You always had a love for it I bet. Oh, and have you ever ridden a horse?

I started as a secretary, actually, back in the day when you called people by that title. I worked my way up through many positions and many bosses, being in the right place at the right time, getting a special degree over the years by traveling to conferences and taking classes until I was a 'certified special events executive.' I became the parade manager in '88, so it's certainly been a while.

Then in the 90's I started the whole communications thing, taking over public relations, which I now prefer to events in many ways. But I don't have much choice; I have to do both, plus much more. (Seems like it's more every year.)

I really didn't take writing classes, except the normal curriculum, although I always wrote. When I was a sophomore in high school my English teacher told me I was writing better than most people being published. I skipped college composition classes by taking the writing exams to automatically get the credit, which was probably not the best idea in the long run. It took me a long time to really get disciplined about writing. I always just relied on talent, not research and good habits and self-editing. I used to be a very impatient person, and I just wanted to write and have it be 'good enough.' Crazy. I wish I had settled down a lot sooner, but the internet and resources like Dictionary.com really helped my writing by making information so accessible.

Horses and I don't really see eye-to-eye. I've only ridden a few times, and I was pretty nervous about it. And the horses in the parade can be a big pain. I do love to look at them, though, and I always liked movies and books about horses. I used to get all those little Scholastic Books about girls and horses, hehe. Funny, one of the first stories I wrote was called, 'Lightning, the Story of a Horse,' which was an illustrated short story written in pencil on a tablet. I was seven years old, I think. I remember being unsure of whether to give the boy horses dicks, and I ended up erasing them all. I used a piece of the story in my NaNo novel for fun.

I have lots of my old stories, and many of them are pretty hilarious, I have to admit.

It sounds like to me that you have always had talent and were centered. I wish I could say the same for myself, lol. I feel like it takes a kind of strength and clear sight to move up the way you did.

I had no idea that there were even classes for special events, wild.

I would love to see the dicks you attempted to put on those horses :-)

Horses have big ones, lol.

Anymore I'm nervous when I ride, especially if I don't know the horse very well. It's just not the same as when I was in my 20's. If I hit the ground now it can really mess my body up. I think about consequences more now.

Amazing bits of history! You must feel proud to be part of it.

Very proud. No matter what happens, nothing will ever change the fact I was there for the hundredth.