An Ode to Tina Turner

May 25, 2023Leave a comment

What can you even say about her talent, strength, her inspirational life, her unwillingness to live anyway but how she wanted to?

I had never seen this photo before today. I can’t stop staring at it. What a woman. Her bravery, her strength, her expression which just says: here I am world. I’m doing it, I’m making it happen and don’t you dare try to stop me.

I can’t add to the accolades, so my story is more personal. I, of course, grew up listening to her after her resergence with Private Dancer. As a girl growing up in a not great home, her story, that someone could leave, could change her life, could say: nah, this isn’t for me. There is something for better for me out there. That someone could think and actually sing “You’d better be good to me”, was a revelation, a hope. I could get out of there one day, too. I could demand that people be good to me. Believe me that no one in my life was telling me that, but Tina did.

Years later after my mother died, a friend took me to see Tina live. It was 2008, Tina was 69 years old and it was one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen in my life.Life affirming. In the year 2000 when my friend’s mother died, Tina was no longer touring, so I couldn’t take her. I scavenged online and discovered there was a DVD/CD of the very 2008 tour*, though it was difficult to find for sale. I found it and I bought two, one for each of us. When we got the chance we went to Tina, the Musical.

Everything about her is wrapped up for me in what can you do with your life, what do you want to do with your life, who do you want to be? Every moment with her is life affirming and inspirational. It is a loss for the world that her light has gone out, but heaven truly has another star. I’ll be spending my time listening to that 2008 concert, and all her other works once again to remind me to live large.

seems to still be available via 3rd party sellers. Go get it.

Dear Fire Station 49 in San Francisco

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019Leave a comment

I’m sending this as an email to fireadministration@sfgov.org. You should write, too!

In response to the following article, I’m asking Fire Station 49 to reconsider the decision to remove their adorable Firefighter Cat, Edna.

San Francisco firefighters may be forced to surrender beloved station cat after anonymous complaint

IG: @fire_cat_edna

I mean, look at those pictures. How does separating this lovely kitty from the people who love her improve life in this firehouse? Your people have stressful jobs, having a small, non-judgemental, adorable piece of fluff to come back to can only improve their lives. Edna chose them for a reason. Cats know what they are doing.

You don’t have to take it from me. Here are a few reasons to allow Edna to stay:

1. Health benefits of having a cat:

Reduces stress and anxiety

Decreases risk of stroke

Therapeutic benefits

Boosts immunity

Lowers blood pressure

Decreases risk of heart disease and heart attacks

Lowers triglycerides and cholesterol levels

Increase sociability

Provide companionship

Aren’t these things you want for your firefighters?

2. Cats have a history of being in the workplace:

Whiskers in the Workplace

There is an entire IG account dedicated to Bookstore Cats: @bookstorecats

Cats have a special history in firehouse and other first responder houses!

From stray to star – Flame, the Greenville firehouse cat, hits the big time

(IG: @flamethearsoncat) Flame even made it onto My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet!

Stray Cat Wanders Into Fire House and Asks Everyone for “Help”

(IG: @station57cat)

Here is a list of FDNY Cats on Instagram:

FDNY Firehouse Cats Have Their Own Must-See Instagrams

If the FDNY can have cats, you can too! Do you really want the FDNY to be a step ahead of you?

3. There are even children’s books written about Firehouse Cats!

The Fire Cat

Pete the Cat: Firefighter Pete

4. Perhaps most importantly, pets are family, not something to be gotten rid of due to one anonymous complaint. To separate your folks from their pet will cause them and her pain. They could be distracted, worrying about her. Do you want that.

The benefits far outweigh any downside, so please do the right thing.

January 13, 2017Leave a comment

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:107%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

I don’t really have book problems. Others think I have book problems, but I do not agree. What I have is a reading problem in that there is nowhere near enough time to read all the books. But I love books! I love being around them. I love seeing them on the shelf. I love going to bookstores. I love going to the library. I even love to smell them. I know I’m not alone. When I’ve had a bad day, heading to a bookstore and bought two, three… seven books to feel better is my thing. It’s like this scene from Almost Famous, just switch out bookstore for record store.

But all this book buying has led to a space problem. There isn’t room anywhere for even one more book. Well… not true, they could be piled up on the floor. What is wrong with that? I see nothing wrong with that, but let’s say not everyone agrees. So now new books are hidden under the bed. I also went through a phase of squirreling them away on eReaders. I barely remember I own them because I don’t see them. I need to SEE the beautiful books!

The possibility of my reading the books I already have rather than buying even more new books has been suggested. Am I even aware of how many unread books I own? Do I know that there are some duplicates? Pshaw! Sacrilege. You know nothing!

Unfortunately for me, I believe in holding myself accountable. I only paid off my student loans by maintaining a budget spreadsheet and being brutally honest with myself about what I spent. So… I made a spreadsheet of all my books. Author, Title, Type (fiction, non-fiction, etc.), Format (print, ebook, etc.), guestimate of when it was acquired, Read or To be Read. But to be fully accountable to my book compulsion, I couldn’t track merely the books which already beautify my shelfs. What about the ones I want to read, but do not yet own? So I added in my Amazon wishlist, all fifteen pages of it. What? Fifteen pages is completely normal!

The results were striking. The list was so long I decided to add a second tab to hold just the book already read. Then I would have a true To Be Read (TBR) list and be able to sort on whether I own it or not. That way I could refer to this list when looking for my next read and pull from it. Excellent idea… yes? Until I totaled up the spreadsheet. Want to know how many books were on my TBR? 657. Even I think 657 is batshit crazy! I own 308 print and 146 eBooks I haven’t read. Hmmm… Let’s do some math. I read around 50 books a year (time constraints!). This means if I only read the print books I already own, I, in theory, don’t need to buy another book for six years. If I include ebooks, nine. NINE years! This doesn’t even account for the books I’ve marked as ‘On Scribd’ because A. of course I have Scribd and B. theoretically I don’t HAVE to buy a book if it’s on Scribd. Though sometimes book leave Scribd, but that is a whole aside.

This feels daunting to me. Also, it was 657 when I originally made the spreadsheet some time back. It’s now up to 763, but shhhhh…

I’m either going to have to pick up the pace or stop adding to this list, right? I can’t stop adding to the list, so it’s going to have to be pick up the pace. Why am I writing this? Gotta go!

Elizabeth Gilbert wants ME to read Love Warrior

September 7, 2016August 18, 2018Leave a comment

I KNEW we were secretly besties even if she has no idea I exist!

Despite being a huge fan of the whole Liz Gilbert, Brene Brown (sorry, no accent), Cheryl Strayed, Gretchin Rubin world of possibilities, I have never heard of Glennon Doyle Melton (and with that name I expect her to be a relative of Kate Middleton), but I thought:

Hold on, wait a minute… is that not the same book that just got selected for Oprah’s Bookclub?? What book deities have rained down on Ms. Melton to achieve the perfect storm of book publicity? I mean once you have Oprah, is there need for more? Call off the dogs.

Someone tell me if this book is actually this good. I need to know!

The look on the face…

June 25, 2016Leave a comment

of your fellow book club member, after they say they read 3 – 4 books a year (for our book club) when, in order to decide on the next book, you whip out your phone to call up your Google Doc TBR list… categorized, prioritized, any book for any occasion.

Tomorrow is the Boston Book Festival!

October 24, 2015Leave a comment

I can NOT wait. So excited.

I’ve beenmonumentally busy so I’m finally planning my day right now, but I’m sure it will be a wonderful day. There are books, there are authors, there are people who love books and authors. Plus, it’s the greatest city in the world.

Heaven… come on down!

http://www.bostonbookfest.org/

Bingo!

September 9, 2015August 18, 2018Leave a comment

The results of my Books on the Nightstand Bingo are in and it’s BINGO!

I read so many other books than this, but they didn’t fit. Sad trombone. In truth, the only category I had to go out of my way to find was ‘Set in South America’. I had to Google books set in South America and was pleasantly surprise to find Bel Canto in the results. I adore Ann Patchett and here was a book I hadn’t read. That the entire book takes place inside a large home with characters from all over the world, thus it’s actual physical setting isn’t that relevant doesn’t matter! It still counts.

Thanks to Books on the Nightstand for the fun and interesting twist on summer reading. I think I’ll continue on and try to fill in all the squares, just for shits and giggles.

Books on the Nightstand Bingo!

June 21, 2015August 18, 2018Leave a comment

I’m giving the BOTNS Bingo card a whirl. By kismet, I’ve read three books since Memorial day that fit a square, but naturally I want to read ALL the squares. That will take some planning..

BEA Love

May 31, 2015August 18, 2018Leave a comment

One of the things I love after BEA is the book haul postings. Love it! There are many people who will a completely different haul, 100% different than mine, and be just as thrilled. I love that because it means there are so many books out there, to please so many kinds of people.
I’m just going to keep posting mine, because I’m pretty happy.

BEA15

May 30, 2015August 18, 2018Leave a comment

And so I return home after another wonderful BEA. Here is my two day haul:
Day 1 (Thurs)

Day 2 (Fri):

AND:

All this certainly looks like less than it felt like when carrying it or rolling it down the street in this bag, which was completely stuffed, and another entire tote bag.

I will not be attending Book Con because of last year’s experience. Being herded like cattle in a small, sweltering space just isn’t for me. I hear some of the issues have been resolved, but I’ll reserve judgement until this year’s attendees weigh in. Wait.. maybe not. I’m not sure I want to hear about things I’ve missed. 🙂 I’m already sad about missing Nick Offerman, and I’ve avoided knowing who else is there so I’m not sad…

More complete recap coming soon!

Living Reflections

Read, Write, Vote

Tag: love