What dreams are made of!

I think you probably have to be living under a rock to not have either seen or heard about this woman but just in case I’m posting it here.


Susan Boyle appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent” recently and when she walked on the stage you could see the incredulity on the judges faces (one of whom is Simon Cowell, who also unless you’ve been living under a rock you know as the pretty nasty judge on American Idol) along with smirks and laughter from the audience, all seeming to be judging this woman by her age and appearance that she most certainly could not posses much talent at all. As I’ve said before it infuriates me that we as a society judge people based on their looks or what we perceive of that…which is what makes this even that much more poignant.

When she walked on stage and Simon asks her how old she is and she replies with 47 he actually rolls his eye and basically implies that if she actually had talent that she would have done something with it at this point in her life, and then she begins to sing. I actually got chills as I saw the look of doubt on the judges’ faces turn to disbelief to pure awe that this amazing voice belonged to this woman who didn’t look the part. I felt so much pride and joy for her as the audience who snickered as she stepped on stage rose to their feet to give her a standing ovation because she was actually that good!

And, could you have picked a more perfect song? Anyone who knows me knows that Les Mis is my favorite Broadway show (more recently followed closely by Wicked) and “I Dreamed a Dream” is one of my favorite songs… how amazing that the last words she sang were:

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

She is not letting life kill her dreams and how truly beautiful that she was able to prove so many people wrong when they judged her on her appearance alone and she was able to show every single one of them wrong they really were just by doing what she knew inside she could do.

I hope that we all can be more like Susan Boyle and not let others disbelief keep us from doing what we know we can do. What an inspiration she is…she truly deserves all the praise she is getting.

There have been so many requests that embedding has been turned off on this video, but click on this link and it will take you to the YouTube page and you can view it there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I literally get chills every time I watch her…truly remarkable!

I did it!

I made it to my 21 days…and considering that I had to get up at 4:30 the past two mornings in order to work it in makes it that much more fulfilling :)

This morning was my 21st day in a row to get up and exercise, which may not seem like a big deal, but it’s been a while since I exercised that many days in a row before :(

Now my only fear is that since I’ve made it to my goal I’ll let myself slack off every once in a while…so, if any of you want to hold my feet to the fire that would be great…if you want reciprocal encouragement I’d love that too…we could always do the Facebook thing like my friend Sam and I!

Daily Candy --- April Fool's Day?

I get these emails daily from Daily Candy…they have a National edition and then one for a variety of large urban areas, like San Francisco. These emails are supposed to keep you informed of all the up and coming trends in food, fashion, things to do, etc. I get the San Francisco edition because I live fairly close and it’s just kind of fun to see the new things that are going on.

Well, today I opened my Daily Candy email and was a little surprised at what it said was the newest, latest and greatest for the iPhone…please be aware that this might be considered TV MA rated so don’t read any farther if you get easily offended:


April 1, 2009

I’ll Have What She’s Having


Jimmyjane’s miVibe Application for iPhone


For you, being technologically sophisticated means knowing how to double-click your mouse. (Sadly, not every user has magic fingers.)


Upgrade your hardware (and lend yourself a hand) with miVibe.


Jimmyjane — the self-pleasure masters known for premium gadgets — just launched its first iPhone application. Download the tickle-your-fancy program and your cellie becomes an instant vibrator (gasp!) with adjustable settings.


You’ll never have to fake it again: With three speeds (soft and subtle, gradual buildup, and fast and furious) and ten preset modes, the nifty (and naughty) app will give your lover a run for his money.


And leave it to the kings of kink to design a 24-karat gold phone sleeve that’s ribbed for extra oomph.


Now you’ve got the Midas touch.


Available online at jimmyjane.com.



Who would want to do that with their PHONE? This has to be an April Fool’s Day joke…right?

Edited: as the anonymous commenter pointed out this is definitely an April Fool’s Day joke…just click on the link…I just wasn’t clinking on any of it from work! :)

Lenses

Although I think my lenses would be something a little darker, more ominous, maybe a deep purple :)…I am somewhat of a pessimist afterall!

I believe it is literally impossible to understand someone else unless you have walked in their shoes. I have said this before, maybe on my other blog, but I I think each and every one of us sees the world differently, no matter how much we might try and see things from another’s point of view. The events that have shaped my life have given me certain lenses with which I view the world and as much as I try, and hope I can sympathize with others, I cannot disconnect from that which makes me, me.

I think about race relations occasionally because as I’ve mentioned before we have a few different races in my household. Ironically however, I don’t really notice there being any difference between us unless someone else points it out. Anyhow, I was reading this article on CNN.com today and wanted to share. In reference to the article, I cannot, no matter how hard I try, understand what it means to be Black in America, but at the same time someone Black cannot know what it is like to be me. I think it is a starter for a great discussion on what it really means to be in someone else’s shoes, no matter what the topic: race, religion, being a birth parent or being infertile…you name it. We all have our own very unique colored lenses through which we view the world and if we could just try and understand that about others a little more often wouldn’t that make all the difference? :)

21 Days

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit…who “they” are I’m not quite sure, but “they” certainly do say a lot…but I digress...

So, I’ve wanted and I’ve had good intentions to establish a plan to get in better shape and be healthier, and, well it’s like with most things in my life that if it doesn’t fit conveniently into my schedule it quite often doesn’t get done. Oh I’ll get up and exercise for a few days and then something happens to derail me and it takes me a week or so to get back into it again. So, in my effort to get in better shape I’ve decided to take "them" up on the notion that doing something for 21 days in a row will make it a habit.

Today was day 12 on my way to 21 days. Now, this may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but in order to reach said goal of exercising daily I have to get up between 5-5:30, yep, that’s in the morning, to fit it into my day. Even though I consider myself a morning person, when the alarm goes off at 5:00 beckoning me to the treadmill or weights…whichever day it might be…I usually lay there for a while wondering if I really need to do this every day…missing just one morning for extra sleep wouldn’t hurt, right? Well, that’s what has gotten me in the habit of not exercising regularly, so up and at ‘em.

Thirteen days ago my friend Sam and I were commiserating via facebook (she’s in Idaho and I’m in California) that we wanted to get in shape but lacked the motivation, when we decided to be each other’s motivation. We check in with each other every day and it’s worked wonders for me. I don’t want to be the one to say, "no I didn’t do it to today because (enter whatever excuse one might use here." I figure if I put this out there on my blog then it might make me even more accountable and therefore will give me more motivation to get up on those mornings when my warm covers are begging me to stay.

Wish me luck…

Do you see that it says finish line way off in the distance? There really is no finish line, but it's a little daunting if I think of it as a forever thing, so I'll be working toward that finish line that I should never reach :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

If you were reading last year you might remember that we started a tradition of Corned Beef and Cabbage a few years back for St. Patrick’s Day.

Well it’s simmering away in the slow cooker as I type this (thank you DH) smelling absolutely delicious. And to be sure we get our quotient of green food for the day we are topping it off with a pistachio layered dessert… luckily we’re having the missionaries over to share in the partaking of all that food!

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy your festivities…whatever they may be.

Cosmic Irony

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction – Newton’s Third Law

I took AP Physics in high school, but to be painfully honest that’s been a few more years ago than I’d like to admit so there isn’t a whole lot I remember. Due to cosmic irony however Newton’s Third Law is one principle that I can’t seem to forget. It seems as though whenever something happens in my life there always has to be something equal and opposite that happens in return. Of course the irony part of all of this is that it seems to happen when things start to go well and then some cosmic force decides that my life just can’t be that easy or go that well and some unforeseen event seems to occur wherewith that equal and opposite force brings me right back to where I started from.

Is this just me? Does anyone else ever feel like this or is the Universe just plotting against me?

(This is where I found my image...I think I needed that!)