Weekend WoooSaaah

Okay, I had my opportunity to vent yesterday
and get all that yuk out of my system.

Don Imus story....wooosaaah
Sanjaya....woooosaaah
Partial Birth Abortion...wooosaaah
Killing sprees and war......wooosaaah
Taxes......wooosaaah
Whatever got on your last damn nerve this week.......Wooosaaah!

So let's get busy with enjoying life!

For my readers in the ATL, feel like a little romance? I think there are still tickets available for the Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill concert at the Civic Center Saturday. Just don't think about all the rumors regarding Johnny and Eddie Murphy. Not feeling that old school romantic vibe? Check out the Atlanta Film Festival ongoing at Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema. Want to spend some time out in the beautiful Spring weather, I suggest Earth Day:Party in the Park at Atlantic Station, Saturday night 7-10pm...Live music, silent auction, food and tips for living green!

Back up the road in suburban Philly, Center City Gallery Night..TONIGHT and guess what its free! Admission, food and drink on the house, special exhibitions and cocktail reception from 5-8pm. Check out gophila.com for more information. Want some out of the ordinary excitement, how about the family helicopter rides at Brandywine Airport, Saturday at 11am, 35.00. Ad a little spirits to your weekend by visting the Chaddsford Winery for tours of the cellars and wine making, tasting and walking the grounds. You are in for some lovely weather so enjoy!

My Callie family, maybe a little theater at the California Theatre of the Performing Arts Phantom of the Opera, now showing on West 5th Street, contact ticket master for more info, or take a ride over to Big Bear Lake and enjoy the beautiful San Bernadino National Forrest. Maybe just a leisurely browse through the Downtown Farmers Market in Riverside is more your speed.

For the rest of my readers, check out your local events calendar on line, there's always something going on to stimulate your mind, relax your body and spend quality time with your family.

And to all, gettin your praise on never hurts either!
Worship services are in your neighborhood!

Whatever you do, have a Wooosaaah Weekend!

Love and Blessings.

That's melavision. What's yours?

Sticks and Stones

What a week since last post. I just need to exhale. Don Imus, the Duke rape case, Dannielynn, the ban on partial birth abortion, Sanjaya is booted off, and the tragic killings at Virginia Tech.

When I was a child we used to chant "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." A nice concept, but nonetheless untrue. I am amazed at the degradation of our wonderful country and the feeling we all share (wrongly, I might add) that there is nothing we can do about it.

• It seems people were shocked at the overtly racist remarks Don Imus made regarding the Rutgers womens basketball team.

The Tennessee girls, "They all look cute, you know."... "That's some nappy headed ho's there." - regarding Rutgers. Don Imus, MSNBC Don Imus in the morning show.

I wasn't shocked. Racism and sexism is still very much alive in America and this guy seems full of it. He has been an equal opportunity offender of many races and groups of people. This was not the first time he said racists things and I betcha he is calling black folks all kinds of unflattering words these days... behind closed doors. Our constitution says he has the right to, and I agree. But I applaud the advertisers, television and radio networks who decided not to pay him to do it.

What saddened me was the rage from so many white Americans over his firing. Not since the O.J. case have I witnessed such venom from the eyes of those we've come to think of as friends,....our co-workers, television personalities that we enjoy watching, news anchors and neighbors.

How dare black people stick up for themselves! Hip hop artists call us bitches and ho's so why can't everyone else? Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson have each said and done reprehensible things themselves, so how dare they rally to these women's defense.

Ironically, the teams are both primarily black and if you switched their jersey's around, I'd be willing to bet Don wouldn't know the difference.

• And Lord have mercy, just when you think, great, thank you America for sticking up for the black girls....the case against the Duke boys gets dropped. There was no evidence to support the young woman was raped. I don't think anyone is mad at that. We do not want innocent people going to jail for crimes they did not commit. But that venom again...woo...it was like vindication for Don....see they are nappy headed ho's!

• Then the baby daddy drama with poor little Dannielynn, the daughter of Anna Nicole Smith. Another stripper, porn model and actress. Blond hair blue eyes, deified in her death. There was something I liked about Anna and I felt really bad for her, and short of being sewed by Howard K Stern for defamation, I knew when her son died she would be gone shortly after. But for her death and the paternity of her baby girl to be the head line in the news for over two months! Exhale. Let's just hope for Dannielynn's sake, Larry proves to be a good father.

• What can we say about Virginia Tech. So much grief. I saw the big red VT sign for the first time just a few weeks ago while traveling interstate 81through the beautiful blue ridge mountains. It struck me that this was an awesome place to build an university and how much the students there much enjoy their surroundings. Never would I imagined the horror that would take place weeks later. My heart and prayers go out to the families of the victims and the family of the disturbed young man who perpetrated this heinous act.

• Sanjaya. Good looking mild mannered teen aged boy whom American Idol producers and judges thought was good enough to make the top 24 and then suddenly started to dis him when he grew a fan base. Sanjaya was voted off yesterday after weeks of enduring scrutiny and down right meanness. He is not the worst singer the show has ever had. His delightful personality began to blossom during the show amidst all of the negativity and he does have a nice voice. There are less gifted artists selling number one hits after studio engineering and marketing executives polish the package. I said it before, one of the lowest of lows this season of AI, and I am extremely disappointed in their unabashed attack on this young person.

• The ban on partial-birth abortion. 1973 Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Courts decision to uphold the right for a woman's privacy to abort a fetus up until the point the fetus is deemed viable to survive outside of the woman's womb. This right has been debated continuously over the years and no doubt this new decision begins a new fervor of angst and divide among Americans.

Partial birth abortion is a gruesome procedure to remove a fetus, usually in the second and third trimester of gestation, by inducing labor and extracting the fetus breach(legs first). In most cases, the fetus' arms and legs are dismembered while the head remains in the vaginal cavity and then the back of the skull is fractured and the brains of the fetus vacuumed out. The procedure is not graphically explained to the women seeking such abortions and in my opinion is nothing short of murder. There are too many readily available birth control options today, to use this barbaric procedure as a method to eliminate unwanted pregnancy.

I believe it should be an option for women who are at risk of death if they proceed with the pregnancy. I also think it should be available to terminate the pregnancies of those fetus whose lives will not be viable once born. Such as those with lethal birth defects. Even then there must be a more humane way to end those lives with some dignity.

Sticks and stones.....what are we learning now about ourselves? Words do hurt us, they take joyous and honorable moments and scathe them with controversy and divide, words meant to give freedom and rights to us are twisted and turned and lobbied to make it easy for a mentally disturbed individual to purchase guns and go on a killing spree...words turn innocent young girls to find value as strippers, confusing lust for love and perversion for admiration.

What are we saying about ourselves when we are glad that young men have escaped rape charges but we find nothing wrong with those men placing an order for women to come and dance naked at a party, while they taunt them and call them names and suggest a broom stick might make the party a little more enjoyable.

Sticks and stones.....we watch as people throw them at each other and become more concerned with who fathered a baby who could inherit millions than what clandestine meetings and shredded paper and lost emails are happening in our nation's capital......and names....seemingly intelligent people, t-v personalities, radio show hosts and yes bloggers, jump on the mean wagon and tear apart a young man with words we may never know how deeply hurt his soul.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow....

Until then,
That's melavision. What's yours?

For Every Thing...There is a Season

Wow, it seems so long since I last posted....February...eons ago(smile). I have been quite a busy lady and now we are in the bloom of Spring. Unseasonably cold, but never the less Spring! As I swallow up the sunshine in my sunroom and recooperate from the past few weeks momentus occasions, I think about the seasons of our lives.

The week of March 25th, I mourned the loss of my dear paternal uncle, John Crabb Sr. and celebrated the birth and life of my maternal grandmother Helen Nelson. I remember the week before vividly, Tuesday, March 20th. It was around the noon hour when I had a sudden urge to pray for Uncle Johnny. I knew he was suffering and that hospice had been taking care of him and preparing him for his imminent death. As I began to pray for him, my own spirit was lifted, because though I could not be by his side physically, I knew I was saying my own good-bye spiritually. I prayed for peace in his heart and mind, rest for his body, strength for the family to let him go, forgiveness for his sins, mercy and for the Lord to welcome his spirit and to embrace him. I asked for a fear free transition and whatever he, Uncle Johnny, may need to pass on.

The next night I was working feverishly on a celebration keepsake for my grandmother's 100th birthday party. The event was a little over a week away and I needed to get the booklet finished for print. I committed myself to stay up all night if necessary. Around 12:20a.m. I grew extremely weary and resolved myself to go to bed. Though I wanted to continue my task, it was indeed a labor of love, my body said 'rest'. When the phone rang shortly after 6a.m. I knew Uncle Johnny had passed away. I was told he passed at 12:30 a.m. I did not weep, and I was not grief stricken, for I knew he was leaving that week and I had prayed my good-bye. Instead, I thought back of fond memories and my heart went to my cousins John and Johnita, my dad and his siblings and Billy a son recently introduced to the family. And then I thought about the great celebration I was organizing for my grandmother and how awesome life is.

I drove home to PA for Uncle Johnny's funeral services and we celebrated his life. I saw cousins I had not seen in years and we hugged and kissed. I held on to his twin Joanie and my dad, Donald. I looked around at the family there and thought about how special each and every one of us are, how glad I am to have them in my life.

Johnita and I shared an embrace after I viewed the body and there were no words necessary, the love between cousins, daughters of brothers, understanding her pain and knowing I too one day will experience the same, and she will comfort me.

The next day I shopped for decorations and picked up linens and arranged tables and chairs and went over final details for Helen's celebration. I had labored long and hard and there were highs and lows in the planning process. I was nervous and excited and worried all at the same time. Family were arriving from across the country and the mayor was going to pay special tribute and the senator and the news paper was coming and I wanted it all to go perfectly. My family and I had planned a great tribute and I had taken on most of coordination.

Saturday morning my niece Jennifer and I joined hands and we prayed. And the celebration was beautiful. Grandmom was overwhelmed with the outpouring of affection towards her. I hugged cousins I had just met, and shook hands with dignitaries and smiled as the great grands served the elders their meal. I watched my own children, so thankful they were participating and sharing this experience with me.

I rubbed the backs of my mother and my cousins as they welled up with emotion thinking about the life of our dear matriarch and what she means to us all. We shared poems and songs and favorite memories. It was officially Helen Nelson day and she received the key to the city. We all reveled in her magesty and felt grateful for her legacy of love for family and church.

I fought back my own tears as different members of the family came to thank me for the hard work and the execution of the program. I did cry when my beloved friend and dearest cousin Danisa took the mic to give me accolades. I didn't want them, didn't need them....I was happy to help create such a cherished memory for the family. And as I looked at each of them, all colors and shades and sizes and shapes and social class....I thought, what a beautiful blessed people we are. Special, each and every one of us. So glad to have them in my life.

The seasons of life. In one week I shared unspeakable joy and sorrow and the common denominator was love. Love that lasts 100 years and into eternity.

When winter comes and days are short, the nights long and cold
Lonely hearts mourn those long gone while couples spoon
Those prepared, warm their bellies with hot food and take shelter
from their labor
and rest
We grow tired of the grey and the bare trees and dry earth...and then
Like rain from heaven we are renewed with the dew of spring
We plant our gardens and our flowers and go about getting out
Days a little longer, time to visit friends and walk in the sunshine
We take in the aroma of new life
Then summer finds us busy, sweating and socializing and running to
Cooler places and sipping iced drinks and we cook outside on grills
And do the electric slide at family reunions and revel...
in the fullness of life
Until the brisk air of the fall calls us to gather again and prepare for another winter
Spending time with family over the holidays and filling up on love
Love.... enough..... for every season

Celebrate your life and those you love by loving the ones you love every day.

That's melavision. What's yours?
Ecc 3:1-8
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.