Gone

I still perplex myself. Whenever I think of Michael Jackson's death, I become very sad. As I said before, I was not a huge fan. I'm more rock 'n roll, so why do I feel blue? I have been thinking about it today since my last post and perhaps to me his death is actually a death of something else in my life.

Michael Jackson's best selling album of all time was Thriller, which was released in 1982, the year I graduated from high school. In my younger years, music was such a large part of my life partly because I hung around a group of musicians. Because of my intense study of music, I am very good at naming the artist of a song or the title of a song, but only if it is from the late 60's to mid 90's. (Rick and I often play "Name The Artist" when listening to CD or Sirius.) It doesn't matter if I liked the artist, the names and songs are permanently in my memory. Anyway, at a time in my life when I was music centered, Michael Jackson's biggest album came out. At the time the music world was rather eclectic with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, the Scorpions releasing albums all side Duran Duran, Dire Straits and Dexy's Midnight Runners. Despite the gambit of music in 1982,  M.J. and Thriller was so different. The album was exquisitely produced by Quincy; had a level of polish and talent that other albums lacked; and M.J. had moves like nobody did at the time.

Anyway (again) M.J.'s death reminds me how very long ago it was when I was 17 years old. The young, vibrant, electrifying performers from that time when I was very connected to the music world are falling away. I feel as if I am on the down side of the hill. Today's high school kids were not born when M.J. was on top and like Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, John Kennedy, Jr., he will be remembered by the younger generation for his death. Another gap between my generation and the current one. M.J.'s death represents another nail in the coffin of my youth. The world I knew and existed in is no more. Gone are the masters of the fretboard; a MTV that was new, exciting, innovative and lived up to its name; and performers that spent their time on their music and not their marketing strategy. Gone is the young woman who had a close relationship with music and gone is the megawatt star of my youth, Michael Jackson.

MJ2

I'm still ruminating about Michael Jackson. My latest conclusion is that he was the most eccentric, odd and fascinating person to watch because you just had to wonder what was in his head. And I state melodramatically,  the world seems less colorful without him in it. (Yes, very melodramatic.) But let me defend myself in blog court.

Eccentric people are a dime a dozen in the entertainment industry especially the music industry--need  I mention Lady Gaga? However, think about the people that were once considered wacky, off in their own world, etc. Madonna would be one such person. Zip ahead 25 years and she is a suburban mom with three children and is living a pretty conventional life. Could it be that all of her youthful antics were for publicity, attention and her marketing plan? It was fiction; it was an act. It was for shock value. It was not a result of her true personality or thoughts. Now look at Michael Jackson. Did you honestly ever think that he would  outgrow his weirdness? He was what you saw, a terribly complex and talented person and there is no one else alive right now that is like that, so the world seems beige.

I rest my case. 

P.S. I am still find his life and how he died very sad so you can expect more MJ posts.

The Barbie and Blankies

This afternoon Katie wanted to do chores so she could get some money. She was speaking with such determination while she was slapping her hand on the table to drive the point home. And here I quote, "I'm going to use that damn money for a Barbie." We don't condone Katie swearing, but jeepers it is hard not to burst out laughing.

You all know that Cody, our dog, is weird, strange, a little oddball. When Cody was a puppy, Rick brought a blanket home from American Airlines' first class. Cody loved his blankie. He would drag it around, sleep by it and play with it. Well he now is on blanket #4. This morning he threw up right on his blankie. When I got into the kitchen, he was frantically eating the undigested dog kibble. I don't know if he was trying to hide the evidence or he was trying to get it off of his blankie before it stained. However, I made the executive decision and threw it away. (You have got to see his face when you throw his blankie away. You can hear his heart tearing.) Now my point, he just got the puke blanket last week and at that time I got my camera out when Rick presented him with his new blankie. The Oddball does not unfold the new blankies; he prances around with the neatly folded blankie in his mouth. He looks so idiotic that it makes us laugh. So that you can laugh too, here is a picture. He doesn't look as funny sitting as he does when he his dancing around. (Please disregard the kitchen floor. If you recall Cody ate our kitchen floor and I am in the process of removing all of the old flooring so I can put new tiles down.)

Boo at the Zoo 2011

Boo at the Zoo was this past Saturday. We have gone to Boo since Katie was 1 year old and each year we take a picture of Katie on this rock. Not wanting to disappoint Rick, who is out of town, here is Katie on her rock.

 Katie trying to look mean and scary.

  Of course pretty soon she broke out into a smile.

 

At home before we left for Abilene.

In case you missed the post--pretty hard to do since I have only done two posts in the last month!--Katie is Frankie Stein, one of the dolls from Monster High. I could not find the shoes that Frankie wears, so I bought some cheap medical tape from the Dollar Store and attached strips to her black dress shoes.

I'll ramble on later. Right now I need to get to sleep.

Tiny Angel

This evening I found out that Katie is going to be in Abilene Ballet Theater's performance of The Nutcracker! Three classes from Ballet Abilene were chosen and the students will be "Tiny Angels". When I told Katie, we were at our car after having left ballet practice. The girl screamed. She loves The Nutcracker so much that in the past I have rented a DVD from the library of the San Francisco Ballet performing it and she watched it multiple times. Also, The Nutcracker is the bedtime book that we are currently reading. 

If you plan on seeing The Nutcracker, there are four performances and Katie will perform in two, Saturday night November 19 and Sunday matinee, November 20.

I am so happy for Katie. She lives and breathes to be on the stage.

Don't Mess With The Doodles

Check this out. Katie is the one with the white head gear and long hair.

Bad Timing

My dear husband is giving me a hard time (jokingly of course) because he recently gave out our blog address to some people and the post that I did at the same time is the one trolling for support for Katie's fundraisers. Now it looks like he shared the address to get more orders for Katie. Here is my retort.

Wegman's,
Welcome to Corinth West! Unfortunately, the post you saw when you first accessed this blog was the one where I am selling pies, pizza and candy for our daughter. Bad timing. Promise, I normally don't ask for monetary support and this blog is 99% about our life at Corinth West, a decommissioned Atlas F nuclear missile site. Please accept this apology so my husband stops ribbing me. Thanks!

Rick's Humbled Wife

5 Mile Club

To promote exercise Katie's class walks around the track that circles the football field every Wednesday. It is called Wellness Wednesday and is part of P.E. Parents are allowed to join their child, so I motor up to the school on Wednesday mornings. Today Katie made the 5 Mile Club. Way to go Katie! Tomorrow she will be presented with a necklace with a blue foot hanging from it. When she makes 10 miles, she will get another foot. She was quite excited about it despite being disappointed with her friend. Katie's main friend would not walk with Katie. Katie tried to catch up with her, but the friend would look back and if she saw Katie running she would break out into a run. Katie was calling her friend's name, but the friend blatantly ignored Katie. Katie kept on trying and trying and trying and was on the verge of tears a few times. Katie finally said, "She doesn't love me anymore." When the classed lined up to return to the classroom building, Katie was tapping her friend on the shoulder and saying her name and the friend shrugged her off. Oh my heart broke. Also, while in line, her friend started whispering in another girl's ear. Without a doubt, they were whispering about Katie. I cannot stand whispering. It is incredibly rude, so the rule in our family is that if you cannot say it out loud, you do not say it at all. I will say it again, little girls can be so mean. It is hard for me to stand back and let Katie work it out, but I must. Katie needs to learn how to foster a relationship.

Last night, Katie and I painted the little pumpkins that we purchased from the pumpkin patch. I did not purchase a large one because it will mold before Halloween, so I'll do that closer to the 31st. I snapped pictures of our pumpkins, as well as the Halloween foamy picture that Katie created.

Here is my very scary pumpkin with a gold tooth.

Here is Katie's very scary pumpkin. If you notice the green eyes with black radial lines you can see how she tries so hard to do what I do.

Katie's foamy picture. I was impressed when she told me that she used the glue to make clouds. That was very inventive of her.

Pumpkin Pickin 2011

On Saturday Katie and I went to a MOPS play date at Disability Resources' pumpkin patch. Katie had a chance to see her MOPPET friends, which she was pretty keyed up about since she is no longer in MOPPETS. I took pictures and wanted to share a few.

The Straw Dog

Katie leaned into the scare crow and put her arm around it.

 Can the girl pose or what? She looks like she is on a Broadway stage.

 Katie MOPPET friends that are also sisters. (L to R Maddie, Katie, Zoey and Emma Claire.)

He Was Just A Man

Today I turned on the Headline News Channel to get an update on Amanda Knox. What I found instead was live coverage of Dr. Conrad Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial. (Conrad Murray was Michael Jackson's personal physician and is accused of overdosing the entertainer.) Unfortunately, I got sucked into the trial and the testimony of his four girlfriends. I am not writing this to complain that I wasted two hours on sensational TV, but because now I am in a reflective, sad frame of mind.

I am not a fan of Michael Jackson's work. His music is not my style. The only reason I liked "Beat It" was because of Eddie Van Halen's work on the song. However, regardless of my music preference, I did admire Michael Jackson for the artist that he was. Talented? Absolutely. He was one of those proverbial outside-the-box thinkers and he was mesmerizing when he danced. In the mid 80s he started to morph into a strange individual or that is what the media tells us. In the last years, we were told he was down right odd. I don't know any of this because I never met the man. However, people who knew Michael Jackson described him as a sweet, good, loving, caring, compassionate person. Back to my point, when Michael Jackson died, it was shocking to me, but it didn't rock my world like it did for his ardent fans. However, today something changed.

I won't go into the nitty-gritty details of what was revealed by today's witnesses, but it looks like Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's private physician, may have caused Michael Jackson's death. In a nutshell, Dr. Murray administered propofol to his client all though he wasn't forthcoming with the fact immediately following Michael Jackson's death and per the autopsy, the cause of Michael Jackson's death was propofol intoxication. Propofol is a hypnotic drug that is primarily used as a general anesthesia for surgery.

I have been pondering what has me melancholy, sad, depressed. As I mentioned, I wasn't an ardent fan of Michael Jackson, so is this dark feeling because of the ineptness of his doctor? Is it because Thriller came out the year I graduated high school and the songs on that album bring up memories of my youth? Is it because his death demonstrates humanity at its worse? Is it because it shows how narcissistic we have become? Is it a combination of those things? Yes, it is a combination, but actually mostly it is because when you strip away the mega-watt celebrity light bulb around Michael Jackson he was just a man who was robbed of the rest of his life.

Girl Scouts Needs Your Money

Because peddling fundraiser items is so fun, Katie is also selling candy and peanuts for her Girl Scout Troop. She will only be selling these until this Sunday. Girl Scouts does not take payment at time of order, so you pay at time of delivery. Again, email me if you are interested. (I know you want some creamy peanut butter covered with irresistible milk chocolate!)

Katie's School's Fundraiser

With Katie now in school, the fundraisers now start. Her school is selling from Red Apple Resources which offer cheesecakes, pies and pizzas. They will be delivered on November 10. So, if you don't feel like making the pies for Thanksgiving, order them from Katie. They arrive frozen, so pop it into the freezer until Turkey Day. That is if you can resist the temptation to dig into them right away. If you are interested, shoot me an email by using the link on the lower part of the right rail of this blog. The pies, cheesecakes and pizzas require payment at time of order.

 

"ABC. It's as easy as 1 2 3 . . "

I have been meaning to write a post for a week now. Last Monday, September 26, Katie made the ABC Club at school. In order to be in the ABC Club, the child must be able to recognize all of the letters, upper case and lower case, and make the sounds that each letter makes. She was so proud of herself that when I picked her up from school, she came running and yelling, "I made the ABC Club! I made the ABC Club!" Of course with Katie being Katie, the best part of being a member for her is that your picture gets posted outside your classroom door with the other ABC Club members. Yes, our little, limelight loving daughter was in heaven.