Rest In Peace, Whitney Houston, You Were So Talented

It is almost always sad when a human being dies. When it is unexpected, that adds to the tragedy. Whitney Houston died last week, unexpectedly. It could have been from drugs, but it could have been from a lot of other possibilities. Any which way it is tragic, for her family, especially her daughter.

For me, the tragedy is that Ms. Houston was so talented. Today, in popular culture, talent actually seems to be a rare thing. You didn't need to hear Simon Cowell tell you how vocally talented she was, you could hear it for yourself. An example from my past was in the late 80's, the television was on to an awards show (I cannot remember – sorry but it was 25 years ago!) and Whitney sang “I'm Saving All My Love For You”. My whole family noticed her voice, it was glorious. My father, who is not into popular music at all and prefers Jazz, said “Wow, she is really good”. If he could notice her talent, the whole world could, and did. Unfortunately, now it seems that talent is a small part of a bigger “package” that producers produce for an audience. Not that I am saying Ms. Houston wasn't the whole package, she was a beautiful woman, but that was secondary to her voice.

Ms. Houston was not a songwriter. She was a vocal stylist and sang songs that others wrote. That is unfortunate, since that means that she did not earn as much money from her work if she was a songwriter and performer. But, I do think she would get a song and could take it to levels that even the songwriter could not imagine. The perfect example of this is her version of “I Will Always Love You”. If you didn't know this little fact, Dolly Parton wrote that song. She is a talented songwriter. If you hear that song, you can know she is a talented writer. But as a performer, for that song at least, she is all wrong, her interpretation was too subtle, but that is because she has a limited voice. Ms. Houston took that song to the highest levels. Ms. Parton's voice works so much better on a song like her “Jolene” (a beautiful and sad song in it's own right), but I think “I Will Always Love You” will be one of Ms. Houston's greatest contributions to popular music.

This was a different blog for me to write. I am sure many people are a bit confused since I usually rant about politics, review other independent books, or discuss writing and PR of my book “The Chronicles of IDIOT”. But the death of Whitney Houston struck me in a way that made me think about talent.

You cannot just be talented and the world will see you for what you are. A person with talent may know they are good at something, but that does not mean they will be successful. My son has a talent for drawing (I think) but he still has a lot of work ahead of him before he could be paid for that talent. Ms. Houston worked hard in her youth, perfecting her craft, singing in her church choir and learning music. There are many children who want to be talented in sports or music and think that will write their ticket to fame and fortune. It may, but that will be for a tiny amount of those children. For a lot of kids they may just want to be talented, but are not and that will be a hard thing to deal with as well. Or they may be talented but just not lucky enough to be recognized. Luck has a lot to do with becoming a success and has much more to do with success than talent.

I would not call myself a talented writer. I do enjoy writing but I am not cranking out thousands of words a day. There are other priorities in my life. But, I find writing fun, and getting my opinions out there in my blog is really fun. That is the last thing I would like to say about talent. You may be very talented at something, but if you don't enjoy it, how can you enjoy life? Andre Agassi is a good example. He is a talented Tennis player, but if you read anything in his biography, you find that he did not enjoy it, his father pushed it on him. I find that very sad. It seemed that Ms. Houston enjoyed singing. That did not make her life perfect, as we all know, since we should all know that success does not bring happiness. Hopefully doing what you love gives you happiness. She had an incredible vocal talent, and I hope she loved what she did and am glad she shared her voice with the world.

A Review of Christopher Godsoe's “Judgment Cove”

Sorry this blog is late today. Since it is the day before Valentine's Day, I was busy with the kids getting all that V Day stuff ready. And by the way, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow. Share the love by being kind to someone, its free and easy to do!

Now on to the review!

~~

The story is a twist on the “scared straight” prison model, except with pirates. Steve is an angry teenager, his parents do not understand, and his older brother was killed in Afghanistan jumping on a grenade to save his comrades-in-arms. His parents are frustrated with him, and his tagging the school. He gets into so much trouble that his parents make the decision for him to go to “Judgment Cove” and the charges are dropped. When he gets to this Cove, things are much more different than your standard camp. 

Three-quarters of the way through, I was feeling that this was a supernatural redemption story with some holes. But the ending finishes everything off with a surprise twist that I thought really made the story.

The writing flows nicely and I felt most of the characters (even the pirates) were done fairly realistically, for being a teenage action adventure. The protagonist, Steve, is sympathetic, even at the unrepentant beginning which is hard to achieve. The action is easy to follow and lots of fun to imagine.

Chris Godsoe has got quite an imagination and this is an impressive addition to his growing literary work.

Tina Fey Thinks I'm An Idiot

Let me first say that I love “30 Rock" and Tina Fey. I think she is a brilliant comedian. She was looking for a new friend in one recent episode and I wanted to be in that line. Except that maybe we would not get along, just like she and her clone did not in that episode. Not that I am an absolute clone of Tina Fey. I'm a SAHM (Stay-at-home Mom) and she wrote that SAHM's are idiots on her show's episode “Idiots are People Three”.

Good comedy will offend someone. And I guess I am the offended party here. I am trying not to be because everyone has to make decisions about raising a family and every decision is what works for them at the time. For moms of all stripes, every decision we make we feel guilty for: SAH or working, it really is a no win situation and it seems our kids will hate us no matter what decisions we make.

When adding up what a SAHM like me would make from Salary.com:
(http://swz.salary.com/momsalarywizard/htmls/mswl_momcenter.html),
in Tucson I am worth about $103,600. Dang! If I could only get paid for this job. So, maybe I am an idiot in my own way but it is for my kids.

It is really easy to judge other people and their parenting decisions. SAHM's do it all the time. We can be a rather sanctimonious lot. Some criticize if you do not have your kids potty trained by 3 years old. Not me, potty training is not easy, and the mom who says she had her kid trained by 18 months is a liar. Some criticize if you do not breastfeed. I try not to criticize about that, but think people should at least try it, it does not work for some babies. But, for the moms who say “it is gross” or “unnatural” I say you may be the gross and unnatural one.

So Tina Fey thinks I am an idiot. Here is the quote from the show:

Tracy: “Idiots aren't just strippers, or stay at home moms. Idiots are all around us.”

Yep, it was said in the show by Tracy Jordan who is portrayed by Tracy Morgan. The Tracy Morgan who actually did do a rant during a comedy show that offended most people but especially gay people. This show must be to make up for that rant and show that he is an idiot. I think most people knew that already. The stripper reference does not help either.

I know it was supposed to be a bad joke spoken by a genuine idiot, and maybe Ms. Fey gets a lot of grief because she is a working mom. But, I have a feeling she can afford the best in nannies and nanny-cams. In Tucson, we can afford me being a SAHM by living in a small 2 bedroom house, and only having one car. Well, if we lived in New York there would be no way I could be a SAHM. If and when my hubby moves on from his job we may move somewhere like NY or California where we will have to have two paychecks, and will probably be still just scraping by, so yes, we are idiots because my husband actually enjoys his job now.

So, I guess I am an idiot for staying home, but I'm an idiot with happy kids, and that makes all the difference.

Oh yeah, aren't I also supposed to be an Author? Until I make enough to make one monthly mortgage payment (I am not even close on that one) I really need to say my full time job is being a Mom.

The Chronicles of Idiocy 3.2 – Barnes and Noble Posted the Review! VICTORY!

Yes, it is true. Actually, it happened a few weeks ago but I had other posts to write. You really have to get that Versatile Blogger Award out or you forget and then when you get another one you have to do a double – yep, I am talking about Frank Balara – he he!

So to catch you up, my wonderful friend Kathy posted a 5-star review of the “The Chronicles of IDIOT” for the Barnes and Noble website, but it was in naughty review server jail because it used the word idiot. It seems Barnes and Noble take the Noble in their name seriously and won't post anything potentially offensive - even if it is in the name of the book! I contacted BN.com and have been working on getting the review posted. I traded e-mails with my new friend at Barnes and Noble, Mike, and then waited to see if anything would change. And a few weeks later (quite slow for the speed of the internet) it appeared magically; as many things do on the internet, like Wikileaks or Megaupload.com.

It is funny, cause a week later I told Kathy that her review was finally posted and she said “I thought it already was posted, oh well.” Well, it depends upon your view of the internet because her review was out there in the Barnes and Noble servers, but their Ned Flanders software kept it from reaching it's full potential till just recently.

I do not want to have to do this for every review at Barnes and Noble. Not that I think there are a hundred waiting in their servers to be unleashed. So I decided to post a review (of sorts) of my own. And while I gave my book five stars (I gotta take what I can get, even if it is from myself) the review is actually a warning to anyone who wants to post a review on that website. Now it is up to Barnes and Noble to post it. Will the Ned Flanders software keep it from warning my readers to not write IDIOT in their reviews, or see their posts go to the naughty review server jail? Well, as of today, my warning is in the naughty review server jail. I e-mailed Mike last week but have yet to hear from him. Looks like I have to continue to fight the good fight.

Here is the link to the one and only review:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/the-chronicles-of-idiot?keyword=the+chronicles+of+idiot&store=allproducts

The Versatile Blogger Award

First, I have FABULOUS NEWS! Last night Great Minds Think Aloud posted a review of “The Chronicles of IDIOT” and Kitty Bullard gave it 5 ravens! THANK YOU, KITTY!

Here is the link to the review:

http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=display&thread=1021

~~

My writing buddy, Chrisopher Godsoe, recently received the “The Versatile Blogger Award”! Dun dun dun! And with that great honor comes the great responsibility of passing it on to five other blogs and stating seven facts about yourself. He bestowed the honor on me and so I now am honor bound to do the same.

Seven Random Facts About Me

• I am a Stay-At-Home Mom, though I prefer the title: “Cole and Audrey Specialist”.
• I occasionally sing in choirs and did in high school enough to go and sing in a very largechoir at Carnagie Hall.
•  I used to be a Professional Igor, or as it is called in science: a “Life Science Research Assistant” and then “Research Specialist”.
• I was a finalist in the Twitter 2011 writing contest #pitch2win from Abbot Press. Unfortunately, I did not win. But, that is how I met Christopher Godsoe and Frank Balara.
• I love being raised and living in Arizona, but wanted to become a Marine Biologist when I was a child. (Didn't we all?)
• Like Frank Balara, as a parent, I worry about EVERYTHING!
• I do not read many blogs. Sorry!

What was that I just said? I don't read that many blogs? Geez, talk about pressure to then find five blogs to bestow this honor to... well when I thought about it and remembered some friends I have that do have blogs or write reviews on websites. So, they are going to be commandeered to act as a “blog” because I think if you write your opinion or thoughts on a webpage that is your own, or you contribute to then you are a blogger. It is up to the award winners if they want to continue the Versatile Blogger Award and give it out to five other worthy winners.

Before I do that, I want to give a shout out to my two writing buddies: Christopher Godsoe (www.christophergodsoe.com/) and Frank Balara (http://frankbalara.blogspot.com/) as their blogs are insightful, thoughtful, sometimes radical, and sometimes silly. Chris always seems to be working on something brilliant for promoting his work including youtube ads and specialized software for his new work with scifi. His books include “Judgement Cove” and “Where I Can't Follow”. Frank is a writers' writer and his work is full of beautiful descriptions that I love to read but could not write to save my life. He just published his first work called “Manufactured Pleasures”. A review of that fine story is the previous blog here at “Chronicles of Idiocy” - see it is not ALL idiocy!

OK, here are the Five blogs I bestow with the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. 

http://azskinnygirl.wordpress.com/ This is my friend Kimberly Mangan's blog. She had gastric bypass surgery and has now taken up running. Her story is inspirational even for me who does not run, but tries to walk her dog at least four times a week. I need to worry about getting Type-2 Diabetes because it runs in my family, so I need to worry about staying healthy. Kim's blog certainly helps. Maybe someday I will join her on a Mud Run.

2.

http://ericbt.webs.com/apps/blog/ Eric Thomasma is a fellow writer I met on Twitter. He is the kind that helps out other authors (like me) by giving tweet shout outs about us and our blogs. He is a scifi and children's author and I could not help but to give a shout out to him here.

3.

http://somethingelsereviews.com/tag/tom-johnson/ Tom Johnson is a friend of mine as we both survived Horizon High School. He wrote a short story that moved me so much back then that I still remember it today. He is also passionate about music and that is what he discusses on Something Else Reviews. I remember that we went to see a Yes concert back in the day. I only knew some songs from a few of their more recent albums (back then), well Tom knew every song and loved every minute of that concert. That is a true music fanatic.

4.

http://rabbitknitz.blogspot.com/ My friend Sara Williamson is Ms. Rabbitknitz. Yep, she blogs about knitting, which has become quite popular in the past decade. Funnily enough, last week she was in my hometown of Phoenix for a knitting convention. She is a true believer in the yarn and knitting needles as a necessary therapy for today's too-quick world. 

5.

http://behindthegrammar.com/ Mignon Fogarty is a New York Times bestselling author and grammar devotee. Her podcasts, books, and posts about grammar give me something to learn and remember, or ignore at my own peril. But, she also gives wonderful insights into how subjective grammar can be, and that is a great balm for this writer.

No, they are not all about writing, really only two are about writing. But, that shows that I try to be diverse in the few blog-like websites that I do visit. I will try to visit more writing blogs, as I really need to get more involved in the community. If anyone has any suggested blogs or want to give a shout out, please do so in the comments below.

A Review of “Manufactured Pleasures” by Frank Balara

Early blog this week! I am heading north in search of snow (two little children I know are fascinated with the stuff) with my family for MLK day. Will return to my normal Blog schedule next week. This review is also posted on Amazon and Goodreads.

--

Technology, it is a wonderful thing. Our world is techno-colored wonderland with information coming at us faster and faster every day. Maybe it comes at us too fast. It can keep families from really being together. Then something like a power outage comes along and makes us talk to each other. Sometimes outages are blessings.

In this new story by Frank Balara, a power outage caused by a powerful summer thunderstorm leaves a family to have time to have fun together, utilizing ice cream, music, and the good old-fashioned story. This tale reminds me of our summer power outages here in Arizona when I was a kid. The powerful afternoon monsoon storms took out our beloved cable TV and we actually had to think of something to do for a few hours. Now, due to an improved power grid, there are fewer power outages.

Mr. Balara's debut is eloquently written, full of beautifully imaginative phrases. It is also a little silly, as stories of families often are. I hope to hear more from this very creative writer in the future.

Chronicles of Idiocy 3.1 – New Year Firework Jitters and Barnes and Noble Sort-of Care

Happy New Year! 2012. Everyone wants to make this a great year. I certainly hope it is, but there was an ominous sign that it may not, and no, I am not talking about the Mayans and their calender shenanigans. My friends parents house caught fire right after midnight when New Year's Eve turns into New Year's Day. It then burned to the ground. As of now, it is suspected that an ember from a firework landed on their garage roof. It also could have just been an electrical fault at the wrong time. My friends children were staying with their Grandparents that night. Their wonderful dog woke them in time so everyone got out of the house. My friends father is injured and may have to have a skin graft on his foot. We are all praying for his speedy recovery. They are lucky in a way. They have insurance and nobody died. But, they did lose mementos of whose value cannot be measured by money. Still, they are just things.

If it was an ember that started the fire, this is another example of our wonderful state legislature taking away a common-sense regulation in the name of commerce. For as long as I can remember, Fireworks have been illegal in Arizona. My father once snuck in sparklers from a trip from Mexico and I remember my brother and I running around our back yard feeling very naughty but having a lot of fun.

A few years ago, the Arizona state legislature legalized the selling of fireworks. Their reasons may be that fireworks could still be bought in other states as well Mexico. Why not let everyone have fun here as well and let people make money on fireworks in Arizona?

On this New Year's Eve night, at a party in Mesa, my family shot off some small fireworks. It was a lot of fun. I had to hold my 5 year-old son back as he enjoyed the sparkle and boom. He had a sweater on and I was worried an ember would land on him and catch fire.

That was what might have happened to my friends and their house. It always made me nervous about fireworks in Arizona because we live in a desert. Mostly because of the summer-time heat and 4^th of July fun, and was not expecting that this could happen during the winter. Yet, here we are. Just hope this is not a tiny flicker of what could blaze this summer.

In all fairness, after my hubby read this, he said I sounded like a nut and that many forest fires were caused by campground fires and cigarettes. If we tried to ban smoking, I think the revolution that many people see coming would happen. At the very least, I am hoping people will think about safety and where the embers go before they set off “the Big One”.

---

My previous blog was about how reviews of my book could not be posted on the Barnes and Noble website. The title, which includes the word idiot, would censor the review if that particular word was used. I was planning on writing a scathing blog, condemning BN for their lack of action or caring of their customer's and author's honest opinions. But, a few days ago, they got back to me. I guess it is a good thing I took a few weeks off from this blog, since everyone is a little slow after the holidays.

So, the person who got back to me (Mike) told me that he posted my friend Kathy's review and sent me a link to prove it. Here is that link:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chronicles-of-idiot-erin-berry/1104873476?ean=2940011512056&itm=4&usri=the+chronicles+of+idiot

But, when I do an independent search on the BN.com website, the review still does not show up. Here is that link:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chronicles-of-idiot-erin-berry/1104873476?ean=9781463759940&itm=2&usri=the+chronicles+of+idiot

He got back to me and said that he will contact the IT department (he is from Titles) and that it may take more time to “merge”. Like I said in the last post, I never thought it would be so hard to get reviews posted!

Here is a wonder, was there anyone else who tried to post a review and when it didn't get posted, just said “meh” and forgot about it? Mike says they are trying to fix that bug, but it seems that a better approach would be to let these reviews be posted and then if someone has a complaint, they take the review off? Their website has this: If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble but I bet they do not have to use it much since their software filters are set on “Futurama's Santa Claus”. Futurama's Santa was a robot that has a bug in it's software that concludes everyone is naughty and must be destroyed. OK, maybe BN does not go that far, but they do seem much more concerned with Jane Lynch singing and dancing to sell their Nooks, than the actual opinions of their readers.