Gags and Mama O

Don't get me wrong. I am/was a fan. I also am a musician, so I follow musicians lives as well as their bibliographies. I KNOW I need to separate the personal artist from the public one. I would not want the mistakes I've made in my life plastered across the cover of the Daily News. But I do not have a career where I could expect that to happen, either.  So, even though Bruce Springsteen was a cheating lying bastard, that was his Private life, not his public one. I still continue to buy and enjoy his music, even though I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Billy, my Billy, same deal. LOTS OF ARTISTS, same deal. Gags, now........hell, she appeared on "The Simpsons" to supposedly help raise Lisas self image. All about empowerment and self image and being an individual. Then I hear about this feud. Mama Osbourne [who I'm not crazy about, but I'm sure she wouldn't be crazy about me either]  [well, maybe if I had the money to look the way she does I would like her more]  hears that Gagas "Monsters" [fans] are making outrageous threats to the health and life of her daughter Kelly, over comments made on a SPOOFY TYPE FASHION SHOW, my God, Joan Rivers is on it ! We're not talking Scientific American here. Mama O, as Kellys manager, privately contacts gags manager and says yanno, she is supposed to stand for peace and individuality, anti-bully stance, would you please ask her to reign in her "monsters" and stop with the threats? Gags publicly went a tad batshit.  Kelly isn't the only star in her "monsters" sights either, they have publicly wished that Taylor Swift would crash a car into a tree and die :/ gags isn't responsible  for the words coming out of her monsters mouths. But she sure is hell is responsible for HER behavior. She COULD have said hey, I stand for peace and individuality, so please stop making threats on my behalf, as part of my fan base, thanks ever so much. She could have said ANYthing.

But she did not.

You want to see the REAL backround behind shooters? Look to stars like gags. whos fans will do anything to gain what they think would be her approbation and approval. Based on the tweets of her fans, and her reaction to them, she approves of just the type of behaviors displayed by the mentally ill before they go over the cliff.

Here is a link to Mama O's letter.

[I do not agree with the fur stance, although I do not own and would not wear animal fur. I also do not agree with her gun stance. I do not own an assault weapon, but might if I could afford it. Those are those "personal choices" people are legally allowed to make all on their lonesome. Maybe the subject of a tirade for another day]

http://popcrush.com/kelly-osbourne-sharon-osbourne-lady-gaga-open-letter/

I belive you are what you live. Hypocrites are those who espouse one belief, yet live another, and often do not see the dichotomy between the two. I have hypocrites in my life right now, and they cannot see the forest for the trees. It's very hard to remember that *that* is on THEM, and not me, so peace out and carry on. Gags is a hypocrite of the highest order. Unless she does a little growing up, she will be the second artist to make my "Fuck You I will never buy or listen to your music or support you, You Fuck you" list.

Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone can do anything for you. It's how you treat those people that shows the kind of person YOU are. Gags, I have no ill will toward you. I would never wish for you to drive into a tree, or any of the myriad curses your monsters [oh, yeah, a lot of them are supposedly "bot" tweeters. Talented bot who only curse  people and wish for them harm. Hmmmmm.] I do hope your career dries up to a point where you have the time to reexamine yourself. You're long over due. You're a public figure, not a middle aged mom from the suburbs. Costume insults should be beneath your dignity to acknowledge, let alone trip out over. Maybe it's time for a new, more enlightened manager. And some introspection. You and Kelly might have a lot more in common than not. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from her.

As for Yoko giving gags the Lennon/Ono peace prize just this past October....John... I am sorry you ever hooked up with that crazy broad. Take heart, maybe it's a joke. Knowing ono, probably not. Just a publicity stunt for an non-starter career to give a person currently reponsible for public threats to others a peace prize. gags, I dare you to grow up and grow a pair.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1011/Lady-Gaga-peace-prize-Yoko-Ono-lauds-Lady-Gaga-s-activism

"I  don't like Los Angeles. The people are awful and terribly shallow, and everybody  wants to be famous but nobody wants to play the game. I'm from New York. I will  kill to get what I need."
~Lady Gaga

~January:
       Internation Creative Month

January 15th:
       Humanitarian Day

January 16th:
          Nothing Day
          Appreciate a Dragon Day

Unwritten Love Letters

The holidays are over, and the days are getting longer, little by little. I am longing for Spring. I always choose this time of year for indoor projects, and my evil eye fell upon the basement. We live in a split level, so the basement is more of a neglected downstairs room where the furnace and oil tank happen to live, with the washer and dryer as neighbors. I decided that this year, as one of my New Year Goals, I would do something about that basement. Paint it, organize it to my liking, and create an area for my foshizzle...my household binders and the paperwork of running a home. Separate from the bill paying paperwork, but just as important. Right now, the owners manuals for my major appliances are all mixed in with Steves major appliances. I prefer to have an area dedicated to my home.

And so it shall be done.

I suppose I am not exposing a secret anymore, to tell you that my Father in Law was diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimers. Steve, as the elder and the executor of his Dads estate, Is responsible for Pops care. He had the job of deciding:

A) What was the Very Best thing for Pops, and
B) How to accomplish that.

What we decided was that Pops needed to be in a residence where he would have care 24/7. Help remembering to take his meds. [actually having them given to him, not relying on him to remember] A beautiful living environment. Meals served in a dining room, not a cafeteria. The level of social interaction that He chose from day to day, from being with a group of people he shares a lot of interests with, to deciding he'd like to stay in his room that day and watch a pool tournament on T.V. Safe and secure, and practically in our own backyard. It took a long time, and a lot of tears, but we found the perfect place. A Beautiful residence, more of a dorm than a seniors residence. One of the few ways you could spot the difference would be the median age of the residents. A grand Manor house converted to an assisted care facility. Once the "getting used to this" period was over, Pops came to love his home, and he feels uncomfortable being away from it for too long. As it is minutes from the Shack, we can go get him whenever we want, and take him home when ever he is ready.

What does this have to do with my basement?

I'm getting there.

When Pops made the move, some of his belongings would not fit in his room, and others he did not remember. We took these things, boxed them up, and put them in the basement, to be properly gone over and packed for long term storage. There wasn't much.

Today was the day.
We brought the boxes upstairs, and began the "what do we do with this, how do we protect this" dance.

And there they were.

Papers.

His high School diploma, from the same district we, and our children, graduated from. Report cards !! Oh, our Bill was a bad boy. Well intentioned, but a bad boy in a good way.

What grabbed me by the throat, were the letters. From OUR children. To their Grandpa. Oh my sweet Lord, from when they wee Babies. [I was always big on the kids writing to their Grammas and Grandpas, from Thank you notes to "just because" letters ....even to the Grandparents we lived next door to.]

Pops KEPT those letters. I Lost it when I read a letter from my son Tone, to his Grandpa. Tone was considered special ed, now you would call it "in the autistic spectrum". It did not stop him from being mainstreamed and graduating high school on the high honor roll [nor from going to college this fall :o) ] but as a baby and a young child, he was different. I had a "hands off" policy with the kids and their communications with Grammas and Grandpas, if the kids offered to let me read the letter great. Otherwise, it was sent off unread and unedited by me. Believe me, sometimes I worried about that policy, wondering what the kids were telling our parents :o)

In the middle of frustration, overwhelmed by the renovation, paint in my freakin hair, this stopped me in my tracks. That letter, written by Tone, in second grade:

 

[This was 1996]
[Dear grandpa and Joannie
How are you doing?
I am great!
I have a play kitchen!
It made out of wood
I have a peppermill !!
I am in second grade
My favorite chef is Emeril !
Please come see me soon I miss you !
Love
Tony]

Some people have actually had the balls to say to me, oh, we LOVE our family, we would not THINK of putting them in an assisted care facility. Well, I'm glad that works for them. I've been around the block a few times. I've seen the worst that can happen when an Alzheimers patient is home cared for. And the guilt the "loving" family can feel when an Alzheimers patient acts out beyond what the family is capable of handling. All I have to say to you is...you MUST obey your highest calling. And THAT would be, to do the right thing by your peeps. Whatever that means to you,...and to them.

We did that for Pops.

He is happy, healthy, and knows he is loved.

He sent an unintentional love letter to all of my kids today. A Love letter he is not capable of writing anymore. Which makes those saved letters all the more deeply special.

Thanks, Pops. We love you too.

[A BIG P.S.....I found the batteries for the pedometers. Remember that blog a lil while back? Wherein I took an accordion folder and labeled it with all my lil electronic  cords and accessories? Well, Hot DAMN, I had the batteries AND the owners manual for my pedometer in a section labeled "pedometer". Stop rolling your eyes, you've done that stupid shit too]

~Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  ~Samuel Ullman

January 2013:
~National "Get Organized" Month

Jan 2-8
~ "Someday We'll Laugh About This" week

January 7th:
~National Tempura Day

It's a new year, baby

Good Morning!

Today is Thursday, January 3rd 2012. It is also  the start of my week........yesterday was my 52nd birthday ! Or as I prefer to think about it, I turned 29 for the 23rd time. I don't feel any older.  Steve took the day off, and we had our traditional great day together. That made me feel so much better. You see, I suffer from CRS...Can't Remember Shit. I ordered batteries for some tabletop flickering "candles". When they arrived, I realized I had 12 of them....and they were all the wrong size :X Not worth the trouble to return. Then, the battery in my pedometer died. Lo and Behold, the wrong batteries for the candles were EXACTLY the right ones for my pedometer! I figured GREAT, I am set for batteries for YEARS now!! I HAVE a dedicated drawer for batteries of all types and sizes, do you think I put them there? NO.  I put them in a smart place, so that I would never forget where I put them. Well....I forgot. Cannot find those suckers ANYWHERE, I outsmarted myself. I would worry that this might be age related. Except I've been doing this to myself for most of my life. Personally, I blame Steve. I think that was part of our vows, for richer or poorer [have done] in sickness and in health, [have done] during bouts of CRS [ongoing] til death do us part. [someone will come very close to a near death experience if he doesn't stop laughing.]

Now for the "Thrifty Thursday" part.

I stopped making New Years Resolutions, and have decided to create "Annual Goals" for myself. Last year, my goal was to lose enough weight so that there was NO WAY I could be a diabetic. I did that in spades, and kept it off. This years, my goals are:

-to continue on that path, to see if I can drop the high blood pressure meds

-To paint and organize my basement. We live in a split level, the basement is more of an unfinished extra room, and no other owner ever bothered doing anything to it. It's dark and depressing to have to work down there, so I will change that.

-to start a "price book". In case you don't know, a price book is used mostly by the grocery shoppers in a family. If you live in an area with multiple shopping choices, keeping track of the regular prices of items that you buy on a regular basis can help assure that you buy your groceries at the best possible prices. This is very necessary to me ALL of the time, we work hard for the money and I don't want to waste it. This year, our youngest

[well, he is 23...after high school he did not know what career path he wanted to take, so he went to full time work. He now knows what he wants to do, applied to and was accepted to college, YAY YAY ^5 Tone !!! and received a honkin scholarship already]

will start college. That and the rescinding of that tax break for the middle class will tighten our budget in a huge way. I want to be able, damn near to the penny, to see where our money is going.

-To be a better blogger. Helps make me a better, more proficient, more organized person. 

There you have them.....my 4 "Annual Goals for 2012". I'm putting my goals on my blog, because it appears that putting it "out there"...in print...keeps me honest and is a constant reminder. The Happiest of New Years to You and yours....., if you see me out and about, don't forget to ask me if I'm on track for my New Years goals :o)