Did you ever hear a song that moves you so much you have to pull over to the side of the road just to listen? Did you ever hear a song and feel grateful that there was someone else out there, going through what you're going through, who understood exactly how you felt?
Don't misunderstand me, I think songs are a great source of entertainment to bop around to on a dance floor,or sing along with in the car during rush hour, but even more importantly, they are the stuff that gets us through both the good and bad times in life. At their best, they uplift us, comfort us, inspire us, and make us feel a little less alone in the world. They are the stuff which unites while the world goes mad with divisiveness.
And so I wanted to share with you some of what makes me tie a knot and hold on when I'm at the end of my rope. I hope you enjoy them, and that they bless you like they do me.
(NOTE: Once you've clicked on a link below, you have to hit your "back" button to return to the blog.)
"I Will Raise My Voice" - Kira Small (Kira Small)
http://www.offrowrecords.com/FREEdownload.html
"Who I am Today" - BethAnne Clayton (BethAnne Clayton)
http://www.myspace.com/bethanneclayton/music/songs/who-i-am-today-13743616
"Stand" - Lorraine Ferro (Tanya Leah, Lorraine Ferro, Joanne Sonderling)
http://www.myspace.com/lorraineferro/music/songs/stand-28455781
"The Fragile Ones" - Jason Elliott (Tanya Leah, Matthew Garringer, Jason Elliott)
http://www.tanyaleah.com/music.html
And here's one from me -
"Stronger in the Broken Places" Ilene Angel (Ilene Angel)
http://www.myspace.com/482453414
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
In Search of...my Oprah blog
It turns out nothing can make me carve out a few minutes to return to blogging like the end of the Oprah Winfrey Show. As the final episodes wound down, and a feeling of overwhelming loss swept over me this past week, I wanted another chance - to soak up whatever wisdom I somehow missed, to pay attention, to savor. I wanted another opportunity to feel the comfort of the certainty that came from knowing I could count on one hour of television that would make me think differently, open me up, inspire me to be my best self day after day, year after year.
As I reached for endless Kleenex, I knew that this twenty-five year old conversation was drawing to a close, and I would be left, like the rest of America, to treasure and fondly reflect on our time together as a thing of the past. Oprah called us all to take whatever we've learned and put it to use. I feel like our collective training wheels have been removed, and we are forced to find our own balance, and strength, and courage to claim a future that is called our lives.
I've already decided that the hour a day I'm gaining would best be spent doing the work of the mind and spirit. Maybe it will be reading a book. Maybe it will be writing one.
I know that many of you feel the same way I do, and that it is normal to mourn a loss, even as we celebrate a new beginning and wish each other well.
To Oprah Winfrey I wish the ability to somehow take in the magnitude of the affection that is directed her way. I wish her good health, long life, and a chance to take a deep, long, satisfying breath.
From a grateful Oprah fan - thank you and Godspeed.
As I reached for endless Kleenex, I knew that this twenty-five year old conversation was drawing to a close, and I would be left, like the rest of America, to treasure and fondly reflect on our time together as a thing of the past. Oprah called us all to take whatever we've learned and put it to use. I feel like our collective training wheels have been removed, and we are forced to find our own balance, and strength, and courage to claim a future that is called our lives.
I've already decided that the hour a day I'm gaining would best be spent doing the work of the mind and spirit. Maybe it will be reading a book. Maybe it will be writing one.
I know that many of you feel the same way I do, and that it is normal to mourn a loss, even as we celebrate a new beginning and wish each other well.
To Oprah Winfrey I wish the ability to somehow take in the magnitude of the affection that is directed her way. I wish her good health, long life, and a chance to take a deep, long, satisfying breath.
From a grateful Oprah fan - thank you and Godspeed.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
In Search of...some comedy, man!
Last night was the White House Correspondents dinner, and once again, I was snubbed. Okay, so I'm not a correspondent and I don't work in the White House, but still, neither do a lot of the three thousand other people who attended.
Yes, this is the one night a year where Washington pokes fun at itself, and generally takes the joke pretty well. After watching the festivities on TV for many of years, I think I can safely say that this year was the best one yet. Oh, I don't have any delusions that, along with running the free world, President Obama is sitting there writing his own jokes, but a man who can both take a joke and dish one out, is a rarity in the Oval Office. And dish it out he did so well.
Whether it was the Lion King video with his birth date and time stamped in the corner, or starting the rumor mill that Michelle Bachman is Canadian, the President doaled out some humdingers. Of course the icing on the cake was the incessant butt of most of the jokes for the evening - Donald Trump - who, as we all saw plain as day, can not take a joke. This really comes as no big surprise to anyone, but he would have scored points if he would have at least tried to look like he was a good sport.
Seth Meyers hit it out of the park, as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure the jokes had to be vetted by somebody, but I'm certain that it wasn't Donald Trump. And speaking of vetting, Seth pointed out that Trump's ownership of the Miss USA pageant would come in handy in the selection process of the Republican vice presidential candidate. Good one, Seth.
I could go on and on, but I think it best viewed for yourself. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.
President's speech:
Seth Meyers speech:
Yes, this is the one night a year where Washington pokes fun at itself, and generally takes the joke pretty well. After watching the festivities on TV for many of years, I think I can safely say that this year was the best one yet. Oh, I don't have any delusions that, along with running the free world, President Obama is sitting there writing his own jokes, but a man who can both take a joke and dish one out, is a rarity in the Oval Office. And dish it out he did so well.
Whether it was the Lion King video with his birth date and time stamped in the corner, or starting the rumor mill that Michelle Bachman is Canadian, the President doaled out some humdingers. Of course the icing on the cake was the incessant butt of most of the jokes for the evening - Donald Trump - who, as we all saw plain as day, can not take a joke. This really comes as no big surprise to anyone, but he would have scored points if he would have at least tried to look like he was a good sport.
Seth Meyers hit it out of the park, as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure the jokes had to be vetted by somebody, but I'm certain that it wasn't Donald Trump. And speaking of vetting, Seth pointed out that Trump's ownership of the Miss USA pageant would come in handy in the selection process of the Republican vice presidential candidate. Good one, Seth.
I could go on and on, but I think it best viewed for yourself. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.
President's speech:
Seth Meyers speech:
In Search of...a royal wedding blog
In an uncharacteristically bah humbug spirit, I recorded instead of watched in real time the royal wedding of William and Kate. Oh, I could've gotten up in the wee hours of the morning like so many did - heck, like I did thirty years ago for Charles and Diana, but this time I just couldn't bring myself to do it. In fact, thanks to the fast forward button on my DVR, I skipped most of the waiting, the hymn singing, and all the other extemporaneous things that took up five hours time.
Everywhere I went during the day people were talking about it, excitedly most of the time, and with the hopeful exuberance that one would have if he or she still believed in fairytales...which got me wondering why instead of feeling elated, I felt melancholy.
It didn't help that all the networks intertwined footage of Charles and Diana's wedding. That only worsened it, for we all know how much of a charade that was now, and how tragically it ended. But here we all were with such a different feeling, because this was not a union based on duty, on appearances, on lies and betrayal from the get go. No, this is a joining of two people clearly in love, of a man who seemingly has taken to heart the lessons that his mother's life and death taught him. Will and Kate made a thoughtful decision and we are all hoping that this particular royal wedding will be the fantasy we can all still cling to in our heart of hearts for yearss to come.
Still, I felt sad - sad for the Greek tragedy of Charles and Diana that played out over decades on a world stage, sad for a man who couldn't marry the woman he'd always loved, so he married someone the world loved but whom he did not (in the sense that truly matters, that is). I felt sad for the princess who married her prince only to find that she was a means to an end, and not at all the object of his desire.
And so after all was said and done, Charles did marry Camilla, the woman he'd loved all along, and Diana never lived to know if she would find that kind of love for herself. And she did not live to see her son walk down the aisle this day. And so, no matter how I tried to be overjoyed, I felt the absence of Diana amidst the promise of young lovers. Diana's boys were left with a legacy that we can only know the full content of as their lives play out.
As I watched William and Catherine take their vows with eyes so filled with love and a world wishing them well, I whispered the prayer we all share for them: Please God, let this fairytale end happily ever after this time around. In these days of uncertainty and so much suffering everywhere, that is all we can ask for, wish for, hope for. For in William and Kate, we see the vision of promise, of beauty, of a future, and mostly, of love.
Cheers, Will and Kate. May you have long life and much happiness together. And may the indelible images of this day that we will all carry with us for the rest of our lives be a signifier of love and lasting happiness.
Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.
Everywhere I went during the day people were talking about it, excitedly most of the time, and with the hopeful exuberance that one would have if he or she still believed in fairytales...which got me wondering why instead of feeling elated, I felt melancholy.
It didn't help that all the networks intertwined footage of Charles and Diana's wedding. That only worsened it, for we all know how much of a charade that was now, and how tragically it ended. But here we all were with such a different feeling, because this was not a union based on duty, on appearances, on lies and betrayal from the get go. No, this is a joining of two people clearly in love, of a man who seemingly has taken to heart the lessons that his mother's life and death taught him. Will and Kate made a thoughtful decision and we are all hoping that this particular royal wedding will be the fantasy we can all still cling to in our heart of hearts for yearss to come.
Still, I felt sad - sad for the Greek tragedy of Charles and Diana that played out over decades on a world stage, sad for a man who couldn't marry the woman he'd always loved, so he married someone the world loved but whom he did not (in the sense that truly matters, that is). I felt sad for the princess who married her prince only to find that she was a means to an end, and not at all the object of his desire.
And so after all was said and done, Charles did marry Camilla, the woman he'd loved all along, and Diana never lived to know if she would find that kind of love for herself. And she did not live to see her son walk down the aisle this day. And so, no matter how I tried to be overjoyed, I felt the absence of Diana amidst the promise of young lovers. Diana's boys were left with a legacy that we can only know the full content of as their lives play out.
As I watched William and Catherine take their vows with eyes so filled with love and a world wishing them well, I whispered the prayer we all share for them: Please God, let this fairytale end happily ever after this time around. In these days of uncertainty and so much suffering everywhere, that is all we can ask for, wish for, hope for. For in William and Kate, we see the vision of promise, of beauty, of a future, and mostly, of love.
Cheers, Will and Kate. May you have long life and much happiness together. And may the indelible images of this day that we will all carry with us for the rest of our lives be a signifier of love and lasting happiness.
Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.
Friday, April 22, 2011
In Search of...a way to change the world
Whenever I receive an Uma update, I feel a multitude of emotions. I feel gratitude for my own lot in life, inspired by the indomitable human spirit, and mostly, I feel an overwhelming desire to take action to help in some way. So even though most of you have no idea who Uma is, I am going to cut and paste the email I received so that maybe together we can change the world by impacting one life. Peace and Blessings to you all - Ilene
Dear friends and family,
It's been a really long time since I've sent out an Uma update. But this is an important one. She's about to start an intense neurological rehabilitation program and I'm hoping to help raise funds to help pay for the program. Many of you know Uma well, but for those of you who are new friends and don't know Uma's story of survival, here's a quick Reader's Digest version:
Back in 2007, while she was in New York visiting her fiancé John, a musician who was in NYC on tour, Uma suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was only 27-years-old. Uma was in a coma for several weeks, during which time she had a stroke. Her doctors told us she would probably die (they gave her a “20 percent chance of living” on two separate occasions). But Uma’s a fighter. She woke up from the coma with aphasia (she was unable to speak, read, or write) and with restricted movement on the right side of her body.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of friends and family and strangers, we were able to rent an air ambulance to fly Uma out to an in-patient therapy center in California, where she started learning how to walk and talk again, with the help of John, who’s always been by her side. They got married on July 14, 2008, in a beautiful ceremony in Eagle Rock, California.
For the last four years, Uma's full time job has been therapy. To get better. And the truth is: she has...to a degree. I've watched her improve in slow increments, but there are still huge neurological deficits that prevent her from being able to read, and write, and most importantly and basically, to express herself. The Uma who I know and love is there, but sometimes it feels like important parts of her are trapped inside her brain, if that makes any sense at all.
I believe that this program could be a miraculous thing for her. She's gonna need help to make it happen. Back in 2007, when she needed an air ambulance to fly back to California, we miraculously raised over $20,000 in less than a week. This new neurological program will cost about $80,000 (for six months of intense therapy) and even though that sounds like an insane amount of money, I believe we can raise it. Since yesterday, John's already managed to raise $1,000, so we're already 1/80th of the way there.
Any help you might be able to offer would be incredibly appreciated. If we can find 4,000 people who'd be willing to donate 20 bucks, then boom: we've made our goal. (And I know that sounds crazy, but I also know that back in 2007, the doctors told us Uma had only a 20 percent chance of survival, so there's nothing crazy about hope. Anything and everything is truly possible.)
Dream big, live big, HOPE big.
If you can donate more than 20 bucks, that's awesome and amazing and much appreciated. If 20 bucks is way too much for you right now (and believe me, I know the feeling), even a five dollar donation would help. Thank you in advance. If you can't donate right now, peace and love and blessings to you still. Please forward this message to friends, repost it, retweet it, facebook it, print it out and tape it to the fridge in your office, any way you feel comfortable spreading the word would be awesome.
We are collecting donations via PayPal. If you don't already have a PayPal account, please follow the simple instructions (listed below) to open an account. It literally takes 1 minute. Then click on the SEND MONEY tab and send your donation via John's email (john.ballinger@sbcglobal.net).
NOTE: If you prefer to donate via check or some way other than paypal, email me at dimsumday@gmail.com and I can give you an address to mail a check, etc.
Dear friends and family,
It's been a really long time since I've sent out an Uma update. But this is an important one. She's about to start an intense neurological rehabilitation program and I'm hoping to help raise funds to help pay for the program. Many of you know Uma well, but for those of you who are new friends and don't know Uma's story of survival, here's a quick Reader's Digest version:
Back in 2007, while she was in New York visiting her fiancé John, a musician who was in NYC on tour, Uma suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was only 27-years-old. Uma was in a coma for several weeks, during which time she had a stroke. Her doctors told us she would probably die (they gave her a “20 percent chance of living” on two separate occasions). But Uma’s a fighter. She woke up from the coma with aphasia (she was unable to speak, read, or write) and with restricted movement on the right side of her body.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of friends and family and strangers, we were able to rent an air ambulance to fly Uma out to an in-patient therapy center in California, where she started learning how to walk and talk again, with the help of John, who’s always been by her side. They got married on July 14, 2008, in a beautiful ceremony in Eagle Rock, California.
For the last four years, Uma's full time job has been therapy. To get better. And the truth is: she has...to a degree. I've watched her improve in slow increments, but there are still huge neurological deficits that prevent her from being able to read, and write, and most importantly and basically, to express herself. The Uma who I know and love is there, but sometimes it feels like important parts of her are trapped inside her brain, if that makes any sense at all.
I believe that this program could be a miraculous thing for her. She's gonna need help to make it happen. Back in 2007, when she needed an air ambulance to fly back to California, we miraculously raised over $20,000 in less than a week. This new neurological program will cost about $80,000 (for six months of intense therapy) and even though that sounds like an insane amount of money, I believe we can raise it. Since yesterday, John's already managed to raise $1,000, so we're already 1/80th of the way there.
Any help you might be able to offer would be incredibly appreciated. If we can find 4,000 people who'd be willing to donate 20 bucks, then boom: we've made our goal. (And I know that sounds crazy, but I also know that back in 2007, the doctors told us Uma had only a 20 percent chance of survival, so there's nothing crazy about hope. Anything and everything is truly possible.)
Dream big, live big, HOPE big.
If you can donate more than 20 bucks, that's awesome and amazing and much appreciated. If 20 bucks is way too much for you right now (and believe me, I know the feeling), even a five dollar donation would help. Thank you in advance. If you can't donate right now, peace and love and blessings to you still. Please forward this message to friends, repost it, retweet it, facebook it, print it out and tape it to the fridge in your office, any way you feel comfortable spreading the word would be awesome.
We are collecting donations via PayPal. If you don't already have a PayPal account, please follow the simple instructions (listed below) to open an account. It literally takes 1 minute. Then click on the SEND MONEY tab and send your donation via John's email (john.ballinger@sbcglobal.net).
NOTE: If you prefer to donate via check or some way other than paypal, email me at dimsumday@gmail.com and I can give you an address to mail a check, etc.
Monday, April 18, 2011
In Search of...something to restore your faith in humanity
In the time I've been blogging, I have never posted a link to a video. My friend Nicola was kind enough to share this one with me, and I, in turn, give you a little something to uplift your spirit, make you smile, and restore your faith in humanity if it's been lacking lately. Hugs to you all...
Saturday, April 16, 2011
In Search of...the well being of the majority
So I was watching Shirley MacLaine on Oprah the other day, (and let's face it, who wasn't), and Oprah said that Shirley's book Out on a Limb changed the way she thought about everything and that she viewed Shirley MacLaine as one of her great teachers. Well, who doesn't want to just rush out and read a book after that kind of endorsement?! So I marched myself to the local library the next day and checked out a copy. Boys and girls, Oprah was right, and this book does not disappoint.
I've resisted writing blogs for several weeks now, because frankly, all I've been feeling is a huge sense of disappointment and despair about our country and about our world. The majority of people, if you ask them, will tell you they are "believers" of some sort. And I want to say, "believers in what?" - greed, mean-spiritedness, war, poverty, stupidity? I look at the world and know that it represents the sum total of the individuals in it, and knowing that has left me at a loss for words.
So there I sat reading Out on a Limb, which came out in the 1980's, some thirty years ago. And my new best friend, Shirley MacLaine, talked about feeling similarly when traveling the globe. But the thing that hit me like a bolt of lightning was when she talked about how we have veered as a nation away from the basic philosophy on which we were founded, and that was "the well being of the majority." I don't remember hearing it ever put like that, and it sums up what should inform our choices on every level.
I don't know about you, but I have not heard ANYONE talking about that. I've heard talk of deficit reduction and spending cuts, but not about "the well being of the majority." So, dear readers, let's talk about that for a minute.
Is it the well being of the majority to cut Medicare?
Is it the well being of the majority to cut spending on education?
Is it the well being of the majority to be at war? (Is it the well being of anyone to be at war?)
Is it the well being of the majority to get rid of the EPA, the only safeguard we have to regulate our incessant destruction of the planet?
Is it the well being of the majority to stay dependent on oil when things like the sun and wind are free and don't destroy the planet and instigate wars?
Is it the well being of the majority to applaud fame over accomplishment, power over peace, hatred and closed mindedness over tolerance and love?
What is truly for the well being of the majority?
And who, if not all of us at this very moment, will have the courage to choose the well being of the majority?
If the majority doesn't speak for itself, rest assured the minority will. And let's be clear that the minority (big business, the uber wealthy, Wall Street, fundamentalist religious groups of all kinds, etc.) has their own interests and not yours as their priority. We (the little people) who frequently feel that our voices do not matter are the MAJORITY!
So I suggest to you that your one little phone call or email to your representatives and my little phone call and email to my representatives, and our neighbors' calls and votes make all the difference in the world.
I grant you that life is busy and our worries are many and well founded, but the people who are making up the rules of the game are put there by us, the majority. And so added to the list of our things we must do, like putting food on the table and gas in the car, is holding the people we put in charge accountable for "the well being of the majority."
We enjoy untold freedoms and outside of those that serve in the military, we somehow share no sense of responsibility for the protection of those freedoms we enjoy. But they come at a price that's not only paid with the blood of our service men and women. The price we must pay for the country we enjoy is the responsibility for seeing to it that it is run correctly, that the values on which it was predicated are not eroded by corruption and greed. This is the responsibility of the population. It is yours and mine - the majority.
So on this beautiful Saturday in April, let's not only take an interest in, but take responsibility for the well being of the majority. Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.
I've resisted writing blogs for several weeks now, because frankly, all I've been feeling is a huge sense of disappointment and despair about our country and about our world. The majority of people, if you ask them, will tell you they are "believers" of some sort. And I want to say, "believers in what?" - greed, mean-spiritedness, war, poverty, stupidity? I look at the world and know that it represents the sum total of the individuals in it, and knowing that has left me at a loss for words.
So there I sat reading Out on a Limb, which came out in the 1980's, some thirty years ago. And my new best friend, Shirley MacLaine, talked about feeling similarly when traveling the globe. But the thing that hit me like a bolt of lightning was when she talked about how we have veered as a nation away from the basic philosophy on which we were founded, and that was "the well being of the majority." I don't remember hearing it ever put like that, and it sums up what should inform our choices on every level.
I don't know about you, but I have not heard ANYONE talking about that. I've heard talk of deficit reduction and spending cuts, but not about "the well being of the majority." So, dear readers, let's talk about that for a minute.
Is it the well being of the majority to cut Medicare?
Is it the well being of the majority to cut spending on education?
Is it the well being of the majority to be at war? (Is it the well being of anyone to be at war?)
Is it the well being of the majority to get rid of the EPA, the only safeguard we have to regulate our incessant destruction of the planet?
Is it the well being of the majority to stay dependent on oil when things like the sun and wind are free and don't destroy the planet and instigate wars?
Is it the well being of the majority to applaud fame over accomplishment, power over peace, hatred and closed mindedness over tolerance and love?
What is truly for the well being of the majority?
And who, if not all of us at this very moment, will have the courage to choose the well being of the majority?
If the majority doesn't speak for itself, rest assured the minority will. And let's be clear that the minority (big business, the uber wealthy, Wall Street, fundamentalist religious groups of all kinds, etc.) has their own interests and not yours as their priority. We (the little people) who frequently feel that our voices do not matter are the MAJORITY!
So I suggest to you that your one little phone call or email to your representatives and my little phone call and email to my representatives, and our neighbors' calls and votes make all the difference in the world.
I grant you that life is busy and our worries are many and well founded, but the people who are making up the rules of the game are put there by us, the majority. And so added to the list of our things we must do, like putting food on the table and gas in the car, is holding the people we put in charge accountable for "the well being of the majority."
We enjoy untold freedoms and outside of those that serve in the military, we somehow share no sense of responsibility for the protection of those freedoms we enjoy. But they come at a price that's not only paid with the blood of our service men and women. The price we must pay for the country we enjoy is the responsibility for seeing to it that it is run correctly, that the values on which it was predicated are not eroded by corruption and greed. This is the responsibility of the population. It is yours and mine - the majority.
So on this beautiful Saturday in April, let's not only take an interest in, but take responsibility for the well being of the majority. Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)