What do you think of dreams? I use to think they didn't mean anything.

Today, I had a dream that I helped a guy I liked save a seat for another girl on a train in hopes that I would sit by him on the train. LOL! That is so dumb. How am I going to sit by him and save some other chick a seat too?

Can you believe that one week from today it's Thanksgiving Day? How does time get away from us so much? It was just Halloween last week wasn't it, lol?

Here is an acrostic poem I wrote on fanstory about a past Thanksgiving in my life.

"Company's Comin'" by Mari_ on FanStory.com

I just LOVE the books and most of the versions of The Little Prince. Last night I watched The Little Prince on the Ovation channel. I had almost forgot that years ago when I first saw Moonwalker, some of the concept of it, like Michael catching a ride on the comet/shooting star, reminded me of the story of the Little Prince. But the dancing too, namely of the great Bob Fosse, the dude who plays the snake, reminds me of Michael. Or rather visa versa since Fosse was first. See the YT vid below. I just love it! Check out the spats and the hat. There's a hip movement and a finger twirl in there too.



I ALWAYS felt that Michael was a fan of the Little Prince stories. MJ of course took what he learned to another level. He did say, "The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work."

Obtuse

For your reading pleasure I'd like to share with you a little poem I wrote several years ago about a little bat encountered I had. I named the bat, Obtuse. Enjoy!

Obtuse, the Little Bat

obtuse
the little bat
who came to roost
outside my bedroom window
unaware
of all the havoc he caused
and how dare
he de-beautify my colonial-style home

peeking
out my window all day long
and seeking
a way I could remove him from the premises

obtuse and unaware
the little bat
is still there
even after a restless night on my posturepedic mattress

dreaming
YES! I dreamed the little bat bit me
and was scheming
to turn me into the obtuse creature he was

dismissing
the dream as an eerie reality
promising
this bat will be banished from my mind in the morning

So...

in the early morning

when everyone

had gone about their duties, I..

sprayed
the outside window frame with water
the bat's reaction, delayed
he flew, slowly meandering down to the ground

triumphant
in getting the bat from my window frame
I suddenly felt the want
to go shopping and buy my mind at ease

returning
I realized that the little bat was gone
and I was learning
that he was not a shrewd mammal like me

copyright © 2007 by Mari

http://www.prosepower.com/mypoetry/obtuse.html

"without my freedom to express myself thru the medium of writing - I would be dead 2 the world. what a wonderful thing to have - freedom"

That is what I tweeted a few minutes ago. Now that's a first. Usually I blog then post a link in twitter. But I did the old switcharoo today LOL!

I got up this morning feeling a little sad, thinking about all this mess of how AEG contributed to Michael's death... and how Sony might have contributed to Michael's death... and how Murray just let him die like that... and how MJ himself even contributed... and it came to me that all this stuff really doesn't matter except to us here in the physical world cause on this earth somebody has to pay, somebody has to be blamed. I know God just removed him from all this... from all the pain and all the stress. It was never meant for him to even perform this concert. I mean think about it... This is It. Who names their final show This Is It? Even if this is their final show, what artist would name it This is it? He even looked into doing some Vegas and doing some movies, so this wasn't really IT. I know he was probably thinking or so he thought he was thinking... this will be the last show or 'tour' type show I will do and it WAS but not like he thought it would be. But God knew and he put it in his mind for him to name it that. And think of the name This Is It. It almost reminds me of when Jesus said "It is finished" after he was beat up and then crucified on the cross. And according to the Bible, what was Jesus sent here to do? The short version is... to save the world. MJ was beat up and crucified in this life. And all he wanted to do was bring us LOVE and make us aware through his craft. I was reading some of his Ebony interview yesterday and when they asked him about how does he communicate his compansion and his message to the world he said, " I try to write, put it in a song. Put it in a dance. Put it in my art to teach the world. If politicians can't do it, I want to do it. We have to do it. Artist, put it in paintings. Poets, put it in poems, novels. That's what we have to do. And I think it's important to save the world." Sounds similar to his chorus on We've Already Had Enough, doesn't it? MJ really wanted to save the world.

I get a tad bit uncomfortable and I'm not comparing MJ and Jesus like they are equal, cause I don't even believe that but every time I think about all the shit MJ went thru, God keeps turning my mind toward things that happened to Jesus and I can't help it. MJ said, "...I'm not calling myself Jesus because I would never even look at myself on the same level, but I'm comparing it (his pressures and stress) to Jesus because what God gave to him was for a reason..."

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

You know there are no such things as coincidences, right?

Last night I wrote a poem about the pen being mightier than the sword. I feel asleep on the couch with Boomerang on. When I woke up still groggy, the Pink Pather show was on with a short about the aardvark building an ark to get the ant. The next cartoon was a Pink Panther cartoon about the Pink Panther fighting an evil villain in a comic book with what else... his pen! I don't know how he got in the comic book, sorry I think I was dozing in and out during the first of it. But I was awake to fully see the end of the short cartoon. To get out the comic book, the Pink Panther sliced up the villain with his pen like a sword! hahaha!

So I always like to think there is some kind of lesson to be learned when things like this happen. What is the lesson? Heck I don't know! Maybe something like I should never lose my pen? Yeah, that sounds like a good one.

I Made Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting...




for my son's birthday yesterday!

YUMMY!

I cheated and used Betty Crocker cake mix (replacing the water with Pepsi) but I made my own frosting.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I usually use Skippy)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk, pour in a little at a time watching icing's consistacy

Icing will frost 24 cupcakesSee More

52 years ago at 7:33pm on Aug 29th, an extraordinary little baby was born who would grow up to sing, to inspire, to dance, to entertain, to give back to a needy world....a message of LOVE.

Michael, Happy Birthday!!

May your message be heard and understood by all.

http://prosepower.blogspot.com/2010/08/message-is-love.html

The Fashion of the Times: Hot Pants

Back when I was a mere child back in the 70s, I wanted a pair of hot pants or as we call them in present day: booty shorts. I would look in the glamour magazines of the day and fantasize myself as a grown woman wearing a pair of cute hot pants with a pair of white shiny patent leather boots. So fine! My fantasy would be fueled by the fact that at about that time, the neighbor girl Saundra, who was tall and about 18 or 19, would be strolling down the street wearing a pair of beautiful green hot pants. Those shorts were calling my name.

One day I asked my mother if she would buy me some of those shorts Saundra had on and she said, "No you're too young to wear those kind of shorts." I was like, what? I had no idea what she meant until she bought home some green shorts that I swear came down to my knees! Thinking back, they probably didn't actually come down that far. But no matter how long they were, I would roll them up as high as I could when I left the house. So there I was with my rolled up 'hot' pants. Pitiful! I'm sure I looked a hot mess or a cool fool.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

My husband/ex-husband came over today and saw a couple of Michael Jackson mags I had laying around and asked me, "Michael Jackson? You still like him? I thought you'd be through with him by now." ARE YOU FUKIN' KIDDING ME? Is he serious? I just looked at him like 'what are u talking about'? That has to fall under the catagory and be added to the list of 'All Time Stupid Things' he has said. Uh... it's not Michael Jackson I'm through with, it's you!

The Message Is Love

They see the truth and yet they choose lies.
They see the light and yet they choose darkness.
They hold each other and yet they are alone
They find the tree of life but yet they die
The drawback is that once you find it, then you lose it
For matter is in the heavens, cradled upon windswept acts of kindness
The hands matter because they can carry the child
Make yours carry beyond the celebratory palette of the living

Run in the direction of self awareness
Can quiet be heard upon the winds of eight?
Music made me remember peace
They seek opportunity and get nothing
They confine love in their heart when they should dispense it among their fellow man
Dead on the mark; the target slowed the bullet
East - the path faced them right in front of their face
Loudly I cried in their ears a melody so peaceful a baby could sleep through it
Echoing the message so you can hear
The message is LOVE

A BUG'S LIFE

Here is a little true story I wrote back in 1999:



After eating some delicious burgers, we waddled out of the restaurant, toothpicks in hand, remarking how good the food had been this time. I looked down and I showed my 19-month-old son a small beetle crawling mightily on the concrete beside the car. It was a beautiful hot Texas day and I could almost hear music playing in the background as I showed the insect to him, expecting him to try to pick it up. In that instance, I would vocalize a resounding "no-no!" I was proud to be helping out biologists everywhere, showing my future little scientist a wondrous six-legged specimen amid the hustle and bustle of a busy parking lot. He bent down, getting within six inches of the bug to get a good look at the tiny black insect. Then, he quickly stood up and stomped the bug. He then proceeded to do a Mexican hat dance, ending with outright jumps complete with hand gyrations. I watched the baseball stitching on his little white 5 1/2 sized tennis shoes go up and down on the gray concrete. "Bug dead!" the little exterminator proclaimed. I was flabbergasted and stood there looking at the little bug-mangler with my mouth wide open. Just then my husband said, "Hey, close your mouth before a fly flies in there. We don't wanna have to have him kill that too!"

http://www.prosepower.com/bugslife.html

Being An Adult is So Overated!

I know, isn't it? Yesterday, the shopping channel QVC was on in the background when my daughter came downstairs and sat in the chair across from me. I was busy working on the computer, not paying alot of attention to the tv. The financial guru, Suze Orman, was on there selling an item where you can have all your financial information in one place in some shiney case for some astronomical amount. Inside this indestructable case she was selling was some CD roms whereby u could make your own Will, Trust, Power of Attorney and a whole butt load of other things. Suze was explaining all this stuff and u know her mouth runs about 99 miles an hour. My daughter was looking at the program and then she said, "Mom do you really need all that stuff?" I said, "Well yes u do. Suze is right, you need a Will when you die and a Revocable Trust so the court and the govt won't take all your money when you die... and a Power of Attorney if you're in an accident and you can't speak for yourself so nobody won't take your money... and insurance so you don't go bankrupt paying your medical bill from the accident you just had.... and so on and so on. Pretty soon I was running off at the mouth trying to explain stuff to a 15 year old and talking like Suze Orman but at only 90 miles an hr. When I was through, my daughter says, "Man, being an adult sucks!" And I said, "yeah it does. Being an adult is so overrated! Let's go play some DDR."

I Smile When I See A Rainbow

I saw three rainbows several weeks ago. One was a double rainbow! And all this was at a time when I really needed to see a rainbow. I hadn't seen a rainbow in a long time-- like years. A part of me wanted to go run out and find the end of the rainbow so I can get that pot of gold! I always feel such peace when I see a rainbow and I know it's a promise from God that everything will be OK.

A little story: When I was much younger and hadn't been married too long back then, I was very troubled about something but I never told anyone. I had a little toddler and I was so worried that my husband was going to be sent to Iraq. Matter of fact, it was just about certain. One day after work, walking to my car in the parking lot, I saw the brightest rainbow in the sky. I felt such peace when I saw that rainbow and it was like a voice saying, "Everything will be alright." That next day, President Bush (the first one) announced that he was ending the Gulf War.

So that's why I smile when I see a rainbow.

Friday the 13th

Did you survive this superstitious day?

I don't necessarily pay alot of attention to superstitions. I didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th until not too long ago or I would of made this post earlier. I really don't care about the superstition of walking under ladders but I will try to avoid doing that cause it's kinda weird to walk under a ladder. So I don't do it. Splitting poles when I'm walking with someone -- I consciencely try not to do that one but if I do I don't freak over it.

I really didn't know what a superstition was until one day when I was a kid, I was in the car with a friend of mine and her mother was driving. All of a sudden a black cat crossed in front of the car. She stopped the car at that moment in the middle of the road and backed up and went around the block to get back on course to where we were going. I asked my friend why did her mother do that and she looked at me like I was stupid and said, "A black cat crossed in front of the car!" I thought to myself, wtf does that have to do with anything but I didn't ask anymore questions. LOL, I just thought, "Man these ppl are weird!" Later I found out that her mom was superstitious and a black cat crossing in front of u was bad luck. Who knew!

Do You Love Yourself?

Love thy neighbor as thyself. I came across those words while goofing around on the internet. Do people really know how to love themselves? How can you love a neighbor if u don't love yourself?

Do you love yourself?
Do you look in the mirror and smile
Do you hold your head up
Kick back once in a while

Do you check the key to your heart
Is it in a safe place?
Open it up sometime
Inspect the contents, just in case

Don’t run away from yourself!
Your sweetness is earth’s embrace
Cause when you take time to love you first
Everything else will interlace

Beauty in, beauty out
Don’t put the ME on a shelf!
So once again, I have to ask
Do you love yourself?

Cobblestone Muffins

Have you ever tried Panera Bread's Cobblestone Muffins?

Let me first say this: YUM! Do you like cinnamon, apples and raisins? Well here is a recipe similar to Panera's Cobblestone treat!


Cobblestone Muffins

Dough:
4 eggs
6 oz sugar
1 t salt
2 C milk - lukewarm
4 oz margarine or butter, melted
8 C all-purpose flour, divided
2 T yeast

Coating:
2 C brown sugar
4 T Cinnamon
4 oz butter, melted

Filling:
1/4 C raisins
1 apple, peeled and cut into thin chunks

Icing:
1 C powdered sugar
milk to desired consistency

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, and salt to start the dough. Combine warm milk and melted margarine/butter and slowly add to egg mixture. Slowly add 4 cups of the flour, mixing on low speed. After flour is incorporated, add yeast and mix well. Then, add the rest of the flour slowly. Turn out into an oiled bowl and let double in size.

Line LARGE muffin tins with parchment or muffin cups. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into balls. Drop the balls into a bowl of melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place four balls at the bottom of each muffin cup. Add a mixture of apple and raisins and then top with three or four more dough balls. Top with raisin/apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Science: Interview With a Robot - nytimes.com

I've seen the future and it's creepy! We're going to make the movie Terminator reality yet! LOL!

An Un-Happy Father's Day

Somebody on FB mentioned that Murray was one of the worst fathers of the year. He can't even pay his child support.

http://www.eurweb.com/?p=26313

But guess what? His children have a father. They get to call him up today, if they did, if they even cared, and wish him a Happy Father's Day. Is that fair? Hell no!

So one of the worst fathers of the year killed one of the best fathers!

Today I am so sad for the kids. Paris, Prince, Blanket, I am so sad that you don't have ur daddy with u today.

He was one of the best fathers and he loved them with all his heart. All he did, he did for them. He did the best he could do. He was their father and their mother. He loved them, he provided for them, he put away songs in the vault for them, he protected them, he thought the world of them. Like the song said, they were his life. And all he wanted to do was to have them see him perform. Not perform on YouTube or in Captain EO or on the Live in Bucharest DVD. Not on the kitchen table (ha, that kinda made me smile thru my sadness. Can u imagine MJ dancing on the kitchen table, lol, kinda like he did on YRMW on the bar; knocking over bowls and the lettace and the silverware), not dancing in the yard or in the living room... but he wanted for them to see him perform LIVE.

I am so sad I can't wish Michael a Happy Father's Day. To me it's an adjective that doesn't apply.

Meg Whitman

Remember the song by the O'Jays - For the Love of Money?

I just read that Meg Whitman spent $81 million to win a primary in a state with massive financial troubles-- California?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/meg-whitman-spent-
what-fo_b_606018.html

What if Meg Whitman thought it was an ebay auction instead of a political race? I mean, you know how you get wrapped up in those ebay auctions. Before you know it you've spent 81 million dollars.

The Name Jacko is Disrespectful

Michael Jackson hated the name Jacko cause it was used as a reference to an ape. How disrespectful is this! I copied this back in January this year from a website - Cryptomundo.com - that is mysteriously no longer a website:

Bigfoot Author Links Bigfoot Racism to Michael Jackson

Social scientist Joshua B. Buhs, author of Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend writes Cryptomundo about a

…connection – tenuous and racist – between Michael Jackson and the world of cryptozoology.
Jackson’s nickname among the tabloids was Jacko (which conveniently rhymed with wacko).

Jacko was also the name of the supposed young Sasquatch caught in 1884.

Is there a link? I suspect so.

Jocko is a common slang for a monkey or ape. Jacko seems to be a corruption of that word. Jacko worked as a name for a Sasquatch because it made clear the thing–whatever it was, whether it existed or not–was supposed to be understood as an ape.

The same subtle allusion is then built into Michael Jackson’s nickname. He’s an ape, and his association with Bubbles only cements that.
~ Joshua B. Buhs, June 27, 2009.

I just found out that my Maytag diswasher is in a recall. And this is not the dishwasher I wanted anyway. I had to pick it cause the homeowner before me decided to put wood floors over linoleum and my beautiful Frigidaire dw (I think it was a Frigidaire, it's been 3 yrs) wouldn't fit. :(

The silverware basket tore up before I had it a year, that pissed me off at first. That should of been a sign.

So does this mean that the Maytag repairman, who never has anything to do, suddenly has a lot of work? LOL, are they still gonna run that commercial?

Here is the link if u have this piece of shit dishwasher (I'm irritated)
https://repair.maytag.com/prjjck10/default.jsp

God
by Michael Jackson

It's strange that God doesn't mind expressing Himself/Herself in all the religions of the world, while people still cling to the notion that their way is the only right way. Whatever you try to say about God, someone will take offense, even if you say everyone's love of God is right for them. For me the form God takes is not the most important thing. What's most important is the essence. My songs and dances are outlines for Him to come in and fill. I hold out the form. She puts in the sweetness.

I've looked up at the night sky and beheld the stars so intimately close, it was as if my grandmother had made them for me. "How rich, how sumptuous," I thought. In that moment I saw God in His creation. I could as easily have seen Her in the beauty of a rainbow, the grace of a deer bounding through a meadow, the truth of a father's kiss. But for me the sweetest contact with God has no form. I close my eyes, look within, and enter a deep soft silence. The infinity of God's creation embraces me. We are one.

11 months since MJ died

Today is the 11th month of MJ's passing. My how time flies. I still can't believe he is no longer living. Sometimes I forget, especially when I’m looking at his artistry and his finesse on stage while looking at a live performance or a video. And then when it's over, that’s when the moment hits me and I realize he is gone... and all I have are memories. I feel so helpless cause all I can do is hit Play Selection again and again and again. I'll never get to see him do another live interview. I remember him telling Geraldo, “I have rhinosaurus skin.” But he didn’t. I'll never get to see him go up on stage and accept another award-- he loved awards! Did u see how he smiled when he got an award? I love his smile; I love when he was happy. I'll never get to see him perform my favorite song, Give Into Me live, not that he would of performed THAT song, but a girl can hope. The truth of the matter is, I would have taken a live performance of any song. My hair stylist and I were talking about the London shows in April 2009 and I told her, "If he comes to the US, I'm there." But I'll be damn, two months later he was dead. That's when the bottom fell out… the bottom of my heart. How could this be? Michael Jackson had always been a part of my life, from the time as a little child, I watched him perform on Soul Train, thru college until now. I've always felt a kinship to him and now what do I do? His death left a hole in my heart and I wondered how I would repair this hole. Talking about it, writing about it, yeah that’s it. So I joined forums, commented on articles and typed on blogs. So now I’m here and it's month 11. The hole has healed a little but I’ve concluded that the wound will never fully close. No type of surgery, no patch, no substitute... nothing will do. This hole in my heart for Michael will probably always be there. I know that leaves me open for infection with bouts of tears and sadness when I think about him but that’s OK. I will always love Michael Jackson. We are joined souls in some kind of way and I will be forever grateful for the things he’s shown me and told me.

Michael, I will love u and miss u forever.

Oil soaks coastal marshes, birds as spill grows

This Gulf Oil spill is very distressing. I can't help but wonder how this will all end. Aren't we suppose to be good stewards of this earth. Did God not give us this assignment? A friend just directed me toward a line in a Marvin Gaye song, Mercy Me: "Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas..." Wow. It definately can't hurt to listen to a little Marvin Gaye.

Mercy Me
by Marvin Gaye

Woo ah, mercy mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east
Woo mercy, mercy me, mercy father
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Ah oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Radiation under ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land
How much more abuse from man can she stand?
Oh, na na...
My sweet Lord... No
My Lord... My sweet Lord


Love that song. Hate this oil spill! Mercy me...

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama said this on the Today show yesterday, at least I think he said it then. I know he did talk about happiness on there. He always has such words of wisdom. We DO make our own sadness in this life. Then we want to blame others for our unhappiness. You have the power to change your situation and your general outlook on life! BUT... You got to believe that for it to work!

MJ the true Little Prince.

Remember that part in Moonwalker with the shooting star? Remember he looked at the shooting star and turned into the first transformer? He was a live action Transformer before Optimus Prime! Michael was one bad ass car!

So our Michael is really riding among the stars right now... catching a ride upon the asteroids... going from planet to planet... experiencing the joys of heaven.

Brooke gave a beautiful speech at Michael's memorial and I captured this passage from it:

"He was often referred to as the King but the Michael I knew always reminded me more of The Little Prince.

Thinking of him now, I’d like to share a passage from the book:

What moves me so deeply about this sleeping little prince is his loyalty to a flower--the image of a rose shining within him like a flame within a lamp, even when he's asleep... And I realized he was even more fragile than I thought. Lamps must be protected. A gust of wind can blow them out."

Our little prince... our little lamp... he wasn't protected was he? A gust of wind did blow him out.

Brooke continues...

"Michael’s sensitivity was even more extraordinary than his talent. And his true truth resided in his heart. As The Little Prince also said… Eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart. What’s most important is invisible. Michael saw everything with his heart."

How true Brooke, how true.

http://www.entertonement.com/clips/qfxtsscqxd--Brooke-Shields-Addresses-Michael-Jackson-Memorial

Lena Horne, if you believe.mp4

Dear Lena, rest in peace.

Lena Horne, what can I say about her?

I LOVE her! She was such a classy beautiful woman. I just love that she refused to pass as a white woman or play a maid in a movie. Those two things would of been so easy for her to do. She didn't take the easy road. And boy can she sing! Singing... acting... dancing... YES, she was a triple threat! Her death is a very sad occasion indeed however she did live to 92. I never am as sad when a person lives that long. They have lived such a full life. Two or even three lifetimes. It's such a blessing to have such a long life. And look at all the accomplishments we can look over that this marvelous woman did. I just love her.

RIP Lena!

As you know, I'm a big fan of Michael Jackson. What if MJ met Lena at the gate and welcomed her to her next assignment! They are probably entertaining the heavenly hosts together. What a concert!

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George Cooper

Ordinary People by John Legend

I’ve often pondered on my soul's purpose. Sometimes I think I got it just to sink back into questioning it. Anybody ever done that? Life has a purpose. We aren’t just idly bumping around here completing mundane tasks like Sims. I think sometimes the purpose is simple. But sometimes, for some of us, I think the purpose is pretty damn complicated. Why is that? Do we make it complicated?

Here is an old article I ran across today on Michael Jackson's soul's purpose:
http://www.examiner.com/x-17096-Birmingham-Spirituality-Examiner~y2009m8d25-The-souls-purpose-through-Michael-Jacksons-life#

I started out today looking at the lyrics and listening to Michael Jackson's Earth Song. Michael cared about this Earth so much. Maybe today, we can start with thinking about our responsibilities as an inhabitant of this beautiful planet. Who knows, this may reciprocate an action in 'doing'. Remember: A thought plus an action equals a better tomorrow.

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth these weeping shores?

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth these weeping shores

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Hey, what about yesterday
What about the seas
The heavens are falling down
I can't even breathe

What about apathy
I need you
What about nature's worth
It's our planet's womb

What about animals
We've turned kingdoms to dust
What about elephants
Have we lost their trust

What about crying whales
We're ravaging the seas
What about forest trails
Burnt despite our pleas

What about the holy land
Torn apart by greed
What about the common man
Can't we set him free

What about children dying
Can't you hear them cry
Where did we go wrong
Someone tell me why

What about baby boy
What about the days
What about all their joy
What about the man

What about the crying man
What about Abraham
What about death again
Do we give a damn

Michael Jackson PLANET EARTH POEM ..from THIS IS IT ..read by HIM!

"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~ Charlie Chaplin

I haven't seen a Charlie Chaplin movie in a long time. I wonder if there are any Charlie Chaplin movies on tonight?

This Little Light of Mine

EVERY ONE of our lives and our destinies are affected by the decisions we make during our lives. We're all human and we make good decisions and bad decisions. One's life is not just a learning experience for yourself, but could be for others as well. So your light maybe shining whether u like it or not!

Today a friend mentioned she was a work in progress. What a wonderful attitude to consider yourself as a work in progress. I got to thinking that we all should be a work in progress. How often do we give up? How often do we say ‘I can’t’? Reminds me of the famous saying and all time high sermon topic, “Please Be Patient With Me, God Isn’t Finished With Me Yet’. A work in progress, like an unfinished painting! Wonder what my finished portrait will be?

Isn’t it amazing that nine months ago, it was a Thursday the 25th?

June 25th to be exact.

The number 9 can sometimes symbolize eternity. It is also technically the amount of time it takes for a human to go from conception to birth.

Nine months ago is also when we lost our beloved Michael.

Isn’t it amazing that the fans are still grieving? We still carry broken hearts. We are still confused about his death.

We weren’t ready to give him up, but we had to.

So how do we repair this hole in our hearts? There has been an unrepairable rip in the fabric of time. The wound of him leaving us is a deep scratch in our Michael Jackson vinyl. The virtual record needle is stuck and the sweet echo of his voice, whether it be the sparkling sound of Smooth Criminal or the gritty lyrics of They Don’t Really Care About Us, is playing continuously in our minds, in our vehicles or on our computers.

It is still hard to comprehend that he is now dancing among the stars, performing for the heavenly hosts and singing with the angels.

But… even with heavy hearts, we can still look toward the heavens and smile… being an angel becomes you, Michael. It becomes YOU.

You were our angel for many years

And we thank God for lending you to us for this short memorable time.

Michael loved trees. I just hate that he had to leave his Giving Tree when he abandoned Neverland. I envision him before he moved on, visiting Neverland again, climbing his favorite tree and even sitting for a spell underneath it.

The Giving Tree is also a book by Shel Silverstein, one of my favorites. I never read this anywhere, but I bet Michael loved the book as well. Here is a little bit of a synopsis of the book copied from Wiki:

The Giving Tree is a tale about a relationship between a young boy and a tree in a forest. The tree always provides the boy with what he wants: branches on which to swing, shade in which to sit, apples to eat, branches with which to build a home. As the boy grows older he requires more and more of the tree. The tree loves the boy very much and gives him anything he asks for. In the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the tree lets the boy cut her down so the boy can build a boat in which he can sail. The boy leaves the tree, now a stump. Many years later, the boy, now an old man, returns and the tree says, "I have nothing left to give you." The boy replies, " I do not need much now, just a quiet place to sit and rest." The tree then says, "Good! A tree stump is a great place to do just that! Come boy, sit down and be happy." The boy obliged and the tree was happy.

Isn't that beautiful? So picture this: Michael's spirit came back to Neverland to visit his favorite tree and the tree said, "Come Michael, sit down and be happy." Michael's tree didn't give him apples to eat, but it gave him words. And with the words he made great songs.

Here is the transcript of a speech I gave last night:


Dancing Machine

Isn’t it amazing how music can evoke a feeling or makes you remember an event that you may have forgotten--- something that may have happened to you years ago? Well that is a litle of what my speech is about tonight.

My mother and I moved from New York to Oklahoma when I was a child. Now I don’t particularly think it was a great move. But since I didn’t have anything to do with it, we moved to this little town in Oklahoma. I’m going to tell you right now, sometimes it was boring. The difference in New York and Oklahoma is indescribable. I was always planning and plotting about where I was going to go after I graduated from high school and left that little town. But the truth is, living there gave me a lot of interesting memories that I can talk about. There weren’t a lot of things to do in this little town, especially on Saturdays. On that day, you would mainly hang out with your friends, go downtown window shopping or stay home watching TV. One thing that I looked forward to every Saturday was looking at Soul Train on TV. Soul Train was black America’s American Bandstand. It was dubbed the hippest trip in America by the host Don Cornelius. My friends and I looked at Soul Train to get the latest fashions even though we couldn’t afford them, to look at the latest dance steps even though we couldn’t do them, and to see who was going to be the musical guest. Then we’d talk about when we got to school Monday.

One Saturday while watching Soul Train, Don Cornelius announced that next week’s musical guest would be the Jackson 5. Oh my God! The Jackson 5? Did he say the Jackson5? Are you serious? Who didn’t like the Jackson 5 back then? Nobody! What was it about the Jackson 5 that I liked? They were just so cute with their little afros and their perfectly coordinated clothes. They were magic! I loved when they performed. They could dance, they could sing --- they were like little Temptations with a base and a guitar, but only better. My friends and I were always choosing which one we were going to marry. Forget about getting Michael when we were dividing up the Jackson Brothers though, he was always taken first. Michael was about 15 at the time, his voice had started to mature and it was just something about him that I always liked. So that whole week in elementary school was bearable because I knew on Saturday I would be watching the Jackson 5 on TV. Saturday rolls around and Soul Train comes on. I was never still when I watched Soul Train as a kid, I would be up dancing along with the dancers. In my mind I was a Soul Train dancer. Then Don Cornelius announces here are the Jackson 5 singing their new hit, Dancing Machine. Oh boy! There they were! I was glued to the set. I was mesmerized. This was probably the only time I was quiet and sitting on the couch. The song was amazing. Then during the bridge or the break portion of the song, Michael Jackson steps forward between the microphone stands and the edge of the stage and does this incredible dance that I had never seen before in my life. This was way before the moonwalk. He glided forward across the stage moving his head from side to side with these stiff jerking movements. I jumped up and moved closer to the tv. I couldn’t get close enough. It was incredible. I was in love with Michael Jackson from that day on. When they were through performing and Don Cornelius had finished interviewing them. I ran into my mother’s room and yelled, “Mama, we have GOT to go to the record store NOW! You have got to buy the Jackson 5 song they just sang on Soul Train!” My mother looked at me like, ‘what?’ And then she said something that momentarily broke my heart, “I’m not going down to no record store right now.” But she did add, “But next time when we’re downtown, we can go there and you get your little record,” I sadly walked out the room. That wasn’t good enough. I was so disappointed but I guess it would have to do… for now. I think I even cried. Eventually, I did get to the record store and bought the 45 record of Dancing Machine and one of the little yellow record spacers that you put in the middle of 45s so you could play them on your record player. Wow, my first Jackson 5 record. I loved that song so much. I’d put it on and dance and dance and dance. I even brought it to school. We use to have record day in music class at school on some Fridays. We couldn’t get up and move around; we had to sit in our little wooden chairs while the teacher played our records we brought from home. You know I could hardly sit still when she played my record.

But on June 25th of last year, my Dancing Machine died. It was like my childhood record player died. It’s hard to describe how sadden I was when Michael died. Hearing the news felt was like a member of my family died, a long distant cousin that I hadn’t seen in a while or an old boyfriend that I hadn’t talked to in years but I’d heard about from time to time. I suddenly found myself trying to gather up all the memorabilia I had on Michael Jackson and buying things that I always wanted and I didn’t have. I bought his one and only autobiography Moon Walk and started to read it. As I’m reading I come to Chapter 3 which is entitled Dancing Machine. Within that chapter, he talks about how he loved the groove and the feel of the song, Dancing Machine. He worked hard to find a dance move that would make the song more exciting when he and his brothers performed it. Michael turned to a street dance called the Robot. He was amazed that when he did the Robot that first time on Soul Train, Dancing Machine became an overnight hit (no thanks to my mother). As I read that passage, I began to remember that very moment and felt that same wonderful excitement I felt back when I was a little kid. It was satisfying to know that a song that I loved and that was special to me was also special to him as well.

A Song In My Heart!

Today has been a great day so far. I finally wrote down some notes of this movie that's been going on in my head for the past couple of days. I'm going to see if I can work it into something else I am writing. I was excited because in the midst of writing, a song pushed it's way to the forefront of my mind. I just went to a new page and started writing down the words. I love when that happens! damn I wish I knew how to write down the melody in my head. Here's a couple of the verses of the song I entitled Some How :

When I believe it
I can receive it
And I take my eyes toward the sky
No one can stop me
Your love won’t drop me
And in my heart I know the reason why

You are the one that sets my life on fire
You are the one that gives me that intense desire
You are the one I’ve always dreamed of
You are the perfect fit, a hand to glove.

whatcha think? more to come...

Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson Death Tape Revealed

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/michael-jackson-death-tape-revealed_1133255

This part in the article made me so so sad:

The voice is heard saying: "Patient is Michael Jackson, the pop star singer. No pulse, no breathing. Unresponsive. Tried to resuscitate him. Unsuccessful. We've done everything we can. We should be there in five minutes. It doesn't look good. It doesn't look good."

This only confirms that Murray knew MJ was dead.

He’s Tiger Woods, but he’s also Michael Jackson

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1762719.html

When I first read the above article by Jason Whitlock this morning it pissed me off! I thought, "What? Is this dude just trying to start a fight?" This is a SPORTS article written by a sports writer. Why is Michael Jackson even mentioned in it? He couldn't find a tragic sports figure that has fallen from grace? It's fashionable to put down Michael Jackson right now to enhance your article it seemes. Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it a long stretch to compare Tiger Woods to Michael? On top of that, it's a downright insult! The article is well written and I can see how he probably made a little chart and wrote out his similarities but come on! It reminds me of a stupid high school paper where you have to write a comparison paper and pick two different subjects and show how they are similar. I can write a paper on brocolli and asparagus but they are not the same vegetable. Michael was accused of a crime that he didn't commit. The LA DA hounded him for over 10 years and tried to send him to jail on bogus charges. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, commited a moral and personal crime against his wife, family and his precious repetition. There is no jail time required for what Tiger did. But as I thought about this article, I started thinking. Maybe there are some similarities. They are trying to crucify Tiger Woods in the media similarly to how they crucified Michael. The problem with Mr. Whitlock's article is that if u think about something long enough, you can come up with something any two things have in common. If you think about brocolli and asparagus, you can come up with the fact that they are both green and vegetables. We know for sure that Michael experienced much much more hate from the media and for a longer period of time than Tiger will ever experience. Tiger's problem with the media just started, i.e., it's an unfair comparison. Tiger has got to live a long time to get to the level of hate that was given to Michael.