Friday, June 26, 2015

Too Funky

Disclaimer:  I am writing this blog without the assistance of wine or vodka and pretty much without caffeine either...I had a recurrence of my diverticulitis and my doc has me on meds that don't mix up so nicely with alcohol and in an effort to "be kind" to my system I have eased back my DP 10 consumption...so buckle up this may be a funky ride...I don't always drink when I blog but often it tends to make me a little more mellow and a little less irritable so things may get...funky....

Helllllooooo Darlings!

I'm back to blogging...

sort of...

Today was a momentous day for our country and I just had to blog about it...

I know NONE of you reading this are unaware but just in case you missed it...

THE SUPREME COURT FINALLY RULED THAT STATES CAN NO LONGER PROHIBIT SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

Thank goodness!!!!

Because now we can stop using the term "same sex marriage" and just call it "marriage"!

And everyone can have the legal right to marry and have the legal benefits of marriage...

and divorce

For me personally it is a huuuuuuge thing...

mostly because I have gay loved ones and friends and so I am super excited for them...

and I am really hoping I get invited to some super amazing weddings...you know that they will be fabulous don't ya? 

And as I side note I am available for the position of "Flower Girl"...I far prefer that to bridesmaid...it's so much more fun to go traipsing up the aisle and throw flowers...and everyone thinks you are cute...I've already told one couple that I have claimed that position should they chose to marry...and I guess I am confirmed because I got a confirmation message with my name checked...

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

I will happily be your flower girl as long as I get to wear something very sparkly or princess-like or drop dead amazing...

I saw a lot of love and cheering on FB...more than I have probably ever seen...every time I opened up to FB I saw such beautiful joyful posts...

there were rainbows and unicorns and sparkles and glitter and hearts everywhere...

or maybe that was just my closet...

no...it was FB too...

My son says I am "the gayest straight woman ever" and he once said he was sorry he wasn't gay because he was pretty sure it would "complete your life Mom" and once when I told him his dad wondered if he was gay because he didn't date anyone he said "Dad needs to learn the difference between Gay and Geek.  I am a Geek.  Girls think gay guys are cool and they do not think geeks are cool at all.  Girls come to me to ask me about chemistry...they don't think of me as someone to go out with.  And besides, if I was gay you would have totally known it by now because you would be the perfect mom to come out to...and you would have been all loving and happy about it..."

yup that's my son

I will wait while you applaud

done?

oh wait one of you is still clapping in the back...

So yeah I was super excited to see all the love on FB...

A lot of my more conservative friends chose to just be quiet and post about other things...some people don't have a reason to feel connected to it...my connection is just that I love people and I believe everyone should love whoever they chose...

but then the hardcore Christians showed up and one or two other of my FB friends posted in an effort to appear controversial and get attention or just to show they world what a great Christian they are...
I tend to ignore those conversations...

I did feel compelled to respond to one friend's post about how she was going to pray for God's mercy...after the 8th time or so she said something about God's mercy I finally had to ask her what she thought was really going to happen?

I mean if fire and brimstone was going to reign down on us I felt compelled to warn my children...and if Armageddon was going to happen I needed to find Bruce Willis because he can save us, you know...

So I asked her why she was so worried because I really couldn't figure out how if John and Tom (not real names...I don't know a couple who are named John and Tom) got married how could that ruin our country...and then I mentioned that we are so evolved that we let the Kartrashians be famous and that maybe our divorces (my one/her many) was more detrimental to the state of marriage than a gay couple marrying was...

She sort of threw some brimstone back at me (I hope it made her feel better) and then proclaimed to be a very loving and non-judgemental person and never answered the question as to why she felt we needed mercy but just went on and on about how close she is to God and doesn't judge other people at all...but had just claimed over and over that God needed to have mercy on us...

I backed out and told her that she was entitled to her opinion...

because you can't argue with crazy and you can't reason with a child...

and you can't make someone open their eyes to what is truly loving if they can't see their own issues...

a lot of very self righteous people tend to be the ones who have the most junk to fix...

I should know...

because I can be that person...

I'm not exempt from that emotion...

I have gotten full of myself before...many times...on this blog in particular...

like right now...

But I did see a lot of people who tried to argue against it use the "God says" and "The Bible says" lines...

I refuse to get into that argument here on my blog...

all I will say is that I am not a theologian or smart enough to defend that argument or do it justice..

And I think God loves all people of all colors and all sexual preferences...

One friend had such perfect responses I wish I had seen what he had written before I tried to reason with the "God have mercy" person...he's sorta my hero today...I found his responses to be on point, funny and insightful...and he never got ugly or took it low...Way to go Nixi!

there were a few comments that just got nasty...comments about sex...

and before I write this do I really want to go there?

yes I do...

I don't give a darn what anyone does in their bedroom and how they chose to make love to each other...

but don't sit there and say ugly things about how people make love and then go watch or read "50 Shades of Gray" and feel ok about yourself...or enjoy the part in the movie where you see the two girls kissing and it turns you on but then you say "gay sex is gross"...

what two consenting ADULTS do with each other in the name of love, or fun, or pleasure is ok by me and not my place to applaud or condemn or judge...

please note I say ADULTS here...I'm not ok with pedophilia

not ok

not ok

not ok

two consenting adults enjoying each other is not my business...and it's not yours either...

what I do in my bedroom is no one's business...

ok I will kiss and tell here...I have 3 cats in the bed with me...one sleeps next to me and one at my feet and one occasionally has to sleep draped over me...I know it is shocking...

go get yourself a cooling cloth and settle down...

but seriously who's business is it?

no ones...that's who...

So the people who chose to get ugly and talk about sex just look stupid to me...and I ignored those too...

How the heck did I end up here on this path of writing?

wine...

yes...let's blame wine...

BECAUSE WINE

because I haven't had any...or caffeine to keep me focused...

I think in my rambling ADD way what I am trying to say is that why does anyone truly think that approving marriage equality is going to really hurt our country or marriage in general?

I think that gay people have it hard enough with the prejudices they face from others...

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a gay teen...being a teenager is hard enough but being a gay one adds an extra layer to it all...and I also hurt for their parents who have to watch their child question themselves and struggle...

I had one friend who said to me that another friend won't know what it is like to go and check on your child in the middle of the night to see if he/she is ok and hasn't hurt his/herself because he/she doesn't want to be different (yes, that made me cry thinking of that...big ole tears...)

no...no mom should ever have to feel like that or do that...

it's hard enough to watch your child become a teenager and then an adult but when you know your child will have hurdles to overcome just because of who they love that is heartbreaking...

and so I hope that todays ruling will make some of that easier for kids now and in the future...

I have gay friends who are older and lived in times when there was even more prejudice and you didn't see gay families on tv....it had to be hard for them...

I live for the day when it is not "special" that a tv show features a gay family...that it is all so commonplace we don't blink...

I don't want one more child to have to feel they aren't "normal" because they are gay...

and that little girls who know that they want to marry another girl can dream of a wedding and all that it entails...

and that young men who are gay can know that one day they won't be "different" just because they took another young man to the prom...

I only want them to worry about acne and homework and college applications and telling dad they hit the curb with their car and not to have to worry about being judged for being gay or that some day someone might tell them that because they can get married our country needs God's mercy...

To me God showed his mercy today...

He is going to let an issue become a non-issue...

and that is mercy...

that is compassion...

that is fairness....

that is love...

Go ahead and judge me for this...

and if you think my thinking is just a little "too funky" for you then so be it...

Because what is "too funky" to me is living in a world where love is "all we need" and yet so many people get ugly about it...

ok I am going to get off my soapbox now...

I'm tired and I have had to miss the last 2 days of working out so I need to go to bed and dream of weddings with lots of glitter and two really good looking brides or  grooms that will let me be the flower girl...and will let me bring a unicorn piƱata full of skittles to the rehearsal dinner...

Inspiration Song...my most "infamous" blog about a soapbox issue was "Freedom 90".  I wrote it exactly 4 years and 2 days ago...so I had to go with George Michael again...because today a dream came true and there is nothing too funky about it...

and for extra fun I will give you the video...because you can never have too much George Michael and supermodels and Thierry Mugler couture...Theirry makes my perfume so I'm obsessed with him too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ2DVwSVIIo

Bye Darlings...for those of you who celebrated today's victory I salute you...for those of you who kept quiet and let us celebrate I send my love for your compassion...for those of you who are on the fence about this I ask that you open your heart...














Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Sea Legs

Helllllooooo Darlings!

I am so sorry that it has been 2 months since I blogged...

I got a little busy with...life...

nothing special just life...and I didn't feel all that creative after I finally put my Pippin costumes to bed after our performance at the Tommy Tune Awards

(The Tommy Tune Awards, named for our hometown hero Tommy Tune, are the local high school theater awards...they give awards for shows, actors, tech crews...and costumes...which to my continuing surprise even 2 months later ME AND MY TEAM OF GIRLS WON!!!!)

I had dealt with so much creativity and glitter I sorta felt the well ran dry...and I felt the need to really focus on my son...

but today I have been forced to stay at home by on over-hyped-by-the-local-media storm that has yet to do much more than spit some rain on my house...

I did lose a hibiscus blossom...

let's say a little prayer for the blossom...

thank you...I think I can recover...

The worst part of all of this was that because the media warned me (with all day news reports...dang they made me miss The Chew) that flooding rain was going to happen I decided to cancel my workout tonight so I cancelled my bike (our spin studio has us reserve our space in class by booking a bike) and took myself of the yoga list...

of course none of this promised flooding rain has happened...yet...the media continues to warn me that "we need to stay on alert"...

In the past 13 days I have taken 11 spin classes and 9 yoga classes...it was time for a break...but after all the media "spin" (not to be confused with REAL spin) I needed something to take the stress off so I went on to yoga and it was truly just what I needed.  I listened to my body that I needed a day off from the bike but my body was craving breath...and distressing...and some Magic Mike...

Yes...

the horror of it all...

not the storm...

I

HAVE

BECOME

A

YOGA

GIRL

I know...you are all shaking your heads...go ahead...

shake...

This all started in January when sweet AnnaBanana invited me to a yoga event...

I warned her that I didn't like yoga and the two times I had tried it I walked out of class after 20 minutes that I felt was 19 minutes more than I should have given it and that those were 40 minutes of my life I would never get back.

I knew NOTHING about yoga but I went...because I love her...

and as we started flowing I realized I didn't hate it...and that maybe, just maybe it wasn't so bad! And that somewhere in the middle of my downward dog was a place that was meant for yoga...

We can blame a lot of this on Magic Mike...

Magic Mike is an amazing spin instructor but one day he shared with me that he really wanted to train to be a yoga instructor and so I said "if you do it I will come to your classes!".

I knew he would do it...

and I knew I was going to have to go...

and he did it...

so I went...

and...

I TOTALLY LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT

When I found out that Revolution Studios was going to add some "Namaste" to the "clip in rock out" I figured it was something I would do once a month or so...not something that would be a regular activity with me...

but I walked into that amazing and gorgeous yoga room, gently heated by the infrared heaters in the ceiling...and the beautiful windows that added to the gorgeousness of the space and the peace I felt just walking in there and I knew this was no ordinary experience for me.

Mind you I barely knew what downward dog was and I sorta remembered what "Warrior 2" was but
I knew Magic Mike would help me flow through it...

I had heard of some of the poses...I lived in fear we would do something called "crow"...or is it "raven" (wait, I think that is Game of Thrones...ravens are Game of Thrones and right now I hate that show but we will discuss it later...because I need to discuss it)

I sweated so much I was dripping...but it felt good...

and even though I couldn't do all of it, I was proud of myself for just trying...

and before I knew it an hour was up and I was crying with pride for sweet Magic Mike and proud that I survived...and I didn't have to "crow"...

so since I survived I went again...

and again...

Mind you all of this has taken place since the beginning of May...

but one week into it I switched my membership at Rev from just unlimited spin to unlimited YOGA and spin and I haven't looked back...

I have had yoga sweat dates...

I have taken yoga and cried...

I have forced my friends to take yoga with me...

I
AM
A
YOGA
GIRL

Now I haven't reached the state where I have my own mat and towel and a cute little carrier for it that lives in my car, but who knows...

it could happen

and I am not sure what Crow or Raven or blackbird or whatever is but I know my friend SpicySusu can do it...

and I have totally loved every class I have taken...not once have I wondered when the class would end...when I could lay down...when I could be done...

and thank goodness the music is awesome...no Enya at all...that first class with Magic Mike he set the tone for what I would come to expect with the Revolution yoga experience...Just as KuteKim promised there was no "spa" music and Magic Mike gave me---Taylor Swift!

I told myself that I was going to take yoga for what it is...a chance to learn about myself...to stretch myself (literally and figuratively) and to call it what it is...

A PRACTICE

that there is no end game....that I just needed to expand myself and use each class as a PRACTICE so I could remember that I'm learning...

I have small goals:

to stretch one 1/2 inch further every week...

to hold that pose two seconds longer...

to balance just a little longer (I struggle with that one)

to listen to my body...

and in class with GoodGollyMissMolly I have even cried...

a lot...

Right now JayVee is reading this and laughing her ass off...because for YEARS she has tried to get me to do something more than ride that spin bike...she's toldI  me over and over that I can only change if I vary what I do and push myself...

and SHE WAS 100% right...

(she always is)

(about fitness stuff...I get to top her on the cooking...but only that...)

I work some stuff out on the mat...and sometimes I just work my body out...but I always find myself in "Savasana" and as I sink into that final relaxing pose and let go of it all I just empty myself onto the mat...

(oh goodness I do sound like a yoga girl)

My point in all of this is not to get you to do yoga (but hey if you try it I'm proud of you) and not for you to say "Yay Anice!" but to show you that sometimes you have to give something you thought you hated a try...

but not liver...that does not apply to liver...you don't have to try liver again if you hate it...

I never thought I would say I liked yoga...much less loved it...but my instructors have shown me otherwise and now I look forward to each class...to the heat...to the sweat...to the stretch...to the possibilities...

My friend SuperSandra can do the splits...SpicySusu can do a standing split...Magic Mike can hit poses that are breathtaking...CeraBeara and KuteKristina can do things with their young bodies I couldn't do when I was there age...

but it's ok

I'm 50

and I am only limited by what I THINK I can do...

my body will tell me otherwise...

I don't compare myself to others...

I compare myself to the last time I was on the mat...

and that my darlings is why we do whatever we do...

to push ourselves further...

to stand it a little longer...

to try a little harder...

to move one more inch...

IN ALL THAT WE DO

Do something you thought you hated...

Move in a way you did not think was possible...

Try something that scares you...

I will see you on the mat...in Savasana...at peace...and pride...

Inspiration Song: "Sea Legs" by the Shins...because 1) I wobble about on the mat and I often think I don't have sea legs yet for yoga...and 2)I love the Shins...

Bye Darlings...I have missed you and I hope you find some inspiration with this...let me know if you try something new...it's what I do this for!