Recently I have been researching the top ten songs or albums on the charts since the early 1930's. It is fascinating to go through the years, assuming your old enough or know your music, and see how musical history unfolded. The absence of many black artists in the early days as they rarely got a chance to record until the days of the brilliant Barry Gordy and his "Motown" sound. For those of you who do not know the name Motown derives from the words motor town, which Detroit is know for. It says a lot about the success of Gordy when most people know Detroit today as MOTOWN rather than the home of the auto manufacturing business.

The top ten takes us through the many changes in the music industry but also gives us an idea of how we danced and how we fell in love. Way back when dance floors were huge, when the beautifully colourful juke box gave out swing, jitterbug, and the ever romantic two step...when kids danced the night away using the back beat to free the body for movement that came from within....not contrived, but the pure pleasure of physical movement to great rhythm. Then came the power of Rock and Roll....equally as freeing as it somehow reached even deeper parts of ones soul or psyche and yes aided by a new phenomenon....drugs. To be fair we had are booze but from where I came from, we new nothing of drugs until the 60's. Not to say they were not around, just not so around as they later became. From swing to rock and roll some of the greatest modern music was produced....Lennon and McCartney, as composers have been compared with the genius of Mozart.....in that the creating of a song was as serious and intense for them as it was for "Wolfgang" This could most certainly be said for many of the great songwriters of that era, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and so on. Like the great classics, these songwriters will be listened to for generations to come, their lyrics will continue to give food for thought, their arrangements and the purity of voice will never fail to move or excite the soul. As I moved along through the decades I came eventually to the 80's when the search for choice of good stuff became somewhat more barren....By the time I reached the 90's and the first ten years of the new millennium I found myself indeed in a barren wasteland.

My youngest son knows his music like few others, he has brought me to "Chiciane" and a few others that still retain the richness of a good sound...but for the most part...it's a bust! If you disagree, I welcome your comments for the purpose of dialogue and my education, but please spare me the overdone concept that those of us who are over 40 do not understand...Indeed young ones, we do get it! So if you have any suggestions that can equal some of the above mentioned I welcome them. If not, give yourself a real treat....instead of spending all your time on face book....get into I tunes and go back over the years for some of the most enjoyable sounds you will ever hope to hear.

new wives tales, IE modern mythology

today one hears so much about the natural look for women as it seems to be quite trendy. I must say this sort of stuff gets me thinking about the logic or "sense" behind it. History tells us something very different about what is natural to women. In Egypt for example back in the days of Cleopatra women would gather flowers and plants, dry the, and grind them with mortar and pestle just to get the colours they desired for their eyes,cheeks and mouth....Indian women did likewise and Africans used natural plants to make incredible designs adorning both face and body. One cannot help but ask, where did you get the idea that a paint less female was natural? What is natural to a woman is to create, women are born to create, adorn and enjoy the richness of the ritual. For me there is nothing more un-natural than a woman void of the art her face can enjoy...of the blandness of plain fingernails and especially toenails...many women today go around looking like medical specimens that belong in an anatomy laboratory. HOW SAD, I am so grateful that i come from the "cherry red lips" generation that were free to enjoy every aspect of the pleasures of being a woman. If our equality with men means that we are expected to belittle the joys of Estee Lauder and Max Factor then for this old lady....I PASS!

VIVA ESPANA

WELL THE WORLD CUP HAS COME AND GONE...FOR MANY A DISAPPOINTMENT GROWING BIGGER AS THE DAYS PAST. SOME OF YOU MAY THINK ME QUITE AUDACIOUS TO BE SOUNDING OFF ON A GAME I'VE NEVER PLAYED, SORRY FOLKS THAT'S ONE OF THE WONDERS OF AGE, YOU HIT A PINT WHEN YOU JUST DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT OTHERS THINK FREEING YOU TO SOUND OFF ABOUT ALL IN SUNDRY. A WARNING, I STILL HAVE NOT LEARNED HOW TO USE THE SPELL CHECK!
CAPPELLO MADE HIS FATAL MISTAKE THE DAY HE CHOSE TO DEMOTE JOHN TERRY! FOLLOWING THE DICTATES OF THE "SUITS" WHO RUN EVERYTHING FROM CORPORATES LIKE "BP" TO THE WHOLE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. WHY DO WE LET THIS KIND OF POWER INFEST OUR DEAREST PLEASURE ACTIVITIES??? THE TEAM WAS HAPPY WITH TERRY, THE FANS WERE HAPPY WITH TERRY, YES WE ALL KNOW HE MADE A VERY STUPID MISTAKE BUT HEY, TIGER WOODS IS STILL PLAYING AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME.

THE POINT IS THAT NONE OF US HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUDGE OTHERS SHORTCOMINGS WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE FAMOUS...WE ARE THERE TO ENJOY WHAT SPORT BRINGS US AND IF YOUR THINKING THAT ALL SPORTSMEN SHOULD BE A SHINING EXAMPLE TO ALL KIDS....MANY OF WHOM ASPIRE TO PARTICIPATE SOME DAY IN A ROCK BAND, AN OSCAR WINNING FILM OR THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, PLEASE! LETS THINK AGAIN.

HOW ABOUT PARENTS THAT CAN ENTER INTO A DIALOGUE WITH THEIR KIDS BEGINNING WITH THE SIMPLE FACT THAT FAME AND MONEY CAN CAUSE THE BEST OF US TO SHOOT OURSELVES IN THE FOOT. CAPPELLO SHOULD HAVE STOOD BY HIS MAN AND HIS TEAM. WHILE STEVIE G IS A GREAT LITTLE PLAYER HE IS NO CAPTAIN AND I WOULD GUESS THAT NO-ONE KNOWS THAT BETTER THAN HE HIMSELF.

FURTHER WHAT HAS TERRY'S DUMB MISTAKE GOT TO DO WITH HIS LOYALTY OR SKILLS AS THE ENGLAND CAPTAIN. SO, ENGLAND DID NOT PLAY THEIR HEARTS OUT AND WE ALL KNEW IT EARLY ON. FOLLOWED BY PORTUGAL WHO HAS PROBABLY THE VERY BEST STRIKER IN THE GAME....BUT THE MANAGER DECIDED TO PLAY NOTHING BUT DEFENSIVE BALL THROUGHOUT! I CAN SEE WISDOM IN THE STRATEGY OF GETTING THE TEAM CAREFULLY TO THE QUARTER FINALS...THEN! FOR HEAVENS SAKE USE RONALDO AS HE WAS BORN TO BE USED!

FINALLY ON THE DAY, OF COURSE THOSE OF US WHO BOAST MANY DUTCH FRIENDS WANTED TO SEE HOLLAND AT THEIR BEST...WIN OR LOSE AT THEIR BEST! IN THE END I FOR ONE HAD TO ADMIT THAT SPAIN DESERVED ITS GLORY AND GAVE US A MATCH THAT WE COULD ALL BE EXCITED ABOUT.

AM I JUST A GRUMPY OLD LADY? OR IS THEIR WISDOM IN BELIEVING THAT MANY OF THE MANAGERS MADE HORRIFIC DECISIONS THAT TAINTED THE GAMES...ALL THAT CAREFUL MANEUVERING GOT US ALL NOWHERE...

FOR ME THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TOURNAMENT WAS FIRST SEEING THE QUEEN OF SPAIN ATTENDING EACH MATCH! EXCUSE ME ELIZABETH BUT WHERE WERE YOU...THE ENGLISH, SOME OF THEM, WILL ARGUE THAT THEIR QUEEN IS NOT A QUEEN OF THE PEOPLE...AS AN AMERICAN WHO DOES NOT QUITE GET ALL THIS ROYALTY STUFF AND WOULD NOT BE PRONE TO CURTSY TO ANYONE BUT MY OWN MOTHER, I DON'T SEE THE RELEVANCE OF A QUEEN WHO IS NOT "OF THE PEOPLE" SPANISH ROYALTY ENGAGES WITH ITS PEOPLE IN WAYS THAT COUNT! I WILL NOT FORGET WATCHING THE CEREMONY FOR THE DEAD AFTER THE TERRORIST BOMBINGS IN SPAIN...WHEN THE QUEEN, FULLY PRESENT ALLOWED HERSELF TO BE EMBRACED BY SOME OF THE GRIEVING RELATIVES WHO HAD LOST FAMILY ON THE TERRIBLE DAY.
ONCE AGAIN THERE SHE WAS! WHEN SPAIN SCORED THEIR QUEEN JUMPED UP AND ARMS FLYING CHEERED FOR HER COUNTRY....WHAT A LADY! SHE MAKES SENSE OF A TRADITION THAT IS DIFFICULT ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU HAVE NOT GROWN UP TO BELIEVE THAT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING IS CARRYING SOMETHING IN THEIR BLOOD THAT YOU NEED TO BOW TO!

I HOPE TO BE AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THE RETURN OF GUTSY MANAGERS AND ROYALTY THAT KNOWS HOW TO EMBRACE GRATITUDE TO THE VERY PEOPLE WHO KEEP THEM ON THEIR THRONES!!!

MEANWHIL, VIVA ESPANA, VIVA FOOTBALL

A POST SCRIPT TO MY KODACHROME BLOG. PLEASE EXUSE BOTH GRAMMER AND SPELLING ERRORS, YES OF COURSE I KNOW THEY ARE THERE BUT HAVE N OT YET FIGURED OUT HOW TO CORRECT THEM ON THE AMAZING THING CALLED A COMPUTER!!
GRAM

KODACHROME

AT LAST I'M BACK! LIFE HAS BEEN FULL OF ARRANGING AND RE-ARRANGINE FOR SEVERAL WEEKS NOW, INTERDISPERSED WITH A FEW 60 ETC BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND THE FACT THAT IT HAS TAKEN ME ALL THIS TIME TO WORK OUT HOW TO GET TO MY OWN HOME PAGE. YES I IMAGINE THIS PROVIDES A GOOD LAUGH FOR ALL MY FOLLOWERS WHO ARE PRIMARILY A LOT YOUNGER THAN ME AND NOT LOST IN THE CYBER WILDERNESS THAT I AM USED TO.

I REALISE THAT MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE KNOW NOTHING OF MY LIFE, IT HONESTLY DOES NOT OCCURE TO ME THAT ANYONE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ASK ME ALL THE TIME TO TELL STORIES OF THE PAST AND SUGGEST THAT A BOOK IS ON THE CARDS. THE FACT IS I DO NOT GET STIMULATED TO SPEAK ALONE WITH A SCREEN IN FRONT OF ME...IT IS RATHER FOR ME THE MAGIC OF STORY TELLING IN THE FLESH THAT FILLS ME WITH THE DESIRE TO SPIN THE YARNS OF MANY YEARS AS AN ENABLER. MOST PEOPLE SEE ME AS A THERAPIST, I SUPPOSE THAT IS CORRECT ALTHOUGH MY WAY OF WORKING WITH PEOPLE BARES LITTLE RESEMBALANCE TO THE "NORM"

LOOKING BACK ON ALL MY YEARS I HAVE TO SAY THAT THE CONCEPT OF FAMILY WAS THE BIGGEST DRIVER FOR ME IN MY WORK...ENABLING PEOPLE TO WORK THROUGH ALL THEIR DOUBTS AND PAIN WITH THEIR OWN FAMILIES. BEING THERE WHEN THEY BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND THINGS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE AND OF COURSE THE JOY WHEN FORGIVENESS AND UNDERSTANDING TOOK OVER AND FAMILIES WERE RE-UNITED. MY WORK HOWEVER, WAS ALSO ABOUT LEARNING TO MAKE FAMILY, WHAT WAS IMPORTANT IN THE LIFE OF TWO PEOPLE TOGETHER THAT CREATED MARRIAGE (in whatever form) AND THE RAISING OF CHILDREN. IT WAS AS IMPORTANT TO ME THAT FAMILIES COULD SHARE THEIR MEALS TOGETHER, BE HONEST WITH EACH OTHER, DRAW LINES THAT COULD NOT BE MOVED AS WELL AS LINES THAT HAD A FLEXABILITY WITH THE CHANGING YEARS. THAT KIDS COULD ALWAYS FIND THEIR WAY BACK HOME WHEN THEY GOT THEMSELVES INTO TROUBLE, THAT FROM THE BEGINNING PARENHOOD CARRIED GRAVE RESPONSABILITIES EVEN FOR THE SIMPLE MATTER OF DAY TO DAY LIFE. COOKING WITH LOVE, WAS AS IMPORTANT AS LISTENING TO EACH OTHERS MUSIC, UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHERS DIFFERENCES AND CELEBRATING THE VERY PRIVALAGE OF BEING FAMILY TOGETHER.

TODAY I SEE MUCH AROUND ME THAT CONFIRMS JUST HOW IMPORTANT IT ALL WAS...I RARELY EVER GO TO A PARTY THAT I DO NOT MEET THE CHILDREN OF MY OLD COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS, PEOPLE THAT I MAYSELF WORKED WITH....SOME OFOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR ALL OF THEIR LIVES. THEIR PARENTS HELPED EACH OTHER DURING THE YEARS THAT THEIR KIDS WERE YOUNG, SCHOOL RUNS...SPORTS ACTIVITIES, SLEEPOVER TO GIVE PARENTS SOME PRIVATE TIME...ROSTERS OF FRIENDS DOING MEALS WHEN SOMONE WAS ILL OR HAD JUST HAD ANOTHER BABY.

WE AS PARENTS CERTAINLY HAD OUR GOOD TIMES, OUR TIMES OF LETTING GO, BEING OUTRAGEOUS, COLOURING AND RECOLOURING OUR HAIR, CERTAINLY GOING OVER THE LIMIT OF "RED RED WINE" AND ALWAYS THERE WAS THE MUSIC AND THE DANCING. I HAVE DANCED ALL MY LIFE, AS A YOUNG WOMAN I DISCOVERED HOW MUCH PAIN AND STRESS COULD EVAPORATE WHEN ONE WAS MOVING TO GLEN MILLER...EVERY ERA HAD ITS MUSIC BUT TODAY I AM STILL DANCING TO NEIL DIAMOND, PAUL SIMON AND DIRE STRAITS...NOT ONLY WITH MY OLD FRIENDS BUT WITH THEIR CHILDREN WHO GREW UP WITH THE BEATLES ET AL. THESE KIDS KNOW EVERY BEAT OF ALL THOSE GREAT SONGS AND EVEN MORE REMARKABLE EVERY WORD AS WELL!

WHAT WAS THE MAGIC? WELL I BELIEVE THE VERY GLUE THAT KEPT US TOGETHER WAS IN THE GROUPS THAT ENABLED ALL OF US TO SPEAK FREELY, TO LET GO OF PENT UP EMOTIONS, TO RID OUSELVES OF STRESS THROUGH THE EXPRESSION OF THE SIMPLEST OF EELINGS, ANGER, FEAR, SORROW. I RECALL, STILL WITH A GIGGLE WHEN A FRIEND SAID TO ME AFTER A WEEKEND GROUP..."I HAVE CRIED MYSELF RIGHT BACK INTO THESE TROUSERS AND NOW I AM GOING TO EAT MYSELF BACK OUT OF THEM!

HOURS WERE SPENT ON THE PROBLEMS OF MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN AND EVERY ONE LEFT WITH A FEELING OF MORE CONFIDENCE TO GET THE JOB DONE AND MORE HOPE THAT ALL WOULD BE WELL...IN MOST CASES AS THE KIDS GREW FROM BABIES TO TEENS AND BEYOND THEY HAVE COME THROUGH IT ALL NOT ONLY AS SUCCESFUL ADULTS BUT AS ADULTS WHO OFTEN CLAIM THEIR PARENTS AS AMONG THEIR BEST FRIENDS....WHO LOVE AND CARE FOR EACH OTHER AS WE DID,,,RECENTLY DEAR FRIENDS OF MINE BECAME GRANDPARENTS, THEIR DAUGHTER GAVE BIRTH TO A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL IN ITALY, HER FRIENDS, THOSE SHE HAS KNOWN INCE BABYHOOD GAVE HER A "BABY SHOWER" IT WAS PURE JOY TO SEE THESE YOUNG WOMEN PUTTING TOGETHER A BEAUTIFUL TABLE WITH WONDERFUL FOOD THEY THEMSELVES HAD PROVIDED INCLUDING HOME MADE SCONES AND CAKES THAT WERE DELICIOUS...FLOWERS EVERYWHERE AND MOST OF ALL SUCH LOVE THAT WENT INTO THE PLANNING. IN THAT SCENE WHICH OF COURSE ALL OF US OLD FOLKS WERE INVITED; AS WITH OUR KIDS AGE IS A MEANINGLESS IDEA...

THE YEARS OF OUR OWN EFFORTS WERE VISABLE. AS ALL THE YOUNG MEN ARRIVED TO SHARE THE DAY THE KINSHIP AMONGS ALL OF THEM DID FILL ME WITH TEARS OF JOY.

ANOTHER MOMENT THAT COMES TO MIND AS I WRITE WAS AT A RECENT 60TH BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR A DEAR FRIEND AND THE FATHER OF THREE OF THESE KIDS....THE WORDS SPOKEN BY ALL TOUCHED ALL THE RIGHT PLACES INSIDE. MAKE NO MISTAKE I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT SYRUPY OVER EMOTIONAL INDULGENCE,I AM SPEAKING ABOUT A GATHERING OF PEOPLE WHO ARE COMITTED TO SPEAKING THE TRUTH AND ALLOWING THEIR FEELINGS TO BE HEARD. LATER AS WE ONCE AGAIN ALL DANCED TOGETHER THIS TRADITIONSPANNING NOW THREE GENERATIONS I SAW MY GRANDSON DANCING WITH THE MOTHER OF ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS...HE SWUNG HER ROUND THE FLOOR AS THOUGH SHE WEREONCE AGAIN A YOUNG WOMAN AND IN THAT MAGIC SHE BECAME THAT YOUNG WOMAN I REMEMBER FROM SO MANY YEARS BACK.

OFTEN ALL THESE KIDS COME TO MY HOME IN THE SUN, SOMETIMES WITH THEIR PARENTS AND SOMETIMES JUST TOGETHER AS THE ADULTS THEY NOW ARE...IN THE NIGHT, OFTEN UNDER THE SUMMER STARS WE TALK AND SHARE STORIES, THEY LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT WHEN THEIR PARENTS WERE YOUNG AND ILOVE TO TELL EACH STORY WITH THE RESPECT AND LOVE I FEEL FOR THESE REMARKABLE PARENTS.

JUST THE OTHER DAY A FRIEND AND I WERE SHARING OLD MEMORIES, I ASKED ME "DO YOU THINK IT REALLY WAS A REMAKABLE ERA OF MAGIC OR WAS IT KODA CHROME (referring to Paul Simon's song...you know..everything looks good in black and white)

NO, I ANSWERED WITH PURE CONVICTION, IT WAS NOT KODACHROME....IT WAS THE ACTIONS OF LOVE STREAMING THROUGH GENERATIONS....WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO ENLIGHTENMENT AND SELF AWARENESS, WHICH I MYSELF BELIEVE IN....IT IS EMPTY WITHOUT SUNDAY DINNERS, HEARING EACH OTHERS MUSIC AND CARING THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE EXPECTATION OF REWARDS

why not stay at home a little longer?

This is a very exciting time for those of us who are grandparents! All these great kids we've known since thy were babies are now starting families. OK not all of them but certainly the first crop. It got me thinking about some of the issues were faced with today that have to do with parenting, modern teen-agers and the style of life that seems to be in many cases so different from what used to happen when marriage and kids were the most important thing in ones life. I often hear young women today as they are planning their family say," I will take three weeks or a month leave from work after the baby is born." Can you do that? Can you really make a choice for career or income over being at home with your children until they start kindergarten? I do not know about the modern day finance of a young family, but I sure do know that when my kids were young we were always broke.

Yes it is tough! it was tough then as well. Remember we had no computers or electronic equipment that made it possible to do so many jobs at home. Most of us were one car families, the Independence of two cars was unthinkable. As were housekeepers, catered food and dog walkers. Yep I know what your thinking and you are right! those jobs were what women used to do. Now it is time for me to make one thing perfectly clear, I am a very independent woman! I think and act for myself....have my own opinions and have earned my own success.

Still I believe with all that is wisdom in me that most of the major issues that harm families today have to do with a mind set in parents that often does not include the often boring responsibility of staying at home with young kids. Do I think the fathers can do this as well as mothers, in most cases, yes! I do not believe it is a gender thing who is at home with the kids, I believe it is a parenting thing! or perhaps a grand parenting thing in today's world.

That little kids spend their days for the most part with their own family does make a difference, it just has to....they are then always with those who love them and can give them the basic foundation for standing firmly on their own feet in the years to come.

No, I am not an expert, but this is my blog so therefore it gives me the right to speak without being an expert...but rather from the place in me that believes that babies and kids have rights...part of those rights include the chance to grow up strong, secure and with a feeling of knowing who they are from the first!

Yes I do understand that money is a big issue, I promise you it was when I was raising kids as well....as I have already said, we were always broke, me and my friends, we saved small change to buy a new pair of jeans. One of the joys of life was pinching a few bucks from the grocery money because you had thought of some wonderful meal that allowed you to spend a bit less.

My most creative moments in those years were about shopping and preparing food. Discovering all kinds of things to do with fresh vegetables, creating exotic meals with very little meat and the discovering that not only was it more economical to create all that stuff but that it was actually a whole lot better for your health.

Getting used to living on the earth is no easy task, everything is strange, noises...people...sights..colours...sitting, standing and walking, chewing (wait till they have their first piece of gum...sugarless!) The world needs to widen gradually for kids...a bit at a time...I kept mine indoors except for a walk until they were three month old. Just to give them a chance to venture out gradually....I tried to keep them to an "nonrigid" schedule, flexible enough but also with the security of eating baths and naps around the same time every day....my youngest was the only one who went to nursery school....he did that for about three months and then one day he burst into my room, jumped on the bed and with all seriousness in those big brown eyes he said to me "I go to school....and I go to school..and I go to school..and now NO MORE.

I knew he was right and that was the last of nursery school for him, getting someone in to take care of him was really tough....I changed my schedule until I had things in hand as one disaster was enough for me, and my first try at a sitter was in fact a disaster.

My hope is that many of you out there will think long and hard, try to find alternative choices for those years when it is so important for little ones to be home with their family. Allow yourself the experience of long term thinking, see if you can visualise the years in front of you, being there for the school plays, picnics, football games...dinner at home every night with Mom and Dad together...that each busy day may hold at its end the chance for sharing, learning about each other and enjoying the ritual of dinner together....in the end it pays off for everyone...I can still visualise my three boys sitting down to dinner every night....hungry for a good meal and happy to be together talking about our day...there is plenty of time for the Internet, television and all the rest even work....but time not spent with your kids can never be replaced.

Gram

SORRY ALL FOR GRAMMER AND SPELLING ERRORS I COULD NOT FIND MY SPELL CHECK...IDIOT'S DELIGHT!

I received a mail just yesterday from a young man who is an old friend. He spoke of his disillusionment with "hype" mainly around environmental issues and earth causes as these were the issues that moved him into action to do something about making changes for the preservation and good of this beautiful planet. Full of hope he engaged in whatever he could to become a part of this movement. Today he is feeling a bit cynical about it all. It is always tough to enter into that which you believe in both actively and with a strong spirit for making it "right" only to discover that those who wield the power may not want to achieve the goals we began with. This is not new! I remember it well, in the days of believing in peace, in equal rights for all,

in the power a society can have when everyone works together towards a solution to whatever ever problems emerge as critical in whatever ere we are in.

Back in the sixties (which many people would like to forget) that power was in full swing...there was a gathering of the people that held such a force that those who would choose to turn away were made to listen, to see. It was a frightening time for politics and corporates because it was not just a samll gathering here and there which could be controlled and made to fade away. It was not, at that time something that could be turned into profit or used as a front to make us all believe that our leaders agreed! It was the only time in my life so far where the people got past those who had an investment in "no change"

One of the major aspects of the success of that ere, and believe me it was a success was that it was the young students who made us all wake up and see that we were agreeing to live in a world that cred not for "all the people" by the people! There voices were the first to say NO MORE WAR...(Vietnam) The first to demand equal rights for all citizens of any coluer or sex...

soon there efforts were picked up by lawyers, doctors,musicians.. a growing movement coming from the church's...followed by housewives...laborers..dentists... et al.

The jails were full of citizens, not criminals but ordinary people who were bearing witness..I went to jail with the ladies who lunched and played bridge....my son went to jail with Joan Baez...my dentist was held for two weeks for protesting ! imagine a dentist in the local jail!

The point was that it was a time when we were strong enough and aware enough to see through those who were in control and deman our right to be heard on this terrible war that was causing so much loss and pain to everyone.

Around the same time, another storm was brewing in America, in the deep south...word was spread all over the states from those who had seen the poverty, oppre4sion and humilation of our black citizens.

One day, an elderly black woman refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a local bus. She was tired, she had worked all day for her white boss....she was tired also of a system that every moment of every day made her feel unwelcome in the country she was born in. Her name was Rosa Parks...she lit a fire that consumed a nation and the civil rights movement was born!

From these days forward my stories are many.... I was fortunate enough to be there, to see what the power of the people could do and yes, also what it would never be able to achieve. I to was dissapointed in many of the issues that occured while we were living in an era of significient change. Not all was possible, for example I saw the destruction of many good and csring clergy as the rich parisheners wielded there pocketbooks to keep gays and blacks from the doors of their posh cathedrals....but not without a fight..believe me! more to come on all of this for any of you who are interested.

My blog today is for my friend who has every right to be cynical and deeply dissapointed as he sees the charade of charities and do gooders who behind the scenes are not working for change but rather for "big bucks" It is good that you see beyond your enthusiasm...good that you have a bitter taste in your mouth because only when you can see clearly what you are up against, what the big picture really is....then and only then you will find from within the resource that is waiting to be tapped to make change. Go ahead, be cynical! but never give up hope...hope is the very thing that reminds us each day of what we are doing on this planet, for this planet and for all the people on it.

To begin, it took me approx half an hour and a bit of help to find my way back to my blog! Clearly I need a lot more work on the magic of the internet! Now I'm here and this is my first try at blogging I don't know what to say! I started thinking about it this morning while walking Angus, why do people want a blog? When you finally get one...What do you do with it?



Well I guess it's time to find out. Most of you who log onto this site will be surprised to learn that I am in fact quite shy...exposure, although I have certainly had enough of that, frightens me and makes me go all quiet. But this is ridiculous since I have always got an opinion about everything and seem to have no trouble having something to say here at home.....and.....I am indeed the carrier of many many stories spanning over 50 years and including literally hundreds of people.



I made a decision to do this when my granddaughter Stella put me on FACE BOOK...wow! suddenly I was hearing from so many people that made a difference in my life! Trying to answer everyone or write on a bunch of walls just didn't work for me....so here I am on the "BLOG"



For those of you who know me and for those of you who may come to know me I will start with a bit of who I am and why it may be worth while to tune into my blog.



I was born in San Francisco, California...went to a public high school in the days when dancing was all about having plenty of room to move around on a highly polished wood floor to music that you simply had to move to. It was a time before drugs but beer and wine always seem to be available. We loved beach parties, drive-ins, Cadillac's and Buick's, Friday nights with the girls taking in a good movie then meeting up with guys and walking barefoot in the sand along the beach's at the end of the tram lines....Sat night was date night and it was dismal if you didn't have one! I would spend most of saturday either at the beach getting a tan so I would look great for Saturday night or preparing myself for that moment around 8:00 when whoever was picking you up for a night of dancing in Larkspur! I never did get used to the small space of disco's after that....



We were into our football or basketball teams....and there was a lot of seasonal falling in love going on as some of the girls loved to be dating the local star of the season! Others were true blue and went "steady" then you got to wear your guys "block" on his jacket or sweater which made you truly important!



We got drunk, got into trouble, some of us got pregnant and in those days that meant early marriage! Most of us survived and even now past a half century we still keep in touch and compare notes.



I was then and remain now a rebel! I fought for the causes I believed in, equal rights, gay rights, no more war and so-on. Many of my friends were shocked and disappointed in me but I was always true to what I thought needed to change in my country. This was the beginning of a life full of amazing happenings and some of the most eccentric or creative people one could hope to meet in the span of their life.



Almost twenty years passed between the time of graduating high school and the beginning of a most exciting ere, THE SIXTIES when I already had two boys and another on the way...I was never a real Hippie, I missed that by about ten years...but in spite of my coiffed hair and "Jackie" clothes I was indeed with them for many of the principals that existed in that time...although as a mother with one son already old enough to explore the pshco-drug scene and another soon to be I was very scared of drugs...Today I am still quite wary but with far more understanding and far less judgement...WITHIN REASON...



In my early 30's I discovered a talent I had to work with people who wanted to gain awareness in a different way then drugs, to explore feelings and expand on thoughts...to discover that magical thing that Abraham Maslow spoke of...AUTONOMY....I discovered my skills by first completing the four steps developed by the NATIONAL TRAINING LABS...then going into a lot of personal therapy...and was fortunate enough to receive a great deal of training by those who were considered the best in their field which of course was psychology.



It was a time when "The Humanstic Psychology" was in full swing. I was included in that through being chosen as one of the "lay therapists" who had proven their worth and thus supported by that group to pursue what was to become my career and what I loved more than anything else in my life except my kids.



This pursuit took me further into meeting some very interesting people, some famous, some not...but many who represented the real heroes of society. Those who took responsibility for themselves and their families, who would be willing to bare witness to make the changes to their communities that mattered. Thoughtful people who through their emotions and passions believed in things like peace...integration, family life, hard work and most of all that maybe Love was indeed all you needed.



And thus my life and career went on for over 35 years, in that time the stories mounted up, the tragedies and comedies of life were a part of my day to day existence and that of my boys. I have been both famous and infamous...experienced some terrible pain and some monumental joy....my life has been shared with others and their children. I have been truly blessed and yes cursed as well....one does not choose a life with out political correctness, one where bearing witness matters without coming to some very rocky moments...do I regret my choice? Easy for me to say...NO but better as time passes and we get to blogging with each other, you can make that decision yourself.



I am at my best when questions are asked of me, I do not get on so well with just talking without the presence of another human being to spark a story....I like to be needed...that seems to be my catalyst.



That's all for now

Gram

OK THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF AROUND NOW THAT REALLY NEEDS TO CHANGE, FOR EXAMPLE WHAT HAPPEND TO THE FAMILY, HOW COME FOLKS ARE EATING ON THEIR OWN IN FRONT OF ANY OLE SCREEN INSTEAD OF BEING TOGETHER AND TALKING TO EACH OTHER ALIVE AND IN THE FLESH.....WHAT HAPPEND TO GREAT MUSIC, MUSIC THAT HAD MELODY AND MADE YOU FEEL THINGS, LIKE HAPPY. OUTRAGEOUS AND ROMANTIC? HAVE WE LOST ALL SENSE OF FRIENDSHIP,