Category: 100 Facts

Lookin’ like a tramp, like a video vamp

Fact 6: I’ve been in several music videos.

Back in the 90’s, I was in a few music videos. The first, Diamond Rio’s “This Romeo Ain’t Got Julie Yet,” filmed on May 29, 1993 and our part was “concert footage” from a show they did at Six Flags Over Texas. That one technically doesn’t count, but I don’t care. 😉

Video number two is the video I can best be seen in. August 15, 1993, the band Little Texas was in town, filming the video for “God Blessed Texas.” There was an open casting call, so I picked up a friend and the two of us headed down to South Fork Ranch to take part. The scenes in front of South Fork, our assisgned spots were sitting on the fence next to the band. We were also placed in charge of the water cooler, so between takes, we were getting water for all the guys. I’ll include a few pictures from the video behind the cut.

Me & Tim Rushlow
Me & Brady Seals

The following pics are from my scenes of the video itself. In the first pic, I’ve got an arrow pointing to me. See those BRIGHT blue pants? That’s me. In the pic beside it.. I’m the brunette *directly* behind the guitarist’s (Porter) head. So, if you ever see the video, just keep your eyes open and look behind Porter whenever they’re in front of the South Fork Mansion. You’ll find me & my bright blue pants sitting on the fence.




Three years later, on May 31, 1996, I spent roughly 6 hours of the day at Billy Bob’s Texas filming another video. This time the artist was Bryan White, and the song was “So Much For Pretending.” All of the up-close indoors footage in that video was shot that day. You can semi-see me in a few places, mostly though it’s just my hand or hair that you see. While I might be seen better in the “God Blessed Texas” video, “So Much For Pretending” was my favorite shoot. We had so much fun joking around with everyone between takes, and I came away from that with a lot of new friends; both fans and members of Bryan’s band.

The last video was Colin Raye’s “I Can Still Feel You”. That video was shot May 11, 1998 in Nashville, Tn. My friend and I were sitting at a bar, watching a band play, while Colin walks through the establishment trying to find his lost love. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the video, I don’t recall if you can really see us or not. We found out later that if we hadn’t taken our time getting back to Dallas, we could’ve been in yet another video. Brad Hawkins filmed the video for “I’m The One” here in town, and the shoot was open to all the local fan club members. Oh well, I’m lucky enough that I was in the ones I was. 🙂

We don’t need no preacher man

Fact 5: My parents got married on their fourth date.

Yes, fourth as in date number 4. It was also the 4th time they had physically met in person. Back in 1972, my dad was stationed at an Air Force base in England, not overly far from where my mother lived. (I can’t remember which base, and I’m too lazy to go ask.) Mom and dad had been penpals, then on his weekend leave each month, they would meet and go out on a date. So their fourth date was also 4 months into their relationship. They were married in a civil registrar’s office on May 3, 1972. Mom was 19 at the time, and my dad had just turned 29. They lived together in England for a year while my dad finished out his service. In 1973, they came to the States and moved to the country out in East Texas. One year later they welcomed me into the world. 😉

When my dad passed away, they were 1 month shy of their 30th wedding anniversary. And not once in that nearly 30 years did they ever seem like they were going to get a divorce.

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

Fact 4: I had LASIK surgery, for free.

I’m going to kind of steal from Emily for today’s fact. 😉

Fact 4: I had LASIK surgery, for free.

I can’t recall exactly when, but at the beginning of 1999, but one of the top LASIK surgeons was having one of those informational seminars about the procedure. (And with a good surgeon, not just one of the LASIK farms where they purport to be “good” because they’ve done 10 billion procedures. With my surgeon I was a person, and not just another number on the assembly line.) I’d done quite a bit of research on the surgery already, so there was no new info covered in the seminar. The only reason I attended was because they were giving out a prize of free surgery to someone in attendance. After sitting through the entire seminar, they put everyone’s names in a bowl, gave it a good shake, and then drew a name. My name. I think my heart stopped for a few seconds as realization sunk in that I had actually won.

I had a couple of consultation appointments after that, and then about 2 weeks later I had my surgery. My younger brother took me to the hospital for the surgery (and if memory serves correctly, he got a speeding ticket when we were less than 1 mile from the hospital) and my mother picked me up afterwards. They had given me a valium to help me relax, but I honestly didn’t notice any difference pre- and post-medication. The surgery itself didn’t last long at all; it takes longer in prep-time than the actual LASIK.

The weirdest part was when they cut into the cornea to create the flap of tissue. A vacuum-type device is used on the eye to hold it completely still, and while that is on, your vision goes completely black. It didn’t hurt at all, but it was weird. They fold that flap back after creating it, to give the laser access to the corneal stroma and reshape it. That takes just a matter of seconds, while the beam of the laser is focused on the eye. I think the laser part only took 15-30 seconds, it wasn’t long at all. After that the flap of corneal tissue was put back into place, and they put one of those clear plastic protectors over your eye area to protect it and repeat the process on the other eye.

The little plastic protectors have holes in them to allow air-flow to the eyes so they don’t dry out, and they made me feel like I had bug eyes. After the surgery it was back out to the waiting room where mom was waiting, and then straight home. I could already see clearly and perfectly (through the air holes in my “goggles”) immediately after the surgery. I was amazed the entire drive home on all the things I could now see &/or read, like street signs and license plates. I had a mild headache post-op (which is natural as the eyes adjust), so I took two Advil and slept the rest of the day away. My follow up procedure the next morning confirmed what I already sensed – my vision did indeed improve to 20/20.

A trip to my eye doctor earlier this year proved that my vision is still 20/20, 6 years later. The cut lines on the cornea are also almost imperceptible. My ophthalmologist was very impressed with how well my eyes looked and were holding up. He said that’s the exact reason he recommends the surgeon I used – patients have a better history of post-op eye health with him and fewer problems, than they do at any of the LASIK-farms where they push you through. I’m just pleased that I was able to have the surgery, and that it went so well. It was something I’d wanted since I first heard about it; but I never would have been able to afford it. If I hadn’t won, I’d likely still have contacts or glasses that I’d refuse to wear.