When I was a kid, back in the seventies, I remember watching the movie "Thank God it's Friday". The movie was about a Friday night in the hot new disco in town, "The Zoo". I loved this silly movie because it gave me a peek into the glamorous disco scene that was huge at that time. The cast of crazy characters spun together somehow seemed just the right amount of fun.
The late, great Donna Summer played a young disco diva who wanted her chance to sing in the spotlight at the club, but kept being dismissed time and time again by DJ Bobby Speed. Until the end...when she stole the spotlight and sang her Academy Award winning song, "Last Dance". Good times...
I think I'm going to find a copy of this gem at some point this weekend and go back in time to The Zoo!
Thank God it's Friday Bloggers! Go out and get your "Last Dance" on.
So Frack went to a concert last night. It was the DJ Avicii Concert at Boston's TD Garden venue. As a full fledged member of the "Moms That Are Overly Protective" club, I had a brief chat with Frack about concert safety and drugs and drinking. It was one of those talks that when finished, the response is ALWAYS...
"Ya, I know mom". I am a strong believer in sharing all the wisdom and warnings to my children so that maybe, just maybe, they will hear their mother's words in their head and think twice.
Well that mother's intuition thing I got going on was dead on....
I immediatelytexted Frack a pic of the story. He was at work. Last night when Frack arrived home safely, I was waiting up for him. We had a pleasant conversation and off he went to bed warning me that he had to get up early for work today. I saw no evidence of hard partying, to which I was grateful. Frick, Frack, My Guy and I have had many a conversation about drug use. My Guy and I shared our experiences with them both, as they don't amount to much, and by that I mean neither of us had ever even tried hallucinogenics of any kind. Call us square, but I'm not completely innocent. I may be part of that 80% of adults that recreationally use marijuana, or I may not. But it always stopped there.Whatever the case, at the ages my kids are, My Guy and I try to have honest conversations about drugs with the kids.
And Frack's response to my text this morning?
"Yeah, I know"
"A lot of kids on Molly. That would suck to be those kids."
SCENE: It's a clear, bright and gorgeous Wednesday morning and a group of my high school girlfriends have decided to meet at the beach for the day....which almost never happens.
ME: Ok Self, it's a beautiful day! Nothing better to do than play hooky and hanging with your best girlfriends at the beach all day. I am definitely going to meet them!
SELF: Seriously Candace? You have a JOB. It's not like you have a million things to do. Sure, you just go take off for the day and let everything handle itself. Real responsible....
ME: Oh c'mon, don't be such a wet rag! I have everything covered. The store is completely staffed and there is nothing that can't wait till tomorrow. Its summer, and days like this don't come along often. Lighten up!
SELF: Ok, well you just take off for a day of fun and I will worry about everything else. No really, go have a day to yourself and don't you fret. Everybody else will do your work for you. Yup, you can just be a lady of leisure today. Go for it.
ME: Isn't that what I pay them to do? Don't I deserve to enjoy a day to myself?
SELF: If that's what you want to tell yourself.
ME: You are ruining this for me. You know, if I could I would dump your ass like a hot potato. Im going to do what I want to do so just mind your own business.
Its going to be a beautiful weekend here in the North East. Great weather for a big, banging, celebration of a graduation and job well done. I think we've all earned it and I'm excited for a great day of enjoying my family and friends. I can hardly believe that the man that stands before me today is the boy I raised. He's a good man and I'm proud of him.
And we are going to celebrate!
Get your weekend on Bloggers and celebrate too! After all, summer officially begins tomorrow!
SEE BUDDY. BUDDY IS A GENTLE, LOVING WHITE BOXER WHO IS HAPPY AND PEACEFUL ALL OF THE TIME.
SEE AMOS. AMOS IS BUDDY'S BROTHER AND ALPHA MALE IN THE PACK. ALTHOUGH AMOS IS ABOUT THE QUARTER OF THE SIZE OF BUDDY, HE IS MOST DEFINITELY THE BOSSY BOSS.
AND THIS BOTHERS BUDDY..LIKE A LOT. SO MUCH SO, THAT BUDDY THINKS AMOS IS A BIG, FAT, PAIN IN THE ASS.
SEE BUDDY SLEEPING. AT NIGHT, BUDDY WOULD DREAM OF WAYS TO GET EVEN WITH AMOS. HE SECRETLY WAS HOPING FOR ALIENS TO COME AND ABDUCT AMOS.
SEE AMOS WAKING UP. AMOS ISN'T EXACTLY SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM LAST NIGHT, BUT HE HAD CRAZY NIGHTMARES ABOUT BEING MEAN TO BUDDY. ITS LIKE HE SUDDENLY KNOWS HE BETTER BE NICE TO BUDDY OR ELSE...LIKE SERIOUSLY.
BUDDY, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS NO IDEA WHY AMOS IS ACTING SO SUBMISSIVE...MUST BE BUDDY'S SWEET AND CHARMING PERSONALITY.
It will always be a "where were you?" moment. And when you think about it..it was nothing short of crazy. Every time you see a white Ford Bronco, you have to think of that historic moment. ( the Ford Motor Company discontinued the line of cars two years after that infamous day) All the major networks cut into their regular programming to give credence to the madness that was unfolding in front of us. And the birth of a Kardashian on reality TV happened...
The prime suspect in his former wife's brutal murder 5 days earlier, OJ Simpson was expected to turn himself in to police. Instead he decided to run. We all know how that turned out. He and his friend Al Cowlings took to the California freeway. Cowlings was driving and OJ was supposedly in the back with a gun to his head. It was surreal how the events unfolded that day. We watched with rapt attention, an estimated 95 million of us, as Robert Kardashian, the now deceased patriarch of those crazy Kardashians, read a note on live television that OJ penned for "the people". Today it would be the equivalent to "going viral" except we didn't have as many social media outlets as we do today. It was like a live TV show. It was meant to be a suicide note, but Simpson was too cowardice to take his own life. Instead he turned all of ours into a circus.
At that moment we all knew the truth. He did it. He killed her and Ron Goldman in a brutal and unbelievably violent manner. He was the culprit and he was running. The chase began when police charged Simpson on June 17th with two counts of murder with special circumstance. Simpson was supposed to surrender himself, but he does not. Instead he remains at large and at 6:45PM police are tipped off to a white Bronco, reportedly belonging to Al Cowlings, on the freeway with Simpson in the back with a gun. The police then pursue the Bronco on a 60 MPH chase through LA which ends up at Simpson's Brentwood mansion at 8PM.
And we watched it happen in real time...
I was sitting in my condo with some friends playing cards. The TV was on, but we weren't really watching it, when the news broke in with the story. We were riveted. It was an amazing thing, and I remember thinking we are watching history in the making.
Because if the glove don't fit, karma won't acquit! It will chase you down a California freeway or follow you around for the rest of your life until it catches your ass!
Karma has a really great way of catching up with you, doesn't it?
I had an interesting conversation with a client yesterday about the injectable beauty treatment Botox. She asked me how I felt about Botox and if I had "experimented' with it. I gave her my opinion and she then told me an interesting thing. She went on to tell me about a very good friend of hers who is trained in a highly specialized discipline called Micro Expression Recognition. She explained how these people are experts in facial recognition and can read your true emotions by studying the facial expressions of the face. Interesting enough, right?
She told me that her friend told her she would NEVER let her get Botox because it would, "ruin her marriage".
Now I was intrigued.
Her friend, she said, believes that in order to communicate with a spouse, the expressions of the face are crucial to giving and receiving emotion. Botox, when injected into the face, 'freezes' expression lines, giving some a motionless face in certain areas. Long since favored by women everywhere to reduce wrinkles, Botox's popularity is by no means waning. In fact it's gathering momentum and Botox injections are becoming so commonplace that women are holding "parties" with their friends to get their injections.
Are millions of women putting their marriages in jeopardy all for the sake of beauty? A quick check on the subject proves that my client's friend's theory has some scientific weight to it. THIS article goes on to say that Botox does "impair the ability to process the emotional content of language, and may diminish the quality of the emotional experience", but it also states that the media has "overstated" the results of this study and that more investigation is needed.
I say that anything is fine in moderation. So if you think your marriage is in trouble because of your injectable fillers, I've got news for you: there's more to it than meets the eye...no matter if the eye has tell tale "crows feet" or not. It may be time for you to face the truth about your marriage.
Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "And what starting salary are you looking for?" The engineer replies, "In the region of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer inquires, "Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Corvette?" The engineer sits up straight and says, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replies, "Yeah, but you started it." http://www.laughfactory.com/jokes/technology-jokes
Green, Green, Grass: My Guy has become obsessed with our lawn. I'm so glad he is because it looks like a carpet of Emerald. We were sitting out in our screened-in porch yesterday morning discussing the beauty of our backyard. I can honestly say that right now, our yard has that "pristine" look that as a homeowner, you covet. My Guy spends most of his free time out there with his helpers and the benefits are obvious. Good thing too, because a week from Saturday, we will have over 75-100 people stomping all over the perfect gorgeousness for Frack's graduation party.
Love: What does love go to do with it? Lately my outlook on love has been tested. Thank God it's not my love, but some very good friends of mine have hit a rough patch in their marriages. I can only listen and be a friend and try to surmise that it's just a "rough patch", but I'm not sure. People grow and change and sometimes they don't grow and change together. I'd like to think that I'm helping by just listening. Marital discord was one of the hardest personal challenges I've ever faced. Looking back it was the worst and best thing that ever happened to me, but I'm a believer in good, old-fashioned love. When things like this happen around me, it challenges that belief. Maybe love really is just a second hand emotion.
Family: I had a great weekend. My baby boy Frack graduated from high school and I couldn't have been prouder. The ceremony was outside on a picture perfect Friday night, the boys all wore white tuxedos and the girls wore white dresses and it was absolutely beautiful. I didn't cry or get emotional because this was a joyous day. I don't feel sad. I'm excited and proud for what lies ahead for him. He's really becoming a man right before my eyes and I'm beginning to see a new sense of responsibility emerging in him. Frick was home and it was nice to have the family unit together for the celebration. Yes, life is good in the Daily Dandy household right now. I'm hoping it lasts.
Binge Watching: "Orange is the New Black" is back! Season 2's episodes started June 6th on NetFlix and all 13 episodes now are available for viewing. If you haven't seen this show, you are really missing out on a great one. What makes it so great? It's different. In a TV line up full of cookie cutter cop, lawyer, hospital and crime scene shows, this one tackles a new subject matter, life in a woman's prison, with addicting precision. If you aren't playing in the NetFlix game you need to start. "House of Cards" another NetFlix original series is, by far, the BEST SHOW ON TELEVISION. Don't say I didn't let you in on that.
We have waited for today for a long time. We have dreamed about it, discussed it and fantasized about how it would be. It's finally here and after tonite, it will be a lifetime memory.
You should be proud of your accomplishments.
You should enjoy this time. Be smart and safe.
Take a moment tonite to stop and take it all in...then make a memory of that moment. You only get this opportunity once.
Tonite you walk on that podium a boy but you leave a man. A man who has accomplished great things and will go on to accomplish much more.
I am proud of you, my son. So proud of who you are becoming and I want you to know that I love you more than life itself. Congrats to you and to your classmates. You did it!
Wedded bliss. A celebration of love. Weddings are a huge day in the life of two people who pledge to unite in love forever. Guest come and wish the couple well with toasts that bestow wisdom and blessings. It is a cause for celebration and a memory for the ages. Yes, marriage can be a great send off to the rest of your life.
But what if it's not what you thought it was going to be? What happens when-you know- like you know deep in the pit of your soul- that the decision to marry is not right? And you confide your fears to people you love and trust, listen to their advice, then convince yourself that you are doing it for all the right reasons. Because you convince yourself that you can't get out of it. Then what? Do you then become a statistic? And the "how long is this gonna last?" pool begins amongst your closest allies. Sorry, but we all saw this coming a mile away.
What happens when you cry, like a lot? And you are really not into the whole planning thing and you start drinking, like a lot, and lounging on the sofa way too long and sort of give up. It's probably a warning sign that this "wedding thing" is not for you. Is there pressure from your partner? From your family? Financial obligations involved in the wedding? I'm thinking you gotta play the "in the long run" game. What stings now will soon heal. And believe me-you are not the first one to feel this way. I looked this whole phenomenon up today and the best quote I read was, "If you have to ask the question, 'Should I be getting married?', I think you know what the answer is."
Weddings are not for the faint of heart and quite possibly not for you.
Remember back in September I wrote about one of my favorite movies.."Blow"...here? The reality of the story based on George Jung's life was that after serving 20 years in prison, the 71 year old Jung was to be released from prison this Thanksgiving day, 2014.
I awoke this am to my BFF texting me that TMZ.com was reporting that the tittle character in the movie "Blow", George Jung was RELEASED yesterday! I could hardly believe it, but it's true. According to the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, Jung was released early for "reasons unknown".
Word has it Jung will be released to a half way house in California, where he will begin his transition back into society. As someone who had followed this story from the beginning, I'm happy for George and I wish him luck on the outside. They say a leopard never changes it's spots, so if that's true let's hope Boston George has changed his spots by now. The alternative is is to BLOW his chance at freedom.
It was a great weekend here, but Sat night was a bit chilly. It got down to the high 50's in some areas and we had invited some friends over for a cookout. After we had feasted on just about every grillable delicacy imaginable, we retired to the fire pit for some fun not knowing if the cooler temps would keep us at bay. The fire pit pictured above is almost identical to ours and every seat was taken as we piled on the wood to create the heat that would allow us to enjoy the elements. It did not disappoint. It was perfect fire pit weather and everyone enjoyed the relaxing vibe and great conversation.
I love a nice fire and My Guy and I really love our fire pit. We labored a bit over the decision to make it natural gas or wood burning and I'm so glad we went old school. I'm a pyro, by nature, and My Guy laughs at me when I pile on the wood and stir and stoke the fire like it's a bowl of homemade soup. He enjoys stacking the wood and keeping it supplied and he's even added a bluetooth device that plays Pandora from his phone that sets the mood and keeps us all entertained.
The interesting thing about a fire is that it brings out the good in people. My kids love to sit out there with their friends and sometimes they will even invite us! It's amazing, the things the kids will talk about when we are sitting around the fire, and some of our best memories have been made out there. I've had heart to heart talks with some people and we've even solved a few problems and dreamed some big dreams while sitting out back at the fire pit. It's also the ideal place to create a perfect s'more. We have gotten to be s'more connoisseur's, as we have tried them every way possible. (QUICK TIP*the smaller the marshmallow, the better the toast and the better the "ooze" when you eat it. The big marshmallows look amazing and aren't bad, but they are really messy and take longer to toast all the way through)
Fire is good, and I'm happy to be able to enjoy a night under the stars with the hum of the crickets, a roaring fire and the people I love. I ask you, what could be better than that?
