I Wonder

...people treated everybody the way they want to be treated?

Would this then be a world filled with KINDER and HAPPIER people?

Dear Roseanne...

Well, my all-time favorite show has come and gone.

AGAIN!

Except this time, it didn't get a triumphant send-off.

Instead, it was kicked out of the ABC house like a junkie who steals from her parents and siblings every chance she gets!

Roseanne Barr, why are you so selfish? Why do you open your mouth and/or make the most vile comments on social media your wrinkled fingers can type?

Why?

We fans of your show missed you and the Conner clan! And we showed you just how much by turning out in record numbers for your reboot's premiere!!!

I'm sure the cast and the crew of the show were happy to now have steady employment in the industry they love. Especially "Becky" and "DJ." We hadn't seen them in ages!

But your ill-chosen words, Roseanne, have ruined EVERYTHING!

Absolutely EVERYTHING!

Every time you typed one of your nonsensical conspiracy theories, or anything else for that matter, you never ONCE had your cast and crew in mind.

Not ONCE!

'Cause, if you did, you would have kept your innermost thoughts OFF social media and ONLY uttered them in the confines of your own home---where only YOU and those who truly love you would hear them.

Yes, I wish you never felt a reason to think or say many of the things you say on your Twitter page, but, hey, you're human, and I get saying things that might not be deemed in "good taste" if others heard them. That's why we say those things ONLY at HOME!

I was on the CBS Radford Studio Center lot a week or so ago, and saw the plaque on Stage 2, commemorating that the stage was the original home of your show from 1988-1997.

I saw that these latest episodes were still being taped on the same lot, different stage.

But no more.

No more because of your damn SELFISHNESS!

No more because of your damn MOUTH!

Oh, how I wish ABC would simply keep the show going without you.

The original creator of the show, Matt Williams, wanted the show to be called Life And Stuff. He wanted it to be an ensemble piece, so as not to make one performer the main focus. You fought him on that, and he was consequently replaced as a result.

So, you pride yourself on being an honest person who speaks her mind.

Well, honestly, how has "keeping it real" worked out for you?

At this point, Roseanne has been canceled.

Your talent agency has dropped you.

The cast and crew are out of a job.

The woman you insulted is being interviewed all over the place, garnering more attention than she's had in ages. Or ever!

And you are feeling WHAT?

I hope and pray what you're feeling is remorse.

And that you've made a vow to DO BETTER.

And BE BETTER.

ROSEANNE is still my all-time favorite tv show.

But, you, Roseanne, are no longer my all-time favorite tv star.

Not anymore.

Your replacement never let me down. Scratch that! She did quit Charlie's Angels after only the first season, so...well...I really liked Cosby...

Oh, FORGET it! :)

Memorial Day with Mama & Daddy

Today's a national holiday and I'm THRILLED to see that two of my sisters spent a portion of it visiting the gravesite of our parents.

It's been 33 years since Mama went to Glory.

Almost nine years for Daddy.

It's interesting to me how vividly I can recall individual time shared with both of them.

They're gone physically, but mentally, they're right here with me.

I wish the absolute best for all who have served and currently serve in our nation's military.

Since Daddy was in the Navy, and Mama worked for the Army, I give a special shout out to those two branches of the military!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, y'all!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Photographer Extraordinaire

Fine art photographer Kevin Burton has to be one of the best, dang photographers I've ever met!!!

His images are incredibly vivid, and oftentimes so deliciously colorful they look like you could just eat 'em whole!

I first met Kevin when we were coworkers at Macy*s Herald Square. That means I've known the fella since 1990! Twenty-eight years!!!! Geez!!

He wasn't doing the photography thing while I worked with him. At least, I don't recall him doing it. Either way, he's a freakin' master at it now!

Honestly, his work is so scintillating I soon expect to see his Kevin Burton Photography feted at an art gallery!

Simply SPECTACULAR work!

Gratitude

I awakened today and am truly grateful for (in no particular order)...

L.A. Animal Services

Fluffy puppies!

Tequila Jack's Restaurant and Cantina

Frozen margaritas!

Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill

Soft, warm bread!

Southern California

Sunshine!

Griffith Park

Mountain walks!

The Warehouse Restaurant

Restaurants!

Manhattan Beach Pier

Beaches!

Backyard Pools!

Family!

Friends!

Big Brother 19 Finale

People in general!

And excellent health!

Yep, those are more than a few of my favorite things!

And I'm soooooo very THANKFUL for being ALIVE and WELL to enjoy them!

Everybody Dance

Living here in Los Angeles is no joke when it comes to traffic! UGH!

Well, I'm a firm believer that if you change your MINDSET, you change your LIFE!

So...

The NEXT time I'm stuck in hellacious traffic, I'm gonna do PRECISELY what Nashville's Lisa O'Dell Smoot did!

Video by photographer Lee Smoot

What a GREAT DAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :)

Dementia & Son

My volunteer work at a residence for the elderly puts me thisclose to people living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

I learned quickly to simply go along with whatever the residents say. Regardless how outrageous or undecipherable it may be.

My father had dementia, and wasn't always able to identify my siblings by name when shown their photos. My youngest sister, who was his primary caregiver, told me that he ALWAYS called my name when shown my photo. How 'bout that? I reckon I am UNFORGETTABLE after all! :) :) :)

Anyway, I saw the video below and my heart broke for the son. He obviously wants so desperately for his 66-year-old mother to recognize him. To call him by his name.

I notice that the families of those who are severely afflicted with dementia don't seem to visit the residence as often as I'm sure they would if their family members could talk to them. If they could even show them one second of recognition.

As long as we have our faculties, we long to be recognized. We long to know that others see us, appreciate us and care about what we have to say.

I wish this young man the very best. His journey isn't easy.

And, unfortunately, it isn't isolated, either.

Cover Girl & Cover Guy

Today, I stumbled upon two singers on YouTube who covered their respective tunes hella nicely! Both vocalists truly impressed me.

Vocalist #1: ANGEL CINTRON

Angel sang Mariah Carey's We Belong Together. I've listened to quite a few folks attempt to cover that tune, but they always end their cover before the climax. I reckon they just think it's too tough to sing that part an octave higher. But not Angel. She tackled it. And succeeded!

Her other original songs and covers are HERE!

Vocalist #2: DURAND BERNARR

Durand sang Beyonce's Sorry. His approach was stripped down to an acoustic guitar. Kudos to the guitarist, too!!! In my humble opinion, his rendition is as smooth and as sexy AF! What a vocal range!

His other original songs and covers are HERE!

Late Night Creep

Late Night Creep

Directed by Allen L. Sowelle
Written by Cam Montgomery Jr
Juan Gil as "Javier"
Charles Anteby as "Brad"

1st Grade Picture

1st Grade Picture

Directed by Allen L. Sowelle
Written by Cam Montgomery Jr
Brandon Espy as "Alexander"
Ginger Marin as "Madeline"

Family Talk

Two days ago, I sat in the audience and watched Steve Harvey tape Family Feud. Since the studio is a hop and a skip away from my apartment, I just walked on over. At the end of his final taping for the day, he shared some inspiring words with us. He told us that if God had told him how difficult attaining his current success would be, he would never have pursued it. He would have quit.

He said that most people just look at really successful people and think attaining their success must have come much easier than it did. From September to July, he tapes all the different shows he hosts. His day starts at 4 or 4:30 AM each morning, Monday thru Friday. He tapes his radio show first, then heads over to Universal to tape his talk show. Again: FIVE days per week! Then, on weekends, he tapes Family Feud and the other shows. The man's work ethic is on steroids! Thus, so are his BLESSINGS!

When I returned home from Family Feud, I continued working on my writing submission to the Disney | ABC Writing Program. In fact, I wrote until I went to bed, then woke up Sunday and worked on my submission until 5:30 AM THIS morning! Hearing Steve in my head, I REFUSED to go to bed UNTIL I had electronically submitted the (2) scripts and other required materials to the program. What Steve asked us was, "Think about who you know who sleeps eight hours a night every night. Is that person poor?" Steve seems to think you can't know his kind of success and spend THAT much time sleeping!

Um, he might be on to somethin'! Haaaa!

I'm proud to say that by staying awake all night and early morning, I was able to complete and submit EVERYTHING! And my submission was PRECISELY as the Disney | ABC Writing Program folks dictated!

I submitted my own, original one-hour drama spec: ...is yourself.

And my spec script for Being Mary Jane.

Now, what will be, will be!

Dog Days of Summer

Sometime in August, a pretty darn cute film is gonna be released, and I hope everybody sees it.

No, you won't see me in it, but...

Let's just say this ol' dude might have a lil somethin' to do with it!

#PeepTheMoviePosters :) :) :)

Happy Mother Day

To ALL mothers all over the WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. This greeting is for HAPPY MOTHERS, thus, Happy Mother Day instead of the usual Happy Mother's Day!

There!  :)

What I Know For Sure

Whenever anyone tells me something, I never obsess over whether or not what they've told me is true.

What I know for sure is that ultimately, people tell us what they want us to believe.

If they want us to believe the truth, they'll tell us the truth.

If they want us to believe something other than the truth, they'll tell us something other than the truth.

Simple as that.

So, the next time someone tells you anything, remember, he's telling you what he wants you to believe.

Which...may be the truth.

Or...

May not be.

Simple as that.

Leave A Message

My cell phone rings infrequently. Actually, almost never! You see, I'm a texter to the core of my soul!

But on the rare occasions it does ring, NINE times out of TEN, the caller is someone named "SCAM LIKELY."

And NINE times out of TEN, this "Scam" person NEVER leaves a message.

I tell ya, identifying unwanted callers is probably one of the BEST things T-Mobile does for its customers.

I can't think of any other! :) :) :) :)

What A Character

Today I went to see a computer repairman to find out why my computer doesn't start up and stay up like it's supposed to.

When I arrived at the dude's office, he was sitting in the tiny space, looking at YouTube. I can't fault him there, because I can and usually do surf YouTube for hours on end.

I plopped my tower onto his desk and told him my issues. He plugged up the computer and ran some kind of hard drive test on it. Of course, the test came back clean as a whistle. The darn thing never shut down while I was there. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about our conversations during the testing.

When I say that man is one of the most interesting cats I've ever met, I'm still selling him short. He's 63 years old and has LIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We discussed Viagra for damn near 40 minutes. I've never used it, but he has! And he sings its praises. Heck, one time, he even took himself to an emergency room because the darn drug had him erect for so long he was in excruciating pain. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES women, so it didn't take him long to climb back into the Viagra saddle. In fact, he showed me a box filled with vitamins and other pills and potions designed to keep us old mature cats healthy and hard virile!

The dude is a Marine. Married two or three times, but no children. He received a call while I was there from his sister. Since the office was so small, he couldn't go anywhere to talk privately, so I heard everything he said to her. I surfed the internet on my phone to keep me occupied, but my ears perked up when he asked his sister if she still wants to kill herself. What the @#%!???? She apparently replied, "No."

He is a guitarist, so he wanted me to hear his talent. He picked up his favorite electric guitar and played along to a few bluesy YouTube videos. The ol' dude sounded pretty good, too.

Truth be told, I got a kick outta talking with him for the dang near two hours I was there. I walked away from the place with the exact, same computer, in the exact same condition it was in when I arrived. But, luckily, no charge for the test he conducted.

The dude has energy for days, so I wish him the very best! And I hope if I'm blessed to reach 63, I, too, am filled with as much vitality as he!

That would be awesome! 

Fashion And The Catholic Imagination

Last night was the star-studded Met Gala to benefit New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and signifies the grand opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibition: "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."

Yes, there were tons of stars on hand, strutting the finest costumes imaginable, but the only star who interested me is the immeasurably talented writer/producer/actor Lena Waithe.

Lena showed up and showed out in her custom-designed gay pride cape. I tell ya, she's as out and proud as any human being has ever been. God bless her.

Lena's hit show, The Chi, comes back for it's second season on Showtime in the fall. And her new comedy, Twenties, will make its debut on TBS shortly thereafter.

You go, Lena! You've got a whole gang of us rainbow-colored caped crusaders rooting for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#Stonewall
#Pride
#LoveIsLove

Uncle Bill's Surprise 80th Birthday Update!

The family piled into my brother's SUV this morning and headed down to Kentucky with Uncle Bill all strapped in!!!

From the look of my niece's smiling face, it's safe to proclaim they arrived to Kentucky safely!!!!

I see my brother and Uncle Bill are having a BLAST!!!

God, please continue to bless him and everybody who loves him!!!!

Singing On His Own

The television landscape is inundated with singing, competition shows, but I don't watch any of 'em.

What I do, though, is take a peek at individual performances that go viral.

And the audition of Calum Scott, on Britain's Got Talent, blew me away!

A little backstory: in 2015, Calum's younger sister auditioned for the show directly before his audition. She was not chosen to move forward in the competition, so, since he was next, the judges thought he'd feel incredibly nervous. Maybe he did, but his performance didn't illustrate such.

As his sister stood in the wings, watching his audition, he proceeded to rip the roof off the auditorium.

Honestly, his performance moved me so much, I added it to my YouTube playlist.

Simply stunning!