Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 Until you've been beside a man You don't know what he wants. You don't know if he cries at night You don't know if he don't. When nothin comes easy Old nightmares are real. Until you've been beside a man You don't know how he feels.

 If this is the state of today's rom-com, I feel sorry for the current generation of romantics since I found this movie to be neither very rommy nor commy.  You won't find a Ronnie and Loretta or Frankie and Johnnie here. It's very modern and the problems are very eclectic of our current dating times.  Throughout, it feels very ham-fisted and without emotion.  To be sure, there are no warm fuzzies here, and in the end, the whole thing feels like one big settlement.   Also worth noting: height, age and weight are big deals in this flick so be ready to be triggered.  But if you've been dating for a few years, you already know this.  Lucy's big speech to John about her foibles did hit home for me and probably would for anyone who ever felt they fell short of a man who truly loved them in a way they didn't feel deserved.  I couldn't help feeling at the end that her choice was okay for that day, but wouldn't ultimately last.   But then a...

So many versions of this song out there, but this one is my current fave.  

 

 There is a meme, and a general question in the air these days......what radicalized you? It has become a joke, but for some of us, it's a very real question and one we have actually spent time on.  I'll gladly share my list from as early back as I can remember.  I first want to say how much I appreciate that my parents, local Charlotte radio and my elementary school and junior high school librarians didn't censor me. It was reading James Baldwin, a gay man born in Harlem in the 1920's, before I was even 13.  Before I was even old enough to know what all of those qualities might mean.  It was not reading Richard Wright and Nikki Giovanni until I took an African American Lit class in my 30's with Dr. Alicia McCollough.  It was not until Barack was inaugurated.  It was not until Bernie stepped away from the podium for BLM speakers.  It was not until George Floyd.  It was not until Sonya Massey.   It was reading Slaughterhouse-Five at ...

I really dug his first book with James Patterson , and I like this one pretty good too.  The only problem with this one is that I'm listening to it as an audiobook, and I don't dig all the voices.  A real first-world problem, I know.  And it's always kind of interesting to see how Bill is kind of spelling out how he sees himself in the world, or rather, how he wants to be seen.   This book by Rax King, on the other hand, makes it quite a joy to listen to her lovely voice as she reads her own, sometimes boring sometimes scary, escapades as a teenager and young adult.  Her full chapter on Creed makes the entire book with the read. For television viewing, I did enjoy the History Channel series of Thomas Jefferson, but got a little bored by the FDR episodes.  And that shocked me as I love FDR!  Something about the presentation and the actor portraying him looking a little too much like Kevin Spacey methinks. And even though I didn't see ANY of his mov...

 I liked Hole well enough back in the day, but never knew much about their personnel.  So I didn't really understand the mighty might of Patty Schemel. Again, you can't beat listening to this as an audiobook.  Patty's voice, her deadpan delivery and somewhat deadpan view of this time in her life sets a real mood that will take you straight back to the cold blue greys of 90's rock.   And just like Kathleen Hanna's book , this memoir offers up opinions on Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, which will make you feel some kind of way toward both of them.  The thing I most hated was realizing that Kurt taught Patty how to fix.  It's not shocking....but it is still sad.  It's amazing that Patty lived through all this.  And anyone who studies rock stars will often say that, but that realization is VERY true with Patty.  She brushed up against death and tragedy way too many times.   I finished this memoir and went back and watched video of ...

 Carry yourself like a beautiful woman Even if you feel tired Even if you feel ugly Walk as if you are an aristocrat Hold your head as if you are regal Reach out your hand as if you are a goddess. Carry yourself like a beautiful woman Smile at everyone Watch strangers smile back Wait as men open doors for you Women will want to befriend you Children will climb into your lap. Carry yourself like a beautiful woman Steady your voice  Slow your steps Listen as people quiet themselves for you And feel their movement pace with yours. Carry yourself like a beautiful woman Watch as the world waits for you Quiet yourself as it listens to you Step into your power Become who you've always meant to be.

 Sometimes it all works out.  Life falls apart, life gets fixed again.  We find and lose precious items, precious people.  The world spins, life goes on, and we go on too.  Go back to The Lost Ring for the backstory on this journey of a piece of jewelry and of myself. 

 The bunnies of 1975 continue to roll into their 50th year of life.  May they find peace, joy and long lives full of love and success.