For my pick as the 17th best song ever, of the best 25 songs ever, is the first of two contemporary Christian songs in my list. I pick and choose when I listen to this song because it is so moving. The first time I listened to this song… a take, if you will, on the Christian poem, “Footprints In The Sand”, I broke down into tears and it took a good ten to fifteen minutes to compose myself. To this day I get tears in my eyes when this tune is playing. I have been through a lot in my life…. a lot. I do not mean your random ‘stuff’. I have repressed memories that come out in ‘flash shots’ and my therapist and I have both decided it is best to leave them be. I will just leave it that at that because it is very personal but make it very clear NO ONE on my fathers side of the family lay any blame to these issues and my Mother had very serious troubles due to serious traumatic events in her childhood. Anything that may or may not have been ’caused’ because of her pain has long been forgiven. As an adult, I have endured even more, but again, do not sit and dwell in the past. I try to live in the present and be the best I can be for today and make myself the best person I can be going forward: a good wife, mother (I try, God knows, I try), Grandmother, niece, friend and most of all, Christian sister to my fellow human being.

This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive

This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held

Wow! “When the sacred was torn from your life and you survived.”……. “The promise was that when everything fell, we’d be held.”  I get a lump in my throat just typing these words. These two stanzas impacted me so much…. on such a deep level that I feel this song deserves a place as one of the best songs ever recorded.

I would like to dedicate this post to the six heroes…. the teachers and faculty that gave their lives to protect AND the twenty babies that died, all of them far too soon,  in the Sandy Hook massacre on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, CT. To your families, the promise is, you will be “Held”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOufqWodFNo

I am keeping these songs coming and will send some honorable mentions. Aren’t you curious as to what my number one song will be and IF I GAVE BIRTH TO YOU or if I AM MARRIED TO YOU, you DO NOT COUNT because you already know what it is. *Slightly evil snicker*. No, it is not “Low Mans Lyric”. I will tell you, unless you have lived on a remote island with a tribe of natives that speak an unknown dialect and have no electronics for that past several decades, you *will* know the song.

My number eighteen song is not only one of my top twenty five all time best, but hailed by critics as being one of the greatest songs of all time. It is by a band that broke out big time around the time I was in my last few years of High School (my first few records of theirs were just that, records; vinyl). They have been the best of the best ever since  and would still sell out a concert in just hours today.

I guess I love Irish things 😉 and this group would be included.

They are all easy on the eyes, but I always thought Bono was as sexy as they come. Little did I know years later would I marry a local boy from just a few hours up the road! Now there are dozens of U2 songs I could pick. They are all good. They all move. Motivate. That is what U2 is about….. making a statement. This particular song, originally released as  the third track from their 1991 album “Achtung Baby” was also released as a benefit single to help in AIDS research. How very U2 apros pos.

Ask ten different people to tell you what this song means to them and you will get ten different answers. To me, it is about a turbulent relationship. Now this relationship can be between lovers, parent/child, or any other combination. I can relate so deeply to two people in my life especially smack dab, slam dunk the lines,

Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

Well, I quit crawling a long time ago because I realized that nothing I do is going to be good enough…. ever. It is only when I am held up to reasonable standards (you know, those of a human being that falters and f**ks up at times) that I will be in a position to be looked at as someone who is trying her hardest, giving it her best shot and still, at times, will fail. Even with those that love me and care there are times I just feel I can never say the right thing. I try. My heart is always in the place of lifting them up, but it is almost as if I am set up to fail.

So you decided what this song means to YOU because it won’t be the same for me or your spouse or your friend or the guy next to you in the shopping line.

Here is the wikipedia link if you are interested in reading about this song,  because a lot went on around this song including the near demise of the band…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_%28U2_song%29

And the song itself, enjoy. Until next time. K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftjEcrrf7r0

The countdown continues of what I think are the best twenty five songs ever! I will also send out some honorable mentions, but these songs speak to me deep inside at a place that only music can reach. It is a place where the melody and words combine in such a way that it tells a story that only you understand. It is as if the song writer…. in this case the very talented James Blunt….. crawled deep in my soul and pulled out my feelings one by one, before I could even give them words.  What will number one be? Ha! Ha! Nope! It is not “Low Man’s Lyric”. Though in the top five, I bet you had it all figured out. You will have to wait and see. 😉

This song is perhaps the second most personal to me, though musically, as a musician, I had to put it at nineteen because it was not quite as musically strong as the other eighteen before however…. it does touch me so deep. I had not listened to it for a while so when I pulled up the You Tube video, I teared up. I finally figured the words out! I cracked the code! I never quite figured out why the words made sense to me, but they just fell into place…. a lost soul who could never get it right. No matter how hard he tried, it just was not good enough.  So, I am going to go through some of the lyrics and explain.

The song is “Same Mistake” by James Blunt (where has this great talent been?). I am the queen of great, huge mistakes so they had me at ‘mistakes’. However, I have prided myself for quite some time on the progress I have made over the years on learning about why I made some of the mistakes I made and how to try not to repeat those mistakes. Oh, I make plenty of mistakes every single day. Find me a human being that does not and I will sell you desert land in Ireland. However, I also feel I have lived the last ten years under a microscope…. in some cases a witch hunt. For a few people, held to expectations I now know I will never reach or even if I do, I will make the ‘same mistake’….. not the same mistakes I made, but I will make mistakes  (not the biggie, but I will make mistakes and therefore find a reason for them to say, “See, she has not changed”)….

So lets dissect this song:

“Same Mistake” Lyrics
Saw the world turning in my sheets and once again I cannot sleep.
Walk out the door and up the street; look at the stars beneath my feet.
Remember rights that I did wrong, so here I go.
Hello, hello. There is no place I cannot go.

~~~~~~~~~

I have trouble sleeping nearly every night for two reasons; pain & anxiety. I dread the late night…. not nights next to my amazing husband; cuddling as we watch our shows while we talk and laugh. I dread the late night while he slumbers and I rarely do. I replay why I live life under the judgmental microscope and why even bother trying to improve if there is no second chance? Makes no sense. If I had energy, I would likely drive around and clear my head. But we are talking 2 AM and gas is costly, so I stay put. So “There is no place for me to… go”

*************************************

My mind is muddy but my heart is heavy. Does it show?
I lose the track that loses me, so here I go.
And so I sent some men to fight, and one came back at dead of night.
Said he’d seen my enemy. Said he looked just like me,
So I set out to cut myself and here I go.
I’m not calling for a second chance,
I’m screaming at the top of my voice.
Give me reason but don’t give me choice.

‘Cause I’ll just make the same mistake again.

~~~~~~

The lines up to “….enemy. Said s/he looked just like me” speak for themselves…. heavy heart, etc. Enemy is me; yes, I made the mistakes…. and make no excuses; but I am human and big or little a mistake is a mistake and I have worked so hard. I am still my own enemy tho; I am SO hard on myself, have NO self-confidence and believe I have no purpose on this earth.

Now “I’m not calling for a second chance, I’m screaming from the top of my voice. Give me reason but don’t give me choice.” I finally got that line this morning. I am begging for a second chance but not getting one. But I am saying if I get one, I will be in a no-win situation anyway because I will be held to such tight standards, I will be set up to fail before I am even given the chance, so tho I will *NEVER* make the mistakes of a decade past again….. and I can say that with complete certainty, I can also be certain that if I am not loved enough to be given a second chance after all the effort I have put in, I will be set up to fail before I am ever even given the chance. I feel that way already to an extent…. I feel like I cannot make the right conversation, though I try so very hard; cannot get a Facebook like, even on a cat picture; cannot get a text return or e-mail return. It hurts, but what do you do? I know I was mad at my Dad for a few years for not ‘rescuing’ me from my alcoholic Mom. I actually treated him much the same…. not for a bloody decade though! I am actually taking his approach now. I am worthy of respect and love. I did make mistakes, yes, but that does not make me any less worthy of love, respect and worth. Period.   He did tell me he should have been more aggressive about things. I know he did the best he could. When my Dad passed away in 2007, we had never been closer in our lives.

My Mom did things when I was a child that make my mistakes look like I stole a piece of bubble gum from Wal-Mart. But she was a very hurt, broken person. Underneath was a good heart, intelligence that would amaze people, beauty that would light up a room, creativity and love. She just had a lot of problems and refused, unlike me, to seek help for them.

************************************************************
And maybe someday we will meet, and maybe talk and not just speak.
Don’t buy the promises ’cause, there are no promises I keep.
And my reflection troubles me, so here I go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BRILLIANT writing here!  This means, you cannot sweep things under the rug. You cannot just forget all the past because some parts are painful. I try to talk about the past (the good parts… not all the time, just here and there) and it should not be painful! There were a lot of good, wonderful times! Why is it we tend to get stuck in the ugly painful memories? I did for years and it took the death of my parents to realize that there was bad but there was also so much good! Sure, I have a lot of anxiety and my own bag, heaping over full of baggage. But I am also the most caring, compassionate person you will *ever* meet. I am a free-spirit bohemian and if I could run (sometimes I can barely walk), I would frolic on the beach like a flower child. I would fit perfectly in San Francisco. I did not get to be this way without some good in my past. So rather than dwell on the ugly, I choose to remember the good, and it completely changed the way I viewed my childhood and instead of spinning my wheels and wasting years of precious time in therapy mucking through the past, I can concentrate on working on myself now and becoming a better Kelli for now and the future. It is all about God, my husband, my kids and of course…… my precious Granddaughter. Now she is the one person in the world that does NOT see the mistakes. I can just be “Mammo” and the most pure, relaxing, amazing and stress relieving time I have each month is time with my perfect, precious Granddaughter who loves her silly Mammo just the way she is.

So that is why this song is so amazing. That is why this song is so very personal. But most of all, I will make mistakes for the rest of my life. So rather than try to walk on glass and be perfect, I am going to try to be the best child of God I can be and be who He wants me to be. He forgives AND forgets yet we cannot do the same for each other. Pity really. So enjoy the 19th greatest song ever. And take a deep look inside the creature that is Kelli.

Until next time. K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdJOUZgeKV0

     This has got to be one of the most brilliant songs EVER recorded. I listen to it quite a bit when I am feeling like giving up on the human race as a whole. I also listen to it when I am in one of those weird funks. Not all out depressed. Just a sort of blah flat-line nothingness. Kind of like that numb feeling one has after having a bunch of dental work……something I REALLY need to be having. In any event. One needs to look DEEP in this song to uncover the real meaning. I just watched it again and it is the first time I have watched it since Paul and I have become addicted to “The Big Bang Theory” and I let out a small laugh for as soul pulling and gut wrenching and close to me as this song is, it really reminds me of something from that show…. for some reason; a reason I have no idea why.

I think the reason this song is so near and dear to my hear it first, I LOVE Radiohead. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Coldplay more, but the two bands are very similar and yes, I know Radiohead came first but that does not automatically make them ‘better’. However, they are amazing and I love their music. And as one fan put it, I want to die old, listening to this song. Fake. I went to four years of High School with fake rich kids and I hated it. I have seen it a LOT in churches I belong to (tho I admit the church I go to now, while there on some level, is a LOT LESS percentage wise than ANY other church I have ever been to). I have seen it in clubs, on line support groups and sadly and struggling in my own family (married side) with a situation dealing with something akin to this. What is sad is it will probably be a decade if ever before we fly the pond again so I don’t know what kind of ‘threat’ I/we are to anyone, but people grow and I forget that when I was 1/2 my age I thought a lot different than I do now and tho getting older sucks, at least with age comes wisdom.

Also, the last part that just grabbed my part, “If I could be who you wanted, if I could be who you wanted. ”  I have spent a decade trying to be who two people have wanted. I have jumped little hoops, big hoops, flaming and spiked hoops…. you name it. Finally with the help of my new therapist, I put it to bed, put a lead casing around my heart where they are concerned and started focusing on the people that LOVE ME FOR WHO I AM AND RECOGNIZE THAT I AM GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE, but I am trying as hard as I can to live the best life I can within the confines of my limitations. So for all the fakers in that big fat fake world, the 20th best song ever, “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKd06s1LNik

What would any top #25 best songs of all time be without a Beatles song. Now picking my favorite; talk about spoiled for choice! Which Beatles song really grabs me from that place deep inside my soul? Which song really speaks to me? “Let It Be”….. oh yeah, you bet! “Something”, Melt, melt, melt…. like a snowman in Bakersfield in the middle of July. “Yesterday”…… oh me, oh my…. what a love song. “Hey Jude”; say no more. Even “We Can Work It Out”….. ‘Life is too short for fussing and fighting’…. but the one song that really just hits me ‘there’ for whatever reason; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. So for my #21 best song ever, I have chosen:

A HUGE piece of trivia here: The song features lead guitar by Eric Clapton, although he was not formally credited on the album.

So here you go, #21

   Elections are over, holidays are upon us and I am so behind on my blogs. I am so sorry and will do all I can to see it never happens again! Let’s get back to something we can all agree on, MUSIC! Rich, poor, liberal, conservative; music is the language that we all share and love. I know conservatives that rock out and liberals that nearly worship Bach! Plato said, “

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”

Picking what I considered to be the best 25 songs of all time was probably the hardest task ever. As a musician of piano and voice (sadly fibromyalgia took both from me physically, but not from me spiritually and intellectually), I look for the craft and quality of the song. As a poet and hopeless romantic, I look for it to touch that something inside of me that words fail to capture. There is ONE song… one that booted a song out of number one (that I never thought would ever happen) that so touches me, I can not phrase it, verbalize it or even find the thoughts. It captures me when I listen to it and just holds me like a mother cradling her infant.

This song is very deep. It has been the center of many discussions. It is a great “2nd glass in, great wine buzz” discussion…. just ‘WHO IS’ the man who sold the world? I guess for everyone it is different maybe? I know who mine is. But he clearly had someone in mind. Now seeing that he wrote this during his ‘Ziggy Stardust’ days, who knows, but, when you see the You Tube broadcast live from the BBC, David looks normal, handsome even. I have never looked at him as handsome but he was sober, right on and so so good! So you have it, Kelli’s all time favorite, #22, “The Man Who Sold The World”

***Piece of trivia for ya! Did you know, in 2003, Davie Bowie was offered to be Knighted but he respectfully declined. He stated it was not what his life work had been about.

*****Click on the red balloon at the bottom of the screen or a small x at the bottom of the screen to get rid of the ad…. annoying but it is YouTube; WELL WORTH watching the song! 🙂

     I am just going to jump right in here and say the reason I would not even *consider* voting for Mitt Romney (timely, as his ‘people struggling’ commercial comes on and I MUTE it), is that this man pretends that he knows what it is like to struggle…. LOLOLOLOL!!!!

Don’t believe me? Just read his Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney

It starts from his birth to present day. Can we say, Silver Spoon? Now I don’t begrudge anyone rich or poor but do not tell me you know what it is like to worry about how much of a gap there will be between jobs (1st marriage); what  to do when there are no groceries and 3 days until pay day;  how to make the electric, car insurance, phone and medical providers all happy and there is just not enough to do that. Don’t tell me Mitt has *ever* shopped for his $500+ suits in a thrift store! No, Mitt has NO clue what it is like to be one of  “us”. You know, I might have a bit of respect for him if he did not bold face lie and say he understands. He does not… not a clue! Not a fraction of a clue! Politicians born with silver spoons that cater to big business and the rich lose any respect I may have had for them when they say they “understand  struggle”. At least be honest and say, “While I cannot fully understand what it is like to be without a job for months/ years on end, I will do my best to _____”. That…. now, that may, just may get my attention and respect. It may and probably won’t change my vote, but it may not make me hit mute and cringe every time I hear your nasal ridden, irritating voice. Phony Baloney. That is all I see. I see it, I feel it I discern it. I have a good gift for discernment…. and baby the creepy crawly’s  are all over this one! Bush Sr’s was the Republican’s “Jimmy Carter”…. a decent human being, he just was not the person for the job. AND, I adore Barbara Bush… would love to have lunch with the lady. We would avoid the topic of politics, but I think she is one class act. Bush Sr…… heart in the right place was just over his head. Bush Jr. was too much of a hot head and trying to finish Daddy’s job. He was too busy focusing on that to care that his people were crashing and burning. It was all about “Weapons of mass disappearance.” What about Bin Laden. Getting Hussein was all good and well, but what about the man that caused 9-11? It was swept under the rug. And hot head, that man was defensive. Again, lovely wife…. once his daughters grew up, lovely young ladies; don’t agree with their politics, but again, as people, lovely ladies. When people thought Obama was so quiet, not doing much oh, lets see… that is because he was ******DING DING DING!!!! TAKING OUT BIN LADEN!!!! Hello?****** He had one go and one go only. Dang, I was so proud to be an American and my husband was so PROUD to be a permanent legal resident and the minute we have the flippen $700 greenbacks to get his citizenship, NO prouder American will you find and I will take ANYONE to the mattresses on that one!

Finally, he has “Blinders Syndrome”

……an “as long as I am OK, the rest of the world does not exist for me” mentality. Most… not all…. but most Republicans I know have never known *real* struggle. If they are working hard to be in that position, it is certainly their right. IF they were born into a comfortable family and married and never have known unemployment or became disabled and had to ‘wait it out’ while having a medical condition that runs close to $400 a month out of pocket, they are blessed. I was born to two hard working parents. They worked hard but did not make a whole lot of money. That was one of the reasons they only had one kid…. me. I was NOT spoiled. I wore 2nd hand and hand made (polyester) clothing that my Great Aunt made and I was proud and happy to have it. I remember my Mom’s friend Bobbie had two girls a few years older than me and she would occasionally bring bags of clothes and books they had outgrown. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I was proud and appreciated what I had. When I walked in that Christmas when I was 12 and saw that old upright piano sitting in that living room, I later found out THAT is WHY DAD had been working 2nd jobs cleaning churches on Saturday mornings. He did that so I could have a piano. She was a beast (an old player piano upright), but she played and was my most loved possession for many years. We were not rich…. not with money. When my parents divorced and we sold “The House that Built me”, that small 2 bedroom house that saw me through my Wonder Years, my world crashed. Us Democrats may not have fancy party dresses, social clubs and big fancy birthday parties, but  before the hell of my early teens to late teens broke out, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Struggle… my whole life; 1st husband; union welder, and you bet your sweet behind I may not be married to him anymore, but I still firmly believe in unions. Fair day and fair pay. We never saw that ‘trickle down’ stuff that Reagan talked about and we were so poor through the 80’s and all… finally after Clinton took office and during those 8 years things turned for us a bit. We were never super comfortable, but it was not hell on earth. After the divorce when fibro began to rule my world and especially the last few years…. it has been NOTHING BUT struggle. No one has a clue unless they live it.

Finally, the ‘bleeding hearts’ syndrome:  first and foremost I do not believe in career welfare anymore than the next guy. I have zero tolerance for women who have baby after baby because they know how to play the system.  Here is the way I look at welfare, it is a temporary help for people to get on their feet and  get back into the work force. Before I left CA career welfare was alive and well. I knew of a woman  in Oildale where hubby #1 and I lived for 9 years (and where I grew up)….. to Roanoker’s, think of Roanoke, Salem and Vinton; Oildale would be Vinton. Anyway, this woman around the corner had 6 kids by the time we moved to SW Bakersfield (bought our first house) having one every 1-2 years. She got Welfare, food stamps, free lunches for the kids, free medical, free this, free that and lived in a older but nice HOUSE with a fenced yard and trees, etc. They even had a dog! I have no tolerance for that. When we moved to VA, it was refreshing to see they do not allow you to be on welfare more than two years. VA has the “Welfare to Work” program which gets woman back to work within that 2 years. Now they may supplement child care and food (in other words if they work at Wals World for only $8 an hour, they may get a Cardinal Card for a little bit of money to supplement food costs ) but that is OK! I would much rather see someone working and trying their best and maybe getting a little help than not working at all and being on welfare full time. I have heard California has adopted a similar program, I certainly hope so! In the meantime, whenever there is children involved, we need to be aware of the children rather than being  angry at the abusers of the system. It sucks, but the kids do need looking after. The states are starting to implement the Welfare to Work policies, making women realize no matter how many kids they have, they are going to have to work. It is my understanding along with food (food stamps), child care is one of the things that is subsidized. If I were a young single Mom and I knew I would be heading back to work eventually…. whether I had 1 kid or 5, I would think long and hard before becoming a ‘baby producing machine’. Coming home after a long day and getting dinner on for 5 kids, baths, home work, bed time stories, etc when you are plum exhausted already is a real eye opening thought when entertaining the notion of ‘using the system’.  I think if each state could do as Virginia and implement the “Welfare to Work” type of program, that may help encourage more people to look for work as they know sooner or later they will be working one way or another. And, if wanting to make sure our kids taken care  and our our elderly are taken care of. I am right there with ya: the people on Cardinal Card day that have their cart filled to the brim with steaks and other great meat, veggies and fruit (I have to weigh my fruit and veggies because I have a tight budget). I have to take a calculator to the store at times. It sucks. However, I will put up with that if it means kids aren’t going hungry. There is no perfect system. All we can do is continue to better our system that we have. It will never be perfect, but it is much better at sifting than it has been in years gone. I won’t cry if our rich are taxed just a bit more. Why is it the rich cry foul when they are asked to give a little more; they have so much they will never ever use it all. They are the ones outsourcing…. trust me *as someone who lost their job to someone in India…. and Wachovia had the tact to bring the people FROM INDIA AND TRAIN THEM IN FRONT OF US! Yes, the “Blinders”, The, “As long as I am ok, everyone else is”… well I wasn’t, I was losing my job and my insurance!!!!!!! TO OUTSOURCING!

In closing, I vote the person that I can relate to. The working class, people that struggle, people that hope, people that work…. real people. Not fluffed up pretty boys that have the camera show them handing over a bag of groceries so they can ‘look’ like they are helping in the midst the biggest natural disaster to hit our country…. it was so staged and “just kissing babies and sleazy politician like”.  Dude! Give it up, I literally had to take a pherghran, it made me nauseous. The camera carefully placed; someone hands Mitt a bag of groceries and Mitt hands it off to someone in a truck. Ewwww….. don’t get your tie crumpled now! This is what I see….I  see right through it. Really? Handing a bag of groceries over to a truck when the 1st guy could of reached a whole 12 inches farther and avoided the middle man. Gotta hand it to him, however, way to look good! Our President was busy with the meat of the work! Even the *Republican* Governor of NJ thanked and commended him for what he did and is still doing. Much is left to be done. A whole lot more than playing middle man in handing over a bag full of groceries so the camera can catch your good side. This is the bull that just raws my hide! This is me. This is what I stand for. I am not trying to change anyone. I am simply explaining, Tales from the donkey. I don’t care who you vote for next week….. please vote! We have this right!  MY DREAM!!!!!!!! Finally, for what it is worth, I truly believe we need a good 3rd party. The “Moderate” party. So many people are feed up with both parties. I hope someday there is a good strong 3rd party! Until there is, I am going with the ones that fight for the blue collar, working class. Finally…. my dream: watch this short video… this…. this is my true dream right here. Peace!

#####COMING NEXT: LIFE AS THE UNDERDOG#####

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCX3ZNDZAwY

Imagine:  John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

First and foremost, I want to apologize for leaving this blog dry for so long. I assure you, with the exception of being in the hospital (should I have neck fusion and another pretty big surgery I am looking into), I will post every one to two days. I hit a pretty bad low patch and did not do much of anything for a while. I, now more than ever, am ready to kick life in the butt and do what I can within the limits of my disability. It may slow me down, but it will never stop me! So what I am doing is laying it all on the table…. AWAY FROM FACEBOOK. I am certain people are curious. It is long, very long, so I am splitting it up into parts. So ……Why I am who I am: Politics

Tales Of The Donkey: Part 1

PART 1

First and foremost; I will ignore and delete all swipes, insults or any other attempts to ‘make me see the light’. No one is going to change me, nor am I going to change you. I do not want to change you! You have a right to feel as you wish, just as I do. Aren’t you glad that we live in a country that gives us this right? Many died for us to be able to have this right. Why some people make it their mission to ‘convert’ people is beyond my brains capacity to reason. It saddens me deeply that I have had to block two men from Facebook that seemed otherwise nice. In both cases they were needling and needling and I made several attempts to get them to stop. I begged towards the end. The fact that they did not *RESPECT ME ENOUGH as A PERSON and as A WOMAN *, proves further what I feel about their party. They are not converting me, they are giving me further evidence to validate my position. However, back to the point at hand, I know this is away from the normal ‘lite’ nature of this blog, however I am usually the first one talking politics at election time and I vowed this election (out of respect to the many different views of my FB friends), that I was not going to talk politics on FB. Also, My Pastor made a plea that people vote; did not matter which party and also that we quit all this child like bickering and foolishness back and forth. I am disappointed because some of my church family resorted to just that openly on FB. It near breaks my heart 🙁 And then Pastor followed sweet by stating that Walter Mondale lost EVERY state in 1984. He DID NOT; he won his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. True, being the sacrificial lamb for the Democratic party to Reagan who NO ONE would beat (by the way Reagan’s ‘trickle down’ never made it to my growing family and there were many times…. too many to count….. my in- laws had to take my family grocery shopping or we would have gone hungry… it was AWFUL; just the worst thing you can imagine). Bear in mind also, Bakersfield, CA in the mid 1980’s did not have 2^nd and 3^rd shift jobs available the way they do here in the Roanoke, VA area. If they had, I would have gladly worked a shift opposite my 1^st husband to supplement our income. Any ‘9 to 5’ job would have been eaten up by childcare expenses. I know here, in VA, for a fact, one of my friends at Wachovia was paying ONE of her two paychecks per month…. half her pay…. to put her daughter in the Honey Tree Center adjacent to the processing center we worked in. She also had the benefits so that was another reason to work, however I know she left not too long after I left, when I went to Liberty. Most women I have worked with who have had more than one child (or even just one child) have either 1. Have a family member, friend, etc who is willing to babysit for little or nothing. 2. Work opposite shifts from their husband (I have a good friend that did just that to avoid child care altogether)

So, why am I who I am?

1. I was always taught by my Mom, Dad and Grandma Minnie Mae Coleman….. and the longer I live the more I believe it to be true….. the Democrats are for the working, middle class; the Republicans for big business and the status quo/ well off. I would also add the extreme right wing / evangelical religious (perhaps not rich money wise, but very conservative in their beliefs). Here is one: and I would like to add, no ‘pro choice’ person I know is ‘pro abortion’ …. that is nuts! Oh yeah people love the thought terminating the possibility of a new life. I don’t know personally anyone who has had an abortion, but in reading and hearing 2nd hand accounts, the women that have had one say it is the most gut wrenching decision of their life. Again, I could never get an abortion, under any circumstance; even in a case of rape, but I am not here to play God and tell other women what they can and cannot do…. FURTHERMORE….  read this very CAREFULLY……… ROE V WADE was passed Jan 22 1973…. don’t even have to look as I know it was on my Dads 33rd b day. We are coming on the 40th anniversary. IN the 40 years all these Republicans talk about abortion, abortion, abortion… but why has it not been overturned? Don’t say, oh well it is a Democratic congress because that is bull. We have had  Republican/ Republican executive office and congress on more than a few occasions now. It is LIP SERVICE! They know it will never get over-turned. It is just a way to win votes from the low income conservatives who do not study the reality of it.  So why not jump on that and do something about Roe V Wade. It cracked me up a few weeks ago as an Arizona house of rep or something along those lines did this thing where a woman now has 2 weeks less to get an abortion as they are moving the conception date back. WHAT? Whopping wow… a whole 2 weeks. Do not get me wrong, if abortions were overturned you would see no tears from me. As a woman who suffered secondary infertility however,  financially and health wise was not in a position to adopt, how I would have loved to have been able to have adopted a child that a woman / couple was not ready to take care of yet. We are OK. We have each other and he is a very caring step father…. I don’t think my girls know the half of his heart or some of the lengths he goes to…. he would do anything for them. He adores my girls but respects his role as step Dad…… and an amazing Grandfather to our beautiful Granddaughter who we both worship and adore.  Roe V wade is all lip service and isn’t going anywhere and Republicans use this all the time. I vote pro life?  OK, but in forty years why have the Republicans not put their money where their mouth is? It is never going to change… right, wrong or ‘a woman having an abortion will have to answer on her own someday… to God…. not our place”. One other thought. The same people who are so against pro choice; these are usually the same people AGAINST FINANCIAL AID FOR PEOPLE WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO RAISE THEIR FAMILY! “You have that kid you cannot afford, but don’t you dare try to apply for any financial aide to get you on your feet!” What, in forty years, have the Republicans done about abortion other than use it to fuel fire and get votes. It is sad people walk into this trap because they know it is an easy way to get lots of hair trigger/ emotional votes.

2. THIS I KNOW: I have always known better times under a Democratic president than the opposite; no matter which way congress was divided. And read this CAREFULLY: When we have had a REPULICAN PRESIDENT, I do not sit and stew for 4 years, throwing out snide remarks like a spoiled brat. I taught my children, you respect the person that is in that office. If it is not who you voted for, you will have another chance in 4 years to have your voice heard. I am PROUD of my party for respecting the executive office . The Republicans are NOTORIOUS for not ‘getting over it’ and certainly for utter and total disrespect. I want nothing to do with any of that. The two men I blocked were proof of that when I told them to stop they did not respect my wishes. I was not going to ‘just read this and this’. What they wanted me to read was obviously conservative slanted and nothing is going to change me anyway. I could have read every Republican flyer in print. My mind has been made up for months on who I am voting for, NOTHING is changing it. NOTHING.  NOTHING… will……. change…. how…. I …… feel. The more they pushed the more upset I got. My wall; my rules.  AT LEAST THEY PROVED MY POINT OF EVERYTHING I JUST SAID. I rest my case on that one! 🙂

I think this song states it perfectly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4fWN6VvgKQ

Stay tuned for Part Two of: Tales Of The Donkey

     First, I must apologize for the delay in posting. There have been ‘computer’ issues at the Glover house and I will leave it at that. I won’t go into the boring mechanics of what two geriatric laptops can and indeed will do when they start giving you fits at the same time. Needless to say fun, it was not. In any event, I am up and running to some extent and want to get a fresh post on all my blogs. In my quest to name the top 25 songs ever, with some great honorable mentions, I am now to #23. What “greatest” song list could be complete without Pink Floyd? The biggest issue I had was “Comfortably Numb” or “Wish You Were Here”. It was like saying pick the best Sees fine candy or the greatest French Champagne. The most beautiful of impressionism art by the great artist of the time or the most beautiful 5 star dinner in downtown Manhattan’s 5 star restaurants. In the end I chose “Comfortably Numb” only for a couple reasons. The album “The Wall” is my favorite Pink Floyd album and it is a very unique album in and of itself.

http://www.thewallanalysis.com/main/

If you want to find out about one of the most unique pieces of work available, you can certainly read. I will just give this one fact that fascinates me. With “The Wall”. there is no beginning and no end. Seriously! It loops! Listen if you don’t believe me. It is like a crazy, weird ride you cannot get off of.

Comfortably numb is indeed a song about drugs but I am not saying “drugs are ok” and that is why I like the song. I like the mellow, ethereal sound of it. Almost surreal. Songs ‘take me places’. Some good. Some bad. Some weird. Some sad. So for the best all time song, #23, I vote, “Comfortably Numb”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jySUpMqmzd4&feature=endscreen

I am sure I will kick myself as I go along thinking I missed “this song and that song” but I thought and thought and these were the ones that came to mind so I am going with them. In my house we boast anything from “Mozart to Metallica”.  I pretty well like anything EXCEPT: Rap (with a few small exceptions), TWANGGGGGGY country and death metal. Speaking of metal, one of the funnest times Paul and I had was going to Bristow, VA and seeing Godsmack as the header and Rod Zombie (that man is a lunatic, said with love, of course!) and then somewhat known, now well known, Shinedown. WE ALSO got to MEET…. yes MEET every member of Shinedown! 🙂 . They were amazing and patient and there was every type of people there from the pot smoking “ZZ Top twins” in front of us who graciously offered to share (we declined as did everyone around us…. I think everyone was afraid…. very afraid…. of just what might be laced in that joint!). There was a very white collar sort of guy sitting next to us and everything in between.

Sully Erna, Lead Singer Of Godsmack!

Picture taken at the concert we attended! What fun it was!

For those who loved Rock and Roll, it was a “Magical Ball”. If I was high on anything, it was the one and only beer I had that night, the crisp evening air that early September evening and the hours of non stop good music shared with others soaking it all up!

Godsmack was busy promoting their (then) newest CD, “Godsmack IV”. The single for the CD had been playing for weeks on the radio. It is with great pleasure, I submit my #24th greatest song ever… and while I won’t call it a ‘religious’ song, I will call it ‘spiritual’

We all knew…. it went dark and then…. Sully started his harmonica and the audience, including Paul and I went *CRAZY!!!!*. What a rush!

Here you go…. Kelli’s #24 best ever song, “Shinedown” by Godsmack. Listen, you might be surprised! 😉