Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Hippie Fest is today in Charlotte at the Old Eastland Mall site, 5471 Central Avenue.  Check out their Facebook page for more details on vendors, entertainment and directions.  Family friendly event!

Local music in Gastonia to benefit The Milestone Club in Charlotte. We all spread out, ya'll!

Can we all just take a moment to think about Administrative Professional's Day ?  Some naysayers call it just another holiday drummed up by Hallmark, but I disagree.  I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a day to say thanks to the many folks that keep the world humming.  But there's more to this story than a gift of delivered flowers or lunch out of the building. She/he probably already has before you even thought about it.  Just sayin. I've had a lot of jobs in all the years I've been a working girl (heh) and many of them have been administrative in nature.  For some reason, the very idea of being an admin or honoring an admin is bothersome to certain peeps.  Let's look at that. At this very moment, there is a bathroom therapy session of admins somewhere in the world.  There always is. For some reason, there has always been this connotation that being an admin is demeaning.  Some people in this role will tell you...

Cute Dude Tuesday is officially a thing! Post your pics to social media! Can be guys you know or guys you wish you knew! #cutedudetuesday

REM: It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Jane's Addiction: The world is loaded, it's lit to pop and nobody is gonna stop. The Police: Another working day has ended, only the rush hour hell to face. Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes, Contestants in a suicidal race  Modest Mouse: Ice age, heat wave, can't complain.  If the world's at large, why should I remain?  The Doors: Can you picture what will be?  So limitless and free, desperately in need of some stranger's hand, in a desperate land. The Beatles: Everybody knows there's nothing doing, Everything is closed it's like a ruin. Everyone you see is half asleep, And you're on your own you're in the street.

Porcelain tonight at Zoe's Coffee House 170 South Main Street, Gastonia

The book, based loosely on the life of Lili Elbe , is beautifully written and engaging.  I think it does a pretty good job of describing the two poles of thought that Lili/Einar experiences as a person experiencing gender dysphoria.  The only thing I didn't love was the "character" that was Lili/Einar.  She seemed very weak and a little too delicate.  She seemed to simply wait and let things happen to her, including decisions made for her, by others.  I wanted her to get tougher!  However, the loyalty and steadfast friendship of Lili/Einar's wife and friend, Gerda, was astounding.  We should all hope for this kind of enduring love.  (Although I read online that the book and film omitted the tumult the women would eventually endure and then fall out from.  Sigh.)  The film was equally beautiful but even more heartbreaking.  Lili was a little more proactive in the film in her care and plans for transformat...

The Annual Friends of the Gaston County Public Library Book Sale is going on this week.  It's a great way to support our local library and pick up some great buys on books of all types and even magazines and records.  Check it out!

My local newspaper recently published a piece on graduating high school seniors that were dubbed "The Best and Brightest".  I'm guessing that means they were high achievers in school and are now off to college on well-achieved scholarship. I know because once upon a time, I was one of them. And I keep wondering what happens to the Best & Brightest of the world out there?  Do they become President?  Entrepreneurs?  Famous or maybe infamous? We live in a time now in which some of our greatest minds are known for dropping out of college.  Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg both come to mind.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are scads of famous people that you didn't know were super smart.  Cindy Crawford was her high school valedictorian and so was Chevy Chase. Do these labels mark us for life?  Or do they give us something to rise against, up to or above for the rest of it?  My dad dropped out of high school, became a ...

Yep, it's Record Store Day once again, folks. Visit this website for more info or help finding a great store. My personal picks are: Voltage Records in Asheville, NC SchoolKids Records in Raleigh, NC and my personal fave Repo Record in Charlotte, NC  This one has currently been on heavy rotation at my crib. What are you spinning?????

Confession: I used to really like country music.  And I'm not talking about classic Willie and Johnny Cash it's okay to love country music.  I mean pop country music.  That stuff in the 90's.  I'm talking about George Strait, Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, Clay Walker, Toby Keith and maybe even a little Shania from time to time.  All that! I blame college.  And a boy.  (It always goes back to that, doesn't it?)  I went to a small school in rural Eastern North Carolina.  I never really liked country music before then, but with so few radio choices it was really all you had.  Oh, and the boy.  He was in a band.....actually a really good local band that played regular gigs in pretty hopping clubs in Fayetteville and surrounding areas.  They played originals but also a lot of covers, so I got very well-acquainted with the catalogs of Clint Black and Little Texas. And I liked it.  My dad used to always...

"Oh, would you two just do it already and get it over with...... I'm starving!"

House of Mercy Walk for AIDS today in Downtown Belmont 25th Anniversary Walk! visit their website for walk details, to contribute and to learn more about this wonderful ministry located in Belmont, North Carolina

So last year I tracked my day as I experienced my first mammogram .  I wanted women to not be afraid of their "first time" and approach the rite of passage with humor. Then I had to have a second mammogram and wasn't feeling as light in my sneakers.  Everything turned out well, but it was a little scary, I can't lie. Mammogram, this is my mean face.  I ain't skert of you! So here I am today, heading out for what will be my 3rd mammogram within a year or so at age 41.  I'm feeling good about it, but I'm really hoping this year it will only take 1 to tell me I'm all good.  I'm actually going to spend the day in a fairly similar fashion to last year: dental cleaning, lunch, shopping, mammo and then gyno exam.  Then later, if I can still handle it after all that excitement, I'm gonna go out and see my favorite girl band in Charlotte, Dust & Ashes .  Because after all that, won't I deserve a night out with awesome music created by ...

This is strong long-lived institution that has never asked for help, only patronage.  Now's the time for all of us that love The World Famous Milestone to give back.  Go their Go FundMe Page to learn about efforts to save the actual structural building of the club.  Memories, good times and great music fuel all our souls.  But it takes engineers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and masons to save a building.  And that takes money.  Let's all do what we can!

Now that my niece is 12, I feel like she's ready for her musical training to begin with her wacky aunt.  I'm hoping to teach the young grasshoppa that there's more to life than Top 40.  I had to really work hard to find CDs in the house, because seriously, who has them anymore?  But I thought these 4 here might be a good starter pack toward a lifetime of seeking and finding great music beyond what the radio plays for her.  We'll see what happens.....  Indigo Girls Despite Our Differences, 2006 Not my favorite record of theirs, but has some really great tracks including Three County Highway, and Little Perennials, which is a fave of The Droid.  Also has a really rocking tune featuring Pink!  (Yeah, that Pink!)   Dave Matthews Band Crash, 1996. Again, not my favorite record of a favorite band but probably the first really recognized mainstream release of the band at that time.  Has the very well-know title...