Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

By now, you've probably heard of Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who has literally gone from unknown obscure citizen to a household name. If you don't know who she is, you can see her here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Obviously, what makes her so special is that you didn't expect such a quality powerhouse professional-level voice to come from someone like her. Watch the video and you'll see when Susan says that she wants to be a professional singer that one girl in the audience rolls her eyes. When she says she wants to be as famous as Elaine Paige, another girl can be clearly seen to say, "Who's Elaine Paige?" For those of you who don't know, Elaine Paige was the original Evita from the 1978 Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production. The female judge, Amanda, appears a little sceptical at first, judging by her face, but seems to be reserving judgement about what she's about to hear.

That is until Susan started to sing. She sang Fantine's aria, "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. She sang it better than at least one professional actress I've seen play the role on the stage. Watch the reactions of both Simon and Amanda. They were completely blown away. No one expected that.

Good luck, Susan. You represent all of us who were laughed at, scorned, bullied, made fun of and ridiculed in school. I wish you much success with your dream. If you release an album of show tunes, I will definitely buy it. Your success is an inspiration for those of us who were laughed at and told we would never succeed in this life.

You go, girl.

In Defence of Barbie

So, yesterday there was a story on msn that some West Virginia lawmaker wants to ban the sales of Barbie. Here's the story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29508066/ .

It's good to know with a war going on in two fronts, an economic mess on their hands, global warming, and the worst economic downtown in 70 plus years that this lawmaker has nothing better to do with taxpayers' dollars. His reasons: "such toys influence girls to place too much importance on physical beauty, at the expense of their intellectual and emotional development".

I had Barbies growing up and some of her cool accessories: Country Camper, her Townhouse, and, of course, lots of clothes. I think I was about 12 or so when I gave up playing with them, but I still like them. To this day, I have a Scarlett O'Hara barbie. If you saw how I dressed some days, you would know that Barbie did not force me to "place too much importance on physical beauty."

Did it cause me to not pursue "intellectual and emotional development"? Not likely. I was a reader; I read lots. In fact, I can't think of another kid I went to school with that read as much as I did (and that includes the Bible and other spiritual books).

Sure, Barbie has her detractors and people are entitled to their opinion. Yes, I know of one woman (I think she was in Britain) that was obsessed with Barbie and thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of plastic surgery to look like Barbie, but that's her problem. She's the one that needs some self esteem; don't blame the doll.

If I had a child, I'd rather they played with Barbies than toy guns, learning how to kill people and learn of war. Get your priorities straight.

Barbie is a rite of passage in a girl's life, and the age passes quick. Let them enjoy it while they can. If parent's don't like it, they won't buy it. People will vote with their dollars. Let the parents decide what's right for their child.

Oscar Night in Hollowood 2009

Well, it's that time of the year. It's the night when Hollywood hands out the hardware and the culmination of awards season. Here are my predictions in the major categories:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire;
Lead Actor: Mickey Rourke (the Wrestler);
Lead Actress: Kate Winslet (the Reader);
Supporing Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight);
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona);
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire.

I'll report back later on how I did and to report on the ceremony itself. I'm looking forward to it; we have only missed it once in the 10 years we've been married. Besides, it's three hours of uninterupted stitching time!! whoo hoo.

Edited to add:

Well, I did pretty well in the major categories, with the exception of Best Actor. I don't care for Sean Penn (over actor) so I wasn't pleased to see him win again. Overall, I did 13/24 in my picks. I was very surprised that Slumdog won in categories like "Sound Editing (or was it mixing?)." That didn't make sense to me as something like The Dark Knight would have been far harder to mix and/or edit.

Good to see Kate Winslet finally win an Oscar. She looked lovely, as did supporting actress winner Penelope Cruz (both were high on my best-dressed list, as well as Amy Adams). Nobody really stood out as horribly dressed, though I didn't like Jessica Biel's outfit, nor Beyonce's.

I thought it was a nice touch having past winners in the acting categories introduce this year's nominees. Hugh Jackman did a good job of hosting. I really liked his opening number, especially when he grabbed Anne Hathaway up on stage for a Frost/Nixon routine. She was a good sport.

Morning Smile

This morning, I was reading something that made me laugh. This is *not* meant to offend anyone in any way; it just made me laugh.

In the book of Exekiel, Exekiel says, "Your Father ws an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite". (Exekiel 16:3) I couldn't help but hear John Cleese in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

Musings on Valentine's Day

So, it's Valentine's Day, a day dedicated to love. When I was single I dreamed of a romantic Valentine's Day. When DH and I married, we decided that we would alternate planning Valentine's Day; he would plan the even years and I would plan the odd. Some years that meant simply watching a romatic movie, or a romantic comedy, but we always tried to do "something."

Fast forward to this year. For whatever reason, I just couldn't get into it. I couldn't figure out why. The best that I could come up with is that I didn't feel I needed Hallmark to tell me that I loved DH or he loved me. Heck, after over 10 years of marriage, it should be obvious. I realized that really Valentine's Day is for single people; couples that aren't married. It's their day.

Our wedding anniversay is the day for us to celebrate our love; not some artificial thing. Mind you, I won't say no to some chocolates.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Well, it's that time of year again

Another year has come and gone (almost). It's time for me, once again, to ponder the meaning of Christmas.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm not sure what to make of Christmas. I was raised a mainstream Christian, and was raised to believe that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday, God's only son sent to earth to redeem us sinners. I believed that for many years, and never questioned it.

All that changed in a flash when I read a book that pointed out the list of demi-gods born to human mothers and divine fathers on December 25th. All the myths about these demigods predated Jesus. I was stunned. I'd never heard anything like that before. The list included: Mithra, Attis, Adonis to name a few. From that moment on, there was no way that I could justify that the Bible stories of the birth of Jesus were literally historically true and dismiss the rest of the stories as myths. There were too many similarities, and all of the stories were centuries older than the stories of Jesus. In that instant, my beliefs were destroyed, and I could never look at the world in the same way again. It was pretty scary.

Ever since then, I've really struggled with Christmas. I don't know what I'm celebrating. I'm not celebrating the religious side, so does that mean I'm not celebrating Christmas? Yet, I do put out a manger scene most years. I know I'm not alone in not celebrating the religious side. I'm happy to celebrate anything that tries to promote peace in the world and tries to make the world a nicer place - even if only for a day.

I'm also happy to celebrate the birth of the heir to King David's throne, if indeed, Jesus was of the house and lineage of David. We even sing of that, when we sing the Christmas carol, "The First Noel". The last line of the chorus says, "...born is the King of Israel."

Of course, presents are fun, and I look forward to the good feast. That's the fun side of Christmas. I don't like the fake sentimentality; it gets on my nerves after awhile. As much as I love the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life", as I've gotten older, I found "Bad(der) Santa" a bit more appealing. I know it can be rude and offensive, but if you get sick of the schmaltz, you might find it funny

Happy Holy Days, whatever the holy days of the season mean to you.

Lessons from the Housewives

I have a confession: I LOVE Desperate Housewives.

When the show debuted in 2004 on ABC and garnered good reviews, I knew that I'd watch it when it arrived on dvd. Sure enough, when season one was released a year later, I gobbled it up; I was hooked.

For those of you that don't know, it centres on four main characters: Lynette Scavo, (Felicity Huffman)a stressed out mom of four; Gabrielle Solis, (Eva Longoria Parker) a pampered and spoiled former model; Susan Meyer (Terri Hatcher), a children's book illustrator; and, Bree Van de Kamp, the ultimate domestic goddess. They are neighbours living on "Wisteria Lane" in "Fairview." Their stories intertwine as their live their lives.

Each fall, I get excited with anticipation waiting for the next season to be released. I've been known to get up very early on a Saturday morning and put on the fire and sit and watch it while drinking my coffee.

I think there's a little of each main character in every woman. Every working mom relates to Lynette's stress and guilt. A lot of people put up the fronts that Bree does, and put on a public face, always desperate to "keep up appearances". That's probably one big reason why the show is such a success. That's one of the reasons I love it, but that's not the main reason.

There's a lot of grace in the show. Friends get angry at each other; spouses struggle with the demands and stresses of marriage and raising children. Yet, there's something even deeper. There are a lot of valuable lessons to be learned.

In season four, a tornado rips through Wisteria Lane. Lynette screams in hysterics as she emerges from the destruction to see the home where her family had been hiding is now in rubble. The other women stand by her side and try to comfort her as the rescuers dig through the wreckage. Even though I was fairly convinced her family would be safe, I was momentarily panicking thinking Lynette's husband, Tom, might be dead. I cried when he was the last to be pulled out safe. Of all the couples on Wisteria Lane, they are the ones I root for most.

Sadly, one person didn't make it, Ida, a minor character. As Lynette is helping another neighbour, Mrs. McClusky, pack up Ida's stuff, she (Lynette) comes across some baseball memorabilia. She asks, "What's all this?" and is told that it was Ida's momentoes from her pro-baseball days during World War II. Lynette was shocked to hear this news. She had no idea that this lady whom she had lived nearby to had been a huge baseball star in her youth. In fact, Ida had loved the game so much, she asked that her ashes be scattered in the local baseball field. Lynette was told (words to the effect) that, "You didn't know, because you didn't ask." Lynette, feeling guilty on more than one level, decides to grant Ida her last request (which in itself is an amusing story). After they are done, Lynette remarks how it was so sad that she really didn't take the opportuntiy to know Ida while she was alive. Mrs. McClusky tells her that, "It's a lesson we need to learn every day". And it's true. So often, we take the people around us for granted, never knowing what may happen tomorrow. Life is fragile.

There's a character that is pure evil (in my opinion) and I was ecstatic when she got her just desserts. You should have heard me yelling at the tv, screaming, "SHE's EVIL INCARNATE!!" She's been upsetting me for a very long time. She's caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people. Justice, in this show, is never dealt out by the police or the legal system. It's dealt with within the family, or the participants and, somehow, it just seems fitting. There's a lot of "libertarianism" spoken.

Gabby, Susan, Bree, and Lynette have become my virtual friends.