Dear Sylvia Plath, my voice, too, gets torn off regularly. . . may I find it again:

Diva For Today: Jill Bolte Taylor

Happy New Year, all.

I keep slipping in and out of blogland,

and this doesn't make me happy.

If I'm not blogging, that means I'm over extended somewhere else.

Not a good thing.

Today, I heard this TED talk, and it blew me away.

This woman is a diva, and what she's talking about

could change the world,

if we dare let it.

I also tend to think that what she's talking about is what is wrong with the world:

we're too left brained,

overburdened too with being linear and logical.

So we short circuit.

Listen to what this wonderful woman,

and hear her solution:

Towards a New Kind of Diva: Goldie Blox

You rock, girl:

Come In From The Rain, by Carole Bayer Sager & Melissa Manchester

I've had this song going through my head all week.

Don't know why, but it just won't leave my head.

I first heard it sung by Melissa Manchester,

than Carole Bayer Sager, who wrote it. 

The Shirley Bassey version is pretty good,

but in the end, I love the Jane Oliver version 

I think that after doing this posting, I'll have it out of my head.

But it is a good song.  If you want to listen to only one all the way through,

I'd say listen to Melissa Manchester

or Jane Olivor

But you may have another favorite.

You choose:

A Diva To Remember: Gilda Radner

As I approach the upcoming school year,

I turned to a pro for inspiration.

Have a great week!

Natalie Merchant, remedy for madness

 

 

 

 

. . . as I pass through my days,

that float by in a haze

I wonder who's truly crazy --

is it the man with the coal black eyes

who can see into my heart and 

tear it in two

or is it the politicians

and the businessmen

and the generals

and the mediamen

who don't give me credit

for having a heart?

 

 

If your heart, too,

is hurting with the pain

of our planet so ravaged,

and with the pain of the farce

of our current electoral charades,

and with the pain of people gone mad

in Syria, Afghanistan, and Manhattan,

I've found something that may help ease it:

listen on, listen on ---

 

 

 

O.K., go OK Go again

OK Go "All is Not Lost"

I lost track of this band for a little while.

They're worth paying attention to.

This is a year old, but the sentiment is, 

well,

timeless:

bushels

via texasbasket

. . . and Jesus said, lest you be dead

don't hide your light under

bushels.

That bushel, friend, is the skin

you're in:

the woven textured artifice

often

mistaken

for who we are meant to be.

The light, dear friend, grows dim each time 

you deny its luminosity.

It guides yourself

to your

Self,

It is the christ within.

As long as you resign your Self to pine

away in the vehicle given

for living and doing on

the earth,

you are destined to

die,

and live and

die,

and live and 

die

again and again.

via artnet

the work of Artist Shoichiro Matsuoka, found at createyourcosmos

Meditate.

Dive in.

Have no fear,

when you let your light shine,

the body, too, 

will follow,

magnificently

Also with gratitude to createyourcosmos - a fabulous blog! and the artists Daniel Franke and Cedric Kiefer 

happy solstice to you

via wkbw

So I was walking along the harbour today,

watching the sun sizzle over the horizon,

while the Wednesday sailing regatta pirouetted underneath,

and a salsa band played music,

and couples danced and walked

and children ate ice cream

and I did, too.  I did

too, with you

thankful for this moment,

this day,

and you reminded me it was the longest of the year.

The past few weeks have not been altogether easy,

but there is the sun,

always to be counted on,

and there are the smiles of a summer dawning ~

We can rejuvenate ourselves,

indeed.

Our planet does, every day,

every year

Happy solstice to everyone

Today's Diva: Orianthi Panagaris

As I've said so many times before,

divas don't have to be

opera singers.

They're anyone who put their hearts and souls

on the line to produce the best 

that they can produce.

Here's another:

I first encountered her in 

This Is It! --

the film about Michael Jackson's "final" tour,

and I thought then: there's a force to be reckoned with,

and that force was not Michael Jackson:

And she is a force to be reckoned with,

and a true diva ~ ~

Orianthi Panagaris

Diva Donna Summer, continued

I know I honored her a day or two ago,

but then I found these videos,

and wanted to post them,

because they prove she truly numbers among 

some of the great gospel divas:

In the case of this diva,
and all the others,
the internet does us the great favor
of making their music
truly immortal --

Today's Diva: Donna Summer (May She Rest In Peace)

Another great disco diva departs:

She was one of those radio spirits that orchestrated a certain part of my growing up,

and it was really easy to like her.

And right up until about three years ago, she was still delivering:

Dear Donna, I'm sure you're a diva in heaven!

Today's Diva: Deb "Spoons" Perry

Yes, I've been away for awhile,

out of the country, in fact.

As I recuperate from both my trip

and my allergies,

let me please share the work of Deb "Spoons" Perry

She is a true diva!

Who Knows Where The Time Goes

I've posted Judy once as a diva,

and I'll do it again,

as she sings the sentiment

I feel so often these days:

Diva For The Weekend -- Whitney Houston, R.I.P.

It appears to me,

that with a diva like

Whitney Houston,

I can clearly say

that divas are required

to take those big risks 

and end up singing about tragedy. . 

. . . and to sing tragedy well

is to live it . . . 

. . . to wear it with both agony and beauty. . . 

.

Why, oh why, must some of them be destined

to die

so tragically?

A beautiful talent,

a great diva,

and 

a sad, sad loss.

Happy 75th, Philip Glass (Philip Glass' Hands)

Yeah, he's a diva,

he's divine.

I was able to hear him perform once,
live,

right before I saw the Dhalai Lama.

In fact, I took this picture

of 

Philip Glass' Hands --

And here, on his 75th birthday,

I share them

with you ---

Happy Birthday, Mr. Glass,
and thank you --

Today's Diva: Natalie Merchant

Western New York State's greatest contribution

to the world of music:

Today's Diva: Nora the Piano Cat

I haven't posted a diva video in a while,

but today I found this one:

This is one of very few entries that have made it

to both my blogs.

What else can be said???

The Birthday Boy in the Year of the Palindrome

So,

I know you've all been wondering where I've been,

and

if I could possibly ignore David Bowie's 65th birthday,

which is tomorrow.

Well, in answer to where I've been -- it's hard to say --

I haven't been in cyber land, but I've been restoring myself

inside myself.

My hands are aching to write, though.

And in answer to the second point, 

of course not.

Here it is,

the beginning of 2012,

and Mr. Bowie is turning 65 --

it seems only right to offer

a palindromic video: