Val Strate

Three words... Rocky Mountain Oysters That's all I'm saying. Val

Gee MaryAnne! I'd hate to be wearing that in a snow storm. I'm glad Brian doesn't pick out the Wildlife department's uniforms because, I might be left with just a fig leaf, a pair of antlers and a sling shot! Ding dang budget cuts suck! It'd be Howdy Nudey Time! Val

You can post it if you want to. I really don't care but it is funny. If you don't want to post it, can you at least send me a copy of it. I'd like to hang that little diddy on my door or wall, just for something to give me giggles when I need it. Thanks Val

Whadja take it down for! *laughs* It was cute! You just took me off guard and made me turn red, but heck that ain't hard to do... Thanks Brian... You're a nut. Val

*Turns around slowly and is completely red in the face from embarrassment.* Like I said before... You never know where he's gonna pop up.

Oooooh deer, (yes I mean deer not dear, just ask Doc about that inside joke.)... Yeah, thanks for pointing that little typo out to me tanya. I did mean brain. However if you do hang around here long enough, you will realize that it is possible to get 'brian' damage. I'm a perfect example of it! *grins wide* I'm suprised that you're the only one who caught that. Thanks, and hopefully it's not brought to attention but now since you mentioned it, probably now is... So I think now, I really may get 'brian damage'. *looks around carefully* You never know where he's gonna pop up! He could be anywhere! *whispers* Yes, sometimes I do switch letters around. Even though I am able to be very creative, I lack in spelling skills sometimes. Thank the Lord above for spell check! The best thing ever invented since sliced bread! So yes, the Game Warden is human... at least we think so, or are we part monkey? Who knows, who cares... But thanks for the edit. Val

You have good picks on your Christmas list. Any of those items would make a nice gift. However, my list is less material... and Santa probably can't grant any of it but it'd be great if he could.... Valerie's Christmas list... A boyfriend... Has to be average to tall in height, brown or blond hair preferred, eye color don't matter either but we like blue eyes. Likes long walks, to laugh, studying agriculture or biology, dancing, country and rock music, movies, Dukes of Hazzard, cars (gotta be a Chevy man), football, playing sandlot with his girlfriend, and hanging out with his girlfriend... Oh, and likes his girlfriend's cows too, (that's a must!). To lose fifty pounds... clothes fit better and I'll feel better. Santa can give the extra weight to someone else for the holiday, not me. A bachelor degree by the time I'm 30... That way I can find a decent job in life and help find my place in the world. A decent roommate next year... One I can party with and stay up later with. To spend Christmas Eve with my family, be able to attend church services and not have to work. To be able to spend some holiday time with some of my friends, whether they are from online, or from work, or old acquaintances, I don't want a lonely, workaholic holiday season. To not get too injured while going drunken sledding with my brother, and hopefully there is enough snow this year for at least one time to break out the toboggan and a case of Bud light! To have enough energy and enthusiasm to put up a tree this year. Also to get these ding danged banjos out of my head! But most of all have a happy holiday season... But if there was one material thing that you didn't list up above Bo Duke girl that I would thoroughly enjoy... Is this... Tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert! Val

Ok, those are both freaky... I got one as well but it's not as creepy but still gives some chills when I think about it and makes me curious to this day. Durring the summer months I work at a bar on an island in one of the country's 'Great Lakes'. It was August of last year and I was told I had to stay with one of my bosses so that the band that was playing at the bar had a place to stay the weekend on the island. So I stayed with the kitchen manager at that time at her place. It was this old victorian home that was on the edge of the island located right on the water's edge. The house was very stylish and when you walked in you could tell how old it was and how well kept the owners have taken care of it over the years. However, when you walked it... it made you feel cold and it seemed quiet inside. When I first arrived there, my boss was at work and told me where the place was and how to get there and where my room was in the house. I remember walking into the house and stepping on the floor boards and hearing the creeking noise. The house just seemed too quiet and too neat, almost unnatural the way it seemed so prestine. I walked down the hall to the back screened in porch and relax until I had to go into work. I opened my flip phone and sat down on the wicker furniture and called one of my best friends. We started talking and she then asked me in a concerned tone, "Where are you?" I told her I was at my boss's house and that I was staying there for the weekend until the band was gone. Now I don't know how many of you do this when you're talking on the phone but I'm one of them that likes to get up and wander around when I talk on the phone. I decided to get up from the sofa and walk up the steps to the upstairs when my friend on the other line stopped and asked again saying my first name this time, "Where are you? You're being watched." I wrinkled my nose at this and looked around, a chill went up and down my spine at the words as I stood on the steps, "I told you... I'm at my boss's house. I'm alone. How can I be watched? That's silly." "You're being watched. I'd be careful if I were you. And move off that step... You're making someone mad." she told me over the phone. I looked around and at the staircase I was on and proceded up stairs to the landing. Looked around and continued to talk but then walked back down the steps and on the same step my friend warned me again, "Get off of the step. You're irriating someone." I look around the house and go, "Who! There is nobody here! I told you I'm alone." However, I was kind of freaked out feeling from my friend's warnings and the erie silence of the house. It was soon getting time for me to go into work and so I got ready and drove my old blue pickup that the bar owner let's me drive when I'm on the island back to the bar. I walked into the bar kitchen and met my boss and asked her about the duties of the day when a co-worker passed by and asked if I seen any ghosts. I looked back confused and answered no, why would I see any ghosts. Come to find out, the house is supposely haunted. In the early nineteen hundreds when steamboats traveled the Great Lakes, a steamboat captian and his family lived in that house. He was in a race one night and fired up the boiler too hot and the boat exploded. Supposely the wife was waiting for him to come home and was pacing up and down the steps and seen the boat explode as it passed by on the lake when she was on the steps. The house has had reports of pictures falling off walls or the sound of pictures falling off the wall and you walk into the room where the crash is and nothing is out of place. The wife's spirit also is known to open windows and doors after you close them at night. Val

It's that time of year again! Nameless Hazzard Holiday! Remember to yell at the moon, run around all dressed in black and don't forget the chant! OH-WHA-A-FOOOO-AMI! Yep, it's that crazy time of year again. Happy Birthday, Brian! Let him eat cake!!!

Dang right! It's all about the Chevys baby! *laughs* Now if only he gets a pigtailed girl friend that drives a dark green Chevelle, that would be cool. *chuckles* The fun thing about this show is it can go where ever the writers want it to. There are no real bounds or limits with their creativity on this one and the audience has no preconceived notions as to what exactly is going to happen next. The writers to this show are obviously very talented and give the viewer some familiarity on ghosts and demons, from prior shows or common wive's tale knowledge about specters but still there are new things that they put in there to twist it up and make the show refreshing and cool. Well, I really look forward to seeing more and watching on Thursday. Val

Ok, anyone see the season opener of SN? Wow! There were too many tense moments in that ep. but who would ever thought that the dad scarifices himself for his son? Plus, how cute was Dean in those jammies! Just for fun, I'd love to see a show of hands girls on how many of us wanted to tear that t-shirt off of Dean? *Raises hand high* The drama, the suspence and the Ouija board? I love the slumber party comment, reminded me of someone else who might say that if he was in Dean's predictament. Well, I can't wait to see what's up with the new season, new episode this Thursday guys and gals! Valerie M. Strate

Brian's right. Do what you can in school now and you won't have to pay for it as bad later in life. I know myself because right now I am in college. However I'm not a traditional student and I never will be. I've spent more time in the classroom than I wanted to because I didn't get straight A's. I'm finding now certian subjects I hated in Jr. high and high school that were my downfall are one's I'm lacking in now. I find myself often times wishing I would have spent 15 to 30 more minutes on my homework when I was younger and I might not have as much problem. I might have gotten straight A's, instead of the B's and sometimes C's. Plus, if I would have gotten straight A's in high school, I may not be under as much stress as I am now, trying to pay for my schooling. College's do give out full rides for egg-heads, no joke. Ask a friend of mine who graduated with me with a 4.0 and is a Chemical Engineer making close to 6 figures and I'm scrapping by. However, I also look at my life's journey as this is how the good Lord is testing me. My brother who works at a nursing home which is ran by nuns told me this after he got the advice from one of them; God doesn't give you more than you can't handle. You can get through this and this too shall pass. I realize that some of my life experiences wouldn't have ever taken place if I never took this route of education in life. College, is a journey of getting out of the 'nest' and into the wide blue yonder. If you dream of taking this step and route in life, go for it and do what you can to make it happen.... No matter what it takes. Never say die. Valerie M. Strate

Here are some ways to get kicked out of Chemistry lab. Pretend you have an electron stuck in your ear and inisist on describing the sound it makes to everyone in the class. When everyone is quiet and working, scream out, "My eyes!" Insist that there is no such thing as chemicals. Say you're algeric to protons. Drop cheetos in the liquid nitrogen.

Twilight was now setting in, and the posse was now formed. This was the calm before the finally show down. As the wagon train pulled out of town and left the small militia behind on the Sheriff’s office porch steps, Enos couldn’t help but think about what lay ahead. MaryAnne and Sheriff Rosco kept the order and law in Hazzard. He was always proud to call Hazzard home and see the families that lived and worked in and around the town, come and go into town for supplies, the children walking to school, and Sunday morning church services followed by a lazy day. To watch the faces of the mothers, sons, and daughters pass by leaving the comfort and security of the town he so loved, became depressing. A chord was struck inside when he seen a wagon pass by with a small sandy haired little girl that looked too young to go to school yet drop her rag doll in the dirt. She started to cry and leaned out the back of the wagon, “My dolly! Susie! Daddy, we can’t leave Susie!†Her mother pulled her back inside the wagon and tried to explain and comfort her daughter, telling her they had to leave the dolly behind. The wagon train couldn’t wait for a child’s toy. In any minute Blackjack and his gang would come storming in, guns a blazing and ravage the town. Enos swallowed hard at the mental image of his home being burned to the ground. After the group of civilians moved out of the street and were almost to the edge of town, the male deputy walked out to the dirt road and picked up the little rag doll. He brought it back to his horse and opened his saddle bag, slipping the doll inside whispering to the doll, “Don’t worry Susie… I’ll make sure you get back home and your little owner does too.†Valerie came up to her brother’s side and squeezed his shoulder gently, “That’s Jeb Arron’s little girl’s doll.†He nodded solemnly recognizing the local’s name. “You alright?†Val asked calmly. “If that yellow bellied cur thinks robbing, raping and ravaging a town is a way to prove he a man, he should spend a day farming in the fields or earning an honest day’s wage.†Snapping lightly as he spoke infuriated at the very thought of the villain. Valerie knew her brother’s frustration, “That’s why we’re doing this… so he won’t rob, rape, and ravage this town. So his rein of terror comes to an end and we all can sleep at night.†“Val, this isn’t how I expected you to spend your visit to Hazzard. I wish you and I had time to relax and talk. It’s been a while since you joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s travelin’ show.†Enos regretfully explained. “Blame it on Blackjack, don’t blame yourself.†Valerie smiled then gave her brother a wink, “Besides, who says it’s just a visit?†His eyes lit up at the possibility of his sister staying home, “But what about the rodeo show?†She shrugged, “I traveled my share. I think I’m ready to settle down now.†The elated look in Enos’s eyes gave Valerie a warm feeling of confidence. “Look, I won’t be staying anywhere if we don’t get it together Enos. We got a town to defend.†He knew his sister was right. As he was about to answer her, the sound of horse hooves coming closer could be heard in the distance. A couple of silhouettes of riders and horses could be seen on the darkening horizon entering town. “Is that….?†He swallowed afraid that the time for battle was now. (Cue Bo or Luke Duke)

Here's an article I found about a Duke's fan and his car. Val http://www.starbeacon.com/homepage/local_story_254101322

I have an idear here. I'm going to try this tonight but I don't know when I'm gonna finish. I would like to see what others would come up with as well if they tried this. What about a song challenge? Write a story with created or orginal Dukes characters. Make it a story that follows or uses the words of one of the following songs. Sometimes short stories are best for this but long would probably work too. Here's some songs to pick from: Nickleback: Savin' Me Far Away Next Contestant Faith Hill: Sunshine and Summertime Fireflies Like we never loved at all Simon & Garfunkle: Sound of Silence Homeward Bound Willie Nelson: The Party's Over Blackjack County Chains Mr. Record Man Now here is a crazy one for you, Tee hee; Pink Floyd: Breathe Brian Damage (Granted Pink Floyd is kind of out there but you could have some pretty cool images with those songs. Just follow the fanfic guide lines as to how you write. I mean who says you have to follow the country genre) Pick one and look at writting a small snap shot of a time with some of the cast. Maybe next month I'll put up some other song ideas. To help you write out a story, find the song and the lyrics on the internet. Good luck. Val

Today was a good day. My family shows show cattle, breeding stock cattle to be exact. Today was our county fair's beef show and we took Resv. Champion in our breed class. I was showing the winning heifer and she behaved very well in the arena. This was the first time in about two years that I actually touched a cattle halter or a show stick and showed a cow. I have been away at college and work, trying very hard to find my place in the world. When I was with those heifer's working with them getting them ready in the morning for the show, I could feel the experience I've had with cattle all come rushing back to me. It was like ridding a bike; I never forgot how to do it. For anyone who doesn't know about showing livestock there are certain rules and etiquette you follow in the show barn. Also when you show animals, you must be calm, attentive, and confident. You have to show the judge you know this animal and you believe that this animal is the best in the ring, even if you know it isn't. As a cattle showman, you have to walk with an air about yourself that speaks who you are and why you are here. The world of showing cattle has its own cultures, own customs and own taboos. It's a society all it's own that is hidden away in country culture. Someone who shows pigs can't just walk into the beef barn and be accepted among the cattle showing peers. No, a cattle showman earns their stripes. Today, after I got dressed in my attire to show, a plaid cotton shirt, a pair of western boots called 'lacers' that have metal rose plates on the top of them, and in my tightest pair of wrangle jeans I had, I felt the part. I talked to my old cattle buddies like I never left. I was accepted back into the circle again and regarded as one of them again. I noticed even the subtle change in the influx ions in my voice, the vocabulary I used and the way I walked. I strutted around the barn and people waved to me and remembered who I was again. The ring man (the guy who runs the show for the judge and helps the cattle and showmen find their places in the arena) was my old agricultural instructor and mentor on cattle, gave me a very cordial hello. I was a showman today and I never felt such passion come back to my veins as it did when I was in the ring today. I felt beautiful, smart, sexy, confident, witty, and charming and a whole other list of adjectives I could name off. I guess the point of all this is that to find true passion in something you love is such a rare thing. Someone told me to find my passion and go to it. Don't let time or money stand in the way of your dreams. Today, I remembered what gave me joy in my life. Today, I found passion again...

Ok, I know I'm really late but I've been away from internet access for a while. As far as my experience, it was my first time this year and I hope it's not my last. I met a whole bunch of friends whom have so much in common with myself, love of the Dukes and all things country. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my entire life and I love to laugh. I'm a very giggly person. I felt that the experience alone was worth the drive down. I only got to meet one cast member and get an autograph which I feel very privilaged and lucky for just that one. I could have ended up with none. It's alright tho' because it gives me something to look forward to next year, plus there are always car shows to get autographs at. The important thing for me was the shows. I loved the entertainment and the car shows. I will forever enjoy those moments along with spending time with other Dukefans. So I end my statement on this note... I can still hear those banjos in my head. Valerie M. Strate

You might be a redneck if you hear 'banjos in your head'! Tee hee hee! Val ;D

Hey ya'll. Cricket use to be green but then I gave him a maroon paint job. I'm getting a little tired of the maroon. What do you think about me changing him back to green again?

Ok, so I'm working on some paper work in my room on my computer, having lunch at the same time ravioli and breadsticks. Yummy! Then after I finish up what I was working on and my lunch I decide to take a nap. I talked to one of my friends online earlier and told her to call me in about an hour after my nap. Now mind you I live with a roommate and my roommate was at her machine working on stuff while I layed down on my bunk of the bunkbed. So I'm napping and I get these weird dreams of me working in a sushi shop. There is this old japanese guy that runs the place and my roommate is a co-worker of mine. We get done with our shift at the sushi shop then we go home. When we get home, I lay down on my bed with the cell phone and start talking to my friend that I was talking to online before this dream started. We have a long conversation then I finally feel myself falling asleep in my dream and I tell my friend goodbye and hang up the cell. Then I realize there is a strange person in my room and I shout at my roommate about who the person. She ignores me and the person walks out of the room. Some more random events happen and I finally for real wake up to the ringtone of my cell phone. I get up and answer the phone. My roommate has left the room. On the phone it's my friend from online and she asks me how was my nap. I'm like.... OOOoooyyyy, boy do I have a story for you. I told her all about it and it was funny. My roommate finally comes back and I ask her, "Was I talking at all during my nap?" My roommate answers, "Yeah, you said my name a couple of times. Infact you shouted it and you also told (my online friend's name) you had to go because you needed to get some sleep and then said goodbye." I turned about five shades of red. Boy, that's the last time I eat ravioli and then take a nap! Anybody else have weird dreams like that?

Happy Birthday MA! Hope you have a great one and lots of fun at it too! Oh by the way, the squirrles in Hazzard woods send their best wishes too!

Hello there all dwellers of Hazzard County! This is an educational minute brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Game Warden and the Hazzard County Department of Wildlife. Today I took a tour of a botanical garden and much to my suprise I found a very odd species of tree. Now... Can anyone tell me where the Luke Tree is? Hee hee... I hope ya'll liked that one. Val

One of my favorites is The Hazzard Connection. The boys try to get out of Enos why Rosco's having him tailing them. Luke puts the car that him, Enos and Bo are riding in into the pond. Bo: Enos you ok? Enos with his eyes closed tight: I don't know... I can't tell. I'm scared to open my eyes. What do ya'll see out there? Little naked babies with harps and wings or a bunch of red fellers with horns and pitch forks? Luke: Hey! *taps Enos on the shoulder* Enos jumps: Aaaahhh! Luke: Would you settle for a lap full of pond water and tad poles? Most of the time the best moments with Enos were often not what he 'said'. It's how Sonny delievered Enos's lines and facial expressions that made the moments with him all the more funnier. Plus, if you notice the background music would change when Enos would step on the screen. It would be funny sometimes just to watch his reactions along with the music.

FYI, The second and first reunions can be found sometimes played on CMT. That's how I got to see them. I enjoyed both reunion movies. I'll agree some things were, eh... a little off for me, can't place my finger on them though. However, I felt both reunions were 10 times better than the recreation that Miss Jessica was in.