I watched Michael Jackson’s memorial service and there were some touching moments. I did cry and by the time it was done I had soaked more than a couple of tissues. Brooke Shields’ speech was the best. I think she probably did know him better than most. Her story about them sneaking into Elizabeth Taylor’s room to see her wedding gown and finding Elizabeth asleep was the best.
Magic Johnson’s story about Michael ordering KFC for dinner and how amazed he was that MJ ate food like the rest of America was funny too. It seemed that to most of us Michael Jackson was placed upon a pedestal far beyond our reach of what is “normal”. He became the illusion of non-reality and in a way Michael himself began to see the man in the mirror, himself; as something beyond what actually existed. His major talent, his magnificence, dehumanized him. He said himself, he was Peter Pan.
Unable to move among us in public without being mobbed, he had to be surrounded by handlers and body guards. Incapable of simple acts such as going to the grocery store, he had to pay people to get the things he needed. He became surrounded by people who did anything he wished. I think this was his demise. Nobody said “NO” to him.
During the service it was mentioned several times how God took Michael to heaven. It’s not as if Michael were struck down by an accident or some serious illness. He died because he had an addiction and there were so many who were willing to say “YES” to him when he wanted something that would ultimately kill him and take him too soon away from his children. I feel so sorry for his kids. I hope they have someone they love to look out for them.
How many times in our own lives has someone close to us told us something we didn’t want to hear but needed to hear? Probably more times than we care to count, eh? All of us have been told “NO” and we usually found later that things turned out better because of it. Perhaps we didn’t wear that hideous outfit in public because our friend was kind enough to tell us it wasn’t flattering. There are many examples I can think of, the clothing one just comes to mind but there are more serious matters when having someone who CARES enough to look out for our best interest is important for our well being. Like the Emperor with no clothes, Michael Jackson lived his life among servile individuals. Nobody was looking out for HIS well being. Only for themselves. $$$
Michael Jackson might have made his huge comeback and been around to enjoy watching his children grow up if only someone had told him “NO.” I realize that there were many people standing in the wings ready willing and able to give him anything he wanted. They gave and gave as they dug his grave. So truly sad…
I will miss Michael Jackson. I grew up with his music from the beginning of his career. I can remember walking into music class in the 4th grade and hearing the Jackson Five’s song…. “Oh baby give me one more chance….to tell you I love you” resonating from the am radio. I remember when MTV first came out and Michael’s music videos were bigger than life productions. For decades his music has played in the background of my life. He was only a couple of years older than me so I am also reminded of my own mortality. He touched many lives and as the King of Pop, his music will go on and he will be memorialized beyond the man he was just as his real life was bigger than even he himself could live up to. Fame has a big price.
Sam Harris gave a thoughtful analogy of why he felt Micheal Jackson lived as he did. It’s well worth the 13 minute video.
I bought some fresh blue berries but I was afraid they might go bad before I had a chance to eat all of them so I decided to try a recipe I found for scones. It was really easy to make and they came out delicious!
Here’s the recipe:
Blueberry Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
1 cup heavy cream (I didn’t have heavy cream so I substituted half & half)
1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.
Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown.
After you take them out of the oven sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
My friend, Heike’s two beautiful children participated in this and she posted this on her facebook page. I was very moved by this. Not only because it represents the United Way but because it is home for me. This is where I live and people I know are in it. And it’s a big deal! For me, it is. It truly touched my heart. I’m a softy and tear up easily, so bare with me. =)
On Saturday, June 20th, more than 70 dancers took part in United Way California Capital Region’s Flash Mob at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento. Dancing in public? That’s how we LIVE UNITED!
If I had known about this earlier I might have been there to see it in person. I have seen little videos popping up all over the place similar to this. Maybe they are doing this in your area and you can look into ways that you can participate. I bet this was an awesome experience for everyone who put this together.
I know about it now, and I am passing the information along this internet highway. Check out their website, see what you can do in your community and keep it going. You can find out more about the United Movement by visiting their website.
Father’s day was uneventful. All of this month I was composing a letter in my mind of what I would like to say to the man who is the other half to my creation, to explain and to rationalize my feelings about this dysfunctional relationship. I do appreciate the few times he has done something nice for me, however, for the most part, I have always been last on his list of priorities. Never good enough, undeserving and a great deal of emotional abuse that I don’t need to remember because this year has been more of a healing year for me to get over much of the damage to my self esteem. I cringe at the memories of unspeakable, horrible things he has said to me. So I don’t want to even go there especially today. I’m here now and HERE is a better place where I feel human again. So instead of writing that letter or wasting my energy trying to make myself heard and understood, (which is impossible) I thought of today as sort of an independence day. My day to stand strong, to be okay with who I am and not to have to worry about whether I made him happy or bought him a gift he wouldn’t throw back in my face. (Yes, he has actually screamed at both my sister and I when he didn’t like what we gave him.) I used to laugh to myself every time I would see that “hunk of glass” (which is what he called a crystal vase we gave him one year) sitting on the table. My son was nervous one year about what to buy his grampa for Christmas - It is nerve wracking because you don’t want to set him off - so I told my son not to worry about it and gave my father several gifts from both of us. That didn’t work. My father wanted to know which gift my son bought and paid for himself. That was the last Christmas we ever spent there.
My father wasn’t there for me when I was growing up and I romanticized the ideal of having a “dad.” Not a dime of child support was paid when I was a child. When he came back into my life he said he felt guilty about that and said he would make it up to me. He made so many promises. Promises he never kept because someway, somehow I messed up. I thought, “I must be a bad person.” There isn’t a soul in my life who thinks of me as anything but a loving, caring, sweet person. Out of my need to have a father’s love, I gave him every chance I could and got hurt every time. He is a man who only values money and material things (which he lavishes on himself) but lacks the capacity to love his children and grandchildren unconditionally.
Married three times and a daughter with each wife, we are easily replaced just like his dog, Dixie, who when the first Dixie died, he bought another (same breed and color) and gave it the same name. Like a pet, I jumped through hoops and did all I could to get his attention and affection but it was never enough. I failed miserably and beat myself up for it time and time again. An impossible quest for love. People are what they are. I cannot change him and he cannot change me. I stopped trying to do what couldn’t be done and mourned the loss of the ideal I had built in my mind of what “should” have been. It still breaks my heart from time to time but there are people in my life who need and deserve MY love and attention more and who willingly love me in return and I don’t have to do anything but be who I am.
Divorce does ugly things to families. I was fortunate to have close bonds with my siblings from both my mother and my father. I even had some good step-parents along the way. My mom also was married three times. Both their second marriages were to nice people but both of their third marriages were to people who were extremely jealous of the existing children. Not fun at all. It is no wonder that most of us only had one child when we grew up and my brother is about to have his 6th child with is one and ONLY wife. He’s a great father too! I have 4 half sisters and 1 half brother between both of my parents. I consider them sisters and brother. I leave out the “half” thing because it is just frickin disgusting and embarrassing. I know now days many families are blended so it’s not so unnatural. Still, kids get screwed out of relationships with a parent because of divorce and there is a great deal of hurt when a parent abandons a child. I can understand how my mom left my dad because he’s an ass but I didn’t think he would be an ass to me too. LOL!
How does one forgive when they cannot forget? I guess I could say I forgive him yet the hurt lingers, then it turns into anger and the process of forgiving has to begin again. I just hope and pray that if we are truly able to come back for several lifetimes that I don’t have to have him in another one. I used to believe I had to resolve this conflict with him or else we would both have to re-live it. Now I hope that isn’t true. =)
Many people are blessed with loving fathers who deserve a tribute on this special day. I wish I had that kind of relationship and loving support but I don’t. Father’s day for me is like Valentine’s day for single people. LOL! Anyway, nuff said on that subject. I’m sure there are many wonderful dad’s who enjoyed the holiday that was well deserved. Here’s to you loving dads! May you always bring joy, peace and love to your children’s lives no matter how old or young they are with a gentle heart, a warm hug and never ending emotional support.
On a bright note, I did find a book that I really wanted to read. It’s by Diana Gabaldon, “Outlander”.
One of my friends mentioned that she was reading it and then I found Diana Gabaldon’s facebook page through the same friend and saw her books. I love books that have historical details. And wouldn’t you know, I was looking in the free book section at our local VFW where I read and return books all the time and there in front of me was the Outlander. The cover is even my favorite color of deep periwinkle blue. If it were glass it would be cobalt blue. I’m finishing up another book and then I’ll dive into this one. Can’t wait! It’s like the universe gave me a gift. Yay! Thank you God!
I also found the book, “Nights In Rodanth”. I have not seen the movie yet so that was a treat. I can’t wait to read it. I may even read it before I start on Outlander because it’s shorter and I’ll get through it in a couple of days. I want to see the movie and it would be nice to read the book first.
I received an email from one of my dear friends. “Read Alone” was the title. It was one of those poems that comes up like a presentation and before you get to the meat of the poem, it tells you about the people who did not forward it and the terrible consequences that befell them for not following the instructions. I could feel my blood beginning to boil. WHY is it that people think I’m SAFE to send something like that to? I know that if I sent something like that out to the people in my address book, I would get deleted and blocked. But for some reason I seem to be one of those people who friends think will not yell at them or get mad so they forward me this stuff. NO MORE!
This was my response:
I didn’t even read all of it. As soon as I saw it was THAT kind of poem, I turned it off. So if I die some horrible death or lose my loved ones….. you’ll know it’s because I didn’t forward that email……. I just can’t believe anybody would start a chain like that and that people feel scared enough to send it on. I don’t read them, I don’t forward them and if it is something that I think is worthwhile to send, I always delete out the part where it threatens to bring mass destruction to anyone who does not forward it. I hate those things!
People! Get a grip. Stop forwarding that shit.
I have an idea! If you receive a chain email or letter, if it tells you to forward it to say 10 people for example. Instead send it back to the person who sent it to you 10 times! LOL! Seriously though, these things are idiotic!
I wonder, should I be warning all of my loved ones to be extra careful since they may be more accident prone now?
Read Alone…..
Especially the Poem
I believe whatever God has in store for
us will be for us.
The poem is very true, unfortunately.
Make sure you read the poem!
CASE 1: Kelly Sedey had one wish,
for her boyfriend of three years,
David Marsden, to propose to her.
Then one day when she was out
to lunch David proposed!
She accepted, but then had to leave
because she had a meeting in 20 min.
When she got to her office,
she noticed on her computer she had some e-mail’s.
She checked it, the usual stuff
from her friends, but then she saw one
that she had never gotten before.
It was this poem. She simply deleted it
without even reading all of it.
BIG MISTAKE! Later that evening,
she received a phone call from the police.
It was about DAVID! He had been in an accident
with an 18 wheeler. He didn’t survive!
CASE 2: Take Katie Robinson She received this poem
and being the believer that she was
she sent it to a few of her friends but
didn’t have enough e-mail addresses to send out
the full 10 that you must.
Three days later, Katie went to a masquerade ball.
Later that night when she left to get to her car,
she was killed in that spot by a
hit-and-run drunk driver.
CASE 3: Richard S. Willis sent this poem out
within 45 minutes of reading it.
Not even 4 hours later walking along the street
to his new job interview with a really big
company, when he ran into Cynthia Bell,
his secret love for 5 years. Cynthia came up to
him and told him of her passionate crush on him
that she had for 2 years.
Three days later, he proposed to her and they got
married. Cynthia and Richard are still married
with three children, happy as ever!
This is the poem:
Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
“Tomorrow” I say! “I will call on Jim
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.”
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
“Here’s a telegram sir,” “Jim died today.”
And that’s what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don’t be afraid to express yourself.
Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.
Because when you decide that it is the right time
it might
be too late.
Seize the day. Never have regrets.
And most importantly, stay close to your friends
and family, for they have helped
make you the person that you are today.
You must send this on in 3 hours after reading the
letter
to 10 other people.
If you do this, you will receive unbelievably good
luck
My kitty cat, Buddy. He’s my constant companion, full of mischief and love.
It’s been over a month since my last post. My advertiser is punishing me. LOL!!! Seems I am to be writing at least once a week but I have failed. Blame it on Face book. I’ve been having a great time keeping in touch with friends and taking those silly quizzes. So, I neglected my blog.
I have been sad about father’s day coming up. I lost my father three years ago. He didn’t die. He’s just one of those people who gets angry and says and does things he can’t take back. I’m meaning to write about it but it is very painful and it is difficult to discuss without getting very upset. I wish I could write him a letter but there isn’t really anyway for me to make him understand my feelings when he has discounted me all my life. All I would be accomplishing would be to start the cycle over again and I would end up hurt. By this time, I should have learned the lesson and know that he isn’t the kind of father I needed him to be. Wishing and hoping won’t change anything.
I changed my banner. I’ve spent most of my life trying to be perfect. LOL! I have a several good friends who are always reminding me that I don’t need to be perfect in order to be special and wonderful and loved! I didn’t have any plans for the new banner. It just happened with me playing with my paint shop program and doodling. I like all the blues. My favorite color is cobalt blue. Then as I was adding my blog name I decided to add the blurb on the bottom about embracing imperfection. That’s my new mantra.
Okay, now to get back to watching, “I’m a Celebrety! Get me out of here!
I just read a touching story of a woman in San Francisco who escaped a violent relationship with her three month old infant and two young children. She basically left with the clothes on her back. While she has gone through the “proper” channels, has a social worker and is trying to get shelter and aid for her family, resources are in short supply. She has had to beg in order to pay for the hotel and food for herself and her family.
It takes a great deal of courage to leave an abusive relationship. Especially when still nursing an infant and having nowhere else to go.
I found out about this from my friend who sent me the link via her blog. You can read about K’s story here at tangobaby. I encourage everyone to read K’s story and follow her progress as she pulls herself together, gets a job and regains her life.
So, the other day my sister emails me with this five minute chocolate cake recipe. The title of the email? We’re doomed! LOL!
I looked it over and thought, “I’ve got all that stuff.” So I went into the kitchen and made the concoction in a large coffee mug. You know, the kind that could suffice as a BOWL? Yep, the kind of coffee cups I like to use. In the back of my mind I’m thinking about the times my doctor asks me how many cups of coffee I drink a day and I say, “Just one.” I leave out the part that my coffee pot registers 4 cups to fill that one cup. LOL!
So, back to the cake recipe. I mixed my ingredients in that coffee bowl and put it in the microwave and viola! I had myself a nice little chocolate cake. I didn’t have any chocolate chips and boy they would have been dreamy delicious melted in that warm chocolate cake.
It was really good.
See how nicely it fits on a saucer? I bet it would be good with a sauce drizzled over it or maybe some powdered sugar sprinkled over the top. As for this baby, it was gone in no time. Yep, my sister was right, we’re doomed when we have the ability to cook something like this up in five minutes.
Here’s the recipe:
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave safe)
Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Mix in chocolate chips if you have them and mix thoroughly. (The recipe she sent actually says to add the egg first and stir before adding the rest of the wet ingredients, but I just added them all at once.)
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
Don’t be alarmed if the cake rises over the mug, it will settle back down.
Allow to cool for about 30 seconds. =) Tip out onto a small plate. Eat.
It can be cut in half for two if you’re feeling generous. Tastes best warm.
Adam was great on American Idol tonight! Alsion was good too. I loved the duet with her and Adam. Simon said, he believed Adam gave Alison a good chance at staying in the competition. I agree. I had a new appreciation for Alsion’s ability as a performer. I had not really liked her before. I actually gave her a vote after that performance.
Danny’s performance was not good. He seemed to be trying too hard to be like Adam and he lost his appeal as well as his voice. Kris was also mediocre.
I only voted for Adam and Alison. My first time voting for Alison all season. Last night she earned it.
So, who will go home tonight? Will Danny be in the bottom?
I think we will be saying bye bye to Kris tonight.
What is the difference between happiness and joy? Which one would you rather feel? Which one lasts longer?
No matter how difficult life may be, no matter what trials one is going through, one can still feel joy. Joy is what lasts no matter what the circumstances are. We can still have faith no matter what the circumstances.
Faith and hope give me promise of happiness. It’s existence is there somewhere beyond my grasp. Sometimes it comes close enough for me to catch it and for a short while I have it. I’m happy when I meet with friends. I’m happy when I have enough money to pay my bills. I’m happy when I’m eating ice cream or doing something fun.
Happiness only lasts for a short time.
Joy is what I feel when I look outside and see the squirrel who lives in the tree outside my window, or the birds. I feel joy when I think about my son or my family and friends. Joy feels my heart no matter what circumstance I’m dealing with at the moment. I can see a lovely view and feel joy.
Joy seems easier to obtain, lasts longer and feels greater than happiness.
"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I am out of control at times and hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." -- Marilyn Monroe
If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." -- John F. Kennedy
