The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love

When spring comes we think of children, Easter eggs, bright pink, green, purple and yellow colors, feelings of happiness, dancing, and rebirth.  However, if you happen to have wandered into the Hilton Inn on County Line Road, in Jackson, MS, last year, you may have been tempted to think Easter had arrived early.

Everywhere you looked there were chicks in bright, happy, colors, but we are not talking about baby chickens, we are talking about laughing, screaming, dancing, loud, funny, vivacious ladies, clad in matching, colorful, outlandish outfits that Madea would have been proud to wear; big bright doily hats decorated in Tulle and flowers, colorful feathered boas draped over their necks, pink and green hair, and fish net hose with group names like Cheetas for the Chirren”, “Blinging Beauties of Texas”,  and “The Ta Ta Queens”. 

A little further investigation and, I discovered the source of the gaiety.  I was in the mist of “The Sweet Potato Queens, groups of women from all ages, shapes, sizes and backgrounds forming over 6, 000 chapters in 22 countries, who make a pilgrimage to Jackson, MS every year to celebrate life, and raise money for the Blaire E. Baston Hospital for Children, located in Jackson, MS. There is even a chapter in Saudi Arabia, “No Veils for Us”.

One group, “The Should Have Beens” was formed by Joyce Isaacs of Madison, MS.  “We have had so much fun we should have been arrested, quips Joyce, “This is one of the most liberating, fun things I have ever done.  We will definitely be back next year.”

The Sweet Potato Queens Festival is the 1982 brainchild of Tupelo native and long-time Jackson, MS resident “Jill Conner Browne”, New York Times best selling author of such books as “The Sweet Potato Queen Field Guide to Men, (Every Man I Love is Either Married, Gay or Dead”) and her newest book, “American Thighs, Learning to laugh through the Tough Times of Life)” The Sweet Potato Queen’s Guide to Preserving your ASSetts.

“My father taught me that if there is a need you should always participate, and do all you can to help”, says Browne, “The Blaire E  Baston Hospital for Children is the only hospital in the state that will treat a child regardless of the parent’s ability to pay. This weekend is about buying wheelchairs for the kids.  Basic kid sized wheel chairs start at $900.00 and ones that tilt to whatever angle the child needs, cost $9,000. Last year’s event raised $30,000.  Everything we do has a fund raising arm.”

Browne started the Sweet Potato Queens when long time friend Malcolm White decided to do a St. Paddy’s day parade.  “I just declared myself Sweet Potato Queen, and it has grown from there”, says Browne. “When I started it, I had no idea how many women needed to feel like they were queen of something, and dying to be in a parade.  Life is short, and hard on a good day, so dressing funny and acting stupid allows a woman to forget her troubles and step outside of herself and become someone else for a little while. Play is as healthy as food clothing and shelter. I simply give women permission to have fun, and an invitation.” 

The youngest person who comes to the parade is in Utero and the oldest one, that marches the entire route, is 96, Aunt Faye from Midland Texas.

Only one male, Lance Romance, the official Consort, and love slave for the Sweet Potato Queens, is allowed to ride in the Parade.  “I’m just another pretty face”, jokes Lance, “I’ve been with the Queens for 25 to 30 years.”

“If you would like to form a chapter there are no fees, and no rules except one”, says Browne, “You do what I say, when I say it, with a big smile on your face. The person who forms the chapter will be Boss Queen, and make the rules for that chapter.”

This year The Sweet Potato Queens Zippity Doo Dah™ Parade, Million Queen March, will be held March 24th - 27th.

  http://sweetpotatoqueens.com/ for more information.

REGISTER TO WIN A NEW CAR AT;

http://childrenshospital.umc.edu/

WHY I'M IN THE BEAR CAMP ON STOCKS!

I’m not a Stock Market expert, by any means, but I have watched and traded it every day for the past three years.  I read the pitches from the Bulls (those who expect it to go up), and the Bears (those who expect it to go down) on a daily basis, and the bulls have been beating the bears hands down, but I believe the winds of change are upon us.  Especailly through the summer.

When the market crashed before, gas prices were soaring, people lost their homes because many had to choose between having the gas to drive to work or making their house payment. (We all know what happened to the market then) Judging by my last electric bill, the soaring price of food, and the price of gas, people have no choice but to cut back.  It is called survival.

Short term, I’m on the side of the bears, and here is why.

1. April of last year was when the majority of the people had the most invested in the market, and many people wait a year before they sell, because the taxes are lower on long term capital gains that are held for at least a year.  It is time for them to take some profits off the table.
2. The market tends to trend lower during the summer months, because all of the big fund managers go on vacation.
3. Gas prices are almost as high as they were when they crashed the market before, and may go higher because of the unrest in the Middle East.
4. The US Dollar is in a danger zone, even though it may go higher, the trend is lower.  That means your dollar will buy less and less, but the prices of everything you use will go higher, especially food and gas.
5. Stocks tend to cycle, and stocks I have been buying or watching are going up some days, but they are tending to cycle a little bit lower each time. This tends to happen before the market corrects itself.
6. The whole world seems to be in turmoil.  From Earthquakes, and Tsunami’s in Japan, mega tornados, and flooding from Mississippi to Missour, to war in the Middle East.
7. 7.  You will have more banks fail this year than they did when this crisis started, and the housing market is in the pits.

However, the reason I’m bearish at the moment, may have just as much to do with superstition, as it does the hard facts listed above.

1. I’ve never read tea leaves before, but the other day, I made a different kind of tea, and when I looked at the leaves that had settled in the bottom of my cup, they spelled out the word stop.
2. I’m an avid reader of “Uncommon Wisdom”, with Larry Edelson, and right after I saw the word stop in my tea leaves, he sent me an e-mail that said, “Read the Tea Leaves”.
3. A couple of days later, I’m looking out my window and there is a big X in the sky, so I’m asking myself, Was that another stop sign?
4. Then I have a dream about the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching the 12,000 level and having great difficulty. 
5. Analyst put a price target of $6.00 on one of my favorite stocks recently.  It has been trading around $3.25 to $3.50 over the past year, and generally when an analyst raises the price on a stock like that, it skyrockets up, in a matter of days.  It has been weeks, and it has barely risen.  What that tells me is people in the market are afraid.
6. Then I go to turn off my computer and the words (probably from an e-mail) flash across the bottom of the screen, “Stop Trading”.
7. An astrologist predicted that the new “Super Moon”, full effects expected on March 19, will cause Earthquakes, wild weather, and a wild Stock market.  Right after his prediction, Japan was hit with its worst earthquake in 129 years.  

Whatever the reason you may be wondering about the direction of the market, be it superstition, or cold hard facts; if you are not getting out, buy yourself a little protection to the down side. ETF’s like SEF, and SH are a good place to start. 

It would not hurt to pull a portion of your stocks, that are not dividend stocks, out of the market while you have a good profit, and keep a little money on the side to buy back in at bargain prices, if it crashes. 

Your stock broker may not tell you this, but you can pull your money from stocks, and keep it on the side in their money market account, without drawing it out of your IRA and 401K, and incurring huge tax liabilities.  It does not hurt to ask your broker if this option is available to you.

Also, check out Uncommon Wisdom, with Larry Edelson, for some of the best advice you will find on how to protect your hard earned dollar.

That being said, I would love to see the little guy pull the rug out from under the big guy before they do it to us again.