THE BIG (Hat) REVEAL

Here's a perfect post for the Monday after the incredible

 "Hat Parade" of the Kentucky Derby this past weekend.

About two months ago, dear friend Jo McDivitt gifted me this ULTRA FAB hat. 
It's identical to one of her own! She is a real hat lady! She had TWO...because it's so fabulous !
I had planned to reveal it on the first day of Spring ..but the time and weather just weren't quite right !  But, recently on a glorious day in the Sip, I showcased my Diva Hat in the yard !! I absolutely still don't feel "Big Girl" enough to wear big hats like this one, in public ......although I can wear a cap like nobodies business!!
It takes a special something and someone to be a real "Hat Lady".  It's an art !
I know it's in me ! I LOVE, love, love hats !

I have been collecting them for years.  Every time I see a super fab hat ..I feel like I just have to have it ! On a trip to Atlanta when I was in high school, I bought a smoklin', very feminine, gray wool fedora style hat.  I think it was about $60 or $70 dollars . I tried and tried to get into wearing it without feeling like I was playing dress-up.
I finally passed it on to a real Hat Lady and she wore it like a Pro !
For YEARS, I have been telling friends that I am going to be a full-fledged Hat Lady when I turn 50 ! I feel that I will FINALLY be ready !!!
Until then, I'm steadily building my hat collection.

With every new hat purchase, Hubby is always asking me ..."Why are you buying
that..You're not gonna wear it??!!"
He just doesn't understand...Yet !
He will see !
February 2014 ...It's On !!!!!

Jo McDivitt (Hattiesburg, MS) in her MATCHING hat

Friends want to see Mississippi Poet Patricia Neely-Dorsey as an OFFICIAL Goodwill Ambassador for Mississippi !

A friend recently suggested a Write- In Petition/Request/Campaign for OFFICIAL Goodwill Ambassador for Mississippi.
Here is the beautiful letter he sent to Mississippi Governor, Phil Bryant.

May 4, 2013

The Honorable Phil Bryant

Office of the Governor

330 High Street

Jackson, Mississippi

Dear Governor Bryant::

This letter is in reference to Patricia Neely-Dorsey, a resident of Tupelo, Mississippi.

I write to nominate Patricia for the position of “Good Will Ambassador” for

the State of Mississippi. This non-political and salary-free position will allow Patricia a platform so that she can continue to promote the rich and diverse culture of the State of Mississippi.

Patricia is the daughter of Dr. James H. Neely, MD, also a resident of Tupelo, Mississippi. She studied psychology at Boston University. Patricia has effectively projected positive inspiring images and original writings about the environment of Mississippi that allows for wholesome family living and continued economic development via the social networks (http://www.patricianeely-dorsey.webs.com), including Facebook.

Her books of poetry display her affection for the people and the landscape of Mississippi. She relishes the role of interacting with people of different cultures and languages and can work within their cultural framework. Through her public speaking, Patricia has proved to be an effective and clear communicator, with a stand for the State of Mississippi.

In addition, she understands the environment she represents and is willing to take the time to learn what is necessary. Patricia knows the culture and how to

integrate into the social framework of those she represents and serves.

After meeting with Patricia, and her family, I believe, with enthusiasm, you will appoint Patricia to the position, “Good Will Ambassador” for the State of Mississippi. She will prove to be a dedicated and effective Ambassador.

Best wishes for our cooperation.

Jerry Boyd Jones

Consultant, International Education 

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Bad Review for Reflections...NOT!

As you know, April is National Poetry Month.
 
On a recent blog tour as a featured guest on various blogs across the country ,to celebrate poetry ...and the south, I received a review for Reflections of 2.5 Stars (out of 5) from a reviewer in New Mexico.
This is the lowest ranking review that I have received, since I first published in 2008.
Actually, out of 70 reviews on Amazon, I have an overall 4.8 star ranking
with all of them being 4 and 5 star ratings..and ONE 3 rating.
THAT'S NOT BAD!

The blog tour organizers, have a policy of not posting reviews that are below a 3 .
Anything below a 3 is considered a negative review.
In my eyes, this review is not negative/bad at all !
Actually, I agree with almost everything in the review...with a positive slant.
I will break the review down point by point to let you know why, in my opinion, it's a great review !

Here is the Amazon review :

Point 1: In Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia we are treated to a virtual tour of the south through the words of author Patricia Neely Dorsey.

PND: Yes ! Sounds good to me ! That is exactly what I hope to do !
I want to give readers an up close and personal view/tour of this beautiful place that I call home.

Point 2: Through the youthful voice of her musings, we are given a simple idea of what life is like in the south.

PND:The poems are definitely written from a youthful voice and a childlike point of view! I still have a very childlike wonder and awe of the world around us. I am still amazed at a beautiful sunset or full moon , as though it were the first time that I had every seen it. I love that sense of wonderment at the world around us. I got it from my Dad and I appreciate it SO much ! it is a gift that I hope I never lose !
Yes, my poems are VERY simple. I love it that way !
I don't talk in complicated, flowery language using long , complicated hard to understand words,and I don't write that way either .
On my website I write :
I believe that poetry should be assessable,readable,and enjoyable for all ages. I think that Reflections fits that description. With it's simple language and relatable themes, it can be read ,enjoyed and understood by readers of all ages 8 to 80 (and beyond). There is definitely something in Reflections for everyone.
I also write
I must admit an affinity for the familiar, the common, the everyday, the ordinary and the simple things of life. Reflections is essentially "shapshots' from my life in written form of people, places, events and lessons learned.
The reviewer says that I definitely DO give an idea about what life is like in the south.
THAT'S A GOOD THING !

Point 3: We are given poems about all aspects of southern living and it is very easy to envision some of the things that the author describes.
 
PND: I LOVE the fact that the reviewer says that my book gives poems that cover all aspects of southern life. I believe that it is a poets job/goal is to paint clear ,pictures with words .The reviewer says that it is VERY EASY to envision the things that I describe. I must have painted some very clear pictures !
THAT'S A GOOD THING!

Point 4: The poems though youthful and often whimsical some seemed to be written for the sake of writing them. As I read through Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia I couldn’t help but feel that the words felt forced.
 
PND: This is the only point in the review that I really disagree with .She might have meant that the rhyme schemes seemed forced, but that is the they came to me
They were not forced at all. I really don't understand what she meant when she says that they seemed to be just for the sake of writing them, Again, I wrote them down, because they came to me. They were given to me to write. So, maybe they were written just because .
In the Preface of Reflections I wrote: I always hesitate to call myself a poet. I feel more like a vessel or conduit through which the poems flow. I never intentionally sat down to write any of them. They all came to be fully complete and neatly packaged, title and all. I just put them down on paper.
I wrote my very first poem in February 2007. I woke up on Valentine's Day 2007 with the words of "Our Place" forcefully dancing around in my head. I quickly got up and scribbled it down. To this day, it remains one of my favorites along with "Let's" and "Mississippi Man".

Point 5: There were many poems that I think barely touched the surface of the topic approached and I would have loved to have seen the author dig a little deeper.
 
PND: The reason why I see this as a positive statement is that it seems to indicate that the reader wanted to know more about what she was reading .
She did say: "I would have LOVED to have seen the author dig a little deeper."
If you are not interested in something , you definitely don't want to know any more.
So, it certainly seems to indicate that her curiosity and interest were peaked.
THAT'S A GOOD THING!

Summary:Overall, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia was just not something that I could get into, with almost every poem rhyming I often felt like the poems were childlike, leaving a lot to be desired. I think that this book would appeal to those that are looking for fun poems that do not deal in the deeper or darker sides of life.

PND:The poems are definitely not the deep type of verse that make you have to sit and ponder what they mean. They don't delve into the mysteries of the universe. They are plain, upfront and simple.  I do not focus or dwell on the darker side of things or negative things in life or in my poetry.  I make it very clear that in my poems, I attempt to give a POSITIVE glimpse into the southern way of life.
I had a wonderfully FUN, simple, country, southern upbringing.  I love the simple things in life and my poems reflect that.
THAT'S A GOOD THING!
P.S. Actually, there is a lot of deeper meaning beneath the simple words of many of my poems, if you do want to DIG for it


WOO HOO !! To a GREAT (in my opinion) REVIEW for Reflections
P.S. The review was very short and SIMPLE.
It left me thinking that I would have LOVED to have seen the reviewer dig a little deeper." (smile) 

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems

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I'M MISSISSIPPI PROUD: A Mississippian has been named on Time magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People 2013

I'M MISSISSIPPI PROUD: A Mississippian 
has been named on Time magazine's list of 
100 Most Influential People 2013

Time Magazine has recently unveiled it's Time 100 issue, featuring Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. For the first time, the issue, out on news stands this past Friday, features seven separate covers, each featuring a member of the list. Jennifer Lawrence, Jay-Z, Elon Musk (CEO and founder, SpaceX; co-founder, Tesla Motors and PayPal), Sen. Rand Paul and teen activist Malala Yousafzai each appear solo on the five domestic split covers. Internationally, Li Na and Aamir Khan are also featured along with some of the U.S. covers.

This year Mississippian, Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatrician at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who recently functionally cured an HIV-positive infant, has been honored by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
  

Dr. Hannah Gay

This year's list includes 35 women.   President Obama is on the list for the eighth time, more than any other person on the list.
•Other repeats on the list: Joe Biden, Chris Christie, Mario Draghi, Gabrielle Giffords, LeBron James, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Kate Middleton, Elon Musk, Michelle Obama, Shonda Rhimes, Sheryl Sandberg, Aung San Suu Kyi, Justin Timberlake, Jay Z and Ren Zhengfei.
•Stars on the list  include Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Bryan Cranston, Lena Dunham, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence, Miguel and Justin Timberlake.

 I am more than proud that a
Mississippian has made the list this year!
This is just one more thing that I can add to the long list of proud moments I can associate with our great state, as I go about my usual business of Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi. 
 

 LINKS TO BOOKS ON AMAZON:

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems


My Magnolia Memories and Musings- In Poems




Other Notable Mississippi Medical Accomplishments

The VERY FIRST heart transplant and the VERY FIRST lung transplant, 
in the world, were performed by Dr. James Hardy at the University Medical Center 
in JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.

Dr. James Hardy

 
























 


In 1936, Dr. Leslie Vaughn Rush performed the first bone pinning in the United States at Rush Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi and later developed the "Rush Pin" still in use today.

Dr. Arthur Guyton wrote the Textbook of Medical Physiology, used by medical students around the world since 1956. The best-selling physiology book ever published, this textbook may very well ...be the best-selling medical textbook of any kind. UMC physiologist, Dr. John Hall, assisted Dr. Guyton with the ninth and tenth editions of the textbook. Upon Dr. Guyton’s death in 2003, Dr. Hall took over the textbook, thus continuing to help educate the finest future physicians in the world

Dr. Arthur Guyton

THIS MISSISSIPPI GIRL KNOWS...Northern weather is Too Cold For ( her ) Comfort

Spring is here ! I am loving the weather!
We are already having our t-shirt and bare-foot days.
It's not necessarily like that in other parts of the country.
It's still very, very cold in some areas!


Southerners are always making note of and commenting on how fast Northerners walk and talk. We think it’s rather humorous..and somewhat sad, because we love our slow, leisurely, “molasses” pace and believe that you should always take time to stop and smell the roses. We southerners are always commenting on the fast pace of Northerners…but never really think about the reason behind it.  We just kind of think that they are always in a hurry, don't like to socialize, don't really appreciate the world around them, and just totally caught up in a rush, rush dog -eat -dog kind of lifestyle.
Well, I found the REAL reason, first hand when I went off to school in Boston. (Boston University - Boston, Massachusetts)

My brother, Brian, was already at BU and I was preparing to go to BU.
I would always ask him questions about Boston or the school. Every conversation turned into a discussion about the weather. I thought that was very odd..because he would repeatedly tell me how cold it was. I would think “O.K. O.K already, I know what cold is… And, I was thinking... really how cold could it be?” Well, little did I know, I DIDN’T know what cold was and it could be a lot colder than I thought..MUCH MUCH COLDER!!
All of my trips up North (Chicago, New York,ect) had always been in the summertime 
(vacations, of course).

So I was referencing cold to Mississippi winters and basing all of my assumptions on that .
I WAS SO WRONG!!!   In the Mississippi, they say we have four seasons : almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas. (LOL) It might sound funny .. but it is pretty much the truth . I remember one Fall in high school, the temperatures were still hitting 90 degrees well into November.  That has happened a few times in recent years, here in Mississippi,lately.

When I got to school in September 1982, there was already a little chill in the air. I thought that was odd, but totally shrugged it off.  In a few weeks, I was pulling out my heavy coat, Everyone kept telling me that I shouldn't do that, because I would freeze when it really got cold.  Ummm..IT WAS ALREADY REALLY COLD, to me !!! By winter, they were reporting temperatures of zero and below zero with a foot or so of snow (mind you, we let out schools in Mississippi with the mere FORECAST of snow! This was insane!  In all of this, they still expected you to function….I DIDN’T!! (LOL) I didn't freeze, because I stayed inside !!!

Now…. I know all about the Northerner’s pace..It is all for GOOD reason. When that wind is blowing , your nose is running like a faucet and your breath is practically freezing right in front of you…You ain’t got no time (excuse the French) (LOL) to stop and chat or do anything but nod and get where you’re going.  Folks, Northerners are always rushing here and there…”Cause the weather’s just ..TOO COLD!! ”
Northerners, God Bless you all ! You can have it!

OMG!!! I am so glad that somebody besides me talks about the difference in the way Southerners and Northerners perceive weather. Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa were recently talking on their show about how some people will break out in bikinis and lay out ...almost anywhere when the temperature in the Northeast hits above 59 degrees!!! !  
So True !!!
When I was in college at Boston University ...the spot was the football field ..we called it BU Beach ...,At 60 degrees on the dot ...folks would have their towels laid out ..bikinis on....and all of that...totally covering the field !
Of course...YOU KNOW ...Yours Truly was STILL wearing the winter coat...PROUDLY !!!!
In the south ...60 degrees is dead -of- winter weather !!!

"A celebration of the south and things southern" 

 
BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:
http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd
http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd

April is National Poetry Month ! POETRY MATTERS !!!

I am so happy to know that my "little books of southern poems" have been able
to reach, touch and affect so many people, in more ways that I could ever have imagined.
This Mississippi poet has truly been touched and humbled by that !

Recently, a dear Facebook friend made some beautiful comments on an interview
that I did on author Carl Purdon's blog for Poetry Month.
I am rarely left speechless, but the words that she shared really got me !
As the old folks would say: I was "full"!
As you know "fullness " often spills over ...in tears. It did !

Here are her comments:


"I have really loved getting to know the heart of Patricia via her poetry, Facebook activity and personal correspondence. I have the utmost respect for her. This an excellent interview and have loved reading this experiencing it as a walk with her in a garden with the fragrance of her well loved Magnolias in the air, the Sun shining just for us and the lovely sounds of nature in the background.
When her books were deposited into my life I was daily a Caregiver for a lovely Southern Belle herself. In her day she was an avid reader and while mystery novels were her voice she loved poetry. I read the books to her with her often asking "go back and read that again" over and over. Then she'd ask to see, meaning 'hold' the book. There are so many selections that took net back to her childhood in Alabama, while not Mississippi, still 'The South' with many of the same experiences.
Early Monday morning, March 25th our Lord reached His hand out to her and she reached out to take it. When her daughter-in law walked by her door around 1:00 AM, there was no more breath in her. Since then I've thought about how she would lovingly hold Patricia's book to her chest with the most wonderful far away look on her face that truly lit up her countenance.
These are just some of the moments I've spent enjoying Patricia's writings. I am looking forward to a 3rd edition.
Thanks again for this great interview."
Jennie Heberg

I must say, you never know how much/how often/how deeply you can/might affect people around you with just being you ..and doing what you do. I am so glad and feel so privileged and blessed that I can have a positive effect on so many people by doing what I love ...Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi through my poems. I love doing what I do. I love shining a light on the positive side of my state and region.
My message to all is.... Be You ! Do You ! Shine !
You never know who you will touch !


LINK TO INTERVIEW -  Author Carl Purdon

http://www.carlpurdon.blogspot.com/2013/04/10-questions-patricia-dorsey.html



I, also, recently received a note from a Facebook friend who had just received her books in the mail. She wrote:

"Thank you for these lovely gifts to pass down to my Children's, Children someday of their Momma's Roots. I appreciate your Gift of writing such vivaciously of our Rich Heritage and Homeland."

~*~ LINKS TO MY BOOKS ON AMAZON ~*~  ........

Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems

 

My Magnolia Memories and Musings- In Poems