Zain Mackey

Life Artist

Awareness

Interrupting the Play

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I have a confession to make. I can be a bit of a troublemaker. It’s put me in some dicey and some hilarious situations. When I was in college, I went to a lot of the campus theatrical productions. It was super cheap, usually good entertainment and a place to explore new ideas. Occasionally there

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Playing the Copa

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When my friend Michele and I went to Brazil, we didn’t really know what to expect. It was a wonderful experience and we learned and relearned things. Like… what it’s like to be in a country where you don’t speak the language and you go out to eat; how we Americans see race and color

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The Stumble Inn

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My sister Mary and her husband Angus, fluent speakers of Portuguese, went to Brazil for months every year. One year they asked if I’d like to meet them there. I was thrilled. My friend Michele asked me, “Can I come too?” Next thing I know, we’re booking tickets. I think we got 15 different shots

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Aliceville Breakfast

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We were in Aliceville, Alabama at a blues festival and we were hungry. . Half my family is from the South and when I get back down there the deep southern comes out in my accent. Suddenly I remember phrases from long ago visits with the grandparents and start dropping endings and drawling my words

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Maybe Zombies are Just Sleep Deprived

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For some reason I’m not sleeping. That is, I am sleeping but in only 1-2 hour increments. I’ve tried melatonin, virgin hot toddies, sleep meditations, 1.5Hz binaural beats specifically for sleep. Still every hour or so I’m up, wide awake. I’ve tried relaxing all the parts of my body, one by one, placing a heated

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Convince me. Do Deer Really Have Brains?

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When you live in the country 30 minutes from town, there’s a good chance something will leap, fly, scurry, slither or saunter across the road in front of you. Deer are a real problem. Coming home one evening, I was just crossing an area of open fields when a huge buck leapt out in front

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Brief History of The O2R Blues Band and Me

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Let me tell you an origin story. A blues band origin story. What did you do when you were a kid that you still do now? For me it’s singing and loving music. My sister taught me St. Louis Blues when I was 5 but I was singing before that. I know lyrics from musicals,

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Mom and Nako the Snake

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I once lived in an apartment with 3 other women, all of us under 5’4” which we considered important. These women are still my lifelong friends although only two of us live near one another. Still, we are all wrapped up in one another’s history. These were great times. We had a lot of dinner

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Psst…..kid. Wanna make a deal?

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I admit to a streak of wildness. Sometimes this gets me into situations where I find amazing talents for tasks I never thought I’d even enjoy. Like lifting weights or riding a tandem bike. I’ve also done things that ended up being really risky. And afterward I usually say, “It seemed like a good idea

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How I never saw Jaws

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I’m not a fan of horror flicks or even movies with too much suspense. I can’t stand it and I can’t “un-see” or forget scary stuff. I get nightmares for years. I forgot to mention this little quirk of mine long ago when I met Richard. I was much less confident then. He asked me out

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Do you see colors when you’re mad?

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“Nobody loves me, Everybody hates me, I’m goin’ out’n eat worms!” Here’s why. I’m stubborn and I have a bad temper when provoked. When I was a little kid and I was angry, I’d go up to my room and march back and forth. The movement helped me to blow off steam, but the family downstairs

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