Kansas grew a pornstar…

Often my travels take me up the interstates, over the hills, across the rivers, and, sometimes to the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere is quite likely somewhere close to home for many great people. Because I am a curious person, I like to probe around and see exactly who claims to be at home in the middle and just to the lower left of nowhere.
Recently I looked up from a useless iphone game that kept me mindlessly entertained while riding with coworkers to see the Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas. Row on row of stark white markers role over the green berms and contours of the Kansas hills; nothing demands more respect. Unless, of course you look up the path to the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center where generations of soldiers shuffle, slide, and wheel with well-deserved dignity through the hallways and wards. Some have obvious scars and wounds; others disguise the marks left from serving among Uncle Sam’s best.
I couldn’t get to Google quick enough. I needed to know more about the grounds of the VA hospital, the vacant domiciles, the chapel, and the history. I needed to probe the details and trivial information of Wikipedia.
What I found: Wow. I could walk the 28 blocks of downtown historic shopping or visit the carousel museum. Sounds like a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon or a Tuesday morning. I perused the data stats to find the median age is 35 years young, 75% white (Anglo), 25 public parks, the largest Jewish community in Kansas due the military, and a farmer’s market from May to October. So much to see but I am intrigued by the institutions that call Leavenworth, Kansas home and more so by the residence of those institutions.
Right down to the High School that started the first ROTC program in the country, this is a noteworthy town of about 36,000 middle class people; middle American at its best and perhaps its worst.
Leavenworth is home to the oldest of three major prisons built on federal land in the county. The massively substantial rectangular building with a centered prominent dome is nicknamed ‘the Big House’ or ‘the Big Top’ according to Wikipedia. The wall surrounding the nearly 23 acre grounds is 40 feet tall and 40 feet below the surface. I didn’t get up to the building, the wall or even the parking lot without seeing the razor wire upon razor wire twisted upon chain-link and more razor wire.
This medium security HOOSCOW is has been home to ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ and ‘King Tone’, Racecar drivers, dog fighters, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., the bird man of Alcatraz, and the Psychiatrist/officer responsible for the death of 13 at The Great Place of Texas in 2009.
I can’t help to find this interesting but the county of Leavenworth is birthplace or home to some impressive noncriminal constituents as well. Perhaps just before the turn of the 20th century you might have seen Hilda Clark jumping rope on the streets of Leavenworth but in 1895 she was the face on the Coca-Cola tin trays. I am not familiar with his works YET, but Americana vocalist and guitarist, Adam Gnade is also a native of the prison county.
Maybe you have heard of Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody, Melissa Etheridge and Charlie Daniels, and no less than professional skateboarder, Sean Malto. Who knew so much fame spurred from the heart of America?
Leavenworth is also home to the US Military’s only maximum-security prison for men court-martialed for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (my vocabulary is expanding daily); enlisted prisoner, commissioned officers, and those convicted of crimes related to national security. I am now interested in seeing the film, The Last Castle, starring Robert Redford, which dramatically depicts an inmate verses warden conflict at the United States Disciplinary Barracks.
Perhaps more interesting than those who have lived and died in the USDB of Fort Leavenworth, are those who remain in the Military Prison Cemetery because they were unclaimed or refused by family.
In my line of work we might call this blog nothing more than a data dump of information but before you drop interested in the details of my Kansas Spring tour let me tell you about the pornstar.
Today’s adventures led me just northwest of Wichita (home of Don Johnson, Kirstie Alley, and ‘Gone with the Wind’ actress Hattie McDaniel) to the Arkansas River City of Hutchinson, Kansas.
No lack of notoriety here. Excavated underground salt mines are used to house master archival copies of ‘the Wizard of Oz’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, and ‘Star Wars’. The salt mining of Hutch was featured in Season 2 of ‘Dirty Jobs’ and Season 17 of ‘Modern Marvels’.
But the fun doesn’t stop there for Hutch.
Kelly Jackson is now 46 years old and lives in Vegas but in 1987 she was probably finishing her senior year at Hutchinson High School. She may have very well attended her senior prom that year and because I too am a product of the 80’s I can only imagine the dress she wore.
The information on the internet refers to her as Racquel Darrian, American Indian pornographic actress featured in 100+ adult movies and Penthouse and Playboy magazines but I guess I am interested in knowing a bit more about Kelly; who are her siblings? Was she in FFA in high school or campfire in grade school? Did she go to Vacation Bible School in the summer or on family trips to the mountains? Did she have a pink bicycle with a banana seat? Did her daddy take her fishing? Did she wear braces to correct her overbite? Does she still visit family in Hutch around the holidays? What’s her favorite color? Does she stay in touch with the girls that graduated with her in 1987?
I mostly wonder if she’s like me at all.

Kiss my GRITS!

In arranging my travels for work I have developed a tendency to go with what I know over the diverse options. I tend to stay at Marriott hotels over the local small chains and history stricken venues. I usually rent cars from National as opposed to Alamo or Avis or whoever because I know their rituals and routines not because they have better cars or lower prices. When I book flights I like to fly Delta. I like their check in process; I like that they are at Terminal A where I always park on the 6th level facing south. Additional between the TSA check point and the A terminals there is a Starbucks; I like that for the early morning and late afternoon flights. This week, as I maneuvered the corporate travel site, I had a scheduling challenge that pushed me into booking my flight with United. Hey, I am flexible. I can be adaptable and United is a contender. This was not a compromise just a change. Terminal B, 6th level parking facing north and a Starbucks en route; it’s all good!

As I approached the gate with a time to spare I stopped for a vanilla latte’ and a cinnamon scone. In line behind a beautiful lady; mid 40’s, short stylish hair, conservative business dress, practical luggage and mild southern accent; she apologizes for not pushing quickly and gracefully through the line with her 1990’s hunter green roller board carryon bags.

“No worries,” I said smiling at her.

Her response, “I feel like one of Charlie’s Angels today.”

Thoughts began to stumble around in my mind. I pictured Farrah Faucet feathered hair, bellbottom pants and handguns. I scanned the terminal for a resemblance of the show. I immediately started quizzing myself on my trivial knowledge of the very popular, trend setting show of the late 70’s, “Bosley, that was the guy’s name.” I thought to myself and gave myself a loud and dramatic mental high five!

Kate Jackson was my favorite on the show. I liked her voice; it was raspy and her input was practical and solid. Also, she was attractive in a not so Farrah Faucet kind of way. Really that is all I can remember about these lady MacGyver’s. I can’t remember a single episode or catch phrase.

I remember all the ladies of Gilligan’s Island; Ginger, Maryann, Lovie. I remember the nonsense and the theme song and many failed attempts to escape the island and the natives that lived there. I remember Crissy and Janet of Three’s Company and their silly ‘Lucy and Ethel’ antics. I can snort like Crissy. I can but I don’t. I watch many episodes of Eight is Enough but I don’t remember their names. I can list all of Liv Walton’s children and the girls from Little House on the Prairie: many of these wholesome storylines are embedded deep within my gray matter.

If my line mate at the Terminal B Starbucks had said, I feel like Nelly Olsen, without hesitation I would know exactly what she meant. I would pity the barista and be concerned for myself. I might even giggle a little when I thought about the grief she would give the Minnesota bound flight crew. But Charlie Angels?

"Charlie’s Angels, huh?” I responded.
“Yeah, I just have to pick a lock with a bobby pin!” she laughed at the thought.
“That sounds glamorous. I was thinking ‘Mel’s Diner’ at best” Yes, Mel’s Diner; I can wrap my mind around; no glam there. Egg, Coffee, order up! And Kiss my Grits! It’s that kind of day!

I think he killed.

He killed them. It just occurred to me as I was in the bathroom with my striped flannel pajamas down around my ankles, in my oversized T-shirt. It was probably close to 1 o'clock in the morning. I was disgusted by my own toenails; the need for pedicure; the chipped nail polish. That's when it hit me. He killed both of them. He killed his father and his stepmother. He planned it all out; staged carefully like a one act play. Or did he? I'm trying to remember his reaction. I'm trying to remember exactly how he handled the situation. Did he seem overwhelmed with grief? Did he appear to be mourning the death of his family? It's been nearly ten years. I can't remember. I don't even remember his eyes with tears. I don't remember redness or swelling. I don't remember him sad or crying. I remember that when he came back into the lab I said "I'm so sorry about your family. I'm so sorry about your dad." And he said, " yeah." I remember he said something about abscessed teeth. That both of them had abscessed teeth. I guess at the time that didn't seem odd at all. I guess I thought that was just his way of explaining what had happen. I'm not sure now. I'm not sure at all. I think he killed them. Great, this hotel has the cheapest toilet paper!