Out With The Old and In With The New

Seriously, like video killed the radio star, digital cameras seem to have killed Kodachrome film. I just read an article:

Kodachrome is dead; Long Live Kodachrome

So should old film that you have to develop be soon forgotten and never brought to light (lol never brought to light -- film-- get it?). Idk, I'm an old skool chick. I always liked the old film and the old film process. They seemed to give photos such richness. Sure we can do all that stuff with Photoshop but there's nothing like the real thing (thank you Marvin and Tammi). But hey, it's called upgrading. "That item needs to be replaced. It's old." It's kinda sad that we sometimes seem to apply the same technique of upgrading inanimate objects to animate objects as well. I fully expect to one day be upgraded, laid by the wayside, by my new upgraded models, my kids.

so sometimes I post my work over on fanstory.com. I was looking for a picture on my computer to go along with a Naani poem I posted, then untitled but later I named The Breakthrough. Later you will see why I named it The Breakthrough. I was actually looking for a rainbow picture I took in July and couldn't find it. But I kept being drawn to the picture below I took that had nothing to do with a rainbow.



I cropped the sky part and decided to use it because... well can you see it? Click on the picture below.



Can you see the arm and clenched fist in the forefront that appears to 'break through' the clouds in the picture?

I hope you can see it. So then I had my picture and the title of my poem.

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.