Southpaw Jones

CRUELTY is now available!
Order the CD now at southpawjones.com.
Purchase MP3s at cdbaby.com or .
Grab a copy in real time at Waterloo Records or End of an Ear in Austin.
Or buy one from me any Thursday at Flipnotics @ the Triangle.

JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

Yes, International Left-Handers Day 2008 is finally here. Be sure to congratulate your lefty friends and family on that little difference that makes their lives more interesting, unique, troublesome, creative, and/or annoying depending on the situation.

Statistically speaking, lefties die earlier but make more money, so that’s a decent trade-off, I think.

Since 1945, one-third of US presidents have been left-handed, but lefties only make up ten percent of the population! I once heard that the odds of having so many left-handed presidents are 1 in 1,000.

Are we aliens?

Clearly, I am proud of my handedness. I play guitar upside down, because my uncle gave me his right-handed guitar, and I just started learning the way that was most comfortable. When I realized I actually have a passion for playing guitar, writing songs, and singing, I suppose I could have purchased an actual left-handed guitar or restrung the one I had. I just never felt a great need to do that, though, because I could play all the chords I cared to use, and I liked being different.

That’s the thing, isn’t it? Left-handed people learn as youngsters that being different is not only acceptable, it’s preferable! I’ve read a little about the brain science of handedness: Left-handed people have better communication between their hemispheres. Left-handed people are better able to mix math skills with language skills. I realize this may be why I am so undeniably drawn to songwriting.

But enough about the nature! I believe it is the nurture that counts. It is the early childhood experience of sitting in a roomful of students, using a completely different side of your desk and consequently smearing pencil on the butt of your hand. It is standing on the “wrong” side of the base during tee-ball. It is struggling with right-handed scissors and thinking to oneself, “Is this world a bit crazy, or is it just me?”

Well, it ain’t just me. The lesson of left-handedness is the early and hearty encouragement of individuality. Why would young Southpaw want to do what everyone else was doing? My genetic makeup had already distanced me from the pack!

“Why do you use that hand?”
“Why do you need special scissors?”
“Why is your handwriting so awful?”

I didn’t know then, and I don’t care now, because that silly little difference set me free from “This is the way things are, and this is they way things shall ever be for one and for all.” I am not special because I am left-handed; I am blessed because I learned early on that reality is voluntary, and I can do things my own kooky way in this life.

Whether your kid is lefty or righty, make sure he/she knows its ok to think those weird thoughts, write those odd poems, and stick out from the crowd. That is, if you want him/her to have a shot at the presidency.

Enjoy the Day!

as reported in The New York Times

August 13, 1908
LOVING HOPELESSLY, WIFE DIES BY POISON
“Tell Him I’m Waiting on the Borderland,” Her Last Message to Man She Loved.
ESTRANGED FROM HUSBAND
Glorying In Her Love, but “Tired of the Struggle,” Mrs. Frese of Bronxville Inhales Chloroform.
Love for a man not her husband, the discovery of some alleged love letters by the husband, and the estrangement which followed are believed to be the incidents which led Mrs. Julia Korony Frese, 35 years old, a well-known resident of Bronxville, Westchester County, to end her life late Tuesday night by inhaling chloroform.

One clue whose answer consists of two rhyming words:

My preacher is left-handed, so I like to razz him with old-school terminology by calling him the…

Highlight here for answer: [sinister minister]


Blindfolded Cartoonists

It was common practice in former times to make individuals who were naturally left-handed to change over to right-handedness. In the future, we may come to regard forcing children to change their natural learning modes with the same dismay that we now regard the idea of forcing a change in handedness. Soon we may be able to test children to determine their best learning styles and choose from a repertoire of teaching methods to ensure that children learn both visually and verbally.
Betty Edwards

EVERY DANG THURSDAY
8:00 PM
Flipnotics at the Triangle
4600 Guadalupe
AUSTIN, TX
(512) 380-0097
www.flipnotics.com
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2008
Matt the Electrician & Southpaw Jones
8:00 pm
Wyldwood House Concert
4205 Wyldwood Road
AUSTIN, TX
wyldwood.startlogic.com
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008
Celebrating the lyrics of CRUELTY!
BookPeople
603 N. Lamar
AUSTIN, TX
(512) 472-5050
www.bookpeople.com