And now for something completely different.

Thank you for all you comments and prayers about Kathleen and her family. This has been a rough week, but I’m determined to take a break from blogging about sad things. Besides, Kathleen always told me I was funny, and I think a nice way to honor her memory would be to not stop being funny. Or at least blogging about things I think are funny.

So. Last night we were flipping channels and came across an old episode of “The Incredible Hulk.” Back in my day, and Chad’s too, there was no cooler place to be on a Friday night than in front of your TV watching “The Incredible Hulk.” I wanted to watch it for a while to show Julia how wicked cool that show was. Of course now it looks all lame and outdated, but still.

In this particular episode, David Banner is knocked out and thrown on top of a car that is just about to go into a car wash. I know, it happens all the time. So he turns into the Hulk in the middle of hoses spraying everywhere. The car comes out the end of the car wash with the Hulk having ripped the engine out, which he is holding high over his head. Such a great Hulk moment. (Julia, however, was inexplicably BORED.)

The Hulk wreaks havoc at the car wash for a while before taking off running across the parking lot. Two characters of African descent, complete with huge ’70s fros, watch him run away. One of them says, “Now that’s what I call a colored man.”

They just don’t make TV shows as politically incorrect as they used to.

Some Hulk trivia: Did you know Bill Bixby went on to direct the TV sitcom “Blossom” before he died in 1993? It’s true.

News from Jenna’s world: Her name for Lowe’s is “The Blue Home Depot.” That’s basically what it is, right?


Every once in a while, for a story I’m working on, I get to do something really cool. Last Thursday was one of those days. I’m writing for a new magazine called Arkansas Life. It’s so new that the very first issue is coming out any day now. For the October issue, I wrote a feature about the historic Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs. It was open for 124 years before it closed in 2006. I didn’t want to write the story without getting a look at the inside of the building, so the hotel’s current owners arranged for me, along with an officer from the Garland County Historical Society, to have our own tour. So, with a security guard who also used to work at the hotel and knows tons about the building, we got to walk all around this gorgeous old hotel. The oldest part of the building was built in 1902 (the original building, built in the 1870s, was razed to make room for this one) and the wooden staircases, the hand-carved ceilings and chandeliers that have survived from that time are unbelievable. It was like going back in time. (The 1902 part of the building is on the far right in the photo. The rest of the building was added later.)

The upstairs hallways were a bit creepy, though. The guy from the historical society mentioned something about “The Shining” once we got up there, and I wished he hadn’t. My imagination is active enough without anyone’s help. And the security guard, a really cool guy named Jackie, chose to tell us the building’s ghost stories while we were up there – including one encounter he experienced himself. The other guy and I were just a tad spooked out, to say the least.

But ghosts or not, it’s a beautiful old building and I felt so honored to get to have my own private tour. My article is about the hotel’s history and what’s going to happen to it now that it’s been sold. (I left out the ghost stories. I don’t want the current owners – or their lawyers – getting mad at me.) Anyway, this issue of Arkansas Life will be on newsstands (well, in Arkansas anyway) in October!

I also want to let you guys know about my friend Kama, who started blogging recently. Go check out her blog!

Apply directly to the forehead

Out of a combination of curiosity and desperation, I tried "Head On" yesterday. We were on our way out of town to camp at Hot Springs National Park (the first overnight camping trip for the girls -- and I mean REAL camping -- in tents), and I had a headache brewing. The kind that could have become a migraine if it really, really wanted to. So at the Wal-Mart in the bustling city of Malvern, Arkansas, I picked up some Excedrin and a box of Head On. Well, it's actually a tube. Picture a glue stick that smells like Vicks VapoRub.

I don't know if it worked or not. I took Excedrin, and that's probably why the headache went away. But I found the Head On to be oddly soothing. I think I could get addicted to it. It made my head feel kind of cool and tingly -- I guess because of the menthol listed as an inactive ingredient on the label. It was sort of like a homeopathic high. I kept finding myself reaching for the Head On long after the headache was gone. I guess it's kind of like Burt's Bees Lip Balm for your head.

So now I carry it around with me with all my other addictions: lotion, mints, Purell, and the aforementioned Burt's Bees Lip Balm. Hey, I don't drink, smoke or gamble. I have to have something.

Now that's one hot spring

Hot Springs today. This place is only 40 minutes down the road from us and we just now made the trip. (I feel the need to point out that Julia is wearing a skort. She is not revealing any undergarments in this picture.)


First we went into the Fordyce bath house, where sick, rich people came to soak in the healing waters of the natural hot springs way back a long time ago. And now, poor white children can do it for free.


Julia in a big old bathtub. And I mean OLD.


The girls near one of the springs. Jenna was just then noticing I had put her hair in pigtails.

Turns out the ice cream in Hot Springs has healing powers, too.

Hot Springs has statues all over the place, and I thought the photo I took of this one turned out kinda cool. Talk about shooting the bird! Ha ha

Then we drove to the top of the mountain where Julia nearly fell off. Instead of helping her, we just took this picture.

Four Nall women: Me, Jenna, Rita (Chad's mom) and Julia. You may notice Jenna is not wearing pants. At least the rest of us are. Three out of four ain't bad.

One thing that's neat about Hot Springs is that all different kinds of people go there. Up on the mountain, we encountered a biker gang (the members of which were really nice -- Jenna kept talking to one guy and he was very careful to hold his cigarette away from her) and a young Mennonite couple. I wanted to take their picture all together, but I figured it would have been tacky to ask.