Great Decorating Idea

Remembering Tyler Clementi

No one will ever know if Tyler Clementi was wrestling with his own inner torment the day he killed himself, or if the utterly despicable actions of his roommate, Dharun Ravi, drove him, in a moment of dark hopelessness, to take his own life.

Today, Dharun Ravi was just found guilty of nearly all charges against him. Ravi had many choices. He could have chosen to not tape Tyler in an intimate situation with another man, and trumpeted to the world that he was going to do so. He also could have chosen to plead guilty of the charges brought against him. But Ravi also appeared to be a young man blissfully unconcerned with those small matters of morals, decency, and, more importantly, accountability for any of his actions.

Ravi just got a much-needed and long overdue reality check/smackdown. At most he will be sentenced to 10 years in prison. He will still be a young man, still with the gift of time to fashion a new life for himself.

Tyler Clementi lived the last hours of his life in grief and torment. And though the verdict provides a measure justice, it is scant comfort, as nothing will bring Tyler back.

The Final Countdown

Darling Daughter's Spring Break starts TOMORROW at 3:35pm. After a hectic week of assisting with a design project, a TV production project, and yet another science project, we are looking forward to it!

One Big Whitewash

On the night of February 26, Trayvon Martin, 17, walked to a convenience store to buy his little brother some candy. As he was walking home, he was murdered.

The shooter, George Zimmerman, 28, is a volunteer crime watch captain in the predominantly white gated community where he lived. So, upon seeing an unknown young black man walking in his neighborhood, he did what any good old boy would do, and called the cops.

Despite being told by police to NOT approach Trayvon, Zimmerman got out of his car and confronted Trayvon. By the time police arrived, Trayvon was dead

George Zimmerman was toting a gun. Trayvon was found with the candy he'd bought for his little brother in his pocket.

The po-po took Zimmerman in for questioning, but released him, once Zimmerman told them there had been an altercation, and that he'd shot Trayvon in self-defense.

Sanford police chief Bill Lee says there's not enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman. “In this case Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self-defense,” Lee said. “Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don’t have the grounds to arrest him.”

I call bullshit on Lee's lame statements. The police are refusing to release the transcripts of several 911 calls that came in, purportedly from people who claim Zimmerman and Trayvon were fighting prior to Trayvon being murdered, as they claim their investigation is ongoing.

How did the supposed fight start? Zimmerman was advised to stay in his car and wait until the police arrived. Trayvon was killed less then 70 feet from his father's home. Had Zimmerman ignored his itchy trigger finger and stayed put, Trayvon would more then likely have been safely home by the time police arrived.

And I call bullshit on Zimmerman's lame self-defense story. Zimmerman was trolling "his" neighborhood, with a gun in his car. He got out of the car, with his gun in hand. I don't know of any young kid, black, white, or green, that might not have thought he was about to be attacked, or robbed, or worse, if someone had approached them with a gun.

If a fight erupted, as Zimmerman said, one has to ask who instigated the altercation? The police, for the moment, are professing satisfaction with Zimmerman's self-defense claims, based on the fact that Zimmerman had blood and grass stains on his shirt.

Zimmerman got out of that car expecting trouble with Trayvon, because Trayvon was unknown, but, more importantly, because Trayvon was black. Had Trayvon been white, I strongly doubt Zimmerman would have given him a second glance.

Yet Zimmerman remains a free man - a free man who also was arrested back in in 2005 for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

The tragic death of Trayvon Martin begs for justice to be served. Unfortunately, it appears that all that's going to be served in this case is one big can of whitewash.

The police appear willing to sweep the entire incident under the rug.

Zimmerman will remain free, his lame claim of self-defense sufficing as a worthy excuse for a cold-blooded murder.

And Trayvon Martin, who deserved so much more, got nothing but a bullet.

Sickening.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/12/2690445/sanford-chief-no-charges-yet-in.html#storylink=cpy

Thoughts and Prayers

Thoughts and prayers to all affected by the deadly storms in the last few days.

Pain at the Pump

Just sayin...

Remembering Davy Jones

He was my first pre-teen crush. I was already 5' 7" at only 11, and he stood only 5' 4". No matter. I loved him, and like millions of other girls around the world, I fantasized about having him for a boyfriend.

Davy Jones.

My bedroom walls were papered with posters of Davy and The Monkees, all carefully pulled from the pages of Tiger Beat. My love of all things Monkees was inexplicable, even to me, a girl raised on the truly great music of Motown. But somewhere, between Marvin and Tammy, Stevie, The Temptations, The Supremes, and Smokey, the music of The Monkees is inextricably woven in the fabric of my youth.

The Monkees, known among wags as the Pre-Fab Four,  were America's answer to The Beatles. For The Monkees were created by a canny group of men in the entertainment industry, who, upon seeing the massive amounts of cash being raked in via the success of The Beatles, wanted a cut of that particular financial pie. Auditions were held...Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, and Mike Nesmith were considered pleasing vocally, and attractive enough, and The Monkees were launched.

Then, in a few short years, it was over. The execs didn't factor in the possibility that Davy, Peter, Mickey, and Mike might be real people with their own dreams and serious musical aspirations. When they didn't go along with the program, the boys in the band found themselves abandoned by their mentors, who went on to other successes. The former Monkees were left to struggle on past their former Teen Idol status.

They did well, despite their abandonment. Davy seemed the one most at peace with realizing what he had been, and content to give the once-young fans what they wanted - the infectious pop of their youth, and a welcome trip down Memory Lane, a safe refuge from the craziness of their present world.

He did it well, and he did it cheerfully. Davy never took his fans for granted, never took the music that made so many smile for granted. He was a class act.

Last night, as has happened all too often recently, I took my own trip back to my youth. The night was filled with the music of The Monkees...my daughter, as expected, smiled in bemusement, as she shook her head gently, not understanding my sadness.

We all have to die. But I thought that Davy Jones, with his eternally youthful face, and his joy in the music that had made him a heart-throb so many years ago, would be around for many more years. But it wasn't to be.

Thank you, Davy, thank you, for the music, for the joy, and the wonderful memories.

Leap Year!

Enjoy the day!!!

Dancing With The Stars Cast Revealed!

Here they are - the latest cast of Dancing With The Stars -

Jack Wagner

Melissa Gilbert

Donald Driver

William Levy

Sherri Shepherd

Kathleen Jenkins

Gavin Degraw

Martina Navratilova

Roshon Fegan

Maria Menounos

Jaleel White

AND...Drumroll Please...the voice of my childhood...

GLADYS KNIGHT

DD and I are addicted to DWTS, regardless of the cast each season. But I'm already  beyond thrilled to see Gladys competing. Hopefully, she'll do some singing, as well!

Ryan Seacrest - Grace in the Face of Idiocy

Kudos to Ryan Seacrest for his aplomb in the face of Sacha Baron Cohen's tasteless prank at the Oscars.

Boo-Hiss to the National Enquirer

The National Enquirer reached a new low this week by publishing a photo of Whitney Houston in her coffin. I am really too appalled to frame sufficient commentary at this time.

A Preview of the Empty Nest

Darling Daughter has spent three nights away from me in the last week. Off with her best friend, she's had a grand old time. I'm glad she has...she's off doing all of the fun things she should be doing at her age. As for me, well, I got a somewhat unwelcome glimpse of the future.

I came late to the Motherhood Game - I was 43 when I adopted DD. Life hadn't worked out quite as I'd planned with the baby thing - I was retro enough to hope, when I was younger, that I'd meet my Mr. Right, settle down, and we'd raise several children together.

However, Mr. Right never came along, and a non-cancerous tumor left me unable to bear children. Yet life has a way of working out just as it's supposed to, and I have been blessed with the child I was meant to have.

I have cherished every moment of the twelve-plus years my daughter and I have had together. I remember holding her, when she was an infant, and relishing the thought of the many years ahead. As for her growing up, and leaving home? Pfft - I had lots of time.

Yet, with the three nights DD has been away, I realized, with an unpleasant shock, that it won't be too many more years before DD is off to college and out on her own. I don't know why, this time, this particular short jaunt away from me has bothered me so much. After all, she spends several weeks up North with my parents every summer.

Perhaps it's because the time with her has flown so quickly. Perhaps it's the realization that she's growing into the lovely young woman I'd prayed she would be. Perhaps it has also left me wondering how the heck I'm going to reshape my life as she goes out into the world to live hers.

She'll be back home tonight. She'll know I missed her, but probably won't understand why I hug her so tightly. She'll be happy to see me, and will quickly settle back into her normal daily routine.

And, as I hug her, I will wish for the impossible - to somehow freeze time, all the while knowing that time is passing much too quickly.

Okay - Now Where Was I???

The Tasmanian Devil has left town, and life will now, mercifully, return to normal.

A Quick Thought Worth Posting

Freezing In Florida

Temps in the low 20's this morning. Transformer blew nearby & electricity went out - briefly, thankfully. Too cold!!!