The Good Portion

I came home from work the other day to a strange happening. The TV was on. My daughter, home for the summer from her teaching job in the Republic of Georgia, was watching it.  Adding to the strangeness of the TV being on in the middle of the afternoon, was the fact that it was tuned not to PBS, or a movie on DVD, but to a network television program.  It took a minute of me standing dumbly for this to sink in. And then there was this: Tyra Banks who, as I recall, used to be a Victoria's Secret model, now has a talk show - like Oprah, except not.  It has that sort of  "Listen up girlfriend" tone, but without the mellowing that age and experience can bring.  It only took about 20 minutes of second-hand exposure to get the strong impression that original talk show topics have become as rare as original Cosmo and Parents' Magazine topics. Anyway, Tyra looks as  gorgeous as ever and keeps a good chat going. That day's topic was something like: "Extreme Fake...

Lady Gaga is an extreme talent, a driving personality, a dynamo of culture, and a force of nature.  She is not only a singer but a performance artist, a theatrical diva. Those who dismiss her as a knock-off of Madonna not only over-rate Madonna but miss the point. While Madonna, at Gaga's age, was the "Material Girl", Gaga, at 25 is out to change the world.  Paul and I are both fascinated by her. Photo courtesy Softpedia Her latest hit, Born This Way appears both designed and destined to be an anthem for the disenfranchised, the discarded, the downtrodden of our society.  Beginning with words from a mother to her trepid little girl, it aches with passionate love and compassion.  It fights to strengthen the heart of the child and fill it full with her own hope for her future. Gaga, almost nun-like in her devotion to career and mission, having no marriage, and no children of her own, reaches out with an aching maternal heart to embrace a world of marginalized so...

Well friends, instead of the refreshed and renewed energy I was hoping for after my recent vacation, I'm still working through my first serious bout of writer's block and hoping to have something to offer here in a day or two. In the meantime, however, as if sensing my need to write more lightly, to get the juices flowing, my husband suddenly erupted with a concept for another joint-blogging project. It is about as different as can be from anything I do here, or what he and I have done on our other joint-blog , but reflective as can be of the kind of thing Paul and I consider fun. I will say no more. If you are curious, I invite you to visit us here .