#Lashonda

[scrollsofhumanlife]

Denise LaShonda Davis with her husband Luther

Born February 23 1973

Humble, Texas

[fyblackwomenart]

LaShonda Night by Stephen Harkola

[moodytraits]

The Dobson’s

The Parents

Lashonda Dobson 54, Pisces

traits: erratic, spiritual, and vegan

backstory- met her husband tyreek during a episode of soul train and fell in love and they were inseparable until tyreek infidelity came to light and she was acknowledged with that he fathered a child with another women. the betrayal was devastating sending her into a tailspin of heartache and spiritual confusion. despite her efforts of trying to salvage their relationship the betrayal left her with unspeakable trauma causing her to drink and smoke until this day, but lashonda heart and spirit remains pure. she continues to inspire and love those around her even through her darkest days.

Tyreek Dobson 57, Taurus

traits: music lover, dance machine, and self absorbed

backstory- met lashonda his separated but married wife from soul train despite being one of the shows power couples tyreek struggled with temptations that came with the fame. he became caught up with the fast paced lifestyle. after he left soul train he transitioned into being a producer but it was short lived because he kept having affairs with his up and coming artists causing one of them to become pregnant. tyreek was torn between his obligations as a father and his desire to salvage what was left of his relationship with lashonda but things didn’t work out. he’s now a mentor for young dancers and aspiring artists. he remains a hustler at heart and is still trying to get his name out there!

[shinysparklesapphires]

THE FUNNIEST THING ABOUT MY DEADNAME IS THAT MY MOM NAMED ME AFTER HER GRANDMA (Who’s white btw) AND MY FRIEND FOUND OUT MY MIDDLE NAME AND WAS LIKE “dawg that is the whitest middle name ever”, I WAS NAMED AFTER A WHITE WOMAN DAWG YOU THINK HER NAME WAS LASHONDA OR SUMTHIN?

[bigtimesinsmallspaces]

Post 7: Springing into Glenwood Springs

The ride into Glenwood Springs was a joy and not just because we were enjoying a great breakfast in the dining car. Utah indeed looked like all the pictures I had ever seen of Utah. Now that sounds like a crazy sentence— but when you’ve seen pictures of something all your life but never seen it for real— it’s almost overwhelming when it looks just as you had imagined— only better. So there we are barreling toward Glenwood Springs and watching Utah roll by. As we crossed into Colorado the train ran parallel to the Colorado River.

Having fully enjoyed 24 hours of Part One Zephyr, featuring the high life of sleeper sleeping and diner car dining, we were nonetheless happy to de-board, say a fond goodbye to LaShonda and other Zephyr Part One friends, and hop off the train.

We were excited to visit Glenwood Springs, a resort town in the Rocky Mountains featuring the “world’s largest hot spring pool”. Folks, we are talking about untreated therapeutic water. After sleeping several nights sitting up (or on a 2 inch mattress), just who doesn’t dream of geothermal soaking in 125 degree healing water or strolling into vapor filled underground caverns breathing in air featuring 34 minerals and trace elements of sulfate, nitrate, zinc, and potassium?

We walked directly from the station to the Yampah Spa Vapor Caves. Quoting from the Yampah brochure:

“Enter a realm where the ancient whispers of Mother Earth cradle you in warm, mineral rich vapors . . . and invite you to surrender to the ethereal dance of steam that detoxifies your body and caresses your senses, leaving you in a state of peaceful abandonment.”

Now that I have waxed poetic about this amazing experience (and amazing it was) I will now describe this experience in its reality— that is—what it feels like to be 68, asthmatic, admittedly high anxiety, and asked to lower yourself in 125 degree water that smells like rotten eggs? No worries— there is no bad ending here— just some thoughts to ponder. If you read about 125 degree water you will see it is not recommended. But if people have been doing this for hundreds of years, what makes me special?Upon energing after the full thirty minutes looking suspiciously like a Maine lobster I can vouche that my muscle aches had fully dissipated in the face of my newly acquired third degree burns. What could top that? Only the opportunity to descend about 90 dimly lit rock stairs into a maize of vapor filled 110 degree 100 percent humidity cave like dark rooms (not “cave like” it WAS a cave) for the opportunity to breathe “forty two minerals and trace elements of sulfate, nitrate, zinc, and potassium.” Now this is the SPA life. And I will mention that PG was indeed having the time of her life while I was holding on for dear life. Fortunately for me I met a woman who was having a rather full blown panic attack and I am here to tell you there is nothing as healing as helping your fellow man. As I talked her through her panic, advising ice on her face, I suddenly began experiencing a lightness in breathing and it became obvious that the “forty two minerals and trace elements of sulfate, nitrate, zinc, and potassium” were effectively healing my asthmatic lungs. And that was good because the magnificent in every way (including its collection of dust since 1893) Hotel Colorado was next up for its “historic charm in the heart of the Rockies”.

Perhaps you have never wondered where the world’s most irresistible toy, the Teddy Bear, originated . But in case you have it’s your lucky day reading this train blog. The story goes that it was at this very hotel that maids presented Theodore Roosevelt with a small stuffed bear in an effort to cheer him up after an unsuccessful hunting trip. His daughter named it “Teddy” and thus— the Teddy Bear is born at Hotel Colorado. The hotel, modeled after an Italian Renaissance castle, became known as the Grand Dame of the Rockies and served as a restorative mountain retreat for the 19th century elite. Even on this day in 2024 we were treated to a parade of ladies from the Daughters of the American Revolution wearing garden party attire and hats fit for the Kentucky Derby. While the hotel is lovely and well maintained, it nonetheless bears that dusty, rather dark motif and creaking stairways, that I always associate with old hotels.

You might think at this point we are in line for one of those fine fancy old hotel dinners. But we had had enough of spas and milliner wear, and headed out to find the local dive bar. I would not say that Glenwood Springs features dive bars, but we were fortunate to find two, and one was all we needed. Suffice it to say the train was bereft of dive bar burgers so here at Doc Holliday’s Saloon we were in burger heaven and fully experiencing that state of peaceful abandonment promised in the brochures, which incidentally everyone we ran into seemed to be experiencing in this Colorado town, for one reason or another if you get what I mean.

It was a perfect walk back to the sparkling hotel and our evening did not feature any ghosts, but rather a peaceful glorious night of horizontal sleep. We woke up refreshed and ready to experience ZephyrPart Two.

Pictures below: Going through Utah, the Colorado River, goodbye to LaShonda and friends at the station, Yampah Vapor Cave, Hotel Colorado and the the Teddy Bears, the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool, PG in downtown with wings, and the sparkling magical Hotel Colorado,

[extraplanarradioshow]

Transcript available at: https://www.tumblr.com/extraplanarradioshow/713509182186340352/transcript-extraplanar-radio-show-episode-2?source=share

[scrollsofhumanlife]

Denise LaShonda Davis

Born February 23 1973

Humble, Texas

[comaqween]

Lashonda said I'm ready for pullups

[ronaldparlato]

LaShonda Jackson was sent out to the whitest school districts in the city to make children aware of their racism, the nobility of the African races, and whites' duty to do penance. Until she met a mixed-race oddball.

[bigtimesinsmallspaces]

Post 6: A Tale of Two Zephyrs Part One

Even the word Zephyr sounds beautiful, and has a poetic meaning of “gentle winds”. Boarding this train FELT poetic and momentous. We had worked hard to get here. This was also the one segment of the trip that we had booked outside of our Rail Pass and upgraded to an actual sleeper. So for 24 hours we would be living the life of luxury, in our own roomette, with meals in the dining car. I was ready to sleep laying down on the train!!

The #6 California Zephyr originates outside of San Francisco. Boarding two hours down the line at Sacramento (after that razzle dazzle to get us to the train on time) we would travel eastward for the next 24 hours through Truckee, Reno, and Salt Lake City, to our next stop in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Shortly after getting on the train we were slowly climbing in elevation. Soon we would be riding through Truckee and the Sierra Nevadas. Truckee is a snowy, cold ski and recreational town. The Donner Pass is here and you can Google the details. Suffice it to say I would not wish to be in a wagon train stuck for the winter of 1846 at Donner Pass. At over 7,000 feet this was also the only area where I felt the impact of high elevation— slight nausea and a bit breathless. This quickly subsided as we came down out of the mountains and later had a stop at Reno.

Having access to the dining car and full meal service was a real treat after many days of picking through our bag of snacks and eating cafe food. The dining car may not meet the standards of those who reminisce about the grand ‘ole days on the train (yes, I do own some china once used on the Norfolk and Western Line) but it was top notch to me. I’ll do a separate blog later discussing in greater detail the logistics of what it’s like to live on the train for nine days. For now I’ll just say that in this 24 hour segment we had some good food.

We met some very nice people along the way, as well as many wonderful Amtrak employees. But an interesting aspect of the dining car is that Amtrak must maximize its dining capacity, and therefore enforces community dining— that is, there are no tables for one or two. You are seated with other passengers. On this segment we were “matched with” a young woman for both our lunch and dinner. She was traveling from Florida in between jobs and happened to have gone to college near where I grew up in Virginia. I say “matched with” because the dining room attendant, Drew, entertained us (past the dinner hour) with stories about his job. He said he literally did try to match people up in the seatings. In fact he said he matched a couple who returned to the train a year later to be married (while the train was in the Moffet Tunnel no less) and he served as the officiant. At breakfast we were “matched” with a retired gentleman who happened to live in the neighborhood outside American University where Allison went to school. It was interesting to share our excitement and experiences with others.

After an oversized dinner dessert we were ready for our undersized bunk beds in our even more undersized 22 square foot roomette (that is NOT a typo) with equally unimpressive two inch mattresses. Regardless, we were in HORIZONTAL heaven!! We slept beneath some battery operated Christmas lights we strung up for ambiance or just in case we lost power in a tunnel (hey, after reading about Donners Pass some lights and a plethora of snacks seemed like a minimal effort). Let me say, regardless of how it’s done, there is just nothing like sleeping (or trying to sleep) on a train. The sound of the whistle throughout the night, along with the rocking of the train, and the sense of catapulting through space is absolutely mesmerizing. For me it’s often trying to sleep, it’s just so wonderful I don’t even want to miss a minute!

The next morning we were greeted with a pot of coffee right outside our room. While we were at breakfast our wonderful car attendent LaShonda transformed our tiny beds back to seats as we enjoyed the beautiful ride into Utah.

Pictures below: At the Sacramento Station preparing to board the Zephyr, scenes from the Sierra Nevadas and Donner Pass, Dinner in the dining car with Drew, the 22 sq ft roomette at bedtime.

[hileyhyundai]

#HappyAnniversary to Lashonda and your 2014 #Volkswagen #Passat from Robert Young at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson!

[heterowomanist]

"Mary, Mother of Jesus" by LaShonda Scott Robinson

[theblackguywhotips]

TNO 205: GTA Jiggle Physics

Rod, Karen, LaShonda and Aaron discuss listener feedback, entertainment, Last of Us Part 2 remaster, more lay-offs, Dave Filoni taking over Star Wars, Bethesda responding to bad Steam reviews, Robert Pattinson’s Batman suit coming to Arkham, Playstation deleting tons of TV shows, Halo TV show, Kevin Feige say RDJ not returning, Maleficent 3 confirmed, Bungie Devs sad, Dr. Quinn not coming back,…